Chris almost jumped at the sound of his voice, suddenly filling the bridge. 'What is it, Doctor?'

'Ca.s.sandra. Right now. Right away.'

Chris was about to ask who Ca.s.sandra was when he remembered. The outermost planet in the system. A week's journey away.

'We have to go there now, Chris.' The Doctor's voice was fading. 'No choice. Get ready to leave.'

Behind Chris, Son of My Father made a noise deep in his chest.

Chris started, turned to look at the Ogron.

'Bad rock,' said Son of My Father.

99.

Meanwhile Kibero Patera, Io 15 February 2982 'Shall we play a game?' asked Mr Fiction.

Thandiwe thought for a moment. 'No,' she said. 'I want to learn something.'

'Oh no,' said Mr Fact and tried to scuttle under Thandiwe's bed.

Mr Fiction pointed to where Mr Fact's black shiny bottom stuck out from under the counterpane, his rear pair of legs scrabbling for purchase on the varnished floor. 'Doesn't he look funny?' he said, and laughed.

Some of Thandiwe's other toys joined in, especially the Fat Monster Eater. The Fat Monster Eater was a big floppy bag as big across as Thandiwe was tall and covered in fur. It had a big jolly mouth and rolling eyes and laughed at everything. Which annoyed Thandiwe sometimes, except late at night when the Monster Under the Bed was lurking in the dark.

When that happened, the Fat Monster Eater would leap into the bed with her, and chuckle softly until she went to sleep. It used to tell her stories as well, but then Mama gave her Mr Fiction, who was much smarter and knew every single story ever told even the grown-up ones.

At first she'd been worried that the Fat Monster Eater would be jealous, but when she asked her sister about it, Gugwani had told her not to be silly. 'They're just bots,' she said. 'They don't feel anything.'

100.Which had made Thandiwe feel all strange and upset all that afternoon until she unexpectedly started crying at dinner when Mama found out why she spoke to Gugwani in her very quiet voice, which meant that she was really really really angry. angry.

Then she took Thandiwe aside and told her that although it was true that the Fat Monster Eater, Mr Fiction and Mr Fact were robots, they were very clever robots who had been she used a long word which Thandiwe didn't understand to have feelings.

Mama said that as soon as the robots had seen Thandiwe they had fallen instantly in love with her. And that was the real reason the Fat Monster Eater wasn't jealous because, when you really love someone, then their happiness is the most important thing in your life.

Thandiwe thought this over later that night and decided it sort of made sense. It was certainly true that when her mama was angry everyone seemed upset and when she was happy everyone was pleased especially the servants. Perhaps that's what she meant. However, she still let the Fat Monster Eater sleep in her bed as well as Mr Fiction, just so he wouldn't feel left out it was only fair after all.

Gugwani sulked for a whole week until Mama bought her a new dress.

If anyone came out worse in the end it was Mr Fact, as the Fat Monster Eater always seemed to side with Mr Fiction when it came to disputes as it did when Thandiwe wanted to do something naughty and the arachnoid (which meant spider shaped) robot tried to hide under the bed.

'I want to learn something interesting interesting,' said Thandiwe.

'I'm not coming out!' squeaked Mr Fact.

'I'll say the words,' said Thandiwe.

'You shouldn't know know the words,' said Mr Fact. 'It's naughty for you to even know words like that.' the words,' said Mr Fact. 'It's naughty for you to even know words like that.'

' Double, double, toil and trouble Double, double, toil and trouble,' said Thandiwe, ' Fire burn Fire burn and cauldron bubble. and cauldron bubble. ' '

Mr Fact stopped talking and went completely still. Thandiwe ordered him to back up and turn around to face her. 'Now open your head.' Mr Fact obeyed, the top of his head hinging backward to reveal the machines inside. He couldn't speak once 101 the words were said but his eight eyes always looked at her reproachfully.

Thandiwe had learnt the words by eavesdropping on a tech when she came to fix Mr Fact's head after it had got caught in the bedroom door. It had been amazing how many times Thandiwe had had to slam the door on poor Mr Fact's head before something had broken. She knew that there were other words, key phrases that would allow her to access the deeper structures of the robot's brain, but as yet she hadn't figured out a plan to get them.

Still, the words she had were enough to override some of the security protocols, especially if she reached in and flipped the microswitch just behind the third eye stalk. A simscreen unfolded out of the open top of Mr Fact's skull and displayed a menu made up of half a dozen mikons. As usual the most active mikon was the one that terminated Mr Fact's diagnostic mode, sealed up his head and returned him to normal activity. A tiny representation of a spider, it would scuttle around the screen, sometimes even knocking the other mikons out of the way in an attempt to get under Thandiwe's fingertip. Mr Fact didn't like having his head open.

Thandiwe was wise to his tricks though, and feinting with her right hand she touched the sensor mikon with her left index finger. A couple of sub-menus later and she had Mr Fact set up as an ad hoc surveillance device.

'Who shall we spy on today?' said Thandiwe. Mr Fiction said nothing but brushed his ears and giggled. Through Mr Fact she had access to every securicam in Kibero, allowing her to look practically anywhere, including all the tiptop secret places that Mama didn't think she knew about.

Actually, she found the secret places pretty boring. Most of them looked like small offices full of ordinary people talking to each other. Many of them used long incomprehensible words and acronyms that Thandiwe could have asked Mr Fact to translate if she hadn't had to deactivate him to spy in the first place. She quickly learnt that people were far more interesting than places.

And her family the most interesting of all.

'I want to see what Mama is doing,' she told the screen.

102.

The sim phased in a view of her mama's office. She was looking through one of the cameras up on the wall, she knew.

She tried to imagine she was a bot, crouching up on the wall, listening while her mother talked to a boring-looking man on a screen.

'We've managed to trace her at last,' he said. 'Good news, Lady Forrester. We're now certain she left Fury within two hours of the attack on ICC.'

'Do you know where she went?'

'I'm afraid not, My Lady, but we're working on it. Our best lead is a missing Imperial shuttle, though it had an ISN crew.'

'Keep me informed,' said Mama. 'The moment you know anything, however tenuous, tell me right away.'

'As always, My Lady.' The boring-looking man gave a little bow. Mama switched off the screen.

Mama looked at a screen on her desk, and then glanced up at Thandiwe at the securicam she was looking through.

'You're a very naughty child,' she said, smiling. 'Put Mr Fact back together at once.'

'Yes, Mama,' said Thandiwe, although she wasn't sure if her mother could hear her.

103.

3.

Ca.s.sandra 17 January 2982 'Unlimited rice pudding,' said the Doctor.

Iaomnet bent down and checked the medical indicators on the arm of the Doctor's HE suit. The respiration bar was still green, but the cardiac monitor kept blinking from red to green and back again.

She stared at him through the faceplate. His eyes were open, one looking to the left, the other rolled so far up that she could hardly see the iris. She didn't think it was a good sign. A good suit would have had proper diagnostic software, but these suits were basic and quite old, a fact that was beginning to seriously worry her.

'Doctor, can you hear me?'

'"Boney," I said, "an army marches on its stomach."'

Reaching down, Iaomnet once again got a grip on the Doctor's shoulder straps and started dragging him along. The corridor was an octagonal cross-section, three meters across, lined with some kind of smooth black stone that gleamed in the beam of her suitlights. Ahead it stretched into the darkness, straight and featureless. And behind? Iaomnet had stopped looking behind some time ago.

'Just routine,' muttered Iaomnet. 'Keep an eye on some academics. Just routine.'

The Doctor was beginning to get heavy, even with Iphigenia's 0.09 gravity. She wished she could remember 104 how far they had walked on the way in. Were they even in the same corridor? And if they made it to the surface what then?

The suit recycling packs were good for another sixty hours at a pinch it could utilize everything from her sweat to her urine to keep her breathing. But it was going to get d.a.m.ned uncomfortable.

If Chris and the Hopper were gone then the only option would be the emergency stasis b.u.t.ton and the screamer beacon that said, 'I'm dead, come rescue me.' Given that Agamemnon was a rim system and a war zone, that gave a statistical survival probability of sixteen per cent.

Her instructors at Loki had been big on statistics.

And mission priorities. Whatever it was that resided in the central chamber, it was truly alien and powerful in a way that she couldn't understand. And if Martinique was right, there were thousands just like it, scattered throughout the Empire and beyond.

Which made getting the Doctor back a mission priority. Never mind that the Doctor wasn't making a whole lot of sense.

'Balderdash, my dear Professor Blinovitch,' said the Doctor.

'I've met myself dozens of times and I haven't exploded yet.'

Walk for two hours, thought Iaomnet, then rest for ten minutes, then walk for another two hours. It was important to get into a routine early, that way, with any luck, your body might keep going when anoxia started closing down your brain cells.

'Beware the memories of the compa.s.sionate tent,' said the Doctor. 'I'll have your eyes for that.'

A little over an hour later they reached the first intersection, a hemispheric chamber with the same featureless corridors leading off in six directions.

'Is it time already?' said the Doctor. 'No, go back to sleep it's nowhere near time yet.'

Iaomnet dropped him and slumped down against the wall. It didn't make much difference in the low gravity but it made her feel as if she was resting.

'Just because you're paranoid,' said the Doctor, 'doesn't mean they're not out to get you.'

Now that made sense. 'Doctor?'

105.

'Aspidistra baby!'

She put her faceplate close to his and snapped her head back, when she realized his eyes were focused on hers. 'Are you feeling better?'

'Better is a relative term,' said the Doctor. 'Better than what?'

'Better than you were?'

'How was I?'

'You were unconscious, talking nonsense, rambling.'

'Of course I was rambling,' said the Doctor testily. 'It's not easy putting your mind back together after it's been systematically scrambled by a probability intercession. I'd like to see you do it.' The Doctor looked around, his movements comically exaggerated by the bulk of his HE suit. 'Where's Chris?'

'We left him on the Hopper remember?'

'Of course I remember,' said the Doctor. 'I also distinctly remember his being torn to bits by an N-form in Northern England.' He paused. 'Or was that me? Got any dice? I need to test my luck.' The Doctor got to his feet, too fast for the low gravity, and put his gloved hand on Iaomnet's shoulder to steady himself. 'Listen,' he said, 'I need you to do something for me.'

'What?'

'I need you to pretend that you're my friend. That we have a history together.'

'Doctor, you're not making any sense,' said Iaomnet. 'What the h.e.l.l is going on?'

He beamed at her. 'Good,' he said. 'You're getting the hang of it already. You see, I need someone linear to keep it all together.

It's very important. The whole thing could collapse.'

'What whole thing?'

'The universe, or at least the important bits.'

'The important bits?'

'The bit we're in, for example.'

'Stop it.'

'Didn't we have fun at Bernice's wedding? I thought Da Vinci's cake was the high point of the reception, didn't you? At least try to agree with me, it's terribly important. If you can't answer, nod your head.'

106.

Iaomnet nodded her head.

'Trust me,' said the Doctor. 'There's madness in my method.

And now we have to get going.' He pointed down one of the corridors. 'This way I think.'

Iaomnet blinked. They had stopped.

'How long have I just been standing here?' she asked the Doctor.

'About five minutes,' he said. He was leaning against the wall of the chamber, a six-sided room. There were bits of scored metal embedded in the dark stuff of the floor, as though some kind of machinery had been ripped free, long ago. 'You're all right, it's just that your brain switched off and let your legs get on with it.

Einstein said you only needed the spine for marching.'

'Where are we? Do you do you know where we're going?'

'We're somewhere close to the surface. Don't give up hope.'