As usual, he was buoyed by Wuu’s bottomless supply of optimism. “Worlds may differ but bureaucrats are everywhere the same. Do you recall our departure from Ciccikalk? Did that Servitospector linger over your new identification?”

“I don’t believe he ever looked at it,” Ryo admitted. “He left everything to the computer. But shouldn’t it be different here? Not only is this the mother world, but taking things out is not dangerous. Bringing things into another world can be.”

“I don’t think we’ll have any difficulty.” The debarking tube and ramp were rising from the ground toward the shuttle. No other structures marred the smooth surface of the shuttleport.

“We’ve come direct from Willow-wane, a known world. We’re not carrying produce or sample material; in any case, there are few restrictions on what can be brought in.”

Those few restrictions were enough to inspire a very thorough customs inspection, however. While Ryo and Wuu had indeed come direct from Willow-wane to Hivehom, other passengers had not Ryo fought to conceal his nervousness as a bright-eyed Servitospector went through his identification. It seemed to Ryo that a lot of time was spent studying the identiplate.

Eventually they were passed through, accompanied by the kind of polite indifference the inhabitants of the capital reserved for those citizens unfortunate enough to have been born on other worlds. Ryo was too relieved at having successfully passed identification to feel any upset at such chauvinism. Wuu seemed to know where he was at all times and quickly located -a hotel on Level 75, which was reasonably close to the city center.

Save for areas of historic importance, the center of Daret for twenty-five prime levels served only the growing Thranx government.

As their transport module carried them along wide corridors Ryo noticed burrows with stone facings. This was the heart of the eternal city of Daret, and Daret was the heart of the modern Thranx civilization. History pressed close all around him.

If he was slightly overwhelmed, Wuu was exactly the opposite. “Doesn’t this mean anything to you?’’ Ryo asked him, gesturing out the module’s single forward port. “Doesn’t such grandeur inspire your poet’s mind?”

“Yes, it does. Ten thousand years of bureaucrats.”

They were to have begun their search the following morning, but Wuu insisted there was no need for hurry and offered to show Ryo more of the city. For example, there were the fabled Echo Falls. These fell from an opening in the underside of the River Moregeeon past a hundred and fifty levels to a great artificial cavern where the tremendous power of the vertical cascade was harnessed to supply energy for the city.

This and the poet’s descriptions of other wonders caused Ryo to hesitate, but only briefly. It was unreasonable to expect the authorities to trace him quickly, but it worried him nonetheless and he was anxious to begin the hunt as soon as possible. Wuu grumbled at the thought of having to plunge so soon into the morass that was officialdom, and it had been Ryo’s turn to supply the enthusiasm.