He frowned. "You're not making that up?"

"Not a word of it. I'll swear by Adonai Elohaynu, if you like." I am. God knows, an imperfect Jew. But you'd have to be a lot more imperfect than I am to falsify that oath. People who would risk their souls by falsely calling on the Lord won't make it past the EPA spiritual background checks, and a good thing, too, if you ask me.

Sudalds' beefy face set in the frown as if it were made of quick-drying cement. "Our attorneys will still maintain that the effects you cite are just a statistical quirk and have nothing to do with the Devonshire dump, its contents, or its activities. If we go to court, we'll win."

"Probably." I wanted to hit him. The certain knowledge that he'd murder me wasn't what stopped me. Getting in a good shot or two would have made that worthwhile. Far as I'm concerned, people who hide "it's wrong" behind "it's legal" deserve whatever happens to them. The only thing that held me back was knowing I'd bring discredit to the EPA.

Then Sudakis pulled out that little amber charm again.

He licked a fingertip, ran it over the smooth surface of the amulet, and murmured something in a language I not only didn't know but didn't come close to recognizing. Then he put the amulet back and said, "Now we can talk privately for a little while."

"Can we?" I had no reason to trust him, every reason to think he was trying to trap me in an indiscretion. The lawyers he'd been throwing at me would have loved that.

But he said, "Yeah, and I think we'd better, too. I don't like the numbers you laid out for me, I don't like 'em at all.

This place is supposed to be safe, it's been safe ever since I took over here, and I want it to keep on being safe. That's what they pay me for, after all."

"Why do you have to turn aside the Listener if that's so?" I asked. Come to that, I didn't know his outre Httie ritual really had turned aside anything.