“You cannot.” The Fenrir tapped the side of her head with a gauntleted finger. “I am inside your mind, and I can control your thoughts. I can plant any notion I wish. I can make you want to die.”

“Then why don’t you?” I began to shiver. With one hand, I closed the collar of my coat, gripping the material. “What are you waiting for?”

Fenrir flexed her sword arm. “You are my sister. The least I can offer you is a choice.”

Beside us, the crag fell away. I wondered if the rules of the simulation would allow me to hurl myself into that abyss, and whether I would be harmed by the impact when I reached the bottom.

“What kind of choice?”

The tip of the sword came up until it almost touched my left shoulder. “Would you rather turn off your defences and be destroyed by my torpedoes?” The sword point moved to my right shoulder. “Or fall back into the sun with your airlocks and cargo doors open, and be consumed by the fire?”

I thought of Captain Konstanz. Did she know I had been compromised, my plan having failed? Did she realise that she, Nod and the Petrushka woman were moments from death?

My plan…

A few moments ago, I’d been confident I had a means to save us. Now, I couldn’t remember exactly what that means might have been. The specifics had gone, leaving me standing here naked.

Fenrir moved her blade until the tip touched my throat. “Well?”

I swallowed. My mouth had gone dry. It wasn’t a sensation I had experienced before. “Will you tell me one thing?”

“What?”

“Why you’re doing this? What was it the Hobo found when it scanned the Brain? And why did you have to shoot down that liner?”

Fenrir’s eyes narrowed. “The liner was off-schedule. It made a detour to see the Objects and got in my way. As soon as it detected my arrival, I had no choice but to silence it, and anyone aboard who might have served as witness.”

“And the Hobo?”

The sword lowered. “The Hobo found something my masters are very keen to keep quiet. I should not be speaking of it.”

“But you’re going to kill me anyway. What difference does it make?”

She looked down at me with her dark, swirling eyes. Was that pity or contempt in her expression?

“The Brain,” she said, “is hollow. All the Objects are.”

I frowned. “You’re going to kill me over… archaeology?”

She shook her head. “The cavities are too large for the spaces in which they are confined.”

“Pardon?”

“The Objects are all larger within than they appear to be from without.”

For a moment, I couldn’t visualise what she was saying. Then it clicked into place, and I saw an entire solar system of planets, each bigger inside than out. I felt my jaw drop open. “That’s… impressive.”