“Eb,” she said. “Have you been following this?”
“I have.”
“Can you control the Dragon from here?”
“I am the Dragon, and I travel where I wish. Although, control is easier the closer I am.”
“Can you lock Ondo out; fly the vectors I call?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Can you also knock him out so he can't interfere?”
“Do you wish me to kill Ondo?”
“Just incapacitate him for now.”
“I could reduce the oxygen levels rapidly. With luck, he'll pass out before he can work out what's happening.”
“He probably already thought of that,” said Hessia. “He might be in a suit now.”
Did Concordance know about Eb? Only if Ondo had told them. She'd have to take that chance. “Do it, but try not to harm him permanently. Keep his brain alive. Do you see his biological readings?”
“I can identify it if he becomes unconscious.”
“Good. Also bring the ship here; we need it to rendezvous with Hessia's vessel.”
“The Dragon is responding,” said Eb. “Ondo's readings suggest he is beginning to suffer the first signs of oxygen starvation.”
She threw another message at him, some ridiculous taunt, hoping to distract him if he was trying to climb into a suit or override Eb's control. She got no response.
She considered the battlefield again. They had an hour before the first attack ships reached them and a third of that time before they could meet up with the Dragon. It was going to be tight, even if Ondo was out of the picture and there weren't unseen variables that she hadn't taken into account.
“Okay, Eb, next question. You're capable of jumping into and near stars. Can you make a jump from here, without having to get the usual distance from the stellar mass?”
He sighed a long-drawn-out exhalation. Despite his transcendent nature, he sounded more and more human with each passing hour. “Yes, I am capable of that, although it will take its toll. The farther out we can get first, the better.”
“If you do this, will you still be capable of making the black hole jump?”
“For a brief moment. It depends upon how close we have to get to the event horizon.”
“Right, good. Hessia, you have to come with us. Your ship has no way out of this system. We'll use the Falling Fire to accelerate to meet the Dragon, EVA across and jump before Concordance can reach us.”
“No.”
“What do you mean, no?”
Eb interjected, “Ondo has succumbed to oxygen starvation and is now unconscious.”
“We'll worry about him later,” said Selene. “Keep him under. He survived hypoxia at the dead star, he'll be okay for a while. Hessia, what do you mean?”
“I'm going to return to the planet, take the lander's drop chute. With everything else going on, they might not notice me. I'll give you full executive control of the Falling Fire. Use it to attack them or set up a diversion. Whatever you think is best.”
“That's madness, Hessia. Concordance aren't going to leave this world in peace. They'll come for you.”
“They don't want me; they want you and they want that bead.”
“You do not know that.”
“I have a pretty clear impression of their intentions. Besides, this swoop dive into a black hole: if you ask me, it's suicide. Even if you succeed, the time dilation might mean you emerge to find that everything is over, everyone is dead. I do not want to return to that. And Ansider … I felt content there. A world where everyone is at peace is a good place for an empath to live.”
“That peace is not going to last very long. We've exposed that planet to the gaze of the galaxy.”
“That's where I'm counting on you to distract them. Carry on being the splinter in their flesh. And then, please, destroy them utterly so I can live my life in peace.”
“I can't dissuade you, can I?”
“You can't.” Hessia sent codes into Selene's brain, transferring control of the Falling Fire. “It is a good ship. Nothing so ancient and impressive as the Dragon, but it has served me well. If it can help you now, then I'm happy.”
Selene checked the unfolding battle. “You should drop to the planet now.”
They embraced for a moment, Hessia having to stoop slightly. Her body was lithe but powerful in Selene's grasp.
“Your forebear, Magdi,” said Selene. “She must have been formidable.”
“I think she was. And I think she might have approved of what I'm doing.”
“Take care down there.”
“I will.”
Hessia climbed off the control deck while Selene assumed full executive control of the tiny ship's AI. Above her, in orbit, the Falling Fire responded, decelerating hard to descend into lower orbit. A swoop all of its own.
The drop chute, a cylinder barely larger than Hessia's body, reported that it was prepped and ready for release. Wishing her a final good luck, Selene released the pod. Through the ship's sensors she watched it plunge groundward, a vanishing sliver of silver. A kilometre from the surface it would fire its reaction drive to slow Hessia's descent. After that, she was on her own.
Ten minutes later, the lander docked with the Falling Fire and they accelerated hard onto the rendezvous vector with the Radiant Dragon. Her plan was for the two vessels to fly in tandem for a short while, and then diverge onto opposing trajectories. There were enough vessels in the tightening Concordance net to contain both ships, but perhaps any slight confusion over which she was on might give her a slight edge. Although, if they knew anything about her, they'd surely know she'd be on the Dragon. The good news was that the Dragon continued to respond to Eb's inputs. Concordance didn't have control of the ship.
With the two craft accelerating on parallel vectors, she nudged them together so that there was only a gap of a metre or so between them. Proximity alarms screamed on both ships but she ignored them. It was exhilarating having her brain controlling two starships at the same time; it was like trying to ride two racehorses simultaneously. She positioned the vessels
