“We’re not certain yet, but it seems unlikely to have been an accident or an electrical malfunction.”

“So—you think it was—a bomb or something like that.”

“It’s too early to say, hela. Maybe you can help us fill in some of the gaps.”

Kit took a deep breath. “If I can. What do you want to know?”

“Tell us what happened when you were in the tunnels.”

“I had just passed the South Zero gate when I saw a bright orange light in front of me. I didn’t even realize what it was at first, until the other ringcars started tumbling back. Then all the cars started smashing together, then there was another explosion behind me and more cars started crashing into each other. I didn’t actually see either of the explosions. They seemed to be about a minute apart, but I kind of lost my sense of time. They could have been seconds apart, or ten minutes. I just couldn’t tell.”

“And you’ve had a concussion, we hear, so your memory might not be perfect.”

“Well, there are parts of that night that I don’t recall.”

“What’s the next thing you remember?”

“Mmm—I guess when the medics came and started digging me out. But that’s pretty hazy. The next thing I remember clearly is waking up at the hospital.”

Hoyla Davit gave her one close sharp look. “The gulden hospital, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Why were you taken there?”

Kit felt her eyes widen in unfeigned surprise. “I don’t know. I suppose it was the nearest—”

“You didn’t ask to be taken there? As a preference?”

“Well, no—I didn’t mind, of course, but I didn’t choose the hospital. I was unconscious at the time, Officer.”

Hoyla Davit nodded. Her partner all this while had said nothing. He looked to be about thirty years old, well-built and stupid. Kit could not help that ridiculous childhood rhyme from singing through her head: A woman has the brains/A man has the muscle/A woman holds the reins/Till a man wants to tussle. Who had taught her that? Surely no one in Geldricht. She gave her head an infinitesimal shake. Concussion or no, she must concentrate; she must understand what was going on here.

Hoyla Davit was speaking again. “When you entered the Centrifuge, where were you coming from?”

“I’d been in the city. Running errands,” Kit said, trying to keep her voice casual. It was hard when her chest suddenly constricted and her lungs could not take in enough air to support her words.

“Do you remember exactly what errands you were running?”

She manufactured a lie on the spot. “Well, I’d stopped at my bank—I’d gone by a restaurant to try and solicit donations for the charity bank where I work—I’d gone to visit a friend—”

“What friend?” The question pounced out.