KEZZIG KLACKWHISTLE STRAIGHTENED from where he'd been kneeling for what felt like at least a decade, pladcing his big, green hands on the small of his back and grimacing at the ensuing cascade of pops. He licked his dry lips and looked around, squinting against the blinding sunlight and mopping his bald head with a sweat-stiff kerchief. Here and there were tightly clustered, swirling swarms of insects. And of course, the sand, every-where, and most of it probably going to end up inside his underclothes. Just like it had yesterday