Stax and Lomaz returned presently to their seats, their flirtatious expedition having ended in a strategic retreat. <<One day, boys>> M. said jovially.

<<So we have a comedian>> Stax said, in mild indignation. <<Just because you'd rather look out the window at the bleak Antarctic wastes than some of the more beautiful landscapes in the universe.>>

<<I've got a girl, remember. Which is more than you can say.>> Morten dodged a playful punch from his comrade but thought: It's true. My eyes are always directed outwards.

<<Anyway, just wait till we reach Selrin>> Lomaz said. <<One point two million women on display... not bad for a couple of country boys. D'you think we'll have time to do some shopping as well as sightseeing, if you know what I mean?>>

Morten said with a fake dumbfounded look: <<What's that?>> <<I rest my case>> Stax said, and turned on a mobile TV monitor.

<<Well, Lomaz, you can forget your romance plans: you'll be spending your time helping me organise my new apartment. I didn't bring you along for the ride.>>

<<Oh, you can dream!>> Lomaz replied heartily. <<I'm turning myself on to full irresponsible/party mode as soon as we arrive. You can lug boxes around on your own if that what turns you on.>>

<<I've got to paint>> M. protested, enjoying his performance. <<And thinking of that, working out everything with the gallery could be very time consuming, not to mention all the trappings of fame...>>

<<Yeah, well you won't be getting women, I can tell you that!>> Stax interrupted again. <<Bohemian romantics aren't fashionable these days - especially for those with no class.>>

<<Hey, that's an idea!>> Lomaz said like an excited schoolboy pouncing on a new scheme (but as if he had never thought of it before!) <<I never thought about the benefits of hanging around the new centre of attention. Regardless of your untrendy looks, bad breath, skinny build... when you get upon that dais as the junior representative of the exhibition on Independence Day, cameras taking your image to all over Antarctica and beyond, be sure to mention us, and our phone numbers.>>

Morten was about to reply with with whatever witticism he could think of, but his attention was caught by the appearance on the horizon of an ancient settlement of metallic domes. He immediately knew his location in respect to the journey from Tuggerah to Selrin: Aspiration City, a 21st century mining community now in the throes of a policy of "gradual abandonment". The mines which had once employed 13,000 workers in the late 2070s, making it one of the largest mining complexes on the White Land, had been milked dry; the land it held was now being dedicated to the "Green Lung" program with a smaller administrative and tourist centre to occupy the old habitable sites with a new, Antarctican name of Drison. As the train sped through the disshevelled township Morten looked at a lone steel cross standing solemnly in the ice, silently commerating the deaths of 13 independence miners in a demonstration on January 7, 2081, during the height of the Luna War.

Now only 30 kilometres from the centre of Selrin, the levi-train again dipped into the ground and passed the remainder of its journey on a subterranean track. The first of the linear, thready-like suburbs of Selrin that had spread along the track appeared out of the darkness, dazzling the occupants of the train with their brightly clad platforms and mini-rainforests. The train slowed and made ever more frequent stops.

Morten could not see it, buried so far in the ground as he was, the outer wall of gleaming glass apartment blocks passing overhead which marked the entrance into Selrin. Eleven minutes later the levi-train drew into a large chamber of synthetic marble which was the central rail terminus of Greater Selrin, and the three travellers were forced to disembark.