The Helots shoved them along towards the air lock, which was located on the deck below. It was different to the docking bays for the dinghies, a small door located under the engineering deck. They had to climb down a ladder and duck under some low pipes to access it.

Maddy looked at their captors: three of them, the two called Sniper and Frank, and a third one with long arms. Their harpoons were visible at all times.

The long-armed Helot activated the inner door of the airlock, which hissed open. A tiny window in the outer door showed nothing but utter darkness.

'I appeal to you,' said Reed. 'Do you know what that Sape is trying to do?'

Their captors' expressions were hard to read, especially by a Sape like herself, but Maddy thought there was a trace of confusion in the sallow brows and thick lips.

'Yes, of course,' said the long-armed one.

'You can't kill other Helots,' declared Reed. 'Our own people. That is what Sapes do to their own kind, but not Helots.'

'Don't listen to him, Gibbon!' said the female Serf.

'Death is necessary for freedom!' called out the third Helot, the one called Sniper.

'But they're going to kill millions!'

'Shut up!' Frank shoved her harpoon towards Reed. 'Shut up now! You must be either for us or against us!'

'Be quiet, Frank,' said Gibbon, holding out a hand. 'These Sapes at least must be killed.'

'What are you expecting us to do, calmly climb into the airlock?' Marshall was taller than all of them and made sure they knew it. His head brushed the ceiling of the low chamber.

Frank aimed her stun gun at Marshall. 'You won't be able to resist if you're unconscious.'

'I've been hit with that thing before. I don't intend to let it happen again.'

At that moment Maddy felt herself go light and her feet left the floor. Automatically she reached out to grab something for support, and was propelled across the room as a result. The ship's internal gravity, induced by its rotation, had ceased. There was only one explanation for that: it had gone Void.

Marshall lashed out at Frank. The stun gun hit the wall and rebounded towards Maddy. At the same moment Sniper fired his harpoon. The bolt slapped into the wall of the compartment beside Reed's head. The other Helot, Gibbon, fired his harpoon at Marshall. The bolt entered the man's arm, but he merely grunted and tried to grab the end of the weapon. Blood oozed from his arm and formed small globes at it drifted away in zero gravity.

Maddy caught the stun gun as it struck her in the stomach. She sighted at Gibbon and squeezed the trigger. The charge hit him and he went limp.

Five seconds was required for the stun gun to recharge. Marshall and Reed launched themselves from the walls to grapple with the remaining Helots. Maddy stayed near the wall, half-obscured by a bank of equipment, and waited for her gun to be ready. The five seconds seemed an eternity.

A gun roared: Sniper had drawn one of Marshall's confiscated weapons and fired. The plasma bolt ploughed through Reed's body, emerged on the other side and continued into the airlock, where it smashed through the window into Void.

The inner door automatically slammed shut; at the same time a klaxon siren started up warning of the hull breach.

Maddy discharged her gun at Sniper and he, too, went limp, hanging in mid-air.

Marshall had managed to secure Frank with his good arm, the injured one wrapped round a grab-bar on the wall.

'Do it,' said Marshall and Maddy fired for the third time. Frank's head hit the hull with a dull thud as she slumped.

Marshall let go of Frank and headed over to where Reed hung motionless. He pulled him upright to stare into his eyes. But he was gone, the last warrior of the Talon. For a moment it looked like Marshall was going to say something, but he simply nodded and let the man go: he drifted across the compartment to knock up against one of the floating Helots.

Gravity returned as they dropped out of Void. Maddy landed on her feet. Beside them, the Helots thumped down unceremoniously onto the deck. One of Reed's arms fell across the chest of one of the unconscious Helots. A sharp grunt told that Marshall's wounded arm had connected with something.

'We haven't much time,' he said, picking up one of the guns while Maddy grabbed the other. 'We have do something.' He gestured at the Helots. 'What are these guys up to anyway?'

'They're going to destroy the Earth,' said Maddy. The words felt strange, even shocking, in their frank simplicity. 'They're going to slam Shiva into the Earth and...that's it.'

'Don't be stupid. How can they do that?'

There was no time to explain. Maddy checked the Helots for signs of regaining consciousness. 'They'll be out for about five minutes,' she said, and climbed the ladder back to the engineering bay. 'I can't see any other Helots.' An eerie silence dominated the ship.

'We could...I don't know...sabotage the engines.' Marshall floated into the room and glanced back at Maddy, who shook her head.

'I don't know anything about them, and if that Sape in charge of things has any sense at all he's locked it all down. We have to get to the bridge.'

'I agree.' Marshall gripped his gun and indicated the ladder leading down to the airlock. 'Those guys are showing signs of coming around. I should kill them. Throw them out like they were going to do to us.'

If they could reach the bridge, Maddy figured, and seal themselves in they would have control of the ship. There might be ways to bypass the main AI. The ship was just a tug, not that sophisticated. The bridge was about twenty metres away from where they were now. And no doubt it was already occupied. But it seemed the only chance.

'So, we're going to do this?'

I've been here before, thought Maddy. And it was wasn't fun. But she found herself nodding. It was the Earth at stake after all, and even though Maddy had no reason to like what the Elite had done to the rest of the galaxy, there were billions of people down there who'd done nothing wrong at all.

She checked the remaining charge on her stun gun: maybe three more shots. But she had Reed's gun also and Marshall had regained his own. The other Helots on board might not be armed at all.

It was a chance they'd have to take.

***

It was stifling in the bunk alcove with her space suit on, but Geranium lay as quietly as possible, watching the Serf move around the cabin through the alcove's window. He'd spent some time trying to break into the AI's locked command system, only to give up in disgust. She saw his lips move as he muttered some words to himself. Then he went to the larder and proceeded to eat a huge meal. He searched through the larder's contents for some time, perhaps looking for alcohol, but he eventually scowled and gave that up, too. Now, after about an hour, he sat at the table, staring out at the blasted landscape and occasionally glancing over in her direction. She tried not to make eye contact.

They'd gone Void at some point. Although the gravity was almost nothing on the asteroid, she'd felt herself go into that timeless, weightless state of non-existence, and a few minutes later settle back down again. Where was the ship now? On the other side of the solar system?

Geranium wondered if she would meet anyone off the Earth who didn't want to keep her prisoner. She had plenty of time to think about home. Even her parents began to seem like decent people. They'd never lifted a finger to punish her physically, and had recently given up believing that reasoning with her would do any good at all. But right now, being in a steady, boring job married to some steady, boring Elite boy seemed like the best life she could ever want. And her brother and sister: Fantasy could drive her up the wall, and Wisdom was like all little brothers and was still too young for any sort of decent conversation, but they both seemed immensely distant now, and she wanted desperately to be with them.

Right now, she even wanted her cold, distant, self-indulgent mother with her, a woman who only acknowledged her children's existence when it benefitted her in some way. She wanted her father, who she saw so seldom, but who had a warm smile when he felt like revealing it. And she wanted Maddy.

But none of them were here.

I'm not going to cry.

Her space suit clung to her like a glove; it was still circulating coolness around her body but the closeness of the suit and the bunk alcove seemed stifling. Her occasional claustrophobia started to reassert itself.

The Serf once more moved around the cabin. He was over near the air-lock. Was he going to step outside, maybe inspect the outside of the ship? Had he received orders to return wherever he came from? But no, he wasn't wearing his helmet. That hung on a rack near the inner air-lock door beside Geranium's own.

Despite her confinement, Geranium was small enough to be able to twist and catch a glimpse of the forward-facing windows of the ship. Light streamed in. The Moon was there, closer than it appeared from Earth, a huge grey-white circle that seemed only a few metres outside the ship. It cast a bright radiance across the asteroid. As she watched the deep shadows cast by the terrain moved visibly across the surface. The asteroid was still moving fast through space, crossing the Moon's orbit as it orbited the Earth.

The comlink beeped. A man's voice spoke. 'Drummer. This is Rix.'

'Drummer here.'

'We've arrived in position. You should be able to see the Moon. We're going to the next phase shortly. We'll send a dinghy to pick you up. Do you still have the passenger you found?'

'Yes.' He sneered at her.

'She's no longer needed. Get rid of her.'

'All right.'

He turned to look directly at Geranium, making her flinch and kick her foot against the wall of the alcove. The Serf moved across the cabin and opened the sleeping alcove. Although she tried to push herself as far away as possible he reached in with his powerful arms and hauled her out by her wrist. He lifted her up to gaze into her face for a moment.

Get rid of her, the man had said on the comlink.

'No!' she screamed. 'Please! No!'

Still carrying her in one hand, Drummer took a short hop across the cabin to the airlock and pressed the contact to open it

She grabbed the edge of the airlock with her free hand, trying to stop the Serf pushing her in. Drummer's strength was appalling, but Geranium had desperation and microgravity on her side.

'No! No!'

Thrashing with her legs she tried to make herself too big to fit through the door. Every time Drummer had to let go of one hand to push a limb back into her body she thrust out another one. Her hair floated unnaturally in the still air, partially blinding both of them. Her squeals filled the room.

He still had her by the wrist; his other hand was engaged in bending her leg so that Geranium was almost upside-down in his grip. For one second her left leg was free and she swung it in towards his head. The heel of her boot connected with his eye. There was little force behind it, but the reaction sent her tumbling backwards into the airlock. Drummer, clutching his wounded eye, staggered back also.

'You bitch!'

Geranium pushed her feet against the outer door of the airlock before he had a chance to close it and propelled herself across the cabin over Drummer's head. He snarled and grabbed at her, but missed as he swung around, underestimating his own mass and turning too far.

She ended up with her back against the table, gripped the edge of it and lifted herself off the floor, lashing out with her booted feet. They both connected with Drummer's stomach. He flew backwards into the airlock.

Geranium pushed herself off the table and scrabbled madly at the emergency override. The airlock door slammed shut before Drummer could stop it—even if he had been able to grab hold the force of its emergency function would have prevented even his strength from halting its closure. Through the small window in the inner door, Geranium could see him turn and reach for the contact to open the inner door again.

Before he could reach it, Geranium slapped the contact to open the outer door. The air in the chamber spilled out into vacuum. Drummer staggered back, lost his grip and fell down the ladder onto the ground. Geranium shut the outer door.

She didn't watch as Drummer gasped out the last few moments of his life on the surface of the asteroid, his blood boiling. She collapsed on the floor, her back to the airlock, and held her head in her hands as tears poured from her eyes.

***

The day she'd stepped aboard the Syndicate Navy frigate Euryalus for the first time, Agnes had felt complete. Even marrying Peter had come second place to walking onto the bridge (or rather climbing through the hatchway that led to the bridge, a most embarrassing procedure for someone of her big-boned size). It had sent a surge of adrenaline through her that she still recalled in idle moments. Years of training, working up through the ranks, and her first command. The future had looked bold and adventurous.

A similar surge went through her as she stepped into the control room of the SCS Matador, which was the name given to the Navy base at Tranquillity. The building was situated some way out from the main town, and was run with all the ruthless efficiency that Agnes had come to expect—and admired—from a genuine military operation.

She looked at the tall blond Admiral walking towards her and nearly snapped a salute. She turned the move into a scratch of the scar on her forehead, and instantly felt foolish.

'Agnes Lawson,' the officer said and held out a hand.

'Hello, Admiral.' The grip from his hand was as firm as ever.

Admiral Ludwig Manson smiled at Dorac and offered his hand too. "Good to see you too, Dorac.'

'Admiral, hey? And Agnes here gets busted to civilian and I...yeah, well, I guess I got what I deserved.' But Dorac's smile seemed genuine. 'So how's the desk job?'

'Later, guys.' Agnes indicated the data input panel against the far wall. 'I guess you've noticed that big thing in the sky?'

Manson nodded and Agnes was pleased to note the concern on his face. To her mind, precious time had been wasted getting here, and deSalva hadn't helped. It was a great stroke of fortune that Manson was in charge at the Matador and not a stranger or someone like Admiral Stone. He'd agreed to meet her pretty much right away.

'It's been troubling me, too,' he said. 'An asteroid, but there's a ship located next to it.'

Dorac gazed up at the main screen, which showed both the ship and the asteroid in orbit around the Earth.

'Any ideas?'

Manson waved away an ensign approaching. 'We've asked Zeus and it says it's some kind of demonstration by the mining company.'

'Really? Have you tried contacting the ship?'

'Of course. No response yet. But we have checked with the Syndicate. The stunt's been planned for ages, apparently. The ship is the Shepherd Moon, some new kind of miner that can move asteroids through Void. A few minutes ago that chunk of iron was out near Jupiter. Now...bang! Here it is, orbiting the Earth.'

The two shapes on the screen moved across numbers tracking along the bottom of the holo screen. The ship was moving at the same speed as the asteroid, maintaining a distance of about a thousand kilometres.

'The mining company agrees that that's what happening?'

'Well, it's not actually any particular mining company. It's a Syndicate ship. The plan according to Zeus is to make a whole lot of these things and sell them to interested companies.'

'I'd like to speak to Zeus.'

The corner of Manson's mouth twisted. 'Sorry, Agnes, that's not allowed. Not at this facility anyway.'

'Damn it, Manson, then you speak to it! That ship is up to no good.'

Manson flicked his gaze from Agnes to Dorac standing over the woman's shoulder. The Sirian nodded.

'All right.' Manson indicated them over to a communications desk and ordered the petty officer to contact Zeus. 'What's going on?'

They filled him in about Nancy's comments as contact was established with Zeus. The time lag between the Moon and Lizard was almost a full minute. Agnes fumed at the unavoidable delay.

'The end of the world?' Manson glanced up at the main screen, where the asteroid still tumbled over and over on its orbit around the Earth. The smaller, spinning spheres of the Shepherd Moon followed it along. 'You mean they intend to slam that thing into the Earth?'

THIS IS ZEUS, ADMIRAL MANSON.

'Tell it,' said Agnes.

Doubt played across the Admiral's face, but he said, 'I want to hand over to ex-Naval officer Agnes Lawson. She has my authorisation to speak to you.'

Agnes didn't wait for Zeus to acknowledge.

'Zeus, the asteroid presently in orbit around the Earth is not, repeat not a demonstration by the Syndicate. There is a rogue...pattern...sub-routine...somewhere in your system.' The words made no sense even to her. 'Somehow your mainframe is unaware of a part of itself. And that part has told the rest of you that everything about the Shepherd Moon is fine.'

This sounded completely ridiculous. There was nothing but silence while the message transmitted eleven light years to Zeus. It would be at least two minutes before there was any response, and in that time...

'Engines have been fired on the asteroid, sir,' said a petty officer at another desk. 'It's slowing it axial spin.'

The man was right: on the screen the asteroid could be seen to slow its tumble, but not the speed of its orbit, as if it was lining up for some reason. They watched in fascination for a moment.

THERE IS NO ROGUE PATTERN OR SUB-ROUTINE. PLEASE BE MORE SPECIFIC.

'Fuck!' Dorac slammed one fist into the palm of his other hand. 'Stupid fucking machines!'

'There seems to be none!' Agnes couldn't help waving her hand at the screen even though, of course, Zeus couldn't see her. 'Because the sub-routine is deliberately hiding itself from the rest of you! Check for...I don't know...Check for anything related to the Shepherd Moon.'

Another long two minutes. The asteroid had halted its spin completely. A close up of the ship revealed all seemed well.

'Still no contact from the Shepherd Moon, sir.'

There won't be any, thought Agnes. There won't be any because the ship's full of terrorists and no one knows that because Zeus has convinced itself this is all perfectly normal.

And Zeus was the ultimate authority for what was happening in the galaxy.

A SEARCH OF ALL SUB-SYSTEMS REVEALS NO OBVIOUS ERRORS.

Dorac stormed over to where Manson was looking at the screen. 'Fire a missile!'

The Admiral turned and stared at the massive Sirian warrior as if seeing him for the first time. 'What?'

'Fire a missile! Destroy it!'

'Dorac, the thing is ten kilometres across! Even a nuclear warhead would just turn it into a pile of rubble, but that rubble would still contain all the mass—'

'Not the asteroid, you idiot! Destroy the ship!'

Agnes intervened. 'He's right, sir. Destroy the ship. It contains the means of firing the engines on the asteroid. Destroy it and you take out the controls.'

'There are civilians on that ship,' Manson said.