'Good luck, Paula sent to Justine.

'Thanks.

Paula opened an ultra-secure link to ANA: Governance. 'It appears your ultradrive technology is completely compromised, she reported.

'To be expected, ANA: Governance replied. 'It does not require my full capacity to derive the theory behind it. Most Factions would have the intellectual resources. Once the equations are available, any Higher replicator above level-five could produce the appropriate hardware.

'I still think you should exert a little more authority. After all, the Factions are all part of you.

'Factions are how I remain integral. I am plural.

'The way you say it makes it sound like you have the electronic version of bi-polar disorder.

'More like multi-billion-polar. But that is what I am. All individuals who join me do so by imprinting their personality routines upon me. I am the collective consciousness of all ANA inhabitants, that is the very basis of my authority. Once that essence is bequeathed they are free to become what they want. I do not take their memories, too, that would be an annexation of individuality.

'You have to pass through the eye of the needle to live in the playground of the gods.

'One of Inigo's better quotes, ANA: Governance said with a cadence of amusement. 'Shame about the rest of that sermon.

'You don't help make my job any easier.

'Any and all of my resources are available to you.

'But there's only one of me, and I feel like I'm battling the Hydra out here.

'This lack of self-confidence is unlike you. What is the matter?

'The Pilgrimage, of course. Should it be allowed?

'The humans of Living Dream believe it to be both their right and their destiny. They are billions in number. How can that much belief be wrong?

'Because they might be endangering trillions.

'True. This is not a question which has an answer. Not in the absolute terms you are demanding.

'What if they do trigger the Void's final devourment phase, or at least a bad one?

'Ah, now that is the real question. It's also one which I doubt we can have prior knowledge of. Neither I nor any of the post-physicals I have interacted with are aware of what happens inside the Void.

'Inigo showed you.

'Inigo showed us the fate of humans in the Void. Which incidentally isn't too dissimilar to downloading yourself into me; though the Void has the advantage of quasi-mystical overtones to win over the technophobes among humanity. And you get to remain physical. What he did not show us is the nature of the Void itself.

'So you're prepared to take the risk?

'At this moment I am prepared to let the players strut the stage.

'Yes. That's about as un-definitive as it gets.

'If I were to forbid the Pilgrimage and enforce that decision, it would trigger a split within myself. Pro-Pilgrimage Factions such as the Advancers would likely attempt to create their own version of myself. And kindly remember I am not a virtual environment. I am fully established within the quantum field intersections around Earth.

'You're scared of a rival?

'The human race has never been so unified as it is today. It has taken our entire history to reach this congruity. People, all people, lead a good life filled with as much diversity as they wish to undergo. They migrate inwards until they download into me. Within me they are free to transcend in any way imagination and ability can combine. One day, as a whole, I will become post-physical. Humans who do not wish to travel along that path will begin afresh. That is the vision of evolution which awaits us. A «rival» focal point would distort that, possibly even damage or dilute the moment of singularity.

'There can only be one god, huh?

'There can be many. I simply wish to avoid engendering hostile ones. No one wants to see a war in heaven. Trust me, it would make a Void devourment seem trivial'

'I thought diversity was our virtue.

'It is one of them, and as such flourishes within me.

'But…

'It is also danger is that it can lead to our destruction. Opposing forces have to be balanced. That is my function.

'And this is one instance where you're going to fail if you're not careful.

'Undoubtedly.

'So we have to find other options.

'As people have sought since civilization began on Earth. That, I think, is a greater virtue.

'Okay then. Paula took a moment to marshal her thoughts. 'I'm uncertain who is behind the raid on the clinic. It is puzzling why the Advancers and Conservatives should both have their representatives there after the fact. Do you think a third Faction is involved?

'Very likely. I do not know which one. Many alliances are being formed and broken. However, you may soon be able to establish the identity. Admiral Kazimir is currently receiving a report from the base Admiral at the High Angel. He will probably ask you to tackle it.

'Ah.

'If you need anything.

'I'll let you know.

The link ended. Paula sat back on the deep curving chair which the starship's cabin had moulded for her. Given her own uncertainty about the mission, she was feeling vaguely troubled by the lack of reassurance ANA: Governance could offer. She supposed she should be grateful it was so honest with her.

Kazimir called less than a minute later. 'How did the Anagaska enquiry go? he asked.

'Positive result. It was definitely someone with advanced biononics and possibly an ultradrive ship. The target was Inigo's old memoryceil.

'Interesting. And I've just had a report that the Alini, a private starship, docked at High Angel.

'How is that relevant?

'It docked at the Raiel dome. The Navy sensors detected a drive signature which could indicate an ultradrive.

Paula was suddenly very interested. 'Did it now? There are very few humans the Raiel will allow into their dome. Who does the Alini belong to?

'Unknown. It's registered to a company on Sholapur.

'I'm on my way.

The Delivery Man landed at Daroca's main starport, parking his ultradrive ship, the Jomo, on a pad connected to the third terminal building, which dealt with private yachts. Then he started walking across the field to the nearby hangar zone. Even knowing all about the diversion bug infiltrated into the ground navigation section of the starport's smartcore didn't help him. All the hangars were identical, the rows regimented. It was mildly confusing. Not that he would lose his way, not with all his enrichments and an instinctive sense of direction. But just to be on the safe side… His u-shadow snatched real-time images from a sensor satellite and guided him directly.

Eventually, he was standing at the base of a glossy black wall where the small side door was protected by an excellent security shield. Not even his full field function scan could determine what lay inside. He smiled. This was more like it.

His biononics began to modify their field function, pushing a variety of energy patterns against the security shield, introducing small instabilities which quickly began to amplify. His u-shadow reached through the fluctuating gaps and launched a flurry of smart trojans into the hangar net.

The door irised open.

Ninety-seven seconds. Not bad.

Inside, his field function scanned round looking for possible guard armaments, while his u-shadow rifled through the hangar's electronic systems. Troblum had set up a fairly standard defence network, with concentric shielding around the main section of the hangar. The physicist was clearly more interested in maintaining privacy than physical protection.

His scan didn't reveal any human presence in the hangar. The first office was clearly just a reception area, cover for anyone who did make it past the diversion system. Beyond that was a second office with one of the biggest smartcores the Delivery Man had ever seen. It wasn't connected to the hangar network, or the Unisphere. His u-shadow established a link to its peripheral systems and began to probe the available files.