“What bothers you about the Ragtime job?” she keeps her face expressionless. Awe has read that old Yoruba kings did this, practised shielding their faces from emotional incontinence, so that the report of their generals could be objective and not swayed by the royal mood. It would work if he hadn’t already seen her face before she came in.

“Nothing, Ma’am.”

“Nothing.”

Awe shakes his head, knowing this is the wrong answer but not having a right one for her. Holds the gaze, though. Not a punk.

“Take me through this, Awe.”

“But we already… okay. Lagos, review number seventeen, Ragtime service. Acknowledge.”

“Good evening, Awe. Acknowledge.” Lagos changed personalities again, most likely because of Secretary Beko. “Panopticon again?”

“Even so.”

The lights change.

Awe and Beko seem to stand in space while the Dyson elements leave the star, form a ring, create the bridge, admit the test satellite and finally welcome the Ragtime.

“Lagos, Lagos, this is Ragtime. All systems nominal.”

The exchange between Lagos and Ragtime continues, with Awe mouthing it exactly. He has listened to the recording so many times and the memorisation is accidental. Beko glances at him briefly, then refocuses.

They watch the robots repair and replace components.

The scan anomaly and rescan correction, right on schedule—

“Stop,” says Beko.

The image freezes.

“You said everything was normal,” says Beko.

“It is.”

Beko shakes her head. “Lagos, mark this spot.”

“Marked.”

“Continue at speed.”

The rest is of no interest.

“Lagos, run again, at thirty-two times normal speed. Keep running until I tell you to stop.”

“Aye-aye.”

Awe is unable to follow anything, but Beko just sits there with unblinking eyes like an Artificial. He can’t leave, he can’t close his eyes. It’s an endurance test for him.

“That’s enough, Lagos. Stop.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Awe, is there an image of the Ragtime’s Pentagram?”

“Yes. Routine.”

“Retrieve it. Go over it byte-by-byte if need be.”

“What am I looking for?”

“You’ll know it when you see it,” says Beko. “Don’t leave this room until you find it.”

“Ma’am, if I may, what’s wrong with the service?” asks Awe.

“Nothing. The service is perfect. An advertisement for our work that is sure to keep MaxGalactix coming back.”

“Then what—”

“Someone was awake when Ragtime came through the bridge. They shut down as soon as the first scan happened. To do that, the Pentagram had to have been involved. Humans don’t just wake up. I’m willing to bet this has something to do with why the Ragtime has gone dark.”

She swirls out and Awe calls his wife to say he’ll be late. Again.

Beko seals her living quarters off, has a shower, lies in bed.

She can’t sleep. Three of the Campion children in her thoughts plus the delinquent Ragtime. She wants to be rested before Awe brings her information, though.