Empire of Light

'What concerns me,' said Schiller, 'is how well defended this Emissary cache we're heading for must be. If it's as old as I've been told it is, then they're going to want to keep it safe.'

Dakota shook her head. 'Not necessarily, because they have no idea that a threat of this nature even exists. Our destination is a relative backwater close to what used to be the heart of their empire, but the main centre of activity moved on a very long time ago. They rely far more now on much more recently discovered caches.'

'Then why don't we try and destroy those? asked Schiller.

'Because, historically, the vast majority of their fleets use drives that were created in that less well-defended, older cache we're heading for. Any ships using drives taken out of those newer caches won't be affected, of course, but we'll still be able to shut down or even destroy over eighty per cent of their existing fleets.'

'But that still doesn't tell us how the hell we're going to get close enough to the cache without being blown to shit!' Schiller insisted.

'I've seen footage of the battle with the godkiller in Ocean's Deep. How the fuck do we defend ourselves against something like that?'

Dakota nodded towards the star-simulation hanging just above the surface of the table. It faded and, then, for the next few minutes it played back the destruction of the corvettes and missiles by Meridian drones.

She made sure, however, to leave out the part where she destroyed her own ship.

'Those things…' Willis started, as the images faded.

'Are weapons created by a race called Meridians,' Dakota said. 'They're long gone, but these drones are self-maintaining and extremely powerful. They're going to be our defence while going in. Believe me, I was barely using a fraction of their total power.'

'Any other questions?' asked Corso, looking around.

Dakota studied their faces. Some looked fearful, but most of them appeared awestruck by what they had just been told.

'All right,' said Corso, standing. 'We have preliminary reports of drive-spine failure in three separate areas of the hull. We're going to be spending most of our journey time repairing this ship, and none of us gets out of working on those repairs.'

He turned to Schiller. 'Nancy, we're going to have to do the repair work in shifts, so draw up an initial rota and I'll check it over with you in an hour from now. Put Ted and the Commander in there as well – soon as the med-bay says it's okay, they're going to be doing the same work as the rest of us.'

He turned to fix Dakota with a stare. 'I'd like a word with you in private.'

She nodded and followed him out of the meeting room. He kept going, following the deck as it curved upwards. He didn't stop until they were almost at one of the spoke-shafts, before turning to regard her with his arms folded.

'Whatever it is you're up to, it's time to start talking,' he said. 'You didn't tell me everything I needed to know back in the med-bay, did you? Those weapons didn't just materialize out of nowhere. It's not just that you obviously know the exact location of the cache we need to hit, or even that you've got a shitload of intel about the swarm and the Mos Hadroch, but how the hell could you know all this about the Emissaries?'

He raised a silencing hand as Dakota opened her mouth to speak. 'Stop,' he said. 'You can't try and fob me off by telling me you got all this from the swarm, because I just don't buy it. Do you remember when we were stuck together in that tower on Night's End?'

Dakota nodded. 'I remember.'

'You said you knew whenever I was lying: you could see it in my eyes, the whole way I acted. Well, here's back at you.'

Dakota folded her arms around her chest, hugging herself as if she was cold. 'I'm sorry I haven't been more straight with you,' she mumbled. 'I guess this is as good a time as any.'

He leaned in towards her. 'For what?'

She drew in a breath, then exhaled, letting her shoulders sag. 'Trader's coming along with us. I got the information about the Emissaries from him, and he also led me to the Meridian drones. He's also the reason I know exactly what the Mos Hadroch can do. He'll rendezvous with us just before our next jump.'

Corso's mouth worked helplessly for a couple of seconds before he could get anything out. 'What? Are you fucking crazy?'

She stared back at him defiantly. 'See, this is why I didn't tell you straight away.'

'No, why would you not want to do that?' he yelled, throwing his arms wide. 'Because I'd have said you were out of your fucking head!' He was shouting, and the sound of his voice reverberated from the bulkheads around them.

'At least hear me out,' she said quietly. 'I haven't failed you yet.'

Corso stood, staring off down the long corridor, then shook his head before looking back at her directly. 'All right, then, go ahead. Tell me why that murderous fucking fish is coming along with us.'

'Remember how I told you I could only go where the Magi ship wanted me to go?'

Corso nodded.

'It took me to Trader. I didn't have any choice.'

'Why him?'

'Because he has the key to awakening the Mos Hadroch. Without that key, it's useless, like a bomb without any explosives.'

'Everything he says is a lie, Dakota.'

'That's not true,' she replied sharply. She could feel her nails digging into the flesh of her palms, where she'd balled them into fists. 'He merely twists the truth to get his own way.'

Corso gave her a pitying look. 'Got you right over a barrel again, hasn't he? What does he get out of this?'

'If we pull this off, he'll have helped turn the tide of the war. I think he's hoping the Shoal will decide to forget he's the one who started it.'

Corso laughed. 'In other words, he can't even get his own people to back him up. I can't tell you how much I don't like this.'

'So what do you want us to do?' she demanded. 'Go ahead without him? Take our chances and hope for the best? I mean what, Lucas? It's not like the artefact comes with a fucking manual. I've got no idea how to make it work. Do you?'

'We've barely got this far, and already it feels like everything's getting out of control.'

Dakota stepped forward and laid a hand over one of his. 'You've changed a lot, Lucas. The man I first met on board the Hyperion could never have got us this far. We need to try to find some way to control the Mos Hadroch that doesn't involve Trader. If it's at all possible, maybe Driscoll can work it out before we reach our goal.'

'And if it isn't?'

'Then at least what Trader wants is what we want, for a change. And if he's lying about that… Well, we'll watch him, Lucas, and we'll be ready. It's really all we can do.'

Chapter Twenty

A little more than a day later, Dakota made her way to the Mjollnir's stern and towards the main hold, an enormous drum-shaped vault that took up nearly a fifth of the frigate's overall internal space. Taking a seat in an observation blister overlooking its airless interior, she saw the Meridian drones nestled amongst the drop-ships and cradles, and clinging to various bulkheads as if glued to them. Their perfectly reflective surfaces rendered them nearly invisible.

She watched the main doors of the hold swing slowly open, splitting into four quarter-circle slices and revealing a widening cross of starry black. Trader's yacht hung at the void's centre, growing slowly larger as it slowly manoeuvred itself inside the hold.

The yacht was the colour of parchment. Its drive-spines sparkled under the hold's powerful lights. It moved to one side as the doors began to swing closed again, waiting until the grapples took hold of it, pulling it in towards an empty cradle.

Dakota touched a comms terminal, and a moment later a soft chime told her a link had been established with the craft.