‘I was stuck in that cell long enough that I really did start to wonder if they were ever going to let me out.’

Nadia shook her head. ‘They can’t touch you. However much we hate them, Mort Bramnik seems to hate them more.’

‘Greenbrooke sounded as if he was threatening Bramnik,’ I said. ‘He said he’d been watching him, that he knew all about his high-flying friends. He also mentioned something about a senator. I don’t know what he was talking about, but by the look on Bramnik’s face, he was a long way from happy.’

The other two looked at me in surprise. ‘I have no idea what that could’ve been about,’ said Selwyn.

‘Maybe Greenbrooke let slip something he shouldn’t have,’ suggested Nadia. ‘All he did with me was bawl me out good and proper. He didn’t even bother with Rozalia.’ She shrugged. ‘I just sat and waited for him to get a sore throat.’

‘When I was on my way out,’ I continued, ‘I heard Greenbrooke and Bramnik arguing. Greenbrooke was yelling something about a Pathfinder named Casey Vishnevsky.’

‘What exactly did he say?’ asked Selwyn, leaning forward with keen interest.

‘That they needed more men like Vishnevsky, because he’s a “real American”.’

They both laughed.

‘He’s Australian,’ Nadia managed to gasp. ‘Oh, Jesus. He really said that?’

‘Bramnik made the exact same point,’ I nodded. ‘So what’s the deal with this guy Vishnevsky?’

‘Well, he’s good,’ said Nadia, a touch grudgingly. ‘Probably the best Pathfinder out of all of us. Charming when he wants to be, but an opinionated right-wing asshole. Under different circumstances, he and Greenbrooke’d be bosom fucking buddies.’

‘Really?’

‘You can have a perfectly normal conversation with him,’ said Selwyn, ‘right up until the point where he starts to tell you why the abolition of slavery was the biggest mistake the US ever made, or why only people who fight in wars should be allowed to vote.’

‘I would like,’ said Nadia, ‘to declare this an officially shitty day.’ She leaned towards me, and patted me on the head. ‘Jerry,’ she said, ‘I gotta write up my report on your training mission. Keep doing like you did back there, you’re going to be the best of us before long.’

‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘But right now all I can think of doing is going back home and getting some sleep.’

‘Good idea,’ said Selwyn. ‘Better that than waste your time watching Casey make a fool of himself here tonight.’

I looked at him, confused. ‘What do you mean?’

Nadia pressed a hand against her forehead. ‘Fuck. I was going to tell you, but then that whole thing with Rozalia . . .’

‘Ah.’ Selwyn nodded. ‘Perfectly understandable. The rest of the Pathfinders got back here while you were still in the clink, Jerry.’

‘I think I met one of them already,’ I said. ‘A woman called Chloe?’