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Void."
    Sam looked at the ticket he'd given her. "This? What is it?"
    "A small band of intrepid explorers travel the universe using black holes as a kind of intergalactic subway system, taking you with them as they seek adventure and excitement, sneering in the face of danger and all scientific fact. But hey, it's work. They used me in a bit, on the condition that I hustle passes." He gazed at her evenly as he took the ticket back from her. "Like I said, some things never change."
    "I guess not." Sam shook her head. "You know this is probably all that'll come of it. Intergalactic subway system. Stone the fucking crows at home. How stupid do they think people are?"
    "You tell me when you see that guy trying to scalp those on the Boulevard. Diversifications did the finish on it, all the commercials are from their clients, and gaming rights are being auctioned right now. Plenty of features have pulled out of a nosedive on gaming rights alone. Or the wannabee trade."
    Sam felt her stomach tighten a little at the mention of Diversification^. "Sorry, Beau, but I don't see why you're wasting your time."
    "Oh, yah. Hacking programs and dodging watchdogs from a Mimosa squat is so much nobler." He shrugged. "I sold my equipment to Rosa. She's got a use for it."
    "You had a use for it, once," she said seriously.
    He glanced upward with a labored sigh, making the holo crown jiggle. "Shit, why can't you be like everyone else and refuse to have anything to do with me until I, quote, shake it off, unquote?"
    "Beau, if you'd hung in, you could probably be making this stuff yourself. And not garbage like Tunnels in the Void, either, but really good stuff. You know, a lot of people used to think that you were behind the Dr. Fish virus. 'The one that got away.' "
    "So that makes two of us that got away." His face was stony now. "You know, it's harder than it ever was now to get a toehold. All the studios want to go to complete simulation, and what the fuck is that? Nobody home, you know? No people."
    "They probably will go to complete simulation soon, Beau," Sam said, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice. "Maybe not tomorrow, but soon enough. Too soon for you and your union and all the other unions. It's gonna be a stone dead end for you, unless you can make the stuff."
    "I don't want to make the stuff. I want to be the stuff. If that isn't culturally on-line, then write me off. I don't go around telling people what they're supposed to want."
    "Touché, doll." Sam held out her hands. "Peace?"
    He curled his fingers around hers briefly, looking momentarily embarrassed. "Well, truce, anyway. I didn't pull you out of line to fight with you. It's good to see you again, Sam."
    "Likewise." She paused. "Haven't seen anyone else lately, have you?"
    "Ha. Like who."
    "Oh, Rosa. Gator." She gave a casual shrug. "Keely?"
    Beauregard shook his head, making the holo crown wag in sluggish half circles. "I don't see anyone." He ran a wistful finger down the line of her cheek and then looked around. "Listen, I'm on a schedule—"
    She nodded. "See you, Beau."
    "If I get really lucky, yah, you probably will." He started his pitch again as she went back to her place in the line, smiling apologetically at the man still holding the preview tickets.
    "Excuse me," he said as she was putting on her headphones again. "Do you really think I can get anything for these?"
    "Oh. Well," she said, "maybe. I mean, sure. I think you might get something."
    "You mean something besides taken?" The look on his face was anything but happy.
    "Hey, you got them for nothing," she said coldly. "You'll only get taken if you actually go to the preview. Welcome to Hollywood, mister."
    Half an hour later she was sitting in a rental that achieved two-passenger status only by virtue of the fact that it had another seat. Sam would not have taxed it with more than her duffel bag, not that it made a whole lot of difference at the moment. True to form GridLid had failed to transmit