Titans of Chaos

And no oxygen-carbon dioxide cycles, not in a universe with only four elements. We did not worryabout the air going stale, because that was not something that happened in the particularparadigm of the universe that currently obtained within the hull of our craft.

The ship flew at the speed of dreams, and climbed to an altitude Victor announced was twohundred miles high. We were in low Earth orbit. All sign of pursuit was gone.

My heart soared higher than any mere two hundred miles. Outer space was at my fingertips! Orbitis halfway to anywhere.

The sensation of being in a falling elevator made Quentin puke. He was quick-witted enough tothrow his cloak before his face and catch the mess before it formed a cloud, but the stinkingdrench was as disgusting as you might imagine. Ask someone who has small children what it'slike. Now picture that floating in three dimensions.

Other business was put on hold until Vanity found a set of laws of nature in her green stone thatwould allow for some gravity. Aristotelian physics had drawbacks: The ship, made of noncelestialsubstance, did not move in the divine circular motions natural to the crystal spheres of Aristotle'sconcentric heavens, but instead started to plunge back toward Earth, where her natural motioninclined it-and since she was a heavier object, she fell faster.

We could not maintain orbit with Aristotle's physics: He did not believe in inertia, in centrifugaland centripetal forces. Vanity found something more Newtonian. Victor imparted a spin to theship, magnetically adding angular momentum to the metal joists and bolts. The sunlight,unhampered by any atmosphere, shot blinding rays through the portholes, first above and thenbelow, as if a lamp, un-endurably brilliant, were being spun on the chain just outside ourwindows.

I found the easiest way to converse was to lie on my back between two port-holes, looking "up" atVanity and the boys, who were stuck to the walls of the cylinder. It was like those rapidly spinningbarrels you see in rides at the fair.

Vanity resigned. "I am a peacetime leader, really, and I don't think my administration is that goodin time of war. I mean, I could feel her staring at me, you know? Staring like she was picking outwhich wallpaper would look good on the spot in her house where she would nail my skinned pelt."

Vanity shivered.