But Korzenowski had not reckoned with a number of problems. First, he had not known that the linking of the way with the Thistledown's seventh chamber would, in effect, whip-snap the asteroid starship out of its native universe, and into another. And he had not figured on the incredibly bad luck of having the experimental gates, opened by remote manipulation before the connection, allow Jarts into the Way and give them centuries to exploit their position.

Korzenowski had retired his corpus into Thistledown's City Memory soon after the first Jart wars, in the wake of the ensuing scandal. Even there, he had been harassed. Finally, radical Geshels, judging him to be a Naderite traitor, had arranged for the purging of his personality records—in effect, assassinating him.

"Then he is dead?" Patricia asked, confused.

"No," Olmy said. "In City Memory, he was supervising the construction of the Axis City. To do that, he placed partials of himself in different locations, to carry on his work more rapidly. The most extensive partials were retrieved by his fellow engineers and entrusted to a woman, who placed them in secret storage. This woman died in an insurrection in Alexandria, a century after Korzenowski's assassination. She was an orthodox Naderite, and at that time her sect did not allow implants. Her death was final.

"A century after that, the final Naderites were driven from Alexandria, and for a time some were kept in Thistledown City. I was born there. And while I was experimenting with the abandoned private memory banks of our apartment building, I discovered the hidden partials of Korzenowski. I was very young then. I only had a few years to become acquainted with the Engineer. But in that time. . .”

Olmy glanced at Ser Oyu. He had kept this secret for centuries and was reluctant to reveal it even now that the time was right. Ser Oyu nodded encouragement.

"In that time, I learned that the Engineer had sought to repay his people for the injury he had done to them, however inadvertently. After the Jart wars, the Geshel-ruled Hexamon decided it was unnecessary to proceed to Epsilon Eridani; the Thistledown's course was uncertain, and, to be truthful, they simply thought there was more potential for settlement and exploration in the Way. They were right, but that did not satisfy the orthodox Naderites. They had lost not their mission in life, but their Earth, and their home universe. So before retiring his corpus, Korzenowski secretly reprogrammed the Thistledown guidance systems. The ship sought out and located the home Solar System, and began a return journey."

"I don't see how I can help," Patricia said.

Korzenowski's partials, when assembled, almost equal the original," Ser Oyu said. "We lack only the final impressed shape, the Mystery, to have him back with us. In his way, we hope to repay him for what he gave us. We hope to let him see his success."

Patricia glanced at Olmy to Oyu, and then to Yates.