The Quiet Barrier was coming up. It showed as a mirrorfield directly in front of them, about a light-day in diameter. It had suddenly appeared on the screen when they were an hour out from the barrier. Wubslin had worried it was giving their position away, but Horza knew that the mirrorfield existed only in the CAT's sensors. There was nothing there for anybody else to see.

Five minutes out, every screen went black. Horza had warned the rest about it, but even he felt anxious and blind when it happened.

"You're sure this is meant to happen?" Aviger said.

"I'd be worried if it didn't," Horza told him. The old man moved somewhere behind him.

"I think this is incredible," Dorolow said. "This creature is virtually a god. I'm sure it can sense our moods and thoughts. I can feel it already."

"Actually, it's just a collection of self-referencing-"

"Balveda," Horza said, looking round at the Culture woman. She stopped talking and clapped a hand over her mouth, flashing her eyes. He turned back to the blank screen.

"When's this thing-" Yalson began.

APPROACHING CRAFT, the screen said, in a variety of languages.

"Here we go," Neisin said. He was shushed by Dorolow.

"I respond," Horza said, in Marain, into the tight-beam communicator. The other languages disappeared from the screen.

YOU ARE APPROACHING THE PLANET CALLED SCHAR'S WORLD, DRA'AZON PLANET OF THE DEAD. PROGRESS BEYOND THIS POINT IS RESTRICTED.

"I know. My name is Bora Horza Gobuchul. I wish to return to Schar's World for a short while. I ask this with all respect."

"Smooth talker," Balveda said. Horza glared briefly at her. The communicator would only transmit what he said, but he didn't want the woman to forget she was a prisoner.

YOU HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE.

Horza couldn't tell if this was a question or not. "I have been to. Schar's World before," he confirmed. "I was one of the Changer sentinels." There seemed little point in telling the creature when; the Dra'Azon called every time «now» even though their language used tenses. The screen went blank, then repeated:

YOU HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE.

Horza frowned and wondered what to say. Balveda muttered, "Obviously hopelessly senile."

"I have been here before," Horza said. Did the Dra'Azon mean that because he had already been there he could not return?

"I can feel it, I can feel its presence," Dorolow whispered.

THERE ARE OTHER HUMANS WITH YOU.

"Thanks a lot," said the drone, Unaha-Closp, from somewhere near the ceiling.

"You see?" Dorolow said, her voice almost whimpering. Horza heard Balveda snort. Dorolow staggered slightly; Aviger and Neisin had to hold onto her to stop her from falling.

"I have not been able to set them down elsewhere," Horza said. "I ask your indulgence. If need be, they will stay on board this vessel."

THEY ARE NOT SENTINELS. THEY ARE OTHER HUMANOID SPECIES.

"I alone need alight on Schar's World."

ENTRY IS RESTRICTED.

Horza sighed. "I alone request permission to land."

WHY HAVE YOU COME HERE?

Horza hesitated. He heard Balveda snort quietly. He said, "I seek one who is here."

WHAT DO THE OTHERS SEEK?

"They seek nothing. They are with me."

THEY ARE HERE.

"They…" Horza licked his lips. All his rehearsing, all his thoughts about what to say at this moment, seemed to be useless. "They are not all here by choice. But I had no alternative. I had to bring them. If you wish, they will stay on board this craft in orbit around Schar's World, or further away inside the Quiet Barrier. I have a suit, I can-"

THEY ARE HERE AGAINST THEIR WILL.

Horza hadn't known Dra'Azon to interrupt before. He couldn't imagine it was a good sign. "The… circumstances are… complicated. Certain species in the galaxy are at war. Choices become limited. One does things one would not normally do."

THERE IS DEATH HERE.

Horza looked at the words written on the screen. He felt transfixed by them. There was silence on the bridge for a moment. Then he heard a couple of people moving awkwardly.

"What does that mean?" the drone Unaha-Closp said.

"There… there is?" Horza said. The words stayed on the screen, written in Marain. Wubslin tapped at a few buttons on his side of the console, buttons which would normally control the display on the screens in front of him, all of which now repeated the words on the main screen. The engineer was sitting in his seat, looking cramped and tense. Horza cleared his throat, then said, "There was a battle, a conflict near by. Just before we got here. It might still be going on. There may be death."

THERE IS DEATH HERE.

"Oh…" Dorolow said, and slumped into Neisin and Aviger's arms.

"We'd better get her to the mess," Aviger said, looking at Neisin. "Let her lie down."

"Oh, all right," Neisin said, glancing quickly at the woman's face. Dorolow appeared to be unconscious.

"I may be able to…" Horza began, then gave a deep breath. "If there is death here I may be able to stop it. I may be able to prevent more death."

BORA HORZA GOBUCHUL.

"Yes?" Horza said, gulping. Aviger and Neisin manhandled Dorolow's limp body out through the doorway into the corridor leading into the mess. The screen changed:

YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE REFUGEE MACHINE.

"Ho-ho," said Balveda, turning away with a smile on her face and putting one hand to her mouth.

"Shit!" said Yalson.

"Looks like our god isn't so stupid," Unaha-Closp observed.

"Yes," Horza said sharply. There seemed little point in trying to pretend now. "Yes, I am. But I think-"

YOU MAY ENTER.

"What?" the drone said.

"Well, ya-hoo!" Yalson said, crossing her arms and leaning back against the bulkhead. Neisin came back through the door. He stopped when he saw the screen.

"That was quick," he said to Yalson. "What did he say?" Yalson just shook her head. Horza felt a wave of relief sweep through him. He looked at each word on the screen in turn, as though frightened that the short message could somehow conceal a hidden negation. He smiled and said:

"Thank you. Shall I go down alone to the planet?"

YOU MAY ENTER.

THERE IS DEATH HERE.

BE WARNED.

"What death?" Horza said. The relief waned; the Dra'Azon's words about death chilled him. "Where is there death? Whose?"

The screen changed again, the first two lines disappearing. Now it simply said:

BE WARNED.

"I do not," Unaha-Closp said slowly, "like the sound of that at all." Then the screens were clear. Wubslin sighed and relaxed. The sun of the Schar's World system shone brightly ahead of them, less than a standard light-year away. Horza checked the figures on the navigation computer as its screen Bickered back to normality along with the rest, displaying numbers and graphs and holographics. Then the Changer sat back in his seat. "We're through all right," he said. "We're through the Quiet Barrier."

"So nothing can touch us now, huh?" Neisin said.

Horza gazed at the screen, the single yellow dwarf star showing as a bright unwavering spot of light in the centre, planets still invisible. He nodded. "Nothing. Nothing outside, anyway."

"Great. Think I'll have a drink to celebrate." Neisin nodded at Yalson, then swung his thin body out through the doorway.

"Do you think it meant only you can go down, or all of us?" Yalson asked. Still staring at the screen, Horza shook his head.

"I don't know. We'll go into orbit, then broadcast to the Changer base shortly before we try taking the CAT in. If Mr Adequate doesn't like it, he'll let us know."

"You've decided it's male, then," said Balveda, just as Yalson said:

"Why not contact them now?"

"I didn't like that bit about there being death here." Horza turned towards Yalson. Balveda was at her side; the drone had floated down a little to eye level. Horza looked at Yalson. "Just as a precaution. I don't want to give anything away too soon." He turned his gaze to the Culture woman. "Last I heard, the regular transmission was due from the base on Schar's World a few days ago. I don't suppose you heard whether it had been received?" Horza grinned at Balveda in a way that was meant to show he didn't expect an answer, or at least not a truthful one. The tall Culture agent looked at the floor, seemed to shrug, then met Horza's eyes.