Dalepan was pensively gazing down at his co-workers outside as they bolted in place the lower section of the massive gas-propellant gun. Edellus, bare-breasted as usual, rested one hand against the quartz window as she peered up towards a crew bringing in the weapon's five-hundred-foot barrel. Yishna accepted the woman's naked mammaries with equanimity now, for she had soon discovered Edellus to be the least exhibitionist of the Exhibitionists. Some of those gathered around her here wore garment tubes even cut off above the waist. This was mainly the females, though, since the way a man's genitals flapped about in zero gee put them in serious risk of damage.

"Dalepan, Edellus." She smiled at each in turn. Now having successfully applied for research permissions, she no longer needed to add the OCT title to their names when addressing them. She fully realised how much of a privilege this was, since it meant she was now one of the elite. That set her over and above tens of thousands aboard who would have loved to attain a similar position. Nodding down towards the gun site, she said, "Rather excessive that, don't you think? Surely the Brumallians no longer represent much of a danger."

Dalepan did not turn round. "The Brumallians were a serious danger once. Who can say who or what will be a danger?"

Paranoia was easily engendered in this cloistered and weird environment. Combine security here on Corisanthe Main consisted mainly of OCTs, who were usually more qualified for the job than anyone else. New arrivals from outside either became part of this society or swiftly transferred out, and over time the place had grown somewhat distinct from the rest of Orbital Combine—almost a dictatorship under the distinctly strange Director Gneiss.

"Four big guns, the shielding tech, missile launchers, and twenty one-man attack craft…oh, and of course a defence platform being built almost within sight of us…"

Now Dalepan did turn round. "You are remarkably interested in Main's defences."

"Yes, I'm probably a spy or saboteur."

Edellus chuckled. "Maybe the former, but definitely not the latter. You would never want this place damaged, or for anything to come between you and the Worm."

It was true, since her obsessive studies of bleed-over were only interrupted by sleep, occasional periods of relaxation like this and those damnable visits to the psychologist some Combine do-gooder had foisted on her. She grimaced at the thought of that individual. She had learnt that Director Gneiss was on her side, since he also would rather not have such people aboard and was only acceding to the wishes of his fellows on the Combine Oversight Committee. It struck her as quite likely that she herself was an excuse to get a psychologist aboard, and that the real aim of Oversight was to obtain a professional assessment of the entire population here. And Gneiss appeared even more on her side, now that she had uncovered part of the mechanism of bleed-over, and found a way to record it. Apparently her recordings were now also being copied and passed around by the OCTs, who studied them with something akin to religious awe.

"Agreed," said Dalepan humourlessly. "But we must always remain aware of danger, for we have a great responsibility here."

"But what dangers are there now?" asked Yishna.

"Fleet, the Groundstars, the Orchid Party—and even some elements of Combine itself," Dalepan replied.

"And now, of course, there is also the object on Corisanthe III to be taken into account," added Edellus.

"You mean the space liner they're building?"

Edellus shook her head pityingly.

Realising her mistake, Yishna persevered, "Object?"

Dalepan grinned. "No, you are no spy or saboteur, Yishna Strone. Either one would have been thoroughly aware of recent events and I see you haven't a clue."

The gun barrel was now descending directly past the window, while suited figures fired gas thrusters attached to its surface to manoeuvre it into position.

"What object?" Yishna felt suddenly desperate. Something major had occurred and she had missed it. She must not allow herself to go uninformed.

"You tell her," said Dalepan to Edellus, before turning back to the window.

"You can call up the full text of their message from the system, but in essence it was: We are peaceful and we want to talk. You will find the U-space communication device at these coordinates'."

"U-space?" Yishna felt as if she had been strolling calmly along a pavement, only to suddenly find herself teetering on the edge of a cliff. "Who wants to talk with us?"

"The human race…the rest of the human race we left behind in the Sol system and on Earth, and the artificial intelligences it created. They now call themselves the Polity, though that seems a vague description. Parliament is presently debating where to site this device; Combine is fighting to retain it up here, and of course Fleet is demanding it be either handed over to them or destroyed, and that we then begin a full mobilisation."

Yishna could not speak. She felt locked in place as something seemed to tear inside her head. It felt utterly strange to suddenly find herself taking interest in something not directly related to her studies of the Worm.

"I have to find out more about this," she said, only belatedly realising that those overhearing her did not know what she was talking about, since she was already walking away from the two OCTs. Leaving the crowd behind, and unable to contain her impatience, she broke into a run. The terminal section where she analysed bleed-over lay nearest, so she went straight there and quickly keyed into the public information network. Soon she was reading the text of the message. It was plain Sudorian, and Edellus had accurately given the gist of it. Some considered it a hoax but, as well as arriving on just about every entertainment console on the planet, this same text apparently also turned up in the secure computer system of the new parliamentary Chairman, Abel Duras.

The given coordinates were checked and there, orbiting Sudoria, was a sphere made of a kind of chain-molecule glass that though not beyond Sudorian science, had simply not been created by it. Taken aboard a ship, this sphere was opened to reveal a communication device that could project holograms, sound and even smells. The first hologram it projected was a three-dimensional blueprint of itself, along with the warning that no one should be too eager with a screwdriver, since some of its components weren't exactly made of matter. Yishna studied the blueprint intently, then felt a sudden overpowering moment of epiphany. She understood it because it related to her work.

U-space.

Yishna immediately contacted Director Gneiss. "U-space, that's the answer, not telepathic inductance! That's what bleed-over is!"

Gneiss gazed at her impassively from the screen, then cracked an insincere smile as he played the part of a man quite accustomed to dealing with erratic brilliance. "As you must be aware, that has already been theorised."

"It can be the only rational explanation," said Yishna, calming down.

"Prove it, then," said the Director, and cut the connection.

McCrooger

"How does it work?" I asked as I stepped from Rhodane's bathroom, clad in Brumallian dungarees and a thick shirt of canvas-like material. The boots had not fitted me, but my feet were tough enough to manage any surface.

"You'll talk and we Consensus Speakers will listen and question you. Originally there used to be twenty Speakers present, but this was found to be too confusing for anyone not a Brumallian."

Rhodane was sitting in one of the shell-shaped chairs, and gestured to the other one facing her across a low table. I sat down, and eyed the drink and two large dishes of food on the table before me.