"But great events mark our lives," said the Comms Officer, and Rodi wondered if he had given offense. "Our convocations, for instance. There are places where we swim in concert and cause the ocean to sing. We did this not long ago."

That puzzled Rodi. It sounded like a starquake, a sudden collapse of the crust; that would make the whole star ring like a bell.

Could they cause a starquake?

Perhaps they had some way of manipulating the star's ferocious magnetic field. And after all, a quake had disrupted the Exaltation inseparability net not long ago.

After a fortnight Rodi took his leave of his friend.

"Wait," the Comms Officer said unexpectedly. "I have a message to give you." And he transmitted: "Our grand Foe, / Who now triumphs, and in the excess of joy / Sole reigning holds the tyranny of heaven."

"What does it mean?" asked Rodi.

"Unknown."

"Then why do you send it?"

"Every Comms Officer is taught to send it."

"Why?"

"What is 'heaven'?"

"Unknown."

Rodi thought of the rhyme the Moon children had taught Thet. To wage by force or guile eternal war / Irreconcilable to our grand Foe, / Who now triumphs, and in the excess of joy...

The pieces fit together, he realized, astonished.

He transmitted his conclusion to Holism Ark for analysis.

Rodi went through the motions of lifting the flitter back to hyperspace, his thoughts clouded.

Once more his mission hadn't unfolded as he'd been taught to expect.

The humans in this region had been forced to find their own ways to come to terms with the events that had stranded them. If they hadn't they couldn't have survived. So -- why did they need the Integrality? -- or a junior missionary like himself?

Was the Integrality's crusade meaningless?...

The Exaltation's formation had changed.

His speculations driven from his mind, he stared at his monitors. Around Holism Ark the fleet's symmetrical pattern had been distorted into a wedge; at the tip the Arks' fleshy walls were almost touching. Flitters scurried between the Arks; hundreds of closed-beam inseparability net messages radiated away from Holism Ark.

What was happening?

He pushed into Holism Ark. The maintenance bay was deserted. He flew through an axis filled with a harsh light. People rushed past, wings fluttering.

Men and women came along the axis shoving a cannon-like piece of equipment. Rodi recognized a machine-shop heavy-duty laser. He had to press against the wall to allow the team to pass. Their eyes passed blankly over him.

Rodi noticed a fist-sized, fleshy lump on the back of the neck of the nearest man, at the top of his spine.

The freefall common room was unrecognizable. Rodi clung to a wall and stared around. The floating tables were being cleared away; he saw a group of children shooed through the commotion.

There were more bulges on the spinal columns of the crew. Even the children were affected. Some sort of sickness?