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Tas took a timeout after his coughing fit. He sipped some water and threw a handful of pills down his neck. Crunched them. Winced as he swallowed. Looked as though he was in even more pain than Koenig. Tas noticed him watching. ‘Are you hoping I’ll die before I finish?’ he said.

‘That would be great .’

‘I’ll live long enough.’

‘Long enough for me to kill you?’

‘Do you believe that is likely?’ Tas glanced at Koenig’s legs. ‘Because from this end of the boat, it looks like the only thing keeping you alive is the torniquet.’

‘I don’t suppose I could loosen it for a bit?’ Koenig said. ‘My right ankle has gone numb. I’ll get sepsis if I don’t get the blood circulating again.’

‘That will be incredibly painful,’ Tas said. ‘Maybe you shouldn’t worry about sepsis, Mr Koenig. Perhaps you shouldn’t worry about anything any more.’

Koenig tilted his head. Looked up at the sky. It was as blue as a robin’s egg. Beautiful. ‘That really deserved a roll of thunder,’ he said. He nodded at the torniquet. ‘May I?’

Tas nodded his permission.

Koenig leaned forwards and grabbed the belt. He gritted his teeth. Wished he had a bit. Something to bite down on. Tas wasn’t lying; loosening the torniquet was going to be painful. And because it was a belt, it had to be pulled tighter first. He had to get the prong out of the punch hole before he could loosen it. He figured quicker would be better than slower. Like ripping off a Band-Aid. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

He pulled the belt tighter. The burst of pain was as sudden and as shocking as a lightning strike. He snorted. Loud, like an angry bull. He kept pulling. Eventually the prong fell out of the hole. He let go and the belt loosened. Blood crept back into his leg. It felt like acid. He snorted again, louder this time. He hadn’t known he had a pain threshold. He’d certainly never reached it before. Now he had.

It was too much.

Far too much.

The lights went out again.