Ysbel moved the viewpoint of her window, saw that the table was displaying a real-time feed patched from satellites, somewhere with snow-capped mountains and forests.

‘It is very interesting to look down on the world,’ Goodwill said. ‘Skimming over territories in the twitch of a whisker. Swooping down until you can see individual trees. Everything laid bare.’

He was dressed in a knee-length brocade shirt and high-waisted black trews, and seemed calm and composed.

‘I’m glad to see that you are safe,’ Ysbel said, ‘but you shouldn’t be there.’

‘Your colleagues told me that the meeting place we had agreed on was compromised, and it would be safer to meet here.’

‘There’s been a misunderstanding.’

‘You mean that I have been deceived.’

‘I’ll be landing at the airfield soon. We should meet there. A friend of mine is arranging transport for you.’

‘It is done. A yellow runabout is parked outside the main entrance,’ Zaquil said.

‘Who is this friend?’ Goodwill said.

‘One of my Mother’s little helpers,’ Ysbel said. ‘A kind of invisible spirit that inhabits and controls machines.’

‘Not necessarily invisible,’ Zaquil said.

A young man was standing on top of the display table, feet planted amongst miniature forests and mountains. Tall and slender and sharp-faced, long black hair falling to the shoulders of a red leather jacket with intricate tooling. He bowed to Goodwill and said, ‘Zaquil, at your service. I have been instructed to help Ysbel Moonsdaughter. And she has asked me to help you.’

‘I have heard stories of your spirits and ghosts. I never thought I would see one,’ Goodwill said. He had taken a step backwards, but did not seem especially alarmed.

‘Second-tier helpers are encouraged to develop a body image,’ Zaquil said. ‘It helps us to better understand our interactions with people.’

‘Were you helping Ysbel before? When she and I first met?’

‘I was working on my own then,’ Ysbel said. ‘Mother became interested later on.’

‘Because of the map.’

‘We can talk about that when we meet,’ Ysbel said. ‘There’s a runabout, a yellow one, waiting for you outside the main entrance. Just walk out. No one can stop you – it would violate protocol. After you get into the runabout, it will take you to the airfield.’

‘If I allowed myself to be deceived, it was because I forgot that humans are sometimes less than honest and honourable. Perhaps you can explain the reason for that deception, and why your Mother has become involved.’

‘How much do you know about her?’

‘She is your little god, and lives on the Daughter Moon. Is that where this spirit comes from?’

‘I am widely distributed,’ Zaquil said.