Free The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf (The Tribe) by Ambelin Kwaymullina Page A

Given enough time, though, he could probably persuade the Primes of some of the other cities to vote with him.
Which means he could make the Citizenship Accords a lot worse than they already are
. And stupid Bry was still smiling at him.
    Her smile suddenly faded, and for a second, I thought she’d understood how much trouble we were in. Then I realized that she was reacting to Neville, who wasn’t smiling, either. “The problem I have,” he told her, “is that I work for the government, and the government is concerned about the Tribe. Very concerned. So I couldn’t let a Tribe member go, not unless there was some . . . cooperation.”
    He hadn’t so much as glanced in my direction, but we both knew whom he was talking to. “Exactly what do you want?” I asked.
    He answered in an earnest tone. “I want you to tell the Tribe to leave the Firstwood.”
    “What?”
    “I promise you,” he hurried on, “they won’t be punished. I’m prepared to treat them like ordinary detainees, despite the fact that they’ve broken the Citizenship Accords.”
    I couldn’t believe it. He was serious. I stared at him in bewilderment. My first thought was that Chief Administrator Neville Rose had gone completely insane. My second was that he wanted to win the Gull City Prime election. With increasing numbers of Citizens asking the Question, heads of detention centers aren’t as popular as they used to be. Getting even a few Tribe members to come into detention would help to put an end to the unpleasant rumors about him. In fact, just having Ashala Wolf, the leader of the Tribe, ask them to come in might be enough to convince people that Neville was the kindly guardian he seemed. I could be getting him a pile of votes. Worse still, once rumors spread that the leader of the Tribe said detention was okay, there was an outside chance that Illegals might turn themselves in because of it, kids who wouldn’t realize that I’d never say such a thing voluntarily.
    Briony’s voice interrupted my worried speculations. “You’ll help me, won’t you, Ash?” She leaned over to give me a quick hug, taking the chance to whisper in my ear, “We both know none of the Tribe will ever leave the Firstwood, so it doesn’t matter what you ask them to do.”
    She settled back into her chair, and I knew she’d never understand why it
did
matter. Or that regardless of what I agreed to, Neville was never going to give her an Exemption. He would invent one delay after another, and all the while she’d be in danger, a piece of leverage to be used against me. She’d be oblivious to what was happening, too, and somehow that made it worse. She was so vulnerable, my flighty Briony, with her happy endings and her blond hair and her smile.
    My thoughts seemed to stutter to an abrupt halt. Something was bothering me, and I wasn’t sure what. It was almost as if I could feel a hand tugging at the corners of my memory, as if a piece of my mind were trying to remind me about something important that I’d seen. No, something I
hadn’t
seen.
    “You didn’t smile,” I said.
    “What?” Bry asked.
    “Before. At the park, when the guard was taking you away and you looked back at me. You didn’t smile.”
Even though you were asking me for help, and you always smile when you do that.
    “Well . . . I . . .” She cast a nervous glance at Neville, then drew closer to murmur, “I was frightened, Ash.”
    Were you, Bry?
A lot of things were rapidly piling up in my mind, tiny things that didn’t seem like anything until you put them all together. Enforcers on an unscheduled supply run into Cambergull. How Briony had been the only one to come to the center. The way she said she’d been captured by enforcers with streakers, when those things weren’t standard issue yet.
I don’t think I’ve seen a single enforcer carrying one since I came here.
Most of all, the lack of a smile.
    Focusing all my attention on her pretty face, I said, “I know what