just as the armored hull of the ship looked like alabaster, so did the walls of the tunnel. The builders must have constructed the interior of the ship out of a more forgiving, more workable material. That would explain the sandstone appearance of the halls deeper inside Shiva.
Though he sat in impassive silence, the Dealer was almost as charged as the Angels. This was his big chance. He had to be there, totally focused, because he couldn't tell when the Angels might run into a requirement for his expertise. He had to be fully informed on the situation the moment opportunity arose, lest someone else beat him to the punch. Meanwhile, he'd blanketed the Earth Defense 'castpoints and prizeboards with detectors. Anytime anyone posted a new prize or forecast, his detectors awoke—but they didn't just pass the alert on to him. The Dealer had set filters on the detectors, to ensure that he only received an alert if the new prize or forecast were something that might interest him.
Of course,