'Nowhere, he said, coming to a decision. 'I'm going to assemble the ultradrive. After that I'll do what I can to warn Paula and ANA. At least if it all goes wrong then, I can run.

Paula hadn't visited Paris for decades. The city had reduced considerably since its heyday of the First Commonwealth era. ANA had been as ruthless here as it had everywhere on Earth, pruning away buildings it considered irrelevant. Residual national nostalgia didn't carry much weight in its hard-nosed analysis. However, the truly historic remained. The Eiffel Tower, of course. Arc de Triomphe. Notre Dame. The Palais de la Concorde. Most of the original buildings along the Seine.

She teleported in from Sky Pier station above Bordeaux, materializing outside the ancient five-storey building where she'd spent so many centuries working before the days of ANA and Higher culture. Beside the door, the original brass sign still gleamed against the dull stonework.

INTERSOLAR COMMONWEALTH

SERIOUS CRIMES DIRECTORATE

Paula gave it a melancholy smile, and walked into the marbled entrance hall. So many memories haunted this place. Embedded in the structure, they sprang to life everywhere she looked. Images and sounds stronger than the gaiafield could ever produce, and far more meaningful. All those colleagues she'd worked with over the centuries, the cases they'd solved, the battles against innumerable chiefs and political appointees and lawyers. They all echoed round her, welcoming her back.

An ANAdroid was waiting for her at the lift door, a human simulacrum with featureless gold-brown skin. It wore a simple blue and green suit uniform identical to all its kind. There were tens of thousands of them in the city, performing the maintenance and support functions which the antique buildings and their priceless contents needed. Stabilizer generators alone couldn't preserve the city's fabric, not when it was still in use by nearly eighty thousand humans.

'Welcome back, Investigator Myo, it said as the lift doors opened. The voice was as genderless as the body.

'Thank you. Paula put her hand on the security pad, allowing the management system to confirm her DNA. Her u-shadow then had to go through a further lengthy authorization procedure before the lift would descend. They passed through at least two force fields on their way down to the vault. There was also an exotic energy scrambler field around the three sub-levels, preventing anyone from teleporting in, or opening a wormhole inside.

The lift opened into a long hall. It reminded Paula of the ANA reception facilities, where thousands of recently downloaded bodies waited to see if their minds would adapt to the expansion and freedom inside ANA itself. Only here, instead of the glowing violet spheres, the floor supported long rows of dark sarcophagi.

'This way, the ANAdroid said, and gestured politely.

Paula accompanied it, their footsteps echoing round the vault. 'How many are stored here? she asked.

'We currently provide suspension for eighteen hundred and forty-three people.

She wondered how many she was responsible for entombing down here. A good percentage, I'll guess.

'Most still have several hundred years to serve on their sentence, the ANAdroid said. 'Some exceptional cases will remain down here a great deal longer. A few are even scheduled to remain for longer than the city has already existed.

'Yes, Paula said as they stopped beside one of the bulky suspension cases. And this is one of them. 'I'd like to see her, please.

'You may use a field scan. It will not interfere with the suspension systems, they are quite robust.

'Open it.

'As you wish.

The suspension case's malmetal lid flowed apart. Paula looked down at the body inside. The Cat lay there, her body webbed with the silver threads used to provide long-term suspension, ensuring her cells remained intact throughout the sluggish centuries as she lay poised on the cusp between life and death. 'All hail Schrodinger, Paula muttered. Her field scan swept through the Cat, confirming the small scars and burn patches that she'd acquired in that last ferocious firefight which resulted in her capture. The hospital had healed her for the trial. At the time, several senior members of the Directorate, and indeed the President's office itself, had questioned why Paula had allowed her to survive. Political types to whom the rule of law was an irksome guideline to be bent or broken with impunity at every convenience.

Paula nodded in satisfaction. This was definitely her old adversary. The original one at least. Not that originality stood for much any more.

'How many people have visited her?

The ANAdroid wasn't designed for surprise, but it somehow managed to convey that impression. 'Your inspection three hundred and eighty years ago is the only one, Investigator.

'Thank you, she told the ANAdroid. That was the time when a political group on Far Away had boasted that they'd managed to extract their idol from purgatory. They hadn't of course, it was just a bid to gain more influence.

The lid flowed back into place, sealing the Cat back into a darkness that was due to last for another four thousand years.

'Are you satisfied now? ANA: Governance asked as Paula emerged out into the mellow Parisian daylight.

'Not entirely, no.

'It is not possible to break into the Directorate vault.

'I know. But there are a few other possibilities. Resurrecting her is something I've given a lot of thought to over the centuries. There are still plenty of fanatics out there.

'The Knights Guardian don't actually want her alive and walking round. It is politically convenient to have a leader who will return in the far future. That gives them plenty of leeway.

'Now where have I heard that before.

'This is a strange weakness of yours, Paula.

'We're all entitled to one.

'So do you still believe it was her on Sholapur?

'I think it's a strong possibility that I encountered a full clone version.

'Her DNA is probably easy to obtain. But where would they get a copy of her memory? We know she never had a secure store, she was too worried your Directorate would gain access to it.

'Her weakness, Paula said flatly. 'However, there is one copy that I know of. I'll check it out.

'I'm not being critical, but there are other matters that require attention. Quite urgent attention. If the respite Justine has bought us is to have any value, I must know what the Accelerators are planning.

'Are you trying to guilt me into chasing round after Marius and his cronies?

'I have to use guilt?

'If the Cat has been brought back in some form by the Accelerators, they clearly want her for some very dirty deniable work. But, as I suspect they're discovering, she's not easy to control. Her personal agenda will always come first. I can use that to catch her. Once she's in custody, she can be fully interrogated.

'An interesting application of logic'

'But logical nonetheless.

'Assuming you're correct about Sholapur.

'I believe a great deal of my usefulness to you comes from my instinct, a facet of personality you have yet to acquire.

'Correct.

'Thank you. However, you are right about following other leads. I reviewed Troblum's file on my way here. That presentation he made to Kazimir was very interesting.

'Yes. I considered it to be well argued, and highly plausible.

'That's not what I mean. It implies he has a very strong knowledge of the Dark Fortress itself.

'The Navy maintains an effective force around the Dyson Pair, it would not be possible for him to gain access to either of I hem.

'It would if he was part of the Navy science team. There aren't many people, especially Highers, who have his physical profile. Please review all the Navy personnel to have served at the Dyson Pair since the Starflyer War.