Bash sighed and finally put his spoon down, then sat back with both hands resting on the table. Okay, he said, what is it?

What? said Megan.

Whatever it is youre thinking of saying to me, could you please just hurry up and say it?

She pursed her lips. Okay, fine. But this is between you and me, right?

Bash cast a long gaze around the deserted refectory. Sure. I promise Ill keep my voice down, in case anyones listening.

Funny. She sucked her lips for a moment. Okay, it has to do with the Wanderer.

Are you still digging through all that stuff? Even thinking about it all makes my brain ache.

Theres just . . . something not right about some of it.

Not right how? he asked.

She put down her own spoon and pushed her bowl to one side before leaning towards him. Do you remember, she asked him, what Gregor told us before we set out? He said that Otto Schellings research staff found out that both the Atn and the Shoal had prior contact with the Wanderer. Thats how they managed to locate it in the Calafat-Holt Cluster.

Sure, said Bash. What about it?

Do you know the name the Shoal had for the Wanderer?

Bash shrugged, playing again with his spoon. I guess theres no reason to think theyd give it the same name the Meridians did.

They called it, she said, the Marauder.

He raised his eyebrows. Sounds ominous.

Doesnt it? I mean, why give it a name like that? she asked. Doesnt it suggest something . . . well, dangerous?

He sighed. I dont know. I guess maybe. How sure are you its an accurate translation?

Well . . .

You did the translation yourself? he asked.

I had to, she replied, a touch defensively. I downloaded some learning modules. We dont have any experts in alien languages on board.

He looked thoughtful for a moment. Have you talked to Gregor or Anil about this?

She hesitated. Not yet.

Why not?

Because Im increasingly sure some of the datas been redacted. There are large chunks missing.

Bash shrugged. Maybe they only gave us the highlights. Or maybe there was stuff they just didnt think we needed to know. Does it matter?

Ive spent a lot of time going over what those researchers dug up on Alyeska, and what Ive found are huge gaps, not just little ones. This isnt the kind of thing youd notice just by casually browsing, but when you run a really deep analysis you find big, fat, glaring omissions. Look.

She scrunched her hand into a fist, and when she opened it again, there was a tiny, glistening ball of light spinning silently just above her palm, visible only to herself and Bash. She slid her hand out from under it, then batted it towards Bash, who closed his own hand around it. She waited, sucking down some more of her broth, while he absorbed the information.