“No. I’m expecting an associate to arrive.”

“An associate? In the Void?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“Justine will let us know.”

The Raiel warship was big. Aaron studied the return that was coming from the hysradar. Most of the image was fuzzed, denying him any details. Some small part of his mind wasn’t sure he wanted details. Which is hardly strong of me, he thought with a cool amusement. That part of the Knights Guardian has obviously been lost. Again, that wasn’t something that disturbed him. Even the name Lennox meant nothing, which he knew on an instinctive level was a good thing: He wanted to be free of what was. She dwelled there in the past, slithering though the banished memories, taunting, bleeding poison, leaving only shadow in her wake. It was the only place she could hurt him now.

He recalled Cheriton’s last terrified thoughts. The pleading.

Not relevant. A definitive conclusion that gave him a great deal of confidence in himself. I’m still here, still me.

The warrior Raiel ship was matching course with Mellanie’s Redemption now. Ten light-years ahead was the fringe of the Wall stars, the closely packed multitude of globular clusters throwing out a screen of blazing light that blocked any glimpse of the Gulf beyond and the true dark core of the galaxy.

“What now?” Troblum asked.

His remaining passengers appeared uncertain. Oscar and his Knights Guardian team had gone into suspension, though Corrie-Lyn refused to leave Inigo, and as Aaron suspected, the Raiel might need proof from the original Dreamer. That left five of them still awake and moving around, which, even with the medical capsules all installed in the forward cargo hold, still made for cramped conditions. It didn’t bother Aaron, but he could see how the others were getting agitated. Troblum’s nonexistent personality didn’t help, and as for the amount the big man ate at every meal …

“They haven’t blown us to shit yet,” Aaron said. “That’s got to be good. So we’ll ask them if they’ll let us go through the Wall and into the Void.”

“What are you going to say to them?” Corrie-Lyn asked. The presence of the warrior Raiel was having quite an effect on her. The tentative relief she’d shown after they came through the wormhole had shrunk away as soon as the warship had rendezvoused with them.

Aaron ignored her. “Inigo, Araminta, I think this one’s for you.”

The two Dreamers exchanged a what-the-hell look.

Araminta-two sighed. “I’ll do it.”

Aaron opened his gaiamotes to sense the Second Dreamer reaching for the giant warship. Riding passively in conjunction with Araminta’s thoughts was making him aware of whole aspects of the gaiafield he’d never known before. There was certainly some kind of consciousness registering out there, and it was not a human one. It was too composed for that. He also felt the first direct touch with the Skylord, which sent a chill firing along his nerves. So close now.

“We are the human Dreamers,” Araminta-two told the Raiel.

“Yes. You are two Dreamers. The third of your kind is a long way from here. And part of you is elsewhere.”

“That’s correct,” Araminta said, mildly surprised by the summary. “We seek to travel into the Void. We believe we may be able to prevent the final devourment phase.”

“We know this. Qatux has spoken with us. You may pass through.”

“I thank you.”

“You understand that the ships which you also lead will be intercepted.”

“Yes. I understand this.”

“If we succeed, then millions of your kind will be destroyed. Why do you not cease to appease them?”

“It is not that simple. However, I believe in what we are doing. I believe this will resolve the threat which the Void holds over this galaxy without any loss of life.”

“As you wish.”

“I would ask one other thing. There is an entity called Ilanthe traveling with the Pilgrimage fleet whose nature is uncertain. If there is any way it can be prevented from reaching the Void, I would urge you to implement it.”

“We are aware of Ilanthe. We remain vigilant for it.”

“Thank you.”

The warrior Raiel ship slid away.

“It’s fast,” Troblum said admiringly. “Faster than we are. I wonder what kind of drive theory they have.”

Inigo put his hand on the big man’s shoulder. “When this is over, I’m sure they’ll be delighted to give you a full tour.”

Troblum’s face produced a grimaced smile. He clearly wanted to wrench himself away from the hand.

An awkward Inigo quickly snatched it back. His thoughts were apologetic even though he said nothing.

Corrie-Lyn gave Aaron a shrewd look. “So now do you know what happens in the Void?”

He grinned back as annoyingly as he could. “We’re not there yet.”

“We will be soon,” Araminta-two said. “And the Skylord knows that.”

Oscar and the Knights Guardian were brought out of suspension for the passage itself. The cabin once again was crammed with too many people, but this time it wasn’t so bad. This time everyone was jokey and excited, eager to see what lay outside the fuselage, eager to be inside the obdurate, mysterious boundary.

The Mellanie’s Redemption was slowing as it approached the black wall. It dropped out of hyperspace fifteen light-years away, the same distance the Silverbird had been when the distended cone opened for it.

Radiation alerts sprang up in everyone’s exovision. Far behind them the loop burned a dangerous burgundy as high-energy photons smashed relentlessly through the clouds of dark mass swirling through the plane of the Gulf. All around the starship streaks of irradiated matter swarmed in toward the boundary like a particulate ocean with a solitary eternal tide.

Araminta-two actually looked nervous even though he was in constant contact with the Skylord. Still entwined with the Second Dreamer’s thoughts, Aaron could sense the great creature’s interest and expectation growing.

“Remember to ask it to pull us through somewhere close to Querencia,” Tomansio said. “We don’t want a forty-year voyage like Justine.” He didn’t actually give the cabin a pointed look, but everyone knew his opinion of the starship’s reliability. Perhaps it was the proximity of the Void, but they were now sharing quite intimately.

Araminta-two gave him a tight nod, then spoke to the Skylord. “We are here. Please call to the nucleus; please urge it to bring us into your universe so we may achieve fulfillment.”

“I have waited so long for this moment,” the Skylord said.

“When we come, we need to be near the solid world where humans lived.”

“There were several such worlds,” the Skylord replied.

Inigo gave Araminta-two a shocked look as her concentration faltered briefly.

“Shit,” Tomansio muttered.

“I thought there was only one,” Oscar said out loud.

“There’s more than one?” an incredulous Corrie-Lyn said. “How many were there?”

“It took Justine to Querencia,” Aaron said urgently. “Be specific.”

“What did she ask-” Araminta-two shook his head irritably and concentrated again. “The world we seek is the one where a member of our species is already waiting for us. She arrived recently. It has a city there, a city that did not arise within the Void.”

“I know the world you seek,” the Skylord replied.

“I hope it does,” Troblum said. “Because it’s starting.”

“Will you be there?” Araminta-two asked. “I need you there to guide me. Without your help I will never reach fulfillment.”

“I come,” the Skylord promised.

Hysradar showed them the surface of the boundary expanding at hyperluminal speed, a great protrusion heading up directly for the starship. Just like the planetary FTL wormhole but on an unimaginably vast scale. They watched in silence as the smooth crown opened. Once again the glorious undulating nebula light shone out into the wretched desolation of the Gulf, casting a single beam of elegant luminosity across the Mellanie’s Redemption.