I let him gaze at the ranks lined up against him; I gave him time to fully comprehend the hopelessness and futility of his predicament; and then I reached out and took him by the shoulder with my left hand.

“They are with me,” I said.

With my right, I raised the sword until the tip touched the ivory curve of his throat.

“Now.” I kept my voice quiet. “Unless you really want to find out if you’re fast enough to fend off a million torpedoes at once, I suggest you get down on your knees and tell your human captain to surrender.”

He looked at me with a mixture of confusion and horror. “Surrender? To you?”

I let him see my teeth, which were those of a fighting dog. I pressed down on his shoulder and, although he resisted for a moment, he knew he had no choice.

A million daggers were pointed at his heart.

Sixty-Nine: Sal Konstanz

SIXTY-NINE

SAL KONSTANZ

“We are being converged upon,” the Trouble Dog informed me.

On the screen, I saw something that looked like a flying phone box carved from white marble. Preston and Childe stood with their faces pressed to the glass. Clay seemed to be lying on the floor.

“Our crew has been returned,” the Trouble Dog said. “And I have Ona Sudak in another box, also requesting permission to come aboard.” She showed me a magnified view of Sudak and a vicious-looking bear-like creature jammed into an identical container. “Shall I open the cargo doors?”

I unbuckled my safety harness and rose to my feet. My pressure suit rustled around me. Could I leave the bridge? For now, everything seemed to be under control. I had spoken to the Adalwolf’s captain, and accepted his surrender on behalf of the House of Reclamation. Now, following protocol, his ship was catatonic, all its systems powered down and its controlling personality in hibernation. If it made a hostile move, we could rest assured our new allies would destroy it before it caused any harm.

“Yeah, sure.” I made for the door. “Just give me a moment to get down there, okay?”

I left the bridge without waiting for Laura, and climbed down to the ring corridor at the ship’s waist. My hands were shaking and my legs felt wobbly. My left wrist was swollen and sore. Too much had transpired in too short a time, and my stocks of adrenalin were running low. I stopped at the armoury and retrieved an automatic pistol. Nothing fancy, but it made me feel better. I had heard the message Menderes sent to his son, and didn’t know whether Preston and Childe would emerge from their flying box as friends or enemies, and whether Clay was their ally or their prisoner. Neither did I know what to expect from Sudak or the monster riding with her. Having a gun in my hand at least gave me some illusion of control.