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Sihtfully prodded the ht of all the possibilities?" he said

Urn's hands began to weave through the air "You an

"On land, I was thinking," said Simony "Perhapson so a boat on a cart"

Sileam of a man who had seen the future and found it covered with ar

"Hmm," he said

"It's all very well, but it's not philosophy," said Didactylos

"Where's the priest?"

"I'? You went out like a candle back there"

"I'ht, next minute a draftexcluder"

"I'm much better"

"Happen a lot, does it?"

"So the scrolls okay?"

"Ithink so Who set fire to the Library?"

Urn looked up from the mechanism

"He did," he said

Brutha stared at Didactylos

"You set fire to your own Library?"

"I'm the only one qualified," said the philosopher "Besides, it keeps it out of the way of Vorbis"

"What?"

"Suppose he'd read the scrolls? He's bad enough as it is He'd be a lot worse with all that knowledge inside him"

"He wouldn't have read them," said Brutha

"Oh, he would I know that type," said Didactylos "All holy piety in public, and all peeled grapes and self-indulgence in private"

"Not Vorbis," said Brutha, with absolute certainty "He wouldn't have read them"

"Well, anyway," said Didactylos, "if it had to be done, I did it"

Urn turned away fro lobe

"Can we all get on board?" he said

Brutha eased his way on a rough bench seat amidships, or whatever it was called The air sht," said Urn He pulled a lever The spinning paddles hit the water; there was a jerk and then, stea in the air behind it, the boat moved forward

"What's the name of this vessel?" said Didactylos

Urn looked surprised

"Nas It doesn't need a name"

"Names are more philosophical," said Didactylos, with a trace of sulkiness "And you should have broken an amphora of wine over it"

"That would have been a waste"

The boat chugged out of the boathouse and into the dark harbor Away to one side, an Ephebian galley was on fire The whole of the city was a patchwork of flaot an amphora on board?" said Didactylos

"Yes"

"Pass it over, then"

White water trailed behind the boat The paddles churned

"No wind No rowers!" said Siin to understand what you have here, Urn?"

"Absolutely The operating principles are aly simple," said Urn

"That wasn't what I s you could do with this power!"

Urn pushed another log on the fire

"It's just the transfor of heat into work," he said "I supposeoh, the purind even when the wind isn't blowing That sort of thing? Is that what you had in mind?"

Simony the soldier hesitated

"Yeah," he said "So like that"

Brutha whispered, "Oht?"

"It smells like a soldier's knapsack in here Get me out"

The copper ball spun htly as Simony's eyes

Brutha tapped him on the shoulder

"Can I have hed bitterly

"There's good eating on one of these things," he said, fishing out Om