Ozzie let out a sigh. “Hey, you heard the man, me-brain-in-a-jar. What have we got out there?”

“The Spike’s AI is currently registering three hundred and eighty-two alien starships docked,” the smartcores replied. “None are known to be faster than a Commonwealth hyperdrive. The fastest local sensors have observed is the Ilodi ships, which can reach twenty-two light-years per hour.”

“No use to us,” Inigo said.

“You two could steal one and get back to the Commonwealth,” Ozzie suggested. “If Inigo publicly reappeared, maybe your boss would get in touch and tell you what the hell to do next.”

“That would be a last resort if even a telepathic link to the Heart failed,” Aaron said. “You said that the High Angel would pick you up if the expansion phase begins.”

Ozzie suddenly wished he hadn’t shot his mouth off earlier. This line of thought could only go one way. And Aaron wasn’t about to drop it, not him, not ever. “It might. Depends on how busy it is.”

“Your precise words were: ‘Qatux owes me. The High Angel will stop by and collect us on its way to Andromeda or wherever the hell it’s going.’ That means you can call the High Angel here.”

“Dude, I could ask. There’s no guarantee …”

“Ask.”

“What’s the point? You want to get inside the Void. Qatux is heading in the opposite direction. A long, long way in the opposite direction.”

“The Raiel are the only known species able to break through the Void boundary. They can get us inside.”

“Can but won’t. Don’t even have to ask.”

“Humor me.”

Ozzie gave Inigo a frozen help-me-out smile. The ex-messiah just shrugged his shoulders and said: “Welcome to my world.”

“It’s not easy to make contact,” Ozzie said. It was lame. This was a losing battle, and he knew it.

“For someone with his own private TD channel to the Commonwealth?” Aaron queried lightly.

“Ain’t going to work,” Ozzie said.

“I’m almighty pleased for you about that. You deserve a moral victory over me around about now. Maybe I’ll shut up and leave you alone afterward.”

Ozzie gave him an evil stare and told his u-shadow to open a link to the High Angel.

“Expand this end of the link to include us, please,” Aaron told him.

Ozzie couldn’t remember being quite this pissed off for some centuries. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help get Inigo inside the Void. But that he might have to actually accompany him was deeply worrying, and Qatux might not agree to lend them the High Angel unless he came along. Ozzie did not want to go into the Void for the simple reason that no one had ever been known to get out.

The link was accepted by High Angel.

“Ozzie,” Qatux said. “It has been many years.”

“Yeah. Listen, we’ll do the old buddy-buddy catch-up crap later; I’ve got a couple of people here on my end of the link who need to get into the Void before the Pilgrimage. Any chance you or your species can make that happen?”

“Ozzie, as always you are never what I expect. This is why I always delight in knowing you. Is Aaron with you?”

“I am here,” Aaron said. “How did you know that?”

“This link stretches over seven thousand light-years; it also passes through many nodes within the unisphere. I do not believe it to be totally secure. Please remember that. However, I am glad you have survived. Our mutual friend Paula Myo has been keeping me informed of your travels.”

“Ah. Right.”

“And the other person with you; this is the man you were searching for when we met?”

“Yes.”

“That is excellent news.”

“I’m glad you think so. I hope you understand that this third person may be able to neutralize this whole situation if you can get them into the Void ahead of the Pilgrimage. Can you or the warrior Raiel do that?”

“No.”

“I am making a sincere offer. What harm will it do getting us through the boundary? Two people, when there are now twenty-four million en route.”

“I regret we are not able to help. It is a physical impossibility. Even our ships do not have the speed to perform such a task. However, I do have an alternative for you to consider.”

“Yes?”

“Someone else is on their way to meet Ozzie. Someone who is possibly more important than the person already with you. They will be with you in three days. I urge you to wait for them.”

“I’m not sure I can do that. I have a mission.”

“That is a great shame.”

“I’ll wait for them,” Ozzie said.

“Thank you, Ozzie. They are accompanied by an old friend of mine, Oscar Monroe. He will act as guarantor for what you will hear.”

“Holy shit. Oscar? Really? Is he out of the slammer already? Damn, I so lose track of time.”

“He is very much out. I hope that together you will be able to find a solution to this terrible situation. Please convince Aaron’s companion to wait.”

“Do my best, dude.”

The link closed. Ozzie gave Inigo a pensive grin. “Someone more important than you, huh? Now who could that be?” He couldn’t figure it out for himself, which was hugely annoying. Qatux wouldn’t lie, so … someone more important than the Dreamer with regard to the Void. There wasn’t even a list.

“We have been compromised,” Aaron said. He stood up and activated a low-level integral force field, creating a tiny purple nimbus around his stolen navy tunic.

Ozzie chuckled. “Something you need to know about Paula Myo. Apart from being able to freeze your balls off at ten paces with a single look, that chick seriously rocks. Wouldn’t be surprised if she’s your secretive boss. She’s done groovier things in her time.”

“I cannot allow my mission to be terminated.”

“Relax. If Paula wanted you stopped, you wouldn’t be here. Qatux was telling me to chill. The old big-Q, he’s not stupid. We need to wait for Oscar. Man, fancy him still kicking around. Tell you, my confidence just went up like ten notches.”

“Who in Honious is Oscar Monroe?” Inigo asked.

“Oscar the Martyr,” Aaron said quietly. “He sacrificed himself so Wilson Kime could steer the Planet’s Revenge and save the human race from corruption and extinction. If it truly is Oscar coming here …” He hesitated, which was something Ozzie hadn’t seen him do before.

“So I guess we wait, then?” Ozzie said, curious to see what reaction that would trigger. For someone who didn’t have many memories, it was strange in the extreme that Aaron (or his boss) had room to include a fact that obscure. Yet knowing Oscar was on his way actually seemed able to divert his otherwise rigid fixation on the mission.

There was a noticeable pause before Aaron said: “We must continue to consider methods of getting Inigo into the Void. That cannot stop.”

“But we can do that sitting here, right?” Ozzie insisted.

Again Aaron hesitated. “That is permissible.”

“Cool. But you can forget getting inside the Void. If the Raiel can’t get here, pick you up, then overtake the Pilgrimage fleet, no one can.”

“Qatux said the link was suspect.”

“Dude! There’s caution and there’s paranoia. I think we all know which road you walk down.”

“All right.” Aaron turned to Inigo. “Ethan told Araminta that Living Dream hoped the Void would open a gateway within the Commonwealth for the rest of the followers.”

“It was an idea we were kicking around before I left, certainly,” Inigo replied. “I never gave it a lot of credit.”

“If you can contact a Skylord, you must ask it to reach for you.”

“Oh, Lady, come on …”

“Every option must be examined. If physical flight to the boundary is now denied us, then we must try this method or at the very least see if it is possible. You have to dream the Void again. How could it possibly make the situation worse?”

Corrie-Lyn appeared in the kitchen doorway. Ozzie was fairly sure she’d been hovering outside for some time.

“I will be with you if you try that,” she said to Inigo, and walked over to embrace him. “For now and evermore.”