A poster had been stuck up all over the Dives and the harbor. It sported a crude illustration of a man with dark skin, crazed eyes and an impressive hook for a hand.

It read:

----------

WANTED

[picture]

For crime spree! Theft and burglary!
Cloves stolen from area bakeries and spice houses
REWARD!
DEAD OR ALIVE

"Alioe damn it all!" Angel fumed as she looked at the sign from beneath the hood of her jacket. Turning to Iale, a deep-set frown broke her smooth features. "I've about clocking 'ad it with these signs!"

At the diminutive piratess's suggestion, the two had traversed down to the dock in search of answers, clues, or a good mix of both. Looking up at the sky, Angel spread her arms and struck a pose, "What did I do, eh? Sure, I'm a rapscallion and an out-right thief, but one does what they 'ave to to make a livin'! There was that time in Thul Ka, and that buggerin idiot in Old Rose, and I won't go inta my old stompin' grounds burning to the ground... but the three years I spent piecin' meself back together ought to count for somethin! mi'right?" Alioe was not forthcoming with responses today.

"Who ye talkin' to, then?" said Iale, raising an eyebrow. "This is good news, right? Means he's still in the city. Look here..."

She squinted at a list of businesses near the bottom of the poster. They were printed in tiny letters, but she could make out a few of them.

"Looks like he hit the Island Bakery, someplace called Roger's House of Buns an' Andale Spices," she read, pronouncing the words carefully. "An' we know he hit that Allcream place. My guess is he's runnin' outta suppliers."

"Oh aye, now we know what e's been up to," Angel sighed, "but now every blighter in Vienda does, and this means that the Seventen is on the look out. It just means more competition for us..."

Angel thought for a moment and gently ran her finger over her bottom lip. "Ah, there's no way around it. We'll have to pay another visit to the License Office and get a list of all the establishments wot deal in spices. Then there's the Customs Office to find out who ships and receives cloves... and we have to do it all without garnering suspicion..."

Iale slumped down on the ground dejectedly. The thought of all that red tape in the way of finding her Captain tore her heart up. Why had he changed so much in so short a time? The only thing that hadn't changed about him, it seemed, was his instinct to steal what he wanted...

Suddenly, a light went off in her head.

"I got it!" she yelled, jumping up. "We can't go through all that. He'd be buggered off by the time we got it done, for sure. No, we've got to make him come to us!"

The Piratess's eyes glinted with mischief. "Aye, I see what you mean. What if a new store opened that just happened to specialize in cloves..." A grin tugged the corner of her lips. "Then we'd just need to go to the License office and rent a space for a day or two... I'd hope it doesn't take him that long."

For a moment she looked askance, "You think he might get suspicious? I mean, he is acting erratic, but do you think that would make him fool enough?"

"We don't have to start a new shop, lass," said Iale craftily. "We just put up some signs, see. Billows is a grand ol' Captain but he ain't a genius, if ye get my drift. It's worth a shot."

Angel laughed, a rough sound but strangely hearty. "We'll let's get goin! We've got some work t'do if we're gonna make posters and get them up around town!" The sky pirate winked at Iale with a mischievous grin that rivaled her diminutive companion's.