Editing Absolution Gap (section)

===2675===

On Ararat, 23 years after the events of ''[[Redemption Ark]]'', Scorpio, a hyperpig, seeks out Nevil Clavain, who has left mainstream society, leaving Scorpio in charge. Scorpio seeks his aid in opening a capsule which has come down from space. Also with him is Vasko, a reasonably competent but naïve young man. They open the capsule and discover Ana Khouri. Khouri informs the colony that humanity is now at war with the Inhibitors. They are getting the relevant technology from Aura, Khouri's daughter, who has been modified by the Hades Matrix, an alien data repository. However, Skade has kidnapped her from Khouri's womb. Clavain and Scorpio lead a team who discover Skade in her crashed ship, which has been attacked by the Inhibitors, causing its Cryo-Arithmetic Engines (a cloaking device) to malfunction and cover the ship in ice. Skade agrees to give the colony Aura in return for Clavain's being tortured to death. Clavain agrees, but tells Scorpio to throw his corpse into the sea (where the Pattern Jugglers absorb him and reunite him with Galiana and Felka). The survivors are attacked by Inhibitor machinery, but Remontoire, a Conjoiner leading the war, protects them from space.

Back in the colony, the leaders debate as to what to do next. They eventually decide to leave. Meanwhile, Captain Brannigan of the lighthugger ''Nostalgia for Infinity'' has been preparing to do so. After some deliberation, some fourteen thousand of the over 150,000 colonists board the ship, and it leaves. In space they meet Remontoire, who gives them Aura's technology to defend themselves. The leaders debate whether or not to go to the moon Hela (which Aura suggests they do) or Yellowstone, to help evacuate the planet. They decide to do the latter, but find they are too late; by the time they reach Yellowstone (in 2698), it has been overrun. As the crew collect the last refugees attempting to escape the system, a minor mutiny breaks out amongst the upper echelons, in which Scorpio's leadership is overturned and the other leaders take power as a group. This is due to Scorpio electing to rescue the last refugees off a shuttle that had been contaminated by the Inhibitors. After the final disputes are settled, the ship is redirected towards Hela.