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Chapters (50)
  1. Cover
  2. MARAUDER
  3. HISTORICAL ARCHIVES SUBSECTION C/5 category ALPHA
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. EPILOGUE
  46. TIME LINE
  47. SHOAL TRILOGY
  48. EVENTS FOLLOWING EMPIRE OF LIGHT AND PRECEDING MARAUDER
  49. Acknowledgements
  50. Also by Gary Gibson

Bash might be linked directly to the Wanderer, Schelling replied, but Speaker-Elect Gabrielle is not. Therefore, before the Wanderer can make use of her as a conduit into the minds of the Magi ships, we have no choice but to physically transport her to it. After weve merged her with the Ship of the Covenant, of course.

Megan laughed, the sound echoing faintly through the cave system. You fucking idiots, she said, havent you learned anything? As soon as youre in range of it, its going to do its damnedest to steal your nova drive. Ive seen directly into the mind of that thing, Schelling. Its going to tear your ship apart and kill everyone on board the moment you show your faces.

Schellings face coloured. Ive been as polite with you as I can, Miss Jacinth, but only because youre useful to us. And not because I want your opinion, now or ever. He glanced at Sifra. Is the bridge nearby?

We have a specialist checking him over just now, Sifra replied. Hes healthy enough, physically anyway, and his implants appear to be at optimum. Theres no reason not to start immediately.

The bridge. Megan tasted something sour in the back of her throat. They couldnt even allow Bash the decency of calling him by his own name. With just that single word, they had managed to remove his last trace of humanity.

Then well do just that, said Schelling, turning towards the door.

TWENTY-FOUR

Megan

A couple of guards led Megan back out into the main cavern, then into one of the other prefab buildings it contained. She saw two men in the vestibule busily uncrating several medboxes that were clearly brand new. One had already been powered up, its interior glowing softly from within its semi-opaque lid.

These must, she realized, have come from General Schelling himself, as a gift for their Freeholder hosts. The same must also be true of the fabricator she had seen earlier.

They led her further into yet another room. Megan felt her heart skip a beat when she saw Bash seated in a high-backed chair, with virtual panels floating to either side of him.

A device had been fitted on his head that, like the one Tarrant and Sifra had used all those years before, looked like a tangle of black snakes. It was, she recalled, their way of controlling and monitoring Bashs link with the Wanderer.

The elderly doctor who had treated her earlier was leaning over Bash, shining a light into first one eye and then the other. Bash stared blankly ahead during the whole procedure. The doctor nodded to Schelling as he, Tarrant and Sifra entered the room, before stepping past them and heading out of the door.

Tarrant moved up to one of the virtual panels and activated it.