Akin had known Dona was Synod the moment he met her: that air of scornful judgement and perpetual dissatisfaction. Of course, having been married once, Akin knew that in itself, that wasn’t unusual – but her interest in Yrtl was the real clincher. What the hell did an Atomworks drone like that have to offer a woman like her? Nothing she couldn’t get cheaper elsewhere.

He knew they’d track him down one day – the Synod didn’t easily allow their fallen sons to wriggle beyond their grasp – though he’d covered his tracks quite carefully, with a new name, reflashed plant and carefully engineered prison sentence in JDC. But somehow, they’d traced him to Juno and, with Yrtl as unwitting mole, were closing in.

But then Heaven had interceded – that fool Kohl had managed to trace Yrtl’s plant link and used it to send his own SOS along the ethereal skein. He couldn’t have chosen a less effectual hero to call upon – while, serendipitously, enabling the Doc’s deliverance.

It was time, thought Akin, to return to favour.