IV
"Within my heart, all ecstasy,
Within my eyes, all visions dwell.
Life—Death, I turn to rhapsody—
I am the deathless Philomel."
TERRA—20th Century.
He swept the assemblage with a glance. Purposely he had stood for seconds in full view. A perfect fop—as frivolous, as dangerous as anything the Paradisiac harbored. The ultimate in elegance.
Julian stepped on the conveyor and had the illusion of being borne along on a cataract of foam to where an immaculately garbed Ganymedean bowed and led the way to a secluded platform embowered in the geometrical interlacings of frost crystals. The panel in the table's center instantly suffused with softest light as he sat down, and a note like the echo of a forgotten song rang subdued.
"Venusin ... undiluted!" Julian ordered laconically.
Mentally he enjoyed in anticipation the exhilarating power of the treacherous drink. It was precisely what a successful adventurer would have ordered there.