Louise stared at the empty space it left for some time. “Now what?” she asked.
“A few explanations, I think,” Joshua said. “I’d better take you over to Tranquillity for that. You need to clean up and rest. And Genevieve is doing truly awful things to the servitor housechimps.”
Louise began to groan. Her breath stalled as the lush parkland of the habitat quietly materialized around her.
Samual Aleksandrovich had spent the last ten minutes accessing the station’s external sensor suite. Even so, he had to see for himself before he could truly believe. The SD control centre had been alarmed by the number of starships which kept appearing above Avon, but swiftly discovered they were all ships who had been en route to other stars. They’d been snatched from interstellar space, emerging in the designated zones above the planet. Once the First Admiral confirmed they weren’t an attack force, he and Lalwani took a lift capsule to the observation lounge.
The big compartment was crowded with naval personnel. They parted reluctantly to allow both admirals through to the curving transparent wall. Samual looked out in trepidation at space without stars. The station’s rotation slowly brought the galaxy into view; its core shining gold and violet, embraced by the silver shimmer whorl of satellite stars.
“Is it ours?” Samual asked quietly.
“Yes sir,” Captain al-Sahhaf said. “SD command is using the sensor satellites to identify neighbouring galaxies. They correspond to the known pattern, which puts us approximately ten thousand light-years outside.”
Samual Aleksandrovich turned to Lalwani. “Is this where the possessed come, do you think?”
“I’ve no idea.”
“Ten thousand light-years. What in God’s name did this to us?”
“Joshua Calvert did, sir.”
Samual Aleksandrovich gave Richard Keaton a very suspicious look. “Would you care to qualify that remark, Lieutenant?”
“Calvert and the voidhawk
Samual and Lalwani traded a look.
“You seem remarkably well informed,” Lalwani said. “I’m not aware of any communication from
Keaton gave an embarrassed smile. “I apologise that you didn’t know in advance. Nonetheless, Calvert transferred every Confederation world out here.”
“Why?” Samual asked.
“Moving a possessed body through the specific class of wormhole we just came through closes the rift which allows a soul to extrude from the beyond into this universe. He simply did it en masse. The lost souls have all been returned to the beyond. He also brought back all the planets which the possessed had taken away.” Keaton gestured at the empty void outside. “The whole Confederation is here. There is no more possession crisis.”
“It’s over?”
“Yes, sir.”
Samual narrowed his eyes as he contemplated his staff captain for a long moment. “The Kiint,” he said eventually.
“Yes, sir. I’m sorry, I am one of their operatives.”
“I see. And what part did they play in all this?”
“None.” Keaton grinned. “This surprised the hell out of them, too.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Samual glanced out at the galaxy again as it began to slide from view. “Is Calvert going to take us back?”
“I don’t know.”
“The Kiint agreed they would help us with medical supplies if we solved this crisis. Will they honour that promise?”
“Yes sir. Ambassador Rulour will be happy to extend the Kiint government’s full cooperation with the Confederation.”
“Good. Now get your shabby arse out of my headquarters.”
The doors parted before Joshua could datavise his arrival.
“Welcome home,” Ione said. She dabbed a platonic kiss on his cheek.
He led Louise into the apartment, enjoying her little gasp of astonishment as she saw the glass wall looking out over the bottom of the circumfluous sea.
“You’re the Lord of Ruin,” Louise said.
“And you’re Louise Kavanagh, from Norfolk. Joshua talks about you all the time.”
Louise smiled as if she didn’t believe. “He does?”
“Oh yes. And what he hasn’t told me about you, Genevieve certainly has.”
“Is she all right?”
“She’s fine. I’ve got Horst Elwes looking after her. They’re on their way. Which should just give you time to freshen up.”
Louise glanced down at Andy’s dilapidated clothes. “Please.”
Joshua poured himself a hefty glass of Norfolk Tears while Ione was showing Louise the bathroom. “Thanks,” he said when she came back.
“You did it, didn’t you? That’s why we’re here.”
Yeah. I did it. No more possessed.
A plucked eyebrow was raised delicately. And when did you pick up this ability?
A little gift from the Sleeping God.he let the memories flood out directly, showing her and Tranquillity what had happened.
I was right about you, all along.her arms circled round him, and she stood on her toes to give him a kiss.
Joshua gave the door to the bathroom a guilty glance.
Ione smiled wisely. Don’t worry. I won’t mess things up.
“I don’t know what to do about her, Ione. Damnit, I ruled the universe, I was given the answers to everything, and I don’t know what to do.”
“Don’t be stupid, Joshua, of course you know. You’ve always known.”
Brad Lovegrove regained control of his body as if waking from a debilitating coma. Every thought, every action, was dreadfully slow and confused. The whole period of Capone’s possession retained the constituency of a feverish dream, flashes of revolting clarity stitched together by slipstream blurs of sensation and colour.
He found he was sitting at a glass-topped table. It was in the lounge of a five-star hotel suite. A big picture window showed New California sliding past outside. There was a pot of hot coffee in front of him, cups, a plate with a pile of scrambled eggs. A thick pool of blood was spreading over the glass, flowing round the plate to reach the edge. Big scarlet drops splattered onto the carpet around his feet.
A woman in the chair opposite was crumpled over her half of the table. Three quarters of her body was covered in green medical nanonic packages; with a navy-blue towelling robe worn over them. One package from her throat had been removed and placed on the table. The skin it exposed had a savagely deep cut, opening her carotid artery. There was a small fission blade knife nestling in the hand of her outstretched arm.
Brad Lovegrove fell off his chair, burbling incoherently with shock.
