She had flown little more than forty kilometres, was still following the railway track as it cut through forest and swamp, when her link dropped its connection with the flitter’s controls. She grabbed the stick and switched to manual, but that wasn’t working either. Someone or something had taken charge: the flitter was descending in a long glide, dropping neatly between the trees on either side of the railway and touching down lightly, its skids straddling the single track.

Her link had also lost its connection to the grid. The flitter’s comms had switched off and wouldn’t reboot.

‘You found me,’ she said, certain that whoever had taken control of the flitter was watching her. ‘And now you can tell me who you are and what you want.’

No reply. She waited a couple of minutes, then cracked the hatch and climbed out. Cool, still air. The clean scent of pine trees. Birdsong, and a hollow, staccato percussion in the distance, perhaps a woodpecker. The flitter perched on the track like a monstrous insect, a wedge of sunlight gleaming off the transparent bubble of its cabin, the cable and the wreckage from the bear’s cage tangled under its belly.

Behind her, the railway stretched straight as a ruled line; ahead, it curved east, disappearing into the forest’s green distances. Nothing moved in the shadows under the trees and the narrow strip of blue sky between their sawtoothed crests was unblemished, but she had a strong, spooky feeling that she was being watched.

‘Show yourself,’ she said, and startled when a spark kindled in front of her, lengthening and broadening into a familiar figure.

‘I might have known,’ she said.

‘It is good to talk to you again, Ysbel Moonsdaughter,’ Zaquil said.

‘How long have you been eavesdropping?’

‘You severed our link, but I found your new bot network to be very accommodating,’ Zaquil said. ‘I enjoyed your conversation with the arbiter and her friends. It was a lively exchange.’

‘Am I under arrest?’

‘This isn’t my doing.’

‘Then it has to be Iryn Moonsdaughter. Tell me I’m wrong.’

‘Two agents under her command will be arriving shortly.’

‘If she wants to talk to me she could have waited until I got back to Ogres Grave.’

‘She is presently in Concord.’

‘What is she doing in Concord? No, wait. There’s only one likely reason. It’s Goodwill, isn’t it?’

‘I cannot say.’

‘You don’t know, or you can’t tell me?’

‘I don’t know everything, Ysbel. Surprising as that may seem.’

‘Then restore my link. Patch me through to her.’

‘I’m afraid I cannot do that.’

‘One day I’d like to meet the person who made you. Explain to them where they went wrong.’

‘I was not made, Ysbel Moonsdaughter. I grew from a seed, and learned how to become useful through training and experience.’

‘You need more training. And more experience, too.’