Eleven

Hiding at Srometren Observatory, Zakalwe spots a single approaching aircraft and identifies it as a civilian tour craft. He disables tourist terminals via his suit, covertly takes control of the aircraft, and leads Tsoldrin Beychae aboard. They lift off and set course for Gipline Space Terminal while Zakalwe contacts Sma, who reports heightened alert after their Solotol escape and plans to erase evidence of the capsule.

Sma and the drone Skaffen-Amtiskaw arrange tickets on the clipper Osom Emananish bound for Breskial, hoping a Culture module can later rendezvous. On approach to the port, the Mind manipulates security systems to shepherd them through; Zakalwe abandons his combat suit and weapons in left luggage, and he and Beychae board a shuttle, then the orbital station, and finally the clipper. Sma warns that further contact risks exposure.

Aboard, Zakalwe notes vulnerabilities but lacks tools. He encounters Doctor Stap from the scar party, while Beychae remains in his cabin, monitoring news. Security later identifies Zakalwe (“Sherad”) and attempts to detain him. He feigns drunken illness in a lift, incapacitates two officers with their own stunners, and escapes to the private Starlight Lounge where Stap is hosting a clandestine session.

Holding Stap at gunpoint, Zakalwe forces access to the doctor’s tall medical machine, demanding a molecular slicing field. After thwarting Stap’s attempted trap, Zakalwe drives the cutting field through a storeroom wall into a compartment of dense optical control cabling and applies maximum power. He retreats as the field tears into critical systems; the machine explodes, blasting him and an officer into the lounge and plunging the area into darkness.

The sabotage preserves Zakalwe’s freedom in the short term but imperils everyone aboard, ensuring the escape will draw intense scrutiny and forcing immediate, high-stakes decisions on the ship.