"It's no secret that the Compact is in trouble," said the abbot. "A lot of radical schemes have been bandied about to try to solve the problem of our ever-dwindling cycler supply. Before we get started I just want to make sure that everyone at this table is clear on one thing: Permanence was established to ensure the indefinite existence of the Compact. Our people will not cooperate with any plan that dissolves the current cycler system."

Rue saw a couple of shaking heads around the table. What possible alternative to cyclers could there be? she wondered. The abbot sat back. "Proceed," he said.

The minister addressed Rue. "How much do we know about Jentry's Envy? Do you have her complete ring mapped?"

"We think so," she said cautiously. She tapped out a command on the desk and a holo projection of the ring she'd seen at the Lasa habitat appeared.

"What we're really interested in, is her origin point," said the minister. "Which I believe you've determined."

"Yes. It's an uninhabited halo world that's next on the Envy's course after Maenad." She pointed to a small jewel of light in the display. "Osiris and Apophis."

There was a murmur around the table. "That's my point," said one of the visiting ministers, a short, heavy-set man named Mallory. "That's just a pair of brown dwarfs in close orbit— they have no planets. It's a well surveyed system. Your information must be wrong."

"It may well be," said Rue quietly. "But can we afford to ignore the possibility?"

"That's the crux of the matter," said the local minister with a nod. "You see, Captain Cassels, Mr. Mallory is from New Armstrong, which as you can see from the projection, is… here." He pointed.

Cycler rings were not exact circles. They had to take into account the random three-dimensional distribution of stars, brown dwarfs, and drifting superplanets; Jentry's Envy followed a twisting, jagged crown-shaped course that tried to maximize the number and proximity of worlds visited while still bending back on itself to form a rough circle. Drawing a line like this in three-dimensional space made for some tough choices of which worlds to visit; sometimes two or three equally good choices existed that would all permit the cycler to complete its course.

If all the cycler rings in this part of space were shown, Rue knew there would be dozens, with some overlaying one another and some tangential, meeting at key worlds like Colossus. Anywhere that more than a couple of rings met, commerce thrived.

New Armstrong, Mr. Mallory's home world, lay nearly the same distance from Maenad as Osiris and Apophis— but on a course sixty degrees divergent from the existing ring.

Mallory stood. "I submit that Apophis and Osiris can't be the origin of your cycler, because it's a planetless system— as are three of the others on your existing ring. It's true that the Envy's ring cuts through the halo in a unique way and could unite several worlds that until now have been at least two rings distant from one another. This might be desirable, but the cost is too high; there's too many useless worlds on this ring. Your cycler would spend up to ten years at a time between habitable worlds. I propose that we alter its course at Maenad and establish a new ring— like this." He overlapped Rue's holo with his own. It was at a different angle, so it took some rotation and zooming to match the two images.

Mallory's proposed ring included both Colossus and New Armstrong— but it missed Erythrion. Rue sat back, arms crossed, and tried to cultivate a neutral expression.

Pleased expressions appeared up and down the table as Mallory waxed poetic about the new trade possibilities. But as he spoke, Captain Li caught Rue's eye and, almost imperceptibly, shook his head.

When Mallory was finished, Captain Li cleared his throat and said, "And what if Osiris and Apophis is the origin of Jentry's Envy?"

Mallory waved a hand negligently. "Well, clearly we need to determine that… but do we need to sacrifice an entire cycler to do it? Look at the chart. Once the Envy passes Osiris and Apophis it can't return to another viable ring without doing one hundred twenty degree turn— impossible for any massive cycler at that velocity. It'll be committed to visiting a series of empty worlds before it reaches port again. I suggest we outfit a scientific expedition to ride a small habitat on that course and survey the Twins on the way by."

Li shook his head. "They'll pass the system at nearly light-speed. There's no way they can do a proper survey without decelerating in. With no beam to ride, how are you going to get in and out?"

"We could do it with a self-powered ship like the Banshee," said Rue. "That's Admiral Crisler's ship," she explained. "It's a ramjet. It could take us in and out, but firstly, it's an R.E. ship and secondly, Crisler's already planning his own visit to Osiris and Apophis. Once he gets to Maenad he'll return to the R.E. and round up some supply ships. He'll take these and Banshee to the Twins. The Banshee will be used to ship them all out again when they're done exploring the place."

"How far is Maenad from the Envy's position?"

"About six light-months. Longer, granted that they have to decelerate in."

The captains glanced at one another. "We have time," said another of the captains, an old man named Serle. "But we'll be tipping our hand."

"It may not matter," said the minister. "I think it's a risk we have to take."

Mallory leaned forward. "What do you mean? Are you saying we can get there first?"

"Of course not," said the abbot— a little too adamantly, Rue thought. And the minister had an odd look on his face, as if he'd said something he shouldn't have said. Mallory obviously saw these things; he frowned and sat back.

Well, that was interesting! Too bad Max wasn't here. He was good at reading subtext.

"Let's restrict this discussion to the possible," said the minister. "We have to sacrifice a pawn by letting Crisler's supply ships get to the Twins first. Once there, they're trapped until the Banshee arrives."

"Any chance we can take the Banshee over?" asked Mallory.

Rue stared at him; he really seemed serious. "Uh… I don't think so," she said. "It's an antimatter-drive ship. Doesn't that mean it's got enough power to burn off a moon if it needs to?"

"Erm, yes," said Mallory. "But we could disable or destroy it fairly easily."

"I will not allow murderers on my ship!"

The abbot raised a hand. "That's not in the plan, Captain Cassels. Mr. Mallory, you're out of line. There'll be no military action against the Banshee. All we need to do is ship up a smaller, lighter ramjet of our own. The only problem is it will take almost all our beam power to do it."

"Well that is a problem," said Mallory. "My people and I are eager to return to New Armstrong. There's considerable cargo we need to take with us. The Envy would literally shave years off our schedule."

"Your schedule," said Rue coldly. "Is that what all this is about?" She looked around the table. "I appreciate the economic advantage that Colossus and New Armstrong stand to gain by altering my cycler's course. The ring you're proposing would pass a number of core systems and obviously it would make me unbelievably rich. But you've only told half the story, Mr. Mallory."

She tuned up the holo so that her ring glowed more brightly than Mallory's. "What you didn't say is that four of the 'empty' worlds on my ring were surveyed a hundred years ago and found to be prime locations for new colonies. Abbot Griffin began this meeting by telling us that the Compact is in trouble. That's because we're losing all the lit worlds that were once a part of it. Cyclers that once picked up and deposited cargoes at the lit worlds are passing them by— there are holes in our rings now. Distances between stops have increased for nearly all the cyclers because of this.