“And because of that we can reach the Void. Yes. That just leaves me and the Skylord now.”

“I will be honored to fly with you in the flagship to offer what support I can.”

“Which one …” Her hand waved idly at the row of ships.

“That one. The Lady’s Light.”

Araminta had to smile at that. “Of course. But shouldn’t that be Lady’s Light Two?”

“If you wish it to be so, Dreamer.”

“No. The original has been unmade, and it was a redoubtable ship. Let us hope our own voyage is as successful.”

Ethan’s smile was tight. He clearly still couldn’t work out what Araminta’s game was, which was exactly how she wanted it.

The capsule lifted through a thick sea mist that was rolling in fast from the shore. As soon as they were above it, Araminta saw the change that had spread across the fields and forests that stretched away from the city’s perimeter. The lush green squares of grassland and crop fields had become a sickly yellow. Long lines of wildfire burned furiously through the forests.

“What happened?” she asked in confusion.

“Radiation downspill,” Ethan explained. “The orbital fight was directly above us. Those who understand such things explained to me last time that starship weapons today are extraordinarily powerful.”

“Last time?”

“Two ships fought above Ellezelin shortly before you came forward. We never did find out why.”

“Great”-she nearly said “Ozzie”-“Lady. What about people caught outside the city force field?” The mist as well, she realized, was a part of it: surface water flash-boiled by the energy deluge.

“Not good. A majority of Living Dream followers don’t have biononics or memorycell inserts.”

“Because the Waterwalker didn’t.” It almost came out with contempt.

“Quite. But the clinics will be able to re-life those that did.”

“May the Lady watch over the souls of those that didn’t,” she said, appalled by how pious she sounded.

“We’re a long way from the Lady,” Ethan said.

“Not for much longer.”

“Araminta is disgusted with them,” Neskia declared as the gifted vision swirled around her, partially blocking her view of the ship’s cabin. “It didn’t leak into the gaiafield, but I could tell how horrified she was when Ethan told her the moronic faithful didn’t even have memorycells because of their belief.”

“That’s reasonable enough,” Ilanthe said. “I’m equally disgusted. They chose to remain animal when they could elevate themselves. They certainly don’t deserve pity.”

Neskia’s head swept from side to side as her long neck undulated sinuously. “If she’s truly taken up the cause of Living Dream and become their Dreamer as she claims, then she would exhibit sympathy. This is simply evidence she is attempting some kind of subterfuge.”

“I fail to see what she can do. She is committed now, as few have ever been. She has claimed her position as the head of Living Dream on the promise of delivering Pilgrimage. To go back on her word now would bring dire personal consequences. At the least, Ethan would break into her mind and compel her to communicate with the Skylord. In that he would have the tacit support of most followers. Either way I gain entry to the Void.”

Exovision images showed Neskia the inversion core resting cleanly in the ship’s one and only cargo hold. There was no gaiafield connection, so she couldn’t determine the timbre of Ilanthe’s thoughts, if that was what they could still be called. “Her conversion was too swift, too complete. I do not believe in her.”

“Nor do I,” Ilanthe agreed. “But in gaining political power, choice has been taken from her. You heard her. She trusts the Void will defeat me.”

“And how did she find out about you? She was all alone and running from everyone.”

“I suspect the Silfen.”

“Or she has allies among the remnants of the factions. Gore is still at large, the Third Dreamer. That could indicate a connection.”

“Gore told Justine to travel to Makkathran. Whatever he’s planning, it involves a connection between him and his daughter, not Araminta. None of us knew her identity until a few days ago; she was never part of any of Gore’s schemes.”

“He’s going to go postphysical, isn’t he? That’s what he’s doing on the Anomine homeworld. It has to be; the Anomine elevation mechanism must still be there. Such an advance will grant him the power to ruin everything.”

“If that is his goal, he will fail.”

“How do you know?”

“I researched the Anomine elevation mechanism a century ago. It won’t elevate Gore.”

“Why not?” Neskia asked.

“He is not an Anomine.”

Neskia’s long throat trilled with delight. “I had no idea.”

“The process I am committing to is not one I undertook lightly. Every option was reviewed.”

“Of course, my apologies. But you really should get Marius to eliminate him.”

“Marius may or may not succeed in such an endeavor. Gore’s ship is undoubtedly the equal to the one Marius is flying, and the borderguards will intervene.”

“You can’t risk him interfering with Fusion,” Neskia insisted.

“You say that because you do not understand what I will initiate when we enter the Void. Gore and all the others are a complete irrelevance. Araminta is all that matters now.”

“We will initiate Fusion. I understand and approve.”

“No. Fusion was a misdirection The inversion core is destined to seed a far greater revolution.”

Neskia became still, perturbed by this change of direction. Everything she had become was dedicated to the Accelerator goal of Fusion. “What?” she asked, mildly surprised that she was questioning Ilanthe’s purpose. But still …

“The Void is rightly feared because it requires energy from an external source in order to function. It is the epitome of entropy, the final enemy of all things. But the Void is a beautiful concept; mind over matter is the ultimate evolutionary trait. I propose to achieve the full function of the Void without the failing of its energy demands. That will be the Accelerator gift to existence itself.”

“In what way?”

“I was inspired by Ozzie. His mindspace works by altering the fundamental nature of spacetime to accommodate the telepathic function. I don’t know how he worked out the specific alteration to make such a thing viable, but its implementation was a phenomenal achievement, sadly underappreciated thanks to his sulky withdrawal from the Commonwealth. But to change the very nature of spacetime across hundreds of light-years is remarkable. It opened vistas of possibilities I had never conceived of before. I realized I should be aiming so much higher than simply wedding the Accelerator Faction to the Void. The potential of the Void is far greater. That it is locked away behind the boundary, dependent on a dwindling source of power, is a disaster for the evolution of sentience everywhere. It needs to be liberated for the boundary to be thrown down.”

“You mean you want to bring all sentient species into the Void?”

“Quite the opposite. As Ozzie’s mindspace is only a localized alteration powered, presumably, by the Spike’s anchor mechanism, so the Void can only function as long as it has mass to feed on, and that is finite. What the inversion core will do is instigate a permanent change. It will grasp the fundamental nature of the Void and impress spacetime to that pattern, forcing reality itself to transform. The Void’s final magnificent reset of everything will begin. Change will shine out from the center of this galaxy-in time, a very short time, illuminating the entire universe. Entropy will no longer exist because its principles will simply not be a part of the new cosmos. With the laws of spacetime itself rewritten, the true controller of reality will become the sentient mind, allowing evolution to reach a height impossible even for the postphysicals which this limited, flawed universe can gestate.”