The Elder’s quarters were palatial: floors that looked like polished stone, a domed ceiling with a starfield projected on it, and fluted pillars that flowed with soft white light. A raised dais in the center of the room held a beautiful round water tank the size of a bed, though the water was gone – probably floated away when the station lost its spin gravity.

The Elder was twice Lantern’s size, immense for a Liar, and wore draped fabric as black as the void. She had seven eyes, arrayed in a ring around the bulge of her head, so she could see in all directions. Her tentacles were covered in bracelets in red and black and gold – ornaments? Weapons?

Four other Liars, smaller than Mizori but still bigger than Lantern, floated in a loose semicircle behind the elder, holding objects that looked like the marriage of a sextant and a sniper rifle: weapons of a sort Callie had never seen before.

The elder drifted toward them. “Humans. You will be interrogated. Answer truthfully, and promptly, or you will be compelled to do so.”

“Funny,” Callie said. “I was about to say the same thing to you.” She snapped her wrists apart, separating the cuffs, and sensed Elena doing likewise, but it didn’t matter: Shall was running a very dumbed-down version of his consciousness, but he was smart enough to simultaneously target all four guards. The noise of his weapons firing was like a brief run of eighth notes on a flute, and the targeted Liars spun away, lifeless and oozing blue blood that clouded in the air.

Elder Mizori curled up on herself, drawing her tentacles inward. “Treachery. How is this possible?”

“You told me lies,” Lantern said. “Didn’t you? We went to an Axiom station. I saw the deep archives. I read our sect’s original charter.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. These humans have deceived you.”

Lantern fluttered her tentacles. “That is easily determined. Produce a neural bud, with a complete record of your memories. I will consume it, and know the truth of what you say.”

“You are not senior enough to experience my memories. There are secrets you cannot–”

“But she can,” Callie said. Shall’s weapons moved, with a noisier than necessary realignment, until several nasty-looking protuberances were pointed straight at the elder. “Lantern has seen the archives. She knows the secrets. The question is whether you know them, or if you were duped by your superiors, too. If you were tricked, it could help your situation.” It wouldn’t, really, but the information might make Lantern feel better.

“You saw the deep archives, you say,” Mizori said. “What is it you think you know?”

“That the truth-tellers are not a defense against the Axiom. That we are collaborators. Protectors.”