"That's about the size of it," Quinn says. "I've got a community of a hundred and sixty seven human souls, twenty-five of whom are under the age of twelve. We haven't heard from any outside communities in two years. We've got one paediatrician handling medical care for the community; her name's Helen Leick, and she used to be head of childhood infectious disease at Alder Hey Children's Hospital. Our resources are twenty years' worth of scavenging and accumulating, a little bit of green stuff in the fields- and the sale money your captain was able to get for us. So, next to nothing, and a bloody lot of platinum. I'm to spend that on whatever supplies I can bring back, and while I've got a shopping list-"

He produces a folded piece of paper, on which Helen wrote her most desperate requests and needs.

"-I expect I can afford a bit more than that, and I was hopin' you could help me on that front."