"O-kay...I've been on ships smaller than these quarters," Beka observed from the bed. Trance was wandering around the room, examining the plants, occasionally feeling one, or sniffing another. "Why d'you think they put us here?", Beka asked.

"…….pretty," came Trance's response from across the room.

"Trance. Forget the flowers. They're not going anywhere. Now, why would they put us up somewhere fit for the Vedran Empress? Do some of that seeing-the-future stuff."

"Maybe they want something." Trance shrugged, a gesture that anyone wanting a straight answer soon learned to detest. "Weren't they in the Commonwealth before?"

"I think so. But they seem to have done quite well out of the Fall. And they take their security seriously," she added, thinking back to all the ships and soldiers she had seen on the visit so far. "Unless they know something we don't, they seem to be quite happy where they are." Or they think we're here to take over the planet…all three of us. Beka smiled at the thought.

Beka got up and stretched. Trance was staring out of the window, a view surprisingly broad for such a narrow frame. "Have you ever been here before, Beka?"

"San-Ska-Re? Once or twice. I used to run parts through here way back when. Diamond Seat? No. Mostly the orbital habitats, although I did come planetside a few times. I've never liked the place."

"That's a shame. I wondered which one was the Overdiamond's palace," Trance said, regarding the skyline of San-Ska-Re's capitol.

"Well, assuming we're not mistaken for Magog, and that Dylan doesn't have any major diplomatic faux pas, and that Tyr doesn't accidentally blow anything up, we should find out soon enough."

---

Dylan had just stepped from the shower when the door chimed.

"One moment!"

He struggled into pants and tunic in an attempt at decency, then opened the door. Stood outside was Commander Breeze of Evening.

"Commander."

"Captain." The Than pilot drew up his forearms in salute. Dylan couldn't help but smile.

"As you were. Can I help you at all?"

"Please…" He swept an arm around. Dylan motioned him inside.

"Now. What can I do for you?"

Breeze of Evening looked around before he spoke. "Captain. Do you remember the Bokor?"

Dylan nodded. "How could I forget?"

"I was there, too. I may even have fired on Andromeda. Let us get the accusations and apologies out of the way first."

Dylan waved his hand. "Commander, once we found out what was going on, we were as keen to destroy them as you were. I even had Andromeda set for self-destruct, until we found a cure."

The antennae on Breeze of Evening's head rose, an expression of surprise. "A brave man indeed. There is much to admire in you, Captain Hunt. I make no secret of it; I support a new Commonwealth. Others, you may have noticed, are not so keen."

"Captain, I came to tell you of one thing, and one thing only. The records you seek…do not be surprised if we are…less than forthcoming. You might consider this obstructive, but there are things which," the Than paused thoughtfully, "must not be seen. This is not a reflection on you, or your crew. It is simply that they must not be known."

Which tells me precisely nothing, thought Dylan. Hell, getting answers out of Trance is easier than this.

"Commander, the data we want – and you haven't told me how you know I want it – if it was ever sensitive, it was sensitive 300 years ago. The whole universe has changed since. If it has any relevance at all, it is purely incidental. What I want is the satisfaction of my curiosity, not a pan-Galactic finger-pointing."

The Than regarded him with inscrutable eyes. "Captain, you do not want your curiosity satiated. If it were to be satisfied, you would soon wish you had never been curious at all."

"Now wait a min-" Dylan was cut off mid-word.

"Captain, that wasn't a threat. It was a statement of fact. If, and I sincerely doubt it will be so, if you get those records, we will do you no harm. You will just wish you had never read them. I've taken too much of your time, Captain. I should go." The Than stood, bowed stiffly, and left.

And what the Hell was all that about, Dylan wondered.

---

The trio convened in Dylan's room. Beka paced up and down, Trance stared out of the windows, and Dylan sprawled on the oversized divan.

"Dylan, they're up to something. I just can't prove it," asserted Beka. Dylan snorted, raised his eyebrows.

"I know. But why are they up to something? I had a very…," he paused, looking for the right word, "…odd visit from Commander Breeze of Evening. What he told me, broadly, was that we weren't going to get our records because they were too sensitive. Now, I'll grant you that a plan to blow up a hundred billion people might have been big news at the time, but...it's not the time any more. Hell, the nova bombs aren't even there now. So what could they want to hide? I just don't get it, unless there's more to this than we know." Or think we know.

"Exactly," replied Beka. "Based on what we know, there's no good reason for them for them to hide anything. Ipso facto, QED, there must be more to it." She wore a frown, stroking her chin and occasionally looking at the ceiling, as though soliciting inspiration from the Divine.

"Maybe your assumption was wrong." Trance turned to face the others, her expression daring Dylan to prove her wrong. Explanations had been demanded after the incident at the depot, so the whole crew knew of Dylan's hunch. Some of them even agreed with his response, although Tyr had been more impressed with the fact the Commonwealth could come up with such an audacious plan at all. "Maybe the nova bombs weren't for use against the Nietzscheans. Maybe…they were…for something else."

Dylan sighed. "Trance, that doesn't help us much, does it? Can you do any better than 'something else'? People, I need ideas. Facts would be better, but - please - something more than 'something else'."

In any case, the argument was settled by the chiming of the door.  Dylan answered it, and found himself face-to-face with another emerald warrior Than.  This one, he noticed, wore far more insignia than Breeze of Evening.

"Captain.  I am Fleet Admiral Passing of Shadows.  Moon over Water tells me you wish access to our old Commonwealth military records.  This is so?" he asked, his head tilted to one side.

A trick, a trap, or actual honesty? Wondered Dylan.  Well, if you have to bite…

"Yes.  Old High Guard records from the Fall."

Passing of Shadows nodded.  "As I understood.  At the moment, Moon over Water is trying to find you an appointment with the Overdiamond, so you will have something of a wait.  If it were possible to this faster, then we would.  I understand you are a man of action, much like myself.  But process must be followed," he concluded.  The Than regarded Dylan with a wary eye, and began to speak again.  "I have wished to meet you for some time, Captain.  Perhaps we might talk over dinner.  The invitation, of course, extends to all of your crew."

"I'd be delighted."

"Well, then.  Let us not delay any longer."  Passing of Shadows' speech had the brusque, staccato quality of one used to giving orders under pressure.  Not unlikely, thought Dylan.  The Than had tenaciously defended their corner of the universe for the last 300 years.  It necessarily followed that so much conflict produced leaders, and not merely commanders.

Dylan, Beka and Trance travelled by groundcar to the Admiralty building.  Another of San-Ska-Re's Commonwealth-era architectural marvels, it stood well over sixty stories high, and was made of the same sandy-orange stone as the House of Conclaves.  In galactic terms, it wasn't a big building, but when set against San-Ska-Re's otherwise low-rise skyline, it cut an imposing silhouette.  In the bluish evening twilight, the stone had a pleasing, almost luminous quality.  Passing of Shadows waved them through the security on the main entrance, a process trivial enough that Dylan wondered how much how much pull he had.  He then led them through the crowded corridors, exchanging greetings and salutes with the multitude of Than, of almost every different caste, that thronged the facility.  Their passage through the command nexus, where the day to day business of the Hegemony's defence was handled, and into the kilometres of offices where the defence staff passed their days was marked by a gradual increase in decoration, a replacement of spartan, utilitarian cinderblock with painted drywall and of harsh, white overhead light with smaller, yellower wall lamps.  A door at the end of a carpeted corridor opened onto a modestly sized, but very well-appointed dining room.  A pair of Brown Than stewards stood discretely to one side.

"Please, take a seat."  Passing of Shadows addressed them directly for the first time since leaving the House of Conclaves.  "We will eat shortly, but we have a few additional guests to wait for.  Some drinks, in the meantime?"  Passing of Shadows seemed disconcertingly agreeable, as though he were trying to disarm the Andromeda party with a smile and a word.

The drinks cabinet contained almost every spirituous liquor that Dylan had tried, a few he'd only heard of and a couple he'd never even seen.  Dylan accepted a mineral water, painfully aware that any conversation with Passing of Shadows would be akin to mental judo.  Beka took scotch, a good vintage one, and Trance availed herself of a fruit juice almost unobtainable off-world.  The whole endeavour was calculated to overwhelm the visitors, and it almost succeeded.

Dylan was the first to speak, after the chorus of murmured "thank yous".

"Admiral, I appreciate your hospitality, but…why?"

"Captain, I am the Commander-in-Chief of the Hegemony's armed forces.  Your request was of a military nature – and a high-level one, too – and so it crossed my desk, as you say.  When I asked about you, and my people forwarded what they had, I was even more obligated.  You had a visit from Breeze of Evening earlier, yes?"

Dylan nodded.

"He was sent as…an envoy, as it were.  Captain, I'll ask you one more time.  Reconsider.  You may deem these records important – and they are, to be fair – but they will remind of something which you may wish to forget."

Dylan managed, by dint of much effort, to control his temper.  "Admiral.  I respect your position, but so far I've heard nothing but sinister suggestions that I 'forget everything', or that I 'don't want to know'.  I've seen a great many things I wish I could forget, and I know a lot of things I don't want to know.  For better or for worse, these things are mine to look after.  I think I can deal with one more ghastly truth."

"As you wish."  Passing of Shadows seemed disappointed.  "In that case, you'll get your satisfaction.  And I hope for your sake you want it as badly as you say you do.  I should lay down a few rules for this meeting before we begin.  Nothing that is said will leave the confines of this room.  I know you are a man that understands secrecy, Captain, but do your crew?"  He shot a glance at Trance and Beka.

"They're reliable," he replied, although if Beka's looks could have killed, she had just committed genocide.

"And there will be no record of what happens here.  In point of fact, this is not happening.  It is, to coin a phrase, black.  What will be discussed is very sensitive.  Even today," concluded Passing of Shadows.

Dylan again nodded his assent.

"How timely," observed Passing of Shadows.  "The rest of our little party have arrived."

The doors of the dining room were opened by a pair of soldiers.

"Announcing Radiance of Twilight, Overdiamond of the Than-Thre-Kull and Hegemon of the Home Worlds!"

---