The treetops opened up and she was circling his house. Inside, the AI would be informing him of the approaching visitor, of the descending cab, but the doors stayed shut.

She settled to earth, paid up, and got out.

The taxi lifted off.

She strode up to the front entrance. The house stared silently back at her. “Sheyel,” she said. “Congratulations.”

The afternoon was pleasant and still. Insects hummed and a blue jay watched her curiously from the lip of a fountain.

“Sheyel?”

A gentle breeze sighed in the treetops.

She looked at the empty windows. The jay took off and landed on the roof.

Kim tried her commlink. A female voice came on the line: “I’m sorry. Dr. Tolliver is not available at the moment. If you wish to leave him a message, please do so.”

“This is Kim Brandywine,” she told the AI. “I’m doing some work for Dr. Tolliver. He’ll want to know about it forthwith. Can you please put me in touch with him?”

“I’m sorry, Dr. Brandywine. But he does not like to be disturbed. When he calls in, I’ll be certain to tell him you’ve been trying to contact him.”

And it shut off.

Where was he? She should have called before coming all the way out here, but she’d assumed he’d be home, and she’d wanted to take him unawares. And to help him celebrate his coup properly. In person.

She walked around the house, but saw no one, inside or out.

Where would he have gone?

Only one place she could think of.

Sheyel had always maintained that few actions are driven by reason. People act out of emotion, perception, prejudice. They will believe what they’ve always believed, filtering out all evidence to the contrary. Until they go too far and run onto the rocks of reality.

If she was guessing right about Sheyel, he was about to run onto a few rocks himself.

She called Shep on the commlink.

“I need you to do something for me.”

“Of course, Kim.”

“I want you to design an entity.”

“Beg pardon?”

“Consider it an intellectual exercise.” She described everything she knew about the intruder. And the creature in the lake. Apparent incorporeity. Green eyes. Green tinge. Electrical fields. Free hydrogen molecules. Methane. Oxygen.

“I can give you a model,” Shep said after a few minutes, “but I do not think it would be a lifeform that would evolve naturally.”

Kim had summoned another cab, and she was watching it approach. “Doesn’t matter. What have you got?”

“Uneven charge distribution in individual cells.”

“Explain.”

“A living system need not be contained within a coherent sheath. A skin cover or shell. It is possible that regions of opposite charges, enclosed for example by a pocket of ionized gases, could function quite effectively by manipulating each other within the system.”

“It sounds as if you’re talking about a living battery.”

“That’s an oversimplification. Let me explain in more detail—”

“No. That’s okay. Might such a system achieve intelligence?”

“I’m not sure how to define intelligence. But I think it could perform fairly sophisticated tasks.”

“Like piloting a starship?”

“Probably.”

“Where would it get energy?”

“You indicated a greenish tint. Green eyes. That might indicate the presence of chloroplasts. That would allow it to convert light.”

She directed the flyer to take off. “How would you combat such a creature?”

“Lure it into an area of extremely high winds. Separate the molecules. Put enough external pressure on it that it becomes unable to maintain its integrity.”

“Blow it apart.”

“Yes. Precisely.”

“I might not have a hurricane handy. What else?”

“It would also be vulnerable, I would think, to short circuiting.”

She took the cab back into town, to a tech shop, tended by an aging woman in a trim black suit. Her hair was silver and her expression placid. She looked out of place, the sort of culturally resplendent woman one might expect to find discussing art while presiding over a salon. “Can I assist you?” she asked, with perfect diction.

“Yes,” Kim said. “I wonder if anyone has recently asked you to make a model starship?” She showed her a picture of the Valiant. “It would have looked like this.”

The woman studied the picture. “Why, yes,” she said. “We did do something very much like that. In fact, we still have the template.”

Gotcha, Sheyel. “Would you be willing,” asked Kim, “to make one for me?”

“The same model?”

“Please.”

“If you like.” She brought up a schedule on her screen. “Tomorrow at about this time?”

“Oh,” said Kim. “That won’t do, I’m afraid. I’m just passing through. Out on the next train. I hoped you might be able to do it while I wait.”

The woman nodded to herself, consulted the screen again. “I’ll need about an hour,” she said.

“Good. Do it. I’ll be back.”

“There’s an extra charge.”

The third edition of the Valiant looked as good as either of the others. When this was all over, she promised herself, it would make a fine souvenir.

The proprietor sealed it in a box, accepted payment, and Kim rode to the station, arriving just in time to see an east-bound freight passing. Its lights winked out as her own train appeared around a bend.

The ride from the Preserve to Eagle Point was just under two hours. She tried to sleep, but she was too tense. She gave up after a while and sat watching the countryside begin to grow dark.

At 8:20 local time she walked into the lobby of the Gateway, registered, went up to her room, and activated the phone. “I’ll need a flyer tonight.”

“Certainly, Dr. Brandywine,” came the electronic voice, neither male nor female. “Did you have any particular model in mind?”

“The same one I had last time, if it’s available.”

“It is. Will there be anything else?”

Kim thought it over. “Yes,” she said. “A crucifix, a wooden stake, and a silver bullet.”

“Pardon me?”

“Never mind,” she said. “It’s a joke.”

Next she called Plaza Sporting Goods and ordered a portable microwave oven. “I’m going into a protected area,” she explained. “Where they don’t allow fires.”

“Ah.” The voice belonged to an automated clerk. “We have just the thing. What size does madame prefer?”

“The biggest you have.”

“The family size. Very good. This model is big enough to cook a large game bird.”

“Excellent. That’s exactly what I want.”

She just had time for a quick snack, after which the hotel informed her that her flyer was ready, and that her package from Plaza Sporting Goods had arrived. She pulled on her jacket, and took a moment to gaze around the room. The last time she’d been in the Gateway, Solly had been with her. And had urged her not to go back to Severin without him.

She put a laser cutter into her pocket, picked up the spare Valiant, and headed for the roof.

Ten minutes later she was south bound, moving through a night sky illuminated by the distant flicker of lightning over the western mountains. It was a beautiful evening, crisp and still. Two moons were rising through a filmy haze. Another was directly overhead.

Kim watched the lights of the city begin to fade. She tried to relax in the darkened cabin, and to anticipate the reaction she’d receive from her old teacher. She expected that he’d be pleased to see her, to show off his trophy. And perhaps to have a witness to the presence that he hoped to entice. But she wasn’t sure. Sheyel was becoming unpredictable.

The screens showed another aircraft off to the east, a little behind, moving parallel. It was a black-and-white Cloudrider, a luxurious vehicle favored by VIPs and corporate executives.

She watched it for several minutes until it changed course and veered away.