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“I do play the cornet,” Ravana admitted. “It’s like a squashed trumpet.”

“Another brass player!” exclaimed Endymion. “Trombone, me.”

“I play clarinet,” said Bellona. “Philyra plays the flute.”

Ravana considered this. “Is it just the three of you?”

Philyra nodded sullenly.

“You would make four,” Bellona suggested hopefully.

“Maybe,” mused Ravana, not convinced. While the idea of an adventure to the Epsilon Eridani system was appealing, less so was the prospect of going in the company of strangers. “Would Zotz be able to come as well?” she asked. “He’s my friend.”

“Is he the one who keeps tripping over his shoe laces?” asked Bellona.

Ravana smiled. “His father’s just as bad. Professor Wak is one of the leading experts on extra-dimensional string theory but can’t tie a knot to save his life.”

“Can he play an instrument?” asked Philyra.

“Who? The professor?”

“No,” retorted Philyra, irritably. “Your friend Zotz.”

“Of course!” said Ravana. She knew full well that Zotz had never shown even the slightest interest in music. She lowered her gaze and started to stroke her cat in a none-to-subtle attempt to mask her fraud.

“Marvellous!” Endymion grinned. “Let’s go and ask Miss Clymene.”

“Whoopee,” muttered Philyra. “All we need now is a spaceship.”

* * *

By the time Ravana, Endymion, Bellona and Philyra returned to the maintenance shed, Quirinus and Zotz had arrived, having walked the short distance from the monorail station at Petit Havre. At Wak’s insistence, Ostara had contacted Fenris at the palace and arranged a meeting with the Maharani. So it was that Ravana found herself back at the palace, again with her cat in her arms but this time also with her father, Wak, Ostara and Miss Clymene for company.

They were led to a sumptuous glass conservatory that looked out upon a small leafy courtyard isolated from the rest of the palace grounds. The palace servants, silent as ever, were somewhat perturbed at the sight of so many people disturbing the peace of the Maharani’s sanctum and quickly decided that Zotz, Endymion, Bellona and Philyra were better left to amuse themselves beside the fish pond in the courtyard outside. Quirinus brought with him the device Endymion had found in the kidnappers’ tunnel. He was just lowering it onto the table, fully expecting that they would be kept waiting, when Maharani Uma swept into the conservatory, a sullen Fenris close behind.

“Well, well,” sneered Fenris upon seeing Ravana. He had just returned from carrying Surya’s cyberclone down to its coffin-shaped maintenance unit in the basement and was in a foul mood. “If it isn’t Ravana and her amazing vomiting cat.”

“Ignore him, my dear,” the Maharani said sweetly, addressing Ravana. “He sometimes forgets his manners. I have been meaning to thank you for the help you’ve given Fenris and err… your security officer,” she said, with a glance towards the nervously-fidgeting Ostara, having seemingly forgotten her name. “I know you are all doing your best to find my son.”

There was an edge to the Maharani’s tone that suggested their best was not good enough. It was a subtlety lost on Professor Wak as he drew her attention to the metal box Quirinus had placed on the table.

“We have established how the kidnappers gained access to the Dandridge Cole,” he informed her. “They left behind this device, which offers a clue to their identity.”

“A clue?” asked Ostara, the Maharani’s snub forgotten.

“Your investigator appears to need enlightenment,” muttered Fenris.

“As indeed do I,” remarked the Maharani, slightly put out by the wild gesturing of Wak’s flattened hand. “What is it you have found?”

“A personnel scanner, as issued to Que Qiao authorities on Daode and Yuanshi,” Quirinus remarked. “These devices can pick up the minute signals given out by cranium implants. They’re used to track criminals, political activists and the like.”

“What implants?” asked Miss Clymene, confused.

“Microchips in the brain,” Wak told her. “The ultimate interface between human and machine! They’re popular with tech-heads across all five systems, but it is only the Que Qiao administration in Epsilon Eridani that insists every child is implanted with one as soon as they are old enough.”

Ravana shivered. “Yuck. Implants in the brain? That’s horrible.”

“Maharani, I take it the Raja has such a device?” asked Wak.

The Maharani nodded. “My son was fitted with an implant as per the usual practice on Yuanshi. I was born on Earth and so do not have one myself; and for various reasons nor does Fenris or anyone else in my household here.”

“This equipment then was obviously used to target your son,” Wak told her.

“Impossible,” retorted the Maharani. “The palace is shielded against any electronic methods of espionage and as the girl saw, my son was inside when the kidnappers struck. Perhaps you should ask Quirinus if he knows of another who may have an implant.”

Ravana glanced to her father, puzzled by the Maharani’s words. He looked back with a most curious expression, but quickly turned away as he caught his daughter’s gaze.

“Are you saying Que Qiao agents took the Raja?” Ostara asked Quirinus.

“That’s unlikely. The scanner is an old design,” Quirinus replied hesitantly. “My guess is it was bought on the black market. The real mystery is how someone managed to wander up to the palace waving a scanner around without being apprehended by the guards!”

“My security team had been called away to complete a health and safety assessment,” the Maharani replied frostily, glaring at Fenris. “The timing was most unfortunate.”

“I must get to Yuanshi,” Fenris said to Quirinus, ignoring the Maharani’s rebuke. “If I am to negotiate with the kidnappers on the Maharani’s behalf, I need to be there with the authorities in Ayodhya.”

Ravana looked at her father. “Miss Clymene has invited me and Zotz to play in their band at the peace conference on Daode,” she said, her expression hopeful. She glanced towards the window, hoping to catch Zotz’s attention. He and Endymion had taken a break from trying to grab fish with their bare hands and were busy soaking Bellona and Philyra with water from the garden pool. “We could all go to Epsilon Eridani together!”

“It would be a tremendous help and much appreciated,” admitted Miss Clymene.

“I would be only too happy to provide the necessary finances,” added the Maharani. “Fuel, accommodation; everything you need. I may be in exile but I still have many influential friends on both Yuanshi and Daode.”

“I’m sure you do,” muttered Ostara.

“Quirinus has already made his feelings clear,” retorted Fenris. “He will not take us.”

“You know as well as anyone that I vowed never to return to Yuanshi,” Quirinus said, regarding the Maharani carefully. His gaze fell upon Ravana, who did not hide her excitement at the prospect of an adventure away from home. “However, despite all I’ve said, something has come up and I have some personal business to take care of in Epsilon Eridani. If he is happy to travel with the band, your man can accompany us to Daode.”

“Yes!” exclaimed Ravana.

“That is wonderful!” agreed Miss Clymene. “I can’t wait to tell my students!”

“In that case, I’m coming with you,” declared Ostara.

“No, you are not!” retorted Fenris.

“I need to continue my investigations,” she told him, eyeing him coolly.