Asodo Hatch left Pan Lay, the fine house which the Lady Iro
Murasaki maintained on the heights of Cap Gargle, and descended by
means of the Escadar Steps to the administrative quarter of Bon
Tray. His intent was to route himself past the Grand Arena to Cap
Uba and his own home on the Eastern Knoll.
        As Hatch went down the Escadar Steps, he met Scorpio Fax
coming up those steps.
        "Hatch!" said Fax. "I've been trying to get hold of you!"
        "For what?" said Hatch.
        "I have a confession to make," said Fax, with the reckless
bravado of a man who has abandoned himself to his death.
        "A confession of what?" said Hatch.
        "A confession of conspiracy," said Fax.
        "Conspiracy!" said Hatch, startled.
        Ever since Scorpio Fax had suffered a nervous breakdown,
Hatch had written him off entirely as far as the world of action
was concerned, and so was all the more disconcerted by this
knifestrike revelation.
        "Yes," said Fax. "The Unreal have been months in conspiracy,
inspired by the doctrines of Nu-chala-nuth, and I - Hatch, I was
half-convinced at first, but now - "
        "Nu-chala-nuth!" said Hatch, using the word as if it were an
obscenity. "Don't say you're tied up in all this!"
        But of course Scorpio Fax had just declared as much, and he
declared a lot more as he kept Hatch company to the bottom of the
steps.
        "I have the date of the revolution," said Fax, as they came
to the bottom of the steps.
        "And?"
        "It is scheduled for Dog Day. When the Festival of the Dogs
begins, then will revolution likewise."
        "What will be the signal for the start of the revolution?"
        "When the Dog Day drums start to beat," said Fax, "then the
killing will start."
        Then Hatch questioned him further, though not perhaps with
the depth and diligence that he should have, for a great weariness
was upon him. Since he was so heavily burdened with his own
problems, and since the empire and its emperor were of no help to
him in solving those problems, wherefore should he help either
empire or emperor? Nevertheless, he did his duty.
        "All right," said Hatch, when he had extracted from Scorpio
Fax the very last bit of usable information. "I'll take this news
to Na Sashimoko. I'll try to get you an imperial pardon. In the
meantime, I suggest you hide yourself away in the Combat College,
out of sight of your fellow revolutionaries."
        With that, Fax fled, and Hatch set out for the imperial
palace of Na Sashimoko.
        At the palace, he would demand an audience with the emperor;
and, once that audience was granted to him, he would report on the
revolution which was brewing, and ... did he dare? Yes! He would
appraise the emperor of his own financial difficulties, and ask
the emperor, quite frankly, for money - either as free gift or
loan.
        Such was Hatch's plan, though he did not have much hope of
success, for the Silver Emperor was known for his tight fist. One
of Plandruk Qinplaqus's favorite sayings was that "power is its
own reward"; and in accordance with that saying he advised those
who were closest to his heart to regard the air they breathed as
the greater part of their corporeal reward. Furthermore, the
emperor had long maintained his most savage punishments for the
corrupt, and was never willing to turn a blind eye to those who
discovered ways to enrich themselves by subtlely exploiting their
positions.
        The emperor's stinginess was not without reason, for, as
emperors went, he was far from being rich. Though the imperial
silver mines were reputed to produce prodigious wealth, their
output had been grossly exaggerated by the speculative. The
emperor's finances were supported largely by taxation, and
Parengarenga was essentially a poor land, its people few, its soil
infertile and its distances vast.
        Thus the ruler of the City of Sun practiced a financial
frugality scarcely to be distinguished from miserliness, and it
was hard to say that the emperor was wrong in this. The state
possessed no cornucopia for the generation of wealth, hence any
benevolence shown to one citizen must necessarily add to the
burdens of others. Nevertheless, Hatch had quite come to the end
of his own resources, and so was determined to ask for charity.
        Though Asodo Hatch was tolerably well paid as a captain of
the Imperial Guard, and though he was able to supplement his
income by marketing things bought inside Cap Foz Para Lash with
his Combat College pay, he had nevertheless been brought to the
point of ruin by one simple fact: the price of opium.
        His wife was ill; she had cancer. Her disease was terminal,
incurable. The only treatment was pain relief, and the only
adequate source of such relief was opium, ever the most sovereign
of drugs for the relief of suffering.
        Yet opium was sourced - well, Hatch was not sure where it was
sourced, and he had not been able to find anyone who was. It came
from a particular kind of poppy, that much he knew. But the flower
in question was not cultivated in Dalar ken Halvar. Rather, opium
came to the city by way of trade - brought from Yestron, some
said, while others claimed Argan to be its source.
        The drugprice had brought Hatch to the brink of financial
disaster, and left him helpless to rescue his sister from the
consequences of her irresponsibility.
        So, as Hatch made his way to Na Sashimoko, he was full of
thoughts of his own personal struggle, and these thoughts were
scarcely diminished by his meeting with a detachment of the
Imperial Guards who were armed as if for war. Hatch had a hurried
consultation with the leader of this detachment, and was told that
Dalar ken Halvar had just received word of an uprising amongst the
slaves of the silver mines which lay ten leagues to the south.
        The slaves were making their revolution in the name of Nu-
chala-nuth.
        "That is terrible," said Hatch. "Terrible, terrible,
terrible."
        But he said it for the sake of form, for the pressures of his
own personal life were such that right at that moment he felt that
all Dalar ken Halvar could have burnt to the ground without adding
to his worries. In fact, if the moneylender Polk were to be burnt
with the city, then his worries might be substantially reduced.
        Nevertheless, having met with that detachment of Imperial
Guards, and having received their alarming intelligence, Asodo
Hatch quickened his step as he hastened on toward the imperial
palace of Na Sashimoko.