That seemed to be too much for Mara. She sniffed, and pulled herself upright. ‘It was a military operation, you know. We all accepted it. I told you, we had our duty. But then the Kard’s ships came along,’ she said bitterly. ‘They just swept us up and took us away, and we didn’t even get to say goodbye.’

Tahget glared. ‘Which is why you hijacked my ship and dragged us all to the centre of the Galaxy!’

She smiled weakly. ‘I’m sorry about that.’

Futurity held his hands up. ‘I think what we need now is to find an exit strategy.’

Poole grinned. ‘At last you’re talking like an engineer, not a priest.’

Futurity said, ‘Mara, we’ve brought you here as we promised. You can see your daughter, I guess. What now? If we take you to the planetoid, would you be able to talk to her?’

‘Not likely,’ Mara said. ‘The Kardish troops were stealing the old Ideocracy gear even before we lifted off. I think they thought the whole project was somehow unhealthy.’

‘Yes,’ said Poole. ‘I can imagine they will use this as a propaganda tool in their battle with the Ideocracy.’

‘Pah,’ spat Tahget. ‘Never mind politics! What the acolyte is asking, madam, is whether you will now relinquish your bomb, so we can all get on with our lives.’

Mara looked up at the black hole, hesitating. ‘I don’t want to be any trouble.’

Tahget laughed bitterly.

‘I just wish I could speak to Sharn.’

‘If we can’t manage that, maybe we can send a message,’ said Michael Poole. He grinned, snapped his fingers, and disappeared.

And reappeared in his skinsuit, out in space, on the other side of the blister.

Captain Tahget raged, ‘How do you do that? After your last stunt I ordered your core processors to be locked down!’

‘Don’t blame your crew, Captain,’ came Poole’s muffled voice. ‘I hacked my way back in. After all, nobody knows me as well as I do. And I was once an engineer.’

Tahget clenched his fists uselessly. ‘Damn you, Poole, I ought to shut you down for good.’

‘Too late for that,’ Poole said cheerfully.

Futurity said, ‘Michael Poole, what are you going to do?’

Mara was the first to see it. ‘He’s going to follow Sharn. He’s going to download himself into the black hole air.’

Futurity stared at Poole. ‘Is she right?’

‘I’m going to try. Of course I’m making this up as I’m going along. My procedure is untested; it’s all or nothing.’

Tahget snorted. ‘You’re probably an even bigger fool than you were alive, Poole.’

‘Oh?’