“Nobody around,” Ashley said.

“That’s just it. No judge, no magistrate, no court appointee. We have her, and I don’t even know who she is—”

He indicated Natalie.

“I’m nobody,” Natalie said. “I don’t matter here.”

Signal Fire looked dissatisfied.

“Right,” he finally said.

There was a tense silence. Gagged and bound, guns to their backs, the four prisoners knelt on the hardwood floor.

“Then… any objections?” Moonsong asked.

I’d already considered.

“Drillbit,” I said. “Doesn’t feel right.”

“He’s had five last chances,” Anelace said. “I get the feeling, but… what do we do?”

Signal Fire reached down, and he undid Drillbit’s gag.

“Death sentence?” Drillbit asked, his voice tight. He worked his mouth where it was sore from the gag.

“We’re sending you away. A world with nobody. You’ll be at least ten miles from the next person… but you should know anyone else that’s there… they were sent there because they were a problem.”

He looked so miserable, as he digested that. Face lined with hardship.

“It’s winter,” he said.

“You go with a kit. Tent, food for a month, heating stove, supplies, tools.”

“You can make a promise,” Anelace said. “Convince us.”

“Can I?” Drillbit asked. “I can’t even convince myself.”

Silence followed.

“Or if you want to articulate it better, Antares,” Anelace said.

I wasn’t sure what to say. I couldn’t even articulate just why this didn’t feel like it was the right move.

But I couldn’t think of an alternative move.

“Send me,” Drillbit said. “Don’t send any strong medications with me. It might be the only way I live out the rest of my life. I’ve hurt too many people.”

Kenzie nudged me, as a back-and-forth followed.

She had my new mask.

“You don’t have to stay,” I whispered to her. In case she was distracting herself from proceedings.

She shook her head.

I took my mask, and I tried it on. It covered my upper face, nose, cheekbones, eyes, brow. The projection clicked as it set into place. Lookout provided the hand-mirror.

“Antares?” Anelace asked. “Rule is, if any one of us objects to a prisoner being removed, we rescind it. And we have a pretty diverse set of people here. If this feels wrong, it feels wrong. But we need a decision.”

It was black, and faint lines and spires of gold traced a pattern across it. They would be faint beneath the shadow of my hood. The part over my lower face was some limited protection, but projected to be see-through. More projection was devoted to the image that covered the rather large eyeholes, that maximized peripheral vision.

They said justice was blind, but…

“Okay,” I said. “No objection.”

I saw Drillbit nod. He wasn’t gagged anymore, but there was no sound from him. No protest. If anything, he looked more at ease.