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Not surprising, she thought, given what they were. Wanton had been correct when it had said that Hosts could be humanesque, and yet she had not quite believed the little Extro.

‘The biozoon is sick,’ she said.

‘Yes.’ Tekton stopped in front of a ridged door and pressed the pucker. It opened sluggishly.

Inside, the room was similar to Insignia’s cabins, save for the grey tinge to the walls and small pools of biozoon secretion in the corners. There were no furnishings other than the bed, on which lay a small dark box.

Mira paused just inside the pucker and waited for Tekton to speak.

He pointed at the box. ‘Do you know what that is, Baronessa?’

She regarded the innocuous object, wondering why the sight of it filled her with dread. Finally, she shook her head.

‘I … borrowed it from Lasper Farr after he tried to have me murdered. At the time I thought it would be both a fine revenge and a useful appendage. That’s all. But now, having spent many hours between Intel station and here learning its nuances, I’m not sure that my choice was the most judicious.’

Mira’s eyes widened a little. ‘You stole something from Commander Farr?’

‘Yes. While you were making your pronouncements of impending doom on Intel, I was busy ransacking his cabin. But that is far from the point I would make. Do you know what this does?’

She shook her head again.

‘It is called a bifurcation or Dynamic System Device, a fascinating object that has only, until this was created, been theorised about.’

Mira frowned, recalling the encounter with Commander Farr at the trade faire. Josef Rasterovich had fallen into a deep trance-like state and then collapsed on the floor of the tent after immersion in Farr’s virtual world. He’d spoken little of his experience to them, other than to curse the Commander.

‘I have heard something of such theories. The idea is to predict things,’ she said.

‘That is a most simplistic explanation of its capabilities. It’s fed by information, collected and delivered to the device’s astounding – unbelievable – processing capability. Skilled interaction with the DSD will enable you to view possible outcomes of events, but it will also allow the user to locate optimum points at which changes might be made to affect those outcomes.’

‘To change life?’

‘More precisely, to create new outcomes. Acting at those points is essential to the change. Attempting to make alterations at a less than optimum point will amount to nothing more than a clustering and local disturbance. The outcomes will remain the same.’

He picked up a juice container and sipped from it. Then he rummaged in a crate on the bedside table and produced another one, which he offered to Mira.

She saw that the seal was intact and took it. The sweet tepid liquid eased her dry throat.

‘Here.’ He passed her a small carton of dry biscuits and sank onto the bed next to the box. ‘After spending much time observing Orion’s future with the device, I have learned that there are few outcomes from the Post-Species invasion of OLOSS that don’t end in the destruction of all the humanesque and alien species.’ He sagged further until his body appeared almost folded upon itself. ‘In fact, Baronessa, there is only one.’

She waited again, nibbling the biscuits as he sought to convey what he knew.

‘Excuse my bluntness, but time is a factor. You see, the optimum point for averting the destruction of our species, Baronessa, is nearly upon us, and involves you.’

‘Me?’ Mira stepped back against the pucker.

‘You and your newborn child, who I believe is aboard your biozoon, and the man piloting this ship.’

‘Josef?’

‘Yes. Josef Rasterovich.’ Tekton’s face crumpled into a kind of disgust. ‘I’ve seen the point of change, and the three of you must be there.’

‘W-what must w-we do?’

‘It is unclear to me exactly what you should do, only that you must be there. It would be best if I showed you. Have you heard of the Sole Entity?’

‘Si.’

‘You know then that I was one of its tyros?’

‘Si.’

‘The device has shown