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.There were catwalks around the perimeter of the roof forthe safety of the workmen, but Jules, of necessity, scorned them.He hadn't come up here to be safe, he'dcome because there were no crowds up here, nothing to prevent him from reaching the center of the hallin the fastest time possible.Leaping over the guide rail, he ran along the naked girders that supported the roof, trusting to hisaerialist's sense of balance to keep him from falling.He tried not to think of the drop that awaited him ifhe slipped.Like all natives of high-gray worlds, DesPlainians had an inbred fear of falling.Performers inthe Circus of the Galaxy had had that fear trained out of them since childhood, to the point where Juleswould think nothing of working even forty meters above the circus ring.Bloodstar Hall, however, wasbuilt on a bigger scale than that; the floor was a full one hundred meters below him, a drop ofapproximately thirty stories.On the floor of the hall, the ceremony had proceeded so far without a hitch.There had been interminableprocessions all morning as the thousands of visiting nobles, clad in formal court robes, had marched intothe hall according to their rank, preceded by banners, fanfares and all the other hoopla of their station.The Imperial Choir had treated the audience to a truly inspirational set of a cappella renditions.TheImperial Color Guard had given a show of precision drill work, and the official bands of many individualSectors and planets had also paraded around the floor, entertaining the waiting audience.Finally, only tenminutes ago, the Emperor and Empress had arrived at their special box, accompanied by their retinue;both were in their full state court robes, his of scarlet, hers of peacock blue.They bore their massiveplatinum state crowns with imposing majesty.All festivities had ground to a halt while the royal couplewere given a standing ovation lasting seven minutes.Jules reached the center of the roof structure and looked down.All attention was on the floor as ChoyenLiu, the bridegroom from Anares, had just entered from a side aisle with his honor guards.Liu waswearing an under tunic of green, peacock blue, and silver brocade; his peacock blue velvet tunic andtrousers were cut in Chinese style, lined with silver sable and trimmed with emeralds.On his head, apeacock blue Tibetan crown covered an underact of emerald green velvet; at his neck, a double set ofemerald frogs clasped the tunic together.His peacock blue gloves were heavily jeweled, and a pair ofsilver leather boots completed his outfit.He looked every centimeter a fit consort for the Galaxy's nextruler. Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlJules checked his watch.Eight minutes to go.Soon Princess Edna would be entering from the far end,with the ersatz Lady Bloodstar as her matron of honor.He had come this far just by his hunch that itwould be the fastest way to go.Now that he was here, he would have to devise some plan for gettingdown to the action and quickly.Although Bloodstar Hall was no longer used as a site for sporting events, the large scoreboard that usedto hang from the center of the ceiling was still in existence, pulled up near the top and dangling just fifteenmeters below him.The hall was still occasionally used to stage plays and operas, and farther down wereropes from which scenery flats could be raised and lowered.There should be some way, he thought, foran enterprising young man to use those facts to his advantage.All it takes is a system to get front here tothere to there.The column that held up the scoreboard was massive, though small in relation to the scoreboard itself.Wrapping his arms as far around it as he could, Jules slid downward until he was standing atop the giantscoreboard structure.It was big enough to support his weight easily-it had been built to hold severalworkmen at a time, if need be, for repairs.As Jules began searching for his next step there was a fanfare below him and the organ music swelled.All heads, including Jules's, turned to the far end of the hall, where Princess Edna had made her entrance.Edna Stanley was not an excessively beautiful woman, but there was a presence about her that carriedher beyond the normal meaning of the word beauty.Though several years younger than Jules, she hadspent all her life training to be the next ruler of the Empire of Earth.All the majesty, all the power thatwent with her future position radiated from her in waves as she stood in the doorway, acknowledging thecheers and applause of this immense crowd.The Crown Princess was clad in a tightly fitted strapless gown of white satin, heavily embroidered inpearls and diamonds.The overgown of silver spiderweb lace had its cuffs and hemlines heavily trimmedwith bands of emeralds and sapphires.She wore a collar of emeralds, with one large square-cut emeralddangling from it as a short pendant.Her headdress was a pagodalike crown of platinum and diamonds,from which hung emeralds cut into the shape of bells.Her veil was of silver gauze and reached halfwaydown her back.As she walked into the hall, her retinue of attendants followed her.These ladies, noblewomen all, werewearing pastel silk mandarin court robes, all heavily em- Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlbroidered.Lady Bloodstar was among them, looking perfectly innocent of any taint of treason.The time for niceties had passed.Jules could not afford to waste so much as a single second morelooking for the safest or most efficient way down.Much as he hated to do it, he would have to comeswashbuckling into the middle of the Princess's wedding, making a spectacle of the occasion.Heconsoled himself with the thought that the alternative was far worse.The Princess stopped halfway down the aisle, in front of the imperial box.At this point her father-a tall,distinguished man with graying hair and regal posture -stepped out beside her and led her the rest of theway down the aisle.At the same time, Jules leaped from his safe platform downward toward the ropes that were tied backout of the way.It was perhaps the mightiest leap of his life, born entirely of desperation.No man nativeto Earth would have believed it possible; even Jules him-self in a saner moment might not have attempted it, for the alternative if he missed would be a long falland a horrible crash to the floor below.Jules used every trick he-knew as the premier aerialist of the Galaxy to gain the few extra centimeters heneeded.He flattened his body against the almost unnoticeable air currents circulating in the upper reachesof the hall, stretching his muscles to their utmost in his attempt to reach those ropes.It was the finestsingle acrobatic performance of his entire life-and it went completely unwitnessed, as everyone within thehall was still watching the Princess and the Emperor making their stately way to the dais.Jules's fingers tightened on the rope and he pulled himself against it.A surge of relief swept through hisbody.The impossible had been accomplished.From now on, the rest of what he had to do was almostchild's play by comparison.Almost
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