Ucho glared at him. ‘What did you say? How dare you question—’

‘Of course I will question, Ucho,’ said Castor, still sprawled back like some grotesque, cloth-covered insect. ‘It is my right, and my duty as a member of the Council. And this is not the first time in the recent past that the force has been at a complete loss. Or have you already forgotten last week’s … fiasco?’

‘That was nobody’s fault! It was a—’

‘Three units lost,’ said Castor meaningfully, holding up the requisite number of fingers. ‘Three! Twenty-one men! And, that captain, what was his name—Rafferty, was it? Yes, Rafferty’s still missing, isn’t he? Does the force have answers for—’

‘All right, enough!’ said Father. ‘Let us focus on the current situation.’

‘All right, let’s,’ said Castor, sitting up suddenly. ‘Let’s begin with you, soldier.’

He was pointing at Colby.

‘State your name and rank.’

Colby looked hard at him for a moment, and then replied. ‘Adrian Colby, Captain, Unit G of the—’

‘Hold on, that’s enough,’ said Ucho, leaning forward angrily. ‘What do you think you’re up to, Castor? This man’s not on trial. You don’t need to state anything, Captain, except the facts, you hear me?’

‘Yes, sir,’ said Colby.

Castor glowered at him, and then smiled. ‘All right, Captain. Answer me. What did your subordinate mean when he said you were sold out?’

Colby looked straight back at him. ‘They knew we were coming,’ he said.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Do you know any other sentences?’ demanded Ucho hotly. ‘What do you think he means? Somebody ratted us out!’

He frowned and turned to Colby. ‘That is what you mean, isn’t it?’

‘Yes.’

‘Why are you so sure?’ asked Castor.

‘Because this wasn’t some random patrol we ran into—there were at least twenty of them. More. They knew where we’d be, when we’d be there, they even knew enough to stay back while we scanned so we’d draw an all-clear. Then, just as we were moving out, they moved in. There’s no question in my mind—’

He broke off, looking at Kieran and Joe, who were nodding their heads, Kieran muttering ‘Hear, hear’ under his breath, and continued.

‘—no question in my mind that they’d been tipped off. They had the whole thing planned.’

‘I see. And you were there for an extraction?’

‘Yes.’

‘What was the nature of this extraction?’

‘An SOS from the City. Two people needed to be removed immediately.’

‘I see. But instead you brought back three.’

‘We had no choice.’

‘What do—And why is that?’

‘When the lawbots attacked, we had to extract everybody we could.’

Ucho, who had been sitting there with his face getting redder and redder, burst out. ‘What’s the point of all these questions anyway? Why are you cross-examining my man like this?’