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This is the largest clarification anyone has done in living memory, Julie said once the merge was complete. There may have been a larger one back when all this started, but the psychometric records – even with the addition of my family’s hidden archive – are so incomplete we can’t be sure–

Very interesting, Caro. The interruption was dry. But we don’t have time for a history lesson, so get to the point.

Yes, of course, she said. My point, Alaric, was that we’re forging new ground here. No one knows how this is going to work or even if it will. Even maintaining the merge with this many people in it is proving difficult.

Can I make a suggestion, mother? Marian’s mental tone was diffident.

Of course, Marian, Julie said.

We should break it down into pieces, she said. Clarify them and then combine and clarify the results.

Break it down… how would we do that? Tara asked.

Oh! I get it! Adrian said. Who was where and when in their visions. From what I can tell we’re a bit all over the place. So, if we clarify what happens in the gym, for example, and then the corridor to the dining hall, then the hall itself and the rest of the main block, we can then work out the sequence of events in the main block and so on.

That… Julie hummed thoughtfully. There’s a lot of potential for loss of important information in that plan but I can’t see a better way to handle it. Okay, let’s sort out who was where.

I sort of felt like I was hovering over the whole thing watching from high above, Emily said. Possibly because I don’t have any personal connection to the events.

That might well be it, Julie agreed. But it’s a good thing for us. It means we can use your premonition as a framework to tie everything together.

And unlike the rest of us she’ll be able to pinpoint where the soldiers are going to launch their attack from. Alaric said. That’s very important.

And where the guy you want to expose as not human is, Emily said. I know where he’ll be when the attack starts. He’s going to be right by the guy in charge. She pushed an image of a hill near Brierthorne that would give a good view of the campus. There.

We should pass that back to the others, Lydia said. And any other staging points Emily saw. Even if we can’t expose the interloper we might be able to block them and force a retreat. Which might cause more problems in the long run but would win us breathing space.

Good idea, Lydia. Julie said. Can you do that, sweetie? And the place where you scryed Robert being at the moment?

Yes, of course, Emily said and a welter of coordinates and images flashed into their heads. Did you get all that?

I did, Julie said. I’ll send it all in an imp to Alexandra and then we’ll continue with the next part.

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