“They will find enlightenment in the end,” Myraian said. “You are worthy of that. Your galactic dream will lead all of us out of the darkness.”

“Thanks, babe,” he said. “The point of it was to have something which allows people to share their thoughts in a more open way. Confluence nests contaminate the purity of thoughts; they allow distortions, partial thoughts with the emphasis where the originator desires, perverting the whole truth.”

“Do we have to do this now?” Corrie-Lyn asked with deceptive lightness.

“Just telling you the why of it so you’ll understand. That’s the reason I set up mindspace. But both notions have the same problem: reach. Bluntly, they need power to stretch that far.”

“What powers the mindspace?” Inigo asked.

Ozzie winced. “Ah, well, see, I kinda adjusted the Spike’s anchor mechanism to propagate the change to spacetime which makes mindspace work. There’s a device, sort of a parasite, really. But its emissions aren’t directional; you can’t squirt it around like a laser. The whole concept of mindspace was to embrace all sentient entities in the galaxy.”

“But it doesn’t,” Aaron said curtly. “Aliens have trouble utilizing it.”

“Yeah, well, this is the marque one, dude. I just need to do some fine-tuning is all. The theory works.”

“He’s had decades,” the voice from the house’s smartcores said. “All he’s done around here since we built the anchor modifier is bum around finding his inner geek. Progress zero.”

“Hey, screw you,” Ozzie snarled. “Experimenting on alien brains might be your bang, but it ain’t mine, not anymore.”

“You don’t have to experiment on anything. You were just frightened, that’s all. Frightened different minds and exotic thoughts would find a way of corrupting mindspace the way the gaiafield went.”

“I’m observing the psychosocial implications of mindspace’s impact on alien cultures, and you goddamn well know that. A genuine galactic dream isn’t something you rush into. I made that mistake before.”

“And the kind of freaks who come to the Spike for refuge are such good representatives of their societies.”

“Damn, I used to be a bigot.”

“You used to be honest with yourself. You know goddamn well you’re struggling with the right of imposing it on species who have no understanding of what they are relative to the universe. It is cultural imperialism in its worst possible form. Our way of thinking is better than yours, so come join us.”

“Universal understanding might have prevented the Pilgrimage.”

“Is there any way you can increase the power from the anchor?” Inigo asked. “Maybe just on a temporary basis?”

“No way, man. And I don’t need my brain-in-a-jar thoughts to confirm that. We’re at the limit of the anchor’s capacity now. Hell, mindspace reached over two hundred and fifty light-years; that’s pretty goddamn phenomenal. In any case, there’s no knowing if the Heart would mesh with mindspace.” He took a drink of the coffee before it cooled down any further. “So that leaves us with you.”

“Me?” Inigo queried.

“You dreamed the Void from thirty thousand light-years away. No booster circuitry involved. You have an inbuilt connection. How did you do that?”

“I don’t know. I never did understand. The best anyone came up with was that Edeard and I were related somehow. Could be, but we’ll never know. I connected to a human. There aren’t any left in the Void now. The Skylord was quite clear about that when Justine asked.”

“You mean a Skylord like the one Araminta is talking to? She can do it. Have you even tried?”

“Whatever curse she has, it’s different from mine.”

“Have you tried?” Ozzie asked more forcefully.

“No.”

“No, of course not.” He turned to Aaron. “And you, you’re desperate for this link. Did you ever consider hunting Gore down? The Third Dreamer, Lord help us. He’s got a working connection to Justine, who is right where you need her.”

“That’s outside … I don’t have, that is, I’m not aware of contingencies to contact Gore.”

“Because it’s a new development,” Corrie-Lyn said scathingly. “You can’t think for yourself. And the Lady knows, nobody else is allowed a say in your universe.”

“So big thanks there for all the drama yesterday,” Ozzie said. “But actually, you already have two proven methods of getting your voice heard inside the Void.”

“Can you reach a Skylord?” Aaron asked Inigo.

“Dreaming is not a function I can simply activate by touching its ‘go’ icon. I have to admit, Araminta seems to have a lot more control over the ability than I ever had.”

“A Skylord would never go to the Heart, not even for the Dreamer,” Corrie-Lyn said. “This we know above all else. They only take those who are fulfilled.”

“I doubt it would even understand the concept of talking to the Heart for us,” Inigo said.

“So your safest bet is to scram back to the Commonwealth and ask Gore to help,” Ozzie observed. “He was acting like he knew what he was doing.”

“This mission is based on getting Inigo physically into the Void,” Aaron said. “In a last-ditch emergency, mental contact is permissible providing it allows the next stage to progress. I will not deviate from that.”

“What next stage?” Ozzie asked in fascination.

Aaron thought for a moment, his face drawn up to reflect inner discomfort of some nature. “When we make contact, I will know what to do.”

“Dude, if I’m going to help, I need to know more. Look, I’ve got a really advanced medical module down in the basement. What say we drop you in and allow some neural unblocking?”

“No.”

Ozzie grunted disapproval. He wasn’t surprised, but Aaron’s crazy mental programming was starting to bug him.

“What part of the Void are you supposed to take me to?” Inigo asked.

“Makkathran,” Aaron replied without hesitation.

“Interesting. Not a Starflyer. Does that destination still apply now we know Querencia is no longer inhabited by humans?”

“I think so, yes.”

“I never bothered with your dreams,” Ozzie said. “What’s in Makkathran that can put us in touch with the Heart?”

“Nothing,” a puzzled Inigo admitted.

“If we don’t have an ultradrive ship available and mindspace cannot reach the Void from here, is it possible to move the Spike until we’re within range?” Aaron asked.

Myraian let out a wild giggling laugh.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Ozzie barked.

“So the anchor mechanism isn’t an FTL drive?”

“No.”

“It is unlikely, but we don’t know for sure,” the house’s smartcores said.

Aaron gave Ozzie a quizzical glance.

“Oh, yeah,” Ozzie snapped. “We can examine its unmapped functions, work them out, and get it to fly across the galaxy all in a week. Dude, you’ve got to break through that brainlock and start thinking for yourself. The Spike’s anchor mechanism is bigger than this whole chamber, and that’s just the chunk that’s in spacetime.”

“I need to be sure you are considering all options,” Aaron said.

“Grab this straight: I am not going to start messing with the anchor mechanism. No way, no how.”

“If that is the method by which we can connect with the Heart, then that is what will have to be done.”

“There’s a universe of choice out there, dude. Go exploring one day.”

“So will you help us find a way of connecting to the Heart?” Inigo asked.

Ozzie studied the ex-messiah for a long moment, trying to work him out and failing miserably. Eventually he gave up. “Okay, I just don’t get it. I’ve had my share of doubts, and I’ve screwed up plenty of times in my life, so I can be big enough to admit them from time to time. But this? What the fuck happened, man? You had a gospel powerful enough to attract billions to your cause. What could there possibly be to make you turn your back on them? Edeard was a bit of a dick, for sure, but he came good in the end. That’s the moral message all religions pump out; it’s a standard hook. Humans triumph over adversity. Throw in a bit of suffering along the way and people dig that big-time. And your guy won.”