"Any chance of contacting the ship?" Gurgeh said, ignoring the question.

"Dragging away like that? Business end pointed straight back at a mere civilian machine like ourselves…?" The Hub Mind sounded amused. "Yeah… we suppose so."

"I want a drone on it called Loash Armasco-Iap Wu-Handrahen Xato Koum."

"Holy shit, Gurgeh, what are you tangling with here? Handrahen? Xato? That's equiv-tech espionage-level SC nomenclature. Heavy messing…. Shit…. We'll try…. Just a moment."

Gurgeh waited in silence for a few seconds.

"Nothing," the voice from the terminal said. "Gurgeh, this is Hub Entire speaking here; not a subsection; all of me. That ship's acknowledging but it's claiming there is no drone of that name or anything like it aboard."

Gurgeh slumped back in the seat. His neck was stiff. He looked down from the stars, down at the table. "You don't say," he said. "Shall I try again?"

"Think it'll do any good?"

"No."

"Then don't."

"Gurgeh. This disturbs me. What is going on?"

"I wish," Gurgeh said, "I knew." He looked up at the stars again. The little drone's ghostly vapour-trail had almost disappeared. "Get me Chamlis Amalk-ney, will you?"

"On line … Jernau?"

"What, Hub?"

"Be careful."

"Oh. Thanks. Thanks a lot."

"You must have annoyed it," Chamlis said through the terminal.

"Very likely," Gurgeh said. "But what do you think?"

"They were sizing you up for something."

"You think so?"

"Yes. But you just refused the deal."

"Did I?"

"Yes, and think yourself lucky you did, too."

"What do you mean? This was your idea."