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had lingered out of curiosity, and no one seemed to object. Now I was eager to stay, and afraid to be noticed. The mention of the KKK had implications that touched on my hopes for the Debate. I drew back, hoping to blend into the shadows. I thought I saw Derveet look my way, and faintly smile. But immediately her attention was back with Durjana.
    “But what family does the KKK belong to? Are you really part of that ‘family’ which is killing my people?”
    “That’s not true!”
    “But the KKK supplied you the bad drugs. Where did the drugs come from?”
    “What drugs? I did not trade the drugs. When did I say so? Tell me who is lying about me! Bring them here!”
    Oh, it was hopeless. The smooth and bottomless waters of Peninsulan confusion closed over our heads. I thought I understood what had happened. The drugs seemed to have been antibiotics—a class of medicine forbidden by the Dapur as being ” too extreme.” Antibiotics are less than effective at high altitudes: the Aneh had been relying on advanced medicine that couldn’t help them, and that was the whole story. But it was lost, completely lost. The bandits swiftly abandoned the offence itself, and began to argue idiotically about the nature of disease. I forgot the political implications of the KKK. I forgot Derveet’s accusation (for it was no less) of mass-murder. I couldn’t bear it.
    “May I speak?”
    The ogres all stared at me. “He’s the one with no family,” murmured someone censoriously. I pointed out that he didn’t have a family, as such, either.
    “But I never had one. If I’d had one and I’d seen them die, I’d have done the decent thing.”
    “Hush, hush. Don’t upset him.”
    When they weren’t bent on murderous squabbles, they generally had very gentle manners. It comes of everyone being armed to the teeth.
    I could not tackle the question of altitude, it would just sound like magic. But I could try to make one simple point.
    “Listen. Durjana says that the drugs—”
    “He knows nothing about those drugs!”
    “Of course not. I never said he did. But it is nonsense to say that Koperasi drugs would ‘cure anything’ and that the Aneh died because of their ‘bad magic’. Diseases have nothing to do with magic. Our own culture tells us that.”
    They all frowned at me dubiously.
    “You see diseases come from—Well, all diseases are really like the worms you get in your guts. They are…” I stumbled, at a loss.
    “Parasites,” murmured Derveet.
    “Yes, parasites. Very small parasites, too small to be seen. They come from, from….How should I say ‘dari diluar dunia,’ from outside the world?”
    “From outer space?” Derveet suggested, with a grin.
    “Yes, from outer space.”
    The bandits nodded. Our people have unexpected scraps of knowledge, on a folklore level.
    “They are very clever, like all parasites. Now all drugs, our own and the Koperasi kind, are the same. They help the body fight the cunning worm-things. But they only help, it is the body itself that either wins or loses. If the body is not strong and healthy, no drug will be any use in the end. It will only make things worse—”
    “There! I told you! It was the Aneh’s fault!” Durjana had been following my words intently, moving his lips with mine to aid concentration. Now he bounced in his seat.
    “No, no! The drugs were no good to them, because they were not strong enough. What they needed was better food, clean water—“
    “Exactly!,” cried the bandit, slapping the table in delight. “Itu sudah! That’s exactly what I already said!”
    “Oh yes.”
    “It’s true!”
    “It was the stupid Aneh’s own fault they died.”
    “This educated person says so.”
    Derveet had put her arms on the tabletop and buried her face in her arms. I stared at her through the bandits’ mindless crowing. I thought she had broken down in tears, so much weight seemed to be resting on her thin bowed shoulders. But of course she was only