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Timothy and Dennis knew that he wanted to say, "Never trust an Invie." It was one of his favorite aphorisms, and they had heard him recite it many times growing up. He didn't say it as much now that Mayor Hicks was in office.

Timothy remembered Mayor Hicks's first speech well. He had said in his calm, reasonable voice, "We are not to refer to our friends upstairs as ‘Invies' under any circumstances. They are not, and never were, invaders. They are here as colonists, not conquerors. Their aim is to coexist with us, not supplant us, and our aim as a human people should be the same."

Mark and Mayor Hicks were so different, it was hard for Timothy to believe that they were from the same age and place. For one thing, time had been kind to the Mayor, giving him a full head of dignified silver hair, and softening his already jovial face. Mark on the other hand had grown gaunt and severe. His crew cut hair had thinned significantly, and his beard covered his face in unevenly shaven patches of stubble.

Frustrated, yet defeated, Mark could no longer ignore the sky city that hovered over old Orlando city. Timothy and Dennis followed his gaze, the three men were silenced for the moment by the awe-inspiring sight of the offworlders' home.

The sky city hung like an island over old Orlando, suspended by a force very few humans understood. The top of the city looked like a normal city skyline, but the bottom, instead of being flat or rounded, was a mirror reflection of the top. Every tower in the offworlders' city extended above and below the base level an equal distance. Timothy had heard some men say that gravity was reversed on the bottom side, but Mark said that that was just a myth. Timothy tended to believe Mark, because Mark was one of the only people he knew that had actually been on a sky city.

Another difference between Mayor Hicks and Mark was the way they looked at sky cities. Mayor Hicks always looked at sky cities with great admiration. He saw them as what humanity might one day be able to achieve. Mark, however, always had an odd look in his eyes when he looked at sky cities. Timothy could have understood anger being in Mark's eyes, or even hate, but not what he saw in Mark's eyes as Mark stood gazing at the sky city from the gas station pavement.

Regret. Always regret.

It was the same emotion Mark had when he looked at the patch sewn onto the shoulder of his jacket. The patch was a rectangle with another, blue rectangle in one corner. The blue rectangle had fifty white stars, and the rest had seven red stripes with six white stripes. Mayor Hicks said that it stood for the part of the world they lived in. Mark however, when asked, merely explained that it represented "a time when we were free." Timothy never understood what he meant by that.

"We should get going if we want to make the town before dark," Dennis said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," Timothy agreed, looking at Mark expectantly. After a moment, Mark nodded, and they all got into the van together.