“I received some of your recent news broadcasts, and saw the King Ascendant waving your arm around. I admit to some amusement. You must have pushed him far.”

“Oh, hardly at all. He didn’t need much help.”

“Are you surviving it well?”

“Other than painful attempts at using an arm that isn’t there, I’m in good health. They gave me rush treatment to be sure I’d be well enough to receive my verdict.”

“You sound fine, and it’s good that you’re healthy. The time is upon us.”

“My elements are in place. There’s no reason to change any part of the arrangement. Go forward without hesitation.”

“What about the scion?”

“Her spirits have improved, even if her confusion has grown. I think she’ll be coming to more specific understandings shortly.”

“This could go of two ways. I believe people will prefer your version. We hope your plans hatch properly.”

Sturlusson felt the contact dissipate. The door of his room opened quietly, and he raised his eyebrows. In came the girl, slipping in sideways. She closed the door and paused by the wall, appraising his condition with a grimace. He lay back in a hospital recliner, right shoulder heavily swaddled. Soleil could detect a smile beneath his unwavering gaze. She took a deep breath, blinking.

He dipped his head. “Your Grace the Princess.”

She stepped toward him with a controlled voice. “You were in my vision during my coma sleep. Who are you and and what are you doing here? Why couldn’t I speak until I saw you?”

He stretched his head back to gaze at the cieling. “Not much I can tell you, Princess, that would give you greater insight.” Around his neck and face a roiling shimmer formed. Soleil stepped backward, and Raev Sturlusson met her eyes without moving.

A consistent swirl formed between them. Soleil looked into it, and lifted her hands to cover her eyes. She staggered a little, but kept them there, breathing. The volcanic earthquakes of Genesee filled her sight, and she zipped through a whirlwind of relays – the Aquari Home Fires, portals bursting with newly familiar presences, and depthless chasms emptying in conflagration. She tore her hands from her eyes and looked over at the prisoner with dread.

She went to the door, looking back at Raev Sturlusson one more time before she left.

No sight or sound, given up trying to hear herself. She could feel her motions though, and the occasional shift let her know she was alive.

She thought in litanies, things to remember and wake up to, going in circles and ladders. It was hard not to fill the silence. Sometimes she just listened to it. She was breathing, even if she could no longer hear it.

A touch, coolness. Than a pinprick.

She began to hear a sound – unfamiliar and far away, though comforting like a net in the void.

Language grew steadily louder. Had they taken her somewhere? She clenched her fists on occasion. It felt good.

It was a long time building. Occasionally, in her breath she felt a blast of fresh air.

Almost suddenly, she saw a bright triangle. She couldn’t tell if it was big or small, it was just the only thing. As she thought about it, still itself it became a message.

Cousins… she learned where they found this disease. The planet who suffered by it, gone Hirylien. How they changed it, she would be okay, and why. She couldn’t always keep her focus on it, but when she did, she learned a little more. It was fully understandable. She hung on to the net.

The King Ascendant with his two armed guards filled the room when they entered. “Now that the verdict is being processed, we can attend to other pressing matters. The HA235 patients on Alisandre are nearing critical status, and thousands of people on three other planets are close behind them. Tell us everything now, because if they die, you will die with them.”

“Wasn’t I supposed to in the first place, with my family and home? Your stance and bluster don’t convince me. You’ve held out far longer than I have with the truth of the matter, and not even the impending death of thousands will change your tune. If you want to keep all these people from dying, that’s within your power. These deaths will dig your grave if you allow them.”

“How are you carrying the disease and not suffering symptoms?” At his gesture, the guards flanked the prisoner.

“Have your doctors not figured that out, with the samples they took?”

Looking him in the eye, the King Ascendant stepped close. “They have not. But I believe the answer is in you, somewhere.”

“It would have to be.” Raev bowed his head for a moment before looking up at the three surrounding him. “You might be surprised how simple it is. Since the verdict is being processed, and I’m facing my fate, perhaps you deserve a farewell letter after all. Bring the doctor.” He turned his right side to Vario and lifted his sleeve, revealing designs on his skin. “It’s here. Beneath the winged horse in the lightning.”

“Take off his arm.” A guard drew a hot sword and it was gone. Raev Sturlusson sank to one knee. The King Ascendant picked up the limb, lifting the tattoo to his eyes. “Make sure he doesn’t die.” He exited, leaving the door open, blood decorating the hallway floor.

The sphere image was frozen steady, drawn lines within reading as chaos. At one side of the table, the two Alpha Captains and General Ionos leaned forward. The General lifted a hand to the display. “Explain how the surrounding technicians are supposed to align and co-triangulate.”

“My Loramer co-fellow can answer that,” said Dr. Hydraia, turning to look at her colleague to the left.

“This is an unusual problem,” said Arys Steinman, laying out a few notes. “We can create a system that will co-map a series of points, call them mirrors. For the interruption sequence we want to enact, each point needs to be an intersection of the signal figures we reviewed.”

Steinman laid out the factor maps, pointing things out. “A technology pattern found in our Zerite-based inventions. The energy signature of an Iljen Engine at pre-critical burst. Here’s the map of microhole readings, and shadow radius sectors.

“Each mirror spins at a live rate responding to the weather of the vortex, tethering to each technician ship along designated connection paths. Setting a mirror takes more energy input from the initiating technician until it can tether down multiple paths. You’re tethering the mirrors, not the other way around.

“At a designated level of synergy, the energy to maintain the mirrornet will drop greatly. At this point, co-triangulation can run automatically, and we can move on to the next phase, precise insertion of chain reactives.”

General Ionos sat back, looking partially satisfied. “You’ve said we do this rarely in application. What makes you confident that this maneuver will work at this scale, with live pilots instead of robotics?”

“We’re keeping in mind that pre-critical burst phase of an Iljen Engine is only inwardly unstable. So while ships must remain in place to enact the interruption, they remain outside the boundary of collapse. In recorded failures, backlash occurred in the programming, preventing recurrence of the process without damaging equipment. The program you’ll be using is contained separately from ship operations.”

“How many times did you run this in simulation, and on how many levels? And did you do your utmost to minimize the number of technicians required?”

Arcta took in a slow breath. “We forwarded the ultimate simulations to you and your captains. If you want the complete logs, I can request them from Loramer Ultra sim rooms, but they were combed deeply and to do so again would be a great waste of time.”

The General leaned on the table. “If we determine this course of action, when will we need to mobilize?”

“In about twelve days, we’ll get our next likely shot in the vortex activity cycles.”