Beckia gripped Tandra. “No,” she warned as the woman tried to lunge at her children.

“Let go of me,” Tandra shouted.

“If you move again, I will shoot you,” Oscar told her flatly, hating himself for doing it, but he had no choice. Besides, it might just shock her into obedience. She’d never understand that the twins’ only chance of surviving the next five minutes was to let him and his team take charge.

“Big words,” the Cat said.

“I don’t have many options,” Oscar said.

“How’s Paula?”

“I thought you’d seen her.”

“Not quite. Not yet.”

“There’s always a next time, huh?”

“You should know that better even than I.”

“You know, last time I saw you on the plane to Far Away, you weren’t so bad.”

“I assure you I was,” the Cat said.

“Strange, because that was you now. The you that founded the Knights Guardian is in your personal memory’s future.”

“That sounds horribly convoluted and confusing, darling.”

“Thinking about it, you you never actually met me on the plane to Far Away. Your memories come from the day before you were sent to Randtown.”

“And your point is?”

“Interesting that you’ve researched yourself.”

“Know your enemies.”

“Ah, now that actually does make sense. Especially with the number you have by now.”

“Whereas you live in a happy universe.”

Oscar gave her a lopsided grin. “It has you in it.”

“Ouch. That was personal, darling.”

“Of course it was personal. After what happened on the plane between us, how could it be anything else? Oh, wait, you don’t have that memory.”

The Cat actually looked quite startled. “You have to be kidding, darling. You don’t even like girls.”

“No. But as you said, you like me, and racing toward almost certain death triggers some reflexes no matter what. I just had to work with what was available.”

“Now you’re being insulting.”

Oscar kept his face perfectly blank. “No, I’m still being personal. After all, whose kid did you go and have after the Starflyer crash?”

“Kid?” the Cat spluttered. “Me? With you?”

“What is wrong with you people!” Tandra screamed. “Just go, all of you. Go and leave us alone.”

Oscar held a finger up to the distraught woman, then ignored her. “If you didn’t research that bit, ask the Knights Guardian here you created. Was there a gap in your history around then?”

The Cat glanced at Tomansio, who was still holding back Martyn. “Actually, there is a chunk of your time line missing following the crash,” he said slowly. “Nobody knows what you were doing then.”

“Fuck off,” the Cat snapped at him. “And you”-she glared at Oscar-“you don’t know, either. You were a memorycell dangling on Paula’s chain for a thousand years.”

“The kid visited me after I was re-lifed. Told me the whole story.”

“Stop it. Now.”

“Okay,” he said reasonably. “Did you have time to ask these good people anything?”

“You cannot screw with my mind.”

Oscar winked. “Already done the body.” He turned to Tandra. “Did she ask you about Araminta?”

Tandra stretched her arms out toward the couch, where the twins were still squirming ineffectually. “Please?”

Oscar extended his arm. A red laser shone through the skin on his forefinger, splashing a dot onto Freddy’s forehead. Everyone froze. Freddy started wailing, curling up tighter against the Cat, believing she would protect him. If only you knew how wrong that instinct is, Oscar thought miserably. “Did she?”

“You won’t,” the Cat said; she gave Tandra a brisk smile. “He’s the good guy; he’s not going to shoot children. That’s what I do. And I’m very good at it.”

“Well, I wouldn’t shoot ours,” Oscar said with a cheerful tone. He rather enjoyed the venomous expression on the Cat’s face. “What happened before I got here?”

“Nothing!” Martyn bellowed. “In Ozzie’s name, stop this, please. Please! They’re just children.”

Oscar looked straight at the Cat, unflinching. His target laser switched off. “We’re going to share the knowledge, and then we’re both going to leave.”

“How very weak of you,” the Cat said.

“How very tactical,” Oscar said. “If you resist, the three of us will turn on you. Some of us may suffer bodyloss, but ANA will have us re-lifed in half a day. You, on the other hand, will certainly die. The information will die with you, unused. The Accelerators will not recover Araminta, and you … Oh, yes, what was it now? Message from Paula. She paid a visit to the ice moon Accelerator station. There were several of you in suspension there. There aren’t anymore.”

The Cat gave the crying twins a pointed glance.

“Possible end of the galaxy against two lives,” Oscar said. “No contest. Remember, I was a serving navy officer. I’m used to this situation. Necessity always outweighs sentiment. I blew up Hanko’s sun, which killed an entire planet.”

“Actually, darling, I killed Hanko, but let’s not go into that right now.”

“You don’t get to go into anything. You have one choice-walk away or die. And think about this: If Living Dream or the Accelerators win, your real body will never come out of suspension. The Earth will have been converted to pure energy by the Void’s boundary to fuel some idiot’s daydream long before that scheduled day comes.”

Oscar turned his back on the Cat. And how many have done that and lived? As she didn’t immediately open fire on him, he said to Tandra: “Tell me about Araminta.”

“She was here,” Martyn blurted. “That bitch. She’s the reason all this has happened, and she came here! Here in our home.”

“When?”

“The night before the fight in Bodant Park,” Tandra said wearily. “She said she was frightened of the crowd in Bodant Park and hadn’t got anywhere else to go. We let her sleep here. On the couch.”

“Did she tell you she was the Second Dreamer?”

“No. I still can’t believe it. She’s just a messed-up girl.”

“She’s a lot more than that. How did she get here?”

“She said she walked.”

“I never believed that,” Martyn grumbled.

“Did you see a trike or a taxi?” Oscar asked him.

“No, but it’s a long way to walk from Bodant Park. And she lied about everything else.”

“Okay, and when she left?”

“She walked,” Tandra said. “I saw her go. There was no trike or anything. She was all alone.”

“Where was she going?”

“She didn’t say.” Tandra hesitated. “I thought it might be a man. She used my makeup, took a long time. She looked great when she left.”

“Ah,” Beckia said. “Did she look like herself?”

“Not really; she changed a lot. Her hair was real dark. Her own color is better for her.”

“Clever.”

“Okay, then.” Oscar looked back at the Cat. “You got anything else to ask?”

“Who’s she screwing?” the Cat asked.

“I don’t know,” Tandra said. “I hadn’t seen her for ages. It was a surprise when she came here.”

“So you’re her best friend? The one she turns to in a crisis?”

Tandra shrugged. “I guess.”

“I’ve heard enough.” The Cat released the twins and stood in one swift motion. Oscar blinked. She really had moved fast.

Must be running accelerants, he thought.

Tandra and Martyn rushed for their children.

The Cat gave Oscar a wicked grin. “Be seeing you.”

“I’ll tell the grandkids you’re coming. There’s lots of them. It’s been a thousand years, after all.”

Her chuckle sounded genuine. “You know, maybe it is possible.”

Oscar braced himself. If she was going to do anything, it would be now. The moment passed, and the Cat left.

Beckia let out a low whistle as she relaxed.

Tomansio put his hand on Oscar’s shoulder. “You know, you’re almost as crazy as she is. Er, you and her on the plane. Did that really …”

“A gentleman never tells,” Oscar said solemnly.

“Fuck me.”

“When this is over, I’ll take you up on that. But I think we’d better leave now.” His field scan showed him the Cat’s stolen capsule rising from the pad. Once again he tensed up. Would she fly over the house and blast away at it?