‘Their timing wasn’t very good,’ I said. ‘But they did the best they could. Arrived with a few belongings, some credit, an old robot. After the recession, they had to take us out of school. The fees were too expensive. So now we study at home, under the robot. Father hoped the Lar expedition would dig us out of that hole.’

‘We shouldn’t downplay Malang Lar’s accomplishment,’ Rackamore said, with a touch of forced charity. ‘Every sliver of history we recover is a little less ignorance. A beacon in the darkness.’

‘But it’s not worth anything,’ Adrana said. ‘And when you open a bauble and bring back relics, proper relics that are actually worth something, you usually bring back some history as well.’

‘It tends to happen,’ Rackamore said.

‘But not to Lar,’ Adrana said. ‘Which is why Adrana and I have to join your ship. We’ll sign on, and Cazaray will train us. And we’ll earn your pay.’

‘And then after six months you’ll leave us?’

‘A lot can happen in six months, Captain,’ Adrana said. ‘Perhaps you’ll be glad to see the back of us. Or perhaps we’ll take to the life . . .’

‘Cazaray?’

He leaned in confidentially, while still looking at us. ‘I say we sign them, Captain. Standard six-month trial. Usual terms.’

Rackamore tapped the quoin against the desk, like a judge delivering a verdict. ‘All right, we’ll get the paperwork drawn up. Subject to concluding my business with the sailmaker, we’ll be looking to break orbit in a day. Are there affairs you wish to settle, either of you?’

There was a knock at the door, and a long, pale face pushed through the crack.

‘Quindar,’ said Rackamore, irritated. ‘I asked you to remain outside. We’re not finished here yet.’

‘Beggin’ your pardon, Cap’n, but you might want a little chinwag with the cove who’s just shown up. Calls himself Mr Ness, says he’s the father of the lovelies, and he ain’t too thrilled about developments. Oh, and there’s constables too.’

Rackamore gave a sigh. ‘Show the fellow in.’

Father pushed past Vidin Quindar, and two constables loomed behind him, epaulettes still flashing. Father had loosened his collar, and his hair was dishevelled with worry, as if he had pushed his hand through it too many times. He looked grey.

‘You ran away,’ Father said, shaking his head at the words, as if they had no business coming out of his mouth. ‘You ran from me. Both of you. The constables found what was left of Paladin! That robot was worth half the cost of our house, and now it’s in pieces. The shame you’ve brought on me, on your mother’s good memory . . .’