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because
he has no community Sir. His settlement was suppressed in a Ranger operation a
year ago. He was away at the time, and he has been on his own since. They were
called the Rosina community. It should be in your records,”
    “Oh that is true; we
did take all of those people. Well actually we had to cull them on account of
their population. I guess it wouldn’t be skin off my nose to grant you and your
department this little amnesty Major. We will of course have to still conduct
his induction process. That is a full medical following quarantine, and then
registration as a citizen. That is still a lengthy process. Including
quarantine, the process should take maybe six weeks.”
    “Sir, could you excuse
quarantine in this case. The man has been in my company and I have just had a
clean bill of health.”
    “Okay Major; be it on
your head. You can take custody of him in two weeks. Oh and remember that you
and Interior owe me one.”

Chapter
Five
     
    River
heard the Major’s baritone voice getting closer outside of his eight foot by
four foot padded white cell. There was no furniture other than a single bunk,
and no windows. This Spartan environment had been his home for some weeks now,
and he felt trapped and purposely kept in the dark regarding his future. The
artificial light which was left permanently on was confusing his body clock and
he had lost track of how many days he had spent here. He sensed a certain
danger in his circumstances and he wanted to get far away. Therefore when the
door opened, and the Major walked in escorted by a Ranger, River experienced a
feeling of joy, as if he were being rescued by Nathan. He was surprised to see
him in such good health and he showed no signs of his injuries at all.
      ”Hello
River, Listen to me,” said Major Carlson with the emphasis on the word
'listen'. River understood and acknowledged the Major but said nothing. “I have
explained to these fine Rangers your role in helping me,” continued Carlson, “And
they have agreed to release you into my custody so that you can continue to
assist me as a potential agent and asset.”
    Again River just nodded
and stood up to take Major Carlson's outstretched hand.
    “River,” Carlson paused
for emphasis, “I am going to need your cooperation here. You see the usual
process of turning an outlander into a New Denver citizen can take several
months. I intend to fast path you through that process but you must agree to
cooperate with me and observe any rules and regulations that I will educate and
instruct you in,” River nodded yet again but still said nothing. “River, this
Ranger will need to hear your compliance. Do you accept these terms?”
    “Yes I do,” stated
River.
    Everybody seemed happy
now and the Ranger told them both to follow him to the reception in order to
complete the interim administration.
    There was an awkward
feeling in the air as the duty sergeant tapped away on a handheld device
seemingly completing some online form and authority transfer. His stumpy
fingers were having difficulty finding the correct characters, whilst the Major
was finding it difficult just to stand there. River correctly assumed that the
situation was uncomfortable for him. As they waited together at the duty
sergeant’s desk, they often looked at each other but didn’t speak.
    “I am going to need a
second name to complete this. I cannot just process him as River, and so far he
has refused to supply any other name.”
    “River, do you have a
surname?” enquired Nathan.
    “No, I already told
them that I am only known as River. River is not even my name. It is just how
other people refer to me. You people from the citadel rely too much on names as
if they are labels that you cannot function without. Nor are they a measure of
your character.”
    “So you were named as a
child; people labelled you. I do not see the difference!”
    “I was not named River
as a child. I was named Eli after my father, but the people in my