The view zoomed in again, slowing as it approached a nebula that made Megan think of what sunset in hell might look like. Supplementary data told her she was looking at a Wolf-Rayet star, a bloated ball of gas dozens of times larger than a standard Earth-type, and approaching the end of its life. It had been given the designation C-H45k.

C-H45k was losing mass at an enormous rate, throwing off great sheets of burning plasma that obscured the star itself from sight. Any kind of approach to such a system was going to entail some fairly unique challenges.

It doesnt seem to want to make it easy for anyone to drop by and visit, does it? she muttered.

Sifra chuckled. Just the same thing we were thinking.

This isnt a mere hop or a skip youre talking about, said Megan. Youre talking about a trip of more than fifteen thousand light years. I can think of maybe only a handful of expeditions that have travelled that far. In fact, youre talking at least half a year just to get there.

Then we need to set out straight away, Miss Jacinth, said Tarrant. And the Beauregard is already stocked with every resource it needs for a long-range mission.

Megan nodded. At least that explained the final, mysterious cargo shipment. All right, then. Let me see it.

Pardon me?

The Wanderer, she said. You said there was a fly-by. I want to see what it looks like.

Tarrant glanced at Sifra, who shrugged. All right, said Tarrant.

More images appeared. At first, all Megan could see was a black outline against a field of stars. But then she pulled the projected data into her personal datascape, the lounge around her briefly fading from her sight.

She could make out a massive central body, dark grey and black, with what appeared to be numerous arms extending outwards from its central mass. It made her think of nothing less than the knotted roots of a tree that had just been ripped from the soil and exposed to the daylight. She might have assumed the branch-like structures were drive-spines, if she hadnt just been informed that the Wanderer travelled at sub-light speeds.

The images sent a trickle of ice running down her spine. There was something about those branching structures that made it look as if the Wanderer were reaching out for her, like some ragged and hungry beast amidst a forest of stars.

She exited her datascape, and was aware of Tarrant looking at her expectantly. Well? he asked.

All right, she said, Im impressed. But what makes you so sure I wont turn your offer down?

Psychological profiling says you wont, said Tarrant. And, besides, Mr Bashir assured us that you wouldnt.

Having two machine-head pilots is standard operating procedure for any long-range expedition, said Sifra, and this one is no different. And, as weve already pointed out, the rewards are extremely generous.