What Has Gone Before
In Grand Central Arena, the Solar System of 2375 is a near-utopia, with limitless energy, nanotech replicators and AI freeing people to work, or play, as they wish, and the most minimally intrusive government humanity has ever seen; only the Wagnerian tragedy of the secretive Hyperion Project justified the need for a minimal military force. Dr. Simon Sandrisson believed he had found the key to one of the last great dreams of humanity: faster-than-light travel. Due to some odd anomalies with unmanned tests, Dr. Sandrisson gathered together a crew to perform the first manned test of the Sandrisson Drive, beginning with enigmatic but skilled power engineer Dr. Marc C. DuQuesne and ending with the recruitment of Ariane Stephanie Austin, a daredevil pilot for the Unlimited Space Racing league. With multiple redundant automated systems, Ariane’s presence was more a matter of form than anything else; aside from sports such as her own, human beings simply don’t pilot or drive vehicles in a serious context.
But when the Sandrisson Drive was activated, every AI system—including the implanted AISages, self-aware companions that almost every adult human being has as a matter of course—shuts down, as does the nuclear reactor, and only Ariane’s racing reflexes prevents their ship, the Holy Grail, from colliding with the gigantic, impossible wall that appeared before them.
The crew of the Holy Grail quickly discover that they are inside a huge, generally spherical construct twenty thousand kilometers across . . . with a moving replica of the Solar System in its center. No AI-level automation works, or indeed any automation above the extremely primitive. Despite all systems and conditions appearing normal, no nuclear reaction can be triggered. The Holy Grail, unfortunately, requires immense amounts of energy to activate the drive; unless they can find a source of power, they may never be able to return home . . . and may not live more than a few months at best.
Because she is one of only two unaffected by the loss of an AISage (the others in conditions ranging from shock to full-blown coma), and because she is the only crewmember without defined duties outside of piloting the ship, Ariane is made temporary Captain of the vessel, and they attempt to explore this alien structure. The others, with the exception of biologist Laila Canning, who remains unconscious, eventually recover from the loss of their AISage companions and are able to assist.
Soon, they discover there are illuminated, livable areas within the construct . . . and suddenly find themselves forced to choose a side in a conflict between two seemingly-identical alien “Factions.” The humans manage to face down the group calling themselves the “Blessed To Serve,” partly due to the appearance of a mysterious cloaked figure called a “Shadeweaver,” and rescue the target of the Blessed, a green-and-black semi-insectoid alien called “Orphan.”
Orphan proves to be a useful, if not necessarily trustworthy, resource, through whom the humans discover the true magnitude of the problems facing them. They are trapped in an otherspace, another universe that is simply called “The Arena” by its residents. In Orphan’s words: “It is a place where we all meet and challenge, where bargains are made and broken and avenged, where an alliance may be built on blood and fortune. It is a place where faith is lost, and where religions are founded or proven true. It is where you shall confront, and be confronted by, truths and lies, enemies and allies, belief and denial, impossibility and transcendence.”
Any attempt to use an FTL drive in our native universe transfers the vessel to the Arena; the Arena has a Sphere for every solar system, a replica of every existing and possible native world for any species across all our universe, and some very strange—and equally incontestable—limits placed on all species in the Arena. No AIs. No nuclear power or similarly intense power sources (with some very limited exceptions). Any conflicts between species to be resolved by formal, or sometimes dangerously informal, Challenges whose stakes can be literal worlds.
And humanity must win at least one such Challenge if they are to be accepted as citizens of the Arena, and have the chance to trade for the energy they need to return home. To somewhat counterbalance this, the Arena provides full and detailed translation capabilities to all, meaning that newcomers (“First Emergents”) are not handicapped by needing to learn to communicate, and there are certain limitations on Challenges which prevent a newly-arrived race from, for example, losing their entire homeworld in a Challenge; Challenge costs are directly proportional to the resources of a Faction, so a Challenge whose stakes might cost Humanity a ship could cost a Great Faction many hundreds of Spheres.
With no other choice, Ariane, DuQuesne, and Simon accompany Orphan to Nexus Arena, where all species eventually meet and where the majority of the politics, and most Challenges, of the Arena are carried out. They meet several other important beings and species, ranging from Nyanthus, leader of the religious Faction called the Faith, to the militaristic and xenophobic Molothos, Ghondas of the Powerbrokers (who could provide the energy needed to go home), and Relgof Nov’Ne Knarph of the knowledge-focused Faction of the Analytic.
The successful travel to Nexus Arena has opened what Orphan calls the “Upper Gateway” of Humanity’s Sphere, which opens onto the “top” surface of the Sphere. This is actually a crucially important event, because the top of a Sphere is not a dead surface in vacuum; the interior of the Arena is filled with (mostly) breathable atmosphere, and every Sphere’s top surface is a livable area that is compatible with the native, dominant species of the solar system that it represents. By exploiting this surface, the stranded crew of Holy Grail can survive, and perhaps over time even find a way to generate their own return power, even if success in the Arena eludes them.
It is decided that DuQuesne will return to the Sphere and, with controls specialist Carl Edlund and possibly medical doctor Gabrielle Wolfe, perform an initial survey of the part of the Upper Sphere surrounding the Upper Gateway; DuQuesne had recently been “outed” as a former result of the ill-starred Hyperion project, which made him much more physically and mentally capable than the vast majority of humanity, so his choice as the front-line explorer seems obvious.
But their exploration hits an unexpected problem; the Molothos have—apparently by coincidence—found Humanity’s Sphere and are attempting to colonize the Upper Sphere themselves. DuQuesne and Carl Edlund are captured by the war-like aliens, but when they threaten to torture Carl to get DuQuesne’s cooperation in gaining access to the interior of the Sphere, DuQuesne releases all the controls he has on his Hyperion nature and destroys most of the small force of aliens that had captured them; with Carl’s help, he is able to devise a desperate but effective strategy to also take out the ship from which the Molothos had come, thereby protecting the secret of exactly where Humanity’s Sphere is from the invaders.
It turns out that the Arena considers such a situation to be equivalent to a Challenge, and so DuQuesne’s victory makes the small human contingent full citizens of the Arena . . . at the cost of making one of the most powerful and dangerous Factions their enemies.
Still, the crew of Holy Grail have little to trade. They need to find some way to convince or bargain with other Factions to get the energy needed to go home and tell the rest of Humanity that they are no longer alone in the universe, and dangerously so. Ariane soon finds herself first present at a strange ritual of the Faith that shows there are powers here they do not understand, when she sees a young member of the Faith named Mandallon elevated to the rank of Initiate Guide and manifesting energies that none of her instruments can make sense of. Shortly afterward, on her trip home, she encounters Amas-Garao, one of the enigmatic Shadeweavers, who also have apparently-magical powers and unknown motives and interests.
Mandallon is committed to assist Humanity due to their status as First Emergents, and specifically to perform a service for Humanity if he can; Ariane, after ascertaining that such service isn’t enough to re-power the Holy Grail, asks if the Faith can help the still-unconscious Laila Canning. Mandallon performs a ritual which brings Laila back to consciousness and seems to have healed her . . . although for just a moment, Ariane thinks she sees something else in Laila’s gaze . . .
Their first encounter with the Blessed had, of course, not left the Blessed To Serve positively inclined to Humanity, and this is demonstrated when the Blessed orchestrate a Challenge to Humanity. Ariane accepts and maneuvers the venue to Arenaspace racing, and despite some unfamiliarity with conditions, manages to win with an insanely risky tactic that takes her through a “Skyfall”—a cascade of debris found at the edge of the null-G areas of Arenaspace and the directed gravity surrounding every Sphere.
Before she can claim the reward in the form of energy to return, Orphan is able to inform her that there is another catch: all of them cannot return. There must always be at least one person present in their Sphere from now on, or else their status as Citizens of the Arena will be revoked. Given this, Ariane chooses to have their Sphere secured against any unwanted intrusion by the Faith—a service to be paid by the Blessed, who have lost the Challenge.
This choice of course severely disappoints the others, and precipitates the first real internal crisis, with the others arguing that Ariane had no right to make that choice without them. She points out that they made her Captain, and were perfectly happy to dump many other decisions or interactions onto her head, and if they didn’t want her to be the Captain they shouldn’t have done it in the first place.
The others realize that Ariane is correct; DuQuesne, particularly mortified that he allowed himself to react against her that way, leaves to give himself a chance to cool down and figure out an appropriate way to apologize. But while walking, he encounters Amas-Garao, who invites him to see the Shadeweaver Faction House . . . and invites DuQuesne to join the Shadeweavers. The Shadeweavers like to have at least one member of every species, for this gives them great knowledge and insight into all species’ history and behavior.
Unfortunately, when DuQuesne rejects the invitation, it becomes clear that Amas-Garao has made an “offer you can’t refuse.” The running battle through the Faction House demonstrates to DuQuesne’s shock that even a Hyperion is no match for a Shadeweaver. Fortunately, his first attempt at a distress call had gotten partially through, and Ariane has led a group to rescue him, arriving just in time. The ensuing battle is only won when Orphan—who had been thought to have fled in fear—returns and, somehow, partially negates Amas-Garao’s powers sufficiently to allow them to escape.
The Shadeweavers’ influence makes things difficult for Humanity, despite some assistance from the Analytic and the Faith. Partly to take their minds from these issues, Ariane and company watch a Challenge between two expert Champions of Challenges, the immense yet nimble Sivvis of the Daelmokhan, and the tiny but powerful Tunuvun of the Genasi (a species native to the Arena, and not considered citizens). The ending of that Challenge showcases both creatures’ capabilities and their honor as well, leaving a strong impression on Ariane.
The “difficulties” culminate with an assault by the Blessed on Gabrielle, who was supposed to be with Orphan; when a furious Ariane Challenges Sethrik, the Leader of the Blessed, it turns out to have been a setup; Amas-Garao emerges as the selected Champion for the Blessed. Orphan and Sethrik were both used by the Shadeweaver as they both owed the Shadeweavers debts. Moreover, Ariane herself had been subtly mentally influenced to become angry enough to give the Challenge without thinking the implications through. This is the second time the Shadeweavers have done this to her; their initial conflict with the Blessed on the side of Orphan had, it turns out, been partly the Shadeweavers’ doing as well.
Ariane is forced to face Amas-Garao in the Arena in single combat, with the stakes being Ariane herself; if she loses, she must join the Shadeweavers. Despite some initial and startling success due to careful tactics and preparation, it becomes clear that the Shadeweavers’ inexplicable powers are utterly beyond Ariane’s ability to oppose, and she is beaten to near-unconsciousness.
Then, hovering on the brink, Ariane suddenly sees a tenuous but just-possible connection between things she has witnessed or heard about, and invokes the same ritual she heard when attending the elevation of Mandallon—and the power of Shadeweaver, or Faith, or perhaps both, explodes from her with uncontrolled force, pushing Amas-Garao literally to the wall and leaving him no choice but to yield. Both Shadeweaver and Faith join together to seal her power away temporarily.
Before she can demand a price from Amas-Garao, DuQuesne informs her that he made a bet—on her winning—which will now give them the energy needed to return. Thus, Ariane instead demands that from thence forward, no Shadeweaver ever be able to influence or affect the minds of humanity or its direct and close allies. The Arena agrees that this is a just and equitable demand, and Amas-Garao accepts.
Even this victory is not without problems, however. Both the Shadeweavers and the Faith demand that the now-Awakened Ariane join one of them. The Faith see the Shadeweavers as wielding powers more demonic than heavenly, and while the Shadeweavers do not profess to having any holy ambitions or sources, they have little love for the Faith. Ariane has no intention of joining either faction, since she is the Captain—and, by default, the Leader of the Faction of Humanity. But the temporary seal is weakening and if it is not either renewed, or Ariane taken in by Faith or Shadeweaver and trained, her uncontrollable power could be incalculably destructive.
Once more the Shadeweavers and Faith must join together, this time to create a permanent seal on Ariane’s powers, with the assistance of the other humans in a strange symbolic array that requires seven individuals of the target’s Faction to focus the seal on the target. This, of course, means that all members of Holy Grail’s crew must participate; the Arena agrees to temporarily allow them to empty their Sphere for this purpose, and this purpose only. During the sealing ritual, a momentary imbalance causes the powers of all three—Shadeweaver, Faith, and Ariane—to intersect on Simon, giving him a momentary vision that seems similar to the one Ariane experienced upon her Awakening.
With the Sealing complete, things seem to be resolved; but it turns out that Molothos have closely observed comings and goings and have guessed that Humanity’s Sphere is currently unoccupied and that if they cannot return in time, they will lose their citizenship. The Molothos therefore have arranged for nearly all of Nexus Arena’s Inner Gateways to be in use—making the wait to return to Humanity’s Sphere be too long. A last-ditch inspiration by Steve Franceschetti, the design expert for Holy Grail, gives them one last chance and DuQuesne literally throws Steve over the heads of waiting sophonts through an Inner Gateway, just in time to return him to Humanity’s Sphere.
The Holy Grail returns at last to the Solar System, carrying Ariane, Marc DuQuesne, Simon Sandrisson, and Gabrielle Wolfe . . . and evidence of the impossible. “Kanzaki-Three, this is Experimental Vessel 2112FTL, Holy Grail, reporting back.” She grinned at the others, as she continued, “Control, you will not believe where we’ve been!”
In Spheres of Influence, the Space Security Council and Combined Space Forces (SSC and CSF) have just begun to absorb the enormity of the events of Grand Central Arena, but it is already clear that for the first time in a long, long time, politics are really, really going to matter . . . and there is a powerful and clever politician named Oscar Naraj who has been waiting for such an opportunity for decades.
While Simon and Gabrielle prepare Holy Grail for a return to the Arena (including gathering trade goods worth bringing), Marc DuQuesne embarks on a mysterious, high-speed trip through the Solar System with Ariane—a trip to recruit, if possible, other Hyperions to the cause. His travels are roundabout, revealing that even Marc DuQuesne is afraid of something, something that may be following him.
They reach his ultimate destination, and DuQuesne—after momentarily believing has failed—successfully reaches and reawakens Sun Wu Kung, the Hyperion version of the legendary Monkey King. With Wu Kung in tow, they return to join Simon and Gabrielle, who have just been informed by Saul Maginot that Oscar Naraj’s maneuvers have succeeded in ousting Saul as leader of the SSC, replacing him with Naraj, and putting Naraj’s chosen right-hand person Michelle Ni Deng in charge of the Arena Task Force which will soon send its own expedition to the Arena.
At the same time, Simon and Gabrielle have detected another transition to Arenaspace that isn’t tied to either group; it is not long before DuQuesne realizes that this was the work of one of his compatriots, the Hyperion named Maria-Susanna . . . a Hyperion who is dangerously, unpredictably insane and who is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people, including many Hyperions. She was the one DuQuesne was afraid had been pursuing them. Now she is loose in the Arena.
This reinforces DuQuesne’s main reason for having recruited Wu Kung: he is to serve as a bodyguard to Ariane, something she accepts after a short period of protest. Ariane’s own AISage, Mentor, discusses the possibility that a Hyperion AI may have escaped containment, and Ariane gives Mentor permission to stay behind (which is, technically, illegal, as high-powered AIs are supposed to always be secured by human oversight) and search/watch for such a renegaded AI.
With little time to lose, the main group returns to the Arena, finding that Maria-Susanna passed through quickly, gaining whatever information she needed without trouble and disappearing into Nexus Arena. She did visit Orphan and even offered to join his Faction, the Liberated; despite Orphan’s desperate need for recruits, however, Orphan declined her offer, as he found he simply did not trust her.
Instead, Orphan makes an offer to Humanity: several fully-functional Arena vessels, including warships, in exchange for a trustworthy crew to accompany him on an expedition to the Deeps (the reaches of the Arena that lie beyond easy travel via Sky Gates). Ariane agrees, though she warns him that it may be some time before they can find such a crew.
Meanwhile, Simon Sandrisson completes negotiations with the Analytic, hoping to obtain the information necessary to create sensors to locate the Sky Gates that will be now active around Humanity’s sphere, and which will give Humanity access to multiple other points throughout the Arena’s volume. Instead, the Conclave of the Analytic gives Simon what appears to be a priceless yet useless gift: complete free access to the Archives of the Analytic for a year and a half . . . but no access to the Index of the Archives. But Dr. Relgof, who sincerely considers Simon his friend, says he allowed this only because he has faith that Simon, who invented the Sandrisson Drive, can find those answers on his own, and access to the Archives itself might turn out to be more valuable in the long run.
And then, on his first search of the Archives, Simon finds himself struck by a bizarre, phantom sense of familiarity . . . a sense that becomes stronger as he makes his way, without conscious understanding of how or why, to specific areas where the information he seeks is waiting. He realizes that something did happen to him in that ritual, something that is giving him understanding, guiding him without his own control, and he is both elated and terrified.
Naraj and Ni Deng arrive, accompanied by their own bodyguard, Commander Oasis Abrams—a redheaded woman that DuQuesne and Wu appear to have some past history with. Oscar Naraj is taken aback to discover that there was one very important point left out of his briefings: that Captain Ariane Austin is, from the point of view of the Arena, the Leader of the Faction of Humanity—in essence, the ruler of the entire human species!—and that therefore his political ambitions are entirely at her mercy. He adjusts quickly (perhaps, some think, too quickly), however, and accepts that his current post will be that of Ambassador. Ariane emphasizes that she does want to find someone more suited for the job of Leader, but that she’s not relinquishing the position until she’s sure she’s found someone who really understands what they’re getting into.
Simon, still unsettled but keeping his strange condition to himself for the moment, believes he has solved the problem of finding the Sky Gates; DuQuesne and Wu accompany him to the Upper Sphere to see that he is well situated. On the return, Wu breaks away and goes to investigate part of the Sphere, and DuQuesne catches up with him to find him, literally, talking to the local equivalent of wolves, something that as far as he knows is impossible.
Sethrik, Leader of the Blessed, visits the Faction House of Humanity, along with his second-in-command, Vantak. Vantak is given the responsibility of talking with Naraj, freeing up the two Leaders to converse in private, which includes discussing Maria-Susanna’s apparent careful examination of all the major Factions.
Wu Kung and DuQuesne, returning from their expedition with Simon, are returning with good news: Simon’s already found one Sky Gate and expects from that that they have quite a few such Gates. DuQuesne goes ahead to let the others know in person, allowing Wu to have some minutes to himself in the Arena. He is almost instantly visited by Amas-Garao, apparently just taking a look at the odd newcomer, but shortly thereafter Wu sees a being he recognizes from records as Tunuvun being harassed by a crowd, and can’t keep from intervening. This leads to a literal brawl on one of the Docks, which Tunuvun and Wu Kung win, but the fact of the brawl itself is a problem, and one Ariane is not pleased with. “Sun Wu Kung. Get your ass back to our Embassy right now.”
Meanwhile, DuQuesne is diverted from his journey when he sees Oasis finally alone, travelling to the Grand Arcade. When he catches her, we finally discover that Oasis is actually the mysterious “K,” another of the Hyperions and one that DuQuesne obviously had a relationship with at some point. But she is not just “K;” she is also Oasis Abrams. The original Oasis had beaten one Hyperion but was ambushed by a Hyperion AI villain named Fairchild, who planned to escape Hyperion using her body and brain. “K” managed to intervene, and to save Oasis, took her mind into K’s body. The two share the body now and have grown very close, almost a unified mind, in that time.
Ariane rips into Wu Kung for getting into that fight—which could have led to a true Challenge—and manages to extract his word of honor that he will never enter such a situation again without first discussing it with either her or DuQuesne. On the positive side, such a battle has given Tunuvun and his people a very good opinion of Wu, and thus Humanity, and as the Genasi have a chance to become true Citizens of the Arena soon, this could have long-term major implications.
Simon goes to Laila Canning and discusses his problem, choosing her because he knows there has been unspoken wariness of her after her reawakening by Mandallon—and, Laila admits, not unjustified; she knows she has changed somehow and she is not sure what the change means. Simon, similarly, is afraid that he is becoming something else, as he completed the designs of the Gate sensors without being even fully aware of what he did, although in retrospect he can understand it all. The two agree to go to Ariane together to address these issues.
Ariane sees them after finishing a conversation with Naraj, which touches on both the fact that Maria-Susanna has apparently applied to become a member of the Vengeance, and on the difficulties of negotiations when one is already the target of the Molothos; Naraj has assigned Ni Deng to focus on negotiations with the Blessed, who claim to have been ordered to be more accommodating to Humanity following the Blessed’s role in setting up Amas-Garao’s Challenge.
Ariane recognizes Simon’s fears, and points out that if she were honest the group should have the same fears about her—having been touched even more directly by the power of the Arena. The misgivings about Laila she addresses directly, by saying that whether or not something has changed her, Laila has done nothing but assist them, so whatever the truth might be, from now on she will be treated exactly as any other member of the team.
Orphan begins the transfer of vessels to Humanity by first taking the group on board his flagship, Zounin-Ginjou, so they can bring him to Humanity’s Sphere. They learn something of the operation of such vessels, as well as about the diversity of life floating between Spheres in the Arena.
Having returned to Nexus Arena, with the others now involved in ferrying the new ships, Ariane and Wu have an encounter with Amas-Garao, which is more educational than frightening; the Shadeweaver mentions that Maria-Susanna has also been exploring the possibilities of joining their group, and during that discussion gives some details of the way in which the Shadeweavers operate—including how they must eventually give up their powers to make way for the next generation.
After another short meeting with Oscar Naraj, Ariane and Wu go with Sethrik to view the Thilomon, one of the Blessed’s major flagships. An assassination attempt causes Wu Kung to force both Sethrik and Ariane to take shelter inside Thilomon’s airlock, while he attempts to deal with the assassin. However, when Thilomon almost immediately begins to move away, Wu realizes this was a setup and manages—barely—to leap onto the departing Arena vessel.
Simon, on Zounin-Ginjou, is observing vessels as they approach Nexus Arena after completing ship delivery, and notices Wu on Thilomon. It is not hard to deduce that Ariane must be inside—and not of her own accord, if her bodyguard is stuck on the outside! Orphan agrees that he will not permit his friend Ariane Austin to be taken by the Blessed, but they cannot precipitate war in the neighborhood of Nexus Arena and thus must not be noticed by the Blessed until they are well away.
Within Thilomon, Ariane and Sethrik discover that Vantak has betrayed Sethrik . . . but at the direct instruction of the Minds, the artificial intelligences that control the Blessed to Serve. The Blessed believed that Sethrik might be becoming unreliable. They also have a specific use for Ariane Austin beyond merely demonstrating that the Blessed, and through them, the Minds, are not to be trifled with.
Wu Kung has somehow survived the transition across the Arena at terrific speeds, and is making his way across the Thilomon’s hull, when he is suddenly flung off the vessel, to plummet away into the Deeps of the Arena, where the predatorial zikki begin to swarm around him.
Seeing this, Ariane demonstrates exactly what Vantak and the Minds were hoping; in the extremity of rage, for a moment, the Seal on her powers slips, and shatters her bonds. The power re-seals itself too quickly to be usable, but that is still enough. The Minds believe that if they have Ariane to study, they will be able to eventually understand the powers . . . and be able to use them to allow the Minds themselves to enter the Arena, the only AIs to do so.
Zounin-Ginjou follows Thilomon and eventually prepares to attack—only to find that there are twenty other vessels waiting, joining Thilomon at this point. While individually superior to any of the Blessed vessels, there seems no doubt what the ultimate outcome will be for Zounin-Ginjou and her crew.
During the combat, both DuQuesne and Simon Sandrisson find themselves doing better using unknown technology than might have been expected, and when Zounin-Ginjou is heavily damaged, Simon finds himself running to repair a system he doesn’t even know . . . and does so. Though frightened, he also realizes this strange access to knowledge is also desperately needed now, so he allows it to grow, giving him a sense of what is, what could be, and he knows there is also a possible way to improve their odds.
The battle continues at a fever-pitch, but then both sides are distracted by the approach of numberless targets which burst from a cloudbank—an incredible assemblage of Arena lifeforms, ranging from tzchina to zikki and a gargantuan five-kilometer-long predator called a morfalzeen. The creatures assault and harass Thilomon, culminating with an impact that shatters the forward viewport . . .
. . . through which arrives Sun Wu Kung, who proceeds to defeat all the Blessed on Thilomon’s bridge, culminating by throwing Vantak out the port by which Wu entered.
Meanwhile, Simon has been desperately trying to modify one of Zounin-Ginjou’s weapons, following that strange knowledge within him. He succeeds, allowing far more intense fire at the cost of needing to reload the focus and liner after each shot. But before he can continue reloading, he suddenly finds he is not alone: Vantak has managed to board Zounin-Ginjou during the battle. Simon manages, barely, to defeat Vantak with the help of that over-sense.
Following the battle, Ariane refuses to simply wipe out Thilomon and its crew. Instead, after the others discuss the situation, it is decided to take them aboard Zounin-Ginjou inside of a subsection of living quarters from Thilomon, which will be in a cargo deck under weapons and scrutiny. They will then be deposited on the Upper Sphere of a currently untenanted Sphere, where they will be able to live but unable to travel from or contact any others.
Ariane and the others then have Sethrik—who, with Vantak dead and the succession of Leadership still not officially carried out, remains Leader of the Blessed—carry a message to his Embassy to be delivered to the Minds. This is also part of a plan to uncover what they suspect to have been cooperation between someone on the Humanity side along with Vantak.
The ruse works; Michelle Ni Deng goes to meet with Sethrik shortly after his arrival and her conversation reveals that Ariane’s . . . removal was quite intentional, all for the ostensible good of humanity. His job done, Sethrik returns and abandons his old faction, joining instead the Faction of the Liberated.
Ariane, having realized much of this was her fault for not really grasping the reins of Leadership, prepares to go to the System to confront the political issues head-on, waiting for the response by the Minds (as that will have a significant effect on her plans) and on the determination of whether Shadeweaver/Faith powers work in normal space (because that would have vast implications for what the Blessed’s Minds tried to do). In the interim, DuQuesne gets a message that someone hostile appears to be after the remaining Hyperions he was trying to protect back home. It is decided that Marc and Oasis will go back and try to find out what’s happening there—and to contact Mentor, if they can, to see if he has information.
Simon, with the help of Dr. Relgof, is able to uncover evidence that the powers of Shadeweaver and Faith do work even in normal space, meaning that the Minds’ plans were all too feasible.
DuQuesne and Oasis make contact with Mentor as they approach Counter-Earth Station 3, where the dreaming Hyperions have been moved. The station shuts down as they approach, and despite a desperate emergency docking and headlong rush through the Station, arrive too late; Dr. Davison, who was caretaking for DuQuesne, is nearly dead, and the room with the Hyperions is a wreck, with a pile of charred corpses in the center. Mentor barely warns DuQuesne in time to avoid a high-voltage electrical trap.
In the Arena, while in a discussion about Arena biology with Laila, Ariane is alerted to a visitor’s presence. Selpa, Leader of the Vengeance, arrives and announces that they have accepted Maria-Susanna as a member; she is with him, and Ariane gets a first look at the deceptively harmless former Hyperion. No sooner have they left than Tanglil of the Blessed arrives and delivers a message from the Minds themselves:
The Minds accept Ariane’s price for their attempted kidnapping, and give three Spheres to Humanity in recompense. Ariane immediately and unexpectedly gives one to the Liberated for Orphan’s assistance.
Ariane returns to their Sphere for the first time in months, to discover just how much chaos has ensued, with over a thousand new people now living, working, and researching in the Inner Sphere and Upper Sphere. But there is some order, being enforced by Thomas Cussler, who has taken up the position of directing activities in the Sphere. Thomas gives them a rundown of conditions in the Sphere, and the defensive preparations that have been and are continuing to be made to protect Humanity’s home Sphere.
The group arrives in time to enter a complete session of the SSC, with most CSF representatives present as well, and Ariane addresses them with a summary of what has happened—and why much of it was the fault of politicial maneuvering that assumed from the first that she was the wrong choice for the job. She presents proof of the Arena’s power and influence even in their own world and the need to have an actual, effective Leader of the Faction of Humanity.
General Jill Esterhauer, a long-term member of both organizations, is the center of resistance to this idea, and it becomes clear that this is based both on rational principles—a well-founded fear of any single individual holding such power—and on an apparent pattern of Hyperion connections she has noted, making the General wonder if there is more to these events than is being discussed.
Esterhauer’s forces are prepared to force the issue, but Ariane keeps her talking as DuQuesne and his allies—including Mentor—come to realize with Simon’s help that there is another element at work; the General has been subtly suborned. When the General begins to consider some of the points Ariane begins to make, a hidden connection comes to life and a brief cyber-battle erupts. This is concluded quickly—almost invisibly to most of those present—and the discussion continues.
Dr. Robert Fenelon of the SSC makes a compromise suggestion, derived partly from ancient Roman political structures, that seems reasonable enough. Before the negotiations can complete, however, General Esterhauer collapses, a delayed effect of the hostile force that had been attempting to manipulate her.
Fortunately, the General is not damaged beyond recovery, and ultimately Dr. Fenelon’s plan is accepted by her and by the combined SSC and CSF. With her position acknowledged, Ariane lays out a number of broad directives, plans for the future, including the need to create a set of laws governing activities in the Arena . . . and the need, in view of what has happened with the Blessed, to solve the issue of AI rights; Mentor himself offers an impassioned speech as to why it is time for humanity and their artificial children to work as full equals. The speech includes the revelation that the enemy that nearly destroyed Esterhauer was itself a renegade AI—only stopped by other AIs and a Hyperion working in concert. In short, an escaped Hyperion adversary.
With questions of leadership and succession addressed, Ariane and crew can finally turn to the question of what to do next . . . and Ariane already has that planned out: fulfill the promise she made to Orphan . . .