Come out," Sukarno cried into the vegetation. "I have a gun!" "Mr. Sukarno," said Iago, without looking at him. "You are, if you don't mind me saying… - Adam Roberts

I have heard the rumours," said the captain, directing his attention to the food on his plate.
"Ah, but rumours," said Lebret easily, "may not be trusted. Appearances, you see, can trump reality.

That a human being had died did not distress her. Had it been somebody she knew it would have upset her; she wasn’t a monster. Had it been somebody she cared about. But it was nobody she knew, and it would have been disingenuous to pretend that the death of somebody she didn’t know affected her on an emotional level.

Death is the currency of power.