Just before Maker descended into the transit hatch, she looked back at me.

“You’re not coming?”

“Not yet,” I said.

She knew. “You’ll give yourself up to them?” she asked.

“A poor plan, probably my last. Don’t even think of joining me.”

She watched for a moment. “You never did like Builders much, did you?”

“Not much.”

“Well, you’ll need this,” she said, and removed her armor. It unwound and floated free of her limbs and torso, still quivering, as if reluctant to leave her unprotected. She pushed the compacting bundle my way. “It won’t be much use to me in stasis. But … you knew I’d leave it for you, didn’t you?”

“I hoped as much. It’s tough to survive an exploding ship in one’s underwear.”

“I’d rather stay with you,” she said.

“No doubt.”

“Or you can enter stasis, and I’ll direct the ship.”

“Not an option.”

During our exchange, Catalog had not moved. “I have been instructed to stay with the Didact at all costs,” it said. “My carapace is capable of surviving vacuum and other inclement conditions. It may be tougher than your armor.”

Spoken with real courage. Despite myself, I was touched.

“We are shamed by this example,” Sharp said, eyes downcast.

“We all serve,” I said, and to Catalog, “Stay, then.”

“I will tell them what you did, if I live,” Maker said.

“Do that,” I said.

The slithering, sibilant noise of grapplers surrounded us. Maker vanished down the hatch, followed by Sharp, who lifted his hand and touched his chin.

“An honor to serve, Didact.”

“Go … friend,” I said.

I never saw them again.

Catalog remained. I was suddenly glad not to be alone. For the first time in many thousands of years, I felt real fear. No shame in that. I had seen what the Flood did to Forerunners.

Together, Catalog and I set about finding a way to destroy the ship.

String 8

STRING 8

LIBRARIAN

AUDACITY INSERTED ITSELF into a wide elliptical orbit around the first great mass … over a perfectly reflective surface. We came out of our glassy slowness to see a faint, greenish glimmer moving deep within the sphere, tracking our close approach.

It then leaped ahead, as if asking to be chased.…

Obviously, this was not just a reflection of our ship.

Keeper spoke first, face glowing with excitement. “It could be a probability mirror,” he said. “If so, it reflects light within a narrow stretch of time as well as space. If it treats our immediate light so … Reforming our traces, correcting our short-term entanglements … The spheres might be an early method of reconciliation!” Keeper said.

“Precursor?” Chant asked.

“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “Precursors seemed to have other ways to deal with causality.”

“About which we know nothing,” Clearance added.

Keeper shrugged this off. His excitement was too great to allow the Miner’s reminder of Builder limitations to bother him.