“What are the Voice trying to accomplish?” asked Kira. “That’s what I can’t figure out. They don’t need supplies—food and clothes are free for the taking all over the island—and yet they keep raiding East Meadow and the farms. They’re not winning support for their cause, they’re just making everyone angry and jumpy and… I don’t get it. The watchtower attack by itself probably took weeks to plan and pull off, and for what? They didn’t get any supplies, they didn’t make any statements, they got maybe two or three clips of ammunition each from the soldiers they kidnapped—they didn’t get anything.”

“They got two soldiers,” said Marcus. “Maybe it was a staged battle to hide a defection.”

Isolde shook her head. “As near as we can tell—or at least the current best guess in the Senate—is that they’re trying to destabilize the government. If they hit enough targets, rouse enough rabble, and shake enough beehives, pretty soon the people in East Meadow are going to get pissed off. That’ll make them harder to control, which will make things harder for the Senate, which will give the Voice a prime chance to swoop in and attempt a coup.”

“Ouch,” said Marcus.

“Back up,” said Kira. “Did you say it’s harder for the Senate to ‘control’ us?”

Isolde grimaced. “That’s not what I meant, that’s just the first word that came out—”

“But that’s the sentiment, right?”

Isolde closed her eyes, trying to think, and Kira felt guilty for pushing her. She didn’t deserve this, and yet Kira’s ire was up. She wanted to know. “Well?”

“Well, come on, Kira, you know what the Senate does.” Isolde shrugged weakly. “The Senate ‘governs,’ and there’s a lot of control inherent in that. It’s not like they’re controlling our minds or anything, they’re just … keeping the peace. Making sure people do their jobs. That sort of thing.”

Kira heard hoofbeats and looked behind her; two mounted soldiers were clomping toward them down the street. Their house was near the edge of the settled city, so patrols weren’t exactly rare, but this was an odd time of day for one. Kira felt nervous and comforted at the same time.

Until they started angling toward her.

“Marcus,” said Kira softly. He seemed to sense the worry in her voice and sat up immediately.

“What is it?” He saw the horses and frowned. “Why are they coming here?”

“I don’t know. You recognize them?”

“The uniforms aren’t standard,” said Isolde. “They’re not regular Defense Grid.”

Marcus stared at them, brow furrowed in concern. “Who else wears uniforms? They actually look kinda like Mkele’s guys.” He shook his head, looking back and forth at the two soldiers: one about their age, one in what looked like his forties. “I don’t recognize them; I don’t think they’ve been stationed in East Meadow.”

“Anything we can do for you?” Kira called out, but the soldiers rode past her toward Nandita. The old woman sat up from her digging, watching as they stopped in the yard.