The Thousand Emperors

<Luc, I sincerely hope you’re not implying that I caused that breach.>

<Antonov said the message was for someone who’d done something they shouldn’t have, a long time ago. The fact that he had me alter that particular record tells me that that something must have been the containment accident. And the first thing that happened after I’d altered that record was you first bringing me to Vanaheim, then sneaking me off to your own lab the instant I collapsed.>

<That’s preposterous,> she scoffed. <How could I even know any such record was altered?>

<I figure my changing that record triggered a prearranged signal. It was a way for Antonov to contact you. So yes, I think you were the one responsible for that biotech accident, but after you covered it up, Antonov found out the truth and held you to ransom against the day he needed something from you. I also know there’s no way I would have been able to alter that record without revealing my identity, and that’s why you brought me into the investigation – not just because you were desperate to avoid being exposed, but so you could try and figure out how I fit into the scheme of things.>

<And what possible advantage could Antonov gain from all this?>

<Access to Vanaheim,> Luc replied, <through me, even after his physical death.>

<I should leave you there in that jungle to rot,> she hissed. <You have no real understanding of what took place on Thorne – it was an accident, but one that involved secret research carried out on behalf of an internal committee of the Eighty-Five. They made me take a bullet when they removed me from my post, not that it would have made a difference to Antonov. He thought I was little better than a butcher, same as you clearly do.>

<What I think about you doesn’t matter. And I don’t need to come to you to tell you what I know – Vasili found out the location of a secret data-cache belonging to Cheng, one containing the proof of Ariadna Placet’s death – and Cripps murdered him for his efforts. And he would never have found that cache without Antonov’s help.>

<You’re not seriously suggesting Vasili and Antonov were working together? >

<Why not? You were collaborating with Antonov, whether you liked it or not. But Vasili found much more than he’d anticipated in that data-cache, enough to exonerate you and get me out of Vanaheim alive if I can find it. Which brings me to my next question – I need you to tell me how to find Vasili’s island.>

Luc’s fingers reached out and touched the edge of the book he’d taken from Maxwell’s prison, still tucked inside his jacket. He’d save the revelations about the Founder Network for the moment.

<Vasili’s island? Why?>

<There’s something there I need to try and find.>

<Tell me what.>

<No, Zelia. I’m not sure if I trust you well enough to hand you all my cards.>

<Then that leaves us at an impasse,> she replied, <because as I think I already made clear, trust does not come easily to me.>

<Then think of this as a new and life-enhancing experience,> he responded, feeling his temper slip, <unless you really think you can dig your way out of this mess without my help.>

He waited a long time before her response came. So long, in fact, he was starting to think she had cut the connection.

<You’re only going to get yourself killed if you go anywhere near Vasili’s on your own, you understand that, don’t you?> she said, when she finally came back.

Luc let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. <I’ll take that chance.>

<His house mechants will have been set to guard against intrusion. You can’t fight them on your own.>

He waited in silence.

<Damn you, I . . .> She paused. <Fine, Gabion. You win. I’ll give you the coordinates to his island. But I want you to wait at least an hour before you leave for there.>

<What are you up to, Zelia?>

<I’m not trying to stop you, Luc. But I meant it when I said you can’t do this on your own. Just wait an hour before you leave for there – agreed?>

<One hour> he said, and cut the connection. Despite his misgivings, he knew she was almost certainly right.

Luc reached Vasili’s island a little under two hours later, having travelled more than a third of the way around Vanaheim’s circumference. The flier dipped back down through the cloud cover and dropped towards storm-tossed cliffs he had first set his eyes on just days before.

Words materialized in the air before him, floating against the dim light of the cockpit. UNAUTHORIZED APPROACH. PLEASE TURN BACK OR SEEK CLEARANCE.

Ignoring the warning, he guided the flier to a landing on a rocky beach by a cliff on one side of Vasili’s island before disembarking. He squinted into bright sunlight, then looked around until he saw the steps cut into the cliff that he’d spotted on the way down.

Just before Luc reached the top of the cliff, something dark passed overhead. Immediately he froze, afraid he might have triggered the house security systems.

The dark shape resolved into a large craft, nearly twenty metres in length. It came to a halt over the roof of