Dakota stepped forward and laid a hand over one of his. ‘You’ve changed a lot, Lucas. The man I first met on board the Hyperion could never have got us this far. We need to try to find some way to control the Mos Hadroch that doesn’t involve Trader. If it’s at all possible, maybe Driscoll can work it out before we reach our goal.’

‘And if it isn’t?’

‘Then at least what Trader wants is what we want, for a change. And if he’s lying about that . . . Well, we’ll watch him, Lucas, and we’ll be ready. It’s really all we can do.’

Chapter Twenty

A little more than a day later, Dakota made her way to the Mjollnir’s stern and towards the main hold, an enormous drum-shaped vault that took up nearly a fifth of the frigate’s overall internal space. Taking a seat in an observation blister overlooking its airless interior, she saw the Meridian drones nestled amongst the drop-ships and cradles, and clinging to various bulkheads as if glued to them. Their perfectly reflective surfaces rendered them nearly invisible.

She watched the main doors of the hold swing slowly open, splitting into four quarter-circle slices and revealing a widening cross of starry black. Trader’s yacht hung at the void’s centre, growing slowly larger as it slowly manoeuvred itself inside the hold.

The yacht was the colour of parchment. Its drive-spines sparkled under the hold’s powerful lights. It moved to one side as the doors began to swing closed again, waiting until the grapples took hold of it, pulling it in towards an empty cradle.

Dakota touched a comms terminal, and a moment later a soft chime told her a link had been established with the craft.

‘Welcome aboard, Trader.’

‘Greetings and felicitations, dear Dakota. Awareness comes upon me that the frigate is refusing to extend an airlock connection to my yacht. May I ask why?’

‘You’re going to have to stay where you are for the duration of the voyage. Senator Corso made himself very clear on that point.’

‘Ah, Lucas Corso. I have heard news of his hard journey up life’s stream these recent years. His teeth have grown; now become a predator rather than prey. I gather you’ve had an opportunity to use the Meridian drones already?’

‘I did, yes. Are you sure you trust me with that kind of firepower?’

‘I think of our relationship as symbiotic, Dakota. Our need for each other assures mutual trust. But even those drones aren’t quite enough for our purposes. This frigate remains extremely vulnerable to direct attack, so I propose we acquire shielding of a far more advanced type than that currently available to you.’

‘Where from?’