Hackworth knew perfectly well that hours would pass before he actually 
found himself on an airship, and that having achieved that milestone, he might 
have to wait hours more for its actual departure. Nonetheless, he had to say 
good-bye to his family at some point, and this seemed no worse a time than any 
other. Holding Fiona (so big and solid now!) in the crook of one arm, and 
holding hands with Gwen, he pushed insistently across a riptide of travelers, 
beggars, pickpockets, and entrepreneurs trading in everything from bolts of 
real silk to stolen intellectual property. Finally they reached a corner where 
a languid eddy had separated itself from the flow of people, and where Fiona 
could safely be set down.