Mangus Lo laughed, raising his arms over his head as he leaned back in his silver throne. “I could wish for no brighter news to begin the day. He is being taken to Ahkmau, surely?” “Yes, your Excellence,” the Rojok officer reported, but he was sweating. “Good. I will send my personal emissary to bring him back here!” There was a hesitation. “There is a…very small problem.” “Small problem? What small problem?” The officer swallowed. Hard. “He has, temporarily, only temporarily, managed to secrete himself somewhere aboard the ship.” “And?” came the impatient reply. “We are searching his ship, of course,” the younger Rojok said quickly. “It is only a matter of time until he is discovered.” Mangus Lo’s dusky face became duskier. “How can the ship’s commander hide, even aboard his own vessel?”
