‘Just tell me what the deal is, Proz. How many days do we actually have when we get to the bauble? You told Trusko it was five, if he took the faster crossing . . .’

She cut over me.

‘It’s two.’

‘Two.’

‘You heard it right the first time, girlie. Two days, from about the time we make orbit. Two days to get the launch down there, rig up the winch, go down the shaft, find the Ghostie rooms, haul the loot back up . . . and get away before the field thickens over us like god’s own scab.’

The fear that went through me then sucked the cold out of my bones just as hungrily as the catchcloth had done.

‘Why did you lie? Why did you tell him we had five whole days?’

‘Use your grey – if that skull ain’t already cooked half of it to mush. Trusko wouldn’t go near the Fang if he knew how tight the margins were. Cove’s afraid of his own shadow. The only thing that’ll get him close to the Fang is a big dollop of lies. So I gave ’em to him.’

‘When you went into the Fang the last time, how long did you need?’

Prozor’s jaw tensed. ‘Three days. But that was different.’

‘Different – yes. And barely enough. Two days is madness.’

‘Then it fits in nicely with the rest of your plan, don’t it? Infiltratin’ another crew, twistin’ their plans, goin’ after Ghostie stuff like that’s a good idea . . . and all to set ourselves up as a treat for Bosa.’

‘You should still have told me. You were planning on telling me, weren’t you? Or was it going to be secret between you and your notebooks?’

‘Course I was goin’ to tell you,’ Prozor said. ‘But what you didn’t know now wasn’t goin’ to hurt you.’

Surt passed me Paladin’s broken head just as gently as if she were handing over a newborn baby. I cradled it between my fingers, hardly daring to hold it any tighter in case I did more harm to the dome than what was already present.

‘I’ve done what I can,’ she said. ‘Ain’t dead, I think, but whatever happened to him must’ve had him shutting down every part of his noggin he didn’t need. Core consolidation’s what they name it. Were you there when the damage happened?’

I thought back to Neural Alley, to Quindar and the constables, to the head of Paladin flying over the constables like a glittery ball.

‘I was. And it weren’t pretty.’