'Dining hall' suggested a small room to me, perhaps for around 20 people: this would have been more apt for banquets. A singular table, at least 40 seats long, stretched down the room, and was covered in all the break-fasting food you could dream of - and a great deal of which I could not. There were silver toast racks, plates of eggs, bowls of fruit and grain, and a myriad of other food-sorts, from the common to the exotic. No technology was apparent, however: rather peculiarly, such things aren't fashionable in high society.

  Marooned at the far end of the table sat the 8 folk I had been told about. Young and old they were, and it took only a second for one of them to note my arrival. Each gave an exclamation of greeting, and a space was made for me next to a lady dressed in vermilion robes: here, then, was a Master from the Citadel of Korvent. That Power is a kindly one, from what I have heard, and their Masters wise. But my knowledge of them comes from old books. I bowed deeply.

  'You, then, are Doctor Trefoil?' said the Master as I sat. 'We were told to expect your arrival.'

  'Quite right, Master,' I replied. 'I am glad to meet you all.'

  'And we to meet you,' said a man gruffly. He was tall and stout. 'One more until our number is complete! Too long have we been here already, twiddling our thumbs. If we knew what our purpose was perhaps we could have things sorted before this Adjudicator even arrives!'

  He eyed another as he said this, who looked back at him stonily. The Master caught my perplexed glance, and said to me:

  'Adams and Smithson are the only two, excluding our gracious hostess, who know what business we are here for. Luret there is keen for the knowledge they hold.'

  'It is not permitted to speak of it until the Adjudicator arrives,' said that who was evidently Adams. 'Quash your eagerness, Luret. You know not what matters we are dealing with.'

  'Adams is a businessman,' said the Master exasperatedly, 'and has delusions of grandeur. Forgive him!'

  The others laughed at that, and I with them. After a moment they began conversing amongst themselves, and the Master turned to me.

  'Too long have I been without the company of an academic!' she said. 'You are a virologist, are you not?'

  'I am indeed,' I returned. 'Although, forgive me, surely you have not long since travelled from your citadel?'

  'That route is longer, perhaps, than you imagine: if you are unfamiliar with inter-system travel. But even so, you are right. I arrived here a while ago for a different matter entirely, and was persuaded to stay by the Lady Silvestre.

  'But come! Let us speak no more of this business until we need to. I am a Master of Biology, so we will at least be able to converse more readily about our subjects than most. Or, perhaps, you would prefer to discuss politics? The others are terribly unwilling.'

  'I am most keen for the former point of conversation,' I said willingly, 'but I fear my grasp of politics is limited. My Habitat is visited rarely, and news makes its way slowly to us. I confess that Verrent itself is completely new to me.'

  She looked apologetic at that, and shifted uncomfortably. For a moment, she seemed to consider her words.

  'I'm sorry,' she said. 'It is easy to forget how separate we all are! Our Powers are connected, but our people?'

  She shook her head sadly.

  'The Citadel of Korvent is great,' she continued. 'And I was lucky to be apprenticed there. But it is all too easy to forget the troubles of those outside its bounds.'

  'Tell me,' I said curiously, 'is it a Habitat like my home?'

  'It is a city, in fact,' she said. 'And a grand one. It stretches across half of the dwarf planet it sits on. At its centre are the Spires of Learning, and they pierce its meagre atmosphere like silver swords. What a view! In Winter frost coats every window, and in Summer it seems completely green with all its growing plants.

  'The Lady Silvestre may have mentioned to you the gardens of Verrent - they are pitiful compared to those of my home. There is a delightful bird, singular to the Citadel, that makes its home in all the trees and even on the rooftops. We call them fletlers, which is bright-wing in the common tongue. In the evening sunlight they gleam with the all the colours of the rainbow.'

  'You describe it vividly!' said I. 'And now I long to visit. Too small is a Habitat when you know what else lies out there!'

  'That is a thought many share,' she said. 'But take care with what you wish! The wide world is more dangerous than you might think. There are many places I would not go. I knew some, when I was young, who fought in the Klaster Skirmishes: their stories still haunt me to this day. I feel they would have much preferred to stay in their homes.'

  Our conversation wilted into silence with that. I broke my fast with a meal of beans on toast. Soon, however, it sprang into being again. Skirmishes are dark thoughts, but surrounded by good food and laughter they struggle to find purchase.

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  My companions, I found, were mainly from my own Power. Luret was from a neighbouring system, here as a diplomat - which seemed odd given his temperament, but his surly facade (and almighty beard) hid a kind heart. He was particularly keen for news of my own Habitat, and I of his - for it is always nice to be able to discuss local affairs with a compatriot. Iris, Fennel and Coval were all specialists in one field or another, and had journeyed with him to Verrent.

  Adams and Smithson, I found, were from some place in the Far Reaches, the name of which they refused to give. Adams dealt with business in their system; Smithson was a member of the local authority. Both were as secretive as the other, and I resigned myself to not gaining any knowledge of the goings-on until the Adjudicator arrived. Both their accents were strange to my ears, more so than the rich tones of the Master - they had a soft burr to their voices. It is not uncommon, of course, to have differences in accent even on the same habitat: but it is all the more noticeable when people are from farther away.

  'There is not much to do here,' said Luret after our plates had been cleared, 'apart from think. The Master Evelina may enjoy that, and perhaps you also, Trefoil, but I myself prefer more active pastimes. Anyone for ventra?"

  By 'ventra' he referred to the card game. It is played with anyone up of 2 players, designed for a tactical game rather than a lucky one. I hesitated before saying either way - I was aware of my promise to the Master, given her want to converse with a fellow academic. Evidently she noted my glance.

  'I am willing,' she said. 'But perhaps the doctor would like a quick tour of the station? I put down the gardens just now, but doubtless you will still find them brilliant.'

  I agreed to that most readily. At that moment I felt rather too awake for more sitting down - and I find relaxation is always more enjoyable if it is deserved. Adams and Smithson also declined, but the others decided to remain.

  'Good!' exclaimed Luret. 'I do not think my heart could take it if I were left alone. Come, my friends! When Trefoil and Evelina return we shall begin a new game, but for the moment I am eager to begin!'

  With that he leapt to his feet, and ushered everyone else up.

  'Tally-ho!' he said to us.

  'A wonderful diplomat,' said the Master, laughing, after he left. 'But he has enough energy to power a gravitational engine! Let us go!'

  'And you say your city's gardens are better? I find that hard to believe.'

  'Be that as it may,' smiled the Master. 'Yet there is a delightful tranquility to these ones, I must admit.'

  I said nothing. There is not much I can say I have been awe-struck by. Perhaps seeing my first star-ship, or my first glimpse of a planet. This, however, was more exquisite than them all.

  The gardens lay at the heart of Verrent, deep within the bowels of the station. I put them at perhaps a league across, and thrice as many long, given how far we walked through them without reaching the end. Garden was a word not fitting of it, for it was a jungle over and above. Mighty trees stretched towards the metal ceiling; ferns as high as me stretched across the ground; the metal plating I had become so familiar with had been usurped by a layer of leaf-mold, of humus and soil. There was beauty in its chaos, somehow. That place lacked organisation of any sort, and yet it seemed all the more wonderful from it. Flowers like miniature suns blossomed from long vines. The sound of birdsong was finer than the sound of any orchestra.

  For a while we talked of our respective research, which I shall not tire you with. Given how the Master was akin to a god in the realms of academia, she was terribly kind - and I forgot, in our journey, that she was from Korvent. I felt for a moment as if I were walking with a friend through the lands of my home. The path we travelled was evidently well-trodden, for which I was thankful - we would have needed a sword to cut through the banks of vegetation on either side. Far above, on occasion, flitted small birds, chirping to each other in their delightful tongues.

  At one point the path curved a little, joining another, and both ran alongside a stream that trickled along. There is another heavenly sound! Is there anything like it? I think not. Its sides were thick with luscious plants, evidently thriving on the water. This continued with us for a short while before splitting off once more. The sound of water died down until it disappeared fully. Before long we were surrounded left and right again by tall trees, with bark that looked as hard as the metal plates that lurked far above (and below) us.

  We stopped in a clearing some distance farther in. A small creature, akin somewhat to a deer, stood there and looked at us seriously with brown, sombre eyes, and a streak of white across its fur.

  'That, surely, is not a native to conditions like these?' I said quietly, so as not to disturb it. It gave me a curious look as if it wished to answer itself.

  'It would seem that way,' she said. 'But I rather feel it is. There are a great deal of creatures that have arisen via some odd evolutionary path: and I feel our hostess is one who has a respect for the natural world, and would not take a creature unfit for here.

  'In my studies, we considered the sudden changes in phenotypes after the Departure: I presume you did something similar. There are too many species and subspecies to count nowadays, and some seem so different from another that they might be considered opposites, despite coming from the same branch. And, of course, there were the Wars of Engineering...'

  Her voice trailed into nothingness, and I felt a shiver across my spine. That is old history, from long before the Dark Ages. The name itself feels evil, once you know the meaning.

  'Let us not speak of that!' I cried quickly. 'This place is too wholesome for such marring topics.'

  'Yes,' she agreed. 'I'm sorry! Let us return to the others: we have been gone long enough.'

  I expressed my agreement. As we turned to walk away, the creature that had sparked our conversation gave a sudden start, and lept into the undergrowth. I wonder whether I shall see it again? Too quickly do things depart from sight, never to return! But I find myself in a fey mood when writing this. Ignore me!

  Our walk back was uneventful. A large beetle, coloured a wonderful iridescent green joined us for a little, and left as we came to the doors. Before I stepped out, I took a last look at the path we had traversed. The artificial light lent it a dappled texture, like a moon shining down. Then the doors opened silently, and closed just as silently behind us, sealing that wondrous place shut behind. The Master seemed to notice my sadness at leaving, and said lightly:

  'Come! We shall return another time, given its impression on you. Luret will spit flames if we dally much longer - I have seen him do such a thing before!'

  I laughed, shaking away my melancholy. Would that I could have stayed there longer!'

  'Well then, pray lead the way,' I said. 'I am afraid that I forget the route back in its entirety: and I do not wish to end up walking out the air-lock!'

  'To mimic Luret then, tally-ho!'