Editing Absolution Gap (section)

===2727===

Rashmika Els, a 17-year-old girl, leaves her home on Hela to search for her long-lost brother Harbin, who left to join the Cathedrals years before. The Cathedrals were set up by Quaiche after the 2615 timeline and constantly move across Hela (making use of various propulsion systems, such as legs and tracks) to "observe" Haldora and its disappearances (known as "vanishings"). It uses special indoctrinal viruses to maintain religious faith amongst its supporters, although certain areas, such as Rashmika's town, are exempt. She joins one of the caravans, a massive vehicle composed of several smaller units, to get to the "Permanent Way", where the cathedrals can be found. She has the ability to tell whenever people are lying to her, which makes Quaiche very interested in her. He uses false evidence to convince Rashmika that Harbin has become a supporter of the church. In fact he is dead. She arrives at Quaiche's Cathedral and begins working for him.

In the Cathedral she suffers nightmares about a race called the "Shadows", who exist in a parallel [[Membrane (M-theory)|Brane]] to our own. Their universe has been consumed by a rogue terraforming agent, and they are trying to join Rashmika's. They had shown the Scuttlers, the long-extinct inhabitants of Hela, how to build a machine that could bring them across. In return, they would destroy the Inhibitors. However, the Inhibitors allegedly destroyed the Scuttlers first.

Meanwhile, the ''Nostalgia for Infinity'' makes its presence known to Hela and offers to protect it (Quaiche has been asking various lighthuggers for protection). Quaiche agrees and sends "delegates" onto the ship, who are actually soldiers. They attempt to take the ship, but the crew defeats them. Quaiche holds Khouri and Vasko hostage, as well as Rashmika (who is actually Aura). He reveals he actually wants the ship to change Hela's rotation with its engines to stop it spinning; this will permit him to keep watching Haldora eternally, without the need for moving Cathedrals. Brannigan agrees and lands, but not before he deploys a Cache Weapon on Haldora and destroys its exterior, revealing it to be the Shadows' transport mechanism.

Quaiche and Grelier (his right-hand man) leave with Aura, but Quaiche panics and dies falling from the shuttle, whilst Grelier is killed by Brannigan's hypometric weapon when he tries to hold Aura hostage. The soldiers of the Cathedrals overwhelm Brannigan and destroy him. Scorpio arrives and rescues Aura, who suggests they take the Scrimshaw suit (now a prison for the Shadows' digital envoy), but Scorpio advises against doing so; Remontoire has shown him a shard of material from Ararat, which matches similar ones found on Hela. He believes that the race that made them also killed the Scuttlers for talking to the Shadows. They leave the Scrimshaw suit and retreat as the Cathedral is destroyed. As they walk away, Khouri asks Scorpio why he saved the shuttle in the Yellowstone system and it is implied that he saw her husband, Fazil, was on the passenger manifest.