'Sex is common enough between enemies.

'Oh Gore, she pouted. 'We're not enemies. Besides we both got what we wanted out of the meeting.

'Did we?

'We both voted for the same thing. Why? Is dear Justine still sulking?

He started walking along the shoreline again. 'One word of genuine advice: don't ever underestimate my daughter. I still do occasionally. It's a mistake.

'Point taken. Do you think Kazimir will delay because of her?

'Fuck no. He's the most Right Stuff human you'll ever meet. Government gave him a clear order, so he clicks his boot heels, salutes, and presses the button.

'You are so anachronistic. You really should update your references.

'What? Haul myself all the way into the twenty-fifth century?

'Well, one step at a time.

'That's when you were born, wasn't it?

She chuckled. 'They're right. You are pure evil.

'Who's they?

'Just about everybody.

'They're probably right then. So what can I do for you?

'Can we deal?

'On the Pilgrimage? Sure.

'Interesting capitulation. Why do I not believe you?

'It's going to be a cusp event. Every Faction knows it. Hell, even some of the animals outside are waking up to what's going on. The Darwinists are wetting themselves with excitement. And your lot aren't much better, running round, pushing and prodding in places you shouldn't.

'I don't know what you're talking about.

'That arsehole Marius is clocking up a lot of lightyears.

She pretended shock, her hand going to the base of her throat. 'As is your Delivery Man.

'True Conservatives are paranoid little creatures. They have good cause.

'You claim you're not one of them?

'I have an affiliation.

'Funny, according to our files you're the chairman of the board.

'You really should update your references.

She put her hands on her hips. 'Look, do you want to deal or not?

'You're very hot in that pose, you know that?

'Gore!

'All right, what are you offering?

'Some detente. A little less manipulation from both sides.

'Let the animals decide, you mean. I don't think I can buy that coming from you. In any case, we've both spent so long moving our pawns into place that they'll just keep on going without us now. He tilted his head to one side, and smiled. 'Or am I missing something?

'No.

'Really? Perhaps some critical event that you need to work smoothly?

'Moments like that are made up by historians after the event to justify their own dreary existence. There's no one thing which will make or break the Pilgrimage.

'Really? Have you ever tried telling Ozzie or Nigel that the actions of an individual are historically invalid?

'Nobody manipulated them. And this is a distraction. We simply want both sides to cool down.

'So the Accelerator Faction wants to let galactic events be decided by animals. Humm. No wonder you don't like my environment, it doesn't have any flying pigs.

'Is that your answer?

'No. But I am mildly curious. Unless either a Faction or ANA: Governance itself intervenes, the Pilgrimage ships will launch. So what the fuck exactly is the Accelerator line on the galaxy being devoured by the Void, exterminating all life including ourselves?

'It won't happen. This is why I'm here, to tell you we have taken precautions in the event of the worst-case scenario.

Gore stopped and turned to stare at her, genuinely surprised. 'What the fuck are you talking about?

'If the Void's boundary sweeps through this sector of space, Harth and ANA will be perfectly safe.

'You don't know that.

'Oh yes we do.

'I really, really, hope you're not basing your goals on some chunk of weapons technology you've managed to cobble together with a couple of old replicators. The Raiel can't defeat the boundary. Even ANA: Governance can't work out what will happen if and when the Void's boundary washes across itself.

'That level of expansion is extremely unlikely, to the point of sheer impossibility. Firstly, the stars of the Wall have tremendous mass; enough to empower the will of every Living Dream pilgrim for centuries. It is an absolute fallacy that every star in the galaxy will be engulfed by the Void. Raiel propaganda shouted in tedious repetition by the Osceans. The Raiel are an ancient failed race, as changeless as the Void itself, they have no right to dictate to us. Even if the entire galactic core gets devoured it doesn't matter. There's nothing alive in there, the planets are radiation-saturated husks of rock. You even believe it yourself, always accusing us of wanting the devourment. Have I ever said that?

'No. I know exactly what Accelerators want: fusion. Right? You want to merge ANA with the fabric of the Void continuum. You think that's how we'll achieve post-physical status.

'You have accessed Inigo's dreams, we know the Conservatives have analysed them as thoroughly as everyone else. Inside the Void, the mind directly affects the fabric of the universe, we can take charge of our own destiny.

'No, no, no, Gore shouted. 'The Void is not a fucking universe, it is a microverse, a tiny insignificant little speck of nothing. In cosmological terms, it doesn't even register. You can play God in there, for sure, the Waterwalker does it. But you're only God in there, nowhere else. It is an alien version of ANA, that's all. That's not transcendence, it's being so far up your own ass you can't see what's going on outside.

'It is a huge opportunity for growth. The Void has stalled, it has been changeless for millions — billions — of years. We can reinvigorate it. Humans have already begun that process; ordinary pitiful animals that now have mental powers even we can only fantasize about. Imagine what will happen when ANA has full access to such a technology, and begins to manipulate it in new directions.

'Sweet Ozzie, you are pitiful. I'd be contemptuous if I considered you sentient, but you're not even that.

'We knew you would be opposed to the fusion, this is what our offer concerns.

'Go on, Gore said suspiciously.

'We will duplicate ANA. Those who wish to attain fusion with the Void can stay here, those who do not can transfer over and fly free.

'That doesn't solve a fucking thing, girlie. The Void can't be allowed to fuse with a post-physical mind, or even ANA — which, face it, isn't there yet.

Ilanthe's expression hardened. 'Your language betrays you. Can't be allowed? You don't have the right to make that judgement. Evolution will occur, either triggered by the Pilgrimage, or a more direct connection. For all you know the Waterwalker himself may bring about expansion.

'He happened a thousand years ago, ten thousand for all we know.

'Time is irrelevant in there.

'Shit! You're not Accelerators, not any more, you've seen the light and converted to Living Dream.

'We have seen an opportunity to advance ourselves, and taken it. We have never hidden our purpose from anyone.

Accelerators didn't start out lusting after the Void.

'Now you are betraying your age, your own changeless nature.

'I should just get out of the way then, should I? Maybe simply erase myself? Make it all nice and simple for the New Order.

'You are responsible for your own destiny. She shrugged an elegant shoulder. 'Your choice.

'Okay, granted; and I will make it, believe me. But assuming you're right and the Void doesn't expand like a hyperspace tsunami when the Pilgrimage gets inside, how are you going to fuse ANA with it?

'We don't have to. Highers will travel with the Pilgrimage ships. They will study the true nature of the Void fabric and the mechanism which generates it.

'If it can be built once, Gore said quietly. 'It can be built again.

Ilanthe smiled. 'Now you understand. We can build a second Void here in this solar system and bring about the fusion right away. ANA will evolve and transcend.