“I would swear it was a human mind. It had that kind of pattern: knotted, looping, and circling back in on itself, branched everywhere, linked and interlinked. And dense. So dense.”

“I thought you were the best?”

“No. I’m one of the best. But that’s very different from being the best. There are two operators I know of who are better than me. There’s a Russian guy—he’s brilliant. We know him in the business as ‘Bakunin’—he’s probably the best there is. Ten times as good as I am. Or a hundred times as good. I don’t know. And then there’s a Tibetan operator, a designer of holons, but she doesn’t work for hire. They say she’s a nun at a lamasery.”

“Do you think one of them could do it? Find a portal?”

“My pride wants to say no. But—I don’t know, actually. The Russian is so much better than the rest of us that I have no idea what he’s capable of. He’s on another plane of existence.”

The older man pushed the passport across the table. “Thank you.”

“Is that all?”

“There is a drone hexcopter at the dock, under an old sail, at the end of a disused pier. This boat has an autoskiff that will take you there. I’ll walk you up on deck.”

“Thank you.”

“We keep our word. We’ll find you if we need more from you.”

“How?”

They were up on deck now, in a slight breeze coming up from the Sea of Marmara out of the dark. Across the strait was the line of lights from the city, and floating before them lights of the other boats on the strait.

“Unfortunately for you, people—like your portals—can always be found with enough work.”

The lights on the opposite shore were clipped out of existence by an object in front of them.

Then the wall of the massive ship’s flat prow was towering above them, already so close there was no time.

At this speed it will crash into the shore as well. Others will die. How many are they willing to kill to get to me and this mercenary they hired? People who will die in their beds, never knowing why their lives were cut off?

Ariadne’s thread, he found himself thinking as he leapt into the water, knowing it was too late to save himself. Vulnerable to any pair of scissors.

At least I do not feel afraid.

The autofreighter smashed into the boat, breaking it into two and forcing both halves under the water. Nothing but splinters surfaced in the wake.

Chapter 38