"You should call her an 'actress' in the drama, not an 'actor."" "I want to know her name; her gender can wait. Who can she be? Perhaps Sir Mathor will know."

Kirdy grunted.

"Sir Mathor won't tell you whether it's day or night that's my guess. IPCC means nothing to the Patrunes; they make their own law."

"We shall see," said Glawen.

In the morning Glawen dressed with care, using his own garments rather than the casual local wear furnished by the hotel.

Kirdy knocked on the door; Glawen admitted him'. Kirdy had dressed in the local garments and looked at Glawen in perplexity.

"I can rely on you always for perversity! Will you kindly explain why you act this way?"

"Are you referring to my clothes? Perversity has nothing to do with it."

"Do you plan to explain?"

"Certainly. The Famines have no great opinion of the locals;

we'll get more serious attention if we approach Sir Maihor in our own clothes."

Kirdy blinked and reflected.

"Do you know, I think you are right. Give me two minutes, and I'll change."

"Very well," said Glawen.

"This time only I'll wait for you.

But hurry."

Immediately after breakfast, Glawen and Kirdy rode the omnibus to the airport. They boarded a flyer and were whisked off over the Mirling, to land at Halcyon after a flight of half an hour.

The time was now midmorning. A milky overcast swathed the sky;

Blaise, a great blue pearl, seemed to swim with films of prismatic light:

orchid, rose, pale green.

At the exit from the Halcyon airport Glawen and Kirdy found a cab rank where vehicles controlled by internal computer systems were on hand for those persons requiring transportation.

A placard provided instructions:

1. Select a vehicle. Board this vehicle and be seated.

2. The control mechanism will request that you state your destination. Respond in this fashion: "The residence of such and such a person" or "The offices of such and such an enterprise." Usually this will suffice.

3. A fee will be quoted; drop coins into the proper slots.

Pay for waiting time in advance. The vehicle will refund any surplus.

4. You may issue the following orders: "Go faster."

"Go slower."

"Stop."

"Change destination to such-and-such a place." Other directions are unnecessary. Vehicle will proceed at what it calculates to be the most appropriate speed along the most expeditious route. Please do not abuse the equipment.

"That seems simple enough," said Glawen. He selected a low-slung two-seater protected from the Blaiselight by a bubble of dark green glass. Kirdy, however, hung back and frowned down at the vehicle.

"This is not wise."

Glawen looked at him in wonder.

"Why not?"

"These cars cannot be trusted. They are guided by brains taken from cadavers. That is what we learned from unimpeachable sources when we were Mummers. Nor were the brains necessarily the freshest."

Glawen gave an incredulous laugh.

"Where did you hear that?"

"I had it on good authority; I forget just where. Perhaps Aries, who is seldom fooled."

"In this case, he must have been joking. These are obviously guided by simple computers."

"Are you sure of your facts?"

"Of course."

Kirdy still hung back. In exasperation Glawen asked: "Now what is the trouble?"

"In the first place, that car is too small. The seats are cramped. I feel that we should hire a proper cab with a proper driver, who will do exactly as we wish. These vehicles are impervious to human desires; they do as they think best, even if it means tipping us into the sea."

"I'm not worried," said Glawen.

"If it starts to misbehave, we merely need say "Stop!" Here is a four-seater; you can have two seats to yourself. Either get aboard or wait here for me, just as you like."

Kirdy muttered under his breath and gingerly climbed aboard the four-seater.

"This is an absurd system. Everything is absurd. The whole Gaean Reach is topsy-turvy, including you, with your weird ideas and codfish grin."

Glawen's smile, which he had thought to be friendly and affable, froze on his face. He boarded the vehicle. A voice issued from a mesh on the front panel: "Welcome, sirs and ladies!"

"You see!" said Kirdy in a voice of vindication.

"The thing doesn't even know what sort of people we are!"