At three minutes after ten, Gabi appeared from the Worker's Lounge. She smiled at him. "Let's go to my room. I brought some Arroz Crackers and cheese."

They walked to the elevator just as the door opened and three Falling Star workers came out. They muttered hellos as they entered the elevator. Joss pushed the button for the tenth floor. The elevator doors slid open, and they walked to the end of the hall.

One of the perks of Gabi's job was a room over the Falling Star. She'd lucked into a corner room, half again the size of his, with two windows. Her thumbprint on the pad unlocked the door and she led him in.

The curtains were open and bright daylight filled the room. "Can we pull the curtains?" Joss asked. "Not that I don't want to see what we're doing, but the Medical Bureau says we're healthier if we keep it dark at night."

"Sure," she said. "I'll put the stars in place. She walked to the first window and drew the blackout curtains. Several tiny holes had been poked in the fabric, copying star patterns around Earth, the first planet, so the manufacturer claimed. The second window had similar curtains. When she pulled the second curtain shut, the room darkened, but the sun shined through the holes to cast starry spots on the floor.

Joss sighed and relaxed. The dark was cool and relaxing. He wondered how much it was like real night. Gabi pulled him close, and they fell into bed.

Some time later, they sat up in bed, eating crackers and cheese, and drinking wine. Joss offered Gabi the last bites, and she nibbled them.

"Joss, I'm really glad you showed up tonight."

"Yeah? Miss me?"

"You know how much I like you. If the fees weren't so high, I could have asked you to co-habit." She turned to him in the night, and he saw her body outlined in the illusion of starlight, her eyes glowing like stars.

She licked her lips. "My sister and father are doctors. She got the scholarship," Gabi shrugged. "She deserved it, but she's made something of her career." Gabi's fraternal twin, Amelia, was the head pediatrician in Hemmler Medical System. "I went to Food Service, and here I am at the Falling Star."

She fell silent and took another sip of wine. Joss waited, feeling her warmth, her hair tickling his shoulder. "Amelia qualified for a child certificate and marriage exemption."

"That is wonderful news." He wondered why the accomplished Amelia hadn't gotten those certificates years ago.

"It is. Amelia said the birth rate is down twenty-seven percent in the last 20 years. Amelia said she didn't want children. She never did. She loves working with them, but never wanted one."

"How about that? You family could sell those certificates for enough to retire all of you."

Delia shook her head. "We're keeping them. Mom and Dad want a grandchild, and I've always wanted a baby. Amelia is passing the child certificate to me."

Joss was stunned. "That's incredible. He looked at her in the dim light. "Congratulations. A thousand congratulations."

She leaned against him. "We've been planning. We haven't decided about the marriage allowance. We may sell it to provide for the child."

Joss nodded. Babies were expensive.

"I wanted to ask you to consider something."

"Yeah?" He looked at her.

"I'd like you to be the father. You're a good man, smart and educated. My parents like you and approve. It's up to you. We can always pick someone from the donor registry if you don't want to."

"I, I, I don't know what to say. I never thought I'd have a child." He hesitated. "Would I be allowed to see the child. Or are you asking for donor parent only."

"No, we want you to be the father, if you like. Of course, we'll raise him with my family, but you'll be involved."

He closed his eyes and thought. The offer was incredible, and he was beyond fortunate she had asked him.

"I'd like to. I mean, I want to, but it's so hard to believe I can be a father." He hugged her. "I'll do it." He buried his face in her neck.

After a moment he straightened up. "I'll go to the registry as soon as you let me know. We've got to get the shots to reverse sterility, but that won't take long."

"Why would you go to the registry? As soon as we file, you're accepted."

"Everyone goes to the registry to arrange conception."

"Not everyone."

"What?"

"There's no regulation against us making a baby the old way." She slid her arms around his neck.

***

The next morning, he walked home in light as bright as night. Walking would give him time to think and plan for his new future. He left the Falling Star and walked into darkness. Nightfall. During the night one of the broken nightshields crossed over the ring, casting a dim night shadow from Hemmler City to the Northern Rim. This happened every few years.

He looked at the skies, but the sun burned around the shield, and the stars hid their light.

The rim was not prepared for night. There were no streetlights, no brightly lit storefronts. He jumped at a loud crash and looked around to see not two, but three self-driving autos crunched together. A passenger in one was slumped over the window. A police officer went to the cars and spoke to one of the passengers. She called the accident in on her phone.

People emerged from buildings like moles from underground. Rooftops soon were taken over by the curious who wanted to experience the mock night while it lasted. The few children who lived in Hemmler City ran inside or stood still and frightened. Most of them had never experienced this mock night before. Some whimpered and many began to cry.

Grown people cried with them or ran for shelter. Many of Anula's residents couldn't stand night. People flocked into the bars.

Joss looked at the sky. The sky was blue in the direction of the South Rim. This nightshield fragment was CX-2, according to the flowing numbers on its underside. This chunk was 95 kilometers long, and 290 wide, a little wider than ringworld itself. CX-2 was different, but he couldn't determine why. Nightfall from this shard lasted about two and a half hours.

Joss walked on. Some kids stood by bicycles, staring at the shard. His heart warmed. He'd have to teach his son or daughter to ride a bike, to not fear the nights, to dream of stars.

The end portion of CX-2 passed over Hemmler City in the early afternoon of the next day. Nightfall lasted six hours and three minutes. In his room, Joss watched the news. He'd never known nightfall to be more than three hours. The reporter summed up crashes, hospitalizations due to panic, and other disturbances. Joss turned the news off and left to jog around the nearby park. Temperatures were cooler after nightfall.