‘You hypocrite!’ The female villager on the platform sprang to her feet and faced the Senator, glaring at him furiously even though her head reached only to his shoulder. Ujurak was reminded of Lusa standing up to Toklo. The Senator looked taken aback, as if he hadn’t expected any of the villagers to defend themselves so fiercely. Then Tiinchuu spoke, more calmly than the others. ‘The oil under our land won’t last forever. What will happen to us when it has run out? What will we eat, when the caribou no longer migrate past our village? Our ancient ways will be forgotten.’

‘You don’t speak for the whole tribe,’ the Senator said. ‘Times have changed.’

Tiinchuu shook his head. ‘I do not claim to speak for everyone. Here, every single one of us has a voice, and we will hear it. We’ll take a vote,’ he went on calmly. ‘Raise your hands if you want to allow the oil company to develop our land.’

For a moment, no one moved. Then the young men who had spoken in favour of the oil raised their hands, along with a few of the other villagers. They looked at one another almost guiltily, as if they realised that few people agreed with their view.

Tiinchuu nodded. ‘And now those who don’t want the oil company to come here.’

It was as though a forest sprouted in the hut as most of the villagers raised their hands. ‘That seems clear enough,’ Tiinchuu said to the strangers.

The Senator’s mouth twisted into a hard, flat line. ‘I expected this. I know how stubborn you people are. You’ve refused to allow drilling before, so it’s no surprise that you’ve refused again. I’m sorry, but if you won’t give us access, we’ll have to take it.’

Ujurak felt the villagers around him stiffen in shock.

Tiinchuu’s eyebrows lifted. ‘What do you mean?’

‘We came here for oil, and we will have it. The good of the whole country is at stake.’

Ujurak felt a jolt of fear in his belly. The Last Great Wilderness wasn’t safe after all. These flat-faces obviously thought they had the power to destroy it, in spite of anything the villagers could do.

‘Save the wild!’ he called out hoarsely, but none of the flat-faces heard him.

The villagers were springing to their feet, shaking their fists at the men on the platform.

‘You can’t do that!’

‘The land is ours!’

‘Get out of here, and don’t come back!’

The men ignored the shouts of protest. The Senator thrust his papers back into a square pouch, then beckoned to the other two to follow him out of the hut.

Ujurak pressed himself into the corner of the room as the visitors swept towards the door. But there was nowhere he could hide properly. The Senator halted, looking shocked. His cold grey eyes softened.