Living Dream or a Faction as their unwitting figurehead, then you have to bring this to an end.

'Yeah, she said, exhaling heavily. 'I suppose I see that. I'll try using the gaiafield again, try and see if I can find a way round them finding me.

'That's a good start. It sounds like you have a different ability to everyone else, so there's a chance it'll work in your favour. Here's an idea, if you can use the gaiafield without them realizing, you might want to check out Inigo's dreams. At least you'll have a better understanding what you're up against. Failing that, you're supposed to be able to commune with the Silfen Motherholm. Who knows what they'll say?

'Thank you. That's actually—

'Useful?

'Very.

'All right then. Now what about you? Where are you staying?

'I haven't got anywhere.

'You're in the Spanish Crepes office, right?

'Yes.

'Bottom drawer of my desk you'll find a bunch of old manuals. Underneath them are some cash coins. Untraceable.

She held them up, trying not to smirk.

'Ozzie, he muttered. 'I never did fool you, did I?

'Not much.

'All right, there's a couple of thousand Viotia pounds loaded in. That'll help. Do you know about Wurung Transport?

'No.

'Okay, I'm not totally useless then. It's another company I ran. A garage unit in the building two down from where you are now. There's a fully licensed cab inside, just one, that's all the company owns. I can load the activation code in from here, so it'll be ready when you get to it. Now listen, there's some interesting software in its management system which allows you to avoid being tracked by the City control network.

'Why? she asked.

He gave an embarrassed shrug. 'It might be useful if there were things you wanted to move round town without drawing too much attention to yourself.

'Oh, Laril! There was concern as well as exasperation in her tone.

'Those days are over, he said. 'It also has a Unisphere node. I'll remote switch it to stand-by, you can use it any time to call me. No one else will be able to access it.

'Thank you.

'Araminta.

'Yes?

'I'm glad it was me you called. I'm glad I can help.

She stared at his image for a long moment. 'Why did you pick me? she asked quietly.

'Oldest reason for a man to have: you're gorgeous.

Ridiculously, she knew she was almost blushing. 'Don't change too much to become Higher.

'You know me. Good luck. Call me when you need to.

'Bye, Laril. She switched off the management array and the cybersphere node, then went out to check on Wurung Transport.

The Purus and the Congo slid unnoticed among the awesome Ocisen Empire fleet as it raced towards the Commonwealth at four and a half lightyears per hour. A detailed scan revealed no craft other than the Starslayers plunging onward through their wormholes, whoever the Ocisen Empire's allies were they had a drive technology at least equal to the Commonwealth Navy ships. They took up position a kilometre behind the new command vessel, and began to interfere with its continuous wormhole. After a sharp tussle of exotic energy the big Starslayer vessel was torn back into normal spacetime, its reaction control rockets firing continually to kill the errant rotation it picked up during the abrupt transition. Random flares of light slithered over its dark ovoid hull as the force field generators tried to regain equilibrium while the ftl drive's death throes spun out residual energy fluctuations. Both the Purus and the Congo dropped out of hyperdrive.

A featureless spherical starship appeared beside the wrecked Starslayer.

The Huron, the Nyasa, and the Baykal shed their stealth effect. The three Capital-class starships were almost as large as the Starslayer, and infinitely more potent. A second spherical starship materialized five kilometres from the first. The Onega and the Torrens revealed themselves.

For three seconds nothing happened. The humans held their breath.

Both the alien vessels opened fire.

It was ninety seconds before the ultra secure TD link to Pentagon II was re-established. The energy storm unleashed by the hellish firefight had strained the local structure of spacetime to a degree which even affected the underlying quantum fields, severing the link. Admiral Kazimir reviewed the updated situation fast. Both of the unknown ships had been destroyed, as had the Congo, while the Torrens had suffered so much damage it was unable to fight, though the crew survived. Most of the Starslayer's hull had evaporated from the titanic energy bursts, even though no one had aimed at it. What was left of the outer structure was glowing cherry-red, and bubbling furiously around the edges.

'Not completely invincible, then, Ilanthe said in a relieved tone.

'So it would appear, the Admiral agreed. They were all waiting to see if any more of the allies accompanying the fleet would turn back to assist their colleagues. The Capital-class ships had managed to detect fifty stealthed hyperdrives secreted amid the Starslayers. A truly formidable force.

'Maybe not invincible, but just about unstoppable, Crispin said. 'Do we have an equal number of Capital-class warships, Admiral?

'We have thirty-nine within deployment range, Kazimir told the depleted ExoProtectorate Council. He was dismayed that it was his own family that was missing. Whoever it was who had released his mother's dream into the gaiafield wasn't coming forward. Not that knowing their identity would be of any use — she would remain in suspension for some time. But it irked him to know that someone could reach her.

Even more dismaying was Gore's non-appearance. When Kazimir convened the ExoProtectorate Council, Gore's u-shadow reported him as unavailable. Kazimir couldn't imagine what would keep his grandfather from attending, especially as his absence would allow Ilanthe to dominate the Council. Not, he admitted to himself, that the outcome was going to be anything other than the one he really didn't want.

'The remaining unknowns are staying with the fleet, reported Sorex, the Onega's captain.

'Excellent, Kazimir replied. 'Could you get in close for a scan of the wreckage, please.

'So the fleet can be eliminated? Creewan asked urgently.

'Numerically it would be difficult, Kazimir said as the Onega dispatched a swarm of sensor drones towards the largest chunk of wreckage from the second spherical ship. 'As well as the unknowns, there are also nine hundred Starslayers to consider. Our combined River and Capital-class ships would probably defeat them, but the cost would be severe. We'd be left with very few vessels.

'Then we know what needs to be done, Ilanthe said. 'I believe there is one class of ship more powerful than the Capital-class.

'Yes, Kazimir said with extreme reluctance.

'Admiral, Sorex called. 'High resolution sensors are combining. Oh great Ozzie—

Kazimir and the rest of the ExoProtectorate Council stared silently at the sensor results which appeared above the big table. The little drones were flitting through the broken compartments and passageways of the spherical warship, contributing their separate scans to a cohesive image. The battered chunk of hardware was texture perfect, right down to individual structural components. Metal around the outside was still hot enough to glow. It was also terribly radioactive. Odd pieces of charred biological matter drifted around the compartments, torn from alien bodies as explosions and energy pulses ripped through the ship. Right in the middle, the bodies were larger. Intact. The drones concentrated on one.

Kazimir started at the terribly familiar pear-shaped torso, with four gristly ridges running it length. Four stubby legs protruded from the curving base, while arms branched out of the body just above the legs, each one ending in an efficient quad-pincer arrangement. At the top of the body four small mouth trunks were open, drifting in zero-gee like seaweed in a slow current. Between them were the sensory stalks, rigid in death, each one fused to a neat electronic module.