Their manner was abrasive, but unlike some of the military they spoke directly to Jainan, not through Kiem, with a gaze that seemed to bore through the back of Jainan’s skull. “She will try and use it. The device is a honeypot, set up to gather evidence of what she does in the refinery. Once we have proof of sabotage, we can use that to tie this up. It will also clear your name.”

“You can’t force Jainan to do this,” Kiem said. He had switched back to his initial combative tone. Jainan would have appreciated it, but both Rakal and Kiem sounded muffled to him. The enormity of Galactic politics seemed to be pressing on him like a gravity well, as if the unfathomable distance and terrible strangeness of the other Resolution systems were clustering in low orbit above them. The Empire didn’t just mean Iskat: the Empire was Thea as well, and five other planets with hundreds of millions of citizens, all drifting away from the rest of the universe like the axial tilt of winter.

“I’ll do it,” Jainan said. He felt gray and stretched, like an old piece of cloth.

There was no choice. There had never been a choice.

“Is it really justice if you’re trapping her into it?” Kiem said to Rakal. “I thought justice was the point.”

“Justice means nothing without a framework to impose it,” Rakal said.

“Internal Security is an intelligence agency, not a policing body; we are about stability.”

Jainan found himself in unwilling agreement. He said nothing.

“Doing a good job there, aren’t you?” Kiem said mutinously. “I don’t buy this explanation. I don’t have a better one, but I don’t buy it. Don’t tell me Professor Audel sabotaged our flybug.”

Rakal hesitated. “That has given us something of a headache,” they admitted.

“It would have been a big risk for her to take. But it is a common mechanical flaw, and I understand you were putting unusual demands on the flybug. It could have been an accident.”

“I feel so safe,” Kiem said.

“I will assign close protection to your flybug—”

“I’m not getting in one of those until this is all over,” Kiem said bluntly. “My aide says she’ll book a random shuttle for us to travel on to Carissi Station tomorrow, so unless someone wants to blow up the entire shuttleport, they shouldn’t be able to do anything. But I don’t like trapping Audel like this. I thought Internal Security was at least bothered about the law.”

“The state is the law, Your Highness,” Rakal said. “I serve the Emperor.”

Kiem’s expression said, as clearly as if he’d passed Jainan a note, that this was not as reassuring as Rakal thought it was. Jainan swallowed a bubble of hysteria at this perilous swerve toward lèse-majesté. “We understand, Agent Rakal,” Jainan said. “We are all dedicated to the Empire.”