Inventive setting and nice narrative from Cadigan, as a young woman narrates a visit to their Martian colony by a representative from Earth. Suffice to say, Mars/Earth relations aren’t great, and with financial crisis on Earth, their support of the colony is at risk. Rose Feenixity (a preferred corruption of Phoenix City) does her best to delay the AI which turns up, and it turns out that whilst the Martians have been sticking to the letter of the law, they have been (ahem) flexible in ensuring that they have looked after their own interests.
