“It was always supposed to be that way,” Julian said firmly. “Having seen some of them, no offence, it’s for the best.” Alison wasn’t entirely sure she agreed, but said nothing.

“The Six Brothers will really only be Three Brothers from now on,” Mal added, which obviously meant nothing to anyone save Lee.

Stig and Auruthmer had disembarked, as had Ertil, to board a Wayfarer heading for the Cousins’ timeline. There was only one thing left to do.

“Brace yourselves,” Kay advised. “Cam? Let’s go home.”

In the moments before transit, Alison found herself thinking, I wish I could have seen more.

Cam’s colossal body seemed to clench itself and leap forwards, whilst moving nowhere. The step Outerwards seemed easier than moving in, and Alison saw a fleeting skein of images and explanations about gradients and energy costs in the instant between there and here.

“Home,” Kay said, but she was anything but relaxed, eyes wide. “Now we just have to—”

Something happened, everywhere and all at once. Something stopped, as though a voice Alison had heard all her life had been silenced, and only in that silence did she realize it had ever been there. It was as though the world had always contained an extra dimension or a colour filter, and now everything was flatter, less vibrant, whilst being objectively exactly the same.

Cam was dropping them off precisely where it had picked them up, the devastated square mile in the heart of the City. Julian was grinding his teeth through sheer embarrassment, because all the emergency services would be on their way, not to mention a thousand cameras. He had only ever wanted to be a faceless man who made things happen behind the scenes. She saw Rove straighten his cuffs and knew he would be calculating how he could best use this development to his advantage. Khan had poked her head through into Cam’s avatar chamber and was presumably making her farewells.

The centre of the floor irised open, revealing a clutch of legs ready to lower them to the ground. Alison took Julian’s hand and grinned, trying to convey that he wouldn’t be alone when he had to face the music.

And stopped.

Something cold touched her mind.

Her grip on Julian’s hand tightened until she heard him hiss in pain.

The Posticthyan Ice Mind was abruptly all around her, feeding her far too much information. She was receiving a bewildering flurry of equations and notations she couldn’t hope to understand. And it shouldn’t be broadcasting anything. The doors of the universe had been nailed shut, because it was that or have the house fall down. She couldn’t possibly still be in touch with the…