Laurus thinks he still has a chance to salvage his dominant position. Kochia and his Palmetto operation are small, weak. If Laurus acts swiftly the damage might yet be contained.

He activates his cortical chip's datalink. «Mine,» he tells the enforcers. But first he wants the bitch to know.

Ryker's wings slap the air with a loud fop. Camassia jerks around at the sound. He can see the shock on her face as Ryker plunges towards her. Hand-sized steel talons stretch wide. She starts to run.

• • •

Laurus is visiting Torreya in her room to see how she is settling in. Over four days the guest bedroom has metamorphosed beyond recognition. Holographic posters cover the walls, windows looking out across Tropicana's northern polar continent. Dazzling temples of ice drift past in the sky-blue water. Shorelines are crinkled by deep fjords. Timeless and exquisite. But Laurus is the first to admit that the images are feeble parodies compared to the candy bud fantasies. The new pastel-coloured furniture is soft and puffy. Shiny hardback books of fictional mythology from his library are strewn all over the floor. It's nice to see them actually being used and appreciated for once. Every flat surface is now home to a cuddly Animate Animal. He thinks there must be over thirty of them. There is a scuffed hologram cube on the bedside dresser, containing a smiling woman. It seems out of kilter with the deliberate cosiness organic to the room. He vaguely recalls seeing it at the old office building.

Torreya clutches a fluffy AA koala to her chest, giggling as the toy rubs its head against her, purring affectionately.

«Aren't they wonderful?» Torreya says. «All the people in the house have given me one. They gave some to Jante, too. You're all so kind to us.»

Laurus can only smile weakly as he hands her the huge AA panda he's brought. It's almost as tall as she is. Torreya stands on the bed and kisses him, then bounces on the mattress as the panda hugs her, crooning with delight.

«I'm going to name him St Peter,» she declares. «Because he's your present. And he'll sleep with me at night, I'll be safe from anything then.»

The damp tingle on his cheek where she kissed him sets off a warm contentment.

«Shame Camassia had to go,» Torreya says. «I like her a lot.»

«Yes. But her family need her to help with their island plantation now her cousin's married.»

«Can I go and visit her?»

«Maybe. Some time.»

«And Erigeron's away as well,» she says with a vexed expression. «He's nice. He helps Jante move around, and he tells funny stories, too.»

The thought of his near-psychopathic enforcer reciting fairy stories to please the children is one that amuses Laurus immensely. «He'll be back in a couple of days. He's driven over to Palmetto to sort out some business contracts for me.»

«I didn't know he was one of your company managers.»

«Erigeron is very versatile. Who's the woman?» he asks to deflect further questions.