The then-expanding populations of neomorphs had moved north to Central City and the other rotating cylinders, newer and therefore more desirable in terms of real estate. Axis Nader rotated to produce a centrifugal force at its outermost levels about equal to the force in the Way. Its population was still largely orthodox Naderites, which, it went without saying, were almost entirely homorphic.

Beyond Axis Nader was Central City. The geometry of Central City's architecture was dazzling by itself. Lanier's curiosity triggered a graphic breakdown of the shape, beginning with a cube. Each face of the cube supported a squat pyramid, the "steps" rotated slightly with respect to each other, creating a half-spiral. The overall shape could fit within a sphere about ten kilometers across and was rather like a Tower of Babel, as conceived by the twentieth-century artist M. C. Escher if he had collaborated with architect Paolo Soleri; in all respects, Central City was the showpiece of Axis City. The "twisted pyramid" motif seemed to be universal; it was also the shape of the gate terminals.

Beyond Central City was Axis Euclid, which contained a mixed population of neomorphs and homorphs of both Geshel and Naderite sympathies. Axis Thoreau and Axis Euclid counter-rotated to offset the rotation of Axis Nader, which was slightly larger than either of them.

The projected point of view returned to the Maltese cross at the southern end of the city. Within the center of the cross they found themselves in a docking facility, witnessing the outfitting of a much larger, much more sophisticated version of their own destroyed tuberider. Called a flawship, the craft was about a hundred meters long, shaped like an ocarina pinched in the middle. The two segments of the spindle were almost featureless, one shiny gray-black, the other blue-violet.

Facts and figures accompanied the display. The flawship—one of a fleet of more than a hundred—could travel at five thousand kilometers a second. It could disengage from the flaw to allow other traffic to pass—though Heineman confessed he didn't see how this was done, since the flaw passed right down the center of the ship—and it could also send out smaller craft for landing parties and reconnaissance.

Near the surface of the Way, the immense disks they had seen on their approach provided transportation for cargo and passengers on less extensive trips. The picted tour ended with a gold-and-silver armillary sphere whirling before them.

"Ser Olmy," Lanier said.

"Yes?"

"Are we guests, or prisoners?"

"Neither, actually," Olmy said. "Depending on who you ask—and how honestly they answer—you are assets, or you are liabilities. Please remember that. We have three receptions planned," he said. "One before the Hexamon Nexus, the second on the Frant homeworld, Timbl, where we may be able to meet with the President, and the third at one point three ex nine, where a new gate is to be opened."