Into the Light by Jane Wallace
Chapter 21

Two days later, Tem Sevin was sitting at the workstation in the captain’s quarters, now formally recognised as his own cabin. He input a search request and banged his fist against the desktop when it failed yet again to deliver any results. He had turned over every single reference to ‘nexagraph’ or ‘into the light’ stored in the Infinity databases, and on the Delta Nine grid while they were in range. He was still no wiser.

He turned up the soothing melody of Finin’s Movement Eight and thought through the conundrum. Hauki had plotted the route to Gaia from Altan, calculating that, without any short-cut, they would be in transit for two standard years and ten months if they went close to lightspeed, the maximum Xin would allow without putting unnecessary stress on the engines.

Then they had to get back, at whatever pace the Gaian battlecruisers they had mustered could manage, which would be nowhere near as fast as Infinity. The round trip could take almost a decade. With the Gharst increasing in strength by the day and outposts like Andalia falling like trees before an axe, they did not have the luxury of time. Without a short-cut, they were condemned to wandering the galactic highroads while the Gharst wreaked their destruction unhindered.

Sevin also had the task of keeping his team motivated. Hauki was delighted at the prospect of passing the Charis system and potentially stopping off at her homeworld, Taranga. The others, he knew, were not so thrilled. Renegades they might be, but there were other, more comfortable, places in the Known Worlds to hole up for a few years than a spaceship. Lauden had taken Zendra’s betrayal particularly hard, moping in his cabin and pushing away plates of unfinished food, his depression colouring everyone else’s mood.

Seeking inspiration, Sevin let his attention wander over the sparse furnishing of the study area: the triangular desk where he sat, the storage bins along the partition wall still unfilled – he had no belongings to put in them – and the uncluttered surfaces which gave the lie to anyone living there. It was exactly the way he liked it, no mess and no complications. The blinds pulled over the windows were the anomaly in this haven of fastidity, some closed, some half-open.

The cabin was getting uncomfortably hot. Sevin stood up to close the remaining open blinds and block the roasting radiation from outside. Even with the shades, the envirocon could not cool the dogged rays of the Lonestar, a coruscating white ball which lay a million linials away through the portside window. A significant landmark between the Altan and Charis systems, Sevin had passed the planetless star several times in his career. In all those occasions, he could never remember experiencing this kind of heat. Perhaps they were too close. He ran a finger inside the collar of his jacket, wondering if its thermadjust was working. He had better check on their course.

Glad of the excuse to quit his quest, he hurried down the spiral staircase outside his front door to the mezzanine level of the bridge. It was empty, the seats neatly placed around the briefing table, a single beaker left behind on top. Crossing to the edge of the gallery, he saw Hauki was on watch, seated at the navdesk. She turned around when she heard footsteps descending to the flight deck.

‘Where is everyone?’ Sevin asked, stepping up to her holostation.

‘Their normal places. You were in your cabin, Xin’s in her workshop, Marik and Lauden are in the rec, I think.’

‘Watching totavision?’

‘I expect so. You know, Lauden is very down on this Zendra thing.’

‘I know.’

‘They were close, it’s a wonder he never found out.’

‘She was that devious. Anyway, he’s reunited with the love of his life, that’s got to help.’

‘Not when she’s left behind on Delta Nine.’

‘That’s his choice.’

‘Yes, I know, it’s all of our choices, from the few options we had. I can’t say everyone’s excited by this journey to Gaia.’

‘I’m still working on the nexagraph lead. I haven’t found anything yet but the information has to be there. As soon as I’ve figured it out, we’ll find a short-cut to Gaia and get things moving.’

‘And in the meantime?’

‘In the meantime, why’s it so damn hot?’ Sevin had to shield his eyes to look up to the bridge’s roof. ‘You’ve done this route before, right?’

‘Many times.’

‘D’you ever remember it being like this?’

‘No, not really.’

‘We must be too close, take us off a few thousand.’

‘We’re within Coalition guidelines, believe me.’

‘Just check it out.’

Hauki flipped up a star chart on her viewer. As she did so, a sudden jolt to the ship from outside sent her headfirst into the hologram, triggering a series of warning flashes.

‘What was that?’ she said, steadying herself.

‘No idea, there’s nothing out there,’ he said, hanging on to the back of her chair for support. They tilted their heads back to survey deep space through the roof of the bridge, empty except for the glaring globe of the Lonestar. The view on the forecam was similarly vacant.

‘Not much traffic around,’ said Hauki.

‘Do they know something we don’t?’

The ship took another roll.

‘Mother in heaven, it’s like a plasma storm.’

‘I’ll run some diagnostics,’ said Sevin. As he stumbled to the captain’s chair, swaying to left and right in the uneven motion, he heard boots clattering towards the flight deck and Marik and Lauden appeared, startled and unkempt as if they had been suddenly woken.

‘What’s going on?’ said Marik, bounding to the pilot seat and belting himself in.

‘We don’t know, something’s pushing us around,’ said Sevin, activating his holostation. ‘Switch to manual, try and keep us steady. Lauden, run the particle detectors.’

‘I’m on it.’ Lauden took Xin’s normal seat at the systems desk and initiated the scan. The ship bucked as if it was crashing against waves.

‘What you got?’

‘Holy scrit, that can’t be right! This says we got a five hundred per cent increase in free electrons, all a higher charge than normal.’ The ship recoiled violently from an unseen punch.

‘Magnetic storm,’ said Sevin. ‘It must be a stellar wind from the Lonestar.’

‘It can’t be, it’s too far away,’ said Hauki.

‘Not if there’s been recent flare activity. Lauden, scan Lonestar for current eruptions.’

‘Okay.’ After a few seconds he tensed over the viewer. ‘Yup, coronal ejections twenty-five standard hours ago, in the nearside equatorial region.’

‘As I thought, we’ll have to go round it. Veer off, Marik, get us out of here, increase the speed to C plus five.’

’Wilco. Infinity took a swerve to starboard then kicked forward. The infinicom on Sevin’s holostation bleeped.

‘Is anyone in control up there?’ asked Xin’s voice. ‘We’re sustaining an impact of 8.6 to the hull, near damage point.’

‘It’s a magnetic storm, we’re coming out of it now.’ Sevin clicked off the infinicom, needled by her tone.

‘Y’all can calm down. I can see it on my viewer, a big trough and we’re leaving it behind,’ said Lauden.

The crew breathed a collective sigh of relief. They continued to monitor the scanners until they were convinced they had left the storm behind.

‘We’re going steady now, back on the original course. We could go to auto,’ said Marik.

‘Yes, put it on,’ said Sevin.

’Might as well get back to Galactic Quest, eh Lauden?’

‘Sure. Can’t leave Jack Blakely all alone with them killer bots.’ He stood up from the systems desk but was prevented from leaving the flight deck by Xin’s diminutive figure.

‘Don’t go anywhere,’ she said.

‘Huh?’

‘We’ve got trouble, take a look out there.’ She pointed through the starboard windows at a glimmering cloud that hung in the distance.

‘Where’d that come from?’

‘What is it?’ said Marik, falling back down into the pilot seat.

‘I don’t know, it just appeared on the scanners in the engine room.’ Xin pushed past Lauden to get to her normal place at the systems desk. Bumped off his seat, he retreated to the comms station.

‘Looks like a starburst to me,’ said Hauki.

‘Whatever it is, we don’t want to get too close,’ said Sevin. ‘Marik, go back to manual and steer clear.’

‘It seems to be growing,’ said Hauki, staring at the forecam which had zoomed in on the obstacle. ‘Lauden, are you getting anything?’

‘There’s electrical activity but not much else.’

They contemplated the hazy mass while Infinity continued steadily on course. A glowing ring was forming out of the indistinct nebula. The angle of their approach made Sevin double-check their progress. What he saw worried him. He looked forward to the pilot seat where Marik was frenetically poking the touchpad.

‘Marik, we’re heading towards it!’ he said.

‘I know, I can’t get us away, the ship’s not responding.’

‘What?’ said Xin, starting her own investigation of the ship’s controls. ‘You’re right Marik!’

‘I am usually,’ he said, wrenching the steerstick to port with no effect. ‘I can’t do anything, we’re being pulled towards it.’

‘Reverse, full power!’ said Sevin.

‘But we’ll hit the storm again!’ said Hauki.

‘Better than getting sucked into that.’

The ring was fully formed and expanding widthways like a smiling mouth. Behind it, grey fog coalesced into a streaming tail.

‘I can’t reverse, it’s too strong,’ Marik said. ‘We speeding up. My gods, we’re doing C plus 8, C plus 10!’

‘This is a black hole,’ said Xin. ‘We’ll hit the event horizon in about five minutes.’

Sevin rotated in his chair to face her. ‘It’s not a black hole.’

‘It is!’

‘It is not. Look at that halo. Black holes do not have halos like that. And see how close we are. If it was a black hole, we’d already be dead.’

‘Well, what is it then?’ she said crossly. Then she shrieked as she noticed a scrap of paper in the gap between Sevin and Hauki’s seats levitating above the floor. A red light started to flash on her console. ‘The gravity compensator’s malfunctioning!’ she said.

Sevin saw the paper as it floated past his elbow. ‘Marik, try again! Maximum power, reverse and forward.’

Marik pulled at the steerstick. It spun uselessly in its socket.

Sevin whirled around to the systems desk. ‘Xin, infinity drive?’

She shook her head. ‘Not even that’s powerful enough.’

‘Then we’re going in. Brace!’

The dazzling arches of the aperture yawned in front of them. Infinity was being irresistibly drawn into a gigantic oesophagus, its walls shimmering as if with digestive juices. The dark of normal space disappeared as they drew level with the lips and the light intensified until all definition of shape and colour was erased. Then they seemed to fall off the edge into the viscera where they churned and spun ever downwards in a vortex of white, taking a thrashing which it seemed would break the ship apart.

β

After the storm came the stillness. Sevin raised his head from underneath his crossed arms and checked out the cabin. The instruments on his holostation were functioning normally, their passage was level; they were proceeding at a leisurely pace across an open starfield.

Marik hauled himself up from the floor using the pilot seat for leverage. He stared at the forecam then at Sevin. ‘Grut me, we’re cruising on auto as if nothing happened!’

‘I think it did,’ said Hauki. ‘You’re not going to believe this, but we are in the middle of sector 3.’

‘We’re in the Empty Quarter?’ asked Marik.

‘You’re messin’ with us, that’s most of the way to Andalia!’ said Lauden.

‘I am not, see for yourself!’

‘Now we’re even further from Gaia,’ said Xin, looking at Sevin. He was lost in thought.

‘Sevin?’ she prompted.

‘It must have been some kind of wormhole, it’s the only explanation,’ he said, gazing at her with his mind elsewhere. ‘How long were we inside that thing?’

Her fingers beat out the query into the touchpad. ‘About eighty-five seconds’

‘One hundred and twenty million linials in a minute and a half. You ever heard of that?’

‘Only in fairy tales,’ said Hauki.

‘That was reality.’

‘You know the story of The Seven Stars? When Snick and Ferta lose their home and their parents in a meteor crash and escape in the ark thing and travel for months until they find this big hole in the sky?’

‘Which takes them to a new planet where they find their missing parents?’

‘Of course. Well, it’s just an old pioneer story, isn’t it? Something to tell the kids.’

‘Hole in the sky, sound familiar?’

Hauki shrugged. ‘Could be, but then anything’s possible, so much is still undiscovered out there.’

‘Hey, sorry to interrupt you guys,’ Lauden said, ‘but the Empty Quarter ain’t so empty. There’s an unidentified ship at two hundred linials. I’m hailing it.’

‘Put it on screen,’ said Sevin.

The forecam zoomed in on a small pleasurecraft side on to them, its bow facing to port. It was similar to the luxury subspeeders used by the superrich to commute between Delta Nine and the other Altan planets, standard grey but an unfamiliar design: a straight body and dog-leg wings so it looked like a letter E. The navigation lights were extinguished and it appeared to be drifting, the fission reactor in its stern flickering at odd intervals. The markings on the hull read ‘Esperance’.

‘I don’t recognise it, but it doesn’t look Gharst,’ said Sevin. ‘Lauden, are you getting any response?’

‘Nah, but there’s an entity on board.’

‘Just one?’

‘Yup, life support is still functioning.’

‘Maybe the pilot’s wounded and can’t take the comm?’ said Hauki.

Sevin considered the possibility that this ship had also been caught in the wormhole. ‘We’ll board it,’ he said. ‘Marik, prepare to dock. Hauki, get some medical supplies, and Xin, bring tools. Be at the shuttle bay in ten minutes.’

The women nodded and left the flight deck to collect the kit.

‘Whaddabout us?’ asked Lauden, his mouth turned down at the prospect of being left behind.

‘I need you on board to keep watch with Marik.’

‘Alright,’ he sighed, returning to his scanners.

Sevin swung off the flight deck and stopped at the armoury on the way down to the shuttle bay. He pulled three pulsars out of their chargers, fitting the shoulder strap of one of them over himself and sighing when he discovered it was tailored for right-handers.

‘Coming in port to port, contact in four minutes,’ Marik yelled as he exited the armoury. He headed through the iris and down the spiral staircase to the dank lower decks and the shuttle bay where Hauki and Xin were waiting in the half-light, Hauki carrying a first-aid grip, Xin armed with a black briefcase of tools.

’Take these in case,’ he told them, handing out the pulsars. The women donned the holsters as they listened for the clunk of the grapple fastening on to the other ship. The cannula hissed as it extended to Esperance’s hatch and sucked on. A discreet ding signalled it was safe to cross.

The rungs of the travelator carried them smoothly to the other ship. At the hatch, they discovered the locking system was broken and Sevin had to disintegrate the circuitry with his pulsar. The air lock was unharmed and allowed them safe access. Inside it was pitch-black except for feeble floor lights which marked the emergency exits. The inner walls were patchworked with gaping holes. Rubble carpeted the floor and particles hung in the air. An envirocon ticked over in the morbid quiet.

Hauki’s nose wrinkled. ‘Chemical fire?’

‘It’s taken a beating,’ said Sevin. ‘Let’s check out the bridge.’

Esperance had accommodation for no more than two crew and ten tonnes of cargo. It certainly wasn’t fitted out for intergalactic travel, Sevin noted, as they stepped over fallen ceiling panels and parts of torn-out fittings in the short gangway to the bridge. Metallic struts poked out of the walls like broken bones. Overhead, a naked electrical cable ripped out of its casings suddenly fizzed and shorted, making them jump.

They stopped outside the bridge. Sevin stood away from the autodoor, pulsar in hand, as it swished open to reveal fallen beams fencing off the two pilot seats like a gate. It was a compact space, more like a cockpit than a proper bridge. Only two extra crew could stand behind the pilots at the flight deck or sit on the pull-down jumpseats. A thick layer of dust covered the instrument panels which wrapped around bubble windows. A woman with greying hair in a bob cut was unconscious in the left-hand pilot seat. She wore a sky-blue flightsuit and her right leg was propped up on the neighbouring chair. Under the knee, the lartex was soaked in blood. A grey digi hung on a string around her neck.

Seven holstered the pulsar. He climbed over the beams and picked up the injured woman’s wrist to feel for a pulse. There was one, but it was weak.

‘Hauki, adrenalex shot, five mil,’ he said.

The hand was hot and Sevin bent down to feel the woman’s forehead, shining a torch into her face. Her hair was not grey, as he had first thought. It was in fact a thick covering of feathers, white at the crown and darkening to navy underneath. The eyebrows too were plumage, a dusky down. She was fair-complexioned with a long face and a boxy jawline, attractive rather than pretty, her nose small and snubbed, her lips plump and generous. Sevin judged her to be around thirty.

‘Here you are.’ Hauki passed the syringe. ‘How bad is it?’

’Not sure, she’s probably lost a lot of blood. Sevin gently turned the woman’s head to the side so he could apply the syringe’s nozzle to her jugular.

‘Let me see,’ said Hauki, craning over his shoulder. ‘Gods alive!’

‘What?’

‘D’you know who that is?’

‘No.’

Hauki’s eyes danced. ‘If I’m not mistaken that is Atare seb Aremen, Crown Princess of Cascor. You know who I mean, she’s in all the society mags.’

‘I don’t read them.’

‘It’s her, I’m sure.’

‘What’s she doing out here?’

‘She must be on the run from the Gharst attack on Andalia, that’s why the ship’s in such a state.’

‘She’s come a long way in a very short time.’ Sevin shot the adrenelex into the bird-woman’s throat. ‘She’s pretty sick whoever she is. Where’s Xin?’

‘Gone to look at the engines.’

‘Good, we could do with getting the lights on at least. Have you got a scalpel? I’ll try to do something with that leg if you can hold the torch.’

Hauki found him some scissors. Sevin had begun to cut open the lartex over the wound when a hard blow to his stomach knocked the air out of him.

‘Get away from me!’ The patient had revived, eyes like topaz burning out of a feverish face as she clutched at the device round her neck and primed her good leg to kick him again.

‘I’m fixing up your shin,’ Sevin said, recovering himself. ‘It’s degenerating fast. I can patch it up for now but it needs proper treatment.’

‘I can deal with it myself,’ she said, trying to shift into a more upright position and wincing at the pain the movement incurred.

‘Stay still!’ he shouted. His severity shocked her into acquiescence and she allowed him to swab the festering gash, sucking in her breath when the antiseptic stung. She watched him work for a while, her eyes darting towards Hauki, trying to work out the relationship between the dark-skinned older woman and her pale, stern companion.

‘Who are you? Coalition?’ she asked finally.

’Formerly. This is Hauki, I am Tem Sevin, I command the Infinity which is currently docked to your ship. We were passing when we saw you in trouble and decided to stop.’ He stared into her strange, honey-coloured eyes. There were hairline circles around the pupils which seemed to pull in and out as they focused.

She saw where he was looking.

‘I carry hawk genes in my DNA. I can see further than most humans.’ The telescopic eyes appraised him in return. ‘Tem Sevin, I’ve heard of you. You’re a brilliant soldier gone rogue, or that’s what the propaganda says. There’s quite a price on your head.’

‘Probably,’ he said, dismissing the comment. ‘And you are?’

‘Atare seb Aremen, Crown Princess of Cascor and the subject planets of Andalia. And probably the last surviving member of my race,’ she said bitterly.

‘We heard about the Gharst attack, were you in it?’ Hauki said.

‘Yes.’ She paused, pressing her hand to her mouth. ‘It was indescribable. Can you imagine what it’s like to see your homeworld blown apart, your family, your home, everything you’ve ever known? We had been fighting for several days but had lost so much ground that eventually we had to barricade ourselves into the palace. Then what was left of our army surrendered. We were sure the Gharst would come for us. Whether they would kill us or imprison us, we just didn’t know. My father persuaded me to escape, he and my … my mother,’ she had to stop to contain her emotion, ‘decided they had to stay behind, it was their duty. I took off in the subspeeder we kept in the palace grounds. I got a bit of a headstart, but, when they saw I was gone, they started the bombing. It was retribution for my escape, I’m sure.’

‘Did they chase you?’ said Hauki.

‘Yes, they tried to shoot me down. I took a few hits.’ She waved her hand around the wreckage. ‘The last one took out the main drive and threw me across the cabin. Then one of the struts fell on me. I managed to drag myself back here, but I suppose I must have blacked out.’

‘You were unconscious when we found you,’ said Hauki.

‘How long have you been onboard?’

‘Not long, fifteen or twenty minutes.’

‘So where are we now?’ Atare raised herself to look out of the forward window. ‘I don’t recognise anything.’

‘That’s because we’re in the Empty Quarter,’ said Sevin, arranging a dressing over her leg.

‘The Empty Quarter!’

‘A very long way from Andalia. The Gharst attack on Cascor happened two standard days ago yet you’ve travelled thirty million linials. That would take ships more powerful than yours at least three weeks. How did that happen?’

Her face was blank. ‘I’ve come all that way? Really? I don’t understand. I was on the edge of Andalia when I got hit, then I was unconscious - it must have been for much longer than I thought.’

Sevin stood up straight and shot her a look that said he didn’t believe her.

‘Why don’t we check out the recorder?’ said Hauki, moving around Sevin to the console on the far right of the flight deck. As she started tapping the touchpad, the lights in the cockpit flicked on with a hum.

‘Where did that come from?’ said Atare, looking confused.

‘Our chief engineer is investigating the damage,’ Sevin said, watching Hauki bend over the readout. ‘What does it say?’

She shut down the screen and turned to face him. ‘There was a sudden increase in speed and a temporary malfunction in the gravity compensator, about seven hours ago.’

Sevin looked from Hauki to Atare’s rounded curves laid out in front of him, emphasised by the tight-fitting flightsuit. He couldn’t deny she had a lovely figure, exactly right for a clothes horse that was paraded at all the right parties to press the flesh of the people who mattered, or most likely the people who didn’t matter, who could be mollified by a moment with royalty. How did someone like her get somewhere like this? He didn’t believe her story about being unconscious, especially when the recorder said Esperance had experienced the same phenomena as Infinity, if not at the same time. But he was intrigued by the fact the Gharst were trying to track her down. And if the Gharst wanted her, he had every reason to keep her from them.

’You’d better come with us,’ he said. ’Infinity has excellent medical facilities. Xin and our morphs will carry out the repairs to your ship while you rest, then you can continue your journey.’

‘Thank you, but that won’t be necessary.’

‘You’re seriously hurt!’ said Hauki. ‘You could lose that leg if it isn’t treated properly.’

‘I’m much better already, thanks to your intervention. There is a tissue regenerator on board and I myself can make the repairs as soon as I get underway.’

Xin appeared in the entrance to the bridge. ‘The main drive is back online but not to full capacity,’ she said, eyeing Atare as if she was trying to place her. She shot Hauki a questioning look, to which Hauki nodded a confirmation. Taking the cue, Xin bowed to her waist. ‘I am sorry for the inconvenience, Ma’am, but the damage is extensive and full repairs will take me several days.’

‘Thank you, Chief Engineer, but I can do them myself. Please go back to your own ship.’

Sevin was about to protest when an automated voice started speaking in his right ear.

’Infinity to Boarding Party, come in.’

’Go ahead,’ he thought back.

’Gharst fleet approaching from section 11, two battlecruisers and three raefnschips.’

’We’re coming back right now, out,’ he thought back, exchanging glances with Xin and Hauki.

‘What is it?’ said Atare.

’I just heard from Infinity. There are Gharst ships in the vicinity and they’ve seen us,’ said Sevin. ‘Now you will have to come with us.’

‘Really, I can manage!’

‘Against a fleet of five?’

‘I can, now will you just … ’

Her head fell back into the chair unconscious as Sevin dosed her with a gentle current from the pulsar.

‘Sorry, we don’t have time to argue,’ he said. He stooped to gather her up into his arms and turned to leave.

Hauki stood in his way. ‘You sure this is a good idea?’

‘We can’t leave her for the Gharst.’

‘But we don’t know anything about her. And her story doesn’t add up.’

‘True. But the Gharst obviously want her and she might be useful to us. If you were her, what would you want?’

‘I suppose so.’

‘C’mon, help me get her past these beams.’

Together they extracted her from the cockpit, Hauki taking her feet until they got to the cannula where Sevin had to carry the foetal curl of her on the travelator by himself. She was lighter than her frame suggested and her skin exuded a particular perfume. It took his mind off the ache in his triceps as he tried to identify it, finally fixing on sandalwood. The scent stayed with him all the way to sick bay where he laid his precious burden on a trolley bed and instructed Hauki to keep an eye on her.

γ

‘We’re surrounded by gribs,’ Marik said as Sevin arrived at the bridge. He was wearing the silver torque of the undometer and his hand rested on the steerstick, waiting for action.

’So why aren’t we moving?’ said Sevin, throwing himself into the captain’s seat and flipping up the holostation.

’We were waiting for you! By the time you’d got off Esperance, the gribs were on us. Now we’re stuck.’

‘We’re here now. Get the cannula in and go to battlestations.’ Sevin checked the scans on the assembled artillery. ‘Two LH8s. Two Munin class raefns and one Hugin class raefn. Where the hell have they come from?’

‘A big fleet like that, I reckon they were routed to Andalia to clean up,’ said Lauden. ‘They happened to come across us, decided to take a look and hit jackpot.’

’They certainly did, we found Atare seb Aremen on the Esperance.’

‘What? You mean like the princess of Cascor?’ said Marik.

‘Yes, badly injured too. Said she was hit running from the Gharst.’

‘Extreme! Wait though, hit by the Gharst? Wasn’t the attack on Andalis just two days ago? How’d she get out here so fast?’

’We’re not sure,’ said Sevin, watching the forecam. Infinity shuddered as a slug of beamer from the lead battlecruiser thudded into the shield. ‘Don’t sit still Marik, set an evasion course!’

‘What’s happening?’ said Hauki, running in from the teleport suite. She caught Sevin’s frown. ‘She’s come round. She’s angry but she’s fine. I left her to get some rest.’

‘They’re hailing us,’ said Lauden from the comms desk. ‘You wanna reply?’

‘Put it on my viewer.’ Sevin watched the replica of his own head observe himself until the image shrank into a small square at the bottom of the viewer and the 3D picture of the Gharst commander began to form. Her hair was much shorter than in the picture in the Galactic Guard personnel files, cropped close to the skull, but the valknot tattoo on her left temple and the circular scar on her top lip were the same. He swallowed hard. Staring into his eyes was Gwyndar Adelvilde.

‘You are Tem Sevin, the war criminal,’ she said in Standard.

‘I am Tem Sevin,’ he corrected, trying to contain the emotions rising in his throat which threatened to erupt in a roar. It was all he could do to keep his hands by his side and not strangle the hologram.

’I am Kenraali Adelvilde, Kommandor of the battlecruiser Kirkastern. We pursue the spacecraft Esperance.’

Sevin held her gaze, unwilling to commit himself to speech.

’You are docked to the Esperance. Atare seb Aremen of Cascor is on board, she steals the valuable technology from us. Give her and it to us.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

Her thin lips twisted. ‘You protect the enemy of the Gharst, you go to the Hellenhaus for the life. You give me the princess and the technology, I let you go free.’

‘Even if we did have princess, you expect me to believe you would do that?’

‘That is my offer – it is a good one for you. You see all my ships? There is nowhere to run. Give me Atare.’

‘I haven’t got her.’

Adelvilde looked furious. ’Then we make you. You have thirty minutes to get seb Aremen and the technology to me. If you do not, we begin the assault and we continue until Infinity is destroyed.’ The image shuddered and disappeared.

Sevin stared at the vacant viewer. There was an uncomfortable pause.

‘Should we hand her over then?’ asked Xin.

‘Absolutely not,’ said Sevin.

‘Then let’s hit the infinity drive and get the hell out of here,’ said Marik. ‘What d’you say, Xin?’

‘Only as a very last resort.’

‘We survived last time.’

‘We might not this time.’

‘What’s the technology they want from her? It must be something special if they’re chasing her across the galaxy. I’m going to find out.’ Sevin stood up, meaning to go to sick bay.

‘D’you know the cannula is still out?’ said Lauden.

‘You’re wrong, my friend, I inrigged it five minutes ago,’ said Marik.

Sevin jumped down from the flight deck and into the gangway that surrounded the podium to look through the starboard windows.

‘Lauden’s right, it’s out.’

‘I brought it in, I swear,’ said Marik.

‘Then someone’s put it back out again.’

They looked at each other.

’It’s Atare, she’s doing a runner back to Esperance!’ said Hauki.

‘After all we’ve done for her,’ said Xin.

Sevin was already off the flight deck and breaking into a sprint. ‘I’ll get her back,’ he called over his shoulder. ‘Keep the cannula locked on.’

δ

Sevin got through the air lock on Esperance as the secondary door on the hatch was closing over. The emergency lights dimmed in the gangway as he stormed past, warning of an imminent launch. The engines were swooshing in neutral and building pressure. When he burst through the cockpit door, Atare was already in the portside pilot seat. He rushed forward and yanked her right hand from the accelerator.

‘How dare you!’ she said, trying to shake free as if she could not bear to be touched by a commoner. ‘Are you going to stun me again? Let go, you bully.’

’What d’you think you’re doing? We’re surrounded by Gharst - Infinity can’t get past them, you certainly can’t.’

‘I must and I will. Let me go!’

‘Not until you tell me what you’ve got that they want so badly.’

‘Me, they just want me! If they kill me, they crush Andalia utterly. I’m a princess, remember?’

’I don’t care who you are.’ Sevin forced her hand into her chest, shoving her back into her seat. ’All I know is that the Gharst want you and your “technology” and if I don’t hand both over in thirty minutes, they’ll blast Infinity apart. So you better start talking, or I’ll do what they damn well say.’

Atare glared at him until the pressure on her hand and the merciless light in his eyes convinced her he would carry out his threat.

‘Alright, alright,’ she said.

‘Let’s hear it.’ Sevin stepped back, releasing her wrist.

She pulled forward the digi around her neck to show him. ‘It’s this.’

’What is it?

‘A nexagraph.’

Sevin’s attention homed in on the gadget. To him, it looked like a normal digi, perhaps the latest model with a few new functions. It would fit easily in the palm of his hand. Could this unassuming device be the nexagraph Queen Siri had been talking about? He had heard part of a phrase – which sounded like ‘cass’ – before the connection had broken up. It meant nothing to him then. Now he wondered if the missing word was Cascorians.

‘What does it do?’ he asked.

‘It monitors the levels of the four forces and predicts where a nexus will open and for how long.’

‘A nexus?’

‘A wormhole, a tunnel through space.’

‘I always believed they don’t exist.’

‘Of course they do, they’re everywhere, hundreds of them opening and closing at any one time.’

‘It’s supposition, no-one’s ever seen one.’

‘Cascorians have known about them and used them for centuries.’

‘Right, so how come the knowledge never filtered down to the rest of us?’

She looked pained. ‘There has always been a large political faction on Cascor who thought we should keep the secret to ourselves.’

‘And that’s why your father wanted you to escape, take the nexagraph away rather than give it up to the Gharst?’

‘Yes. We destroyed all the others, this is the last one. If this goes, the secret will go with it.’

Sevin stared at her seeing nothing, his mind occupied with the new information.

‘These nexuses …’ he said.

‘Nexi.’

‘What do they look like?’

‘Well, the aperture is like a halo, a bit like an event horizon. If you get close, you get sucked into the light and the channel behind. It’s quite rough in the channel, there’s rather a lot of different gravitational forces pulling around inside. But eventually you get thrown out of the other end.’

His mouth was suddenly dry. ‘Into the light,’ he repeated. It had to be what Siri was talking about. ‘That’s how you got here.’ That’s how we got here, he thought.

‘Yes, that’s how I lost the Gharst.’

His heart was racing. ‘Do you always know where a nexus will take you?’

‘Not always. The nexagraph can estimate the exit point, but it will never be completely accurate because of the momentum flux inside the channel.’

‘But you can pretty much use it to get yourself from one part of the universe to the other almost instantly.’

‘Yes.’

A thousand thoughts crowded into Sevin’s head at once. This was it, this was their short-cut to Gaia. He almost cheered out loud. They were so close; if Atare would give him the nexagraph, they were practically there. And they had to keep it away from the Gharst, of course. He peered through the bubble windows of the cockpit into the distance where the enemy fleet lurked, conscious he was running out of time. He turned back to Atare. She was looking very relaxed, lying back in the pilot seat, her arms draped over the sides as if she were watching totavision. Her posture struck him as odd. In the kind of situation they faced, she should be on edge.

‘What we need is a nexus to open around here right now,’ he said, watching her closely.

‘Actually we’re in luck.’

‘Explain.’

‘A nexus is due to open shortly, quite close to here.’

‘How very convenient. When?’

‘In thirty-one minutes.’

‘Where does it come out?’

‘Somewhere in Sector Three.’

Sevin checked his timepiece. The nexus would open fifteen minutes past the Gharst deadline. If they could get the timing right, they could escape through it.

‘That’s our way out, let’s go,’ he said.

‘Not you.’ Her left hand rose from behind the chair side clasping a laser pistol. ‘I am going, and I am going alone.’

He laughed when he saw the gun. ‘No you’re not, you’re coming with me.’

‘Get off my ship,’ she said, her patience eroding. ‘My family is dead, my planet is devastated. We haven’t made this many sacrifices to hand over the nexagraph to some random stranger. It’s going to a safe place where it will be used responsibly.’

‘We can help you get there.’

‘I don’t believe you, and, even if I did, I don’t need your help. Now leave, or I will kill you.’

‘I will not.’ Sevin spun the free pilot seat around to face her and sat down. Leaning his elbows on the arm rests, he pressed his palms together and regarded her over the apex of his fingers.

‘You are wounded and your ship is crippled,’ he said. ‘Even if you make it through the nexus in one piece, you are unlikely to get much further without help.’

‘I’ll manage!’

‘It’s a brave plan, but it’s suicidal. If you’re on your own, the Gharst will hunt you down eventually and take the nexagraph. It’s in my interest as well as yours to protect it from them. Together, we would be stronger. You’d do better to stay with us.’

‘What is in your interest exactly?’

‘I want to find a quick way to Gaia where I can get troops and ships and bring them back to defeat the Gharst.’

It was her turn to laugh. ‘On your own?’

‘We are working with a small resistance movement, the Viken Liberation Army.’

‘That sounds Gharst.’

‘It is. They are lead by the former Viken queen, Siri.’

‘You’re working for the Gharst?’ She sounded horrified.

‘The ones who want to overthrow the current regime.’ He could understand her consternation, it had taken him some time to accept it. ‘An ally is an ally, whatever their colour.’

She thought for a while, scanning his face. ‘How can I trust you?’

‘You can’t, but you know from my reputation that we share a common enemy.’

‘And that’s all you want, a nexus to Gaia?’

‘Yes. When we get out of here, you could find one for us. In return, we will drop you at a destination of your choice and ensure you have safe onward transport, with the nexagraph.’

‘To Akapura?’

‘That far away?’

‘Yes, I’m afraid so. The Cascorians are distantly related to its Sulabannan tribe, there are people there who will help me.’

‘If that’s what it takes, we’ll do it.’

She considered the terms of the offer. ‘Okay.’

‘So you’ll come with us?’

‘I will,’ she said, placing the pistol on her lap.

‘Great.’ He stood up to go.

She didn’t move. ‘Swear that you will never betray me, not to the Gharst, not to anyone,’ she said.

He looked at her sharply. ‘You always demand allegiance from strangers?’

‘You seem like an honourable man. Are you?’

He had to think twice about that. ‘I suppose I try my best.’

‘That’ll have to be good enough.’ She smiled at him.

’Come on, the deadline’s getting close,’ he said before she could ask any more disconcerting questions. He offered her his hand. ’We’ll have to cut Esperance loose, bring any valuables with you.’

‘I’ve got everything I need.’ She took his hand and levered herself out of the chair. Standing, she was the same height as him. Her golden eyes seemed uncomfortably close as she hung on to his arm for support.

’Let’s get out of here,’ he said, glad to focus on the logistics of getting them both back to Infinity rather than on the confusing messages he was picking up from her. ‘The others will be wondering what’s happened.’

ε

The crew were sitting anxiously in their positions when Sevin and Atare returned to the bridge.

’Where’ve you been, there’s only ten minutes left!’ said Marik, jumping up when they entered. The rest of them swivelled in their seats to stare at the strange woman Sevin was helping to limp on to the flight deck.

‘It’s alright, we’ve got a plan.’ Sevin helped Atare into Zendra’s old seat in the middle of the back row, causing Hauki to pull a face at Lauden. Sevin moved into the centre of the podium, placing a hand on the back of Marik’s empty seat.

‘Listen up everyone. As I’m sure you know already, this is Atare seb Aremen. The Gharst want us to hand her over to them because she has a nexagraph, a locator that can tell where and when a nexus is going to open.’

‘What’s a nexus?’ said Marik.

‘A short-cut between different parts of the universe, like the tunnel that brought us here.’

‘You were in one too?’ asked Atare, surprised.

‘Yes, although we didn’t know what it was at the time. Anyway, if the Gharst get hold of the nexagraph, they could get around the universe in seconds with their ships and everything. We need to keep it away from them.’

‘How we gonna do that?’ asked Lauden.

‘Another nexus is going to open nearby very soon, after the deadline the Gharst have given us. We need to stall for time. So, when the deadline runs out, we’re going to tell the Gharst we’re bringing Atare to them, get going towards them then divert to the nexus at the last minute. We’ll be linials away before they even realise that we’ve gone.’

The crew exchanged hesitant looks.

‘Do we have to go through that again? We haven’t completed the refit from last time,’ said Xin.

‘I ain’t mad for it either, that last ride was no smooth running,’ said Lauden.

‘We don’t have any choice,’ Sevin said.

‘It’s the best plan we’ve got,’ said Hauki. ‘How far away is it?’

‘The co-ordinates are 68-34-19,’ said Atare, reading off the nexagraph. ‘It will open in twenty-four minutes and twenty-eight seconds.’

‘Does it stay open all the time? We don’t want them coming after us, your, ah Majesty,’ said Marik, unashamedly ogling their visitor.

‘Just call me Atare,’ she said, smiling at him politely. ‘This one will be open for thirty-three seconds.’

Hauki was already at the navdesk keying in the reference. ‘Only nineteen thousand linials, but it’s a good way down though, eight point five from our level. That’d be a steep dive even from here. Can you do it, Marik?’

The pilot sucked in a breath through his teeth. ‘Just about.’

‘How long to the nexus?’ Sevin asked.

‘Almost ten minutes at C point nine,’ said Hauki.

’Let’s do it,’ said Sevin, striding to the captain’s seat. ’Xin, disengage the Esperance. Lauden, hail Kirkstern.’

The Gharst battlecruiser answered immediately. Adelvilde’s white head appeared on Sevin’s viewer.

’Running away so soon? We see you let go the Esperance.’

‘We don’t want to be trailing a wreck when we bring the princess to you.’

She smiled triumphantly. ’Exsellen! You see the sense.’

’Infinity will approach to within one hundred linials of your lead ship. You will send a shuttle forward and we will send a shuttle forward with the princess and the nexagraph. The ships will meet halfway. When the transfer is made, our shuttle will return to Infinity and you will let us withdraw, unharmed.’

‘Our raefnschip leaves now.’ She nodded curtly and her image faded away.

‘Marik, forward at C point five,’ ordered Sevin. ‘Atare, how long until the nexus opens?’

‘Twenty-one minutes, eighteen seconds.’

‘Hauki, time to loco on our current speed?’

‘Nine minutes, forty-two seconds.’

‘Keep it easy, Marik.’

The pilot raised a hand in acknowledgement and powered Infinity towards the five Gharst ships. The forecam showed them ranged in a semi-circle, the battlecruisers side by side and girded with the three raefnschips. The smaller, Hugin class raefnschip broke away from the main fleet and headed towards them.

‘We don’t need to get into a pitched battle with this lot,’ Sevin said to Hauki.

‘We wouldn’t get out alive.’

‘I’d rather destroy the nexagraph than let them have it.’

‘Atare might have something to say about that.’

‘Approaching shuttle point,’ shouted Marik, interrupting their conversation.

‘Hey, slow down! There’s something in our way, three lin ahead!’ said Lauden.

‘What is it?’ said Sevin.

‘I dunno, but there ain’t no way round it, that’s for sure.’ Lauden jabbed at the scanner controls, trying to make sense of the data.

‘It’s a forcefield,’ said Xin, staring at the Gharst ships on the forecam. ‘The battlecruiser to starboard is controlling it.’

They looked. There was a tell-tale sparkling around the main cannon.

‘One ship fuelling an entire forcefield? It can’t be that big, Lauden, what’s the dimensions?’ said Sevin.

‘It’s big, man. It’s estimating here there’s a radius of fifty thousand linials.’

Sevin’s face ossified. ‘And our way out is inside that ball.’

‘They’re hailing us,’ said Lauden.

Adelvilde’s ghastly features ballooned once again from Sevin’s viewer.

‘We can’t get through to you,’ he said. ‘But I think you know that already.’

’You are close enough, I know what Infinity can do. We stay out of the range.’

‘So how exactly do you expect us to get to you?’

‘You can launch the shuttle from your location now. When the shuttle reach the forcefield, we drop it for a short time and you come through.’

‘You will do the same for the return journey?’

‘That is the deal, trust me.’ The picture evaporated as she started to laugh, a cawing, hollow sound.

Sevin sat rigid, staring into space.

‘That’s done it for us,’ said Hauki, voicing everyone’s thoughts. There was a pause as they each tried to figure out a solution.

’They’ll need to open the forcefield to let the shuttle through,’ said Xin eventually. ’Can Infinity get through simultaneously?’

’Yes, but the shuttle won’t be able to keep up with Infinity after that. Infinity could make it to the nexus on time, but whoever’s in the shuttle would probably get there too late,’ said Sevin.

They looked at each other despondently, the problem seemed insurmountable.

’Why don’t we send ’em an empty shuttle?’ said Lauden. ‘They’ll think we’ve kept to our side of the deal, open the field and then we get through!’

‘That won’t work,’ said Marik. ‘Their scanners will immediately pick up there’s no life on board.’

‘Well, not if we put in something warm, you know, like a thermadjust bodysuit,’ said Hauki.

‘Marik would do,’ said Xin.

’Me?’ Marik looked at her angrily. ’No way, I add value to this ship. Who steered Infinity through that last nexus, eh? Who took the shuttle down to Delta Nine? Me - not you, not Hauki, not one of your grutting tinnies, it was me, a proper pilot with experience, not someone who’s read the manual and thinks they know…’

‘Enough!’ Sevin interrupted. ‘Keep your quarrel for later. You’ve given me an idea, Marik, we can send the morphs. They’re all organic material, they’ll show up as life forms on any scanner. We’ll set them up to fly the shuttle as far as the forcefield, like you did with Ludi down to Delta Nine. The Gharst will scan the shuttle, see there’s warm bodies on board and cut the field. Then we can take off.’

‘Smart,’ said Lauden.

Sevin looked at Xin apologetically. ‘We’d have to lose two morphs.’

‘And the last shuttle,’ said Hauki.

They all looked at Xin.

’We must do whatever’s necessary,’ she said, holding her head high. ‘I saved all the settings from Delta Nine, it should be simple enough to reinstate them.’

‘Get it installed, quick as you can,’ said Sevin. ‘Lauden and Hauki, get the morphs on board the shuttle. Hurry!’

ζ

It took six valuable minutes to load the morphs into the shuttle and retune the original program which would enable Marik to fly the craft remotely through Ludi.

This time, Marik made no protest against wearing the white sucker pads of the motion sensors on his head and hands, content to be enclosed by the additional viewers and consoles Xin had set around the pilot station. Using information gathered by Ludi’s eyes and ears, Marik would fly the shuttle with the model of its instrument panel Xin had created at his holostation. In return, the motion sensors attached to Marik would pick up his every movement and relay them to Ludi. The morph would then copy them using the shuttle’s physical controls. The communication channel was encrypted, even though the Gharst would be unlikely to intercept the transmissions through the forcefield.

This had worked well when Ludi had been sent to pick up the ground team from a compromised rendezvous on Delta Nine. Sevin hoped it would work again, even if he had to launch the shuttle while Xin was making last-minute alterations. They watched it take off from the bow hatch on one half of the forecam’s viewer. The other half displayed the stream from the onboard camera, Ludi sitting in the pilot seat and Roxi, Atare’s substitute, in the co-pilot position. Both morphs appeared untroubled by their unexpected journey as the shuttle glided towards the enlarging speck of the raefnschip.

Sevin turned in his chair to check on the back row, primarily Atare who seemed happy enough in the middle slot now she had her own holostation up. Stretching all the way behind, he caught Xin in an unguarded moment, watching her morphs on the forecam with her mouth pouted as if on the verge of tears.

‘They’re machines, they can’t feel pain,’ he said in a low voice.

She averted her eyes. ’I’m just worried because Infinity cannot run at optimum efficiency without its full morph complement.’

‘We can always get some more.’

She nodded and pretended to immerse herself in her viewer.

Sevin turned back to the forecam. The shuttle was racing towards the perimeter of the forcefield.

’Slow it down, Marik, we’re almost there. Get ready to go with Infinity.’

As they watched, the shuttle cut its speed and hovered on the limits of the invisible globe protecting the Gharst fleet.

‘The Hugin’s still coming,’ said Lauden.

‘We’ll have to wait for the scan,’ said Sevin. ‘How long until the nexus opens, Atare?’

‘Six minutes, sixteen seconds.’

Hauki was double-checking her calculations. ‘This is getting too tight,’ she said. ‘We need five minutes to reach loco from here and that’s on C plus 5. If we wait much longer, we’ll miss it.’

‘We could always bust through with the disintegrators,’ said Lauden.

‘That would require the most enormous amount of power,’ said Xin. ‘We need everything available for acceleration. And what if they attack? We’ll need the shields.’

‘No point saving juice if we can’t get through!’

‘Wait a few more seconds,’ said Sevin. ‘Marik, any sign of scanning yet?’

‘No.’

The bridge fell quiet as everyone waited, busy with their own thoughts, none of them happy. The seconds ticked away.

Hauki cleared her throat. ‘Er, Sevin, it’ll take time to get through the field even with the disintegrators.’

‘I know.’ He stared at his hands for at least thirty tense seconds, knowing it could all go so wrong, so quickly. Then he relented. ‘Alright, get up front and prime them.’

As Hauki left her position for the bow, Marik whooped and bounced in his seat. ‘They’re scanning!’

‘Finally,’ said Xin.

‘How long’s that going to take?’ asked Sevin.

‘It’s finished,’ said Marik.

‘Four minutes, forty-seven seconds,’ said Atare, looking at Sevin with concern.

‘We can still make it,’ he said, ‘we’ve got thirty-three seconds while the nexus is open.’

‘Sevin, we need to start moving now,’ said Hauki.

‘Just a bit longer.’

‘Sevin!’

‘We’ll raise their suspicions.’

‘Four minutes, thirty-one,’ whispered Atare.

‘The forcefield is down!’ shouted Lauden.

’Go, Marik, C plus five!’ said Sevin. Infinity accelerated forward, slashing through the scintillating bloom of the defunct forcefield towards the Gharst fleet. Within a second they had drawn level with the shuttle, passing it to starboard as it heaved from the inside and exploded into a million shards. The shock wave crashed against Infinity’s hull as Marik drove into a nose dive, ducking under a second line of beamer fire from Kirkastern. The closest raefnschip, the Hugin due to meet their shuttle, tagged Infinity’s every move and sent salvo after salvo after them.

‘The Munins are in pursuit, they’ll be on us in three,’ called Lauden.

‘Too late by then,’ said Sevin. ’The one on our tail’s the problem. He brought up the weapons system on his own holostation. A swizzle stick appeared by his left hand and the picture on his viewer showed the sights of the port and starboard disintegrators. He lined up his target and fired. The raefnschip dodged the shots and returned its own, battering the hull.

‘Scrit. Atare, how long?’

‘Two minutes forty-two,’ she said.

‘Hauki?’

She looked up from her screen aghast. ‘Three minutes twenty-three!’

‘That can’t be right, do the figures again.’

‘It is right, we’re losing speed somehow.’

‘Marik, what’s happening, go faster!’

‘I can’t,’ he shouted back. ‘I haven’t got full power, it’s been diverted to the shields.’

Sevin spun around to face Xin. She held up her hands. ‘We can’t have both.’

On the forecam, a silvery circle was forming. They were headed directly for its centre. Sevin refocused on the pursuing Hugin, trying to steady the sights over its icon on his viewer.

’Plasma dart running from the Hugin,’ Lauden said. ’And Kirkastern’s moving in.’

The dart was easier to track. Sevin’s thumb hit the trigger and, after a pause, a red square flashed on the viewer.

’Kirkastern’s launched a firefly, it’s on target!’ shouted Lauden. ‘Impact in fifty-six seconds!’

‘We can’t take that and keep up this speed,’ said Xin. ‘We’ll have to drop to C or below.’

Sevin looked across at Hauki. She reeled to one side as Infinity took another hit.

‘We won’t make it if we drop to C,’ she said.

Sevin’s eyes swung to Atare. ‘One fifty,’ she said so quietly that Sevin could hardly hear her. Her evident despair - reasonable enough in someone who had cheated capture once only to face it again - made him want to punch himself.

’We need more power. Use the Infinity drive,’ he ordered.

‘No!’ said Xin.

‘The existing engines aren’t enough. Do it.’

Marik grasped the pommel with the infinity sign engraved on it and pulled down. Like a finger click stopping time, the ship seemed to halt. Every sound faded into a faint pounding like being underwater. Sevin wanted to massage away the blockage in his ears but discovered he could not lift his hands, a supreme force had pinioned him into the captain’s seat.

With difficulty he raised his chin to inspect the forecam which showed a swirling cloud of white and black. He thought he saw a ring of light and he knew they were in the nexus when they started falling at incredible speed, without control or direction, dense fog whipping past the windows. Then the bow lifted and they flattened out, carrying on towards a fleck of white on the forecam which transformed into a burning circle. They shot through its centre and were out into regular space, cruising at a modest speed with no obvious malfunction or any further sign of the nexus which had folded into itself and disappeared without trace.

η

‘Everyone alright?’ Sevin observed the crew recover, rubbing faces and checking that they and their holostations were still operational. ‘Anyone behind us?’

‘Nope, we lost them,’ said Lauden.

‘Good. So where are we?’

’Out in sector three somewhere,’ said Hauki, frowning at the navscreen.

‘For the love of heaven, lost in the hinterworlds again,’ said Marik.

‘The nearest habitable system is Yetenek and it’s four weeks away.’

‘Four weeks? That’s a lot of totavision for me and Lau.’

‘What’s beyond Yetenek?’ asked Sevin.

‘Nothing until you hit Altan,’ Hauki said, ‘nothing charted anyway. You want to head back to the Near Worlds?’

‘Steer on Altan for the moment. Marik, switch to auto, we all deserve some downtime.’

He stood up, stretched his arms over his head and walked to the side of Atare’s holostation on the back row. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Alright, thank you. Although at one stage, I have to admit, I didn’t think we were going to make it.’

He shrugged. ‘Neither did I.’

‘This ship is amazing, I’ve never seen anything like it.’

‘Yes, it’s very advanced. You should rest now, explore it later. Dress the wound again and take another shot, then choose a cabin. Mimi, that’s our last morph, will bring you some food later.’

‘Okay.’

‘Lauden can help you to sick bay. Lauden?’

‘Huh?’ He looked up from his viewer, startled. ‘Sorry, just checking the newsfeeds – a whole loada stuff’s come in since we hit Sector Three.’

‘Anything interesting?’

‘Yeah, Akapura’s fallen. Damn gribs have got in there and razed the place.’

Atare gasped, putting her hand over her mouth.

‘Akapura, you’re sure?’ asked Sevin, looking at her with concern.

‘Yup, the Gharst have executed the prime minister and her family and imprisoned some of the generals, usual MO,’ said Lauden. He caught sight of their faces. ‘Ah, something I don’t know?’

‘Atare was going to take the nexagraph to Akapura for safe-keeping,’ said Sevin.

‘Cascor destroyed, Andalia subjugated, and now Akapura is taken. There really is nothing left.’ Atare dragged her fingers down her cheeks leaving red marks behind.

‘I’m so sorry,’ said Lauden.

‘There’s nothing you could have done,’ she said. ‘I’ll just have to think of somewhere else.’

‘I’ve got an idea,’ said Sevin. ‘How about Gaia?’

‘Gaia?’ She looked appalled.

‘Why not? You’re helping us get there, you might as well come the whole way.’ Sevin turned to Lauden. ‘Atare said she could find a nexus to get us to Gaia.’

‘If that’s the case, we’ll definitely see you right,’ said Lauden.

She looked between the two men, evaluating their offer. Her eyes flicked over the rest of the bridge, taking in Marik tinkering with the controls and the ultra-modern holostation in front of her. She seemed impressed.

‘I’ll come so long as those ships you bring from Gaia are used to liberate Andalia as well as the Near Worlds.’

‘I can promise you that,’ said Sevin.

‘Right on!’ said Lauden.

‘Then we have an agreement.’

‘Absolutely,’ said Sevin. ‘No time like the present. If you’re up to it, can we find out how to get to Gaia?’

‘You don’t hang around, do you? Alright, but after this I will need to rest.’ She took the nexagraph from around her neck and opened it up to input instructions on the touchpad within.

‘The next one to Gaia opens in ten standard weeks and two days,’ she read out.

‘Neat, real neat,’ said Lauden.

‘But there’s a problem, I’m afraid. It’ll be located in the Rikke system.’

Lauden adopted a long-suffering expression. Sevin’s mouth drew into a hard line. ‘We’ll do it if we have to,’ he said.

’Can Infinity get there in time?’ said Atare.

‘I expect so.’

‘You don’t want to wait for the next one? It might be somewhere easier.’

‘When is it?’

She keyed the search into the nexagraph. ‘Near Auxo in fifty-three months.’

‘I don’t think so.’ Sevin turned behind him to Hauki who had been listening in to the conversation intently. ‘Set a course for the Rikke system!’

She sighed. ‘Do we have to?’

He patted her shoulder. ‘I’m sorry, I know you were looking forward to stopping off in Charis. But this way is much better for everyone longer term.’

‘I suppose so.’

‘Much, much better for everyone.’ Sevin gave a rare smile. ‘It’s a pleasure to have you travelling with us, Atare seb Aremen. Welcome aboard.’

6. SPAWN

Four weeks later

α

‘Ready?’ asked Xin backing away from the teleport cabinet. Mimi the morph stood inside it, unsuspecting of the potential danger.

‘Ready,’ said Atare, her forefinger poised over the remit button on the console.

Xin hesitated, unsure if she wanted to risk sacrificing the last morph. But if they could get the teleport working, it would improve their operational capabilities exponentially. She glanced towards her feather-headed assistant. Whatever she was, Atare was no bird-brain. She had a phenomenal grasp of quantum engineering and had suggested some amendments to the routing matrix which were so illogical, but so well reasoned, that Xin had agreed to try them.

‘Initialise,’ she said.

‘Initialising.’ Both women watched the cabinet, the first in the dog-leg formation which ran along the port bulwark and the wall dividing the teleport suite and the flight deck. Mimi began to sway.

‘Atomisation is in progress!’ said Atare, pointing at a blip on the console.

As they watched, Mimi seemed to shiver like a bottle breaking in slow motion, releasing bursts of colour which diffused into the air. Then the morph was gone.

‘It worked, yes!’ Atare punched the air.

‘Let’s see if it comes back first,’ said Xin.

She waited in front of the neighbouring cabinet where they had programmed the teleport to deliver the morph. A wavering started inside as if it was filling with invisible steam. Then there was a sketch of silver uniform and pink flesh, the disparate parts smashed together and Mimi was inside the cabinet looking through the polypro at Xin for explanation.

‘All in one piece?’ asked Atare.

‘Yes, no visible detriment,’ said Xin, helping the morph out.

‘That’s it then, we’ve done it!’

‘It appears so.’

‘Oh, but this is brilliant Xin, now we can teleport independently wherever we like.’

‘It is a huge improvement.’

‘Sevin’s going to be ecstatic!’

Xin tilted her head to one side. ‘I can’t really imagine Sevin being ecstatic. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard him laugh.’

Atare smiled. ‘He’s not very cheerful, is he?’

‘No, I don’t think he ever has been. I suppose you’d be like that too if the Gharst killed your family in front of you.’

‘Is that what happened to him?’

‘Yes. And myself for that matter.’

‘That makes three of us orphaned by the Gharst. I’m so sorry - I didn’t realise. I did wonder about him though, he seems so sad.’

‘Sad? Sevin is not sad. Tragic, maybe. Driven, definitely.’

‘He’s certainly that.’

‘It’s his way to resolve his issues. You and I might try therapy, he’s chosen revenge. Sometimes I think he’s got the right idea.’

‘What’s all the noise about? I thought I heard some cheering.’ Marik’s grin appeared in the entrance to the flight deck.

Seeing it was the pilot, Xin shot Atare an aggrieved look and focused on tending the morph.

‘We just teleported Mimi from number one to number two cabinet,’ said Atare, keeping the disappointment out of her voice. For the first time, she felt she had been getting close to Xin and Marik had interrupted.

‘On purpose?’

‘Of course! We fixed the packet locator. The teleport can take us to places now, not just bring us back to the ship.’

‘Treffo,’ he said, ambling over to join Atare at the console. ‘Who’s going to be the first victim, I mean, the first to try it out?’

‘Aren’t you supposed to be on watch?’ said Xin, concentrating on the command panel in Mimi’s thigh.

‘Yeah,’ he said, directing a playful smile at Atare.

‘We’re getting close to Yetenek, you should be at your station,’ said Xin.

‘We’re forty thousand off and there’s nothing around, I’ve checked. And it’s not like I’m very far away.’ He gestured to the flight deck ten metres behind him. ‘You know me, any trouble I can take care of it.’

‘If you must hang around, stay out of the way. I’d like to test this once more, Atare. Would you set the number two cabinet to teleport to my workshop?’

‘Yes, I’ll see if I can make the bombardment quicker.’ Atare minutely adjusted the controls while Marik looked over her shoulder.

‘How d’you tell it where to send you?’

‘This is the locator, you put the coordinates in here,’ she said, keying scalars into a touchpad. She looked over to Xin. ‘Are you ready?’

‘All set. Initialise.’

‘Initialising.’ As Atare hit the remit button, she saw Marik withdraw his hand from the locator. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Nothing, nothing.’

‘You did, I saw you.’

‘Okay, I changed the destination coordinates. Relax, it’s onboard.’ He pressed the infinicom. It buzzed a couple of times before a sleepy voice answered: ‘Lauden’.

‘Wakey, wakey!’

‘Eh? Marik, is that you? What time is it?’

‘Time to get up! You’re in luck, pal, we’re sending breakfast to your cabin.’

‘Uhh, jack off, man. Way too early. Hey – what’s that? Ooof!’ There was a whump of a large object hitting the bunk.

Marik convulsed with laughter. ‘Have a nice day!’ He clicked off the infinicom, still chortling. ‘That’s what I call a wake-up call – a Mimi on your face in the morning! I wish I could have seen it, hilarious!’

Neither Xin or Atare joined in the amusement. He looked over to where Xin stood by the cabinet, arms crossed. He turned to Atare on his left. ‘Funny, no?’

Atare didn’t reply, motioning urgently over his shoulder.

‘Not funny at all,’ he heard Sevin say in a tone many degrees below zero.

Marik twisted around slowly. Sevin was standing behind him, looking like a sheet of ice ready to crack.

‘You’re on watch,’ he thundered. ‘You’re supposed to keep your eyes on the screen, not jerk about teleporting morphs!’

‘I was taking a short break. We still have a few hours to run and there’s nothing about, I made sure of that.’

‘How far are we from Yetenek?’

‘Last time I looked it was about forty thousand linials.’

‘Wrong. We are twenty thousand linials from Yetenek, well within range of their detectors. Good gods, Marik, Yetenek’s the only thing around here for light years. Only a fool could miss it.’

‘We must be going faster than I thought. Did Hauki increase our speed?’

Sevin’s look silenced him. ‘Did you find time during your fooling to activate the stealth mode?’

‘Ah, no. But it was next on my list, honest.’

‘We’re this close to the planet and completely open. You might as well have called ahead!’

‘I’ll do it now.’

‘Too late now, I’ve put the shields up. Get in there and look at the forecam.’

They all trailed past Sevin into the bridge and mounted the steps on to the flight deck. On the forecam was Yetenek, a dirty beige planet of desert, scrubland and the three modest oceans around which its population eked out a living. A brilliant spot in the distance was its sun, Zarathustra. In the bottom left-hand corner was the outline of three Dragonstrike raefnschips.

‘Gharst! What are they doing here?’ said Xin.

‘I don’t know but we’ll be in range in ten minutes,’ said Sevin. ‘Battlestations!’

Xin and Marik took their seats but Atare didn’t move.

‘We weren’t fooling around all the time, we were actually testing the teleport and we’ve made it work,’ she said. ‘We couldn’t use a crew member in case it malfunctioned, we had to use the morph. It wasn’t Marik’s fault completely.’

’Teleport’s no good to us if the gribs blow us out of the sky,’ Sevin said, perceiving her defence as a challenge to his authority. She might have been a princess in a former life but onboard Infinity she was crew and had to take orders – his orders. ‘Get forward and prime the distintegrators.’

Instead of answering back, she smiled at him. ‘Right away,’ she said, heading off to the bow to take one of the woffer’s positions.

Sevin stared after her, aware that he had been bested somehow. He sat down in the captain’s seat. That damn woman – what was it about her that started his blood boiling every time she came near him? He was finding her presence on his ship very unsettling.

β

‘They’re coming in fast,’ said Xin from Lauden’s normal seat at the scanners. Lauden sat with Atare in the bow, ready to fire when ordered. ‘One thousand linials and closing.’

‘Marik, report status,’ said Sevin.

’Cruising at C point five, we’re set to manual.’

‘The lead raefnschip is hailing us,’ said Xin.

‘Put it on my screen,’ said Sevin.

‘Transferring.’

The 3D image of a man’s head and shoulders emerged. About fifty years old with olive skin and curly black hair shot with grey, he looked Yeteni, not Gharst. He wore a wide-lapelled black jacket with a good selection of flashes and pips on the epaulettes, indicating a superior rank.

‘I am Chief Preventative Officer Mehmeh of Yeteni Customs Service.’ He spoke Standard fluently with no discernible accent, reminding Sevin that it was the mother tongue of the planet. ‘You have entered Yeteni territory without prior clearance. State your identity and business.’

’I am Parrish Khan, captain of Infinity,’ said Sevin. ‘We are en route to the Rikke system.’

‘What was your last port of call?’

‘Delta Nine.’

Mehmeh’s eyes half-closed in a sceptical squint. ‘Are you sure, Captain Khan? Your ship can’t be capable of travelling that far without reprovisioning.’

‘It has been a long journey,’ Sevin replied with feeling.

‘What is your business in the Gharst homeworlds?’

‘Special delivery.’

‘Of what?’

Sevin spread his hands in apology. ‘It’s state business, highly confidential. All I can say is that it’s a new technology.’

‘You have the relevant papers?’

‘Yes.’

‘I want to see them.’

‘You can, but they are in Gharst.’

Mehmeh bristled. ‘We will come aboard for a full inspection. We are aware that renegades from the Andalian action are passing through our territory, many stowed away on ships like yours. Prepare to receive our cannula. Out.’

The holocom sucked back into the viewer.

‘Let’s cut and run,’ said Marik. ‘We can’t let them on, they’ll figure out who we are immediately.’

‘If they haven’t already. We can outrun them, even with the shields up,’ Xin said. ‘Those raefnschips are pre-war design: their top speed can’t be more than C point four.’

Sevin rested his chin in his hand, thinking. ‘We’ll let them board,’ he said.

‘What?’ said Marik.

‘Officer Mehmeh is just a jobsworth in a backwater with nothing to do. There’s been no action for months and suddenly this incredible ship comes out of nowhere. Of course he wants to board it.’

‘He’ll arrest us when he finds out who we are,’ said Hauki.

’That’s if he’s got the kit. If he’s in a pre-war ship, he’s unlikely to have the latest DNA readers. We’ll draw far more attention to ourselves if we attack or run. He’ll get on to home base and then the entire Yeteni fleet will be after us. We’ll play along with him. He can get a good look around the ship and I’ll show him the technology - the Infinity manuals will do, he won’t understand them because they’re in Gharst. Then we’ll pack him off with a bribe and go on our way.’

‘Yeah, we don’t wanna get stuck down there,’ said Lauden, pointing at the bilious planet on the forecam. ‘It’s worse than Gridon, nothin’ but sand.’

‘Here’s the plan. Xin, you handle the boarding process, get them to latch on to the starboard forehatch. Marik, get down to the shuttle bay and let them in, then bring them up to the briefing table where me and Hauki will be waiting.’

‘Whaddabout us?’ said Lauden, indicating himself and Atare.

‘Atare’s the most recognisable, she needs to hide somewhere. You can hide with her, then you can both be our back-up if it goes wrong.’

‘Where’s good?’

‘You know the incendiary keep in the armoury? It’s got an inner section.’

‘Uh-huh? I didn’t know that.’

‘It’s like a secret compartment, big enough to hold you and Atare. It’s fire-proof, the thermal imagers won’t find you in there.’

‘And we can breathe?’ asked Atare.

‘For long enough. Take a couple of pulsars and your novos.’

‘What about the nexagraph, is it safe?’

‘They won’t find where I’ve hidden it. Now get to it, they’re on their way.’

The crew leapt to their orders. Sevin found some official-looking papers in Gharst in the captain’s cabin and brought them to the bridge while Hauki and Xin oversaw the boarding process. Lauden and Atare went to explore their hiding place.

‘Cannula is connected,’ said Xin.

Sevin studied the forecam. It showed the raefnschip’s grey batwings, variegated in places by dirt and fatigue. Sevin knew the Yeteni were poor but it didn’t explain why their customs officials were using Gharst hand-me downs. The beige concertina of its cannula extended from its port hatch to Infinity’s bow off-camera.

’They’re in the airlock,’ said a simulated voice in his ear as Marik’s thoughts messaged through to his novo. ’There’s loads of them.’

‘Not good,’ said Hauki, who could hear the relay too.

’They’re disembarking. My gods, it’s a whole patrol, all armed, at least twelve plus Mehmeh. Weird-looking guys, must be tribal.’

‘Twelve of them?’ Hauki said. ‘That’s a lot of resource to check freight chits.’

‘They’re after something else,’ said Xin, worry in her eyes.

Sevin shared their concern, he hadn’t been expecting such a large party either.

’They’re splitting up. Eight going off to search the ship.’ There was a pause. ‘I’ve sealed the airlock. Bringing Mehmeh and four remaining to you now.’

‘Let’s get up to the briefing table,’ said Sevin. He led the way up the stairs to the mezzanine level where he arranged them around the head of the table, himself in the middle holding the papers, Xin and Hauki on either side.

They could hear footsteps clanking up the spiral staircase outside. Then the iris dilated and an agitated Marik entered with Mehmeh and two junior Yeteni officers, also in black. Behind them were two brutish guards with shiny new blasters. They were dressed like special troops in jumpsuits of an earth and cream camouflage, the style similar to the sturmganger uniform except for a bird insignia on the chest instead of the valknot. Sevin had to look at them twice. They were tall like Gharst with the same carminous eyes, but the dark hair came from somewhere other than the Rikke system. They also had some sort of skin deformity. Around the jaws of both guards were black spots, like enormous blocked pores. Sevin caught the gaze of one of the half-Gharst but the man looked straight through him.

‘A very interesting ship you have here, Captain Khan, very sophisticated,’ said Mehmeh, his eyes roving over the different levels of the bridge. He touched the smoky briefing table, surprised to find it felt rock-hard.

‘Thank you.’

‘Yes, very technologically advanced. Even so, I’m surprised you need so few crew to fly her.’ He gazed at Xin with a hunger bordering on the indecent.

‘Many of the normal manual operations are automated.’

‘A very unusual ship,’ he said, still looking at Xin. ‘We don’t get many like this. In fact, we don’t get many at all. What did you say you were delivering?’

‘As I explained before, I can’t tell you exactly, it’s classified information. All I can say is that it’s a new prototype we’re working on for the government, the head of the Teknologi & Scientifik department is involved.’

Behind Mehmeh, the iris pulled part and one of the Yeteni officials entered, holding a rackarmen. He saluted Mehmeh and murmured a few sentences into his ear. Mehmeh dismissed him.

‘My patrol sergeant says the armoury is locked. You will open it.’

‘Of course, follow me.’

Sevin turned around smartly and descended the stairs with what he hoped passed for confidence, Hauki and Xin following with Mehmeh and the guards behind. Underneath the stairs, the rest of the customs officials were gathered in the area between the armoury and the teleport suite, two of them slouched against the secured double doors waiting for access to be provided. They stepped aside to let Sevin key the code into the control panel on the right-hand wall.

‘Go in and take a look,’ said Sevin as the doors slid apart, fervently hoping Atare and Lauden had concealed themselves properly. Two of the black suits entered, gawking at the diversity of weapons on display, running their hands over the pulsar racks and inspecting under the shelves for hidden contraband.

‘What’s in here?’ one asked Sevin, pointing at a man-sized safe in the corner with a touchpad entry system at shoulder height.

‘It’s an incendiary keep.’

‘Open it.’

Sevin pressed his palm on the touchpad and the lock clicked open. The black suit grasped the handle and swung open the door, taking a good look at the shelves loaded with the white sticks and khaki discs of grenades. He went inside, poked at a few units and knocked on the interior walls. He came out shaking his head.

Mehmeh entered the armoury himself with one of the special troops.

‘All present and correct, sir,’ said the patrol sergeant.

‘You’ve searched thoroughly?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Then we’d better get going.’ Mehmeh turned to leave but the special trooper put a hand on his arm.

‘What is it?’

The trooper pointed towards the back corner.

‘Check it out. We’ll get you some help. Another Kuhku in here!’ ordered Mehmeh. A second special trooper barged into the armoury and stood to attention.

‘Search the room,’ said Mehmeh.

The Kuhku joined his partner at the pulsar racks, covering the same ground as the customs men with less care, shoving aside the weapons so they spattered to the floor. The first Kuhku moved closer to the keep and paused, cocking his head as if trying to hear a faint sound. He prowled forward to the open door, still listening. Then he lifted his blaster.

’Lauden, Atare, get down!’ Sevin’s mind hurled the command as the Kuhku slashed four swift strokes of an invisible laser inside the keep before anyone could stop him.

Nobody moved, nobody breathed. Sevin dared only shift his eyes until he realised nothing in the keep had exploded and they were all still alive. He looked around the awestruck faces of Mehmeh and the two black suits. The other Kuhku hadn’t registered a single reaction.

‘What the grut d’you think you’re doing?’ he yelled. ‘D’you have any idea what’s in there? You could have blown us back to Altan!’

’In here,’ said the Kuhku, intent on the neat square he had cut around the shelving unit on the back wall. He slung the blaster over his shoulders and went inside where he started to rip out the fittings. When he had cleared a large enough space, he headbutted it, punching through into the secret compartment behind. He staggered out of the keep, his forehead bleeding. Through the hole he had made, a cross-section of silvery Infinity uniform could be seen.

‘Get them out,’ ordered Mehmeh, watching with glee as the other Kuhku knocked the back wall through and dragged Lauden and Atare out from behind the debris.

‘This is what you were hiding!’ Mehmeh examined his discoveries from all sides, focusing especially on Atare and removing the pulsar from her belt himself. ‘Take them outside, all of them.’

The two black suits herded them out of the armoury, Sevin included. They stopped under the stairs to the mezzanine floor of the bridge where Hauki and Xin were surrounded by the rest of the patrol.

Mehmeh faced Sevin. ‘You were hiding stowaways, Khan, just as I suspected. People-trafficking is viewed very seriously on Yetenek and the penalties are high.’ He pointed at the female Infinity crew. ‘I will have to take these three in for questioning.’

Black suits grabbed each woman by the arms, Atare protesting as they took hold of her.

‘Why are you taking them?’ said Sevin, alarmed to see his team seized. ‘I’m the captain, you should take me.’

‘That won’t be necessary. Besides, your state business is so important, I would hate to delay you.’ Mehmeh turned to the patrol sergeant. ‘Secure the men before we leave.’

’Don’t let them take us,’ cried the novo in his ear. It was Hauki. He could see she was ready to mount a counterattack but it couldn’t happen: there were too many Yeteni and none of his team was armed.

‘I’m not going anywhere without my crew, release them now!’ said Sevin, struggling against the black suit who was cuffing his wrists behind his back. The Kuhku who had found Lauden and Atare seemed to have revived and was forcing Marik’s arm through Sevin’s before restraining Marik’s wrists too. Then they linked Lauden into the same triangle so the three men stood back-to-back with their arms intertwined.

‘Very good,’ said Mehmeh, amused by their predicament. ‘Back to the ship – bring the prisoners.’

‘Where are you taking them?’ said Sevin.

‘I’m afraid I can’t tell you that,’ said Mehmeh, letting his patrol march past him, Hauki, Atare and Xin sandwiched between them. ‘It’s classified information.’ He laughed uproariously then followed the patrol out, the iris closing behind him.

‘Aaahhh!’ Marik pulled at his cuffs without success. ‘We can’t just let them take off!’

‘I don’t have any better ideas at the moment,’ said Sevin.

‘We should have cut and run like I said.’

‘But we didn’t. Come on, we need to focus on getting these damn cuffs off.’

They wrestled with each other’s bonds until a small voice behind them said: ‘Major Sevin, what’s happening?’

‘Mimi!’ Sevin had never been so glad to see the morph. ‘Quick, get something from the workshop to undo us. Thank the gods for that,’ he added as the morph skittered off. ‘While we wait, let’s think of a way to get everyone back. What do we know about Yetenek?’

‘They’re neutral, stayed out of the war,’ said Marik.

‘Couldn’t afford it, more like,’ said Lauden. ‘Ain’t they the poorest planet in the Known Worlds? Like the most undeveloped?’

‘Yeah, they’ve got one space terminal for the whole system!’

‘Well hey, there’s like just the one planet.’

‘Which they can’t afford to get off. Alright, if they’re so damn poor, why are they riding around in raefnschips?’ said Sevin.

‘With fancy guns. Did ya see the blasters? They were Thorn Odal 55s, brand new,’ said Lauden.

‘Those guys with the red eyes, the Kuhku, they were weird, really creepy,’ said Marik.

‘Yeah, and their skin, man, such bad skin. I never seen that before, kinda half-Gharst - a mutant grib! How’d they find us?’

‘It was like he heard you. They must have extra-sensory perception,’ said Sevin. ‘Here’s Mimi coming back. When we’re undone, we can search the database.’

Mimi had unearthed a zapper from Xin’s toolbox and, after several attempts, managed to reverse the magnetic field and separate the cuffs. Sevin headed for the captain’s seat and flipped up his holostation to request a database search. Marik and Lauden stood behind him, watching the viewer as the keywords threw up an exhaustive list of data, including maps, economic statistics, weather patterns and even potted histories of defunct corporations.

‘We need something more specific,’ said Marik.

Sevin hit the summary button. It delivered a five-paragraph briefing.

‘Patrilinear culture predominantly engaged in fishing and farming,’ he read out. ‘Average wage per standard month is equivalent to five munits.’

‘Wowsa. We thought Space Command was a bum deal,’ said Lauden.

‘I don’t understand why they didn’t take the ship,’ said Sevin. ‘Mehmeh could have sold it on for millions, but he took the women instead. Unless he recognised Atare, but I don’t think he did. Why did he do that?’

‘I can think of a reason,’ said Marik.

Lauden sniggered, then looked shocked. ’You saying they’d pimp ’em out?’

‘Who knows? Ah, wait a sec, they don’t like girls down there.’

‘Whaddaya mean?’

‘Someone told me once, it’s against their religion or something.’

‘Not quite,’ said Sevin. ‘You can only get to heaven if your son lights the funeral pyre, apparently. It’s all wrapped up with animism and ancestor worship.’ He scanned further down. ‘Population control is an ongoing problem, they’ve had a one-child policy running for eighty years leading to gender imbalance as religious beliefs favour male progeny over female.’

‘That’s right,’ said Marik. ‘It’s all coming back to me now. D’you remember seeing those adverts on the grid? Wives wanted for Yetenek men, highest prices paid.’

‘But that doesn’t make sense!’ Sevin pointed to the viewer. ‘It says here they’re having a baby boom. Births up forty-nine per cent, female population increasing too. Looks like they’ve sorted it out.’

‘So that’s not why they wanted our girls,’ said Marik.

‘We’ll find out the real reason when we catch up with them.’

‘Catch up with them? They’re well ahead by now.’

‘Not if we teleport. There’s only one space port, they have to be going there. It won’t take them more than thirty minutes to get on the ground, even in those old tubs, but if we hurry, we can get there before them. Then we can see where they’re going and follow them.’

‘Teleport? Are you serious?’

‘If it works for morphs, it’ll work for you and me.’

‘Whaddabout me?’ asked Lauden.

‘I’m sorry Jes, but you’ll look far too foreign down there. You’d better stay up here with Mimi. Marik, you and me can take the dermadark pills I used on Delta Nine. We’ll pass for locals.’

‘You might, but what about me? My hair’s way too light to be Yeteni – and my eyes!’

‘We’ll have to muddle through. Let’s get going. Lauden, get a track on where they’ve gone.’

Lauden went to Atare’s position and turned on the scanners. ‘They’re on a 21.36.42 course, headed for the space port.’

Sevin stood up. ‘Get the extra breakers and we’ll go! There’s only a few minutes in it.’

γ

Sevin and Marik integrated between a freighter and the violent orange-and-black striped refueller loading it. Heat rose from the tarmac laced with fumes from the antimatter transfer. Above them, the sky was a vivid blue, the midday sun burning at its zenith.

Sevin ran a finger inside his collar. Both he and Marik were wearing rough shirts and trousers they found in Xin’s workshop. They carried their pulsars in holsters underneath the shirts.

‘Good landing,’ he said. ‘So you did fix it.’

‘Yeah! Well, Atare did. Princesses have their uses, eh?’

‘Which is why I want to get her back. Nice tan, by the way.’

Marik checked his hands. They were a colour that would take several months on a beach to achieve naturally. Sevin too was unusually sunkissed.

‘You look almost healthy,’ Marik told him. ‘We should do this more often.’

‘Probably. Come on.’

They were about to move off when a whistle blew three times and the buzz of a tannoy opening sounded across the airfield. A male voice read out. ‘All staff detailed for today’s Assama tour must go to ground level, section 2, zone A where your transport is waiting.’

There was no reaction in their immediate surroundings so Sevin drew his pulsar and eased along the flank of the refueller up to the cab. Marik crouched behind the back tyre, keeping watch.

The space port appeared to stretch over several kilometres, divided by a backbone of terminal buildings where craft were parked at regular intervals, probably on both sides although from his position Sevin could only see the left-hand berths. Trundlers and loaders tended the massive white hulks while technicians and engineers crawled over the polished superstructures like ants fussing their queen. In the distance, a Borredan Line carrier prepared for lift-off from a launch pad, its attendants retreating as the engines kicked in.

A recent arrival taxied off the landing strip and came to rest at a dock three hundred metres from them. Sevin recognised their quarry. A free-standing bridgeway rumbled towards the raefnship’s side and its forward hatch began to open. A sturdy white multi-person vehicle with eight wheels and tinted windows was waiting on the apron by terminal buildings for the raefnschip’s passengers. Then a dove-gray head appeared in the hatch: Atare was disembarking.

’We’re here. I can see you, we’ll get you out,’ Sevin thought to her novo. He saw her looking around for him but she didn’t respond. Then he saw one of the Kuhku was right on her shoulder and he decided it was too dangerous to contact her again.

’The raefnschip’s at three hundred metres,’ he thought to Marik. ‘They’re about to unload. I’m going over.’

’Wait for me!’ Marik took a last survey and scrambled to Sevin’s side. They skirted the cab of the refueller and walked nonchalantly towards the raefnschip.

‘Don’t run, we’ve got enough time,’ said Sevin.

‘What are we going to do when we get there? We can’t take them, we’re outnumbered.’

‘Maybe we’ll take the MPV,’ said Sevin, nodding at the driver of a passing loader who stood up from his seat to stare at Marik’s hair. ‘Or get in the boot. We have to follow it somehow, get to wherever they’re going, then we’ll take them. You get the driver and …’

‘Heeyyyyy, brothers!’ Meaty arms embraced Sevin and Marik from behind, heaving them up in the air. ‘You ready for the time of your life?’

They were surrounded by a pack of Yeteni men who jostled each other as if they’d been let out of school early. Freshly shaved and suited, they reeked of testosterone and cheap cologne. ‘Ho-cha!’ said one, holding aloft a bottle of clear liquid and then swigging from it. A round of cheers broke out and the toast was repeated as the bottle was passed around the group.

‘Yeah, treffo! Ready for anything!’ said Marik.

‘Let’s go, let’s go,’ said a spotty teenager who materialised by his side.

‘Yeah, yeah. Er, where?’

‘You don’t know where we’re going? Very funny, ha, ha, ha!’

Sevin and Marik turned to the source of the laughter. It was a man mountain in a plainly borrowed suit which finished three inches above the ankle. He hadn’t attempted to button the jacket across the jutting mound of his belly. His jowls shook as he laughed from deep inside his stomach.

‘You don’t know you’re going to Heaven?’ he roared.

The men put back their heads and howled. ‘Drink, drink, drink!’ started up a chant. A litre of drenna was passed to the front and pressed into Marik’s hand.

‘Ho-cha!’ said the giant, clashing his own bottle against Marik’s and upending it into his mouth. He motioned for Marik to do the same. Marik glanced at Sevin who merely raised an eyebrow before continuing to monitor the raefnschip.

‘Drink then!’ said the giant, a glimmer of suspicion in the red-rimmed eyes.

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