It really did seem to be one thing after another that evening. I’D SPENT THE afternoon at a safehouse down where a spur of the Ipp sticks out into the River Swayne, forming a natural harbour, a place of transit where strange faces were never a surprise. This provided perfect cover for people-shipping. My job: swapping out pids for a bunch of travellers who had put in at the docks that morning. New identities. I didn’t know what for, or where they had come from. I didn’t know if they were rebels or just hustlers like we were, or if they were merely a group Sol owed a favour. I had learnt not to ask questions, but rather to observe and take in.Back at the nest, there was a party stirring up. I’d forgotten all about Divine and Ruth’s coming together. I came out onto the roof terrace, saw Divine and approached. She gave me a drunken grin and almost squeezed the last breath from my body in a big hug. Ruth gave me a tall mug of beer, and I drank half to the two of them and half to the gods of the river, which I knew Divine still had some kind of respect for.
