Excession

(And the Fate Amenable To Change thought coldly about that suggestion. The Cloud Top volume was a long way from here, but that meant nothing. What mattered was that it had been given a relatively precise location within the Cloud Top to head for, and been given the subtlest of hints to watch out for anything interesting while en route. Given where it had been when it had received the suggestion from its home GSV, its route had inevitably taken it near the Excession… Thirty-six days had elapsed between the date the Elench knew they might have lost a ship and the time when it had been dispatched on what was starting to look a little like a set-up… It wondered what had taken place in between. Could some Elench ship have leaked word to the Culture? But then how had such a leak apparently produced such accuracy, given that it, a single ship, had practically run straight into the damn Excession, while the Elench had spent two weeks here with seven-eighths of a full fleet and spotted nothing?) ~ Feel free to ask the Ethics Gradient what prompted its suggestion, it added.

— Thank you.

— You're welcome.

— I'd like to try contacting the Excession. This might be where our comrade disappeared. At the least it might have some information. At most, and for all we know, our ship is still in there. I want to talk to it, maybe send a drone-ship in if it doesn't reply.

— Madness. This thing is welded into the grids, both directions. Know anything that can do that? Me neither. I'm not even going to start feeling safe until there's a fleet of GSVs round here. Heck, I was pleased to see you there; Company at last, I thought. Somebody to pass the time with while I sit out my lonely vigil. Now you want to start poking this thing with a stick. Are you crazy?

— No, but we might have a ship in distress in there. I can't just sit here doing nothing. Have you attempted to contact the entity?

— No. I sent back a pro forma to its initial Hello, but… wait a moment. Look at the signal it sent (signal enclosed).

— There. You see? I told you! That was probably an Elench-sourced handshake burst.

— Meatshit. Yes, I see. Well, maybe your pal did find the damn thing first, but if it did, it probably did exactly what you're proposing to do. And it's gone. Disappeared. You seeing where this is leading?

— I intend to be careful.

— Uh-huh. Was your comrade vessel notoriously careless?

— Indeed not.

— Well then.

— I appreciate your concern. Was there any sign of contention in the volume when you got here? Emergency or distress signals? Voyage Event Record Ejectiles?

— There was this, here (material analysis/location enclosed), but if you want to mention any of this stuff on record you'd better make it look like you just stumbled across the debris, all right?

— Thank you. Yes, of course… Looks like one of our little-drones was caught up in something. Hmm. Sort of… smells subsidiary somehow, don't you think?

— Possibly. I know what you mean. It's untidy.

— Back on record?

— Okay.

— I hereby give notice I intend to attempt to contact the entity.

— I beg you not to. Let me make a request that you be allowed to take part in the Culture investigation when it takes place. I'm sure there is every chance you will be welcome to share in the relevant data.

— I'm sorry, I have my own reasons for considering the matter urgent.

— Off record again?

— All right.

— My records show you to be — to all intents and purposes — identical to the Peace Makes Plenty.

— Yes. Go on?

— Don't you see? Look, if this thing jeopardised your comrade with no more fuss than an escaped little- drone, what's it going to be able to do now that it's had a chance to pick over the structure and mind-set of your sister craft for at least sixty-six days?

— I have the benefit of being forewarned. And the entity may not have been able entirely to take over the Peace Makes Plenty yet. The ship might be inside there, under siege. Perhaps all the entity's intellectual energies are being absorbed in the maintenance of that blockade. That being the case my intervention may lift the siege and free my comrade.

— Cousin, this is self-delusion. We have already dealt with the issue of the minimal extra safeguarding provided by you having been alerted to the entity's potential danger; the Peace Makes Plenty could hardly have been less prepared. I appreciate your feelings towards your fellow craft and Fleet-mate, but it rends the bounds of possibility to believe that something capable of perpetuating E-grid links in both directions is going to be substantially troubled by craft with the capabilities of ourselves. The Excession has not troubled me but then I did not trouble it; we exchanged greetings, no more. What you propose might be construed as interference, or even as a hostile act. I have accepted a duty to observe and won't be able to help you if you get into trouble. Please, please reconsider.

— I take your point. I still intend to attempt communication with the entity but I shall not recommend that a drone approach be made. I have to put all this to my humans, of course, but they usually concur.

— Naturally. I urge you to argue strongly against sending any object towards the Excession, should your human crew suggest this.

— I'll see which way they jump. This could take a while; they like arguing.

— Don't be in any rush on my account.

II

The Torturer class Rapid Offensive Unit Killing Time swung out of the darkness between the stars and braked hard, scrubbing velocity off in a wild, extravagant flare of energies which briefly left a livid line of disturbance across the surface of the energy grid. It came to a local-relative stop a light month out from the cold, dark, slowly tumbling body that was the ship store Pittance, some way beyond the outside edge of the tiny world's spherical cloud of defence/attack mechanisms. It flashed a Permission-To-Approach signal at the rock.

The reply took longer than it would have expected.

tightbeam, M16, tra. @n4.28. 882.1398]

xPittance Store

oROU Killing Time

(Permission withheld.) What is your business here?

oo

[tightbeam, M16, tra. @n4.28.882.1399]

xROU Killing Time

oPittance Store

Just stopping by to make sure you're all right. What's the problem? (PTA burst.)

oo

(Permission withheld.) Who sent you?

oo

What makes you think I had to be sent? (PTA burst.)

(Permission withheld.) I am a restricted entity. I have no duty or obligation to permit any other craft to approach my vicinity. Traditionally Stores are only approached on a need-to basis. What is your need?

oo

There is some activity in the volume which includes your current location. People are concerned. A neighbourly check-up seemed timely. (PTA burst.)