"That's a serious development," he said.

"There's more we need to talk about," Auger said. "Can you clear our approach with the Tanglewood authorities?" "Check the news, Auger: there are no authorities. The Tanglewood administration's made a run for the hills. I'm already having a hard time evading the pirates and looters, and I have a fast shuttle."

"My children are in Tanglewood."

"No," he said. "Peter took them away a couple of days ago. As soon as Skellsgard came through, we

began to fear that something bad was imminent. Your children are safe."

"Where are they?"

"Peter thought it best not to tell anyone. He said he'd make contact with you as soon as the situation

calms down."

Auger closed her eyes and said a small, silent prayer of thanks.

"Sir," Auger said after a moment, "I have important news. There's something I really need to tell you. I

know what Susan White was on to, and it's big. You have to act now...use all your contacts to pull in

a.s.sistance before it's too late."

"It's all right," Caliskan said. "We figured out most of the details from Skellsgard. It was remarkably brave of you to send her back the way you did."

"Is she all right?"

"Yes, she's fine. Safe and sound."

That was another debt to add to the pile. Her children were safe and so was her small, scowling friend

from Phobos.

"I still need to talk to you," she said. "Can you suggest a suitable rendezvous point?"

"I already have a place in mind. It's somewhere the pirates and looters won't dare follow us. I suspect

even the Slashers will have second thoughts."

She knew exactly where he meant, and it scared her. "You're not serious, Caliskan."

"I'm more than serious. Does that ship you're in have transatmospheric capability?"

She turned to Ca.s.sandra. "Well?"

"We can fly in. But there's more to a trip to Earth than just flying in. A Thresher ship may be

sufficiently robust for the furies not to pose an immediate risk, but we are rather more...susceptible."

"I thought the Slashers had protection against furies now. Isn't that why you're so keen to get your hands on Earth?" "Experimental countermeasures," Ca.s.sandra said. "Which-I regret to inform you-this ship doesn't happen to be carrying."

Auger turned back to Caliskan. "No dice. She says the ship isn't equipped to fend off furies. We'll have to pick another RV point." "Tell her not to worry," Caliskan said. "The fury count near my designated RV is low. I know because I have direct feeds from Antiquities monitoring stations in the vicinity. Our enemies won't have this information, which is why they won't be so keen to come charging in."

Auger glanced at Ca.s.sandra. "Does that sound reasonable to you?"

"He spoke of a low count, not a zero one," Ca.s.sandra said. "I can't risk taking my ship deep into the atmosphere, especially with eighteen evacuees in my care."

"This is very important."

"In which case," Ca.s.sandra said, "we'll have to consider an alternative means of transportation."

"You mean the Twentieth's shuttle?"

"There isn't much fuel left aboard, but it should still be capable of making the round trip."

"Can it fly itself?"

"It doesn't have to," Ca.s.sandra said. "I can take care of that."

Auger returned her attention to the screen. "We're following you in, but we'll need a few minutes to get

our act together. Don't get too far ahead of us."

"Make it as quick as you can," Caliskan said. "And if you have any cargo from Paris, now might not be

a bad time to hand it over to me. Given what's happened around Mars, it may be the last consignment we ever see."

"There isn't much," Auger said. "Just a few boxes that the snake robot put on the transport before it sabotaged the link."

"You're still working for Antiquities. Bring what there is. Then follow my trajectory precisely, no matter how inefficient it looks."

"Where are you taking us, sir?"

"For a dinner engagement," Caliskan said. "We're dining with the ghost of Guy de Maupa.s.sant. I just hope he doesn't mind the company."

THIRTY-FOUR.

They hit atmosphere. It was a rougher ride than Auger had been expecting-the Slasher ship's aerodynamic effectiveness had been badly compromised. By Ca.s.sandra's reckoning, the ship had lost thirty per cent of its ma.s.s during the chase, discarding parts of itself to act as chaff and decoys while the main section executed increasingly desperate hairpin reversals, sidesteps and swerves.

"Did Caliskan make it through?" Auger asked.

"We're still tracking his ship. He's about twenty kilometres ahead of us, slowing down to supersonic speed. He seems to be headed for the northern part of Europe, specifically-"

"Paris," Auger said. "It would have to be Paris."

"You seem very certain of this."

"I am."

"What was that business about having dinner with Guy de Maupa.s.sant, anyway? Is he another colleague

of yours?"

"Not exactly," Auger said. "But we'll worry about that when we get there."

"Mind if I add a contribution?" Floyd asked.

"Go ahead."

"I really do know Caliskan. I told you his face was familiar-I think I've placed him."

"I know this is going to sound mean," Auger said, trying to soften her words with a smile, "but you're

really not qualified to have an opinion on Caliskan."

"Maybe not, but I still know that face. He's someone I've met, I'm pretty sure, someone I've had dealings with."

"You can't have met him. He's been in E1 s.p.a.ce the whole time. There's no way he could have slipped

through the portal without everyone knowing about it."

Ca.s.sandra leaned forward in her seat. "Perhaps Floyd has a point, if he feels so certain of his observation."

"Don't encourage him."

"But if Caliskan had knowledge of the Phobos link, isn't it conceivable that he might have made a trip through it?"

"No," she said firmly. "Skellsgard would have told me, even if no one else did."

"Unless Skellsgard was given specific orders not to tell you," Ca.s.sandra said.

"I trusted her."

"Perhaps she didn't know what was going on either."