He stepped over to open a locker, withdrawing a slim black box. He placed this on a shelf under a mirror, then touched a hidden switch on top. A single orange light on one side blinked into life.

Ty stared at the device in confusion. ‘What is that?’

‘It’s a jamming device. I’m just making sure our conversation stays private, in case anyone’s listening in.’

Ty looked around. ‘What exactly is it you want, Leo?’

‘You’re going to help me make sure the Mos Hadroch gets into the right hands, Mr Whitecloud.’

Ty stared back at him. ‘Who exactly are you?’

Olivarri spoke low and fast. ‘I work for the Legislate, Ty. I can make sure you’re safe when you get back to the Consortium. Nobody will ever find you, and that’s more than Senator Corso could ever guarantee. As far as anyone’s concerned, you’ll disappear. If you cooperate, we’ll give you a whole new life, and you’ll never have to worry about anyone tracking you down again. All you have to do is agree to help me.’

‘So . . . you’re, what? A spy?’

‘I work for the Consortium Security Services. I was meant to bring you into custody along with the Mos Hadroch. Then the Senator decided to take the frigate by force and, by the time I learned about it, it was too late to come up with an alternative plan.’

Ty shook his head. ‘Just what is it you want from me?’

‘Nothing just yet,’ Olivarri replied. ‘Right now I’m just establishing contact. We wanted the artefact where we could run our own tests but, by the looks of it, Merrick and Corso have access to information we don’t. For the moment, we’re going to let them run things the way they want to.’

Ty stared back at him. ‘Then what the hell do you need me for?’

‘We’re concerned about what happens to the artefact after it’s been implemented. It’s a powerful weapon that could conceivably be used to shut down the Tierra cache once the Mjollnir returns to the Consortium – or any other cache, for that matter. That makes it too valuable to allow it to remain in anyone else’s hands.’

So that’s it. ‘But why didn’t you tell me any of this before – when you first contacted me? And what about this ring?’ he asked, bringing his hand up and displaying it to Olivarri. ‘What the hell is it for?’

‘What?’ Olivarri glared at him. ‘Ty, what the hell are you talking about?’

‘What am I talking about?’ Ty laughed. ‘You’re the ones who contacted me.’

‘Ty, no one else in the security services has been in contact with you, apart from myself, believe me.’

‘But . . .’ The explosion, the taxi, the meeting with the avatar.

‘Wait,’ continued Ty. ‘This doesn’t make sense. There was that Consortium agent back in Unity. Who was he?’