"Can't help but wonder if you're right," he says, which manages somehow to suggest a confirmation without really confirming anything. Yeah, being a spy has an expiration date. You either get out or get killed. He had plans for after that last job, but he didn't get out in time.

"And before you get ideas about fishing, as far as I know I'm the first and last person to have tried that here. I pulled up a twin of myself. It watched me for a bit and then exploded into seafoam."