Great South Bay, and for a whale, keeping clear of the ever-increasing number of ships not so much the ships themselves but the inescapable sound of

their engines and machinery, always a nuisance for a creature that worked extensively with sonar was a problem and made getting around quickly a lot

more trouble than it used to be. Noise pollution in the bay was as much a problem for the many species who lived there as was the sewage, and would

probably be a more difficult problem to solve. It was one of a number of projects S'reee had been forced to tackle since her abrupt promotion to the

position of senior cetacean wizard for these waters.

S'reee rolled idly in the water, looking down the jetty. "It's my fault; I should have left the Narrows earlier. But never mind. Where's hNii't "

"I don't think she's going to be with us today," Kit said. S'reee didn't reply immediately, but that thoughtful little eye dwelt on Kit. As whales went,

S'reee wasn't that much older than Kit or Nita, but the increased responsibilities she'd been pushed into had been making her perceptive maybe more

perceptive than Kit exactly cared for right now, especially since he still wasn't sure that he hadn't misstepped somehow.

"Well," S'reee said after a moment, "is that a problem  Can we manage, or should we reschedule "

Kit thought about that. "I've got something that might be worth looking at," he said. "We may as well lay it out in place and have a look at it."

"All right."

Kit reached into the pocket of his jeans, which was also the way into his own storage pocket of space, and came out with a little ball of light, a spell

in compacted form, which he dropped to the concrete he was standing on. As the compaction routine came loose and let the spell expand, he shoved his