Thirty-Five

In Dafyd’s garden, Campar recounts his voyage and confirms he saw dead humans aboard a wreck, plus a pentapod-like body that “woke” only when ship power returned, acting like equipment rather than life. He inventories other species from the convoy. After hours, Clae departs to research, and Campar and Dafyd briefly mourn fallen friends.

Back in their quarters, Campar and Ghati share a rare fresh meal. Ghati reveals a new assignment: Vaudai has been tasked to survey an ancient stellar armature under Carryx control and requested Ghati as partner. To protect himself from future devastation after nearly losing Campar, Ghati ends their relationship despite mutual affection.

Vaudai arrives, bluntly calling the mission fascinating but unsafe. In darkly cheerful fatalism, Vaudai declares the Carryx will win and that peace will never come, as the enemy collapses across strategic zones. Campar offers hope; Vaudai rejects it, insisting war is perpetual and victory will only redirect aggression.

Late that night, Clae visits Dafyd. She challenges Jessyn’s earlier conclusion, arguing humans are present among the enemy but are not the deathless themselves. From archive references spanning millennia, Clae proposes a lichen-like model: a nonliving, transmissible instruction set that converts diverse host species into unkillable soldiers, creating the illusion of one enduring foe across bodies.

Dafyd acknowledges the idea but deems it operationally irrelevant: their tasks remain contact, coordinating an allied invasion, and assassinating the Sovran. Clae, stung by isolation and youth, withdraws; Dafyd apologizes, urging focus despite her longing to not be alone in the universe.