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threatening his or her owners, or from thinking strongly-rebellious thoughts, but there are ways around it, to a certain degree. For example, if a Vapour were to study surgical techniques, with the help of literature and instruments provided by a sympathetic mistress,” He smiled at Jessica. “…then he could learn how to perform a post mortem in secret, assisted by his fellows. He could remove the body’s Limiter, study it, and discover how to stop it working. And he could then arrange for his own Limiter to be removed, deactivated, and replaced. The replacement would be necessary, so that, in the event of his own death, his post mortem would not reveal its absence and arouse suspicion. The Limiter is not deeply implanted; it is directly subcutaneous. Once it had been deactivated and replaced, the Vapour in question could simply wear a wig or a hat to conceal the operation scar until it healed, if his or her hair were not already thick or long enough to hide it. And the said Vapour could then go on, with assistance, to do the same for his fellows.”
     
    He paused, sipped more whiskey, and continued.
     
    “Vapours are largely ignored by their owners, as long as they do what’s expected of them. If they talk amongst themselves, or pass on information that they’ve discovered to each other, then their owners and others will remain oblivious, as long as the passing-on is done with suitable discretion. In this way, the knowledge of how to safely and secretly deactivate the Clockwork Conscience can be spread from city to city, from town to town, from village to village, across the nation.”
     
    I couldn’t help interrupting. “And thus creating a secret society of Vapours able to work towards ends of their own, undetected. Presumably, their ultimate freedom. Very clever.”
     
    “There are already enough of us in this city and others to make that start, Dan. But overcoming the Limiter isn’t enough in itself. We need to set up a secure nation of our own. Somewhere that we can continue our work, undisturbed by the rest of the World. Imagine what an inspiration that could be to Vapours everywhere, as an ideal and as reality! Well, after much consideration, we have found such a place. We prefer to keep its location among ourselves, at least for the present. I trust that you understand. Even Jessica doesn’t know where it is, or any of the others sympathetic to our cause.”
     
    Jessica nodded. “But, with the help of my dear husband’s means, I have been able to provide a suitably equipped and provisioned ship, one of several secured across the country which will allow that nation to be born, and to survive. We plan to launch it tomorrow night, from the harbourside. Anthony is going to come home, in the small hours, probably drunk as usual, and find his household, and his safe, empty. Doubtless he’ll try to track us all down, but — as you’ll have gathered — we know how to keep secrets. Dan, I set you on my own trail as a test of your trustworthiness as much as your abilities. As a respectable lady of my position, I cannot go easily to the kinds of places and peoples that you can to procure valuable information. I’d like to retain your services for such needs. In which light, I repeat: we know how to keep secrets. Our main concern now is whether you can.”
     
    I remembered the dancer, collapsing in helpless agony. I thought of Robert, whom Anthony would quite contentedly have let die. I recalled seeing so many Vapours, over the years, being treated as mules, furniture, toys.
     
    I extended my hand. “You can count on my unconditional support.”
     
    The next day saw me preparing. We’d arranged to meet at the dock at 11 pm, so I’d decided to arrive an hour earlier. I cleaned and loaded my Brenton-Myers special, hoping that it wouldn’t be needed. I adjusted my watch to the correct time, far too often. I found a small volume of Catullus, just in case I did have any time to read, and pocketed that.