Green Haven

feel a chilly wind. Not a very bad one but the umbrella will get a beating. I'm happy with my good coat. I hope that the umbrella is the only thing that's in for a hard time; for some reason this k

n. Soaking wet of course, because running and holding up an umbrella doesn't work. Rain ran into the back of my neck and into my coat. At least I'm here. I clamber up the wet, slippery stairs and shake the water from the umbrella, wishing I could do that with the coat too. Waiting for the train I muse over what shards of dreams I recall, which are not many. Overhead an announcement is made that the train will be late due to a problem on the track.

on the track. For all I know we

e!" Gilly grins. "And some of the Pa

w in his Dad's footsteps and got himself killed too, in a gunfight. I find a spot to sit that's not too wet. Good thing my coat is water-proofed plastofoil, it can handle a splash. Before I can flip to the old news on the tablet a kid scurries by. "Want to buy a visor?" he asks, his voice low. His face is smudged, I wonder when it was clean for the last time. He flashes a visor in front of my face for a moment then hides it in his dirty coat again. Visors a

rcery House where the Green Haven Council resides. That's a building I'd want to see from the inside. I have seen pictures of it on the video wall that made me drool. But plain folk are not allowed in there. Then we pass the Harlow Belt, an enormous wide road where people can drive as fast as they want. The few people that drive there have the vehicles to do that too; I only see smears of light as they go over the Belt. I heard that they can go that fast because of super conductors in the road and magnetic propulsion whatever. It must be expensive. Everything here is expensive. I don't waste pictures on that. Suddenly I envision how the Black Flyer would fly over that Belt, laughing at the vehicles and speeding along to rescue - yeah, what would he rescue? Damsels in distress are so common. But then, it's a retro show so why not? Beyond the Harlow Belt lies the Park. You hear all kinds of things about the Park, especially things that happen at night. Warped things. Disturbing, inhuman things. Not that you see traces of that in the daylight, of course. But the rumours are persistent and where there is smoke there must be fire. I heard people whisper about convicts being set loose in the Park at night, naked, and then some kind of robot-men go out to hunt them. Okay, some convicts may deserve getting killed but to use them in something like that... The most disturbing thing I heard of the Park is that some of the robot-men are in fact rape-machines that specialise in finding women. I try not to think of that. I don't want to lose my breakfast in the mono. But now it is daylight and the Park unfolds outside the window in all its splendour. I see the two giant obelisks with their huge Egyptian inscriptions (take picture), and beyond that I know there is the pyramid. We should pass that later. Before that, I take a few quick snaps of the long rows of pink and green pillars that are standing guard along the long wide walkways. Hardly anyone out there at this hour of course, people in Blue Sky don't work that much for their expensive living. I do see a few people there on MogWays, strange one-wheeled platforms that you can stand on and drive around. Magdanovitch once tried to explain to me how they work but most words sounded alien so I did not understand it. Vast areas of grass in all colours of the rainbow cover the Park also. There are tables and benches everywhere, especially near the many ponds and small lakes that have been landscaped in. I almost forget to take some pictures for Gilly as it is so breathtaking. Someone taps my shoulder and I almost jump through the window. Damn! With the tablet pressed against my chest I

ns a disarming grin. "I'd love to have some copies of the pictures you took. I love see

m serious, and just a working person like you are. If yo

grab mine, make sure the pictures are unmarked and untraceable, and we transfer them. The man really looks happy. "Thanks a million, " he says as he tucks his device inside his jacket. "You're awesome.