The New Pilgrimage began a few hours later.

Lapis Roman watched their arrival from the bridge of the Special Operations transport ship where she had been posted for the last few days, ever since her request for reassignment had gone through. Ships flashed out of hyperspace across the viewscreen, appearing several at a time in clusters of iridescent flares like a massive display of fireworks. They filled the space around Second Miltia: a patchwork armada of recycled and secondhand vessels, battered Immigrant Fleet ships and discarded Federation spacecraft dating from the Miltia Conflict or before, even a few irregularly shaped objects that looked as if they'd been sawed off an abandoned colony somewhere and outfitted with logical drives. It reminded her of the debris that had turned up when the AMN first began dredging the remote regions of space, all the forgotten and worthless artifacts of a space-faring civilization. Not the kinds of things that were forgotten for a reason, sealed away like Old Miltia or the Relics of God, but things that had slipped by the wayside because they weren't valuable or dangerous enough to retrieve.

Except now they had been assembled into something that looked dangerous, a horde of cast-off and rejected things poised to descend on Second Miltia.

Roman turned toward the nearest observational post, gripping the Realian's shoulder. "Get me on the line with Representative Helmer immediately."

"Yes, ma'am!" The Realian bent over her station, but before she could open a link to Second Miltia, a message burst unannounced from every transmitter at once, flooding every channel simultaneously.

"Behold, citizens of Babylon! We, the Blood of Abraxas and the People of Zohar, the rightful heirs to the promised land, have returned to claim our inheritance. We now request that the sealed column to the galaxy of Lost Jerusalem be reopened within nine hours, or the words of Apocryphos shall be revealed, and Second Miltia will perish by the wrath of God. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill his purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled."

Silence, when it returned, was deafening.

"Get me Helmer," said Roman, when she found her voice again. "Now."

∞

Helmer stood bowed over his desk, gripping the sides of his chair until he caught his breath and his heart stopped pounding at his eardrums. When his desktop signaled an incoming call a moment later, he waited until he had recovered his composure before he answered it.

"Captain Roman."

"Helmer, listen, this is extremely urgent--"

"I know, Lapis." He didn't often address her by her first name, and she looked startled. "I got the message too. I don't think there's a broadcast terminal anywhere in Second Miltian space that didn't receive it just now."

"Have you seen what's out here? The entire Second Miltian fleet is surrounded. There must be hundreds, thousands of them, and they're threatening to destroy us if we don't--"

"I know," he said. "Just hold on, Captain. And let's hope the rest of the fleet doesn't do anything to provoke them."

Roman stared at him in disbelief. "They look sufficiently provoked already, in case you haven't noticed."

He sighed. "I know," he said again. "Try to hold out for now. I'll contact Dr. Mizrahi and get back to you when we've figured out something."

"Yes, sir," said Roman quietly, and closed the transmission.

He turned to the window, staring at the sky as if he expected it to peel away at any second to reveal the bristling shapes of the enemy fleet, like a swarm of mismatched insects. But the sky remained, blue and still, and life on Second Miltia went on beneath it.

∞

Juli found MOMO and Ziggy in one of the AMWS hangars in Second Division along with Miyuki and Doctus.

"I present to you my latest invention," Miyuki was saying when Juli arrived. She made a sweeping gesture toward the modified AGWS unit, a VX-series model that had gone out of production a few years ago. "So what do you think? I've been working on it for weeks."

"Let me see if I understand correctly," said Ziggy. "You said this unit has its own onboard power source that enables it to be piloted without being connected to a ship's generator?"

"That's right." Miyuki gestured to an AMN workstation with several screens open in the manner of papers strewn haphazardly across a desktop. "I used the Professor's design for the alternate power source on the E.S. Asher, but I compressed it to fit on board a standard AGWS. And that's not even the best part. All of the weaponry's based on the Professor's specifications as well. I figured out a way to make it fit a smaller frame without losing a lot of power."

MOMO's gaze shifted from the AGWS to Miyuki, regarding them both with the same combination of awe and reverence. "You mean--"

Miyuki beamed. "This thing might not look like much, but its output is at least on par with the original Erde Kaiser."

"Miyuki, that's amazing!" cried MOMO. "You're a genius."

"Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae fuit," said Doctus, pulling a tight smile.

Miyuki looked perplexed for a moment, as if trying to figure out whether she had just been paid a compliment or dealt an underhanded insult. "Well, I had help from Doctus here. I couldn't have finished it properly without her advice. Since it's not really an anti-Gnosis device anymore, I'm thinking of calling it the Adapted Weapon Experimental System Optimized for Modified Equipment. What do you guys think?"

MOMO was silent for a moment as she worked out the acronym. "You're thinking of calling it 'AWESOME'?"

"Well, yeah--"

"Forgive me if I misunderstood the outcome of our discussion earlier," said Doctus pointedly, "but I was under the impression you had decided to shorten it to AEWS. 'Adapted Erde-Kaiser Weapon System' makes more sense anyway."

Miyuki's shoulders fell. "Oh, all right." She glared at Doctus. "I still think my original idea was better; I can't even pronounce yours. But since I asked for your input--"

"I hate to interrupt you," said Juli, approaching the group, "but I'm afraid I may have some bad news."

Ziggy met her gaze, and the concern in his eyes reflected her own. "What's wrong?"

"I've just received a call from Representative Helmer. We may not have much time left to prepare." She took a deep breath; the others stared at her expectantly. "It seems the post-Ormus alliance has surrounded Second Miltia. They're threatening to destroy the planet if the sealed column isn't opened within nine hours. Currently, they're engaged in a standoff with Second Miltian forces. No shots have been fired yet, but the situation is extremely volatile."

Miyuki gasped. "You mean it's started already?"

"I'm afraid so," said Juli. "Helmer broadcast a distress call and asked the military for reinforcements, but most of the Federation Fleet is still patrolling the outer regions. It'll take hours to mobilize the necessary units at this rate. And by then, it may already be too late to prevent the deployment of Apocryphos."

"But they haven't started fighting yet?" said MOMO. "What are they going to do?"

"I think the more pertinent question is, what are we going to do?" said Doctus. "Since we seem to be the only ones right now who have a chance at stopping this nightmare."

Juli nodded grimly. "You're right. MOMO, what are our present coordinates? How soon can we reach Second Miltia?" She turned to Miyuki and the AEWS. "And will that thing actually work?"

∞

They crowded the screen now, and more kept appearing even when Roman thought there couldn't possibly be room for them. She wouldn't have believed there were this many Ormus followers left in the star cluster, but the world was a big place even at a fraction of its former size. And with the AMN still incomplete, there was no way of estimating its total population, or of knowing exactly how many people had escaped the disappearance phenomenon two years ago. How many had survived, just as the original people of the Immigrant Fleet had survived the flight from Lost Jerusalem, carrying the faith of the ancients into space?

Her AMN phone trilled in her pocket, interrupting her thoughts. She answered it after the first ring.

"Captain Roman, this is Juli Mizrahi. I've just spoken with Helmer, and we're on our way to Second Miltia now. I'm sending you our destination coordinates. Can you meet us when we gate out?"

Roman glanced up at the screen. Enemy craft surrounded the Fleet formation in every direction, but a smaller ship might be able to get through without rousing an alarm. "My unit may be in a bit of a tight spot at the moment," she said, "but I'll see what I can do. If you can make it here, we can probably short-jump past the blockade and meet you at your target coordinates."

"Just do your best," said Juli. "We're doing all we can."

"I know, ma'am. So are we."

∞

After she got off the line with Captain Roman, Juli walked back over to the console and studied the reports on the screen. "Sorry about that," she said. "I know you prefer your privacy, but I had to let her know we were on our way."

"Multi-tasking is entirely acceptable under the circumstances." Ziggy leaned forward, bracing himself against the arms of the maintenance unit. He and Juli had returned to their living quarters to make a few last-minute preparations before they reached Second Miltia; MOMO had stayed behind with Doctus and Miyuki in the AMWS workshop. "How are the readings?"

She checked the screen again. "Everything appears to be running fine at the moment. I wish we had time for a more thorough scan, but ...."

"It's all right." The pistons in his legs creaked as he started to get up, but then he hesitated and sat back down. "I wonder if I could ask you a favor while we're here."

"Go ahead."

"Ah ...." He lowered his eyes. "I know this is a lot to ask, so I'll understand if you don't want to do it."

Juli sighed in feigned exasperation. She could always tell when he was about to ask for something he felt was important; the more important it was to him, the more he'd try to downplay it and draw it out before he got to the point. "Honestly, you'd think I was the one who was programmed not to refuse a request. What is it?"

"Actually," he said, "that's exactly what it is."

She stared for a moment, waiting for him to explain, before she realized that was all the explanation he could manage. Of course, she thought, a safety mechanism that stopped him from killing himself or disobeying orders would also prevent him from requesting its removal. She saw the look in his eyes and turned away. "Why?"

"I'm not saying I think it will be necessary," he said. "But if something goes wrong with the mission, I'd prefer to have that option."

She swallowed, running her hand along the controls. "I understand. Sit down." She'd have to do it now, without looking back at him, or she'd lose her nerve. "I hope you know that what I'm doing is extremely illegal. Not that it matters now, of course, but if my record ever gets cleared of the conspiracy charges, I could still get in a lot of trouble for tampering with government property."

"I understand. I'm sorry for asking you to do this."

"It's fine," she said through her teeth, fingers racing over the keys. "Just be quiet and let me concentrate before I change my mind."

It took less time than she had expected. The mechanism proved surprisingly easy to disable; the only difficult part was willing herself to do it. She bypassed the security in a single attempt and entered a command to shut it down. "There you are," she said, straightening as she stepped back from the keyboard. "You're a free man. Just ... you'd better not make me regret this, all right? Does it feel any different?"

"No." He touched the side of his head, fingers brushing past the place where the bullet had entered--where, later, they had repaired him so expertly there wasn't even a scar--as if he expected to notice the difference there first. "And I hope I won't have to find out whether it worked." He let his arm fall to his side. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." She left the console and walked over to the maintenance box. "You can repay me by coming back safely."

"I plan on it." He made another half-attempt at standing, and stopped when his eyes were level with hers. "Listen, Juli ...."

From across the room, the control panel lit up as a message came in over the intercom. "Are you two almost ready?" said Doctus. "We're approaching our gate-out coordinates. Hurry up and meet us on the bridge."

Juli and Ziggy stared at each other. He leaned closer to her and said quietly, so the intercom wouldn't pick it up, "I just want you to know that if I ... after this is over, I have every intention of spending the rest of my life with you. However long that is. And--"

"Are you still there?" came Doctus' voice over the intercom. "What are you two doing?"

Juli pulled away and stepped down from the maintenance box. "Sorry, Doctus. We'll be right there." She turned back to Ziggy and said in a lower voice, "We can finish this conversation later."

"Right." He stood and followed her to the door.

∞

The Dämmerung gated out at the edge of Second Miltian space, far outside the range of the patchwork fleet that clustered around the planet like a scatter of debris, but within sight of the Federation flagship and its retinue of smaller craft isolated in the midst of the enemy. There was a brief flare of light as the Special Operations unit under Roman's command gated into hyperspace, and soon afterward a second flash preceded its reappearance alongside the Dämmerung. The smaller ship docked inside the colony, and a group of Vector personnel met Roman and her team in the hangar and escorted them to the bridge.

The Dämmerung's bridge was the size of a city block, a multileveled hive of control stations, observation posts, and weaponry modules with a crew of several hundred Vector employees, humans as well as Realians, at work amid a neon proliferation of screens and instrument panels and elaborate virtual interfaces. Roman met with Juli and the others on the main observation deck, beneath a panoramic screen in which Second Miltia drifted small and remote.

She recognized Juli at once from their conversations. In person, Dr. Mizrahi seemed smaller than Roman had expected, and somehow less intimidating. The adolescent girl standing beside her would have to be MOMO; she resembled an older version of the standard 100-series units, and there was no mistaking that hair color. The other three were slightly less familiar. Roman had seen the two other women, Miyuki and Doctus, in the news coverage of the AMN Project, but the only man in the group--

Oh. The memory hit her like a fist. She nodded toward him in acknowledgment. "You must be MOMO and Dr. Mizrahi's bodyguard," she said. "I'm Captain Roman. I'm afraid I didn't catch your name when I met you a few years ago." She tried to smile. "No hard feelings, by the way."

Recognition crossed his face a moment before he glanced away in what Roman thought was embarrassment, although it was hard to tell; he didn't seem to have much of a repertoire of facial expressions. "Ziggurat 8," he said, and after some confusion she realized he had introduced himself.

"Ah. Right." She stepped back to address the group. "I'd like to thank all of you on behalf of Second Miltia. With your support, we may be able to hold out until reinforcements arrive--assuming they ever do, at this rate."

"Well, we can't promise anything," said Juli, "but we'll try."

Alarms lit up along the observational panels behind them. "Multiple units gating out at coordinates KX919, Y542, Z457!" a Realian at a nearby post called out. "Extremely high levels of AMN transfer activity have been detected in the immediate vicinity. All stations on alert!"

"They're still coming?" Roman peered into the crowded space around Second Miltia, but it was impossible to perceive the individual flashes of gate-jumps at this distance.

"No," said Doctus, and the word was both a confirmation and a denial, punctuated by the click of her high-heeled boots against the deck. "It's something else."

"Switching to close-up view," said a second Realian from across the aisle, and a magnified image of Second Miltia filled the screen. Above the blue-green arc of the planet's horizon, a series of bright flares described an outline on the fabric of space, a skeletal spiral assembling itself out of the void.

"They're being transferred from points all over the star cluster," said the first Realian, hands navigating the control panel with inhuman speed as the screens in front of her cycled through a series of diagrams. "We've recorded one hundred fifty individual transfers in the last five minutes and counting!"

Roman spun to face the others. "Can't we stop them?"

"One hundred sixty-seven!"

"It's too late for that." Juli's eyes never left the screen. "It's already nearly halfway complete."

"One hundred eighty-three!"

"Ziggy," MOMO whispered, edging closer to his side, "is that ...?"

"It's just as we feared." Even his monotone couldn't diminish the hollow echo of dread underneath.

"Two hundred and counting! The transfers are occurring more rapidly! At the estimated rate of acceleration--"

"But it's too soon!" Miyuki's voice sounded strained and frantic. "They weren't supposed to begin the attack for another eight hours!"

"Then we may still have time," said Roman, turning back to the screen. The spiral framework had begun to fill out, walls curving around the supports like the shell of an aquatic life-form, organic and almost Gnosis-like in its morphology. "You said you had obtained information on the fortress's defenses?"

"Two hundred fifty and still accelerating!"

"That's right." Doctus' boot heels clicked again as she strode across the deck. "If we hurry, there's a chance we can get on board that thing and shut it down."

"You have a plan?" said Ziggy.

"Oh, come on." She turned around, one hand poised on her hip. "You think I'd show up without one? I didn't do all that research just so I could brag about it."

"Two seventy-five!"

"Although you certainly did that," Juli murmured under her breath. "Well, then, you'd better hurry up and tell us what it is."

"I was getting to that." Retrieving the disk she had produced earlier at the meeting, Doctus walked over to an available terminal. The others followed, standing around her as she pulled up the data from the file.

"Three hundred fifty!"

Roman glanced back at the main screen in time to see the last fragments of the Apocryphos materialize in the sky over Second Miltia.