The slowly rising sun cuts through the morning fogs that typicallywreath Rephidim's edge, where the docks are located. The relativelyfewer night-time dockworkers have all trickled away, to be replacedby loudly shouting Vartans and Khattas and a hundred other species.In Lower Docking Slip 18, the daytime crew is composed almostentirely of Jupanis and a single Keiltyn, all of whom have beenworking in this slip for some weeks now.

As the Akanti Mayhem settles into a cradle, other workers tying itfast, the Jupanis crack their knuckles. One calls to the single Keiltyn,a relatively new face to their crew, "Now, don't break yer little backwith the heavy stuff – call one of those guys over iffen you havetrouble, you hear?" He gestures to a Titanian busy pulling the ship'sprow over to line up with the docking area.

Lars flicks an ear and calls back to the Jupani. "Aye. Yi no worriey'self, I's nogonna trey movin' yi ships t'day." He grins nonchalantly,then turns to lift and arrange some boxes for easier carrying to theincoming ship.

The captain of the Akanti Mayhem, a cheekruffed tabby with longwhiskers, calls down to the workers making fast. "Gently! Gently,Dagh take you all! Last time you dented this ship, it cost a thousandshekels to fix! Do that again an' I'm putting you all on report!"

The Titanian in question, Tull, is pulling the line without aid of thewinch typically used in this instance. He grunts in response to thecaptain and strains some more, pulling the airship into position.

The Mayhem, a fat-looking freighter suspended beneath anassemblage of about ten gas bags in a mesh envelope, settles into thedocking cradle with an almost subsonic grind of timbers. Almostimmediately, crew on board starts moving boxes out of the cargoholds and to the side, ready to be transferred off with the help ofpanting Jupanis pulling at a crane arrangement, others ready toreceive the platforms and start moving boxes and bags and barrels toa nearby warehouse.

The Mayhem's Savanites are moving the cargo as far as the deck ofthe ship. Union rules limit the slaves on the docks, and ones ownedby ships are not allowed to offload cargo. The slip supervisor, a grayand black Jupani nods to the work crew, "Okay boys, time to earnyour shekels. Put the cargo in aisles 8 through 11." He waves theworkers towards the now in place gangplank.

Lars hurries up to help with the cargo coming out of the ship's hold,grunting and shouldering a heavy bag onto a platform, then straininga little to shift and move a large barrel. A few ties of rope to thecargo and platform, and it's off by crane. He pants, then sets to workagain, now walking down to where the crane's touching down on thedocks to take one of the crates and head off into the warehouse withit.

The crates look like nothing unusual – the somewhat awkwardwooden crate Lars is carrying has been stamped as containingkyootcumbers. Little things roll around inside.

Lars doesn't notice, or doesn't care what's in the crates. He gives thelabel a passing glance, but the box is like a hundred others he carriesday in and day out. Heavy and unhandy. He sets it down with a dullthud, boredly making sure there's not a 'this end up' the wrong waythat'll get him yelled at… and then plods back toward the ship.

Haujo, the gray and black slip supervisor, stands with his clipboardand watches the proceedings. He directs the crates once they're takenoff the platform, sending them to various different aisles once hechecks their labels. His book-keeping is particularly slack today, andhe doesn't seem to be writing anything down.

Lars returns from the vessel with another crate, grumblingsomething about splinters and "c'penters kent meke s'mple craytesriht"… then pauses in front of Haujo. "Wher yi wan this go?"

"That one… hmm. Put it in 10" Haujo answers.

A heavy-set Jupani about as wide as he's tall hefts his crate to keepit steady, barely able to see around it. The fellow doesn't notice Larshas stopped. "Oof!" *Crash!* His crate lands on the deck,splintering.

Lars yelps! and jumps back and to the side, then rubs his shoulder."Ow! Yi oaf, wh'tcha, tryin' ti kill me? Yi made a miss now, isna mifault."

Lars moves his box out of the way to prevent _it_ being damaged,then stands and looks at Haujo. "Sahr? Isna my fault, no?"

Small yellow fruits spill out from the damaged crate, their tiny blackpoint-tipped leaves distinctive… Kyootcumbers.

Haujo shakes his head, "Not our problem, put the Kyootcumbers backin. I'll make out a damaged in transit form."

The ash-coloured canine waves a heavy paw in the air. "Whatchamean, s'my fault?" grunts Kludge slowly, squinting at Lars and Haujo."Whudja go an' stop inna middle of da dock fur, huh?"

The gray and black Jupani taps his clipboard, "Just hurry and getthem inside, your break is coming soon." He stares knowingly atKludge and Lars.

A second Jupani comes hulking off the ship, holding a similar largecrate. Without a word, he pushes past Lars and Kludge, dropping thecrate by the others with a grunt.

Lars crouches to scoop up the fruits and stuff them back in thebroken crate, glaring at the Jupani. "Yi boss s'rts stuff, yi boss wannaknow where's wat. Y'know? Yi ask'm. Yi c'rrying stuff b'gger n'yi can h'ndle, too!" He nods to Haujo and straightens up, picking uphis own box and continuing to Aisle 10. "Yes, sahr."

The warehouse is a large long building, with doors at either end, andtwenty aisles inside. Labeled with numbers painted on the floor,some are full, some half full, and some empty. The boxes are eithersealed, marked as inspected for pickup or departure, or uninspected,unsealed boxes with only a label of contents.

The kyootcumbers look quite innocent indeed, covered by a thin fuzzof yellow. One would never guess they make some of the spiciestsalsa in the Bazaar. A few have been damaged by the fall, leaking apale orangey fluid.

Lars plods on to find a spot for his box… one where it won't fall overand get him into more trouble. He then returns to help clean up therest of the fruits, stuffing them into the box and then kicking thebroken edge to jam the splintered wood back together. He glances atthe Jupani. "Yi's a go. Don' runnin' inta me agin, heh?"

Tull carries two barrels, one under each arm, making quite a wideobject. He navigates his load around Lars and Kludge, into thewarehouse and drops them in aisle 8. On the way back out he picksup the recently dropped box, and goes back inside with it.

Kludge snorts, a great whooshing noise. "Huh, duncha mind me, justyou be watchin' whur yer goin'. I mean, stoppin'. Somethin' like that."He scratches his sloping brow, flicking one ear.

A wagon drives into warehouse through the doors at the oppositeend. It pulls in behind aisle 13. The crew of six, and the driver hopdown, and get busy.

Lars snorts back. "Yah. S'mthin lyke thet." He turns to look over atthe arriving wagon, seemingly mostly because it's something else tolook at.

"Hurry it up everyone, we're on a tight schedule." Haujo orders,tapping the clipboard again.

"Huh, I ain't mad, though," grunts Kludge, as he returns to retrievemore cargo. "I'm-a goin' ta win my money back when we getta playdice on our bonus break. Don't make no nevermind iffen you an'Jesper won three weeks inna row. You just wait. We'll see who'slaughin'."

Jesper grunts at Kludge as he passes, "Brekk ain' yet." He disappearsinto the ship.

Lars looks blank for a moment, then blinks and shakes his head."Cargo, yah. Yes, sahr." He pads back out to the unloading area,hindpaw claws ticking on the warehouse flooring. His ears perk atKludge's words as he hefts a large sack, and he chuckles. "Yah. I seyswh'se lafhing, 'cause I sees m'self. I win mehr m'ney yet, heh?"

The wagon has a load of lumber, most of the planks are a commonlength, and seem to be pre-drilled. The crew that arrives with it areGallahs, the mutt mixtures of the purebred Gallee breeds in Gallis.This type of canine resembles the Jupani, but some have a widelyvarying appearance, as the mutts demonstrate. The dogs startunloading their cargo.

"Hurry it up, the Gallees are working harder than you guys." Haujocomments. While it might be a compliment to call those muttsfullbreed Gallees, it certainly is an insult to call a Jupani one.

Kludge weaves past with another large box, its size and shapeapparently more awkward than its weight. Miraculously, he finds thewarehouse, and even the right aisle. He picks up the pace, trottingback to the hold a little faster as Haujo berates the workers.

The Titanian growls at Haujo, as he carries two boxes past. "SorryTull, I didn't mean you. Put those in 11." The hulking wolf nods, andcarries them into the warehouse.

Lars wanders back into the warehouse, this time glancing behindhimself warily as he drops the sack with a group of others. Heflattens his ears slightly, then hurries back out of the warehouseagain. "Yes, sahr. No dogs f'ster then Keiltyn, sahr."

The fox returns with another box rather quickly, straining a little atits apparent weight as he passes by Haujo.

Haujo looks inside, glancing the full length of the warehouse at thewagon. He looks down at his clipboard, then at the box Jesper bearspast him. "Okay, put that one in 11, then you guys can go on break."

Jesper grunts. He disappears behind the stack of boxes for a minute,after which a thump is heard, presumably the sound of his settingthe box down. He comes back out and catches Kludge's eye. Time foranother dice game.

"Huh, 'member when we saw them cats fr'm dock seven?" rumblesKludge, dusting his paws off while Lars places the last box. "Boy,they's weaker'n… they's weaker'n anything, huh? Hadda roll barrelsan' not pick'm up." The Jupani shambles up to Jesper, nodding.

Tull's meaty hand slaps Lars on the back, an unexpected blow thatnearly sends him stumbling. The intention however, seemed to befriendly. "You dice? Break now."

Lars puts the box down with a thud and gasp, then stands and pantsa little. He glances around the warehouse, at the canines loading thewagon, then at Haujo, as if he has to think about the words for aminute… then slips a leather flask from his worn bandolier and takesa sip… just as Tull slaps him on the back. He stumbles alright, andchokes, managing to regain his balance and breathing after coughinga few times. "Yah. Dice. Don' kill me, heh?" He smiles and padstowards the crates.

Jesper grunts in reply to Kludge, sparing as always with his words.He glances back at Lars and Tull, then heads off to find a good quietplace for dice.

"Jesper got the dice." Tull says, lumbering off after the Jupani andwaving for the Keiltyn to follow. Jesper and Kludge have picked aquiet spot outside of the warehouse, away from passing view at oneof it's corners.

Lars follows Tull to the others, taking another drink from his flaskbefore stowing it again, brushing sawdust and cargobox-dust fromhis chestfur and settling down. "Yi wanna lose yi money 'gain, heh,Kledge?"

Kludge follows after Jesper, his tail wagging slightly. "Today's gonnabe lucky, Lars I know it. Gonna get the right numbers. You guysgonna tell me which numbers right again, right?" He seats himself,looking around at his fellows.

Lars flicks an ear and chuckles. "Yah. We till yi r'ght uns."

Haujo glances one more time into the warehouse, then crosses theopen doors and leans on the opposite outside wall. He takes out hisown flack, and has a sip, while he watches the cargo sit on theMayhem. The two crane workers take their break in the machine, bythe time they got down, it would be over.

Lars flexes one arm and rubs its apparently sort upper muscles, thengrunts. "Yi gets d'ce, J'sper?"

Jesper nods. He unhooks a leather pouch from his belt and opens itup, pouring out a collection of five dice, four white and one black.

Lars glances over at Haujo and through the warehouse doors. "Dogsonna cart d'nt not get dreiks, heh." He yawns and looks back down atthe dice.

Kludge scratches his side with a meaty paw. "Huh, gallees don't workhard 'nuff, can't do heavy stuff like us. Gotta work dere break away,huh, huh… we gonna play'r, whut?"

After some preliminaries in which the workers have anted up a fewshekels apiece, Jesper starts rolling the dice… A high score. He grunts,satisfied, and then passes the dice to Kludge.

The slowish Jupani rattles the dice in his paws, apparently enjoyingthe clicking noises. Before his comrades get too impatient, he finallythrows them, ending up with an excellent combo. He looks at hisfellows expectantly.

Tull grunts, "Roll again. Get higher score." He settles down on hishaunches, his big tail sweeping from side to side.

Lars tsk tsks and shakes his head. "Isna not riht 'gain. Roll, heh?"

"Uhm… okie… " Kludge takes the dice up, and blissfully rattles themagain, tossing them back onto the cobbles. A match or two, but quitelow scoring.

The Jupani's tail wags, sweeping away some dirt behind him. "Good?Is it good?"

Lars grins, showing pointy canines. "Yah. Riht. Is."

Jesper grunts, showing no particular approval.

Lars glances at the warehouse again and the boss Jupani. "Is juesgonna st'nd for hi dreak. Not r'lax. Is str'nge." He tries to peer intothe warehouse too.

One of the Gallahs comes out of the warehouse, and stands on theother side of the open door from Haujo. His fur is a rather long, andvaries from white to yellow, he also has a quite heavy tail. He sitsdown, takes out a small pouch and a pipe, then starts the ritual offilling, lighting, and smoking it. Once he is puffing away happily hestands up, the bag of tobacco forgotten at his feet.

Kludge's tail droops, and his ears turn back as he looks at Jesper."No? Not good?" He licks his nose worriedly, a bit of a whine in hisvoice. "Gonna roll again, gonna roll good, huh?" He takes the dice oncemore, and with a toss, turns up nothing. Bust.

Lars gets the dice on the next turn. Although he usually gets a goodscore or manages to reroll till he does, this time he… doesn't score withany of the dice he rolls. "Gah! Is not luck t'day, heh?" He growlssoftly.

Tull grunts out a heavy sigh, that also sounds like a suppressedlaugh, "You both out." He holds his huge paw open for the dice. "Gowalkies, take time coming back. I won't lose so fast."

Jesper grunts noncommittally and settles in so he's opposite theTitanian. When these games get down to two people, the action goesfaster as they try to beat each other over five hundred points. Hefocuses on Tull's hand.

Kludge rubs the back of his shaggy head, looking quite disappointed."I'm gunna keep some shekels dis time 'round. Didn't have 'nuff paylast time fur nuttin' but squibbit an' bread." With a low grumble, hewatches and sulks.

Lars flattens his ears and drops the dice into Tull's paw. "Yah.T'morrow. Yi see. I's gonna go w'lk for wh'le." He stands and walksoff, tail swishing slowly and annoyedly. "Is bad d'ce, yah."

Tull throws the dice. Two suns and three fives – a very considerablescore, putting him up a long way over Jesper. He grins fangily."Pretty soon I have 'Full Airship'." He rolls the dice again for a smallscore, but even the single five showing is enough to keep him frombusting on the first round and leaving Jesper sole possessor of thepot.

Jesper grumbles.

Lars takes a roundabout course towards the warehouse door."W'nder if dog's wanna tr'de fir s'mthin… " He perks his ears alert atthe open door, listening to see if there's any more inside still otherthan the one near the door.

Tull hands the dice to Jesper, who rolls a relatively low score, thentries to better that round's 'cargo'… The sounds of clattering reachLars's ears, assuring him that the two are still at their game. As arethe similar sounds of cards shuffling and flask-sipping from othercorners, suggesting other dockworkers found ways of amusingthemselves.

Lars glances at his boss still near the closest door. "Hm. M'ght takeoffa dreak if I's ann'y hi." He heads around to the far door, where hesaw the wagon parked.

The walls of the warehouse are featureless and uninteresting. The farend of it opens onto the road that runs behind all the docking slips.Inside the warehouse is dim, the light coming only from the centreline of skylights in the roof. The wagon isn't visible from the street,and just out of sight from Lars' present position.

Lars stops just out of sight of the wagon pausing to pull out his flaskagain and take a sip. He swivels his ears, wondering if the dogs arestill there.

A muffled pounding can be heard from inside the warehouse, and afew other unidentifiable sounds.

One of the doors to the warehouse is closed, with a dog is taking abreak by leaning against it. He scratches behind an ear, and watchesthe street with a bored expression.

Lars shrugs and casually pads around the corner into view, flask inpaw.

A neckless, pug-nosed Gallah in front of the door turns his head toglance at Lars. He watches him with hard, beady eyes, his jowlsrising in a warning grimace.

Lars pauses and slips a pouch from his bandolier. It jingles with thedull clink of ceramic. "Hei! Yi got an'thing ti tr'de, heh?"

"I don't want nothin', pal," grunts the Gallah, chewing on a hunk ofthinly flavoured rawhide. "Lemme alone."

Lars pads closer, splaying his ears nonthreateningly. "Yi not have non'thing to tr'de fir shek'ls, then?" He moves around to the side of thepug to glance into the warehouse, also taking another drink from hisflask. "Whatche m'king ther?"

Grissleman steps between the door and Lars, growling, "Clear off,y'ain't got no business in there. I got nothin' to trade."

There's nothing to be seen inside the one open door, except for stacksof crates which block the way. These closest to be seen have beenmarked with the Temple inspection seal.

Lars keeps moving. "Ahr'ght, ahr'ght, yi not sayin' it agen, I w'rkshere. Lemme on go p'st, hafta ch'ck onna brok'n box this saide."

The stocky Gallah folds thick arms across a barrel chest. "You deaf orsomethin'? Get back to yer break, 'fore I unload you off an emptydock."

One of the ubiquitous Eees flying overhead takes a break on the edgeof the Warehouse roof.

Grissleman ignores it, his attention focused on the Keiltyn.

Lars hrfs… then mumbles "Yah."… and something about "d'gs wit notmore'n v'rmite inna head." as he turns to return back around thewarehouse… then stops, and turns back to Grissleman. "Weht a m'nite.This w'rehase is where I's w'rkin', is _my_ tail onna l'ne if som'thinginnit. Yi work'n fir som' else."

Lars stares back. "So le'mi in. Isna yir plice, ev'n."

"Well… " Great ridges of loose skin bunch up over Grissleman'sforehead. He can't argue the point, and so grudgingly steps aside."Fine, just do what yer supposed to an' then get lost. So help me, ifyou bust somethin' in there, I'll feed yer nose to yer left ear, got it?"

Lars nods as he passes by. "Yah. Th'nks. If I's drekin' an'thing innisplace, mi boss'll bait'cha to et."

Inside the warehouse the dogs are at work behind their wagon. Thepounding still continues, and there is some other noise from furtherdown the aisle. Presently, boxes stacked on top of each other obscurethe view of them, and presumably block their sight as well.

Lars pads down the aisle towards where Tull left the damaged box,going out of Grissleman's view. He makes a show of checking it,then… glancing around, scoops up a couple of the not-yet-smashedkyootecumbers and tucks them into his bandolier. With one moreglance and listen around, he edges past the box, through the aisle, tothe next, and the next… to find a foothold on the stacked boxes andsilently climb up to their top, then edge along until just… his nose andeyes peer over the top into the dogs' aisle, in shadow.

The dogs are working in aisle 12, easily viewed from Lars' positionatop some boxes in #10. They are doing several things: assemblingboxes with some of the wood brought on the wagon, moving thosecrates into the aisle, opening boxes in aisle 11, and transfering thecontents. Rocks are taken off the wagon and put in the old boxes, andthen both are sealed; Strangely, the new ones already haveinspection stamps. The whole operation is apparent from the variousstages of completion each crate is presently at.

Lars stares for a long moment, taking in details, listening, sniffingand memorizing scents… then, satisfied, creeps back down the pile ofboxes with the intent of heading back out the door near Grissleman.

"Hey! Whatcha think yer doin', climbin' all over them crates!" thebeefy Gallah barks. He's striding down the aisle, his large lower jawjutting out.

Lars jumps! involuntarily, intent on the other dogs and not hearingthe Gallah's approach. As a result, he tumbles the rest of the waydown, managing to roll on landing and not getting hurt. He quicklysits up and glares at Grissleman. "I's ch'king them! It's mi j'b!Whtcha yi's scar'n me fir? Yi nir kill me!"

Lars stands, and holds out a black paw with a fruit. "Wannakyootecumber? Crate op'n. T'sty inna sanwich."

Rather than offer to help Lars up, Grissleman merely glares at him."Yer takin' an awful long time to get done, 'specially on a break… " hegrowls suspiciously, rubbing his jowls. "But it don't make nonevermind. Getcher meathooks off the merchandise and take a hike,everything'll be doublechecked anyway."

Lars shrugs. "W'rk onna dreak, boss not'ces. More sh'kels. An yah, I'sdone. Th'nks."

Grissleman snatches the proffered kyootcumber and looks it over,then grunts and nods. "Fine, you earned yer shekels. Now scram."

Lars pads off toward the road entrance, where Grissleman was.

After a cursory inspection, everything looks to be in order to thepug-nosed canine, and he exits the warehouse as well, taking up hisold resting spot.

Lars pads back past the door, then… turns back to Grisselman andsmiles. "Yi sure yi not wanna no trade an'thing? Looklook… I getsstuff." He pulls out a large, brightly colored cloth from his bandolier,lays it over a nearby crate, then empties out other pockets onto it.It's only a cloth bandolier, his only article of clothing besides hisbreeches, but it's all small pockets. And the things he scatters on thelarge cloth are most likely pilfered quietly from shipments. Smallbead jewelry, a few plugs of tobacco, a small wooden whistle, somerawhide, tea… "Yi get any kaffeebeans? Eggs?"

The Eee resting on top of the warehouse flexes his wings and goes onhis way. He does a quick barrel roll just after he takes off, foolingaround as many Eees typically do.

Grissleman sighs, and rubs his scalp, shifting his skin around like aloose sweater pulled over his head. "Look, fox, I don't got nothin' togive you. This ain't the bazaar, eh? 'Sides, break's almost over." Well,at least he was relatively non-hostile that time.

Lars looks panicked for a second. "Dreaks ov'r? Rr… Boss'll look firmi… Bye!" He quickly scoops up his trinkets, stuffing them back intopockets, then glances at the cloth. "D'n take it, I's b'ck late fir fold itnice." He runs off back around to the other side of the warehouse,determined not to be late.

Tull and Jesper are still hard at it, the pot between them grown to aconsiderable size as each is determined not to yield to the other.Kludge stand nearby, looking mournful even though the few shekelshe put in are only a small part of the total.

Moments later the skylight on the warehouse shatters as threeVartans in armor dive from the sky and smash through. Two moreburst through the doors, one at each end, at the precise second theglass breaks. Each one holds a wicked looking sword.

At that very moment, Tull rolls… Four fives, at any time a rareoccurrence, and at this point, quite enough to give him a Full Airship.He shoots his fist up in the air and then blinks at the interruptionover at the warehouse.

There's suddenly quite a lot of loud barking coming from insidethere.

Lars, just as he walks up to rejoin the other dice-players, yelps! andinstinctively dives behind a crate at the nearby crashes and blurs ofmotion.

Kludge looks up, with a puzzled expression. "Hey… " he says. "Thatdice sounded different that time."

Lars peers out from behind the crate. "Wha?! T'll, J'sper, Kledge? Isasom'thing fell inna war'house?"

"Nobody move!" one of the Knights scrawks. Three of the Lancersbegin rounding up the canines while the fourth hunts around formore. The Vartan with the fanciest armor just stands quietly by andobserves.

Jesper grunts as he stands slowly, toeing the pile over to Tull.

The Gallah 'on break' halts mid-step away from the warehouse. Haujois still looking confused, the Lancers just came out of nowhere. Helooks over at the crew with a puzzled expression.

Tull scratches behind an ear and looks over at Lars. "Could be. Weshould go look." The Titanian nevertheless stops to reach down andgather up the much-worn shekels into his pouch.

Lars looks around. "Ship ok'y… " He looks over at the warehouse."Hay! Lanc'rs?! Some'nes in trou'le… "

Inside, the barking stops.

The Champion of Diamonds draws a flintlock from it's belt and walksin the direction Lars indicates.

Kludge nods about as quickly as he ever would. "Yuh, Tull… iffensomethin's broke, us hides gonna get some lashes."

Jesper shrugs. He's on break.

Lars, from a distance, makes eye contact with one of the Vartans,then quickly glances at Hajuo and away again. It's a long distance, farbeyond where he or a Jupani could make out detail of a face even,but he seems to somehow know about Vartans' superior vision?

The other Lancers begin roughly gathering up the rest of the canines,including Lars. They don't take any great pains to be gentle.

Jesper gives Tull a 'This is your fault' look.

Tull isn't too happy about being roughed up, and looks like he istrying to decide if he could take one of the Lancers. This thoughtprocess is rather slow, unfortunately, he is as thick physically as heis mentally; the Titanian certainly has a chance if he tries.

Quite used to being prodded around, Kludge just stays close to Jesper."Break's over? We's movin' stuff fer the beak-faces? Hey, quit pokin'me."

Lars looks startled. "Ay, I didna do it, wh'tever 'twas! I dinda! We'sonna dreak!" He looks at Tull, Jesper and Kludge. "G'mblings ilegeelnow?"

Everyone else is coming along quietly, after their initial outburst.They were caught wet-handed, so to speak, from transfering thecargo. Not having any weapons adds to the dogs' complacency.

The Lancers don't respond. They focus instead on simply rounding upeveryone, either by force or by a few well places jabs with a sword.

Jesper shrugs to Lars. He gestures at the Star and Anchoremblazoned on the Vartan breastplates as if to suggest one doesn'targue with the Temple.

"I'm goin', I'm goin'… where's yer ship iffen you wants ta onload oroffload?" The large dun Jupani still doesn't quite get it. "Hey, quitjabbin' me, darn it, what're you buggin' me for?"

There's a loud *crack* of a single shot being fired into the air, andHaujo appears and quickly sits down in the assembled group, handson his head. The Champion follows casually behind, a smoking gun inits hand.

Lars reaches up to place a paw on Tull's arm. "Ay. Not w'rry. J'st gow'th and say hon'st. T'mple allas takes allround in wh'n someth'ngh'ppen, let's go good uns."

Tull looks down at Lars when he touches his arm, then after amoment grunts and nods. "Yeh, been lucky once today. Better not tryfor twice."

"Really sirs," Haujo says without looking up. "The crew was justtaking a break, We have nothing to do with what the wagon broughtin."

The Champion says nothing, but one of the Lancers is quick to speak."Tell it to the Temple."

Some time later, the workers wait in the holding cell for the guardsto take them away for… questioning. There is almost nothing in theceramic-walled room that could be used as a weapon; merelybenches, drab gray walls, and a door leading outside, blank andfeatureless.

Several Jupani guards step in and take Kludge away, the poor wolfstill confused. Jesper glances at Lars.

The Gallahs are nowhere in sight, most likely being confined in aseparate holding cell.

Tull is a huge unhappy lump in the corner, hoping that all his goodluck today wasn't used up winning at dice.

Lars glances back at Jesper. "Ay. Templ's good. Kledge'll be ok'y. I'sgot round'd up like th's b'fore. Yi get out ok'y."

Jesper grunts. He'll believe it when he sees it.

The door opens again and two black pantherish Khatta guards walkinto the room. They clap their hands on Lars' shoulders.

"Come with us," one growls.

Lars waves to the other workers still in the cell. "Yah, sahr. D'nt push,I's com'n." He goes with them.

The Khattas walk Lars outside the cell and shut the door, then marchhim down the hall and through many winding corridors and stairs… At last he is stopped before another similar door. "Go in," the otherKhatta says brusquely.

Lars nods, pushes the door open, and enters.

Inside is one of the many meeting rooms of the Temple… A roundblack glass table, two uncomfortable ceramic seats. A robedInquisitor, a Saluki, sits on one. He looks up at Lars.

The door shuts behind Lars. Footsteps disappear into the distance.

Lars stands straight, any of the slouch of a manual laborer gone. Hesmiles and salutes quickly, then speaks in clear, crisp Rephidimstandard with no trace of accent. "Good morning, sir."

"Good day, Investigator Kani," the Inquisitor replies. He gestures forthe fox to sit, and then begins the questioning. "Tell me what yousaw."

Lars… or rather, Kani, as his true name is Kani Agochara, sits neatly,tucking his tail to one side and resting his paws formally clasped onthe table. "A smuggling ring indeed existed at that port facility. Anda rather clever one, too. A wagon seemingly filled with wood wasoffloading as the normal workers were given an 'early' break. Noworker will argue with a break, of course. While the warehouse wasunoccupied, the team of Gallah mongrels literally built new crates ofthe wood, removed goods from warehouse crates and placed theminto the new crates, filled the warehouse crates with rocks, gave thenew crates proper inspection stamps, and would have then vanishedwith seemingly unmissed goods. For this to occur, Hejuo, the Jupani,was involved. His recordkeeping was nonexistent, I noted him notwriting on his clipboard as shipments were stored. He also orderedthe early breaks, and kept watch on the warehouse door during thetransfer… in the company of one of the Gallah, no less.

Inquisitor Zeffel nods. "An interesting enterprise," he says. "I'll makea note that they should give Haujo an especially strict questioning,Investigator. Any other details to report?" He writes the accountingdown.

Kani nods. "I would recommend that. Haujo definitely allowed theexchange to take place, but I can't say if he was the so-called 'brainsbehind the operation'. If he was working for anyone, it'd have onlybeen an allegiance of shekels, so I'm sure he'd reveal any detailsunder questioning." He flicks an ear… "And… also, the Jupani workersTull, Jesper, and Kludge had nothing to do with this, I'm certain.They're just innocent, hardworking, and… not that bright, but good-hearted citizens who were near me a good deal of the time, I'd knowif they were involved. They weren't."

Kani says, "In fact, they'd be able to fully vouch for Lars being avalid, longtime dockworker if the persona's ever needed again. "

Zeffel nods. He seems in general pleased with Kani's observations, butquestions him further, going into details about what exactly thevulpine saw, and correcting some minor observations. "Ah, yes. Sothey must have torn down crates that had already been inspected,smuggled them in as lumber, and then rebuilt them inside thewarehouse." He nods thoughtfully. "In that case, we'll be able to trackdown the merchant whose crates those were, and see to whom theywere sold."

The Saluki nods again. "I will make a note of this. Technically," theInquisitor says reprovingly. "They and all the other workers whoreceived money in order to overlook the commission of a crimewould be considered accomplices, but I will take into account yourvouching for their good character."

Kani nods again. "Thank you. And I would recommend a guard beingplaced in the warehouse, to prevent any other involved parties fromdestroying evidence."

"Already done," Inquisitor Zeffel says briskly.

The Saluki, a pure-bred Gallee, continues. "Now, under ordinarycircumstances I'd send you back as Lars with the rest of the workersto maintain your cover identity until we uncover another lead foryou to follow… "

Kani nods, and listens?

"However, I've also received a request from a Bridge Officer that weprovide him with a capable, loyal agent to carry out some mattersdiscreetly. Since my department is shortstaffed… " Inquisitor Zeffelspreads his hands. "I can't spare you completely, but if you areinterested in working with the Bridge, I can loan you part-time to hisneeds."

Kani says, "I would be honored to serve the Bridge as well, sir. If Imay."

Zeffel nods. "Very well. You'll draw time and a half for duties spenton the Bridge Officer's behalf. Good work, Investigator Kani. Withsome good solid investigative work ahead of you… " He grins wryly."You may yet make Senior Investigator."

The Saluki stands and extends his hand to Kani.

Kani stands and smiles, grasping the Inquisitor's paw and shakingfirmly. "Thank you, sir."

The Inquisitor nods. "Go home and get some rest," he suggests."Dismissed."

Kani smiles. "I'll be getting back to my normal schedule, I suppose,daytime was wearing on me. Good morning, sir." He salutes, and exits,yawning as he gets out into the corridor, on his way to a long bathand a long, long nap in the sun. The way things should be for foxes.Even for Temple Investigators.