The Thousand Emperors

realized just how powerful the Ambassador apparently was.

‘Over here, Mr Gabion,’ Sachs called to him, his voice sounding thin and far away, as if he was shouting to Luc across mountaintops. The malfunctioning pressure-field continued to flicker on and off further down the hub.

Luc didn’t need any more encouragement and kicked himself across the hub, black dots swimming at the edges of his vision as he struggled for breath. He grabbed onto a handhold and pulled himself inside the passageway, following the Ambassador as he turned, passing through yet another pressure- field.

Suddenly Luc’s lungs were filled with moist, scented air. The Ambassador’s mechants followed them through the pressure-field moments before heavy doors swung into place behind them, blocking access to the hub.

Luc slumped against the side of the passageway, almost drunk on oxygen, while Ambassador Sachs regarded him from nearby, one gloved hand casually slung through a wall-rung.

‘Mr Gabion,’ the Ambassador said with wry humour, ‘we hope this wasn’t just a social call, because your timing is terrible.’

Luc followed Sachs along the passageway and into one of the arboretums with feelings of deep trepidation. These feelings only increased when he saw through its streaked and filthy transparent panes the battle that still raged beyond the fragile dome. He followed the Ambassador over to a low stone bench near the centre of the dome, where tall ferns spread broad leaves above their heads.

‘Why the hell do you want to talk here?’ Luc yelled after him. ‘One of the other domes is already cracked open and you’re losing atmosphere all over the station. If the Sandoz target this dome, we’re dead!’

At first, instead of responding, Sachs turned to face him, pushing back his hood to reveal a close-shaven skull. Then he pinched the front of his mask with two fingers, deftly peeling it away to reveal a mouth that was little more than a lipless line below a pair of indents where a nose should have been. His eyes were wide, and entirely black. Luc stared back at him in shock.

‘Contrary to appearances,’ said Sachs, ‘we are quite human. This body is optimized for survival, and can function in vacuum for short periods if required. In answer to your question, it is our belief the Sandoz forces are intent on capture rather than execution. That is why they are being so cautious.’

Luc laughed weakly. ‘You call what happened back there cautious?’

‘They could have destroyed this station in seconds,’ the Ambassador pointed out, ‘something they have manifestly not chosen to do. And that other arboretum was accidentally destroyed by one of our own mechants during an exchange of fire.’

This is crazy, Luc wanted to yell, but managed to hold it back.

‘All right,’ he said instead, ‘then you should be aware that I know you visited Javier Maxwell in his prison, because I visited him there myself not long after. I learned more about what’s been going on than I ever wanted to.’

The Ambassador regarded him with surprise. ‘How did you know we were there?’

‘By keeping a close eye on you after my previous visit here. When you disappeared from Zelia’s surveillance networks, we realized the nearest thing to your last known location was Maxwell’s prison.’

‘Very impressive,’ the Ambassador conceded. ‘We assume you want to know what we were doing there.’

‘I already have a pretty good idea what. I know Vasili was killed because he’d found out about Cheng’s secret entrance into the Founder Network.’

‘And how did you come by this information?’

Reaching inside his jacket, Luc withdrew one of the two books, holding it up before the Ambassador.

‘Ah,’ the Ambassador replied. ‘We should have guessed. But why bother coming all this way, just to tell us things we already know?’

‘Because there’s still something I don’t understand. Whether or not Cheng was exploring the Founder Network, that in itself still isn’t sufficient reason for the Coalition to threaten war against the Tian Di. So what is the reason?’

A dull boom directly overhead made them both look up at the same time. Luc could just make out something with multiple arms pressed up against the dome’s exterior, twisting around as it engaged at close quarters with a second mechant. The two machines suddenly pulled apart, and for a moment Luc almost imagined they were caught in some complicated dance.

A moment later one of the mechants darted away, disappearing from view in a flash. The second mechant launched itself away from the dome in the next moment, presumably giving chase.

The Ambassador brought his gaze back down to Luc. ‘We see no reason why we should discuss confidential affairs of state with a member of what is, as you yourself pointed out on your last visit, an enemy civilization.’

‘I can give you something in return,’ said Luc. ‘Something you don’t know.’

‘A moment,’ said the Ambassador, who then gazed blankly over Luc’s shoulder. He sat like this, unblinking, for several seconds, then returned his gaze to Luc. ‘We agree to your proposal, but request that you share your information first.’

‘And then you’ll answer my question?’

‘That depends on the usefulness of your information.’

‘All right,’ said Luc. ‘Cheng sent agents to the Coalition, to retrieve some kind of artefact your people recovered from your part of the Founder Network, and they’re going to try and bring that artefact back through the Darwin–Temur gate, assuming they haven’t done so already. I can’t tell you anyone’s name, or anything like that, but