The North PacificBoard

Syminion walked now with a slight spring in his step. The operation that he had been working on was nearer to completion than he had ever dared hope. As he had done many times before, he walked down that same stone corridor. The security clearances he had gone through to get here was bad enough, but he scanned his hand, his retina and spoke the code. The stone door moved again as it always did, and Syminion stepped through. He stepped the few steps towards the booth, entered it, closed the door and pressed the button on the recorder before sitting down.

Once he was seated, he spoke. "12th of Akedon, 20:30. Agent Phyniskos reporting. Aminos fountain, pigeon being fed."

He rolled his shoulders back. "All the fish are blind, and none of them have done anything that sets us back. Cod and Salmon have been located and have had their statuses updated to One. Tuna is known to have left the country and we believe they are on business. Red Snapper and Turbot are still at large, although they are being hunted by fishermen. That is all."

"Very good work." came the reply, voice sounding more upbeat than usual. "Stopping Tuna's work before it is completed is of course a must. We realise that this may be very difficult, but as you no doubt have figured out, we have a window of opportunity that is still open. Your work into the whereabouts of the two other fish has been of great help, and we have narrowed down the possibilities, but they must be located without delay, given that we must act before Tuna's work is completed."

"Understood," Syminion said. "What of the Boasting Fisherman?"

"He is not revealing any more to us, but we cannot assume that this will continue. Those he has revealed have also gone on to uncover a wider network, so the scale of their operation is large. We continue to restrict all those involved, but now we rely on the mermaid rising as fast a possible. It is a pity that Tuna has decided to do this, but we must adapt."

"Understood," Syminion said again. "Nothing else to report."

Three days later, somewhere in Folgravni
The private yacht had just finished docking and a man had come to greet the crew. He spoke with them for a minute before heading inside. Thanks to the mostly glass front of the lavishly decorated house, the man could still see what was going on. The man who had spoken to the crew, who the Mzeusian assumed was a butler, addressed another man lounging on a sofa, an glass of alcohol in hand.

The man leapt up from the sofa and strode out into the sun to talk to the yacht's captain. They spoke for a while and the man took a swig of his drink, clapping the captain on the back and holding out the rest of the drink to him. The captain accepted and drunk. The two of them chucked and went inside the house.

From his position on the rocks, the Mzeusian grimaced. The arrival of the yacht signified the departure of his quarry. The man was about to go on his annual boat ride around the Folgravnian islands. It would take him a few hours to get prepared, but once he would, he would be much harder to follow. While the Mzeusian had a plan for every step of the way, this would indeed complicate things. Nevertheless, he knew what he had to do. The first stop in Turbot's little island meander would be Ferib Island, and that was where the Mzeusian would be waiting.