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temple. The deluge of information had begun as soon as they traversed the Aurora portal and had yet to cease: data, news, images, random thoughts from random Prevos. There were so many of them now. Much of the information was out of order and lacking context, the product of the streams of consciousness of multiple Artificials and a neural web which had grown beyond measure.
    Twenty-six hours after arriving, she still wasn’t exactly sure what she did and didn’t know. But she could fake it sufficiently on the fly until Valkyrie got it all sorted.
    “Right.” Caleb stood and went over to the corner where he’d dropped his pack a minute earlier. “I’ll catch a transport. I should be back in the morning.”
    “Do you want to take the Siyane ?” Please say no.
    “I wouldn’t dream of it. You may need it.”
    You have no idea how true that is, do you? “Hopefully not, but I might. If I decide to come to Romane later tonight, I’ll let you know so we don’t pass each other.”
    For a second she thought he was simply going to walk out—his stance briefly shifted toward the door—then he came over and kissed her lightly on the forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t go to war without me.”
    Her smile remained in place until he was out the door. Then she collapsed into the chair he’d vacated and curled up, dropping her head on the armrest.
    It would be the first time in months they’d been apart for more than a few hours, and his departure evoked an array of sensations…no, they were called emotions when she inhabited only a corporeal body.
    Sadness . She already felt the hollowness in her chest his absence carved.
    Relief . It was exhausting hiding the constant, relentless urge to slip into the walls of the ship.
    Disquiet . She recognized he’d left troubled in his own way, yet he had kept it to himself.
    Weariness . She hadn’t slept properly in ages, mostly because the hours he slept provided the best opportunity for her to explore her other perception free of guilt.
    Instead of attempting to improve on any of those conditions, she closed her eyes and dove into her elemental realm.
    Space welcomed her into its embrace. Warm, lit by Messium’s sun. Hectic, excited by the churning of purposeful activity all around her.
    The station had no enclosed docking bay for visitors, and the Siyane was secured to an external docking module. Rows of vessels extended above and below her. New ships, designs she’d never seen. Adiamene hulls gleamed subtly in natural, gracefully flowing contours.
    Atoms pressed against her, displaced by a vessel departing overhead. This wasn’t the void, and the atmosphere of the planet below could still be felt here, ten megameters above its surface.
    She drifted along with the motion of the station as it rotated to show her the stars, the sun and the planet again in turn. The structure and the space surrounding it vibrated and hummed with enterprise. Humans rushing to and fro to effect a revolution.
    It was vital, meaningful work to them…but the atoms didn’t care. They would remain here long after the people and their artificial constructs were gone.

    The punch to her shoulder registered as a dull thud , far away and disconnected from her elemental body, but it was delivered forcefully enough to draw her attention. Alex reluctantly pulled her consciousness inward, winding down Valkyrie’s quantum pathways like a vid streaming in reverse.
    She opened her eyes to find Kennedy leaning over her, peering at her from no more than twenty centimeters away. “There you are!”
    “Ken?” She straightened up in the chair, rubbing at her face. “What are you doing here?”
    “Stuff. Are you all right? I’ve been trying to rouse you for the last thirty seconds.”
    “Sorry. I was…sleeping.” She shook her head, still trying to clear the fog. On exiting the ship’s perception, this version of reality always seemed hazy and indistinct for a while. “What stuff? This is a