A colony ship carrying more than a hundred thousand Exiles was preparing to leave the harbor. It was an old gray-white transport ship, its boxy hull looking shabby and rustic among the other imposing warships in the starport. But considering that its mission would not take it beyond the Empire Zone, such a transport was enough to fulfill its purpose. The Conservative Party Merova People embarking upon exile had all boarded. They set off on a chilly morning, arriving at the starport through a Teleportation Gate without disturbing Shadow City's tranquility. At the beginning of this long journey, few came to see them off, yet among those few were Older Sister and Pandora.
This was probably the last group of people most Conservative Party officers had expected to see before them.
"I don't like this atmosphere," Older Sister said as she stood beside me, watching the tractor beams connecting the transport ship and starport shut down one by one. Small ground-service vessels were pulling away from the transport's engines and maintenance ports. She gathered her hair. "But after thinking it over at home, I decided it was better to come see them off."
Pandora expressionlessly watched the transport ship slowly pull away from the starport docking bridge. It was so enormous that, to us, it seemed like a mountain drifting away from the steel ground beneath our feet. The petite general held herself ramrod straight. I did not know whether she was recalling the days when she had inspected those Merrowa fleets and stood on the command platform to watch them march off to war. The last time she saw these veterans off, it was from the port of an exile ship. Even expressionless Pandora was probably feeling quite a lot inside.
The ship left the starport. The ring-shaped drive