Alastair Reynolds: The Prefect

"Valery's with them, isn't she?"

Dreyfus' eyes were beginning to sting.

"I visited her once, Sparv. Just after the crisis, when it had all blown over. I thought I could live with what she'd become. But when I saw her, when I saw how little of my wife was left, I knew I couldn't. She was tending the gardens, kneeling in soil. She had flowers in her hand. When she looked at me, she smiled. But she didn't really know who I was."

"I'm sorry."

"That was when I went back to Jane. I told her I couldn't live with what I'd done to them. So she authorised the memory block."

"And Valery?"

"I never went back to see her. Not in eleven years."

Presently Dreyfus became aware of a rising sound, louder than the wind. He looked up in time to see a large ship come slamming through the clouds, its hull still glowing from a high-speed re-entry. He recognised it immediately as a deep-system cruiser, although he could not identify the ship itself. It circled overhead, landing gear clawing down from its reptile-smooth belly, weapons erupting through the hull as if they were the retractile spines of some poisonous fish. The pilot selected a patch of level ground large enough to accommodate the ninety-metre-long vehicle and descended slowly, using brief coughs of steering thrust to manage the descent.

Dreyfus and Sparver raised their hands in salute and started walking towards the parked ship, Dreyfus' stiff right leg dragging in the ice. A ramp lowered from the belly. Almost immediately, a suited figure began walking down it, picking its way cautiously down the cleated surface. The figure's small stature, the

way she walked, told Dreyfus exactly who she was.

"Thalia," he called out, delighted.

"It is you, isn't it?". She answered on the suit-to-suit channel.

"Are you okay, sir?".

"I'll mend, thanks to Sparver. What are you doing here?".

"As soon as Prefect Gaffney got to you, we knew there was no point in concealing this location from Aurora. We would have come sooner, but we've been tied up with evacuees.".

"I understand completely. You came quickly enough as it is.". Thalia walked across the rough ground until they were only a few metres from each other.

"I'm sorry about what happened, sir.".

"Sorry about what?".

"I screwed up, sir. The upgrades … I was unprepared.".

"It wasn't your fault.".

"But maybe if I hadn't gone in alone, if I'd had a back-up squad with me … things might have been different.".

"I very much doubt it. Aurora had already considered every possible eventuality. She'd have found a way through no matter what precautions you took. It might have taken longer, but it would still have happened. Don't cut yourself up about it, Deputy." Dreyfus extended a hand, inviting her closer. She crossed the remaining ground and let her suit touch his. Dreyfus held one of her arms, Sparver the other.

"I'm glad I got you back in one piece," he said.

"I wish I could have done something for all the other people.".

"You saved some. And you got word back to us that Aurora had no intention of keeping anyone alive once she was in control. You did good, Thalia. I'm not displeased.".

"That's praise," Sparver said.

"I'd take it if I were you.".

"What about Gaffney, sir?".

"Gaffney's gone," Dreyfus answered.

"And the rest of Firebrand? The Clockmaker?".

"You've been well briefed, I see. I thought you'd have wanted to rest.".

"Well, sir?".

"Veitch and Saavedra are dead. The Clockmaker escaped.". Behind her faceplate, Thalia nodded.

"We did wonder, sir.".

"Why?".

"Something's happening. We could only assume it had some connection with the Clockmaker, that you'd managed to persuade it to act against Aurora."

"I wouldn't exactly say I persuaded it." But Dreyfus was encouraged by this information.

"What's been happening, Thalia?".

"We're not really sure. The good news is that the Ultras have been contributing to the evacuation effort and helping with the destruction of contaminated habitats. Overnight we've cleared and evacuated another six along Aurora's expansion front."

"Total evacuations?" Dreyfus probed.

"No, sir," she said, hesitantly.

"Some people were still left aboard at the end. But a lot less than before.".

"I guess we can't expect miracles.".

"Sir, there's something else. A couple of hours ago, weevil flows reached two habitats before we were in place with nukes or lighthuggers. We'd got most of the citizenry out, but local constables were still assisting with the evacuation when the weevils broke through."

"Go on," he pushed.

"The constables started encountering the expected weevil resistance. They were doing their best to slow the weevils as they worked their way to the polling core, but they were taking heavy casualties. Then the weevils started behaving strangely. They became uncoordinated, erratic. They stopped their advance. The surviving constables managed to deploy heavy guns and started inflicting losses on the weevils."

"But there'd still have been millions more in the flow, even if there was a local malfunction at the head of the assault.". Thalia shook her head urgently.

"It wasn't a local malfunction, sir. It's started happening everywhere, wherever there are weevils. They have a degree of autonomous programming, like any servitor, but whatever controlling influence was guiding them appears to be absent, or at least distracted."

"As if Aurora's mind's on other things."

"That's what it looks like. Which is why we assumed you must have had some success with the Clockmaker.".

"It's already engaged her," Dreyfus said marvellingly, as if he'd just witnessed some staggering phenomenon of nature.

"It knew it couldn't afford to wait very long. Even though Gaffney hadn't succeeded, Aurora would have found another way to destroy this facility. It had to leave.".

"We should probably be leaving as well," Thalia said.

"Unless you still want to admire the scenery, that is."

"I've had enough scenery," Dreyfus replied.

"I'm not really a planet person.".

"Me neither, sir.".

"Thalia," he said gently.

"There's something else you need to know. It's about your father.".

"Sir?" she asked, cautiously.

"It's good news," Dreyfus said.

When Dreyfus returned to Panoply, even before Mercier had attended to his injuries, his first port of call was the tactical room. There he found Clearmountain and Baudry engrossed in study of the Solid Orrery, running it back and forth through time under different assumptions. As the outcomes of their simulations varied, so did the number and distribution of the red points of light in the emerald swirl of the Glitter Band. Sometimes there were dozens of red glints, but never the hundreds or thousands that had figured in the earlier forecasts, when Aurora's expansion had appeared unstoppable.

"Dreyfus," Clearmountain purred.

"Welcome back to Panoply. I understand you now have senior status?"

"That's what it said on the Manticore booster. You'll have to talk to Jane to see whether it's a permanent status change."

"You received the message, I take it?" Baudry asked him sharply.

"Demikhov went ahead with Zulu."

"I heard."

"There were … complications, but when I last spoke to him, Demikhov was optimistic that Jane will make a complete recovery." She shot an awkward glance at Clearmountain.

"There'll be no reason for her not to resume her duties."

"After she's had a long rest," Dreyfus said forcefully.

"She deserves that, no matter what she says."

"Yes. No one would begrudge her that," Baudry replied.

"I lost the Clockmaker."

Clearmountain nodded at Dreyfus.

"From what we heard, it was tactically unavoidable. We could have nuked Ops Nine, but then we'd still be fighting Aurora on our own. You did well, Senior Dreyfus."