Insignia shuddered at the release, but already the Saqr was self-repairing, the cracks disappearing almost as quickly as theyd appeared.

The biozoon strained to gain distance as the Saqrs maw opened again, this time unfurling countless stamens and sending them snaking across s.p.a.ce, hunting them.

Nova repelled the attack with another EM wave, but she was not strong enough to sustain it and as the wave began to diminish, the hungry stamens pursued them again.

Nova! Wanton! Mira screamed with frustration and powerlessness.

'Mira. Help her! Jo-Jo again.

'Just hold her, Josef. Let her do what she must, cried Mira.

Nova sent another wave out, but her strength had gone and the stamens broke through. Yet this time, as they touched Insignias skin, the Saqr ship itself began to buckle.

The stamens retracted from Insignias ventral, lashing empty s.p.a.ce, convulsing like the legs of an intolerably large spider. Then, slowly, they collapsed back into the Saqrs maw in a tangled, wilted confusion.

The Saqr ship appeared to lose control of its trajectory, an object the size of a small moon whirling out of control.

But as Insignia gained distance from it, the ship ceased its uncontrolled spin and changed course directly towards Leahs burning intensity.

Nova?

Wanton says goodbye, Mama. And thank you. Her daughter sounded heartbroken.

What has Wanton done?

Wanton said that I should tell you that it does not wish you to lose your 'poda, as Wanton did.

Mira watched the Saqr ships trajectory. Leah would envelop it soon; there would be no escape. She was overcome with relief and sadness and loss.

As Insignia took them out past Tiesha, she dwelt on those emotions, let them swamp her.

Mira. Do you see it? Do you see it there?

But Mira had felt it before Insignia spoke. Its presence entered her mind like a shaft rammed along her backbone, a painful, stiffening jolt and a sense of invasion. Shed expected to feel fear as well, but the only thing beneath the pain was a sense of utter inevitability.

I am no one. But this no one would tell you that you must stop what you have started, Mira replied. Your device has predicted the destruction of my species. You have brought this upon us. The device has shown me outcomes and your hand in their making. Anger surged through Mira. The Ent.i.ty was more obtuse than Insignia. You have given extraordinary powers to your tyros, encouraged them to venture in certain directions. One has infected our greatest thinkers with a virus that impairs their decision-making, another has used your device to his own gain, pa.s.sing it to a man who would cause further division between Post-Species and OLOSS under the guise of keeping peace. No, she shouted. Not little problems. Youve given us the tools to create our destruction and weve followed your intentions perfectly. You play a cruel game.Mira felt its indifference, felt its withdrawal from her mind, the shaft softening in her back.No! Wait. You must listen to me. Mama, said Nova. Let me.The Ent.i.tys withdrawal halted and a sense of curiosity seeped through Miras being. Soles curiosity.I am Nova, said her daughter. You seem alone. Is that why you have made these things happen? Like this... Nova projected a grave melancholia, a vast emptiness without end that made Mira want to weep. We all know. Do you feel it too?A cold tingle shot through Mira as though shed been injected with a drug. Come, Mama.Mira fell into a dizzying whirlpool of consciousness; was consumed by it and carried an immense, unfathomable distance to a place of dust and dust between galaxies. A place of cold mystery. A place of dark energy. Many Ent.i.ties. Countless. Roving in their dark playground.Yet only one of them asked a question. Only one of them cared to know. Sole. Youve come to us looking for your origins? Nova was gentle, soft persistence. No anger.Mira felt the rightness of Novas statement. The tightness of Soles accord. You believe your origins are with us? she asked.The sense of rightness came again.I am young and dont understand. How do our deaths serve you? Nova, so sweet and simple.Mira imagined that at the corporeal level she was holding her breath, clenching her hands, waiting for Soles answer. Yet she felt nothing of her body.Then understanding began to wash through her in little waves, like an incoming tide of knowledge that she could only truly grasp when it was high enough to drown her. And she saw it, the life energy from billions and billions of dead sentients released into s.p.a.ce, combining with all matter, colliding and transforming into dark energy.You wanted to prove that you came from us, from our destruction?Rightness. Complete and utter.The idea numbed Mira. She revisited it, toyed with it, tried to read all its sides. You believe this has happened before?Rightness.She continued to think around it. But you are matter as well. Which means, if you are correct, that we are you and you are us. And if you are considered G.o.d then G.o.d is...Si, Mama, Nova said. G.o.d is us. Or that is what Sole wishes to prove.You would have billions of sentients die to know... that? Rightness without remorse.Mira sank under Soles answer, was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of its callousness. She floundered to stay afloat in the present, her daughters voice her only lifeline.Look to the future for your answer, not the past, her infant told the Ent.i.ty. Let me come with you, help you.Hesitation. Interest. I give you willing energy, not stolen. I give you company. Well find the answer together. Without destruction.Nova! You cannot! Mira panicked.Mama, it is how it will be. Sole must have company. Nova was definite.Then let it be me. She felt the Ent.i.tys focus on her like a pouring of molten metal.But Nova addressed the Ent.i.ty again, ignoring her. In exchange for my company, you will make amends to our kind. Or at least... halt our extinction. Now! insisted Nova.Nova, I forbid- But the encompa.s.sing warmth of Novas love and affection silenced Mira, choking her words and dissolving her protest, softening and comforting her fear.And before she could further protest, she found herself propelled away from the vast s.p.a.ces, back into the whirlpool, spinning slower and slower until, eventually, she opened her eyes.'Mira! Josefs voice was hoa.r.s.e and br.i.m.m.i.n.g with emotion. He sat on the edge of Secondo, rocking back and forth, holding Novas body in his arms. 'Somethings wrong. I can feel it. Her energy is...You cannot let her die. Insignias words crushed Mira.She climbed from Primo, leaving Vito in cushioned sleep. 'The Ent.i.ty is here, Josef, close to us. It believes our extinction will offer proof of its origins. Nova has convinced it to consider another way. Shes bargained her companionship-her life-for ours. For all of Orion. I must get back to them.'Sole promised Nova?Mira nodded, distraught.Josefs face hardened. 'Take her.With surprising tenderness he kissed Novas forehead and handed her over, then he lay back down in Secondo.'What are you doing? Mira started forward.He took her hand and buried his face in it the way he had on Araldis. His lips burned against her palm in a devoted and pa.s.sionate kiss that told her the depth of his feelings for her. Then slowly his grip faded and the pressure of his lips slackened.JO-JO RASTEROVICH.Jo-Jo had never tried to reach out to the Ent.i.ty before; it had always sought him. He wasnt sure how to draw its attention, other than to demand.Sole! f.u.c.k you, Sole!But Sole did not respond.Desperate, he cast back to the occasions that Sole had spoken directly to him and tried to re-create the same division in his mind. Hed thought of it like sliced fruit, a kind of soft and slightly messy process. But this time he tried something different; this time he forcibly shrank his emotional centre into a tight and unreachable orb, leaving only the logic side of his brain functioning.Sole entered the accessible side like a thrown spear. You cannot take this child. The reason came to Jo-Jo with startlingly simplistic clarity. Nova has been altered by the Post-Species. They oppose your existence. Their changes to her will damage you. It was always their intent to use her against you. And her mother.The Ent.i.ty withdrew a little while it considered his declaration. Perhaps it was running its own type of bifurcation a.n.a.lysis-performing a prognosis of its own future.Jo-Jos dislocation from time and place was so complete he wasnt sure how long he waited, nor did he care. What mattered was that Sole knew the veracity of his statement and left Nova and Mira alone. Probable, he countered. I am the one you should take. My life is yours anyway. You resurrected me. And youve altered my mind for your expediency. Perhaps I was the always the one you would take. Perhaps you knew that at the beginning. Amus.e.m.e.nt and mimicry.Jo-Jo kept the ball of his emotions fiercely contracted, not letting anything escape that might shake his resolve.Agreed then?'Crux! exclaimed Tekton from Autonomy, where Lasper Farrs device rested on his legs like an innocent seemingly benign object. 'There are 'casts coming in from Scolar. Oh... my...'Insignia, said Mira. 'Show us.A projection appeared above Primo filled with a vision of the Scolar shift sphere, where a Geni-carrier hung at the centre.'Theyve tried to close the sphere but it hasnt completed its shutdown sequence. The Geni-carrier will destroy the whole system, said Tekton.'Thales! cried Mira.But as they watched the rings of the sphere brightened and began to shrink. The closing sequence appeared to accelerate and the Geni-carrier was caught in the vibration well. In the s.p.a.ce of several heartbeats, it disintegrated under the pressure.Tekton quivered in his seat as the image faded out, his hands fluttering. 'The Scolar 'cast is gone but other feeds are coming in. Reports of Geni-carriers imploding across Orion.'Imploding?'Self-destructing. The Saqr craft has been engulfed by Leah. It must have affected the commands sent to all the Geni-carriers. Theyre self-immolating. The DSD was correct, Baronessa. There was a way. The Lostolian waved his fist in victory.Nova stared up at her with solemn eyes. Josef has saved us, Mama.'Si, Nova, she said, bending down to kiss Jo-Jos lifeless lips gently. 'Si.SOLE.Luscious, luscious.Together.