Faeries danced in a meadow touced by dawn. Above them an elf hopped from branch to branch as deft as any squirrel. Music notes played by an unseen harpist-

Dr. Woodwright awoke to the harp music he had programmed the ‘night’ before. Around him, the walls rippled with random patterns of colored light. Woodwright yawned and sat up, blinking in the artificial light. On the Clarke night and day were largely meaningless.

As he tentatively touched his feet to the cold steel floor, the screech of the general alarm howled. He was too tired to pay attention to another stupid drill. Instead of running to the nearest life boat, he dragged himself to the sink and splashed water onto his face. He wasn’t going anywhere until he had a cup of coffee.

The alarm cut off as abruptly as it began. Good, that meant they weren’t going to keep the damn thing on until everyone assembled this time.

A scream of inhuman rage erupted in the hallway outside his room.

All of a sudden the lifeboat sounded like a really good idea.