Leander got the sense Justin Marius didn't like any of his speech very much, but the man was taking it pretty well, considering.

Calmly Marius reached inside his suit jacket — cold blooded murder, was he going for his weapon? — and he pulled out a gold cigar case that Leander was very pleased to see.

Justin took a cigarette and put it in his mouth, then offered the tin to Leander, who took a one and put it in his own mouth. A magical flare of fire lit both instantaneously.

Vaguely, Leander wondered how Marius could do that without a connection to the boss's router. But then, he didn't really care.

Exhaling smoke, Justin Marius finally replied. "You know too much," he said. "Way too much. It's lucky that you sound like a crazy person. Lucky for both of us. Mr. Prince, my presence here isn't necessary; the gears are set in motion, and I only came to Potestas Tower to watch them wind up to the inevitable. I'd like to watch the inner workings, but it isn't necessary that I be here to secure the election. I can go downtown and oversee Constellation's research into this matter personally, and I can take credit should they identify and solve the problem.

"I cannot remove my people, however, or the machine will fall apart. It also occurs to me that I can still take credit from all the way in Invernali, especially if I'm elected president. In less than three hours. I'm not certain what exactly you hoped to achieve, Mr. Prince. To distract me, to get me away from Potestas Tower tonight?—"

Leander interrupted, "The end goal was for you to raise a finger to do something about the problem."

"I'm afraid there's no point," said Justin Marius. "If I were president today, I would order the head of the theoretical department to look into the matter. Perhaps after crepesculum I can send Stephen Potestas to work, but for now that's Thomas Solin's call.

"The end goal was not for me to personally do something about the problem, it was to get the right person to do something about it. I am not the right person; the man you want is Ilan Potestas's son. And if President Solin didn't call Stephen Aurelian into Soliara first thing this morning, it is not on me."

Leander flicked a flaming ash away. "I have the feeling no one responded appropriately to the crisis. You're all walking around in a daydream, putting your pieces into play for this election, but doing nothing about the sky falling overhead except complain about it."

"Well, if you want to stop the world from collapsing, go tell Stephen Potestas to return to the lab in the downtown office," said Justin Marius.

When Cristo turned around again, Claudia Solace wasn't at the buffet table with his father any more; instead Angelus Gloriam was at the bar and Claudia Solace was gone. Cytheria Demarco had disappeared from the prime table she had secured, and even Tony Solari must have gotten off somewhere, hopefully somewhere he wouldn't get into any trouble.

The only targets he had eyes on were Novus Fortunato with Stephen by the fireplace, and Diana Aemilia, whom Aelana was prying out of Candra's cold fingers — except the next time Cristo turned around, all three women were gone.

He took a rapid tour of the room and was tempted to start looking under tablecloths and couch cushions for Claudia.

A systematic search of the bar and lounge brought him back from the windows to the elevators leaving only one last place she could be: the billiard's room around the corner.

And there she was, being babysat and taught to shoot pool by Portia Nero.

The billiards room crammed six pool tables and its own bar into a smaller, brighter space than the bar lounge, and was somehow only sparsely populated. Claudia was laughing her head off in the left back corner, loving Portia's attentiveness as Angelus's replacement.

Cristo watched their game and didn't pretend to hide his eavesdropping.

Portia pretended to line up a shot, but really the pool cue was a prop to keep them relaxed, and it was working; Claudia was suddenly very verbose. Deep in a monologue, she paused every once in a while to chuckle at her own jokes and make sure Portia laughed too. Multiple times she stuck the curls that fell into her face back behind her ear while she heaved giggles in between the words of a sermon that shattered her image, the one in glass Cristo had of her, which maybe wasn't an unfair price to pay, but it hurt like a cut from glass, or a million. He had never met his mother before, and she wasn't making the best impression.

"Magic is dangerous." Claudia howled with laughter as she spoke, and Portia encouraged her with smiling and nodding. "Do you know how many undergraduate students there are who run around able to blow each other up? I'm terrified to leave the house in the morning! As if staying inside and locking the door is going to protect me, look outside! Magic is going to kill the planet and then it's going to kill us. But by all means, increase admissions, keep running wild with magic, let everyone play with it. Every day there are a thousand people who could destroy the planet in a second, and we all just go about our day as if it's not going to happen."

Portia bent over and slapped her knee, dying of laughter.

"No no, no," said Cristo. "No, no. Magic is safe. Calm down." Claudia and Portia looked up, both with tears in their eyes. He snapped his finger at the bartender and had three drinks for them in a second. By the time he sipped his way through his Toronto cocktail, he wanted Claudia Solace, the future Claudia Gloriam, to listen to reason.

Nova asked a man at the bar, "Have you seen a tear-stained girl? Her name is Exequi Aemilia."

He nodded and pointed to a portal against the wall at the end of the bar. "I think she went in there," he said.

No, that wasn't right. That was the link Nova had just come back through. It led to a reference library, where a few dozen guests had snuck their drinks in to get drunk among the scholarly works and corporate text books of the Constellation Company's satellite.

She had really lost Diana. What a mess. And Cristo had said nothing would happen to her, what an overconfident ass-faced . . .

If Diana was lost, Nova could get Calcus Donato instead. Like Cristo commanded. And there Calcus was now, walking through the dancing toward the exact same link the man who was now ignoring her to talk to the pretty green-eyed thing on his other side had just pointed at.

There was Calcus, and Calo Gloriam was with him. The two men strode in step deep in conversation, but Nova only had eyes for one of them.

The second before the last pace before they disappeared into the link, Calo Gloriam turned his face away from Calcus, and he saw Nova's gaze. As he and she made eye contact, Nova gave him a smile. He stepped into the link with no reaction, and she had to follow.

As if she had woken up from a dream. Suddenly she felt as if she had been looking for Calo Gloriam all night, and there he was.

The link took Nova after Calo, and she tottered on her heels down an aisle of books, not exactly the paramount setting for a party outside the party, but someone had put out some of the light to facilitate an evening mood, and there was music coming into the space somehow.

When she emerged from the bookshelves she saw how; men and women in their formal wear lounged on the library's limited and shabby seating, some even seated with legs bent or crosslegged on the hard floor, and others sitting on a study table with feet dangling, all gathered around a circular hovering link out of which the band's not really slow, and not really smooth, song jazzed in a progressive eardrum numbing blare. Nova could see the band members' backs through the circular link.

She had already seen, earlier, that Diana wasn't here with them. One couple danced despite the experimental beat, but everyone else was more chill, just listening, having a few whispered conversations. Calo wasn't with them either; he took Calcus Donato over into the corner away from the noisy mess blasting from the link where they could discuss whatever it was they were talking about without being overheard.

Calo's glance flickered up at Nova; he saw her, but tried to ignore her. She was drawn over magnetically. When she got to him she didn't speak. She didn't want to interrupt, but she was interrupting and Calo stopped mid-sentence. He looked Nova Dasilva up and down with disapproval. He didn't need her for anything right now. But it was probably better that she be here than off getting her fingers into everything.

"Aurelian Dasilva," said Calo, "Have you met Calcus Donato? He's been made the company's head of recruiting."

"No," said Nova, and she shook her head no. Calo could almost see her brain slosh around in her skull. Her mind was vacant, cold, synapses failing to fire.

"Say hello," he said.

Nova said hello and shook Donato's hand when he offered it. Her eyes were empty until they returned to Calo.

Calo said, "Now please wait quietly while I speak with Mr. Donato." Halfway to polite, for Donato's benefit. Nova waited quietly for the two to continue the conversation, with eyes for only one of them.

Thank you for reading Stars Rise, and for all of your stars. Your support means the whole universe to me.