There was a flicker of uncertainty in the black Mr. Bovey"s eyes. "I met Araminta a few times, that"s all."

"It was more than that. Come on, man, she"s in s.h.i.t so deep, she"ll drown if she doesn"t get some serious outside help. So please, if you know where she is, tell me."

"I haven"t seen her for days."

Tomansio grunted in understanding. "She didn"t tell you, did she? You didn"t know she was the Second Dreamer?"

Mr. Bovey"s scowl deepened; none of hims would look at Tomansio.

"h.e.l.l, that"s got to suck," Oscar said. "She was probably trying to protect you."

"Right," Mr. Bovey said.

"She was frightened, you know that. This planet was invaded just because she lives here. And she"s all alone. She doesn"t know what she"s doing; really, she hasn"t got a clue. If you know where we can find her, if you have any notion where she might be, then we"re the ones you need to tell. Call ANA if you need my status confirmed. There are others out there who are looking equally hard, and I don"t mean Living Dream. The Second Dreamer is an important political tool right now. Who do you think caused the Bodant Park fight?"

"Bodant Park ma.s.sacre," Mr. Bovey said. "You unleashed a ma.s.sacre on our planet. There were hundreds killed."

"That was just the warm-up," Tomansio said. "The agents involved in hunting her down will not give a c.r.a.p about civilians who get in the way. Memory read will be the least of your worries when the others come here. And they will. Soon."

"We found you," Beckia said. "The rest won"t be far behind. Think. Be real. The most powerful organizations in the Greater Commonwealth are looking for her. Your entire planet has been invaded because Living Dream is so utterly desperate. Do you really, really really think she can elude all of us?" think she can elude all of us?"

"I didn"t know," the young blond one said through teeth he"d clamped together. "She didn"t tell me. How could she not tell me what she"d become?"

"If she loved you, she would be trying to keep you out of all this," Oscar said. "It was sweetly naive, and that time is now over. You have to make a choice. Do you want to actively help her? If so, talk to us. If not, run. Each of yous will have to try and make a break for it and pray that you don"t all get caught."

The three of hims turned to look at one another. Oscar was aware of the figures he could just see in the house standing still. "Give me a moment," Mr. Bovey said.

Oscar nodded sympathetically. "Sure." He moved away, talking to his team in a low voice. "What do you think?"

"He doesn"t know anything," Beckia said. "If he did, he"d be out there helping her. He"s broken up by her cutting loose; he loves her, or thought he did."

"I"m inclined to agree," Tomansio said.

"There could be a dozen of hims out there right now helping to shelter her," Oscar pointed out.

Tomansio pushed out a reluctant sigh. "I find that hard to credit."

"Can you actually do a memory read on a multiple?" Beckia asked.

"You"d probably have to gather all of them up," Tomansio said. "And you wouldn"t know if you"d got them all until it was too late. Multiples are always cagey about their exact number of bodies; it"s an instinctive safety redundancy thing. Interesting psychological evolution. In any case, our time scale doesn"t allow us that level of luxury. If he"s going to be useful, it"ll have to be voluntary, and right now."

Oscar"s u-shadow told him Cheriton was calling on an ultrasecure channel. Liatris joined the call.

"Brace yourself for the bad news," the gaiafield expert said. "Living Dream has found her."

"s.h.i.t," Tomansio grunted, throwing Mr. Bovey a guilty glance. "Where?"

"Now, this is where it gets real interesting. After the confluence nests caught her at Bodant, Living Dream has been refining the emotional resonance routines based on her exact thought patterns. The upgrade has given them the kind of sensitivity which can detect the slightest emission from her mind. And a quarter of an hour ago she went and shared Inigo"s Eighth Dream."

"What"s she doing delving into the Waterwalker"s life now now?" an irritated Beckia asked. "For Ozzie"s sake, didn"t Bodant teach her anything?"

"Wrong question," Cheriton said.

"Where is she?" Tomansio asked.

"Chobamba."

A puzzled Oscar had to call up the Commonwealth planetary list from a storage lacuna. "That"s over six hundred light-years away," he protested. "That can"t be right. She was here sixteen hours ago."

"Your ultradrive could make that," Tomansio said doubtfully. "Just."

"She"s found a way to screw the gaiafield," Beckia said. "She must have. She is the Second Dreamer, after all. That has to give her some kind of ability the rest of us don"t have."

"Cheriton, are you sure?" Tomansio asked.

"We"re confined to the building," Cheriton said. "And I"m using a dead-drop relay to access the unisphere. Dream Master Yenrol"s been going apes.h.i.t since the nests found her. All the Dream Masters know about it; they"re working hard to keep it secret. I don"t think this is a scam."

"How the h.e.l.l did she get to Chobamba?" Oscar wanted to know.

"Do they know where on Chobamba?" Tomansio asked.

"Not yet," Cheriton said. "But it"s only going to be a matter of time. It"s an External world, and Living Dream has several Dream Masters there."

"Can you warn her again?" Oscar said.

"I"m not sure. There"s talk about shutting down Chobamba"s confluence nests, isolating her from the gaiafield."

"Stupid," Tomansio said. "That"ll alert her to what"s going on."

"Liatris, can you shotgun Chobamba and warn her?" Oscar asked.

"She hasn"t accessed the unisphere for days," Liatris said. "There"s no guarantee she"ll get the message."

"If people know, it"ll be the talk of the planet," Beckia said. "She"s bound to find out. We just have to make it public knowledge."

Tomansio gave Oscar a little nudge. Mr. Bovey had obviously come to his decision. The dark-skinned body was walking over to them, leaving the other two hims to stare pensively.

"Yes?" Oscar said.

"I checked with ANA," Mr. Bovey said. He sounded faintly surprised. "You are who you say."

"And?"

His face expressed a great deal of apprehension, mirrored by all of hims. "She doesn"t know ... she can"t know how to cope with this. n.o.body can. I have to place my trust in ANA. How ironic is that? Being multiple is supposed to alleviate the requirement of a technological solution to immortality."

"Can you contact her?"

"No." Mr. Bovey shook his head as if hes were mourning. "I"ve tried every minute since I found out. Her u-shadow is offline. She won"t answer my calls."

"I know this is painful, but is there someone else she"s likely to turn to?"

"Her cousin Cressida; they were close. In fact, she was about Araminta"s only true friend in Colwyn City before we met."

"We know. She"s dropped out of sight as well, but thank you. If Araminta does get into contact, please let me know." Oscar"s u-shadow sent Mr. Bovey a unisphere access code. "Immediately, please. Time is critical now."

"That"s it?" a bewildered Mr. Bovey asked as Oscar turned back to the capsule.

"Don"t worry, we"ll keep looking. And you might want to consider my friend"s advice about dispersing yourselves about town. I"m being completely honest with you; we"re just the first to come visiting you, and we really are the good guys."

The capsule"s door closed on Mr. Bovey"s frown. They lifted cleanly and turned to fly above the thick river, heading back to the docks.

"So now what?" Tomansio asked.

It sounded rhetorical to Oscar. "I"m going to check in," he told the Knights Guardian.

"Yes?" Paula asked as soon as the secure link was opened.

"We"ve found her," Oscar said.

"Excellent."

"Not really. She"s on Chobamba."

There was only a small hesitation. "Are you sure?"

"Living Dream has cranked up their confluence nests, something to do with getting a decent emotional pattern to recognize. According to them, she"s on Chobamba and having a good time sharing Inigo"s dreams."

"That doesn"t make a lot of sense."

"How quickly can you get there?"

"Not much faster than you."

"I hope you"ve got sources in Living Dream. If they are going to try and s.n.a.t.c.h her, she"ll need to be warned."

"I"d have to find her first."

"Surely ANA can track her down. Somebody must have noticed her starship arriving."

"It would have to be an ultradrive; that means a faction helped her. But which one?"

"I was thinking of a shotgun warning."

"Yes. That might work. I"ll confer."

"If we know, then it"s only a matter of time before the Cat knows."

"Yes. If she leaves for Chobamba, you"ll have to follow her."

"Oh, c.r.a.p; this isn"t what I signed up for."

"Can you trust your team?"

"I think they"ll stick with me, yes."

"Excellent. I"ll call after I"ve spoken with ANA. Incidentally, the Accelerators are going to be put on what amounts to a trial within an hour. They were behind the Oscean Empire invasion."

"s.h.i.t. Really?"

"Yes. If they"re found guilty, we should see the pressure easing off considerably," Paula said, ending the call.

Tomansio and Beckia were looking at Oscar expectantly.

"So what does your boss think?" Tomansio asked.

"Same as us: It"s all very odd. Let"s get back to the ship in case we need to get to Chobamba in a hurry."

The slim ultradrive ship dropped out of hypers.p.a.ce half a light-year out from Ellezelin. In its cabin, Valean reviewed the data provided by the starship"s sensors. She was shown the exotic matter intrusions representing the huge wormholes that linked Ellezelin to the economically subjugated planets that made up the Free Trade Zone. The scale of the wormholes was impressive, harking back to the first-era Commonwealth when the Big15 planets were the center of an economic web binding together hundreds of worlds. Reviewing the size and power rating, she was satisfied that any of them could be used for the task Atha had a.s.signed her. The one connecting to Agra would be preferable; it was the most modern and reached the farthest.

Like most long-term Highers, Valean had used biononics to remold her body to a state she considered more functional and useful. Currently devoid of hair, she appeared skeletal, with skin that had a strange gray iridescence, drawn so tight over her bones that each rib protruded. Muscles were hard lines, also standing proud and moving like malmetal. Her face continued the emaciated theme with deep sunken cheeks and a slim nose that had nostrils resembling gills. Wide-set eyes had orbs that glowed a faint uniform pink. Her only cosmetic adornment was a circle of gold above her thorax, composed of a tightly packed cl.u.s.ter of threads that seemed to be moving slowly.

After ten minutes standing in her featureless cabin, the starship detected a minute distortion within the quantum fields. Another ultradrive ship dropped out of hypers.p.a.ce next to hers. The newcomer was slightly larger, with streamlined bulges in its ovoid fuselage. They maneuvered together and linked airlocks.

Marius glided into Valean"s cabin, his toga suit emitting wisps of darkness that trailed along in his wake.

"A physical meeting is somewhat theatrical, isn"t it?" he inquired. "Our TD (transdimensional) linkages remain secure."

"They do," Valean a.s.sured him, and smiled, revealing rows of tiny burnished bra.s.s teeth. "However, it was felt that this would add more emphasis to the message."

"Which is?"

"Your Chatfield f.u.c.k-up has produced an unwelcome fallout, the largest part of which I"m on my way to solve."

"Paula Myo was on to him. Deploying him to Ellezelin was a simple precaution."

"And do you have an excuse for the Cat?"

Marius remained impa.s.sive. "Her behavior can be unpredictable. That is her nature. As I recall, it was not my decision alone to salvage her from Kingsville."

"Irrelevant. Your actions have produced unwelcome consequences at this critical time. As of now you are downgraded."

"I object." Even as he said it, he tried to call Ilanthe, only to find the call rejected. Still, his cool disposition remained unbroken.

The bra.s.s teeth appeared again, their sharp tips perfectly aligned. "Irrelevant. Your new a.s.signment is the Delivery Man."

"That joke!" Marius exclaimed.

"We approach deployment, the culmination of everything we are. Nothing can be allowed to interfere with that. He was seen on Fa.n.a.llisto; find out why. What is he doing there, what are the Conservatives up to? We also need to know how the remaining faction agents will react afterward."