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Chapters (36)
  1. Title Page
  2. Acknowledgements
  3. Prologue
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. Epilogue
  34. From Neal Asher
  35. Praise
  36. Copyright Page

‘Yes, and I want to be there to see it destroyed. I know remote detonators could—’

Chaline interrupted. ‘Are you out of your minds? Destroy another runcible?’

Blegg’s voice was as smooth as a snake. ‘If that is what it takes, then that is what will be done. Y’understand?’

Cormac wondered if Chaline could smell the garlic on his breath and see the flecks of gold in his eyes.

‘Right,’ said Chaline tightly.

Blegg had a mandate from Earth Central. He could be argued with—but it was a pointless exercise.

‘Will you arrange all that, then? I want a proton weapon left in the containment sphere. You’ll have to turn off any proscription device in the sphere for that. I also want a fast AGC beside the runcible, with a covered walkway leading to it. Put three coldsuits in it as well.’

‘We’ll contact y’when everything is ready. Dragon will be told.’

‘Good, after you make contact with us, we’ll be flushing the Maker out with the CTDs. That’s all.’ Cormac rested his fingers on his bottom lip and stared at the console until the transmission was broken. ‘Dragon probably heard every word of that,’ he said. ‘It put a lock on the information concerning the arrival of its dracomen on Samarkand, so it has access to the grid, and I think its tracking down of this Maker to Samarkand confirms that. It will, accordingly, discover all that has happened here. Very little information will escape it.’

‘Are you going to tell us what you’re up to?’ asked Thorn.

‘I haven’t quite got it all sorted myself. I am, as Blegg might say, giving myself leeway for subterfuge. I’m afraid you’ll have to be content with that for now. What you heard then is all you need to know.’ He centred his attention on Aiden. ‘Aiden, I want you to open a channel from my comunit to Viridian. Preferably through underspace, coded and random scrambled.’

Aiden nodded. They all waited for Cormac to say more.

Thorn became impatient. ‘Now?’ he prompted.

‘Now? Well, I haven’t eaten since yesterday and I’m hungry. I suggest we eat before heading out. Pelter needs to be dealt with. I can’t have an imponderable like him about while I’m dealing with . . . other things.’

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