On the other hand, he did need her help desperately and she knew it. Or did he? Surely there would be others willing to take those dreamstones off his hands. Maybe not. Not with the syndics' ire focussed on him, and Fat Roj on his trail. He would need a front through which to sell, and she was just the person to act as one. She knew everybody and every shady thing in Medusa.

But there was no way he was going to tell her everything Auric had said. He was not going to tell her about the voices in his head or the dooms the stranger said lay in wait for him. Perhaps he could give her an edited version, leaving that out. Suddenly he wished he had not drunk all the golconda laced wine earlier. He knew it put him at a great disadvantage now. Should he tell her that Auric wanted to go to the Eye of Terror? Did he want to admit that he was certain that Auric and Athenys were eldar? His mind reeled. Somewhere in the back of his head voices gibbered. Something loosened his tongue.

'They are eldar,' he said. 'They want to go into the Eye. To Belial IV.'

She looked electrified now and a look passed over her face that reminded him of a raptor contemplating a feast. She leaned forward, unconsciously straining like a hound at leash smelling prey.

'That they are eldar would make sense. In the end all dreamstones come from the eldar. They grow them somehow, although no one knows how. But why did they choose you to take them?'

'I don't know. Perhaps because I am a famed explorer,' he added with a touch of asperity.

'Why not take their own ships? There are eldar ships, after all.'

'You tell me - you know more of these things than I do.'

'Yes, oh famous explorer, perhaps I do.' Her tone was acid.

'In any case, he seemed certain I would do as he wished.'

'Certain?'

'He said he had foreseen it.'

'Did he now? Were those his exact words?'

'More or less. I thought him a madman, so I was not paying close attention.'

'Really, Janus? You did not pay close attention to someone who was offering you a governor's ransom in dreamstones for making a voyage? That is very unlike you. The wine and the golconda must be affecting you more than I thought.'

'Will you help me dispose of the gem - without any of my creditors finding out?'

'I am one of your creditors.'

'Yourself excepted then.'

'Yes. And I will set about it right away. I must make inquiries now. I will talk to you later.'

It was a dismissal. Janus was not sure he liked the sudden decisive way she got up to go. He could sense some underlying motive, something far more than a desire to help him or simply make money. It was something connected with the eldar, but what could it be?

No matter. The die was cast. With the money the dream-stone represented he could pay off his debts, get his ship back and wipe the dust of this wicked world from his boots.