Peter Hamilton - The Temporal Void

'He's an idiot, Edeard said as the musicians began to take their places. 'And he's on his way out.

'He's barely ninety, Kristabel said. 'He'll be sitting in Council for another century at least. And I'll be sitting in there with him.

'No you won't. I'll have him sentenced to the Trampello mines, you'll see. I'm working on a way to prove his connection to the gangs.

'Edeard, I love you dearly, but please, you really have to read up on the city's traditions and laws. Bise is a District Master, he can never stand trial in the law courts.

'What? Why not?

'Only the Masters of the Upper Council can try one of their own, for any crime. The exemption accountability law was supposed to stop frivolous litigation brought by anyone with a grudge.

'Oh. He tipped his head to one side and regarded her intently. 'How come you know that? As soon as he said it, he knew it had come out wrong.

'For your information, she said icily. 'Between the ages of fourteen and nineteen I used to spend ten hours a week studying law under Master Ravail of the Lawyers Guild. I could pass your constables' probation exams in my sleep.

'Right.

'Did you think me unschooled and ignorant?

'No.

'I am to be Mistress of an entire District. Do you have any idea of the responsibilities involved?

He took her hand, squeezing for emphasis. 'Yes, Kristabel.

'Sorry. She gave him a contrite smile.

'It's normally me that's saying that.

'I know. I'm just so cross with him.

'This is a battle fought at many levels.

'But at least with your level you get to see some results.

'Not really, he admitted, as the first discordant notes of the musicians warming up began to reverberate around the huge auditorium. He was surprised by how loud they were. It must be something to do with the spiky roof, he decided.

'I thought you'd just about got your Hundred, she said.

'We have. He started to tell her about Buate's strategy to fight back, to inflict so much damage on the city that the Councils would call for Edeard to end his campaign.

'Clever, she said when he finished. 'But inevitable. You've been very effective at curtailing his activities. This is what happens when you back people into a corner, they lash out.

'You think I shouldn't arrest the Hundred?

'The thing about elections is they're unpredictable. Your idea to crush the gang leadership beforehand is excellent. You show people what life would be like if Finitan gets to pass his banishment act. But if you don't arrest them, things stay as they are, or worse Buate starts a rumour that you're too afraid to act, and the vote could well go Owain's way.

'Owain will support me; he told me himself.

'Yes, but only as it applies through his One Nation manifesto. And for what it's worth, I think Finitan is right, we need to consolidate the city before we try to help the provinces.

'So what do I do?

'You can't allow a city-wide riot. That goes against everything you are as a constable. It has to be stopped.

'Easily said. How?

'Sometimes you have to do what's wrong in order to do what's right.

'I know that. I even considered snatching the top gang lords and holding them in isolation, but it always comes down to the same thing: there aren't enough of us, not for that kind of work. I could only ever get two or three of them before the word would get out, and that's the trigger for the riot. I just don't see how it can be stopped.

'You're probably right, so you have to try and contain it; and I know just the place.

'Where?

'Sampalok.

'Oh, Lady.

'No. He's the one who champions the gangs. He provides them with sanctuary, he even excluded you from the district. Well, it's about time he realized there's a price to pay for collaboration.

'How in the Lady's name do I confine the riot to Sampalok?

'If that's where the rioters are, that's where the riot will be. Push them in there, Edeard. Use their own tactics to defeat them.

'But…

'That's wrong? she asked archly. 'Edeard, if you want to win you have to play to win. You're the Waterwalker. There's no one else going to do this.

'Yes, he said meekly as the conductor appeared on stage. Applause began to ripple round the auditorium. 'I know.

'The pistols were easy to obtain. A key was provided, the guards that night were ones who knew not to ask questions.

'A key? You mean for the vault?

'Yes. Actually, you need five keys to get through three doors, and the combination numbers. The locks are impossible to pick with telekinesis, there are too many parts to manipulate simultaneously.

'Who gave you the keys?

'Warpal told me where a set would be left. The combinations were with them.

'So Warpal is your leader?

'There is no leader. We are simply people who agree on what must be done to maintain a basic level of order in the city.

'Sons of Grand Families?

'People who share a background of good family and breeding, who have the same understanding of life. It is nothing like as formal as you think.

'But somebody must organize it.

'Not really. We support each other and the final rule of law.

'You protect the families from the gangs?

'Precisely. And any other threats.

'So why haven't you got rid of the gangs?

'A criminal underclass is somewhat inevitable. As you're finding out, they're well organized. To defeat them we would first have to match them, and that's not what we do. We look after our own. If the lower classes want something done to stop the gangs, then that's up to them to do something.

'And yet when I came along and started to do exactly that, you tried to eliminate me. Why?

'You are more than a constable, a lot more. You have some power in this city which no one understands. And you have your own vision of law and order, a very rigid intolerant one. If you were to enforce that you would do untold harm to the families.

'I don't want to destroy anything.

'The road to Honious is paved with good intentions. Makkathran works perfectly well as it is.

'For the nobility perhaps. The gangs have grown too big and powerful under your lax rule. You let that happen. Makkathran doesn't work for everyone, and it must.

'We do what we can.

'Were you one of those who pushed me off the tower?

'Yes.

'Who else was there?

'Warpal, Merid, and Pitier.

'Who organized it?

'Warpal.

'And who told him to do that?

'That's not how we work.

'Nobody suddenly decides to do such a thing. There has to be someone in charge of you.

'Our older members offer guidance, that's all. They smooth the way into Guilds, provide us with additional funds, that kind of thing. They have ties to the family councils, so they're aware1 of problems emerging before the rest of city. That way we can be informed of such instances and deal with them discreetly. Our work is quiet and infrequent. Some of us are never called upon.

'So these older members control you?

'They guide and advise. We each have a mentor, they are the ones who initiate us in the Families' confidential arts.

'Like concealment?

'That is one of them, yes.

'Who is Warpal's mentor?

'Motluk is mentor to both Warpal and myself.

'Motluk?

'He's a junior Master in the Leatherworkers Guild.

'And which family does he come from?

'He is Altai's son. The fourth, I think.

'Altai?

'Altai is the third son of Carallo, who is a Diroal, the fifth son of the previous Master. Carallo is married to Karalee, third sister of Tannarl.

'A Diroal? Lady! You mean Diroal as in the District Masters of Sampalok?

'Yes.

The barrels were stored in a large Gilmorn warehouse on the edge of the Port District. Edeard enjoyed the irony in that as he got the city to change the floor they were stacked on. One by one the barrels fell into the tunnel beneath Tail Canal. Edeard's third hand scooped up eight of them, and they bobbed along through the air behind him as he walked the short distance along the curving tunnels under Myco's streets to stand beneath the House of Blue Petals.