Augur, in disguise, meets a physicist named Harry in a vacant office building in order to purchase research in the area of ID field generation technology from Harry who is a member of a firm working for the Taelons. Augur, who has studied Harry's data, tells him that he is correct about ID field generation theory, pointing out the threshold and the branching quadratic in the equation. Augur states that If ID fields are cranked up any higher, chronol. cohesion will break down and time will not be the same in all sixteen dimensions, creating latent fields which remain closed in earth's three dimensions but which may still be open in other dimensions, like a snow covered crevasse. Harry inquires how one could reverse such an instability if it were created; Augur replies that it won't be necessary as no one is going to build an ID field strong enough to generate such an anomaly. Harry tells Augur that *it has already been done* and Augur tries to end the meeting, saying that their exchange was based on the fact that the technology was purely research. Harry tells Augur that he didn't have a choice, and goes into violent spasms, saying that what is happening proves that Augur was as correct about generated ID fields being unstable.

Harry was present during an experiment in which an ID field was generated. An anomaly shattered and he absorbed a shard of ID space which remains inside him. He would have been killed outright except that he was standing *near a damping field*. He has rigged up a portable generator, but it isn't working. Augur notes that the frequency oscillation on the generator is fragile and tries to find out where Harry is on the curve so that he can repair the problem. Harry replies that it is not the increasing frequency which is the problem, but the density which is increasing and he can *feel it coming*.

Harry disintegrates after telling Augur that he never meant to lie. Augur's global beeps and a sultry female voice inquires who he is and where Harry is. Augur tells her that Harry is gone. She replies that Harry works for her and asks Augur if he is Harry's friend *who does the equations*. A meeting is arranged and the voice tells Augur she will make it worth his while.

Augur returns to Resistance Headquarters and accesses Holo Lili who is visible only from the waist up. He asks her to contact Liam and Lily and she indicates they are on the mother ship and are forwarding calls while they attend a high level meeting. Augur asks for his video glasses and orders her to give him a full view of her. When she does, Augur sees that Holo Lili is pregnant. She tells him that her biological clock is ticking. A perplexed Augur tells her that she is a cybernetic organism doesn't have a biological clock. He instructs her to monitor video input and play the recording for Liam when he arrives.

A limousine arrives at the rendezvous point and Augur meets the glamorous occupant, Beverly Wu. After some discussions about payment for services, they settle on a block of 10,000 shares of preferred voting stock in Beverly's corporation, with Augur to sign over proxy rights for three years. Beverly reveals that her firm is in the weapons trade and is working for the Taelons. Augur replies that if his DNA is run through Taelon security there may be a problem. Beverly does not feel Augur's status with the Taelons is a problem and invites him to attend a test which is about to be run. A personal portal opens in the limo and Beverly and Augur are transported to the test site near the Antarctic axis (South Pole). Augur is introduced to the launch master, Gerry, as the new math maven and views the test which is being conducted ten miles away, but he is unable to figure exactly what is being tested.

Liam and Julia arrive at Resistance Headquarters and find the bag of currency which Augur had taken to his meeting with Harry, lying on the floor. When Julia asks Liam if he has ever known Augur to be careless with money, Liam replies that he has never even seen Augur pick up a cheque. Holo Lili plays the recording of Augur's meeting, but the recording breaks off when Augur he enters the limo since it is shielded. She tells Liam that there is no information on file for the female anywhere. He concludes that the female in the limo must be rich and powerful (since no information can be found for her), and that she is working for the Taelons (since she has a portal in her limousine).

On the mother ship at a meeting between Zo'or and Da'an, Zo'or reveals he has received a message that the Taelon fleet is in retreat and the Jaridian fleet is massed around a planet 78 light years away. Da'an remarks that Zo'or's policy of aggressive engagement with the Jaridians appears to be failing. Zo'or retorts that the function of the Volunteers was never to hold the planet but to lure the Jaridians. While the Jaridian fleet is massed around the planet he intends to use the other weapon at their disposal, Forge, which project was originally Da'an's responsibility. Da'an attempts to dissuade Zo'or saying that the Forge project was purely a defensive weapon, that it has never been fully tested and was intended to be used as a last resort only. Zo'or tells Da'an that a single bombardment will annihilate the Jaridians, and that it may be the last chance to deliver such a blow. As the meeting ends, Zo'or informs Da'an that he has taken control of the Forge Project. When Da'an retorts that humanity will not agree to earth being used as a base of attack, Zo'or suggests caustically that Da'an should not tell humanity.

Jonathon Doors is being briefed by his son before addressing an election rally when Lili and Liam approach him on the pretext of warning him about possible violence at the rally. Realizing that warning is not the real reason for their visit, Doors asks his son to leave the room. Liam shows Doors a photo of the unidentified woman in the limo and Doors identifies her as Dr. Beverly Wu. He tells Liam that she is rich, very powerful and totally ruthless, and that she is working on something really big for the Taelons, called the Forge project. Liam tells Doors that Augur had a meeting with Beverly and cannot be located. Doors says that Augur was never really a member of the team and that he is playing both sides and has always played both sides.

In a lab at the Antarctic test site, Augur and Beverly Wu manage to successfully generate a stable anomaly, exchanging personal information as they work. It is obvious that they are strongly attracted to each other. As a result of their experiment, they realize that time is not the same in the F-axis and speculate that it may be possible to use it as a gateway. The commercial value of such an invention would be vast. Sandoval enters the laboratory to tell Beverly that Zo'or has assumed supervision of the Forge Project and it must be made operational at once; he authorizes a substantial bonus if she is successful. During his visit, he recognizes Augur and wants to take him to the mother ship for questioning. Beverly tells him that Augur's assistance is imperative if the Forge Project is to become operational at once and that when that has been done, he may have Augur.

On the mother ship Liam asks Da'an about the Forge Project. Da'an's curt reply is that he cannot help.

Beverly Wu and Augur spend the night together after dining in her quarters. The next morning a full power test of the Forge weapon commences and Beverly tells Augur that the Forge weapon is the largest cannon ever built, capable of launching one cubic mile of molten magma up to one hundred light years with complete accuracy. She says it is earth's first and final line of defence. The test generates an anomaly and Augur must set up a damping field to get it under control. After the test is over, Augur tells Beverly that the project must be shut down because if any more power is applied to the F-axis the space/time continuum will tear. An anomaly may be generated and if it finds its way to the earth's core and becomes self-sustaining, it will develop into a black hole, consuming the earth. Beverly refuses, saying that this is not a human war and they may as well profit from the situation.

While trying to find Augur, Liam and Lili discover that coordinates being beamed from the Antarctic are those from Augur's global. Liam goes to the test site and locates Augur who informs him about the Forge project becoming operational and warns that earth is about to declare war on the Jaridians without being told about it. When Liam suggests informing Da'an, Augur tells him that the project's is Da'an's responsibility. Liam decides to send a strike team through the portal if Da'an refuses to assist them. He confronts Da'an who says he is not responsible to Liam for his actions and that the Forge weapon will not pose a danger if properly used. Liam says there is new data to the contrary. When Da'an inquires about the off planet portal station attack a short time before (Volunteers) and Liam refuses to answer him, Da'an says that *friendship like anything of value is fragile and requires delicacy in use*.

Zo'or gives the order to launch the first Forge bombardment after briefing assembled officials as well as Liam, Lili and Da'an. Liam gives Julia the signal to send in the strike team who are met by Augur at the site. When the bombardment commences it is noticed that the ID gateway created is staying open longer between each shot. Although Beverly is advised to stop the bombardment, she refuses. The strike team arrive in the control room with Auger and take over, but not before Beverly launches another shot which has disastrous consequences; opening a wormhole directly from earth to Jaridian space which is entered by a Jaridian war cruiser of planetary destroyer class. Augur is forced to set up a feed back loop assisted by Gerry, the launch master. The resulting explosion destroys the control room, fatally wounding Beverly and pinning her under a mass of beams and rubble.

On the Taelon mother ship the approach of the Jaridian cruiser is detected and Zo'or prepares to flee, taking the Taelon mother ship out of earth's system rather than face the cruiser. When Liam accuses him of running, Zo'or suggests that Da'an, as the original patron of the Forge project should be the one to inform humanity. Da'an and Liam prepare the shuttle and leave the mother ship to make *a futile and heroic gesture* ( Da'an's words).

At the test site, Beverly dies after cursing Augur and telling him she hates him.

The shuttle carrying Da'an and Liam does not possess sufficient power to destroy the Jaridian cruiser which is a planetary destroyer, but they decide they can slow the cruiser down long enough to permit the worm hole to close. Liam likens the situation to the poem *Horatio at the Bridge* and Da'an says there is a Similar Taelon legend. He tells Liam that they cannot possibly succeed but that it will make a good story and *that if told often enough a good story can be a powerful weapon of war*.

Augur and the strike team use the portals to leave the test site at the Antarctic axis. As they leave, asks Augur if he is all right. He tells her *no* and that he won't be all right for a very long time.

Liam and Da'an decide to shut down the worm hole by administering a large enough shock to break the tunnel super symmetry and they eject the matrix, knowing they will have no way of returning to earth. The shuttle is almost powerless and Liam is forced to use the worm hole's collapsing edge as a power source. At exactly the right moment, power is transferred to the steering thrusters and a blast is delivered to the worm hole causing it to collapse with the Jaridian cruiser inside and leaving Liam and Da'an stranded in space. They are contacted by Lili on the mother ship and request a tow back to earth.

On the mother ship, Zo'or and Sandoval discuss the aborted mission. Sandoval indicates that he knows who the culprit is and that the Resistance will be crushed. Zo'or tells him that if the trail leads back to Da'an, so much the better.