To antispin, where cloud cover became patchy, a white scratch ran across the land.

Louis pointed it out. "A ship dug that gouge. Well find it at the antispin end, the far end. I dont see it yet, so itll be small. Hanuman, shall we start decelerating?"

"Yes. Board a flycycle, Ill take the other, Acolyte rides with whom he will. Acolyte?"

"With you," Acolyte said.

"Stet. Keep your altitude until your relative velocity is low, Louis. The sonic fold wont take more than a few times sonic speed. Ill keep you in sight. Guide us down to the ship."

A grid of superconducting material ran beneath the Ringworld floor. Nessuss flycycles had flown by magnetic levitation. With maglev for lift, thrusters didnt have to be powerful… but these redesigned machines did deliver some serious push. When his velocity relative to the landscape had decreased to something reasonable, Louis eased down into atmosphere until he could hear a thin whine in the sonic fold. He could see a lacework of water vapor around the other flycycle. His own shock waves were barely visible.

Tunesmith spoke suddenly in his earphones. "Your mission is to seek out a crashed ship. Louis, guide them. Report to me at every step. Watch for more than one ship down. The crash grooves they carve would be close together and parallel.

"I want to know the species and what to expect of them. Dont throw your life away to find out. Dont kill any LE if you can avoid it, but if you must, leave no sign. If possible, negotiate. Ill make any guests glad they met me.

"I worry for what I might forget to tell you.

"Louis, remember that information storage is easy. All of human knowledge is probably stored aboard every ARM spacecraft, with blocks to restrict secrets. The right officer will know the right passwords. Acolyte, if you find a Patriarchy ship instead, give up. The knowledge may be there, but no hero will give it to you—"

Louis said, "A telepath might," but Tunesmiths monologue droned on.

I worry for what I might forget to tell you… that its a three hundred million mile walk home, and the stepping disk is orbiting beyond your reach, and the Hindmost will be in the doc. So you cant count on him for an ally, and you cant use the doc to rejuvenate, Louis. In the fullness of time, Ill make you a protector… Not likely that Tunesmith would say any of that. Louis concentrated on flying.

Far behind them was the low wall of fog. The ship they were tracking had skipped across a sea, a river, another river. A ridge showed a glittering notch of bare scrith where the ship must have bounced aloft. The arrow-straight canyon resumed further on, scrith rimmed with splashed lava. Following it was easy. It ran across forest, a white sand beach, a long, long stretch of veldt… there…

So small a thing to have wrought so much damage.

Against another ridge lay an elegantly contoured half-cylinder, flat along one side, no cabins, no windows, no breaks in the reflective surface, except near one end. Louis zoomed his faceplate.

"Is that an ARM ship?" Acolyte asked. "Or Patriarchy? Smooth as it is, it might be puppeteer. But theyd use a General Products hull, wouldnt they?"

Closing now at several mach. The protrusion at one end looked like a bees stinger.

"Its a drop tank," Louis said.

"Explain," Hanuman rapped.

"Its not a spacecraft. Its part of a spacecraft, the part that carries extra fuel, the part you can throw away." He was furious with himself, and then, suddenly, elated. "The ship whapped down in stasis. After the stasis field collapsed, they still had a working spacecraft."

Working spacecraft!

Keep talking. Somehow he held his voice steady. "They drop the tank when they want agility or longer range. Id say they were getting ready for a dogfight."

But a working spacecraft!

Hanuman said, "Flup. We have to find that ship. Were you expecting this?"

"No. Lying Bastard was a different design. After we hit, we were grounded. Now what?"

"Possibilities suggest themselves," Hanuman said. "First, Im linked to Tunesmith. Tunesmith, you have Louiss assessment. Shall we wait for the ship to return for its fuel? Is it ARM or Kzinti or something else? Must we negotiate or challenge?"

Louis said, "ARM." Kzinti would have marked their property. Pierin or Kdat or Trinocs wouldnt challenge Kzinti or men; Kzinti had owned them. Puppeteers wouldnt directly challenge anything. Outsiders wouldnt get this close to a star. "Might be some other human branch, or Kzinti bandits, or Trinocs… but call it ARM.

"Thats a little tank, so were looking for a little ship. A fighter wont carry antimatter fuel. Energy stored in a battery. Water for reaction mass because its easy to store and pump. They might have antimatter weapons. Its surprising that a little ship would have a stasis field. Maybe the UN is getting better at building them."

Any part of a warcraft would have dot-sized cameras all over it. "If theyre not watching us, they might still record us," Louis said. "So what shall we be?"

The little hologram heads of his companions looked blank.

Louis explained. "Were operatives working for a superintelligent protector who used to be an eater of the dead. Thats too scary. Any military LE who heard that might shoot us out of hand. An ARM ship will have records of what a protector is. Thatll scare them too.

"So, what do we want to be? Were a Kzin and a man and a Hanging People protector. We dont want to be Patriarchy. Theyre scary too. We cant show ARM identification—"

"Ah," Hanuman said. "You want to lie."

"Hanuman? A new concept?"

Acolyte rumbled in dissatisfaction. Hanuman said, "My species breeders arent sapient. Ive been able to think and speak for less than a falan. Who would I lie to? Tunesmith?"

A dog will try to lie to its human master, Louis thought, but getting away with it — "Stet, but we do not want to confront them with a protector. Hanuman, do you remember how you behaved as a breeder? Can you do it again?"

"You would make me a pet monkey?"

"Yah."

"Stet. If I cant talk, I cant be caught in a lie. Acolytes pet, I assume. What of you?"

Louis said, "I think Tunesmith saw this coming. Our gear is pretty close to what Nessus brought aboard Lying Bastard. Lets be the Hindmosts new crew. With the puppeteer leading from wayyy behind, as usual. It would explain flycycles. Hanuman, any thoughts?"

"Were telling a story. Better if they do not learn that Louis Wu made a protector and set him in charge of the Ringworld. You would seem too powerful and too undefended. Best if we do not mention an experimental medical system using nanotechnology, either. That was stolen from the United Nations, even if eight hundred falans ago. Theyd want it back."

"I hadnt even thought of that. Stet, lets keep working on this. Acolyte—"

"I am proud of what I am! And I was not taught to lie. We serve a powerful master. Why not simply demand what we want?"

"Maybe this is why Chmeee sent you to me. Acolyte, its only a fighter, but their mother ship would carry antimatter fuel. Hanuman, how many double-X-large plugs does Tunesmith have?"

"One partly completed."

Worse than hed thought. The Ringworld couldnt afford another antimatter explosion! "Acolyte, youre Chmeees son. Stick with the truth, as much as you can. Just dont talk about the Repair Center or Tunesmith or Carlos Wus nanotech autodoc. Your father, Chmeee, rules a chunk of the Map of Earth. The Hindmost made you an offer, and you went off with him rather than fight your father again. Youre his hostage, but you dont know it."

"And how did I meet Louis Wu?" the Kzin demanded.

"I… hadnt got that far."

"Land," ordered Hanuman. "Well fill our kitchen slots while we wait for the ships return. Louis, how long does a dogfight take?"