The second report came from Fylon at dawn.
He knocked his three soft knocks and came in with the contained quality he sometimes had — the quality of a man who had been up before the light because something would not wait for the regular briefing. He had a small tablet in his hand. Not his usual format, which meant he had written quickly, after dark.
He said: *"Two more."*
*"Sit down. Tell me."*
Fylon sat.
*"A Rhodian merchant. Arrived yesterday on the evening tide. He put in at a port on the northern Anatolian coast three weeks ago — a port he has been using for twelve years. He found it receiving people. Not trading. Receiving."*
*"What kind of people."*
*"Coastal settlements from further up the coast. Families with what they could carry. No cargo — no trade goods, no animals. People in open boats. The kind used for short-distance coastal movement."*
*"The same boat type as the settlement report."*
