9 Free Agreement — * * * * Tavon — * * * * The next morning sees us nearly at our destination. Isamael’s Ring is now one colossal, slowly spinning oval. The size of our cruiser appears to be about a fourth of the size of just one chamber among twenty-six. I see thick, blue glass separated into sectors by white metal; the Sun’s shrouded over by clouds of red and pink. Cherry Blossom River rushes in our direction, and we immediately ride over a spreading sea of mist with ripples like rose petals. A steel stadium hovers in the center of the ring; propulsion jets line its bottom, and half of a domed enclosure of white glass covers its foundation. Surrounding Isamael’s Ring, like planets in orbit, there are dozens of terraformed landmasses held suspended hundreds of miles away, and each

