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The sky-disc to the right was the same impenetrable black as ever, with the distant Needle1 threading away to nothing far away in the darkness; the sky-disc to the left displayed its usual beautiful twinkling stars and regions, pinwheeling far too slowly to note visibly, but providing a pleasant change over the course of the week. With half a million miles of land to either side, running almost six million miles in circumference that dwindled into the sky to either end, the universe was truly an amazing place, a sandwich of perfection shining with its own glory and carved from the void all around.
Lothar set his book down to admire the view as the simoom wafted gently across the landscape ahead of the sunsquare terminator line. Looking upward from the line, he could just make out the next island-world, perhaps forty thousand miles distant. A pretty blueish marble tone, streaked with clouds, fading into the night cycle. Pretty, yes, but he wouldn't want to live there. It was said that water likely covered seventy percent of its surface.
The Great Dark Spot would be coming into view in the sky behind him in a few more days, followed eventually by The Pearl floating in its cushion of dull white.2
While he'd been lost in contemplation, a dust devil had crept up on his book, losing his page. He'd register his claim against the weather bureau in a little while. The best of all possible worlds, save for these vexatious moments. It was too beautiful a day to be concerned over such things, but a few extra tanpi wouldn't go amiss.
O ~~~ O