Dragon’s voice boomed from the speakers. ‘Escaped! Escaped! Criminal! Bastard! Damn! Fuck! Fuckit!’

Cormac sat there with his mouth open. So that was what Dragon was doing—it was having a tantrum.

20

20

Chameleon: How often there is confusion and misuse of the extensions of this word. The ‘chameleon-wear’ refers only to clothing made from the photoreactive fibres developed by ECS in 2257. It is merely an effective form of camouflage, and does not render the wearer invisible. It just blends said wearer in with his or her background. The ‘chameleonware’ is a different matter. It is hardware that, using field technologies, can bend light round an object, blank out heat signatures, blur air disturbances, and make said object radar and sonar inert.

From Quince Guide, compiled by humans

Pelter took one pass over the lake before banking the bird and coming on in. The screen, set to infrared, showed him all he needed to see, in pastel shades of blue and green like the negative of a colour photograph. He applied the aerobrakes and noted small contrails that revealed the wings, but that was no problem at this altitude. Through Mr. Crane’s eyes he studied the collapsed bulk of Stanton lying on the floor, and considered how to kill him. His enjoyment at wiping out that arrogant ship captain had quickly faded. Now he surprised himself with the acknowledgement that Stanton’s death was not something he wanted to see. The mercenary had to die because of his intended betrayal, but he had been a good friend for some years. There was a bitter taste in Pelter’s mouth as he watched the lake come into sight. In his aug he called up an image of Stanton and slipped it in to the requisite slot of a program in Crane’s command module. It was the same program he had used for Tenel and many others. He would set it running when he felt ready, and then did not have to watch.