The hive queen tells Human she does not plan to be on Lusitania when the fleet arrives.

Ten years have passed since Qing-jao passed her test and joined the ranks of the godspoken, and she has been educated and physically trained for the role and has taught herself to delay satisfying her urge to purify herself. Qing-jao goes to her father to receive her first real-world task. They talk about the Lusitania fleet, and Qing-jao questions the ethics of Starways Congress, citing Demosthenes’s essays calling for the fleet to stop. Han Fei-tzu declares that Starways Congress has the mandate of the gods and that Demosthenes is the enemy of the gods. Qing-jao takes an oath to obey both Starways Congress and the gods. Han Fei-tzu now feels that he has fulfilled his promise to his wife. Han Fei-tzu shows Qing-jao the last known location of the fleet and explains that it has disappeared. Qing-jao’s task is to discover what happened to the fleet. She feels inadequate and worries that if the fleet destroys Lusitania, she will shoulder part of the blame; however, she accepts the task.

Jane has access to all the data on the computers connected to the ansible system, but she does not have sensory capabilities and cannot know information that is not stored in computers, such as gossip or conversations.