It occurred to her, also, that Godel's presence might mean the Walker she'd killed had been Kane. There had to be a chance. The possibility was delicious. While she considered, she studied the pictures from the Concordance ship, looking for some scrap of information that might prove useful, but Godel had been equally careful. All she could discern behind the Augur were blank, white walls.
Selene said, “Why have you sent so many ships to such a boring system? There's nothing here but a dead rock.”
Godel, also, kept her features blank – or maybe she simply didn't do facial expressions very well. The question was, would Godel admit her interest in the planet? Did she even know what it was, or had Primo Carious despatched her there as further punishment?
Godel replied. “You and Ondo and the others, you waste your little lives, scrabbling away in the dust of dead planets. Your father wasted his life on his obsessions, and now you are following him. Do you really think you'll dig up the truth, learn our secrets? Do you really think you matter that much?”
The others. Who were they? Interesting. “This world: you're saying there are secrets here? And why have you sent an entire battlefleet if none of this matters?”
“I'm not interested in your little games, Selene Ada. You should have died upon Maes Far like the rest of your heretic rabble, but you can die here just as well. It makes little difference to Omn; he will judge all of us in the end.”
“Where does he stand on genocide, exactly? Is that a sin in his books, or does he approve of the slow, agonizing death of billions of people?” The words were out before she could stop herself.
Godel shrugged, a calculated motion of purest indifference. “Your people were hastened to their judgement. Omn sees no sin in that. Shall I reveal to you his great design? Shall I give you the answers to all your questions, appease your obsessive need to understand what happened three hundred years ago, what it was the Magellanic Cloud encountered? You are going to die here, but I could give you the satisfaction of that enlightenment in your last few seconds. Would you know the truth of Omn, the words revealed to Primo Vulpis? Would a vision of what lies ahead for the galaxy give you a moment of relief in your final seconds?”
Selene withdrew from the conversation temporarily to analyse the tactical situation. It was possible the conversation was intended to distract her, nothing more. The situation hadn't changed: the Dragon and the halo of Concordance ships were converging, and little would happen until they reached weapon range.
“Sure,” Selene said. “Tell me if it would help to get it off your chest.”
Godel laughed a little, joyless laugh, enjoying the power she held over Selene. “Omn opened his Great Eye and despaired at a galaxy tearing itself to pieces. He summoned Primo Vulpis to his side and revealed the divine plan. Soon, very soon, you will see that plan's ultimate unfolding. Did you really think you would be able to comprehend it, scratching around in the ruins of dead worlds, the broken stones of centuries ago? No, I think I'll let you die in ignorance, not understanding what you have been fighting all along, not seeing the truth.”
“Suit yourself,” said Selene, and severed the link.
The halo of Concordance ships was a crumpled sphere as the enemy ships converged upon her. They massively outgunned her, but vast distances and her velocity were going to prevent most of them reaching her. Her tactical predictions were that four Void Walker attack ships would reach beam-weapon range before she could jump, and that two of the heavier, slower Cathedral ships would also reach the outer edges of their missile range. None of the other vessels would get within striking distance. She ran through several thousand predicted engagement outcomes in her head. She survived in 82% of them. So long as she could fend off or outrun the swarming Walker ships, she should survive. Her plan was going to succeed.
Ten minutes later, she fired all but two of her nukes, sending them ahead of her and angling away in all directions. They would give her options, construct a defensive shield. She kept their velocity relatively low for manoeuvrability, fanning them out to give her as wide a screen as she dared. The four remaining Void Walker ships were attacking more sensibly, moving in concert as they angled towards her from different directions, intent on arriving at the same moment to cut off her escape vectors. She controlled her nukes with her brain, thrusting with them as she might a sword-tip, flying at this attack ship, then that one, cutting off the Void Walkers' likely inbound trajectories.
The Walkers piloting the craft knew she could detonate the nukes if they went too near. A game of thrust and parry followed as the Walkers feinted towards her, hoping to draw off the missiles, open up a gap. Each time, she pursued them enough to keep them honest without exposing herself too much. Each second bought was vital. The 75% translation boundary was only minutes away. She'd already crossed the 50%.
Proximity alarms blared suddenly loud in her head, and she felt a shudder run through the fabric of the Radiant Dragon. Whether this had been Concordance's plan all along, whether they'd shepherded her to this point in space deliberately, or whether it was purest bad luck, she would never know. The disturbance in space ahead of her was unmistakable: a ship translating out of metaspace directly in her path, near enough so that she had no chance of avoiding it. A second ghost translation; the odds against it were huge. How it was able to materialise, so close to the star? Perhaps Concordance had thrown many ships in-system to meet her, and
