"His actual words were "that"s where humans are centered in the Void,"" Beckia said. "Which is logical. It is where everyone is going."

"I bet Ilanthe isn"t," Corrie-Lyn grunted.

"We don"t know if the replica Far Away is still there," Tomansio said. "Justine reset the Void to before she dreamed of it."

"I think you"re all overreacting," Inigo said. "Or at least reading too much into this. Makkathran as a destination isn"t coincidence, exactly, but there wasn"t a whole lot of choice involved in either case."

"Do you ever remember meeting Gore?" Liatris asked Aaron.

"I don"t remember anything."

Liatris showed a modic.u.m of unease. "He did kill your father."

"Irrelevant."

"Bruce McFoster was a Starflyer agent when Gore eliminated him," Tomansio said. "The actual Bruce was killed years before when he was taken captive by the Starflyer."

"But you have to admit the coincidences are starting to-"

"Uh oh," Araminta-two said.

Everyone was still as he gifted them the scene in the observation deck of the Lady"s Light Lady"s Light, where a determined Ethan was walking toward her. As the confrontation unfolded, Inigo put his arm around Araminta-two"s shoulder. "I am here," he whispered, pushing his support through the gaiafield union. "Show him no weakness. You are the Dreamer now. You are right in your belief. It is the Void which will decide this for all of us."

Oscar drew a sharp breath as the winged Silfen shimmered within his thoughts. Bradley Bradley, he knew, and smiled. Way to go, man. You look great Way to go, man. You look great.

A thwarted Ethan walked away. Everyone in the Mellanie"s Redemption Mellanie"s Redemption"s cabin burst into spontaneous applause. After a moment, even Troblum joined in.

So he does have gaiamotes, Oscar thought.

Araminta-two smiled around sheepishly. "Thank you," he told Inigo. Corrie-Lyn gave him a swift kiss.

"Troblum," Tomansio said. "Let"s get going."

"The device is almost at active status. Another five minutes."

Aaron smiled encouragement.

Troblum"s tentative humor faded away. His big round face paled. "Oh, no," he gasped.

Oscar"s u-shadow was pulling sensor imagery from the starship"s smartcore. Troblum had permitted everyone a general-level access.

A sleek-looking ultradrive ship not too dissimilar to the Elvin"s Payback Elvin"s Payback had emerged ten kilometers away. It opened a communication link. Oscar"s shoulders slumped. He had emerged ten kilometers away. It opened a communication link. Oscar"s shoulders slumped. He knew knew.

"h.e.l.lo, my dears," said the Cat.

A pulse of pure misery swept through the cabin.

"What kind of defenses have we got?" Aaron asked.

Troblum shook his head. He was close to tears.

"Weapons?"

Troblum started trembling. His legs gave way, and he sank to his knees. "I can"t let her capture me. I can"t."

"What do you want?" Oscar asked the Cat. If it was dead, they would"ve been that already.

"That"s a whole load of talent you"ve got on board there with you, Oscar, my dear. It"s not often I"m impressed, but just this once I"m going to admit it. You did good."

"What have you done to Cheriton?" Corrie-Lyn demanded.

"Don"t interrupt the grown-ups," the Cat said. "You"ll get a smack where it hurts most for that."

Oscar made a frantic cutting hand signal at Corrie-Lyn. She gave him a disgusted glare.

"You told Ilanthe about us," Oscar said.

"Oh, I"m sorry. Did that spoil things? I thought you dealt with that little s.h.i.t Ethan quite beautifully, Araminta."

"What do you want?"

"You know that, Oscar. Same thing I always do: some fun."

"We"ll invite you to the victory party."

"Don"t push your luck. The Void is where this is all going to finish. I need to be a part of that, and you"re going to take me there."

"What is Ilanthe doing?" Oscar asked.

"She"s set her little metal heart on something called Fusion."

"No," Araminta-two said. "It"s not that. She has become something other other."

"Then you"ll be able to ask her yourself soon enough, won"t you?"

"Can the Cat affect us once we"re inside the Void?" Aaron asked Inigo.

"You mean apart from blowing us all to s.h.i.t?"

"Surely your mind is stronger."

Inigo gave Araminta-two a worried look; he looked equally alarmed.

"I just don"t know."

"Oscar, my dear, it"s rude to keep a lady waiting."

Oscar didn"t know what the h.e.l.l to do apart from using the obvious smart-a.s.s answer, which in this case might just prove terminal. And n.o.body was offering any suggestions. Suddenly he was flinching, cowering halfway to the decking. s.p.a.ce outside was ablaze with hard radiation as a range of enormously powerful weapons were fired. His u-shadow reran events, a.n.a.lyzing it in millisecond increments. He saw another ultradrive starship materialize directly between the Cat"s ship and Mellanie"s Redemption Mellanie"s Redemption. It opened fire instantaneously at the same time its force field expanded, deflecting the Cat"s return salvo away from Mellanie"s Redemption Mellanie"s Redemption.

A communication channel opened.

"Oscar, get the h.e.l.l out of there," Paula said. "Leave the Cat to me."

"Go," Oscar screamed at Troblum.

For the second time in an hour, the Mellanie"s Redemption Mellanie"s Redemption fled into hypers.p.a.ce. fled into hypers.p.a.ce.

"You"re going to deal with me?" the Cat asked. There was a mocking tone in the voice.

Paula was frantically reviewing the Alexis Denken Alexis Denken"s defense status. The force fields were struggling under the energy impact of their first weapons exchange. Whatever the Cat"s ship was equipped with, it was stronger than she had expected. The beam weapons were somehow transferring some of their energy through hypers.p.a.ce, circ.u.mventing the force fields. Local gravity was doing strange things, its twists exerting unnatural stresses throughout the Alexis Denken Alexis Denken that the onboard compensators weren"t designed to cope with. that the onboard compensators weren"t designed to cope with.

"Always do," Paula sent back. On her instruction, the smartcore fired a couple of quantumbusters. They shot away, accelerating at two hundred gees. "And this is the last time." The quantumbusters went active. Eighty kilometers away, the small chunk of astroidal rubble they targeted was less than thirty meters in diameter. The entire ma.s.s was converted directly into energy in the form of ultrahard radiation. For a microsecond its output rivaled that of the nearby star.

Exovision warnings leaped up as the force fields strained to deflect the appalling radiation torrent. Paula sent the starship back into hypers.p.a.ce and flashed toward the gas giant. The Cat came after her. Neither was making any attempt at stealth.

Fifty thousand kilometers above the seething pink and gray cloudscape, Paula stopped, and the Alexis Denken Alexis Denken hung in transdimensional suspension while the force field generators began to stabilize. hung in transdimensional suspension while the force field generators began to stabilize.

One of the gas giant"s large outer moons exploded. A quantumbuster had converted a couple of its more substantial craters directly into energy, a detonation big enough to fracture the moon down to its core. The entire globe ruptured, with vast segments moving ponderously apart while a billion rock fragments came tumbling out of the expanding fissures into the outburst of raw energy. The physical damage was an irrelevancy. The quantumbuster had a diverted energy function, shunting a high percentage of the explosion"s power into hypers.p.a.ce.

Paula went flying painfully across the cabin as the colossal exotic energy wave smashed into the starship. Alexis Denken Alexis Denken fell back into s.p.a.cetime as its overstressed ultradrive failed. Outside, the remnants of the moon were creating a giant translucent shock sphere twenty thousand kilometers across that glowed an ominous spectral blue as it inflated at half lightspeed. The Cat"s ship came streaking out of the garish aurora, force fields glimmering a malevolent crimson as it headed straight for the fell back into s.p.a.cetime as its overstressed ultradrive failed. Outside, the remnants of the moon were creating a giant translucent shock sphere twenty thousand kilometers across that glowed an ominous spectral blue as it inflated at half lightspeed. The Cat"s ship came streaking out of the garish aurora, force fields glimmering a malevolent crimson as it headed straight for the Alexis Denken Alexis Denken. Dark missiles punched forward at a hundred gees.

The smartcore identified them as Hawking M-sinks. Force fields wouldn"t protect Paula from them.

Another moon exploded. Sequential ripples of exotic energy swept outward, blocking any return to hypers.p.a.ce. Paula powered the Alexis Denken Alexis Denken straight down toward the gas giant, accelerating at fifty gees. Internal gravity compensators could shield her from only about thirty of them. Biononics had to support her body physically as the punishing force tried to crush her into a puddle of flesh across the decking. Even with that enrichment it was tremendously difficult to breathe. She"d gotten her left leg at a slight angle; it made a bad sound as it flattened out. straight down toward the gas giant, accelerating at fifty gees. Internal gravity compensators could shield her from only about thirty of them. Biononics had to support her body physically as the punishing force tried to crush her into a puddle of flesh across the decking. Even with that enrichment it was tremendously difficult to breathe. She"d gotten her left leg at a slight angle; it made a bad sound as it flattened out.

One of the small inner moons was below her, a cratered rock two hundred kilometers in diameter, three thousand kilometers farther along its...o...b..tal track from her vertical vector and moving sedately away. She fired a quantumbuster at it, modifying the effect field format. When the weapon activated, it converted a quarter of a cubic kilometer of rock right at the moon"s core. The moon shattered instantly. Millions of rocky shrapnel fangs detonated outward from the micronova in a lethal supervelocity cloud. The particles vaporized as they went, blowing off expanding flares of indigo and topaz ions like primeval comets. s.p.a.ce was filled with a dense clutter of energized ma.s.s. The Hawking M-sinks flew into it and began to absorb the deluge of lively atoms. Vapor or rock shards, it made no difference; the event horizons sucked everything down. In doing so, their courses wobbled slightly. As the drives attempted to compensate, their efficiency fell off due to the nearly exponential increase in ma.s.s they were now propelling.

The Alexis Denken Alexis Denken raced away from the underside of the h.e.l.lish fireball, hurtling straight for the agitated stormscape below. raced away from the underside of the h.e.l.lish fireball, hurtling straight for the agitated stormscape below.

Mellanie"s Redemption flicked back into s.p.a.ce one and a quarter million kilometers above the yellow star. She hung there for a couple of seconds while the forward cargo bay opened and the fuselage force field started to fizz with violet stress patterns. The planetary FTL device shot out, and Troblum took the starship straight back into transdimensional suspension. flicked back into s.p.a.ce one and a quarter million kilometers above the yellow star. She hung there for a couple of seconds while the forward cargo bay opened and the fuselage force field started to fizz with violet stress patterns. The planetary FTL device shot out, and Troblum took the starship straight back into transdimensional suspension.

"How long?" Aaron demanded.

"Ten minutes to initiation," Troblum said. Catriona was back at his side, her beautiful face tragic with concern. "Establishment will take longer. And no, I don"t have a f.u.c.king clue how long. Nothing more I can do. We just sit and wait now."

Oscar was keeping track of the hysradar return. He winced when one of the gas giant moons broke apart within a bloom of exotic energy. That was one h.e.l.l of a fight, as bad as Justine and the warrior Raiel. Oh, c.r.a.p! Oh, c.r.a.p! "Hey!" "Hey!"

Everyone looked at him. In the packed cabin that was quite intimidating.

"You didn"t think this ship could survive anything the Cat threw at it," he said to Troblum. "Why?"

"Because it couldn"t," Troblum replied. Catriona was directing an aggressive stare Oscar"s way, which he ignored.

"But you have the Sol barrier technology. That can withstand any Commonwealth weapon."

"Mellanie"s Redemption doesn"t have that kind of protection," Troblum said. doesn"t have that kind of protection," Troblum said.

"But ... your armor does." So I a.s.sumed the ship would as well. s.h.i.t! So I a.s.sumed the ship would as well. s.h.i.t!

"Yes. I just built my armor. But before now I couldn"t ever use the design the Accelerators developed from the Dark Fortress; that would have revealed what we"d got."

Oscar wanted to grab the front of Troblum"s toga suit and give the huge man a shake. "But if we haven"t got that kind of force field, how the h.e.l.l do you think we"ll get past the warrior Raiel?"

"They"ll let us past. Won"t they?" Troblum said in a puzzled tone that verged on hurt. "When we explain that we"re on a mission to shut down the Void."

"s.h.i.t," Tomansio grunted.

For once even Aaron was startled.

"Troblum," Oscar said very firmly. "Give me full access to your TD linkage. Now."

"What are you doing?" Inigo asked.

"Calling the one person who might be able to help." He grimaced as another one of the gas giant"s moons was blasted into a tsunami of exotic energy. "If she"s still alive."

The Alexis Denken Alexis Denken hit the upper atmosphere at fifty kilometers a second. Paula ordered an immediate deceleration as they plunged toward the first truculent cloud layer. It didn"t seem to make much difference. Disintegrating gases gouged a five-hundred-kilometer tail of incandescence in their wake, a giant pointer for the Cat"s sensors. The juddering was phenomenal; as an indicator of how much punishment the starship was encountering, it was badly worrying. Acceleration forces were still crushing her down onto the decking. hit the upper atmosphere at fifty kilometers a second. Paula ordered an immediate deceleration as they plunged toward the first truculent cloud layer. It didn"t seem to make much difference. Disintegrating gases gouged a five-hundred-kilometer tail of incandescence in their wake, a giant pointer for the Cat"s sensors. The juddering was phenomenal; as an indicator of how much punishment the starship was encountering, it was badly worrying. Acceleration forces were still crushing her down onto the decking.

Far above, the first flaming debris from the small rock moon was following her down, dazzling points of light churning through the atmosphere, jetting out vast plumes of black smoke. The terrible buffeting broke them apart into hundreds of smaller chunks, which then shattered again and again. A vast plain of electrical fire sank down toward the clouds. The basic energy the impact was spinning off created enormous lightning discharges that flared for thousands of kilometers through the higher atmospheric bands.

It made sensor coverage difficult. But just before she sank into the second cloud layer, hysradar located the Cat"s ship chasing her down.

Paula hurriedly changed her direction, angling the regrav units" propulsive effect sharply to try to flatten out her trajectory but still heading down.

"I see you," the Cat called through an interference-saturated link.

"If you stop now and rendezvous with your force fields down, I will simply place you in suspension with your original self," Paula replied. "Any other course of action will result in your termination."

"Darling Paula, this is what I love about you. That psychoneural profiling is actually the installation of blind stupidity. Come to me. I can remove it for you."

The Alexis Denken Alexis Denken"s sensors detected another M-sink being fired. Now the entire gas giant was doomed, though its final destruction would be weeks away. Paula suspected the Cat had done that to make sure there would never be any hiding place beneath the gas giant"s furious storms. Paula fired a quantumbuster, then angled the Alexis Denken Alexis Denken down through the fourth and final cloud layer. Below that was a zone of perfectly clear hydrogen extending for several hundred kilometers. Huge vertical pillars of lightning snapped on and off within the gap. At their base, a smog of hydrocarbons eddied uneasily atop the pressure boundary where the atmospheric compounds were finally compressed into a liquid. The sight vanished in a blaze of white light as the quantumbuster activated. down through the fourth and final cloud layer. Below that was a zone of perfectly clear hydrogen extending for several hundred kilometers. Huge vertical pillars of lightning snapped on and off within the gap. At their base, a smog of hydrocarbons eddied uneasily atop the pressure boundary where the atmospheric compounds were finally compressed into a liquid. The sight vanished in a blaze of white light as the quantumbuster activated.

"Naughty, darling," the Cat taunted. "My turn."

The hysradar showed Paula two missiles curving up from the Cat"s ship, arching up through the clouds, where the density was reduced. Of course they could accelerate far faster than the poor Alexis Denken Alexis Denken, which was tunneling through the compacted hydrogen.

They started to plummet again.

"Oh, f.u.c.k," Paula grunted, and dipped ever closer to the smog band.

Her smartcore surprised the h.e.l.l out of her when it announced that Oscar was calling through a TD link.

"Little busy," she sent.

"Appreciate that. But we"re in trouble."

"Doesn"t it work?"

"That almost doesn"t matter. This ship has no protection from the warrior Raiel. Can you ask Qatux to have a word, please."