Yue

 He beats his fists against his chest. "I obey."

"Thank-" The image disappears. "-you."

John nods. "Okay, but what about the rest?"

"I have to admit, I've focused my efforts on local and galactic issues. I don’t know much about this Sector. How big a problem is piracy?"

He shakes his head. "Not much. Long-distance shipping never really picked up after Devlos Ungol was defeated."

"Wasn't that… A hundred and fifty years ago?"

"He was a mass-murderer whose fleet devastated entire planetary populations. Plenty of species still haven't recovered. And those that still have starships use them for trading locally, with their own colonies and outposts."

"Those that.. still have? How do you forget how to build starships?"

"Devlos controlled worlds by bombarding them from orbit. They didn't forget, they just lost the industry they needed. And once he left, they were more concerned about things like food and shelter. Civilian infrastructure. Ships weren't a priority."

"And… Pirates? I know that the Black Circle are the largest unified group, but where did they come from?"

He shrugs. "Some of them are ships from planets that couldn't support them any more. Most of them used to be part of Devlos's fleet. Abin Sur and Starkaðr got most of them, but a Space Sector has a lot of room to hide in."

"You and Jordan never took a crack at them?"

"Sure, when we actually knew where they were. But we never had time to just take a few years away from our other work and hunt them all down." He gives me an appraising look. "You think you can do better?"

"I think I don't want Mister van Wyck making a mess of things. He doesn't look particularly human but I'm sure by this stage 'humanoid in weird costume' makes everyone think 'human'."

"Actually, I don't think most places in the Sector know we exist." He glances at the sky again, though Mr van Wyck has long since vanished. "What can that 'Effigy' guy do?"

"Did you read our report on the Burning Martian?" He nods. "Mister van Wyck can make constructs out of-."

"No, though I can see why you would think that." Hinon is looking at a construct image of him, her eyes narrowing as she studies it. "They aren't constructs. They appear to be made of telekinetically-excited skin. Or something like it. I would guess that Jevek created chimeric tissue -part human and part martian- and tied it into his molecular destabilisation effect. He's controlling it through telekinesis rather than emotional intent. He should have a finite volume of it, though of course he won't need to recharge from a personal lantern."

"So he probably can't do complex devices that actually work, has no AI support and…" I frown. "Are Maltusians telepathic?"

"Not in the classical sense, though most of us can rearrange the matter of someone's brain precisely enough to introduce new thoughts. Why?"

"I didn't see a computer in his costume. I doubt that he's flying around without some sort of map…"

"Neural program. Given how his brain was shapeshifting I'm sure it will take. I don't know how good his recall will be for new data, but I doubt that Jevek would be so incompetent as to set him loose with no direction but the starlight."

I nod. "So we don't know what else Jevek gave him, knowledge wise, but he could be anywhere from completely ignorant of our abilities to fully briefed. His faster than light travel is slower than mine, though… I don't know how fast you are."

"Is he telepathic?"

I shrug. "Not that I noticed. Which is a nuisance, because I can disrupt telepathy. I haven't studied telekinesis in the same detail."

"It's still a pain in the ass. You going after him?"

"No. I think it would be a better use of my time to go after the pirates, given that he is merely misguided while the pirates are thieves and murderers. You?"

"It's the middle of the night for me. If you're not about to start a war then I'm going back to bed."

"Tomorrow? You know the Sector better than me, and I imagine that a Green Lantern will get a good deal more cooperation than I will."

He glances at Hinon, who waves her right hand. "It would be awkward for me to directly oppose another Controller. In actual fact I'm about ready to head back to Maltus. I need to find out what else Jevek has been doing with himself."

"Alright." John nods. "Midday. I'll meet you in the Mountain."

"I'll look forward to working with you."