“Mirsky was there,” the president said. “And oddly enough, Garry Lanier, who has died…. Ras Mishiney tells me that he forced Lanier to have an implant. I don’t approve of that, but there’s little I can do to Mishiney…except guarantee he never rises above Terrestrial senator. At any rate, the implant did not retain Lanier’s personality. Somebody else was found in it: somebody missing and accounted as dead for twenty years. Lanier’s daughter. Who brought her back?”

Korzenowski gave the slightest shake of his head.

“Ry Oyu was there, also. He spoke with me. Lanier and Mirsky said very little. The gate-opener frightened me. He reminded me of higher duties, duties we once accepted as part of our responsibility in the Way…To utilize the Way in a manner that would ultimately benefit all of our clients. And he told me that you are going to start a crimp in the Way soon, which will eventually destroy it.”

“Yes,” Korzenowski said.

“These avatars can apparently go wherever they wish. Lanier and Mirsky are gone now. We won’t see them again. The gate-opener is still with us. He says his work is not finished…Though nearly so, if you’re still convinced.”

“I am,” Korzenowski said.

“This goes beyond immediate politics, no? We are both in key positions. I have the power to interfere in the plan. Or I can stand aside and let it proceed, even make it easier for you.”

“Yes, Ser President.”

“The Jarts are no longer our enemies?”

“Perhaps not, Ser President.”

“They will not attack Thistledown? They’re willing to give up the Way, and all it means to them?”

“I don’t know. Olmy’s Jart—” Korzenowski stopped, hoping he hadn’t told Farren Siliom something he didn’t know.

“I’m aware of Olmy’s Jart, though I think the Jart now has Olmy, not the other way around.”

“It’s probably responsible for the Jarts pulling back from the end of the Way. A signal was sent, informing its kind that humans had definitely communicated with what they call descendant command. Mirsky’s Final Mind.”

“So Ry Oyu told me.”

“They probably won’t attack us unless this is disproven, or remains unconfirmed.”

“I can’t imagine the Jarts giving up anything, certainly not the existence they’ve fought for, the privileges they value so highly. Could humans be so magnanimous?”

“We’ve both lived a contradictory existence the past year, Ser President, working for the Hexamon rather than ourselves.”

“That’s our sworn duty.”

“Yes, Ser. But there are higher duties. As you’ve said.”

“Do we know what would happen to the Hexamon if we were to persist and keep the Way open?”

“No.”

“Is it possible descendant command or the Final Mind would find a way to persuade the Jarts that the Way must be closed, and the Hexamon must be destroyed in order to do that?”