She shut the voice out and tried to activate her Tabernacle link, in the hope of distracting herself. To her shock, she discovered that she could not access it. She had no way of finding out any more information about the impact Abramovic had described, or the resultant tidal wave.

She reached up and touched the back of her neck, where Karl had injected her with what he had called an inhibitor. Supposedly it made tracking her via her implants impossible, and she wondered if it might also be the reason why she was unable to access the Tabernacle.

There was little to do, then, but pass the time staring out of a porthole, though she was barely able to see anything beyond the surging waters outside, and the dim outline of hills growing ever nearer. She eventually caught sight of an antiquated-looking jetty extending from the shore. The rhythm of the turbines soon changed subtly and, after another minute or two, the boat bumped gently up against the wharf.

One of the Freeholders reappeared from the passageway, handing Gabrielle another, better-quality jacket and a new breather mask. Put these on, he instructed.

She slipped on the new gear, while the Freeholder pulled a mask over his nose and mouth, quickly checking that the seal was effective. Once she was ready, with her mask on, he yelled back along the passageway that he was about to open the hatch.

The rest, including Karl, then reappeared and pulled on their own breather masks, while their compatriot cracked the external hatch. Karl himself went out first, then gestured for her to follow him. She only did so with increasing reluctance. There was little she could do under the circumstances but comply, at least until Karl gave her some kind of proper explanation of what was going on.

Waves slapped hollowly against the underside of the dock as Gabrielle climbed out onto the jetty. She spotted a decrepit-looking emergency shelter nearby on the shore.

The voice of doubt manifested itself again, this time louder than before. Hes been working with the Freehold. They must, she realized, have been the ones holding Mater Cassanass son prisoner all this time.

Hard as it was to believe, the only conclusion was that Karl was acting as a double-agent. He must have been funnelling information back to the Freehold the whole time he had been in the employ of the Demarchy. Despite his supposed successes in locating their hideaways, she had heard Abramovic and others complain bitterly that no matter how much firepower they threw at the Freehold, they always managed to pop up somewhere else, and stronger than ever.

And no wonder, since Karl himself had most frequently led these supposedly punitive expeditions against the Freehold, when he wasnt busy safeguarding her.