She loaded up the pipe, sparked it and took a deep draw. Exhaling she settled back into the cushions. Ursula was hugely fat. Partly because she never moved and partly because of all the drugs. She was strange but then all PortalHolders are - it's well known & there isnt a single PortalHolder who doesnt take huge quantities of drugs. It's the work. The drugs are potent memory enhancers. That's all that PortalHolders do - remember. And it can take it's toll - & that's the other reason for their drug use. But everyone accepts them - because they know the strains and they know that without them the whole universe would grind to a halt.

Because it was them that have opened up the universe. In the twinkle of an eye - due to the PortalHolders - you can be anywhere. Well, more or less. The catch is that the PortalHolder can only transport to a place he or she has actually been. There's still a lot of mystery to it but the basic idea is that by imagining a distant place to a 20 decimal point accuracy they actually make two points coincide.

As she exhaled Ursula reflected on this Hundel. He was playing a dangerous game - at least the Cool Master was. And for that matter so was she. She had already taken the risk of bringing him here to the asteroid & now she had to send him back. But he had missed his rendez-vous for return and she wondered what had happened to him. She would never have taken such risks if the Cool Master didnt have something that she desired so ardently ....