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wait had been one of the first things she’d memorized. It had always seemed odd, since doctors faced so many situations when they must hurry to save a life, or wait to see what happened. His face was grave, now, remote as a stone that neither waits nor hurries but simply exists where it is.

“The moment arrives,” he said. Part of another saying, which she had no time to recite, for he went on. “Fourth level, begin with the Cleansing of the Stone.”

And the screen blanked, leaving her confused but oddly reassured. Back to the MedOps desk, to see if Uaka’s corridor plans had changed in the intervening years.

They had; she received a mapbug which chirped at her when she came to turns and crossings, and guided her into and out of droptubes. A few things looked familiar: the cool green doors that led to SurgOps, the red stripe that meant Quarantine. White-coated or green-gowned doctors still roamed die corridors in little groups, talking shop. She glanced after them, wondering if she’d ever feel at home with her colleagues again. Terminals for access to die medical databases filled niches along every wall. She thought of stopping to see if all the done colony data had really been excised, then thought better of it. Later, when she felt calmer, would be soon enough.

Fourth level. She came out of the last droptube a little breathless, as always, feeing a simple wood door, broad apricot-colored planks pegged together with a lighter wood. The wood glowed, as unmistakably real as Sassinak’s desk. Lunzie took a deep breath, letting her-setf settle into herself, feeling that settling. She bowed to the door, and it swung open across a snowy white stone sill. A novice in brown bowed to her, stepped back to let her pass, and swung the door shut behind her. Then, bowing again, the novice took Lunzie’s bag, and moved silently along the path toward the sleeping

;..     hutS.

?.•   Here was a place unlike any other in this Station, or

:.”   any Station. Ahead, on the left, a waist-high stone like a

|F    miniature mountain reared from a path artfully de-

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