I stood and took his hand. I felt a hint of irritation from Julius but ignored it. We stood and headed out into the gardens, passing through the impressive marble arches and out onto the lawns. We spoke for a few minutes about architecture and history, that is to say, Hadrian talked, I simply didn't know enough to contribute beyond a few appropriate noises. There was no doubt we were still in range of any number of vox sniffers and cameras but that couldn't be helped. We wove our way through one of the hedge mazes.

"It's not technically a maze," I said, for want of being able to contribute something.

"Hmmm," Hadrian enquired, pausing to look at the foliage around us.

"It's a labaryinth," I explained, "there is only a single path to the center. So long as we walk it we will arrive there." Hadrian nodded and I got the impression he was thinking beyond a simple feature of landscaping. I paused, laying a hand on his arm. He turned to face me and I leaned in close and pressed our lips together. Hadrian responded to the kiss, first hesitantly and then with more enthusiasim. I wrapped my arms around him and drew him downwards until we lay on the stoney path between the hedgerows. Then I used my psy. It was an old trick, maybe the oldest I knew and I could manage it with the merest flick of my will. If there were an alpha level psyker in the house they would have heard it, but if the enemy had an alpha level mind in there we were already sunk.

We stood in a wavy reflection of the of the chamber Jezebel had taken me to. The objects themselves were clear as I was expending more energy to focus on them.

"Jezebel at least is part of what is going on here," I thought\said. I hesitated for a moment. I didn't know how Hadrian might react to what I was going to say.

"For some reason Jezebel seems to think I am on her side, perhaps an agent of offworld associates," I told him, rushing a bit over an uncomfortable admission.

"I have no idea why, but I played along," I told him, pointing to artifact she had called the Account. It was rendered in almost exact precision, down to the way the light had fallen on the reflective material. Our imagined overhead lights changed to reflect what I had seen in the tablet.

"I told her they were missing a key, she got very interested and I told her I was looking for it, nothing more. She suspected you of being from the Ordos, I told her you were a Navy officer who had been tapped by the Arbites so she wouldn't kill you," I rushed along, conveying as much as I could in our brief mental link.