'Senator, with all due respect-'

'With all due respect, respect, Captain,' Arbenz snarled, 'if that derelict somehow just jumped into Consortium s.p.a.ce with Merrick on board, we've lost this fight already. But I really don't think that's the case, given we're still chasing her ship. We can clearly see where she's heading, and the only possible reason for her current trajectory is because she thinks there's something down on the surface of Ikaria that she can steal from us. I am Captain,' Arbenz snarled, 'if that derelict somehow just jumped into Consortium s.p.a.ce with Merrick on board, we've lost this fight already. But I really don't think that's the case, given we're still chasing her ship. We can clearly see where she's heading, and the only possible reason for her current trajectory is because she thinks there's something down on the surface of Ikaria that she can steal from us. I am not not prepared to go down in history as the one who allowed that to happen.' prepared to go down in history as the one who allowed that to happen.'

Liefe's nostrils flared in anger, but after a moment he nodded sharply, saluted, then turned away to address one of his crew.

Arbenz meanwhile turned to Kieran, and saw a death's-head smile creeping across the man's face. The Senator felt a thrill of the same emotion Liefe must have felt when confronted with that same smile.

'Merrick has altered her course to stay well inside Ikaria's shadow-cone,' Arbenz muttered, 'and it's not hard to guess why. If the worst happens, we might be able to find some shelter from the nova's initial expansion by keeping that rock between the sun and us. I want you to watch Liefe's every move in the meantime. The last thing we need now is insubordination.'

Kieran nodded. 'She killed my brother,' he half-whispered, eyes glistening. 'If we're to die, she dies with us, rest a.s.sured.'

There were shouts and exclamations from the far end of the Agatha's Agatha's bridge. They both turned to see Liefe and the rest of the bridge crew gathered around a floating display that showed an image of Ikaria, and Nova Arctis beyond. bridge. They both turned to see Liefe and the rest of the bridge crew gathered around a floating display that showed an image of Ikaria, and Nova Arctis beyond.

Something was clearly happening.

'Corso?'

As he woke, he could detect the strain in her voice. He blinked himself wider awake, trying to make sense of what she was now seeing on one of the displays. His body still ached from the constant stress of the gees they were being forced to endure.

'Look,' she said, her voice thick. 'Nova Arctis-it's changing colour.'

The filters that processed incoming data from the ship's external cameras were shifting to accommodate a sudden radical shift in the star's appearance. It was becoming redder-darker. As they watched, a vast loop of plasma, long and wide enough to cut through a Jupiter-sized ma.s.s, arced outwards from the star's surface. Numbers flickered constantly next to the flare.

They continued diving down towards the surface of Ikaria, still locked into their acceleration couches, as the Piri's Piri's engines used up the last of their fuel to drop them into a low orbit around the little world. engines used up the last of their fuel to drop them into a low orbit around the little world.

Corso glanced for the millionth time at the torrents of information sliding across the screens and the holo display, but the figures resolutely refused to change into something more accommodating to their continued survival.

He looked back over at Dakota, whose attention had drifted again, as it had done more and more frequently over the past twenty-four hours. The times she was fully aware of her surroundings were becoming rarer. It was getting easier to spot whenever the Ikarian derelicts were communicating with her: her face would become slack, eyes focused on some nonexistent horizon.

Corso had trouble figuring out what it was about this that so disturbed him, until he realized she looked less human every time she slipped into this strange fugue state.

Was it possible, he wondered, for her to slip so deep inside whatever dreams the Magi craft generated for her, that she lost track of where she actually was? Or was that just the voice of his own paranoia in the face of something he couldn't begin to really understand?

He spoke her name gently, hoping she might respond. Nothing. Just that same, calm, semi-blissful mask.

'Dakota' he repeated, a little louder this time. he repeated, a little louder this time.

At last an acknowledgement: a blinking of her eyes as her head turned towards him 'You do realize we don't have enough fuel left to land on Ikaria without crashing?' he said. 'That's a.s.suming we could land all the way down inside that chasm, in the first place. We used up too much fuel just getting here.'

She smiled with a faraway look, like she was actually listening to someone else. 'We don't need to land.'

'What?'

She focused more clearly on Corso. 'We don't need to land. We'll just bring one of the derelicts to us.'

Within Nova Arctis, the cloud of singularities began to condense, adding to the core collapse. The collective gravitational attraction of the condensing cloud was more than equal to Nova Arctis in its entirety. Within minutes, superheated plasma that had flowed along the same convection patterns for millions of years would be sucked inward to the void at the star's heart, drawn downwards at a considerable fraction of the speed of light.

In the end, Arbenz decided to tell Liefe the truth. It was obvious something fundamental was happening to the star anyway. Besides, all of Liefe's crew deserved to die as warriors, with full knowledge of the fate that lay before them.

'Inside its core? core? Liefe stuttered as Arbenz finished. The faces of the crew around them were pale with shock. Liefe stuttered as Arbenz finished. The faces of the crew around them were pale with shock.

For a moment, Arbenz could see, the Captain actually suspected he might be joking. Then the truth of it all began to sink in.

Arbenz put a hand on Liefe's shoulder. 'I'm sorry we didn't tell you before: the drive doubles as a weapon of unprecedented power. We need to destroy any remaining derelicts located on Ikaria, because if they're allowed to get away they could be used to subjugate the Freehold-'

'Arrest him!' Liefe shrieked at his security officer. Liefe drew his own weapon and stepped back quickly, levelling it at Arbenz. 'You should know that there were contingency plans in case you weren't able to handle this this-'

Kieran moved from his static position with dazzling speed, his Challenge blade appearing in one hand for the briefest moment before it went hurtling across the bridge to land squarely in the middle of Liefe's back.

The Senator watched the commander hit the deck, the hilt of Kieran's knife protruding from his spine. The security officer fired his own weapon, catching Kieran on the shoulder. Kieran spun backwards, landing hard a few metres from where Liefe now lay twitching in his death throes.

Arbenz moved forward without a moment's hesitation, pulling the pistol from Liefe's dying fingers and firing three shots at the security officer. Two hit the man in the chest, while a third landed in his skull. The side of his head exploded messily.

Arbenz went over to Kieran and discovered he'd suffered no more than a bad flesh wound. He fanned his pistol around the remaining crew, most of whom stood in various poses of shock. Several appeared undecided whether they should try rushing the Senator or not.

'Listen to me,' Arbenz shouted hoa.r.s.ely. 'I am still your commanding officer by seniority of rank. Don't forget that. What Liefe tried to do just now was an act of mutiny. Nova Arctis is dying because of a Magi weapon. You can see that clearly. I don't know how long we have, but if you want to make your peace, make it now.'

'You've killed us, Senator,' said a young Lieutenant, stepping forward, his face full of cold fury. 'We believed in you, and you've killed us.'

Arbenz stood, staring at the younger man angrily. 'What's your name?' he demanded.

'Klein, Senator.'

'Fine,' Arbenz spat, throwing Kieran's knife down at Klein's feet. 'I killed your Captain, and you have the right to try and execute me for that. My rank is civil, after all, not military. But you knew the risks, all of you, when you came here.'

He nodded towards the display showing the distorted, flaring face of Nova Arctis. 'Just remember, in no time at all you'll all be following me to h.e.l.l, and nothing you do can change that.'

Arbenz punched one hand into the other. 'Or we can make sure the ship directly ahead of us has no chance of escaping with what is by divine right our our prize. If we die, they die. Wouldn't you rather go out fighting?' prize. If we die, they die. Wouldn't you rather go out fighting?'

Klein stared back, his jaw trembling. Arbenz could see how scared he was, though he was handling it well.

After a moment the younger man nodded, a defeated look crossing his face. He bent down and slowly picked up the knife, stroking its sleek dark surface as he spoke.

'All right,' said Klein. He held up his hand when some of his fellow crew began to protest, and they fell silent.

Arbenz waited while Kieran watched from where he sprawled nearby, obviously experiencing great pain with every breath he drew.

'We'll obey your orders, Senator, because we can see for ourselves the evidence behind your words-but if you're wrong, and we do survive this, we'll make sure that people know your death was protracted, and we'll be recording your pleas for mercy for prosperity. Do we understand each other?'

'We do,' was the Senator's grim reply.

Dakota led Corso back through the command module, and then into the claustrophobic tunnel leading past her sleeping quarters towards the ship's rear, just fore of the engines. He crawled through after her, cursing when she managed to kick him in the head as he was squeezing through. After several appalling seconds they emerged into a s.p.a.ce so tiny their heads were forced together.

'Listen,' said Dakota, 'see this door?' She pointed to a hatch next to Corso's shoulder. 'There's a one-man lifeboat on the other side, and here's the plan. I'm going down to Ikaria while you stay here in orbit. I get on board the first Magi ship I come to and bring it back up.'

'Uh huh,' Corso replied, appalled. 'That easy.'

'Yes, that easy,' Dakota snapped at him, grabbing him by the ear hard enough to hurt. 'Don't you think I can do this? I can't believe I'm saying it, but I should have scrubbed my Ghost out of my head long ago. What I've got in here now is infinitely better. It's like there's an entire world inside my head, do you understand me?'

'Not really, no.'

Dakota made a disgusted noise, her lips curling. 'Then you're just going to have to accept it. The Agartha Agartha is right behind us now, so there isn't time for anything else.' is right behind us now, so there isn't time for anything else.'

'And what if you don't come back?' Corso demanded.

'Then I guess we're all dead.'

Thirty-one.

The foam of miniature singularities began to evaporate, but the killing blow had been dealt. The central ma.s.s at the heart of Nova Arctis was sucked inwards, becoming dense enough to strip the electrons from every atom and compacting what remained into a superma.s.sive ball of neutrons, releasing a wide-spectrum blast of radiation in the process.

The result was cataclysmic.

The outer layers of Nova Arctis instantly exploded outwards, leaving behind a tiny neutron star barely a few dozen metres across. The star's dying throes released a level of energy equivalent to that of the entire Milky Way, within the s.p.a.ce of a few seconds, and releasing a second blast of neutrinos in the process.

The wave front of plasma blossomed outwards from the neutrino core, moving at approximately one-tenth the speed of light.

The Agartha Agartha moved towards Ikaria's shadow, still decelerating to avoid overshooting the planet itself. Arbenz looked up at a display showing the moved towards Ikaria's shadow, still decelerating to avoid overshooting the planet itself. Arbenz looked up at a display showing the Piri Reis Piri Reis as a blip now falling into a low orbit. as a blip now falling into a low orbit.

One of the science execs stepped forward, looking pale and drawn as he glanced towards the still forms of the security officer and then at his dead Captain.

'Senator, there's just been a second neutrino burst from Nova Arctis.'

'What does that mean?' Arbenz replied in irritation.

'It's a phenomenon highly congruent with records relating to the Magellanic Novae some years back.' The man cleared his throat. 'Basically ... it means the sun just went nova.'

It had occurred to Arbenz, as he waited here on the bridge, that sometime in the last half hour Kieran had quietly gone insane. The man stood at attention, gripping the dead security officer's weapon in both hands, but there was an almost dreamy look upon his face.

'It doesn't look any different,' Arbenz frowned, turning back to the science exec.

'Neutrinos move at the speed of light,' the man replied. 'The plasma wave front will be moving a lot slower, but still at a fair fraction of light-speed. We won't know it when it hits, but it won't be long. Our only hope of at least temporary shelter is getting into Ikaria's shadow. However, the chances of our survival for very long even there are very, very slim indeed, a.s.suming we get into orbit and fully inside the shadow cone before the wave front hits Ikaria. And increasing our acceleration towards Ikaria isn't an option either, because if we did, we'd just crash into it at a couple of thousand kilometres an hour.'

Arbenz watched as another member of the crew stood up suddenly, threw a piece of equipment at a nearby screen, then bolted off the bridge. The piece of equipment bounced off and rolled away harmlessly. No one said anything.

'How many missiles do we have left?' Arbenz asked.

'Three,' said another member of the crew. He was sitting at a weapon's station and looking over towards them. 'What are you-?'

'Fire them.' Arbenz gestured at the blip representing the Piri Reis. Piri Reis. 'They can reach that machine-head's ship long before we could. Fire them 'They can reach that machine-head's ship long before we could. Fire them now.' now.'

'We're out of range,' the crewmember replied. 'There's no guarantee-'

'That doesn't matter, d.a.m.n you! It's all we have,' Arbenz yelled, fear finally evident in his voice. 'If it's the last thing we manage to do, just kill them.'

A moment later, three tiny blips raced towards the Piri Reis Piri Reis in rapid succession. in rapid succession.

Dakota felt a hammering lurch, then nothing. She was crammed into the escape pod like a baby in a steel womb, having stripped off her clothes and then activated her filmsuit before climbing inside.

She was all too aware of being far beyond the point of no return. The only light came via the feeble glow from a data screen that displayed the surface of Ikaria rushing towards her.

They had identified a wide shelf, deep within the chasm, on which the three Ikarian derelicts lay. The shelf itself was about twenty-five kilometres in length and about two kilometres wide, and surprisingly level. She watched as the pod drifted down on a tail of fire between canyon walls that dropped away into darkness. But she rapidly lost any meaningful sense of perspective.

The pod hit hard, and began rolling. She screamed once, and then listened for a few seconds to the sound of her own frantic breathing. Status lights blinked on, while static fuzzed across the data screen.

But at least she was down, and alive.

She cracked the pod open and it split in half like an egg, releasing her onto the frozen surface of Ikaria, deep down within the chasm. The vast stony walls rising around her were far more intimidating than she'd expected. With the stars appearing only as a thin sliver of light above, it felt like standing within the maw of some vast mountain-toothed monster that was frozen in the act of consuming the universe.

She could feel the derelicts brushing against her mind even before she spotted the nearest of them, less than half a kilometre distant from where she'd landed. It was easier to get an idea of the size of the thing when it wasn't looming out from murky, subterranean waters.

She realized with a start that it was powering up in antic.i.p.ation of her arrival, readying itself for transluminal flight. She felt strangely drawn to it, despite its nightmarish appearance, like the bleached skeleton of some apparition from deep within the recesses of her id.

She thought of Corso, from whom she had s.n.a.t.c.hed one last kiss before closing the pod's hatch around her. It had been a small intimacy but, given the likelihood of failure, it had a.s.sumed for her an overwhelming importance.

She could still taste him on her lips but, now she was actually down here, her ship felt a long way away.