The Artifact Division building was quieter than the street outside.
The analyst—she gave her name as Sael without further detail—led them through a short entrance hall and into a side corridor that ran behind the main front rooms. The floors were plain stone. The walls were plain stone. Every door they passed was closed and unmarked. Whatever happened here, it happened without decoration.
Sael stopped at a door near the far end and knocked twice.
"Enter," said a voice from inside.
She opened the door and moved to one side.
The director was older than Kai expected. Somewhere in his late sixties, lean, with white hair cut close and hands that were calm on the desk in front of him. He wore no coat. His badge was on a plain cord around his neck instead of pinned to his chest, and the mark on it had more lines than anything Kai had seen so far.
He looked at the group as they came in. He did not stand up.
"Sit down," he said. "All of you."
