Free The Temporal Void by Peter F. Hamilton Page B

market-based democracy with all the opportunities for misunderstanding and conflict that entails. Wherever there’s an argument you’ll find us lawyers offering to help. And help equals lots of money. On which subject; I’ve already transferred my cash accounts offworld.’
    ‘Already?’
    ‘Certainly, darling; the banks were keen to welcome me. And I wasn’t exactly the first. There’s enough money flying offplanet right now to leave our beloved Prime Minister a magnificent economic nightmare by lunchtime, never mind tomorrow. The only thing she has left to worry about is how painful her bodyloss is going to be when her previously loyal voters get their hands on her. So – do you want me to see if I can offload your apartments for you? I have some finance seeker semisentients I can assign the problem to.’
    ‘Um, yes. Yes, I suppose so.’
    ‘Great, so I’ll reserve that ticket for you.’
    ‘Yes. Do that.’ Araminta just said it without thinking. She didn’t want to leave, but Cressida had to be placated somehow, and anything else might be suspicious. Ozzie, it didn’t take me long to become a paranoid schemer, did it?
    ‘Don’t worry,’ Cressida said. ‘Ten days from now we’ll be sipping cocktails on the pool terrace of La Cinal on Etinna. It’ll be fun, a new beginning.’
    The call ended, and Araminta stared at the semi-decorated open-plan living room in a mild daze. She couldn’t believe that even Cressida could abandon her whole life with such casual ease. But then that was Cressida for you, thinking faster and smarter than anyone else. She’d probably run through the whole shock, anger, assessment, calculation, and action stages in the first hour; while Araminta was still firmly mired in the shock segment. Certainly she’d never thought what life on Viotia would be like after things settled down; and of course Cressida was right, they would be part of the Free Trade Zone for ever now. Unless the Senate and Navy intervened, or Viotia’s residents organized a rebellion.
    Or the Void devours us.
    Whatever the future outcome, Cressida was right about one thing, Araminta couldn’t just wait around hoping to avoid detection. She started to think what it must cost politically and economically to invade a planet. Cleric Conservator Ethan and his sidekick Phelim wouldn’t do that and then just hope they’d stumble across the Second Dreamer. They’d have a plan. And it would be a good one.
    Araminta forced herself to get to her feet. She didn’t know what she was going to do, but doing nothing was not an option.
    *
     
    It took two hours, and a stint in the ship’s medical chamber, but Troblum eventually stopped shaking. When he emerged he could barely manage to cover the couple of metres from the chamber to his big chair. He sank into its padding, fearful he would start trembling again. The medical read-out in his exovision showed him just how many drugs were coursing through his bloodstream right now, working in conjunction with his biononics to suppress his body’s animal reactions. He had been terrified.
    He was also rather surprised that he was still alive. All he could remember of the neutron laser shot was a dazzling flash, and a noise that was so great his bones had felt it rather than his ears. His biononics were still repairing his retinas and inner ears. How he staggered into the ship’s airlock was some kind of miracle; the smartcore had to give him directions, telling him how to move every limb.
    But he was alive, and almost intact. The smartcore had used sensors to follow the Cat’s starship flying away from the villa, then vanishing. Her stealth systems were as good as his own if not better. He hadn’t waited around to find out how good Paula’s ship was, he’d simply stealthed up and dropped into hyperdrive. Now he was sitting in transdimensional suspension ten lightyears out from Sholapur.
    ‘You were lucky,’ Catriona Saleeb said.
    ‘I know.’ He glanced at the single