The men broke and headed off into the surrounding trees. Cormac stooped down and picked up the two boxes at his feet. By men the sergeant was already in the carrier. There was a low thrum of AG and a backwash of dust as he took it into the sky. Five sky-bikes followed him up. Cormac gestured to the three with him and walked over to the two remaining sky-bikes.

'There been any movement in the ruins?' he asked

Aiden replied, 'No movement, but the Maker is certainly in one of the underground silos. Viridian reported a change in energy levels last night during the attack, but that was all.'

'OK, we'll land as close as we can get and go in on foot. I want some idea of what we're dealing with. That at least.'

'We're dealing with the thing that killed Gant,' said Thorn.

Cormac studied him speculatively before going on. 'We're still operating on the premise that what Dragon told us is true. I don't like that, but those are my instructions. We'll try the proton guns first. I don't want to be responsible for levelling a heritage site just yet.' He glanced at Cento and Aiden. 'You two can fly them. Thorn and I will go pillion. If there's any kind of attack, take us down into the forest on the other side.'

The two Golem mounted the sky-bikes. Cormac placed the two boxes in a pannier before mounting up behind Cento. As Cento lifted the bike into the sky behind Aiden and Thorn, Cormac wondered at the Golem's lack of comment.

'Do you have a problem with what I'm doing?' he asked.

'I have no problem. The mission is paramount and you cannot wait for an attack that may or may not come.'

'Then it's the broken Golem, isn't it?'

Cento took a moment to reply. When he did reply his voice was flat and characterless.

'If there is a hell for us, then that is where this Mr Crane is.'

Jarvellis woke feeling sick, but not from pain or injury. It struck her as ironic that here she was, a starship captain without a ship, and suffering from space sickness. Her condition, she supposed, aggravated the sickness. But the main reason was that she was too soft these days. It had been, as far as she could recollect, nearly five solstan years since she had experienced weightlessness. What need was there to experience it when every ship and station had gravplates? What need was there to experience its antithesis, when AG could waft a ship into orbit? Even visiting heavy-G worlds was not a problem. She either stayed in the ship or in areas adjusted to Earth gravity. With such thoughts she occupied herself as she fought nausea, and wondered when the Outlink-ers would be back to take her out of this damned frame. It was Tull who returned first. She could see that something more than her dangerous presence was worrying him. He came in and hovered over her, inspecting the sealed wounds. After a moment he went to inspect a readout on the medbot.

'Will you let me out of this?' Jarvellis asked. Tull stared at her long and estimatingly. Til be careful of you,' she added. Tull made no move to release the clamps. Some of them were through to bone, and Jarvellis felt no inclination to fight them.

'I cannot contact the surface,' said Tull. 'Understandable,' said Jarvellis. 'You weren't much further from the EM pulse than me. It'll have knocked out your com.'

Tull nodded thoughtfully. 'I have cameras that track all objects that might represent a danger to this station. I've just looked at the replay.'

'Quite a firework display,' said Jarvellis uneasily. 'Yes, planar explosives unless I miss my bet. By the vector of the explosion, I would say it hit your under- space engine. My concern is why you would have such explosives onboard.'

Jarvellis found she just did not have the energy to lie creatively, so she kept her mouth shut. Tull pushed himself away from the frame and she tried to follow, with her eyes, where he went. He was out of sight only for a few seconds when something touched against the back of her neck. Numbness rolled down her body. Nerve-blocker. Everything bar the autonomics inclusive of breathing and heartbeat was shut down below her neck.

'What are you doing?' she asked.

'We are not uncivilized, Captain Jarvellis, but we are very aware of our fragility, as you know. I can only assume by your silence that you have been involved in something illegal, and that perhaps you would want to avoid talking to the ECS investigators when they eventually come up here.'

'Look,' said Jarvellis, 'just let me go. I won't cause you any problems. I've been through too much already.'

Tull came back into view. Jarvellis heard the clamps snapping off her body. To one side of Tull she saw a line of small ruby peas coiling away. Tull wiped them from the air with an absorbent pad. The cell-welder hummed briefly.

'That's it,' he said. 'I've given you two pints of synthetic blood so you shouldn't experience too much dizziness or nausea. The clamp and probe holes may be a bit sore, but they will quickly heal.'

'Then you can take the blocker off,' Jarvellis said.

'Not until I'm sure that myself and Jeth are utterly safe,' he replied.

'You're going to keep me like this until the investigators get here?'

Tull shook his head. 'I told you we are not uncivilized.'

Jarvellis felt herself drifting from the frame. Tull was propelling her to the door.

'It won't take me long to run a diagnostic and initiate another dish. In fact our transceiver will be back on line within the hour. It may take some time for the investigators to get here. For a ship blown in orbit with planar explosives, I should think we'll get someone from Earth. Nerve-blocking, for any length of time, can become a very unpleasant experience. There is also the chance that it might damage the innocent life you carry.'

He had her to the door now, and then through it. To her right the little robot had appeared and was swinging along with her.

'Are you sure about this?' she heard Jeth saying, but she could not see Tull's wife.

'Oh, I'm sure. Laser burns through her suit, planar explosives… we know what that means,' said Tull.

Jarvellis wondered what he would say if she told him how she had actually received the laser burn. Best not -he might keep her blocked for her own safety, and the safety of that 'innocent life', rather than for that of himself and his wife.

Soon Tull had her in the elevator and had pushed her to what would be the floor in the outer ring. Now she could see that Jeth was holding a bundle of clothing and a bag filled with blocky items. The Outlinker pressed these down beside her.

Tull said, 'When you reach the outer ring, Sam will remove your blocker. After that all the elevators will be shut down. Now, there are service tubes you could find to get back here, but be aware that, should you try that, we will immediately leave the station, so you'll achieve nothing.'

Jeth said, 'Here's food and clothing.' She pointed to these items and turned away guiltily.