That the whole craft was almost immediately snatched away again by an almost equally heavy-duty disloc facility – with a most inelegant bang like a sonic boom, caused by the caisson-field collapsing uncontrolled – was, happily, quite beside the point. While the Gzilt ship was busy doing this the Mistake Not … was merrily zapping all its real payloads – its avatar and Cossont included – into the places it had wanted to in the first place.

That done, within the same millisecond, it was off again, spiralling down under even fiercer acceleration as though intent on diving right under the planet’s depression in the skein and aiming for the energy grid far beneath. It steadied, zoomed, sped off, tracked but not targeted by the Gzilt war-craft, which remained stationary, hugging close to the planet.

Pyan was dumped into the ship’s last remaining human habitable space, a six-person shuttle.

~Where’s this? the creature said.

~New home, the ship sent.

~It’s small and boring!

~So are you.

~What! How dare you!

~Would you rather be on the planet?

~Which is safer?

The Mistake Not … watched the Gzilt ship staying – annoyingly, frustratingly – exactly where it was, singularly failing to pursue it, even though the Mistake Not … had pretended to be less quick than it really was, just to make it think it had a chance.

~Probably the planet, now, it admitted.

~The planet, then … Well? Hurry up!

~Too far. Next pass/approach.

~You’re going back?

~Of course I’m going back.

~I protest at this behaviour towards me! Why wasn’t I—?

~Best you go to sleep now, the ship said.

Pyan flopped inert to the floor of the little shuttle and was tidied, neatly folded, into a slim locker by a small ship drone, which then checked that everything else in the tiny craft was stowed and strapped in case there was any wild manoeuvring. Then it, too, stowed itself securely in another locker.

xGSV Empiricist

oLOU Caconym

oGSV Contents May Differ

oGCU Displacement Activity

oGSV Just The Washing Instruction Chip In Life’s Rich Tapestry

oUe Mistake Not …

oMSV Passing By And Thought I’d Drop In

oMSV Pressure Drop

oLSV You Call This Clean?

Open question, specifically to the Mistake Not …: Are you sure you are doing the right thing? It is plausible that the Gzilt craft is an 8*; possibly the ship responsible for what happened at Ablate. It is certainly powerful and may be unconstrained by conscience.

∞

xUe Mistake Not …

No, not sure at all. But committed, so let’s see what happens.

∞

xGSV Contents May Differ

I am equally worried re the Beats Working. It just transmitted its mind-state.

∞

xLOU Caconym

Suggestion? Tell it whatever it’s thinking of doing, don’t.

∞

xGSV Contents May Differ