Hork shoved himself out of his sling, his bulk quivering in the Air like a sac of liquid. "You're too damn patient, Physician. Legend and hearsay. The ramblings of a senile old fool." He Waved to the captive vortex ring and slammed his fist into the elegant spheres encasing it. The outermost sphere splintered in a star around his fist, and the vortex ring broke up into a chain of smaller rings which rapidly diminished in size, swooping around each other. "Am I supposed to gamble the future of the City, of my people, on such gibberish? And what about us, upfluxer? Forget these mythical men on other worlds. Why are the Xeelee interested in us?... and what am I to do about it?"

Past Hork's wide, angry face, Adda watched the captive vortex ring struggling to re-form.

15

BZYA INVITED FARR TO VISIT him at his home, deep in the Downside belly of the City.

The Harbor workers were expected to sleep inside the Harbor itself, in the huge, stinking dormitories. The authorities preferred to have their staff where they could call them out quickly in the event of some disaster — and where they had an outside chance of keeping them fit for work. To get access to the rest of the City, outside the Harbor walls, Bzya and Farr needed to arrange not only coincident off-shifts but also coincident out-passes, and they had to wait some weeks before Hosch — grudgingly and reluctantly — allowed the arrangement.

The Harbor, a huge spherical construction embedded in the base of the City, was enclosed by its own Skin and had its own skeleton of Corestuff, strengthened to withstand the forces exerted by the Bell winches. The Harbor was well designed for its function, Farr had come to realize, but the interior was damned claustrophobic, even by Parz standards. So he felt a mild relief as he emerged from the Harbor's huge, daunting gates and entered the maze of Parz streets once more.

The streets — narrow, branching, indecipherably complex — twisted away in all directions. Farr looked around, feeling lost already; he knew he'd have little hope of finding his way through this three-dimensional maze.

Bzya rubbed his hands, grinned, and Waved off down one of the streets. He moved rapidly despite his huge, scarred bulk. Farr studied the street. It looked the same to him as a dozen others. Why that one? How had Bzya recognized it? And...

And Bzya was almost out of sight already, around the street's first bend.

Farr kicked away from the outer Harbor wall and plunged after Bzya.