Josiah had been right. Whatever the jury's decision he was being lead up the garden path into bloodshed. His own.

But what if he survived it? What if the small boy from the Isle of Jeppa defeated the odds? What if he didn't let redemption bend?

He approached the courtroom with Josiah and for the first time in his life, he welcomed the fear.

Power.

Everyone stood as the Jasabi judge entered the courtroom and he immediately told them to sit down, appreciating a full stop to the events instead of an elongated tirade about the boy's misdemeanor.

He placed his glasses upon his nose once again and pivoted on his chair, casually glancing over the sea of heads that bobbed in his house of justice.

Gratified that the jury had made a decision he rubbed his belly, the faint rumblings of hunger knawing at the insides of his gut.

'Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I trust my table at Villiers remains reserved? Have you reached a verdict for the accused?'

The Hotch woman who had stood behind Josiah at the vending machine stood for the jury

'We have your honour.'

The old Jasabi nodded. 'So be it.'

He held out his hand as a gesture to continue.

'The punishment for the accused is enrolment into the Frugalmeyan armed forces for a maximum of twenty years. The jury, your honour, felt it appropriate to give the boy at least a measured chance of survival. As a trained soldier at least he may serve Frugalmeyer's borders ...'

Josiah slapped Xindii on the back, relieved that the jury had settled upon a handsome sentence of recompense. Xindii breathed with a steady flow.

'. . . and protect its families. Honour the democracy of its people. Redeem the humanity he left within his bedroom on that fateful night in Jeppa.'

Xindii could feel the stares of vengeful eyes boring into his skull, burrowing into the meaty texture of his brain like the dream beetle he had conjured that night. Feel their writhing chests heave with despair and bubbling hatred. Hear their jaws grinding with cold contempt.

'HE KILLED MY GALLY. HE KILLED MY GALLY.'

The old judge smacked down his gavel.

'MADAM, please. It is the findings of this jury that he will meet out his justice. It is said and done. I understand your pain, I do. But it is in this justice, this sentence that he will suffer. His road will not be easy, madam. I assure you.'

The calm eloquent voice of the judge made her fall back into her chair, comforted by his words and the soft stroking rhythm of her daughter's fingers through her hair.

'My Gally.'

A tear started to form at the rim of Xindii's eyelid. He blinked, hoping the tear would stem the tide but it spread, flowered across the circumference of his eyeball and seeped down his cheek. He brushed it away quickly but Josiah saw it and looked away, sheepishly.

Harris stood up gaining the attention of the judge, which was his intention.

'Mr Japer, do you have something to add?'

'I do your grace?'

The old Yasabi raised his beautifully pruned eyebrows and swallowed hard.

'I sincerely hope this isn't going to infringe upon my reservation at Villiers, Mr Japer? I am a tall fellow and get irritable if my belly yearns.'

'No your honour. I'll try and be quick and subtle.'

The judge sat back into his chair, swallowed by the advocate's hubris.

'Very well.'

Harris Japer walked forward and presented his arms and bowed slightly to the jury. Josiah sighed deeply.

'Ladies and gentlemen of the jury your justice has been met . . . if sorely lacking.'

'Japer!'

Harris looked at the judge, his eyes penetrating as if to say 'don't overstep the mark, lad.'

'Sorry,' he said addressing the jury once more. 'That was harsh. Of course his sentence is just and humane for a child his age but . . .'

Here it comes, thought Xindii. The ace in the sleeve. He had been waiting for this.

'If we are to accept that a new wave of crimes such as this are to become commonplace then how are the Watch and the Mappers going to police such degradations?

'If Heironymous Xindii does a turn of exemplary service, of which I am in no doubt he will, what happens if he slips?'

The jury and the families of the defense looked at each other, perplexed as to Japer's view.

The old Yasabi leaned forward in his chair. 'Mr Japer? What precisely are you on about?'

Harris Japer smiled his thousand raeq grin.

'As an old soldier myself your honour I always found it, comfortable; gratifying knowing who or what was guarding my back . . . HAD my back.'

The jury started to lean over, enticed by Japer's pitch.

'Are we to assume that when our young fellow here,' Harris spun about almost theatrically and pointed at Xindii, 'comes under enemy fire and is pinned down with no escape that he is simply going to keep calm and accept it. That he is not going to give in to fear, that the adrenaline within him is not going to ignite with the gasoline that sits stagnant beneath the waves of dream . . .'

Josiah leaned over. 'You bastard.'

The Yasabi slammed his gavel to the hard wood. 'Mr Kahn. Enough'

'He is but a child your grace.' Josiah pleaded.

'A child with a loaded weapon. Are you going to stand at his side on the battlefield, Mr Kahn? Keep his nightmares at bay? Hold his hand at night when he sees the faces of the deceased come to haunt him?'

Harris moved closer to Josiah. 'Tell me, Josiah, can you stop this from happening again? Can you stop Heironymous Xindii from being scared and destroying the life of another family?'

Josiah looked down to his shoes. 'No.'

'What is it you ask of the court, Mr Japer?'

Harris turned about to face the judge.

'My honour,' the advocate smiled again. 'The word of the jury is spoken but I and I'm sure the society of Frugalmeyer would feel a lot safer if the men and woman of the armed forces were not facing death in their own camps. The bullets of Cooz maim our own enough as it is. What I ask . . .' Harris smiled and corrected himself. 'What I propose is that these dreams must be quelled.'

The advocate for the defense turned about and approached Josiah again.

'As a Mapper, Mr Kahn is it possible to sedate these dreams?'

Xindii looked at his mentor, concerned.

'Yes. In our science there are certain drugs that can pacify. Suppress the dream. It's initially used to combat the accused –

Josiah could see the hole opening up before his feet and he felt like flinging himself in. Xindii just closed his eyes in defeat.

'Is there something wrong, Mr Kahn?' asked the ecstatic advocate.

'No,' he replied. Swallowing his pride.

'Then, pray,' Japer leaned in close and smiled, a remnant of his recess still hanging from his bottom front teeth. It stunk of gunark egg. Poached. 'Continue . . .'

Josiah looked at his friend from the Isle of Jeppa and mouthed the word 'Sorry.'

Xindii took himself to the rooftop in Jeppa, the safest place in creation right now and sat with his Ma. His mentor talked on, deflated, defeated.

'It is common practice for a Mapper when placing a fiend in Reverie to inject him, or her, with a suppressant we dub, Sandman. It's derived from the reed thorns from the Kalas saltings. Grounded, pulped and fermented. It can in some cases induce paralysis but an appropriate measure can induce a coma like state.'

Harris stepped forward. 'And it is in this case where you work your magic, so to speak.'

'If you like,' replied the Mapper.

'Could Xindii, here,' Harris didn't flinch, 'be injected with such a drug to keep him in order?'

'To keep him from wandering?' Josiah prodded.

'Answer the question Mr Kahn,' ordered the Yasabi.

Xindii's dose would have to be more considerable. You're suppressing the dream, not the man. Also . . .'

'Go on.' urged Harris.

'Continued doses of Sandman over an extended period of time will cause a dependency. It is highly addictive.'

'So if he stopped using the suppressant . . .'

Josiah finished. 'He will die.'

Harris Japer smiled once more and casually walked back to his table and sat down and adjusted his tie. The old Yasabi judge raised his magnificently pruned eyebrows once again.

'Oh so sorry your honour. No more questions, thank you.'

A steady silence fell over the courtroom as the jury and the families took stock of what Harris Japer had just offered the court. Even the old Yasabi had been hooked. You could see the cogs turning.

'Mr Kahn. As a Mapper could you produce such a drug?'

'It is within my skills, your honour.'

The judge nodded.

'We cannot be seen to send a young man off to war who may endanger the lives of those he fights alongside. If history has taught us anything it is those we stand with shelter us from harm. This boy must meet out his punishment on the battlefields but in serving on our borders and protecting our lands we must help him first conquer his own demons.'

The judge looked at the young Jeppa boy.

'Heironymous Xindii, you may stand.'

Josiah nudged him off that rooftop and he stood up.

'It is the wisdom of this jury and the combined input from its advocates that you are sentenced to twenty years in the Frugalmeyan armed forces. Life will not be easy, Master Xindii. There are those within its ranks who will know what you have done.

It would have been easier for us all to send you to the Perenthian pits. But as it may, an alternative has been found . . . Are you ready to face your punishment, Heironymous Xindii?'

The boy from Jeppa stood proud. 'I am your honour . . . and in twenty years I'll come back and make you proud.'

Xindii heard the faint wisps of laughter and Harris Japer chuckling into his coffee, the old Yasabi judge appreciating his candour, though misplaced.

'Is there something amusing, advocate?' asked Xindii.

Josiah reached for his charge and the boy swept him aside.

Harris looked at the judge and the Yasabi shrugged his shoulders. 'Answer the boy, advocate.'

Mr Japer swallowed the rapacious swelling that was trying to manifest at the back of his throat. 'Lad,' he laughed 'if you make it back in twenty years I'll give you my house . . . hell, you can have my wife,' he chorused, laughing like a petulant child until he realised no one was joining in. 'You are not coming back, son.'

Xindii smiled. 'See you in twenty years, sir.'

The Yasabi judge watched the boy, fascinated by his assuredness and smiled. 'I look forward to it, master Xindii.'

Harris Japer shook his head in disbelief.

'Hearing adjourned. Thank you.'

People started to gather their belongings and make for the exit and the judge eyed Harris Japer and shook his head.

Josiah stood up and moved over to Xindii. 'Well. How are you feeling my boy?'

Xindii smiled. 'Never better. If that is what justice demands then I will see it done.'

Josiah placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. 'You are a very brave young man, and I look forward to your return.'

'This Sandman drug?' Xindii leaned on the table and looked at his mentor head on. 'I'll never be the same again will I?'

Josiah placed some papers in his case and clipped it shut. He wouldn't lie. He owed him that much. 'You will still be Heironymous Xindii. But if you came off it the side effects would be catastrophic. Insanity.'

Xindii nodded emphatically. 'Yes, but when I return . . .'

'Yes?' Josiah asked.

'I want to become a Mapper. If I stop the drug?'

Josiah placed his hand on the boy's shoulder once again. 'Sandman quells the dream, forever. The only thing that could ignite your latent powers is the one drug we have been weening you off for the last three months, Xelofremanine . . . One thing at a time, Xindii. One thing at a time.'

The Mapper swallowed hard and ushered his charge from the court.