The guard walked close behind Corso, occasionally prodding him in the back to keep him moving in the right direction.‘Your protocols will be used to extract any useful data from the derelict’s stacks. They are now the property of my Queen, to do with as she sees fit as the ruler, mother and protector of us all.’‘But there’s something here that doesn’t make any sense. You said the Emissaries are at war with the Shoal, also that they’ve got superluminal capability. Fine. But what could they possibly get from the derelict that they don’t have already?’‘Knowledge,’ said Honeydew, coming to a halt and turning to face him, ‘the desire for which drives us all to leave the worlds of our birth. Does that answer your question, Mr Corso?’‘They’re from another spiral arm, yet they came all that way just for a ship that can do something they already know about? Surely that doesn’t add up. What kind of knowledge?’‘Life,’ said Honeydew, ‘is often the sweeter for not asking difficult questions.’‘No way,’ Corso replied hotly.
