“He was,” Pan admitted. “But once an addict, always an addict, especially when a free sample finds its way to his hand.”

Zeetar’s eyes narrowed. “Let me guess … one of your Strikes took out a reedug shipment?”

Lourna shook her head, everything suddenly making sense. “The Reekriders.”

“Just play it,” Pan rumbled.

She clicked a button and the image came to life, the sound from the projector tinny but clear.

“You’re just jealous,” Udi Dis crowed, his voice shrill, a known side effect of the merchandise he’d been foolish enough to sample. “You hate the fact that Ro chose me.”

“And why would I be jealous of that?” Pan’s voice now. Lourna looked closer and could see a hint of his reflection in Dis’s glassy eyes.

“Because I’ve got to go where you haven’t.” Dis gestured wildly behind him, his feathered arm sweeping up to point at something off cam. “The Gaze Electric. I’ve seen things you will never see. I know Ro’s secrets, everything about him.”

Pan uttered a sharp mocking laugh on the recording. “Rubbish. Why would Ro share anything with trash like you?”

“Because he trusts me.”

“Pities you more like.”

“Yeah? Then how come I know where the Paths come from and you don’t? I’ve seen her.”

“Her?” Lourna’s question echoed Pan’s own response on the holo.

Dis licked his beak, pleased with himself.

“Yeah, her. A woman. She’s old. Older than me. Maybe even older than you. And it’s all here,” Dis tapped his temple in fast succession. “In her head. She just thinks them up. Sees the universe as it is. She’s brilliant. And she’s his.”

Pan reached over and took the projector from Lourna’s hand, cutting off the image. Lourna let him, staring at the space where Dis’s holo had been.

“A woman?” Zeetar asked, posing the question that was on Lourna’s lips. “What kind of woman?”

Pan slipped the device back into his jacket. “An old one. You heard it yourself.”

“Can we trust him?” Lourna asked. “He was addled out of his mind …”

“And didn’t come back from Ro’s mission,” Zeetar added.

“Yeah,” Pan said, “Funny that. The thing is, why would he lie? Ro won’t let us see his precious database. Maybe that’s why. Maybe he doesn’t want us to know that his entire empire is built on the brain of one ancient crone.” He looked at them both, examining their faces. “But think about it. This woman, whoever she is, provides the Paths, and Ro merely throws them our way, scraps from his table. But what if we had the entire meal, what if we could gorge ourselves silly?”