Deni turned a quizzical face to Adda. "I can tell you were never a parent."

Adda growled wordlessly.

A new Air-car approached the rough lip of the opened-up wall; five nervous pigs jostled together, bumping against the Skin like inflated toys. The car's door opened and the driver leaned across. "Adda," Toba Mixxax said, his broad, weary face splitting into a grin. "I'm glad to find you. Ito said you were trying to get here, with Farr."

"Well, he's here. He's fine. He's working hard." Adda had always found Toba's round, flat face rather bland and unexpressive; but now Adda could see real pain in the set of Toba's eyecups, the small lines at the corners of his mouth. "Cris isn't here. I'm sorry."

Toba's expression barely changed, but Adda could see a small light go out of him. "No. I, ah — I didn't expect he would be."

"No."

The two men let their gazes slide away from each other, briefly embarrassed.

"How's Ito? Where is she?"

"At the ceiling-farm. What's left of it. She's found plenty to do. She's a craftswoman, Adda, and she's launched herself into repair work, with the coolies who've stayed." He shook his head. "Everything's smashed, though. You wouldn't believe it." There was bitterness in Toba's voice. "This latest Glitch has done for us, Adda."

Toba's words made him think of what Deni had said — that the Xeelee were here to disrupt the Core, to devastate the Star itself. Adda wasn't very imaginative; he focused on the here-and-now, on what was achievable. But, he suddenly wondered, what if Deni Maxx was right — that the Xeelee truly had come, this time, to finish the Star — to do for them all?

He glanced around the lurid sky. Inside himself, he'd been expecting this Glitch to come to an end, eventually — just like all the other Glitches in his long life, no matter how severe. But what if that wasn't true, this time? After all, the Xeelee were manufacturing this Glitch; his previous experience wasn't a reliable guide. What if the Xeelee kept on, persisted until the Core itself welled out from rents in the Quantum Sea...

Up to now Adda had been anticipating only his own death, and the death of many others — even of those close to him. But perhaps this new catastrophe was destined to go much further — to encompass the destruction of the race itself. He was overwhelmed suddenly by a vision of the Star scoured clean of Human Beings, of all future generations — everything Adda had worked for — snuffed out, rendered meaningless.

Toba was still talking. Adda hadn't heard a word he'd said for a long time.

Adda pulled himself away and took a deep breath. If the world was to finish today — well, there was little Adda could do about it. In the meantime he had work to do.

Deni Maxx joined Adda in the improvised doorway. "Thanks for coming to help us, citizen."