Pain.  Wracking, tormenting pain.  Unending.  Everpresent.

	Setzer turned restlessly in his sleep, one-quarter awake as his
mind constantly turned to the dull, throbbing wound at his scalp. His
jacket had been draped over a chair by a still-puzzled Tucker, and his
cards stacked neatly on the table next to his bed.
	When Setzer awoke, it was Cecil who was looking over his
turmoil-ridden sleep.  With a quick movement, he opened the door, casting
a soft shout down to Tucker to join him.  Taking his chair once again, he
watched the man whom he did not know at all, but whom he had melded a
kind of strange bond with.
	Cecil shook his head, breaking his thought.  Whatever strange
ties held he, Tucker, and this gambler together, it was not to be thought
of now.  "How are you feeling?" he asked, careful not to let the volume
of his voice raise any higher than he thought would be comfortable.
	Setzer groaned in response, rubbing at the bandage at his
forehead. "Like I played Jack high against a straight flush in five
card," mumbled Setzer.
	Cecil looked at Setzer in bemusement, a small smile forming on
his lips.  While he did not know these strange terms which the white-
haired man spoke of, it seemed that he was rapidly regaining his
spirit... and from there, it would be merely a few steps until his body
joined it.
	Suddenly, the man's eyes flashed open, and he stared at Cecil in
amazement.  "But... you!  You and..."  The door flashed open, letting the
light from the hall shine about the looming form of Tucker.  "Him!  You
tried to kill me!" With these words, the man's eyelids closed to a
casual, relaxed look in a matter of moments.  His voice, which had so
recently been filled with astonishment, became cool and calculated.
	Tucker shook his head briefly.  "No. You just... bolted..."
	Setzer frowned.  "Bolted, you say?  And who would not, after your
assault on my person?  And such an unreasonable assault, I might add."
Setzer tapped his finger lightly on his chin, as if to emphasize the
point.
	Tucker took a few steps, taking a seat in a chair and speaking
quickly.  "Let us explain what happened," he said, recounting the events
of the airship.
	At the end, Setzer frowned, leaning back.  During Tucker's
speech, he had taken the cards from the table beside him, shuffling them
innocuously.  Gradually, the shuffling ceased, however, and he nodded in
agreement, finally.
	"All right.  You didn't mean to attack me.  Or you didn't see me.
I'll take those odds.  But what happened, then?"  Tucker and Cecil looked
at each other blankly, then shrugged in unison.  "Who knows?" whispered
Cecil, who had gone to stand by the door, hand on his sword, while Tucker
told his tale.
	Setzer nodded, then sighed.  "Well, there is nothing to be done
for it.  I believe I will rest a little while longer, then begin to make
preparations for the airship to be fully repaired.  Now that I have the
funds to do so..." he added with a grin, exhibiting the note he still
held.
	With that, Setzer leaned back.  In but a few moments, he slept
again.  Tucker and Cecil exhanged meaningful glances, and Tucker nodded
to Cecil.  "It's my watch.  Take a break or something."  Cecil shrugged
in response, and stepped outside, still clutching the hilt of his
crystalline sword... eyes haunted with suspicion....