The two were in the Hub offices for the House of Lagos in the Guild House, the single largest commercial building on Hub. The Guild House was seven hundred years old and populated by some of the oldest and most influential houses in the Interdependency, with smaller buildings holding lesser houses clustered around it like supplicants. The proximity of a house’s headquarters on Hub to the Guild House was a rough map of the political influence it wielded. Lagos was in the Guild House, on three low-level floors. The House of Nohamapetan was a few stories up but held only one floor and a half interest on another. The House of Wu, the imperial house, held the twelve stories at the top, including the roof, high up enough that one could practically reach up and touch the top of the Hubfall habitat dome the Guild House resided in.

Countess Lagos wasn’t typically at Guild House. She ran the house from the Lagos home system of Ikoyi, and let a cousin serve as the director at Hub and at Xi’an. But the countess had arrived at Hub a week earlier to sit in on the final negotiations for a cross-licensing agreement with the House of Jemisin. Count Jemisin was scheduled to arrive in two days; in the meantime Kiva preferred presenting her issues to her mother rather than Lord Pretar, the Lagos senior director at Hub, whom Kiva had always considered an officious cockwomble.

“What are our problems with the Nohamapetans?” Huma asked. “Aside from the usual ones?”

“One, I’m certain the Nohamapetans sabotaged our product on End by introducing a virus and causing the duke there to embargo us and escrow our money. Two, I’m also certain it was Ghreni Nohamapetan, their director on End, who convinced the duke to escrow our money and then use it to fund his current civil war against rebels. Third, pretty sure the Nohamapetans, and specifically Ghreni Nohamapetan, are actually behind the rebellion on End, but I can’t prove that. Fourth and most importantly, motherfucking Ghreni Nohamapetan tried to put a bomb on our ship and then sent fucking pirates after us.”

Huma Lagos silently considered what her daughter was saying to her. Then, “Just out of curiosity, if this is the smaller problem, what is the bigger problem?”

“The complete collapse of the Flow, the end of the Interdependency, and the possible extinction of the human race.”

Huma blinked at this. “When?”

“Over the next several years.”

“Where did you get this information?”

“From one of the passengers on the Yes, Sir, who happens to be a Flow physicist.”

“He told you this why?”

“I fucked it out of him.”

“And you believe him?”

“Yeah, I do. I don’t understand it all. But I don’t doubt at least some of it is true. We’re all magnificently screwed, Mom.”

“Where is this passenger now?”