A couple of spiderguns not included in all this activity were now approaching. As one of them dropped into the unfinished tubeway lying ahead of her and Saul, while the other took up position behind them, Hannah seized the chance to study one of these machines more closely.

Though possessing the eight limbs of its namesake, the closest living thing she could equate it to was a vaguely remembered image of a sea spider – a creature seemingly without body or head, because its eight limbs simply conjoined where normally a body should have been. All the components normally found in a robot – like power supply, processors and sensors – were distributed along its limbs. This gave them a misshapen look and, to add to its oddity, the machine’s joints were universal, so the limbs could hinge in any direction. It propelled itself along with just a light flick at its surroundings, the weapons terminating its limbs constantly zeroing in on any objects of suspicion. But this was lethal cutting-edge technology, and its oddity stirred no feeling of humour.

The machine she was studying seemed to be leading the way towards the lower end of Arcoplex One, where a great mass of partially finished buildings constructed against the face of the asteroid housed a massive mercury bearing and the drive mechanisms at this end of the cylinder world. They entered via a monorail tubeway, exiting it again at a small station located beside the arcoplex bearing itself, then heading upwards to reach the central spindle, aiming for the airlocks in the cylinder’s endcap.

‘Do we have to go this way?’ Hannah asked.

‘It’s the quickest route,’ he replied, then paused and turned to stare back the way they had come.

‘What is it?’ she asked.

He glanced at her. ‘Readerguns. Warning shots. Four of Langstrom’s soldiers were reluctant to abandon their weapons . . . Well, they’ve abandoned them now.’

‘What about Messina’s men?’

‘His remaining soldiers have withdrawn to the outer ring but have refused to obey Messina’s orders to seize Dock Two.’

‘Refused?’

‘Yes, their commander sent three soldiers to take a look. Seeing three spiderguns were guarding the dock, they reported the mission “militarily unfeasible”.’

‘Brave of them to defy Messina?’

‘Being killed by a spidergun is more certain than any threats of Messina’s at present.’

‘Those things are that effective?’

‘They can deploy all eight of their guns at once, each with a rate of fire of a thousand rounds a minute, at four thousand metres per second. The rounds themselves are depleted uranium beads.’ Saul held up one hand, finger and thumb just a few millimetres apart. ‘They deliver the same kinetic energy as an eight-millimetre readergun round, but over a smaller area, and each robot carries about two thousand rounds in each of its leg magazines. So, yes, even discounting the other missiles they can deploy, they’re that effective.’

‘Messina won’t give up easily.’

‘Yes, I hope so.’