The Prefect

CHAPTER 20

The holding cell where Dreyfus was detained was not a weightless sphere like the one in which Clepsydra had been imprisoned, but it had the same feeling of deadening impregnability. They had taken away his shoes and bracelet. His only concession had been to loosen his collar so that it didn’t chafe so much against his unshaven jowls. In the room’s silence he had no way of telling what was happening outside, or of confidently judging the passage of time. He was too alert, too fearful, to begin to feel bored. His mind spun with wild mental permutations, trying to guess what had happened to Clepsydra, and what was now happening to the mission to House Aubusson. What was happening to Thalia. More than likely it was his imagination that had supplied the distant thump as the Universal Suffrage detached from its docking cradle.

Dreyfus had put people into cells enough times to have indulged in idle speculation as to what it would feel like to be on the other side of the door when it closed. He realised now that he had never come close to imagining the utter draining hopelessness, or the shame. He had done nothing wrong, he told himself; nothing that merited the slightest degree of self-reproach. But the shame would not listen. The mere fact of confinement was enough.

After what Dreyfus judged to be the passage of two or three hours, the passwall formed the outline of a door. Baudry entered, alone, and had the wall revert to obstruct. She carried no visible weaponry.

“I wasn’t expecting another visit. What’s the news? Have you heard anything from Thalia?”

She ignored his question.

“If you did this, Tom, now is the time to tell me.” She stood by his bunk, hands folded, the hem of her skirt spilling around her heels like the wax from a thin, black candle.

“You know I didn’t do it.”

“Gaffney says you were the last person to see Clepsydra. Did she say or hint at anything that might have indicated she was planning to escape?”

Dreyfus rubbed his eyes.

“No. She didn’t have any reason to, because I told her we’d take care of her and make sure she got back to her people.”

“But she left.”

“Or was taken. You’ve considered that alternative, surely?”

“Gaffney says no one entered that room after you until Sparver went in and found her gone.”

“Did Gaffney catch me leaving with Clepsydra?”

“He speculates that you may have tampered with the passwall settings so that she could make her own way out after you’d gone.”

“I wouldn’t know where to start. And even if she did leave, why didn’t anyone see her? Why didn’t she show up on our internal surveillance?”

“We still don’t know the full extent of Conjoiner skills,” Baudry said. Dreyfus buried his face in his hands.

“They’re smarter than us, but they can’t do magic. If she left her cell, someone would have seen her.”

“She may have chosen her moment of escape well. You could have advised her as to when there would be the least chance of detection.” Dreyfus laughed hollowly.

“And the cameras?”

“Perhaps she was able to influence them, to erase her own image from the recordings.”

“She’d still have needed somewhere to hide. Sooner or later she’d have run into people, otherwise.”

“Gaffney speculates that you provided her with sanctuary. That you may still be providing her with sanctuary.”

“You know, I’m hearing the name ’Gaffney’ a lot here. Don’t you think there might be something in that?” Baudry set her mouth disapprovingly.

“Gaffney’s position naturally brings him to the fore in any matter of internal security. And you have no evidence that he has committed any wrongdoing.”

“Would you give a damn if I did?”

“I know we’ve had our differences, Tom, and I know you didn’t like what we had to do to Jane. I respect that, truly I do. But I assure you that our actions were taken in the best interests of Panoply. And I’ll be the first in line to swear allegiance to Jane when she’s reinstated to full operational authority, as I believe she will be.” She studied him with quizzical eyes.

“You don’t believe me. You believe Jane’s removal was motivated by self-interest. Or something else.”

“I think Crissel was just too cowardly to stand up to the two of you.”

“And me?”

“You can’t tell me self-interest didn’t come into it.” For the first time he saw the hard gold glint of real anger flash in her eyes.

“See it from my position, Tom.

I respect Jane. Always have. I was behind her every inch of the way when the Clockmaker made life difficult for us. But she should never have been allowed to stay in power all this time. There’s no way that thing hasn’t damaged her, mentally or physically.”

“Some might say it’s made her the best supreme prefect we could ever have asked for.”

“But the point is, Tom, we’ve never had any way of knowing for sure. Crissel and I… and Gaffney, yes, I’ll admit it—we’ve given this organisation our best years, and all we’ve got to show for it is white hairs and wrinkles, while we wait in Jane’s shadow. None of us is going to live for ever!”.

“Nor will Jane. You could always wait your damned turn.” Baudry exhaled. Something in her had relented.

“So I wanted her out of the way. But that doesn’t mean it was right for her to stay in command. It doesn’t mean we still didn’t do the right thing by Panoply.”

“Do you believe that, in your heart of hearts? Look at me when you answer.”

“Yes,” she said, looking him straight in the eye after a long moment. He nodded, giving nothing away. Let her stew, let her wonder whether he believed her or not.

“You still have to stop Gaffney. He’s out of control.”

“Do you want to tell me about the name you mentioned earlier? Aurora, wasn’t it?”

“I think we’re dealing with Aurora Nerval-Lermontov, who was one of the Eighty.”

“She died, Tom. They all died.”

“I don’t think she did. She’s out there somewhere, and she’s been biding her time for fifty-five years.”

“Just hiding?”

“Until something forced her hand. She learned something from Clepsydra, something that scared her badly. Everything that’s happened is Aurora’s response to a perceived threat. I think she’s taking control because she doesn’t trust us to do the job.”

“Clepsydra was her accomplice?”

“Not exactly. Aurora was using the Conjoiners, squeezing them for intelligence.”

“And now the only one of them left’s gone missing.”

“I didn’t let her out of that room,” Dreyfus said.

“I’ve made some questionable decisions in my career, but that wasn’t one of them.”

“Then who did?”

“You know who.”

“He wouldn’t betray us, Tom. He’s a good man, Panoply to the core. He’s given his soul to this organisation. There’s nothing he cares about more than the security of the Glitter Band.”

“Maybe he believes that. But whatever he thinks, he’s working for Aurora. Trajanova knew that whoever sabotaged the Turbines and corrupted my beta-level had to have high-level security access. She was only one step away from fingering Gaffney herself. That’s why she had to go.” Baudry shook her head once, as if she was trying to clear out a bad thought buzzing around between her ears.

“I don’t believe Gaffney would act against us. More pertinently, why would he ever want Clepsydra outside of that room?”

“Because she knows things he doesn’t want us to find out.” Dreyfus craned forward on the bunk.

“Baudry, listen to me. I think Gaffney wants her dead. I think he’s going to find her and kill her, if he hasn’t done so already. You have to get to her first.”

“We don’t know where she is.”

“So start looking. Gaffney controls internal security, but you control Panoply. There are still hundreds of prefects he doesn’t have an armlock on.”

“Sandra Voi, Tom. Are you seriously proposing all-out war inside Panoply?”

“It doesn’t have to be war. Move now and you can stamp down on Gaffney, erase his authority. Security owe him loyalty, but they’re loyal to you as well.”

For a moment he had the impression that she was at least considering the idea, giving it house room. Then her face froze, and she offered him only blank denial.

“I can’t do that.”

“At the very least, get to Clepsydra before he does.”

“That may not be easy, especially if she doesn’t want to be found.” Baudry’s bracelet chose that moment to chime, emitting a shrill tone that had no place in the cloistered greyness of the cell. She glanced down, irritated, then lifted the display closer to her face. Dreyfus saw her eyelids grow heavy.

“What is it?”

“The Universal Suffrage.” Her voice sounded ghostly, distant.

“We’ve lost contact with them, during their final approach phase to House Aubusson. Just when the habitat’s defences would have fallen within range of their own weapons.”

Dreyfus nodded. He knew that the plan had been to pick off the anti-collision systems with the cruiser’s long-range ordnance.

“All comms, or just tactical telemetry?”

“Everything. There’s no signal.” She paused, as if she dared not state what was so obviously the case.

“I think we’ve lost them. I think they’re all dead. Crissel, all those young prefects.” Then she looked at Dreyfus with a kind of slow-burning dread.

“What should we do next?”

“Confirm that the ship’s really lost,” Dreyfus said.

“Then start pulling in every asset we have elsewhere in the system, no matter what duty it’s on. Every cutter, every corvette, every deep-system cruiser.”

“We can’t ignore the state of crisis between the Ultras and the Glitter Band.”

“You can,” Dreyfus said, “because it doesn’t matter any more. That wasn’t ever a crisis. A distraction, maybe, to take our eyes off the real business. Worked, too, didn’t it? What fools we were.”

“We were only ever doing our best,” Baudry said sadly.

“It wasn’t good enough. Now we have to up our game. The real crisis starts here.”

“I’m frightened, Tom. They took out a fully armed deep-system cruiser. That isn’t supposed to happen.”

“I’m frightened, too,” Dreyfus said, “but we’re not finished yet. Find Clepsydra. And make sure you go back to the polls. You can lay it on the line this time. We need those guns. And right now I don’t care who gets upset about it.”

Gaffney stared at the surreal spectacle with what he trusted was the appropriate combination of shock and disgust. He stood with his booted feet slightly apart, his back straight, his hands behind his back. His own reaction might be synthetic, but there was no doubting the authenticity of the expressions on the faces of the other internal prefects assembled in Dreyfus’ private quarters. Nor was there any doubt concerning the feelings of Senior Prefect Lillian Baudry.

“This can’t be right,” she said, shaking her head as if that might clear her vision and reveal the scene to be a psychological mirage.

“I know Dreyfus. We’ve crossed swords in the past, but he would never have done this. Not to one of his own witnesses.”

“There’s never any telling what people will do when they go off the rails,” Gaffney said, with a kind of lofty regret, as if this was a truth he had privately acknowledged many years ago.

“Dreyfus always appeared stable to me as well. But recent events have obviously conspired to push him over the edge.”

“But killing her… Sandra Voi. It makes no sense, Sheridan.”

“Perhaps the witness knew more than she was letting on,” Gaffney mused.

“None of us really knows exactly what went on inside that rock. It could be that she knew things that would be damaging to Dreyfus’ reputation.”

“Why in Voi’s name did he bring her back, in that case?”

“Formality, I assume. Perhaps Sparver’s presence made it difficult for him not to?”

“And all the while he planned to kill her?”

“Look at the evidence,” Gaffney said, with a humble shrug.

“Speaks for itself, doesn’t it?” Clepsydra had died by a shot to the head. That much at least was obvious to any observer, as was the probable point of entry of the ballistic device that had ended her life.

“Some kind of slug-gun, not a beam weapon,” Gaffney said.

“There’s no scorching or cauterisation around the entry wound.”

“Where do you think she was killed?” Gaffney looked equivocal.

“If he shot her in here, the quickmatter architecture will more than likely have soaked up and processed any traces of blood or larger remains splattered on the walls. There’ll be nothing left of it now. If she died a few hours ago, the pieces of her that the room has already absorbed will also have been broken down into their component elements and recycled throughout Panoply by now.” He touched a finger to his lips.

“Have you eaten lately?”

“No,” Baudry said, with a puzzled expression.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“You might want to avoid the dispensers for a little while. If the idea of eating recycled Conjoiner upsets you, that is. If it doesn’t, tuck right in.” Baudry paled.

“You’re not serious.”

“That’s the way the recycling system works. It’s not programmed to distinguish between human residue and normal domestic waste. There aren’t supposed to be murders inside Panoply.” Baudry glanced down at what was left of the body.

“Why wasn’t she absorbed completely?”

“Indigestion, I suppose. Quickmatter has a throughput capacity; it can’t absorb too much in one go without blocking up.” He forced a pained expression.

“This definitely counts as too much.” Clepsydra’s dead body had been half-absorbed into the floor before the quick-matter had choked and curtailed its efforts to process her. The effect was of a sculpture abandoned: a woman’s body half-embedded in smooth black marble. Her crested head and upper torso, her shoulders and upper arms were exposed. Her lower arms, belly and hips gave the impression of being submerged beneath the floorline. The four fingers of her right hand pushed up through the surface like stone sentinels, stiff in death. Her left leg emerged from the floor, rose to the arch of her knee, then plunged back into the absorbing surface.

“Is this… all that’s left?” Baudry asked.

“I’m afraid so. Your mind insists that there must be an intact body under the floor, like a corpse smothered in quicksand. But really there’s nothing there. The protruding parts are disconnected.” Gaffney pushed the toe of his boot against the arch formed by Clepsydra’s visible leg, toppling it over. Baudry glanced sharply away, then allowed her gaze to return to the spectacle. Where the leg had been in contact with the floor, it had left two circular depressions. Stringy fibres of partially processed organic matter trailed from the leg to the floor.

“She deserved better than this,” Baudry said.

“There’ll be hell to pay when the other Conjoiners find out that she died in custody.”

“We didn’t kill her,” Gaffney said gently.

“This is on Dreyfus’ shoulders, not ours.”

“I still don’t see why he would have done this, let alone how. To get a body from one part of the station to another, without any of us seeing a thing—how did Dreyfus manage that?”

“It isn’t any old body, Lillian. It’s the body of Dreyfus’ prisoner, held in Dreyfus’ room. He’s the last person known to have seen her alive. That’s reason enough to close the vice, in my view.”

“And what kind of vice would that be?”

Gaffney fingered the black shaft of his whiphound, still clipped to his belt.

“We need answers, and we need them fast. Dreyfus may not be inclined to give much away without a little encouragement.”

“I’ll talk to him, see what he has to say.”

“No disrespect, but Dreyfus isn’t going to just roll over and confess, even if you present him with a body. You saw how eager he was to implicate me.”

Baudry looked down at the atrocity on the floor.

“I still can’t see Dreyfus having any part in this. Everything I know about him says he isn’t a murderer, or a traitor.”

“It’s always the quiet ones.” Gaffney sensed some agonised decision-making churning behind the smooth surface of her brow.

“I don’t like the way this is going. But this is a state of emergency. I’ll consider issuing a trawl order, if you think it necessary. A minimally invasive scan only. I don’t want him hurt or distressed in any way.”

“Too many unknowns here, Lillian. Trawling wouldn’t be the tool of choice in this instance.”

“Then what do you recommend?”

“There are other methods in our toolkit. Do you want me to be more specific?”

“Please tell me you’re not talking about torture.”

Gaffney winced.

“Old term, not really applicable in a modern context. Torture is needles under the

fingernails, electrodes to the genitals. Messy and imprecise. The new intelligence-extraction methods are a lot more refined. Really, it’s like comparing trepanning to modern brain surgery. Of course, if you’d rather I went in with a deep-cortex trawl—”

Baudry turned away.

“I don’t want to hear any of this.”

“You don’t have to,” Gaffney said, offering her a reassuring smile.

“You can just sit back and wait for the results.”

“He’s one of us,” she said.

Gaffney tapped the whiphound.

“And I’ll see that he’s treated with the appropriate respect.”

Though she had been scrupulous in concealing her suspicions from the others, Thalia had come to the private conclusion that there would be no rescue, at least not at the hands of Senior Prefect Crissel. Five hours had now passed since they had spoken, and there had been no sign of his promised boarding party. Crissel had warned her that it would take time to reach her, but she knew that she should have seen some evidence of his arrival by now. She had been looking through the windows of the polling core, down the darkened tube of House Aubusson towards the equally dark endcap where she had arrived a lifetime ago. She had detected no trace of human activity, not even the moving lights of the endcap elevators. Nor had there been any further communication from Crissel or any of his deputies. For a little while she had allowed herself to believe that they had met with unexpected resistance, and had pulled back to wait for reinforcements from Panoply. But over the course of those five hours her hopes had steadily eroded. She did not think it likely that Crissel or any of his prefects had survived long after their conversation. More than likely the rogue machines had taken them as soon as they entered Aubusson.

Throughout those five hours, she had watched the external activity continue apace, with no evidence that Crissel’s arrival had affected the schedule to any meaningful degree. Construction servitors had worked tirelessly, tearing down the buildings, roads and bridges that had once served the habitat’s human population. As Aubusson’s night began to give way to a cool, grey dawn, Thalia surveyed a landscape of utter desolation. The stalk of the polling core was the only large structure still standing for kilometres in any direction. The surrounding buildings had been reduced to powdered rubble, sifted of anything that might prove useful for the manufactories. Grey dust had settled on the grass and trees and water. It was difficult to reconcile the scoured, lifeless wasteland with her memories of Aubusson as it had appeared less than a day earlier. A landscape this desolate should only be the product of years of warfare, not hours of mechanised industry.

Crissel’s absence was not the only thing sharpening her anxieties. After she had finished cutting up the granite plinth to provide more barricade material, she had resumed her watch by the window. Not long after Crissel’s call, she had seen one of the construction servitors pass close to the base of the stalk. It had been one of the open-topped carriers, but instead of rubble it had been carrying a different, infinitely more disturbing cargo. The machine had been full to the brim with human bodies, piled ten or twenty deep. There must have been thousands of them in just that one load, tossed into the container like so much recovered scrap. And that was just what they were, Thalia realised. The machine carrying the bodies was heading in the same direction as all the others, carrying raw material to the manufactories. The dead people would be processed, stripped down, re-utilised. Even if their meat bodies yielded nothing of value, there were useful metals, semiconductors, superconductors and organic compounds inside their skulls, courtesy of their Demarchist implants.

Until that moment she had believed that the machines were only imposing totalitarian rule. She had seen bodies being dumped into the ornamental fountain, but had convinced herself that these had been people who’d disobeyed in some fashion. Now she knew that the servitors were engaged in systematic mass murder. The people she had seen outside, being rounded up and lectured to, were not being herded together to make them easier to police, easier to subdue. They were being rounded up so that they could be euthanised and fed to the manufactories.

Thalia had no way of knowing how many of the eight hundred thousand citizens inside House Aubusson had met a similar fate. But she did not think it likely that there were many exceptions. The servitors had assumed control with startling speed, and the constables had unwittingly abetted them by advising the people to remain calm and follow the directives of Lucas Thesiger. But Thesiger could quite easily have been one of those carelessly stacked bodies.

Thalia knew then that she did not have much time left. The only reason the machines had not torn the stalk down already was that the servitors could not risk damaging the polling core. But they would find a way eventually. Whatever intelligence was guiding them, it was cleverer than any individual servitor. And that intelligence, Thalia was certain, knew all about her and her little party of survivors. Even now, it would be working out a way to kill them. If the machines didn’t get through the barricade (and she wasn’t optimistic about it keeping them out for much longer) then they would explore alternative approaches. Thalia had one deterrent, which was that she could destroy or at least incapacitate the core. But if she played that hand and the machines somehow kept coming, she had nothing else to offer.

“They’re getting louder,” Parnasse said quietly, joining her by the little round window.

“What are, Cyrus?”

“The machines on the other side of the barricade. They’re working their way through it piece by piece, getting closer and closer to the top. I doubt there’s more than ten or fifteen metres of obstruction between us and them. I’ve tried to play it down, but the others are starting to notice.”

Thalia was mindful to keep her expression fixed, betraying nothing that would upset the nervous disposition of the other citizens.

“How long?”

“It’s coming up close to dawn now. We’ve still got some junk we can throw down the stairs, but most of the heavy stuff’s already gone. The barricade may hold until noon, but I’d say we’ll be doing extraordinarily well if it’s still up by sundown.”

“Cyrus, I need to tell you something. I’ve seen something very bad out there.” When he said nothing, she continued softly, “I didn’t mention it earlier because you had enough to be thinking about. But now you need to know.”

“The bodies? Being carried away?”

She looked at him sharply.

“You knew already?”

“I saw several loads move through while you were cutting up the plinth. I didn’t think you needed anything else to worry about. But you’re right. It isn’t good news.”

“When the machines break through, they’ll kill us all.”

He put a hand on her shoulder.

“I reckon you’re right. But we’re doing everything we can to buy enough time until rescue arrives.”

“I don’t think we can count on Panoply to help us,” Thalia said hesitantly.

“I’ve been putting a brave face on it, but ever since Crissel failed to show… I don’t know what’s going on, Cyrus. Crissel said we weren’t the only habitat to go silent. But even so, I can’t see why it should have taken Panoply so long to reinstate control. I think we have to assume we’re on our own in here.”

“Then it’s up to us to find a way to survive. I agree, girl. But short of holding out up here, I don’t really see what our options are.”

“We have to find a way out,” she said.

“There isn’t one. Even if there was another way out of the stalk, do you think any of us would last long out there, with all those machines crawling around? That whiphound of yours might have one more fight in it, if we’re lucky. It’ll take more than that to get us to the endcap, even if there’s a ship to take us away when we get there.”

“But we have to do something. I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly want to die in here.”

He looked at her sadly.

“Wish I could wave a magic wand and get us all somewhere safe. But all we’ve got is that barricade, and we’re running out of stuff to reinforce it.” Thalia looked across the floor, to the place where the plinth had been. The architectural model rested to one side of it, minus the sphere that had broken off the top of the stalk. Unaccountably, she flashed back to the way it had rolled across the floor when they’d dropped the model. She had paid it no heed at the time, intent only on exposing the granite plinth so that she could hack it into pieces.

“Cyrus,” she said, “if there was a way to get us out of here, even if it was dangerous, even if it was borderline suicidal, would you risk it, if the only alternative was waiting for those machines to get us?”

“Is that a hypothetical question, girl?”

“I don’t know,” she answered.

“It depends. But answer my question first.”

“I’d risk it. Wouldn’t you?”

“In a flash,” Thalia said.

Dreyfus looked up as Senior Prefect Gaffney stepped through the passwall. He sat upright on the bed, unable to judge how much time had passed since his last visitor. Through a fog of tiredness and apprehension, a sour taste in his mouth, he nonetheless produced a laconic smile.

“Nice of you to drop by. I was wondering when you’d favour me with a visit.”

Behind Gaffney the passwall sealed itself into impermeability.

“You’re very talkative all of a sudden. Let’s see how long you can keep it up.”

Dreyfus rubbed a finger along the furred line of his unbrushed teeth.

“I guess the cat’s come to torment the mouse while everyone else is looking the other way?”

“On the contrary. I’ve come to interview you, with full Panoply sanction. Baudry gave me her personal blessing.”

Dreyfus looked down to see if Gaffney was carrying anything.

“No field trawl,” he observed.

“What’s wrong: worried that it might reveal some truths you’d rather remained hidden?”

“On the contrary. Worried that it wouldn’t give us the hard data we need fast enough. There’s a crisis going on out there, Dreyfus. The question is: are you a part of whatever’s happening, or did you just kill the prisoner because she looked at you the wrong way?”

“I hear we lost the Universal Suffrage.”

“Too bad. There were some good rookies on that ship.”

“Not to mention Senior Prefect Crissel.”

“Worse ways to go than fighting for a cause.”

“This is all about a cause, isn’t it? For you, anyway. I’ve followed your career, Sheridan. I know what makes you tick. You’re the most selflessly driven prefect I’ve ever known. You eat, sleep and breathe security. Nothing matters more to you than guaranteeing the safety of the Glitter Band.”

Gaffney appeared surprised by this outburst of praise.

“If the cap fits.”

“Oh, it does. It fits too well. You’re a machine, Sheridan. You’re like a wind-up toy, an automaton consumed by a single idea. You’ve let that cause swallow you whole. It’s all you know, all you’re capable of thinking about.”

“You think security doesn’t matter?”

“Oh, it matters all right. The problem is, in your personal universe it trumps all other concerns. You’ll consider any action, contemplate crossing any line, if you feel your precious security is in danger of being compromised. Let’s tick the boxes, shall we? Murder of a witness. Betrayal of fellow Panoply operatives. You’re about to add torture to the list. And you haven’t even really got going yet. What’s next on the menu, Sheridan: full-scale genocide?”

“What I do—what we all do—is about the preservation of life, not the destruction of it.”

“That may be the way it looks in your warped worldview.”

“There’s nothing warped about it, Tom.” Gaffney tapped a finger against the side of his head.

“I’m sorry—are we on first-name terms now? It’s just that you took offence the last time I used yours. ’Sonofabitch’ was the phrase, I think.”

“Whatever makes you happy, Sheridan.”

“You’ve got me all wrong. You’re the loose cannon in this organisation, Tom. I didn’t bring the Spider bitch inside Panoply and let her riffle through our operational secrets. I didn’t kill her when I realised my mistake.”

“They’ll find out I didn’t kill her.”

“There’s half a body in your quarters, Tom. It didn’t teleport there.”

“Maybe she walked there, with you telling her everything was going to be fine.”

“No, she didn’t walk. Forensics found tissue traces in the bubble. That’s where she was shot. Whoever killed her didn’t hang around to clean up too well. But you’d know that, wouldn’t you?”

“How would I have got her from the interrogation bubble to my room without you knowing about it?”

“That’s a damned good question. One I’m hoping you can answer.”

“If I wanted to move a body, if I wanted to tamper with access records to hide my own entry into the bubble, being head of Internal Security would certainly make life easier. But even then, I’m not sure how you did it.”

“Why would I have killed a key witness?”

“Because she knew you were working for Aurora. Because there was a chance she could have discovered Aurora’s vulnerabilities, given us a clue as to how to take her down.”

Gaffney pointed his finger at Dreyfus.

“Right. That name again.”

“What’s she got on you, Sheridan?”

Gaffney looked bored.

“I think we’ve pretty much covered the preliminaries.”

“And now you’re going to kill me,” Dreyfus surmised.

“I’m going to use intelligence-extraction methods on you, Tom, that’s all. Nothing you won’t get over given time and rest.”

“You know that there isn’t a truth to extract. I’m not going to start confessing to crimes I never committed.”

“We’ll just have to see what pops out, shan’t we?”

“I understand now,” Dreyfus said.

“This is the only way out for you, isn’t it? I must die under interrogation. You’ll have some explaining to do, but I’m sure you’ve thought that through already. How’s it going to happen? Whiphound malfunction? I hear there’ve been some quality-assurance issues with those Model Cs.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Gaffney said as he unclipped his whiphound and thumbed it on.

“I’ve come to interview you, not kill you. How would that go down? I’m not a butcher.”

He ran out the filament and allowed it to find traction against the floor, then relinquished his hold on the handle. For an instant the whiphound stayed where it was, just turning its shaft to shine the red laser of its eye on Dreyfus’ face. Then it began to advance, its filament making a slow hissing sound as it scraped its coils against the floor. The handle was tipped down slightly, like the head of a cobra.

Dreyfus knew that there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. But he could not help shrinking back against the wall, dragging his legs up onto the bunk as if the corner might provide some sanctuary from the questing machine.

Gaffney stood back, his arms folded across his chest.

“Guess you know the drill, Tom. No point pretending this is going to be pleasant. But tell me what I need to know and it’ll all be over with very quickly. Why did you kill Clepsydra, and how did you get the body to your room?”

“You killed her, not me. She was still alive when I left her.”

The whiphound slinked onto the bunk, the elevation of its handle never altering. The red glare of its laser made Dreyfus squint and hold a hand up to his face. It came nearer, until he could hear a shrill electronic buzzing. He edged deeper into the corner, drawing his knees high against his chest. The whiphound continued its advance, bringing the blunt end of the handle to within a hand’s-width of Dreyfus’ face. The brightness of the laser and the electronic humming combined with hypnotic effect. Around the trembling shield of his hand he saw the filament’s tip rise up and quest the air. It began to curl, ready to wrap itself around Dreyfus. Part of him wanted to reach out and grab it, to try to stop it finding a way behind his back. A more sensible part of him knew how futile that would be, and what the attempt would do to his fingers.

“They’ll find out what you did,” he said.

“They’re better than you, Gaffney. You won’t be able to hide from Panoply for ever.”

Then he felt the filament whip around him. It wrapped itself around him twice, constricting him with its blunt edge. His arms were pinned to his sides, his knees jammed hard against his ribcage. The handle remained pointed at his face, its laser eye washing the world into scarlet.

“The whiphound’s going to insert the tip of its tail into your mouth,” Gaffney said, “but we can go with any orifice you like. Your call, Tom.”

Dreyfus closed his mouth, biting down so hard that he tasted salty wetness gush from his tongue. The filament tapped against the portcullis of his teeth, as if asking permission to enter. Dreyfus produced a senseless groan of defiance. The whiphound tapped again. He felt the filament tighten its coils.

“Open wide,” Gaffney said, cheerily encouraging.

“Easy does it.”

The whiphound tapped twice more against his teeth, then withdrew the tip of the filament. Dreyfus wondered if it was going to try to force its way in through a different orifice now that he had barred it from slithering in through his mouth.

He felt the coils loosen. Breathing was no longer difficult. The handle held its gaze on him for a second, and then rotated slowly around until it was directing the horizontal glare of its scanning laser eye onto Gaffney’s face rather than Dreyfus’. The coil released Dreyfus completely. He took a grateful breath and slumped against the wall, feeling a stripe of cold sweat ooze down the valley of his spine. The whiphound moved stealthily off the bunk, never releasing its visual lock on Gaffney.

“Stand down,” Gaffney said, keeping the panic from his voice for the moment.

“Stand down. Revert to defence posture one.”

The whiphound showed no sign of having heard or recognised his order and kept on slithering. The filament pushed the handle higher, so that it was level with the standing man’s face. Gaffney took a hesitant step backwards, then another, until his back bumped into the wall.

“Stand down,” he repeated, louder this time.

“This is Senior Prefect Gaffney ordering you to stand down and switch to standby mode. You have developed a fault. Repeat, you have developed a fault.”

“It doesn’t appear to be listening,” Dreyfus said.

Gaffney raised a shaky hand.

“Stand down!”

“I wouldn’t touch it if I were you. It’ll have your fingers off.”

The whiphound pressed Gaffney hard against the wall, the filament spooled out to its maximum extension. The handle made an emphatic nodding motion.

“I think it wants you to kneel,” Dreyfus said.