de in a
competent manner. Only the four priests held aloof. Ignoring officers,
sailors, and traders alike, they spoke only to their slaves, who passed
their comments to the ship's company.

On the morning of the tenth day, Musa came to the deck, to find the sea
rougher than usual. Waves rose, scattering their white plumes for the
wind to scatter. Ahead, dark clouds hid the sky, and occasional spray
came aboard, spattering the deck and the passengers.

Just outside the cabin entrance, a small knot of traders were gathered.
As Musa came out, they separated.

Musa went over to the rail, looking overside at the waves. The two
kontars were not in sight. He looked about, noting the sailors, who
hurried about the deck and into the rigging, securing their ship for
foul weather. Close by, Ladro and Min-ta were talking.

"It is quite possible," said Ladro, "that someone aboard has broken a
law of the great Kondaro, and the kontars have gone to report the sin."
He glanced at Musa calculatingly.

"Yes," agreed Min-ta, "we--"

An officer, hurrying along the deck, stopped. "All passengers will have
to go below," he said. "We're in for bad weather, and don't want to lose
anyone overboard."

"Could this be the wrath of Kondaro?" asked Ladro.

The officer glanced at him questioningly. "It could be, yes. Why?"

Again, Ladro cast a look at Musa, then he caught the seaman by the arm,
pulling him aside. The two engaged in a low-toned conversation,
directing quick glances at Musa. At last, the officer nodded and went
aft, to approach one of the slaves of Kondaro.

Musa started across the deck to the ladder, his heart thudding
painfully. Surely, he thought, he had done nothing to offend even the
most particular of deities. Yet, the implications of Ladro's glances and
his conversation with the ship's officer were too obvious for even the
dullest to misinterpret. Musa took a long, shuddering breath.

His fears on that other day had been well grounded, then.

He gazed at the lowering sky, then out at the waves. Where could a lone,
friendless man find help in this waste of wind and water?

Slowly, he climbed down the ladder leading to his tiny cubicle.

Once inside, he again started checking over his personal items. There
was nothing there to help. Hopelessly, he looked at the collection in
the chest, then he got out a scroll of prose and went to the central
table to read in an effort to clear his mind of the immediate
circumstan