"As you can see," said Saturn, "our ship, which is already under construction, is small compared to the alien ship, but that is an advantage as it may enable it to slip in and out of their territory unnoticed."

     He spoke more words and the alien ship vanished, while the small globular ship expanded, parts of its hull becoming transparent to reveal its interior. It consisted of two concentric shells, the inner one divided into a top and a bottom half. The top half of the inner sphere was a single open space containing what looked like a shayen dwelling tree, its branches brushing the hemispherical ceiling on which an illusion spell created the image of a dense forest topped by a brilliant blue sky.

     The bottom half, on the other hand, was divided into rooms and corridors by floors and bulkheads. It was obvious that the lower half was to be inhabited by humans and the top half by a much smaller number of shae folk; the tree and the illusory sky being needed to counter the terrible claustrophobia to which their race was prone. The space between the inner and outer shells was largely empty except for various items of furniture and equipment attached to the walls, and it was inhabited by creatures that looked like intelligent, large headed monkeys, floating as if underwater. Thomas and Lirenna recognised them as moon trogs, and deduced that their part of the ship would be without gravity.

     One third of the way up the globe, just under the ship's equator, was a walkway edged with a three foot high rail on which members of the crew, presumably wearing Necklaces of Vacuum Breathing, could walk around under the stars. At four points around the walkway were large, wicked looking ballistae; giant crossbows capable of shooting six foot long, iron tipped bolts with tremendous force, and on the underside of the globe were four stumpy legs, evidently to allow the ship to land on a planet's surface without rolling away.

     The bottom quarter of the ship's interior was a hanger, or perhaps drydock would have been a better word, containing two small ships similar in size and design to the scout ships of the Louradan aerial navy. Long masts with rolled up sails were strapped to their sides, apparently designed to reach downwards as well as upwards when deployed, which meant that the ships were meant to fly through the air like the shayen Birds of Paradise. Thomas assumed that they were intended to scout the area around the mothership's landing site.

     "The diameter of the ship is twenty five yards," said Saturn. "It will have a crew of twenty three humans, eight shae folk and a dozen moon trogs. Those of you not familiar with the moon trog race are invited to attend a lecture to be held here at the same time tomorrow, during which the subject will be Kronos, the smallest moon, and its various races and inhabitants."

     Bet they don't mention the observatory, thought Thomas in amusement. Of course, by now, virtually every government in the world, both human and otherwise, must know about it, as virtually every nation and Kingdom worth its name had wizards on the payroll capable of casting mind reading spells. And even without the complexities of magic there were the hundreds of Kronosians, former inhabitants of the moon city, who had finally been allowed to return to Tharia. Some of them would know about the observatory, and who knew how many people they would tell?

     The Beltharans had kept them cooped up on Kronos for as long as they could, and the military would have kept them up there forever to protect the secret, but despite all the faults of the northern race they were basically good people and, and they couldn't stomach keeping thousands of innocent people in what was a prison in everything but name when they'd done nothing wrong. It would have been futile anyway, as the mind reading wizards would have winkled the secret out sooner or later, but even so they weren't going to trumpet the existence of the observatory in a lecture room to several hundred common tradesmen.

     "It is being constructed in a cavern in the smallest moon," continued Saturn, "by a large and talented team of moon trog and human engineers. Or, at least, the main hull, decks, bulkheads and fittings are. The main body of the ship. Many components are intensely magical, however, and they are being created by wizards. Some here in Lexandria, others in the shae nation of Lourada. The shae folk, in particular, are working on the separation magics. Magics that will prevent all the other magics aboard the ship from interfering with each other. This is a field in which, despite all the advances we have made in recent centuries, the shae folk still surpass us, and without their expertise the Ship of Space will simply not be possible.

     All these elements will be brought together when their construction is complete, and the final assembly will take place on Kronos. Once completed, the ship's first voyage will be to here, to Lexandria Valley, where it will take aboard the two flying scout ships which you see in the ship's lower compartment. They are also being constructed by the shae folk. The ship will then set out, to search for and investigate the homeworld of the giant alien ship."

     He took a few steps back, to where the other speakers were standing; a gesture that told the wizards in the audience, who were familiar with the protocol of these occasions, that the presentation was over and that they were now free to ask questions. Most of the audience was silent, though, stunned by what they'd heard, and could only stare at the two images that continued to float before them. The huge alien ship and the smaller Tharian ship. A pea next to a cucumber. Most of them had known that there was something going on in the valley, something big, but this? This was more incredible than anything they'd ever imagined!

     "Who will be the human members of the crew?" A wizard in the front row asked.

     "Many of them will be Beltharan soldiers," said Saturn. "Several hundred Beltharans are currently training to be members of the crew. A selection committee is watching them, testing them, and in due course they will select eleven of them to be crewmembers, with another eleven as a backup crew. There will also be a number of wizards and priests. Sages whose fields of wisdom lie in relevant areas. Rangers, people with as wide a range of knowledge and skills as possible, since we simply don't know what we're going to find out there. Those of you interested in applying for a position among the crew may leave your names with the doormen on the way out, and the selection committee will consider you."

     "And who exactly is on this selection committee?" the same wizard asked suspiciously.

     "The two of us," replied Saturn, his single eye narrowing at the wizard's tone of voice as he indicated Valeron Hort beside him. "Plus eight others, including Beltharan officers, Lexandrian wizards, Louradan shae folk and moon trogs. Representatives of the four major concerns involved in the project. Their names are being withheld for the moment, in case they come under the undue influence of over eager candidates. I'm sure you can see the necessity for this precaution."

     "Is there any connection between this project and the acts of sabotage that have taken place over the past few weeks?" another wizard asked.

     "All the acts of sabotage seem to have had the project as their target," replied Saturn, nodding. "The aim seems to be to delay the project for as long as possible, put a stop to it altogether if possible, but they will not succeed in this. This man, and any accomplices he has, will be caught. They will be locked away and the project will continue. We will not allow the actions of a handful of men with some kind of grudge against us to endanger all the free peoples of the world."

     "That wasn't quite what I meant," persisted the wizard, though. "You've shown us this giant alien ship that came to grief somewhere on its way to us, but how do you know it was traveling alone? Maybe there were other ships that completed the journey safely, and maybe it is a member of the crew of one of these ships that is carrying out these acts of sabotage."

     A babble of alarm broke out in the chamber. Evidently this possibility had not occurred to any of the others. Saturn cried out for silence, and the proctors banged their staffs on the floor, the sound magnified by the spells held in the gnarled, polished wood. The mundanes were silenced, but the wizards, accustomed to such simple tricks, shouted on for a few moments longer until the Director stood and raised the Staff of Lexandros menacingly. Silence fell instantly, broken only by the disturbed and unhappy shuffling of hundreds of worried men.

     "Look at that ship," said Saturn, pointing at the image of the huge alien vessel that still floated in the centre of the chamber. "If one of them had safely made the journey here, do you really think they would resort to a few half hearted attempts at sabotage? If one of those ships were here on Tharia, they would simply take over! How long do you think we could hold out against people capable of constructing something like that?"

     The cold logic of his words reassured the audience, who calmed down and relaxed, but Thomas tensed up as an idea came to him. He was thinking about how the saboteur could run into rooms with no other exits and disappear without leaving a trace. He had to have been using magic, but highly sensitive magical experiments in nearby rooms had been unaffected, ruling out the use of any kind of magic in the area. Or at least, ruling out normal Tharian magic. Would the experiments have been affected by the strange alien magic used by the crew of the giant ship, though? He saw that some of the proctors, including the Head Proctor himself, were still looking worried. Maybe they were wondering the same thing.

     There were no other questions yet. They'd all been given a lot to think about, and it would take some time for them to digest it all. To talk it over with their friends and sort it all out in their heads. Then, though, there would be a barrage of questions, and Saturn went on to list times and places at which they would be available to answer them. A babble of conversations broke out as everyone began speaking to their neighbours, and the Director began the long and convoluted rote speech that dismissed the assembly, giving the doorkeepers the sign to open the doors again.

     The mundanes, unfamiliar with assembly protocol and rituals, took this as a sign that the time had come to leave, and as soon as they began to move the wizards in the audience followed suit, most of them all too aware of what a long drawn out process the ending of an assembly was. The Master of Ceremonies ran a weary hand across his brow as he watched the assembly dissolve in chaos. Then he turned and slipped away through a smaller door into a storage area.

     "By the Gods!" gasped Tom as the implications of what he'd heard began to sink in. "It's unbelievable! Totally unbelievable!"

     He glanced at his wife and saw that she was pale with shock, not realising that he was as well. He took her hand and found it cold and clammy, her pulse racing. Nearby, he saw Tassley clutching the stoneworker's arm tightly, fear and shock on her face as she sought comfort from the nearest other human being. He might have been anyone. A wizened, shrunken old mage or a clean limbed, fresh faced apprentice, and she would have done the same thing, needing a simple human contact after the awesome and terrible things she'd just heard. The stoneworker misunderstood, though, and put his arm around her shoulders, holding her tight and stroking the bare skin of her neck in an overtly possessive manner. He didn't seem at all alarmed by what he'd heard in the assembly. The whole thing had probably gone completely over his head.

     Tassley may have sensed this, because when the motion of the crowd brought her close to Thomas and Lirenna, she disengaged herself from the huge labourer and clutched hold of Thomas’s arm instead, needing the comfort of someone who understood the reason for her fear. The stoneworker glared at him jealously and seemed about to demand the return of his companion, but then he remembered that the small, slightly built man he was about to pick a fight with was a wizard. He glared at Tassley again, therefore, waiting for her to come back to him, and when she didn't he stormed off, shoving aside wizards and apprentices as he went.

     "I'm sorry," said Tassley, clutching Thomas’s arm even tighter. "I'm not, I mean, I don't..."

     She forced herself to let go and move away, but Lirenna reached out and took her arm, gathering her in for a hug. "It's all right," she murmured into the girl's ear. "It's all right."

     Tassley reacted in surprise at first, but then relaxed and hugged the demi shae back, sobbing with relief. The Ring of Telepathy, Thomas realised. Lirenna had read the human girl's mind and had seen the real reason for her behaviour.

     "Do you think there's going to be another war?" Tassley asked as soon as she was in control of herself again.

     "No, of course not," said Lirenna in her best reassuring voice. "That ship might have been floating in space for thousands of years before it fell. If there was an invasion fleet coming, it would have been here centuries ago."

     Tassley nodded gratefully. "I lost my entire family back in the rak wars. Everyone I loved. Everyone who loved me. I couldn't bear it if... No, you're right, I'm just being silly." She forced a grin. "I ought to go. I've got work to do." She dashed off into the crowd and was soon lost to sight among the hundreds of milling bodies.

     "Tom, I think we've misjudged her," said Lirenna, fingering the Ring of Telepathy thoughtfully.

     "You think so?"

     "Yes, I do. Maybe we ought to invite her over for dinner sometime."

     "You're kidding! I thought you hated her!"

     "So did I."

     She would have said more, but suddenly Elmias was there, gripping their shoulders and grinning mirthlessly. "Well, my boy. Now we know, eh?"

     "Yes, now we know," agreed Thomas. "Who'd have guessed, eh?"

     "Interesting times ahead, it seems," said the old wizard. “That's an ancient curse, you know. May you live in interesting times. With any luck, the Gods will carry me off before it all happens.”

     “Nonsense!” said Lirenna brightly. “You've got years left in you yet!”

     “I almost wish I didn't. Although, I have to admit, there's a part of me thrilled and excited by the whole thing. A ship of space, to boldly go where no man has gone before! What a thing, eh lad?”

     “What a thing,” Thomas agreed. “Let's just hope we're not all conquered and enslaved before the ship even gets launched.”

     “If history teaches us anything, lad, it's that every country, every race, even the highest and noblest, gets conquered and enslaved sooner or later. Other peoples have had no choice but to submit to a conqueror. Maybe our time is coming. Even if it is, though, we just have to believe that our descendants will enjoy a brighter future, because every enslaved race achieves freedom sooner or later even if their bondage lasts for centuries.”

     “As pep talks go, it lacks a certain something,” said Thomas with an apologetic smile.

     Elmias barked another mirthless laugh. “Well, look after yourselves, both of you. And look after that lad of yours as well.”

     “And you look after yourself as well,” said Lirenna.

     Elmias bowed his head to her and then moved away, limping painfully on his arthritic leg. They watched him shuffle his way through the exit, and then Thomas searched through the crowd for a small head of silky dark hair squeezing between the taller bodies all around him.

     “Come on,” he said. "Let's find Derry and get out of here."