As if in confirmation of that, for a second the evening grew brighter than day, then the whole plain erupted with fire and gouting explosions. With after images chasing across her retinas, Lellan saw Cormac conversing with the lizard creature in the car. The creature then turned to others of its kind gathered around the vehicle, and after a moment they melted away into the surrounding vegetation.

Then all was chaos as they fled the hellfire the Occam Razor laid down upon the land.

"Is this it?" asked the woman he guessed to be Lellan, removing her mask as they piled into the workers' barracks. "Is this the start of it?"

Tiredly removing his own mask, Cormac considered telling her that the start of it had been when Skellor arrived in the system, but what gain would there be in that information?

"I'd say Skellor has just realized what's been attacking the Theocracy army out there," he said.

"And what's that?" Lellan studied Scar with suspicion.

"Dracomen," said Cormac, also glancing at the dracoman. "Dragon's children, if you like." At this he saw her loosen her grip on the pulse-rifle she pretended to hold so casually. Because Dragon had destroyed the laser arrays, Cormac felt she must have some trust in that creature's intentions. He did not have time to disillusion her.

"This Skellor is attacking them? Why them specifically… and why now?"

Cormac thought he knew the answer to that, though he did not like it. "Because Dragon was one of those he came here to silence, and I think because I just got clear of the area, and because he likes destroying things."

"He doesn't want to kill you too, then?" Carl interjected, squatting next to an electric heater.

Cormac glanced at him. "In the same way that the Theocracy would rather capture your leader alive than kill her." He gestured at Lellan, who winced when she realized what he meant. Cormac turned to Scar. "What's happening out there now?"

The dracoman held up a claw and slowly closed it in a squeezing motion. "Many die, but we disperse and we hide."

Cormac nodded to himself — just at the last he'd spotted some burrowing into the ground. Skellor might be blitzing the area with laser strikes, but he would need to incinerate every square metre, to some depth, in order to kill every dracoman. He tried not to become too attracted to the idea of Skellor committing such genocide, and thereby obviating a future headache for the Polity. So far the dracomen had been most helpful, and had not committed any significant crime.

"They all listen to you," he said to Scar. "You are somehow linked to them." To one side, he was aware of Mika becoming more alert. "Is that why Dragon named you Cadmus?"

"They are my people," said Scar, with almost a touch of pride in his voice.

Cormac nodded. "Then you must stay here with them." He turned to Mika. "You'll continue watching them, and report?"

Mika nodded eagerly and turned to Gant. Silently he unhooked from his shoulder the pack which now contained the bulk of her instruments, and handed it across to Scar. Without any acknowledgement, the dracoman accepted the pack, its attention still firmly fixed on Cormac.

"You will let us live?" Scar repeated.

Cormac replied, "I'll try to save those of you that manage to survive, for now. Later, we can only hope — as the decision will rest in Polity hands… but I'll do all I can."

As he headed for the airtight door, Scar turned towards Mika. "She not survive with us," he said dismissively.

Mika smiled, then began unstrapping her oxygen pack, collar mask and piping. She handed these items to the soldier Uris, before following the dracoman towards the door.

"Oh, I'll survive," she said.

"What the hell?" said Lellan, stepping forward to prevent what she could only perceive as suicide.

Cormac caught her arm. "She doesn't need the oxygen we need out there." He gestured to the pack Uris held. "That thing's been empty since this morning."

"But how the hell does she…" Lellan fell silent as both the dracoman and Mika exited into the night.

"We, however" — he gestured to himself and Thorn — "do need oxygen. We'll need enough to get us to your brother's ship. We'll also need transport to get us there quickly."

"What — so you can escape, Polity agent?" spoke up a man who was obviously a prisoner — his wrists were bound, and he wore Theocracy uniform. There was also a dressing behind his ear where his aug should have been.

"No," said Cormac, aware that everyone nearby was much interested in his answer. "But so I can deal with our friend up there."

The prisoner snorted.

Lellan asked, "And how do you propose to do that?"

"Too many ears and eyes here," said Cormac, taking in the soldiers, ex-pond workers, and prisoners all jammed into this one airtight building. "You'll just have to trust me on that."

"I should trust you," Lellan repeated leadenly.

Cormac replied, "I am Polity, and in the end that has always been your only choice. Tell me, what other options have you ever had, and what options do you have now?"

Lellan fell silent for a moment, then said, "There's an oxygen refill tank in the building next door, and we have two working aerofans — enough to carry six people. We also have those two war drones that shepherded you in. When do you want to move?"

Cormac thought about that: once upon a time he'd enjoyed an utterly human pastime called 'sleep', but to indulge in that now was madness as Skellor could decide at any moment that he had been playing mortal games for long enough, and that it was time to totally flash burn the planet. Without thinking about it, he took out the reel of stimulant patches Mika had given him, tore one off and, reaching inside his shirt, stuck it to his torso.

"Right now," he said.

There was almost a feeling of disappointment in having located Ian Cormac so easily, but then locating was one thing and apprehending another — as Skellor had discovered the last time he'd nearly had the man in his grasp. With a thought he shut down the lasers that had been searing the plain and focused all his instruments upon the small compound itself. The destruction had raised clouds of smoke and steam that did nothing to improve his view, and anyway the dracomen had successfully dispersed, disappearing like fog in a hurricane. But they would go with the rest of the planet, once he had Cormac up here in his bridge pod to watch the show.

Alerted by the movement of people coming out of the barracks buildings, Skellor closed in the focus of a scope so he could see each individual clearly. It annoyed him that he did not have any weapon accurate enough to target any individual from up here. Most of the Occam's armament was apocalyptic — the smallest smart missiles aboard, with the appropriate range, delivered enough of a punch to take out a tank. With the right weapon he could have stripped Cormac of all his companions, before taking him; as it was, Skellor's remaining creatures on the surface would need to prove adequate to the task.

About to send his calloraptors down from the mountains, Skellor observed Cormac and some others taking off on a couple of aerofans, warded on either side by the two war drones, and heading in that same direction. All so easy, Skellor felt, and in a flush of boredom felt the urge to just wipe it all away — burn it all and move on. But then, deep in those alien structures of himself, he heard an echo of Aphran's laughter, and his vision settled clearly for a moment on Cormac turning to look up towards him. And Skellor decided to stay his hand.

The firing from orbit had been ceased for some minutes now, but Stanton was not going to head back to Jarvellis until he had drunk at least one celebratory cup of coffee laced with brandy.