She was insistent, so I held the unit and fiddled with the settings for a few seconds. Eventually, static filled the elevator in a discordant grey roar that ebbed and fizzed for a moment before dying back like a receding wave.

“Alva?” the captain’s voice swam through the noise. “Is that you?”

Clay, Preston and I exchanged glances. The relief was palpable.

“It’s all three of us,” I said.

“Are you okay?”

I smiled. “We’ve been better.”

“Okay,” the captain was sounding tired. “Me too. But listen, I don’t know how the ship’s done it, but it’s been chatting with something living down there, and whatever it is has agreed to let us communicate.”

“How are things up there?”

“Lousy, I’m afraid. We destroyed the first Carnivore, but a Scimitar turned up and now we’re stuck.”

“A Scimitar?” I didn’t know how to react. If the Fleet had arrived, they might consider me a deserter and put me in front of a firing squad.

“Can you ask Preston to talk to them?” Konstanz asked. “Their main man’s his father. Can he convince him to let us go?”

I ran my tongue around the inside of my mouth. “It’s worth a shot.”

“We’ve got nothing to lose. The Conglomeration know there’s something inside the Objects and they don’t want anyone else getting near it.” She gave a frustrated sigh. “I’m sorry if you don’t want to hear this, Childe, but it was they who shot down the Geest van Amsterdam, and unless you can convince them otherwise, they’re going to shoot us out of the sky.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I wish I was.”

I raked my fingers through my hair. This was it. Decision time. Had I really defected to the House, or was I going to throw myself on the mercy of my former employer? Preston and Clay were both looking at me, waiting to see which way I’d jump. Preston rubbed the back of his neck, looking anxious. Clay’s eyes were narrowed, and I couldn’t help noticing the way the fingertips of her right hand had dropped to the knife hilt protruding from her belt.

“Okay,” I said. In my heart, the decision had already been made, and I knew I couldn’t go back. “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll ask the kid to give it a try.”

“Thanks,” Konstanz said.

“Patch us through.”

“Roger that.”

The audio dropped for a second. I heard a busy signal, and then the line cleared. A gruff male voice snapped, “Yes?”

I swallowed. “Admiral Menderes?”

“Who the fuck is this?”

“My name’s Ashton Childe, of the Intelligence Service.”

“Childe?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You were ordered here aboard a Reclamation Vessel.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, an hour ago, that same RV took down one of our Carnivores.”