Achille was very much ready to be done with Venezia. He had just one last duty to perform, and then he could get back to someplace where it wasn't damp all the time and people could be trusted. But that one last task still remained to be done, and it was not going to be easy.

He was looking at his options and making his plan -- or what passed for a plan under the circumstances -- when he heard a knock at the door of the old tavern.

"Who is it?" he asked.

"Saturnines. Here on behalf of Signor Foscari."

Achille unbarred the door and let the man in. A few things about his appearance struck Achille immediately: Saturnines was rather foppishly dressed, in fact even more so than Achille recalled from the last time he had seen him. He also was wearing a sword -- an old-style heavy bladed rapier. This was not a normal thing for Saturnines.

"Hello Saturnines. I am grateful Signor Foscari got our message," said Achille. "Is there any possibility of some help with this situation?"

Saturnines looked around the shabby tavern common room with the expression of someone who was trying to not to breath in a bad smell. Then he looked at Achille and smiled that greasy sort of ingratiating smile that stewards and head-waiters tend to specialize in.

"Indeed he did. But he already had been making some preparations. He has his own set of informants, you know -- much better than those his son has cultivated, of course -- and he was assuming you would be in need of some assistance with the process."

"How much do you know?"

"We know that Mercury Gandt is leaving on a ship for Ravenna this morning, and that when he gets there he will be traveling to Roma on some assignment for the Sbirri. We also know that some police operatives will be following him, just to make sure things turn out to their satisfaction. And judging from your message, it would seem that is part of your problem."

"Exactly. We too were given the impression that someone would be tailing Signor Gandt, and my job is to delay those fellows enough to make sure they don't get on that ship to Ravenna. Devi is on her way to get on that ship as well, to make sure Don Mercurio keeps going in the direction we want him him to...but if those Sbirri men are also on board, the riskiness of this enterprise is vastly increased. Does Signor Foscari have some resources he can make available to me?"

Saturnines smiled a thin, wicked little smile. "Oh yes indeed, he does. Quite a few resources actually...and quite honestly, we think we can do better than merely delaying those Sbirri fellows for a little while. Much, much better, in fact..."

********************

The sun was just coming up as Arrigo Rinaldi and one of his men were proceeding along on their way through the dimly lit streets, heading towards the wharf on the lagoon. The Sbirri officer was feeling pretty good about his decision to follow Mercury Gandt to Roma himself. If there was indeed a large shipment of muskets for Hungarian rebels in that city, he wanted to see it with his own eyes, as he had with the heavy bronze cannon that had already been intercepted, inspected, and then sent on their way. He wanted there to be no mistakes, and he wanted to be as certain as possible that the Conte Foscari's suspicious secret activities actually were all about helping rebels who would hurt Austria. and not about something that might be dangerous to the Republic, such as consorting with freemasons.

The man he had picked to go with him was no genius, but he would come in handy, especially as they would be traveling through the Papal states, which these days were beset with banditi and desperate, unpredictable peasantry. He wasn't sure of the man's real name...everyone at headquarters just called him "Burly" or "that really big guy." Both were apt descriptions. Rinaldi was confident he would have no issues with mere banditi or simple peasants along the way, thanks to Burly.

As they came to a corner, they noticed a very shapely, attractive young lady. She seemed to be concerned about something, and she requested their assistance, assuring them it would not take long. They had plenty of time to get to the ship...and besides the lady was very, very pretty, so with very little convincing, they agreed to follow the young woman through a dark passageway...

The lady was in fact, the young and undeniably pretty wife of the elder Signor Foscari. And the fact that she accosted these two men at this particular time and on this particular corner was no coincidence....

~