“And what about Surtr? Can you read anything off it?”
Surtr had been party to their conversation, but hadn't commented or even moved. Now it stirred, shifting its weight as if the question made it uncomfortable.
Hessia turned her head and looked up at Surtr. “Yes, the Aetheral. I honestly doubted Ondo when he said you had joined up with one, but I can tell that you, at least, completely believe that's what this entity is. The question is, what are we to make of this miraculous being?”
“You know what Aetherals are?”
“I've heard all the stories, but I seriously doubted they were real. Or, if they were, that I would ever encounter one.”
“That's why you agreed to meet us.”
“That's one reason, but actually not the main one.”
Surtr finally spoke. “Are you able to perceive a synaesthetic aura around my head?”
Hessia looked amused at the question, if Selene was reading her expressions correctly.
“What do you think I'll be able to see?” Hessia asked.
“I assume nothing, and that I am an entirely constructed mechanism.”
“Interesting you would think that. Well, you'd be wrong, I see a very clear aura. Nowhere near as bright as Selene's, but it's there.”
“I am … organic?”
“You have some elements of that in your makeup. Part of you is, or was, biological. As I say, I believe such distinctions were once much less useful. Perhaps they were meaningless.”
“What do you read off Surtr?” Selene asked.
Hessia still addressed the Aetheral. “Should I tell her? They're your private emotions and responses.”
“Yes.”
Hessia gazed up at Surtr for a moment longer. “Right now, I'm mainly getting confusion. You're struggling to come to terms with everything you've encountered recently. You're ruminating, restructuring your thought-patterns, like a pupating insect. There's also a strong streak of revulsion within you at things you find repellent.”
“What does it find repellent?” Selene asked.
“I can't tell. I pick up emotional states, not thoughts.”
“I assume you've at least worked out you can trust us,” said Selene. “We are what we say we are, and we do need your help. The question is, how do I know I can trust you? I have no empathic abilities.”
The Periarch's gaze returned to Selene. “You don't know you can trust me, but I haven't killed you yet, and you're the one who came to me for help. We can go our separate ways if you prefer. It doesn't make much difference to me.”
“That's not a very empathic thing to say.”
“Isn't it? Perhaps you're confusing sympathy with empathy. Just because I can pick up your emotional states doesn't mean that I approve of or appreciate them.”
“Are you saying you don't approve of us?”
“Honestly? I think you and Ondo are dangerous. You goad Concordance, and you put everyone trying to live peaceful lives outside their control at risk. You stir up trouble constantly, make people take risks to fight back. So, no, I don't approve.”
“Why are you here, then? What's your other reason for agreeing to meet us? There must be something you want, if I'm reading you correctly.”
“Very good. First I need to decide what your intentions really are.”
“Why don't you deactivate all the killtech and see what we do?”
Hessia thought about that. “I will. Your emotional response will be interesting. Relief or excitement at finally being able to attack? We shall see.”
In a rapid sequence, the drones encircling them flipped their noses up and peeled away, disappearing in a single line into the darkness.
Selene watched them go. “Good. Now can we get off this rock and talk properly?”
“On Surtr's ship?”
“Sure.”
Hessia considered for a few more moments, probably sifting through the layers of Selene's emotional responses, looking for any signs of duplicity or malign intent.
Eventually, she said, “I will trust you that far. But you should know that I have considerable firepower at my disposal. It may or may not be able to scratch the voidhull of an Aetheral's vessel, but I'll happily die finding out.”
“Let's hope it doesn't come to that,” said Selene.
An hour later, Selene sat opposite Hessia in one of the featureless rooms on Surtr's ship. Surtr itself stood against one wall, not moving as it listened in, looking more than ever like stylized robotic statue.
Hessia was tall and willowy. She put Selene in mind of deep-sea plants waving in the wash of invisible currents. Civilisation on Periarch, she knew, had developed on atolls and around lagoons, and people from that world retained a deep love of the ocean. Perhaps it explained the direction Hessia's life had taken: she'd cast herself adrift, alone, on the greater waters of the galaxy. There was something broken about her if you looked closely, though. Or, not broken exactly, but there was a flaw in her, a crack. She had a tendency to wince when you spoke to her, as if being exposed to your emotional state was painful for her.
She found herself warming to Hessia; the Periarch retained a cynicism and an abruptness that Selene found refreshing. She was also self-deprecating once her guard was down. They'd walked about Surtr's ship together, and Hessia had been visibly awed by what she'd seen. She'd muttered to herself more than once about how Surtr's vessel put her own to shame. This is incredible; I had no idea, and I live in a fucking hovel compared to this. Like Ondo, she had a tendency to talk to herself.
“You said Surtr was not the main reason for agreeing to meet us,” said Selene.
“The truth? It's a family history thing. I saw Ondo's
