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Sil-Chan suppressed the churning of his stomach "Sir, I came here at the direction of Galactic Archives, of the Library You don&039;t have any idea what"

"We&039;ll get to your official excuses later," the PN said "Right now I&039;-headed female who"

"Uncle" The steel had returned to Hepzebah&039;s voice "In front of a witness, I asked this man to wed and he accepted"

"So David says!"

"Even you are not above the law," she said "You will recall that I was not raised a chore daubto"

"Maybe that&039;s where I made my mistake," the PN muttered

"If it was a mistake, it was not my mistake," she said "And I warn you that I do not intend to be bound by your ta-headed female!"

She continued unperturbed "when they cast no omens, made no divinations We both know that they followed your instructions to approve Martin"

"What&039;s the difference? Mumbo juain, he stared into the fire

"Don&039;t try swaying the trothers," she said "I&039;ll demand the Pleb You knohat&039;ll happen then"

He spoke without turning "Are you threatening me?" She said: "The trothers will face the Stone and be forced to ado for ht! "He whirled "So you want thisthis" He gestured with a fist at Sil-Chan "Ever since you were a wee one you&039;ve gotten everything you wanted! Now you"

"Will all of you shut up for just a h of this fa behind the PN, took heart froerous

"I&039;ll ad swept off my feet by your niece," Sil-Chan said "Who can blame me? That&039;s chemistry oror whatever It&039;s wonderful and I wouldn&039;t change it for all of Free Island But I ca vital to us all"

"Do you know I could have you taken into the wilderness just like that" The PN snapped his fingers "and eliminated, and no one the wiser"

The old Sil-Chan would have cringed at the threat The new Sil-Chan took a step closer to the PN "You ht be able to murder me, but there&039;d be some the wiser!"

The PN&039;s mouth opened, snapped shut His chin lifted He looked at Sil-Chan with new interest

"We have mutual problems," Sil-Chan said "We"

"You have a talent for creating problems, no doubt of that," the PN said, but Sil-Chan senses an underlying banter in the tone

"You may force me to return to the mainland without Hepzebah," Sil-Chan said "But I have a mission here and I am an official of Galactic Archives"

Hepzebah squeezed Sil-Chan&039;s hand "If you go, I go"

The PN blinked, looked at his niece, then at Sil-Chan "All right! What&039;s bothering you pack rats? I want the full story"

Sil-Chan winced Tchung&039;s warning filled his mind These Dornbakers could tip over the whole cart, but they al position So the Co stare This was a rough ritya ht not be too different from the Library&039;s Code A lie would be the surest way to alienate such a man