Now I saw shapes moving within the wide portal, as arriving figures leaped off of sky ropes while those departing latched themselves aboard and set forth into the night, bursting into song. Meanwhile, cable-cars and funiculars disgorged passengers, who passed, like shadows in front of a more brightly lit chamber, some distance beyond. Rhythmic, jangling sounds flowed out of the building, pulsing not only my eardrums but my very skin, setting it vibrating to a driving beat.

Get ready…

There were glaring pinpoints of light ahead, penetrating the reception chamber’s overall darkness. It made for a confusing visual maze, as I studied the visitors arriving just ahead of me, trying to copy their motions, as they prepared for touch-down. Hurriedly, I loosened the makeshift harness that held me upon the sonic cable. Would breaking the link to my battered Alliance uniform halt me in mid-air, leaving me dangling?

But the wire, as if anxious to get rid of me, gave a final hard pulse and tossed me forward. I landed hard and stumbled—

—into the arms of an immensely large figure, who loomed suddenly out of the shadows, whirled me around and set me on my unsteady feet.

“Welcome to the Golden Palace,” slurped a voice that seemed impossibly deep, even for a creature the size of six grown men.

“Make yourself at home. Have fun. Obey the rules. Please keep moving.”

Still swaying a bit, I found the courage to speak.

“But… Where…”

“Please keep moving.” The massive humanoid repeated, with more emphasis. Getting used to the sharply angled spotlights, I saw that he more than resembled a fabled ogre or troll, gnarly claws and all. Only an ogre wearing livery – a costume of rich red velour, with yellow piping. The giant pointed with a giant, meaty paw down an avenue defined by velvet ropes, toward a wide tunnel entrance underneath a glowing symbol – a gilded, fairy-tale castle with at least a dozen sparkling towers. From the wave of pulses slamming into my ears, that was apparently where the rhythmic, jangling sound was coming from.

“Please keep—”

“Moving. I get it,” I said, hurrying backward till I was stopped by the rope, then sliding along it toward the light. Anyway, more dark figures were arriving all the time, leaping off of sonic wires or stepping out of cable cars. The last thing I wanted was to call attention to myself. So I swiveled with what I hoped was a confident, Dracula-like flourish of my cape and headed for a ramp – leading into the “Golden Palace.”

8.