"Only the damaged area is radioactive," said Mika.
Tomalon did not deem this as a question, so Cormac asked of him, "Is that so?"
"Yes, it would appear to be the case. And that is not normal."
Cormac studied Tomalon. While all of them were looking at the screen, the Captain turned his head aside, his eyes unseeing opaque, and his mind linked to the ship's sensors.
Mika said, "This means it is either dead or has shut down its circulatory system to those areas. Any living creature receiving a radioactive wound soon ends up with the rest of its body contaminated as well."
"It has a circulatory system?" asked Cormac.
"Yes — though what circulates is not blood as we recognize it. Much more complex. Dracomen have the ability to consciously alter what their circulatory system carries, so we can presume Dragon has the same ability. I would very much like a sample of that substance now."
I bet you would.
Cormac turned his attention to the dracoman who had come up with Mika from Medical. Scar stood behind the chairs — he found human seating arrangements difficult — his attention fixed firmly on the screen. Cormac wondered just what was going through his head. Scar possessed curiosity, and the need to survive, but few recognizably human motivations beyond that, and that kilometre-wide sphere of living matter out there was the twin of the one that had created him.
"If your hand was exposed to that level of radioactivity, what would you do?" Cormac asked him. Mika turned and inspected the dracoman with intense curiosity. Scar's gaze slid to Cormac.
"What level?" the dracoman asked.
Cormac nodded to the screen where Tomalon had obligingly supplied the figures.
"Cut it off. Grow another," said Scar after inspecting those figures.
Mika's eyes widened in shock. Cormac hoped she had now learnt just how informative direct questioning could be.
"And if the contamination affected more vital organs?" he asked.
"Isolate organs. Drop to minimal function. Grow more."
"Do you think this is what this Dragon sphere is doing?"
By now, most of those on the bridge were staring at Scar. Even the Captain had come back from the ship's sensors and was watching. Aiden and Cento had turned as one to watch and listen. Gant, moodily slumped in his chair, was the only one with his attention still on the screen. He seemed to be trying to outstare Dragon. Scar was a long time in replying.
"Maybe," he said finally.
"What alternatives are there?"
"Dying," said Scar.
They all turned back to look at the screen, except for Mika, who was fiddling with some instruments in the top pocket of her coverall and gazing speculatively at Scar. No doubt the dracoman was in for another battery of tests, and it was lucky for Mika that he did not seem to mind.
"What does deep scan of the undamaged areas reveal?" asked Cormac.
Tomalon's eyes went opaque again and he spoke consideringly.
"There are signs of life, but I cannot tell if they are normal or not."
"The temperature would be a good indicator," suggested Mika.
"A range between twenty and thirty Celsius, nominally twenty-two a metre under the skin," said Tomalon.
"I would say it is not dead, or has died only recently," said Mika, checking figures on her laptop. "It would take some time for it to cool, as it is well insulated. But if it had died shortly after its attack on the Masadan ship, its temperature would be well below twenty by now."
"Send an all-radio-band signal to it. See if we get a reaction," said Cormac.
"Is that a good idea?" asked Gant, still staring broodingly at the screen. "Wouldn't it be better to stick a missile in it, then move off?"
Cormac had already considered that, but there were things to learn, and even a fully capable Dragon sphere would not have been much of a problem to the Occam Razor.
"Things to learn," he therefore said simply.
"Rise in temperature in a lobular structure at its centre," said Tomalon.
"The brain," explained Mika.
"I'll speak to it," said Cormac. "Send my voice." Tomalon nodded to him and he continued, "Dragon, this is Ian Cormac. Please respond."
On the screen, there were signs of movement. Tomalon brought up another view, this one close to the edge of the damaged area: pseudopodia were breaking from a scaled plain of fleshy blue eyes directed towards the Occam Razor.
"Cormac," said Dragon — and that was all it said for some time.
"Dragon?"
"I… listen… you will kill me now?"
"Not unless that's what you want."
"Vengeance!"
"For what?"
"The engines…"
"What about the engines?"
"They turned them on."
"This is how you were damaged?"
Silence.
Cormac asked, "Is there any way we can help you?"
Silence.
"Dragon, why did you attack the Masadan ship?"
"Vengeance!"
"Please explain."
"You will help me?"
"If I can."
"They used it on the station."
"Station Miranda?"
Silence.
"Are you talking about the mycelium?"
"They used it on the station."
"Did you provide them with it?"
"Yes."
Cormac looked around at the others in surprise. He had not expected so direct an answer. Dragon was the antithesis of Mika: whereas she disliked asking questions, Dragon disliked answering them.
"Why did you provide them with it?"
Silence.
"How did they tell you they were going to use it?"
"Prevent runcibles on Masada."
"So you attacked their ship because they did not use the mycelium for its intended purpose? Is this what you are saying?"
"Blamed me! Vengeance!"
Cormac glanced at Tomalon and made a cutting gesture with the edge of his hand.
"Communications link cut," said the Captain.
"What a load of bollocks," said Cormac. He looked to the others. "What do you think?"
"It could be true," said Mika. "This is not the same sphere as the one you destroyed at Samarkand. They are not all necessarily hostile. It could be this area is its hideaway and it considered the Masadans its allies."
Cormac made no comment on that. Mika had her reasons for looking as kindly on Dragon as he himself looked unkindly. He glanced to Cento and Aiden.
Aiden said, "It would be interesting to know what Dragon was to receive in exchange for the mycelium — and if it received it."
"Yes." Cormac nodded approvingly: clear thinking is thinking necessarily separated from glands and all the other paraphernalia of humanity. He turned to Gant.
"I agree, grudgingly," said Gant. "Its attack may have been because it received no pay-off. It's doubtful Dragon would care that much about how the mycelium was used. We know human life means nothing to it."
Mika said, "You are still judging this Dragon sphere by the actions of the one at Samarkand. You have to remember that the four of them separated twenty-seven years before."
"Does it matter?" asked Gant. They all looked at him and he shrugged. "The Masadans destroyed the station — all the evidence points that way — and this Dragon sphere had given them the mycelium. If they had used it on a runcible, there would still have been deaths. I say put a missile in it."