Felka glanced up at her, made eye contact for a second and then returned to the activity she had been engaged in before. Around her, forming a ragged ring, were many tiny parts of hard-shelled sea-creatures: legs and pincers, claws and tail pieces, whiplike antennae, broken scabs of carapacial shell, aligned and orientated with maniacal precision. The conjunctions of the many pale parts resembled a kind of anatomical algebra. Felka stared at the arrangement silently, occasionally pivoting around on her haunches to examine a different part of it. Only now and then would she pick up one of the pieces — a hinged, barbed limb, perhaps — and reposition it elsewhere. Her expression was blank, not at all like a child at play. It was more as if she was engaged in some task that demanded her solemn and total attention, an activity too intense to be pleasurable. Felka… She looked up again, questioningly, only to return to her game. The distant waves crashed again. Beyond Felka the grey wall of mist lost some of its opacity for a moment. Skade could still not make out the sea, but she could see much further than had been possible before. The pattern of rockpools stretched into the distance, a mind- wrenching tessellation. But there was something else out there, at the limit of vision. It was only slightly darker than the grey itself, and it shifted in and out of existence, but she was certain that there was something there. It was a grey spire, a vast towerlike thing ramming into the greyness of the sky. It appeared to lie a great distance away, perhaps beyond the sea itself, or thrusting out of the sea some distance from land. Felka noticed it too. She looked at the object, her expression unchanging, and only when she had seen enough of it did she return to her animal parts. Skade was just wondering what it could be when the fog closed in again and she became aware of a third presence. The Wolf had arrived. It — or she — stood only a few paces beyond Felka. The form remained indistinct, but whenever the fog abated or the form became more solid, Skade thought she saw a woman rather than an animal. The roar of the waves, which had always been there, shifted into language again. ‘You brought Felka, Skade. I’m pleased.’ ‘This representation of her,’ Skade asked, remembering to speak aloud as the Wolf had demanded of her before. She nodded towards the girl. ‘Is that how she sees herself now — as a child again — or how you wish me to see her?’ ‘A little of both, perhaps,’ said the Wolf. ‘I asked for your help,’ Skade said. ‘You said that you would be more cooperative if I brought Felka with me. Well, I have. And Clavain is still behind me. He hasn’t shown any sign of giving up.’ ‘What have you tried?’ ‘Using her as a bargaining chip. But Clavain didn’t bite.’ ‘Did you imagine he ever would?’ ‘I thought he cared about Felka enough to have second thoughts.’ ‘You misunderstand Clavain,’ the Wolf said. ‘He won’t have given up on her.’ ‘Only Galiana would know that, wouldn’t she?’ The Wolf did not answer Skade directly. ‘What was your response, when Clavain failed to retreat?’ ‘I did what I said I would. Launched a shuttle, which he will now have great difficulty in intercepting.’ ‘But an interception is still possible?’ Skade nodded. ‘That was the idea. He won’t be able to reach it with one of his own shuttles, but his main ship will still be able to achieve a rendezvous.’ There was amusement in the Wolf’s voice. ‘Are you certain that one of his shuttles can’t reach yours?’ ‘It isn’t energetically feasible. He would have had to launch long before I made my move, and guess the direction I was going to send my shuttle in.’ ‘Or cover every possibility,’ the Wolf said. ‘He couldn’t do that,’ Skade said, with a great deal less certainty than she thought she should feel. ‘He’d need to launch a flotilla of shuttles, wasting all that fuel on the off-chance that one…’ She trailed off. ‘If Clavain deemed the effort worth it, he would do exactly that, even if it cost him precious fuel. What did he expect to find in the shuttle, incidentally?’ ‘I told him I’d return Felka.’ The Wolf shifted. Now its form lingered near Felka, though it was no more distinct that it had been an instant earlier. ‘She’s still here.’ ‘I put a weapon in the shuttle. A crustbuster warhead, set for a teratonne detonation.’ She saw the Wolf nod appreciatively. ‘You hoped he would have to steer his ship to the rendezvous point. Doubtless you arranged some form of proximity fuse. Very clever, Skade. I’m actually quite impressed by your ruthlessness.’ ‘But you don’t think he’ll fall for it.’ ‘You’ll know soon enough, won’t you?’ Skade nodded, certain now that she had failed. Distantly, the sea mist parted again, and she was afforded another glimpse of the pale tower. In all likelihood it was actually very dark when seen up close. It rose high and sheer, like a sea-stack. But it looked less like a natural formation than a giant taper-sided building. ‘What is that?’ Skade asked. ‘What is what?’ ‘That…’ But when Skade looked back towards the tower, it was no longer visible. Either the mist had closed in to conceal it, or it had ceased to exist. ‘There’s nothing there,’ the Wolf said. Skade chose her words carefully. ‘Wolf, listen to me. If Clavain survives this, I am prepared to do what we discussed before.’ ‘The unthinkable, Skade? A state-four transition?’ Even Felka halted her game, looking up at the two adults. The moment was pregnant, stretching eternally. ‘I understand the dangers. But we need to do it to finally slip ahead of him. We need to make a jump through the zero-mass boundary into state four. Into the tachyonic-mass phase.’ Again that horrible lupine glint of a smile. ‘Very few organisms have ever travelled faster than light, Skade.’ ‘I’m prepared to become one of them. What do I need to do?’ ‘You know full well. The machinery you have made is almost capable of it, but it will require a few modifications. Nothing that your manufactories can’t handle. But to make the changes you will need to take advice from Exordium.’ Skade nodded. ‘That’s why I’m here. That’s why I brought Felka.’ ‘Then let us begin.’
