Her comment appeared to amuse Eb. “And the Dragon could function without me. You know that; I was locked away in here for a long time. There are enough computational layers to handle the metaspace-traversal calculations. Life-support and grav emulation would continue, but in my absence this would be just a ship. A seashell without its living heart.”
“You said you couldn't survive outside the Dragon, but Surtr was able to do exactly that.”
He thought about that for a time, his gaze flicking around the room, although the walls were bare. “The ship is me, now. It has been for a long, long time. I have no desire to be anything else.”
“But could you walk free if you wanted?”
“I don't … no. I could not.”
He didn't appear to be quite as sure of the fact anymore. There was more that she wanted to say to him, but the arrival of a ship in local space caught her attention.
Instinctively, she began running through fight/flight prep, looking for angles, but the Dragon's AI flagged the newcomer as friendly. It was the Falling Fire. Hessia had returned.
Selene opened a comms channel. “I thought you'd decided to stay on Periarch.”
“Oh, I meant to, I really did.”
“Couldn't keep away?”
“Honestly? I'm surprised to still be alive. When the end didn't come, I was confused. Then my sensor network relayed the news of what Surtr had done.”
“I tried to talk it out of saving your planet.”
“I understand why you would.”
“What about all those lagoons and warm ocean currents? Won't you miss those?”
“They're still there, and as lovely as ever. I'll go back one day. But Periarch … it is still a troubled world, awash with frustration and anger.”
“Did you enlighten them about what was happening?”
“I chose not to. My readings of the star confirmed that it acquired a small amount of mass, but not enough to alter its astrophysical nature. If the scientists on my planet notice, it will give them something to puzzle over.”
“We need to decide our next course of action. Will you EVA over to the Dragon?”
“Am I welcome?”
“We need all the help we can get.”
Selene cut the connection and was about to leave, go to meet Hessia, but she stopped to consider Eb. She still hadn't said what she'd come to say.
“I never apologized for forcing you to make the two trips through Dead Space. I thought it was the right thing to do at the time, and perhaps it was, but the cost to you was terrible. I felt it, but I carried on. And when I battered my way through your defences to confront you … I should not have done that, either.”
Eb shook his head as he looked up at her, seeming to see her from great depths. “The damage was inflicted long before you were born. I am grateful to you; before you took control of this ship, I was fading. It is a problem for the long-lived. Your intrusion was not welcome at first, but I am glad of it now. You wakened me from my slumber.”
She wanted to say something more in reply, but couldn't find the words.
This time, only four of them met: Selene, Ondo, Hessia and Eb. She felt the absence of Surtr keenly. She found herself glancing to the corner of the room again and again, expecting to see the statuesque giant watching and listening. Hessia appeared to be aware of what was going through Selene's mind. The Periarch caught her gaze, and nodded almost imperceptibly in acknowledgement.
Ondo sat between them. He still suffered from brief, blinding headaches, but there appeared to be no systemic reason for them. He would heal. He already looked better, a spark in his eyes, his hair swept into some semblance of order.
He grimaced as he shifted in his chair to arrange his limbs, though, and Selene placed a hand on his arm. “Are you okay, old man?”
He dipped his head to peer at her over his multiglasses. “I am absolutely fine. And less of the old man or I'll activate the secret self-destruct bug I planted in your brain.” The return of his sense of humour told her all she needed to know.
Eb, meanwhile, stared at the table in front of him, as if he saw something fascinating in its surface. The short walk to the cartography deck had drained him, but he pulled together a fleeting smile when he noticed Selene looking at him.
Hessia, at least, was full of energy. The survival of Periarch obviously had a lot to do with it. If Selene was reading her physiognomy correctly, she looked amused as she spoke.
“Before we start, I assume you've seen the latest broadcast from Concordance?”
Selene shook her head. She'd been too preoccupied to keep up. She caught Ondo's gaze and saw that he was in the dark too.
“Is it worth watching?” Selene asked.
“I think so, for what it doesn't say as much as what it does.”
“You've checked there's nothing malicious embedded within it?”
Hessia's look was withering. “I've been surviving alone for as long as Ondo.”
Selene acknowledged the point with a dip of her head. “Please. Show us.”
She expected to see the familiar features of Godel projected into the air between them, but instead another Augur appeared.
“Carious,” said Ondo, one eyebrow raised. “That is interesting. The Primo does not normally waste his time broadcasting messages. He leaves that to one of his underlings.”
“These days, mainly to Godel.” said Hessia.
“Yes.”
A question occurred to Selene. “How many First Augurs are there really? Concordance say there are many, but we only know of a few.”
“I can name five,” said Ondo. He held out his splayed hand as if that would help them visualise the number. “As well as Carious and Godel, there's Valomar, Catterbron and Mezzovain.”
“And I've never heard of Valomar,” said Hessia. “They put about the idea that there are hundreds of them, spending their days and years in awestruck contemplation. Like Ondo, I have my doubts. Apart from
