Albert looked hard at him. ‘Who’s he? This guy you all call Father?’

If June was surprised, she didn’t show it. Ollie, on the other hand, seemed delighted. ‘Told you!’ he cried happily, smacking his hand against his thigh to emphasize the point. ‘Told you he’s a sharp ’un!’

June frowned at Ollie, as if irritated and turned back to Albert, ‘Yes. We’re taking you to Father.’

He raised an eyebrow, coolly he hoped. ‘And?’

‘Look, it’s in your best interest, too. You do realize the situation you’re in, don’t you? The lawbots are looking for you. Bosquanet is looking for you. Right now, there isn’t a person in the world who’d be willing to take the risk of helping you. Except Father. He’s the only one who can.’

‘How?’

She looked at him. ‘Tell me, Albert, do you know of anything, any place besides the City?’

‘No. There’s nothing to know.’

‘Why are you so sure?’

‘Well—’

‘Because that’s what you’ve been told?’

‘No, well—’

‘Do you think it goes on forever?’

‘I suppose not—’

‘Well, it doesn’t. There’s a lot more out there, Albert, a lot more that you don’t know about, that they didn’t want you ever knowing about. This isn’t the only place there is. There’s another place, a different place, where you can be safe, even from Bosquanet.’

‘I still don’t believe you. What place? There’s nothing outside the Dome.’

‘That depends on your definition of nothing.’

He looked at her, bewildered, and shook his head.

‘It’s like this, Albert. The place we’re going to—Ollie and I—we can take you there, but only Father can take you in. That’s all I can tell you at the moment, so you’re going to have to trust us.’

‘Then tell me something else.’

‘What?’

‘What’s so special about Theo?’

He’d caught her off guard, he could see it from the sudden startled expression on her face. Only for a moment though; a spilt-second down the line the inscrutable expression was back on her face.

‘The boy’s thinking again,’ said Ollie amiably. ‘Want to know the reason we’re kicking up this fuss over a slip of a girl, eh? I’ll tell you the reason. Oldest reason in the world, lad. Connections. The kid there—her grandad, he was what you’d call, well, a big man on campus. A very big man. You see how that makes her important?’

He paused to grin at Albert. ‘And I’ll tell you what else is important, too,’ he went on, turning to look at Albert. ‘Getting you both down there alive. So let’s be done with all the yakking, shall we, now? Be time to hit the road soon.’

‘When do we leave?’

‘Shortly,’ said June. ‘Ollie and I just need to make some arrangements first.’