The Council of Kalonia took place in the sanctum beneath the dome. The six members of the Embassy to the Substrate sat in the presence of the nine hundred and fifty seers who spoke from within the great crystal matrix that linked Kalonia to the vurtiverse. Gyrun made his argument for Orietta to be put to "sleep", stressing particularly the problems which the Rider girl posed for Kalonia in its efforts to lift the Curse. But in taking this line he made a mistake. The Curse of Kalonia was a controversial subject of long standing dispute. Several hundred years ago Kalonia had been condemned to isolation, debarred from an important ruling forum of all the Enclaves known as the Conclave. This punishment was imposed because of a notorious prophesy made by the Majority Party of the collective Congress Of Kalonian Seers. The prophesy was ruled to be disloyal to the Vow Of Earth. It divided opinion even amongst the Kalonian Seers themselves. Hard line traditionalists disputed with the Majority Party and the interpreters, of whom Gyrun was merely the one currently decanted into the Embassy to the Substrate, had spent much of the time since the Curse was declared trying to heal the rift between Kalonia and the Conclave. Yet there were also those (and there were many of them) who continued to stand by the original prophesy. These seers held that their findings as futurologists and psycho-historians were not to be denied by the simple will of the Conclave no matter how forcefully it had been expressed in the Curse. In short, the old Majority Party was as proud and angry with the Conclave as the Conclave was with Kalonia. They refused to accept any censure and considered they had been morally right all along. Gyrun did not help his case with these seers by reminding them of the Curse. For the die hard members of the old Majority Party, the fact that Orietta might annoy the Conclave was actually something they secretly enjoyed since many of them still did not feel inclined to compromise. When Malorye spoke there was a great deal of interest. Everyone was aware that of them all, he knew Orietta best. "Friends and seers", he said. "Do you not understand why Orietta is unhappy here? Perhaps it takes a gardener to see it. With that understanding there may be a simple solution that hurts no one" As Malorye made his thinking more explicit the listeners realised that they had missed something obvious; something which would have been self evident to every Rider and every human but which was not quite as intuitive for these beings. "We would need a volunteer", Hirrilow said thoughtfully when Malorye was finished. A signal came from the lower ranks of the vurtiverse and was acknowledged. "I volunteer, if the Council wills this." The Council metaphorically held its breath, for the speaker was amongst the most infamous of their rank, a known misfit and yet also a well loved joker. Crinomu was an ancient artilect; older than almost all of their number and not even a proper seer. He was neither a member of the old Majority Party nor an interpreter but he had lived in the vurtiverse of Kalonia since the Guardians of Earth created it many years before the Vow Of Earth. According to the stories he told himself, he had been old even then when he moved into Kalonia, "for some peace and quiet". There was amusement in the ranks of the seers. Perhaps if anyone could do this job, Crinomu could. A vote was carried against Gyrun's protest. Orietta would live at least a little longer as the Kalonian seers prepared to try something new.