Before Ghreni could respond to this his tablet pinged to let him know Sir Ontain Mount was trying to reach him. He disconnected from his assistant without acknowledgement and hailed Mount.

“We seem to have a problem,” Mount said.

“With the treaty discussions?” Ghreni asked.

“No, something else. A fiver named Because I Said So just reported in to Imperial Station. It was about to translate into the Flow.”

“Is there a problem with the ship?”

“This ship is fine. It’s the Flow shoal.”

“What about it?”

“It isn’t there, Lord Ghreni. It’s entirely gone.”

Several hours and a number of semi-frantic meetings later Ghreni returned to the hospital and to the Count of Claremont’s room.

“Oh good, you’re back,” Claremont said. He pointed at the Imperial Marines. “I’ve been told I’m fine and they’re going to release me now. They’re about to hand me over to the local authorities, which I suppose are your people now. I’m going to jail, apparently.”

“I need the room,” Ghreni said, to everyone who was not the count. The room cleared out. Ghreni turned his attention back to Claremont. “You knew. About the Flow.”

Claremont nodded. “It was possible that it hadn’t collapsed yet when you sent along your report, in which case this would be a different conversation. For now, at least. But if it hadn’t collapsed today, it would have been tomorrow, or the next day. Within a week, in any event. And we’d be having this conversation then.”

“If the Flow stream collapsed then you sent your son to his death.”

“No. I predicted this stream is collapsing from the entrance shoal. The exit shoal will be open for months yet. Not that it will matter. Nothing else can get into it, so for all purposes once the stream empties of ships currently in it, it’s gone. Everyone who’s on End will be here for the duration.”

“And how long is that? How long is ‘the duration’?”

“Why, Lord Ghreni. That’s forever, of course.”

Ghreni had nothing to say to this.

“There is one thing,” Claremont said.

“What is it?”

“The Flow stream out from End is closed. But I predict the Flow stream to End will stay open for several years yet. It’s already showing some signs of decay. But it should hold for a while. It might even be the last Flow stream in the Interdependency to collapse entirely.”

“What does that mean?” Ghreni asked.

“It means we should be getting ready for visitors.”

“Visitors.”

“Yes.”

“How many?”