"Thanks." He took the drink and sucked at the globe's plastic nipple; hot liquor coursed over his tongue, "Maybe I did need that."

Sheen studied him with frank curiosity. "You're an odd one, Rees, aren't you?"

He stared back, letting his eyes slide over the smoothness of the skin around her eyes. It struck him that she wasn't really much older than he was. "How am I odd?"

"You keep yourself to yourself."

He shrugged.

"Look, it's something you need to grow out of. You need company. We all do. Especially after a shift like this one."

"What did you mean earlier?" he asked suddenly.

"When?"

"During the implosion. You said how hard it was to build anything strong enough for this universe."

"What about it?"

"Well… what other universe is there?"

She sucked at her drink, ignoring the shouted invitations from the party behind her. "Who cares?"

"My father used to say the mine was killing us all. Humans weren't meant to work down there, crawling around in wheelchairs at five gee."

She laughed. "Rees, you're a character. But I'm not in the mood for metaphysical speculation, frankly. What I'm in the mood for is to get brain-dead on this fermented fruit-sim. So you can join me and the boys if you want, or you can go and sigh at the stars. OK?" She floated away, looking back questioningly; he shook his head, smiling stiffly, and she drifted back to her party, disappearing into a little pool of arms and legs.

Rees finished his drink, struggled to the bar to return the empty globe, and left.

A heavy cloud, fat with rain, drifted over the Belt, reducing visibility to a few yards; the air it brought with it seemed exceptionally sour and thin.