21
A QUICKENING TIDE
After all, he might be disrupting criminal activity. At the very least, he was stirring the pot in hope that something would bubble to the top, some clue to the identities of those who were behind all this. He allowed himself a smirk: when the love-stones were counted, someone in Zoology would find themselves in a whole heap of trouble.
Durante was attempting to make a grace-ful exit when something tugged his foot. He looked down at his boot, but there was nothing there. Could he have imagined it? He tried to step forward again, and this time there was no mistaking the yank that pulled him back.
He felt his ankles being clamped togeth-er, his whole body dragged backwards. He dropped the helmet and grabbed a handhold on the bulkhead beside him. He looked down again,
