Jonny had been barely six when the first of the Protein Rebellions took place. The riots were put down after ten days of bloody fighting and a body-count of 10,000 civilian and military dead. The authorities had not been caught unprepared. The select few began their silent pilgrimage into the desert to government sponsored havens. The rest of the city had remained behind, with control in the hands of a paramilitary organisation, the Committee for Public Health. When the now-grown Jonny leaves Carnaby's Pit, several armed members of the Committee are waiting for him...Cover art by Alan Daniels.