Last spark from the ashes

Nah, they have a long list of other gods they'd rather set fire to.

"That's too bad. It's a useful trick, makes it way easier to get decent tools." Not that taking some manipulation out of human courtship is a bad thing either.

"That's the way we like to build things," she agrees, giving an amused look up at Verity. Between the ship and Ghost, she's not worried about the sharp snowy mountain peaks they're slipping between. "But you'll see - we should be through any second now."

No sooner has she uttered the word than the jumpship soars into clear skies and sunlight. The trembling of the hull vanishes as it stops fighting the sky. The last mountains are falling away beneath them; ahead lies the imposing Wall, mounted with its mighty gun batteries, and beyond the City stretching to the horizon. That might be hard to notice, because both are dwarfed by the vast silver sphere which hovers over the City center like a second moon. Its diameter must measure in miles. Its surface is scarred, the underside dark and ragged.