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have shifted to Tier 2,’ the Roug said. ‘We must do the same or they will gain on us very quickly.’
    ‘Mandator, the
Marzanna
is not T2-capable,’ Zhylinsky said.
    ‘Your vessels’ hyperdrive fields have already been upgraded by the new navigator nodes. If you permit us to temporarily assume control of all your vessels’ helms, we will be able to direct acourse in formation,’ the Roug said. ‘In this manner we will be able to evade pursuit more easily.’
    The admiral frowned and glanced at Kao Chih. ‘Your thoughts, Envoy?’
    ‘I believe we should protect the colonists, sir,’ he said, masking his surprise at being included in such decisions. ‘Therefore, we must run, not fight.’
    Admiral Zhylinsky nodded and looked back to the Roug. ‘Very well, Mandator. How do we proceed?’
    ‘Hyperdrive field shells are already running at optimum,’ the Roug said. ‘Admiral, if you instruct all helm operators to cease interactions, we can carry out the necessary functions.’
    Zhylinsky quickly spoke with the captains of the three transports in open conference, gave them all confident assurance, and a minute or two later resumed his dialogue with Reen.
    ‘We are ready, Mandator.’
    ‘As are we, Admiral. Converging on tier transit – now.’
    Kao Chih felt the jump this time, like a subtle alteration in the environment. For a moment immediately afterwards there was a tense, still silence, then the admiral muttered something in non-Anglic. It didn’t sound like a compliment.
    ‘They are still with us, Mandator, and they are closing!’
    ‘We have been closely monitoring them, Admiral … ’
    Suddenly, a triangular frame appeared in the middle of the admiral’s holoplane and, Kao Chih noticed, every other screen on the bridge. In it was a tall slender humanoid garbed in a close-fitting black uniform adorned with fine, circuitry-like patterns, a silver tracery. The narrow, hairless head was pale and the eyes were violet.
    ‘I am the Clarified Ventran. You have violated a licensed territory of the Suneye Monoclan and illegally removed certain essential resources. Surrender our property or prepare to be—’
    Abruptly the message cut out. The admiral had been demanding to know where it was coming from and why no one could stop it. When it vanished he turned to the Roug.
    ‘Mandator, did you … ’
    ‘Yes, Admiral, we traced and blocked their message wave.’ Reen paused. ‘They have now gone to Tier 3 and are increasing their transit kinesis. To evade them we must go deeper, Admiral.’
    Zhylinsky looked daunted for a moment, then a stubbornness came into his features.
    ‘Then deeper we must go,’ he said hoarsely.
    As the next in a series of hyperdrive jumps rippled through Kao Chih’s senses, stronger again than the last, he found himself remembering the last words of the dead Va-Zla leader back on Pyre:
    ‘
The Lords of Suneye never abandon their property!
’

THE CONSTRUCT
     
    The armoured hatch slid open and the P-Construct stepped out onto one of the hubcraft’s observation cupolas. As a combat-partial of the real Construct it was impervious to hard vacuum and equipped with a range of sensors tasked to scan the vicinity for hostile incursions. Standing there, it surveyed the starry vaults of Reginthojal, the largest, most continual stretch of space on Tier 51. It was nearly a thousand light years across at its widest, and ninety at its deepest. Ancient stars burned red and gold here, stellar anchors around which the worlds of the Ixak swung, worlds whose inhabitants slept, for the most part. The Ixak had already entered the twilight of their society, their population numbers at a low ebb and still falling, their naturally long lifetimes lengthened still further by coldsleep technologies. When not in hibernation, the Ixak were more inclined to devote their waking hours to virtual experiences evoking the glories of a distant past rather than to the world of harsh reality.
    And there, spread