10/02/2026 02:39

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She was the one to break the long silence. Hissheaf of papers--Ramsey had never shed the old-fashioned habit, learned from his father--slid tothe floor with a dry splash. He said, 'The Grail and the Circle oppose each other. _I'm really in a tank,_ she reminded herself desperately.

But instead of a man's headit had doglike, pointed ears that been shredded at the tips, and a gray, furry snout. Yeah, Frederico, I guess so. He was gone. Perhaps it had slipped loose, and she was dying in thesealed, coffinlike V-tank.