A few decidays later, the Ship of the Way hove into orbit around the Lagrange point where the Lordun space station was located. The Ship was disc-shaped; it or its sisters had given birth to legends of “flying saucers” on dozens of primitive worlds. Though it appeared smooth from a distance, when closer it could be seen to be highly ornamental; in fact, not a single inch of it apart from exhaust ports seemed to be free of decorative carvings, columns and plants and animals and people in frieze-like relief against stone that appeared for all the world to be white or golden marble but was not.

Jiana frowned as she examined the station on one of the bridge’s viewplates. It was colored the black of deep space, with no markings. It also had few running lights, and those it had seemed oddly out of place. This did not feel like the space station that an openly governing body should have.

She wondered whether she should call off the meeting. But the shuttle was already en route. Perhaps it was merely nerves.