The woman was shaking in fear now. "Cliodhna McPhearson-- she was an IRA terrorist! That woman (pointing to Amber) got in our way so we had to kill her!" Amber uses all her willpower to keep her face calm and not betray an ounce of nervousness. Markova turns to face Amber.
"McPhearson...McPhearson..that's your surname isn't it?" Markova opens his mouth to ask another question when suddenly he feels himself being pulled between the world of the dead and the living.
"Lord Markova..."
"Not now, you fools!" Markova growls, but then the pulling happens again.
"Lord Markova, we have the soul you asked for." Markova sighs, tells Amber and the guards that he will return in a moment, and disappears.
In the world of the living, Markova appears to the group of Nephandi who have been trying to summon him. The leader walks forward holding a glowing sphere and lifts it out to Markova. Markova takes it and peers at it. Pleased that it is the soul he demanded they bring him, he motions for the leader to come closer. "Because you found this soul I will not kill all of you. Because you disturbed me a second time..." he grabs the leader by the throat and takes him with him back into the world of the dead. The leader bursts into flame and burns away into ash. Back in his bedroom, Markova releases the sphere into the air and a tall, blonde Roman officer appears before him. "Cassius, my old friend." Markova smiles and nods, and Cassius smiles and nods back, notices Amber on the bed and the shaking woman barely standing, and quickly walks from the room.
Markova turns back to Amber. "Where were we...ah yes, McPhearson. That is your surname, isn't it Amber?" Markova takes a step closer to the bed. "Who is this Cliodhna mcPhearson to you?"
Amber looks at him without fear-- she knew this moment would come sometime-- and answers in a perfectly calm voice, "she is my little sister."
Back in the hospital, Ahura turns to her servants and commands them to ready her barge. As she's leaving, Brianna tells the group that they have to hurry to find Matthew's soul in the Tempest. Ahura turns to Brianna and says in an icy voice, "no, he is mine!" and she and her guards rush from the hospital. Brianna looks at her in surprise, and then the ball of light that is Amon's soul grows brighter until he is standing there before them. He tells them that he will be joining their group, and that they'd better hurry and find Cliodhna so they can go after Matthew's soul. The group quickly agrees, and takes off.
Meanwhile, Cliodhna watches Jack sobbing over Marie-Claire's body and wants to hug him and cry with him, but she has the matter of Amon's body to worry about. She converses urgently with the newly-dead Angelo about what they should do with the body, when suddenly a long black car screetches into the driveway, and two men dressed in black suits jump out and run into the house. Cliodhna and Angelo watch wordlessly as the men pick up Amon's body and run back to the car with it, put it inside, and screetch back out into the street and drive off. Cliodhna suddenly remembers Matthew and the rest of the cohort, leans down to Jack and tells him she's so sorry and that she has to go now, and she and Angelo run out into the street.
As they continue running towards Matthew's house, they meet up with Brianna and the rest of the cohort. The two groups exchange stories, and Brianna expressed their urgent need to find Matthew's soul as quickly as possible. When Cliodhna hears that they will be racing Ahura to find it, she is determined not to let that...woman...find him! Angelo takes off to go to the Renegades, Jonny and Ray jump into Jonny's car, Cliodhna sprouts her wings, and they all follow quickly after Brianna on her horse.
As the group arrives at the docks, they see that there's a big ceremony going on. The brand-new ship that will replace the Ulysses-- christened the Chesapeake-- is about to leave for Stygia on its maiden voyage, and the anecerons are all taking turn speaking about the greatness of the city and of this new ship while a large crowd of people watches and cheers. The group continues to watch, wondering how they're going to be able to grab any kind of sailing vessel and leave at this point, until a soldier approaches Cliodhna and tells her that the governor wishes to speak with her. She tells the group to wait there for her, and goes with the soldier.
The soldier takes her up to the speaking platform where the governor has just come down from giving his speech, and introduces her to the governor. He is in high spirits, and tells her he's honored to finally meet her. He tells her that her cohort has been chosen to act as the ship's protection on its way to Stygia and back. Cliodhna gets suspicious that her corhort is being distracted-- taken out of the way-- perhaps so the governor can freely attack the Renegades while they're gone, so she graciously thanks the governor for his confidence in her and her legionnaires, but asks if they wouldn't be more needed here in New York in case of another attack? The governor lets her know-- in a friendly way-- that they WILL accompany the ship, that he has every confidence that they will be successful in their mission, and that this will be a faster way to move up the chain of command. Cliodhna's ears perk up at this, and she thanks him for the great honor and tells him that he won't be disappointed for selecting them...realizing that she never really had a choice to begin with!
Cliodhna meets back up with the cohort and tells them about their new assignment. They decide that once they get on board, they will either force or bribe the captain to take them where they want to go first. Amon tells them that he will wait back in New York, and again stresses that they must get to Matthew's soul first. The cohort meets the captain, boards the ship, and they're off into the Tempest.
Once they get out a little ways, Aaron leaves to speak with the captain, and Brianna uses her connection to Atepa to search across the Tempest for Matthew. Suddenly a vision comes upon her. She sees Matthew's soul floating in the middle of the gray murk. Their ship and another ship approach quickly from opposite sides, each one racing to get to Matthew first. Then the murk under Matthew starts bubbling violently, and a Roman soldier springs from the water, grabs Matthew, and pulls him under. Brianna jolts from her vision and stands up in a panic. She tells the group about her vision, and they all feel panic tugging at them. Brianna and Cliodhna race to the front of the ship and search everywhere but can't see a thing. Then the two women join their minds-- Brianna's seeking the soul she's bound to, and Cliodhna's maneuvering through the Tempest-- and Brianna realizes that Matthew's soul hasn't yet crossed over to their realm. She visibly relaxes some, but spends the rest of the journey to Stygia constantly monitoring for Matthew's arrival.
The ship finally pulls into the Stygian docks, and some large men hurry onto the ship and leave carrying a large crate. When the group wonders out loud what's in the crate, Aaron tells them that he had a talk with the captain, that the crate was to be delivered to the Smiling Lord, himself, that the two of them had opened the crate, saw the great Charon's mask, robe, and scythe inside, and quickly nailed the crate shut again. The cohort was concerned about this-- what was the Smiling Lord up to?? As they walked down the ramp from the ship to the land, they noticed a large statue of Charon with an inscription that said, "Dedicated to those who in 1945 stood between light and darkness." Charon seemed to be very important to the history of this island...why did the Smiling Lord want his reaper-items? Before they could ponder about this further, the former governor Dieter, himself, approached to congratulate them on the successful maiden-voyage of the Chesapeake.
Cliodhna was glad to see him! She told him about the problems with Daniel, the new governor's desire to destroy the Renegades, and the sudden high spectre-activity in the city. Dieter also looked very concerned-- especially about the new governor breaking the peace treaty with the Renegades. He told Cliodhna that he had always thought that Paul would make a good governor and accompanied that statement with a meaningful look, and Cliodhna nodded at him in agreement. She mentioned that she'd put in a petition with the Office of Inquisition to look in on Daniel, and Dieter nodded thoughtfully. She then asked Dieter why he thought he'd been summoned to Stygia, and he answered matter-of-factly that he was to work with the Smiling Lord personally. She asked if he knew who had been the one to put the new governor in charge, and Dieter answered that the Smiling Lord had done that. Cliodhna started thinking, and offered the idea that maybe the new governor was really the Smiling Lord, himself, come to take city-matters into his own hands. Dieter didn't think that sounded possible, but Cliodhna thought it would neatly explain why the Grim Legion's numbers were expanding so fast.
Aaron piped in and told Dieter about what they found in the crate and asked him why the Smiling Lord would want Charon's equipment. Dieter thought for a moment, and then told them about the Stygian legend that when Charon finally returns he will take up his sickle and cloak and become emperor. The cohort looked around at each other, everything starting to become perfectly clear. The Smiling Lord is holding the reigns of New York, but he has his sights on a much bigger crown. Dieter excused himself to go back to his work, and the cohort decided to take a little tour of the island.
They soon found Bran-- premiere blacksmith of Stygia-- and commissioned armor from him. Cliodhna was able to pay for hers up front, and walked away with a perfectly-crafted set of black chainmail. As the others made their orders, Cliodhna excused herself to go check on her petition with the Office of Inquisition. Upon arriving there and giving them her name and business, she was escorted back to the man assigned to Daniel's case-- a man called the Puritan. They had a cordial meeting where the Puritan asked Cliodhna many detailed questions about Daniel's behavior, and Cliodhna eagerly answered. The Puritan told her that this case sounded like it needed his immediate attention, and he was leaving for New York immediately. She asked if he knew where Richard was staying, and he answered that Richard had left for New York a few days before. She thanked him, and they parted ways.
The group met up later that day to share what they'd been up to. In order to pay for their armor, Ray had been giving personalized dreams to high-payers, Brianna had been reading peoples' fates, Jonny had performed a concert and would be performing another one that night, and Aaron had been up to his usual spectre-hunting. Brianna said a bit excitedly that she'd been approached by both the Smiling Lord, himself, and the Quiet Lord-- both had paid for her Fatalism services. When she'd looked into the Smiling Lord's future, she saw the Cohort standing on an island, and when she looked out she saw many Amenti ships approaching. She heard a roaring-sound, looked overhead and saw a missile flying through the air, and then a glint as something with golden shoulders walked by. The Smiling Lord pondered this vision, and then finally thanked her and said it had been most informative. When she looked into the Quiet Lord's future, she saw him looking out of the window of his tower in Stygia, seeing all the Amenti ships approaching. He seemed very disturbed by the vision, but thanked her and left.
As the group was pondering these visions, word started spreading across Stygia that the Amenti had attacked and detroyed the port city of Marseilles, France-- no one knew why. Cliodhna figured that once Atepa was back in the Shadowlands, he could clear this whole mess up with the Amenti. She also wondered how long until Amon would be with them, as well. That night Jonny played a hugely successful concert, and when the next day dawned, the group returned to Bran's forge and paid for the rest of their armor. Then the group went back to the docks and Brianna and Cliodhna combined skills again to search across the Tempest. This time Brianna finally detected Matthew's lifeforce! The group hurriedly boarded the ship, telling the captain that they had to leave immediately. After a few quick words to his crew, the captain had the ship sailing back into the Tempest.
Brianna and Cliodhna worked feverishly to locate Matthew's soul, and soon they could see him in the distance! As they continued to approach, suddenly an Amenti ship came out of the mist towards them. With no time to lose, Cliodhna sprouted her wings and flew to Matthew who was struggling with his caul. She grabbed him under the arms, and as she was lifting him out of the "water," it started bubbling violently. A hand shot out and grabbed Cliodhna's ankle just as she flickered back onto the Chesapeake. As she appeared above the deck, a blonde Roman soldier let go of Cliodhna's ankle and dropped onto the ship. The cohort and crew immediately drew their weapons and ran at him, and just when they were about to reach him, he smiled and jumped back into the Tempest.
Cliodhna set Matthew gently down on the deck, and Brianna immediately knelt down by his side and removed the caul. Matthew looked almost the same, much to the group's confusion. Wasn't he supposed to be an adult Egyptian man? Cliodhna looked out at the Amenti ship, and when she looked back at Matthew he suddenly looked...older. Brianna looked concerned-- Matthew wasn't responding to her at all. He didn't seem to be able to see or hear or speak.
Just then the water in front of the Chesapeake started bubbling again-- this time more violently and in greater profusion-- and the ship hit something...large. Suddenly a huge sea-serpent's head broke through the Tempest and reared over the ship! Aaron grinned, activated his new super-speed, and ran at the monster. Brianna quickly grabbed Matthew, helped him to his feet, and took him below decks. Cliodhna ordered the crew to fire a warning-shot at the Amenti ship, and they skillfully fired a shot over its decks. This didn't have the desired effect-- the Amenti ship starting coming at the Chesapeake, meaning to ram her. The group held on as the ship rammed into the side of their ship. Aaron was actually hacking the sea-monster to pieces, and Brianna was begging Atepa/Matthew to come back to her. As the Amenti ship lodged itself into the Chesapeake, the crews of both ships engaged in battle. Aaron finished off the sea-monster just as Cliodhna spotted Ahura on the Amenti ship.
Ahura shouted for the cohort to release her father to her, and they shouted back a few choice words of refusal. Suddenly both ships noticed a third ship bearing down on them-- it was the Ulysses! The Ulysses fired several shots at the Amenti ship, which made almost everyone standing lose their balance and fall to the floor. The Amenti ship quickly disengaged itself from the Chesapeake and began to flee from the Ulysses. Water started pouring into the lower decks of the Chesapeake, and Brianna rushed up the stairs with Matthew in tow. The Ulysses pulled up alongside the Chesapeake, and everyone jumped onto the Ulysses. Suddenly Brianna remembered that her horse was belowdecks, ran back down, freed her, jumped on her back, and the horse jumped up the stairs and onto the decks of the Ulysses just in time-- the Chesapeake sank below the waves soon after.
Hans-- captain of the Ulysses-- turned the ship around and started chasing after the Amenti ship. Just when they were about to catch them, the fog parted and before them was a whole fleet of Amenti ships! Hans quickly turned the Ulysses around again, activated its great speed, and fled off into the Tempest heading back to New York.
The rest of the trip home was uneventful. Brianna worked with Matthew for many hours, and he finally seemed to be coming around. He could see and hear, but still wouldn't speak. Brianna was close to tears most of this time-- where was her love Atepa inside? Why wouldn't he come out? She tried to get him to use the Wraithly skills he had once possessed, but she couldn't figure out how to help him remember how to use them. She had even kissed him, but humiliatingly, nothing had happened. Then Jonny came down to the lower deck with his guitar and started playing for Matthew. Matthew got very excited, opened his mouth, and sang back exactly what Jonny had played! Jonny was thrilled! He wanted to start up his band again with Matthew! Cliodhna and the others came down the stairs and starting watching this new development. Jonny and Matthew started playing and singing back and forth to each other, and then Matthew would run up to someone else, take their hand, and sing back the song that person was thinking of. This was too much for Brianna-- she had been working for hours with Matthew with almost no results, and then Jonny-- a stranger to Matthew-- waltzes in and get this huge response from him!
When Matthew sang back the songs that Ray and Cliodhna were thinking of, the songs had such an emotional impact that both cohort-members had to excuse themselves. Cliodhna's song had been the lullaby her mother had most-often sang to her growing up. Her Shadow had been unusually mean and cruel lately, telling her that her mother had joined Markova and was sleeping with him now. She told the voice repeatedly to shut up-- that she had told her mother to ascend and her mother had, and that's why she wasn't with Turtle anymore. The voice cackled and told her that soon she would find out that it was right about her mother, but Cliodhna wouldn't believe anything it said without proof. The Shadow seemed happy to take up this challenge, which only made Cliodhna roll her eyes in frustration and continue to try to tune the voice out.
Cliodhna noticed Matthew and his entourage come up onto the decks and go from crew-member to crew-member, singing AND playing Jonny's guitar. Everyone seemed very taken with him, and even offered Matthew their own musical instruments for him to try. Brianna had finally had enough, and ran back down to be alone and brush her horse. The rest of the cohort went to various crew-members to learn new skills. Jonny met with an old African American man named Shep who began teaching him Moliate, and who the cohort soon grew fond of. Aaron decided that he wanted to learn something that only Brianna could teach, so he went down below to approach her about teaching him. Within a minute Cliodhna heard shouting, a thud, and then Aaron came storming back into the deck. Cliodhna shook her head, and decided to keep an eye on Matthew while Brianna was working out her feelings. What WAS going on with Matthew? Matthew continued to age throughout the rest of the voyage, and by the time they reached New York he appeared to be in his early 20s.
After the Ulysses docked and the cohort left the ship, Brianna took Matthew and fled somewhere where they would hopefully be safe from Ahura, and Cliodhna went to the Hierarchy Hall to report back to the governor. The rest of the cohort went about their own business. Cliodhna was shown into the governor's office, and as she entered she saw that he was facing the window and brooding. She told him that they had successfully taken the ship to Stygia and delivered the cargo, but on the way back they had been rammed by an Amenti ship and attacked by a sea-serpent. Aaron had destroyed the sea-serpent, and the Ulysses had come on the scene and rescued the crew of the Chesapeake just before the Chesapeake had sunk. They had chased the Amenti ship and discovered a whole army of Amenti ships waiting in the Tempest. The governor turned around, his face stormy. He asked Cliodhna pointedly if they had failed in their mission? She said that the cargo had been successfully delivered, and he interrupted her and asked again if she had failed her mission. She replied coolly that the odds had been too great for anyone to overcome, but if his definition of failure was the loss of the ship, then yes, they had failed. The governor began to pace back and forth, and she quickly informed him about the Amenti attack on Marseille. This completely surprised the governor, and he dismissed Cliodhna telling her that he intended to question the Amenti immediately about their actions. Cliodhna nodded and left his office.
As Cliodhna was leaving the building, she ran into none other than Ahura. Ahura pointed at her and said accusingly "you!" and Cliodhna glared at her and growled "bitch!" and drew her gladius. Guards ran forward and restrained Cliodhna and Ahura before they could start fighting, and within a minute the governor was outside asking what was going on. Ahura said that Cliodhna and her cohort had kidnapped an Amenti citizen and they demanded he be returned. The governor asked Cliodhna what she had to say to that, and she answered that on their way home they had happened across a cauled soul, brought him aboard before a spectre could take him, and when they'd reached New York they'd parted ways. The governor asked Cliodhna where the rest of her cohort was, and she said that they had been given personal leave for the rest of the day. Ahura told the governor that Cliodhna was lying, and that she knew where the Amenti was. Cliodhna laughed and said that Ahura was crazy and unstable and had earlier accused her of being the "daughter of evil." The governor asked Ahura what she had to say to that, and Ahura said that all they wanted was their citizen back and they would withdraw their ships. The governor decided that he had no choice but to detain Cliodhna until all the cohort members could be brought in for questioning, and Cliodhna was taken and locked in a cell, much to her anger.
Soon Ray and Jonny joined her in the cell. They were informed that Aaron and Brianna couldn't be found, so they would continue to be held until those two were found. The hours dragged on, and then each of them were taken into separate rooms and interrogated by the Puritan, himself. The cohort was strong and sneaky, and no one revealed anything incriminating about the situation. This only served to further frustrate the hierarchs, so they came to the decision to release Ray so he could go try to find the rest of the cohort, himself. They warned him that if he didn't return-- or if he returned without Aaron and Brianna-- that the cohort would be ordered to be soul-forged. Ray left, and the waiting began.
Hours and hours went by...Jonny helped pass the time by singing, and soon Cliodhna was singing along with him. She paced back and forth in front of the bars, and then saw someone approach. It was Daniel! She called out to him and he walked up and stood in front of her. She whispered that they had found Matthew's soul, and he chuckled and said that they knew. There was something weird about Daniel...he had an odd look in his eye. Cliodhna asked how he knew, and he smiled and said that the master knew everything. Cliodhna stood motionless for a moment as his words sank in, and then shrieked and lunged at him, swiping between the bars. Daniel ducked the blow and stepped back. Cliodhna spit at him and yelled that she would kill him, and Daniel chuckled again and said "not from in there you won't," and asked harshly where they had taken the boy. Cliodhna folded her arms and said that she had no idea. Daniel said that he would have a little talk with her Shadow then, and Cliodhna welcomed him to it. Daniel and the Shadow conversed beyond Cliodhna's perception, and a smile started on Daniel's face and began to grow. When they were done, Daniel chuckled, turned on his heel, and left.
Cliodhna had to continue pacing and cursing under her breath to calm down as Jonny hummed some of his favorite church hymns. More hours went by and Cliodhna started feeling the frustration and despair that comes with helplessness. Just as she thought she would go crazy she heard voices down the hall. She ran to the bars and peered down the corridor. There was the guard who was posted at the cell, and then she saw three other men coming towards him. Could it be...? Ray? And Old Shep and Friday? She watched motionless as they drew their weapons on the guard and forced him to give them his keys, and the next thing she knew the door was open and she and Jonny were free! Ray showed them where their armor and weapons were stored, and the cohort-members went invisible and ran out of the jail while the crew-members of the Ulysses snuck back to their ship.
What a sight met their eyes! There was so much wind-- a huge storm! They hurried towards the docks as fast as they could, and saw a tornado filled with spectres! Thousands of legionnaries were waiting to attack, and more were coming over from Ellis Island. As the tornado dissipated, the spectres jumped out everywhere and the battle began. Suddenly Cliodhna spotted Brianna on her horse with Matthew behind her and Aaron standing next to her-- on the other side of the fighting. She saw Aaron draw his weapons and jump eagerly into the fray, and motioned to Brianna that they would start heading for the Met and meet up there. Brianna nodded and took off on her horse. Ray-- having learned how to make wings at last-- sprouted huge black bat-wings as Cliodhna sprouted her golden-brown eagle-wings, Jonny jumped in his car, and the three of them took off for the Met.
Everyone arrived about the same time-- Brianna telling them how relieved she was to see that they had been freed, and Cliodhna telling them how relieved she was that Matthew was still safe with Brianna. She told Brianna that she knew Amon could clear this whole Amenti mess up if he could speak with the governor, and Brianna informed her that she had been spying on the Met, and Amon was being held prisoner inside by Ahura. Cliodhna muttered under her breath, and told Ray to come with her to rescue him. They went invisible and entered the Met.
It wasn't long before they were in Ahura's large receiving room, and saw Amon shackled to a far wall. Cliodhna and Ray unfolded their wings and flew over to Amon. Going visible, they told him they were there to rescue him, and Amon made some kind of sarcastic remark about how they had taken long enough! They took their gladiuses from their sheaths and each swung at a chain, severing it. Now the guards were alerted and started running towards them. Claudia hooked her arms under Amon's, and she and Ray flew straight up and through the roof. A thrown spear grazed Amon's arm, but didn't do him any damage. They landed next to Brianna on her horse out front, and then the entire group hurried back to the docks to join in the fighting.
Everything at the docks was in chaos. Aaron was slashing his way through spectres like a bladed blur, and Brianna immediately started searching the crowds for any of the Five-- especially Longtooth. Jonny and Ray jumped into the fight, and that's when Cliodhna saw Daniel and ran at him. The governor was fighting that same blond Roman soldier who had almost taken Matthew in the Tempest, but the Roman was much too strong for him. Their fight was over quickly, and the Hierarchs watched helplessly as the Roman beat the governor down into submission, opened his mouth wide, and sucked the governor's soul away. Paul shouted "no!" and ran swinging against the Roman. Again it was obvious that the Roman was the more powerful of the two, but this time Aaron jumped in and helped Paul hack at the Roman. The Roman realized that he was now the one who was overpowered, and again jumped back into the Tempest. Now Paul and Aaron stood back-to-back and fought as one-- destroying any spectre who dared challenge them.
Cliodhna and Daniel fought-- each trying to force the other to sleep-- and when that didn't work, they would swing their blades, sparks flying. Clodhna made a mental note to get a better sword and learn how to use it well. Daniel again lashed out with his mind to send Cliodhna to sleep, and this time she wasn't strong enough to ward him off and her eyelids flickered as she slumped to the ground. Daniel, laughing, raised his sword, but brought it down too hastily and missed her torso, stabbing into her arm. Now Ray and the others had noticed their centurian's dilemma, and Ray was the first one to make it to the scene. Daniel again raised his sword, but as he was bringing it down, Ray flew right into his stomach, knocking the air out of Daniel as they hit the ground. When Ray jumped up to fight Daniel, he had disappeared. Ray helped Cliodhna sit up, and soon she was able to stand shakily. She thanked Ray profoundly for helping her, but felt great disappointment that Daniel had gotten the best of her and fled.
The battle soon ended with the Hierarchy slaughtering the spectres. The soldiers were cheering and eagerly scanning the area for any spectres who might be trying to sneak off. Paul came over to the cohort, and they congratulated each other on the victory. Cliodhna told Paul about how Daniel had revealed himself to be a servant of Markova, and Paul grew angry and shouted to the crowds that Daniel was a traitor to the Hierarchy and should be killed on sight. The crowd angrily shouted "death to the traitor!" Cliodhna also told Paul about her conversation with Dieter-- how he had mentioned Paul as his choice to be governor. Paul quickly shook his head and said that no, no, no he didn't want the job, but the troops were now cheering for him and applauding his leadership, so Cliodhna found something elevated to stand on and shouted out, "Paul for governor! Paul! Paul! Paul!" and the crowd quickly took up her chant. Cliodhna got back down and apologized to Paul, adding that she agreed with Dieter's choice for governor. Paul was quickly swept up by his people as they continued their chant-- his protesting cries drowned out by the crowd's excitement. Cliodhna smiled in triumph. All that she had hoped for the city had come to pass-- the governor was gone and Daniel was declared a traitor and stripped of his office! Not a bad day, after all!
Meanwhile back in the Labyrinthe...Daniel and Cassius bow before Markova.
"Did it work?" Markova asks anxiously, leaning forward.
"Beautifully!" says Cassius grinning. "We've singled out the cohort who has been giving you the most trouble."
Markova's eyes spark. "Who leads them?"
Daniel smiles, "Oh...*I* know who she is."