Metal-hand led him across a large entrance lobby and down a gloomy corridor. They emerged through another set of large doors into a wide room built into the opposite side of the outcrop, looking north. This chamber had wide, tall windows, exposing a vista of storm-blown clouds. In the far distance Zidarov could see the sea, a thin line of white surf under a grey and brooding sky. In all other directions, the empty land yawned off, damp and miserable.

The room itself was furnished like the one before – spotless, almost empty. A pair of black real-leather couches faced the windows. Mordach Terashova sat in one of them, his back to Zidarov, looking out at the view.

Metal-hand took his leave then, closing the doors soundlessly behind him. Zidarov walked up to the other couch, and sat down.

For a while, that was that. Mordach said nothing. Zidarov said nothing. The two of them just looked at the unfolding storm.

‘You have not asked why I wished to see you,’ Mordach said, eventually.

Zidarov looked up at him. The man appeared older than he had done before, as if years had been added in days. His beard had looked lustrous before, now it looked scraggly. His skin was, if anything, paler – almost as pale as Vermida’s.

‘I can take a guess,’ Zidarov said.

‘Guess away.’

‘She’s told you. She’s probably already started separation proceedings. She’s taken half your assets with her to Lascile, and is now so heavily protected that you’ll never get them back. And that thing you had going on with the Vidora, that thing you hoped would take you into the off-world trade routes, that’s all gone, and she’s got it.’

Mordach smiled sourly, still staring ahead. He had dark rings under his eyes.

‘You know,’ he said, ‘when we first met, I didn’t think much of you. I thought you were a regulation plodder, trying to make something out of nothing.’

‘Not a bad description, to be fair.’

‘Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe I should have been more careful.’ He finally turned to face Zidarov. ‘A judge of character. That’s what I always thought I was. You need to be, to succeed. You need to know who to trust, and who to destroy. That’s the essential decision – there’s no middle ground. I thought I could trust her.’

‘But you never loved her.’

‘I only ever loved one person. Dead now, I assume.’

In all probability. ‘I’ve not been able to determine that yet.’

‘But beyond help.’

Zidarov nodded. ‘I fear so.’

Mordach smiled sadly. He was a big man, one who was still physically strong. It was strange, to see him defeated.

‘Can you tell me anything more?’ Zidarov asked. ‘About any of this?’