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.'In any case, even the orphans round here got names.They're easy to come by.''I don't come from around here,' I pointed out.'It doesn't matter anyhow.I'm sorry, but I haven't gotanother name.I'm just Grainger, that's all.''Difficult to be friendly then,' he commented.'I won't take it to be unfriendly if you call me by my name,' I assured him.He shrugged.'I will get you off if I can,' I told him.'I meant what I said.If it's humanly possible, I won't leave you todie down here.''And this Charlot,' he said.'The one you have to ask.What about him? Does he feel the same way?'That was a very difficult question.I didn't like Charlot and he didn't like me.He didn't owe me anyfavours.I could hardly make promises on his behalf.On the other hand, if I expressed any doubt, oreven evaded the question, I would destroy any faith which Tob might place in me.I was reasonably surethat I could get Bayon's sixteen men onto the Hooded Swan, but reasonably sure wasn't nearly enoughfor Tob and Bayon.They'd been offered the carrot, and nothing was going to stand in their way.'Whether Charlot gets what he wants or not,' I told him, 'he'll have lots of empty space on the ship.He'sa human being, like the rest of us.He couldn't possibly elect to leave you here.' All of which must havesounded to Tob like: 'I'm not sure.' Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html'It's not impossible to get off the world,' I said.'Rion Mavra and six others left.''Churchmen,' he said.'Just arguers, not throwouts.''Yes, but ships do arrive and take off.Not just the Splinter ships, but ships to and from Attalus.Notoften, I know.But there are ships.If the locals ignore you, and refuse to recognise your presence, youshouldn't have too much difficulty getting to 'the offworlders.''Do you honestly think we ain't tried?''No,' I said.'I imagined you had.What goes wrong?''The ships that come here from outside come to deal with the Churchmen.And that isn't easy.Theywouldn't do it if they didn't have to.But from time to time, Attalus wants something and only our pricesare low enough.The Church wouldn't deal either, but they have to, as well.We couldn't live here withoutsupport.Things break.Things have to be repaired and replaced.But the Church has a choice and Attalusdoesn't.Attalus needs the Church more than the Church needs Attalus.We can always trade with thecompanies, because we have metal we don't want, and can pay their prices.'So do you really think that any ship from Attalus would dare to carry back renegades from Rhapsody,or any other of the Splinters? They take the exiles, sure, because that's where the Church reckons itsexiles ought to go.But we're dead.We don't exist, but we can't be allowed to escape from ournon-existence.If we could get back our existence, the threat of excommunication would be only a tenthof what it is.The Churchmen would kill us, whether we exist or not.And the ships from Attalus wouldn'tcarry us.They wouldn't dare.'I could see his point.Attalus did need its tenuous connection with the Splinters more than the Splintersdid.It was apparent nonsense to think of Attalus being poorer than the Splinters, but that was the reality.Rhapsody had a minimum of wealth, but what it had was surplus to requirements.It could be used, intime of need.But all the wealth which Attalus possessed was tied up in maintaining a reasonable standardof living.They had much more in the way of resources, but they needed every last gram.Wealth andpoverty are both determined by what is enough.The standard of everyday life on Rhapsody would beintolerable by the standards of Attalus.There must be company ships as well - few and far between -but I knew better than to ask Tob aboutthat.Company men were company men.If you couldn't pay the fare, you didn't get the ride.That hadbeen brought home to me so hard that I'd never ever forget it.Bayon, Tob and the rest were trapped -caught in the Church's web and condemned to the Church's version of hell.A living hell, where theyserved as terrible reminders to the faithful.The imaginary non-existence was cruel and brilliant.Thepeople knew, but they could not admit that they knew.They lived alongside their hell, and it was an actof faith not to see it.It was even an act of faith not to be a part of it, for life on Rhapsody couldn't beobjectively much different for the faithful and the condemned.I never found out what kind of ExclusiveReward the people were promised for their suffering - in all probability they weren't allowed to know thedetails, but had to take it on trust that it would be good - but they earned every bit of it.They deserved it all.Their life, their heaven, and their hell.The only ones who didn't deserve it were theones who had to suffer most - the hellbound themselves.I meant to get them out.I really was absolutely determined.How much could I blame them for a lack oftrust? Not at all, then.Later events cast a different shadow, though. Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit
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