"This is the Wall?" Riggs asked Niko, the gang's leader. "It's nothing but another hatchway, just like the one we came through to enter the inner city."

"No, it's not the same," Niko assured him. "There's a law that says, if you enter it without permission you'll be put to death."

"Like hell we will," Riggs said. "I'm tired of this place. It's too weird, and I want to go home. Are you coming, or not?"

"What did you have in mind?" asked Niko, looking around nervously.

"I'm going to walk right in, get arrested for it, and convince these guys to help us out," Riggs said. "Are you guys coming, or what?"

"Riggs, are you crazy?" Banks demanded.

"Maybe he's still sick from that medicine," suggested Private Post.

"No, he's right," Wendy said. "The best thing we could do would be to tell them who we are and why we're here. After all, without that OGU we would just end up dying somewhere out in deep space when the air ran out anyway. I say we should go for it."

"Somehow I think you would be more convincing if you weren't standing there wrapped up in a sheet," Savant said cheekily when all the men still looked inscrutable. "Maybe you should drop it and say that again."

"Why don't you drop yours, then?" Wendy teased back.

"Let's move, before these two end up doing a strip show and we forget why we're here," said Segal.

"You mean you'd watch them?" Banks asked, pretending to be hurt.

"People, this isn't the time!" Riggs insisted, and then opened the hatch door himself. An alarm sounded, and the gang members scattered. None of them got away, though, for an energy shield had surrounded the area.

"You are under arrest. Please proceed inside," said an automated voice over and over until they all did it. Inside, everything was pitch black.

"Is it night in here?" Savant wondered.

"No, there's just no lights. They haven't been maintained," said Riggs. "Doesn't anyone else remember that the nobles left the Folly?"

"Oh, yeah!" Banks said, as if this were a great revelation. "Does anybody have a flashlight? We're going to need to see where we're going."

"That won't be necessary," said a voice, and a group of men carrying torches stepped into their line of vision. Everyone prepared to scatter.

"Stop! Stay where you stand and know this: any man who once enters this place can never return to the city alive," said the man as his followers encircled them. "Those of you who wish to live another day, come with us. Those who do not, try to flee. My men will hunt you down like vermin and take your lives. The choice is yours."

"We will follow," Riggs said. "But we had no plans to return to the city. We have come here to seek your help."

"It is not my place to speak with the damned," he announced. "Save your bargaining for the magistrate, for it will be he who decides your ultimate fate."

"Well then, lead the way."

They travelled through blackened passageways, with the only source of light coming from the fourteen candles held by the men who surrounded them. It seemed like they had been walking for some time before they finally stopped.

Before them, a pair of tall, cast iron gates loomed ominously. The opening they provided was so narrow that only one man at a time was able to enter.

After the first three or four men bearing candles entered, the rest of them waited until every last prisoner had entered before passing through themselves.

"These gates are the portal into another world," explained one of the men. "Nothing that goes on within these walls must ever be repeated, on pain of death. I will hear the oath of each of you that you will abide by this law, or you will be killed here and now."

"I speak for all my people when I make that vow," Riggs answered solemnly. "As for the others, I cannot speak for them."

"We will swear," said Niko craftily. "If you swear that we will not die by your hands."

"This I cannot do, until the magistrate decides what to do with you."

"There are more of us than there are of you," Niko pointed out. "You assume that we are honorable, though you know we are men of the city. What's to stop us from killing you and walking out of here?"

"This would be the deed of a coward," the man scoffed. "If you are a coward, you deserve to die like one."

The men began to advance on the gang members menacingly. They all stood their ground and glared at their adversaries.

"And what honor would there be in death?" Riggs shouted. "Death of either of your men. We are not from this Folly, so perhaps we see it more clearly. No one here needs to die. Our ship can carry many more passengers than it holds now. Help us find one of the OG units in this sector, and we will bring you with us. You can colonize a real planet somewhere."

"You have a ship?" gasped the nobleman leader.

"As surely as you have a candle," Riggs assured him. "If you don't believe me, give me back that pack you took. It has a communicator in it. We can call Dan and have him send shuttles, just as soon as we find what we came here for."

"We must discuss this with the magistrate," he insisted. "It is not my decision to make, no matter how much I may wish it."

They all went inside. After the darkness outside, the well-lit antechamber assaulted their eyes with its bright glare. It was difficult to make out just how many people might be in the room, or even their locations.

"They keep it bright on purpose, Riggs," Wendy whispered in his ear. "They're hiding their numbers."

"Maybe there's not very many of them," Riggs said, shielding his eyes in an attempt to get a better look. The man Riggs had spoken to disappeared into the light, and returned after a few moments to lead him inside. He also brought Niko.

"Gentlemen, this is Adaman, magistrate of our city," he said.

"Lazzo tells me you come from outside the Folly," said the old magistrate with interest, directing his question at both men.

"Just him, Your Excellency," Lazzo corrected. "This other leads a city gang."

"Well, then, send him back to his men," Adaman commanded, summarily dismissing him. "He will work for a living alongside the rest of them, or he will die."

"Wait a minute!" Niko complained. "I came here to help him. I want off this stinking station, and he's my ticket out of here."

"Just you? Not you and your men?"

"Them too, if they're willing, or course," he conceded.

"You are a selfish man," said Adaman, disgusted. "Go. Return to your men."

One of the candle bearers led him away. He protested vehemently and tried to get away, but it was no use. The magistrate watched him go, shaking his head.

"With such as these in charge there, it is no wonder the city is dying," he commented.

"How big is your ship?" Lazzo asked Riggs.

"It can transport one thousand men," Riggs said. "But there are less than sixty of us on board right now."

"Why so few?" asked the magistrate. "Surely that's a waste of funds?"

"We're transporting cattle," Riggs explained. "But there are still eighty cryo-units open. If we doubled up, we could bring over a hundred extra men back with us."

"That would not be necessary," the man said. "Even with our slaves, our city numbers less than eighty. I will take you up on this offer of transport. But, I will have one other request which you may find strange. We have a ship we would like you to haul."

"Why haven't you left, if you have a ship?" asked Riggs curiously.

"There are no propulsion systems on this Folly," he said. "We built the ship from spare parts we scavenged over the years, and now it is filled to capacity and ready to depart--but for one small problem. You can't start traveling through space until you find a way to push off." Riggs laughed. "Well, my friend, it looks like we can help each other after all."