Hackworth skulked away and focused in on another large gathering: a couple 
of dozen older people of the trim, fit, and active style, tennis sweaters 
draped over their shoulders and sensible walking shoes firmly but not too 
tightly laced to their feet, piling off a small airship that had just moored on 
the old helicopter pad near the ship's stern. The airship had many windows and 
was festooned with mediatronic advertisements for aerial tours of London. As 
the tourists climbed off, they tended to stop in their tracks, so that a severe 
bottleneck was forever forming. They had to be goaded into the outer darkness 
by their tour guide, a young actress dressed in a cheesy devil outfit, complete 
with flashing red horns and a trident.