A chime sounded in the air about the don's head, and she spoke a command to create a circular area of one-way translucence in her door. It was a handy little spell her chief Sorreter had provided her, and to her knowledge, she was the only don in InterGang who had this one. Most others relied on personal assistants or simply on intercoms.

She activated her own intercom, and said, "Yes, Chief Milkman, what is it?" She was always tempted to just call him by his first name, Bradford. She didn't usually mind if her people chose to go by their clans' surnames, instead of choosing their own; but 'Milkman' just always seemed a bit too inappropriate for a spy in a major gang. An Adult, certainly, maybe even a dealer; but not a spy. Still, she put great stock in formality, and adhered to it even when it was sometimes annoying to her. And despite his name, he was good at his job. Besides, it would hardly do for a spy to advertise his or her profession with a truly appropriate name, she supposed....

"By your leave, Don Illuminatus, I would make my report."

"Then come."

At her words, the door opened, and Bradford Milkman entered the room. He knew from years of experience that when anyone approached the door, the don would be alerted, and that despite its constant appearance to outside observers as an ordinary wooden door, she would see through it. He also knew of the automatic intercom, with no buttons for visitors to push, and of the magic that would swing the door open at her command. Nevertheless, he rarely if ever came across such magics elsewhere, and it never ceased to amaze- and somewhat unnerve- him.

Of course, he often came across other things to amaze him elsewhere, things which would not be found here. He seldom allowed his amazement to show, especially in the presence of his don. He stopped in front of her desk, bowed, and spoke.

"My don, I am informed of the arrival in Tonad of Darius Lonewander, the Band, and their companions. They are staying at the Apple-Spruce Inn, and are expected to continue in the morning towards Shipsister. My spies are not aware of Don Breakhead's spies having yet become aware of their arrival, but no doubt they soon will, and make their report to Don Chieftain of Plist."

"Thank you, Chief Milkman. Keep a watch on them. I will have Chief Enforcer Bipolar report to you at the Apple-Spruce presently. You may then coordinate your efforts to carry out the instructions with which I will be providing him."

"Very good, my don." The chief spy bowed again, pivoted on his heel, and exited.

Don Manager of the Plist branch of InterGang had recently contacted their gang's capo to inform her that his spies had noticed his nemesis (LandOrder's don in Plist, Don Chieftain) having taken an interest in the odd party of adventurers who had now arrived in Tonad. Personally, Don Larami Illuminatus couldn't care less about them, especially since Seth Manager was interested in them. She couldn't stand the man, with his petty jealousy of Chieftain. In fact, it seemed Don Chieftain was pretty much disinterested in his InterGang counterpart, and no reason he should care about him. But Manager considered Chieftain and himself to be arch-enemies. In Illuminatus's opinion, it was a lucky thing for Manager that Chieftain didn't feel that way, for with his superior intellect, finesse, and far greater loyalty from his people than Manager would ever command in his, if Chieftain ever decided to he could probably sweep InterGang out of Plist entirely, in short order. Illuminatus almost wished he would.

Still, she felt lucky that the situation was reversed in her own village. While she didn't think much of Seth Manager, he was at least more intelligent than LandOrder's don in Tonad, Xander Breakhead, so Don Illuminatus didn't have much trouble keeping the upper hand here for InterGang. On the other hand, Breakhead did allow his people more freedom to operate on their own than did Manager, and they were mostly clever and talented people, and loyal to their don; so she couldn't ignore her ostensible chief adversary altogether. Which at least kept her from getting too bored with her duties....

...After Don Manager had contacted Capo Mysshroudedtery (a brilliant leader, but in Illuminatus's opinion, she had the most groan-inducing sense of humor), the InterGang capo had contacted all her dons and instructed them to keep an eye open for these adventurers. The trouble was, Don Illuminatus thought, sometimes the capo simply indulged Don Manager's insignificant little whims, and sometimes she seemed to suspect he had accidentally stumbled onto something important; his dumb luck was probably the only reason the capo kept him in power. And Illuminatus was rarely sure which was the case, though she was generally inclined to suspect the former, more often than not. Either way, she remained essentially loyal to her capo, and would always obey specific orders to the best of her ability.

She activated a t-mail bubble to summon her chief enforcer, Thom Bipolar. She sighed as she did so. Yet another surname she didn't like- advertising his own psychological affliction. Still, perhaps sometimes even that could be strategically utilized. And besides, like Milkman, he was good at his job. She would hardly employ anyone who wasn't.

In a bustling inn & tavern, a tall, burly man, who looked at least a decade older than his thirty-six years, briskly sauntered up to chief spy Bradford Milkman. From years of experience working with the chief enforcer, Milkman knew that was how Thom Bipolar usually moved, especially when he was upset, but he always wondered how the hell he did it. He was sure "brisk sauntering" must be a contradiction in terms, but nevertheless, he could think of no way more aptly of describing the man's walk.

Having caught sight of him immediately, he began to worry the enforcer was in a bad mood. One could rarely tell by his face, as he almost always wore an expression somewhere between depression and annoyance, even when he was happy. But as he came within earshot, Milkman's fears were confirmed by Bipolar's muted grumbling.

The chief enforcer approached the chief spy and said, "By your leave, and all that shite. What the hell am I doing here, anyway? It was my understanding that the capo's instructions were that we should observe and report, only. That's your job."

"I had been wondering the same thing, myself, Thom. And I had hoped Don Illuminatus would've given you an explanation you might share with me."

"No doubt she has a reason. Never does anything without a reason, does she? But hell, this is supposed to be my day off. Well, the next few days, actually. You know I haven't had a serious downswing in my mood in a couple weeks? I'm about due, is why I scheduled this time off. And now she goes and cancels it, and has me working late, ta boot. This is just the kind of thing to set me off, too."

"I hear LandOrder's got a new drug coming out soon that's supposed to be pretty effective against depression. I'm sure no one would mind if you tried it out, even if it is giving the competition a little business."

"Well, it ain't just depression. That's how it starts, but it's a whole sort of feeling of unfairness about life, and the world, and all. And it leads into resentment and anger and hell, maybe I should just go work for Breakhead, uh?" He flashed a rare, fleeting grin. "I can about turn into him, like, on my worse downswings."

"Hmmm...." Milkman's brow furrowed, his eyes half closed and his gaze shifted to nowhere, and he raised his forefinger to his lips. Bipolar recognized the spy's gears turning, and awaited some insight into... something. There was always something, when Milkman took this pose.

Before long, he had rejoined the world, and said, "You know... InterGang is taking an interest in these people on Don Manager's recommendation. And we all know what Don Illuminatus thinks of him. It could be that she's sent in a few enforcers in the hopes that things might become... a bit more interesting. What exactly did she tell you, anyway?"

"Not much. You and your people are supposed to keep watching them, and me and a few of my boys are supposed to be around in case there's any trouble, and stay in contact with you. I asked what kind of trouble she might be expecting, and she just said it seemed likely LandOrder would notice us watching the folks they were supposed to be watching, and they might try to stop us from watching. Something like that. You always get the feeling she's thinking something she's not saying, though. You got any idea what that might be, this time?"

"She's said nothing to me."

"Well, I often get the same feeling with you as with her, that you're not saying something. Still, I reckon I can trust you to tell me anything you think it's important for me to know."

"Naturally, Thom. Not to worry, never to worry."

"I'll try not to. But I really could use a drink, a good night's sleep, and my frickin' days off." He sighed. "Anyway, I'll be hangin' around the bar, tryin' to look like I'm havin' more fun than I am. Call me if ya need me, Bradford."

"That I shall. Do try to have a bit of fun."

Bipolar sauntered off again, grumbling.

Thom Bipolar was listening from his stool at the inn's bar. The songs were starting to depress him, and finally he ordered a drink- something he normally would never do when on duty; but of course, he didn't feel that he should even be on duty now. Sometimes alcohol would help dull his emotional pain, and sometimes it would sharpen it. Tonight, it was sharpening it. He ordered another bottle and moved to a booth. At least it was one from which he could keep an eye on both the Band and their companions, but he soon began paying less and less attention to them, and more to his own thoughts.

Meanwhile, LandOrder spy Cabbit Atwater entered the inn and spotted the Band immediately. Glancing around the room, she quickly found the others she sought, as well as a few familiar faces from InterGang. Finding as concealed a spot as she could, she quietly contacted her chief, Jasp Underground.

"Yes?" came the voice from Cabbit's t-mail bubble.

"Chief, it's Atwater. The Band an' them are here at the Apple-Spruce. Also some InterGang spies and enforcers, maybe more than I've seen. I can say for sure chief Milkman and two of his people, and a couple enforcers. What should I do?"

"Keep an eye on them. Report if anything happens. I'm coming, and I'll bring a few of our enforcers with me."

"Yes, sir. Atwater out."

Unfortunately, one of Milkman's spies, whom she hadn't noticed, had overheard her conversation, and reported it to his own chief. Since she was keeping an eye on Milkman, Cabbit became aware that she'd been spotted. There was nothing for her to do but keep watching pretty much everyone and everything in the common room, but mostly her eyes kept going to the door, waiting for reinforcements.

Meanwhile, Bradford Milkman let his people watch things, while he focused his mind solely on what to do now. Part of him said to call Don Illuminatus, but he knew from experience that until anything actually happened, she'd want him to make decisions on his own. And even then, whatever happened would have to be something pretty big before she'd want him to call. Besides- Thom had been entirely correct, he had suspected Illuminatus's motive, and thought it best not to share his suspicion with the chief enforcer, lest he spoil his boss's plan. Whether he agreed with it or not.

In his booth, Bipolar was quite unaware of any of this. His mood was quickly going into full downswing, and it wouldn't take much to set him off. The Band was now in the middle of their penultimate song for the evening, and it was reminding Thom of a woman he'd once loved and been left by. He was sobbing now, and when he had finished his latest drink, he hurtled the bottle at the stage. It shattered, throwing shards of glass in all directions. Ginger was hit in the leg by one shard, and though not too serious, her cut began to bleed. A brawl ensued. After awhile, the door burst open, and in rushed five enforcers from LandOrder, along with several spies and Don Breakhead himself. The latter headed straight for Bipolar, for he knew he was the one who most evenly matched InterGang's chief enforcer in strength. The others went to help against the rest of InterGang's enforcers, while Milkman contacted Illuminatus to let her know what was happening. She seemed (as Milkman had expected) to be unsurprised, and to be rather poorly hiding her pleasure at the turn of events. All she said, however, was that she'd send reinforcements straight away. Meanwhile, the battle was going in LandOrder's favor, and Chief Underground escorted the Chaos party outdoors....

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