The rack folded, opening out the suit like a split bread roll. The opening extended down the front, and down the fronts of the thighs. She slid one leg into one of the boot sections, then grabbed the rack, and hung there to get her other leg in. The rack folded back and the front of the suit sealed, thigh pads closing last. The helmet was a ribbed ball cowling of chainglass which, folded down, had the appearance of a thick transparent collar at the back of her neck. She stepped from the rack. Perhaps she was being paranoid, but it had occurred to her right from the start of this jaunt that Pelter now had the means to blast through the airlocks between himself and her. One hint that he might do that—bringing Mr. Crane with him—and she would disable the ship and get out through the lock here. John, she felt, would have to take care of himself. She had enough to worry about.

* * *

As the Lyric continued to decelerate into the Mendax system, Arian Pelter held court in Hold B. He squatted on a case filled with needle missiles while the mercenaries sat, or stood, sipping whatever it was they required after the body’s trauma of cold sleep. He addressed them with curt and exact phrases. Each of the mercenaries was well aware of Mr. Crane standing not far from them.

‘First we have to load the dropbird,’ he said.

‘Could have done that on Huma,’ said Svent. Like Dusache, the little mercenary had scabs on the side of his head, though he had developed a squint on that side too. Apparently he had bought the aug after getting drunk with Dusache. He and Dusache were now standing as far from each other as they could get, and had not spoken since thaw-up.

‘On Huma,’ said Pelter, ‘I had other concerns. And if you interrupt me again with something that is not pertinent, I will tell Mr. Crane to tear off your right arm.’

Svent quietened and stared moodily at the deck.

‘As I said, first we load the dropbird. That should take up the remaining time we have before we reach Viridian. When we launch, I will pilot the bird in. I intend to land it on a lake approximately a thousand kilometres from the runcible. The nearest habitation is a hundred kilometres from there.’

‘Why so far?’ asked Corlackis.

Stanton answered that before Pelter could. ‘Runcible AIs have got some pretty heavy processing power. One hint of anything untoward and Viridian will be on us. Minimum safe distance.’