Chapter 22“Somewhere in the Gaean government, a faction is conspiring with the dissident Kzizn to destabilize the Empire.”
Melanctha whirled toward Lydia. “Feels that way to you, too, eh?”
They were headed toward the nearest pneumatube station after leaving the Lillis estate. Lydia felt conspicuous, the long empty stretches of wide avenue emphasizing their presence. There simply wasn't a way to access the area on foot without looking obvious. The occasional passing vehicle was inevitably a luxury-class hover. The hedge-lined streets rarely saw a vehicle worth less than the gross domestic product, and pedestrians were an endangered species.
As if to contradict her very thoughts, a flower-delivery vehicle hove around the corner, engines whining, its gold-glitter exterior outlandished by a
