He'd have to teach her to have some imagination. Gabriel snorted. "They know we're coming. The Caretaker would've gotten it to them, or else they'd be unprepared to indoctrinate us."

Right. Of course. The archangel made a face at the sound of his name, shaking his head. "Couldn't have picked a better one," he muttered as they reached the top of the hill. Then he sighed, and grinned, and stretched. After desert, rocks, ravines, cats, robots and sandstorms, the sight of that city was almost beautiful. It was certainly striking; he wondered if that was a real diamond. Well, either way.

"Last one inside the gates gets their hair coloured," he said cheerfully, only half meaning it, and started down the hill toward the city.