“Something’s blocking an extractor rig ice-feed chamber. Eight levels below you.”

“You mean a feed inside the extractor rig?”

“Yes.”

“I thought you said there’s no way out down there?”

“Oh, shit. The feeds, they bring in ice.”

“Ice?”

“Yes. The refinery process uses a lot of water.”

“Where the hell does ice come fr— Oh, fuck! I said shut down all the portals.”

“One of the harvesters on Verby is malfunctioning,” Oistad said. “The ice feed has shut down. Sensors are offline. I can’t see the damage.”

“The damage is her, going through,” Kandara realized. “Where the hell is Verby?”

“It’s one of Lanivet’s moons,” Zapata informed her. “The surface is covered with extensive ice oceans. The water has a low mineral content, and is therefore an excellent resource for both industrial systems and habitat biospheres.”

“Mother Mary. Jessika, give me a route down to the ice-feed chamber. Fast!”

“Coming through now.”

Kandara started to haul herself along the accessway, following the glowing purple route line now splashed over her lens. “Is there anyone on Verby?”

“No, just the G7Turings controlling the ice harvest. The operation is completely automated.”

“Good. You know the drill. Shut down every portal. Properly, this time.”

“Kandara,” Oistad said, “the ice feeds are essential to half of Bremble’s industrial systems; and the habitats need water, too.”

“How many people does she have to kill before you listen to me?” she shouted. “Shut the fucking ice feeds down!”

“Powering them down now,” Jessika said. “Listen, that harvester she went through, it has three ice feeds into the extractor rig. I’ve stopped the other two.”

Kandara smiled to herself. Clever girl, she thought. The locations of the other two feed chambers were suddenly splashed across her vision. She changed course and went for one Cancer hadn’t used to reach Verby. Most likely the diabolical woman was waiting on the other side, or worse, a drone would be watching, and she’d blow the power while Kandara was halfway through.

Unless she’s bluffing our bluff. She shook her head, angry with herself. Too paranoid.

The ice-feed chamber was a broad cylinder that sprouted five branches, which then went on to branch again deeper into the extractor rig, like some ancient tree that had long been entombed by machinery. As Kandara approached, an access hatch near the base slid aside. She eased herself in.

When Jessika shut down the ice flow, the extractor rig had continued to swallow the chunks of ice already inside the feed chamber. Now the cylinder which minutes ago had been packed with a constant stream of crushed ice was empty apart from a tenuous mist of twinkling particles. Kandara pushed off cautiously and sent several smart pellets on ahead. They revealed very little, just more curving metal walls, which was the mirror image of the extractor rig end; the harvester supplied the ice through more than a dozen smaller pipes. But her sensors couldn’t detect any other sensors watching for her.