An explosion of light. Yes! "We'll set a marker, then! The next New Sun—or maybe a few Msecs after, since I seem to remember things being a bit unpleasant right when the sun lights up." About two centuries.Thatwill fit well with my other plans.

Victory via Trixia: "Yes, just after the next Brightness. Here in the Grand Temp—however grander it may be." A gentle laugh. "I'll make a note not to be asleep or light-years away."

"Agreed." "Agreed!" The voices went round the table.

Belga Underville buzzed and hissed, and as usual Pham didn't understand a thing she said, except that her tone was full of truculent incredulity. Fortunately, as the King's chief of Intelligence, she rated a full-time translator. Zinmin Broute sat beside her, listening to her with a faint smile. Broute actually seemed to like the old biddy. When she finished, he wiped the smile from his face and put on a good glower. "This is rank foolishness, or human insanity I don't yet understand. You have three ships, and with them you intend to bring down the Emergent empire? But for the last seven years, you have been saying that we Spiders have nothing to fear from outside invasion, that a planetary civilization with high technology can always mount a successful defense. The Emergents must have thousands of military vessels in their home territories, yet you talk of overthrowing them. Have you been lying to us, or are you just very wishful thinkers?"

Victory Lighthill buzzed a question, put so simply and clearly that Trixia didn't have to translate. "But, maybe...you get help...from far Qeng Ho?"

"No," said Ezr. "I...I'll tell you frankly, Qeng Ho don't like to fight. It's much easier just to let tyrannies alone. ‘Let them trade with themselves,' as the old saying goes."

Anne Reynolt had been quiet through all this. Now she said, "It's okay, Ezr. Youhave helped us... ." She turned to Belga Underville. "Madame General, someone has to do this. The Emergents and Focus are something new. Leave them alone and they will just grow stronger—and someday they'll come to eat you."

Incredulity was patent in the flick of Underville's longest arms. "Yes, more contradictions. Over the last years you have persuaded us to go beyond trade in helping to arm and outfit you." A human speaker might have cast a look in Victory Lighthill's direction; Victory had the ear of the King in this. "But what does it serve that you commit suicide? That is how I see the odds."

Anne smiled, but Pham could tell the questions made her tense. Belga had pounded on these questions in more official forums, and it was unlikely she would receive any satisfaction here. The questions haunted Anne as well. But Belga did not understand that, for Anne Reynolt, this mission gave better odds than she had ever had. "Not suicide, Madame General. We have special advantages, and Pham and I know how to use them." She put her hand on Pham's. "I employ one of the few commanders in human histories who has succeeded at such a thing."

Yeah, the Strentmannian thing was similar. God help me.No one said anything for a moment. The half-liter of wine had drifted upward. Pham poked his finger into its center of rotation and slid it gently back in front of where he sat. "We have advantages more concrete than my fearless leadership. Anne knows as much as any Podmaster about how the inner system works." And their little fleet would carry some surprising hardware, the first products of human/Spider new technology. But that wasn't the fleet's greatest strength. The crews of their three ships were mostly exFocused who understood the mechanisms of the Emergents' automation and who wanted as much as Anne to overthrow it. There were even a few of the original unFocused Emergents. As he spoke, Pham saw Jau Xin watching him intently—and Rita Liao watching Jau. They would come if they didn't have their three little ones. And even now, there was a chance. Pham still had four days to persuade them. Xin had been Pilot Manager for Nau's uncle before the voyage to Arachna. And the latest comm from Balacrea showed the Nau clique was back at the top of the heap.

Pham looked from face to face as he described the plans. Ezr and Qiwi, Trixia and Victory, certainly Jau and Rita:They don't really thinkthis is a wake. They understand we have a good chance, but they worry forus. "And we've been studying Nau's records and the transmissions that he received—that we're still receiving from Balacrea. We've spoofed them into thinking the Emergents won here. We plan on being able to get in-system before they realize that we aren't friendly. We understand alot about the internal factions at the top of their society. All together—" All together, it might not be something he should undertake. But Anne was right about Focus, and Anne wanted this more than anything. And afterward, well, there washis great project, and having Anne in on that would be worth all the risks. "All together, we have a chance. It will be a gamble, an adventure. I wanted to call our flagship theWild Goose, but Anne wouldn't let me."

"Hah!" said Anne. "I thinkEmergents' Reward is a much more proper name. After we win,then you can name it theWild Goose !"

The first course of the banquet was already arriving, and Pham didn't have a chance to answer her back. Instead, he showed the others that you really can tuck a half-liter of wine back into a drinking bulb without creating any smaller droplets. He grinned to himself. Even the other Qeng Ho hadn't seen that. It was just one of the advantages of being well traveled.

The banquet lasted a number of Ksecs. They had time to talk of many things, to remember where they had been and the friends who had died in making the present day. But the greatest surprise didn't come until right at the end, when Anne pointed out something that none of the Spiders, not even Victory Lighthill, had guessed at.

Anne had relaxed as the dinner progressed. Pham knew she still was uneasy with groups of people. She couldact almost any role, but inside there was a shyness that didn't come out except when she was being open. She had learned to trust these people; as long as the conversation stayed clear of what she must do with the Emergency, she could genuinely enjoy herself. And Anne Reynolt still had many things that her friends here needed. More than anyone, she understood the exFocused. Pham listened to her chat with Trixia Bonsol and Victory Lighthill, suggesting ways they might get even more translation services.From the first moment I saw you,you seemed very special. The flaming red hair, the pale, almost pink skin. Such a contrast to his own black hair and smoky complexion. On this side of Human Space, her looks were rare indeed. But then he had learned what was behind those looks, the brains, the courage....Following her to Balacrea would be worth it even if there were no plans for afterward.

After-dinner drinks were floated around to the humans. The Spider equivalent were little black balls to puncture and suck and spit into elaborate cuspidors.

Pham found himself toasting to the success of each group's endeavor—and the meeting they had set for two centuries later.

Ezr Vinh leaned around Qiwi to look at him. "And after our remeeting? After you free Balacrea and Frenk? What then? When will you finally tell us about that?"

Anne smiled at Pham. "Yes, tell them about your wild-goose chase."

"Hmmpf." Pham wasn't entirely pretending embarrassment. Except with Anne, he hadn't talked about this. Maybe it was because the scheme was grandiose even compared with his grandiose scheming of the past. "...Okay. You know why we came to Arachna: the mystery of the OnOff star and the existence of intelligent life here. We spent forty years with Tomas Nau's boot on our necks, but still we learned amazing things."

Ezr: "True. In one single place, Humankind has never found so many different kinds of wonderful things."