When there is no way of knowing exactly how long our skeins will run and when we imagine ourselves to have much more time than we do our every impulse is to fight, to die with chemo in our veins or a tube in our throats or fresh sutures in our flesh.
Each week, Mr Sondhi has, in the flesh, unveiled fresh allegations of official corruption and misconduct, while the prime minister has retaliated with a series of libel suits.