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yesterday.’
    ‘Avoiding General Jaxx.’ The Wolf bares his yellow teeth. As if he’s just said something clever. But you’d have to be an idiot not to realize General Jaxx is unhappy with me. I don’t know what makes Jaxx hate Anton or Anton hate him.
    Anton will tell me if he wants me to know.
    And General Jaxx? Indigo Jaxx isn’t the kind of man you ask personal questions. He isn’t the kind you ask any questions at all.
    ‘I hear you saved his son.’
    I don’t answer.
    ‘That’s what they’re saying. You’re the real hero of Hekati.’
    He names a campaign that got more publicity than it deserves. Hekati was a minor ring world. It got destroyed. As did an Uplift mother ship. I had something to do with its destruction. Colonel Vijay Jaxx was the ranking officer so he took the credit.
    ‘Supposed to be the only thing keeping you alive.’
    I can see the hills over the Wolf’s shoulder. A long streak of purple that edges the horizon. They’re as impressive as ever. But I no longer feel the same about them. Now I know who they belong to.
    ‘Don’t you have anything to say?’
    ‘No, sir.’
    His laugh is sour. ‘Silence,’ he says. ‘A good quality in a staff officer.’
    And here I am thinking the qualities needed are cowardice and self-interest. Must just be the ones I’ve met.
    The Wolf pretends to reconsider something.
    I’m not fooled for a minute.
    ‘You’re an interesting man, Sven. Someone who could go a long way in the right company. Or have a very short career indeed. If his choices are wrong. You understand what I’m saying?’
    I could say yes. But that would be a l ie.
    So I hold my tongue. Something that comes easily to me.
    ‘Jaxx has no family.’
    Yes, he has, I think, before realizing what the Wolf means.
    General Indigo Jaxx is not high clan. I didn’t know that. The Wolf must see the surprise in my eyes, because he smiles darkly. ‘What he has,’ he says, ‘is OctoV’s favour. This can be . . .’
    He doesn’t bother completing that sentence.
    People like me are so used to thinking of Indigo Jaxx as all-powerful, the idea he might be vulnerable to the emperor’s whims comes as a shock. The Wolf is waiting to see how I’ve taken his suggestion.
    Unfortunately, I’m not quite sure what it is.
    Grinding his cigar under his heel, General Luc turns to go. I think our talk is over until he turns back. ‘Interested?’
    ‘In what, sir?’
    ‘Didn’t you listen to anything I said?’
    Yeah. Doesn’t mean I understood it, though.
    ‘Jaxx is overreaching himself,’ he says. ‘And Debro’s a doubter. As for Anton . . . he married money. Then was stupid enough to divorce it. What Anton thinks is irrelevant.’
    He sighs heavily.
    ‘They saved your life. You had them freed. You’re quits. Find yourself a better patron.’
    ‘Debro’s a friend.’
    Loyal to the point of stupidity. That’s from my shredded psych report.
    ‘Sven,’ the Wolf says. ‘Don’t make mistakes you’ll regret.’
    ‘Is that a threat?’
    Wrong question.
    He’s offered me his patronage. To piss General Jaxx off probably. I’ve just rejected it. A part of him wants to say he doesn’t need to threaten scum like me. The bigger part wants to take out my throat.
    It shows in his eyes, which narrow when I smile.
    ‘We’ll meet again,’ he tells me.
    ‘I’m counting on it.’
    Anger locks his shoulders as he stamps up the stairs ahead of me and kicks open the door. It’s obvious to Debro and Anton that something is badly wrong. Bowing stiffly, General Luc tells them he’s taking his leave. When he turns to Aptitude, it’s to discover she’s not even listening.
    ‘I’m off,’ he says.
    Aptitude nods, absent-mindedly.
    The Wolf’s scowl turns into something darker. He’s just realized that he could abandon the roof terrace and she’d never even notice. The girl is staring across the tiled roofs of the village to the road beyond. There is something hungry and naked about her