Freydis nodded. ‘It could work.’ Her voice was brittle, her eyes too bright. ‘But right now we aren’t on a trajectory to hit Höd at all, let alone the kernel facility down there. We’ll need to make a course correction before we pivot the ship.’

‘Yes,’ Gerloc said. ‘And of course we’ll need to take into account the effect of our decelerating thrust on our trajectory, all the way down …’

Good, Kerys thought savagely. They would have to work, to actively pilot the ship, all the way in. It would be complex, demanding work, that would allow them no time to think.

Impulsively she reached out and grabbed their hands. ‘Whether we succeed in this or not, we will ignite a light that will be seen across the solar system, on every world. People will know who we were; our families will know what we tried to do, today. All right? Are you ready for this?’

Impulsively Freydis grabbed Gerloc’s hand, so they closed the circle. ‘Let’s get it done.’

‘Agreed,’ Gerloc said.

They broke the circle and turned to their posts.

CHAPTER 33

The chamber to which Earthshine led them was just a cavern in the deep rocks. There was a scatter of chairs near the door, a small chemical toilet, and heaps of equipment, including a heavy-looking cylinder of some plain white material. The light came from suspended fluorescents, a very mundane glow. Mardina and Beth together helped Penny over to one of the chairs; she couldn’t stand for long any more.

The central area of the floor was roped off, the barrier containing a smoother area within.

Earthshine had an air of smug triumph, Mardina thought. The others seemed subdued, even confused, as they were drawn deeper into Earthshine’s arcane plan, his mysteries – his layer of mind, deep in the rock.

A Navy radio communicator in Mardina’s pocket chimed, her farspeaker, a soft mechanical bell. She pulled out the little gadget, held it up to her ear. She walked towards Penny. ‘You need to hear this. All of you … I’m getting a signal down here.’

Earthshine nodded. ‘You should. I had my support from the Brikanti Navy install relays and repeaters inside the bunker, and then in this chamber when we discovered it.’

‘It’s from the Malleus, in space. They see Höd. The crew say it’s now about the size of the sun as seen from Earth, and growing fast.’

Penny nodded, eyes closed. ‘It would be by now—’

‘There was a detonation. On Höd.’

Chu, the slave boy, with the ColU’s slate on his chest, muttered a prayer in his native Xin.

Penny said, ‘The Celyn.’

‘Yes,’ Mardina said. ‘They rammed it.’

Penny said, ‘I bet they were trying to destroy the asteroid, by detonating the kernels.’ She turned to Beth. ‘Remember? Just like the Nail when it struck Mercury. Why, maybe Kerys even got the idea from our descriptions of that event.’

‘But they didn’t succeed,’ Mardina said. ‘According to the Malleus crew. Höd has a new crater, but is intact. Even such an immense explosion—’

Penny said firmly, ‘It was a worthy effort. And I suppose there was nothing more they could do, given the time. Kerys and her crew will be remembered for their heroism.’

Mardina listened to a fresh message. ‘Höd is still on its way. The centurion is ordering us back to the surface. Pickup in half an hour.’ She folded up the farspeaker. ‘We need to go.’

‘No,’ Earthshine said. ‘There is another way.’

‘What other way? There’s no other ship—’

‘I told you, I can save you.’

Penny glared at him. Then she beckoned Mardina and Chu. ‘You two. Help me.’ She gestured at them impatiently, until they came to her. She held up one arm for each of them, and they grabbed her and lifted, Chu being careful of the ColU pack on his back. ‘Now get me over there,’ Penny said, flapping one hand at the roped-off area. ‘I need to know what he’s found.’

The ColU said, ‘I have a feeling we both know already, Penny Kalinski.’

‘I want to see with my own ruined eyes …’

What lay within the roped-off area didn’t seem special to Mardina when they got there at the pace of Penny’s hobble. It clearly wasn’t natural, however. It was a sheet of some grey metal-like substance, with a fine circular seam a few paces across.

But Penny laughed.

‘Show me, Chu,’ the ColU murmured. ‘Show me …’

Penny snapped, ‘This isn’t one of your damn virtual illusions, Earthshine?’

‘Of course not.’

Mardina said, ‘I don’t understand.’

‘A Hatch,’ Penny said, her tremulous voice full of wonder. ‘He’s only found a Hatch. Here on Mars.’

‘You still don’t understand,’ Earthshine said. ‘You never did listen, Penny Kalinski. You or that sister of yours. I didn’t find this. It wasn’t here when I established my base here on Mars. They gave it to me. Believe me, this chamber did not exist, but as Ceres approached this world – I suppose as my own intention became clear – there it was, an anomaly showing up in my deep scans, and when I had a shaft sunk down to it, here was the Hatch. They gave this to me.’

Mardina shook her head. ‘Who? Who gave it to you?’

‘The noostratum,’ Penny said. ‘The dreaming bugs in the rocks? Is that what you would have us believe? Is this what all this has been about, for you, Earthshine? With Ceres you are striking a blow, not at Mars – not at any humans on Mars – but at the bugs in the deep rocks?’

‘Well, it certainly takes a mighty blow to do that, doesn’t it? I threatened them with destruction, and I got their attention. Here! Here in the floor – here is your proof.’

Beth said, ‘So now what? I’ve been through Hatches before. They take you far away. To another world, even another star. But which star, Earthshine?’

He smiled. ‘I don’t know. That’s the beauty of it. But wherever it is, whatever I find, I will have been invited there. Think of that! Oh, yes, I certainly got their attention. But this is not for me alone. Together, today – now, before the asteroid falls – we will go through this impossible doorway, and we will find out. Your intuition was right, you see – you were right to come here, all of you. I can save you. You, my granddaughter, my great-granddaughter – all of you, if you wish. You can see I have my own processor unit ready to go …’ He pointed to the bulky cylindrical unit.

The ColU said, ‘This is wrong. What you have done here is wrong, Earthshine. You meddle with powers that could destroy us all – destroy the potentialities of mankind.’

Earthshine just laughed. ‘Whatever you say I won’t allow you through the Hatch, you – toy. So you can be a witness to the exercise of those powers, can’t you?’

The ColU paused, a long and terrible silence that must have been an age for such a high-speed artificial mind. Then it said, ‘If I may not follow you through that Hatch – be sure, Earthshine, that I will not forget you, I will not give up the quest to find you, wherever you go, whatever you do. No matter how many generations of friends I have to outlive to do it.’

Chu was visibly agitated by this cold announcement. ‘Master, please. I am grateful to be your servant. Yet I have served you well, have I not? But I don’t want to die, not today, not now.’

‘You won’t die, Chu Yuen,’ the ColU said gently. ‘Remember, the centurion is coming to pick us up. We need only return to the surface.’

‘I, too, will go no further than this,’ Penny said with an expression of disgust. ‘Never mind tinkering with history – these damn Hatch builders have wrecked my own life, and my sister’s. I’ll go no further. And as for the rest – Chu, take hold of Ari Guthfrithson.’

‘Madam?’

‘Just grab him.’

‘Do as she says, Chu,’ the ColU said.

Chu hesitated for one heartbeat. Then he took long strides around the Hatch emplacement, and grabbed both Ari’s arms, gripping them firmly above the elbows.