I watched her walk away, then I retreated back into the empty room and sat down in a front-row seat – wondering how I’d ever talked myself into believing that I could “explain” Violet Mosala to the world. I hadn’t even known what my own lover was thinking, living with her week after week – so what kind of ludicrous misjudgments would I make with this highly-strung, mercurial stranger … whose life revolved around mathematics I could barely comprehend?

My notepad beeped urgently. I took it from my pocket; Hermes had deduced that the lecture was over, and audible signaling was now acceptable. There was a message for me from Indrani Lee:

“Andrew, you may not fully appreciate what kind of coup this is – but a representative of the people we discussed last night has agreed to speak with you. Off the record, of course. 27 Chomsky Avenue. Nine o’clock tonight.”

I clutched my stomach, and tried not to laugh.

I said, “I’m not going. I’m not risking it. What if Mosala finds out? Of course I’m curious – but it’s just not worth it.”

After a few seconds, Hermes asked, “Is that a reply to the sender?”

I shook my head. “No. And it’s not even the truth, either.”

#

The address Lee had given me was a short walk from the north-east tram line, through what looked – almost – like a patch of middle class suburbia back home … except that there was no vegetation, ostentatious or otherwise, just relatively large paved courtyards and occasional kitsch statuary. No obviously electrified fences, either. The air was chilly; autumn was making itself felt here, after all. The dazzling coral of Stateless gave the wrong impression entirely; the natural cousins of its engineered polyps would not have thrived, this far from the tropics.

I thought: Sarah Knight had been in touch with the Anthrocosmologists, and Mosala had never got to hear of it. She would hardly have spoken about Sarah in such glowing terms, if she’d known there’d been some kind of deal between her and Kuwale. That was pure supposition, but it made sense: research for Holding Up the Sky must have led Sarah to the ACs, who were at least part of the reason why she’d worked so hard to get the contract for Violet Mosala . And maybe the Anthrocosmologists had now decided to offer the same deal to me. Help us keep watch over Violet Mosala, and we’ll give you a world exclusive: the first media coverage of the planet’s most secretive cult.