The Grand Ceremony:

Kris Tamora hated hospitals - always had, always would. It was like schools - they all smelt the same, left him confused as to why he was there... and suspicious that they would not let him leave.

For this reason, visiting the sedate corridors and quiet rooms of Sihnons exclusive Hospital, the Lao-Tzu, was a brave act. On the other hand, it was also seemed pretty fruitless. As he slipped quietly into the private room where the tranquillised pilot was laid up, Tamora could see almost immediately that the pilot was "sleeping" and he was not alone. The owner of the voice was a man sat on a sturdy looking chair. He had a similar wiry build to Kris but he was older, he was toying with a pen in the idle way that people did when they were sat too long on their own.

Tamora knew the man. "Hey wow," he said, "one of our almost bosses - I'm over come."

The man sighed and didn't get up. "You sound more like Yip every day."

"Occupational hazard I guess." Kris didn't sound unduly repentant. "So what swings you into action then?" he asked. "We not making the grade?"

The man in the chair sighed again. "Got a signal off of Phil, said you'd be coming", he said.

Kris shrugged with an elaborate 'so-what?' gesture. "Kris - whattya doing huh? There's no case here."

"Thought there was this morning." Kris was looking for a chair himself, but there wasn't one. "Phil said we should - keep an ear to the ground, figured something might open up."

"But you were told..."

"Huh? What? That GIA broad? We should bend backwards for them now? Anyway - Phil's on it, so I gotta be on it too. Besides - my contacts came through loud and clear about the Tranq' that sleeping beauty here's sleeping off... leads to a make on a possible fugitive called Yolanda."

.......................................

The Great Hall of the Temple of Sihnon was vast. It contained a multitude of guests sat round a large number of tables, one of which was imposingly long and all of which were heaped with delicious foodstuffs. The