‘Thank God I found you,’ he gasped. ‘Come, quickly.’

Tancredi looked into a thin face with a beard greying at the edges. His eyes were mere slits surrounded by frosted eyelashes and brows. He grabbed Tancredi’s arm and pulled him forwards through the white drift. After a few steps, Tancredi saw a flicker of light; there was a house in the distance. Time slowed. Suddenly he was inside, shivering uncontrollably. His rescuer laid him out by a fire, threw off his gloves and began to massage Tancredi’s limbs, restoring him to life. Within moments, Cocomo and Tamany were by his side.

As Cocomo lost control of the hoverboard, Tancredi had tried to steady himself, but become unbalanced. She had seen him slip off the edge of the craft. Horrified, she had prepared herself for the worst. Now she looked down at the figure by the fire, and experienced an odd new sensation. Since men were the enemy, she was surprised by the thoughts playing in her mind. Tancredi had taken part in the game on Obesitas for her benefit. Silly boy, as if she cared. Still, men had only ever offered her lies, boasts and false promises, all to a squalid end. No man had ever attempted a heroic act in her honour.

That Tancredi was weak had been clear when she first met him, but she knew this wasn’t due to lust, greed or dishonesty, the triumvirate of exclusively male diseases. He was just naïve, which was almost attractive. Callow youth! He had a sort of childlike integrity; no wonder he was friends with Tamany. She also believed in his stated purpose, no matter how absurd it sounded. What all this added up to, she couldn’t say. Like most people who have been hardened by life, Cocomo’s tough exterior concealed something softer within. The new sensation which surprised her so much emanated from this inner core.

Tamany had been panic-stricken to see Tancredi fall, and was about to follow him over the edge when Kasbek grabbed hold of his leg. Tamany now danced about the fire, crowing that he had known that Tancredi would survive the fall. In truth, the alternative was too shocking to contemplate.

After losing his parents, Tamany had thought about which was better – orphanhood or being raised by appalling parents? He felt it must be the former. At least now he could face the world unencumbered by people who should love him, but didn’t. The moment he had found Tancredi on the deck of the Invincible, he knew they would be a family.

Later, the group sat by a fire, Kasbek at their feet licking a sorry-looking singed tail. Tancredi’s rescuer gave him a steaming bowl of broth.

‘I must start with an apology,’ he said. ‘I brought you here.’

He tossed a log onto the fire.

‘I took control of your craft, and chose this wilderness as a landing spot. You must have been thrown as you descended, but your friends were rescued.’