‘Yes,’ she said, after a moment. ‘Of course.’

I lingered at the open door to the bridge. Rackamore was in there, late in that evening watch, with his back to the door and two booted feet up on the console. All the gubbins looked thrown into place, tangled up in knots of cable and wiring, like an animal’s nest made out of shiny bits of monkey and alien scrap. There were flickerboxes, flickering with views of the ship and the scratchy signals of long-range broadcasts. The green globe of the sweeper sat before him, a yellow bar cycling round and round like a demented clock hand. A yellow smudge sat in the depths of the display, barely fading between cycles.

‘You wanted to see me, sir?’

‘Come in.’ His voice was low, tired. ‘Prozor showed you this room when you came aboard, didn’t she?’

‘Not really, sir. To be honest, Prozor couldn’t wait to see the back of us.’

The captain had a little metal apparatus in his hand. He worked his fingers back and forth against springs, strengthening his grip. It was a habit I had noticed among other members of the crew.

‘You shouldn’t read too much into that. Prozor’s a good sort, deep down. After what happened at the Fang . . .’ But he silenced himself quickly. ‘Never mind. A message came through on the squawk a little while ago, from Vidin Quindar.’ He gave the kind of grimace you do when you’ve bitten into something sour. ‘Quindar’s a man easily swayed by money, Fura. I deal with his sort only because the alternatives are generally worse.’

‘What about Mr Quindar, sir?’

‘He’s asked me to convey to you . . . and your sister . . . that he is now acting in the interests of your father.’

I blinked. I got the words, but not the sense of them. ‘I don’t follow, sir.’

‘Quindar has been hired by your father to expedite your return to Mazarile.’ Rackamore pushed a finger into his brow, like he was testing a bruise to see how painful it was. ‘We were entirely too hasty in accepting the legality of Adrana’s guardianship, it seems. On paper it appeared lungstuff-tight, but Quindar has found all sorts of qualifiers that Cazaray either missed or did not believe relevant to your case. Now it appears that they were.’

‘Hang on, sir. Father’s got no money left as it is. He can’t afford to hire anyone, let alone Quindar.’

‘Where there are ways, Fura, there are generally means. Unfortunately I now find myself on the wrong side of the law, at least as far as the matter of guardianship is concerned.’

‘It wasn’t your fault, sir.’