BY THE TIME CARL HAD passed through the Shadow testing and then Customs, it was late evening. He stepped out of the spaceport and into the heat, humidity, noise, and bright lights of London. Flux had long ago fallen asleep in his bag. When Carl checked on him, the animal’s closed eyes and half-open mouth with its double row of needle-sharp teeth showed through the transparent wings he’d wrapped over his face.
Carl yawned. He had an appointment the next day with Polestar’s investigators. He needed to find somewhere to stay the night.
Even at that hour, the multi-lane road that skirted the spaceport was busy with traffic, both at street level and just above as cars passed slower-moving vehicles by flying briefly over them. Carl wondered how long it would be before constant hover-driving wa
