"The honor for starting our short journey goes to the first guest to arrive at the Axis City," the captain said. Patricia took his hand and tracted into position at the bow, near the flaw passage. "Miss Vasquez, would you like to do the honors? Simply ask the flawship to begin."

"Let's go," Patricia said softly.

A sharp-edged circle about five meters in diameter cleared to one side of the flaw passage, offering them a view of the Way. They seemed to float high above the lanes of traffic and the gate terminals. The ineffably glistening line of the singularity glowed hot pink just beyond the bow; for the moment, there was no sensation of motion.

Patricia turned to look back at Olmy, Lanier and Farley. Lanier smiled at her; she smiled back. Despite everything, this was kind of exciting. She felt like an indulged and pampered child, visiting a party of very peculiar adults.

We're the larvae, they're the butterflies, she thought.

Within a half hour, the flawship was moving so rapidly—just over 104 kilometers per second—that the walls of the Way became a slick blur of black and gold. They had already traveled some 94,000 kilometers and were still accelerating. Ahead, the flaw pulsed deep red. Patricia felt Farley's hand on her shoulder.

"It's amazing how much this is like a party on Earth," Farley said. "Not in Hopeh, but in Los Angeles or Tokyo. I went through Tokyo to get to Los Angeles, and then on to Florida. . . . There were quite a few receptions. The embassy party . . .” She shook her head and grinned. "Where the hell—what the hell are we, Patricia? I am very confused."

"They're people, just like us," Patricia said.

"I just don't—can't always believe what's happening. Inside, I go back to when I was a little girl in Hopeh, listening to my father teach. I escape."

Bringing Ramon Tiempos de Los Angeles to read. . .

"All parties get boring after a while. I'd rather be working," Patricia said, "but that wouldn't be sociable. Olmy wants us to be sociable."

Suli Ram Kikura approached them, looking concerned.

"Has anybody offended you?" she asked. "Or made improper offers?"

"No," Farley said. "Patricia and I are just watching."

"Of course. . . you're getting tired. Even Olmy forgets these necessities—sleep and rest."

"I'm not tired," Patricia said. "I'm very alert, in fact."

"I, as well," Farley agreed. "Perhaps 'dazed' is a better word."

"You may seclude yourselves any time you wish," Ram Kikura said.

"We'll just stay in the bow and watch," Patricia said. She floated with legs crossed in a lotus, and Farley did likewise.

"We're fine," Farley said to the advocate. "We'll rejoin everybody shortly."

Ram Kikura tracted aft to a group of neomorphs challenging each other with complex puzzle-picts.

"It's not a bad place to be," Farley offered after a few minutes of silence. "These people aren't cruel."

"Oh, no," Patricia said, shaking her head. "Olmy is helpful, and I like Kikura."