Three Freehold guerrillas kept watch over the prisoners. They were dressed in grey-and-white camouflage, with breather masks hanging from straps around their necks, and all of them armed with rifles. Bash stood amongst them, restrained by a light grip on his upper arm.

No matter where she went, she seemed to find herself surrounded by death.

You didnt need to do this, she reproached Tarrant, her voice a hoarse whisper and her whole body trembling. You didnt need to hurt any of them.

They were trying to hide you from us, snapped Sifra in clipped tones. Now tell me exactly how the hell Jacinth managed to steal the Ship of the Covenant.

She stared at him in utter confusion.

Speak up, Gabrielle, ordered Tarrant. She must have told you what she was going to do. Evie gurgled quietly against his shoulder, one of her hands touching his neck.

I swear I dont have any idea what youre talking about, she replied, completely baffled. She left here to find help, thats all I know. Thats all anybody knows.

Shes lying, snarled the man with the goatee.

No, Anil, said Tarrant, without taking his eyes off her. Just look at her. She doesnt have a damn clue what were talking about. None of them does.

He stepped closer to the frightened woman. Megan was sighted in the immediate vicinity of the Ship of the Covenant, just shortly before it lifted up from Dios. I had people tracking her from the moment she entered the city, and they watched her actually go inside the ship. How could she do that, when so many other machine-heads have failed during all the centuries since that thing landed?

It must be because Gabrielle started to say, almost automatically, then she stopped mid-sentence.

Must be because what? demanded Sifra.

She shook her head. Nothing.

Sifra was now looking dangerously unconvinced. He unholstered a pistol, then gestured towards the kneeling row of terrified scientists. Bring one of them over here, he ordered a guard.

Gabrielle felt sick with dread as a young man whose name was Josh was dragged into the centre of the room, then pushed down onto the floor next to the two corpses. He had soft, dark eyes, and she had often noticed him sitting quietly in the gene lab, studying endless virtual projections of organic molecules. He knelt on the floor with his hands on his head, issuing high-pitched, panicked gasps as Sifra pressed the pistol against the back of his head.

Start talking, Sifra said to her, his voice strangely calm. If you dont tell us right now what you were about to say, your friend here dies. Its your call.

I wasnt going to say anythi

The sound of the gunshot cut off the rest of her words. She stared, speechless, at Joshs slumped form and the dark red crater where the back of his head had been.