Conscious of his own sweat, he turned back towards the captain, in time to see him smile. “Maybe you should have stayed down in Birth Defects, like before, sir. Or Perpetual Care. You won’t find much gratitude up here.

“Go on, sir, please,” he continued, when Thanakar said nothing. “I’d hate to lose my job without a reason.” He was holding out the key.

Stung, Thanakar took it and unlocked the cage. No sooner had he stepped inside when the antinomial sprang up from the floor and flung himself across the cell, but the chain around his middle jerked him back. Thanakar squatted down and opened his bag, while the antinomial glared at him malevolently. With careful fingers, he prepared a hypodermic syringe and stood up, and the antinomial stood up also, almost two feet taller, and reached out one huge hand to point at him. They stood staring at one another for a moment, and then the antinomial slowly shook his head and dropped his hands down to his waist.

“I want to help you,” said Thanakar.

The antinomial took hold of the chain around his waist. It seemed too little for his strength. He started to pull on it to test the links, and when he found one he liked, he tensed his muscles, and in a while the metal seemed to bend under his hands.

At that moment the captain turned his flashlight out. In the sudden blackness, Thanakar could hear the creak of bending metal and hear the captain smile as he said, “They can see in the dark. You know that, sir?”

Thanakar took a step backward. “Turn it on, Captain,” he said, as calmly as he could. “You don’t want to be reborn as a mouthful of spit on Planet Nine.”

The captain laughed. “You’re a brave one, aren’t you, sir?”

“I’m a Starbridge.”

“Ooh, well said, sir. You deserve some light for that.” He flicked the torch on and then off again, but long enough for Thanakar to see where he had dropped his bag. He stooped to pick it up and took another step backward. Then he heard the sound of the breaking chain, and Locke must have heard it too, because the flashlight came back on, and Thanakar could see him draw his pistol. But the antinomial did nothing. He just stood there in the circle of light with the broken chain between his fingers. Then he spoke, in a voice rusty from disuse. He said, “Don’t play games. No games. Not with me. Go now.

Now.” He pointed towards the door.

Thanakar went. He turned and walked up the ramp again, and the captain followed him, still smiling. “Oh, come on, sir,” he said, after a little while. “It’s not as bad as that. I could have locked you in. You left the key in the door. Trusting of you. Believe me, I was tempted.”

“What’s the penalty for murdering a Starbridge?”

“They can’t kill me more than once, sir. Besides, the chaplain offered me a dispensation, in case the opportunity came up. Believe me, it would have been the solution to all our problems.”