Diana Aemilia, as of today Exequi Diana Aemilia, lay in bed all morning.

A hot shaft of sunlight crept into the room. She was sleeping in for the first time in a long time. Possibly in her adult life.

Her head lay resting on an expensive down pillow. Straight brown hair fell into her eyes and she didn't brush it away, but smiled.

Outside the open window the world moved the same way it had yesterday — fast, never a second to waste — but today Diana didn't move with it. Big ships pulled into Soliara's main quay and announced their arrival with big loud horns. Dock workers shouted to each other, running up and down the piers and along boardwalks, the clunk of a hundred pairs of boots adding to all the noise. Noisy since before hora prima, just like yesterday, only yesterday Diana hadn't stayed in bed to hear it. Today she dropped in and out of sleep, letting it all go on without her.

Out of habit she counted the shipments. After running the trade for her father's enterprise twenty years, that was probably a habit she'd have for the rest of her life — or the rest of the shipping industry's life. A particularly large transporter with a particularly deep, resonating horn bellowed. It was loud. Maybe a bit too loud. Not at all conducive to a life of sleeping in. Should probably move far away from the port, snatch up an apartment right downtown — not quiet there either but it's the right kind of noisy. Celebratory. Alive. Devoid of boats of any kind, that's the life. Never get me anywhere near a ship again — makes eighteen arrivals this morning, unless I slept through some, means the seas are slowing down already. Conditions for smooth sailing and perfect docking, a consistent eastern wind and clouds too light for storms even afar should mean many shipments today. But there aren't.

Don't even have to look to know the water is calm, no waves, ready to carry opportunity to the ambitious industrialist. But the world spins and the game changes, time moves even faster now, faster than anyone could have guessed, and I'm not the only one getting out early. Abandoning the old sea life. Soon everyone will have to. Most won't make a killing off it, though.

Should probably still get out of bed today. Sun blinding in eyes, turn over, relief. Cool in the shade. Five more minutes of well earned laziness, particularly if I'm looking for an apartment today. A Constellation board member must live downtown, somewhere near the center, of course. A stylish loft near the old elites, but not too close. Just to take advantage of their beautiful parks and shops, but in a neighborhood where the buildings aren't too tall. Okay, time to get up.

Feet barely to the floor a knock came at the door startling Diana from her thoughts and her bed. "Coming." She rushed to throw a dress over her nightgown, scrambled out of her room and across the apartment on bare feet without any idea who could be knocking. Who knows I'm home today? "Milana!" What is she doing here? "You came! But someone needs to oversee the links, the loading and unloading and those brainless company minions and their weasel overlords. If this doesn't work, my life is over!"

Milana came in and closed the door behind her. "Relax, the links're even better than expected, and the company minions are behaving. Foreman Saul can handle the overlords. You and I should be celebrating." Excitement filled both girls to bursting and didn't leave any room for Diana's fears. She wondered at Milana, her big eyes and curled lashes, doll face, permanent smile painted on and all. She rubbed the shaved bristles on the side of her head whenever she was thinking; a sheer length of dark hair cut along her chin line on the other side.

A partner courageous enough to support Diana wholeheartedly in her risky endeavor.

"Go get ready!" Milana insisted with one of her musical laughs. "I'll make breakfast."

Diana jogged to the bathroom, turned the tap for the shower and slipped out of her nightgown. A few stitches snapped by her ear while it came over her shoulder. Have to replace the old thing.

"Where are the eggs? Wait, found them," Milana called over the cascading shower fall. Takes such good care of me. Should ask her to move into the new place. "Did you notice the sun rose early? What's up with that?" Never want to be without her.

"Wait, what?" The sun rose early? "I thought I was sleeping in for once."

Five minutes of cold water later, Diana came back wearing a precious yellow sundress, her hair dripping wet. She combed out the tangles while Milana laid out breakfast.

"So." Milana grinned. "What are you going to do now that you're going to be a Constellation Executive? Marry some powerful mogul, start a family, run a great dynasty? Buy a new wardrobe, or set up a commercial empire on both sides of the ocean?"

"Probably the latter," said Diana. "I'll spoil myself a little, but I don't want to squander the fortune. There's still more I can do for Amicus Industries, even if it's been bought out by The Company That Rules The World. Plus I need new accommodations."

"And a live-in cook?" Milana asked brightly, a laugh on her lips.

"Well, actually—" Diana was cut off by another knock on the door. "Come in. It's unlocked, but I'm armed." She held up an eggy butter knife.

The door opened, this time to Diana's father. "Surprise!" he exclaimed. Diana sprang from her kitchen stool to give him a hug.

"Good morning, Milana," said Mr. Aemilia when he escaped Diana's hold. "I'm glad you're here, and not overseeing deliveries. You deserve to be with the family when we celebrate our good fortune."

"Fortune has nothing to do with it," said Milana. "It's your daughter's excellent intuition and foresight."

Father and daughter sat down with Milana at the kitchen counter. "Diana was just telling me what she's going to do now she's rich and powerful," said Milana.

Diana finished chewing a bit of egg and answered, "I want to live in a big apartment in the lower center, maybe the Insula Felicula, or else in a loft — but it has to have a garden patio, and Milana can be my live-in chef," she flushed and rushed on, "and maybe I'll apply to take classes. I'm interested enough in links to become a magician myself."

"It's never too late to change your life's course," said Mr. Aemilia. "You've proven that."

"I'll need new clothes, and I want to expand Amicus Industries across the sea and I want to go to every elite party — or at least get invited to them all."

"Don't forget your new responsibilities at Constellation," her father added. "Not to the company, but to the empire. I've been meaning to talk to you about that. But let's move to somewhere more celebratory. Downtown."

The Aemilias and Milana boarded the trolley outside Diana's mud brick apartment building, where it dropped off visitors to the quay. It was crowded for a weekday morning, but Diana didn't mind crowds. Friendly people in this neighborhood, and classy visitors, if they do act a little touristy. Going slightly downhill away from them, sea rising to meet the sky in the background, and on the other side buildings that scrape the sky pull closer. The trolley takes the scenic route away from the downtown core, to show off the beautiful waterfront where Diana grew up. Father successful enough to rent a small domus near the rich's beach homes on the seashore. Someday new families will move into the neighborhood and the old will be out.

The red trolley comes to a cliff at the edge of the cove and the track spirals underground. The car sinks deeper and deeper into the tunnel that takes us down the cliffside through its heart. The northern side of the tunnel opens to the air and the two hundred foot drop every time the trolley circles, a vista of Soliara spans the opening, lower and lower with every cycle, closer and closer to street level. Beneath the trolley bench I take Milana's hand.

"Don't forget where you came from," Mr. Aemilia nagged as Diana and Milana giggled about extravagances and adopting an orphan from Atlata to spoil. "Our family have come into some wealth, but plenty of families in the Solari Empire are still in near poverty. Are you going to squander what you've earned — been handed almost by chance — while your neighbors work hard every day to put food on the table?"

Diana fell silent a moment, then smiled, "Can't this wait until after we've celebrated?"

Mr. Aemilia looked out on the city's eastern edge and the towering court there. "I've waited a long time — my whole life. It's never been up to me what happens, and I can't wait another minute.

"It's your choice. It was your instinct that gave our family a role in the company, and I'll admit I don't have your foresight, or even your insight into the present, but I hope you'll opt for change, because it's been time for a change for a damn long time." He quieted down for a moment; his eyes flicked between the women's faces. "For everyone to make their own future the way we did."

Diana piped up when he finished. "You think the company should be directed by Sunyin Aura?" she accused.

"I do," he answered.

"You might be right, but it's not a simple choice. Sometimes I get the sense Exequi Aura thinks the future is certain, like progress is just inevitable. Like she's not going to see disaster until it's on top of her." Diana looked up at the sky and her family, including Milana, followed her gaze. Toward the sun moving overhead, getting on toward noon.

As they circled lower again toward the city streets, they sat in thoughtful silence. What had once felt like the only path forward now seemed uncertain terrain.

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