The eyes narrowed for a second. Then the soldier's stance straightened and he shouldered the weapon.

"If you say so."

Kristin looked at Ed. "This is Specialist Otto Krous," she said. "He's part of my team."

Krous hadn't eaten for two days, so Kristin dug a chocolate bar from Ed's pack and gave it to him.

"What happened here?" she asked as he tore the wrapper.

They were standing by the broken rail, looking out at the flat, featureless horizon. A few feet away, Ed leaned against the Land Rover's fender, arms folded, listening. His nostrils were full of the stink of the seaweed, and his skin itched where the light touched it. He looked at the skin peeling from Krous's face, and glanced up at the blue and yellow suns.

"We should cover up or we're going to get fried," he said.

Behind him, Alice sat in the cab, shotgun resting on her knees, still angry about being held at gunpoint. Oblivious to her glares, Krous chewed a mouthful of chocolate and swallowed.

"We came through the arch too fast," he said. "I mean, Fischer was driving and we can't have been rolling at more than walking pace, but we were still going too fast to stop." He kicked a heavy boot at the slippery algae on the planking of the deck. "Fischer hit the brakes as soon as we cleared the arch, but..."

Kristin put a hand on his shoulder.

"You went over?"

Krous leaned forward, looking down at the fetid black weed choking the water. His lips were a hard line. His eyes wouldn't keep still.

"Yes, sir. We went straight through the rail. I managed to kick my way out." He shuddered. "I had to fight through the weed."

"And the others?"

Krous shook his head. He screwed up the chocolate bar wrapper and let it flutter down into the water. Kristin's lips pressed together. She looked at Ed. From where he stood, he could see her eyes were filmy with unshed tears.

"So, what did you do?" she asked Krous, voice level.

The soldier looked up at the sky. "I clawed my way around to the back of the ship. There's a dock there for small craft, and I managed to climb out of the water. I had my gun strapped across my chest, but everything else went down with the truck." He swallowed hard and coughed into his fist. "For the last week, I've been living on glucose tablets and rain water, hoping you were coming."

He scratched irritably at his forehead. Flakes of peeled skin fell like dandruff. When he spoke again, he was hoarse.

"I'd just about given up hope, sir."

Kristin turned to survey the line of arches running the length of the deck.

"And you didn't consider moving on, trying to reach the objective?"

Krous shook his head. His eyes burned with resentment.

"No sir, I thought my best chance was to wait for you."

Ed straightened up. "Then why didn't you go back to look for her?"

The soldier bunched his fists.

"Who is this idiot?" he said.

Kristin put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Stand down, private."

Krous looked down at her. Then, abruptly, he turned to face the distant horizon.

Kristin left him and walked over to the Land Rover, arms folded, treading warily on the slimy deck. As she passed Ed, she said, "By the time he got back, I'd have either been long dead or already en route. We would have missed each other."

Ed shrugged. He didn't much care. He looked back at Alice glowering behind the windshield.

"So, what do we do now?"

Kristin paused. She glanced back to the edge of the deck, to the hunched figure of the soldier standing there.

"We go on," she said.

In the driving seat, Ed rubbed his palms together.

"Is everybody ready?"

He glanced in the rear-view mirror. Alice wasn't happy about riding in the back. She scowled at him. Beside her, Otto Krous sat with his eyes fixed forward. He held his machine pistol across his chest, ready for action. Sweat rolled down the blistered skin of his face.

"We're ready," Kirstin said, voice positive and self-assured, every inch the competent officer. "Just take it slowly, okay?" She glanced through the passenger side window at the water heaving against the sides of the wooden ship, far below. They were perilously close to the edge and the deck was slippery. One wrong move and they'd be in the sea.

Ed took a deep breath and let it out in a long, slow exhalation. He depressed the clutch pedal and turned the key in the ignition. The Land Rover's 2.5 litre diesel engine juddered into life.

"Okay, hold on," he said.

He slipped the gear lever into second and slowly let out the clutch. For a second, he felt the front wheels slither. It felt like driving on ice. Then the tyres bit and the Land Rover rolled forward, towards the row of arches stacked between the masts.

"You know, no-one's asked what happened to the crew," he said.

Kristin frowned.

"How do you mean?"

"The crew. What happened to the crew of this ship? Where did they go?"

Kirstin shrugged. "Into one of the arches, I expect." She turned to Krous. "Did you find any sign of them?"

The soldier shook his head. He didn't look like he cared one way or the other. "Is it significant, sir?"

Kristin turned to face forward. "No, probably not. If they'd had the technology to build the arches, they wouldn't be carrying them around in a wooden boat. I guess they were just trying to use and understand them, same as we are." Regretfully, she rubbed the outside of the hip pocket containing her sample bags. "But I still would have liked to have had the chance to have a proper look around."

She turned her attention to the row of arches in front of them. "That way," she said, pointing.

Ed leaned over the steering wheel. It was a random selection, but she sounded confident, speaking in a tone used to obedience, and he was in no mood to argue with her. He let the tyres roll forward. The big car eased into the arch she'd chosen. As they crossed the threshold, he closed his eyes to protect them from the white flash.

The next thing he knew, they were in darkness.

The ground crumbled away beneath their wheels. The Land Rover tipped over onto the driver's side. The chassis scraped against solid rock with a metallic screech. Ed fumbled for the lights, but they were already falling sideways. The steering wheel yanked itself out of his hands. Alice cried out.

The car crashed down into shadow. It landed on its side, and the windows shattered.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

MECHANICAL EQUIVALENT.

Although it looked tiny when compared to the overall vastness of the Dho Ark, the entrance to the dock in its prow could have swallowed a city all by itself. Its maw dwarfed the Ameline as the little ship slid inside, navigation lights reflecting back from semi-opaque diamond walls a thousand metres thick.

Ahead, in a softly lit alcove like a pore in the planetoid's ancient skin, a docking cradle hinged open, clamps reaching hungrily.

> Thirty seconds, the ship said.

Standing at the door of the rear airlock with her two passengers, Katherine Abdulov took a deep breath as she watched the approach via her implant.

"Understood."

She looked at Toby Drake. "I guess this is it." She smoothed down the front of her flight suit. The Dho had given permission for her to deliver her passengers, but only on the strict understanding that she depart as soon as they were safely on board the Ark.

"I guess so." Drake looked uncomfortable in a shirt and tie and formal brown jacket. His eyes were wide, drinking her in, memorising her face, her stance, and the way she shifted her weight from one hip to the other.

Francis Hind had the hood of his robe pulled up, shadowing his eyes.

"Ready to go?" Kat said. "Because as soon as we get a hard seal, I'm kicking you both out."

She itched to get going. Her hands fluttered in front of her like nervous birds. She had to catch Victor; and yet, remembering the feel of Drake's lips against hers, the warmth of his dark skin in her bed, she suddenly wanted more time. She wasn't ready to say goodbye so soon.

"Are you all right?" Drake held his case in one hand and a bag of books in the other. He put the books down and took her hand in both of his. As his fingers brushed hers, she felt the hairs rise on her arms.

His hands were warm. She clenched her jaw and swallowed away the emotion.

"I'm going to be gone a long time," she said. Her voice sounded hoarse.

Drake ran a thumb over her knuckles, giving her an involuntary shiver.

"But you will be back, won't you Katherine?" His eyes were boyish and hopeful. She withdrew her hand.

"It's just less than twelve light years to Djatt. That's a roundtrip of twenty-four years."

"I'll wait for you."

She shook her head. For her, the trip would take a few weeks, maybe a month. By the time she got back, he'd be in his fifties, almost twice his current age.

"I can't ask you to do that."

Firmly, she turned to the Acolyte.

"So, Mister Hind, do you have everything you need?"

Hind bowed from the waist, hands wrapped in the voluminous folds of his robe.

"Yes, thank you, Captain. You have been more than hospitable." He pulled back his hood. The corridor lights picked out the grey hairs at his temples. "And I have something for you."

He unfolded his hands to reveal an irregularly-shaped pendant, which dangled from his fingers on a thin strap of leather.

"This is for you." He pressed it into her hand and she looked down at it. It was a smooth, flat pebble with a rune cut into its surface: one long vertical line crossed by two short horizontal slashes.

"What is it?"

Hind reached out and covered her hand with his.

"If you insist on going to Djatt, it will protect you," he said.

When they finally docked, Kat kept the farewells to a minimum: a nod to Hind, and a tight, regretful smile for Drake. Then she pressed the wall control and turned away as the door swung shut with a solid clunk.

She stamped back through the ship to the bridge and strapped herself into her seat. She linked her implant into the ship's sensor array, felt the power building.

"Prepare for emergency departure."

> You got it.

She checked the airlock, found it clear.

"Passengers gone?"

> We're good to go.

She opened her hand and looked down at the pendant she'd been given. First Victor, then her father, now Drake.

Fuck it, she thought. Nothing lasts.

She slipped the leather cord over her neck, letting the pendant fall against her chest as she cast her eyes across the displays. A few final checks, then: "Release."

She closed her eyes and felt the ship shudder as the docking clamps disengaged.

> Released.

The Ameline tumbled out of the Ark, between the kilometre-thick diamond walls of the bay, into naked space. Through her interface with the ship, Kat felt the chill of the vacuum against the hull, the pinprick lights of distant stars like mosquito feet on her skin. She smiled, feeling the building thrust like an eagerness fluttering in her stomach.

> Fifteen minutes to designated jump zone.