'I agree that's a logical course of action, Kazimir said.

'But? Paula enquired.

'We didn't really know how powerful the warrior Raiel were until my mother flew past them in the Gulf. While from what we can determine, this plan of the Accelerators has been in motion for at least fifty years.

'We've known the Raiel had defence systems around the Wall stars since the day Wilson Kime discovered them in back in 2560. It was inevitable that those Raiel would have adequate firepower to back up their mission. After all, they're the ones who once tried to invade the Void. That's not something you attempt with anything as pitiful as a novabomb. The Accelerators have always known they'll need serious firepower to reach the Void boundary.

'Maybe, Kazimir said reluctantly. 'There's just something about this that bothers me, and I can't define it.

'If they don't want to see the deterrence fleet weapons in action, what else could they be using the Ocisen Empire fleet for?

'I don't know, he said. 'ANA?

'Paula's scenario is the obvious one. An exceptionally large effort is being made to draw the deterrence fleet out to the Ocisen invasion forces. Primes are the one species which will still unite every political and cultural bloc within the Commonwealth. And I would point out that even if you're right, and the Primes are exposed as Accelerator agents, the Ocisens themselves will still keep coming.

'Very well, Kazimir finally got his collar straight. 'I'll ask the Senate Commission for permission to deploy the deterrent fleet, but only after we make one final attempt to warn them off.

'Do let me know how Ilanthe responds to that, Paula told him.

It was as humiliating as Honious, but Corrie-Lyn had to rely on Aaron as well as Inigo to make it across the hundred-metre gap between the remains of the ground crawler, and the Navy starship. As well as her broken arm, her ankle was badly twisted and sprained, as she discovered when she tried to put any weight on it.

Aaron had simply knelt down on the rim of the ground crawler's bodywork that he'd sheared off with his disruptor pulse, and extended his arm. She'd reluctantly grasped it with her good hand, and allowed him to haul her up with no more effort than if he'd been lifting a bag of gromal puffs. It was only when he'd put her down that she gasped with pain and nearly collapsed back on to the ice. Aaron, of course, had caught her easily.

So she had to sling an arm around each of them, and let them take the weight as she hopped all the way over to the starship. Her body was shivering violently from the terrible cold. Huge flashes of lightning ripped overhead, their muted thunder rolling round the little bubble of calm which the starship's force field had cast over them. Even without any enriched sensors she could see the craft had taken a terrible beating. The fuselage actually had splits in it, and fluids were seeping out of various valves and exposed pipes.

The ground shook violently, and all three of them went tumbling down.

'Move, Aaron snapped. His integral force field strengthened, surrounding him in a mild blue haze.

Corrie-Lyn was slightly disconcerted to see Inigo had also protected himself the same way. Then the pair of them picked her up and started jogging over the last twenty metres with her hanging ignominiously between them. While they were doing that she started to pay attention to the red symbols appearing in her exovision. She was receiving a very unhealthy dose of radiation from the atmosphere trapped under the force field.

It was a Navy ship, she could see the name CNE Lindau on the fuselage. But the crew weren't responding to her desperate pings. She wondered what kind of cover story Aaron could possibly have spun them. Somehow she never thought to ask herself how he could have survived the glacier. It was sort of inevitable.

They hurried up the ramp and into the airlock. The outer hull was already flowing closed as they crossed the threshold. Another quake made the starship tremble. Then there was the unmistakable whine of power feeding into the drive, and they lifted from the surface. The floor immediately shuddered badly, and the decking shifted out of horizontal alignment. It juddered its way back level as the unnerving sounds of equipment straining at its safety margins set her teeth on edge.

The airlock's inner door unfurled as her weight began to build up.

'Hold her, Aaron instructed curtly as he let go of Corrie-Lyn's arm and lurched his way into the ship against the rapidly increasing acceleration.

Inigo quickly lowered her on to the floor of the short corridor. 'Don't move your neck, he said urgently. 'Keep your spine level. I don't know how bad this is going to get. The decking seemed to be made from a grey plyplastic. It wasn't comfortable, but with the gee force approaching five she was grateful to be lying prone. Medical symbols warned her what the acceleration was doing to her broken arm, which might have accounted for her mounting nausea.

'What's happening? she grunted to Inigo. 'Where's the crew? Her body was still shivering from the icy air outside.

He kept his head steady as he replied. 'We're going straight up to get out of the atmosphere as fast as possible. I don't know about the crew. His gaiafield emission was tinged with worry.

'I can't access the ship's net.

'Me neither.

After a couple of minutes the acceleration suddenly sunk back to a stable one gee. Inigo lifted himself to a sitting position. Worry was still leaking out of his gaiamotes.

Corrie-Lyn winced as she slowly sat up. Her ankle was throbbing, and the medication she'd taken for her arm was doing strange things to her vision. Or maybe it was just her balance that made her feel weirdly light. Or perhaps the ship's drives were acting oddly. Something in the air smelt funny. She hiccupped, hoping it wasn't a precursor to being sick. For some reason the situation didn't bother her as much as she knew it ought. The crew, though. That was bad. She knew it at a deep instinctive level. Didn't want to consciously examine the obvious. Too much. Way too much all at once.

'We're still alive then, she said with a sigh.

Inigo gave her a troubled glance. 'Yes. He clambered to his feet. One of the light strips on the ceiling was flickering. Its case had cracks. He frowned at that. 'My field scan is revealing a lot of damage in the structure around us. Uh, I can't find the crew on board.

'What do you mean?

A thick plyplastic door curtained open, and Aaron stepped out into the corridor. His gaiamotes were closed, but even in her medicated state Corrie-Lyn didn't need them to tell how angry he was. He glared at Inigo. 'Don't you ever pull a stunt like that glacier again.

Inigo gave him a disdainful glance. 'Almost got you, though, didn't it? And me a simple amateur.

Aaron produced a tight smile. Took a step forward.

Corrie-Lyn screamed at the pain as his foot came down on her ankle.

Inigo lunged forward, hitting Aaron with a rugby-style tackle. It barely moved him. For emphasis, Aaron held the position for another few seconds before slowly and deliberately taking his foot off and stepping back.

Corrie-Lyn whimpered, and gripped her ankle where the hot pain was still firing into her flesh. There were tears in her eyes. 'Don't, she whispered fearfully.

'The medical chamber is in the main cabin, Aaron said, and held his hand out.

'Where's the crew? she asked.

'They stepped out for a moment. Aaron paused, thinking. 'They might be some time.

Corrie-Lyn ignored his hand. Inigo helped her up. They hobbled after Aaron through the door into the main cabin.

'Oh Lady! Corrie-Lyn's free hand came up to cup her mouth. She really felt the bile rising in her gullet at the sight which greeted her.