One: Barkle on the Hunt

His name was Marcus Barkle and he was nearly two centuries old.

For reasons that no one but himself understood -- he was an obsessively secretive creature -- Barkle looked exactly like a smallish, round-faced, ten-year-old boy.

This fact served him well, for he was a Master of Shrouds, a wire-walker. He was Lord of Sails aboard a dreamclipper called the Blue Oriole.

Exactly what this profession entailed, and why it was a distinct advantage to be so small and slight, we shall explain in due time.

For now, it is enough to know that in Barkle's own estimation, the most important element of his trade was the hunt.

Two days prior to these events, the Blue Oriole had descended the aurora tide to the surface of a world called Nail.

As the name implies, it was a bleak place, dotted at intervals with mining towns and ore refineries.

Some of Nail's factories were so vast and noxious that one could see their flickering and belching from orbit.

It was said by sailors that you could smell Nail on the currents of Dream, if you were downwind and the day were tranquil enough.

What was certain was that you could smell it well enough from the streets of Piketon, the world's chief port of call.

It was the only downharbor in the constellation where a ship like the Oriole could make major repairs.

A reek of rust and coal smoke hung over the blunt, brick-faced buildings, blocking out any glint of the dream pattern swirling overhead.

Barkle sat on a wine barrel outside a chandlery, chewing a rope of katsch and watching the pale, hard faces go by.

To the casual eye, he seemed to be loafing, an indentured boy perhaps who had finagled a free afternoon, or the shirking son of a low-caste merchant.

He wore tattered canvas breeches and a patched shirt several sizes too large.

The expression on his face was a mixture of laziness, self-satisfaction and oafish stupidity. In point of fact, of course, he was studying the passers-by keenly.

He was poised, ready to move on an instant's notice.

In a word, Barkle was on the hunt.

Next: Parrots & Kings