“More likely taken some recreational substances,” Y’sul snorted.

“And so I came to hold within myself the knowledge, the meaning of that which I had been asked to keep safe, rather than just having charge of the medium containing it. Realising what I now knew, and comprehending that it was of inestimable value, I came to the conclusion that I could not be trusted with it. While not entirely understanding what I had read, I could not forget it. I could tell others, and it was not impossible that I might be made to tell what I knew through the use of drugs or more direct intervention with my brain and mind.”

“Nutter,” Y’sul said.

“What’s that?” one of Quercer Janath said distantly over the open link to the Velpin.

“Hmm. Don’t know.” It didn’t sound like they were paying attention to what was being said by the recording of Leisicrofe. “I will not pretend that I had not been thinking of my own death for some time. However, it was habitually within the context of having completed my studies into the many differing forms of the Cincturia and publishing a learned — I had even hoped an at-the-time definitive — work on this, my chosen and beloved field of study. Knowing what I now know, I have thought it best, however reluctantly, to curtail my studies forthwith and kill myself as soon as may decently be achieved. I shall do so here, in the Ythyn Cineropoline Sepulcraft Rovruetz, where my death will at least appear to have a fraction more meaning than it might have had elsewhere.”

“Looks like, or…” Fassin heard over the open channel.

“Ping it?”

“No! Are you… ? Shut off that—”

The open channel closed. Fassin looked back to the access hatch and the short ship-to-ship connecting them to the Velpin. Leisicrofe was still speaking.’… Will forgive me. You should. If you know what it is you are looking for, then all I will say is that it looked more like a code and frequency, not what I believe was expected. But it is quite gone now. Destroyed, along with the safekeep box itself, thrown into the sun called Direaliete. I know of no other copy. If none of this makes any sense to you, then please respect an old, and — as it turns out -foolish, Dweller’s last wish, and leave him here in peace.” The recording froze and an end-message signal flashed.

Fassin stared at the image of the dead Dweller. It was over. He’d failed. Maybe now there was no way ever to find out whether the Dweller List meant anything or even had ever meant anything.

“Totally mad,” Y’sul said, with something like a sigh. He fiddled with the glyphboard controls. “Looks like that’s our lot.”

He turned to Fassin. “Doesn’t sound too hopeful, does it, young human-me-lad?”

The open channel from the ship clicked on suddenly. “Get out!” Quercer Janath screamed. “Ten seconds to get off there and back in the Velpin!’

“Being attacked! Must run!”

Fassin shook himself out of his shock and started backing towards the open hatch leading to the Velpin.

Y’sul pulled out of the sensory-nook, began to follow, one hub-limb scratching at his mantle. “This madness is obviously contag—”

“Fucking Voehn ship! Out, now!”

“Engines in five, four, three…”

SIX:

THE LAST TRANSFORM

… Sssss 1000101011001010101 \ on\\ symcheck \ ssscheck \ syt — sytser \ syst — syst — \ fail reboot \ livel \ livl \ lev — levl -level 001 \ hup \ gethup \ paramarametsr \ woop! woop! \ check \ check \ check \ system check \ run ALL \ cat. zzero sssum-check postcrash full allowablesss\ rebot \ rubot \ reOot \ lbit \ cat. zero sumcheck postcrash fullabables \ ints. postcrash (likely antagonistic external hostile agency cause) full All reboot restart: \ starting mem. \ lang. \ sens. \ full int… bip bip bip… Bang! Wo!

Hnnh? You all right?

I’m all right. Now. You all right? I’m all right. Happened? This:

“Closing hatch!”

The hatch at the end of the ship-to-ship joining the Velpin and the Dweller SoloShip started to close before Fassin got to it. Y’sul was still behind him, moving quickly along the exit. Fassin swung through, flipped, turned and grabbed the hatch’s moving edge with his left manipulator.

The closing hatch nearly took the manipulator off. Fassin was swung around by the force of it and found himself having to brace with his other manipulator against the lock interior, struggling to keep the hatch — grinding, mechanism humming mightily — from closing.

“Somebody holding that hatch open?” one half of Quercer Janath shouted indignantly.

“Out the way, Fassin!” Y’sul yelled, rising fast straight out of the ship-to-ship and colliding heavily with Fassin’s gascraft, sending the two of them tumbling through the lock and into the Velpin’s interior. Error\failure messages from the gascraft’s left manipulator arm crowded against one edge of Fassin’s field of vision. The hatch slammed shut behind them. Immediately, a great force smashed them against the compartment’s sternward bulkhead. They were stuck there, unmoving, the arrowhead snagged over the Dweller’s tipped left discus until the increasing acceleration and a series of sharp vibrations made Fassin slide off one edge of Y’sul’s carapace and whack down onto the carbon bulkhead by his side. The ship roared around them.

“Engines are on, one takes it,” Y’sul said, wheezing. Fassin could feel the apparent gravity building still further. They were at something over twenty gee already. A young, fit Dweller with no esuit protection stuck on his side against an inelastic surface could take about twenty-four, twenty-five gees continuous before their carapace just collapsed and turned their insides to mush. The Velpin’s acceleration topped out at twenty-two gees.

“All right back there?” their travelcaptain asked.

“Not really,” Fassin said. “You’re kind of near crushing Y’sul.”

“Acknowledged.”

“Not outrunning the fucker. Can’t.”

“Cut off and come about. Surrender.”

“Agree.”

The acceleration snapped off. Fassin and Y’sul were instantly weightless, rebounding fractionally from the bulkhead just by the released compression in the hull of one and the carapace of the other.

“Get up here, you two,” Quercer Janath told them.

The Voehn ship was a klick-long needle spined with swing-guns and weapon tubes. It came quickly up on them and was alongside by the time the human in his gascraft and the Dweller Y’sul got to the Velpin’s control space.

“Since when do the Voehn choose to attack Dweller craft going about their—?” the travelcaptain began to ask.

“Be quiet,” said an imageless voice. “Make yourself ready for boarding.”

Quercer Janath’s shiny suit rustled as the truetwin turned to look at Fassin and Y’sul while tapping some controls. Images of the Velpin appeared in holo displays, showing hatches and doors flashing in outline.

“The Voehn have turned pirates,” Quercer Janath told them calmly.

“How fucking dare they!” Y’sul roared.

“They didn’t follow us through the wormhole, did they?” Fassin asked.

“Ha! No.” The truetwin seemed purely amused. “No, they were waiting in this system.”

“Assume we’ll see why shortly.”

“The fucking scumbag bastards will pay grievously for this outrage!” Y’sul yelled, shaking with fury.

A shudder rang through the Velpin and alarms started blaring. Quercer Janath roted closer to a brightly flashing display. “Look at that.”

“Penetrated amidships with a cut-through.”

Cameras briefly showed a thick tube extending from the middle of the Voehn ship into a neat circular hole in the hull of the Velpin. Then the images crazed and faded. Other displays started to disappear. The alarms warbled down to a croak, then shut off. Fassin thought he could smell burning.