‘Oh, because I, too, am most daring,’ said Castor sweetly. ‘Not to mention, it is my duty. Your monstrosity will be weighed, and your summons to pay your fine delivered to you. You’ll have to come down to the tent to pay it, of course.’

‘You think I have the time to run from tent to tent?’

‘Well, if you’re that busy, it’ll just end up in Lost and Found. You’ll have to claim it from there. So come with two witnesses, and—’

‘You little—’

‘On the other hand, Ucho, if you could somehow help me out, see your way to giving me the protection I require, I could have your fine collected at your tent and your um … treasure released to you.’

‘Are you blackmailing me?’

‘Not at all. If you’d rather come down to the Administration tent and take a token number and wait for—’

‘All right, fine! Fine! You win! Why don’t you come over after and we’ll figure it out. All right?’

‘I thought we might find some common ground,’ purred Castor. ‘But we digress. Understand this, Ucho. Vail’s supporters see him not as a leader, or someone they obey, but as a messiah. Your men obey you because they respect you. Vail’s followers, on the other hand, do not respect him—they worship him. He could ask them to line up and throw themselves and their children off the edge of a cliff and they would fight to the death for the honour of being the first to do his bidding.’

‘More fool them!’

‘Are they? Or are we the fools for sitting back, while his numbers grow by the hour?’

‘I think we have spent enough time on Vail,’ said Father. ‘If he wishes to challenge me and put it to the people, he is free to do so. It will be neither the first nor last time someone has, and nor should it. But remember this before you fret, that what the people want—and need—is action, not words, and so far Vail has given them nothing but words. Beyond that, if people choose to follow him, they do so of their own free will, and we can have nothing to say about it, so let us be done with this subject. We have far more pressing matters to discuss. Castor’s efforts notwithstanding, we are still no closer to discovering who the traitor in our midst is. And of course, the one thing of immediate concern to me in Albert’s story is the fact that they were attacked by Renegades, almost at our doorstep.’

‘The Renegades are getting bolder,’ said Castor.

‘Astute analysis, Castor but what should we do about it?’

‘Double the patrols,’ said Ucho.

‘Yes, that’s a start, but I would also suggest that—what’s that noise?’

They could hear it too, now, loud and clear. People yelling outside the tent. Lots of people.

14