'That's very deep cover. So is he Evanston or Chatfield?

'I'd say Chatfield. Evanston was a serving officer twenty-five years ago. But Chatfield's current DNA is almost a match for Captain Chatfield's registered Navy file a hundred years ago.

'Almost a match?

'The variance is small but noticeable. If we weren't considering a period spent resequenced it would be within acceptable error.

'So, if he's going for resequencing, why keep the twenty point similarity? Complete resequencing used to be quite a popular option among the criminal classes of late first era and early second era Commonwealth. The perfect way to avoid court-verified identification. A lot of them literally got away wild murder.

'That's a simple answer: his brain. He wanted to maintain his thought routines as they are. If you alter neural structure and neurochemicals you alter how you think, your very personality. He wanted to keep on being him.

'That makes sense. So give me his file. She observed it enter her macrocellular clusters. Secondary thought routines picked the data apart, highlighting the relevant sections. One long entry leapt out at her. 'Oh Jesus, she muttered.

'Quite, ANA: Governance said. 'And in connection with today's events, extremely significant.

'Overwhelmingly significant, she retorted. 'Evanston was second in command of the development-restrictions monitoring station on Elan.

'I always considered it quite an irony that the Commonwealth allowed the surviving Prime invasion forces to continue living on the worlds they conquered.

'Not all of them, she said. 'Just on the five Lost23 that we didn't completely nuke into oblivion. Some of those surviving immotiles got smart.

'You mean they got human. .

'They accessed the memories of human lawyers and promptly surrendered. They even quoted our own basic rights laws back at us. I'd say that was quite smart. Evolutionary even. Adapt to and then accept the ethics of an alien species that you were trying to wipe out in order to survive yourself. It was the only reason Admiral Columbia allowed them to live, he considered it an indication that Primes were capable of social progression — as humans see it.

'They've kept their side of the agreement until now.

'I don't think this can be blamed on them. Paula hadn't felt this angry for quite some time. Centuries. But for the Accelerators to use the Prime to bolster the Ossian Empire… It took a lot to shock her, but this had done it. Don't they understand the danger? But of course they did. It's me who is only just starting to grasp the stakes they're playing for, the ends to which they'll go.

'That is also our conclusion, ANA: Governance said.

'It's treason.

'If provable. So far we only have circumstantial evidence.

Paula resisted the temptation to glance back over her shoulder. The capsule was already clear of the city's elegant greenways. Now it was soaring gracefully over the mountain peaks towards the starport on the inland plain beyond. She toyed with the idea of going back and arresting Chatfield. 'A memory read will provide the evidence.

'Do you think Chatfield will allow that to happen?

'No, she admitted regretfully. 'If he's an Accelerator agent at tin- level we believe him to be, then capture is not an option.

He'll just auto-bodyloss and they'll re-life him inside a day with a safe body. We'll have to keep him under observation and see where he takes us.

'I have placed him under electronic scrutiny.

'Thank you. That should do until I can get a colleague here to shadow him. If Chatfield is part of the project which allied the Primes to the Ocisen Empire, he'll probably be aware of the hardware Troblum has helped them build. I'm wondering if it was those starships accompanying the Ocisen fleet.

'According to Gore, Ilanthe said the Accelerators can protect the sol system from any Void expansion. I have no idea what that might translate into in practice.

'Two illegal hardware construction projects? They really are committed to their ideology, aren't they? We're going to have to keep a very sharp watch on Chatfield.

'Who will you use?

Paula allowed herself a slight smile. 'Digby has been wanting an assignment at this level for some time. It's only fair I give him the opportunity.

'He is fully qualified, and has the necessary experience.

She laughed outright. 'That's a very tactful way of accusing me of nepotism.

'He is four generations removed.

'But still my descendant. After all, who else is crazy enough to do this kind of work?

'I find him highly capable.

'He's too young, and too eager. But if anything is going to cure that it'll be this assignment. I'll call him.

Marius was half a kilometre away when Paula's taxi capsule left Chatfield's house. He found the Investigator's presence at this exact time to be unnerving. It meant she was making a lot of connections he'd assumed would stay hidden, at least until it was too late. When her capsule had left the city greenways he walked unhurriedly to Chatfield's house. That approach at least would eliminate some observation protocols which he knew would be enacted following her visit. In confirmation, his u-shadow informed him of extremely sophisticated scrutineers slipping into the local cybersphere nodes.

For a moment he considered simply abandoning Chatfield. But advancing to the next stage was an acceptable risk. If Paula Myo had any real understanding of the Accelerator strategy she would have taken Chatfield into custody. So he sent his u-shadow into the homes of Chatfield's neighbours, and examined various files, siphoning out inconsequential personal details and preferences. As he walked down the greenway the data was absorbed by his biononics, enabling them to change his appearance and electronic emissions. His shimmering toga suit transformed to a bland swaddle of amethyst cloth, with ginger boots just visible below the shifting folds. Confident in his amalgamated persona he crossed the shaggy front lawn and triggered the house sensors.

Chatfield showed no surprise when he opened his glossy front door to someone who resembled Fardel from four houses down, even though the man wore Jalliete's style of clothing. It was the green eyes which gave him away. 'You saw Myo leave? Chatfield asked as they went into the living room where they were surrounded by a privacy shield.

'Yes.

'They've discovered Troblum was on the Poix.

'Shit. I will take a great deal of pleasure ridding this universe of that failed embarrassment of a Higher. Does Myo know why he was there?

'No. I threw her the line about him focusing on the Anomine factory.

'Good. That ties nicely into his obsession with the planet-shifting ftl. It might divert them for a while.

'I'll be under observation. He looked straight at Marius. 'Are you here to bodyloss me?

'No. We're moving to the next stage a little early. That should remove you from their view for a while, and when you do reappear it won't matter.

'I see. Chatfield gave the bulbous wooden room a regretful stare. 'I'll miss this. Ganthia has been an enjoyable place to live. Its politics are quite progressive in some respects.

'Irrelevant now. I have a ship waiting at the spaceport. Go directly to our Frost station and collect your equipment.

'Understood. And then on to Ellezelin?

'Yes, but stand off until I authorize your landing. Living Dream is expecting you to join the pilgrimage, but I don't want you there early. Even if our policy is successful, there may be rogue ANA agents left over who could cause trouble.

'Like Myo?

'Among others. We have contingencies, don't worry.

'I'll leave right away.

Babuyan Atoll was undergoing an approximation of night. The dome's internal illumination was off, but the crystal remained perfectly transparent. Icalanise's jaundiced crescent was rising above the lip of the parkland to shine a jaded light across the forests and towers. Admiral Kazimir saw it through his office window as he made some niggling final adjustments to his dress uniform. Over on Aldaho, the Senate Executive Security Commission was convening for an emergency session, where he was due to present the really bad news about the Ocisen Empire's new allies. It was looking like the deterrent fleet would have to be used, a prospect which both thrilled and horrified him in equal amounts. For nearly seven hundred years the mere threat of its existence had been enough to deter the more belligerent species in the galaxy from any aggression against the Common wealth. Now the bluff was going to be called, and those who thought it was a bluff were about to get a very nasty surprise.