“Of course not,” Samuel said graciously.

Monica gave a disgruntled sigh. She knew Samuel well enough now not to need affinity to hear the thought in his head: strange concept. If one Edenist went inside, then technically all of them did. Her hand fluttered towards him in a modestly embarrassed gesture. He winked back.

The operations centre could have been the office of any medium-sized commercial enterprise. Air-conditioned yet strangely airless, it had the standard desks with (more sophisticated than usual) processor blocks, big wall screens, ceiling-mounted AV pillars, and side offices with heavily tinted glass walls. Eleven ESA staffers were sitting in big leather chairs, monitoring what they could of the planet’s current military and politico-strategic situation. Information was becoming a precious resource as Tonala’s communications net started to suffer glitches; the only certainty gained from the overall picture was how close the orbital situation was getting to all-out confrontation.

Tonala’s state of emergency had been matched by that of the other nations. Then in the last twenty minutes Tonala’s high command had confirmed it had lost the Spirit of Freedom station to unknown foreign elements. In response, five warships had been dispatched to intercept the Urschel, Raimo , and the Pinzola to try to find out what had happened. Every other government was complaining that their deployment at this time constituted a deliberately provocative act.

Adrian led Monica and Samuel through into a conference room on the far side of the operations centre. “My chief analyst gives us two hours tops before the shooting starts for real,” he said glumly as he sat at the head of the table.

“I hate to say this, but that really is secondary to our mission,” Monica said. “We must secure Mzu. She cannot be killed or captured. It would be a disaster for the Confederation.”

“Yeah, I accessed the report,” Adrian said glumly. “The Alchemist by itself is bad enough, but in the hands of the possessed . . .”

“A fact you may not have yet,” Samuel said. “The frigates Urschel, Raimo , and Pinzola are all Organization starships. Capone must know Dr Mzu is here; his representatives will not demonstrate any restraint or subtlety at all. Their actions could well trigger the war.”

“Jeeze, they sent some spaceplanes down after they arrived. Nobody knows where the hell to, the planetary sensor coverage is wiped.”

“What about local air defence coverage for the city?” Monica asked.

“Reasonably intact. Kulu supplied the hardware about eleven years ago; hardly top grade but it’s still functioning. The embassy has an over-the-shoulder feed from the Tonala defence force headquarters.”

“So if the Organization spaceplanes approach Harrisburg you’ll be able to warn us.”

“No problem.”

“Good, that ought to give us a couple of minutes breathing space. Next question, did you find her?”

Adrian pretended offence. “Of course we found her,” he said, grinning. “We’re the ESA, remember?”

“Right; truth is always worse than rumour. Where is she?”

Adrian datavised the officer running the surveillance mission on Mzu. “She booked in at the Mercedes Hotel, or rather Voi did, as soon as they arrived. They made very little effort to cover their tracks; Voi used a credit disk registered under an alias, but it’s still got her biolectric pattern. I mean, how amateur can you get?”

“They’re not even amateurs, they’re just kids,” Samuel said. “They eluded us on their home ground because we were rushed. Out here they’re completely defenceless against any professional agency.”

“Voi did approach a local security firm,” Adrian said. “But she hasn’t followed it up. Her request for bodyguards was cancelled. They seem to have linked up with some locals instead. We’re not sure who they are. There certainly aren’t any Garissa partizan cadres on Nyvan.”

“How many locals?” Monica asked.

“Three or four, we think. As we don’t know who they are, it’s hard to be sure.”

“Any interest from other agencies?”

“There have been three probes launched into the hotel’s computer system. We couldn’t get an origin on any of them. Whoever it was, their blocker programs are first rate.”

“Is Mzu still at the Mercedes?” Monica asked.

“Not at this exact moment; but she is on her way back there from a meeting with the Opia company. Her group is passing themselves off as representatives from the Dorados defence force, which gives them a valid reason to buy armaments. I should be receiving a report on the meeting from our asset in the company any minute.”

“Fine,” Monica said. “We’ll intercept her at the hotel.”

“Very well.” Adrian gave her an edgy glance. “The local police won’t appreciate that.”

“Sad, but irrelevant. Can you load a priority flight clearance authorization into the city’s air defence network?”

“Sure, we supplied it, we have the ultimate authority codes.”

“Fine, stand by to do it for the Edenist flyers. We’ll use them to evac as soon as we’ve acquired her.”

“The Kingdom will probably get expelled from this entire system if you pull a stunt like that,” Adrian said. “If there’s one thing Nyvan’s nations hate more than each other, it’s outsystem foreigners.”

“Mzu wanted somewhere that was dishonest and greedy enough to supply her with weapons on a no-questions-asked basis. If this planet had built themselves a decent civilization in the first place, she wouldn’t even be here. They’ve only themselves to blame. I mean, they’ve had five centuries for God’s sake.”

Samuel groaned chidingly.

Adrian paused, not meeting Monica’s stare. “Um, my second surveillance team leader is reporting in. I’ve had them following that Calvert character, as you asked.”

“Yes?” There was a sense of grudging inevitability in this moment, Monica thought.

“The captain contacted a data security expert as soon as he landed, a Richard Keaton. It would seem Keaton has done a good job for him. In fact, he probably origined one of the probes into the hotel computer. They’re currently in a car which is heading in the general direction of the Mercedes Hotel. He’ll get there before you can.”

“Shit! That bloody Calvert.”

“Do you want him eliminated?”

“No,” Samuel said. He stopped Monica’s outburst with a firm stare. “Any action at the hotel now will draw the police to it before we can get there. Our interception will be difficult enough as it is.”

“All right,” she grumbled.

“My team could intercept Mzu for you,” Adrian said.

Monica was tempted—anything to get this resolved. “How many have you got on her?”

“Three cars, seven personnel.”

“Mzu has at least four people with her,” Samuel said.

“Agreed,” Monica said regretfully. “That’s too many, and God knows what they’re carrying, especially these unknown locals. We have to guarantee first attempt success. Tell your team to continue their observation, Adrian, we’ll join them as soon as we can.”

“Do you think she’ll resist?” Adrian asked.

“I would hope not,” Samuel said. “After all, she is not stupid; she must know Nyvan’s situation is decaying by the minute. That may well make this easier for us. We should start with an open approach to fly her outsystem. Once she realizes she has to leave with us, either willingly or by force, it would be logical for her to capitulate.”

“Easier?” Monica gave him a pitying look. “This mission?”

“Mother Mary, why ?” Voi demanded as soon as the five of them crowded back into the penthouse lift. “You can’t sell out now. Think of what you’ve been through—Mary, what we’ve done for you. You can’t hand it over to Capone!”

Her impassioned outburst stopped dead as Alkad turned to stare at her. “Do not argue with one of my decisions ever again.”