“Thank you.” Ram Olmy handed the old-fashioned memory cubes to Lanier. “You can probably spend a few weeks reading what’s in there. No picts, just text. Father had it translated from picts where necessary. I can give a summary…”

“Please,” Lanier said. “Have a seat.” He indicated a winged-back chair near the hearth. Ram Olmy sat, clasping his hands in front of him.

“The Engineer is going to create a number of virtual universes tonight. To fish out the end of the Way. I think you’ll be able to see the side effects. It’s going to be spectacular.”

Lanier nodded, not sure he was up to spectacular wonders just now.

“The defenses are in place. They haven’t been tested, but soon. I’m assigned to one of the test crews.”

“Good luck.”

“I appreciate your irony, Ser Lanier,” Ram Olmy said. “If all goes well, the Way will be reconnected in a week, and the first test opening will be within two weeks. I hope to be there when it’s opened.”

“Should be quite a moment.”

Lanier hadn’t taken a seat. Karen stood behind him. Ram Olmy looked up at them, eyes calm but body still not at ease. He moved his hands to the chair arms and then clasped them again. Like a young colt, Lanier thought.

“I have a message from Konrad Korzenowski, too,” Ram Olmy said. “Ser Mirsky hasn’t been seen anywhere. The Engineer told me to tell you, ‘The avatar has fled.’”

Lanier nodded. Then he turned and said to Karen, “We’re making the boy uncomfortable, Let’s sit.” They pulled up chairs. Karen offered refreshments, but Ram Olmy demurred.

“I’m built on slightly different lines than my father. Not as efficient, but I don’t need Talsit devices.” He held out his hands, obviously proud of his new material form.

Lanier smiled. Tapi reminded him of Olmy, and that memory was pleasant. Karen seemed less taken by this breath of Hexamon wind.

“Why is your father in hiding?”

“I think he’s expressing some kind of disapproval, but I truly don’t know. We’re all embarrassed by your isolation here. I don’t know of anybody in the defense and protection league who approves of the way Earth’s being treated…”

“But you see it as a necessity,” Karen said.

Ram Olmy regarded her with steady, clear eyes. “No, Ser Lanier. I don’t. The Emergency Laws put responsibility for decisions on the president and Speical Nexus Council. They give us the orders. Disobeying the orders, under these same rules, means loss of incarnation privileges and direct downloading to city memory. That would put me back where I started.”

“How did you pull this duty?” Lanier asked.

“Excuse me…pull?”

“Get this duty.”