The Lindau completed its manic run, and punched upwards. A fuselage stress strut snapped, tearing through cables and pipes. Sparks sprayed into the cabin as half the polyphoto light panels failed. Smartcore schematics revealed a deeper problem of primary power loss to several drive support systems. Aaron shunted the display into a peripheral icon, and powerdived the starship back into the clouds at eleven gees.

The Delivery Man teleported directly into the hallway to hear Elsie and Tilly squabbling over who could play with the grav-ball. Elsie had it, and was running round the front lounge victoriously, holding the toy aloft and shouting: 'My turn, my turn.

Tilly was chasing after her sister trying to grab the ball back. 'Is not! she yelled in frustration. The paediatric housebot was floating after the two of them, maintaining the safety-regulated one point seven metres away, chiding melodiously: 'Children to stop climbing on furniture. There is danger in this activity. Please calm down. Share your toys. It is rewarding.

'Ratbag, Elsie shouted at the bot. She threw the grav-ball. It hit the upper surface of the bot, and rebounded in a cloud of blue holographic light to hit the ceiling, where it flattened out for five seconds, quivering, before launching itself at the wall amid another photonic fizz. Tilly and Elsie sprinted for it, little faces grim with determination. Both missed as it shot upwards again, making a ridiculous boning noise. Another bounce off tin-ceiling and it was heading straight for Lizzie's favourite vase, a fifteen-hundred-year-old Rebecca Lewis from her Bryn-Bella period.

The Delivery Man hated the flowery monstrosity, but managed to snatch the grav-ball from the air just before it hit.

'Daddy! Both girls immediately forgot their squabble and ran over for hugs.

'I've told you a hundred times you're not to play with this in the adult rooms, he scolded.

'Yes yes! The wrapped their arms around him, tugging as they jumped up and down in happy excitement.

'Where've you been?

'Did you bring presents?

He handed the grav-ball to the housebot. 'All over, and no.

'Awwww!

'I was too busy, sorry. Staying alive.

The three of them walked into the kitchen where Lizzie and a general housebot were preparing supper on the iron range cooker. Various pans were bubbling away, producing a melange of scents. It was dark outside, turning the windows into sheets of blackness coated in condensation.

Lizzie smiled and gave him a quick kiss. 'Glad you're back, she whispered.

'Me too.

Rosa tottered in from the conservatory, dressed in a red and black skirt with green stockings. 'Daa da.

'Hello poppet. He scooped her up, and tidied some of her dark red curls.

'She said bot, today, Lizzie said.

'Did you? the Delivery Man asked. Rosa smiled back, saying nothing.

'It could have been boot, Lizzie admitted. 'Can you three do something useful and lay the table, please.

The Delivery Man put Rosa down, and helped Tilly and Elsie arrange the knives and forks in the right places.

'I think I might cut down on investigations, the Delivery Man said as he found some wine glasses for himself and Lizzie.

'That's good, she said.

'At least the cases furthest away from the Central worlds. That should cut down on my away time considerably.

She rewarded the decision with a kiss. 'Thank you.

They all sat down together for supper. The housebot put a big casserole pot in the middle of the table, and lifted the lid off.

The Delivery man poked the serving spoon in, and lifted out some steaming—'What is this? he asked dubiously.

'Sausage stew, Tilly announced proudly. 'I made the sausages at school. We programmed the culinary cabinet down to level three for the ingredients.

'I made the tomatoes, Elsie said.

'It all looks lovely, the Delivery Man assured them. He tipped the stew on to the plate, and added some vegetables and potatoes. Lizzie sipped at the wine, and grinned at him over the rim of the glass.

When they finally got the children to bed, the Delivery Man lit the fire in the lounge. The Georgian townhouse was perfectly insulated against the wintry night, but as Lizzie had educated him, a real fire gave them a reassuring warmth inside. They snuggled up together on the big settee with the rest of the wine.

'I heard a rumour today, Lizzie said. 'You know what Jen's husband does?

'Er, not sure, really. For the first time in a long time he was actually relaxing rather than putting on a show of tranquillity.

'Something to do with the Navy. Anyway, she was telling me the Ocisen fleet might be more powerful than anyone is owning up to.

'Really? He knew it was only ever a matter of time before news of the Yenisey got out.

'Did you hear anything?

'No. But he did remember Marius's reaction to the news of Hanko. It was odd, as though the Accelerator Faction representative didn't know about the Hawking m-sink being used. Why would he try to bluff on that?

'And the news from Viotia was horrible. The Unisphere showed some poor woman being grabbed by the paramilitaries. They'd attacked her in the street for no reason.

'Terrible. Unless he genuinely didn't know. And if that's the case, who else would be able to get hold of one?

'I can see you're really bothered by it.

'Sorry.

'It's okay. She wiggled up closer. 'I am glad you're cutting back. You don't mind?

'I can pick it up again in twenty years. I just don't want to miss out on the kids growing up. It's a unique time.

Lizzie patted his leg as she tipped back some more wine. 'Good man.

While the Delivery Man was getting ready for bed that night the Conservative Faction called. 'We need you to deliver a starship to Pulap tomorrow.

'No, he told them. A quick guilty glance through the bathroom door showed Lizzie moving round in the bedroom. He shut the door. 'Not any more.

'This will be an entirely passive role for you, exactly as we originally promised. To the best of our knowledge there are no agents of any Faction on Pulap.

'If he catches me, you'll need to re-life me. I don't want that.

'There is someone else we will be using to monitor Marius from now on. An operative who takes a more active role than you.

'Oh.

'To reassure you further, Marius has just arrived on Ganthia.

'What's on Ganthia? He immediately cursed himself for asking.

'We're not sure. However, it is over two hundred light years from Pulap. We would not ask you to make this delivery unless it was urgent.

'I don't know.

'It will take us time to replace you. There was bound to be some overlap before your successor can be fully initiated.

'I didn't say I was going to stop helping you. He gave his image in the mirror an angry stare, then broke away and stuffed his clothes into the laundry basket. 'All right, I'll deliver the starship; but after this I want at least three days' notice of any assignment.

'Thank you.

Araminta didn't sleep much. The bed which the couch expanded into was fine, its ageing mattress accommodating and the duvet warm. The twins next door made no noise to bother her. It was all due to worry. Worry that any second the door would come crashing down and the Ellezelin paramilitaries would rampage through the little house to grab her, hurting Tandra and the children in the process.

I had no right to come here and put them in danger.

Worry, also, about what to do next. She knew who she wanted to talk to, but the how of it was difficult. In the hours she wasn't actively fretting she went through all the communication technology files stored in her lacuna. There were more than she realized; accumulated so she could hardwire her properties for Unisphere access and integrate domestic systems with the house net. They gave her quite a good base of practical knowledge. All she had to do then was work out how to apply it.