As soon as my plate had been emptied of food, I stood up, excusing myself, leaving to go back to my office again.It was after ten o'clock before Joyce...came back to get me."I took Cindy over to Mama's house. She was too uncomfortable to want to spend the night here. She's talking about flying back to Alabama in the morning. What you said to Emily tonight was terrible. She cried herself to sleep because of it. I was ashamed of you tonight." Really? I'm sorry you feel like that. I'm not ashamed of. My last boyfriend called me ugly, said they were gross, left me because of my looks.’ A tear trickled down her face at the memories. Brian turned toward her, facing her directly. ‘Is that what all this is about Emma? Some jerk told you that you were ugly, and you believed him? Let it ruin your life? Well let me tell you something. There is no such thing as the perfect human being. Even Jennifer Lopez has spots on her ass.’ ‘She does?’ ‘Well, actually, she probably doesn’t. It was a bad joke. I. None of them seemed to care or even notice, which meant that we were doing something right. Now, the Chinese colonies are continuing their racism, but the rest of the Diaspora left that racism shit on Earth, buried in the dirt next to the dog shit where it belongs.Some of our passengers were honest-to-God immigrants, people who had been doing various jobs in Sol system until they decided it was time for a new neighborhood, or whatever. Some were sent by their supervisors, some asked to go with. The Zone is being fully lifted. The United Suns have not allowed for a war at this time. Too much economic disruption, so they are acceding to the Emperor’s demands, for now.’ Ashelob explained as they walked. ‘We will have to travel out of the Confederacy into the buffer, then dip back in at Austrasia, where we can book passage on a direct flight to our goal.’ ‘The buffer is not safe.’ Kya said as they strolled towards one of the many plazas that filled the capitol. ‘It is the best way to get.