“You could be,” said Loaf. “It takes training, but if there’s one thing we have, it’s time enough to do whatever we want.”

“Training would be good,” said Olivenko, “but what I had in mind was a place of refuge and a source of supplies. And here’s where Ram Odin becomes part of whatever we do. In ordinary guerrilla campaigns, the rebels have to hide. Since they’re constantly being betrayed by people who want the reward money, they have to move frequently. They can’t bring their wives and children. They can’t farm or even store up food against the winter.”

“You want a safe refuge on the far side of the Wall,” said Ram Odin.

“Where Ramfold, Vadeshfold, and Larfold come together, the land is fertile and there’s plenty of rain and good streams.”

“Some have facemask spores in them,” said Ram Odin.

“I think you’re perfectly capable of eradicating them from any stream you choose,” said Olivenko. “All I ask is that you pull back the boundary of Vadeshfold and make an enclave that isn’t inside any of the three wallfolds. Then when we recruit fighters for the rebel army, they bring their families. They farm. They hunt. They make weapons. They train. They stockpile food.”

“That could take years,” said Loaf.

“But you can always give yourself years,” said Olivenko. “Don’t make this enclave now. Make it ten years ago. The people we recruit will be the ones who are angry—their number will increase, but we can start small. The first recruits will clear land. They’ll have children. One village will turn into two or three or four.”

“Ten years ago,” said Loaf, “the People’s Revolutionary Council was the government, and the only people who hated them and wanted to rebel were former nobles like General Citizen and Param’s mother.”

“But we won’t recruit people ten years ago,” said Olivenko. “That’s just where we go to build up supplies. You bring the first recruits to the place ten years ago; then you bring later recruits to nine years ago, and eight, with each new increment clearing more land, farming more food, mining more ore, making more ­weapons. Your raids capture food and weapons and you bring them back to whatever time you need them. So the earliest recruits will have ten years in the enclave, but the newest will only arrive when there’s plenty for them to eat, and only with time enough to train them.”

“So we raid today, then bring the supplies to the enclave at the time we need them,” said Umbo.

“Your timeshaping is what sets you apart from other ­rebels, you see,” said Olivenko. “There’s no reason not to use your ­abilities. General Citizen or whatever he’s calling himself—he can hunt for you all he wants, but you’re not only outside the wallfold between raids, you’re also three or five or eight years in the past.”