Toma waited until his guests were all fed and watered before accepting a final glass of pale yellow tea. The waiting staff left them. The last one out sealed the door and activated the room's privacy settings.

Toma began. 'I have read Grace's preliminary report on the events that took place at Praxis. It confirms what Conway suspected but could never prove. We never thought to search the ruins of the dead fleet. An operation on that scale hidden there was unthinkable.'

'Wait a minute,' said Tila. 'Start at the beginning.'

'Which beginning?' said Grace. 'From the shuttle you found buried in the Juggernaut? Or the colony mission?'

'Grace?' said Toma, offering her the floor.

Grace cleared her throat. 'You already have all my reports prior to the events of the last week. I have filed my last report with your office which provides extensive details, but briefly, this is what we know. The shadow corporation known as the Cabal has been operating for almost two decades. They have in their pocket politicians and business leaders from across the Commonwealth, although primarily within the Jenova, <system 2> and <system 3> star systems.

'The Cabal doomed the colony mission from the start. By the time the early stage plans had been developed, even before you or I were involved, they had set in motion a plan to hijack one of the colony ships. They had the opportunity to compromise the original design during construction. Conway already suspected that the consortium tasked with the construction of the three ships was part of the Cabal operation. This gives his suspicion weight, but unfortunately no proof.'

'I don't need to elaborate on the lawsuits at this time, although I will say that bringing you in as the largest single investor was part of their plan. It means you had the most to lose, and you are well known for wanting compensation anytime something goes wrong with one of your investments. They knew the noise you would make in the courts would draw attention away from them.'

'So they played to our reputation,' said Toma, nodding with understanding and no small appreciation as to the wisdom of the Cabal's tactics.

'I'm afraid they did, and spectacularly so. Conway's reputation has been in question ever since.'

'I believe we are all aware of Mr Conway's reputation. Please continue. What happened to the colonists? How did they ship the ore back to Commonwealth space?'

Grace sipped water before continuing. Her expression darkened. 'I believe the colonists were used as slave labour. They had the skills and the equipment, and with the large number of families present, the cabal also had more than enough leverage to ensure their cooperation. The real objective of the Cabal was painfully simple: money. They had no real interest in colonizing the system. After all, why spend the money to develop it when their profits would be astronomical, no pun intended, if they could keep shipping ore back via Praxis?

'So it was a mining operation all along?' said Toma.

'Basically, yes. You've suspected for some time that the major sources of rare minerals and ore within the Commonwealth were running low. Prices have been creeping up for years. This incentivised the Cabal and fulled their plan. It became worthwhile for them to take advantage of the higher prices by feeding in an artificial supply. An entire star system would have funded their ambitions for decades.'

Toma rested the empty glass on the arm of his chair, pressed his hands together and rested his forefingers under his chin. 'It is certain they diverted these resources toward private enterprise as well. They could build entire fleets or space stations without raising any suspicion on the open market.'

'Correct, but we don't have anything other than guesses at this time.'

'But how did they get the ore back into commonwealth space? How did it get to Praxis in the first place?' said Toma.

'They built their own jump beacons. Two of them. They had a private network which they could use to ferry ships between Praxis and Baru. But I can't take the credit for that discovery.' She indicated Tila and her friends with a small smile. Ellie looked pleased with herself.

'They built their own network. Grace, do you know what this means?'

'I do. It means my husband was right.'

Tila started paying attention again at this mention of her father. She knew, knew, that he had been right all along. Not only about the first jump but also about the construction of the new beacon.

'It means they could have privatized interstellar travel. I wonder why they didn't make that part of their plans,' said Toma.

'Perhaps they did. We only know of two operational beacons. There could be an entire jump network out there we are unaware of,' said Grace.

'I suspect otherwise,' said Toma, thoughtfully. 'If that capability was available to them why would they have funnelled their deliveries through Praxis and Selah? True, there may be other beacons, but I am unconvinced their resources are that widespread. Two or three beacons might be all they have.'

'Why would they choose to stop if they could build more?' Grace said.

'The beacons were built under duress. Perhaps that choice was out of their hands.'

Out of the corner of her eye Grace saw Tila react to the implication and fixed Toma with a look. It said 'we will discuss this more later, when Tila isn't around'.

'Wouldn't that have been noticed that by now?' said Malachi. 'You can't hide a jump beacon. They are supposed to be easy to find.'

'I can't say, but people don't often find what they are not looking for, do they?' replied Grace. 'Besides, they need only be found by those who have need of them.

'So,' continued Toma. 'Praxis was the logical choice for their operation. Uninhabited, a haven for pirates and smugglers, and no jurisdiction. Almost no routine traffic passed through the system and it was in jump range of Baru. The Cabal mining operation brought in raw material for processing in-system, and from there they shipped the refined product to Selah, and the rest of the Commonwealth by normal channels. But now of course we come to the question of Tila.'

Ellie leaned over to her friend. 'Why are you a question?'

Tila shrugged. She was as clueless as Ellie now.

Toma overheard and addressed Ellie directly. 'The question being, how did your friend discover such a carefully planned operation?'

'Nina told us about it,' said Tila. 'Right, Mal?'

Malachi's face suddenly froze.

'Mal? What's wrong?'

'Nothing! I'll tell you later,' he said in a panicked voice.

'And Nina is...?' said Toma.

'She tracks new derelicts on the Juggernaut and sends salvage teams. She told us about the Far Horizon shuttle,' said Ellie. 'But Tila made her give us this one.'

'I asked!' said Tila.

'You never ask!'

'No you don't. That's why Nina doesn't like you.'

'She likes me. What are you talking about?'

'They don't get along,' Ellie said to Grace.

'Is that so?' said Grace.

'Right, Mal?' said Ellie.

Malachi was looking at the ceiling with his eye shut, muttering to himself.

'Is there a problem, Malachi?' said Grace.

Malachi shook his head and muttered something about a present.

Toma cleared his throat politely enough to sound like he was not intruding their personal challenges, but forcefully enough to remind them they were in the middle of a briefing.

'Grace?' he said, getting her attention once more.

Grace continued. 'Somebody got greedy. I doubt this is the first ship the Cabal have abandoned in Commonwealth space, but they would surely have been more careful than this. My guess is that a middleman or a broker was paid to scrap the ship but instead played out both ends of the candle by trying to sell it for scrap. It ended up on the Juggernaut-'

'-with all the other scrap-' said Tila.

'Yes, with all the other scrap. The irony is that the middleman probably did end up making twice the profit on the deal, and for a few more credits than planned he gave up enough information to bring down the whole operation.'

'I shall have to thank him one day. Do we know who this middleman is?'

'We don't. But the Cabal do. I think if you want to thank him you should move quickly. His business is likely to expire any day now, along with the rest of him.'

'And the rest we know,' Toma concluded, nodding slowly.

'The rest we know,' Grace agreed.

'Wait,' said Tila, I don't know everything. Why didn't you tell me about this when I came to see you? Why did you erase our data?'

'We were so close to uncovering their plan. You appeared on Parador like some scruffy wild card, loud and unpredictable, claiming you knew the mission had succeeded, threatening people for answers and drawing too much attention. We couldn't let you continue. I had to destroy your evidence so you had nothing to show anyone else. So that you would give up.'

'I think Toma has learned by now that was a mistake,' smiled Grace.

'Indeed,' said Toma. He saluted Tila with his tea cup.

'But why not just tell me that?' said Tila.

'We couldn't trust you. You had already shown how stubborn you were, and how careless you could be. Remember that you had already landed without a permit and thought no one had noticed. We didn't trust your judgement, despite your perseverance. Conway was not prepared to risk years of undercover work on the whims of an impatient teenage girl. And lastly, we had no proof you were who you said you were. We were getting close to the Cabal. Undoubtedly they had their own agents working against us. It was not in the realm of fiction to believe they might have suspected Grace was working for us and sent you in as a distraction, if not a spy.'

'If you had evidence why didn't you tell anyone?' said Ellie.

'Who should we have told? The courts? The politicians? Planetary security? It's not as easy as you think. We - Grace and I - had to work in secret even to plan our investigation. We had already lost in the courts, and Conway's credibility was low. We had to operate in the shadows. We feared the reach and power of the Cabal, and thanks to you we were right to do so. We had to move quietly.'

'It all sounds so complicated. You might have all the money but life on the Juggernaut is simple compared to this,' said Tila.

'Did the Cabal really murdered all those people?' said Ellie.

'Depending on how you look at it, it's worse than that. They simply didn't care if anyone lived or died. All they wanted to do was steal the Far Horizon.'

'But why that ship? They were all the same,' said Malachi.

Tila looked up. 'Because my father was on the Horizon. He was the only person who could lead the team to build a new jump beacon.'

'Correct, he was a key part of the Cabal's plan,' said Toma.

'Was?' said Tila.

'My apologies. I mean only to refer to their plan in the past tense. Your father is the most valuable asset they have.'

'Most valuable?' Tila repeated.

'No one else has been able to repeat his work. Your father can build beacons. He was their way home.'

'So he could still be alive?' Tila looked between Toma and Grace.

'That is our working theory,' said Toma.

'That's our hope,' corrected Grace, 'but it is a strong one.'

'Then we have to get him back,' Tila said simply.

Toma straightened in his chair, as if to emphasis his next statement. 'Tila, this cabal, whoever they may be, are powerful and secretive foes. They are dangerous. A rescue mission will not be easy, and besides, it will take more resources than Conway alone can muster.'

'We beat them once. We can do it again.'

'It will not be as simple as that. Grace, please explain.'

Grace turned a few degrees in her chair toward Tila. 'What Toma is trying to explain is that...'

'Yes?' said Tila.

'Uh oh,' Ellie whispered to Malachi behind her hand.

Grace and Tila looked at each other in silence, then Grace nodded and turned back to Toma.

'She's right. We beat them once, we can do it again. And we are getting my husband back.'

'See?' Ellie whispered. 'Now there's two of them.'

Toma met the iron stares of the mother and daughter and fell back into his chair.

'You are planning a rescue mission, then?' said Malachi.

'Of course we are. Now we know the colony jump was a success, therefore Conway's original claim on the system stands.'

'His claim?' said Malachi.

'The planets, and rights, mineral rights, tolls, orbital territories and so on.'

'You mean his business,' said Tila with disgust.

'Conway is a businessman. He funded the original mission. He took the capital risk. He's entitled to the profits. There's no shame in that.'

'You sound just like the Cabal.'

'The difference being that we act legally.'

'I'm sure you do,' said Tila.

'Tila!' said Grace.

'Conway sounds just like another Cabal.'

'A consortium of like-minded enterprises, if you will,' said Toma.

'What's the difference? You both have enough money to buy whole fleets. You both want control of Baru because you can make even more money. How much is enough?'

'A little more, is Conway's usual answer.'

'There's always a little more somewhere.'

'Precisely.' Toma held up a hand to stop Tila's inevitable interruption. 'I neither condone or condemn Alastair for his motivations. I merely work for him.'

'You must be rich too,' said Ellie. 'Why do you need to work for anyone?'

'Some opportunities provide rewards greater than money,' said Toma.

Tila snorted. 'Funny how it's only rich people who can afford that opinion.'

Toma ignored that remark. 'Naturally, a rescue mission was always the next objective. The need for secrecy has hindered Conway's efforts to build a trustworthy consensus, but thanks to your efforts, all your efforts, those plans can take place in the open. But there is still a great deal to prepare,' he cautioned.

'Isn't there always?' said Grace, standing up. As far as she was concerned the meeting was over. It was time to get back to work.

Tila stood up next to her mother. 'When do we start?'