A tide of fatigue threatened to swamp Ty. Living in a state of perpetual terror, he had found, required a great deal of constant energy. ‘Look, Mr . . .’

‘Lamoureaux.’

‘Mr Lamoureaux, I can’t tell you how grateful I am for what you did back there, but what happens if I answer your questions? Are you going to take me back to be executed, once you’ve got what you need?’

‘No,’ Willis replied. ‘You’re under our jurisdiction now, but we’re going to have to get you out of Ascension before Kosac or someone like him figures out a way to change that. But in return we expect your full and unhesitating cooperation. If we think you’re holding out on us, or being less than honest for one second, then, yes, you go straight back where we found you.’

‘Why,’ asked Ty, ‘is it so important that you know about the Mos Hadroch?’

‘Tell us exactly what you think it might be, for a start.’

The transport took a series of fast turns, slinging the three men from side to side. Whoever was in the driver’s seat – assuming the vehicle wasn’t automated – was in a hurry to get to their destination.

‘I said it referred to a machine for passing judgement, but the modifier “Mos” could mean “weapon” equally as much as it does “machine”. The Atn are a notoriously uncommunicative species, and that fact unfortunately means that sometimes all we have to go on is educated guesswork.’

‘There are academic papers that seem to suggest the Mos Hadroch is some kind of god,’ said Lamoureaux.

Ty made a dismissive noise. ‘Laroque’s idea. The man’s an idiot. There’s nothing to suggest the Atn share our concept of deities. I’m not sure they’re even really sentient, at least not in any way we ourselves can understand. Where I do agree with Laroque is that they’re an artificial species of some kind, but if there was ever a purpose behind their creation, it’s either been lost to time or they just don’t want to tell us. All the evidence suggests they haven’t evolved or changed in any significant way in millions of years. They’re more akin to intelligent space-going termites than anything else.’

The transport came to a sudden stop, and Ty nearly slid out of his seat. The hatch clanged open and Lamoureaux climbed out first, while Willis gestured for Ty to follow the machine-head into the bustling noise beyond.