"A dream, actually. I"m Gore. Pleased to finally meet you, Waterwalker. You"re a very impressive man."

"Gore is the one who guided us all here," Inigo explained lightly. "By various methods. Not all of them pleasant."

"Just making sure you don"t run out on your responsibilities, sonny."

"My father," Justine said proudly.

"You need to keep Aaron under," Gore told Tomansio. "His neural reconditioning was never going to be strong enough to withstand an encounter with the Cat. I wasn"t expecting that. G.o.dd.a.m.n Ilanthe."

"Lennox," Tomansio said coldly. "His name is Lennox. One of our founders. As such, very important to all Knights Guardian. What have you done to him?"

"Exactly what he asked," Gore said. "Christ knows what kind of number the Cat worked on him, but he was a nearly total basket case when my people recovered him. We erased what we could of that old personality, but the damage had seeped down into his subconscious. That can normally be suppressed, providing it doesn"t receive too many a.s.sociative triggers. But as for an out-and-out cure, forget it. I did what I could. I patched him back up and sent him out doing what he loved, what he was born to do. He runs every dirty covert mission the Conservative Faction needs to keep the good old Greater Commonwealth on the straight and narrow. I"m not his boss; I"m his partner, for Christ"s sake."

"Dad, the Heart?"

"Yeah, right." Gore glanced around at all of them. "It"s a simple enough plan. Like Aaron said, you go in and engage the d.a.m.n thing, reason with it. It has to be made to understand it"s committing galactic genocide."

"That"s it?" Oscar asked.

"You got anything better?"

"Well ... no."

"Then that"s it. One minor upgrade. I"m coming with you. I might have found something to persuade it."

"What?"

"A new beginning. But we"re going to have to be quick. f.u.c.k knows what Ilanthe"s up to in there."

"All right, Dad. The Skylord will guide Edeard"s body, a.s.suming he"s fulfilled."

"That was the original idea." Gore shot a meaningful glance at Inigo. "We do need someone we know is fulfilled."

"I understand."

"I"ll take the Waterwalker and Inigo in the Silverbird Silverbird," Justine said. "It"s in better shape than the Mellanie"s Redemption Mellanie"s Redemption. I think it will launch again. If not, we can reset to a few days before I land here."

"No," Gore said. "Take this ship. Its fully acclimatized to the Void now, so functionality shouldn"t be a problem anymore. And we"re probably going to need some serious bada.s.s firepower if we run into Ilanthe."

"This ship?"

Gore gave her a pitying look. "What do you think you"re standing on?"

Standing atop the sweeping steps of the Lady"s church with the others gathering around him, Edeard finally felt as if he was coming alive again. This whole time had seemed bizarre, like some kestric-fueled dream. There was nothing for him to grasp, nothing to a.s.sure him he was living. Even encountering Inigo was something he imagined might eventually befall him in the Heart, which contributed to the sense of unreality.

But now ...

Raw excitement accelerated his heart, sending hot blood pounding through his body. He was smiling as he sent his farsight racing down below the streets, past the travel tunnels, winding through the strange conduits and glowing lines of energy that pervaded the structure all the way down and down-Makkathran"s mind slumbered on still, as unchanged as the buildings and ca.n.a.ls, those giant thoughts pulsing in their slow somber beat.

The Waterwalker"s thoughts lifted rapturously as he gifted his perception to his new friends, welcoming the sheer flamboyance, the audacity of the moment. How Kristabel and Macsen would have loved this, and as for the twins ... "I know what you are now," he told the great sleeper, pouring sincerity, sheer belief belief into what he was saying. Sharing himself utterly. "I know why you came to this universe. And you should know, others have followed you in. We think we can end this now. You can finish what you started." into what he was saying. Sharing himself utterly. "I know why you came to this universe. And you should know, others have followed you in. We think we can end this now. You can finish what you started."

The vast thoughts began to quicken, their wide strands of gentle musings coming together into a cohesive whole. Makkathran"s consciousness arose. "You? I remember you. I thought you had gone, along with the rest of your kind."

"I was brought back. I believe I am your way into the Heart."

"You have forgotten much. I am content to end here."

Edeard felt his soul brother grip his hand. Inigo"s confidence, his surety, was astounding.

"We do not go there to submit to absorption," Inigo told Makkathran unwaveringly. "We are here to finish this. The time you feared has arrived. Millions of my species are on their way to this world. They know its secret, and all of them are intent on resetting the Void to their own whim. The ensuing devourment phase will consume the galaxy."

"It cannot be stopped," Makkathran said. "The Void is what it is."

"There is a chance. I believe we can still reason with it."

"The Void does not listen. We tried. I watched my kind die in the tens of thousands as they attempted to pa.s.s through the final barrier. It was all for nothing. The flames of their death outshone the nebulae that day."

"An ent.i.ty has arrived in the Void who may make things worse. The devourment phase is beginning. And finally we have the smallest, most fragile opportunity to speak with the nucleus, the primary sentience. It will accept one of us if a Skylord guides him to the Heart. Help us. Please. Your species is still out there on the other side of the barrier, doing what they can. In all the eons since you came, they have never faltered. We owe them so much; we owe them this last attempt."

"My kind still live?"

"Yes."

"I thought so. I thought I heard one once, not so long ago. I called out, but it was your race who came instead."

"Please," Edeard said. "I was guided to the Heart once before. Whatever sacrifice I have to make to be guided again, I will do so, I swear upon the Lady."

Makkathran"s thoughts fluctuated, dousing them all in a wave of ancient sorrow. Edeard was humbled by everything the city had endured, its terrible loss.

"I did not expect change to befall me ever again," it told them. "I did not expect to be shown hope, however small. I did not expect to do what I was born to do: to fly against the greatest enemy once more. You have brought this to me. For that I should show thanks. If the galaxy is to fall, then it is fitting that I should fall with it. I will take you."

"Thank you," Edeard said.

"Thank you," the others chorused.

They waited bunched together on the broad expanse outside the Lady"s church, farsight probing around, alert for the first change to manifest. They waited with the irrepressible excitement of schoolchildren knowing they were to witness something wholly spectacular.

Justine caught it first. "There," she cried, her mind urging the others. "There, look, the crystal wall."

All around the city, the high translucent gold wall that defined the edge was growing upward. It raced into the sky with astounding speed as the city put forth its will. Then they were tilting their heads back to gape in admiration as it curved overhead. Half an hour after the growth began, the last shrinking circle of clear sky vanished as the crystal melded together. The city was encased in a perfect dome.

Makkathran exerted its wishes. A mind larger than mountains engaged the Void"s elementary ma.s.s location ability, demanding that matter move in the manner it wanted.

Out beyond the sealed-off Port district, the Lyot Sea parted. Two vast tsunamis of water rushed apart, surging away from the sh.o.r.e, exposing the seabed for tens of miles. Water was the easy part. Makkathran continued its manipulation. The naked seabed cracked open with a howl of destruction that shredded any organic matter within fifty miles. Fissures deepened, slicing down through the ancient lava as they raced inland to splinter the Iguru plain.

Oscar was laughing helplessly as the ground shook furiously, triggering ma.s.sive landslides over in the distant Donsori Mountains. It was the kind of semihysteria that was contagious. Edeard found himself grinning wildly in sympathy as he was toppled to his knees. Waves chased along the ca.n.a.ls, sloshing over the edges as the earthquake"s power built. He could see the tips of the Eyrie towers rocking from side to side. Agitated air was slapping clouds against the outside of the dome.

"Glad we brought you back now?" Oscar called tauntingly above the roar.

The Iguru plain and the uncovered seabed had shattered down to a single level zone of undulating rubble. All the odd little volcanoes juddered about like disintegrating icebergs as their ma.s.s dissolved down into the churning debris. The city gave a sudden lurch, thrusting a hundred meters straight up as the land"s grip was finally broken. Edeard yelled in delirious shock along with everyone else as the impetus knocked him flat. He gave Oscar a crazy thumbs-up. "Oh, Lady, am I ever," he longspoke above the tremendous din that was penetrating the protective crystal. What the devastation must be like outside was something he couldn"t conceive.

Frenzied clouds slid down the sides of the curving crystal as the domed city began to rise farther. That was just the apex of the immense warship.

Makkathran, last survivor of the Raiel armada, soared back up into the sky it had fallen from a million years ago and headed for the clean emptiness of s.p.a.ce.

Gore Burnelli didn"t often admit admiration for other people, least of all meat humans. But he had to acknowledge that Araminta had done a fine job living in two different time flows. Even though he"d been one of the pioneers of enhanced mentality, he was finding the going a little tough.

The segment of his mind designated to maintain the connection to Justine was racing on ahead, looking back at the ponderous events on the Anomine homeworld with something approaching contempt. It would be very easy to divest himself of his sluggish flesh and live fast and free in the Void. He had to focus hard on the other aspects of his mind and the requirements they served to dismiss the notion. The temptation was pulling with unrelenting tidal force.

For a heartbeat he watched from the entranceway of the Lady"s church as Makkathran flew clear of Querencia"s atmosphere and then accelerated after the Skylord that had brought the Mellanie"s Redemption Mellanie"s Redemption just a few hours earlier. just a few hours earlier.

Exoimage displays surrounded him, tracing the progress of the infiltrator filaments as they slithered through the molecular structure of the elevation mechanism, chasing down the network pathways and penetrating delicate junctions. Primary attention switch-to the ma.s.sed ranks of code awaiting initialization so the packages could slide into alien software, mimicking the routines in order to subvert them. His accelerated mind watched the symbology flip around at a speed he could actually follow as they a.n.a.lyzed the first impulses flashing through the junctions.

Incoming call-which he answered with another segment operating within his meat skull.

"We"re in," the Delivery Man said. "I"m establishing control over all major siphon systems. The override is disengaged. Full wormhole initialization sequence is running. Power generation is increasing. I need to take that slow; there"s nowhere to send it yet."

"Well done."

"I never knew Makkathran was a Raiel ship."

"What else could it be? Haven"t you ever visited High Angel High Angel?"

"No, actually."

"Oh. Well, those domes are the real giveaway. They"re identical."

"Obviously."

"Any sign of Marius?"

"I haven"t got a decent sensor that can function down here in the innermost circle. Hysradar works, but it"s useless. He must be in stealth mode, still."

"Keep watching. When he finally figures out we can stop his precious Ilanthe, he won"t take it well."

"Oh, c.r.a.p. All right."

Makkathran caught up with the Skylord just before it crossed Nikran"s...o...b..t, barely two million miles from the desert planet. Edeard stood in the square at the center of Sampalok, staring at the small brown orb that appeared to be hanging just above the mansion. It was kindling a surprising amount of nostalgia. He could just make out some of the surface features as he"d done that other day, now lost in the broken past, when he"d sat in the Malfit Hall waiting to be called before the Mayor and handed his bronze epaulets. His squadmates had teased him for his questions about other people living on Nikran. They never knew as he did that humans lived on hundreds of worlds. And now they never would.

Or maybe they do. Who knows what they see from the Heart?

Of all the revelations Inigo had brought, knowing that the Void was a danger to life everywhere was the hardest to accept.

"I always hated that Ladyd.a.m.ned thing," Inigo said, glaring at the six-sided mansion.

"The mansion?" Corrie-Lyn asked in surprise.

"No, the arcology in Kuhmo. It dominated every day of my life while I was growing up. That"s one of the reasons I offered the town council all that money to demolish the monstrosity, so kids wouldn"t be so blighted in future."

"It did fill your mind," Edeard confirmed. "I wasn"t really sure what genuine human architecture looked like, and I was in a hurry that day. It was the obvious choice.

"Thank the Lady you didn"t build it full size."

"I saw the fane you replaced it with," Corrie-Lyn said drily. "It wasn"t a whole lot better."

Inigo grinned back at her. "There"s grat.i.tude."

Edeard sensed concern growing in Justine"s mind. He glanced over to see her standing close to Gore, whose golden face had hardened with worry.

"What?"

"Some events are outside our control," Justine said. "I think you need to ask the Skylord now."

The creature they were pursuing was still half a million kilometers away, a shimmering patch to one side of Nikran. Edeard eyed it reluctantly. If it declared he wasn"t fulfilled, Inigo would have to delve down into the memory layer and bring out a version of himself who was. There were few enough certainties for him right now, but encountering his future self was something he knew he didn"t want to endure. "I"ll try." He felt for the Skylord, finding it on the edge of perception. Usually their thoughts were composed and content. He"d never known one to host such confusion before. It was grieving for its kindred that had succ.u.mbed to Ilanthe, and the colossal warship racing after it was also unsettling. There were ancient ancestral memories about such things: the time of chaos.

"You have nothing to fear from those I travel with, including the city," Edeard a.s.sured it. "They are my companions as I seek fulfillment."

"I know this city now," the Skylord replied. "Its kind brought ruin to this universe. We have found no minds since they threw the planets of life down into the stars they orbited. None have emerged here other than your own species."

"That time is over now. You know more of my species are already here. Minds are emerging again."

"As is the other other who kills." who kills."

"That is why I wish to reach the Heart. I will carry the warning to it. I believe I am fulfilled. I believe the Heart will accept me. Is this right?"

The Skylord took a long time to answer. "You are fulfilled," it acknowledged. "I will guide your essence to the Heart."

"Guide me to the Heart as I am. This ship will take me. We will follow you."

"It is the essence of every mind, my kindred guide."

"Guide me to the Heart. It will decide if it accepts me as I am or if I abandon my body and become pure mind."

"I will guide you."

"Thank you."

Beyond the crystal dome, the stars began to chase short arcs across s.p.a.ce as Makkathran turned to follow the Skylord. Then they started to accelerate again. Edeard experienced a long moment of dizziness. When he looked straight up again, he could see a small clump of stars directly above the apex of the dome. They"d all become bright blue-white. The rest of the universe around them was black.

"That"s not fast enough," Gore said. "Ilanthe has a week of Void time on you. Christ knows how close she is now."

"We know this is as fast as the Skylords can travel," Justine said.

"Yeah, but they"re not exactly swinging from the top of the IQ tree, now, are they? Ask Makkathran. It"s had millions of years to figure out what pa.s.ses for s.p.a.cetime in the Void."

Justine gave Edeard a questioning look.

"I"ll ask," he said.