‘What is it?’ Simut leaned closer out of physical habit, one he had not lost over aeons of stasis. His proximity to the data made no difference to its clarity but it felt like it should. ‘What am I seeing?’

‘A faint ripple in space-time, my lord,’ explained Ah-hotep. ‘The echo-wave of dimensional shift engines.’

‘Necron ships,’ said Simut. ‘Where?’

‘Heading in-system,’ the plasmancer replied. The data reorganised to show the incoming craft already at the outer system, moving fast. Dozens of signals blotted out the natural flow of the universe’s energy.

‘It must be Tholotep,’ Phetos said, turning to his master. ‘He leads a fleet to replace us, Lord of the Silver Mountain.’

‘Treachery,’ snarled Simut. ‘Suddenly it all becomes clear, like the sunrise breaking over the Nathor Hills.’

He had no recollection of Nathor, having seen the beautiful range only in broken archive data, but the overlord fancied he had to have been born in such an auspicious location.

‘It is Tholotep that has been working against us! He has manoeuvred us into a trap with the humans, setting a task he thinks we will fail.’

‘To what benefit, Mighty Overlord of the Six Hills?’

‘To rid himself of a powerful rival within the dynasty,’ Ah-hotep answered quickly. She moved even closer, voice barely a whisper, her cortical stream a trickle of data. ‘He is nothing but a glorified administrator, overlord. He desires the credit of success earned by others.’

‘He has always tried to undermine me,’ Simut replied. He looked at the size of the fleet and marvelled at it. If only his cousin had gifted Simut with half of that resource he would have swept away all before him. ‘We must place the resonator before he arrives! He cannot take credit for an act already complete, and his duplicity will be revealed to King Szarekh.’

‘And the humans, Majestic Ruler of the Void-Seas?’ Phetos returned the main data-display to the target planet.

‘Placing the resonator will silence them. The plan does not change.’

‘Yes, my lord,’ said Ah-hotep. ‘With your permission I will continue to monitor the energy streams to glean more data and perhaps confirm the presence of Tholotep in the new fleet.’

Simut granted permission with a nod and a dismissing wave. He returned his attention to the humans, formulating his plan. It would not matter what losses were incurred in the installation of the pylon. Once the planet was under his dominion he would be within his birthright to take Tholotep’s fleet for the continued success of the expedition. Its arrival was timely, and the overlord wondered if his cousin had perhaps seen something of Tholotep’s plotting and despatched him to Simut for just that purpose. This recalcitrant barbarian system would not stand in the way of Simut’s rise to greatness.