Elysium Fire (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency #2)

by Alastair Reynolds

‘Instability in the Glitter Band affects all of us, Supreme Prefect. Our trading arrangements go back a century and a half. Can you imagine how concerned we are, with the orbital community threatening to tear itself apart?

Spurn the false assurances of the prefects, shun the promises they can’t keep, the trust they can’t uphold, and find a common security outside the hidebound framework of Panoply. Eight habitats have already thrown aside their shackles and discovered that there is life – and security – beyond the old, moribund institutions. More are poised to follow. Soon it will be a flood.

What went on here – you can’t call them crimes, exactly. But they were against something, and things like that leave a stain on a place. A sort of spiritual blemish – like a bad atmosphere. Are you superstitious, Prefect?’ ‘Not at all,’ Thalia said. ‘Then you haven’t been around long enough,’

‘One unexplained death on our watch is one too many,’ Sparver said. ‘I wish I believed that, Prefect,’ Brig said. ‘And I wish you believed it, too.’

‘It’s time for you to learn a little more about the family name you’ve been blessed with,’ Father said, puffing himself up with overdone solemnity. ‘Great things will come your way, because of that name. Doors will open and opportunities come your way. You will go through your lives feeling the respect and gratitude of a whole world, and many beyond this one.

‘I did you a disservice,’ Dreyfus said, reaching for the dossiers ‘I assumed—’ ‘Later,’ Del Mar said, flicking aside his apology with the disdain it merited.

‘I’ve never made any secret of it.’ ‘No,’ Baudry chipped in. ‘But you’ve never advertised it either. It doesn’t fit very well with your image as the strong man of the people, does it, being born into one of the oldest, wealthiest families in the entire system? You couldn’t be more part of the establishment if you tried. You’ve had every advantage in life