Стража! Стража!

           "Canyoueatit?"saidNobby."It’stakenmonthstogethere.You’dthinkitwouldgostale."

           "Oh,it’stoaspecialdwarfishrecipe,"saidCarrot."Dwarfishcakesdon’tgostale."

           SergeantColongaveitanothersharprap."Isupposenot,"heconceded.

           "It’sincrediblysustaining,"saidCarrot."Practicallymagical.Thesecrethasbeenhandeddownfromdwarftodwarfforcenturies.Onetinypieceofthisandyouwon’twantanythingtoeatallday."

           "Getaway?"saidColon.

           "Adwarfcangohundredsofmileswithacakelikethisinhispack,"Carrotwenton.

           "Ibethecan,"saidColongloomily,"Ibetallthetimehe’dbethinking,’Bloodyhell,IhopeIcanfindsomethingelsetoeatsoon,otherwiseit’sthebloodycakeagain.’"

           Carrot,towhomthewordironymeantsomethingtodowithmetal,pickeduphispikeandafteracoupleofimpressivereboundsmanagedtocutthecakeintoapproximatelyfourslices.

           "Thereweare,"hesaidcheerfully."Oneforeachofus,andoneforthecaptain."Herealisedwhathehadsaid."Oh.Sorry."

           "Yes,"saidColonflatly.

           Theysatinsilenceforamoment.

           "Ilikedhim,"saidCarrot."I’msorryhe’sgone."

           Therewassomemoresilence,verysimilartotheearliersilencebutevendeeperandmorefurrowedwithdepression.

           "Iexpectyou’llbemadecaptainnow,"saidCarrot.

           Colonstarted."Me?Idon’twanttobecaptain!Ican’tdothethinking.It’snotworthallthatthinking,justforanotherninedollarsamonth."