

### Sharon L Reddy

### L'Gem

(c) 2011, 2012

Target Yonder

Smashwords Edition

ISBN 978-1-58338-962-1

### Part One

### Consensus Rebellion

### Chapter One

Harim picked up the 'new one' and carried him to his chosen place in the pen. It wasn't easy. The kid was pretty big and he wasn't. The others watched in surprise. Harim knew he was the one person they hadn't expected to "claim" him. He usually just sat in his place and ignored them and everything they did. No one messed with him because they all knew he was crazy. He'd made sure they believed it. He'd smiled when he'd been the new one and while he killed the "big man," then had just chosen a place and ignored the others as they fought over who would be "big man," when they realized he didn't want to be.

He got the big young man into his corner and gently began cleaning him. He didn't know who he was, but the guards had made sure he wouldn't be able to fight off the ones who had "initiated" him before they pitched him into the pen. Anyone the guards did that to was special. They already feared him. It had been what they'd done to him, but they'd been even more thorough with the big kid. They'd left the stasis cuffs on him after they'd beaten him. They disappeared while he was checking how bad he was injured.

If the kid had been badly damaged, the comp would note it and call medical. The warden would be upset if the med comp recorded the kid had been thrown in with his hands and arms immobilized. Not that it was done, just that it was recorded. Harim said, "Quick-heal salve and anti-bio inoc." A squeeze tube of salve and slap inject of full-spectrum inoculant dropped into his corner.

Yes, the kid made the guards nervous. That made two of them. He knew why he did. He wondered why the new one did. He intended to find out. The kid stirred and moaned.

"It's over. I couldn't do anything until it was, but they won't try it again. I killed the one who led the bunch who welcomed me. I enjoyed it."

"There was a leader?"

"Yeah, but this time it was a guard. They don't get close enough to kill. You got made pliable before they tossed you in."

"Yes, I remember it quite well. I'd been made 'pliable' several times before I was dropped three meters into a mob. I like the way you dealt with it. I took note of who enjoyed it, but I won't hunt them out. I'll just kill them all. Starting with the one who runs the place. Of course, if one of them volunteers to be first, I'll kill him second, or third. Bard."

"Harim. I'm an assassin. Why are they afraid of you?"

"Oh, I'm a genius, big, good-looking, and several others. I'm also extremely aggravated they hurt a large number of people taking me. It frustrated them a great deal when they found out someone managed to keep them from killing them and I didn't have what they wanted."

"A rebel?"

"I wasn't. I was a student. There weren't supposed to be any witnesses they grabbed me. I imagine they made a lot of rebels when they blew the physics lab. I thought it was humorous they blew up the work on the shield that saved the others. They didn't. I was convicted of doing it. That's why I'm here and not in with rebels. The crime was attempted murder of a professor. The motive was a bad grade. The judge didn't ask why the professor and my grades were not presented as proof at my trial. I intend to kill him too. All men. I rather like that. I'd kill a woman if she deserved it, but I'm rather glad none of them were. I'd just really begun to notice how nice they are."

"What?"

"I didn't go to school with others until I went to the university on a research project. I hadn't met any until then. I was working my way up to asking one to go to a dance. Since she's still alive, I may still get the chance."

"Not unless you get out of here. The probability is pretty small."

"It wouldn't be if someone did know what they wanted me to tell them. Of course, that's not likely. It would require we be wrong about a rather large number of things being physical laws."

"They do a truth scan?"

"How else would they be sure I didn't really know anything and would be dangerous to put in with real rebels? I hurt like hell, but those look like you assured I'll feel better. Thank you."

"Easy. You ended up in med for massive infection, the warden would have to write a report. Put him in with me if you don't want to explain a lot of bodies. I like him."

"Full monitoring?"

"This corner is still interesting. I can read and know if someone short-changes me. I got the rest of my education in the Roper slums. I was convicted of murder, once. I figure some people were unhappy the woman I killed wasn't paying them to look the other way when her people were selling drugs to kids anymore. Interesting the unknown person who hired me wanted her dead for that reason and not because she was a competitor. It's why I took the job."

"How do you know?"

"No one took over the business. It was a guarantee whoever hired me made. School kids can't buy dream dust in Roper. People who sell it to them get dead. Five years and it's still that way."

"Dream dust is a fast way to die."

"Not as fast as selling it to a kid in Roper. She was paying for protection for the pushers too. Now no one does. I watch the casts. Kids aren't dying of dream dust OD in my old neighborhood, but every so often someone else does. I smile every time I see a face I remember."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-three standard. You?"

"Eighteen. The statement about your education indicates you're interested in an exchange."

"Five years is long enough to get bored. It's also long enough to start thinking of another man as pretty."

"I'm rather a practical sort and I prefer you to them."

Harim smiled. Bard had understood the truth of the place fast. No one was there for less than life. They weren't there for rehab and they didn't get paroles. The government of Gradelode didn't "waste" any money on the one and didn't grant the other. Even if the government fell, those in the maximum security facility wouldn't be freed. They'd probably get some counseling, but they wouldn't be freed. They'd been judged too dangerous to society to ever be allowed to rejoin it. They were "without remorse or regret." The evidence came from their own minds, or so the government comp records said.

"Tell me how it works."

"You work, you eat. If you're too crazy, you get dead. Don't kill anyone without a reason."

"The guards don't stop it?"

"The guards are up there. We're down here. There is a door. It doesn't open unless everyone is in a cell and those are locked. We can lock them from inside, but the outside locks are in their control. If you kill someone in front of everyone else, they figure you had a reason or you'd get dead too. Locking us all up together keeps the population down to what the facility will hold."

"You have a cell to yourself?"

"Several do. A man made a poison. Killed himself, too. Once in awhile one does go crazy in here. That one took a bunch with him, everyone over sixty. The note said he was having a party and wanted all his old friends to be there. We all told them to have a good time when the guards carried their bodies out. That's the only way out, Kid. He knew it."

"I'm too young to believe that. I also didn't do anything wrong. Several people know it. One of them may decide to do something about it. Right now, I need that hope. You don't belong here, either."

"You don't think so?"

"You may have killed for pay, but I'd bet you never killed anyone who you weren't sure didn't deserve to die."

"Kid, you need an education."

"I hope you think the math and physics I teach you are worth it as a trade for what you teach me. I know they won't be of the same value. You already know how to stay alive in here."

Ritzi finally learned what happened to Bard. She'd reread the "public" document it had taken almost three seasons of cracking codes to get. When she had, she made a comm call.

"Tarse, I changed my mind. A walk by the lake in evening would be nice."

"I'd about given up hope you find me interesting."

"See you at nineteen."

"May I brag?"

"About a walk?"

"Several have been saying I'm an idiot for trying for quite some time."

"A walk, Tarse, and I'll probably bring along the chapter I'm working on for you to read."

"It's going to be a great story."

"So far, it's the opening chapters of a work of fiction."

"I knew it was fiction. Nonfiction wouldn't require work."

"It wouldn't be as much of a challenge, just a longer research paper. Nineteen."

"I'll be there."

Tarse got off the comm and whooped. Ritzi was 'in.' She'd found something about Bard and the government was going to fall! And if she'd found something, the gov no longer had a secure file on the planet. He commed Lima.

"I finally got a date with Ritzi."

"I thought that was not going to happen."

"She's working on fiction. I was warned I'd probably get a chapter to read. I plan to be a very good editor, so I get more walks by the lake."

"You got her out of the apt complex too?!"

"She always liked 'fresh air.' I don't know if I'll get anywhere, but I'm no longer worried. Fiction isn't broken heart."

"I'll tell Brimmy the hero she's been sighing about is in a doc file. Fiction, she always did like a challenge."

"I noticed."

"Brush up on your lit, and probably everything else. She had two frustrations. The hero and physical law. She may be working on a plausible-looking way around the law to get the hero in the book."

"Ow. Well, I'll take editor, who knows what will look plausible, as a starting point. If she does get around it, you'll be drafted to check the math she does to support it-would-work-if-this-physical-law-wasn't. 'Um, you didn't change any signs,' won't get me in for tea and talk."

"Math is just math. It can't change physical law, but she may be able to make it look like it does. I'll help. So will Brimmy, Garil and Panner. We've been worried about you."

"She's been dream girl a long time. It'll be a good story, and I'll remind her the math doesn't go in it."

"Even if it is good fiction. We'll help remind her the hero isn't real and you are, too."

"Thank you. I'm pulling up a creative writing text."

"Good luck getting the editor job."

That evening, Tarse read the document and told Ritzi the cover Lima had set up for continuing Bard's work proving impossible wasn't. She sat down on the grass beside the lake and sighed.

"I don't know if I can. In there, I don't know if he survived ten days."

"We have where he started, and he's... too pretty to waste."

"I don't want that in the story."

"Time to take it over from the current authors."

"Agreed. Let's get a couple chapters dictated for my watchers to find."

"I have an idea on after."

"You're an optimist."

"I'm alive."

"Yes, and so are we."

Bard stood up. Harim stopped working on the assignment and stood up beside him. Brinlo was about to make a mistake and 'volunteer.' He was brutal and sly, but stupid. The seven with him were just brutal and stupid. They were all incapable of extrapolation. They'd seen lessons in the corner, and all had noticed gorgeous tight ass, but none of them had figured out the baggy shirt hid rippling muscle, and the lessons in the cell weren't all math and science. The number had been in their repertoire since they began building routines. It was Brinlo's preferred.

"Eight."

"Number one. A warning seems polite. Go away, Brinlo! I don't like you and interruptions of my student's work irritates me!"

"It's time for your lessons, pretty boy, and to end my irritation! Permanently!"

"Number one."

"I like you, too. We have an audience."

"Let's give them a show."

The eight rushed them and the rush died, though they only had to kill three. Harim sat down to work on his assignment. Bard moved 'things' beyond their corner perimeter, then sat down to watch his student solve the equation. He also watched both sections of the audience. If the guards leaned far enough over for a good look, they'd add one or two of them to the trash to be removed, but he didn't expect it. He did expect the other section of the audience to add one or two. Some would-be heads might roll before one assembled a sturdy enough neck. He had no preferences on who became the head or the number in the neck. He and Harim practiced all the routines, anyway. When Harim finished the assignment, they went to their cell. The audience obviously didn't know the show was over.

"King and the top candidates for the throne, the line of succession didn't go any farther."

"It'll be rebuilt, Bard, but it may be less crowded when it is. You feel?"

"Some satisfaction the preparation was effective."

"Appropriate. I chose the correct function."

"You did, and solved it correctly. Perfect score."

"So was yours, and it was final exam for the term."

"I want the degree, but I'd prefer it on another campus. This one is extremely low in aesthetic appeal."

"True, your only nice view is when you request your image."

"You're as aesthetically pleasing as I am, Harim. It's just obvious the pretty thing is deadly."

"They've learned you have fangs, too. Our corner perimeter will move out and there will be more space around our table at meals."

"They'll be a bit less unappealing without Brinlo demonstrating the efficacy of his gastric function in loud and odorous fashion. They made an error. If they'd put me with rebels, I'd have had more students, but learned less."

"Let's watch some porn."

"Harim, I don't need it any longer."

"I didn't expect to hear that."

"Nice surprises have been too rare in your life."

"It's time to watch for those that haven't been."

Ritzi remembered the most, but it took all six of them to reconstruct what Bard had been working on. They began to gather by the lake to talk about the story. They always talked about it in that way. Ritzi dictated the story frame around the work they were doing. Tarse studied writing and editing.

The group didn't get quiet or change the subject when they were obviously monitored and secret monitoring agreed. Since the equipment was too expensive to waste, Internal Security began using it to monitor others, not listen to six discuss "an at least plausible-sounding set of physical laws so the magic sword makes sense." As soon as Ritzi's 'crack' showed the equipment was in use elsewhere, they began constructing the theory for the shield to go with the sword. It was simpler. It had already been done once and didn't quite prove physical laws were only rules in most circumstances.

Tarse began the other preparations. His family assured there was always cash 'laying around,' to buy non-notice. Ritzi kept watch and made sure private enterprise wasn't reported.

'A while' before someone tried again wasn't as long as Bard and Harim expected. The population had been reduced by two more, but the new head decided it should be four. Harim stood, put his hands behind his back and stretched. Bard tucked his thick, light brown curls behind his ears. Harim glanced up and he knew it had taken longer to get prepared than it should have.

"Notched fingernail."

"Lack of method for efficient smoothing noted. Next time use a bunk pad cover."

"Breaking it was lack of attention to a damaged breakfast tray edge. I've been working on it on my pants."

"Since you didn't attract my attention, you got enough bonus points to start even. When we're done, make sure any dead died of obvious causes."

"Number fourteen, unless they rearrange before they get here."

"A few will shuffle to the back, but the shape of the pack shouldn't change enough for thirteen or fifteen."

"Packs follow leaders. Tactics require cooperation and thought. They aren't scared enough to work at either, yet."

"Yet. But after this, those capable of them may decide the effort is necessary."

It took awhile and they took some damage. The number had grown as they battled. Both knew they'd have been overwhelmed if there had been more, or it had happened sooner. After all they'd had to kill were dead of 'obvious' causes, they walked to their cell, allowing no damage to be seen. When they got there, it was locked against them.

"Open it or we'll just kill the rest of them, so we don't have to watch behind us."

"I like the idea, Harim. I'm sure it would be difficult for the warden to explain, and less time-consuming. They made you lose track of where you were in the assignment."

"And I was doing well on it. They're becoming easier."

"That's what good practice does. Let's go kill them. Which method should we use? Six, seven or nine?"

"Seven is fastest, and I'm a little tired."

The door opened as they turned away. Harim left it open. Bard raised an eyebrow. Harim widened his nostrils and he understood. They sat down in the cell doorway and use their limited supply of scavenged antiseptic and quick-heal salve. The care with which they cleaned their fingernails wasn't noticeable, but no one had noticed they were filed to a short point, either.

As soon as they finished that, Harim went into the cell and began handing things to Bard. He stacked them outside. They 'leapfrogged' them down the cell block. Harim didn't carry anything. They collected things they wanted from now-vacant cells, as they went. It didn't take long. By the afternoon work buzzer, they'd moved. Both chose new jobs.

At dinner, both took trays from other men. After dinner, they changed cells again. They changed once more before doors were locked. When they were, Harim pinched his nostrils and Bard smiled and began getting the cell clean, carefully missing crud in corners. When they flipped over bunk pads, they found a treasure trove.

"Anti-bio, quick-heal, antiseptic, analgesic! Brinlo collected from everyone."

"The new head wasn't secure enough to take the king's cell yet, and everyone else stayed out until the new king was known. And they have to start over."

"It'll be slower."

"We took the king cell. I am tempted to just avoid further problems, but you and I aren't mad animals and there might be others who aren't."

"I'm an assassin. I only took jobs I'd enjoy, but that's what I am."

"A more difficult profession than most in which to maintain an ethical standard. This cell is point two seven meters wider there to there. It's an interesting number. The assignment is figure out why it's not point two five."

"The contract was expensive, but cost overruns enormous and the 'skilled labor' untrained and poorly paid."

"Those are the constants. Find the variable that solves the equation."

"Point oh two here, point oh two seven there. Now what?"

"Which wall is off point oh two? Is it even top to bottom and front to back?"

"Application!"

"Solving the equations has become practice, not work."

"A new term?"

"Yes."

"Yes! Lay down. We have enough to heal us, not just make us not obviously weakened. At some point, some may decide it's safer looking out from our corner than looking in. All are remorseless killers, but all are not brutes or beasts."

"They're not all stupid, either. Another reason we took this cell?"

"There were several. Tomorrow, I'll see if the ones opposite and below are point two seven meters wider."

"You're off to a good start on the new term."

"So are you. Today, we made survival easier for many."

"No, they made it easier. We just passed out the failure slips."

"I like that."

After morning work session, two men crossed the yard and sat down just outside the corner 'perimeter.' Both had a stylus and datpad. Bard walked over and wrote two questions on each pad. Both quickly wrote answers and showed him.

"How much education?"

"Secondary plus one."

"Secondary plus three."

"Who did you kill?"

"A rapist, in IS uniform."

"My mother."

"She must have been a monster."

"She was."

"Call names and how long you've been here, so I know how much basic review is needed."

"Pans, nine years."

"Choppy, twelve years. There are two open jobs on the kitchen morning shift, as of yesterday after lunch."

"I don't know how to cook."

"The food wouldn't get better if you did."

"It starts early, Bard, but afternoons are open time."

"You like the schedule, Harim?"

"It's considered a good job. It can be finished early."

"Not much, but usually."

"I'm already bored with what looked less boring. We're taking kitchen morning shift! Light and unlock early enough! You two cellmates?"

"Yes, two twenty-four."

"Two seventy-three is open."

"We'll move. It's closer to the kitchen."

"And the classrooms, outside and in."

After lunch the next day, three worked assignments in the corner. Three more of the early kitchen shift arrived, each with a stylus and pad and began class. After dinner, Bard touched Harim on the shoulder. The huge dark man with a few threads of white in his hair was approaching alone. Harim had said he was called "Lone" and men carefully left him that way. The seven sat still and waited. Lone walked to the perimeter and sat down beside, but not crowding, him.

"Thank you."

"You're most assuredly welcome. Doctor Carter Lopez, Ph.D. Sociology. I executed eighty-seven. I was disappointed there weren't more. I'd still like to add to the total, but for twenty-six years, all I've done is step on roaches that got too close. You're not a roach, and this corner is attractively clean. I'm in cell one seventy-five. I appreciate quiet upstairs tenants."

"Vermin removal was Harim's career choice. I'm an apprentice gaining experience in reducing infesting populations. You were careful. None of the hotel staff were injured."

"They were why there were only eighty-seven, not two hundred thirty. I'm not a rebel. Government is an institution. An institution is a thing. Things cannot be evil. Only people can make the choice to be. 'The government' is very nice camouflage for the individuals who have."

"Sociopathy is a prerequisite for high positions in the bureaucracy. Cruelty is for enforcement. Combined, they're the qualifications for minister. The government must fall. The disease has permeated the structure too deeply for mere cleansing."

"Our constitution was a thing of beauty. The mining corps began eviscerating it, with purchased amendments, before the ink was dry. I agree. It can't be saved, only used as an example of the growth of a malignant bureaucratic oligarchy."

"Who else in here is a remorseless murderer of the deserving?"

"Many. You've begun the segregation."

"No, Pans and Choppy began it. You chose to assist. Lone?"

"Leave me 'lone!"

"You survived, Doctor. I intend to help you add to the total. However, right now, the only plan I can put into effect is a lesson plan."

"If you find one more interested in social than physical science, I'd enjoy doing one."

"I'm sure you've kept up with developments in the field."

"Every hour of yard time was a supplement, and every newscast an example."

"I wasn't a rebel."

"Neither was I, but I did kill eighty-seven members of the oligarchy."

"I hadn't killed, or even attempted to, before."

"You still haven't. You just smashed roaches."

"I distinctly remember them being too tall to stomp."

"They only put the biggest in here. Shit, a new one, and he's just a kid."

"There's no head. Let's break tradition."

"We could get killed trying. Let's go."

"Harim, I didn't like initiation. I suspect most didn't and many don't."

"Many do, but they don't prefer it to alive."

"Back off!"

"Leave him 'lone!"

"We haven't killed...several today."

"You could be very sick."

"Died of food poisoning, someone must have forgotten to clean something."

"It's traditional, Choppy!"

"Do you like providing the guards with a good show, Belp?! How much do they get for selling vid of your pock going in and out? Or do they just use it to get tods nice and juicy?"

The men quieted in a wave that moved from the back of the 'mob' to the wall. The many men who always ignored 'initiation,' took interest. The wedge of eight widened and deepened rapidly as they moved forward. The guards were suddenly holding the very young man above an open area, in silence.

Lone, Bard, and Harim were beneath the boy before the guards could decide what to do. Bard boosted Harim and he grabbed the young man's legs, yanking him out of the guards' hands. Bard and Lone caught them. Bard set Harim down. Lone carried the kid back through the quiet men to the corner. Many followed. He laid the young man in the corner, went back to the perimeter and sat down facing outward. Others sat down beyond him, facing outward. Before long, more joined them, sitting down and facing outward. The stasis cuffs disappeared and quick-heal salve and anti-bio inject dropped into the corner.

"They obviously started initiation early."

"They often do, Bard. You were too big for them to get closer than arms' length. Hello. He decided you shouldn't be dropped into a mob. All of the rest of us were. He was right. A lot didn't like the tradition. I'm Harim. I'm an assassin. I was caught. Once."

"I was a university student. It was inconvenient the people I was to be convicted of killing didn't die, but I was convicted anyway."

"I killed a 'respected businessman.' He was selling kids glide at his store and not mentioning it was laced with dream dust, to increase his regular customers."

"Where?"

"Kellerton."

"Relax. He wouldn't kill you if it was Roper. His 'arrangement' is no one sells it to kids there."

"They don't. I always wondered why."

"It's fatal, and has been six years."

Ritzi tried the function she'd seen Bard write on his data pad 'that' day. After a while, she was just sitting with her mouth open. Every exception disappeared and every rule fit within the framework. She commed Tarse.

"I've got the law of magic. The hero finds the spell for the magic sword the day the wizard's minions capture him, but he doesn't know he has it. It's just a little group of symbols he scribbles on a parchment."

"That's... a very interesting twist. You found something to make it look plausible."

"Yes, my hero found the magic function. The math assures me it fits the laws of magic. I've hit the delete key in disgust, because the magic did whatever the author needed to get out of a corner, too many times to want a total of wasted book purchase price."

"You're trying to find a way to put the math in there."

"I'll remember to call it a 'spell' in the book, and change the symbols. Panner does nice arcane symbol substitution."

"It's going to be a good book."

"I'm going to have to list author team."

"We're having fun helping. I want to see it. If you're sure you've got it..."

"Oh, I'm sure. Now I have to figure out how he discovers it."

"If the wizard's minions got him..."

"Straight to the deepest dungeon in the land, filled with terrible beasts."

"And others the wizard really dislikes."

"Ooh, you have just made my twist more interesting, but it's still a very deep dungeon, and he doesn't know he has the magic sword spell."

"Princess and bribable guard?"

"Tarse, that's not up to your usual standard of suggestions."

"It's not pleasant outside."

"My place is a wreck. I have to move something so I can sit down. Five more would require...tomorrow."

"Mine would require day after. This will sound weird, but it's got a table five can sit at, a toilet, a cold keep and even a stove."

"Your uncle's party flyer?"

"The only time he uses it is when he goes to Bressler U games and they're not playing anything against anyone for...seventeen days. It's closer than Morv's, it won't be noisy and he won't care if we empty the keeper and tea tin."

"And it won't cost a cred a cup."

"Friends' budgets were a consideration in the suggestion. We could even take it somewhere."

"My computer is here."

"It's got one."

"You just want to fly it."

"No, but I want to really use it. It sleeps six."

"Sleeps?!"

"Bressler might get in the tourney and make it through all three days, someday."

"He's a true dreamer."

"He'd like it if I borrowed it to go somewhere it's not cold and wet, so we could work on the book. Shimmer Lake? Everyone has three days off. The side opens and there's a canopy with flaps to make sides, a cabinet with chairs... It won't be crowded and it's sunny and warm there."

"That worked. I am tired of gray and damp!"

"I'll call my uncle and the others. You know where it is."

"Meet at?"

"Put it on a datpad, throw three days of comfortable clothes in a carry and head."

"On my way."

Panner thought it sounded great, especially the no-cost part. Lima succumbed to "sunny." Garil agreed Tarse couldn't have talked Ritzi into it alone, but it was a good start. Brimmy wanted to see the flyer. His uncle said, "Leave it clean." In a half-hour, they were headed for Shimmer Lake, not far from the 'deepest dungeon in the land.' Most of the guards lived in Shimmerton, forty-two K away. There was something closer, but only the six 'remembered' it. Ritzi had assured it.

Lone was surprised when the kid, Demmon, asked if he had a cellmate. Not by the question, by the way he asked it. He looked back at Bard, then down at the kid beside him.

"How did you know that?"

"I recognized you."

"From where?"

"Your picture in my mother's Lorenton U yearbook. She said you with the best prof she ever had, but hers was the only class that you taught because they handed you an 'approved' text and you..."

"Executed eighty-seven people. What was her name?"

"Kammie Lorenz."

"I remember her. She was a good student. Did she get her degree?"

"In biology. She switched majors after... She said the person who wrote the text for her next class had never read one. She returned it and switched majors before the first session. It took her an extra term to graduate, but she likes her job at the aquaculture lab. You don't think about... the pain your parents suffer. I left a note on my mom's door, with why, before they caught me. If I hadn't, she'd have still been sure I had a reason. I told her the police knew, and it was probably a nice income supplement, so she'd never hear my reason, just a motive that made sure... I ended up here."

"The two behind us killed seven in five days, among two large groups, not a few at a time, and they could have killed all. They didn't initiate it. This is the first day I've carried on a conversation in twenty-six years, or told someone my name. Today, we learned how many killed with good reason and aren't beasts, when many stepped forward to end the initiation tradition. The pack of brutes had no leader, or they couldn't have done it. Every man in here has proved he's deadly. Over there somewhere, are women who have. It isn't as brutal as this was. There aren't as many and we aren't built the same. There are beasts among them, but I suspect they're not in the majority and haven't been for two decades. I wasn't a rebel. I didn't want to overthrow the government, just remove the people controlling it. I became one today. Bard pointed out it's too stained to cleanse."

"I wasn't one, either. There comes a time you must either do what's right or throw away every ideal and ethic. If that's kill because the government supports the evil, it's suddenly clear 'rebel' is part of the choice. I think the gov makes and supplies dream dust. It's always overlooked and no one who sells it is here. How many are here because they killed someone selling it?"

"Many. Most here killed for good reason. It's time."

Lone stood and held his arms out in front of him. Bard watched as seated men were touched and turned to look. The men in the rest of the yard were soon paying attention, too. When they all were, Lone took a deep breath and his deep voice rang through the compound.

"I have been here twenty-six years! Until today, I spoke to none of what I had done! Until today, no one has asked one question! How many are here because they killed one selling dream dust, or to end other evil the police or government knew of, but would not stop?!"

Demmon stood. Harim walked forward and all in the corner, but Bard and Choppy, followed. Men who had been seated stood. Then men began to walk toward the corner from all over the yard. Bard walked forward and shouted he hadn't killed anyone, or tried, but the government was disappointed six students didn't die and he didn't know how to build a "secret weapon" and didn't want him mentioning it. He asked if any others were there because the gov didn't want them mentioning things. All the men still seated around the corner, nine, stood and seventeen more walked forward from other parts of the yard.

A man walked forward and shouted he'd killed someone because he was supplementing his income reporting rebels and reported several who weren't to get the money. Choppy stood and walked forward. Another man shouted he'd killed because he figured the gov would offer the person a job if they knew what he did. More walked forward.

In the span of three minutes, the segregation was complete and all but Lone were stunned by the result. Over two-thirds had walked to the side of the yard around the corner. Once they had, the men on their side of the yard went into the cellblock. In nine minutes, it had been segregated. There were four empty cells between the two ends of the cellblock, and every cell on the high end had 'crud' in the corners.

The guards just watched it happen. The warden had been sent a message when the "initiation" hadn't taken place, but he hadn't answered. The guards knew why. His comm didn't forward messages when he was with a playmate. One said he wouldn't be happy. Another said he'd use the same excuse the women's warden did. It reduced violence and reports to be written. It had happened there over a decade before.

In the morning, work was also segregated. The warden didn't check his messages when he got home. When he did, he wrote a report stating action had been taken to segregate the most violent segment of the population after the "riot" and order was restored.

### Chapter Two

Ritzi, Tarse, Lima, Brimmy, Garil and Panner talked about what they could do with what they'd discovered, and how to get a message to Bard they had it. Eventually, they decided the message might get to him if it didn't look like a message and the bribe was attractive enough. They discarded the idea of a threat for non-delivery. Eventually, they discarded the idea of addressing it. Ritzi wrote the function on a piece of dispo-towel. They put most of the cash they'd accumulated, which they wouldn't need to buy parts, in an envelope they made from another dispo-towel.

They flew into Shimmerton to 'buy supplies.' They overheard a conversation and Lima followed the right person, a guard's 'friend,' out of a store. She showed her the message and told her it was from a girl who wanted Bard to know she "couldn't forget him." The woman agreed she was "a hopeless romantic" and it was a "dumb way to spend two hundred fifty credits," but fifty of it were hers if she could find a guard who'd drop the piece of toweling in, for two hundred.

Lima pulled a text up and showed her the function wasn't "a secret formula or anything," but the girl was sure he'd know who sent it, and had given her the whole thing, and "a little spending money," when she'd learned she'd be going to Shimmerton. Then she smiled and said she recognized a woman smart enough to get fifty and two hundred spent on her, too. The woman returned the smile and took the fifty, the note and the envelope, and noted she was pretty romantic, too, especially when it paid nicely. When she left the woman, Lima cleared the text with the replaced function.

Two days after 'segregation day,' a piece of toweling floated down into the corner. Since guards often dropped trash in, it would have been ignored until morning sweep-up if it had been a whole dispo-towel and hadn't landed function side up. Since none of the guards would 'write math,' it was passed to Bard.

He stared at it a moment, then burst into laughter, when he remembered where it came from. If the IS had grabbed him even a half-day later, he'd have had the formula for a 'secret weapon.' He told Harim he should have worked his way up to asking the girl to go dancing faster, and he still planned to "someday." Harim looked around and said he wasn't quite as sure it was an impossible dream as he had been.

"So, what do people wear to places like that?"

"Don't you think it's a little early to be planning your attire?"

"Probably a bit, but I didn't think I'd have any trouble with the dancing part. A couple of the kids sang and danced when they got great marks on an exam and I practiced a little in my room, but I didn't know what to wear."

"About anything that shows off your body and doesn't look like you're going to work or a real fancy party."

"I was sure I didn't have anything appropriate. Show-off-body wasn't in my wardrobe."

"You've been caged your whole life."

"No, Choppy. My parents weren't killed in the Kafter lab explosion until I was six. I'd already showed I inherited their gifts in Ed programs. The IS might have gotten what they wanted if they hadn't grabbed me and tried to kill everyone else in the research lab, but the excited talk wasn't about that project and they destroyed two decades of work on the shield that kept the others alive. They wanted a secret weapon and thought grabbing me and killing the others would assure it was secret. I was convicted of doing it. I doubt the 'public record' of my trial is in public record, but I'm sure it has the 'proof,' in case one of the survivors of my 'attempt' found it. I wonder how many rebels they made."

"IS keeps searching for a lead to the rebel organization and there isn't one. There can't be. The truth scan and comm monitoring prevent any small group from joining with others to build one, but IS makes more rebels every time they search for one. The government will fall in a true people's uprising, each individual deciding he too will do something to bring it down, or it will not fall. I believe, sometime in the near future, one group will decide there are enough others who want it ended and begin a series of acts against it and the populace will rise to assist, because all who are not in collusion want it ended, even if they have not named themselves rebels in their own minds."

"I agree, Lone. One, two or several decide something must be stopped, but truth scan doesn't lead to others, then more and more. It ends with those who committed the act. The only place a rebel organization could exist is in prisons, where no outside communication is allowed. There are four. This one, the women's, and the men's and women's rebel prisons. But beyond these walls, hundreds of thousands wait for a sign the rebellion has begun."

"I thought no one would free anyone here, if the gov did fall. I don't believe that now."

"My mother would come for me, Harim."

"The ones who know I didn't try to kill them will come for me."

"My sister knows why I killed a man, too well."

Men around them nodded assent. That evening, the men discussed the realizations that had come with the segregation. Some had former cellmates on the other side of the yard, but none had friends there. There were men they didn't dislike, who they'd lived with or worked beside, but they didn't consider them friends. They'd been thrown together by assignment and made the best of it, but all friends were among them.

They discussed the fact the guards had done nothing to stop the segregation or end it and decided they had enough problems explaining bodies, and the warden might take credit for peace restored. They knew he had the next day.

The walls across the yard and between the segregated work areas were only two meters high, but they had no doors. There were doors in those between the high and low ends of the cellblock and splitting the meal hall. New doors had been cut into work areas and meal hall from the low side. In the meal hall kitchen, the tray conveyors had been changed. One went out and one in on each side of the wall between the sections. The men rearranged the line some to make it less inconvenient, but none complained. When the early shift went into the yard, they sat down in the middle, not the corner of it.

"Too fast not to have been done before."

"Copied from the women's prison, Choppy."

"I think you're right, Pans. I feel so much safer. I got my own room in Hell, and the demons can't get in."

"The only problem is new ones."

"They'll put them in on this side, Pans."

"Why are you so sure, Bard?"

"Because the ones on the other side would kill them without any to yell 'enough.' Every new one would at least require a medical report."

"They're not all that vicious, Bard."

"No, Choppy, but there are no caring, gentle men among them. Any who were would have found words to come to the side, even if only they were young and stupid, or wanted to be with us and not them. I don't believe none could be rehabilitated, but I don't believe any have been. By the end, any who didn't come forward had made the choice to stay with what was familiar to them, with rules of survival they understand. Those seventy-three are those who are remorseless killers, who would do it again. The number is appropriate for the population of this world, if you realize only those the gov is sure can't be controlled enough to be employed 'usefully' are there."

"That's what Lone meant when he said the number is now correct."

"I got a real fast statistical computation, Dripper. He's been researching it for twenty-six years. He was just waiting for 'the numbers to indicate the probability of success.' He spoke to no one because anything he said might have had an effect, or forewarned the guards. He listened to every word said around him and said none. I couldn't have, but I'm not the scientist he is."

One after another, the four of the six with jobs, commed employers and requested vacation time, all pointing out it was really a more convenient time than that usually requested. One employer fervently agreed, two admonished they were supposed to request in advance and the fourth yelled Garil was "so involved in that damn book" he wasn't working and hoped they'd get it done, so he remembered he was "on this planet!" Garil smiled widely and said, "Thanks."

"She was great."

"Fantastic, Panner. She made sure no one had a reason to come into the lab until I got the shield built and that she didn't know I was building something, just working on things in the book."

"They were all great. It's time to go shopping again. This time in Vairdslea. Here are your student IDs and your purchase orders. Exact amount in cash."

"Cash is a little odd, Ritzi."

"If anyone says something, tell them the prof complained about getting one draft for equipment for seven projects. The Institute business office is notorious for including all department grants in one draft and leaving them with the chore of splitting it to open project accounts."

"The prof is too smart to end up paying a fee for emptying an account the day it opened."

"That's the cash reason, Panner, if you need one."

"Vairdslea is the closest place we're sure we won't be paying Shimmerton prices for food. I'll be shopping for groceries with my Brightway Buyers Club card. Try to get to the coffee shop early enough you all obviously just looked around while I was loading carts. Optimum city transport time and route in blue on the maps, secondary yellow, orange is nervous and red I'll be waiting for you in the flyer, probably in the toilet."

"With the rest of us already there yelling we need a turn, Tarse."

Eighty-seven minutes later, Ritzi took four IDs off the table and dropped five in the cycler. All had made it back on blue. They were in the coffee shop, excitedly talking about having their vacations to "finish getting the hero out of the dungeon with the magic sword," when IS checked their presence in Vairdslea. Tarse yelled, "Load up!" and they followed two auto-carts across the parking lot to the flyer pads on the outside corner, right beside a public transport stop.

IS verified no tech had been purchased from any of the Technical Institute suppliers without purchase orders and Institute identification and then verified those. As soon as they had, five disappeared from Vairdslea Technical Institute files. The deletion completion sent a ping to a computer in Richland, then the deletion program vanished. The computer that received the ping deleted nine programs, thirty-two directories and eleven thousand two hundred ninety-six files. The program to delete them began storage defragmentation and deleted itself.

When defragmentation was complete, a program emptied the deleted file directory, deleted eleven space holder files, the record of the defrag, reset clock time to correct time and vanished, no copy made in deleted file directory and no hole left in very high address storage.

Bard chose a time it was busy and noisy in the kitchen and softly told Harim they needed to put a big X on a wall, outside. Harim almost dropped a pan. Bard managed to suppress a giggle. He held out his hand with the bit of toweling in the palm and grinned.

"Wrote it on a datpad to try next. She remembered."

"The girl you wanted to ask to dance."

"You're jealous."

"I am... jealous. It's a surprise."

"Harim, I love you. That won't change, no matter who else I love, too. You're my best friend. The first real friend I've had. I'll still want your company, and still want to make love with you."

"You... all of it?"

"Yes, I all-of-it. Harim, you're my equal."

"I don't understand. Lone..."

"Is brilliant, but wouldn't have learned what you have in a year. Not starting where you did. I could have."

"Yes, because I don't know another who could have learned what you have either, except me."

"Why did you choose to allow yourself to be caught? I know why Lone did, but you've never told me why you did."

"Here, my client didn't have to try to kill me. It's difficult for dead people to keep promises."

"You didn't know who or they'd have learned."

"I truthfully answered I killed her because I wanted to. An X."

"This end."

"A good idea. I love you."

"No. You're essential. It's a good idea. Without the idea, 'Damn, seventy-three to find.' Without you, vast knowledge lost and a gaping wound in my soul that would never heal. You don't say goodbye to me."

"You really do..."

"All of it."

"Hey! Steam in pans now!"

"Yes, Choppy! But don't ask Bard to get something from the bottom shelf! I'll think about it."

Ritzi grabbed Tarse's hand, grabbed a blanket and pulled him out of the flyer. Lima, Brimmy, Garil and Panner burst into laughter. "Waiting until they look us over" had gotten on Ritzi's nerves and Tarse looked so stunned.

"I've been waiting for that."

"Everyone but Tarse has, Lima."

"She decided he'll recover, when she tells him he's choice for best friend, but she doesn't have faithful in her repertoire and has no intention of learning it."

"She's been trying to figure out how for five years, Garil."

"She's been trying to figure out how to get off the pedestal and into bed for five, Panner."

"She does have a thing for Bard."

"Who doesn't, Brimmy? Even the guys noticed him."

"I noticed he was big, brilliant, gorgeous and didn't have a clue, Lima. I was beginning to hate the gov for what it did to him before it did this to him. And before we held Tarse together to keep him alive, until the medics got there. His uncle has been packing everything he could think of Tarse might need, to tear it apart, in this flyer for a year."

"He could get him everything but what we got today and Ritzi. She wasn't going to prepare for anything until she knew where he was."

"She couldn't imagine them 'wasting' him. She really did think they had him stashed somewhere, trying to convince him a lower echelon idiot had ordered it and wouldn't do it again, until she saw they convicted him of it."

"Enough. Book and magic sword. The hero knows the spell exists and he found it, but just opening a hole would let lots of beasts loose."

"How many are beasts and how many are people who fought the evil of the wizard and were made to look like beasts, Lima?"

"And how many beasts are roaming the land disguised as people?"

"The wizard has many minions. Most in the dungeon aren't beasts. The only ones there are those the wizard can't control enough to disguise."

"If the hero knows he has the spell for the magic sword, wouldn't he start separating them?"

"How would he know?"

"People beasts wouldn't attack. If most are people-beasts... there would be a point where they'd realize it, but they hadn't yet, or the wizard wouldn't have sent him there."

"The hero would be a catalyst."

"You're sure of it."

"I'm sure no one could scare him into pretending he's a beast like all the others, to keep beasts from attacking, Brimmy. At some point, he'd take the side of the attacked."

"A people-beast would recognize him as a hero and guard his back."

"You're sure, Garil."

"He's not dead. Someone is guarding his back, Brimmy. The hero is big and beautiful. He had fangs and claws, but he didn't know how to use them. 'Instinct' wouldn't be enough. I think a people-beast had to... claim him to keep him alive."

"We've got another hero?"

"Many of them, Panner, but they're... small heroes. They battled evil that rose before them, not turned away. They'd want to help the hero, but it would take one the beasts feared. I don't think a people-beast would choose to be the type of pack leader it would take to rule the beasts of the dungeon."

"I don't either, Lima, but how could a people-beast... By being the maddest, deadliest beast in the dungeon. Walk carefully around it and leave it alone. It would take a very smart people-beast, who really knew how to use fangs and claws, to be the maddest beast."

"And the real maddest beasts, Garil?"

"Wouldn't survive if they attacked other beasts."

"We've got a people-beast, so deadly he scares the pack, who recognizes the hero? Are we getting improbable?"

By the time Ritzi and Tarse came in, they had a scenario, but the "maddest, scariest, deadliest people-beast hero" had to already have skill using fangs and claws to make it plausible. They decided he'd had practice disguising he was a hero and been "beast who couldn't be controlled," or the wizard would have recruited him. After that, they got stuck. How could a hero that smart, deadly and adept at beast disguise have ended up in the dungeon? Tarse said, "Only by choice," and they all looked at him. He asked where the maddest-beast-hero could have learned everything. They came up with nine possibles and got them down to four probables quickly. Garil suddenly grabbed the input board and five watched him open news archives and type in a search criteria.

"Dream dust in Roper?"

"Roper district in Jenneara is real odd for a subsidized district, Brimmy. Dream dust ODs among kids just don't happen there. Dead-no-suspects-no-motive do, but I remember... there. There was a live cam on the body when they rolled it over, or those packets of dream dust would have never been mentioned."

"And been nicely profitable sold elsewhere. Selling dream dust isn't allowed in Roper?"

"It's sold, Panner, but no one's paying the minions to guard the merchants and kids don't OD, so selling it to them is fatal."

"We've got a hero who made a deal with a demon to go to the dungeon?"

"To not reveal the deal, Brimmy, and that's the only place the demon would be sure he wouldn't, but the demon may not be sure the hero couldn't get out if he chose to."

"We're making more hero than possible."

"Not if the demon wanted to keep the deal."

"A demon with ethics?"

"A business-demon who thinks short-term regular customers are a waste?"

"One who thinks people should be old enough to understand the vice they're buying will kill them and who doesn't sell it, or pay to protect those who do. As close to a hero as a demon can get."

"Over six years? Get a comparison with Pastonville, Kellerton and Jamis Quarter in Silvertown."

"We've got a demon powerful enough the wizard doesn't send minions against it, but would if a deal was known? It's a credulity stretch."

"Not any longer, Ritzi. There he is."

"He's a monster!"

"No, Brimmy, she was a soul-sucking demon. Paying protection for pushers was probably just a rider on the property insurance. That description doesn't tell you what the real estate was like. She was a slumlord. Most of the property she owned was gov-subsidized apartments. The 'philanthropy' was the deodorizer to cover the stench of vermin-infested shit and garbage piled beside buildings with non-operative cyclers."

"Stated he's an assassin, but killed her because he wanted to. He didn't get paid! He got a promise and told the truth."

"And allowed them to catch him, Lima."

"Huh, uh. He arranged for them to catch him, Brimmy."

"I agree, Tarse. He looks very different from this perspective. He's beautiful."

"Ow!"

"Tarse."

"I'll work on it, Ritzi."

"You want to wait another five years until I decide to attempt to get out of the princess costume again?"

"No. The costume still fits."

"Thanks, but the chastity belt chafes."

"I didn't notice it was included in the design."

"This princess is wearing pants and vaulting onto a horse to go after more heroes. I plan to find the right time to bodyslam them on a bed, too, but yours will always be the hand I grab for fun with a friend. I love you, Tarse, but aesthetic appreciation segues right into tactile once in awhile. I'm real picky, but I'm not monogamous."

"I'm real jealous, but I'll kick it into a corner and ignore it."

"That's what I do."

"Huh?"

"I said, 'I love you,' and you're surprised I have to ignore jealous? Dense. We've got a hero who learned to use fangs and claws and a mad beast disguise, probably before he was ten, as little and pretty as he is."

"He's a gemtrove lizard. Sleek, glittering beauty and the deadliest thing on the planet. And we're all sure he's with the hero. Why?"

"Because he was terribly lonely his whole life and the hero was the first who needed him, who was worthy of his friendship, not just his skill."

"That was available to any who needed it, Lima. Some of them paid for it."

"Ooh, now that's an interesting twist, Garil."

"He's been there six years. He was eighteen, by four days."

"We really think he's with Bard?"

"I think he's with our hero because he'd know he was special. Our hero would see through the disguise, as soon as he looked in his eyes, and see he was his equal. He chose to live by ideals, because everything around him tried to destroy them, and learned to more than survive."

"He didn't have time to learn anything else, Lima."

"But now his back is guarded too. They both have a lot to teach."

"He's with the hero."

"Sudden sureness, Tarse."

"It was the function that suddenly eliminated all the exceptions, Ritzi."

They were sitting under the canopy beside the flyer, working on how the hero and companion would learn which were beasts and which were people the wizard had made beasts, when a boat went slowly past. Tarse and Brimmy waved. The other four glanced, sort of waved and continued working.

Garil reminded beasts ran in packs and there wouldn't be many the wizard couldn't control enough to make minions and disguise as people. Ritzi agreed a few would have realized there were many more people-beasts and it wouldn't take long.

Brimmy said she was chilly and Tarse lowered the canopy sides, then turned on the lights in the frame, when Garil complained of low light. Lima and Ritzi both groaned, when he and Brimmy were suddenly more interested in how the canopy was built than the scene they were building. Tarse laughed and lowered the front, then led them out and showed the latch mechanisms. Ritzi opened the door.

"Tarse, drop the back flap and extend the floor. Were going to spread out."

"Were not going to retract for awhile?"

"No, there's no reason to move."

"It won't extend with objects in the way."

"Panner's got the chairs moved. I'm going in to start dinner."

"This is a great design, Garil. We'll watch from the door. The back flap comes down and the floor unrolls and extends along the tracks in the canopy walls."

"It's uneven ground and not level."

"The floor will be, Brimmy. I asked about retraction because it takes power to make the posine rigid and release it. It's silly to use it to extend the floor, if we're going to retract to go somewhere tomorrow."

"I'll miss the canopy."

"There's one that attaches, but it has to be unrolled and hooked to support posts. There's enough of that type of thing to accommodate about sixty people in warmth at a cold Bressler U game, including groundcover, but this is a big room with a floor. A companion for the hero surprised me."

"You don't like it?"

"It was a nice surprise, Brimmy. The interaction will give the hero more depth and greater possibility for growth."

"Editor."

"I like it."

"You're good at it."

"Oh, he's a genius!"

"Ritzi said she was impressed, too, Brimmy. We'll probably partition for bedrooms."

"You hope. Has he got a patent?"

"He puts together not invents, Garil. He buys all kinds of stuff he doesn't use. He gets it, decides to do whatever some other way and buys more. Charged. It's now a room with a solid floor that feels cushioned. The walls are sound dampening. Ball game parties can get loud."

They walked in, closed the door and bowed to applause. They'd set up the workshop right in front of the ones sent to see what they were doing. The others had given great lead-ins and Tarse had explained everything, from why they just stayed there to all the tech his uncle had bought.

They set up a living room on one side and made two bedrooms on the other, then went in to dinner. Midway through it, a tiny bell rang and they grinned. Someone had come to peer in the window, stepped on one of the strands of monofil, strung just above the ground, and rang their doorbell. Lima was congratulated for the idea again. She'd come up with the "undetectable sensor" to let them know when the visual snoop was done.

They cleaned up after dinner, moved the bed pads back into the flyer, opened the wind ports and turned on the generator. By the time they got the things they needed moved to the workbench, the system was fully charged and the wind ports had closed.

The wind-power generation system was millennia-old tech. Tarse had enjoyed helping his uncle update the design, while he was recovering from a lab 'explosion' that had nearly killed him. He'd run into the blast to turn on the shield. He'd been very surprised to wake up.

A guard dropped trash in the yard. Bard and Harim hurled 'it' back. One piece went all the way over the outer wall. When it hit the ground, it splattered. It was a well-designed piece of trash and Harim had hurled it to drop right beside the wall. They didn't expect the guards to notice a bright yellow splotch on the outer wall for some time. They wouldn't get it off, if they did, and they wouldn't suspect it had come from inside. They wouldn't believe something that would dye plasine could be made from food in the kitchen, if someone told them.

Bard and Harim hadn't told anyone why or what they were doing, but Choppy and Pans had both checked the pot several times, as they did every pot on the stove. Both had seen the 'trash' go up, then nearly straight down. When Bard and Harim sat down, Choppy sighed.

"Someday, someone will come for us."

"Someday, someone will decide everyone who doesn't work for, or with, the gov is at least disgusted and most are angry. I hope it's soon. I don't want to be here as long as you."

"I don't want to be here as long as me, either, Bard, but the lessons help a great deal. We couldn't do anything like this before. Learning and knowledge were resented. Attempts to organize anything to relieve boredom were request to be beaten. If the inmates didn't do it, the guards would have."

"Not even games in the yard. There is equipment, but the closet was never unlocked. Something might have to be replaced and the warden wouldn't have the annual budget to use for his personal pleasure. Everything appears to meet minimum interplanetary human rights standards for confinement of perpetrators of violent crimes beyond hope of rehabilitation. There's even a comm message number, but nothing passes the security check. We have entertainment screens because the comp reports riots and there was one every time they were turned off. We have datpads because they're less expensive. Men used anything they could think of to write on walls, shirts, bunk pads. Shit was very popular for graffiti out here. We've had datpads for about forty years."

"The guards don't come in any time prisoners are present and they don't go in cells."

"The warden uses the craft supply budget, too, and no one makes anything the guards could sell. The shelves of the little store where we're supposed to be able to buy things, with the tiny amount were supposed to get for working, are bare and the store has never been unlocked. We do spend our money in the store, of course, or he wouldn't have a nice budget and the prison inspectors would report it, if they stopped getting it. The guards stopped pulling men out of cells to 'discipline' them because men threw shit every time they did and yelled the reason. We don't know if they stopped because the comp reported it or they got tired of cleaning shit off the walk and the smell coming up from what went over, but they stopped doing it eleven years ago. If they do it again, we'll throw shit again."

"Cell and work assignments?"

"Those didn't end until there were suddenly forty-three vacancies. It was easier to just record 'reassignments,' and the number of incident reports the warden had to write for med treatment dropped, too. There were several no one moved in with and quite a few who changed cells, but most had cellmates they'd learned to live with long before. Work assignments have been subject to change for decades. They'll gas you if you don't go to your cell at buzzer and lock your cell door for two days, if they have to put you in it or you don't work, and your cellmates staves too, but they don't do it if you decide to change jobs. Kitchen is harder work than most, but it's not as equally boring as the rest, so those who prefer hard work to boredom consider it a good job."

"I like it much better than running cloth through a garment fabricator to make work clothes."

"Push cloth or push buttons to make it. Seventy-three years ago, inmates grew some of their own food, but the gov gets more for covalls than it saved on food and guards don't have to get close, so we get a limited variety of dried food with diet supplements to cook, and make covalls. Until eleven years ago, we wore covalls we made, then the gov decided they'd make more money on higher quality covalls and we got cheap pants and shirts to wear. This prison probably pays for itself, but the records don't show it because the budgets for everything we don't get, like our income and fresh fruit and vegetables, goes in someone's pocket."

"It's totally corrupt and a disease that spreads to more children every year."

"I agree with Demmon, Bard, the gov makes dream dust. I think it makes all four addictive drugs. I don't think anyone else can."

"Harim, I'll agree on the basis the gov would want all the profit. I don't know enough about drugs or market for them to use any other."

"That's my basis, Bard. They get all the money for supplying and all the protection brides too. There's never a bust of a supplier, only dealers who evidently don't pay protection promptly, or the gov decides to use to quiet complaints it doesn't do anything."

"And the gov assures all the stats that leave look like other worlds'. No one out there knows what's going on here."

"All the reports look normal, Pans. They probably even do business offplanet, so it does, but they make sure we look too boring to be worth a thirty-eight-day round trip to visit."

"No one travels, Bard. Comm is instant, so it only requires assuring it doesn't look profitable for traders. I couldn't find the reason for that change in available references."

"Someday, we will, Lone. I'm sure of it."

Six built something 'impossible.' It took them nine days. Ritzi dictated some of the book and sent an update to her home computer every evening. The tenth day, they began building their transport. The large shield assembly went on top and the sword went on the front. It only took a day to build the pieces. The eleventh morning, they carried them out the door and assembled the vehicle in the trees.

After they moved the generator to it, five boarded it with their things from the flyer. Ritzi ran out and got in just as they finished loading. They didn't know how long they'd have before someone or something noticed no communications went in or out of the prison, but they expected it would be quite a while. Most days, there were none.

'Nothing' saw them coming and nothing reported the magic sword cut a hole in the perimeter fence. Ritzi pushed a button and the prison comp obediently assured cell doors were unlocked. Tarse saw something on the screen and whooped. Somehow, Bard had found a way to mark where he wanted the door.

Ritzi pushed a button, monitors died, all doors into monitor and guard stations and out of the prison locked and the comp shut down. The program to do it 'vanished.' Lima fired gas grenades and all guards on the walk went down. They weren't going to need the shield to keep weapon fire from reaching them.

The only people in the yard when a hole suddenly appeared were the early kitchen shift. Bard tossed three over the center wall, then followed. The real prisoners were manually locked inside before the others were told they were leaving. Three helped each other back over the wall, as men began to pour out of the door to the cellblock. Bard walked through the hole.

"There are one hundred fifty-seven of us, Tarse! How long have we got?!"

"We expected! Unknown, but an hour-plus is probable! Nice target! We've got room for you and Harim to ride!"

"How did you know...?!"

"We'll explain! Get them all under the shield!"

Bard directed men to get under something they couldn't see, until they were beneath it. Once they were, they saw it was an enclosure of shimmering air wide enough for four abreast. They'd come through an opening at the back. Once all were under, the opening closed and they were warned they were about to begin moving at a brisk walk. Bard and Harim moved up through the column, Bard telling the men no sensors could see them, as they did. When they passed Lone, he said he hadn't included "secret tech advances" in his data, but he didn't mind adding them. Bard was laughing when he and Harim climbed into a box with benches.

"Hi, Bard. Hello, Harim. You're even prettier with a smile. Laughter?"

"The premier sociologist on the planet doesn't mind adding secret weapons to his data, Ritzi. Harim, Ritzi, Tarse, Brimmy, Lima, Garil and Panner. I want to know how they knew we'd be together."

"Someone had to be guarding your back. When we figured out what it would take, we figured out where he had to come from to have learned enough. After that, we looked for a hero who traded his freedom for the end of an evil. He wasn't hard to find. Garil pulled up OD stats for Roper and it was obvious who the hero in the disguise of a beast, who'd made a bargain with a demon, had to be. Lima's got your brief."

"The cover for everything is a fantasy novel Ritzi's writing and we're all helping with. The math was to assure the laws of magic were plausible. That's the magic sword. In the book, the hero had it in the dungeon, but it's a spell he scribbled on a parchment, just before the wizard's minions got him. The minions are beasts disguised as people. Once we figured out how few the wizard couldn't control enough to disguise, we had an approximate proportion of how many beasts in the dungeon were people the wizard disguised as beasts. We can just keep working on the book until we're warned there was a prison break and we yelp and get out of the area fast. We can make identification that checks out for everyone and this thing will provide cover all the way to Pensterburg. Or, we can go to the Demfen mines and operate out of there."

"Food?"

"You can get jobs in Pensterburg, or elsewhere, or harvest what no one knows is growing in the hydro tanks in the mines and grow more."

"The hydro tanks are operating?"

"Tarse and his uncle designed this wind-power generation system and we built one there. We rehabbed everything in the mine over a half-year, a half-day trip, to near one of the twelve known adits, at a time. Every trip included something that showed we were near, but there weren't any checks. We started stocking for you and the rebels when Ritzi broke all the locks to get to the 'public record' you'd been convicted of trying to kill us and sent there. Basically, there's not a government file anywhere we can't get into, do anything we want to and get out without a trace, but we still can't make a comm call without IS hearing it, or send a comp message without them reading it. The book is being written. We discuss it right out in the open. The only clandestine thing we've done was buy some equipment in Vairdslea twelve days ago, and every stu ID and purchase order was checked, then disappeared as soon as IS verified it had been. If you think it's time, we go to the mines and send Tarse's uncle's flyer home by remote. We make sure every man's ret scan matches his ID and that's who he is in gov files, minimal change on records of 'escapees,' and they never find any of them, either way."

"We think it's time and no one else knows anything but we were writing a book, and it's on my comp for anyone who snoops to find. The math isn't the same as it was, but it never was. The program that read some things as others no longer exists. Friends, families, employers and coworkers will all truthfully say all they knew is we were writing a book."

"Why do you want us to choose the mines, Ritzi?"

"Because none of those men can give the people they love a hug until the gov comes down, and all the people who just made sure there were things laying around, or time we weren't disturbed, in hopes we would do something. We're the only rebel organization that can exist."

"I know. The only place one could form is in a prison. You found a totally unique method of planning and communication. Harim, we need Lone's opinion."

"I'll get it. He won't fit in here and men don't have to scrunch for me to get by."

"That's why I asked you. Thanks. Lone is Doctor Carter Lopez. He didn't talk to anyone for twenty-six years. He listened to everything. It was a sociology research project and anything he said could have skewed the results. If he thinks it's time, the mines. Either way, I'm going to destroy the gov labs where dream dust and the other three addictive drugs are made, then the hydro-farms were the herbals are grown."

"They're our first target choices, too."

"I thought it would at least be a surprise, Tarse."

"When we started the book, it was a cover for math and planning. As we worked on it, we realized we were learning how everything had to work on Gradelode, because it didn't make sense in the wizard's realm in any other way. The drugs came early. The bribe system got too unwieldy at the top. The money had to be going straight to the wizard. It was too much for him to allow anyone else to control. The drugs are a means of populace control. They're too cheap for the established levels of protection payment to exist. The wizard doesn't need, nor want to support, all those little boxes of people, who don't have anything to do but eat and sleep. All four addictives reduce reproductive drive and fetal viability. That's widely known. 'Well, at least they aren't having ten kids to get more subsidy and our taxes aren't going up,' is a very well-funded common-talk propaganda campaign. It can't be anything else. The population of this world is actually dropping. The slow growth stats are false. Everything we tried to make sense of new construction observed, not figures, says the gov is doing something else to lower it. We think it's a reproductive suppressant, probably in water supplies. High spontaneous abortion would alert medical personnel, but there are some very human-specific, not particularly expensive, oral spermicides and sperm count is an automated test. It's probable every result is increased by several powers before being displayed. The gov keeps the med lab inspection schedule too well not to have a reason to assure no one else does. Tax structure also penalizes for more than two children and the deductions for the first two are too low. Look at any neighborhood, except where high-level government employees live. No children isn't rare. One child is common, two children is average, three quite unusual."

"That's probably why the Kafter lab exploded, Tarse. They blew physics and 'bio went too,' because a bio-lab explosion would have been odd. I hadn't figured out the gov was making the drugs, but I knew it was lowering reproductive capability and reducing the population, as soon as I got to the university and learned most of you were only children and no one had more than one sibling. I'd begun to suspect my parents were murdered, but I still wasn't a rebel. I didn't have enough knowledge or experience to be sure."

"Lone said he's walking with an army under a banner of freedom, Bard."

"The mines it is."

"I hate losing all that great equipment in the flyer."

"It's going with us, Brimmy."

"How, Tarse?"

"It's a self-contained unit. It'll get to the mine before we do. It brushes out its tracks as it travels, just like the trailing edge of the shield does ours."

"How does the shield do that?"

"Sort of by accident, Harim. It forms a convection field at the interface. It pulls up flattened grass and compacted soil and the airflow around it disperses very light dust and debris evenly over a fairly wide area. It even spreads out and thins the scent too much for sniffers. We could make shields small enough for a single person, if we had time and parts, but the magic sword is too new theory to even imagine all the applications. We built what would make a hole in the dungeon wall. The genius who designed it is sitting beside you."

"Punch a hole in something without punching through it was the simplest application and test of the theory, Garil, if I could figure out what went in the hole and the physical structure."

"You did, Bard. When we saw the finished theory, we laughed."

"The answer was a hollow pyramid, Harim. All they had to do was find or shape one."

"That was really what told us what we thought were the physical laws of the universe were rules for specific circumstances. The shape was important, but material and size weren't. It could have been ten kilos or a tenth, been eighty cens tall or an eighth. Smooth works better than rough because you have more control. Lead would work, but other materials are lighter. The smoother it is the more precise the hole you can make, but it will make a hole if it has hammer dents, as long as the shape is correct."

"Harim, the firing aperture is the bottom of the pyramid."

"The ancients were right. The shape has a power we didn't understand."

"Yes, they were. That function came out of an ancient study on why they preserve things."

"That means crystals have power, but it's the shape and not the mineral that forms it."

"You're correct. It's going to be... fun helping write the book."

"Ritzi, be prepared for a plot twist. The hero just took over the storyline."

"It's about time, Lima. Every fantasy writer I like says the characters take over at some point."

"Tarse, what's in the mines?"

"Basically, everything seven hundred people need to be comfortable, plus a copy of Ritzi's home system and a few things I thought she'd like, but wouldn't accept as gifts. Most is used, bought from individuals with cash and appropriate not-notice bribes."

"Tarse is rich, Harim. He's also the one who turned on the shield when the gov tried to kill us all. When the floor fell, we thought we lost him, but we got back to him in time. We literally held him together until the medics got there."

"Waking up was one of the two nicest surprises of my life, Ritzi."

"Love you too, Tarse."

"Don't worry, Bard. She told me I'd wait five more years if I didn't get it through my head monogamy is not acceptable."

"In my case, Tarse, 'impossible' may be the correct term."

"You're on her yum list, too, Harim."

"He's on several, Garil."

"I was sure he was on yours, Lima."

"Thank you. Bard."

"Thank you. Now what?"

"In other circumstances, this is when you'd go shopping for something to wear to go dancing, then find a semi-private time to ask one of the ladies. This may be the most difficult thing I've ever said, but three women with one hundred sixty of us is not a good idea."

"We aren't worried, Harim, but we know how hard it will be on some of them, so Brimmy and I found out where the nearest brothel to every known mine adit is located. Records of the adit we're headed for disappeared."

"Lima, sometimes you astound me. How did you find out brothel locations?"

"We drew a rough map of the wizard's land, Tarse, obviously hunted for an area about the right size and population and asked Morv to help us figure out how many and where inns with 'that' type of amenities would be. After he stopped laughing too hard to talk, he said he'd see what he could do. A few minutes later, he gave us license listings on a datpad."

"Who is Morv?"

"A tea shop owner, Bard. We met there to work on the book several times. We said thanks, copied them to my datpad, then went to the table and marked them on our map. It covers a larger, and somewhat north, area."

"Morv didn't have a list, Bard, but he's run a tea shop stus go to for decades, so he knew where to find it. One of the reasons the book has been such a good cover is fiction is a challenge for us. We check everything for plausibility. What they asked Morv was perfect. Everyone, who we speak to, who's watched us doing this thinks the method is hilarious, but they all agree the book is going to be plausible, and the story is good so far."

"Having a wizard to take care of your land is very nice. Nearly every land has one. Everything is great right after they get the wizard. Brigands are caught, demons run away, beasts are penned, hail and drought don't destroy crops, people who get sick are made well, all the nice stuff you pay a wizard to do, but bit by bit, that begins to change. It stops being pay the wizard to assure it doesn't happen, and begins to be pay the wizard more or it will. That's covered in a three-paragraph prologue. By the time the story starts, the land is fully in the grip of the evil wizard. No one can leave and the wizard's minions are everywhere watching everyone with magic the wizard gives them. Demons pay the wizard well, so they're doing well, brigands have jobs working for them, and the wizard has a nice number of beasts to disguise as people to be minions. It all happened slowly, but wizards live a very long time. Everyone knows they got an evil wizard, but the magic keeps them from even mentioning they want to get rid of him to each other. They're waiting for a hero. There is one, but he needed to find the magic sword."

"You're writing an allegory."

"Yes, Harim. We intend to assure it has a happy ending."

When the flyer landed, Tarse's uncle, Drand, quickly pushed a self-contained storage unit full of tools and flyer parts out of his workshop. He put the generator he'd just finished building in the flyer and new fans in the wind ports. He also replaced the workbench with one he'd just finished building. He installed the workbench from the flyer in his workshop. He put the storage bin of tools, flyer parts, canopies, chairs and assorted other items useful for a party, which had also been assembled for year, in the flyer. He went in it, checked everything was in good shape, emptied cycler bins, filled water tanks and wrote a new program for the new remote control, which included switching on the new generator, then he commed a game-going buddy.

"They got it back in time for me to put the new stuff in it."

"What did you add to it?"

"I put in a wind generator and workbench. We can extend the floor, retract it in an hour, do it again, heat the party tents, power the sound system and I can work on things for the flyer by the flyer."

"How did you get a generator in there?"

"There was just enough space behind the tool bin for one like my nephew and I built in the workshop a year ago."

"I'm surprised you didn't do it sooner."

"I had that space stuffed, but I never used what was in it. I had to take out the storage bin to get to it."

"Being able to use that room for a couple hours at a time will be nice."

"Especially when Bressler plays Dodgevale."

"Definitely. The canopy kept the rain off, but the flyer lot was one big puddle. I've got our tickets."

"I've got the tanks topped off and they left it clean and the tea bin filled."

"They didn't have parties in it."

"No, but they had a good time. They left the file of the book in open access for me. They got a long way on it. I just glanced while I was rewriting the control program, but it's going to be good."

"They helped?"

"I didn't even see them. I looked out and the flyer was there. My nephew may have been moving fast to get tea for two instead of six. He's been trying to get an invitation a long time."

### Chapter Three

It was a seven-hour uphill walk to the mine adit, then another long walk into it, but some brief rest stops were planned and 'brisk' wasn't necessary, when they got into the forested foothills. The track they traveled didn't look like it had once been for haulers, but it was still wide and clear enough for their "car." A native herbivore had kept it 'mowed' in the center.

When they entered the mine adit, the men could see where they were walking by the soft glow of the shield. Choppy leaned into the vehicle and asked if the glow was visible outside. Tarse told him nothing under it was, but it was most useful on open ground or a road because those wouldn't show the view on both sides ran together on top. The bigger the shield, the wider the view that went up and over. They considered the width they were using the practical limit, because wider would have view of more than road on it. Choppy dropped back and word was passed that the glow was inside only. The shield would be very useful at night.

A few moments later, they turned a corner, walked a short distance, then lights came on and the shield disappeared. There were closed doors behind them and a large ore transport platform beside them. A very short time later, they were riding the platform, towed by the vehicle, through the vast mine system.

The Demfen mines had been abandoned nearly one hundred fifty years before. They'd been one of four mining areas protected from open pit mining by the colonial charter. By the time the mining corporation could have gotten the charter restriction overturned, all the high-grade ore had been taken out of all four areas and the mines abandoned, with everything not worth breaking down left inside.

The towns near the twelve other adits had grown around them. They'd continued to grow because of the beauty of their locations and the very nice roads to them. Nearly all were primarily vacation spots, supplemented by forest industries. There were tree farms, but most of the forest products were food, not wood.

Thirty-two tasty food plants and fungi were encouraged to grow and harvested, but they weren't cultivated. None had proved to be domesticable. They could be grown elsewhere, but the expense of reproducing the supporting forest ecology was too high to make it profitable. That unique ecology was why the area had been protected in the charter and why there were hydroponic farming tanks in the center of the mine system.

They'd come in the thirteenth adit. No town had grown around it because everyone knew it was 'the end' and the only thing that came out was ore. People all went north. Moving workers in and out of the mines had reduced actual work time and their profitability. Importing fresh produce from agra areas to feed workers in the mine would not have significantly reduced costs. The solution had been barracks for workers for three-day work shifts, hydroponic tanks and creation of a small lake for aqua-farming.

The lake was fed by the same underground stream that supplied drinking water. The 'dent' in the mountains where it was made didn't get much rain, snow or run-off, or there would have already been a lake there. It wasn't easily accessed from anywhere but the central cavern of the mine, and quite unattractive in comparison to the beautiful natural lakes in the region. If people had known it was 'brimming' with fish, it would have attracted fishermen, but that had been the most surprising discovery Tarse had made. The little lake had become an oasis with a thriving ecology in the century-and-a-half since it had been a fish farm. It was 'thick' with pinkfish.

The lake and hydro tanks had paid for themselves in excess produce sold in the towns. Their size, and dropping agra prices, had been why they'd been left behind. The plants that had long ago rotted, then dried and fallen to dust had been cleaned out and had charged the system with nutrient stock that would last for years. The system would be self-sustaining long before then. The only reason it hadn't still been producing was the power had been shut off.

The six got even more angry when one hundred fifty-seven men, including Bard and Harim, ran for the bins of fresh produce that had been robo-harvested within the last five days. Bard and Harim walked out of the happy mob, eating tomats and carrying several other items in the crook of an arm.

"Fresh food is only a listing in the prison budget, like pay for work, things to buy, games to play and anything else to do, including books to read. We had entertainment screens and datpads because there were riots whenever someone decided to put the power and supply budget for them in his pocket."

"We were slave labor fed nutrient-enriched gruel made from eight types of dried foods. We got things to vary the taste to prevent riots. We produced high-quality covalls for the gov to sell, cloth to cuffs, or we were locked in and starved for two days."

"Bard, we want to get the women out, but they'll be watching for us. We didn't want to advertise we came after you, but we couldn't get to the women's prison fast enough, or get them all under the shield, if we did. The rebel prisons aren't where they say they are. Those are large plastine shells, and bait for a trap."

"How can you access the gov comp net without being noticed, Ritzi?"

"I used an auth code that kept IS from being noticed, Harim, then inserted one for me no one has an auth code to notice."

"How did you get the first auth code?"

"I overheard it on a school civics tour when I was nine. That's when I made mine, twelve years ago. It took me two-thirds of the year to get it up to the level I have auth to open any file and rewrite any program, and I'm the only person on the planet who can. Every bureau in the gov has secrets from each other, and especially from IS. That won't last much longer. IS has about finished preparations to take over, but they won't find my little auth code. If they did, everything in the data array would vanish."

"Harim, she was the programmer on the most advanced physics research project on the planet."

"Lima and Panner are primarily theoretical physicists. Brimmy and Garil are primarily application physicists. Bard's a more balanced combo of those two. Tarse is a little stronger in application and has a real talent for directing research. I'm a combo of theorist and programmer, but more programmer."

"Harim's the missing talent, Ritzi. He's going to be better at pure math than I am."

"What?"

"Harim, you went from elementary level arithmetic and general science to translight theory in a year, while learning everything I could remember about language, art, history and everything else."

"You were both teaching and learning at the same time. There was nothing else to do, and it was probably the first time in your lives your minds were fully engaged in learning. Harim, yours was also engaged in paying attention to stay alive most of the time. Bard was bored far more often."

"You're right, Tarse. I hated the environment and loved the learning and teaching. I wasn't ever bored."

"I wasn't the last year, but I fought against it because it was likely to be fatal the five before."

"We're lovers. That won't change."

"Why would it change?"

"Harim, you're in the same situation I am. We could be happily faithful, but they wouldn't be happy trying. It would bother them if we did 'faithful,' and they'd end up trying. So, we'll remind ourselves they wouldn't and we love the real people, not the forever-all-mine fantasy and go out and girl watch, until we've had enough practice ignoring were jealous, it's not hard work."

"The plan sound sensible, except for 'go out,' Tarse."

"Ritzi, time to change who they were."

"Cupcake, this is the frosting. Implement program no match match and document print."

"Frosting, I like you, but you're missing something."

"The tube's being squeezed; pair of green, now eight pink."

"Implementing program no match match. Document print beginning. Images required for documentation completion."

"Everyone! Hairstyling is immediate requirement! No one has to change, but there's a cosmetic supply house of bleach, dye, curl and straighten stuff in the dining hall! That building! It's all permanent, so no one does it without a buddy!"

"Come on, Harim. You get curls."

"You get blond."

"Oh, I knew that."

"Ritzi?"

"Red and waves, Tarse."

"You or me?"

"Me. I've already got your white-gold curls set aside too. Your name is Nevin Curran, Nev."

"I like it. Yours?"

"Danniera Tracy, Danny."

"Nice. Them?"

"Knighton Pyramid and Silverin Bladesly, Knight and Blade. Update, Cupcake."

"Phase one complete. Phase two forty-eight percent at mark. Mark."

"I'm sure you checked all the names."

"All four listed at least ten times in planetary directory, Nevin. Pyramid has twelve listings, all changed from Pirimandisi, which has one hundred two. Knighton changed his when he was eighteen, three years ago. I feel safer."

"Phase one?"

"Ret scans and file images changed between point two and eight-point nine percent, in random one hundredth percent selection. Phase two includes news archives. If it's not hard copy, it gets changed. Cupcake is about to finish with what she can do until we have new images. Lima is Veronica Dell, Ronnie."

"She picked it."

"Yes. Brimmy is Dawn Lee."

"I don't blame her. Garil and Panner?"

"Cascony Laudren and Statton Sharp, Case and Stats."

"They'll love it. Ronnie and Dawn are going to come out of hiding."

"We all are. None of us have mousy hair, but it's all brown."

"That's the reason there's permanent hair color change, Danny. Nearly everyone's hair is nice hair, but brown. Because we don't have all those colors that were genetic recessives, in anything like the percentages we once did, brown is no longer one of many interesting colors. I think I'll like being a blond. I think you're going to even look dangerous as a redhead."

"Oh, you do know how to give a compliment."

One was only supposed to get permanent treatment at licensed establishments, from a licensed cosmetic clinician with medical training. The products to do it were only supposed to be available to them. Tarse had bought the entire about-to-expire stock of a supply house for cash and it had been quickly moved out the back door into the light hauler that temporarily had a business name on it. It had also temporarily had a fifty-credit note stuck on the right front. That had disappeared during the loading and a police officer had his back to the delivery alley when the hauler pulled out. The business name had blown off as tiny flakes when the light hauler moved into the high-speed lane on the gravway. Hundreds of times a day, in every city, government regulation, licenses and fees lost to private enterprise, by government employees.

A few men got sick. Some got blisters. Many got a little dizzy. Most felt raw all over. None had extreme allergic reactions. They'd just mixed and smeared all over and took the oral at the same time. The three women followed instructions precisely. It took them a great deal longer to do their bodies one area at a time, then their hair in sections, with prescribed time between, then carefully use the facial application kits on each other, but only Dawn felt "slightly light-headed," and only Ronnie felt "a little green" after the oral dose, which changed melanin production. Without it, the dyes wouldn't be permanent.

When they were done, they selected clothes from those on a large number of racks. 'A secondhand store' had helped several charities with their sorting and racking chore, buying everything brought to collection centers for three days for a nice cash donation. A number of people had noticed friends donating those days and decided to clean out closets and storage areas. The 'friends' lived in nice neighborhoods. 'Someone' had forgotten to take the display clips off the one Danny chose. They had the name of a very nice store on them. Ronnie noted her grandmother remembered them when she got part way into an outfit and one sprang off it.

Clothes hadn't been the only things collected those days. No one had said anything, but they were taking things. People had looked at what they were loading and taken things. Someone was doing something. Whatever it was, the government wasn't involved. A rebel organization couldn't exist. Since it couldn't, people watched for a sign someone was doing something. All they could do was help, and hope one of those times would be the beginning of the end of the corrupt and increasingly oppressive government of Gradelode. The people at collection centers hadn't mentioned the type or amount those days. If someone was doing something, they too wanted to help.

Knighton Pyramid read his identification, blinked and began to giggle. His documentation was complete. He had a copy of the approved petition of name change, his university transcripts, for his doctorate in mathematics, and his employment record. He'd only had one job. He'd been an adjunct professor of math and physics in a continuing education program for a year. His rating, based on student performance, was excellent.

Silverin Bladesly finally just handed Knighton his. He was surprised when he looked it over, nodded and gave it back. 'Blade' read it again. He had a masters degree in mathematics. He'd worked his way through school with jobs that ranged from child care to personal physical trainer. 'Knight' rumpled his silky chestnut curls and pulled him into a hug.

"They gave us everything we need to be who we are, and to have become deeply loving friends. Math doesn't make us spectacularly employable, but that too is an asset. It makes it reasonable for over-educated us to take jobs from tutor to moving furniture."

"How did they know... I took care of children?"

"Because you sacrificed yourself to protect them. You understand how precious they are too completely not to have had children of your own, in some way. They figured out what you used the money you were too good not to make to do."

"Finding a loving home for a child is simple. Unlocking the door to get them in is not. The gov holds the keys and every person in it, who can grasp them, demands payment to release them."

"She named us Knight Pyramid and Silver Blade. She managed to identify, tease and challenge us at once."

"I'm impre..."

Knighton spun to see why Silverin had stopped talking. There was an epidemic of mouths hanging open. They'd been cute girls. It had suddenly become obvious it was deliberate. When the three 'boys' walked out of a doorway, Lone applauded and one hundred fifty-six men joined him. The six smiled and bowed. 'Nev' held up his hand and it quieted.

"It was easy for us to use the colors and clothes to become 'other people,' because we intended to do so and were maintaining the distance between them. It's going to be more difficult for you, especially those who have worn shirts and pants that didn't even allow the personalization of a rolled cuff or laid-back lapel, for a long time. Lone, now Dr. Lawrence Carter, statistician on research sabbatical, knows who he is quite clearly because the enforced anonymity couldn't penetrate. He maintained complete separation from the environment in which you were all immersed. Until you had all those documents, you didn't have the complete image of who you are out of which to build a personal style of dress and appearance, your presentation of your inner identity to others. You didn't necessarily choose the wrong clothes, but they aren't your clothes to you. I see many bright colors, because they are bright. If I were you, I'd have headed for the brightest thing on the rack. Don't hide. That makes you obvious. There is no need to do so. Nothing in any gov file, or news archive, matches your ret scan, or your faces. Read those documents and create a synthesis between your past, the present you hold in your hand and the future we are going to create for our people."

"This is a bureaucratic oligarchy progressing to a police state. Democracy hasn't existed here for over a century. There's no way for people to vote for who they want. We all know election results are fiction, but most don't realize rebels are an IS invention, presented as a method for the bureaucracy to isolate people who learned something dangerous to it. IS used it as an excuse to institute full comm monitoring and increase personnel. There are only three hundred seven. They're slave labor in five drug production labs and nine hydro-tank farms, where three plants, from which all the addictive drugs are produced, are grown. Reproductive suppressants and agents to initiate spontaneous abortion are added, though use of the drugs does cause some. All facilities are underground. We learned one 'rebel' is a boy of thirteen, so that's where we're starting. You all have bank accounts. We removed 'nomination funds' and several others. None of you are poor, a few are very comfortable, a few very well-off. All of those are on the lists both the bureaucracy and IS maintain of such things. We have more to do, so we need your help to get ready."

The sword and shield car was made more comfortable and a trailer added. The other men did that while eight worked on additional theory and applications. Blade was surprised to be one of them, then he asked a question that was exactly what they needed to point to additional applications. They only built one. A way to short weapons was the solution to needing them they really wanted. Just before the eight left to empty the first prison lab, Danny found something in a file. She was blazing with fury when she got in the vehicle. She informed the seven in it a temper tantrum had surprised her.

"What did you do?"

"Sold every stock and property holding not on Gradelode, Nev, and emptied a large number of bank accounts. Three 'branches' of mining corps were negotiating to lease two thousand social service indebted and five hundred rebels, one hundred ninety-three not yet 'captured,' from the gov, to mine a non-habitable planet. All labs and farms were to be fully automated in eighty-three days. The second phase of the plan was five thousand per year. The gov was negotiating to get them to lease fifteen thousand, instead. The Gradelode 'branch managers' were looking over several business expansion proposals for feasibility. The gov people involved expressed confidence they'd accept them, since they wouldn't be limited by parent corp policies. They won't be paying to have two thousand 'selected for shipping.' They don't have any assets on this planet. They purchased all our currency offplanet, then it vanished. It never existed. We're economically isolated. All budgets are fixed. No one involved has an excessive accumulation of money. All budgeted items, services and salaries will be paid, but there's not a loose credit on the planet, and never has been. Gradelode's budget and disbursement are now in the control of the management program for World Builder Eleven, level eight."

Nev, Dawn, Ronnie, Case and Stats screamed with laughter. Knight raised an eyebrow at Blade. He shook his head. Ronnie told them it was one of the most complex world-building games in existence and the only way to get off level eight was discover something that would bring traders from other worlds.

"In the game, you have to find a medicinal plant, a new mineral deposit, a new domesticable grain or develop a new technology. The game unlocks when the incoming comm channels are jammed and ships are filling docking berths and landing pads. There are a large number of possibles. Which you can find is random, but it's the arrival, not the discovery, that unlocks the level and gets you to the next, full participation in the interplanetary market."

"You can't back up or make changes, except in very specific ways. Your population will rise and such, but percentage of expenditure and taxation won't change. The usual way to change it is delete the program and start over. It takes everything with it and begins with a world and a ship of colonists with a charter. Every item currently budgeted will be purchased and shipped and every salary and subsidy will be paid. And only we can change it."

"What about jobs and commerce, Nevin?"

"Private enterprise is how you find the key to the lock, Blade. Every game move allowed on the level is standard private sector stimulation and you can't go deficit giving a tax cut."

"Most people end up starting over many times at level eight, even knowing the way to advance is build businesses that can fund research and development in companies and universities."

"They're warned, but I don't care."

"No, Knight, they're not warned. They're the ones who left that boy's comp on with a tap to it. Of course the program eliminated the cheating. One can't have offplanet assets and trade until after level eight. They'll discover that's the source computer and the game was running in the background fairly quickly."

Blade began to giggle. Knight's face suffused with pleasure, then he too began to giggle. Soon all eight in the very pleasant interior of the invisible car, towing a narrow trailer, which would hold one hundred fifty comfortably, were giggling. Behind them, many men were choosing attire for an evening out.

The twelve carts they'd ride to the adits 'brushed out' their tracks as they traveled. They weren't all going to brothels, but many were. It wouldn't be at all surprising for group of six to ten men to go because none had before.

The invisible car sped across the continent in the high-speed lane. Nothing 'saw' it, but its sensors saw out. While it traveled, one worked on a comp and six finished assembly of personal shields. They had tranquilizer darts, gas grenades and the weapon-shorting setting on the magic sword, but no idea what they'd actually be dealing with in numbers of guards or type of equipment to be destroyed. Eventually, Danny gave up and helped with their shields. There just weren't any details available. It was an independent operation.

They 'poked a hole,' lobbed in a gas grenade and walked through the hole a few seconds later. Dawn and Ronnie dragged four guards out, while Danny worked on the comp. The five men took the lift down.

They began at the bottom, six levels below ground. The men they found on that level weren't asleep. They were unconscious. They carried them to the lift and sent them up four at a time. Knight went up with the first load. Dawn and Ronnie unloaded the lift, while Knight carried men to seats at the front of the trailer. After the six loads of four men, he went back down. The eight were burning with fury. The men were wearing only shackles.

The fifth level only had six on it. Two were guards. They didn't see the lift open, or anything else. They were loaded on the lift while the five men freed the four in a kitchen. They were unconscious too. No one had argued, or even been surprised when Nev had tossed in a gas grenade. The men sent a cart up with them. The guards had to be moved forty meters. After they moved them, the men went up one level and found the bottom of the huge laboratory.

It wasn't necessary to kill any guards, so they didn't, though it became more difficult not to every level where they found naked, shackled men working. The women had gone to the car when Danny finished preparing the computer. The men were told there were women with them, but they wouldn't see them until they were free of chains. Some of the men had tears in their eyes, when they said, "Thank you."

They found the boy on the last level of the lab emptied. Dream dust had suddenly gotten too plentiful and cheap in the area where he lived and he'd been hunting for the reason, and why the police were ignoring it. He'd told a friend he suspected they'd been ordered to ignore it and the government wanted people addicted. The friend had told him addicts were expensive and the government was too greedy for that. He'd been looking for how it could be profitable for the government when he'd been arrested. Blade asked if he'd been abused.

"No. You'd have killed them all if I said yes."

"Just the mad animals. I'd have assured those who awoke knew why they didn't."

"You didn't ask anyone else?"

"They'd have told us if they knew some are. So, we leave them to awaken to tell their superiors a hole appeared in a wall and there was nothing there to make it."

"They'll have every gov employee hunting you, to get what did it."

"Yes, everyone will soon know there's a rebellion in progress."

Two-point two K away from the lab, a pair of doors opened on a hauler loading dock. The invisible car and trailer were one hundred sixty-seven K from the lab, when dust blew out of them. Danny checked the time and smiled, then opened the audio link to the trailer, where the men were removing shackles.

"A short time ago, a very large spark struck a store of volatile chemicals. No one was injured in the explosion which gutted a large underground facility. All personnel are clear of the area where the surface structures and ground are falling into a very large hole. That was the second largest lab. We're headed for the largest. A few who won't be bothered walking by my back would speed getting the big one empty. It'll be crowded back there by the time we finish. We plan to go out again tonight and get the three smaller labs, then start on the farms, nine of those. That's where women are sent."

On the way back from the last lab, 'they' changed the plan a bit. Knight said, "The women's prison." They got there just before dawn. They lobbed gas grenades, shorted weapons and made a hole in the wall. They lobbed a few more gas grenades when they saw IS uniforms behind it, then eight wearing personal shields walked in. The computer was loudly sounding an alert. Blade turned off his shield, shorted the door lock, shot tranquilizer darts and opened the door for Danny. No one saw him unless he intended it, but he turned the shield on, anyway.

The cells were open, the women in the trailer and the car was in the high speed lane and headed north before a large IS force landed. Nev drove into one of the adits and men cheered when seventy-six women walked out of the trailer.

Women grabbed hair change formulas and ran to become other people. Danny canceled twenty-two identifications and moved money, then opened that section to the game program management. It wouldn't 'notice' images added to files, but one couldn't shuffle money in the game. The invisible car was on the way to a secret hydro-farm before the first 'missing lab' was discovered.

They 'took' all nine farms in succession, before the evening guard shift arrived. When they did, they learned the hydro tanks were boiling the crop and seed supply, and the computers were gone. At twenty-one forty-three, all documents were complete. Five hundred forty freed men and women sat on the ground around eight sitting on a table. Knight realized he was 'talking' when six looked at him and Blade elbowed his ribs.

"We're the only rebel organization that can exist, but there are tens, probably hundreds, of thousands of rebels. We found out the government plans for you and the subsidized districts, and shortened the first chapter of the rebellion to its title. We've got a stall in place, but we can't predict how long it will last. The IS high echelon could put the whole planet on the barter system, and require a pass to cross the street, in ten days. We don't think they'll move that fast. They may not discover they've got a problem until gov center opens for business as usual in two days. Once they do, it won't take them long to learn 'a program moved across a tap,' But we think they'll hunt for our obviously new tech awhile before they resort to deleting World Builder Eleven, level eight."

A number of people roared with laughter. Knight pointed at Danny and she took a bow. Applause and laughter widened as laughing people explained. When it finally died down, Knight noted he'd heard redheads had fiery tempers, but the warning had been on the haircolor bottle, then waited for laughter to subside again.

"This is where it gets dangerous. From now on, it's not knock out guards, poke a hole in a wall and get people out of places the gov doesn't want people to know exist. We're going to have to learn who it pays too well to cooperate with the government, and kill beasts too dangerous to be unleashed. Some people are going to die because they're too addicted to survive withdrawal, but it'll just be a little sooner and it won't be kids. They die of OD before they reach that point. We saved all who are alive. We've got thousands of private labs making spermicide. The people in them don't know it's going in their water supply. Most people who work for the government aren't evil. Some do it because someone must, but most just decided a regular paycheck and a little side money was the practical way to survive in a corrupt society. They don't know what's going on and carefully don't learn. We don't want them in those jobs, but we don't want them to starve, either. There aren't nearly as many as we've been told. About eighty percent of personnel budgets aren't used to pay personnel. They're used to hide the truth and pay people who don't exist. Most of the oligarchy and city officials were collecting four to forty paychecks. IS also gets a lot of that money. They probably have more people than they list. They definitely have more equipment and do things they don't tell the bureaucrats. We may be fighting them in the streets before this is over, but that's what we most want to avoid. Uh... Mike?"

"Mike, and I really like it. The magic sword and shields?"

"Limited. Even equipment to build equipment to build some parts of the sword are controlled. The shields aren't as difficult, but they take power and suddenly having one disappear is not pleasant to contemplate. Until we..."

"Mike, we've seen that sudden glazed look before."

"So have we, Nevin. It took both Loren and me to get the pan he was holding out of his hand. Blade was laughing too hard to want to help. The idea worked great."

"Excuse us, everyone. We're going to steer him to a computer. That way, we can see what he's thinking and help."

"He's not used to having a comp to work on, Nev."

"We know, Blade, but this is what we did when he came to the physics lab."

Blade quickly pointed out men for people to gather around to work on things, then followed Knight. He got there just in time to get a math assignment. Stats groaned, copied the equation off the datpad and put him on a chair in front of a computer. Two early middle-age women, now named Elise and Kendra, sat down at open computers. A young man, now named Dayton, sat down at another.

"I'm an engineer."

"So am I."

"I'm a medical numerologist. You can guess the numbers that didn't make sense that I started checking."

"Yes, Kendra, I can. You were probably an early rebel."

"One of the first, Stats. My profession no longer exists on Gradelode."

In an exceptionally lovely living room in an area of very large lovely homes in Jenneara, five K from Roper district, a man listened to a report, politely and succinctly delivered by one of his employees. When she finished, he reimbursed her expenses, paid her wage, then added a very large bonus from his pocket, all in cash.

He informed her he was changing her job to personal secretary. He called her lover, told him he was hired as building maintenance supervisor, to get her and their year-old son moved into the east wing apartment, then make sure every property met all code standards. His house manager opened the apartment and ordered a hauler for her, then walked into his employer's study and sat down.

"L day?"

"L day-plus. The gov and IS made real rebels and they've got tech that made cracking open Horgen and Fataner daylight strolls, with time to sort. They left seventy-three in Horgen and twenty-two in Fataner. They didn't kill any guards when they broke loose all the convicted rebels, either."

"Oh, shit."

"Get every person on the payroll listed on the payroll. Most are security. Shut down all gambling operations. They stopped being profitable twelve days ago. Get the clinics medical supplies and protection, and get all the prostitutes run through them and licensed."

"The pimps just need addresses for brothel licenses."

"Keetsy?"

"Did a lot of talking or they wouldn't be ready."

"Give him a real nice address for his license. Stores?"

"Guslo's been sniffing the air for storm. If there's an item on a stockroom shelf they don't have a purchase receipt for, they know where, and it won't be in the store in three minutes."

"Tell our discreet friends the protection price increase made it more profitable to do strictly licensed business and provide our own security. Warn them all addictive drug supplies will run out fast and there won't be more until someone imports from offplanet, or finds a cheap way to construct from basic elements, which no one has so far."

"What?!"

"Nine years ago, I traded an old man a university scholarship for his great-grandson for a gov secret so secret they forgot they were supposed to be taking care of him. The gov finished wiping out all six hundred forty-three plant species the botanic survey listed as producing addictive substances, in the wild, forty-two years ago. I got his granddaughter a job that got her family out of Roper as a bonus. He found out no seed for those three plants existed anywhere else as a thank-you. Glide and mopweed still exist, but the additives that made them more than mild euphorics don't. The assassin is out and I'm very pleased. I'm sure were on friendly terms."

The warnings were passed personally. Three cars and one flyer left Jenneara. Four cars and one flyer left Richland. Two flyers left Azura. In six hours, "L day" spread across five continents. It wasn't universal by a wide margin, but many checked the books and chose to follow the lead of the Roper boss.

One who was warned drove to the home of an acquaintance. That woman didn't believe her. She went with her to the home of a business associate. He didn't believe her, either. He very discreetly checked a price, then spun from his computer and yelled for people. Seventeen minutes later, twenty-four people, with printout images of seven plants listed as very common in the region, in the botanic survey, walked into an area designated as a nature preserve in the colonial charter. Over a two-hour twenty-three minute period, nine plants that resembled the images were found.

The twenty-four got back in a transport. When they reached the estate of their wealthy employer, one carried the nine plants in to him. He scanned them. The computer identified them as nine other plants. He poured three glasses of wine, gave the women theirs, paced his library four times, then sat down, picked up his glass and took a sip of wine.

"They're gone. The 'supplier' wants four times the standard price for twenty percent of the usual order."

"I don't like your business, but I like the gov less. You're no longer profitable. A... two thousand percent price increase is designed to make you obvious, with nice bloody bodies. You're 'scraps' IS is going to throw to the middle-masses. You might convince the government you don't know it was the producer and top-level supplier, if you dump your current stock, pass word the producers are out of business permanently and the protection price increase twelve days ago was the gov setting up to cover loss of income. Every real smart boss on all five continents is dumping every illegal operation and licensing every one that isn't. Decide if you prefer a loss on your current stock to being dead."

"It'll make IS look like heroes."

"Do you know anybody with brains who doesn't realize the gov has always known where the drugs came from?"

"No, the smart ones have all figured out the gov's too greedy to let anyone else make the money."

The 'rebels' in the mine didn't know they destroyed the only source of addictive substances on the planet. IS didn't know it. There was no record of the extermination of six hundred forty-three plant species in any gov file. The only record was in the living memory of a few people who had lived longer than a bureaucrat had expected, when she chose laborers in their seventies for the task. By the time the people in the mine had breakfast, distributors were shoving drugs into trash cyclers, as fast as the machines could reduce them to basic elements. By the time they finished lunch, territory distributors were emptying cycler element bins into public waste disposals.

Local distributors and pushers weren't warned, so no one tried to raise prices. Local distributors never kept enough stock to be a temptation. Pushers never carried more than they'd sell in a short time. By the time the tech bunch suddenly left computers and ran for tools, just before dinner was ready, local distributors and pushers were beginning to use the money they had in their pockets to disappear.

That night, Knight and Blade took four men in the invisible car to perform a series of thefts so odd they doubted anyone would notice them. The trailer the car towed was an ore cart. Knight drove the car to four cities that night. The thieves emptied specific element bins of several public trash recycle units, in each.

Knight and Blade went a third of the length of the continent, towing a smaller trailer, to perform the last theft of the night. The government tech repair center on the south-central west coast was the largest, and the only single place they could get all seven items they needed.

The theft was closely timed. The gate swung open ahead of the car and closed behind it. A loading dock door opened and a robo-cart rolled out onto the dock. Knight and Blade moved the seven units on it to the trailer quickly, then got back in the car and closed the shield. They had to wait for the gate to open, but not long.

"Sixteen seconds less than the leeway we allowed."

"We can lift and carry more than we realized. We gave us more time to move with heavy loads than we needed. I wish it was reasonable to see how long it takes for the gov to figure out those things are missing."

"So do I, Knight. No intake receipt, so they didn't get here. No shipping record, so they didn't go anywhere. No repair order, so they didn't need fixing, and the people who sent them expected it to take 'forever,' so they won't check for a long time. You aren't happy about a couple of the repairs needed. You didn't tell me why."

"Calibration. Basically, we need the instrument we're fixing to check to see if the instrument we're fixing is right, to be sure two others are right."

"There's a way around it?"

"Two. One is see if something we build blows up."

"The other?"

"Perfect pitch and a trained ear."

"I don't have perfect pitch."

"Uh... How well-trained is your ear?"

"I can identify the key tones in a lock code series. Bard! Look at the road, not me."

"Sorry. I haven't driven much. You called me Bard."

"You scared 'Knight' right out of me. Have you driven more than I have?"

"How long did you drive tonight?"

"That's what I thought. I have driven a car before, around the block three times. I didn't tell the woman who paid me to do it, while she was making a fast illegal purchase, I'd never done it before. She asked if I could and I said yes, and that I didn't need what she did, so wouldn't steal her car. I didn't tell her I didn't need the money, but really wanted to drive."

"I was going to buy one."

"So was I. Why don't we?"

"You think we should?"

"I think were going to need a number of vehicles. This one is nice, but not what one would use to take a woman on the usual type of date."

"The women we're thinking about aren't 'usual,' but I agree we need more vehicles."

"The only ones not nervous about using their identities and bank accounts are the six."

"The men asked for cash for the brothels."

"I'd use cash at one if I was a pocker with a boring past and a steady job. That's why Nevin just handed it out."

"Watch 'pocker.' I'd never heard it before."

"It's used a lot, but not in the class we want to be, unless you're informing a man he isn't in it."

"Why pock?"

"I have no idea. I don't know why 'tod,' either. They both say 'origin unknown' in the dictionary. Car?"

"If I start thinking about how to hide a shield unit in a regular car, I'll forget I'm driving."

"Hiding it's easy. Trust me!"

"Do you want to drive?"

"No, but I'll explain fast, so you remember you are. Shields don't have to be this big. Some cars have recessing tops, panels and others, for things like sunshine, ports for playing loud music at places like a beach, and solar panels and power reception antennae to keep the system charged when you do."

"I knew about the sunshine."

"The others can be ordered on a car, but they're usually added. Sound ports and solar panels are fairly cheap and often owner-installed, with widely varying levels of skill. A power reception unit and antenna is easy to self-install, but usually done by a shop because they do all the stuff to add the receiver to the car owner's house power account."

"I still have big holes in everybody-knows, Blade."

"After we fix the things we can't have, to build things we can't have, to build things that can't exist, we'll get out and fill them real fast. There aren't many."

"Only the ones so everybody-knows it didn't occur to you I don't."

"I get mad every time I think about the things you didn't."

"Should I tell Danny I've never made love with a woman?"

"She knows."

"Are you going to tell one you haven't?"

"You're working on me again."

"Admitted."

"Nev's right. Fidelity would be easy for me, and you'd work at not feeling trapped and 'be faithful,' if I asked it, and I know it."

"If you really needed it, I wouldn't have to work at it."

"I know that, too. The women won't be as hard on me as the men."

"Huh?!"

"I didn't think you realized it."

"I still haven't."

"Case has. Dayton's hoping you do very soon. I thought we were in Hell. They were fed twice a day, worked all the time they weren't eating or unconscious, or in two hours of induced REM sleep per five-day to keep them alive to work. That didn't really penetrate until last night when Kendra said she didn't remember how to go to sleep. Only three hundred seven and everyone thinks three or four times that many. Why did IS just hold people for long periods, then move them to other continents?"

"To increase their budget. To get people like Choppy and Backit to help them hide they had a lot of money they weren't paying for reports. To make rebels, so scared bureaucrats gave them more money and power, until they had enough to take it all."

"Warkerdoll became commandant fourteen years ago."

"You're planning an assassination."

"Just considering it."

"I want to put him in Horgen, with all the other beasts."

"So do I, but it won't happen. He's 'just following orders.' The government is corrupt. He knows it. Everyone does. It's up to the people to change the government in proper democratic manner. Then he'll have other orders to follow. However, until they do it in that way, he follows the orders of this government or commits treason."

"I still don't think that's the right way, or it's time. We need to know more."

"Like is he too brightly painted not to be a target?"

"That's a good 'more' to put at the top of the list."

"It's always number one."

"That's eight. Number one is..."

"Pock!!"

"I'm not good at this."

"You're fine at driving. Just not at... remembering you're driving."

"I really scared you that time."

"You went glazed that time."

"I want you to drive."

"You scared you."

"Yes."

"No."

"No?"

"I don't think you'll kill us and you're learning something. Cars have comps that would grab control if you swerved like that. Too many people depend on them to make up for lack of attention to what they're doing and what's around them. I'm going to remind you a swerve like that could throw something off the trailer and every person on this world, who doesn't choose to victimize others, is a victim who needs what's back there to be rescued, before they're all enslaved."

"Check I didn't lose anything."

"All there. The situation isn't dangerous, but the potential exists for it to become so suddenly. Deep breath. Stretch your spine. Square your shoulders. Now relax into the seat, but stay alert. Better?"

"Yes."

"You didn't forget the importance of what we're doing."

"Yes, I did."

"No, you didn't. It's all been... too easy. Walk in. Walk out. Zip, zip, nobody can see us. Nobody can stop us. This time just move stuff off a loading dock and go home. You were working on protecting people when it's not that easy and needed a reminder this part is potentially dangerous, too. You put something in the future ahead of what we're currently doing on the priority list. You didn't forget it was important. Oh, no. Don't cry. I don't know what to do, and I feel terrible."

"I love you. I couldn't even imagine having a friend like you. Do you want me to promise no other men?"

"Of course, but I'd thump you on the head to get your mind working if you did. You're the person I love. Eventually, you'd have noticed you watched a man walked by with more interest than passing object, if you hadn't been sent to Horgen. You know how limited and narrow your exposure to sexuality was. You are limited by cultural... Inculcation?"

"Yes, but don't use 'cultural inculcation.' That's redundant. You could say by Roper inculcation, or some other term identifying the... instilled cultural attitudes."

"Scientific inculcation?"

"Better than Roper as usage example."

"Not better for showing me 'identifying.' Anyway, you didn't have a bunch of people pounding you into the shape they were sure was the only healthy one, but you did have expectations. Love stories are boy meets girl, boy meets boy or girl meets girl. There just aren't many boy meets girl, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl, girl love stories. They'd run out of broadcast time before the characters were all introduced."

Knight burst into laughter. A few moments later, disaster almost struck. Knight slammed on brakes and swerved into another lane and the hauler that abruptly moved into the high-speed lane missed them by centimeters. Blade checked the load. They still had all seven items, but three were no longer upright and one was too close to the edge. Knight took the next exit, then pulled off the road. They moved all but the two biggest pieces of equipment into the car. After they had, Knight pulled Blade into his arms.

"I wouldn't have been ready, alert enough. Nothing can see us. He'd have hit us and never known what hit him."

"It has its drawbacks. Aftershakes are appropriate. I checked my pants. I was surprised. I was sure it scared the shit out of me."

Knight reached back and felt his and looked surprised. Blade laughed and gave him a squeeze. They didn't get back on the road immediately. They used the brewer in the car, sat on the trailer and drank a cup of tea. The remainder of the drive to the mine was without incident, but Nev saw something had gone wrong, as soon as they got there.

"What happened?"

"A hauler didn't see us. We didn't lose anything. They're in the car. Three pieces tipped over hard."

"Those we can get again, Knight. You two we can't. I can see how close we came to losing you in your eyes. You're about to get hugs. I'm sure warning you is a good idea. If I brewed you mopweed tea, would you drink it?"

"Blade?"

"Yes. It'll be the first time I had it."

"That doesn't surprise me. This is the first place you could let something... take the edge off."

"No, but we didn't have any in the cell when we locked the door."

"The guards couldn't open it if you locked it?"

"They'd have gassed us first."

"No one will open an unlocked door without knocking here. Danny learned our 'detour' to Fataner was just ahead of delivery of an 'infiltrator.' She's trying to figure out how to get her out."

"What?"

"They're holding her fifteen-year-old daughter as a rebel. Danny thinks she killed an IS officer for attempted rape of the girl, or vice versa. Anyway, they have them both and it's a two-bait trap."

"It's time to kill some people."

"Who do you have in mind, Blade?"

"I was thinking of starting on your list, Knight."

"Thank you. Let's have some tea, eat, sleep, and then I'll think about..."

"Number one is eight."

"Yes, one is eight. Nevin, the pyramid has eight sides."

"I'm reaching, Knight."

"How many dimensions does it have?"

"Height, width, depth?"

"It has twelve surfaces."

"Twelve, twelve, twelve, but... It's eight. It's eight!!"

"It's eight."

"What is eight?"

"The damn little piece we couldn't figure out, Blade. It's a measurement 'count.' Depth is 'counted' four that way and four that way. The measurement is irrelevant, but now we know..."

"There are eight possible applications for the pyramid."

"Yes! Hi, Mike."

"Sit down, boys. Your brunch starts with tilf-flour biscuits with crimp fungi gravy and melon slices."

"Starts with?"

"Trimpy stuffed pinkfish fillets are baking."

"You're having a good time with real food to cook."

"I'm learning I actually like to cook, Knight. Loren and I could so... We still are and we've got volunteers enough we both admitted the reason has to be it's fun."

"This is the mopweed tea. This is a tasty sweet herbal tea. It's brewed strong. Use it to cool and flavor to taste. All the tea will do is loosen the knots enough to enjoy your meal, then get the sleep you know you need."

Nev got the two headed for bed, then the six of them and two engineers went to work on the equipment. While they were working, they learned most of the long-held 'rebels' didn't know the monster IS had become, and some thought they could call their families when they got to a public comm. Nev called a meeting fast. Ronnie briefed on IS budget, personnel and practices, then went to the kitchen and did it again. Others helped people understand what she'd told them in daily-life terms, and that they were deadly to their families, often in graphic personal anecdotes.

Danny told the women "a bodyslam onto a bed" was the only hint the men would be sure they weren't mistaking, then Dayton asked if a man wanted to help him be sure he hadn't been "messed up." A former prison inmate yelled, "Yes!" and several burst into laughter. Mike and Loren lightened the mood in the kitchen, with the story of Blade "body-rolling" biscuit dough, while they attempted to get Knight to notice they were trying to get a pan out of his hand. Gov center had been open one hour, thirty-three minutes, when Danny sat down at a comp to check things after lunch.

"Nev! The whole planet... changed. IS is nervous and the bureaucrats are flat scared. And they haven't even found the program yet."

"Changed how?"

"There may not be an unlicensed or illegal business on five continents. Drugs are flat gone, except for the remainder of the gov's stock and no one will even look that direction. Maintenance people are swarming over buildings in subsidized housing areas and licensed prostitutes are arranging furniture in, freshly comp-issued, licensed brothels. Stores, brothels and clinics have smiling 'greeters' with lots of muscle, all legally employed with employment taxation record filing fees paid. If you want to gamble, someone will draw you a map to a licensed casino. What did we do?"

"It may not have been us, or not just us. See if you can find where it started."

"Roper district."

"Our hero-for-a-demon good business-demon was busy, and prepared. He didn't have anything to do with drugs drying up. See if you can find why he was prepared. What did the government do in Roper district to... make people be pleased they enslaved two thousand and yell take more? Why was drug production shut down the buzzer to get everything extremely legal?"

"Someone obviously knew where rebels were and we wouldn't leave a profitable place to put more behind."

"I'll bet our hero demon... knew."

"Twelve percent increase fourteen days ago. They paid it once and got ready. Why?"

"Can we figure it out without Blade?"

"The wizard raised the price of ignoring 'usual demon business.' They surprised him."

"Doing business was more important than doing demon business. The price raise was too much. Passing it on wasn't possible."

"Unless the customers got money from somewhere else. It was supposed to start thefts and violence, make sure every person was afraid to leave the house unwatched, or open the door."

"It backfired. Good business demons know property loss is high in a war zone, you can't sell anything to a body and dungeon tenants aren't return customers. The drug dealers didn't 'get legal.' They just plain stopped. They didn't even try to sell current stock. They certainly didn't raise prices. The wizard did! They weren't going to be profitable. Get some to kill each other, making them bloody obvious, get the people screaming do something and sweep up the bloody bits."

"Except the gov and IS didn't plan it, Nev. The price raise was done by a comp. It computes sale price based on stock level and a set profit margin, and raised it... two thousand percent."

"We hit just before delivery! That's why there was so much! The major distributors would have restocked yesterday."

"Someone checked the price early. Why?"

"A big price increase fourteen days ago? What loss of income..."

"Was the wizard expecting. Nev, that wasn't where I expected to start a rebellion, and certainly not in the expected fashion."

"We're still missing something and so are the wizard's minions, and maybe the wizard. What do the soul-sucking demons know the wizard doesn't?"

"You think it's too complete."

"No one, down to the street, is looking at the supply. No one is dribbling it out a tiny bit at a time to special customers at restock prices, Danny."

"What's in it?"

"What are you thinking?"

"Did we get more of some elements than there should have been in public waste recycle?"

"You think they dumped it?!"

"They know something the wizard doesn't, Nev. They're not hiding it in caves until the minions pass. What do they know the wizard doesn't... remember?"

"Get the formula for dream dust. I need methods to figure this from some elements."

"I have them!"

"I have methods too, chemical engineering."

"Doc Larry! I need social stats to go with! I do, and it's the perfect excuse to get him close enough to bodyslam."

"Go, Kendra."

"Don't pout, Elise. I don't plan to keep him and there are lots of gorgeous hopefuls to play with, until I've got his memory of what that thing is for well-refreshed."

"You pegged that one perfectly, Kendra. Twenty-six years and he worked on social stats the night the most desperate went to brothels."

"We weren't worried they'd lose control when you got here, but they were."

"What are we working?"

"What the demons know the wizard forgot, Doc."

"They're about to check the trash. I need ordinary waste for areas to predict components. For that, I need lifestyle, probable numbers in public areas, other things that I don't know because our fields don't intersect there. Medical numerology."

"I'm working on it as a Chem E problem. I'll be going from what they got back to probable source type."

"We're looking for?"

"Thousands of kilos of dream dust, caper and every other addictive drug on the planet, shoved in waste recyclers over a six to eight hour period, planetwide."

"Doc? Doc?"

"What the hell is going on?!"

"Actually, Hell went completely legitimate over the ten hours previous."

"We think the gov started the rebellion fourteen days ago and we just sounded the go buzzer."

"Show me, Danny."

They worked from two directions and the statistical analysis left no doubt. Doc Larry began pulling other data into a matrix and yelled for Blade. Nev said he hoped he survived waking him abruptly and went after him. He knocked on the door lightly and stepped back quickly. Nine seconds later, they came out, both in clean clothes.

He briefed them on the way to the computer area in the corner of the semi-enclosed, huge central room. When they got there, Doc Larry asked questions, Blade gave descriptions and Doc Larry entered numeric values.

Knight worked on tech. He yelled he needed "ear" and Blade ran for him. Knight yelled for silence. Fifty-two seconds later, Blade ran back to Doc Larry, Dayton ran out of the quarters area and Danny, Nev and Elise ran from computers to workbench.

Doc Larry and Blade were both adamant. The hero-for-a-demon had to be warned of the 'export plan' and their stall before the next morning. And they had to have a shield, a car and a house with a garage and get tools in the garage, to put the shield in the car, first.

### Chapter Four

The invisible car dropped two a short distance from public transport stop, then backed into a vacant lot. Nev worked on assembling the shield unit for a car, hoped no one took a shortcut and was fervently thankful he had something to do. Knight and Blade walked around two used car lots, got on another transport, looked at neighborhoods as they crossed town, walked around three lots there, caught another transport, looked at neighborhoods, and saw exactly the type, then got off the transport walked around the corner whooped and ran. They'd found the type of car lot they wanted and prices they 'could afford.' Blade said the neighborhood looked even better, then they saw 'the car.' They headed for it and the sales person who came from another direction got there right after they did.

"It needs some work, but it's priced right."

"Work we can do, Fem. Priced is... a little high."

"Cash?"

"Straight debit, but it is from two accounts."

"I'll drop it the cost of taxes and licensing."

"What work?"

"Gyro balance stabilizer. It can be tuned, but the wobble comes back. The comp's not terrific and the geo-locator is using a crutch. The exterior is good. The interior is nice. The sound system's fantastic. There's not another six-passenger beach party car near that price in town."

"It's a pretty clean job on the sound ports. Knight, boost me to see the solar panels you're looking down at."

"Sorry, Blade. It's a clean cut."

"Yes, recess is smooth. Do you know if this was a pro job?"

"She did it herself. Let me show you the deck space and what's under it."

"Under it?"

"The sound system, Knight."

"Oh."

"There's more than that. She's got a keeper, brewer and cooker in it. It can be opened from inside, too."

"How not-good is the comp?"

"Drive it yourself."

"We'd do that if it had the best comp made. How hard is it going to be to get the gyro?"

"A pain."

"Now we know why the price."

"If we got it to a big city, would it be less pain?"

"Not a close one."

"Richland? Jenneara?"

"Jenneara maybe. There's a distributor there that carries Tourline parts and stocks some of the odd models."

"Hainsley-Compton?"

"That's the one. I can check for you."

"Thank you."

"We decided?"

"It's the sixth place we looked, Blade, and you like the neighborhood."

"They won't think two chairs in the house and a garage full of guys working on cars, sound systems, entertainment screens or whatever is weird."

"We're home-hunting, too. Neither of us is going to find university positions until next term, and we're more likely to find people who don't show us retirement plans in this area than most."

"University positions?"

"There are things less useful than a doctorate in math. I have a list."

"I use his. Most apply for a masters."

"There's a lot of seasonal work coming up. Get that gyro fixed and that will get you and four others anywhere. The forest growers will appreciate that and you can pull the back seats and sleep in it. Maybe."

"I curl up. That's one reason we were looking for off-road capability in that size. We can hand harvest fast and clean."

"We fillet fish nicely, too."

"We have sufficient to live on until new term and then some, if we're not extravagant, but we'd rather not. Know a house for rent?

"I figured that was the reason for fiscal reassurance. Actually, I do. The owner of the tea shop across the street has one. It may be much bigger than you want."

"Would he mind if we looked for couple roommates with furniture? We didn't bring a lot from the Southwest continent."

"You haven't seen it yet."

"Or heard a price, but 'bigger' caused an immediate roommates response."

"Triple car garage and shop area."

"Triple? Bedrooms?"

"Five. It's huge and old. Heating it in winter costs a lot, but it's not expensive this time of year, it's well-maintained, has three bathrooms, and could again have a lovely yard."

"What happened to the yard?"

"Mowed period."

"Do you know the price?"

"Four twenty per thirty, if you sign a half-year. One hundred twenty-day will be more."

"It's real expensive to heat."

"Lots of windows that don't look at a great view."

"Uh, oh."

"It's zoned residential-commercial. It's on a big corner lot, but next door is empty, behind and over are walls and across the street is a warehouse. He's really hoping someone buys it for an in-home business."

"The neighbors wouldn't complain about parties."

"Does it have appliances and curtains?"

"And opaqueing windows."

"I think she got us a car and a house. Think we should give her the rest of our list?"

"Where to buy groceries, but we'll just look for girls."

"Toskit's on Shotz and Twenty-third and Waindain two blocks that way. Test drive?"

"Is it tuned as good as you can get it?"

"Wobbling as bad as it gets."

"This is a strange car shopping experience."

"The owner has a unique attitude. He says everyone knows the cars are used, and if they want perfect, the dealership is six blocks west. Long-time customers bring their grandkids here to look for their first car. He's my great-uncle. Nepotism runs rampant, but there's more seasonal than nieces and nephews."

"Powerplant sounds good."

"You want to drive?"

"Drive."

Knight drove around the block, then they bought the car. They walked across to the tea shop while the documents were being processed. They liked the little man with the wide smile as much as the woman in the car lot. He told them he'd prefer tenants that fixed minor and sent a receipt for payment, but would take care of major or appliance failure. When Knight said most of those were easy, and Blade wanted noisy buddies in the garage and neighbors they, and roommates with furniture, wouldn't disturb, the grin widened and he brought a half-year lease agreement up on the comp screen.

Both read fast and signed, then really surprised him when they paid a half-year. Knight told him it was preface for a request to use "yard restoral" equipment, then told him they had to go to Jenneara for a car part, so wouldn't be home, but had met a man also househunting and he might be, if they found him still looking. Their new landlord said he'd put "stuff" on the side patio and they walked out with the keycode. They didn't tell him they hadn't seen it.

They looked at a map while the car purchase documentation was completed and Knight giggled. There really wasn't anything between the house and the mine adit, except the road that went a quarter of the way around the town.

The callback from the parts distributor came while the hardcopy documents were printing. They had the part, but would probably be closed before they got there. Knight said they did have a place to sleep. Blade held up a finger.

"Is there a place that will be open someone could leave the part for us for... a not high delivery cost. We need to get back to job hunt. If we didn't need it fast, we'd have it shipped. It doesn't have to be a garage, just someplace open late that will stick it somewhere for a couple credits, I hope."

"I know a woman who'll hang onto it for nothing if you walk in hungry. Good food at a good price and I'll drop it off on my way home at seventeen thirty."

"I keep wondering what we did right today. We'll leave you a tea and dessert for next time you go in."

"The pinkfruit pie is great. Cherub's Kitchen, Seventy-eighth and Triller, open until midnight."

"Pinkfruit pie before midnight. Oh, and a car part to buy."

The late middle-age man laughed and set up the purchase. There was a fee because they weren't a licensed vendor, but the part was listed as "limited older model" and it was only six credits. They walked out, got in their new car, with a well-verified excuse to go to Jenneara, drove out of the lot toward their 'new' house, then turned the corner and went the other direction.

Nev was very glad to see them. He'd run out of shield work and made more tea, more than once. He pulled out behind them and winced when he saw the perfect car wobbled. He was surprised when they led him out of town, but they turned north on the belt road, not south toward the adit. A few moments later, they turned onto a street between warehouses. Then he saw where they were going and whooped. He pulled in the fairly long drive that went between hedges and trees, behind them, then into the garage beside the car when Blade opened two garage doors. When they began to close, he turned off the shield.

"Fantastic! Perfect! Incredible!"

"And low price because it's big, old and the view out the opaqueing windows is ruined. Half-year paid, utilities transferred, and the landlord knows we're hunting garage and party buddies and roommates with furniture. Blade's putting the for-rent sign on the side patio, where the landlord will leave yard restoral equipment. We didn't tell him we hadn't seen it. The salesperson at the car lot sent us across the street to the tea shop owner, now landlord."

"The gyro on that car is gone."

"That's the worst it gets, but we found the closest place to get a replacement, Jenneara. It'll be waiting for us at the salesperson's favorite not-expensive cafe. We have to be there before midnight. Nev?"

"Uh, huh. Knight..."

"I know. Blade's trying to figure out what we did right. That saleswoman, or our landlord, may have an entire season's work lined up for us by tomorrow. I teased about our list and we got both grocery store and place to meet girls. This is a very nice town. The sales pitch was a list of what's wrong with the car, then she showed us the keeper, brewer and cooker under the deck, after dropping the price the cost of taxes and registration fees. Blink, blink, you there?"

"No, I walked into a dream."

"Five bedrooms, three baths, all appliances, a workshop..."

"Think it's Blade?"

"What's Blade?"

"Well, maybe a fairy thinks he's a misplaced elf and sprinkled him with fairy dust, just in case."

Knight burst into laughter and led Nev from the garage into the house. Blade was in the kitchen, dancing around it, singing, "Our house, our very own house." They explored quickly, then went back to the garage. In just over an hour, they'd installed the shield 'post,' which extended ten cens, under the solar panels, which now recessed, under the roof panel which recessed. They checked the shield, then tuned the gyro balance. After that, they went to work on the hard part. They needed the windscreen to raise and the magic sword to rise out of the console. It wouldn't be as big as the one on the invisible car, but it wasn't small and it had to be completely hidden.

Their stomachs were complaining it was past dinnertime when they placed the mockup in the support bracket and checked it. The windscreen rose as the sword came out, both locked into place, then both unlocked, went down, the console cover slid into place and the windscreen sealed. They whooped and danced, then unloaded the essentials for Knight and Blade and carried them into the house.

Nev turned the shield on in the invisible car and headed for the mine, when the center garage door opened. Knight and Blade removed the back seat of their car, then took showers and chose clothes to wear. They made two stops before they left town. They bought a pad, pillows and blankets at a general merchandise store, then went to the recommended grocery store and bought supplies for the trip. As they left town, Blade yelled for "music to cook by" and went back to fix them an overdue meal, then they took turns napping. They loved their car.

The gyro-balance was rapidly progressing from slightly to badly out of tune when they reached Jenneara. The car 'disappeared' after it left the exit ramp, then Knight drove it to a more than very nice residential area. He drove across a wide, well-kept lawn to the back of the mansion and parked on the delivery drive. He and Blade got out and stood behind the car, though beneath the shield. They stepped through the shield opening in the fraction of a second it existed and walked up the drive in bright light that had come on when they 'appeared.' It quickly dimmed and a man stepped out of his back door, as they reached it.

"Good evening, gentlemen. This is a surprising visit, in many ways."

"This was the only way we could safely get word to you what the protection price increase was supposed to do and why, and warn you they'll probably try something else."

"Please, come in. My study is this way. I have a nice brandy there."

"I've never had alcohol. Have you?"

"No."

"We'll be starting with the best."

"I'm driving."

"Don't drink much."

"Brandy is too good to drink much. It can be abused, as any alcoholic beverage can, but it's made to be savored and appreciated. I'm glad to see you, I think."

"I wish we were bringing better news. You sure surprised them."

"I didn't expect that many to follow."

"We're working on why. That's some of why we're here. The main reason is to tell you the gov intends to 'lease two thousand economic indebted' to mine a non-habitable planet and add fifteen thousand a year. The contract was to start in about eighty days and included five hundred rebels. We've got a stall in, but they haven't discovered it yet."

"My hands haven't shaken in thirty years. The price increase?"

"Violence, theft, make people cheer and say send more, which is why you went full legal. The bunch calls you 'hero for a demon.' Demon isn't an insult. It's a recognition of the type of power you have to wield. It's fantasy fiction, not religion."

"What do they call you?"

"The companion."

"He's Silver Blade. I'm stuck with Knight. The finest sociologist, perhaps only true sociologist, on this planet sent us to you with what we've learned."

At the end of the brief, they told him the stall. He wasn't familiar with the game. He called his secretary and got a concise description of level eight. When she finished, he thanked her, closed in-house communications and began to laugh.

"You have the way to move to the next level."

"We think IS will hunt us a while before they just delete it."

"They won't delete it. It would take everything they know about everyone."

"We're missing one piece. We analyzed the elements in public trash cyclers and know drugs were dumped, but not why."

"There aren't any more. There's nothing to extract them from. The gov wiped out six hundred forty-three plant species in the wild over forty years ago and expunged the record of it. I'm sure you didn't leave them any crop or seed."

"We swept the floor."

"Six hundred forty-three species, it took years."

"Fourteen. All the gov employed to do it were over seventy. At least one outlived the expiration date on his pension, or I wouldn't know."

"Our timing was accidentally perfect. The gov or IS didn't raise the price on resupply. A computer sets it by a formula. Deliveries weren't made, so it applied it to current stock."

"It makes one wonder about the power of a prayer whispered by millions."

"We think there's a fairy keeping him sprinkled with dust because she's sure he's a misplaced elf."

"Elf?"

"Brownie? Sprite? Fairy?"

"Elf. Definitely elf."

"May I ask your next move?"

"Teach the millions, who want the government brought down and IS ripped apart, to plan carefully and do as little damage to innocents as possible, when they select their personal targets, such as water additive and equipment. Thousands of private labs make the spermicide and don't know where it's going. Destroying those would injure innocents. Destroying water treatment facilities would, not could, cause disease and death."

"IS is really going to start looking for an organization. You know what it takes to construct a network and we can't do that. It'll be one, three, five people deciding to cut off a greedy finger. They won't tell anyone else, and no one will suggest when or where. IS is going to lose a lot of people. It won't be random. Every person who kills one will have a mental list of why that particular beast should be killed. There's no rebel force, but one will come into existence any place and time there must be one."

"The one thing people must realize is that no one should take an IS or police weapon to use. That would be the excuse IS needs to institute a police state. Every weapon goes in the cycler immediately."

"That's not going to be easy to convince people to do."

"The weapons of the people are the plants, wood and rock of this world. Blowguns and slings are deadly and poisons so common we distribute lists of things to keep out of reach of children."

"And your tech?"

"Was described by the ancients in the earliest forms of writing. They called it magic, because it was beyond physical law as they understood it. We've described those physical laws completely, and thought we'd described all that can exist. Our discovery is they were right. Magic exists. Technology was the only part of it we were using. We must go. We have to get a piece of pinkfruit pie from a cherub before midnight, or our coach will turn into a bright orange pumpkin. I don't think he believed me."

"He didn't feel the coach begin to wobble."

"The government is not of the people. It committed great offense against the life of this world. The weapons of the people are the plants, wood and rock of it. They have the power to end abuse. If the people use the weapons of the beasts, they give them the power to enslave them."

"That's good. I think he can use that."

"I think so too."

"Thank you. I liked the brandy."

"So did I. We're now spoiled."

"I memorized the names on the bottles in the liquor cabinet."

"Good thinking."

"Gershton beer, Allendon ale and Pipertown porter."

"Thank you."

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for fairy dust in your hair. As soon as I think a wish, it's granted."

"It's invisible."

"So's the coach, until midnight, and we still have to find the cherub with the pinkfruit pie."

"We've got a real good clue."

They counted steps and stopped. Knight extended fingers and smiled when he touched the shield. He counted it off, pressed the remote and they stepped through in the tenth-second the opening existed. They got in the car and drove until they found a good place to reappear. A few moments later, they parked in the best-lit place in the Cherub's Kitchen lot. They bought dinner to go, a whole pie plus three pieces and an extra tea. Knight took the car part out and began installing it. Blade arrived with their order, just before Knight reached the place two people made the job a quarter as difficult, checking the gyro-balance tuning. When that was done, they got in the car and Blade gave Knight towelettes to clean his hands.

"Are you hungry?"

"Not terribly."

"How about tea and pie and I put the rest in the keeper?"

"Great idea. How's our time?"

"If someone checks records, it won't look like we went somewhere else first. If they check the monitor or ask questions, they'll hear me explain tuning and babying the old part home did not make sense, and you had enough muscle and irritation to yank the old out, if you had to do it with your teeth."

"Why did she think it would be a pain to get the part?"

"It was, Knight, a several hour drive each way, and she wouldn't have thought of that distributor if I hadn't said, 'Jenneara.' She'd have recommended a dealer or parts store that would hunt one down and order it. We might have gotten the same part, but it would've taken a while. Pie?"

"Feed me. Mmm... Save a piece for Mike. I hope he can figure out what's in it."

"So do I. A trip to Jenneara for pie isn't really practical."

They didn't stop for the night on the journey, but they did sleep more. Blade napped, then relieved Knight and he slept. Blade woke him when he began feeling groggy again. The last twenty-six minutes of the trip, they played loud music and ate their dinners. They loved their car.

When they got to the house, Knight opened the garage with the remote key. There were two vehicles in the garage. One was the invisible car. The other was an old light hauler. Nev was in the kitchen brewing tea when they walked in. There were a table and chairs in the kitchen too.

"Good morning. We have roommates with furniture?"

"Good morning. You have me, a brewer, kitchenware and a table, so far."

"We also have a light hauler in the garage."

"I bought it last evening, Knight, just before a car lot that's part junkyard closed. If the parts store had been two blocks farther away, it would still run as bad as it looks. There's a public transport stop four blocks that way."

"I wondered. I'm surprised some place was still open."

"I ate dinner on the way back with Case, Stats and Dawn. They had it and your kitchen stuffing waiting. Danny found the LH listed in area net ads as 'sale priced.' It's going to be very useful, after we get a shield a built in it, too."

"Too?"

"It's the first 'bunch in the garage' excuse, and it'll get charity store second-hand furniture here. I told the lot owner I'd seen the ad and decided it was the toy for me and my new roommates to play with in our nice garage."

"You're our also-househunting roommate."

"I was looking for something 'interesting' in the area, when I met you. I have a lot of money. I haven't had it long, though it's been around a long time. I got an excellent, extremely private, education while other people used some of it in my name. My opinion of their use of it wasn't asked, so when I was old enough, I took it away from them and left. University was interesting, but a regular job isn't. I'll probably buy a car, a boat, maybe a house, if I like the area. Currently, I'm delighted to find garage playmates who think I should keep my money in my pocket and not buy my 'share' of the house rent, furniture, at the nicest store in town. An entertainment system is an exception which is not subject to debate. I'll probably insist on a nice computer, too."

"None of us have family."

"An unusual circumstance, but not particularly notable. The reasons are well-documented."

"Five hundred forty-eight?"

"Some are family, Blade; brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces..."

"I didn't know either."

"You've been busy. In other words, 'Oops, forgot to tell you.' They worked on relatives while you were dodging haulers."

"I should have known she wouldn't make them obvious in that way."

"All identities are complete. You can order your university transcripts."

"Did they find the program?"

"Not yet. Did you learn why?"

"The government violated the colonial charter and expunged the record. They didn't want any competition developing. There are no plants that produce a substance from which an addictive drug can be derived. They wiped out six hundred forty-three plant species over forty years ago."

"No. No!!"

"Nev, they weren't the same! That was a high-yield domestic crop. The plants were the result of crossbreeding with who knows what from where. Those crop plants were developed over fifty years ago, specifically for drug production. The government wiped out six hundred forty-three plant species on this world. We destroyed a domestic crop and seed for more. They couldn't have 'reverted.' They were hydroponic crop plants, not the last of plant species of this world."

"Nev, he used his... horror at what the gov did well. 'The government is not of the people. It committed great offense against the life of this world. The weapons of the people are the plants, wood and rock of it. They have the power to end abuse. If the people use the weapons of the beasts, they give them the power to enslave them.' It'll work. People will think about it and realize it's true."

"You memorized it."

"So did he. We both got it was... a magic spell, or invocation."

"Nev?"

"He's right. You armed every person on this world who wants the gov brought down, and intends to help do it."

"He told him the tech was described by the ancients and called 'magic,' too."

"Are they looking for you?"

"Not yet. They were still trying to figure out what happened to 'usual business' last night. Did you have breakfast?"

"No, we had dinner, but it was breakfast time when we ate it, just a few minutes ago."

"Let's go get furniture."

They found surprisingly nice used furniture at the charity secondhand store, but not enough. The woman at the counter recommended a used furniture store across town. They made three trips to the house with furniture, then went there. The prices were quite a bit higher than at the charity-run store, but they'd expected it. The used furniture store didn't get donations. The woman had said the owner bought the nicest of them, usually for more than people who came to the charity store could pay. They made two trips home with furniture from there, but they still needed beds.

One of the two couches they'd bought for the big living room became one, but every bed at the used furniture store was part of a suite and they didn't want to pay for nice sets. The man there, who'd told them his markup, had recommended 'The Bed Store.' When they found it, they were very pleased. The store had many types of beds in a wide range of prices, and linens to go on them, also in a wide price range. Nev sent Knight and Blade to start finding linens, after all agreed one type of bed was price and comfort right. When they'd gone, he grinned at the clerk.

"New roommates, and I'm already sure they're going to be friends forever. We've got a five-bedroom house and they've been working to keep me under a third of a half-year lease on it while we get the rest, most, of the furniture for it. Three of the biggest double, eight of the extra size singles, four of the tiered frames, pedestal frames for the doubles. I've been to parties that started after nine hours of play in the garage and hunted a flat place for my body. They haven't."

"I've been to some body-count parties too, and walked along to cars to make sure the comp was told it was driving."

"We won't do that. Anyone who's had that much to drink or is, more likely, that groggy stays. I'm getting that many tiered because I only like sharing mine with a special guest."

"Delivery?"

"No, we'll take it, in two or three trips."

"You're not staying under."

"The vehicle were going to customize is an old LH I bought. Stating I'm getting it, so the house gets plenty of beds for pooped helpers should work, I hope."

"I wouldn't want them mad at me. Key your code."

"Would you believe they're mathematicians?"

"You're kidding."

"Doctorate and masters, in math. The elf's the physical trainer."

"I'd be careful with that."

"So far, I've remembered not to say it in his hearing."

"Here's your loading dock code."

"Thanks."

"What do you call the big one?"

"His name. It's Knight."

Knight and Blade had found the best sheets for the price. Nev agreed. He picked up one stack off the shelf and handed it to Blade, then he picked up a stack and gave it to Knight, reached in, pulled the stack behind it out and stacked those on Knight's stack, then added a different size half-stack. They looked at each other and followed him to the next aisle. He loaded a stack and a half-stack of pads on Blade, then two on Knight and headed for covers.

"If he does that again, he'll have to steer me."

"Is this furniture, Blade?"

"I don't think he thinks it is."

"Maybe it's supplies."

"Maybe he got tired of us watching the budget he doesn't have."

"Nev, did you get tired of us watching your budget?"

"I loved it, Knight, but I like a full linen closet with lots of color selection. I like having sheets to put on when I take sheets off to go in the cycler. I also bought more beds and than you would have. If it's two forty when the bunch in the garage get done with something, I want to offer a bed, not steer to cars and tell the comp to drive. That LH is going to be worth a lot when we're done. I'm investing in assuring people know I appreciated help and know they worked hard."

"He got tired of us watching his budget, Knight."

"Yes, but it's a good excuse."

"Thank you. I worked hard on it. I like the furniture we got. Mixed used nice is appropriate for the house, but so is lots of beds for tired bodies."

"How many beds did you buy for five bedrooms?"

"A big one for each of ours and two of the tiered-frame singles for each of the other two."

"That's room for seventeen bodies!"

"Yes, Knight, but one couch shouldn't have to be used and we shouldn't have to share unless we work at it."

"That's still thirteen."

"I know, but the living and dining room carpets are nice and we shouldn't have to work not to step on fingers getting to the kitchen after a party."

"I like him, but he has a different concept of party than I do."

"Nev, I don't like drunk people."

"Neither do I, Blade. Most parties I've gone to that ended with lots of floor decorations didn't have alcohol at them. The bunch that talked longest stretched out on the floor and fell asleep talking, until the last one or two turned on the brewer, turned off the lights and got comfortable on the couch."

"We don't know enough people here to have a party like that, Nev."

"We will, Knight. Three guys with a great garage and great party house attract fun people. We'll be sorting who we do and don't tell were having one very soon. We're not the only ones who feel that way about 'drunk.' It will be a real attraction to a lot of women."

"Magic word. I want that deep rose cover."

"I like the dark blue-green."

"And the gold for mine. Go unload on the counter, while I find four each of four spreads. We need pillows and a stack of blankets too. Keeping every room comfy warm isn't necessary."

"We're going to do some window seal and such too."

"Very sensible."

Nev sighed in relief when the person who'd 'shopped' right behind them, from beds to linens, finally left, and went out the door. Everyone in the store relaxed a little, so he knew he'd been right. He had been following them. He looked out a window and identified the car as having been behind them on the way to the store. He walked back over to the clerk he'd liked.

"Is that frequent?"

"No. A nonresident we all notice visits. He's looking for a pay deposit, probably real disappointed you're just three guys with party plans, which you worked in well."

"You helped. It's appreciated. Locals?"

"Exceptionally nice, but they get help they don't request during resort and harvest season. Don't disturb your neighbors."

"Our neighbors are an unbusy warehouse and the walls behind businesses that only make noise during the day."

"You rented the old Madden place. You have a great party house."

"History?"

"A big house on open land outside of town. When the town annexed, put in streets and the belt road, it was all zoned residential, but no one built that direction. Instead of building on the valley floor that way, they went up the foothills on the other side. Costonby needed room and good access for specialty harvest equipment. They were as disgusted as the Maddens when the rezoning attracted a developer and that area sprouted big, cheap warehouse-type buildings. No one's going to tear that house down, but it's too big for most families. The current owner won't let it get run down, but he's right about it being a better location for a business than home now. He won't sell it out from under you. You're paying taxes and maintenance and there isn't anyone looking for a place like that. It would be nice for specialty gift shop, except it's not close to others. No view, so not bed and breakfast. His expected is accountant, dentist or some such. Eventually, but the town's not really growing in permanent residents."

"That may change. People who don't have to go into a store or something to work are moving out of cities with unattractive and expensive decorations on every corner. Smaller towns have some, but they're not on every corner, often in vari-colored groupings, if the corner is busy."

"It's cheaper to buy things like beds and linens in Mountain City, but nearly all the residents and most of the summer-place people patronize local merchants."

"The selection isn't limited, the quality is high and the prices aren't. A few more credits to help one's neighbors keep it that way is more pleasant than helping pay for unattractive decorations. Why so many used car lots?"

"Flat valley floor and not forty K to the next. People looking for something besides late-model-used, sitting next to the dealership, come here. We get people from Mountain City."

"I wondered why I saw more used, and new, dealers than it looked like the town could support."

"This is the car shopping center for all the towns around here. They all have a dealer or two who carry and service several makes, but we're the center. If you want to buy fishing tackle, Veil Lake; a boat, Ambertown; agra supplies, Willaville. Teal Valley has cars."

"I want a fantastic entertainment system and computer."

"Talon Peak, Mimmor Payne Home Tech. For smaller home tech, I'd send you to Entonbee's on Center, between Eighth and Ninth."

"Towels and such?"

"Shelf stuffing or decorator quality?"

"I don't like blowers, but I like dry and big enough to wrap around. I didn't pack a bathrobe."

"Either of the big everything stores."

"Would we get good pillows cheaper?"

"We're about the same on good."

"I thought so, but Carla Bedding has an outlet in Caprina and my pillow price view is skewed."

"You came a long way."

"Distance was irrelevant and closer to the popcorn fungi source was attractive. I love it."

"Delant's at Fourth and Center, popcorn fungi sautéed with blue herb and real butter."

"Knight, Blade, get pillows! It's time for lunch!"

On the way to the house with the first load, Nev briefed Knight and Blade on everything he'd learned from the clerk. He said he'd have invited him to a party, if he hadn't been wearing a wedding band, and still might if they planned a more couples type. Both of them nodded. They understood the reason there should be lifelong residents 'around,' too. Then they picked up the follower's car again and Nev swore.

"It's our sizes, Nev."

"Arranging an accident is tempting, but not until he learns we aren't a big pay deposit, and then not close."

"Blade, that's not..."

"Nev, he's the type who looks for anyone he can sell to IS. Sooner or later, he'll sell someone and IS has a five hundred 'rebel' quota to fill. When he does that, someone would try to kill him and might get caught. I won't."

"He won't, and neither will I."

"Two is more obvious and you don't fit behind a narrow tree."

"I'll find a wide bush."

They were unloading, when Danny, Dawn and Ronnie walked down the street. Blade set down pedestals and went down the drive quickly. Knight and Nev dumped the tier frame in the living room and followed. Their watcher would have thought it odd if they didn't more than notice beautiful women. They got to the group just in time for introductions.

"Danny, Ronnie and Dawn."

"Knight and Nevin. They're looking at rentals."

"We rented it yesterday."

"That explains why our recommender didn't know, Knight."

"The house is bigger than we want, but the garage isn't."

"Three girls, three cars."

"Usually two and parts that would make a third."

"We try to keep Dawn from disassembling a second one before reassembling the one in pieces, but it's not easy."

"This house has a workshop too."

"We plan to share both, Dawn. We're going to customize that LH."

"Danny, where's that other house we looked at over this way?"

"Dawn, you didn't like it."

"I didn't like the garage. The rest was all right. I like... everything going in this garage."

"We plan lots of parties, too."

"The house is close, Danny. Danny?"

"Hmm?"

"Would you like a cup of tea, Danny?"

"Yes, Knight, I would."

"Nev, if we put the back seat back in our car, we can take six to lunch."

"Wonderful idea, Blade. Fems, we have another load of furniture to get some time this afternoon, but it's not rush and I didn't really want to wait to try the lunch recommendation I got. We'd love your company."

"I'm sure I'm starved."

"If you've got three cars..."

"Had, and will have, but Danny decided she wanted to live a 'pretty place' and searched mountain lakes. My job moved and I didn't want to go where it did. Ronnie didn't either. Danny just needs a computer to work and Mountain City isn't a bad commute. We don't really expect to find jobs here. Ronnie does circuits in symbols and I do them on a workbench."

"I don't do anything but play, though I have a masters in Hydro E. They're mathematicians and plan to do anything available until colleges and universities start looking again. We met househunting."

"We've met a couple others looking before the seasonal influx. Damn, I'm glad that door closed."

"He's looking for a pay deposit, Ronnie. Every local knows it and growls when he comes to town. Knight and Blade didn't know you were the three rental shopping."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"I was putting off Knight's lecture."

"Nev, come here."

"Yes, Knight."

"You're getting all eight of us in this neighborhood?"

"There's no neighborhood with this type of access in the other towns, not with a number of houses for rent. Condos, apartments, duplexes, but not houses. The other towns don't have belt roads that access the gravway without going through town and routes out of the area aren't as direct."

"We've still got two hundred forty-one who don't want to be on the Shimmer Lake side, period, if we can get them out of the mines. Some, we aren't going to for a while. They'll go out to put a debit in a file, so it's not flagged, but they won't leave for anything else but a target."

"I understand that well, Danny, but..."

"Knight, you only had a year and you understand what she did to make us all 'real' other people to the gov and IS. We need cars and garages and they aren't going to push people who need to feel safe out to get them. Mike isn't going to leave the mine, except to look at produce and have lunch, but he won't buy. Not here. Not yet."

"Blade's right. We're not going to rush anyone. Basically, only those who really understand how IS keeps track of people, and the numeric improbability they'll attract attention, are ready to leave the hidden place."

"A very slow exodus makes sense, Ronnie."

"Knight, we need more cars to do anything. The eight of us aren't nervous about buying them. Sit down. Dawn, with me to the brewer."

"All of you stay calm. I'm going to take care of nosy in a direct fashion."

"Blade..."

"Not that direct, but there's no reason he should make me nervous. I'm going to say show me police badge or I'm calling."

Blade walked out the side door and was standing on the patio, when the man came around the house. He told him they knew he'd been following them. Knight opened the door and told Blade that Nev was giving the police the man's car ID, because he'd heard the girls were househunting in the area.

"Good. I don't think you're a thief, but you act like you think people should be scared of you. We don't have any reason to be scared of anyone."

"He's an IS informant!"

"Why's he following us, Nev?"

"The police didn't know, but said tell him that they checked us out."

"I'm no longer sure I like it here."

"Blade, I'm wealthy. The gov doesn't keep track of me, but it keeps track of my money."

"Think you should tell them you're here because you like popcorn fungi?"

"I'm sure they'll realize it the twentieth time it shows up on a purchase receipt."

They walked in the house, closed the door and burst into laughter. The girls applauded. Nev patted Blade on the back and yelped when he spun around. Blade noted "relaxed" was "appearance only."

"You dislike talking to people you're going to kill?"

"I never had to before. I killed some I'd talked to, but not after I decided to do it."

"I was sure you weren't tense about me calling the police."

"He was a good excuse. Now we're sure they, and he, won't snoop."

"I don't think the police would have, Blade, very different."

"Actual police. They checked you because there was a prison break, not because they check everyone to see if they'd be profitable."

"Let's get the house we chose."

"Good idea, Dawn. May I use your comm?"

"Of course."

"First comm call to the police. IS marked us off, too."

"Probably, Knight."

"Comm connect Millert Property Management."

"MPM, we have your summer place."

"You have the house we want, not just for summer."

"I'll connect you with Connet Millert, our residential property manager."

"Good morning."

"Hi, I'm Danniera Tracy. My two roommates and I are interested in the house on..."

"Thirty-second!"

"West Thirty-second, almost to the belt road. Two may be commuting to Mountain City and condos are out."

"That house has character, but it's not a quiet neighborhood."

"We aren't looking for one. One of my roommates won't notice it's twenty-three when she picks up a vibra-stripper to clean a car door, until we yell the time."

"That garage is sound-dampered."

"I changed my mind about the garage!"

After questions about things they couldn't see through windows, the neighbors and the lease terms, they 'decided' to rent the house on the one hundred twenty day minimum-length lease. Danny was transferred back to the secretary. After she paid a ten-credit reference check fee, imposed by the apt complex 'where they'd lived,' not MPM, she filled out the lease form then paid the deposit and one hundred twenty day lease. That saved the ten-credit reference fee and five more. Dawn and Ronnie were asked to use the sig pad to sign, as well. Since Danny had been asked who else, they weren't surprised.

"We have a house as empty as this one was, plus a clothes cycler."

"We also have 'new friends' with muscles, who just went through fill-a-house. And buy a car."

"This is where nearly everyone on this side of the mountains shops for used cars."

"We'll take you to the place we got ours. She won't be surprised. She knows we liked the sales pitch."

"Gyro-balance shot, computer not good, it was different."

Knight and Blade went after the last load, while Nev and the girls arranged furniture and made beds. Nev also called Delant's and made a reservation. Danny told him it was that type of place, as soon as he said the name. The four 'wandering,' Case, Stats, Kendra and Doctor Larry, returned to the house just before Knight and Blade got back. They were all getting a brief from Nev when the two carried in a tier frame.

"I know what you just told them."

"I said the same thing you said to me, Knight. It just takes a while to sink in that those plants didn't belong on this world."

"They were built for the purpose of destroying lives. They were no more the plants they had been than the wood in that table is the tree from which it was made."

"Knight, I've got a question."

"What, Blade?

"What shape would give us a comm system?"

"He's gone!"

"We've got comm coming!"

"We've got a bed frame held by a statue, Case. And Blade planned it!"

"I'm just going to put my end down, Nev. And watch you guys try to..."

Knight heard laughter, looked around and saw seven people were draped over furniture and Blade was on the floor. Then he noticed he was holding a bed frame. He picked it up and carried it to the bedroom. Blade made it upright to follow. Nev rolled off a chair and crawled. Blade was some help getting the frame set up. Nev wasn't. Knight looked at Nev then Blade. He nodded.

"Thank you, Tarse."

"Don't say...! It was intentional. Why?"

"Because you didn't plan to be our roommate, or that we only have one, until you saw how we felt about 'our' house. You chose you because you could be 'the roommate we found' and assure we still felt like it was our house."

"He told me about you guys. He said he hadn't realized you were friends, until he was screaming your names. He wasn't surprised you were the one who saved them all. The top spot on his to-kill list is blank because he doesn't know who ordered it."

"Danny couldn't find the name, either. She thinks there are at least three standing in Warkerdoll's shadow, whispering lines and moving the puppet strings he'd deny existed if they were pointed out. She can't learn who, or even be sure there are three."

"You weren't supposed to be the one who bought the old LH, and it was supposed to be stacked with furniture when it got here, today sometime, with guys who needed a place and heard this one was for rent."

"We all realized we want to be close to you, both of you. Case said the only thing wrong with this place is there's not a house for rent next door. Comm?"

"No, but we can send and receive impulses, like telegraph. It can be coded for a specific receiver, or broadcast. IS won't be able to detect it and it will go through the shield, without a pinhole."

"I don't know 'telegraph.'"

"The first type of long-distance communication, Blade, electrical impulses across a wire, long and short in patterns called..."

"Morse code."

"I couldn't come up with his name, Knight, Samuel Morse."

"I learned it."

"You did?"

"The Ed program had audio of how it sounded to an operator. It was fast. I decided to learn it to hear the message, instead of bringing it up in text. I was seven. I still remember it. It was fun work to learn. I got fast enough to tap with the message, and write my own at that speed."

"Show me."

"This... Is... Morse. Code. I'll teach you, Blade, but a light would be better than audible, I think."

"Especially with music playing."

"Lunch reservation! Get the beds in!"

"Seats!"

"In, but the LH is in front of the car!"

Case, Stats, Doc Larry and Kendra went to the invisible car. Danny keyed all three garage doors open on the kitchen panel. Case drove out. The three men got the beds in fast, then Nev pulled the LH in. Danny keyed two doors closed and the three women joined Nev in the garage. Knight and Blade weren't far behind.

They still almost missed their reservation. There were people waiting in hope of an open table, when Nev ran in the door and told the host they hadn't included enough time to find a parking place, but were "unloading most." Blade escorted the three women through the door and told Nev that Knight said he'd "hike in."

"I considered hunting a place by a pub-trans stop."

"Lunchtime. It won't be bad by fourteen."

"You're obviously the reason parking is a challenge."

"It's not usually this bad. Caelton Forest Foods is having a big meeting. They've got a parking lot, but the streets are full of overflow. Right now, they're all looking for lunch."

"I'm glad she knew I needed a reservation."

"It's not usually necessary for lunch, if you realize you might have to wait fifteen or so. Would you like tea while you wait for your hiking friend?"

"We are here for your famed popcorn fungi, and he has very long legs, so we don't really need to wait."

"I'll tell your server."

Knight arrived as the server was bringing tea. Nev told him he'd ordered for him, two servings. Knight said he wasn't that big and Nev told him he wasn't the only one getting two. Blade told him the server hadn't even look surprised when Nev ordered twelve. When it came, they were all pleased he had. It was wonderful.

After lunch, they went to the used car lot. The saleswoman said referrals weren't unusual, but she still felt like giggling, when the three women chose a car each. Then Nev suddenly went out the office door.

"What did he see, Knight?"

"Someone parking a car in the lot, Blade. If we put another car in the garage, there won't be room to work on the LH."

"If we're working on the LH, he won't have a vehicle to drive."

"Is the car silver-blue or bronze?"

"Silver-blue."

"He knows cars. That's a gem, but the previous owner was stingy with the polish. It wasn't driven much, so why would it need maintenance? The head mechanic said the lube tank was dry and she felt like crying when she saw it. It's not dry now, but the gaskets can't really seal right until the surfaces are polished. If it hadn't been neglected, it wouldn't have come here. It was still close on shop cost and mechanics' wages. If they hadn't had a full schedule, I think they'd have polished the gem because it is one."

"Gem?"

"A Darivel T."

"That person should be... something!"

"Sold another car and told she'd have gotten several thou more in trade, if she'd spent forty a year on a lube change, Fem Lee."

"Here he comes and he has an interesting expression. I think it's delighted steaming mad. Hi, Nev. She told us what wasn't done."

"I don't know whether to cheer or cry, Knight. I'll take it. I'd probably take it if I had one, just to fix it."

"Thank you. I was wondering if they'd be upset if I showed up with tools."

"We obviously have the same attitude about abuse of... perfect tech, Dawn."

"She's still not inexpensive."

"I'd try to bargain on principle, if I wasn't near desperate to hear her purr instead of clatter."

"I'll drop her two hundred because she didn't sit."

"Thank you. How much is that?"

They didn't wait for the document processing to be completed. They went to the places Knight, Blade and Nev had bought furniture that morning. It didn't take the women as long. Each was choosing for her room and one other and the only thing they'd wanted at the charity store was a clothes cycler in need of minor repair. Knight and Blade took them back to the car lot, took their car home, then took the LH to get the cycler and pick up beds and linens. The bed frames were at the used furniture store and they'd be making several trips there.

They got everything moved and got to Talon Peak at sixteen forty-two, forty-eight minutes before the store closed. Nev walked through the computer section with a clerk with an order pad trailing him. Knight and Blade looked at entertainment systems. They were ready with a recommendation when Nev got there. He agreed.

"Two of those."

"Two?!"

"They asked me to select the same for them, Knight. You know I wouldn't get away with giving them a gift like that. They're waiting for a comm call to pay for it and their computer equipment. I followed Danny's recommendations on that. I also calculated square meters in the LH. We can get it all in one trip, but it's going to be stacked."

"Nev, did you 'furnish the house' with computers?"

"It's my house too, Blade."

"Nev, it makes us feel a little... weird because we can't afford to pay our share of stuff you stuff in the house, but you're right. It's your house too, and telling you that you shouldn't put what you want in it isn't right."

"You wanted a roommate who likes what you do and you'll have fun with, Blade. When you learned your new roommate has a lot of money, you worked to keep from spending it, not to keep me from spending it. It didn't bother you at all when I bought a car. I did work to get the money, but I didn't earn it. I don't need or want more. I don't want to leave it in the bank for them to use to make four times as much as they pay me to use it. I like putting it into the economy personally and directly. It's a family fortune and I'm the only family member. I'll buy toys for us to play with together. Remember, I'm only spending pocket change when I do. Don't compare what I spend to what you could."

"Your purchase totals, Gen Curran.

"Comm code D D R eight. Hi, Danny, the clerk has your piece separated from the total. Don't strap yourselves. If it makes things too tight, I'll take care of the entertainment system and you can pay me whenever."

"Our budget got un-tight a few minutes ago, Nev. We've got a contract and just need comps to do it."

"That was fast."

"The meeting that made parking a mess is a discussion of how to make things more efficient to reduce waste. I commed from the grocery store where we learned it, and offered my services to program the comp to agree with the result of the discussion. I said, 'resident' and we'd watch how harvest differed from discussion and tailor through the season. If I'd asked before they offered, we wouldn't be getting near as much for the job. Dawn and Ronnie are part of the team and won't be commuting."

"I'm in love with my new hometown."

"So are we. Caelton is figuring out the best way for them to pay us and will cover business licensing costs if it's as contractors. They think it will be, and a commercial-residential zoned address will make it easy. If we'd rented any other house we looked at... We're just inside the zone."

"I didn't realize it went that far south."

"One block along the belt road to Thirty-second. Across the street isn't in it."

"That's 'just inside.' The clerk's ready."

Getting everything into the LH was "assembling a puzzle of various-size blocks." One of the store employees tossed them used binding straps before she closed the loading dock door for the day, so they weren't worried about the puzzle coming apart when they began the trip home, a few minutes later. On the way, they discussed what they were going to do to the LH.

Unloading and setting up equipment didn't take much longer than loading it had. There were six of them to do the work of changing speakers in the houses, assembling computer desks and chairs and integrating the house computers with the entertainment systems. They didn't integrate the other computers, just purchased infonet access. Neither house comp was bad and the houses were rented. It was a nice excuse for keeping comm and message systems off their computers and making them very difficult to tap. They increased that difficulty a great deal before they went shopping for workshop and kitchen cabinet stuffing. When Knight, Blade and Nev got home, the invisible car was in the garage and Case and Stats were in the kitchen.

"We backed in with the deck of their car stuffed all the way to the front seats."

"We expected we'd be helping unload, Nev, but thought it would be the LH until we saw it parked in front. Did someone hang the person who abused the T in the garage?"

"By the trade-in value, Case. Update."

"They're feeling much more secure with their identities. When seasonal influx begins in the area, quite a few will be ready to join it, I think. Your stunt with the IS informer and police is still causing giggle relapses. Mike sent 'supper.' He figured you'd grab a snack, but had too much to do to have a real meal before you got home."

"Perfect assessment. Quiet. Answer comm. Hi, Danny."

"Hi. We're calling to volunteer to help put groceries away. We found that ale that was recommended and are wondering if it would be nice accompaniment to cabinet filling. In other words, Dawn is dying to see what you got for the workshop and figures the groceries have to come out before she will."

"Your assistance would be appreciated and the ale would be marvelous. We didn't find it or the beer."

"Thirty-second Street Spirits, straight down the street, but clear across town. They said they're the only ones who carry most of the list of terrific we got. We looked for superb-taste neighborhoods and commed. It was the second one we called. Be right there. Comm out."

"I wonder what she learned. She was working not to laugh."

Danny told them the gov hadn't found the program and hadn't noticed six were gone. IS had heard "committed offense," but not the rest. The reason she was nearly laughing was something they found in a nature preserve, four leaf-fletched, chert-tipped arrows laying on a stone altar. The arrows wouldn't have hit anything at which they were aimed, but IS was quite busy researching cults and trying to find the offense the bureaucrats had committed. The bureaucrats were researching nature religions and trying to find the offense IS had committed.

Five loaded equipment that had been used in the garage into the invisible car to go back to the mines, while three had supper, then eight put away groceries and stocked the workshop in the back of the garage with new equipment. They didn't open the ale until they were done. Blade and Knight liked it, but had no basis for comparison. The six who did were "impressed."

Danny used one of the comps Nev had bought to 'move' Case and Stats from the northeast continent to the center continent. They 'arrived' in Mountain City, then rode a transport to Teal Valley, where they put things in a locker at the transport station. Case and Stats left the house and rode a public transport to an inexpensive hotel. An hour later, they met Nev at the bar at Waindain.

"Why did you choose Teal Valley?"

"We haven't. We got a recommendation to used-car shop here, in Mountain City. The hotel prices were less, so we came up tonight."

"I actually haven't visited Mountain City, Case."

"We weren't there long enough to call it a visit."

"You're going to look for work there?"

"Not yet. We've both got money instead of days off and vacations. The company was purchased for a nice price. We weren't included in the sale."

"We didn't want to be. More money instead of vacation had no appeal. We can't afford resort living, but we can afford to live in this area for a while, enjoy the things that make it attractive to less affluent vacationers and maybe do something different when the bank accounts get to the point we should start looking."

"It's not expensive to live here, even this time of year. It's not on a lake, but many put a boat on one, rent a summer place here and make the twenty to eighty K drive to the favorite lake to boat and fish. There are also many who just take a boat with them. There are a lot of public boat launches and beaches, which I've been told the local people use for great parties."

"What's a condo run here?"

"I have no idea, Stats. I know you can rent a great house with appliances and a garage for under four-fifty per thirty and furnish it with nice used quite inexpensively. The area is known as 'not quiet' and you're more likely to have a bunch of roommates working forest harvest than families vacationing, as neighbors. Case, Stats, Danny, Knight, Blade, Dawn and Ronnie. Case and Stats are new arrivals in the area and I think I just gave them a sales pitch on Teal Valley and our neighborhood."

"We probably all would, Nev. We feel like we found Shangri-La."

"Lost, Ronnie."

"Literary reference, Blade, a beautiful magic valley high in the mountains with peace and prosperity for all. Eternal summer and youthfulness aren't really essential at the end of spring and our current ages. We rented from a property management company. It wasn't bad, but I still wish we could have dealt directly with the owner like they did. However, the house is perfect."

"So is ours."

Case turned to a person at the next table, explained they were "looking around" the area and were wondering about condo and apartment rental prices. The cute girl grinned and said he could stay with her. The other girl at the table groaned. The tables of two and six were merged and two chairs added before the band ended their break. By the time they'd played two songs, there were fifteen around the tables. The locals all knew "the old Madden place" and were delighted someone who really planned to use it had rented it.

Case and Stats never did get condo prices. They got led to a public comm and introduced to a grandmother who had a rental house she'd trade for one hundred twenty days for labor getting three lake cottages in shape for the season. The granddaughter was grinning widely and Case and Stats were laughing when they got back to the table. Dawn looked at the girl for explanation.

"I just told them the location of grandma's house-for-labor place."

"Do tell, Lori."

"The other side of the warehouse from the Madden place."

"You're kidding!"

"Grandma owns all four houses on that block."

"I don't live far from you guys, either, Thirty-fifth and Belinda. I've got two roommates, currently trying to rebuild a power regulator."

"Trying?"

"It was too late to get a new one, Nev, and the guy across the street, with a micro-gauge, isn't home. Donce needs the LH for work tomorrow. I'm a chef. My response to the problem was ask if they had dinner."

A few minutes later, the entire group was headed for the big house, but Knight, Blade, Nev, Case and Stats were far enough ahead to get the invisible car out of the garage before the main group got there. Nev followed them to their new house in the LH. Knight and Blade had the tools and Dawn in their car when they got back. Stats got out and Nev and Case followed them, following Chal to his house. He opened the garage door and yelled he'd brought the whole neighborhood to help get them to a party.

"We've got micro-gauge, Ciron hone, Reser wrench and Bolletter sealant!"

"Bless you!"

"I'm Dawn. Yow, those knuckles are proof of the value of a Reser wrench for the job."

"I'd have just bought a new one, if it hadn't gone six minutes after Relton's closed. Donce."

"Barrett. You're not dressed for this mess, but I like it."

"Thank you, but all my clothes are chosen with the possibility I'll be wiping lube on them in mind. Knight, Blade, Nev, Case, Donce and Barrett."

"We know it doesn't take seven to do this, but it didn't occur to any of us not to come. Ouch. Several times, but you did get it apart."

"We were about to put it back together and pray it worked, and lasted a morning."

"Chal said you had to have the LH."

"I've got sixteen vends to fill between seven and ten, Knight. Everything that goes in them is in it."

"May I borrow a person to help load beer and snacks?!"

"I'll help, Chal!"

"Thanks, Blade."

"Nev, it's popcorn fungi!"

"You're kidding!"

"He's loading trays with gorgeous!"

"Let's get this done."

With the right equipment and several working, it didn't take long to get the regulator done and installed. Nev was pleased he wasn't far behind the popcorn fungi. When he got to the house, he tasted and headed for Chal. They'd purchased some and Nev wanted to know what Chal had done to it. It wasn't just cook it.

"I had Delant's specialty for lunch. It was superb, but I actually like this better."

"You like the taste of the fungi so much you prefer it not be changed at all."

"Agreed. How did you accent it?"

"A light brush of tamili oil right after it comes out of the oven. If it doesn't sizzle you waited too long or used too much."

"You bake it at a higher temperature than I would."

"Bake, boil or fry, always very hot and fast. I usually heat the baking pan before I put the fungi on it. I doubt you've gotten really fresh before, either. It's best in the first three days. It's usually five or more other places."

"The store on Shotz?"

"When they have it, it's fresh. In eighty days, there won't be any fresh, only cold-packed."

"I'm going to tell you something I heard. It shocked me. Ending about forty years ago, the government spent fourteen years destroying six hundred forty-three plant species in the wild, every one from which an addictive substance could be derived."

"Where did you hear..."

"It's everywhere. It's being passed like this, one person to another. I heard it here. Knight and Blade heard it on a car part run to Jenneara. Case has heard it."

"That means the gov..."

"I remember the feeling when I realized it. There's an 'invocation' that goes with it. I don't know whether I memorized it or I can't forget it."

"Tell me."

"Maybe this is why people tell strangers."

"It's easier if they don't know who you are."

"The government is not of the people. It committed great offense against the life of this world. The weapons of the people are the plants, wood and rock of it. They have the power to end abuse. If the people use the weapons of the beasts, they give them the power to enslave them."

"It's a warning."

"If I tripped over an IS weapon, I'd certainly pitch it in the nearest cycler."

"In the Viltson Nature Preserve, a group of hikers found an 'altar' with four stone-tipped wooden arrows on it."

"An altar?"

"Of stone, like prehistoric."

"When?"

"Early this evening. A server overheard two dinner patrons talking about it. I agreed with them. A nature preserve isn't the place to play some fantasy game."

"I'd have thought that. Now, I think someone told them they're angry. They're probably looking for cults."

"Probably. I don't know whether I memorized it or can't forget it, either."

The eight new and eight life-long residents enjoyed themselves, but the party didn't last until morning. By two, everyone had gone home. That included Danny, Ronnie and Dawn. Case and Stats left last. They went to their house, then drove up to the mine. In the morning, after the first night in their house, Knight, Blade and Nev went up, invisibly. They were just in time to move people. There were a number ready to leave the mine, get places to live, cars and 'regular jobs.' Four who had lots of money were ready to choose vacation places.

"I actually didn't expect it this soon, Doc."

"There may be some who just aren't going to want to leave, Nev, but not many. They realized it's safer to work to bring the gov down from out there than from here. That was important."

"The IS wouldn't know Morse code if they saw it. The other piece is being able to manufacture things here. The power stores and personal shields will make them safer when they do something if they're seen, because they can't be seen."

"You taught them how to meet last night."

"If they were dumb, the IS and gov wouldn't have been afraid of them."

"Very true. The bit with the altar and arrows was a brilliant mind choosing a method to show people meaning."

"Absolutely. The group who found it told people before IS told them not to. Most were irritated someone was playing some game in the preserve. As soon as they hear the invocation, they realize that wasn't what it was. A chef told me about it last night."

"You told someone."

"Of course. Everyone knows IS wouldn't like it, but they haven't said that. Until they do, it's an odd rumor being passed in the way people always have. That no one really doubts it, doesn't make it less a rumor, and people will pass it as fast as they can before IS tells them not to."

"Agreed. Blade intends to show them exactly what it means in another way."

"So does Knight. I'm working on convincing them to start in general, before they begin on a list."

"That's a good idea."

"What's wrong?"

"Would you believe I have the old roommate problem?"

"Kendra and Elise?"

"Yes, and several others."

"They probably all have you on their lists and are figuring out where they are in line."

"Blushing makes me feel silly, even if no one can see it."

"When are you moving, and where?"

"When the message system is ready, to Roundin Lake. I'm going to record the size and type of fish people catch, what they used, and their level of skill. I came up with a way to sabbatical at one beautiful place after another with work being talking to other people fishing. Some tackle company will pay for it for their advertising and more than reimburse my expenses."

"Every person who enjoys fishing will be awed by your brilliance."

"Thank you. Figuring out something to research that IS wouldn't be irritated someone was assembling stats on was a problem, until I saw a 'catch the big ones with' ad on a tackle shop window."

"Teal Valley is a true community, with 'summer people' who are very welcome, but not in it. You won't be a member of the community, either."

"I know, but I'll make friends with lovely residents, probably all of them."

"That didn't take long. You were completely detached."

"Kendra pointed that out quite bluntly. She asked if I wanted the first amateur psychologist I met researching my case and giving me a referral to a psychiatrist or sex therapist. It's moving incredibly fast."

"You're surprised?"

"Not with the data Knight and Blade brought back, and the invocation. When are you going to kick them into the lead?"

"When they see I'm carrying the load because they weren't ready for it."

Danny checked access counts and did a bit of programming. When she finished, every botany reference access count and record on the infonet was from previous years, which year of fifteen changed daily, and no out of service accounts were recorded. They were replaced with educational institution accounts in random order. After that was done, she went to work on her job. She'd set the time to work on it at twenty minutes per day, so she didn't finish it too soon. She expected it to take about six days.

Blade dropped off a family of three. He wasn't nervous about the boy. He was the planner of the three and excitedly working to convince "Mom" and "Aunt Dina" car shopping should come before home hunting. Their next delivery was of Nev, Case and Stats to their house. The invisible car schedule began at eleven. Only one car drove by with windows open. Reesa and Cody followed all the others to new residences, then went back and waited for a car to pass at fourteen.

Case and Stats hadn't found what they wanted at the first used car lot to which Nev took them. Case found his car at the third. Nev left them there and went back to the house to help Ronnie and Dawn work on his T. By the time Blade got back from his last drop, Kendra, Dayton, Elise and five others had built seventeen shields and Knight had finished the design for the message system.

Before they left the mine, Knight and Blade built their sword and installed it. They didn't tell anyone it might explode when they tested it, but they had an argument over who shouldn't be in the car on the way to do it. Eventually, Blade won. Knight had to accept his value, as the one who had the best chance of finding more applications, as need arose, and he couldn't argue Blade hadn't taught him all he could. They took the six shields out of the car. When Blade got back, Knight was crying.

"You came apart as soon as you were sure it didn't go boom."

"No, I came apart as soon as you left. It just changed to relief when I became sure. I need to make love with you. Let's take the seats out."

"Sometimes, you are not practical. Let's go home and make love in a big bed. They'll all know we proved I've got great ears and stop worrying when we do."

"They can unload the shields."

"They won't mind. It's getting too heavy for Nev."

"I don't know how to be a leader."

"Knight, it's not know. You have to work to keep people from following. Since you are, Nev is giving them someone else, but he wants to walk beside, not in front. Dump naïve kid who needs to be steered, or I'll knock it out of you. I figure you won't pick it back up after you check me for broken bones."

"I love you."

"I know. That's why I'm sure it would just be a check."

"It's time to kill people."

"Yes, it is."

"The informer?"

"Should be a body."

"Nev would be a mess, if he was anyone else."

"He loves you both, and everybody else after you two. You need to have an 'affair,' so she can relax and get back to being his 'princess with a roving eye,' but not until after we share your bed again."

"You knew I didn't want to be alone last night."

"No, I knew I didn't and was sure it was mutual."

"Let's use yours."

"I'd like that."

### Chapter Five

Stats finally bought a car from a beside-the-dealership lot. It was a five-year-old all-terrain luxury transport, set up for towing a boat and lake fun. After he paid for the 'mobile condo,' he told Case he was buying most of the furniture. Case asked if they were going boat shopping first. Stats told him no, because he'd already chosen the boat. After they got the gorgeous lake skimmer that seated six and needed power plant work, they went to "the big house." Nev took them to get beds. That evening, they finished the T, fixed the boat and installed two shields. The transport had been simple and the T was prepared. That night, Case and Stats towed the boat up to the mine, put a shield in it, then took tools and the invisible car down and put a shield in a light hauler that would tow a car transport. When they finished, Brand, Lowder and Wakeem followed them up to the mine. They were headed back down with a car transport before Case and Stats got home, to the house with two beds in it.

Case and Stats went to work on lake cottages the next morning. That afternoon, they furniture shopped in two towns, neither Teal Valley. Knight and Blade took the LH to pick up their purchases. Nev and Dawn prepared her car for shield installation by putting in a sound system and solar panel, like they had in the T. It took them longer. The T had been set up to make many accessories easy to install. Danny and Ronnie went to the place Nev and Dawn had gotten their systems and told the young woman clerk they wanted two of what their roommate bought.

"Sound system to go in a car, and she probably gave specifications, then remembered it had a brand name."

"I know who."

"We've helped arrange furniture, checked how things sound, substituted as hosts and opened and closed doors, while she played in the garage with gorgeous men. We plan to demonstrate we can use tools well enough to be garage playmates too."

"With the intent of getting them out of it, eventually."

"And we'll enjoy the sound systems."

"We want what she got, without asking her. She'll help get us in, but it will be easier if she can say, 'I didn't have to tell them.' Car models first?"

"Yes, and I may suggest better for your specific cars. Five gorgeous?"

"You've seen one, Nevin Curran."

"Yum, and he was putting it in a T."

They told the clerk about Nev's sudden car purchase, while she helped them find the most perfect systems to put in their cars. Then they conspired to convince one more gorgeous man to buy a system for his car, with a description of the knowledgeable woman. She got his car model so she could glance out and name the system. Three hours later, Case walked into the store. When he left, eighteen minutes later, he had a date to help put it in the next day.

The clerk called her best friend right after he left and told her all about it. She complained she had to work the next day and they conspired to get her to the garage with gorgeous men, too. At sixteen forty the next day, she drove up in front of the house, got out and waved a sheaf of printouts at Renda, working with Case on his car in the drive.

"I found a bunch! Who do I give them to?"

"Nev. Tell him happy garage-warming from me too."

"What's she got? Who is she?"

"My girlfriend, Lida. She works at Tellerlock Construction. They do a lot of home remodeling. I told her to hit their catalogs for who'd have the type of things to go in the LH. It was an excuse to get her here to meet you all, too."

"It's a great one. Nev will love it. Stats will find some way to get into the conversation."

After the two women left, with invitations for a party in two days, the eight did the other part of the installations. Case told them what he'd learned as newcomer during the time he'd worked with the woman he planned to see often. She'd confirmed the local opinion the Demfen mines had been a cheap operation.

The people of the area were partially right about tunnel collapses. Many sides shafts had collapsed, and most were blocked by rockfalls, but the twelve main tunnels and central cavern had been constructed to handle the noise and vibration of the huge ore carts that moved through them. The soundings done eight decades previously didn't reflect collapsed tunnels, but closed doors. Any knowledgeable materials engineer would have known the main tunnels were intact, until Danny had changed the record of method and materials used in their construction, a quarter-year before, but none had been consulted.

Case had also gotten a job recommendation for the time after the season, and one for Knight and Blade, "keep doing the same thing." After the summer season, people began getting places ready for ski season. Though that was primarily the other side of the mountains, the two passes from Teal Valley were low and short.

Case had asked about competition in rental prep and "access clearing." He'd been told "lots, but more work than they can do." She'd explained most of the forest harvest crews that came to Teal Valley went home to jobs in the ski towns in winter.

In the morning, Danny called Gen Millert at MPM and told him what they'd heard and that she'd hoped he might know of people who were "looking for two guys, who can do anything, with a vehicle that can get anywhere." He said yes and asked if the other two would be done with Fem Britterdale's cottages soon.

A few minutes later, the office manager at Caelton was guiding two sets of young men through the business licensing process to become rental maintenance contractors. The man at the local licensing bureau was very helpful, too. His neighbor had rental property and needed help. He warned the four their licenses didn't cover work on power receivers and told them people would try to get them to ignore it, and that anything but maintenance, sheds, decks or docks required a construction permit.

Stats called Lida. She got them a very detailed list of types of permits and what they covered, and Knight and Blade their first job. Her boss contracted them to "rip out a cabin kitchen." A homeowner had added to a job and he was behind schedule. Midmorning the next day, Knight and Blade drove into the construction yard with what they'd taken out of the kitchen, as requested. Tatton Tellerlock walked over to where they were unloading the LH.

"I'm not just surprised to see you."

"It wasn't difficult. A Colber blade to remove the cabinets and floor cover, a Limbert vibra-sander to smooth surfaces."

"Those are tools for working on cars."

"We had to pay attention to keep from making holes or dents, but we're highly physically trained and very practiced with those tools."

"We put caps on the water and power conduits, but didn't remove them."

"We started right after we talked to you and we don't have families waiting for us to come home for dinner. We also don't do it all the time. If you do, you have to develop a steady pace you can maintain day after day."

"Yes, you do. I imagine getting your bank accounts in somewhat better shape was incentive too."

"We did discuss a first job paycheck as a method of keeping our roommate from paying for our dates' dinners."

"He's terrific, but he can get an account code in ahead of anybody else, fastest you ever saw."

"I'm tempted to arrange a match with my father-in-law. Come on in the office. I'll give you that first paycheck."

"Don't you want to look it over?"

"I looked at the backs of the cabinets and flooring you pulled out, Knight. As clean as I've seen, but I'm not going to recommend the method to my crew."

When they got home, they told Nev they obviously needed to do some research. When he saw what they were checking, he started laughing. He was rolling on Knight's bed, holding his sides, when Case and Stats followed the sound to Knight's room.

"What happened?"

"We underestimated how long a job should take, Case."

"By four-and-a-half to eight days!"

"He said take out the kitchen. So Knight held cabinets, I sliced them off, then we did the floor cover and smoothed the cuts."

"We multiplied by three. Blade thought fast and made it sound like we'd worked late, when he said he was 'more than surprised' to see us."

"Sliced off and smoothed?"

"The Colbert and vibra-sander, Case. It took them ninety-seven minutes, because they had to go get conduit caps!"

When the girls came in from the garage, there were three laying on the bed, laughing. Knight said it was time for lunch and Blade followed him out of the bedroom, fast. When the three women howled with laughter, Blade winced.

"It made sense to use the Colbert, Blade. It's made to use a guide surface to cut to a specified depth. Walls, ceilings and floors are surfaces. We knew you were fast with it. We didn't subtract the time to get the caps when we multiplied."

"Now we know why Case and Stats just work a little while."

"You covered us well. We do things 'a little faster' than others and no one will realize we have time to be other places."

"The boat was genius. If we put a couple scooters in it... You don't know what a scooter is."

"No."

"You know what a wheel is?"

"A scooter has a wheel?"

"Four and a board to stand on and a handlebar. You propel it with your foot. You can make one that floats, but if you're going to use power, you might as well propel it with it and sit down and ride, a glide. The better the wheels on the scooter, the better your timing and stronger your legs, the faster you can go. Our personal shields would cover them. They're not good cross-country, but we could cover a couple K on a road fast."

"Because they're not powered."

"With good wheels, they're silent, and you can make it two bars and a board under a bush and nobody sees it. It's short distance transport that can get us from the boat, four K up the road and back a lot faster than we can do it walking. We can just take them apart and leave them in the boat. They don't have to be hidden. Even if someone put all the pieces together, they'd think they were toys, because they wouldn't know what they can do with muscle and timing. A bicycle, they would. Glides would have to be shielded, if parked."

"Brakes?"

"Drag your foot, or jump off and hang onto it. I think they've been around as long as wheels."

"Wheel size?"

"Fifteen to twenty cens. Bigger would be curious. That size could be just off something, which is usually what they are. My first one had wheels off a cycler bin caddy. My mom worked not to laugh and just carried the bins out. That was eight days before they were murdered."

"Let's have lunch on the side patio."

"Nev! If you don't want to eat your lunch off the ground, you'd better get furniture on the patio quick!"

Nev sprang up, vaulted Case and Stats, on the bed, and the girls on the floor and was through the door the next step. The five in the room relapsed. They were still laughing three minutes later when the comm chimed. Knight answered. He didn't recognize the woman in her thirties.

"Hello, may I help you?"

"Tellerlock Construction gave me your comm code. I've got a disaster."

"What happened?"

"I've got a four-unit building. Somehow, a water line connection in one of the top units came apart, days ago. I've got a ceiling coming down and tenants for that unit coming in two days. I've got three units with saturated walls and carpets, furniture and who knows what else, and tenants for two more are coming in four and five days. I may be able to switch the one in four, but the other tenants are coming in six. The two on the bottom come every year."

"Where?"

"Veil Lake Summer Estates, nine oh three Lavender Drive."

"I wouldn't have any idea what to tell you on price, if I saw it. Hourly doesn't make sense, because we'll be working as fast as we can and will yell for friends to help, if that's not going to be fast enough. Is there a place we can get everything out of them to get it dry, while we work on the structure?"

"I can get the banquet room on the top floor of the clubhouse. I'm sure nothing's scheduled for at least six days. It's very close."

"That will help. Is it big enough to lay out a carpet?"

"They'd scream, and I don't think so anyway. I'll just order new."

"Don't do that. Not yet. Let us see if we can save it. Introductions are in order. I'm Silverin Bladesly, Blade. My partner, Knighton Pyramid, Knight."

"Angerel Dennon, Angie. I don't know what to pay you either."

"We'll tell our friendly construction company owner what we did and ask him to help us figure out how much less we should charge than he'd have to. It takes a lot more just for him to be in business. Make arrangements with the clubhouse for us to move furniture this afternoon. Get us who to contact and hours. If you can't, we'll figure something out."

"We'll also figure out why a connection came apart. Make sure you get a very precise description of what was found by the person who discovered it, for your insurance claim."

"I... doubt they'll accept it as a valid claim, Blade. Negligence isn't covered. It wasn't a broken conduit."

"Angie, how soon can you meet us there with the key codes? We'll have a better idea of what we're going to need in materials, and possibly labor, after we see it."

"Not until about fourteen, Knight."

"We'll see you there then."

"Don't worry. We'll take care of it."

"Comm out. Danny!"

"I'm working on it! Knight, I hit slime!"

The Summer Estates were only open from late spring until early autumn. They'd been open four days. There were four two-unit and six four-unit buildings around a clubhouse with dock. All buildings were owned by individuals. The clubhouse was owned by the woman who'd planned the small summer community in a pretty cove. She'd had streets, clubhouse and two buildings built, then gotten others to invest in building the other eight. They paid a quite reasonable lease for the clubhouse, and it was partially supported by fees for use of the banquet room. The walk from parking for it didn't go through the small community and the access didn't intrude on the lower floor. It was well-designed and someone wanted it.

Insurance rates had risen after claims over the winter and had become more limited "due to the nonsecure nature of single-season occupancy." If the water connection in Angie's unit had been vandalism, rates would go up again. The insurers weren't doing it, but someone was using them to push out the small investors. Danny found out who and walked out to where the others were getting the patio ready for lunch.

"LBBR Development wants Summer Estates' clubhouse, docks and buildings and the land behind it. They want to develop it, adding twenty eight-unit buildings and more docks. The clubhouse banquet room has a lovely view and already has everything required for restaurant. They want to start there with money coming in as they 'improve' the area and develop the southwest side of the south lobe as a resort area, including skiing, so it's year-round profitable. All they have to do is buy out eight building owners, but they don't want to spend much. Four vandalism claims are raising costs and lowering profit rapidly. The gov quite agrees a ski resort would be a nice addition to the area. It would get lease payments for the mountainside. The whole scheme is a fast, cheap plan to make four bureaucrats a lot of money, and it's all based around that little clubhouse and a very nice road to it. No one local would want it. It would pull people from the other ski areas and damage locally-owned ski resorts, but the gov doesn't get lease payments from those, and doesn't care that ski slopes would damage the ecology of the mountainside. It's parkland no one is paying them to use. They want to open this winter, and could do it with that clubhouse as restaurant and ski shop. A lift could go beside it. Ski trails can be made with a gravway grader and lift supports put in with a geo-anchor driver. They wouldn't have difficulty getting permits to use them."

"A geo-anchor driver could cause landslides all over the area, especially on the other side of the mountain. People could be killed."

"After it's graded, they wouldn't cause one there, Knight, and destruction on the other side of the mountain would just reduce competition. They're not worried about lawsuits. Deaths would just be a little aid in population reduction."

"LBBR?"

"Laver Kandonmeer, Bomirk Dosleitner, Deveta Appenki and Rasser Gammergill. Taking their money wouldn't do a thing to stop it. They plan to use other people's. 'Invest or else' is planned, but they'd prefer to keep the payments to less than the restaurant will make. There currently isn't one on the south lobe and they've selected the or-else lessor already, Terrell Delant. Delant's is the only restaurant in the area for which one always needs a dinner reservation. Tellerlock is on the list of possible or-else builders, with four other local construction companies."

"Nobody stomps on people in our home town."

"Someone else would just take over the plan, Blade. We have to stop that, then we'll kill them."

"I don't have any ideas on the plan, Knight."

"The insurers?"

"Not involved, but they can't operate unless they cooperate with the gov."

"Who did the vandalism?"

"I'm not sure, Blade, but it may have been the IS informer. His bank account received a gov deposit that doesn't coincide with an IS investigation."

"Who owns the land behind Summer Estates?"

"The woman who owns the clubhouse and two units, from the lake circuit road in. The gov owns behind it Jerici Mondalo is one hundred two. She has no problems handling her own business investments, but increased insurance costs are hurting her, too. The clubhouse is managed and staffed by the annual tenants in her two-unit building. It was the first vandalized, furniture destroyed with a vibra-blade. The next two were colorbond thrown through windows holed with a compression hammer. The fourth was 'graffiti' written with nitric acid across the front of a building. The Veil Lake police really did try to find out who did it and watched over it well enough there weren't more this spring, until this one, after it opened, but it could have been almost-done last winter and come apart when the water system was charged."

"Let's eat and get up there."

"I'm going with you."

"We knew that, Nev. We'd like some of you to stay close to here, prep for party as excuse. We'll comm and ask you to find someone to watch over the place, because we want to leave it open to dry out, but don't want to hit Angie's budget hard. Find a couple people who think Veil Lake sounds attractive, and won't be terrified to be introduced to police, and arrange to find them somewhere. Tell them we just need someone to spend the night. They offer for dinner, breakfast and transportation tomorrow morning, but want dry beds. Pick up another pad and grab more blankets to go with what's in our car. We'll get permission for outside. I want two in the invisible boat in front and two in an invisible car behind. We're going to be at a party and the 'vandal' probably knows it. This is hurting Angie and she may be considered best candidate for first sale. Make 'altars' appear many places. Lay a branch from something with nasty thorns that grows there on them. If there's a rock with a bowl-like dent around, put it there. Don't search for one. None is preferable to many. Inspiration is welcome, but no obvious weapons. One goes on that mountainside, the rest not in this area. The nature preserves will be watched, so parkland, undeveloped land and such, preferably gov-owned, but just preferably. Not all in forests. No one does that unshielded and speed of construction is more important than aesthetics. They don't all need to be done 'overnight,' but we want about a dozen by gov business open in two days."

"I'll go up, Knight. I'm home working. Case and Stats, do yard work until they comm around sixteen thirty. I'll put two on the transport from Mountain City that gets into Veil Lake a few minutes before seventeen thirty. You find them with loads of luggage looking at hotel listings in the station. It occurs to you because it's what you did, and you'd have taken it."

"We'll be there, Danny. The boat?"

"Take it up with you, Stats. Launch and dock by the cottages for fun tomorrow. Time enough?"

"Yes, Knight. We can put it in right there. When we see your mess, we'll probably cancel the fun idea, but there's no need to go back for it tonight."

"I did plan to do the yardwork myself."

"We know, Nev, but you described it well enough, while we were getting the furniture set up, that we can do it, and they may need you to get things for them."

"An excuse I'll take, Case."

"Nev, you don't need an excuse. We want you."

"Your LH and incredible speed with an account code may also be assets. Let's eat."

"What's for lunch, Blade?"

"Sandwiches you can't get your mouth around, Nev, on bread from a bakery we found following the aroma of it baking."

They got to the Summer Estates at thirteen forty. The clubhouse 'attendant' was the great-grandson of the owner. He was in his early twenties and had seen "wet" on a threshold. He told them he'd commed for key codes and "a swimming pool ran out," when he'd opened doors. If there hadn't been a hairline crack in the threshold, it wouldn't have been discovered until the tenants had "water flowing around their ankles."

"How bad is this going to hurt Angie, Darren?"

"How much is it going to cost, Blade? Granmama said no charge for the banquet room and I can tell you guys will probably 'forget' some labor, but what's it going to take to fix it? She can afford reasonable, but if she has to replace a half-dozen walls, two ceilings, some furniture and carpets in three units, I doubt the season rental will cover it."

"This place is under attack. Nowhere else was vandalized and it was done by a pro. Graffiti is done in bondcoat, not acid. Someone is driving up insurance costs to reduce profitability, making it less expensive to buy when owners, like Angie, have to get out."

"They'd have to pay the insurance too, Knight."

"Not if they planned year-round use, more rental units and more profit from this clubhouse, like a marina and restaurant. There isn't one on this end of the lake."

"There's nothing here in winter, Knight."

"What could they put here?"

"How much snow does it get?"

"There's not enough business to support another winter resort, Nev."

"If our speculations are accurate, I doubt they'd consider the impact on other businesses as relevant."

"It's all public park behind us."

"Is the gov making money on it?"

"No. It suddenly makes too much sense."

"So far, it's just to check on why Angie dodged a reminder to get details for insurance with 'negligence,' a list of vandalisms with insurance claims and speculation."

"Knight, I agree with that, but I can see that mountain is suitable for ski slopes and a lift could go right over there. If the gov sees money in it, permits to do anything they want would be exceedingly simple to get. A ski area is even 'appropriate use' of public parkland. They don't care about the ecology of this area, or the economic health of private-land resorts, if they'd get more for lease and taxes here than just taxes there."

"Nev..."

"He's right. You've got to be careful even noticing the gov is interested in money, even here. There's a man looking for anything that would get a pay deposit from IS, who prowls the whole area."

"He was prowling in our yard. I called the police."

"They loved it. They may still be laughing."

Since Darren had key codes, the four of them had the units empty before Angie got there. Nev almost ran into her in the doorway. He explained he was roommate-errand-runner and on the way to get a short list of tools and equipment, as he led her in to where Knight and Blade were tapping walls.

"Hi, not a great way to meet."

"No, Blade, but I'm very glad you're here. What a mess."

"Yes, but it's surface mess. We are going to take this carpet out, but we're going to suck as much water as possible out of it first. There's water in some walls, but the walls aren't in danger of collapse. This ceiling was a water bag. When it broke, it drained the water out of the top and prevented damage to ceilings in the rest of the unit, and the lighting system. The comps are all operable and power matrixes are fine. The floor above here isn't badly damaged, but it got so heavy it broke the seal with the wall right above here. I'm sure three wet units doesn't seem good, but that broken seal is what kept the floor from coming down. It was clean water, so we don't expect staining. It's a disaster, but not a devastation."

"The first thing we've got to do is get it dry. I'm going to make some holes to get the water out of walls. They won't be tiny. A bigger plug is easier to reseal and blend. Since these walls are versa-structure matrix, not vertical studs, I only have to cut a plug each side of the matrix support, not slice the seam between every pair of studs. That would be much more expensive because the sealant is expensive."

"The exterior walls are studded brill amfill. That's not needed for interior walls and the matrix has vibration-damping qualities that reduce the cost of sound-damping greatly. This whole community is very well-planned."

"It was a good investment of a small inheritance from my great-great-great-grandparents. My father still brags I asked him to help me do this and not buy a car. I was seventeen. It's been paid off four years."

"And now a series of too-effective vandalisms is raising insurance rates to the point you're about to have to price the places out of the market, or sell them to someone who has a year-round use for them. We looked for why 'insurance' was an unpleasant subject."

"No one's made anyone an offer, Knight."

"Why would they offer before they finished assuring they were a bargain? I told you they would be big. Now the water pressure will push it out and I don't have to gouge it to pull it. Just like that."

"That's a lot of water."

"Yes, the bill's going to be horrible, but ours won't be, and we're going to be able to save the carpets, even this one."

"I actually didn't believe Tellerlock when he told me you'd be better for the job than they would."

"They build. We repair. If the floor had come down, he'd have told you to try to find a place for your tenants until they rebuilt. We'll still call and ask for help on the price. We didn't know our fix-anything skills were needed. We were surprised there weren't more than enough people doing it around here."

"I really didn't think of not having enough money to replace things as good job training. I worked very hard to get to the point I could. Now I've got a masters degree that doesn't earn me anything and fixing things is going to keep me comfortable."

"Masters degree?"

"Math. He's got a doctorate. He can teach college. I have to have more college to even teach secondary. I'd need education credits. If I do more, it'll be math."

"If?"

"I like math, Knight. I like doing it, but I did it when I figured the hydrostatic head in the wall and I'm enjoying this, helping nice people out, doing different every day. If I decide to take a day off because it's gorgeous at the lake, I can. I could forward calls to somebody else and take ten."

"True, and we wouldn't have to leave Teal Valley."

"You too?"

"Yes, and I think Nev and the other five new residents we met feel the same."

"Angie, is there a magic spell or is it instant addiction?"

"You haven't been here in winter, Blade. It's not what you'd call pleasant, but I wouldn't leave for longer than a warm vacation. Very few do. A lot commute to Mountain City. You can usually find a carpool from where you are to where you're going, but you come home. I might move up here, Talon Peak or one of the other smaller towns, but not 'away.' The people on the other side of the mountains feel the same way about that area. More move to the other side than out."

"The mountains are 'narrow' through here. The geology of this southeast spur is interesting, which is why the mountains are somewhat hollow."

"Yes, Knight, but they're still there. If that ore hadn't been so rich they went after it first, they wouldn't be. The colonial charter 'expired' a half-century ago."

"You've heard it too. The government is not of the people."

"It committed great offense against the life of this world. I looked. It's true."

"I was a little nervous about looking."

"Around here, lots do, then go out in the forest and look for scrumptious. That mountainside will be a picnic just waiting for a cloth in thirty days. No one farms it because it's parkland. What did I say?"

"Nev said... insurance rates wouldn't be high for year-round use and a ski lift could go right beside the clubhouse."

"First him and now you. The speculation... is only dangerous if it's true."

"How can we stop it, Knight? We're in the way."

"Calm down. It's not the gov doing it. If it's being done."

"Blade's right. The gov will happily go along with something profitable, but... they'd choose something else, if it was more profitable. It's 'a picnic.' Could it be professionally harvested without really being farmed? I don't know enough about forest farming. I read about it because I thought we might be doing it, but I don't know what it means to the forest."

"It has to be ecologically harmonious or it doesn't work. The ecology includes the animals, but they can be gently discouraged from crop areas until they're harvested and not suffer for lack of the tasty things we want, especially if we're 'encouraging' them. There are always areas just left alone where small animals can hide and feast. Harvest drives the larger predators back, but they aren't kept back, and have plenty of time to reduce smaller animal populations and get fat before deep winter. It actually maintains the balance a little better. Fewer young are bite-size snacks at a lower altitude and the after-harvest hunting pushes many young adults higher, so that area isn't depleted. For animals with narrow ranges, the relief from predators during harvest allows more to get big enough to get away. Whikies were overhunted, then bluefang starved, then whikies overpopulated, bluefangs overpopulated, whikies were overhunted... It was a natural cycle, but the periods of famine weren't serving any purpose except keeping the bluefangs from eating all the young of everything else. We do that tromping through the forest and don't find bluefang frozen in the snow, because they didn't have enough fat to den."

"Has anyone ever asked the gov to lease parkland for forest farming, or just to harvest?"

"It's a park, Knight. People... love walking through it and feasting on the bounty, which won't be there if it's a ski slope."

"More likely five or six, probably made with a gravway grader because it's fast and cheap. Maybe a geo-anchor driver for the skilift supports."

"That could cause landslides!"

"Not where they're at. If they're paying leases and license fees, do you think they're worried about lawsuits? The government is not of the people."

"It's time to talk to Daddy."

When she almost ran into Nev at the door again, both burst into laughter. She said it had been a very short list. He told her he'd gotten everything on it, but did expect picking it up to take longer. She asked him how much she'd spent.

"So far, two buckets of burdeline, six kentine panels, a liter of Calse construction seal and a bottle of Vemerton's Allglow furniture polish, two hundred twenty-three-point eight six credits, of which the seal was almost a third. There shouldn't be more. Knight, the rental equipment company owner's mother is three hundred meters up the lake road, with a fuel tap failure. If you pull it while I get one, we can get her back on the road in time to pick up his daughter at the Mountain City flyer port. Which is why you're not paying equipment rental, and we'd have done it anyway."

"Let's go."

"We'll be back in about twenty, Blade."

"I'll prep for the seal upstairs. Angie?"

"Kentine and burdeline?"

"Gorshell stinks for six days. Kentine panels with a coat of burdeline will give you a soft white sealed ceiling you can wash or colorbond and it won't stink. Gorshell is the best. It took a lot of water to break a half-cen-thick ceiling, but nauseous tenants aren't happy tenants. Go talk to your daddy."

"If a police car comes, don't worry. Daddy's the chief."

"Oh, shit."

"Don't worry. He's the one who told me the government is not of the people. Teal Valley police have weapons, but they don't wear them. Usually. There was a prison break a few days ago."

"I heard. Don't you wonder why they left some locked in? The government is not of the people."

"Are you saying they weren't murderers?"

"No, I'm sure most were remorseless killers, but I suspect the police carefully neglected to mention a few things about the people they killed. Don't leave Teal Valley. It's Shangri-La. Your daddy knows. He works hard to keep the magic spell in place. Go warn him someone plans to rip a hole in it, and give him the shield the knight devised, in hopes of stopping it."

Nev brought Knight back, then went to pick up purchases and rental equipment. When he got back, he had three 'extra' extractors. He told them only one was theirs.

"You're making a delivery?"

"No, Knight. I'm making repairs. I called the rental company. He didn't have any heavy duty, but said the carpet cleaner might have a used one they'd sell. I called them. The owner said no, but let her know if I found someone who did because 'another' had just broken down. I questioned 'another' and one of these is yours for repair of three. The poor woman is desperate. She's got two people doing upholstery and drapes while she hunts extractors and they're about to finish all those jobs. When I called the rental company back for the dehumidifiers, his mother had just called."

"Knight, you should check his hair, not mine."

"No fairy dust, but a piece of ceiling. It's down. Let's get these fixed. Parts?"

"I brought gasket material and a circuit repair kit. If we have to cannibalize three to get one working, at least I'll know what to get in parts for the others. If I get one back to her by eighteen this evening, she won't lose jobs."

"Let's get them apart. Blade, take one of the dehumidifiers up to the banquet room, please."

"I'll check how much work were going to have to do to get watermarks out while I'm there."

"Well, we've got the right piece of equipment now. Attachments?"

"For one."

"Did she specify?"

"No, she knows you're working to save the season for a property owner and you get first fixed. Working is important. Age irrelevant."

"How did she end up with four not working?"

"No one knows how to fix them, at least on this half of the continent."

"The manufacturer?"

"Is on a different one. It would cost almost as much as a new one, with shipping, and take up to one hundred days."

"I'm not sure I'd buy from them."

"They're in use all day and many nights, and all over three years old."

"I'd buy from them."

"I would have, but the nearest place to get one is Carborun. Twelve hundred K each way would have definitely slowed down the job."

"What's wrong with this one?"

"It doesn't work."

"Let's get them to a power supply and add a few details to the repair order."

Twenty-seven minutes later, Nev finished repairing a circuit and took an extractor back to the carpet cleaner, then bought parts for the two they'd cannibalized. He got back just in time to help them drape carpet over the carports for the building. He used their extractor in the other two units, started the dehumidifiers in them and 'quick-cleaned' the furniture with the extractor, before he began the repair of the other two.

By the time he finished the repairs, Case and Stats had arrived and 'introduced' Kent and Rorke. They took the two repaired extractors with them, when they took them to Veil Lake for dinner, and to meet the police. When they returned, they set up a canopy and made them beds on the side of the building, where they could keep an eye on both front and back. Knight and Blade had five kentine panels up and the sixth ready to install, after the dehumidifier had run overnight, when they went home to get ready for their party, at nineteen twenty-seven.

### Chapter Six

The doors to both side and back patios were open and the yard was 'perfect,' so the party spread. Most of the guests they'd invited had accepted the invitation to "bring a bunch." Since the back patio had become the dance floor, it was rather loud when a police car pulled up in the drive. People yelped and it got quiet fast. The middle-age man who got out of the car wasn't in uniform.

"You weren't disturbing anyone! They're working on my daughter's place and she wouldn't tell me how much it's costing her! My mother-in-law has my car or I wouldn't be in this one! Get on with the party!"

"Hello, Chief Dennon. I'm Blade."

"Sorry about the car."

"Angie warned me. I should have realized you might come by this evening and warned them. My partner, Knight, and roommate, Nev."

"Nice to meet you. Blade, I did some checking. I think you boys hit center target on what's going on up there. I'd like to know how."

"We're mathematicians. When there's a problem we hunt for what will solve the equation. Nev knows ski resorts. He looked at the mountain, said, 'ski lift beside clubhouse.' One of the numbers in the equation is how many people wouldn't like it. With that one, you solve for how they'd do it fast enough the gov wouldn't have to pretend they were listening to the opinion of the local people. She looked at us with those big hazel eyes and said, 'How can we stop it?' and Knight started thinking fast. I was still looking in eyes when he hit a possible solution."

"I'm sure she noticed. The chief up at Veil Lake called and told me you'd found a couple boys to keep an eye on things up there tonight, and brought them in to meet them."

"That was Knight's idea."

"We've got the carpet from the worst unit draped over the carports and the dehumidifiers work better with airflow, so doors and windows are open to give the best flow to dry what's wet. The police needed to know we had someone watching and who, because they're watching. I'm sure they realized we think it was another act of too-effective vandalism, but reporting it is the property owner's right and responsibility. We wouldn't have known there was something odd going on if we hadn't hunted for why 'insurance' bothered her."

"We're much more familiar with 'vandalism' then people in this area, which is part of why we went from 'pleasant place for a while' to 'my home town' in a span of hours."

"You really plan to stay here."

"You know how different it is here. The response of these people to the car was 'oops,' not fear and a fast collection of money. Of course, 'out there,' part of party planning is figuring out who you have to bribe how much before you have it."

"I was actually shocked when Angie said police here don't usually wear weapons."

"They don't?!"

"No, Nev, we don't. How did you know some prisoners were left behind, Blade?"

"I didn't hear it here, Chief Dennon. Here, I wouldn't worry if I knew the name of the person who told me. Other places, people with strong survival instincts only tell strangers things like that, but they look for strangers to tell."

"Do you know rebels escaped?"

"I'm sure they were rebels when they escaped. I doubt it was from prison. I suspect most people from the southwest continent recognize a large green trap when they see it, though I carefully didn't ask anyone. It probably really worries the gov to have those real smart people out there learning things again. Chief, don't leave Shangri-La. Don't go out there to look around. If you need to know things, send us. The magic spell that protects the valley is centered in your heart. You protect all the people. We know it. Why are you surprised we want to protect you?"

"I'm surprised you think I need to be protected, Blade."

"Chief Dennon, we're acutely aware you and your colleagues stand firmly in the way of business-as-usual in this area. I talked to the two who came to Veil Lake today. They're not vacationers. They chose the area partially because of the probability of finding work quickly at this time of year, but they don't plan to leave at the end of the season. There will be more like them coming. All over the world, people are seeking the sanctuary of small towns, where the police defend the people, and the local government is of the people. We actually weren't, but we didn't consider going to a city to find something to do to tide us over until universities begin looking for professors next term. Vairdslea Technical has a lot of math classes, and is a good possibility for both full and adjunct professor positions. Now, I don't plan to send a resume. I like teaching. It's very fulfilling, but so is what we're doing for Angie. Our plans for the future weren't firm, but they still changed a great deal."

"My plan was leaving where I was. I was sure I'd find popcorn fungi on far more menus here. I did not expect to be making sure people know I'm a resident and stating I'm a local with pride within two days, or at all."

"The cost of repairs to Angie's building are going to be quite low. Materials are under two hundred twenty-five credits, no carpets or furniture have to be replaced and we'll finish tomorrow, so labor won't be high."

"She told me what you're using for the ceiling, Knight. I told her gorshell is why homebuilders have filter masks on their tool belts. Tatton Tellerlock said it's an 'elegant solution' and he'd had no doubt you'd come up with one. He's not easy to impress. Don't undercharge for your labor or knowledge. Tatton said try to get you to charge five hundred credits plus materials. He said that's about a third of what it would cost them to do it, but doubted you'd consider the speed at which you work part of the market value of your labor and charge the eight hundred twenty-five-plus he thought you actually should. Seven hundred twenty-five total isn't pleasant, when expecting none, but it won't hurt Angie at all and she'll be quite happy to pay it. Carpet for just one of those units would have been more than twice that and insurance went up more than that already. They're not inexpensive summer homes. Your rent for this house is much less. Next business question. Gessee Darletta asked me to find out if you'd be interested in some space in the warehouse across the street. I told her you'd probably be more interested in having it gone, but I'd ask."

"How much space is available?"

"It's empty, Nev. Kelsever-Lombart consolidated office, packing plant and warehouse into one recently completed building, on the northeast side of the belt road. Gessee's hoping for some help paying taxes on that block-long eyesore she got when she bought Brimkatt Harvest. Currently, she doesn't need it and neither does anyone else, but no one's interested in the land under it to build on this side of town."

"I might be if it was a real bargain."

"Nev, are you thinking of removing it so you have a nice view?"

"Not yet, Knight, but I'm thinking of buying a boat and Case and Stats already have a garage shortage. A more appropriate use for that property might be boat storage units, with a much lower roof. However, I wouldn't consider making that type of investment yet, because I don't know if there are a lot of people tromping through snow to a cold car because the boat's in the garage yet."

"More cover the boats and put the cars in, but every storage facility gets full before the first snow, and lots of summer people lease one year round, to assure they have one when they leave. I won't tell Gessee your idea, but I'll tell her you're interested in some space and might consider taking it off her hands, if she can price it low enough you think about it every time you see just the top of Tarpeline Peak when you look out a window. Speaking of mountains, I talked to Ponce Caelton. He said there's enough up there to cover cost of harvesting plus a piece, but it would be about four years before it was good. He's got some of the best farmers of what's up there at his place tonight figuring out what they can pay, and how much less to offer the gov so that's what they end up paying. They're going to make two offers, one for wild harvest and one for 'parkland cultivation.' Ponce is pretty sure they can make it look more attractive than total lease and licensing for ski resort."

"If the gov turns them down there, why bother to ask about leases elsewhere?"

"That's the idea, Knight. He thinks they can put together an offer that will have the gov totaling square K of parkland around here and drooling. The wild harvest proposal will prominently feature proximity the lake road. The cultivation offer will just include it as 'good existing access.' Now you know why I didn't get here until the party was at full volume."

"You worked fast and talked to a lot of people."

"That's a big part of the job. Nev, since you're the one who's used to checking on who's watching you, I'm going to ask you if you think my officers need to wear their weapons."

"Before I came here, before the prison break, a woman I knew well enough she didn't fear talking to me said Horgen Fields was full of heroes, each of whom had seen evil and chosen not to turn away. I looked at some news archives. The number of brutal university students, mothers, fathers and fifteen-year employees of companies, who attacked and killed outstanding, loved members of the community for the change in their pockets, or IS officers with glowing records of service to the people, is just amazing. I think the heroes locked the beasts in cages before they walked out the door."

"Well, they didn't use a door, but they locked some before they left. Someone broke them out. IS is really looking for the tech they used."

"I wouldn't put 'prison break' on the intended-use line of a tech permit app."

"I think it's more than that, Nev. It's something new."

"If it is, I sincerely hope they don't find it. New is valuable, in one way or another. Thinking of their frustration at not being able to get something valuable is quite pleasant."

"I'd agree if I didn't expect to be a problem."

"How?"

"Searches, identification checks, line people up and run them through truth scan. They're looking for an excuse to declare martial law. That's what the invocation warns."

"I don't think they'll use it, Chief. It may actually slow it down. Someone has a secret. They want the secret, not just tech. If they didn't, you'd know what to watch for."

"I hope you're right, Blade. 'New' is profitable and I'd have said they do anything to assure they were the only ones to get that profit, but the two IS officers who came here were different, not dumb brutes with a hand out for a bribe. Ice cold and disdainful. After they left, I reminded myself IS couldn't have many like that."

"Zealots. Take over, end the corruption and run the world 'efficiently.' Control with fear and force of arms. There is an organization plotting to overthrow the government, IS. It's the only rebel organization that could exist."

"Knight, you just scared the hell out of me."

"As you said, there can't be many. The gov, the culture and the visible face of IS are all factors reducing the probable development, but someone has figured out how to find the 'disdainful' and recruit them or there would be none. Someone chose IS as the tool and path to power, and it isn't Warkerdoll. Who's behind him? Who is whispering the words and controlling the strings of the puppet?"

"There's a dictator in the shadows, preparing to take over. That's the one thing that never occurred to me. Now I can see how it all fits. Warkerdoll set it up for profit, following established bureaucratic methods, but he hasn't been in control for nine years."

"Why nine?"

"That's when they stopped trying to bribe police and recruit informers in small towns and began to send summer 'help,' who don't lay a hand on people here. They bully with their presence, but they don't touch anyone. Warkerdoll doesn't have the discretion for that. He kept offering more money for 'investigative assistance,' like us tapping comms. He really did think we'd do it for them with enough money as incentive. Someone else figured out how to get the money and set up the full monitoring system. He didn't."

"They never picked up someone to question about 'rebel activities' here?"

"One, Knight. They kept him one hundred fourteen days, then tried to move him to another continent because of 'stigma.' He got on a flyer and came home. We blocked off five blocks of Center and had a welcome-back party. They didn't try it again."

"We added numbers and figured out there were a lot picked up, held and moved, but not anything else. It was a budget increase ploy, and to make people think there were lots of rebels, so they had an excuse for full comm monitoring and now I think maybe to make rebels for an excuse for martial law. 'Rebels' were a way to put away people who learned something about the gov. Now that's Warkerdoll. Find a way to get more money, but don't have to spend it on feeding and guarding a bunch."

"Standard bureaucratic department budget increase method, Blade. Find something that's threatening the income of the bureaucrats, or make it look like there is, then pad in every way possible, maintaining the appearance of high costs as an excuse to raise taxes. Got an estimate on actual people convicted?"

"How many secrets does the gov know they have?"

"I think there are only about three hundred."

"Where did that come from, Knight?"

"The standard pad, Blade. Most people think there are about twelve hundred. Simple division by four."

"You know, I don't think of doing simple arithmetic."

"It takes about a year."

That night, people did 'hunt quiet.' Beds in the spare rooms had people in them before two. By three, only five 'invitees' were still there, quietly talking on the side patio, but all eight new residents were with them. The five were Chal, Donce and Barrett and two 'other neighbors' they'd brought, the 'guy across the street,' who hadn't been home when they needed tools, Tarn, and his special lady, Bellin.

Tarn owned his house. He'd bought it from his great-grandparents. His opinion on the neighborhood was interesting. He thought it was going to "revert" to primarily resident-owners and young families.

"Why, Tarn?"

"Condos don't have yards, Nev. Houses on the east side are expensive. Most of these houses were paid off a long time ago, even the investment properties. The rental properties are getting more expensive to insure and maintain. Taxes are getting higher on business property, and becoming so complex most people need an accountant, not an accounting program, to do them. The income is nice, but people are beginning to wonder if it's worth the headaches. Madden would sell you this place quick, at a low price and finance it, even as rent-to-own. I think that's going to become more common. Lake properties are different. We like, welcome and make the summer people feel good about Teal Valley, but we call it 'summer place,' not 'summer home.' I think we've already started reducing the economic impact, and dependency on those summer residents. One hundred twenty-day leases are getting less common. We're encouraging the summer people to move up to the lakes without really being aware of it. Harvest crews are different. Most are area residents, for whom it makes more sense to 'bunkhouse' than commute. My feeling is it may be who comes with the summer people."

"IS."

"Not just them, Blade, the opportunists and salespeople, the souvenir vendors selling things with Teal Valley all over them, who give 'guided tours' following maps and reading local history off datpads. The summer people have money enough to come here for the season and pay for two places to live during that time. Since that's obvious, we get a flood of people who want to sell them investments, entertainment channel subscriptions, handy things for the boat, car, home and everything else. Local merchants don't actually make a lot because they're crowded out by the summer sellers. The lake and ski towns don't have the problem because they're primarily tourist areas. We're not. This is the home of the forest harvest industry. That's what built this town. Up at the lakes and over in the ski towns, they don't get the salespeople. The places are too spread out, or too access controlled. They also aren't in town limits in most cases. Here, vendors can walk in, apply for a vending license and set up on a corner a hundred or more pass a day. We can limit street vendors and where they set up, but we can't stop twenty comp-initiated calls a day with a 'wonderful service,' by people who don't care if the comp hits two hundred residents before they find one summer visitor who may be interested in what they're selling, and they're gov licensed. We can't even control them."

"Don't they call lake properties?"

"No, Ronnie, the cost is too high. They have to license for each call zone and there aren't enough people in each to make profit probable. Here, one zone license covers everyone who comes. So, we encourage small lake community development, like the one where Knight and Blade are working, cottage clusters, like where Case and Stats are, and vacation communities, where people spend thirty days and go home. We have resort areas on the big lakes, but we don't want them on the small ones. There, we want 'summer place' living and thirty to one hundred twenty-day leases."

"I see it now, Tarn. Multi-dwelling zoning is not being expanded. Investment companies that want to build more apts and condos can't get re-zone on anything in the town, and that means anywhere with good vehicle access in the valley. There is no zoning around Veil Lake, but all the land is privately owned or parkland."

"We noticed the feeling, Chal. As seasonal renters, we were very politely welcome. As new residents, we're delightedly welcome. A business license got us happy hellos on the street and waves from clerks through store windows."

"I'm not sure a probable reduction in rental properties makes me happy, Stats."

"Not reduced, Case, moved. More at the lakes to balance fewer here. The problem is it's cheaper to live here. That's why a lot of people choose here instead of the lakes."

"It won't be long, Stats. Two-thirds of a year empty down here is going to raise rent on places because the gov and insurers are making that more expensive all the time. The economic health of this valley isn't going to be damaged at all. There are eight of you who chose here as home. We've got summer people who are buying houses. We've got others who are signing year leases, or buying their condos. Your business licenses don't limit you to working on rentals. They allow you to do rental maintenance, and cost more than a license to do home maintenance."

"We were told we could do work for homeowners, Tarn."

"I've been thinking about buying our house."

"You never mentioned it, Chal."

"I've been deciding if it's the right house, Donce. I'm still not sure it is."

"Why?"

"Frankly, because most of the block is rental. It's also zoned residential-commercial and that big box across the street makes me nervous."

"I'm considering turning that box into a much more attractive boat storage facility, with a lower roof."

"That would be good there, Nev. It could be used for that this winter as it is, but individual units would be better because they'd attract owners of higher-priced boats. They want their own key codes and no one else 'exploring' them."

"That could be assured inside the warehouse quite inexpensively, Barrett, but I still prefer something more attractive with a lower roof."

"You'd raise the value of this house and the lot next door if you do that."

"Who owns that lot?"

"Your landlord. It's actually part of this one, but separating it makes that vacant-lot not rental-property taxed."

"MPM said they didn't expect a tax increase."

"There just was one, Danny. The place you live was thirty credits per thirty cheaper last year. We're being taxed higher here than other areas and I think it's because there are so many rentals. It's odd to say I don't think the gov wants us economically healthy."

"No, Tarn, I think we're being taxed to pay for IS personnel, who have to be paid more to keep them from sticking their hands out for money, and to keep them from using them on people. They'd have to pay bonuses for it."

"Blade's right, Tarn. The chief said they don't touch people here. We've never even heard of that before. Because you don't have licensing fees, like marinas and ski slopes, they have to get it in another way. They won't require licenses on rental property ownership, because too many own condo and apt complexes. So, taxes, which they can raise on the basis of gov-owned land use in the area. All those renters are, of course, using public parkland."

"Public boat launches, beaches and picnic areas?"

"Are primarily private property, Case. Some community group makes arrangements to create and maintain them. The property owner gets a nearby boat launch. The organizations have lower tax and insurance costs, and the owner gets a tax credit for contribution on local taxes. Often, the community group gets a small amount from several other property owners, who also benefit from having a boat launch, beach and picnic area nearby. They don't make money on them, but they don't cost them much, and the benefit can't be calculated, so can't be taxed. The people who use them a lot make contributions in money or labor to maintain them."

"I like it here more all the time."

"So do I, Dawn."

"It's unanimous, Stats."

"We're going home. You guys have work to do tomorrow. Chief Dennon wouldn't have been trying to find out if Angie's going to be hit hard if it wasn't bad."

"We relieved his worry, Tarn. It was more mess than damage and the cost of materials and labor a lot less than she expected. The carpets and furniture just needed to be dried. We had to drain walls but not replace them. We'll be done tomorrow."

"Tarn, we couldn't do it that fast, and we're faster than most. Don't let people think they'll pay regular hourly labor for them. They're not going to be a lot cheaper because they're faster, unless every hour costs you somewhere else, like it would have Fem Dennon. I'm an engineer. We won't charge engineer wages, but we have more knowledge and skills that make us faster. It's still the same amount of work, but we already did a lot of it. It's in our heads and hands. You can look at them and see how much more already-done they bring to the job."

"Got it, Case. If they want hourly laborers, call the job lists. If they want it done by skilled service people for about the same price, call you guys."

"We're going to roust the nappers."

"They can stay here, Donce."

"I know, Nev, but most have work some time tomorrow. It will be easier to go home now, then get up and get ready, than get up, go home and get ready."

"Rina doesn't, but he much prefers her sleeping at our place."

"Especially around seven, Chal. She's a morning person."

"I noticed she blinked her way to a flat place about one."

"We meet for breakfast at five fairly often, Danny. She works at the bakery where I pick up sweet rolls for a couple workplace snack shops. Her day started early."

"Is it on Ore Ave at Nineteenth?"

"That's the one, Blade, best in town."

"You found the right one."

"Our noses told us that, Nev."

"That exhaust fan is the best advertisement in town."

Everyone said goodnight. Nev knew they hadn't all left, but Knight and Blade didn't, until Nev said he'd finish loading the cycler and sent them to bed. Danny and Ronnie hadn't gone home with Dawn.

Knight didn't quite know what to do. Danny told him Nev had asked her if she planned to keep him waiting five years, too, and reminded her Knight would never be "a possessive problem." Since Nev actually wasn't, she needed Knight's help to show him his worry it would affect any of their friendships was unnecessary. Knight told her he appreciated help getting across the room. She smiled, grabbed his hand and pulled him to his bed.

Blade hadn't needed any additional encouragement, and wasn't really surprised Ronnie knew she was the first woman. She'd understood who he'd had to be too well.

At four eighteen, a tossed pebble woke Rorke and he moved fast, to take a leisurely stroll around the building. When a car started about one hundred meters up the lake road, Kent walked around the corner and Benla turned off her shield. The 'informer' had been there, with a jar of something in his hand. She and Lilse had seen the car go by. Lilse had watched for who, while Benla woke the men.

Since dawn was not far off, and the 'visitor' had come and gone Kent and Rorke sent the watchers, who'd stayed awake all night, 'home.' They watched for a wake behind the boat, and smiled. There wasn't one. They opened the tea therm, sat on the dock and watched the sun rise over the eastern hills and reflect off windows of their new hometown, four K up the lake road.

Knight and Blade drove into the Estates at eight oh six, with Nev and Case and Stats behind them. Case and Stats took Kent and Rorke to the town of Veil Lake for breakfast. The server at the café told them to state they were looking for a home, not a summer place, and they'd get a much different rent quote, then he gave them a list of comm codes, including two possible employers. When Case and Stats took them to Teal Valley to used-car shop at ten forty-three, they had a home address and employers.

Neither job was full-time, but they weren't seasonal and would cover living expenses, so they were both car shopping. When Rorke chose one, Case and Stats went to the mine and delivered more people to new hometowns. By the time they got the boat and went home, Knight and Blade had finished at Angie's and a third of the people had moved out of the mines. It was fifteen twenty-eight when they parked the boat and walked over to "the big house." Nev was dancing around the kitchen and Knight and Blade were laughing.

"What happened?"

"He bought half the neighborhood!"

"I only bought five houses and a warehouse, Knight, but I got great deals on them all! I'm your new landlord, but your arrangement hasn't changed. I told her I plan to find financeable buyers, starting with you two, so rearranging your arrangement did not make long-term sense. I also told her I don't plan on one hundred twenty day-leases, after current expire, if any. She wished me luck."

"All four on the block?"

"At a great block price. The warehouse was please-take-it cheap. Semiannual tax bills are coming out in a few days and they all want to register the properties as sold first. I bought them all as purchase for upgrade and resale. They do need work."

"The carpet in ours is rental-not-quite-worn-out."

"Get me measurements, Stats."

"We told Madden to apply our rent to purchase, so we're paid-up roomies for a while."

"Actually, you're buying this house with that and labor on others, Knight."

"No."

"No?"

"No, but we'll add you to our business license and share ownership with you. We have a... bond nothing can break or really penetrate, Nev, but you're our best friend. You've always... been a little outside. It's not left out in any fashion, but it's been you with those two, you with the bunch and so on. It's right for you. And it's right for us. Am I wrong, Stats?"

"Perfect analysis, Knight. Danny, Ronnie and Dawn aren't the same. They're happy sharing a place, but they're not the same kind of tight friends as Case and I are. We're not 'bonded' like you two. The only single person he could share forever with is Danny and I wonder if some of that is wish for someone always there. He loves her and she loves him, but they were best friends in a different way. They're matched, but they're not paired. He hasn't yet seen, if she was going one way and you were going another, he'd be following you. Danny goes alone. She doesn't mind, really enjoys, company, but it doesn't bother her to be alone at all. He gets lonely. Ronnie and Dawn will both end up married. Danny won't. Case and I won't. You three won't. We'll watch Ronnie and Dawn fall in love and happily make room for two more in the bunch. Case and I will have companions we bring along who'll be comfortable, and maybe become part of the bunch, but that's they fit, not they fit with us and the bunch, like with Ronnie and Dawn."

"I'm stuck with you?"

"You've known that since we were freshmen."

"True, but I ignored it well. I like sharing a three-bedroom house much better than a dorm room, or even two-bedroom apt. When are we going to start using my car?"

"Today. I'm about to need a fuel cell."

"Get one soon."

"I'll pick one up and put it in the reserve cradle, Nev. I knew it didn't have one, but didn't realize I'd be driving this much."

"We need an LH for the business."

"At least we now know we have a place we can park additional. Heating that thing is going to cost a fortune."

"I'm going to do something about that fast."

"Nev, why don't we just lower the roof, bondcoat it green and put tall evergreen hedges around it?"

"Lower the roof?"

"It's vilsine panel. We can cut it. The roof basically sits on it. And it's sections. We wouldn't even need a crane, but we would need a building permit. However, since it's personal project, we can do the work. Our business licenses don't apply."

"Blade, you have great ideas. Nev, there's nothing wrong with the warehouse except it's tall and dried mustard yellow."

"I find both so offensive it hadn't occurred to me there wasn't anything else, Knight. We could block off this end for us, make the other end door the access with keycode, then put in fencing as partitions and key-coded gates."

"Why fencing?"

"People like other people to drool over their boats, Blade. They just don't want them to drool on them. It also makes security and heating simpler. Let's go boat shopping, and let all those enthusiastic people tell us just how popular different sizes are with whom. They'll all be open late this evening, in Ambertown."

"Why there?"

"Used cars here, boats there, Knight."

"You guys need to spend some time in the hill."

"We know, Case, but we need to look around Ambertown. We also need to look over Willaville at some point."

"We've been to Willaville, but we just delivered. It's about a quarter the size of Teal Valley, real agra, a lot of vineyards, orchards and tree farms, not field crops or grain. Tembin and Lirell fell in love with it, as soon as they saw it. It's pretty. Every little town around here is pretty, but I like a little bigger, like Teal Valley."

"How many vehicles are we taking?"

"Two, Case, if you're going. We're going in the T and it only holds three when one is Knight. I haven't driven it at all."

"What about the girls?"

"We may be taking three cars, but I'm not sure they'll want to go."

"Do you want to go, Case?"

"What you have in mind, Stats?"

"Lida said they'll be at Waindain."

"Have fun, guys."

"I added two shortcuts to the comm list. They're 'guys.' Comm connect girls. Hi, Ronnie. We're headed to Ambertown to learn sizes and popularity of boats, with storage rental in mind. Case and Stats have Waindain meeting plans. Ambertown won't be boring, but it will be boats."

"We're going to be house slobs tonight, Nev. Even Danny is reserving a plop place. We studied forest farming on comp and took a long hike through the Caelton facility today."

"I wondered where you were when I called earlier. Don't get too comfortable there. I have a house I plan to add a workshop and third garage to in mind for you when your lease ends. It will have nice new carpet and already has three baths, and I know you like the next-door neighbors, Case and Stats."

"The blue house?"

"The blue one, unless you'd prefer the gray or tan."

"What did you do, Nev?"

"Bought five and a warehouse. Comm out. Answer comm."

"Nev!"

"All four on that block, Danny, to be upgraded for sale, and the warehouse is getting shorter, changing colors and being hidden with bushes. This yard is getting bigger. The vacant lot was once, and will be again, part of it."

"We'll take three houses."

"What?!"

"Dawn wants a workshop. Ronnie wants a garden. I want a swimming pool, and an office. We can all afford one. Caelton already plans referrals and we'll have contract offers from everyone from farmers to ski resorts. Other plans are not changed. We don't have to work overtime to make good money. This area needs us. Our assorted skills are as perfect as yours."

"Are you sure you..."

"If you're going to upgrade, we can have what we each want done. In general, those houses are already what we want, more character than this and more yard. They might get roommates. I want more work area, so I have room for three just to work. I'll share my covered pool, or spa, and you can share yours. Comm out."

"Now that's fast house sales."

"She knows they're going to end up married too, Blade."

"I thought I was making places for more people, Stats."

"You are, Nev. They have a one hundred twenty-day lease. You have current tenants and firm buyers. Do you have a cash flow problem?"

"It barely dented it. I wonder if the houses behind them are for sale."

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"Plipton Investment owns all of them and they want in on a new high-price summer community at Roundin Lake."

"Comm Plipton Investment. Hello, I'm interested in the possible purchase of houses you own on the far west side. I'm going to upgrade for resale, so I do want a good price on all four on Thirty-sixth."

"I think we can give you one. Two still have tenants. Two are on the prep list."

"How long will tenants be in the other two?"

"Six and eleven days, neither renewed. We had to raise rent."

"Obviously, the tax bill is going to be a thump. Give me a bargain and I'll do this fast enough you don't have to pay it. Cash."

"Cash?"

"Straight debit."

"Let me get you a price, a good price."

"That's what will make a sale."

Nev got a very good price and had four more houses before they went to Ambertown. He loudly sang, "I love my neighborhood, so I just bought it," with a number of verses, on the way. Knight and Blade helped make rhymes and laughed. They knew the real reason Nev was so happy. They'd given him a place beside them and told him it would always be his.

### Chapter Seven

They boat shopped. Nev did end up buying one. It had been beautiful, and it had been fast. Currently, it was a bit shabby and didn't run. It was a big boat, a lake-size yacht, and looked rather odd on "the trailer to fit" behind the T, but the car had more than enough power to pull it. It also had enough shield to cover it. The car and boat disappeared around a curve. A few moments later, Knight, Blade and Nev were working on new applications in the mine and a dozen other people were working on the boat. Eleven hours, twenty-eight minutes later, at eight forty-nine, Nev invisibly backed the boat into the warehouse. It was beautiful and fast, but it didn't have a shield.

When Nev parked the T in the garage, they unloaded the first message systems. Installation in Knight and Blade's car was very simple, so they did it. The one for the house wasn't, so they left it and the other two on the kitchen floor and went to bed. At thirteen thirty-five, Case woke Nev.

"I saw what you did all night. Where else were you?"

"In the warehouse, making a huge, drabby old boat that didn't run, into a floating mini-mansion that purrs across a lake fast."

"Perfect. 'In the warehouse' is what I needed."

"Uh, oh?"

"No, just friends trying to find you for an after-boat-shopping get-together. Need more sleep?"

"Of course. We've had about four hours. I'm up. They were running on less yesterday."

"I know."

"I'm fine. Actually, I'm terrific."

"I know, but you don't usually admit it. You've always been 'more' than the rest of us, including Danny, though she's in a class by herself in programming."

"I'm not what they are."

"No, there are two of them. You do belong with them, Nev. We know you chose you because you could... not intrude on what they share. At the time, we all knew you were right, but we didn't see that made you a perfect fit for all of you. Danny's in a little slump."

"Why?"

"She's not sure you understood what she was telling you."

"Spa and pool and I missed it."

"Wherever she is, there's a place for you. Not just-us-forever, but for you, her door is always open. However, you may be fixing breakfast for three."

"I've got company. Fix for three."

"That's the one. She wants to live alone, but not be left alone. You're still her special buddy, and she's feeling one of the girls and she's not. She sees the time coming it chafes a bit to live with two others, even Ronnie and Dawn. Do it this way for just a minute. Ritzi wants a spa and pool, Tarse. You get to build them. You figure out which goes at her place and yours. Don't duplicate. Take a shortcut through the warehouse."

"She'd swim, dammit, alone. She'd use the spa alone too, but that's not as bad. I wish she was next door instead of through a block-wide warehouse."

"It's better than three K."

"True, and it's a quite narrow block."

"I noticed. Did you find out why?"

"Fellister's on Carat. The store was already there. If they'd put the street where it should have gone through, they'd have taken two cens of wall. The Maddens were not displeased they didn't jog back, until they got a big warehouse, instead of a house with a big yard, across from them. They put the wall behind them and at the other side of their yard, the other side of the vacant lot. They're ours. They were better than the backs of those warehouses and quieter. They didn't buy the land around them because they wanted neighbors."

"Well, you've got a bunch coming, and that warehouse will become a useful part of the neighborhood."

"Not until the roof gets lower and the color is changed."

"I checked. That's considered a barn, because of its construction. You don't have to have a building permit."

"You're kidding."

"No. You can use it as a workshop, or storage, but not office space or housing."

"I knew that. Gessee was quite specific on what I couldn't put in it without doing secondary construction, build a building inside it. It is a barn."

"They aren't that color, but there are some built the same way around Willaville. Now I know why the business behind you has a detached office."

"I haven't gone that way."

"You've been busy, and probably will be again soon. People will start calling for them tomorrow."

"I wonder how long it would take for a barn lowering."

"About six hours, with all of us working."

"Girls too?"

"Yes. They need a relief from comp work. Why did you buy a boat?"

"Why does a bartender put two one-cred chips and a five credit note in a tip jar? And it had been so beautiful."

"You couldn't stand it."

"It's a good excuse."

"Is the warehouse all the way yours?"

"It should be by now. The houses will take about three days. Tax designation is being changed."

"The lot?"

"I planned to mow... The lawn equipment is his."

"Knight and Blade need some. We're going to need some for other jobs."

"Let's go get it before they wake up. I'll check on the warehouse."

"We'll run out of daylight."

"I'm sure they need worklights."

"The things in the kitchen?"

"If Knight and Blade wake up before we get back, one will be in. If not, we'll still do this one first. By the time it's done, they'll have figured out how not to build it into the rental house. I don't have to worry... Is that the house you want?"

"We talked about it. We'll talk some more when we see the others."

"Good. They'll all be empty in a few days."

"All?!"

"The real influx starts in about fifteen days. That's when the five to ninety-day rentals start. You need to do work on cottages."

"She wants them ready in fifteen. Tomorrow, it's going to rain. Two days, starting this evening."

"Let's get the outside work done."

Knight and Blade were almost done when Nev and Case got back with the LH stuffed and pulling a trailer. The trailer was stuffed with fairly large bushes. By the time they finished the installation, Nev had the lot mowed and was moving the side hedge to be a front hedge.

The girls, Case and Stats arrived at a run. Knight and Blade ran out and got "rain coming." Knight took over the power shovel and the hedge moved faster. Nev ran for the power rake and Danny ran for the seeder. By the time the hedge was moved, the lot was ready for rain. All the equipment went in the garage and Nev ran for the LH. He unhooked the trailer and drove around the corner and into the warehouse, came out with the boat and parked in front of the house. Knight and Blade still didn't know why they were all running, until they saw Case and Stats setting up the scaffold.

"You're kidding!"

"It's a barn, Knight! We don't need a building permit! The deal went through! It's his and we've got today before the weather and the comm go nuts tomorrow!"

"We've got lights, colorbond and bushes! Those are new. The rest is used and for work, including the trailer. Don't ask how much he didn't spend. I don't have time to start giggling again."

"I told you the fairy dust is in his hair."

"There's no point in looking for it there. It's the same color."

"I like Willaville too, Knight, especially today. They were having an auction. I saw a woman with what I wanted, made an offer and we went through the licensed dealer before the auction. Then I saw the trailer. We did the same. The nursery is having a sale. Case left out the bondcoat mist head I got at the hardware store sale. It's an annual pre-season event and every business in town has a sale. We saw four people we knew from here and Case saw someone he met in Veil Lake."

"How did you decide Willaville?"

"A sign to visit their display at the 'auction yard' on the building behind us. I'd just told Case I'd never been that way, so went that way. This is going to be close, but I think we can get the bushes in before downpour, with the trencher if not the power shovel."

"Put Blade on the blade. It won't take as long as I think."

"Case said six hours. He has seen Blade with blade."

"He won't mind if were a bit under."

"Knight! Power wrench!"

"Got it, Case! Let's do it!"

In twenty minutes, they began to have an audience. In an hour, it was a cheering section. When they had six panels past half lowered, Ronnie ran for the colorbond mister. She did the roof panel two down from the one they'd just started, went to the end, then began the lowered section. They moved to the section which she'd started, just as she reached the panel which they'd just finished and the still-growing crowd cheered.

When the lights came on, the crowd got bigger. Tarn, Donce, Chal and Barrett set up a huge canopy in the street. They assured people moved a bit east and to the vacant lot side, so access to the drive, trailer and LH weren't blocked, with food and drink. By then, everyone knew they were racing the rain.

The police blocked off the street. Chief Dennon was there and his officers were ready to get the barricade moved fast when the boat, then the trailer loaded with equipment were moved into the warehouse. They also kept a turn lane clear of cars parking along the belt road.

When Ronnie caught up, they were on the last panel, but that was also the end. She racked the mister head and ran for the garage. She came down the drive with the power shovel. She started beside the door on the belt road. She was halfway down the backside when Knight leapt off the scaffold.

Ronnie ran around the warehouse and unracked the mister head. The roof panel was moved on to the lower frame just as she got around to the front. She began at the top and had it finished when the group on the scaffolds moved them around to 'the end.' She went to the back and finished the last section just ahead of Knight. She went around the warehouse to finish the last section.

Knight went back to the belt road end. He came around the corner just as she finished. She racked the head, pulled the unit across the street and ran the flush and clean cycle. She ran down the drive and got a bush out of the trailer.

Danny and Dawn jumped off the scaffold and ran for the trailer. Ronnie opened the personnel door on the side, from inside, just as they got to it and came out as they went in. Blade dropped off the scaffold and ran for the trailer. He picked up two bushes. The crowd cheered when Danny and Dawn came through the door and went around him, as he got to it. Ronnie came out not far behind them.

Nev dropped off the scaffold and ran for the trailer. He picked up two bushes and headed for the door. The crowd cheered when the backside watchers reported the bushes were being set from the ends to the middle.

Knight stepped past the door and Blade walked out right behind him. Case and Stats dropped off the scaffold and began disassembling it and the crowd roared approval. Nev came out the door, stepped past Blade and got two more bushes. Ronnie ran up the drive and came down with hand shovels. Danny and Dawn went through the door with bushes and Ronnie followed them through.

Case and Stats carried the scaffold to the trailer and each picked up two bushes. When Nev picked up his bushes, he went to the belt road end and the crowd cheered. Blade carried his through. Ronnie and Dawn went toward the end of the warehouse. Nev picked up two and carried them to the end. Knight went around the end of the warehouse as Ronnie set the first bush at the corner of the front side. The backside watchers reported the three men were getting the bushes planted fast.

Knight pushed the power shovel across the street, moved the remaining bushes to the back of the trailer, went back to the end of the warehouse with a container and returned with it filled with tools. He set it over the side of the trailer. He loaded the equipment from the garage and beside the trailer over the side. He jumped into it to move things over, twice. When he finished, he moved the remaining bushes to the end, picked up two and headed for the end of the warehouse. The crowd applauded as he went by. They'd just stood and watched, many with food or drink part way to mouth, while he lifted equipment that 'should have taken two,' to chest height, on him, and gently set it in. He didn't come back around.

Stats came around the road end and began carrying bushes. A short time later, Case came around, laid his shovel in the trailer and began carrying bushes. The backside watchers were ushered the rest of the way around the belt road end, by the police, and reminded not to block the vehicles, or get run over by the people. They laughed and moved through to the canopy, stopping and dashing between the six getting bushes.

Knight and Blade came around the corner. Nev carried two bushes to the end and didn't return. Knight and Blade were halfway down the front side when he came around the corner tramping the soil around bushes. Danny and Dawn set their bushes and went around the end of the warehouse. A short time later, the lights went out on that side. They came out the center door and carried the lights to the trailer. They picked up bushes. People began to realize the eight were going to finish together, when Nev ran for the LH and Case, Stats, Danny, Dawn and Ronnie lifted the last bushes off the trailer.

Nev pulled the LH, with trailer, around the corner, opened the door and drove in. Stats began stamping and Case, Ronnie, Danny and Dawn walked to the lights and began shutting them down. Nev drove out and Case left lights to help hitch the boat. Nev drove into the warehouse with the boat.

Case collected lights and carried them in. The lights on the end went out. Danny, Ronnie and Dawn finished theirs and the three men and three women met at the side door to carry the last equipment in. Case walked back out with them, as Nev drove back around the corner. He pulled into the garage walked down the drive and eight walked under the canopies together, accompanied by wild cheering and applause. Chal had eight plates of aromatic scrumptious waiting.

"That was the most beautifully choreographed thing I ever saw."

"We finished twenty-three minutes early, Chal, and Case did the estimate."

"I knew we were good, Nev, but I'm amazed at us."

"Good evening, Chief."

"That was an incredible show."

"It wasn't intended as such. It was get it done before the rain starts, because they're going to be too busy to help, starting tomorrow."

"I hope you don't mind I said no news coverage or cams. We'd have had the whole east side down here, too."

"Not at all, Chief Dennon. We greatly appreciate the patience and assistance of the police. It wasn't an advertisement. We were happy to see you, and those roadblocks."

"We didn't plan to engender a street party. We would definitely notify you in advance if we did."

"We know you didn't, Blade. We're all glad we were here to see it. Now I know how you boys got my daughter's place fixed so fast."

"The ladies don't do what we do, but we've worked on cars with them in the garage and know how well they handle tools, and Nev would have drafted several more to get that roof lower and the color changed, if Case hadn't said eight of us could get it done, and didn't need a building permit to work on a barn."

"I was sure you wouldn't be doing it without one if needed, but we checked anyway."

"It's reassuring to know you check anyway."

"Quite."

"You did buy that thing so you could lower the roof."

"Admitted, but I did come up with something to do with it that could make it appear it was for other reason."

Three minutes after the six hours were over, the first spatters of rain hit the canopy. People began running for home or cars. Many had left as soon as work and applause had ended. It wasn't going to be a light rain, and it wasn't going to let up for quite some time.

Police in rain gear quickly moved barricades to establish a loading lane, with barricades along the side of the canopy to keep people from stepping into the path of cars. When it became a downpour, police cars came through the loading zone to ferry people to vehicles.

The number under the canopy dropped fast. When it was low enough, Tarn shouted a warning. Officers in rain gear picked up the canopy poles. Chal and 'team' picked up everything under it. They walked down the street to the drive, then up it until the canopy edge was under the roof overhang of the garage. The police team was applauded for the "great turn" and thanks were shouted. The drive end of the canopy was kept clear, so police cars could get under to load people, for a while.

People were warned the "ferries" were about to return to regular duty and the crowd diminished to a group in the next few trips, with more cars spaced between police cars. Chief Dennon yelled, "Last ferry run," and several more left. His car was 'tail.' Thanks were shouted again, as he got in his car and the police in gear removed the barricades and cleared the area. There were about twenty people, besides the eight, remaining and most had been there before.

Knight and Blade had 'cleaned' the kitchen, before they'd joined those working in the yard, so it was ready when remaining food and drink were carried in. The equipment for preparation was already packed and in the garage. The canopy could have been left standing, but there wasn't a need for it. Knight and Blade, in swimbriefs, went out, dropped and rolled it, then set it in the garage at an angle to drain. Nev handed them towels and closed the garage doors. When they walked into the living room, dressed, he handed them glasses of champagne.

"The only thing one can see out the window right now is a rainy night. However, that's a great view. Even on a night like this, that ugly yellow thing would have been visible above the hedge. My soul-felt thanks to the team who aided, and my heart-felt thanks to the good neighbors, who saw a way to aid, for their hard work and generosity. To the West Side Bunch, great neighbors making a great neighborhood!"

"To us!"

"To us!!"

"Nev! Did you really buy the whole thing?"

"No, Tarn, you already own your house."

"He bought the four facing the warehouse and the four behind them, when we yelled we each want to buy one, Tarn."

"I thought I had two probable buyers after I finished upgrading. Since you were stunningly correct in your analysis of the reversion from rental to resident-owned in this area, four more between tenants and tax bill, while I could get a very good price, seemed a good business move. Since the 'confirmed interested buyers' did the labor to increase the property value, and greatly eased my pained sense of aesthetics, I will pass along the bargain price to them."

"Best excuse I've heard for giving friends a real good deal."

"Best I've seen, Donce. Everybody around here is real happy you did something about that ugly yellow monstrosity. It's actually attractive, and I didn't think that was possible."

"Blade is the designer, Tarn."

"The 'design' was chop off top, change the color and put bushes around it. I had to come up with something fast. He was about to change our business to building removal and construction. The idea of working outside half the time this winter was not appealing. Not taking any other jobs, so we didn't have to work outside, wasn't really attractive, either."

"He's a great partner. He sees me start to consider methods and comes up with something that works well, looks great and doesn't take long, fast."

"Then he works twice as fast as I think is possible and Nev shakes some fairy dust out of his hair. The cost plummets, the job is done and I'm giggling. Knight told him he's going on the business license as a partner."

"We didn't know he wasn't done celebrating with shopping, until we got up and he was gone."

"I wasn't going to wake you. You worked all night and that shabby old boat I bought is once again a beauty that runs beautifully."

"I wasn't sure you guys slept."

"We've been finding a place to fit some in here and there, Barrett, but we hit bed hard this morning. Case woke him with a time estimate and weather forecast."

"Danny, you get the spa. I'd be worried silly you were swimming alone, if we put the pool at your house. It goes here. Don't swim alone. Yell for other company if we're not here."

"Yes, Nev."

"Danny, do not swim alone."

"Yes, Ronnie."

"Danny, do not swim alone."

"Yes, Knight."

"Everyone! One, two, three!"

"Danny, do not swim alone!!"

"Yes, everyone! Thank you, Dawn. I'm sure that saved hours."

"Nev, we just seeded the side yard. Where is the pool going?"

"Behind the house, Blade, with nice tall rinkin trees all along the wall, so we don't see tall, ugly buildings over it when we look that way, either."

"He ordered them from the nursery for pickup in three days, along with plants and trellis to go around the pool and spa. He ordered those and covers while we were at the hardware and building supply store."

"It was silly not to buy them while they were on sale, Case."

"You ordered a pool?"

"Actually, I ordered a liner and everything to go in it, except water, Knight, and of course, the materials to build the place for the liner. It was a great sale."

People didn't stay late. By twenty-two thirty, they'd 'ferried' everyone to cars or homes, then they took the two message units to the other two houses. Knight and Blade had figured out a way to install the unit, without building it into the house, at the girls'. When they got home, they tested all the units, including the one at the mine. Dayton messaged, "More done. Stop. Receive codes soon. Stop." Knight, Blade and Nev went to bed at one twelve. They thought of it as early.

In the morning, Danny checked on gov center, and giggled. 'Altars' were being discovered all over the continent and the bureaucrats and IS were in an uproar, but they hadn't noticed the program, or that six were gone. She didn't expect they'd notice six, if other things kept them busy a while. They had noticed an interesting parkland lease proposal. Since the four with a plan for profit weren't in the land management department, a counter fee schedule went back to the "forest farm consortium."

Knight and Blade put Nev on their license and answered comm calls until ten thirty. They built a schedule, made sandwiches to take along and went to the first job on the list. They stopped for lunch at noon. At twelve oh six, a little light in the car flashed. Knight tapped, "Ready," on the touchpad, that didn't look like one, on the dash. The light flashed, "L8 6 no notice. Stop. P land moving. Stop. Dinner here 18. Stop." Knight tapped, "Be there. Stop." They finished that job at thirteen twenty-eight and went to the next.

There wasn't a garage they could get into at that one, but they'd prepared. The cover on the LH was unfurled to make a covered walkway from the equipment to the door. They finished that job at seventeen twenty-two, furled the cover and went home to get ready for dinner. There was a canopy over two parking places in the girl's drive. Knight pulled in beside Case's car and they walked into the garage. They hadn't taken raingear. They'd been sure dry arrangements had been made. The others were standing around the message receiver.

"The informer is going from café to café listening to conversations. He's literally driving away customers. No one local will go in when he's there, and visitors don't stay long. Our main problem is he's making our people mad and they want to do something about him."

"It's time, Danny. I prefer not getting wet, but I'll dry."

"Blade, if he's just going from café to café..."

"Dawn, I don't know where or how yet, and I don't plan to leave before dinner, but our people need to know he's about to be an un-problem. All of them have already demonstrated they don't ignore them, in one fashion or another. The first step is decide if he's going to have a very un-suspicious accident or serve as a method demonstration."

"Blade, you aren't going alone."

"Knight... I'm not going alone."

"Thank you. Tell them he's an un-problem soon, Danny."

The next morning, they went to work at seven. At ten forty-three, they started the second job. At twelve oh four, they were eating lunch in the car when the light flashed, "Problem now! Stop. 5 Main Wville. Stop." Knight sent, "Received."

Nev picked up his tea and sandwich and got out of the car. When it 'disappeared,' he opened the garage door. A short time later he closed it and got to work. There wasn't a great deal left to do. If it took Knight and Blade more than two hours, they'd find him at the next job on the schedule.

Knight and Blade discussed accident or method on the way to Willaville. They put off the decision, when they saw the informer's car before they got there. They turned around and followed him. When he parked the car, got out in rain-gray raingear, and walked into the forest, they parked, turned on their personal shields and followed. When they realized where he was going, the decision made itself.

Blade cut a branch in a flicker of his shield. Knight flickered his to show he was going around. Blade finished sharpening the spike as he swiftly caught up. He turned off his shield as he drove it into the man's neck. Knight turned his off, picked up the man, pointed and switched it on. He carried him away from the huge Forest Growers Association equipment barn at the junction of Mountain Harvest Road and the gravway between Willaville and Teal Valley, one-point two K north of where it joined the Northeast Loop of the belt road. Blade carried the bomb.

Knight chose a place, switched off his shield and dropped the man. Blade turned his off and set down the bomb. Both turned their shields back on and ran for the car. They were on the belt road going west, when the sky behind them lit. The man 'had an accident.' His bomb went off too soon.

Knight and Blade were still a bit damp when they reached the house where Nev was beginning to load equipment into the LH. Blade slipped through the slightly open front door, then turned off his shield and closed it. Nev opened the garage door. Knight switched off the car shield as soon as it was in. He didn't get out. Nev and Blade carried the last of the equipment out and Nev pulled the truck out.

Knight backed out and turned around while the garage doors closed. He got the passenger door as close to the front door as possible, then opened it. Blade sprinted for it. Knight tapped a receiver code, then, "Done," when the light flashed, "Ready." Nev was unfurling the cover, when they got to the next job. They just sprinted for it. All were a bit damp when they got inside.

"What a mess!"

"These people didn't know where the trash cycler is."

"I hope we can save the carpet under this. It looks like it might have been nice."

"I'm afraid to learn why he said we couldn't get in the garage, Knight."

"I know what you mean, Nev. I'll find the damaged bedroom wall."

"Blade?"

"A bomb should be carried a carefully."

"I certainly would. The waste cycler is nonfunctional."

"I'll reserve opinion on the landlord, on the basis the damaged wall and mess may have been the reason they didn't call."

"Trash is why we can't get in the garage. However, it's somewhat prepared for removal. Damaged wall?"

"There's a six-by-ten cen hole in it at waist height. Whatever hit it, hit hard. I didn't see anything we can't get out of the carpet. That?"

"Minor, but not cheap. The flash head is history."

"More trash."

"A quarter of the garage in stacks. Why didn't they take it to a public waste cycler when they had it bagged to go?"

"I have no idea."

"They may have been doing something else."

"Such as?"

"Getting moved. They weren't going to get a good reference with a hole. The trash does not indicate well-organized people."

"I want to go home."

"Why, Nev?"

"I need a part for this. It's going to stop raining at eleven tomorrow. That's a better time to move trash. This job is assessed for need. It can be started then."

"I agree completely."

"Let's go home."

They got the part on the way home. They were still slightly damp when they got there. Nev told Knight and Blade to wait, went into his room, came out in a fluffy light blue robe and gave a white one to Knight and light brown one to Blade. He went to the kitchen and turned on the brewer. And the comm chimed.

"Answer comm. Hi, Case."

"You too, huh?"

"In for the evening, I hope."

"Us too. We saw you go by. Watching the rain out the window is nicer than being damp, too."

"Every time we got dry, we made a six-step dash through it."

"You got dry? Sub channel three two three. Great comedy starts in twelve minutes."

"Want to come over?"

"It was a rec, not a hint. I may get Stats out of a hot bath by then."

"You don't feel good, either."

"I don't feel bad."

"Neither do I. I'm beginning to wonder if I should add 'yet' to that."

"If there is a virus floating, it usually lands on Stats first."

"We were in Willaville with many others. Knight and Blade have been listening. I think I'm about to be a bundle on the couch."

"I was overheard, too. Bundling just went by."

"Here they come."

"Comm out."

"Put your hand on the pad. Computer, check for elevated body temperature."

"Temperature in normal range, Knight. Variance computation indicates it is rising."

"I'll bring your tea."

"Thank you, Blade. I'm seldom selected as a residence."

"I'll make you some tassip pod soup."

"Sounds wonderful, Knight. Ah, a view that isn't yellow."

"I may have seen a more unpleasant color, but not on anything that big. Comm connect girls."

"Uh, oh. If he's sick, I don't stand a chance of fighting it off."

"Case is also being 'bundled,' Danny. Willaville shopping may be timing."

"If it was there, it's everywhere, and someone already had it. I'll check on what I've probably got coming and let you know."

"That was next. Comm out."

"I'd rather stay home without an excuse. I have trees tomorrow."

"They'll get home."

"Thanks. Computer, entertainment sub channel three two three."

Knight and Blade didn't take off the next morning. There was a strong possibility they would lose workdays. They did get trees and get them planted, then went back to work until eighteen twenty-six, when they finished the second job of the day. They put in a long day the next day, too. They were on the fourth job for the day. The first three had been simple maintenance and prep. The one they started was colorbond and carpet. They finished it and another fast one the next day and were headed for third, when Knight turned off to go to Teal Valley. Blade followed him home in the LH. They learned Stats had gone home at ten forty, when they got there.

Blade didn't get it, but 'everyone else' did. Preparations for the season slowed all over the area. Treatment was available for those who had to work by the second day Knight was sick, but the local clinics requested people who weren't required for light-customer days just stay home, so they had enough for those who couldn't and those it hit hard, though there weren't many. Symptomatic treatment aided, but didn't give energy.

Five days after he got sick, Nev 'helped' make dinner. He sat at the kitchen table and watched Blade fix for eight, three real meals and five sick. Case had called and said he was sitting, not laying.

By the next day, both Nev and Case were back to light duty. In the mine, people were still going down, but there were some they were sure weren't going to get it there, too. Like Blade, they'd already had an influenza close enough to give them immunity. Blade wouldn't let Nev "push," but they got two easy jobs done that day. Knight was ready for real food that evening. Danny called and said she was moving, slowly. She'd made it to the computer to keep watch every day, but gov center had been 'getting sick' by the day after she was.

Kendra thought it was hilarious. Public Health didn't have anyone who could predict the course of the epidemic in any fashion, and they couldn't find anyone. Local clinics decided who should be watched for problems, and they didn't tell them, either. A flu bug had thoroughly demonstrated the Public Health Department budget was being used for something else.

By the day after Danny and Knight got up, IS was getting hundreds of sick calls. Everyone on their feet was taking advantage of it. Knight and Blade 'raided' a water treatment facility in their area. They collected the unit that added spermicide. Danny assured the comp didn't report it.

Labs that made it began making something else for the gov, as soon as they learned the dosage being added. Kendra had found a mild immune system booster that would be about the same price to produce. Danny assured the gov 'knew' that was the formula and product name that had 'always been' ordered. Knight and Blade put the unit back. Until the epidemic, they hadn't known there wasn't anyone in Public Health, who knew anything, who'd know the difference. All agreed it was worth five days of being sick.

Since the standard order quantity and price didn't change, the game program didn't notice the change. The political system and government were developed on levels one through seven of the game. You couldn't use them to 'dump money' into the search for the discovery that got you off the lock-step level, though you could reduce government spending to lower taxes to encourage it, but not in essential services, like Public Health or water treatment.

It was the development level for the next four. You had to build enterprise to be ready to compete in interplanetary markets. The epidemic had given them relief from the greatest fear, destruction of water treatment facilities and ensuing widespread disease and death.

### Chapter Eight

People spread out in invisible cars, often owned by others. Invisible people left slings, slingshots and blowguns made of easily hollowed woody reeds, and branches from other plants, some that had wicked thorns and some from which poison could be made, near public recycle bins in many places, then watched until they were found. IS didn't find any and people who did either left them lay or picked them up and took them home. None were tossed in the cyclers. The people who distributed the natural weapons emptied specific bins of the cyclers, while they were there.

Over a three-day period, while IS was severely understaffed, due to the epidemic, the people of one continent were taught what "rock, wood and plants" meant. The people of other continents were learning, as well. The distributors didn't need to check to be sure of it.

Knight and Blade caught up. Nev helped Case until Stats got back to work. Case and Nev had finished the cottages quickly and begun on other jobs before he did. Nev had five empty houses by the time both businesses had caught up. The swimming pool was installed in two days, then the warehouse converted the next. After that, they began working on empty houses a few hours per day.

Case and Stats had decided to move to the house next door. Danny wanted theirs. Ronnie wanted the one behind her and Dawn wanted the one behind Case and Stats. Since none of them were in a hurry, other houses were upgraded first. One of the things all were getting was a covered walk to the middle of the backyard area. Nev had decided to give them tennis courts, with "health club" on one end. The cover was being installed when two people 'introduced themselves' and asked 'the workmen' about a house. Nev got the story.

"We came to this side of town because there are more rentals and investment property listing in ads. We saw there was nothing in that house through the window, and were looking in its others when we saw the walk and you. We were going to ask how much more we'd have to pay for that and this. Condo and apt rental prices are too high to make them really price-attractive. That's a real nice house, but no job would still kick a credit app out."

"You're a surprise, Dayton."

"Danny messaged get down, get a car, that house as address and an application to the city manager's office with 'homeowner' on it, before the day's over, Knight. They've got a sudden flood of apps, for a position in public works, that are all IS plants. I'm the one with the right resume. Application acceptance closes today. Tate bought a car as soon as he saw it, the first place we went. I'm still shopping. He'll probably find a place of his own, but we're very good friends right now, both wanted to move, and we'll stay friends."

"I'm going to apply to Caelton. I've got close enough to what they need that I'll probably get the seasonal and it's 'possibly becoming permanent,' so makes sense for someone who doesn't plan to leave. I'm going to get a condo in a party complex on the northeast side after I have a job and other friends. There are about twenty-five more who want to come down here. The rent went up on condos and people are looking at other options for summer. Half-year leases are lower rent."

"Danny messaged about forty minutes ago. We 'got here' early this morning."

"You have a house. It's not quite done."

"Give me a break for sort of camping in it for a few days."

"Sixty days without payments, but they'll be five-fifty."

"Twelve thou down."

"They'll be four-fifty."

"Done."

"Let's get it processed."

Dayton got an interview before he left the city offices. During it, he told the city manager and chief of public works about finding what he thought was the perfect house for rent and buying it fast, owner-financed on terms that went from good to great in a minute. They asked how he heard about the job. He said the clerk at the desk had told him when he walked in to ask where the employment office was and added, "Any city jobs available?" to the question. He said he'd felt blessed since he'd decided Teal Valley, not Mountain City, where he really hoped he didn't have to look for employment.

The public works chief handed him a container of 'pieces.' He quickly assembled the flow control unit, but handed her the valve as "too worn to go in," and the testing unit as in need of calibration. The city manager told him he didn't need to job hunt in Mountain City and to call early next business day and they'd tell him officially. She said they hadn't had anyone more qualified apply, and he was the only permanent resident who'd applied who was qualified. He grinned widely and said, "Blessed."

The clerk gave him the message Tate had gone to Caelton to apply for a job and told him where it was located. Tate walked out right after he'd told the receptionist he was waiting for someone and sat down. Tate sat down beside him and indicated the receptionist was a good hear-and-tell prospect of the nice type.

"I got it."

"What happened when we decided we want to live here? Job?"

"It's for the harvest season, but they think it's going to become permanent with a little difference in description. They described the possible difference and it's even better for me. How did you do?"

"I'll get it. For sure. Application closes in a couple hours. The house got it for me. 'Permanent resident' is what no other qualified applicant has."

"I thought you decided that... too fast."

"It's perfect. For me. You're not going to stay, are you?"

"I'm staying in Teal Valley. It has everything I want and I like everyone I've met. I heard about a wild condo complex on the east side."

"From an attractive informant?"

"If you think I'm going to disappear out of your life..."

"I know you won't, but I didn't realize you were already getting restless."

"So are you, and more than I am, but you ignore it. Our relationship isn't going to really change, Day."

"No, we're friends. You're not going to look for a place yet, are you?"

"Not until you have a car. My place is going to be the best place to party my way, Gorgeous. I want to watch men trip over things looking at you in swimbriefs about that wide. You have great taste in people. When you have a party, I'll come and admire your good taste. When I have one, you'll come and I'll get help keeping you from being drooled on. At my age, wiping it off is a real compliment."

"You're beautiful, Tate, and the muscle... Let's go home."

"Let's finish car shopping. You don't have to be careful spending if you've got a job."

"Tate, what are you planning to talk me into now?"

"Something at least half as gorgeous as you are. That T Nev has is probably the only thing as gorgeous."

"He is. Plus. My new neighborhood has great scenery."

"I don't know how you talked business. We walked back there and I spent the entire time you were talking reminding myself that blond is bigger than I am, the little one has more muscle, too, and they might not consider an erection a compliment."

"Tate! Why are we sitting here?"

"He'll have documents for me to sign soon, and a condo complex address. From someone else."

Dayton found a "beach party car." It was two or four passenger, refreshment storage for twenty and had a great sound system. The person who'd rebuilt it was a good engineer, but had decided to sell it when well-maintained equipment began to go. It had been his new boss's son's car. It was seventeen years old and priced at its value and not its age.

Dayton was an extremely social person. He enjoyed working with others, a good office environment and going on the jobsite. The variety of things he'd check and repair was wide and the three-year tech school and university course mix was the not-degree on his resume right for it.

It was called a "prac major." You looked for practical-engineer positions that fit your skills and interests and built a training program for the field. High-tech maintenance and business tech users were the most common pracs.

Public Health had a lot of unfilled prac positions. They'd moved the budget for them to a "medical emergency management" subcontract fund and established a nice new pocket funnel system for the "reserve" for it. Kendra was a little smug there was no one in the gov in her field, not just her profession.

The government was a corrupt oligarchy. The disease was rampant in the society, and it stemmed from a few greedy people who'd recruited others to control the government of the world, and pour money into their pockets.

The oligarchy didn't grow if it could be avoided. Money was budgeted for 'need' and the fewer who knew whose pockets it went into the better. The person at the public service counter just put his hand out. Everything but 'special service' was done by a comp. Most departments had many fewer people than budgeted. IS had more.

The corruption was enough to create zealots. There would be no corruption in IS. It would control everything and take what it wanted. Taxes wouldn't be lower. They were poised to take over the corrupt government with excuse of rebels. It was 'impossible' they be real.

"Day, are you going to stock it?"

"Yes, and show it to Knight and Blade. They've got a cooker and I've got the beverage store and party tent."

"That's for ski parties."

"I plan on them. Extend supports, attach a tent for twenty, unseal a couple panels and reseal around another car. I like my new boss, Tate."

"I'm glad you got that job. I feel safer with you watching over my sewer."

"Thank you."

"It's a high responsibility position, guarding all the people from odorous inflow."

"It's interesting equipment to maintain. Going out in the cold doesn't bother me, and I don't have to work on tech in it. Anything I have to do more than plug in a replacement is inside."

"We're going to the condos in your car."

"You sure you don't want a house?"

"I'm sure not now. I want a great big one-bedroom, with two baths and two bars, one in the clubhouse."

"I hear a printer. My documents are done."

There was a one-bedroom corner unit available. It was a two-story 'view' unit. The kitchen, with counter and booth space for up to a dozen, and big bedroom were on the ground floor. The second floor was a big room with balconies and big windows on the south and west. It would be sunny in cold weather. In summer, it was shaded by a tall parasol tree, the view unobstructed by the high arching branches, covered with long leaves that turned crimson and gold before they fell in autumn. The only thing behind it was garages and it had a double. The summer people who had rented it every year for seven had decided to move up to a lake. The end entrance to the pool, with clubhouse lounge at the other end, was twelve steps from the front door. Tate said, "resident," "unfurnished" and "half-year" and the per-thirty price dropped forty percent. They drove back to Tate's car, then he followed Day to the big house to show off Day's car.

"This is beautiful."

"And coming up on the expensive maintenance schedule, Blade, but it's a schedule."

"Complete reverse of the T."

"I found out my boss and his son did this after I bought it, Nev."

"Day, I'm glad you're there. I'm sorry you were drafted for it."

"I'm not, Knight. I want to be there watching over the people who work for the people of this town. They made me a rebel. I'm delighted to mess up their plans. That's so pleasant-appearing and it was such a garish blob."

"You're not supposed to know."

"I'll look up an image in city records to appreciate it, Nev."

"He wanted to be down here with you. I wanted to be down here because I really liked the brothel. I may use that as the fast way to learn the personality of towns from now on."

"He'll love that condo, and the complex. I'm going to like the job. I like four on, three off and on call. It's the perfect career position for me. When my boss retires in about ten, I'll be ready for the office work and responsibility of that one. When we take it apart, I'll introduce my coworkers to my parents. Nev will introduce you to his family. The rebels were in Horgen and Fataner. They fought back. I was just looking for an explanation. I bought a house, a huge house. I love it. I want to choose my colors, put in my own hedges and landscape my own yard with rock walls and trellises I build. I want everyone to think of that walk as an invitation and eventually find the perfect people to share a house with for decades. I want you as neighbors. I wanted to be down here. I'm the one to 'disappear' for two days and smile smugly for three. I'm always on call, but I carry an emergency signal button. I don't forward calls. I'm the outdoor and bedroom type. Forwarding to a hiking trail is impractical and a bedroom impolite. The personal comm will come back in style when IS doesn't pinpoint locations with it."

"The license fees were just too high for mobile service, Day. The fifteen hundred-year-old convenience wasn't worth it. The gov passed along the cost of service and people decided they didn't want to pay for IS to locate, track and monitor them."

"Time on the house?"

"Let's go in and look at bond colors and carpet."

"Tate's place is being unfurnished."

"It was nice, but not me. The lovely conversation grouping with planters opposite the bar is going out and workout equipment is going in."

"Fifth and Dellisi, High Country Sports."

"Thanks, Knight. I expected to get on a reservation list for after the season. The person who told me about it expected I would. My double-garage faces the north belt road entry, and is the closest. It's one of the most expensive one-bedrooms in the complex. The back balcony has a lift down to the patio and the balcony and patio have sound damper covers."

"Will the design dump snow?"

"Melt units and channels, Blade."

"How much is it?"

"Seven thirty unfurnished and half-year lease. They were considering making it a ten-day-lease unit. The club and pool complex are nicely full, not overcrowded, and the north entrance is twelve steps from the front door. I figure a third of the rent will be covered by what I don't spend going out, but I'll still be able to afford that and the wardrobe to go with it on the salary. See you later. I want to do some 'furniture' shopping."

"He loved having 'right off the belt road' as an excuse for grabbing that place. We won't be moving furniture. He'll use it as an intro. 'I've got a trailer full, need muscle to unload' in the clubhouse."

"I noticed he didn't request the LH or assistance, Blade. Day bought a four-bedroom house, and he loves it."

"It's a surprise to him. I think some women are going to decide he's the perfect roommate."

"I can now envision him with 'roommates for decades.' I still have difficulty envisioning 'after,' but I wasn't well-acquainted with before."

"Knight, the 'rebellion' is being fought in a computer and Danny's doing it. It's going to move out fast."

"I know, but I think of the days I was too sick to want to get out of bed as a very important tactical victory."

"The fewer who know, the fewer to pay to keep a secret, and a flu told us how few they're paying. It didn't occur to me there wouldn't be anyone who knew anything about medicine, even though forty-six 'rebels' do."

"If it had been a Type A, they couldn't have just watched."

"Neither could the rest of the medical profession, Knight. They knew Public Health was a money sump with greedy bureaucrats at the top, greedy 'inspectors' at the bottom and nothing between."

"How long do you suppose it'll be before they discover the birth rate is going up?"

"They probably won't. I want them gone before then."

Unpleasant people began to disappear. IS informers just stopped sending names in hope of money. Some stopped in hope they wouldn't disappear. Public waste cycler bio-analyzers weren't high-priority maintenance. Most didn't work. Those that did, didn't report.

The gov had found the program and the bureaucrats, the retired bureaucrats in congress and the branch management of three mining corps kept trying to find their offworld investments and money. Every person who'd played the game told them offworld holdings were "cheats," and the program would "cancel" them.

IS still hadn't learned six were gone. All employers had received resignation calls and all bills were automatically deducted from accounts. None had lived with their families for several years, since they'd started university, except Tarse, while he'd been healing. They'd all reduced frequency of visits and calls over a year, and Danny had 'added a little insurance' she hadn't mentioned.

The mine became busier as people moved out. Some 'summer' roommates were seldom home. Most had manufacturing jobs, building shields, message systems and power storage units, that were the size of a writing stylus and might need replacing in a half-year, if used to power a car shield for most of it.

None of the former convicts had spouses. The gov "relieved" spouses of them when they were sentenced to life confinement, but almost all had been single when they chose to stop "evil." There were rebels with spouses, but very few. Most had chosen to look for answers, not accidentally learned something. Any time one decided to look, who else was being endangered was first consideration. Almost all had parents, siblings, or grown children, who they longed to see, someday.

The five hundred forty-eight spread into a dozen large to medium towns, three dozen small ones around them and cottages on lakes. A large percentage found permanent jobs. Doc Larry and Kendra did the statistical analysis on the figures. The results indicated nearly all who sought them would within ten days. There weren't enough local young people to fill positions, as older people retired.

Since most summer people were in the pre-population-reduction-plan age group, the number needed to support the summer influx hadn't gone down. Since the demand for specialty foods grown in the area was always higher than the amount that could be grown, those industries hadn't shrunk in employment needs.

Harvest crews were skilled labor and paid good wages. Everyone in the forest cultivation industry was, but produce prices were set to sell all the harvest while it was fresh, not at all they could get. It went to 'better' markets, as well as gourmet shops, fine restaurants and hotels. A lot of it remained in the area and was featured on menus and at markets, as part of the vacation attraction.

### Chapter Nine

Rentals did fill for the season, rather quickly around the lakes. Harvest crews did come in to house hunt on the west side, but five or six sharing was more common than three or four. Dayton's house was finished, but didn't fill immediately. The condo complex where Tate lived did. There weren't many one-bedroom units and most two-bedroom were less expensive. Most three-bedroom condos were about the same, for half-year leases. Many more residents than summer people moved into them in the early part of the season. A few had been on the when-available list, but many regular summer tenants chose not to pay the rent increases and new residents, and a few new seasonal renters, filled condos as fast as furniture was moved out.

The used furniture store began to have a wide selection of nice and some items went back into the places out of which they'd come. Because turnover was fast, the people who purchased furniture, and paid a third the damage deposit for furnished rentals, didn't pay much more than the store had paid for it. The best furniture that came out of rental units usually went into others that didn't have best.

Knight, Blade, Nev, Case and Stats finished the blue house, now "soft bronze-brown," with darker trim and Case and Stats moved one over. Nev had three other houses nearing completion and several boat stalls rented. The two maintenance businesses didn't get slack, but demand for services eased. The programming business had a referral list for contracts which it couldn't schedule.

Many companies wanted the in-operation-tailoring option that no other programming contractor had qualified personnel to do, but most programming jobs didn't need it, and were referred. The referred programmers began returning the favor, referring contracts they thought would need tailoring.

A large boat storage stall began to fill with furnishings for two more houses as the girls dropped by the used furniture store, or noticed something perfect in a window.

Knight, Blade, Nev, Case and Stats had much more time to work on houses after the influx began. They had all three unsold houses done before it began to taper off to short-lease out-and-in. It didn't take long to sell them. Kendra chose one. Mike and Loren decided they'd "find restaurant work for more than the season" and bought one. Chal made recommendations and they got jobs with assistance for chef training in Mountain City, starting after season.

Dayton suddenly got three young women who had party plans and general harvest jobs, as roommates. There were a number of those jobs open. The best-trained were doing wild harvest and establishing forest cultivation. The young women, Essa, Kady and Reesa introduced other harvest-hires to Mike and Loren and they got two harvest-season roommates.

Kendra 'found' a roommate, Marie. The other home buyer was Elise. She had the right resume for a prac position in Public Works street maintenance. Kendra decided she didn't need a whole season off, when the position for an analyst opened in the town Planning Commission office. Marie got a prac job maintaining harvest equipment, and IS didn't get someone in the Forest Growers Association, either.

The people of the area were why twenty-nine days after a hole had been made where a splotch of the yellow marked the spot, the mine was empty of residents, though never empty. It was a busy place, headquarters, training area and equipment production center of the only rebel organization that could have come into existence, freed by tech that everyone else was still sure couldn't exist.

The one named as bard had been knighted by the corrupt bureaucracy, anointed in his own blood. They'd known they couldn't make him into a servant, so they'd isolated him and contracted superb professionals to conduct his child-genius life. Learning had already been his passion. He just didn't believe they knew everything about physical law.

The professionals had never hidden the profit motive in his education. He could see it clearly. He also saw the hope in the eyes of teachers, that a new discovery would excite the field of physics and bring new things to learn.

There were exceptions. There were things unexplained, even if complex explanations for them existed. He didn't think the explanations should be that complex. He'd begun "taking them apart to make the pieces shorter," when he was seven.

IS wanted a secret weapon. Neither the oligarchy's plan for interplanetary wealth, nor the science educators' dreams of being at the birth of a new era of physics suited their plans at all. Nev began to snicker and heads turned all around the pool, nineteen of them.

"We're currently blocking the IS takeover of the gov, but I just don't think the bureaucrats would thank us for our counter-coup efforts."

"We should make them start the game over. I'm not interested in a pogrom, or punishment for most. The rest should be exiled, with standard settlement equipment."

"Essa, the isolation here doesn't exist on most new-settled worlds."

"I know, Kendra. Give them equipment to go to one. Don't let them come back. Their survival depends on them. They're products of a warped culture, and they built it. Give them what every person is determined to need to begin a new life. We're going to have to fight IS. The gov just needs to be pushed over or evacuated. I really don't think trials and prisons are worth the expense, but we don't want them among us."

"Kill the ones too poisonous to turn loose and dump the rest of the animals back in the wild?"

"They didn't build the oligarchy, Blade. They don't have the mental capacity of the monsters who did. They don't have a power base. They're unskilled labor, desperately in need of remedial training in social skills and community interdependence. Put them, spouses, children and grandchildren on liners with standard extended-family supply. They took care of their families. Their families can take care of them. It's the only way the children won't be punished, too."

"Thank you, Essa. A practical solution to what to do with all those people who stole from the people, because it was established government method, is nice."

"I like it too, Knight. They're a faceless blob of disgusting. I don't want to put faces on it. They don't need me to watch over them. They get a good wash. If they crawl back into disgusting, it won't be while holding the purse strings of a world."

"Elise is much less disgusted than I am, but I think spending money on them, the expense of humane care and attempt at rehabilitation, is silly. We yank them out of the toxic environment and completely clean them. They are not forced to carry the past with them. A settlement package isn't cheap, but it's not as expensive as the cost in labor and social adjustment problems on this world. If they're given fresh starts elsewhere, we don't have to try to teach our kids not to blame the kids who knew they got cars because their parents stole money from the people."

"I like it too, Day. Some won't leave. They're too diseased to turn loose and their families deserve a chance."

"The warden is dead, Blade."

"I heard him defined, Knight."

"Nev, buy us spaceship, please."

"I looked, Ronnie. There aren't any for sale, not even ships that don't work. There just aren't any."

"We could put them off the planet tomorrow if there was."

"Right now, they're keeping IS preoccupied, Elise."

"Dear other worlds, these are the members of the ruling oligarchy. Put them where they can start over. We're busy fighting the zealots of the would-be police dictatorship they engendered, and the brutes they hired. We'll convey our thanks, personally, when you come to trade for the new tech they're looking for so fervently."

"Good note, Dawn."

"Nev, your roommate has a glazed look."

"Computer, Knight. This way. I can't see what we're doing in your head."

The seven still at the pool decided what to have for dinner where. They used the 'hall' through the boat storage building to get to their side. The "exterior of the neighborhood" had been finished. Trees had been shaped and more planted. A hedge circled the block. It obstructed the view in, but not the view of the mountains from windows designed to frame it.

Gates and fences weren't considered. The hedges were for privacy. Security was normal, locked doors and neighbors watching over the neighborhood. Fences and gates didn't invite other neighbors to check in back for friends. The tennis court/health club would be a social gathering area in the winter. In the summer, it was an open court with a shed enclosing the health club area and social gathering was in whichever yard it happened.

Knight blinked and realized he was sleepy. He remembered two terrific meals, so it was probably late. He checked, then walked to the kitchen. Stats was making sandwiches and Blade was on the kitchen computer.

"I got Blade's computer when he finished, Case took it over and Dawn left an assignment and left. He got the sandwiches started."

"I got stuff out of the keeper. 'Started' gives the impression I had time to organize it. That one's done. What are we doing?"

"Filling a spaceship, Blade. There's an ore barge up there. It's the only thing no one would take note of going from here to a non-habitable world. It would carry everything needed to set up mining operations. 'Personnel area' just needs to be a container of people. Gravity and life support, food and cooking equipment, break a connection and everyone dies. You can't reach the guards."

"So how are we filling it?"

"With something that can't exist and can only work from a world to a point outside its gravity well, but within its star's. Basically, a door to the space portal you can probably carry in your pocket, though you do have to assemble it. It will take three power sticks to open it and keep it open a quarter-hour. We need four hundred thirty-nine extended-family settlement packages and a destination."

"We know everything that goes in one. Most of it can be found in a 'standard' house."

"True. We need to finish the girl's houses."

"You need to eat and go to bed. So do I."

"We need to finish the houses. It won't be odd they move, even though the lease has more to run. I want them here where no one notices they're here, or not."

"Some people should not get to go."

"They won't."

"You need food and sleep, too."

"I'm going with you. Wherever you go."

"It's mutual."

They fell on beds as they finished pieces. Knight and Blade, on Knight's bed, awoke first. It was thirteen twelve. By fifteen, everyone was awake and working on a house. There were seven others aiding. They worked two days to finish three houses. The next day, all the employees went to work and the eight put the finishing touches on the houses and began moving furniture.

Danny changed the address on her business license and informed the property manager they'd decided to move into their completed homes, but did not expect refund of rent, though the house would be empty and ready for inspection the next day. Gen Millert told her he understood completely and they'd get a rent refund if the house was leased.

She got off the comm and got out of the kitchen before Nev got to it with the extractor. He backed out the door to the garage, closed the door, loaded the extractor and shut the garage door behind the LH. He pulled the LH into the parking area in their part of the boathouse and joined Knight, Blade, Case and Stats on not-surprisingly-nice couches from the charity store.

"I'm part owner of one house and a happy entrepreneur. No, I don't plan to do it again, soon."

"Danny went straight for the spa, Nev. I think you're expected."

"Thank you, Case. I'll be home... sometime."

"Ow?"

"Yes, Blade, but he's the buddy for whom there's always a chair in the kitchen and a place in the spa."

"And Ronnie has been strongly hinting it to Knight and Danny."

"She got my attention."

"I noticed the thank-you kiss for tilling her flower beds was an attention-getter. It took me a while to refocus after I got one."

"A reminder they all three said they had fun plans for both of you, Blade. The houses are done, and this end now has a single-vehicle door in the big door and personnel entrance off the passage hall."

"Yes, Stats, all done here. Let's go, Blade."

"Good time. I'm in the mood for fish for dinner."

Day, Elise, Ronnie and Dawn were already in the mine when Knight, Blade, Case and Stats got there. They learned Mike and Loren were when they got dinner. Essa had left a great-beach-party message on Day's comm. Three had gone to it.

Over the evening, the mine filled. Doc Larry gave Knight and Blade a list of who wasn't going. At twenty-three sixteen Danny and Nev arrived. At one, all the work-tomorrow people were sent home. At five thirteen, Tate came in with a trailer full of elements from waste recycle bins, had breakfast and went to work. He hadn't collected elements all night. His bunch had unloaded their collections in his garage. Other collections had been arriving all night. They were well-stocked by five forty when the eight went home.

Knight, Blade and Nev, and Case and Stats, did 'jobs' that day, starting at ten thirty. Both businesses finished two and had slightly late dinner. In the morning, both worked, finished two and were in the mine by fourteen. At twenty-three seventeen, they looked at a portal corridor through a doorway. Knight and Blade stepped through and turned on their shields. Nev dove through behind them, just before the door was shut, until scheduled to reopen. They knew he was there. He'd hit their shields as he got his on. Knight flickered, then Nev saw Blade and turned his shield off. They were all under Knight's.

"The habit took over. It wasn't a conscious decision."

"I realize that, Nev. I don't think there's anyone here."

"There's a staff, but they only exist in the comp and IS doesn't know it, or they'd be here."

"Let's look around. Shields on."

They explored the portal and confirmed staff quarters were empty. Nev saw something out a viewport and ran for the traffic control office. A few moments later, he'd established contact and was bringing it in. Knight and Blade appeared beside him and began helping figure out how to dock it. Ore barges weren't designed for it. Getting a docking arm 'bent' the right way was finally accomplished and a hatch seal finally made. They walked down the arm and through the hatch to the crew area and into a luxurious treasurehouse.

"Definitely high-grade gems and ore."

"Yes, Blade, very nice quarters and seed to attract investors. They've got a shuttle down there and it's made many trips."

"They go first."

"How did you find this?"

"I wanted to see the third moon come from behind Gradelode, Knight. It shouldn't have had a speckle there."

"Let's go find the shuttle that's made many trips before IS decides it would be convenient."

When the door opened, they handed bins of gems and ores through, then walked through behind them. When the door closed, all three got dizzy. The reason was in the math. The door could be used both ways, but it projected from world to space. It was going to make them "at least dizzy."

They went home, filled the keeper in the car, put the pad and pillows in and left the house at two oh seven. Nev drove. When he began to get groggy, he pulled off and changed places with Blade. They rotated through the drive the length of the continent. They all had about five hours sleep when they got to "mining corp city," Highgrade.

It took them until late afternoon to locate the shuttle. There were three, in assorted sizes. None were ore shuttles. All were sealed. They used the magic sword to make holes, disconnected comps and hardwired a-grav. They laced them together, attached the 'lace' to their tow unit, then Knight turned on the car shield. It covered the odd trailers in the too secure 'deserted and run down' equipment shed. They got them out and headed home fast. They were close on the length of time the auxiliary power would keep them afloat.

It wasn't a fun drive. The gravway was busy. They dodged a lot of haulers. They "finally!" got back to the mine. They drove into the central cavern and chose a place to put the shuttles. They didn't make it. The big one dropped loudly and jerked the car.

"This looks like a good spot."

"Yes, Blade, they add nicely to the decor here. Hi, Ronnie."

"That was close timing."

"If we'd dodged one more hauler, we'd have been trying to find a way to get them off the adit road."

"Most of us think bringing them, because you couldn't think of anything to do to them you couldn't fix, was excessive caution, Nev, but we agree it won't occur to them they were towed off. Get back in that car. You're unhooked. Go home and lounge by the pool. It'll need cover in about twenty minutes. Go put it up."

"On our way."

People went to Case and Stats' house, then made 'downpour-dashes' to the boathouse hall, then to the garage of the big house. All were in swimwear, but they were handed towels to dry off cold rain. Cars were already parked along the street. Nev had decided to have "a rainy night pool party."

All had slept again, but driving had been tense work a long way. They'd all fully recovered by the time the party really got started. Very few of the many people had to work the next day, and it was pouring. Many more found flat places than they had beds that night. The padded pool deck was a favorite, and no one stepped on fingers. Nev was pleased. They'd finally had a real body-count party.

They reset their door to the dome on the ore ship. Knight and Blade had turned on the systems from the bridge. It was just an enviro dome. They began preparing it for over three thousand people, for a twenty-two-day journey. Over the seventeen days it took five hundred forty-eight people to pick up the supplies the 'families' ordered, and keep IS from learning it, relations between IS and the gov departments became more strained. Teal Valley and the other towns weren't pleased with IS either, but no one touched anyone. Other places, other people were beginning to disappear.

The nineteenth night, two hundred fifty people rode into Water District One, in invisible cars, and into the area of mansions without vast yards, where the families of the ruling oligarchy lived. Each had a 'door.' All were preset for the dome. Each also had tools, and a supply of power sticks and gas pellets. They turned on personal shields. It didn't take teams long to clear a house, uninstall the required household equipment and pack the rest.

Many people from the mine were in the dome. They pushed carts through to be loaded and moved what was on them to 'family packages,' when they were pushed back through. People were last. Each family was put in their semi-enclosure. It only took four hours, thirty-three minutes, to move them all, or all who were being moved. Some members of some families didn't go and some who didn't go didn't have families.

People from the mine cleared the dome. Many grabbed basins, but the dizziness and nausea quickly passed. Three reset a doorway, walked onto the portal and prepared the ship for a long journey. They'd already emptied the luxurious quarters, so there was nothing left to do, but check everything again. The ore barge was built to make comp-controlled journeys.

When they left the bridge, they weren't worried about the ship or the people in the dome. They couldn't get to anything that would damage the dome and nothing would go wrong with the systems. They undocked it from the portal, lined it up on its course and sent it on its way. They walked through their door, waited for dizziness to pass, then turned on their shields, and left the dark house. Theirs was the last car nothing saw leave the enclave, including the police and IS, which both patrolled the area. They were nearing home when thirty-seven people began to awaken and discover their houses had no comps and they were the only ones in the enclave. They ran for their mining corporation friends.

IS didn't realize there was no one in the enclave until midafternoon. The takeover was scheduled in two days and there was no one to overtake. And level eight maintenance continued.

The 'rebels' watched IS shock and turmoil by comp. They waited for the high command to develop a plan of action. The houses weren't empty, but some appliances were gone, and some clothes. Not every house comp was gone, but those remaining were systems with nothing in data banks. They couldn't decide if secret tech had been used, or the oligarchy had learned the plan and run.

Knight, Blade and Nev built scooters. Workout equipment and workouts with Knight and Blade were changing Nev's shape quickly. He'd had to buy 'between' clothes. They practiced on their scooters in the mine. Nev knew he wasn't ready to go all the way with them, but he was driving when they towed the invisible boat to Shimmer Lake. IS had located the warden for them. He was on the not-gone list. So was a specific guard.

It was three K from the darkened dock to the place the warden was playing. They waited for him to come out thirty-nine minutes. Nine seconds after he did, he died. They went point eight K past the boat. They didn't wait there. They went in. The guard didn't die in his sleep. He woke when the thorn from the blowgun hit him. It was a short scooter ride back to the boat. They got there as the sky began to lighten with approaching dawn.

They crossed the lake and had the boat loaded on the trailer before the sun lifted above the hills, but barely got out of the way of early fishers, and a woman widely maneuvering her boat around to launch it. They wished her, an older woman and a small boy luck, as they hurried to get off the drive down to the launch. They put the boat back in storage, hooked Nev's boat to the car and pulled out.

They went in the house and called to see if anyone wanted to go along and got a beach party rendezvous time, but no company. They took the boat to Veil Lake. They made breakfast, sat and ate on the deck, then waved hello to people on the shore and in boats, on a leisurely cruise around the lake.

The last group they waved to was theirs. They followed a guide on the shore, with a 'boarding plank' under his arm, to a place deep enough for the boat, close enough to shore for the plank. Late afternoon, they took the boat back to the boat launch, loaded it, took it home, and got food to go back to the party. It was the first time Dayton got to use the party tent. They left the lake side open, but the shelter from the somewhat chill breeze was welcome and so were the food and drink.

The warden who died in a paid playmate's drive wasn't mentioned on the news. Blade said she actually got a service for all the protection she'd paid.

The next morning, government center opened and people went to work. IS watched and waited. None of the low-level employees noticed their bosses were gone, or more frequently, did and didn't do any work because they weren't watched. Late afternoon, they all went home on time.

Congress had session the next day and there was no congress present. Eventually, all the other people left. An IS observer reported newscrews complained they hadn't been notified the session was canceled. That evening Warkerdoll held a news conference.

"The government of this world is corrupt and the bureaucracy greedy. IS has ended that. We will be collecting evidence for trials when judicial benches are filled. All lower-level government offices are functioning and no services have been interrupted. IS officers will be covering supervisory positions beginning tomorrow."

"They didn't change a line in the speech."

"Not a one, Nev. What would you like to do this evening?"

"Thin IS ranks a bit."

"Do you have a list?"

"Yes, Blade, I do. It begins with the one who ordered us murdered, but I still don't have a name for that one, so I'll skip him and go to number two, Hakin Bremp."

"The comm monitor commander."

"He's just number two, Blade."

Knight sent a message. "Starting IS list, Bremp. Stop. Personal favorite recommended. Stop." People smiled and got their blowguns or slingshots.

Nev was good with his slingshot. He was also good with the shield control under his fingers in the hand that held it. Bremp left a banquet. In the 'flicker of an eye,' Nev put a rock between his eyes, as he waited for his car door to be opened. Nev had never gotten off his scooter, so he wasn't in the parking lot when Bremp's escort yelled for assistance. He touched his controls for a finger-hole gap. He saw two quick spots of light. It wasn't as odd-looking as seeing a finger appear.

They went to two other places that night. Knight and Blade each had a 'favorite.' None of them were just killing IS. Each person, who decided to go out that night, knew without doubt the person killed was too dangerous to others to live.

The next morning, they learned they hadn't been the only ones who decided there were some in IS who wouldn't be given more power to abuse people. IS officers and 'helpful' people were found dead on every continent. Poison thorns, rocks, spears, a few arrows and one strangulation with a vine were cause of death.

If someone had disposed of a body, IS hadn't learned of it. They were just left where they died, often in parking lots or driveways, often not in uniform. Several died while with other IS officers. No one picked up an IS or police weapon and no one was caught.

Six hundred forty-two died in one night, over half on the center continent. Four thousand two hundred seventeen quit that day. A few sent resignations. The rest disappeared off the streets or didn't report for duty.

### Chapter Ten

IS ordered officers into vehicles, banned flyer use, set up identification checkpoints and imposed a curfew between twenty-three thirty and six. All persons with reason to be out between those hours were required to request IS passes. All persons on the streets without passes would be arrested.

That night, tens of thousands attended street parties that began at twenty-two thirty in every major city on Gradelode. IS began hunting a rebel organization. They picked up people for questioning and learned the street parties had been scheduled to start an hour before curfew the first night it was imposed, 'everyone knew it,' and had for about fifty days.

Danny read reports and watched for disposition of detainees. The fear that IS had instilled in the unarmed populace had evaporated in one night. That day they learned what everyone else on the planet knew. They heard the number six hundred forty-three, and the invocation. And they learned no one told anyone what to do.

The people they questioned considered it obvious a rebel organization couldn't exist. People who decided to do something didn't tell anyone else. The decision was personal and including other people in it was foolish, and impolite. They learned 'everybody knew' IS planned to take over, and weren't surprised 'the gov' had run away. General opinion was they'd left Gradelode and good riddance. They learned 'everybody knew' computers ran everything, and the only thing the bureaucrats worked at was getting budget increases, so there was more money to steal.

The people questioned weren't surprised someone decided to make sure an IS officer, personally known to enjoy beating and raping people, wasn't given more opportunity to do it. None knew anyone who'd killed an IS officer.

At fifteen forty-three, Danny's message light blinked, "Chief Dennon here. Stop. Own car. Stop." Nev invited the chief in.

"Sit down, please. Knight's bringing tea, but I doubt it will help the worry."

"I don't know what to do. IS is the de facto government and they ordered us to force people to do what they say. I've got twenty-three thirty curfew and no public gathering of over ten orders I have to enforce, or they're going to do it. They're salivating in anticipation of it. There are at least thirty-two in this area in sixteen armored cars, with weapons mounted on them. If they use one, they'll all be dead in an hour, and we'll be a region in rebellion. I think we're being set up to be an example."

"Why?"

"The two were back, Knight. They issued or-else orders and left. We paid 'tribute' to the gov and ignored them. We lived our way and they couldn't make us fear them. People posted signs conversation in public places was monitored we talked to our neighbors in person instead of calling them, and the town switched from mobile comm to collar buttons that beep, when comm was full-monitored. This is the only region on this continent where they've never had any control. Three of the cars have missile racks on them. I think they're looking for a beach party to kill. I'm here because I think the people in this neighborhood might be able to get discreet warning out to our young people fast enough."

"Nev, get materials for an aerial walkway from Case and Stats front yard, through the boathouse to ours. Extensions that 'almost' meet over the streets. They don't lock together. They don't protrude over the street when retracted and they're retracted unless someone is using them. Fully enclosed."

"I don't think it's possible by twenty-three thirty, Knight, and it'll attract a crowd."

"We'll send them home to watch our solution to the problem of abiding by contractual obligation for use of recreational facilities, and the no-public-gathering and curfew orders."

"You're making yourselves targets, Knight."

"Chief Dennon, we're not rebels against the government because there isn't one, unless it's a computer. We're extremely obviously complying with IS orders, to the letter. People need an example of having fun following orders and frustrating the hell out of them. If they attack Teal Valley, there won't be an IS officer left alive on the planet in a day. They can't make us fear them."

"They don't know who the people of this world are. They don't have any pracs working for them. Nobody in gov center did. They didn't want anybody that smart, and nobody that smart wanted to work for them. If IS makes the people mad, instead of just disgusted, tolerance will end."

"Very true, Blade. A bug buzzing around my head is irritating, but I wave it off and ignore it, usually just wave it away from my picnic plate. If it lands on my face, it's dead. If it bites my face, I spray the area with fast-killing non-residual bug killer. Comm Case."

"You just caught me, Nev. I was about to do some shopping."

"Knight gave me a list. We're taking the LH and the trailer. Bring a datpad."

"On my way."

Nev drove up, Case unhooked the loaded trailer and they drove off. A few minutes later, they arrived with a much larger trailer. Knight and Blade had moved one of the four personal lifts to each yard, and each side of the boathouse. There was a great deal more on the trailer, but they didn't know where it was going. They grinned and watched Nev use the construction-weight high-loader to move wood and window "patio solariums," two large and two small, off the trailer.

The solariums were basically enclosed gazebos designed to fit around an exterior door in winter and be moved aside in summer. The ones Nev had chosen were decorator choice, with solar roof panels, but there were kits for eighty credits.

Knight and Blade helped Case and Stats unload other items, including self-driving, clear gavsine dock support columns. They were pretty and strong. They were also inexpensive, available everywhere and all one had to do to set them solidly was hold them up straight and push the button on the 'collar.' If they weren't 'up straight,' it didn't push. One made sure they were in the right place, too. They did not come out. They'd drive their four "stakes" through granite. It just took longer. One knew what they'd gone through, because it went up into the columns as the stakes went down into the ground.

Blade nudged Case for the identity of the roll of pliable brown material he was carrying, then grinned widely. Charged posine would support a hauler across a chasm, but it had to be supported until charged, and charging wasn't cheap. Now he knew why Nev had bought solariums with enough solar panels to run a workshop. No one would know when it was used by the utility bill and they wouldn't know power sticks were used, either.

People arrived to help and watch. Nev softly told Tarn IS had picked Teal Valley as example and they were going to example them back. Pass the word they might be looking for a beach party as missile target practice, before making downtown a crater. No more than ten in a public gathering. Tarn's jaw tightened. He glanced at the arriving local newscrew and left. The young newscaster and cam op were Nev's next visitors.

"These people all bought their houses from me within the last sixty days. Part of the contract is community-use facilities, with no specified hours. The pool in my yard is one of those, and they all have a keycode to the exterior door. We were already thinking about some type of sheltered walk from that side to this for winter. The IS curfew, and order of no public gatherings of more than ten, moved up the timetable. We can't block, or overhang, the streets, but we can cross them. However, after twenty-three thirty, we've been ordered not be on the streets. So, we're building a private, non-public access, fully enclosed, method of getting from that side to this. Since we just worked very hard to improve the appearance of this neighborhood, it's going to be as pretty as we can make it. I could have gotten solarium kits from the Detlakin everything store. I bought them from Valenfield's Living Design. The two small ones are alike. The two big ones are not. All have as many solar panels as could be attractively framed on the roof. This one was set up as a tropical paradise, circular bar in the middle with plants, waterfalls, fountains, total climate and lighting control. It was gorgeous, but we're going to toss big cushions in them, enjoy the view and winter sunshine and use the power for crossing the street, without getting on the street. Or in the cold this winter."

"To extend a walkway?"

"No, the extension uses minimal power. Charging, draining and recharging posine is not a nice utility bill to hand a neighbor. The extension is light-weight opaqueing glasselle window sheeting on tracks. They'll carry the posine, too."

"That's a unique, and not really complex, solution."

"That's Teal Valley. It's actually the people of Gradelode."

"Explain, please."

"How many people do you know who built a prac? Every prac is a unique solution of how to get there from here, and they're almost all high-tech use or maintenance. There is a saying, 'Give pracs an atomic forge and a shovel, and they can build any tech in existence in the garage.' That's a little stretch, but not much. They'd need dirt with the right elements to shovel. Since an atomic forge is hard to get and shoveling is hard work, I just bought everything for my prac solution. We could have looked both ways and dashed across, but that order has the force of law right now. Ignoring it would put the onus of enforcement on our police, put them right in the middle. I like the people who wear the teal uniform that says they're watching over us. Party at home. Lock the door at twenty-three fifteen and say no one leaves until six. Make an enclosed private walk. Let them watch over us. Don't force them to watch us. It's temporary. Damaging the food service and entertainment industries, which pay so much in license fees and taxes, is impractical. I'm sure IS knows it. They can't be planning to keep every restaurant on the planet closed more than a couple days."

"Every restaurant?"

"Every public place where eleven work is closed. The order is no more than ten together. It doesn't make exceptions. IS and police don't have the personnel to check people aren't together. Three tables for four is twelve. Restaurants have to close. Public transport has to close. More than ten can only be together in private places, and inside twenty-three thirty to six. It won't last long."

"I'm sure it won't either. Bance Neardon, on the west side, watching Teal Valley residents creating a practical solution and thing of beauty to comply with the ten-person limit in public places, and the twenty-three thirty to six curfew orders issued by Internal Security. You're great, Nev."

"Remember what happened when the gov raised protection prices in the sub districts? They went total legal. I think it's a good example."

"So do I. The station is going to have fun helping. Who's the beauty going translight with the bonder?"

"Dawn. You should see her with a vibra-sander in her hand."

"I'd like to."

"Bance, we've got to move, but this place is on the update list."

"Let's move, Jace. We'll be back."

"We'll be finishing up in about seventy minutes."

"Perfect."

Tarn walled and roofed his yard. Donce, Barrett and Chal put an opaque extensible cargo chute on their balcony. The receiver lock was in Tarn's yard, with a mound of pillows under it. Donce enclosed the balcony and Barrett went to help set up the covered paths. The guy on the southwest corner was enclosing his yard and the woman on the opposite corner was mounting a cargo chute in a second-story window. People were putting up a covered walk on the other side. Behind both rows of houses, people were making covered walks. The woman behind Tarn had borrowed six chutes from her employer, so they were using black plas sheeting and chutes to hook together three blocks.

Tarn told his neighbor he expected a bunch more to come up with ways to cross streets. Every grower had loaned sheeting and asked the people they gave it to "try to get it back in rolls." He said Day's friend Tate was "exterior wrapping" a condo complex. He thought they'd probably have half the west side connected by twenty-three thirty.

"Day's girls" deserted the walkway project and ran for the opposite corner. The woman across the street was 'roofing' a container hanging from a loading crane. People were covering yards on both other corners, leaving a place for the container to drop.

They wrapped a 'drop zone,' then a walk from it down the side of Kendra's house to the front corner. They measured what they needed to get to the walkway entry they were making and tossed the rest of the roll to the man across the street to the east. Mike and Loren drove in, two cars loaded with food and drink, and helped them 'wall' the fronts of two houses to Case and Stats'. Danny had already draped a path from her side door to the back door of their garage. Essa ran through the boathouse to Nev.

"The whole west side is being connected. We've got a loading crane 'landing' from three blocks, and a path all the way down to ours. So far, three blocks east to nine north are all connected with some way to do private over the street. Everyone saw you, and Tarn putting up a cargo chute receiver. The chute is on Chal's balcony. There is a return on the other end of the block, a bin of pillows for landing."

"That's going to be fun."

"They worked to get linked down to us, Nev. Mike and Loren knew. They're home with party food for hundreds."

"It gives new meaning to 'party circuit.' Elsewhere?"

"You know how much plas growers use as bin liners? Well, it's all being wrapped around Teal Valley neighborhoods. Kids are covering swing sets and making paths to neighbors. Their parents are helping. Their grandparents are covering the fotwa trellises around the patio and making paths. Everything is closing. The grocery stores are madhouses. Ours has gates and partitions. People stand and chat until a gate opens, then two or three move to the next aisle, no more than nine and the person operating the gate. They're serving some little snack and tea each aisle."

"IS gave an order no one likes, so were following the order precisely and having a townwide party. Knight! I'm ready! This is going to be pretty."

"It's going to be beautiful. Nev, I'm going to get plas to take a walk to the back. People are establishing corridors through their homes if needed. Inside is invitation. They'll all show up and I know you'll open it, but the 'custom' is specific area and entry."

"Wall the workbench. Move the cars to the boathouse. Path from patio to garage. We'll move the workout gear. Kitchen door controlled access?"

"Perfect. Shorter path to one garage door."

"Put up the pool cover."

"On my way."

"I'm slow or you wouldn't both be here."

"You've been interrupted. Knight and I weren't."

"I didn't have to attach to a wall and put in a door either, Blade. How's it going to work?"

"Beautifully. The side door opening doesn't crowd the bush, actually keeps it from being brushed; lift in front, boathouse door on side. Plenty of clearance for bush trimming too."

"It's a party over there already, Nev."

"Essa said it's currently three by nine blocks and growing, Blade. I was informed everyone does not go in the house. Garage kitchen door was approved as controlled access. The workout gear gets moved."

"I'll go do that. This is about to be a loader job."

"That's a new loader."

"I couldn't find a used one fast, Knight."

"You bought it?!"

"Yes, but they'll be picking up the trailer soon. Knight, how many bushes and trees did you carry one or two at a time?"

"Not as many as everyone else, and I didn't make forty trips up the ladder with slats for that last job, either."

"Only thirty-seven. I didn't think of it as needed equipment and was going to rent, then I saw a man pick up a stack of heavy planters, ride up with them and arrange a top shelf display. I got one that will do this because I think we'll start a trend."

"I feel thick. Of course it will. It's not even expensive, without the walk construction. Just nice solarium and lift fifteen hundred?"

"Twelve up in materials, four hundred labor."

"It doesn't take long."

"The loader wasn't cheap and it's required equipment. We'll probably do a lot over the water with walks out too."

"Make love with us."

"What?!"

"I'll ask again after you get over the shock. Blade told me I'd ask another man someday, mentioned both Case and Day. I thought of you then. You're the only other he would share... us with, and I think he wants to. Doesn't fit with knight and companion in the story?"

"I already added a sidekick, a displaced noble with a magic purse."

Knight burst into laughter and checked the side entry, then he pulled the walkway to the front porch out to it. Nev watched him check the seal, then take it back to check the panel rolling, and asked himself questions. They had nothing 'about sex' in them. If Knight hadn't said, "us," but he had. Nev heard Knight yell, but there was a noise.

"Nevin! Blade!! Nev!"

"What happened?!"

"I don't know. Suddenly spread his feet for balance and started swaying."

"Nothing I can find."

"Hello. I'm being carried."

"You wobbled and went out."

"What happened? You have an idea."

"I feel... silly saying it, Blade."

"Nothing that puts you clear out is silly, even if it sounds like it."

"I... think I had... an identity crisis."

"Put him down, Knight. He just put it off too long. Like putting off eating. You're real hungry, but you're real busy, so you ignore it until you about fall on your face. He's been so busy so long, he did."

"I've been slacking."

"Yes, you have. He's been carrying the whole show. I have to work to put him together with the guy you told me about sometimes, to understand who you see in him. You don't have a problem seeing the... continuation. He needs to know you do. He just got real lost trying. Danny's much better. He helped her a lot, but he's trying to see if all the pieces are there and lost his balance looking over his shoulder to see if his back's still there."

"Tarse, make love with us."

"I think I'll sit down."

"Don't you want him to? Is it always going to be the two of us and him? Or us three? He was comfortable... just over there. I think 'always been a bit apart' is the piece he was trying to find. I see it grew and changed over the last... only sixty days. He's also got a year between, while he prepared to come after me. I've changed... enough to survive."

"And he killed a man. I've been worried since he didn't get sick when we got home."

"So have I. I didn't think he'd hide it."

"You expected me to get sick?"

"Yes."

"I felt sick, but I didn't have time then. And I don't have... time now."

"He really misses his family, especially his uncle, and that has to hurt too."

"And you put it all away, all he knew of you. You want to play with the new toy you got us, or sit with me and yell 'smidges' one way or the other while he does it?"

"Sit. I'm not going to lift all that work we did after blacking out."

"Put them up, Knight."

"I love you, both of you. I don't want you to share everything we do, because I don't want you to understand the desperate preparation to fight for our lives, night after night in our cell. But we're not there now and you saved them all and then all of us. Nevin Curran suits you. It doesn't leave anything out. It encompasses it all because you got to here with what you built, not the others, you. Their hands were there to aid and they're the best, but you guided their labor, just like you did in that lab. You're an elf with a silver blade and he's a misplaced faery prince with a magic purse. You're his personal trainer."

"He'll be easy. He's done good self-training. You'd noticed you had a pretty good coordination, once or twice."

"Once. Why reconfirm something if it's not relevant."

"So, Prince, you going to faint every time someone really surprises you with an invitation to make love?"

"I'm at fifty-fifty right now. I've only made love twice."

"And we're the only ones who officially know it."

"I'm sure they all realize it too. A smidge left!"

"And forward! Left front forward!"

"I think that's lined up with the frame!"

"Two votes! That's going to be a fun place to make love, especially this winter. Sunny and solid, just high enough nobody can see in."

"We have to take IS down, Blade, and I don't know how to get them out and get elections actually started."

"Tell everybody they have to pick candidates and vote to find out what the budget really is to pay much lower taxes. Until there's a real congress, they can't be reduced. They'll grab Doc Larry's outline and get it figured out fast."

"Let's ride the loader up to put in the lock bolts."

"You have fun ideas. Give us a lift! He's over-laddered!"

"Hi, Bance! Just in time! Note our plas party decorations are being hung!"

"It's going to the biggest, loudest party this town ever had and no one will ever top it! No one will disturb the neighbors because they're all there!"

"Plas doesn't have a great sound-damping rating!"

"We think that stuff on his head is nicely styled fairy dust!"

"Pay attention to where you're standing! Essa! Bring something to put over the blades! So I'm not reminding them they're standing on one every few seconds. Hi, I'm Knight. The prince and the elf left me on the ground. They knew you were coming."

"Bance and Jace. We're hoping for a party invitation."

"He's hoping to meet Dawn, unofficially."

"Grab clothes for through breakfast and tier beds in one of the spare rooms."

"Now, that's an invitation. We've got one more. Our editor isn't shy, just never seen. He's in there. Stick your head out and wave, Silky, so he recognizes you. Yes, you can. We've got four until scheduled."

"Hi, Silky!"

"He wants to meet Ronnie. Jace wants to meet Day."

"They'd want to meet Danny, but goddesses make them nervous."

"If she didn't initiate, we'd all just stand and look forever. She's not a woman men pursue. They just follow her around. I heard Tarn started this plas-wrapped town party. Last time he delivered a well-considered opinion, Nev bought nine houses and a warehouse. They're ready to move. I'll be watching them, not who's down here."

"We'll give you space."

"Move us over, please!"

"Grab hold of something first!"

Nev and Blade grabbed each other and Knight groaned. Essa ran over with, "Perfect!" She turned it and showed Knight brackets for the blades. He stepped off the loader and gave her a kiss. Essa visibly reoriented when he got back on the loader. She gave the platform to Bance and ran back to the house. Knight brought Nev and Blade down. They were hanging on, and laughing. Bance elbowed Jace and burst into laughter when he reoriented.

Four were suddenly running for the street and Bance held the platform. Two vehicles and a trailer needed to be moved for the mid-hauler to maneuver in to get the big trailer. Essa came down the drive in the T and Bance slid the platform on the blades and walked over to look. Once she had room, it didn't take the hauler driver long to line up. Jace dove out of the driver's seat and had the cam on Bance when Silky ticked it.

"We've seen the ingenuity of Teal Valley's citizens everywhere today. Essa just filled a request for 'something to go across' with a platform designed to fit on the loader blades."

"I was about to wall the workbench in their garage. It just took a minute to give them what they needed and not what would do. I think the two businesses will do a lot of these when people see them, so I built a platform for the close work on them. That loader with a platform will be much better than a ladder on many jobs both do. Case and Stats will help make it a good investment. I loved the excuse to sit in this, but I've still got half a fast list to do. Nev! I'm forever spoiled!"

"My pretty baby! Thanks for putting on the platform we left you holding for us, Bance."

"I can now say I helped, when people talk about the 'Great West Side Wrap.' After this?"

"Three more to lift and fasten. Up!"

"We arrived after this solarium was lifted into place. The solarium isn't square on the three columns. The personal lift goes up between the back two columns. From here, we can see the floor panel that recesses for the lift. The front of the solarium looks like a window, but that's part of the walk that extends. It lifts to become a wide 'tongue' that fits into the top of the walk extending from the other side. The panel on it swings to the side. They make the walkway connection stable without locking mechanisms. They also keep it closed and warm while it extends. We'll be staying through the final moments of this project. I'm sure you'll agree that solarium above the hedge is a beautiful addition to the street view of this lovely home. I think most will remember this boathouse as it was. Our editor called it 'the mustard monster.' No one argued the designation. Changing it was a six-hour race against a rainstorm. That project was also worth watching and drew a huge crowd. We, and the other two crews, are doing our best to be the places you want to see this afternoon and evening. Teal Valley has shown its wisdom and fun-loving spirit today. IS believes there is good reason for the orders. Instead of complaining or defying those laws, the people of Teal Valley have made compliance fun. No matter how long IS deems those orders necessary, this evening will have set compliance, not defiance, as the appropriate social and societal response. Houses on the same block became part of a neighborhood today. Rolls of black plas pulled the people into shared fun, and outrageous ingenuity. This house has its black plas decorations too, but we're seeing the type of ingenious solution and long-term usefulness that has made two new rental maintenance companies the ones construction companies recommend if you need it done fast, or want something different. This is next and they're coming across the street. Remember, don't come down to watch, and be inside at twenty-three thirty."

Bance's area-wide audience heard Nev and Blade working to convince Knight the "piece" didn't have to be tested right after it was done "just this once," before they ran through the boathouse hall to be waiting patiently when he came around with the third solarium.

Bance followed. Jace didn't. He backed to the corner to get the wide view. He burst into laughter when Knight jumped off the loader, ran back, extended the walks, took the lift up, ran across, took a lift down, retracted the walks, ran back to the loader, got the solarium and drove around the corner. Bance knew of course. Silky was laughing 'in his ear,' saying, "I know he didn't see Jace. I know it." Bance was laughing too. Blade and Nev both knew why Knight was "almost a minute over max time."

Knight had, of course, seen Jace. He'd timed it closely. The slight pause as he got on and off the lift had given the posine enough time to charge. Without them, he and the still-pliable posine would have hit the street, when he pulled it out of the tracks with his first step. The area-wide cast was seen by tens of thousands and they roared with laughter and talked about how fast it worked. None of the IS patrols saw it. They were all driving around looking for a place to get something to eat.

Other people saw it. It was a channel option in Mountain City. A news editor passed the feed to another. He passed it to a friend at 'a major.' None of them broadcast it, but all showed it in the stations and all passed it on. It leapt across the oceans as a 'possible pickup.' People left stations and location crews told people "my editor is talking about." Only approved news could be shown, but newspeople made sure important news was heard.

All over the world, people suddenly closed businesses and began preparing for compliance parties, when curfew came to them for the second night. In Roper district, men tossed five thousand rolls of black plas out of a hauler, as it slowly rolled through the streets. They didn't have huge bundles of two-and-a-half meter plant stakes, and not much ground to stick them in if they did, but they found things to support their walls, roofs and walks, and ways to get from block to block. All were ingenious, some were dangerous, but that was a description of Roper district.

In Teal Valley, they finished the walkway at dusk and turned the lights on. All were set low and the four solariums glowed softly, as each was furnished with huge pillows in many colors. They'd been made to go in them as they were being built. Each solarium had a color scheme. They were bronze, blue, gold and green. The big ones, of course, would be used far more, but the smaller ones would also be used.

Jace backed across the belt road to get all the solarium's, and window enclosures of the lifts in range. When he had, Silky yelled, "Go!" Bance on one side and Essa on the other heard him and repeated. Walks extended and met in beautiful synchronicity, carrying soft lighting with them. Silky yelled, "Dark!" It was repeated and all windows opaqued.

"Remember, be inside at twenty-three thirty. Bance Neardon, from the west side of Teal Valley. Silky said it looked like one button was pushed both times."

"How fast are you going to be running to get in when you get back?"

"It may be twenty-three twenty-nine fifty-nine, Knight, but they'll give us just enough time."

"We'll give you the key code to the boat storage. Put your vehicle in there."

"We brought our things this time, got close enough to run in."

"You're roommates?"

"A recent circumstance, two with expiring leases and rent increases. The third's about to go. We could have all paid it, but not for those places. We're tired of apartments."

"Danny, Ronnie and Dawn have half of a one hundred twenty-day at four-fifty per thirty five blocks up. Nice three-bedroom, three baths, two garages."

"Rent going up?"

"MPM says it shouldn't. It'll go down if we can get IS out and someone in to actually figure out how much we're paying for what we need, and get it, and how much we don't have to pay for it."

"Someone said the gov left the planet."

"No, the oligarchy were put off the planet."

"You know that."

"Many people do. They had a dome on an ore barge and the contract to ship rebels and 'economic indebted' to a non-habitable planet as mining laborers, basically, slave labor. The ones who set it up didn't get to leave before IS took over the gov, and the plan. There were shuttles to move twenty-five hundred, with fifteen thousand a year to follow for other investments. Someone found out. Every extended family was given a standard planetary settlement package and exiled."

"How?"

"You think anything on this planet would notice shuttles intended to move twenty-five hundred people? Maybe the 'new tech' the IS is hunting exists, but if it's really new, it's not just one thing, is it?"

"No, it's a whole field."

"So, the one thing we know about it is, if it exists, no one's going to tell IS. They'd grab the one thing, kill everyone who knew about it, and the discovery would pass out of existence. The only way to find out is get rid of IS."

"Easier said than done."

"This is a good start. We do exactly what they say and every plan to give them reason to declare martial law looks real stupid. It's really two organizations. Someone uses Warkerdoll. Chief Dennon pegged it at nine years ago. So, we happily comply, until the zealots are exposed."

"Zealots?"

"The gov was corrupt. The people are corrupt. Take it over. End all corruption. The elite rule by force and just take what's theirs, by right of superiority to the corrupt masses."

"Zealots, and the gov created them."

"Two evidently have the assignment of bringing this area to its knees. They're looking for an opportunity to slaughter thirty or forty, so people here kill twenty to thirty, so they have an excuse to make Teal Valley a crater, an example of what happens if you don't hear and obey. Fear is essential for the institution of the dictatorship. The chief came to us to find a way to keep anyone from defiance that would give them the initial target. Nev told Tarn the reason for the example."

"It probably went to two thousand news editors worldwide, as a potential feed. A lot of things that no one broadcasts, and many see and talk about do. There may not be of roll of black plas left in any warehouse on the planet."

"Is a rebel organization needed when every sane person on the planet is in the resistance? Or just an example here and there? There was only one place a rebel organization could exist, a prison with no possible communication with anyone else, ever."

"Horgen Field."

"And Fataner, probably one each. Since it was the only place, and IS recruited most of the people who belonged there, someone figured out a way to communicate with the rebel organizations. On this world, the only way to do that is talk to them in person. So, they left the brutes too mad for IS to recruit and walked out to have a talk."

"Someone is ready to move in when IS is out."

"No, they're ready to help set an example of how to get the democratic process going. That's the form established for accomplishing a common goal on this world. There are hundreds somewhere, perhaps everywhere, watching for an example, ready to adapt it to where they are and find people to rewrite the constitution without the garbage, and with a built-in cycler to keep it from accumulating. They don't want to run the world. They just want to be free to tell their families they love them. Real rebels on this world wanted government of the people. Everyone who does is a rebel."

"Then we all are."

"And the cadre of zealots in IS can't control the world without fear as the tool. So, we all be so helpful every outrageous act, intended to cause defiance, looks really stupid. Unless they kill people without excuse. If that is done, the millions will rise and no weapons will stop them, if only a handful are left standing on the bloody remains of the ones who ordered it. If the potential for that, the complete acceptance of the ideal being worthy of the sacrifice of life, wasn't high in the population of this world, Horgen Field and Fataner would have had only the few brutes too mad for IS to recruit."

"Point to a spare bedroom."

"There and there. Comm MPM forward to Gen Millert, message if not available."

"Hello, Knight, I've been watching you."

"Danny, Ronnie and Dawn have some tenants, whose first question was will rent go up. Bance Neardon."

"Three of us are non-renewing apt tenants accumulated in one apt, with eight days left on the lease. I suspect Knight commed now, because a lot of people in the same situation are going to be looking for a place on the west side tomorrow."

"That's why."

"Me, the cam op, Jace Walker, and the location editor, Thomas Silkassi, would all like to say we're new neighbors tonight, even if it's not official yet."

"You're new neighbors. Don't 'officially' tell the secretary I said get the keycode from the ladies. Sublet or new lease?"

"Lease. At least a half-year and a year if available. Silky as primary. He's got the longest reference. He hates moving."

"Half is all the owner can assure at four-fifty."

"We'll be officially tenants when?"

"Tomorrow at eight. I just put it at the top of the secretary's queue."

"Thank you. Comm out. Jace! We've got seven minutes to get to our new house, five blocks up, and be sure it's party wrapped!"

"Let's go!"

Knight gave Bance the keycode and watched them run out the door. Blade asked why the grin. Knight said he just had a feeling Bance was going to change houses and "just fit in." Nev said, "Ronnie, not Dawn." Knight and Blade agreed. In a few moments, the only one in the neighborhood who didn't know Bance was going to be 'steered' was Ronnie.

Essa had already planned to "distract" Silky and really appreciated the offer of assistance. She told Day cute was great if eyes weren't fixed on gorgeous, and she had a piece of plas she didn't think she was going to need as a wall, after all.

### Chapter Eleven

Bance chimed their new neighbor's door, made a fast plea for assistance and said the door was open. The new neighbor yelled for plas, then said welcome.

Silky was happily planning where to hang each painting and place each sculpture in his art collection. Bance winked at Jace and suggested Silky "make friends" with a cute girl, who never forgot anything on a to-do list, because he and Jace only remembered where they were going next, after he reminded them several times. Silky wondered if she liked art and Jace and Bance grinned. They'd told Essa the "exquisite Bammiger bronze on the console" was a piece of the collection that was overflowing Silky's apartment, or he wouldn't be moving. Jace 'worked on' Bance bit. Dawn hadn't been the beautiful woman who kept glancing at him that evening.

At twenty-two forty-three, Bance and Jason ran into the apartment and grabbed. At twenty-two forty-eight, they got the pads, pillows and toiletries out of Silky's way and he sat back down at the console. At twenty-three twenty-seven, they drove the station mobile broadcast vehicle into their garage. Bance's car, stuffed with containers, was already in it.

Another station employee had driven it from the station parking lot. There wasn't a parking space for it at the apt complex, nor room for what was in it at Silky's. The containers were moved to Bance's room fast. They'd need the big car to move things in the morning, they hoped, but they were the primary mobile crew and they might be told to get-to at six.

They showered and changed quickly and walked out their back door into their path, to join the party they'd heard warming up, as they drove from place to place to watch last-minute rush preparations. Soon, they were on the path north. Knight pulled them out of pillows at Tarn's.

"Chal has your dinner ready. He spread word he was fixing, or it would probably have been ready thirty places. It was obvious you didn't have time for more than a fast snack, if that."

"One of the station techs threw sandwiches in the window as we drove by, hours ago. Have you done that yet?"

"Yes, made the block circle. The loading crane was fun too. The program is set. You push a pad to call, then one for one of the three block destinations, when you're in the container. People started out carrying hand lamps, but they were just leaving them anywhere light was too low, in minutes."

"Someone lit ours. Knight, thank you. It became important to us to be more than guests tonight."

"I knew it had when you yelled for wrap help, Bance. Chal, Bance, Jace and Silky, now west side neighbors."

"Welcome. Everyone's heard, so expect to hear that and more names and addresses then even you can remember tonight. You just came from my house. I decided adding more kitchen, garage and a bath was the solution to not wanting to move even two houses farther from Tarn and bought it."

"We saw the construction in progress, Chal."

"We're doing it ourselves, but that means we've had a lot of neighborly help making sure we don't have to work outside this winter. Since it's not really a kitchen remodel, just an addition of workspace, it's not an inconvenience and an old table in the middle of it is already helping."

"I know who you are. I've tasted this before. If I could afford the Ore Room often, it would be many times before."

"Thanks, Bance."

"A lot of people are buying here."

"Yes, Jace. Tarn predicted it. We looked around, decided he was right and asked prices. A lot are moving across the street or down the block, but some are doing what we are, figuring out the 'only reason' the house they're in isn't perfect and how, how much and when to change it."

"Ours is perfect. If I described what I wanted, someone would have pointed to it."

"The owner might sell that one, Silky. He's only got that one here. He lives in Veil Lake and just bought a fourth on the lake."

"Silky, you don't move and you yelled, 'a wall for the Deavonner,' when we walked in. You've spent all the time since we saw it planning where everything will go and saying, 'and there's room for,' about something you want, every third sentence."

Essa arrived before they finished dinner. She and Silky were discussing sculpture garden construction for "greatest aesthetic harmony," in moments. They didn't really notice when Bance and Jace left with Knight and Tarn.

Knight wasn't worried about Silky recognizing her. It had been seven years since two Kellerton police had beaten an artist and destroyed her work, because a man gave them a hundred credits to empty the sound-damped place, with a nice view of the bay. They hadn't lived long enough to spend it. The man hadn't lived long enough to offer a hundred credits to someone else. Keppid's most famed work was titled "Avenger of the Muse." Stats had recognized Essa as the model. Eventually, Silky would, but he'd mourn the loss of four Keppid paintings with her.

As they followed the neighborhood trail, which included every street crossing that had been devised, among many others on the route, Knight realized the three were others all of them trusted to know 'everything.' They trusted Chief Dennon, but wouldn't tell him, until he was forced to choose a side. In both cases, the others had given their trust first, but Chief Dennon had given his personal trust. Bance, Jace and Silky had shared the close-held secret of their profession.

They knew people weren't changing to swimwear before they reached the house. Nev had expected it and word had been spread families, who didn't want children exposed to nudity, should visit early. Several had, but most of them had said nudity in context wasn't a problem. They'd come early because play in the pool would aid in getting children to sleep in quiet rooms the places they planned to attend noisy parties. Nev had watched the childless couples who had 'just started early' watching them play. He'd told Knight it had been difficult to keep from telling them they'd have children to give their love soon. Blade had said, "Beginning in two hundred six days."

None of them had wanted to leave the remaining stock of spermicide, anywhere, but Blade had calculated how long the supply and the effects would last in Teal Valley. If the stock hadn't been low and resupply due soon, or if that had been coming from a warehouse stock, Knight and Nev would have helped him find a way to divert the dosage, but there wasn't a warehouse stock. Each water district received a delivery when restock was due.

Like thousands of others, some in the area had taken gov jobs, because someone had to or people would suffer. A number of the convicted rebels had been gov employees for that reason. When they got to the house, Kendra was 'hosting.'

"My turn! Most aren't far behind you, depending on who stays how long where. Blade's with Nev to 'pry him loose' and keep them moving. Since you're here, and Chal didn't do popcorn fungi, he'll probably get him out of your place too. We all plan to visit and stay places later, but the neighborhood trail is first."

"It is for a lot of people, Kendra. Most parties have alternate hosts, right now. We'll all head for the places people will look for us soon, but I get to play in the pool while my alternate's refreshments are more of a draw than I am."

"Talk will start later. This is whoopee time."

"The crane ride is fun. Go east to start the trail."

"Thanks, Knight. Oh, if you're not in the kitchen, nobody will come in. I left and there was a toilet queue waiting by the door, when I got back."

"I wondered why you were in here. Have fun."

"Whee!"

"Guys, I'm on toilet direction duty. Go play a while."

"He won't be alone. I just want a chair."

"I watched a lot of why, Bance. I'm going to find my lady. I'm pretty sure she's here. We're getting married. She's pregnant."

"Yes!! Tarn, you two are going to be fantastic parents."

"Just for the record, wedding plans came before baby plans."

"We all knew you were just waiting for her to ask."

"Waiting for her to realize she wasn't going to follow a new interest, someday. Hard work keeping her interested long enough to notice she was happy in our rut, but it's a habit now and I don't plan to break it."

"Knight, will you tell me why you barely kept from jumping around in joy?"

"You're noticing the wrong woman, Bance. I'm on the steering committee. The only one in the neighborhood not on it is Ronnie, Veronica Dell. She's as comfortable in a conversation about great literature as technology, and loves both. She noticed you."

"Jace was subtly steering, too. I have to pay attention when he's being subtle. If I don't, he gets disgusted and whacks me over the head to get my attention."

"It worked. I haven't had to whack in a while. I'm going to hit the pool."

"I'll be here. I'll borrow the pool sometime when I can swim in it. You're not going to tell me, are you, Knight?"

"After why comes who, what, where, when and how. Since I have absolutely no be-careful response to you, we'd be halfway through the list before either of us noticed."

"Thank you. I don't really have control over it. Silky frequently yells, 'Wrap!' as my mouth is opening."

"You're deeply friends."

"I'm youngest by three years. Silky's two years older than Jace. Silky's from Talon Peak. Jace is from Ambertown. I'm from Dancy Valley, a farm kid. It began as 'teach this kid everything that people don't see about reporting.' The friendship didn't really begin to deepen until Hammison put us in the mobile unit. It was an experiment. Good reporters went out to cover news events, but the one's people saw most were covering Teal Valley. He wanted to reduce the feeling Teal Valley got the stars and they got who was in the office. We're not an on-call crew. We're the ones who are sent to cover on-location events, especially the all-day-over-a-wide-area type; the Ambertown Boat Show, the Roundin Lake Water Festival, the twelve-day four-town Winter Carnival, the Willaville Auction. We also cover a lot of breaking stories for the evening casts. It worked. I'm the one people expect to see. If they get someone else for a breaking story, it's because I was too far away or I already went home. We made a good team. As we spent time riding around together, we really got to know each other, and the teamwork got better, but until we both moved in on Silky, we didn't realize it had gone a lot deeper than a work-based friendship. We lived together in Silky's stuffed apartment, with no friction. We didn't need to get away from each other some of the time. Jace and I dragged Silky out of the apt, and we went places together. I wouldn't have gone alone either. Jace always went places alone."

"Day plans to change that. I'm not supposed to tell anyone, but the last one, of the five who told me, forgot to remind me. I'm on that steering committee too, though it's more of a 'point Day were Jace went' job."

Nev and Blade arrived just ahead of 'the bunch.' Case said everyone's safety precautions were "getting a workout," but all were proving adequate, including theirs. The cams that kept the posine from draining when someone was on, or approaching, the path, and the signs reminding people to check the charge and drain lights had both been needed.

By two, Ronnie had Bance's interest and Day had Jace's attention. The pool area wasn't quiet, but it wasn't packed, as it had been an hour earlier. The garage had become more popular. By three, the pool was quiet and the party had moved into the house, but that was rather quiet too. Everyone knew there was one "party party" that would continue until six.

At three thirty-six, the last group left the house. Nev shut the kitchen door. The garage and pool were left open. They expected a few to decide on an early morning swim. Nev noted he'd done what Chief Dennon asked and even he was amazed. That's when Knight told them Tarn's news. They were feeling very pleasant when they went to bed.

Danny and team had checked what IS was doing at intervals, from the time construction had begun. At five forty, she read reports and smiled. No one knew what to do. Black plas-wrapped neighborhoods had sprung into existence all over the world, and still were. Where plas hadn't been available, blankets, sheets, table cloths and anything else available had been used. Most areas had plas and cloth mixed, and nearly all had devised ways to cross streets.

Many reports were complaints of not being able to find anything to eat. Snack shops were "empty," vends were empty and restaurants were closed. IS officers weren't showing up for duty. Some had even sent resignations. Everywhere, signs on closed businesses said, "in compliance with Internal Security orders."

IS couldn't pinpoint where it had begun. Teal Valley was mentioned, but plas-wrapped neighborhoods had appeared "at the same time" an hour east on the long, narrow center continent.

Grocery stores were the only large retailers open. They had signs saying, "compliance arrangements" were to allow people to stock up. All reported gave a closing time. Large private businesses had closed, citing closure of public transportation as the reason. Lists of event cancellations filled entire hours of news broadcasts. Only large private business closures were announced. 'Everyone knew' every large business that served the public had closed. Large hotels had minimum staffs to serve the very few people stranded by public transportation closure, but lobbies were closed and food was only available from room service.

It hadn't happened all at once, but it hadn't taken long. The transportation industry had shut down gradually, beginning at ticket counters and boarding gates. Only people enroute or returning were allowed to board, but all return tickets were honored, no matter when the return had been scheduled. People had waited for arriving passengers in cars, in parking areas with arrival times listed.

At seven ten, Silky made a comm call. He apologized for calling early, then explained he was about to lease the house, but had realized he'd prefer to buy it. He had financing "set up," to make immediate cash purchase, if he could get a good price. He'd also made arrangements with the former tenants to refund for their remaining lease period. Essa decided to help.

"Nev said he'd loan and Danny said pay back whenever. Silky wants to never move again and this house is the right shape for his art collection. Tarn said you're moving rental property investment up there and might be willing to sell the last one down here. Nev knows you already got the tax thump and can't give Silky the same type of pre-tax bargain he got on other houses. Oh, Silky is the editor in the Channel Forty-eight News mobile unit. Bance and Jace are staggering-toward-brewer roommates. Nev's got it all set up but a price, so it will go fast you want to, and ask reasonable for the house."

"You boys did a great job yesterday, Silky. Fifty-four eight, less than it's worth, but I inherited it and that's what the property up here that I want will cost me. I also want an autographed holo of you three with me at the Fishers' Fair, whenever it happens."

"I'm stunned, and very flattered. You have a sold house. Comm add Nevin Curran."

"Good morning."

"Nev, Gen Michaelson gave me a price I feel a little guilty accepting, fifty-four eight and an autographed holo of us with him."

"It's all I need on a cash deal. It'll get me a place up here that's need-work price and enough to really fix it up, including a 'viewroom' like you put up. I already heard the price you quoted and I figure this will get me on the top of the list."

"You're on top and that's for one with a walk. I won't tell you how much less without one because the house price is already fantastic."

"I want it on the water with a walk. I'm going to make a big old cabin in a beautiful spot 'the' place for two or three couples to vacation ten days. The lease will include a boat to use and I'm putting in a spa. I checked and the place only looks like it's falling down. You were the choice to call to change the looks, if I got it, before I watched you put up that viewroom."

"Thank you, Gen Michaelson. It sounds like a fun job. Document coming on screen."

"I'm copying it to use to get that place. I can figure out what to change and take out. I couldn't figure out the language the last one I got was written in. The words were all familiar, but I still needed a translator. Signed."

"Your turn, Silky."

"Signed."

"Money moving."

"Received and deposited. My grandson didn't mind not going to a beach party last night. I got all I needed, for the house, too. Thank you."

"Thank you and you're very welcome."

"I'm scheduled to call MPM at eight. Gen Millert let us in last night, so we could be neighbors, not guests."

"I'll take care of it, Silky. Help get them moved, Nev. They'll probably be running again. I'm sure IS is working on how to change that order to get exactly what they want."

"I'm sure they are too, Gen Michaelson. Supplying their officers in the field must be difficult and expensive. We'll get them moved and be ready to comply when they refine the order."

Essa danced Silky around Day's living room, shoved a cup of tea in one hand and towed him out the door by the other. Day was waiting in his car to take them to Silky's, then get another load. Hammison had given them until ten to get as much done as they could. He needed them on the road making the circuit for morning news updates.

Silky, Essa and crew were 'assembling' the house, as carefully transported art and sculpture arrived. Some of the crew were getting the yard ready. The owner of Teal Greenery Lawn and Garden would have a trailer, loaded with things that went in it, ready for pickup.

One of those things was a solarium, but it wasn't going up on tall columns, just high enough to view the sculpture garden. Nev had already picked up a load of materials from the builders' supply loading dock and Case and Stats were building the pedestal for it in the shop in the boathouse.

Neither business was open, but everything had been comp ordered. The owners hadn't minded being awakened by a door chime, when Bance explained the back-on-the-road-by-ten situation. Even if Silky hadn't gotten the house, though all had felt sure he would, the lease would allow what they were doing in the yard. Unlike the columns, the pedestal could be removed.

There were many people working, not just the fifteen 'usual' and Bance, Jace and Silky. Other neighbors with capacious vehicles were moving loads. There were people at both ends to pack, load, unload and unpack.

Case and Stats delivered the pedestal on the loader. They had it set when Nev arrived with the trailer. They moved the snowy white solarium from the trailer to the pedestal. It wasn't so high they needed the high-loader to work comfortably, just high enough to mow under, and so sunlight reached the under, so there was something to mow.

Case and Stats set up a low scaffold to work on the solarium and Nev moved plants, benches, trellises, three fountains, one into the solarium, and patio furniture, with the loader, then put it on the trailer and took it back to the boathouse. He unhooked the trailer and drove to the apartment. People began loading the LH as soon as he parked. He ran into the apartment and smiled.

"We're going to have everything done by ten, Bance."

"I'm alternating between reeling in shock and giggling, Nev. Under two hours is 'not possible.' This is all that's left and Knight and Blade patched, color-bonded and cleaned carpets, as soon as we got rooms clear. We've got five sculptures we want them to move, and probably ride with. They're not just heavy. They've got protrusions we can't pad well enough to assure they wouldn't snap off."

"When and with whom do you want them to go? This room needs to be clear before patch and color-bond, anyway. We can come back to finish it."

"All the drivers are careful and good, but I don't know whether we should put them in an open or enclosed vehicle."

"They really worry you."

"They're Silky's great-great-great-grandmother's work. That's older than it sounds. They're not the most valuable, but they're the most important. Over here. These."

"I'll be back with a base pad and enough strapping to double-web them."

"Thanks. They're actually why Jace and I insisted the sculpture garden be lockable. We weren't worried about theft, just that it will be a pretty place to play and 'oops' could happen too easily. When they saw them, the neighbors all agreed."

"We'll try to get them there before you leave, but if it's noon before we're sure they're ready to transport, that's when."

"Thank you. He loves it all, but these are the ones he touches. To him, they're the expression of his family's settlement on this world."

"Point me to Knight."

"Front bath, I think."

Nev gave Knight a fast brief. He said he knew which sculptures and agreed webbing was best. He expected to have the living room patching done before they moved them.

Nev got back to the LH as the last of the load was being strapped in. He pulled out and Dawn pulled into his place in Knight and Blade's car. The LH was unloaded just as fast. Nev collected every strap they had in the garage and shop, then went back to Silky's new house and got the straps they'd collected. When he got back to the apartment, there were several there. People were leaving. Everything but the five sculptures had been moved.

Knight and Blade carried the sculptures to the LH and Nev base-webbed them, as they set them in. When all were in the LH, he added diagonal straps to the 'square web.' The upper webbing took much longer. Each sculpture was done separately at the height least likely to cause breakage, if something did cause it to shift.

Knight, Blade and Dawn came out with the equipment as he finished the last piece. The euipment went in the car with Dawn. Places for Knight and Blade had been left in the back of the LH with the sculptures. They carefully worked their way into them, then signaled they were ready.

Nev drove north to the belt road, with Dawn following. He increased speed when he got on it, but not a great deal. He hadn't been on it long, when he picked up a police escort. The officer, in the car that came up beside him, signaled to keep going, then got in front and turned on flashing lights. He had two in front and three behind when he reached the northwest curve, and saw why.

The lead police car pulled in front of one IS vehicle and the rearmost car went around them and pulled up in front of the other. Both officers in both cars got out. One from each car had two hot-take containers in hand. Nev worked to just smile as the other two police officers signaled the 'caravan' to pass between the two IS vehicles. They made it around the curve, out of sight of the IS vehicles, before Knight and Blade burst into laughter.

The other police cars caught up before they reached the house. The officers in the one that went past were grinning widely. When they got to the house, Chief Dennon was there.

"That was great!"

"Thanks, Knight. We sent a car with food to every one of them, here and in other towns. We knew they were setting up for you, but they may not have. Or they smelled food and didn't give a damn. They haven't been supplied and were going from snack shop to snack shop, trying to get enough to eat, until they suddenly went 'that way.' The age and delicacy of those pieces was plenty of excuse for an escort in transit to the installation in a sculpture garden. Silky's flustered. Their first assignment this morning is him telling about those, and the help they got moving them. The head news editor, Wilt Hammison, is doing the live feed from the mobile unit. Essa is holding Silky up in the backyard, and we're about to be on cam."

"Fantastic! Thank you! This is just a pan of the escort, you and the way the sculptures were transported. We'll do all the talking in the backyard. Silky is not ready to be in front of the cam and Jace and I plan to tease him into relaxing and talking about these the way he has to us. The chief said play you guys down little this time."

"Please. Special attention from the IS isn't calming. We're very grateful our police are watching over us, as always."

"Sending those men food didn't hurt a bit. These boys aren't as bad as some, or they couldn't send them here. Right now, we're the ones who fed the dogs and they probably like us a little better than their masters. We at least pretend we're not looking down our noses at them. Our mothers taught us showing it was impolite."

"Sometimes that's the best you can do."

"Let's get these loose, carefully."

The sculptures were gently un-webbed on top, then one-by-one on the bottom. The talk began as the first one was placed. Bance and Jace teased Silky into a blush. He groaned, then relaxed and talked about the sculptures and the history of one of the founding families of the area. He moved from piece to piece, not as they were placed, but in the order in which they came in the story.

Case and Stats finished setting up the last fountain before he finished talking about the last sculpture, and the sculpture garden was done. Everyone got out of it and Jace panned around, then backed slowly into the house. The last shot was the high white gates in back swinging slowly shut, framed by the paned double doors, with white lace curtains showing through them.

"Yes! Silky, the boss said he's awed. Check the time."

"Perfect! I'm only surprised because I'm in here and not out there, Bance. However, he now knows how easy my job is with you two. They're home. This is where they were created. The house was south and east, but it was on the west side. It's beautiful. The whole house is. Thank you all, our wonderful west side neighbors. I dreaded this so much, and it's been an overflowing cup of joy, thanks to you. At this point, the appropriate gesture would be to fix you all great brunch, but I figure we've got a half-minute of thank-you time left, before the boss says hit the road. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one..."

"Hit the road! Thanks all!"

"Thank you!"

"I'll lock up!"

"Thanks, Essa!"

"We'll see you on the news! Mike and Loren have a feed at their place, everyone! They told Chal it was their turn! Come along, Chief?"

"No, thanks, Nev. I should have already headed back, but I couldn't leave while he was telling about those. He left no doubt they were worth a five-car police escort. Go east two blocks, down and back. Put them both in the boathouse for now. I got you into a little too much attention yesterday. Every good parent and grandparent of a young adult on this world is grateful I did, whether they know it or not, but it's time to get you out of view and off the agenda."

"I'm going to eat and go back to bed. A lot of us are."

"This is an amazing amount of work in three hours."

"I primarily drove around. They patched the walls where those paintings hung, color-bonded and cleaned. All the others packed, loaded, unloaded, built and put this place together. We told some to stay in bed, so someone would be conscious after ten."

"That's the way we're running today, too. It's going to be real quiet tonight, but nobody's taking the wrap all the way down yet."

"I don't have an urge to get rid of ours. Most just tucked it up where needed. Chief Dennon, I really like you, but right now, I hope I don't see you soon."

The chief burst into laughter, nodded and walked toward his car. Nev got in the LH and joined the traffic going east. He smiled when the chief turned around and went west.

The 'dayshift' were also at brunch on Mike and Loren's patio. Mike noted they were needed to feed people too tired to lift a fork. Blade said he was, but his taste buds and empty stomach were teaming to keep it moving.

Knight, Blade and Nev had just gotten in the front door, when a lamp came on. They went to the kitchen. Knight tapped, "Ready." The little light blinked, "People united. Stop. 30 days max. Stop. Impossible habit. Stop. Sleep well. Stop. Doc." Knight sent, "Thanks. Stop. We will."

IS high command still hadn't figured out what to do. Part of the reason was they were losing people. They were parking the IS cars, getting in their own, going home to get something to eat and not going back. IS didn't attempt to do anything about it. If they had, most of their personnel would have run.

Maintaining comm monitoring had become a problem. There were squabbles over Bremp's 'personal income,' the list of people who paid not to have a secret told, and those who paid, they thought, not to be monitored. Information flow through the computers that monitored conversation in public places was down, so it was doing keyword monitoring on many calls. As the night progressed to day around the world, more hungry IS officers went home.

### Chapter Twelve

Knight, Blade and Nev were having late afternoon 'morning' tea, when the mobile news vehicle pulled into the drive. Knight hit the control and Jace drove into the garage. Knight closed it behind them. An IS vehicle came around the corner before it was quite closed, but went past. Bance ran into the kitchen.

"Comm connect Channel Forty-eight newsroom, Hammison."

"Bance!"

"We made it. Everyone else?"

"All in. You were my scare. Too far away."

"No, almost too far. It made it hard to comply. We may have had a half-second to spare. Comm out."

"No news?"

"IS updates only, no news vehicles on the street at sixteen our time, Knight."

"You may have had a half-second. They were after you. Outrage the people."

"We know. We knew a shortcut, a harvest road that's not on maps. We didn't want to look to see how fast Jace was driving down that mountain."

"That includes me. I wouldn't have done it that fast in my car, but that thing's all-terrain and proved the value today. If there wasn't a chance we could get in, we'd have left that fortune in a field."

"Hammison would have understood, Jace."

"I know, Knight, but Silky would've cried. I was just trying for off the street, when I saw the garage door opening."

"I kissed our little lucky wyvern twice."

"Once before and once after I did."

"I gave it one when I shut her off."

"Comm Chief Dennon."

"I'm glad you have company, Nev."

"So are we. I suspect breakfast slowed things just long enough. Would you please feed the dogs again, and give them some of Grandma Neighbor's puppy treats for later?"

"Sure will. I know where to get the treats."

"Thank you. Comm out."

"You think they gave us time?"

"The garage door was almost closed, Bance. I think they may have been just far enough behind for you to get off the street. If they'd really wanted to catch you, they'd been right behind you and had a half-minute time difference."

"These are little more civilized than most, or they couldn't keep their hands off people, but we're still working with negative numbers."

"Answer comm. Hi, Danny."

"They're there! Comm out."

"Several people are worried. Comm guys."

"They made it!"

"Off a pounding heartbeat before, Case. Hit the trail, please."

"I'm five sentences behind Stats. Comm out."

Two women and a man ran through the front door and Nev, Knight and Blade got out of the way fast. After they'd grabbed and held on until the shakes went away, all three turned to look at them. Nev and Knight looked at Blade.

"It's unanimous."

"Comm Channel Forty-eight newsroom, Hammison."

"Yes, Nev?"

"I'd like to make arrangements to buy the thing in my garage. I want to upgrade some things you wouldn't and give it as a wedding present. 'Maybe a half-second' wasn't quite long enough for my nerves. We can make it a bit longer, if it ever happens again."

"Whose wedding?"

"From the clutches in my kitchen, it may be a triple, but I think Day and Jace may decide they like separate rooms most of the time. I plan to change the color, but give them nice decorations for it for daily wear."

"It's an unusual gift, but appropriate, I think. Make sure we get a large group invitation. It's sold. I know what licensed dealer to do it through. I'll figure out what for and let you know the size of the dent, even in your bank account."

"I'd like it to happen very fast."

"I've got thirty years practice moving at your pace. I just never met any people in other professions who thought it was normal. Comm out."

"I wouldn't have suggested that, Nev. I'm glad you did. Bance, I wouldn't have thought of marriage either, but I wasn't worried. I was terrified and desperate. I love you. I met and fell in love with the man of my dreams in one night. You're not even ready for the idea, but I've got the most reliable group opinion in existence backing my feeling."

"Silky, we're getting married. Jace is still the perfect roommate for us. I need help getting you out of the house."

"Probably."

"I just... Comm Dancy Valley, Neardon farm."

"Bance!"

"Hi, Mom. I'm not going to bring her home yet, for obvious reasons, but I'm sure someone will pick up Grandmother's wedding gown for a little tailoring. This is Veronica, Ronnie. My mom and dad, Laurel and Dalor."

"Hi, I was too scared not to inform him were getting married, as soon as they just made compliance. Since everyone else started making wedding plans, he obviously decided we're sure enough for him too."

"I'm just surprised, Mom, not unsure. It'll be a double wedding in the sculpture garden. Silky was informed he's getting married too. Jace is already plotting with Essa to reduce his denning tendency. I'm in love and I'll never get bored with the scenery either."

"I never have, Bance. We know who Ronnie is. We also know you just met. My dad proposed to my mom half-an-hour after they did, Ronnie. They just finished the harvest before they got the license. His mom and I made our wedding plans when we were four and five, so people don't realize it was right after we met. We'll bring the gown. There will be seventeen of us coming. Find us, and Silky's twenty-one, beds. We'll be there in a half-hour. I'll call them."

"Yes, Dad."

"Comm out."

"And I thought we moved fast."

"My family will bring a wedding dress too, Essa."

"Comm Lockton Holstead."

"Hello, Bance."

"Judge, Silky and I are both getting married. We hadn't set a date, just decided double in the sculpture garden. My dad said they'll be here, two entire families, with wedding gowns in a half-hour."

"Your dad knows where it's going to 'localized' hail and how big the stones will be. Nineteen. License forms coming on screen. Put walls around those five sculptures, so no one hits them."

"Thank you. We'll do it in front of the gates, so the neighbors who can't get in the garden can see."

"Give them walls, too. Tell Tarn theirs is right after."

As soon as the license forms were signed, Bance commed a jeweler. He and Silky described, then Ronnie and Essa did. The jeweler said she had the described and put hands on the pad for sizing. Since none was needed, she said she'd be where they were in ten minutes.

Nev commed Danny. Bance commed the newsroom. Knight commed Tarn. Nev commed Mike and told him to comm Chal to team. Kendra commed them and said she and team had bed and parking logistics. Then Ronnie gave the three a brief. She finished it with the level eight punchline and three burst into laughter. Ronnie always found the best way to organize information.

Bance told Knight he hadn't thought of relieving his curiosity as part of wedding preparations, but was glad it had been. It had started gnawing again when the judge said, "Tarn."

People hit the neighborhood trail and things happened fast. Bance was moved again in minutes. Most of his things and clothes went into a spare bedroom in Ronnie's house. He didn't have any furniture that needed to be moved. Neither did Essa. Jason just took an overnighter to Day's. The entire backyard area of a block, except the sculpture garden, was rapidly 'walled and roofed.' The garden wouldn't be included in the reception.

When families began to arrive, cars were directed to open garages and people led to their rooms. A driveway list was delivered to the newsroom. An LH made a delivery to Chal. The hotel from which it came was paid in cash. The reception goodies were the neighborhood's gift. Mike and Loren loved "working under a great chef in his kitchen," and nine neighbors', with staff in each.

Tarn's family had a wedding gown, too, so three brides had fittings. Tarn was given the 'perfect' formal attire out of Bance's wide assortment and it was tailored. By eighteen twenty, when the judge arrived to conduct a brief rehearsal, a wedding cake was being assembled across several tables. Tables and chairs were still being delivered, but all buffet tables were prepared, for a reception for nearly a thousand. Jace was best man for two. Donce was best man for the other. Both had perfect.

Rina had made a back door visit to a shop. Dawn and Danny had matching bridesmaid gowns. Kath's was a bit different. Stats and Day both raided Jace's closet. Bellin's father had brought his perfect to escort a bride.

At eighteen thirty-one, a car was delivered. The saleswoman from their favorite lot didn't give Nev a bill for that one. She gave it to Jace. Nev got one for another vehicle. Her ride was her great-uncle. He had a document printer in his car and everything ready to submit. Grooms quickly signed, neither really noticing what they were signing. At eighteen thirty-six, documents printed. The gov licensing comp was extremely unbusy. What he'd signed registered when Jace gave Silky the documents.

"You bought us a car!"

"My wedding present, more to Essa than you. She'll remember what that thing in the garage is for. Bance, I didn't include you because they made it clear they want me here."

"I understand, Jace. You decided you'd be borrowing your car from Essa in days."

"Exactly. That car has a finicky comp. It doesn't have to be replaced but it can be irritating. You're paying for a stall in the boat house for the other vehicle too. Day's paying for dates for a while."

"How bad?"

"I don't save money, Bance. It was leftovers and there is enough left for everything but dates for a while. Since those probably won't be at clubs, I doubt Day will need to rework his budget."

"Sure you two don't want to be included?"

"We both know we're in the right place. We may rearrange someday, when Essa's building a playground in the front yard, but we already made the right commitment for us. Hammison thinks all three of us falling in love in one night is hilarious. If we all got married together, he'd still be giggling, when he sent us somewhere, in five years."

"I just realized I don't want to 'move up to the big time,' any longer."

"You never really did, Bance. You just knew people who said you could were right. Correcting their impression all local news reporters have that ambition wasn't necessary, and would have been time-consuming. Now you can just say this is a great place for kids to grow up and they won't need an explanation."

The setting, the brides and the wedding were beautiful. The reception was wonderful. The newsroom crew gave recordings of them as their gift. Other gifts were invisibly delivered to the big house after dark.

Blade had been right. The opinion was unanimous. The three were trusted, and needed. Doc Larry 'integrated' then into the reconstruction plan and smiled when every lump disappeared and the length-of-time prediction dropped to ten days.

Local guests all left the reception in time to be 'in' by twenty-three thirty. It didn't last a great deal longer. At one twenty-three, the last table was added to the stack of things to be taken home after six. Backyards were un-walled and uncovered, but no one 'went outside' to do it. Paths were reconstructed as it was done. By one forty, the neighborhood trail no longer had travelers on it, but Danny had six guests. Not long after she got on the comp, they were all laughing.

"They don't know what's happening anywhere!"

"No, Dawn, they don't. Another plan backfired."

"Comm monitoring is falling apart fast. They arranged it nicely for a program error to take the whole system down. Records wouldn't go with it, but access to them would."

"They might dump level eight, Danny."

"I don't think so, Knight. It would make the records in the main gov system the only ones they could get to, until they find a way to access their private database. That will be possible. I think that will keep them busy working on rebuilding the current system, instead of just replacing it. Since 'possible' won't be simple, I doubt they'll get it rebuilt in thirty days."

"Can you set it for a time we'll all be visibly working on something in the garage, like fixing a finicky comp and at least starting work on the LH?"

"I have to build an error trigger anyway. Right there. That series of primes is perfect. It's the type of thing good programmers construct safeguards against, when the system is essential. This system is now as likely to have a prime series command conflict develop as any other I've seen. It might even have it without assistance. It will be seventeen-seventeen-seventeen-point seventeen-seventeen-seventeen to infinity, on day seventeen-seventeen in system record. All I need to do is hook this... to this... to this, to assure it does."

"They didn't do a conflict override, and I can see a half-dozen places one could develop in the link of audio and comm monitoring systems."

"Yes, Nev, arranged nicely for a program error. So, at sixteen seventeen seventeen our time, full comm monitoring and keyword audio monitoring in public places will abruptly end. It will announce it has with a loud, but brief, burst of white noise. It'll fart in every listening ear."

The six burst into laughter. All said goodnight and left. Danny tapped a message to the mine for distribution, then poured the last of the champagne from the partial bottle she'd brought home from the reception. She sat down in her favorite chair, put her feet up on the matching footstool and toasted herself.

It hadn't taken long to set up to take advantage of the linking arrangement, just a little over nine hours, with Ronnie's help. She was sure it was the wedding present she really wanted, to call her mom and dad and introduce her new husband.

She dictated a bit of story and sent it, which made a constructed comm call to Tarse, from her apt, then stretched and went to bed. She'd decided it would make the others nervous if they knew why IS had never noticed six were gone, when she decided to assure it, twenty-three days before they left.

Their families didn't know anything, but they, especially Tarse's, had been through too much already. IS wasn't going to question any of them before it 'died.' She'd decided to kill it the day she found the court record, and learned Bard had been beaten so badly he'd have died without medical treatment, twice.

Her to-kill list was quite short. Others had crossed off all the names but the one she didn't know. Soon, the turmoil in IS would give her that one. She figured Warkerdoll had a short life expectancy. His complaints about money not coming in should become an intolerable irritation within two days. She fell asleep and dreamed of the knight, the elf and the faery prince together. It was a warm dream.

### Chapter Thirteen

Early in the morning, Knight, Blade and Nev changed the color of the vehicle, increased its power conversion efficiency and added two 'accessories.' When they finished, they moved the LH and trailer to the shop, Knight and Blade's car to the garage and the once-white, now teal, mobile unit to the boathouse.

After that, they mowed the lawn and trimmed the hedges. After they mowed the 'growth' around the boathouse, they did some weeding and seeding. Rain would begin at eighteen forty-five, so it was time to do it.

Case and Stats did an installation at Silky's house, then four in the garage. Dawn and Danny did two installations in Ronnie's garage. All three of the cars had already had great ported sound systems and solar panels, so none of the installations took long. By sixteen, two newlywed couples were enjoying the uncovered pool and sun and nine of their friends, including Dayton and Jace were in the front yard discussing doing something about the comp in Silky and Essa's car.

It had argued when Silky had ordered system shutdown. The group discussion of probable cause led to a decision to see if they were right and six looked on, while Knight, Blade and Nev removed the comp and began testing circuit paths on the motherboard. They found it right where Dawn had predicted and she bowed to applause. When one of the IS patrol cars went by at sixteen twelve the comp was being put back in the car. At sixteen seventeen oh seven, Danny got up from her comfortable lounge on the lawn.

"Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Blaaaat! The great comp fart has caused crossed eyes among the deserving."

"It was so nice of that patrol to come by. I was a bit worried they were going to skip the drive-by this afternoon, and we worked so hard to make the yard look good on vid."

"I'm going to go in and do the double-check giggle over the blame-throwing, then give Ronnie my wedding present, a call home to introduce her husband."

"Danny..."

"Knight, they never noticed we were gone because we weren't. The book is progressing nicely. Ritzi and her friends work on it in the tiny efficiency apt they rented down the hall from her. She doesn't use the comm often and neither do her friends, but they do call each other once in a while, to say they've got an idea, or they're bringing meeting munchies. Sorry, Nev, but you didn't see your parents and uncle holding onto each other and desperately praying you'd live, with more to hold and pray arriving every minute. I wasn't going to give IS any excuse to hurt them more. If they'd discovered the book and comm calls came from elsewhere, they'd have discovered they came from Solbeiter Island, right in the middle of Great Vine Swamp. Since they don't know the island would sink if a flyer landed on it, or too many people stand on it, it was a bit difficult not to wish they'd go look for us. I put the warning back in the survey record this morning. I love you, have since we met and always will, but I never said I agreed 'just disappearing' was the best way to protect our families."

"She didn't, Nev."

"She didn't."

"Didn't say she didn't agree, but didn't say she did, either."

"I know, Stats. It just sounded like she did. Thank you. It would've made us all nervous because only you could really be sure it couldn't be traced farther."

"Only the princess understands the wind magic well enough to completely trust it. She thinks she asks the others to trust her to use it often enough already, and it would have been work for them to believe the wizard couldn't find the user, even if he discovered the magic. Oh, the wizard was banished by a spell that created the doorway into a realm where magic doesn't exist, but now the slyest of the beasts have his staff of power and book of spells. However, they're not wizards. The knight, the elf and the faerie prince show the people how to 'bend like the young tree in the wind.' The spells meet no resistance and spread, thin and dissipate, each one draining the staff of power a bit more. But they're beasts and when it's gone, the spell that makes them appear to be people will be gone. There will no longer be any reason not to ravage the land in traditional beast manner. At this point, the object is reduce the number of dumb beasts in the pack. Since the sly beast leaders aren't doing a good job of keeping them fed, the number who decide being minions is no longer fun and go home to get something to eat grows daily. The captain of the city guard is a wily fellow. He's feeding the beast-people who are supposed to assure the people resist the spells. It makes them a little more reluctant to do something, to end the supply of tastiest meals they've ever had, every day. The princess just found a place the staff of power was weakened by a bunch of beasts going home and taking disguise magic with them, and used wind magic to blow away the spell to listen to what people said. The spell still exists in the book, but it takes a lot of work to set things up to perform it. Since everything learned about people, which was used to force them to give the minions coin, would be returned, if the spell was recast, they're working very hard on it, and more of the dumb beasts decide it's not fun anymore and go home to get dinner every day, and every one who does takes a tiny bit of power from the staff. The hero-for-a-demon didn't like the wizard and the beast-people have always disgusted him. He's got all the business demons assuring their people bend. It looks probable his cooperation with the heroes is going to lead to his chunk of the land becoming a peaceful part of it and a rather pleasant place to live. The people in it are already sure he's taking good care of them. He likes it and it's proving to be quite profitable. Now all we have to do is write the end."

"You wrote me in as a faerie prince."

"No, you wrote you in. I just decided you were right about the companion being a misplaced elf and he was right about you shedding fairy dust. In the book, the knight's parents were killed by the wizard's minions. The elf's were murdered by a servant of an evil demon in league with the wizard. Both elf and faerie prince are half human. The prince's mother's brother is king. He despised the wizard and hates beasts. He can't really help, but he gave the nephew he loves a magic purse and opened the gate to the human realm for an instant, for him to step through, which was not easy with evil on the other side. The prince is luckier than full humans, but not so much he realizes it's part of him and not just luck. He's as determined as the knight and elf to cleanse the realm. There aren't many in the faerie realm, but there never were. The faerie know, as do the few remaining elves, hidden deep in the mountain forest, that the humans are their brothers. Their gifts separated them from humans somewhat, but the wizard locked the gate, and they learned they can't survive alone. The prince and the elf companion are the only children that have been born of them in the two hundred years, since the wizard made their separation total. They live a long time, but it's running out. They wait in hope they can bring their gifts back to the human realm. If they hadn't decided they'd be more comfortable not brushing against the less pleasant human emotions, the land wouldn't have hired an evil wizard. In all the other lands, the elf and faerie blood in the humans would have assured they knew if the wizard was evil and no spell could hide it. Obviously, Ronnie helps write."

"Obviously. Does she know..."

"No, Nev, but she knows the spell could be ended in a flatulent burst."

"Go tell her it farted."

"After I double-check it did. I know I did it right, but I always check my work twice, anyway."

"From top-down, then bottom up. Knight taught me you've got to do it both ways, after you check every step as you finish it."

"And you still cross your fingers when you turn it on, Blade."

"I still remember that well, Case. Oops."

"He put me out of the car to test the sword, because..."

"It was my ears we were depending on to calibrate the calibrator, and I don't get a glazed look and bring something new into existence."

"We knew it had to be tested, Blade. We've just learned if we all have the same feeling about something, we've got a very high probability of being right."

"One hundred percent, so far, but that's just so far."

"You see why I carefully don't say 'always,' Blade."

"Yes, Case, Stats qualifies even when you don't."

"Come in here! You got to see this!"

Danny didn't get out to the pool to tell Ronnie. She saw them all laughing through the patio doors and ran for them, Bance, Essa and Silky close behind. Squabbling over Bremp's list had ended mid-squab. Comm monitoring personnel weren't resigning, they were running out the doors. They'd found the exact time, yelped, someone had sent, "They'll reassign us to the field until it's fixed," to all stations and they ran. They'd all heard the complaints of no food.

The only ones who hadn't run were the programmers yelling they hadn't linked the systems that way, the database was intact and they were already at work on getting the system back up, but it wouldn't have gone down if they'd done it, because they'd have put in a command conflict override, and it was a dumb way to link it, and they hadn't done it, but they could fix it, even though they hadn't done it, and were already working on it, and it wouldn't have happened if they'd done it, but they hadn't done it...

"Bremp's dead. Blame him. The fact he was dead when they were linked is inconvenient, but that's all."

"Exactly, Blade. The ranks are screaming, but they don't dare remind the programmers he was dead, because they're the only ones who can fix it. Since they don't dare, they're screaming at each other and field officers asking for dinner. 'Go find a snack shop. We have real problems to deal with.' Bye-bye field officers in droves. There are two here! They know the police are feeding the officers assigned here and want it stopped. Whoa. They did not get the same treatment. Very polite, 'pick up at the commissary.' They scare the higher ranking officers. G. Winderd and D. Follesley, images."

"Oh, shit."

"You know them, Blade?"

"They're fascists, Danny. They're from a low-income neighborhood just outside Roper district. I don't know where they got it from, but they started believing they were better than anyone else when they were still kids. They're smart and absolutely sure democracy can't work here. They're 'throwbacks' to the superior race that was diluted by the democratic idea of equality, which resulted in their blood being mixed with inferior races."

"They don't look any different than anyone else to me."

"That's because of the mixing, Jace. They're supposed to look like that, but most people who are medium brown, got that way because the black, white and several shades of brown races were encouraged to mix. Their intelligence and innate ability to command are the racial characteristics that prove they're 'the real thing.' And they can command. They scare the shit out of people and they do just what they say. 'Icy cold' is right. They'd beat someone to death if it was the appropriate action, without anger, pleasure, remorse... It would just be a decision. They've got to be killed. They'll kill several of their own officers, or some family in a car, to get the required response. See if you can learn who their commander is, Danny, and get us the commissary pickup schedule."

"Wait! Go back. Look at those assignment dates."

"You think we found the names for our blank line, Ronnie?"

"I think Blade just described who'd order students, a professor and anyone else close, murdered to assure no one else knew what one student had discovered, and that they had him, Dawn. That was an extremely efficient plan, if it hadn't been for the shield, which messed it up twice, but they never bothered with us after they learned there wasn't a weapon. The 'lessers' made an error. They didn't check to be sure the reason for excitement was the correct one. If they had, they'd have gotten the shield too. I suspect they were 'disciplined,' but we were no longer relevant, just routinely watched."

"That's them, though there has to be someone higher, and he looks like them. If he didn't, they wouldn't accept his orders."

"I'll do an image search and match it with our time-frame later, Blade. There's the commissary order, and a time."

"It can't be close and it's got to look like an accident."

"That's not going to be easy, Blade."

"It never was, Case. Let's go. No, Nev. Not you."

"Would you prefer I follow you?"

"I prefer you stay here and cover for us."

"I can't. I don't feel it's essential and I can't. If I felt it was, I could, but I don't, so I'd pace with my stomach churning and my palms sweating, until I couldn't stand it any longer, then I'd be in the T following and tapping a request for your current location, so I didn't pass you."

"Get in the car, Nev."

"Yes, Knight."

"He would have, Blade."

"How did I end up with two of you I can't leave behind?! Get in the car."

"Yes, Blade."

"You'd better take some food."

"It's stocked, Essa. We did it when we brought it in. Cook what's on the right of the second shelf in the keeper. It came out of it. When Nev comes back in to look for me, tell him I went to the toilet, and to get a dark shirt and jacket. When Knight comes in, tell him the same."

"Why didn't you tell them?"

"If I told them, it would be 'this time,' Day. This way, they'll think about the time, where we're going, what we may need to do and decide how to prepare. The shields make it easy. This time, we'll probably have to turn them off for the whole time were getting ready, and pissing where you're arranging an accident isn't wise, unless you're arranging it in a toilet."

When Knight and Nev got back in the car, they also had on dark shoes, socks, pants and caps. Both had jackets and gloves and Knight had a jar of the 'face cover' Blade had taught them to make in the kitchen, right after they got the house.

Blade checked the material of their jackets and smiled. Both had figured out they weren't just for warmth. If they had to work hard, they'd trap their sweat and odor, and keep them somewhat dry. He nodded and Knight turned on the shield. Case opened the garage door.

"I hope they didn't listen to the forecast early yesterday."

"No news but IS updates. It's available on the infonet, Blade."

"No, Knight, it's not. Gradelode Global Net decided it's news. They've got a compliance notice on their site. The gov is supposed to have a meteorology service, but GGN was doing it, so they obviously just copied theirs. That way they didn't have to buy all that equipment or pay meteorologists. The GGN compliance notice was on the gov site too."

Nev and Knight burst into laughter. Blade smiled. News shows gave a two-day forecast and a five-day probability. The longer the time after two days, the less accurate. At five days, they could tell that an area was likely to get rain, and if it would be most likely morning or evening, but not how much or where and when it would fall. Newsbriefs usually gave a six-hour forecast. News updates gave it for a day. If a forecast included precipitation, locations and times for six hours took most of the scheduled time. If you wanted a two-day, you watched or listened to news shows early morning or evening, or checked the infonet. They'd listened as they drove to Silky's apartment. There wasn't an evening news show. Blade had looked for the next day and learned no one was going to know if it was going to rain, until they got wet.

Blade had an idea of where and what type of accident, but he only knew about the place. He'd never seen it, personally. He'd looked at images of the area on the net. The gov had decided putting up a sign recommending an alternate route in rain was cheaper than routing the sudden stream under the gravway and building a barrier to keep rocks from falling on it, or cutting the steep hill to move both back.

If the two got on the gravway and didn't get off before it started to rain, they couldn't before they got there, during or after the heaviest rain. There just wasn't anywhere to get off. The gravway was between steep up and steep down, but there was a road off northeast of it and it went up. Their car was designed to drive over the type of ground that was there, rocky and generally flat. In that place, it abruptly ended in steep a long way down. If the two didn't come that way, they'd have time to get ahead of them again. The alternate was much longer.

He knew when the storm would get to the capital. Its average velocity told him when it should reach Knock-off Stream. They'd be going slowly. The stream was much more dangerous than rocks. They were only a possibility.

He wasn't worried they'd mistake the car. IS vehicles were quite recognizable, even if the IS globe was off, it was on top. Staff cars didn't have weapon mounts, but they had that. Blade rather expected they'd be in a patrol car, with weapons mounted.

He went to the back and began fixing dinner. It wouldn't be ready for a while. It took time to prepare and time to cook, but they'd eat early. It was seventeen fifty-three where they were going, and the rain predicted there wasn't from the same front. The one that would dampen Teal Valley was a much slower and milder system.

Ten K before they reached the turnoff, Blade told Knight to stop to "drain tea." Nev said he was relieved. Blade said he wasn't, but soon would be. He told them going before they left home for that length of journey, probably sipping tea at least half the way, made the stop the right place to get rid of tea.

They pulled far enough off the road it wasn't 'reflected' on one side and got out of the car, but not out of the shield. A few moments after their relief stop, they turned off the gravway.

There wasn't much traffic. The haulers that delivered goods weren't needed, business travel wasn't needed, and curfew at twenty-three thirty kept more other people close to home. It was twenty oh eight when they reached the area of the stream and drove off the side road toward it. When they found it, Blade had Knight park so they were headed out, but the shield opening was pointed into the trees. They practiced stepping into the shield with Nev three times, then Blade marked the exact place with a rock at each corner of the shield.

They wore their personal shields to reconnoiter. It was getting dark, but it wasn't yet and they were doing a lot of looking over the edge. Blade stepped back and turned off his shield. Knight and Nev followed.

"We need to work quickly. We're going to set up a couple big rocks and several smaller. We can't completely predict the path and trajectory, but we don't need to hit them square, just make them lose control as they hit the stream. Nev, how are you doing?"

"I'm reminding myself their job is get an excuse to destroy my hometown."

"This is more difficult, because they have time to know they're going to die. If I'd been the type of the assassin people thought I was, it wouldn't have bothered me. It didn't bother them you were going to die horribly in a fire. They'll know, but it won't be as long as you would have, and death will be too fast to be painful."

"There were twenty-three too close to get out, Tarse. You saved them. You dove into the blast to hit the shield switch. Always a switch. Too many things can happen to a comp, so a manual switch on anything that might be dangerous. I love you. I screamed your name first. Are you going to make love with us?"

"Bard, do you think this is the time to ask?"

"Probably not, Harim, but if he's going to black out this time, I thought here was better than when we were moving rocks at the edge."

"You have a point. Are you, Tarse Terschell-Nevin Curran? I love you too."

"Yes, but not right now. The back of the car would be a tight fit and the ground's too rocky."

"We ask again when he doesn't have an excuse?"

"No, Blade, we just invade his room and bed, and get him excited too fast to think about asking us to leave."

"Good plan."

"We don't want to have sex. We want to make love. Danny's the only one you've made love with and that's been... still twice?"

"Yes, Knight."

"You need more make-love with people you love, before you make love with people you like, just because it's fun."

"We should all visit a brothel to learn how."

"We don't have a shortage of invitations, Blade."

"I know, Knight. But none of us have learned to say yes!"

"True. Let's move rocks."

"Let's give him a kiss first."

"Good idea."

Knight looked down at Blade and grinned. Blade suppressed a laugh. Nev was following. He might have been aware of it. Knight had chosen how to stop him rolling what they were doing over and over in his mind. It had worked. So had Blade's suggestion. He was thoroughly distracted. He'd be working by the time he 'came out of it,' and ready to accept both the necessity and difficulty. If it didn't pain to kill, one was a beast, not civilized. There must be reason enough to endure the pain.

They prepared. When they were done, they all sat under Knight's shield, out of the rain. When the stream began to flow, they separated and turned shields back on for a few minutes, then Blade turned his off. Knight and Nev turned theirs off and their collars up. It was light inside the shield. Blade didn't think it was quite time yet, but it was a rain-darkened night and it would take time for their eyes to adjust.

The stream was a torrent flowing out of a spout. It wouldn't have been especially dangerous if it just flowed across. It came down on the gravway. It could be avoided, but the water couldn't. They'd had their shields off about ten minutes when they saw the car.

No one counted it, but Nev softly said, "For twenty-four," then pushed. Knight and Blade pushed rocks at the same time. Knight grabbed Nev and pulled him back, then they heard a rumble and Blade was suddenly running, pulling them both. They ran for the car. Knight turned off the shield. They dove in and he got them out of there and onto the road, then down the road fast.

"What happened?"

"The whole thing started to go. I barely got back far enough fast enough. The rock Nev pushed hit a real big rock and it went, and then the whole top of the hill started following. The big rock came down right on top of them. They didn't know they were going to die."

"Next time, he pushes little rocks."

"Definitely. It was the 'for twenty-four.' Something decided one rock wasn't enough. It also decided he shouldn't have to think about them knowing. He didn't want them punished, just stopped permanently, and he shouldn't be punished. I believe in God, Nev, but I only pray for life, not death. I know you didn't, but I was praying you'd be all right."

"Me too. Blade taught me to believe in God in a cell, with nothing but days of mind-numbing-boring labor days and nights in a cell ahead, for the rest of my life, but I didn't believe that. I didn't believe it from the time I learned you were alive. Blade taught me my prayer had been answered."

"I... know I'm better than I would have been, but... I'm reminding myself I'm sure my mother's human."

Knight and Blade burst into laughter. Nev went back and fixed them supper. It was nineteen thirty-seven in Teal Valley. They'd be home about a half-hour before curfew. Knight tapped a code on the pad. When the light flashed, "Ready," he tapped, "Nev pushed rock. Stop. Cliff went along. Stop. Reminding self sure mother human. Stop. In by twenty-three."

Six burst into laughter. Ronnie had understood the reference. Essa hadn't. Ronnie gave Bance, Silky and Jace the message. Jace burst into laughter. She gave Bance, Silky and Essa a fast brief on why a book, the story, and how they'd written Nev into it. Essa laughed. Bance and Silky were both just looking at her, then she realized Jace was. The others burst into laughter.

"What?"

"I'm awed."

"Incredible."

"What a talent. I thought she'd built the one she did last night. Bance, your wife awes me, too."

"She's been saying, 'Why am I always the one who gives the briefs?' the six years I've known her, guys. I just tell her she can give it faster than I could explain. I don't think she believes me."

"She doesn't believe me either, Case."

"Sweetheart, would you like a job?"

"Doing that?"

"I believe she doesn't believe you, Danny. Let's go home, Sweetie. I'll tell you all about reporting the news. I like your parents."

"They like you. They like not being comm monitored."

"Comm Channel Forty-eight newsroom."

"Hi, Bance."

"I thought you'd be there, Boss. The biggest news on this planet in a decade is being passed person-to-person, because IS isn't going to report it. However, it's now passing fast. Due to personnel shortage, IS linked planetary audio and comm monitoring systems. At seventeen seventeen seventeen gov center time, with a loud white-noise fart, a prime series command conflict completely wiped them out. IS isn't listening."

"Comm out!"

"Three-and-a-half hours ago."

"That's the right length of time for someone who worked there to get a little loose, Sweetie. Every person who knows anything about programming will know IS has to reprogram from the bottom up, and can't get to the database until they do. And that's a big programming job."

Case called Tarn, told him he was on Nev's comm and had gotten in first, then told him the news. Tarn said, "Comm out!" Danny tapped, "Spread it," to the mine. In Jenneara, a man got a comm call. He made two, one to Roper district and one to a woman with family on another continent.

When Ronnie and Bance got home, he called his dad. He'd already heard. Bance told him he'd commed Hammison, then walked his wife home and wasn't surprised.

The news spread around the world as fast as people could yell, "Comm connect!" Within ten minutes, comm calls were being queued for connection, but the queue moved fast. Chats would come later. Telling everyone the system had 'self-destructed' came first. People set their comms to answer, "Got it," or "I heard." Busy got common and the queue moved faster.

The comm system worked well. It was all private sector. The gov collected license fees and taxes, and didn't have to buy or maintain expensive equipment or pay skilled personnel. The only gov services that worked well were water treatment and medical lab monitoring. That evening, two results of the greed of the oligarchy had aided in ending the greatest threat to Teal Valley, and the world. A group within IS had chosen the only area on the center continent that didn't fear it to create the fear that would give them control.

Horgen Field had been built in the low altitude warm climate near Shimmer Lake. The thirteenth adit wasn't close, and a real road hadn't been built to it, but the invisible car had been built to use the path that still existed. Through the mine was a much shorter distance to the high valley towns northeast and inland, but all records showed 'danger, cave-in' and had for eighty years, and since Ritzi had built her auth code.

The people of the area were sure the shafts were blocked. It had been a cheap operation. They explained no one explored for that reason, to summer people, who came there to escape the subtropical heat of the equator-spanning continent.

There were towns in the tropics, on the coasts. Most of the population of the continent lived near the coast, but the north center was rich farmland, and the fourth largest city on the continent was there, Richland. It was where most summer people came from, and its university had been known for its physics program. The top line on the lists of many thousands had been checked off.

### Chapter Fourteen

When the light flashed, "Ready," Knight tapped, "Open." The garage door was going up as he turned in the drive. He shut off the shield as soon as the car was in and the door closed behind them. Danny opened the kitchen door.

"They found them fast. They were on comm reporting the lack of warning and stupidity of endangering essential personnel. We've got identities. Seven people screamed, 'Incompetent fools!' None were Warkerdoll. All images fit. Three fit the nine-year criteria. Five are headquarters posted. None extremely high-ranking, except Warkerdoll's aide. Holloch Alladisi is our would-be dictator. He's the only one who has enough rank and knowledge to step into Warkerdoll's office. Two are second in command of Operations and Investigation. The other two headquarters are third in Technical and Tactical Support. Both others are second in west coast posts, the Command Training School and Ordinance Depot. They've got someone every place they need to take over. Investigation has been yelling monitoring should be under them and it never would have happened if it had been, since seventeen seventeen eighteen."

"How did we miss the aide?"

"Very, very discreet. Nothing comes out of his office, at all, only Warkerdoll's. His record is as staff as one can get and has 'clerk' written all over it. The two were valuable. They don't have replacements for them. They are sure it was a landslide. They went over the whole area with sniffers looking for traces of explosive. A geologist told them it wouldn't be that steep if they didn't happen frequently. They discovered 'frequent' and 'due' have a much different meaning to geologists."

"I remember noticing that. Comm?"

"Bance picked the time, Nev, right after you checked in. Case told Tarn he was on your comm and got in first. Nobody carried on conversations. Now, they're all calling someone just because they don't have to watch what they say. Seventeen-seventeen celebrations start at curfew. You're attending one at Bance and Ronnie's. Theirs is semiformal."

"Semiformal?!"

"You aren't expected to remain, Blade, but your champagne glass is part of your party costume. Everyone's invited to a party to start. There's a beach party, a nightclub, several theme masquerades and a whole bunch of other great ones. Ronnie's is society evening. If you had a party the first night, even if your party was at a neighbors house and theirs too, you're a guest tonight. A party-hopping list was assembled by comm. There are three children's parties going on now and they're party hopping too. The list is a house on each block of the connected blocks. The guest list for each is the people on that block. Want to guess who came up with a way to keep everyone busy planning and decorating, and not coming here to see you three, or expecting to see you elsewhere?"

"What a team."

"This is primarily an inside party night. People will serve refreshments appropriate to the theme. Everyone was reminded to eat before they go, because party supplies are running a little short. Bance said the object is to let some of the people who don't have party places, or a great deal to spend, use imagination to supplement and become more than 'she lives on so-and-so's block,' to people who don't live on that block. Your costumes are in your rooms."

"I have a semiformal outfit?"

"Yes, Blade. You didn't have right, and you do not fit in off-the-rack, so Bance called a friend with your measurements, and you paid for a rush order from a fast tailor, who said you, Knight and Nev, whose were just tailored, should come in for a proper fitting after Nev finishes changing shape and before you wear them again. They were just picked up. Your bank accounts say you were here all evening. I've got to go get ready. Oh! Doc Larry messaged. He said, 'Giggle.' I didn't think clarification was needed."

An IS patrol car pulled up in front of the Teal Valley police station and an officer walked in. The desk sergeant smiled and asked if he could help him. The officer told him their commanding officers had died in an accident, but they'd told them they wouldn't need breakfast in the morning. Since they'd received no orders to remain until a new commander was assigned, nor new orders, they were reporting to their regular duty stations. They assumed the combination of the comm system failure and their commanders' deaths had interrupted orders for the reassignment.

"Accident?"

"They were at Knockoff Stream, when the front of the hill fell off. No weather report."

"It'll work, kid. Get home to a bath and bed, before some idiot sends you somewhere else without supplies."

"They're too busy yelling at each other about their 'tragic loss' to take a comm call from us. I tried, once."

"You tried. Thanks for coming by and telling us."

"You don't like us, but you made sure we got enough to eat anyway. You're all nice to everybody here. And people like you. I don't know about the others, but I learned something."

As soon as the rather young IS officer left, the sergeant called Chief Dennon. He told him he had several miracles to report. When he finished telling him, Chief Dennon said the young IS officer made him feel guilty about his motives, but he was real pleased. Nev was admiring his image when Chief Dennon commed.

"Hi, Chief, that's a nice smile."

"I got two prayers answered and a bonus. Those two scary IS officers had an accident a long way from here and won't be back, anywhere. All thirty-two here are running home and one stopped by the station to say thanks and he'd learned something."

"Only the middle piece doesn't give me an odd feeling, but I don't mind."

"I understand that. Nice outfit."

"We're going to a seventeen-seventeen celebration at Bance and Ronnie's. There's a theme party on each block. Ours may be society evening so Bance could say, 'I'll take care of it. All done. Pay the nice tailor.' He and Ronnie built the idea, comms chimed all over and everyone kept busy all day, except the people who put the parties together the first night. They found a way for those who don't have enough money to feed a multitude, and are usually known as lives-on-so-and-so's-block to also have a party for everybody. I'm awed and spent the whole evening just sitting."

"The west side went from the cheap place to live to 'the neighborhood' everyone follows as social example in two days. West Side is now capitalized, a name, not a location. We're going to put a park over there and keep those mountainsides forest cultivation, if we have to annex and zone them agriculture to do it. You people replanned the West Side to be the type of neighborhood and community that towns point to with pride. The only thing it needs is a park. The Planning Commission office isn't open and the plan will be ready for the Town Council meeting in two days."

"Thank you. Yes, we need a park. If the town gives us the land, we'll build it. If the town needs help giving us the land, tell me."

Chief Dennon laughed and disconnected. Nev whooped and danced into the hall and to the kitchen. He gave Knight and Blade each a hug, then danced to the front door. They grinned and followed. Nev obviously had good news to share, but it wasn't just for them. After the seventeen-seventeen toast, Nev raised his glass and grinned widely. Everyone waited. They could all see he was brimming with good news.

"The West Side, now name and not location, is getting a park on the land west of the belt road. I said we'd build it if they gave us the land, and let me know if they needed help giving it to us. I don't think they will. The town wants to give us a park."

"Ressen Development owns most of that, Nev. I don't think the town will need any help. Jaril Ressen's great-granddaughter has a cargo chute on her bedroom window. Make the toast."

"I'm working on the wording, Bance. To West Side, the neighborhood that earned the name, and Teal Valley, the town that found a great way to say they're proud of us."

"To West Side."

"West Side."

Bance called for comm connect to the party house list, then 'reported the news' and repeated Nev's toast. Jace, with Day and not at his block party, noted Bance had to be reminded something was supposed to be a surprise at fifteen second intervals. Nev said the chief wouldn't have told him if it was. Kendra said she now knew why her boss had asked her to work some figures that evening.

They finished off the two bottles of champagne and stuffed themselves with real food, then Bance and Ronnie set out canapés. They nibbled a bit, so the trays had appropriate gaps, then Nev, Knight and Blade started on the party-hopping list, champagne glasses in hand. When they arrived at the first house on the list, four from there began their party hopping. That's when they realized someone from each of several locations began the hopping and it was designed to be a continual flow, not overstuff some houses and leave others bereft of guests.

They checked and no two household lists were identical. People all over the neighborhood were checking. Before long, they pegged who had done it. The Junior League soccer coach protested she'd had a lot of help setting up the big round-robin. The lists were designed to probably bring every household together with every other household in the connected neighborhood at some time that evening.

People followed their lists and didn't stay long anywhere. It worked beautifully. Everyone met everyone and all recognized where they lived by costumes.

Around three thirty, everyone who still wanted to party, including hosts, was heading for the two covered backyards designated as, "The After-hours Club." They were in the middle of the area and opened at three thirty. No one was told they had a band, but they all knew it at three thirty. That's where Nev made the last big announcement.

"West Side neighbors, the IS patrols left. Wait! The commanders, who were the real danger to us, were killed by a landslide on Route Six. The patrols used it as an excuse to leave. Before they did one stopped by the police station to say thanks for assuring they had food, and that he'd learned something here. Patrols may return, but they won't be as dangerous. That man may return, but he won't be in an IS uniform, unless he thinks it will help our police protect us. I believe he'll teach what he learned here. That's a gift from us to the world and the future. And I feel guilty I thought of it as feeding the dogs. So they'd be reluctant to bite us if their masters ordered it!"

People burst into laughter and applause and several shouted they felt guilty too. Others yelled, "We'd have fed them, anyway." Nev agreed, but said he still didn't plan to tell IS his actual opinion of their irresponsibility.

The after-hours club was only open until five, but there weren't many who sighed because it was closing time. At five twelve, far to the south, a fourteen-year-old boy and his 'aunt' carried a body to a public waste cycler. They were under her shield. When they reached it, she turned off the shield and his 'mom,' helped put it in. They turned on their shields and walked back to their invisible car. They towed the one behind it to where the shuttles had been. They were a good team, a programmer, a chemist and a high-tech maintenance prac.

Household comps had records of security monitoring being turned off by the house owners. People still in those houses had gone from sleep to unconscious to sleep. Waste cyclers had no record of large organics and the car had a record of a long drive. A car that had been going very fast, slowed and became visible on a deserted street of closed businesses and entered a garage at ten sixteen.

The mining corp execs had obviously left the planet. They didn't tell anyone they'd decided they should. Others would know someone had, but it would bother many, especially Blade, to know the boy had planned and performed the executions for intent to enslave thousands. The boy, who hadn't been a child since his arrest, had breakfast, played a game for a while, then called his parents on the northwest continent. IS wasn't going to last long enough to learn they'd received a call from his location.

At ten thirty-eight, Danny check on IS again. They still hadn't noticed the patrols in the area were gone. Too many others had just gone home for their vehicles to be noticed and an operation commander hadn't yet been assigned. IS headquarters didn't know if anyone assigned somewhere was there. Area commanders didn't know, and some of them weren't there. She was looking through communication records when she saw one that was very unexpected.

"Comm connect Nev's."

"Good morning, Danny, I think."

"Knight, the mining execs are gone. They left sometime between one and six. A missing car was found at a corp office. A nine-passenger executive sedan is missing from there. IS thinks they ran off. I don't think they did. IS doesn't look that weak from the outside yet. It's a perfect removal and I don't know who did it. It took more than very good programming. I don't know who's that good."

"Do we need to know, Danny? Do we, Knight?"

"No, Blade, we don't. Someone decided those people and their plan should no longer be a factor to consider. I suspect the sedan is where the shuttles were."

"I don't think we need to know who either. They chose not to tell us. I think asking would be a retraction of the statement we trust their judgment. Someone decided those people were not going to have the opportunity to dump proof and be just business people, and to cover the missing shuttles."

"All right, Nev, but my curiosity may kill me. There was nothing in anyone's--"

"Danny, don't look."

"You figured it out and it made you sad."

"That's why I try to leave Knight and Nev at home. What else?"

"Warkerdoll is becoming an irritation. Alladisi and cohorts are trying to reassemble their plan and he's squawking about money that's not going in his pocket. They may be planning to use him as an excuse or he'd already be dead."

"Can we start a rumor?"

"I think I can find a way, Knight."

"The rumor is the upper ranks are trying to find out who's still around because they're going to make quitting desertion and not exactly following orders insubordination, and the commandant isn't being told."

"Which is all true, I'm sure. I found the perfect place. We have a rumor that could have come from anywhere, right in the middle of mid-rank lunch orders in the commissary, where low ranks have to go and eat whatever's served. There are many there now."

Three hours later, Danny checked on the rumor result and smiled. Some of the upper and mid ranks were trying to quell it. Others had run out the doors with many others. She decided 'someone' was real nervous, but not a great programmer, and turned loose a mediocre adaptation of a simple scramble-letters game program in personnel's records. It wouldn't take them long to find and stop it, but it would take a good programmer to write a fix.

She checked on results through the evening and smiled every time she did. Alladisi and group couldn't use Warkerdoll as an excuse, or get rid of any other irritations, without confirming the rumor. She suspected many who were leaving were just getting out while everyone else was. They weren't getting any of that nice gov money they'd expected and everything done so far had cost them. She giggled when she saw someone had set the personnel comp to auto-approve retirements and move them directly to the pension disbursement list, with only pension amount and deposit codes listed, as soon as names and addresses were unscrambled.

The old-timers were leaving and they weren't leaving their addresses behind. They knew IS could trace them by bank account records, but their retirements had all been officially approved, and they didn't expect IS ranks to expend the effort. The mid-rank and senior tech-support personnel lists were getting shorter. She began looking through the list of who had just retired.

"Comm connect Nev's!"

"Hi, Danny."

"Warkerdoll retired!"

"What?!"

"The personnel comp is set to auto-approve and his went through, Nev. I don't know if he did it or Alladisi did."

"Neither do I. Nothing about us?"

"Not a thing."

They just watched for two days. On the third, the headquarters personnel computer began a muster call. At seven, in each time zone, all listed personnel were sent a message to report to an area command center at eight for personnel reassignment. Between eight thirty and nine, area command centers sent reporting rosters to IS personnel. The next morning, two hours after the final report came in, they discovered they had a problem.

The level eight financial manager had issued final pay deposits and deleted the nonreporting list files. Military downsizing was an allowed and expected gameplay. It was one of the ways one got more money to expand the private sector, to have more to invest in research and development. When the play was made, the entire government budget was restructured and taxes recomputed. Since the recomputation showed a budget surplus of over five percent, tax refunds were issued to reduce it to three percent.

Danny giggle-staggered to the big house, got in the front door, collapsed on the living room floor and giggled. Knight, Nev and Blade looked at each other, sat down around her and waited. Nev said she'd made it to their house, so there was hope she'd be able to talk, at least in short bursts, soon.

"I didn't do it!"

"One burst."

"They did!"

"Two."

"All those retirements!"

"It's about IS. We're making progress."

"They made a new directory."

"Oh, they didn't."

"And gave the total for each rank!"

"Nev knows."

"We may find out, Blade."

Knight and Blade got the explanation. Nev's bursts were longer, so it didn't really take long. They were all laughing when Ronnie called. Nev answered, then burst into laughter again and just beckoned. Ronnie yelled, "Comm out!" In a very short time, everyone on the block was running for the big house and Jace, Essa and Silky were on the way in Jace's car.

Four of the others didn't know the game. Bance got a very fast explanation out before he collapsed in a chair. Ronnie yelled, "I'm awed!" As soon as they were capable of talking, they went to work on how to keep IS from taking credit for the tax refund. They decided the truth was best. Bance called Hammison, and burst into laughter again, as soon as he saw him. Hammison grinned and waited.

"Boss, there's a reason the gov is still functioning perfectly. There's a game loose in it."

"A game?"

"I heard this a while back, but it was an odd story. IS tapped a kid's computer. Today, I got proof that's where his game went. Do you know what World Builder Eleven, level eight is?"

"You're kidding."

"IS doesn't know who's not there. You know they did a muster yesterday?"

"Yes, it turned out to be a small one."

"Exactly, and personnel must have split the files because... Everybody got a tax refund!"

"What?!"

"They made the military downsize move and there was more than a five percent surplus. Boss, they did it, but they shouldn't get credit for it. People would think they did something right. I know they wouldn't give money back. We'd all know it, if we knew what I didn't pass on. It just sounded so kid imagination. I'm sure of it, but I can't check it."

"I may know someone who can."

Hammison commed another editor. She had a source. The person who worked for the gov would only give yes or no answers, but would give those, to one person. It was almost two hours before she called back. She was laughing.

'Everybody' knew why they'd gotten a tax refund before IS announced they gave one. They also announced the ten-together order was rescinded.

Grocery stores opened, grocery distributors opened, produce growers began shipping, the headquarters commissary got food to send to the cafeteria, and the cafeteria began taking orders from officers again. Produce had to be thrown away, and income had been lost, but no one was hurt by it. Their tax refunds had been for more. Employees were allowed to claim the days as vacation, so even the lowest income, who had little to tax, weren't damaged. Curfew wasn't lifted. Black plas walks weren't taken down.

People began to notice how few IS uniforms they saw. They began to do strange things. In Kellerton, a bullying pair of police officers knocked a man down and were suddenly facing a dozen people with rocks in their hands. In Richland, an IS officer grabbed a woman and ran from a mob. In Jenneara, a police officer stuck out his hand and an old woman spit in it. He raised his arm to strike her and a vine wrapped around it. When he turned, he was facing a half-dozen children with blowguns to their lips. Everywhere, people just stopped paying bribes. Everywhere, bullying was met with superior numbers and threat. When violence came, it was in Kellerton.

Police questioned a man with truncheons and the city exploded. Police, government officials and 'friendly' business people ran for their lives. Missiles were yanked off IS cars and mounted weapons were battered. The IS patrols ran. The four police who'd beaten the man died. No one else was injured. Before IS reinforcements reached it, Kellerton was a peaceful place.

The people ignored IS vehicles driving through the streets. When they began to set up roadblocks, people parked and walked home. IS discovered every city office, court building and police station was bare desks, blank computers and immaculately clean. When they checked the city comp, the only one working, they learned there was nothing in the database but city utilities service records and maintenance schedules.

Corrupt police and city officials in other cities and towns began to flee. Within two days, offices were being cleaned everywhere but the capital, Lodestar. Knight messaged for a noon meeting at the mine.

No one saw over two hundred fifty cars disappear then drive into mine adits. Swords were built and mounted in fourteen of them. People chose their assignments, often suggesting them. The "basin bunch" were reminded to eat early and not snack. They'd be coming down from the portal twice.

Sixteen invisible cars, with swords mounted in them, and thirty-nine others left the area at various times. All would reach their destinations at four gov center time. At one thirty local time, all the other invisible cars drove back to the mine. Many of them had rented cleaning equipment in them. At four oh eight, gov central time, everyone was in position, most in the portal in space. At four ten, everyone began their tasks.

Finger holes were made in shields and key codes tapped in. In other places, security systems were dismantled before they registered something was there. Six men died in their beds. People came down from the portal and went to work as soon as the dizziness and nausea passed. Carts with containers on them were pushed through 'doors.' Empty containers were placed on them, then they were pushed back.

Knight, Blade and Nev made a hole large enough for the car in the side of IS headquarters armory, shorted weapons and drove through it. Blade used the sword as a knife to slice through racks of missiles and weapons. Knight drove out of the armory slowly, but he didn't have to push anyone out the way. They'd all run. Nev got his turn with the sword on vehicles. Inside the headquarters, eleven empty offices were being cleaned. Gov center was being cleaned, as well. None took long. Everything in them was just dumped in containers. Lodestar city offices and court rooms were cleaned. Unconscious police were moved aside and stations were cleaned.

Knight, Blade and Nev went into IS headquarters again, on foot. They had every key code, so it didn't take them long to reach Interrogation. They tossed in a gas pellet, then walked in, still shielded. They killed the interrogators, then passed their battered victim through the door to the portal. The cell doors swung open and more captives were passed across. IS didn't have as many as usual.

The captives were passed to the mine, treated for their injuries, cleaned and dressed, passed back to the portal, then down to a shelter in a public park in Jenneara. A man there would get them all home. People came into the interrogation area and began cleaning.

Danny cleaned computers from the mine. She copied essential records and programs from the gov computer, deleted the game program and reinstalled them. She just wiped IS computers.

Knight, Blade and Nev left IS headquarters. Alladisi was the only remaining target. Danny had assured no comm calls reached him very simply. She'd canceled his comm service. No messages reached his guards either. IS comps didn't have comm codes and no one had run to warn anyone. They just ran. Twelve other IS interrogators known for their skill died in their sleep.

On the way home, the sword car with the shortest distance to travel stopped off and got one woman out of Fataner. They didn't take her to the mine. All records of arrests and convictions of the people freed from the two prisons and drug labs were disappearing. They'd decided to gas her, give her a printout message and leave her with her daughter.

Knight, Nev and Blade were working their way through Alladisi's multiple independent security systems. The outside guards were unconscious, but there were two inside. Knight suddenly got tired of it. He turned off his shield. He said he was going to make a hole and turned it back on. Nev and Blade got on their scooters and headed for the car. When they got in, Blade pointed out the guards now knew they were there.

"I know, Blade, but I don't really want to assassinate him. I just want to kill him. I don't need him to see us, but I don't care if he does. He's guided the abuse of thousands and he dies."

"Let's go kill him."

"Discreet is a habit. It's been a good one, but it may be time to break it."

"You drive. It's my turn to use the sword."

"May I drive, please?"

"Fine with me, Nev. Knight, the prince is driving. Get away fast if you feel the ground start to move."

Knight didn't make a hole. Just as Nev got in the driver's seat and switched on, an armored staff car burst through the gates. Nev spun the car, went through the corner of the wall, at the corner where it turned, and was on its tail before it reached the end of the block. Blade giggled and Knight grinned widely.

"Now we know why he decided he wanted to drive."

"I'd have gone around that corner."

"I would have in the T, Blade, but this car doesn't turn as tight or accelerate as fast. The wall was just an object hitting the shield. It didn't impact the car, which is the moving object, so didn't slow us and the corner would have."

"I wouldn't have remembered that. I'm too used to dodging things."

"I'm going to short the weapons on that car. They might hit something else."

"You think they'd realize they weren't stopping what's just stopping the beams. Thank you. They were making it difficult to see."

"Blade, find out who's with him."

Blade squeezed past Knight's legs, then between the sword mount and Nev's seat. It was a tight fit, but not uncomfortable once he made it. He requested identities from Danny. When they came back, Knight sighed.

"Just two assigned the duty."

"You were thinking of just making a hole in it."

"Yes, Nev. Now I'm trying to think of where to make a hole that will stop it, but not kill them. Alladisi scares them too much to just stop and run."

"I think they'll change their minds if it just starts developing holes. He'd duck, I'm sure, and they could stop and run."

"Make a nice design, Knight."

The car started swerving when Knight began writing "run," so he just made holes. Blade made a suggestion and Nev turned off the shield for two seconds. He and Blade in 'face smear,' smiled and waved. Knight made a hole. It worked well. The staff car slowed and two dove out of it. It didn't stay slow long, so Alladisi was driving.

Knight stopped making holes. He reset the size and waited. Alladisi was headed for IS headquarters. When he turned, they decided he'd learned there was no one there. He was headed for a gravway to outrun them with the staff car, but he wouldn't.

Their Tourline was an odd model. Tourline made all-terrain vehicles and cars built for speed, and had made a few models that were both, but not recently.

Alladisi got on Route Four west and got in the high speed lane. It was six oh four and there was no other traffic. Curfew had just ended. As soon as they were in open country, Knight warned Nev, counted it, then made a large hole where the disk 'met' the road. The power plant hit the road and exploded. Nev drove by in the other lane. Forty-six K later, he went north on Route Eight.

The people cleaning the interrogation area were the last to finish. There were a lot of them, but it was big and there was a lot to do. The people hated the decor. The entire cell area was cut into chunks and carted out. As soon as an area was empty it was colorbonded. When all that was done, it was carpeted.

When they finished, Case, Stats and Dawn cut out the security door and replaced it with a door. They finished at six forty-nine, looked around the huge empty room, pushed the last cart through, turned off the doorway, turned on their shields and walked out through the large, empty foyer, then through the door into the hall. They noticed someone had removed the "Interrogation" nameplate on the door as they left.

They stepped through a 'flicker,' got in Stats transport and headed home. They didn't go up Route Six. It still wasn't clear. They took turns driving and sleeping on the way. It had been a long drive down, a lot of hard work and was a long way home. Then the little light flashed, "Meet for breakfast." Dawn tapped, "Where." Forty-eight minutes later, the transport became visible as it went around a curve, just before a turnoff.

The restaurant beside the road had a huge hauler parking lot. It was hauler drivers' "most highly recommended" on the north third of Route Eight. Friends in Teal Valley had told them the buffet was worth the trip.

Dawn smiled when she saw Danny's car on one side of Knight and Blade's. The mobile unit, which now looked like any other enclosed light hauler, ELH, was on the other side. Beyond it, was Day's car. The three weren't surprised the others had just arrived. Danny, Day and Essa had come from the north. The others had all come from the south. They'd adjusted speed to arrive at near the same time.

"It smells as good as they said."

"It was hard to come to a table first, Case. My nose was pulling me that way."

"You'll love it, Day. It's worth the trip down once in a while, especially this time of year. They get the best of the forest harvest and put more different things on one long table than anywhere else."

"It was hard to resist stuffing myself before I got here, Jace."

"It's only eight twenty-six, Case."

"I know, but my stomach is sure it's lunchtime and I skipped breakfast."

"We're ready. Thirteen buffet, on me."

"Nev!"

"I got the biggest tax refund, Danny."

"True."

"The news is on!"

"Bance!"

"He's got to call Hammison, Ronnie. He'll tell him where we are and we're about to eat."

"How long has the news been on, please?"

"It just came on. GGN just started. IS is just gone."

"What?"

"Table six speaker on. Grab plates at the end of the buffet. They restart the bulletin every two minutes. They'll begin reporting on the situation at eight thirty-two, our time, and space bulletins ten minutes apart."

"Ronnie load Bance a plate!"

Bance came back in and sat down behind a full plate. Hammison had told him he'd have called if they were going to be doing anything local. He didn't expect they'd do any live feed for hours. Bance, Jace and Silky hadn't either, but had been running with a finger hole over their comm receiver since Ronnie had left home. She'd been with the basin bunch, so she would be home if Hammison called.

They ate breakfast, looked at what they'd all done during the night and listened to others' views of it. IS was "just gone." Missiles and weapons were in pieces, and there were large holes in the walls where they were located, but everything else was as clean and empty as city offices in other places had been, and gov and city offices were the same. By the time they finished breakfast, it was known there were some dead. It was also known the city officials had fled when they saw empty offices. As they were about to leave, GGN cut to a reporter who'd found a source.

"This was all done by people with something totally new. IS had been hunting new tech since the Horgen Field escape. The description is 'invisible.' Something large was there, but it couldn't be seen by sensors. People could only see it as an odd reflection of other things for an instant. Weapons were shorted, then holes appeared. The holes 'just appeared' in the walls. Nothing behind those walls was damaged. Someone on this world has made a discovery that is going to make Gradelode the destination of every physicist who can buy passage and every trader with a full hold. The people who used the tech know it. Everything we've seen shows they would not allow that until the government corruption and the brutality of IS were ended. We've watched it falling apart, worked to help that fall and been sure no rebel organization could exist. This shows there was a cadre, but they didn't recruit. They gave us the opportunity to change things. They knew that's all we needed, because we were all rebels. We want all those physicists and all that trade. If we make good use of the opportunity we've been given, we'll get it. Who do we ask for help? Where do we find guidance?"

"Teal Valley."

"Teal Valley."

"Computer, can you long-distance comm link from here?"

"Audio link only. Long-distance charges will be added to your bill."

"Comm connect Gradelode Global Network, Vanson Taskell, Bance Neardon, Channel Forty-eight News. Subject: The location of the guidance."

"Connect being attempted. GGN computer routing. Connect made."

"Yes, Gen Neardon?"

"The center continent northwest forest farming and vacation area is totally democratic. It has no corruption and the police don't need weapons. They're friends to all. Teal Valley is large enough to provide the type of example needed to structure a democratic system. We were such a thorn in the side of IS, that the ten together order was to give an excuse for slaughter of kids at a beach party, and when the people arose in fury, to send missiles into town center. The 'no news vehicles' was timed to catch me, my editor and cam op too far from 'in.' I'm the roving star reporter for the entire region and all of us are from old families, which was very newsworthy the day before. Holloch Alladisi wanted to destroy Teal Valley, as example of what would happen if anyone disobeyed his orders. Warkerdoll was a puppet. Alladisi ran IS. He and a cadre within it, intended to institute a fascist police state. If the guidance wasn't there, he wouldn't have feared Teal Valley."

"We just learned he's dead. How did you know?"

"They wouldn't have let him get away and the placement of six others say that's the cadre. Seconds and thirds, the tops were all just greedy puppets. That's what the gov expected and it kept the oligarchy from knowing the real plan. IS never had the families of the oligarchy. My source said they were 'exiled,' on the ship intended to carry gov 'leased' forced labor to mine a non-habitable planet. The spermicide in our drinking water was replaced with a mild immuno-boost. The population is two-thirds of what the gov said, but that's changing fast."

"You know who they are."

"Everyone does. Horgen Fields and Fataner weren't emptied. They were the only places a rebel organization could come into existence. My source said they had no intention of 'getting stuck with running things.' So, look for guidance in building the support structure for the democratic process in Teal Valley, and we'll learn who they are, when no one will try to get them to do it for us."

"It's finished and they gave you everything they needed to tell us."

"They didn't give me Teal Valley. I'm with a group of neighbors. You asked where and got a chorused answer. Don't say you got the rest from me, just a source. I don't want your job. I just got married and we're sure ours is the best neighborhood there is for our children."

"You think that's the only place true democracy exists on Gradelode?"

"I'm sure there are others, other towns and regions on other continents, but ours has stood firm against the gov and IS since the constitution was gutted, on this continent, and they knew it. You've never been there. If you had, you'd have known exactly why IS feared it."

"I'll be there in a few hours."

"And you can fly."

"Yes, I can. Comm out."

"He'll be even more relieved you don't want his job, when he yells for a bio and sees an image, Bance."

"He's got my job for the world, Jace, but people don't wave and ask if his dad's sleeping in the equipment shed next to his new harvester."

"That's how we found out his dad bought one, Ronnie. He called and asked him, said the people wanted to know."

### Chapter Fifteen

Vanson Taskell checked Bance's bio, then looked for who'd been in Horgen Field. He yelled for the research staff. In ten minutes, they learned the missing cases were no longer in their archives, either. Someone remembered an old conviction and one remembered a recent one. Both were gone. Another person remembered two, and found one. Eventually, they figured out 'the only way' it could have been done. They also knew it had just been done and no attempt had been made to hide the archives were missing. There were just holes, and they'd been made 'through' IS the night before.

One of the researchers began to laugh. She said it wasn't difficult to take an article out, but it affected everything behind it. The ones who'd done it had "presented identification."

They began looking for rebel convictions. IS had always been somewhat closed-mouth about specifically who, but they'd had quite a few. They found holes, not missing files, just missing info. Then one of the researchers found a note.

"The heroes of Horgen Field and Fataner, who would not turn away from evil and sacrificed their freedom to stop it, and the heroes, literally, chained and forced to labor in the gov's addictive drug production process because they sought truth, can't be completely free, until they can give those who love them, and mourned their absence, a hug. The story will be told, but the people who love the heroes have been asked enough damn questions."

Vanson landed in Teal Valley and caught a public transport into town. It was something he'd been doing once in a while, since he'd been Bance's age. The crew would find transport for the paraphernalia of the 'roadshow' and then him. It was hard to get the feel of a place with people showing you around, telling everyone who you were. The first conversation he heard was about preparations for a "path-rolling" party. He asked the two young women what it was.

"Well, the farmers gave us the plas they use to line produce bins, to use for our curfew paths from house to house, when we connected neighborhoods. They asked us to please try to get it back in rolls for them."

"It's the celebration that IS is gone-gone."

"Gone-gone because the patrols left a couple days ago. Big success there. Those guys were starving, so the police took them meals. One came by to say they were leaving, thanks and he'd learned something."

"They had to have terrible lives to get like that. Makes you really appreciate growing up here."

"Anyway, it's a gone-gone celebration and a path rolling party. Lots of lights to celebrate there's nobody who doesn't like us watching."

"The clubs aren't opening until tomorrow night. The people who work there and the owners all want to celebrate with their neighbors, and they've got paths to roll too."

"The wildest party will be a condo complex 'unwrapping' on the east side."

"They may put clothes on for it. It's been dress optional, since they wrapped it.

"The West Side will be the biggest. They've got thirty-seven connected blocks, counting the Madden place."

"A lot of people are calling them, begging them not to take down the 'neighborhood trail,' until they've been on it."

"They set such an example of neighborhood and community spirit, the town is giving them a huge chunk of land for a park."

"The Mayor said they'd have built it for them, but they figured it would be done before the town council meeting was over."

"I'm going to warn you I'm a reporter. I ask everyone questions. I talked to a reporter from here today, Bance Neardon. He said you were really threatened by IS."

"Everybody was so scared when IS did the news vehicle ban. They were way out, between towns."

"It was deliberate. We all knew they were looking for an excuse, but if they'd grabbed Bance, Silky and Jace, they'd have started a war. If they'd hit us with missiles, gov center would've been a crater in an hour."

"And there would have been forty or fifty thousand bombs left over, because everyone over age six would have built one."

"Bance said IS was afraid of you."

"Bullies are afraid of anyone who can't be bullied. Look what happened in the cities when the people decided they couldn't be."

"They have a new problem. They don't know where to start."

"Voter registration, political caucus, election."

"And if anybody takes a bride, put them in jail."

"That sounds simple, but it's a big world."

"That's why I put caucus in there. A place like this you don't need one. Everybody knows who's got an issue they want debated, and why they think it's an issue."

"Big places, the neighborhood gets together, talks over what they think are issues, sends someone to an area meeting, where they come up with a list of things most of them think are issues, and they send a rep to the next meeting, up to the caucus, where people who got really determined debate it all, work out a consensus draw up a platform and back a candidate."

"The candidates will probably already be yelling they're running. With our current system, we don't need primaries to narrow a field of chief executive candidates to one from each party."

"If one of the things that comes up in meetings in neighborhoods, and up, is always they want a change, somebody yells, 'constitutional congress,' and every area sends the best they've got to help assemble what they want into a document that protects their freedom, outlines who does what, leaves them room to breathe and can grow."

"What happened to us was we were so dependent on a single industry that we made concessions that gave money more and more power, until it had so much, those who controlled it could pick who they wanted in the bureaucracy, for their profit. Since they controlled the vote count, it became simple to cheat."

"Pretty soon, they just stuck in a number that said whatever they wanted passed and whoever they wanted was elected. Greed became the essential quality for top gov jobs and election to congress a payoff of people who assisted in getting more money. Since greed was the criteria, they kept the money in the family and we ended up with an oligarchy and, basically, ruled by about forty-five people, who were never elected, and about a fifth weren't in the gov."

"Where did you learn all this?"

"At home, on playgrounds, public transports..."

"Kids ask questions. 'Mommy, why does my text say the gov is so great and everybody hates it?' 'Your granddad can explain it better. Let's go visit.' So, visit granddad, or aunt, or sit down with Mom and/or Dad, then tell other kids, who might not have somebody who could explain it as well, and every kid knows what happened."

"The problem in the cities was nobody talked to each other, because they didn't know who would be listening, and somebody was always hanging around where kids played, so they could be arrested and beaten, several times, maybe to death, for telling them the truth."

"We figured drug dealers got a discount on protection every time a kid OD'd."

"Nobody touched dream dust here because every kid knew the object was to kill them."

"Here, little girl, have some of this lovely poison apple. Keep eating because it hurts too bad to stop. You'll be dead soon and I'll get a pat on the back for killing you. I've got a good score and you'll add to the profit column until you're dead."

"Our stop. See if you can get Bance to invite you to the West Side path rolling party."

"Or to ride along while they cover everybody's, from Orelea to Croft Falls, so we can all watch all of us on the early news."

Before he got from the 'courtesy small flyer parking,' with 'courtesy public transport,' to the middle of town, Vanson understood how Bance had known he'd never been there, and why he was sure Teal Valley had been targeted by IS. He got off the transport when he saw the crew chief standing by a stop.

"The most amazing place I've ever been, Delse."

"Us too. Right after you left, a couple teenage girls, in an LH, drove into the lot and offered a ride to wherever we were going with all the equipment. I said to rent transport for a day. Five minutes later, another kid loaned us one he didn't need for two. We tried to pay for use and they all laughed. He didn't need it and we couldn't use enough fuel in a day to be noticed. The girls said they'd have taken us to a rental business, if there were any this time of year. It's cheaper for farmers to pool to rent twenty for forty days, to move specialty harvest crews place to place, than buy, maintain and store a dozen or so, and too many cars make it difficult to get equipment through."

"Five-year-olds know how to structure a democracy, and build a bomb."

"What?"

"Farmers teach toddlers what not to mix together and bump in the shed. I wonder how many regions on this world paid taxes because closing the border would have been inconvenient. Bance Neardon?"

"One of the people invited to a town council meeting, not as a reporter. We got a location rec from the station head editor."

"The town's going to give 'The West Side' land for a big park. They're all watching to see how long it takes them to build it."

Knight and Blade finished fixing the digger and went to work on the seeder. Case, Stats and Dawn were about done with the field rake. Ronnie yelled they had the last two loads sorted and all the trailers were ready. Kember, the power tech, yelled the matrix was ready and the lighting design inspected and approved. Day yelled the water and sewer connections were ready. Dawn moved to the seeder. It wasn't going to take long. It was just old and had worked hard.

Knight looked up and whooped. Three people were pushing a big garden tractor off the trailer at the end of the line and there was a mower bar strapped on top. Case yelled, "Go!" and he ran for it. Someone had brought the last two items they had to have.

"Thank you! We were about to go rent those two!"

"We were planting blackwood seedlings and it took the neighbor a while to find us. She knew we had them in the shed."

"We didn't really expect to get a perfect-size tractor. It's perfect-size for everyone."

"We knew you wouldn't have one yet. This is the only one around that broke down after the auction, and nobody yelled they needed when we bought a new one. We've got the parts. You'd have had to run to Willaville for them and Brassell wants to close early to watch with his neighborhood. His donation."

"The mower bar needs a new pin. The Toliver Fifty pin we brought needs point one two cens shaved off the end or it'll work loose. It's in here somewhere. Here."

"Elise! Point one two cen shave to adapt."

"Got it. Here's a tax deduction receipt."

"Two, the parts came from the store owner."

"My last. Bellin! Receipts!"

"Hello, Howells! You have everyone's thanks. I'll do the receipts, Knight."

"Thanks and thank you, again. We need this first, and you made it easy to get it ready."

"We were pleased we had something to contribute. Bellin, I heard you're going to have a baby."

"I'm not surprised. The fastest way to make sure everyone hears something is tell my husband. Under the circumstances, I told him anyway."

The people of West Side had heard the mayor's joke, too. They had everything ready, as soon as the "If you have one we can fix you can donate, we need" list was done. They'd gotten many other contributions, as well. The tax receipts were important because they'd be deductions on local taxes, not total value, but a large percentage. It was the way other communities were contributing.

They'd done many splits that afternoon, sometimes for contributions to a purchase by everyone in an office or neighborhood.

Most of the time, people called to ask what was still needed, but sometimes they just brought something and it was incorporated in the plan. They'd gotten some wonderful, and often unique, things for their park that way. No one had brought anything they wanted to put in a dark corner.

The gift that had awed them most was an aged, beautiful fountain. Even the contributor didn't know where it had come from, just that it had been covered in the corner of the barn, now in the fourth barn, on his family's farm, one of the oldest in the area. It hadn't been easy to get cleaned out, but the tiny pails many winged fairies held, now all poured water on the seedling tree, behind the backs of a boy and girl of about five, holding hands and carrying trowels in their other hands. More fairies were filling pails at the pool on one side. On the other side was a coil of rope with a board on top, notched to make a tree swing. It wasn't large and it wasn't a great work of art, but it was marble, beautiful from every side and the raised text around the base was, "When you work to make a wish come true."

They were going to build a half-meter high rock base for it and put benches around it. It would be under the "warm, grassy place to run and play" dome in winter.

They'd considered a swimming pool, but the town had a nice public pool, so they were building a large wading pool instead. In winter, it would be a small skating rink. Behind it, they were sculpting a sled hill. In summer, the much less steep walk-up side would be seating for concerts and plays on a stage just big enough for the secondary school band. There was enough room in front for risers, because they expected that to grow, but it wasn't too large for a group of children to put on their own plays. Their size consultant was a nine-year-old, currently in his backyard with four friends, "writing" a play, as they "rehearsed."

They were building a running trail that would adapt to a cross-country ski trail in winter. Playground equipment would be in tot size and middle size. They were building four tennis courts, two ball fields, two soccer fields, four hoops courts and a putting green. There would be a bandstand and a dance floor, with grass all around it. There would be picnic tables, places just to sit in the sun or shade and places just to run and play.

Pieces were being preassembled in garages all over West Side. The park couldn't be finished that evening, because grass had to grow, but that grass would be all that was left. It was a big piece of land and the west edge would be left woods, climbing to the cultivated mountainside.

They had borrowed a few things from the city Public Works Department. They wouldn't need equipment to make parking lots for ballfields and concerts again.

There would be picnic parking in one area and one road through, two-thirds the width west. That road would have parallel parking space along both sides and be near the individual picnic tables. Big-group was north end and ball fields and such mainly south, but the park was primarily designed to be walked to and through by the residents of West Side.

Most of what they'd use most was near the front of the park, near the belt road. They had city permission to build two aerial walkways to it. They wouldn't be like the ones they built to cross between the neighborhood and the big house. They'd be high enough for haulers to go under, well lit, covered and more sturdily walled.

The town had furnished the materials and a construction crane for those. They'd have provided the driver, but she lived two blocks from where the south walk was being built. The north walk was on the block south of 'Nev's' neighborhood.

They'd decided they did have to fence the park along the belt road, to discourage dashing across by children, but they were using clear plex panels and posts. The only covered walks in the park would be from the southeast parking lot to the play dome. In winter, it would be enclosed and doored, and the south aerial walk would exit into it. But it was summer and the park would be truly ready for play when the fast-growing high-traffic grass was mowed, in about ten days. Everything with walks to it would be ready for use that night. Then they'd roll their paths.

The goal was be ready to start that before twenty-three thirty. The hope was they'd have it done by then. However, that was rather dependent on the start time, and that depended on the town council. It worried Knight a bit. They needed to get lights up while they had light.

"Why didn't you yell?"

"I knew you'd get here before the cover plate put a permanent crease in my back, Blade. The rest about done?"

"Case, Stats and Dawn will be done reassembling in a minute."

"What's wrong?"

"I've got a now-what feeling. I don't want to be Harim. I like what we do and how we live. I don't want the tech to change it. I'm glad it's done, but I don't even want to take down the paths. We accomplished the goal and I want to get invisible and run to the mine, and run in the house and build a job schedule."

"Blade, I don't think any of us will let it change."

"I've been trying to think of a way to stop it."

"The shield isn't part of it and I don't think it should be."

"How are you going to stay out of a physics lab? How are they? How can you get glazed and not have people gather to wait for the next miracle? I don't want to lose that piece of you, or doing math assignments, but the two pieces are about to split and that one take over. I feel like I'm saying farewell to the only part of my life that's been really good."

"Is this about Nev?"

"He may be worse than I am."

"Go buy a car. Or I'll go buy one."

"What?"

"A car. Maybe we should each by one."

"I love our car."

"So do I, but it really doesn't need anything done to it. The LH just needs a colorbond, because it's our work truck. What else do we need for work? And play?"

"If we leave now, we won't be here when it starts."

"This is... done."

"Fast job."

"All the right parts and two were just getting-worn replacements. Worked hard, but well-maintained."

"Elise is coming. Now Case, Stats and Dawn are, and Danny and Ronnie. You called a meeting?"

"I thought you did. Done, Elise. You've got the only piece left."

"And I got sidetracked. Marie's daughter is pregnant. Kendra and I are both losing roommates. When I get one, it won't be another woman and it'll be permanent. I'm not in a hurry. Kendra says she's not."

"Doc Larry."

"Hasn't realized he's had fun, still enjoys looking, but isn't that interested in doing something about it, anymore. Marie doesn't want to leave Teal Valley, really, but her daughter married a farm boy and got out of the city five years ago. A flyer won't get her to the southwest continent fast enough for her daughter to run to the store for diapers and so forth. Vilda has marriage plans, too. He's not going to leave Frostlea, so she's moving over the pass."

"This sounds like it's happening now."

"It is, Knight. I helped uninstall things in Marie's car. She's using it as a down payment on a flyer. Larry is coming in from Roundin Lake. He really always wanted to be here. Kendra invited him to bring everything and 'be a resident.' Basically, Marie's daughter said, 'Come home, Mommy,' and we all decided to figure out our after-emergency living arrangements, and are surprised to discover not many are changing. Vilda's packed to go to Posner's path rolling party, but we've got her job covered. You?"

"Need to go buy a 'perfect' car that needs a lot of work."

"Get it where Nev got the LH. It'll need a lot. The LH is his work truck?"

"I have two who need reassurance."

"I keep remembering that reporter saying, 'every physicist,' and wanting to go clean a carpet. They're working on what we are or they'd be moving faster."

"They have a book to finish. Let's go."

Blade found his "dream car." Seventeen years old, battered, barely running, shredded interior, it was the model he said he'd have someday. It had once been the dream car of many. The Mosslin Bolt had come from a Mountain City junkyard. The man who owned the half-junk-yard dealership in Teal Valley had been sure someone in his town would restore the most expensive sports car Mosslin had built.

It was a three-seat car with "everything but a toilet" built around the third fully-reclining seat and into the console. None of the recessing panels on the keeper, warmer, brew-bar and sound controls in the console, worked without a shove and the broadcast power receiver and built-in mobile comm were accessories no one had used in a while. The top did recess without help and someone had left it open through a lot of unpleasant weather.

Blade 'cleaned out' a nearby auto supply store while documents printed. The man had charged cost plus reasonable profit. Blade quite agreed it was. Knight said putting the plas back on the garage door was silly. Blade agreed and they put it back. They got it done just before the 'whole town' arrived.

Kendra introduced Larry as her fiancé. He looked very surprised, then suddenly smiled widely. The West Side friends to whom she'd introduced him laughed and welcomed him. Marie collected many hugs, then said farewell. Vilda collected hugs of "Go get him." Kady and Reesa announced they had permanent jobs. Their harvest employer had recommended them, and their new employer had found him a pair of U students to finish the season. Their neighbors were delighted "Day's girls" wouldn't be leaving after harvest. Day was ecstatic.

Jace was almost as happy as he was, when Day ran to tell him, as soon as he parked the mobile unit. The GGN crew arrived right after they did and set up quickly. The only ones not there were the official party. They were 'announced' by Nev and Tarn running across the belt road, then south to the portable podium set up front center of the park area.

The townspeople who'd come to watch the presentation wouldn't stay. They had path rolling parties to attend and 'their' newscrew would assure they saw more than they could from across the belt road, and all knew getting in the way was not a good idea. The West Side residents were gathered around the podium, nearly a thousand of them. The mayor and town council arrived with a police escort. They too would run for it. The belt road was already blocked at both ends of the park area.

The presentation was made, the crowd cheered, then everyone ran. Vanson and his cam ops kept up with Bance and Jace. They weren't doing team coverage, and wouldn't stay for the entire construction, but the local team knew where to watch from. Bance was also the best source of general info on what they were seeing.

"Bance, this area didn't clear. It evacuated."

"The people of West Side ran for equipment. The rest ran to get out of the way. We're about to see why. The field rake is coming out of the equipment lineup. All equipment was donated and all in need of repair, when delivered. It was a specification in the request for park maintenance equipment. The two riding the front of the rake are spotters. They watch for rocks too big for the rake to roll into the rock collection bin. The arrangement is standard for new field preparation in this area. The valley soil isn't rocky, but a lot of rocks were deposited with it and more tumble into it this close to the mountains. Some areas don't need to be raked. They're being graded or dug out. The field rake is park equipment. The other heavy equipment and single-use equipment, such as the trencher and loader, have been loaned for the construction. In general, construction is beginning from the north, but to our south, on this side of the road, the south aerial walk from the neighborhood to the park is beginning. The second will be begun just north of our location, before that's done. An often-heard description of joint projects in this area is 'choreographed.' On this one, that's near literal. People and equipment will pass in front, behind and between moving equipment constantly. Something that should be noted is the operators of all equipment, including that of the city, are West Side residents, most doing their usual job much closer to home than usual."

"All of this had to be fixed before it could be used?"

"Yes. The parts were also donated. Everything you'll see planted or used today was, often by groups of people who each got a receipt for the donation. Every small town in the area is giving credit against local taxes for those donations, their way of assisting. These people are the example of good neighbors the entire region points to with pride. We're currently running a live feed and what everyone is watching to see is about to begin. People are lining up with smaller equipment, tools and loads of materials on every street facing the park. The mower will start as soon as the rake completes the first pass. At that point, construction will begin back there. As soon as the raking is complete, which will take a very short time, construction will begin over the entire park area. Almost a thousand people will be working together, each with specific tasks and when to do them. There are two large parks in town and several quarter or half-block playground parks, including on the west side, but this park is needed for the growing number of young families here. It's also a promise by the town that the commercial encroachment is ended. Most of the park area had been zoned commercial. We hoped for a rezoning to residential to keep from being boxed in by warehouse-size businesses. The town chose to give us a precious gift instead, a place for all our families to play together."

The park land wasn't flat and wasn't made so, except in areas where sports fields and courts and parking lots were being built. The road was graded, but it wound through, not cut across, the park. No mounds or hills were leveled for it. Long before the mower was done, plumbing was laid and lights began to be erected. Walks were cut and poured. As soon as parking lots and road were ready, people began moving loads of preassembled pieces for structures.

The lights were all installed before dark and people cheered when they were turned on. Water lines were complete by then. The sprinkler systems, restrooms, faucets by picnic grounds, drinking fountains and the wading pool and fountain were all complete shortly after dark.

The hill was sculpted with dirt from graded areas. It was seeded then matted to hold seed. The final place to be seeded was the putting green. By then, everyone knew the park was going to be complete far ahead of schedule.

Playground equipment and picnic tables were placed. The play dome and walks were finished and the plex fence installed. The fountain was installed, the stages were finished and the bleachers and snack shack done and appliances moved in. The water was turned on and people cheered. They streamed across the aerial walkways.

The lights around stages and sports fields dimmed and sprinklers were turned on at twenty-one twenty-nine, two hours and a minute before the deadline, and a half-hour earlier than even they had thought possible.

Larry was a very happy man. He'd liked Roundin Lake, but he was a guest, not a resident. He'd done the integration of Teal Valley as example, and it had looked good, then he'd factored in GGN coverage of Kendra's prediction of "amazing display of community." When Kendra called again, he'd run to pack to be part of it. He'd told her he hadn't realized much of the excitement was being with her at the time, but now did.

He'd been so sure he was 'Lone,' he hadn't known he didn't want to be, or that he was in love. Danny had 'processed his retirement' for the university and they had a record of his cash out, and of a donation that was two-point three credits more. He'd loved Teal Valley 'from a distance' and now he was home, with all the true friends he'd made in the neighborhood around him. Two minutes after they got home, he and Kendra were running again. Mike and Loren needed help getting food moved to Chal's. He loved it.

Knight, Nev and Blade showered and changed fast. It was time to roll walks. Nev opened the kitchen door and yelled, "A Bolt!" Knight noted Blade had still recognized the car too. Blade began describing 'everything' in it and he burst into laughter.

"It's his, obviously. Nev, we need the LH for work. A removable cover on it would be great, but the full custom we planned would just make it necessary to buy another LH for work, and you know how long it took Case and Stats to find one, even not running. We didn't really need another car, but we needed a garage project. When Blade saw that battered and tattered Bolt, his reaction was just like yours to the T. He didn't know whether to dance or cry."

"I understand perfectly, Knight. We don't really know what to do, do we? I needed this and you knew it."

"Blade knew he was nearly wishing we hadn't finished the big part of the task, and you were 'worse.' None of us want this part of our lives that includes our homes and work to change, but we don't want to keep what we built secret either. I want to play with applications up in the mine, not a university lab. I don't think the shield should be included in any new tech and the applications we've developed, so far, don't really have wide uses. Frankly, I want to yell you six put all the pieces together and changed the world and not tell anyone. I've been trying to figure out a way to do both, and I think I have."

"You have?!"

"We don't need to hide you did it, but we want to work without physicists trailing us around or tech manufacturers coating us with honey. There will be theory and applications enough for every physics lab on the planet to play with and we don't need money. We have a business and you're not going to run short of cash. Everyone in this region will quite understand we like what we do and our homes here. I think it's time we set an example of non-greed. We just send the math to every U physics department on the planet and let them develop useful tech. If we find something useful, we give it to the faery king to agent and put the money into a fund to build a university in this region. The many children who will soon be here won't really want to go away to school. There's no profit in trailing us around because we don't want it and our agent won't comm people with something we discovered while playing, if they're irritations."

"You don't have to keep the identities separate, Nev. You're you and it's a change of name. You grew from Tarse to Nev. The spur was your attempted murder and great injustice, but it was the growth of the sapling into the tree, not a switch from a bush to a tree."

"Think I should give the money to someone, Blade?"

"If it bothers you, yes. We can support ourselves."

"Comm, Danny."

"You caught me about to run to do walk rolling, Nev."

"Find out what everyone else needs or really wants, like down payments for houses, if needed. Rip all those greed-fee laws, like individuals can't sell used, out and make taxes equitable on things like rentals. We're buying a flyer and I think two others should. Knight says we keep the shield separate, but just send U's the math for the sword, and dump money we accidentally make, through an agent, into a college fund here. I don't need the magic purse and the fact I get rid of it should reduce the number people trying to tell us were profitable. The mine is our secret playroom and I won't say everyone should take their shields and message units to it, because only they know if they need to return to it for community and shelter, or just fresh veggies in winter. Only they know if that little flashing light makes them feel connected. Only they know if they want to be able to get in an invisible car and stop greedy bullies somewhere, should they arise. We'll be rolling toward you. Want your covered walk to Case and Stats garage replaced with permanent?"

"Yes, please, and a flyer like your uncle Drand built. I think four of those and four usual. It will get cold and wet here and two or three days in a warm place would be... nice."

"Danny?"

"Comm your uncle. Tell him to get here now. He's going to help build flyers, find an agent and several others."

"What did you just realize, Danny?"

"How much older than you is your uncle, Nev?"

"Twelve years."

"You really think he's a confirmed bachelor, or perhaps the right girl just hadn't become a woman yet."

"Comm out! Comm connect code, go big B boy."

"Tarse!"

"Actually, Nevin Curran, but I'm about to stop working to hide one became the other. Get in the flyer and get to Teal Valley now. We're going to do four flyers like yours fast and you're about to miss the best party on the planet. This is our home, the West Side."

"It was you on the podium and driving the high-loader."

"Uncle Drand, the party is starting. Land in the north parking lot of the park we just built."

"Eighteen minutes! Comm out!"

"Comm connect, Chief Dennon."

"Hello, Nev. I thought you'd be path rolling."

"About to, but I need a fast permission. We've got a special guest running for a flyer and he'll be here in fifteen to eighteen minutes. I told him to land in the north parking lot of the park."

"Very special."

"We figure Dawn will assure he knows he's only going home to pack before we finish four flyers customized like his. Danny realized she's not meeting anyone really interesting because she already had. Chief, he's my uncle. We were physics students IS tried to kill to cover they had a secret weapon, except they didn't. The knight had scribbled the spell for the magic sword on a datpad that morning, but he didn't know he had it. We're not changing who we are now. We love our lives and we don't want or need money. The new is math going to every university, and if we accidentally discover something, profit goes to fund a U here for when our children are ready. We don't need to tell the world, but we don't need to hide it any longer. I've always been rich, but I don't need the magic purse any longer. We've got a successful little business, and no house payments. I'm going to spread it out among those whose lives were ripped from them a bit more, then find the right way to use the rest of the tool I got to help change the world. We emptied the political campaign bribe fund to finance the revolution. In a while, the IS auth code a little girl heard twelve years ago will vanish, never having the power to watch and confuse again, and you'll be able to sell your car to your neighbor. He'll just pay applicable sales tax to license it at a reasonable fee. You probably won't get a tax refund, but there's a lot of money sitting in fictitious gov employee accounts going back into the treasury, so taxes shouldn't go up, but that's up to elected representatives. Knight said non-greed is the final example that needs to be set."

"Chief, we trust you enough we would have told you if it was needed, but we're thankful we never had to make you carry that burden."

"Thank you, Blade. And thank you for trusting us to help keep the flies off you. Over five hundred people here?"

"In every community in the area, and a handful are leaving to go home to loved ones. We do have a secret lab, and we're not sharing the 'cloak of invisibility.' It would make crime too easy to commit. It's not the same tech, so it's not going to be discovered in the math we send. That just punches a hole in something without punching through. It's the simplest application proving the physical laws are just rules in specific circumstances. We expect the physicists to be too busy discovering others to go back to the old stuff to look for something that was always possible, even though very difficult."

"You were who they went after in Horgen Field."

"They weren't going to put me in a drug lab with 'other rebels' and force me to use high-tech equipment, and they were too angry I didn't have what they wanted to just kill me. The six realized over two-thirds there were also gov prisoners before we did, but it began as a search for me."

"They figured everything out right down to who would be watching his back. I was pretty surprised when they knew my name and what I'd actually done to get there. Only one other did, and he's been setting examples too. They call him 'hero for a demon' and he gets prettier all the time."

"The whole plan was a fantasy novel we wrote with IS watching. Danny's finishing it now. There are no records of who the gov and IS sent to prison because they'd battled evil, or of who they enslaved in drug labs now, but I'll tell you Blade's deal with a demon was why selling dream dust to kids in Roper district was fatal for six years."

"I always wondered who was responsible for that. I'll get your uncle..."

"Drand Valens."

"Cleared to land there. Where are you going to put four flyers?"

"Probably nine or ten. We'll figure something out. Comm out. Comm connect Jaril Ressen."

"Hello, Nev. I watched the exodus. An early exodus."

"Couldn't start the party until it was done. Sell me the chunk of land north of the park for a private flyer field and parking lot, or develop it quick. Flyer licensing fee is going to plummet and I'm already asking permission for landing in the parking lot and looking for a place for eight. I said, 'I want,' and got a chorus."

"That's a damn good use for that land. The asshole who built those warehouses cleared and leveled it. It's also something I can put there fast that will be useful to the whole town. I'll build you a fully serviced hangar for twelve at the south end of it. Purchase not lease. That should give you room to work and little car parking inside, for a while. I've got everything to get the south section of the lot done and one hangar that size up tomorrow, including labor, and I wouldn't have in three days. It won't be tall or yellow, cream colcore plastine. I can get that at a good enough price to stick with it. I've got dark green Lawker heat exchange panels for roof and opaqueing glasselle for skylights, to keep the utilities down, but I doubt I can get the matrix in tomorrow."

"The fellow who's landing here in a few minutes built a wind power generator into his flyer to charge a posine floor for an exterior party room. I want a matrix to supplement, but I'm copying that thing."

"Now that's an idea. I'll get it up to see it?"

"It's a good offer considering the materials. I'll take it for my neighborhood. I'll pay it now and sign when you get specifics. I'm running behind on path-rolling."

"So am I, but they're surprised I get there, not that I move slow."

"You're not that old."

"Shh, they'll expect me to be on time for things. This is going to serve the community and be profitable, a developers dream. If that system works well, we'll see that fellow gets some too."

"He adapted a twelve hundred-year-old design. He's in my financial class, so he'll probably just share and let the people who build it charge less for it. I've got debited."

"I've got credited. See you there about noon."

"See you there. Comm out. It wasn't big enough for a golf course."

"Which you do want."

"Two public courses aren't enough, Knight, or the pro shop wouldn't have suggested I try Willaville both times I called for a tee time."

"Who owns the land behind Brasserton Agra on the northwest curve?"

"I don't know, Knight, but it's not Ressen. You're thinking golf course there?"

"And maybe college campus later."

"It doesn't make sense to put anything but an ag school here, but ag isn't all any of them teach."

"And there's only one on this continent. Let's roll our way to Danny's and see where she is on the crud-stripping job I gave her."

They didn't have much to roll, so it didn't take long. Danny was doing well on the "crud stripping." She was almost finished. She'd "just dumped one hundred fifty years of junk" and adjusted for reasonable growth and inflation. She was cleaning special interest concessions out of the tax structure and laws of the time. Keyword search was making cleaning out the rest a fast job. Her program to 'replace everywhere' didn't need her to watch it. She was ready to path roll by the time Nev found out how far the others had gotten. They were two blocks east.

There weren't a lot out rolling yet. Many were preparing food and drink and many hadn't finished showering and changing yet, because they'd needed food before they started rolling. Once all were out, the rolling would go fast.

### Chapter Sixteen

Stake bundle straps were being dropped off all through West Side. Several vehicles would traverse routes through, picking up rolls and bundles and take them to a hauler belonging to the Growers Association, parked on the east side of West Side. It would get deliveries from more than their connected thirty-seven blocks, but the rest would be rolled by others. They were about to start the west-most second block when it was time for Nev's uncle to arrive.

He asked Dawn to guide him. He did have one end of the plas being folded to roll in his hands at the time. Danny, Knight and Blade all congratulated him on timing. The others yelled for explanation. Ronnie 'got it' before they gathered.

"Of course! No one's been quite as interesting since she was seventeen!"

"And she hasn't actually talked to him since then."

"Hi-bye with the rest of us. He has a stuffed mansion, Nev."

"The workshop and Bressler memorabilia are his, Stats. The rest is family furniture storage. They'd have gotten rid of both if the city gov had let them. I bought us a twelve-flyer hangar. Danny said four like his and four 'usual.' It'll be ready tomorrow. Ressen said thanks for a profitable idea."

Dawn kept Drand Valens to rapid walk with a brief on who they were, until he saw Nev. Nev held on until his uncle's tight hug loosened, then introduced everyone. After that, he told him he was moving out of the "furniture storage shed," and Dawn's workshop was a copy of his and still bereft of tools. Dawn immediately told him he was her new roommate and she'd make sure everyone knew he was a resident and not a guest. The others burst into laughter.

"T... Nev, why?"

"Because this is where you belong. Everyone here will understand why you're always in a workshop or garage and you can go to Bressler games just as easily from here. And Danny realized you're going to marry Dawn."

"What?!"

"Danny!"

"Nev realized he, and you, are why neither of you have found anyone else fascinating since the two days we spent working with him five years ago, too, Dawn. Case and Stats saw it as soon as Ronnie figured out why Nev sent you to meet him. Going to disagree?"

"No. I've been trying to convince myself I was in love with his workshop and not him, since I was seventeen. Since it was possible and I didn't spend more time with him, I almost succeeded."

"No one else was quite as interesting."

"Yes, they are, but as friends, not life companion. Drand, I'm going to introduce you as my fiancé. You can tell people we only had one long conversation and you're too shocked to know what to say. They'll tell you they understand and suggest we have the wedding in the park, so everyone can come, and they'll help with the wedding banquet for a thousand or so."

"Stuffed pinkfish fillets, Dawn?"

"Mike is dreaming of Chal asking for a recipe. That's his best bet."

"I think his stuffed pinkfish will impress Chal too, Loren, and Chal already yelled he was doing tockle in wine sauce for Kendra and Larry's."

"Well, Uncle Drand?"

"Nev, let's just show him Blade's dilapidated Mosslin Bolt in the garage."

"A Bolt?!"

"Good thought, Knight. Help me remember not to put uncle in front of Drand tonight, guys. The GGN crew are still running around and everyone being careful what not to mention would be contradictory to the party theme."

"Let's roll!"

Dawn grabbed Drand's hand, pulled him to a path and showed him how to fold to roll. In seconds, they were working as a perfect team. At the end of the roll, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. He said he hadn't doubted his nephew was right about anything he was sure of since he was three, but he'd needed their hands working together to understand why he was so sure, and time to get over the shock.

She told him they had to move fast to be the first married in the park because Kendra and Doc Larry were quick and wedding plans were being moved up all over the neighborhood. He told her he'd be right back, ran to a house door, chimed and asked to borrow the comm.

"Mom, I'm getting married tomorrow at seventeen, Teal Valley, West Side Park. You're on invitations down there. Include the families of my nephew's bunch. You're also on figuring out what to do with everything but my tools, Bressler stuff and clothes in that house. My suggestion is buy a lake place and ski place up here, furnish both, then see how many more places you need to get to store the rest. My future wife's house is furnished, except for the workshop. I want Dad's great-great-grandmother's rings, your grandmother's wedding gown and my white formal outfit. Get here early enough to buy out a couple florists. Bring Great-grandma Merid's gown, too. It'll fit the bride in the other wedding, a close friend and neighbor of ours. The groom has to have an outfit made. We're spending our honeymoon remodeling flyers and restoring a car with neighbors, which is perfect for both of us, so don't include that traditional gift in plans. We'd like all my tools, equipment and car moved instead, but will bring a bunch of neighbors down to do it, if you look at the size of the job and feel faint. Left my love holding the end of a walk to roll. Comm out!"

"Who?!"

"Dawn! Thanks!"

Drand's mother called his sister and replayed his comm call. It was twenty-three oh eight there, a time zone east of Teal Valley. After her, she called her parents and in-laws and replayed the call. Seven minutes later, Drand's father, Carler, met a crew of twenty at 'Drand's house.' At twenty-three twenty-seven, his wife called with delivery addresses for the furniture. His daughter arrived four minutes later to sort which went where. The crew were nearly done in the workshop and garage. As soon as they were, the MH was pulled out of the drive, Carler moved the car down to the street and a hauler backed up the drive. A transport backed across the lawn to the front door.

Carler ran to supervise the loading of the Bressler 'stuff,' clothes and a great many more personally important things his son had forgotten he had in the house. He knew who his son was marrying. His daughter knew where her son was and his son-in-law had seen it immediately.

A Veil Lake realtor was giggling. Three steaming days, a newscast, a tax refund and the disappearance of IS had combined to sell seven places she had listed on the lake, and one in Frostlea, in a half-hour. She didn't get back to the path she'd been rolling before the comm chimed again. It was the eighth call for a ten-day rental she'd forwarded to MPM since GGN evening news had mentioned "cool" and "Veil Lake" in the same sentence. Before she left the house again, she set the comm to give MPM as rental referral, list properties she had for sale on Veil Lake, list the Teal Valley realtors who had a few, and give office hours for all. The path rolling was about to get too far from her house to hear the chime.

Panner's father had been right. There were so many calling the only realtor listed in Veil Lake that seven buying fast wouldn't seem odd, especially considering the low prices for older lake properties. Drand's sister was given additional delivery addresses before the first hauler pulled out and the second backed in. When the second hauler pulled out, the third backed in.

Carler answered a comm chime, then loudly announced the party supplies had been delivered. The crew cheered. Drand's mother, Milla, always knew what to pay for good labor.

The three going in each hauler, to unload, had chosen their 'new' living room or bedroom sets first. They weren't leaving for Veil Lake immediately. Their families were anxiously awaiting their furniture deliveries and they had a path rolling party to attend, with a great deal more in refreshments than the low-income neighborhood had expected. The other furniture didn't need to be delivered before morning and it was only an hour and forty minute drive.

His son-in-law and he were driving up in the MH and car that night. His wife was collecting everything else on Drand's list and he already had the formal outfit in the car. When a transport pulled up and a man and woman jumped out and ran for the open door, he had no difficulty figuring out who they were.

"Hello! You planning on crashing a party too?"

"Yes! We've got all the things we know Brim... Dawn would like to have in her home. Not really a lot, but they'd have stuffed the car and the transport has a tow package. We're going to get a boat up there. We just realized a lake place is something we really want and we can afford it, even just for a getaway place."

"A flyer is less than fifty a year to license and our taxes on everything will be incredibly low."

"Income tax was the only thing not outrageous and they'd have raised that if people wouldn't have quit work to go on subsidy, so they had enough to eat. Carler."

"Bart and Jonna. She did talk about your son, in context of his workshop and flyer."

"That's why she's the right girl, Jonna. His mom was sure of it as soon as he gave their honeymoon plans. My daughter says they don't need to hide, but they won't get much done it dozens of people are trailing them full-time and someone is running up to say thanks every few seconds, the rest of their lives. We wouldn't have pushed to do this now, if we didn't think already-had-a-place before somebody figures out it was your kids will keep it down a bit."

"Understood and Pat, Panner's dad, was right about the time being least notable. It's still a steam bath out there."

"About the furniture..."

"That's the third hauler being loaded, Jonna. Does it look bare in here? Four generations of my family and some in-laws had stuffed furniture in here when they got new. We're paying the delivery crews with sets, and may have more here than needed when we're done. There's no charity or disaster relief program that needs it."

"That we knew. We tried to donate a big chair recently. None of them would take it. I saw some kids carrying stuff into an old apt building, stopped and asked if they wanted it, or it would probably still be in the transport. I didn't report it on my taxes."

"We've been trying to donate this place to the U for a scholarship house for eighty-eight years, but the city gov wouldn't let us stop paying property taxes on it. We don't think the U will mind if there's a little extra furniture in it. My daughter's sorting and leaving good stuff for students here. They're getting big and comfortable, so we may have more lovely decorative than we really want, but only my mom buys chairs just as room decorations. Dad's been careful what color flowers he gives her, since she changed one to coordinate with a bouquet of golden teria."

Drand was telling Dawn about his family's several attempts to donate the mansion and the furniture stuffed into bedrooms. He said he lived in a two-bedroom house with an attached furniture warehouse. He'd been a little worried it was going to be a one-bedroom and he'd have to work to keep a path through the warehouse to that bedroom clear, soon. They were headed for the next block when they heard cheering. They began running with everyone else. The cheering meant they were done, at twenty-three twenty-one.

Ronnie's mother finally got someone on comm, Silky. She told him the families had all gotten lake places and Tarse's father and grandfather were coming up that night, then corrected to "Nev's," realized he didn't know what she was talking about and gave him a fast brief. It wasn't as concise as Ronnie's were, but it hit all the high points, including the heat and GGN's mention.

"Nev must have shaken his head."

"What?"

"Fairy dust. We're all sure it's there and just can't be seen because it's the same color as his hair. Tell them two blocks in from the park, the north-most party. They won't have any trouble finding it."

"Silky, stop being sad we weren't there. We wish we had been too, but that was the right time and this is the right way. If we'd been there, we might not have yelled for a place on Veil Lake, and really begun to become friends with five other families. Our kids were friends and that was it. Only two of the three who live in Richland had met. Now, we're making plans together, conspiring to become great lake-place friends and invade the Valen's ski-town place in winter. We've got a huge number coming up there to 'get out of the heat.' Ronnie's grandparents are coming with us and her great-grandparents are scheduling visits to our summer place. This 'impulse' is going to be a long-lasting pleasure to us all for years."

"Nev shook his head."

"We'll see you tomorrow."

"Perfect timing. Time to give Bance the live feed count. Comm out. Four, three, two, one, live."

Bance told Nev his dad and grandfather and Dawn's parents were coming up that night. Nev ran for the comm in the mobile news unit. He finally found his mother and grandmother, cleaning out his apartment. His mom told him Dawn's parents had "started a trend," but most of the cleanout wasn't being brought, just things they were sure belonged in his home. Danny's parents were "carting" her comp system, but they weren't bringing his, or his clothes. He agreed that was unnecessary. He already had a lot that didn't fit. His mom asked what he wanted done with his car.

"Cars at lake places would make flying up convenient, and I know a place you can store them and/or boats, a short walk from private flyer parking and storage in Teal Valley, but I also know someone who'll give you a ride up, if you wish, or you can land at Veil Lake, in the town. Or if there's room for a flyer pad at your summer places, I know two companies that could build those."

"You're definitely a Valens."

He told them he was going to "dump the balance" of the campaign money and Knight's suggestion. They both liked the idea, then his grandmother reminded him he had "a comfortable amount" and he put a finger across his lips and grinned. Both repeated the gesture. He got a list of addresses and approximate arrival time. His grandfather might decide to stop for tea halfway. When he ran back to the party, he organized a wedding gift.

Nev was standing on the walk when his dad and granddad pulled over by the north-most party. He gave them directions, then ran back to the party and waved to Knight. 'Everyone,' except Dawn and Drand knew the 'northwest block' was deserting and why. They knew Drand and Dawn would notice they were gone before long, but Nev had said, "as much surprise as possible," and the group did work fast.

Kendra and Doc Larry were introduced as the "other about-to-get-married couple" and Kendra was given the gown Drand had asked be brought for her. Carla told Larry Drand had said they'd need to find a tailor for him. Bance said he had one "on standby."

Twenty, including Jace, Silky and Essa, began unloading the MH and putting tools and equipment where they belonged. Four knew the way Drand's workshop was organized. Nev knew where every piece went.

Nev's dad and granddad watched the workshop assembled with amazing speed. Nev told his granddad the packing crew had done a very good job "keeping things generally organized." They all thought the pay was terrific. Nev hung the last tool, turned, and his uncle and Dawn were standing in the doorway.

"Surprise?"

"I'm... Thank you! Dad, thank you. Everyone, thank you."

"Oh, I am in heaven! Thank you!"

"Hi, there."

"Mom! Dad!"

"We brought some things, too. We've been spreading them around."

"I didn't see your car."

"We unloaded the transport, then moved it to the boathouse."

"We just moved in containers of your things, Drand. This was first."

"I didn't really have much, Nev."

"Drand, you have no idea how much you have."

"Uh, oh. How much do I have, Dad?"

"You'll be figuring out where to put things a while, but it'll all fit somewhere."

"The important pieces are in the back right bedroom, Drand."

"Thanks, Kail. Dawn, I haven't even been in the house yet and I made a mess. Got to be some kind of a record."

"Well, our favorite room definitely isn't messy."

"No, it's not. I'm astounded. I expected to get help when it got here, but... Thank you."

"Let's go see how much of your stuff we can fit around my junk. I know about what Mom and Dad brought."

"We cleaned out your apartment."

"Oh! I thought you meant from... Oh, you worked hard! I left it a wreck."

"Yes, you did, but the dishes were clean."

"I would not leave dirty dishes if I was only leaving for three days, Mom. A living room you had to wade through, but not dishes."

"It wasn't that bad, Drand. We could just tell she'd been busy to the last minute, shoved dishes in the cycler and ran out the door."

"Danny and Ronnie both found time to clean theirs."

"I cleaned mine."

"So did I."

"I didn't."

"Thank you, Nev!"

"Drand, small apartment. Two things out and it's messy."

"Don't tell me that, Nev. You know how relieved I was when she said, 'wreck.' I do clean up after myself, Dawn. Eventually. Except in the workshop. There, I put things away immediately."

"We aren't going to have any habit conflicts."

"Drand, were staying at... Nev's."

"You'll get used to it pretty fast, Dad."

"We're staying at Ronnie's. Tomorrow, we'll all have places of our own up at Veil Lake."

"What?!"

"We have two there and one in Frostlea, Drand. We furnished our and their places, paid the nine delivery people in furniture, and the mansion is still furnished. By the time they were filling the third hauler, the work crew was getting slower. They had to put things down until they stopped giggling and got their strength back."

Nev leaned on Knight and giggled. His dad's smile became a bit softer. He decided it was time for his news. He hadn't been there at the start of the "furniture furor," because he'd been at a meeting, to reconstruct the city charter and begin the electoral process.

They had used Teal Valley's town charter as a guide and it had adapted very well. They'd appointed people, who yelled they didn't want the job, to various city positions and told them to work fast to get an election underway, so they didn't have to do it long. He'd stayed long enough to nominate people fast, to be sure he wasn't appointed. They were putting the record of the meeting and the charter they'd built on the infonet. The group cheered.

They moved the MH to the boathouse and Nev's grandfather 'fell in love' with his boat. Nev told him its sale condition and what he'd paid for it and he stated he was awed. The boathouse itself impressed him, but it was when they used the path and he looked through the windows of the solarium, non-opaqued so Nev could point out where the flyer field was being built, that they got three jobs. Nev's grandfather wanted two and his father ordered one. Nev told them they only had one on the schedule, so far, but he'd check to see if the person who'd ordered one "on the water" was ready for construction to start. His grandfather said he'd decide if he wanted on or above or both, after he saw the place he'd bought. They looked over the house, pool, patios, entertainment system, then finally the message system, sword and shield. Both Nev's grandfather and father knew the shield was what had saved the lives of all in the lab and both agreed with Knight that it shouldn't be shared.

They 'stopped by' to see the workshop of the two companies, then went back to the party. By then, they were remembering to call him Nev. He was not doing quite as well with "Carler" and "Kail." The two men didn't stay at the party long. After introductions to too many to keep names straight, they went back to the house and to bed.

The 'bunch's' families all arrived between nine and ten. All had brought "lake cars," Dawn's grandmother driving hers. Five quickly unloaded cars and spread things out into homes. All the lake places they'd bought had garages, but "possibly store cars" near the flyer lot they noted being constructed gave them an excuse to 'meet' Nev, Knight and Blade. When Nev met with Ressen at noon, both were nearly laughing.

"I thought this was a good idea."

"I had a bunch of onlookers, who just bought places, hook up right on the road. I sold another hangar and he leased spaces while the docs were processing."

"The crew sent them to my house. I rented storage spaces for lake cars or boats, which they haven't bought yet, because it's close to where they'll park flyers, which they haven't bought yet, and have orders for viewrooms for places they haven't seen yet. That steam bath and GGN's newscast is renting, and selling, everything on Veil Lake, and beginning to spread to others, and down here."

"Owning a flyer got cheap, fees on property and taxes went down, everybody got a refund, and it's still steaming south of here."

"I got on comm and bought flyers fast. I think everyone is."

"That 'guest' who gave you the idea for this is getting married."

"It was love at first specification. They hit tool-talk in seconds and by the time we finished rolling the first path, they were making permanent partnership plans. None of us doubt they've found the life companion of their dreams, and I mean no one at the party last night, or his family."

"His dad said they got positive he had the right girl when he told him the honeymoon was customizing flyers and restoring a car with neighbors, and the wedding present was his tools in her still-empty workshop."

"We put them away as ours. His dad and brother-in-law knew enough about his usual arrangement that we got it real close to the one they came out of. You know how that works. If you know what type of tool goes where, 'I know this goes right here' is enough to give you the location of everything else by what gets used most to least."

"I've walked into many kitchens and found the teacups and spoons in the first cabinet and drawer I opened. What do you think?"

"Very attractive. You're going to use the whole parcel?"

"Expanded the plan right down the end this morning. I've had people all over town calling, and it's not really taking any leases from the city lot on the southeast side. Milburton is going to do what you did with a warehouse over there, primarily for cars. She thinks a lot of people are going to leave one up here and fly in, too. The mountain and ski towns are getting people and most are coming out of Richland."

"I've heard 'steam bath' many times today. Who owns the land north of the belt road on the northwest curve?"

"Andrea Pimberly. I don't know if she'll sell. She doesn't really have any reason to. That's outside of town and is taxed as non-developed property. What you want to do with it?"

"Put a golf course front and give it to the town for public use, then reserve the rest for a campus. Were going to need an ag-and-everything-else university up here before very long. I have a lot of money I don't need. If there's land reserved and a fund to build, I think a lot of people around here will help get a university in this region. The U in Mountain City can't really grow much. It's surrounded and they aren't going to get several blocks of businesses, or homeowners, to just leave, so they can expand. Knight said kids here would rather stay this side of the Toll Range and Teal Valley makes more sense for most of the region than putting it out in the middle of it."

"He's right. It's the most accessible from the west and north. He's also right about it being something we're going to need. Now we know why so many women are pregnant. I want to kill those people so bad I'm sorry they're already dead."

"I understand that completely, but I like what they did with the families. The children didn't deserve punishment. I think it was Essa who said getting them all out of a 'toxic environment' was the best way to give them all a chance to 'get well.' I wouldn't have thought of settlement packages and 'exile,' but it sure beats putting them all on trial. It wouldn't do anything to help us. Just gone lets us all put it in the past and get to work on rebuilding."

"We've still got a lot of toxic leftovers out there running around and far too many are armed."

"I've been thinking about that too. Drand's brother-in-law spent yesterday, until near midnight there, in meetings to rebuild the Richland city government, using Teal Valley as guide. It was one of the worries they had. They're worried about small towns if some of those people gang up, and they're not as worried about former IS as some of the former police. IS didn't really run in packs like they did."

"I've got about the same worry. I was thinking about that thing those people have that make weapons not work and wishing I could give one to every town to just set up around the outside."

"That may be exactly what they plan to do, just give it to everyone."

"That's not really good business."

"Where's the profit in what they used? Make a hole in a wall and short out weapons. It's very specific. It doesn't short cars or comps, and probably doesn't other types of weapons, just beam weapons."

"If they hand those over, everyone will be dismantling them to get the how."

"They plan to just give that to everyone."

"What?"

"If they come up with a useful application, they'll make some money, but the theory will just be turned loose. That's what scientists do, publish the theory, then work on applications with a good head start. It's not new tech. It's a new mathematical description of the way the universe works. Those holes in walls were considered impossible. They just proved the laws of physics aren't. Every practical application developed out of that new theory will help this entire world. I think they've shown that's the goal quite clearly. They're not looking for applause and contract offers."

"I was still thinking of it as new tech."

"You don't have mathematicians as roommates. They see the tech as proving a mathematical construction. When the newscasters start interviewing physicists, they'll work very hard to get people past the new-invention mental niche. It changes everything already invented, from the wheel up. It says, 'Yes, but only in these circumstances,' in large-print bold caps. It says we were wrong about 'why' everything works, and there are no exceptions to physical law. It'll probably tell us why stardrive and transpatial comm actually work, why there is gravity and atoms stay together, why there's an electro-magnetic force. Currently, all we do is describe how. This may be the beginning of the answers to why."

"I believe God is why."

"So do I. I'm not afraid of being even more awed. Everything we learn teaches us we're still putting a mental box around 'God is infinite.' Infinite is an absolute. All knowledge gained is finite. Each bit is a rung on the ladder that gives us a wider view, but the view is still finite. Each rung shows us more of the infinite, but it just enlarges our finite view. It can't make it possible to see everything, because there's always more than we can see. That's the absolute definition of infinite. No matter how high you count, there's still plus one. No matter how much we learn and explain, it's still plus God."

"I'm going to tell my pastor what you said. She's always telling us to stop putting walls or borders around God."

"Tell her I don't remember who I plagiarized, but I'm sure they don't mind."

"You really think they'll just give it to everybody."

"It's not a new circuit for a cycler. They could patent the application, but not the theory. Patenting the application, the device, that shorts weapons might be profitable if every law enforcement agency bought it, but every person with criminal intent would use something else if they did. It's useful now, because that's the type of weapon all those bullies have now. Make those useless now, and they'll run away because they don't have weapons that no one else does."

"You're real sure."

"I've got a pair of mathematicians who have carried on many conversations with physicists learning to write in the same language. They're sure."

"That hangar will have power in a few minutes. That's the technician. I'd have forgotten to tell you, if I hadn't seen her coming."

"Fantastic! Were going to give the wedding prep people the house to work from and look over the places where people want viewrooms. In other words, get out quick before we're trampled."

"Good thinking."

Nev ran in the door and yelled get the design for the application to short weapons on the infonet fast and spread word 'everybody' had it and every small town and city suburb was "rapidly making IS and police weapons useless." Since nearly every citizen was armed with a sling or blowgun and all real mad, former IS and police were warned their weapons should be dumped fast, because they were just target markers and an invitation to vent anger. People who still had them obviously didn't plan to dump the old way and help build the new.

Danny sat down at the computer in the kitchen, went to work, turned around less than a minute later, looked at Bance, said, "Your turn," and smiled. Bance commed Hammison.

"Boss, the whole design for the weapon-shorting device, and the theory, is on the infonet! I've got an 'anyone with access to equipment can build it' from the tech bunch. The goal is get it in the hands of every town, city and outlying farm fast. The 'left over' IS and police weapons are only going to be dangerous to people carrying them, in minutes. They're target markers to angry people and that's all. This thing doesn't have to be aimed, just switched on. You could set it up beside the gravway at the pass and every beam weapon that went by would be useless, and it won't affect anything else. It shorts out the beam initiation sequencer. It has no other applications. It's only use is on beam weapons."

"Want a couple? We don't need IS auth to buy the tech to build you several just to sit around the place, but they will run up the utility bill a bit."

"Not as much as the hole-maker, Blade. That takes some real power. But all it does is make holes."

"The math's here, Knight!"

"Boss, I just lost sight of the screen."

"I saw that. You just found it?"

"Danny found it."

"I'm watching for net additions to see if others are going to put charter constructions up, like Richland did. This just came up. I was on the comp. Title: 'New theory application designs on one and two, hole punch and beam weapon neutralizer.' I could build it. Tarn could. It's just plain... simple. And totally... Knight, does that mean what I think it means? The laws of physics just got rescinded?"

"No, Danny, but they got redefined as rules in specific circumstances. They're just... rules for one level of the game."

"The physical description of the universe just had the doors blown open to include all out doors. The math is beautiful."

"It's going to be fun too, Blade. See this function, and this number?"

"Why is that an integer?"

"Let's see if..."

"Knight! Blade! We've got people working on wedding preparations here and jobs to look over. If you start playing, you'll be in the way and we won't have a schedule of jobs to split with Case and Stats. Case! Stats!"

"What, Nev?"

"Hmm?"

"Help!"

"Comp off."

"Danny!"

"Wedding, work, then play, Blade. He said so."

"He's right."

"I know, Knight, but I may cry anyway."

"You've got it, Boss. The people who did it just gave it to everyone."

"Comm out."

"Comm connect Andrea Pimberly."

"Hello, I know who you are, Nev. How do you know who I am?"

"Ressen. I want to give the town a golf course and set aside land for university campus and you own the land I want to do it. North northwest of the belt road."

"My grandfather said, when someone else said land should be set aside for a university, it would be time to tell people it is. Why a golf course there?"

"Another public course is needed or I could get a tee time. There, because the others are south and east, and it's close. It would also get a lot of people to look out over that land, envision an ag-and-everything-else campus and decide to help. I'm mixed emotions. I'm not going to get to say, 'reserved,' and I'm extremely proud another in my hometown has held the dream in waiting a long time."

"No town's ever been prouder to point to new citizens. Since I can't get a tee time either, I'll donate the land and you can donate the construction."

"Agreed. A fund for U construction?"

"Just needs a name change and someone to appoint a committee to tell people about it."

"I've got money for a land purchase I didn't make to go in it."

"I really like you. So does my great-granddaughter. She yelled she and her friends were going to arrange a car breakdown right in front of you soon. There aren't many young people in this part of town, and they've been assumed to be snobs and snubbed before. Most attended Waitley Academy here, and then went to Bressler."

"We just carried scores of containers of Bressler pennons, glassware, sweaters, socks, jackets, coasters and everything else available with the logo, into the home of the couple getting married in the park at seventeen. Tell them to wear blue and gold and come to cheer the Bressler 'boy' with the flyer that's the center of every game parking lot party, Drand Valens. He's moving into the neighborhood and people here don't care if they've got money, if it doesn't make them self-conscious."

"That's exactly what it does, but it's time they got over it. I'll let you know where we're putting a golf course tomorrow, and who's drafted to advertise the U, as soon as we draft some."

"Thanks. Comm out. Carler, do you have trouble spending money for good purposes?"

"Always. You know Drand wants you as best man and Dawn's dad aches a bit."

"The cams are gone, Granddad. Even if they weren't, we wouldn't endanger anyone now."

"That's the answer I really wanted to hear. Get going. We've got a little over four hours, and your grandmother will be back very soon."

"Yipe! Let's go!"

"Why are we running?!"

"Grandmother is about to go into social-occasion-prep mode, Blade. Chal, Mike and Loren will love it. We 'choreograph.' Grandmother orchestrates. She doesn't need errand boys, but she'd write parts in for us. I've stood on chair and been a hem-check mannequin through nine hem checks before. I don't think they actually needed checking, but it kept three of us busy for a half-hour, and you're just the right height."

"Yipe!"

They had the address of the place Dorn Michaelson wanted fixed, so eight, plus the one in Frostlea, to look over. They didn't expect to get to Frostlea that day. They only had three hours and Michaelson's needed an assessment, not just a lookover.

The families were moving in with groceries and luggage. Nev got to tell Dawn's father he'd need his formal outfit, while he, Knight and Blade fixed the reason the house comp was being stubborn. Repair of a faulty circuit in house controls ended 'not accessible' a third of the time. Dawn's parents and grandparents had known the problem, but had no tools. They intended to remedy that fast.

Though four of the places had room for flyer pads, Nev, Knight and Blade recommended they be maintained as yards. Two places were wooded lots and lovely that way. Both had big decks and nice docks. A viewroom would be a complement to their lakefront focus.

Michaelson's and Nev's grandparents places were both on the west side of the lobe and closer to town than the others. Lake properties in that area were often year-round homes. Michaelson had bought a big cabin, a family vacation place. They agreed with his assessment the job was primarily cosmetic. When they got to Nev's grandparents' "lake place," they laughed. It was not a cabin.

The beautiful four-bedroom home was designed for year-round living and entertaining. It had a pool, spa, greenhouse, year-round patio, two wood-burning fireplaces, two decks, manicured lawn, flower beds, triple car garage, large dock, boat house, security systems and seclusion. Nev used the comm in it to call Michaelson about his cabin, and asked him about the house, from which he was calling.

"That was Morl and Vell Haggetty's house, and they've got to be laughing. They just decided it was too much for them, moved into a nice smaller place in town, hired Dollets to get the yard back in shape and listed it."

"Drand Valens is marrying a woman in the neighborhood and his parents bought it, as their 'lake place.' I was wondering about security and seclusion."

"They own three jewelry stores; here, Talon Peak and Teal Valley. They built it that way just because it was outside of town. They didn't expect trouble or have any, but they considered it polite to their guests to assure their business didn't attract greedy people to a party that far from the police, and Vell does have some pretty rocks."

"After seeing this, I wonder what they got in Frostlea."

"A luxury ski cabin with six bedrooms and a loft. It's one of the prettiest big cabins up there; spa, big fireplace, detached garage for six cars with covered walk to the back of the cabin. There's parking for more cars behind the garage. Ritterbach is stunned it was bought for personal use and not as an investment. He had it set up for charter groups of up to thirty-six."

"Sold it why?"

"The owners want to do some real work on the lodge and they offered him a piece. They're redoing the lounge, restaurant and ski shop. They rehabbed the rooms and are working on the lobby and decided to do the rest. That cabin is close and the lodge is going to have good food and nightlife. The slopes are already in great shape. All the ski towns are starting to get ready for a great winter. People are going to have more money to spend, no one watching to see what they can take from them and the weather prediction is fantastic. They were all working on getting ready before this. Now they're excited. Winter Carnival is going to be big this year."

"I hope building a viewroom over there tells people we don't just work over here."

"Oh, now that is going to attract some attention, and there's not a more perfect place in Frostlea for it. Try to put it on the hill on the left as you face it, and see if they'll let you make a walk to it off the loft deck. If they'll let you enclose those two decks in glasselle, fill them with green. On that hill, the room will be a glittering gem from the slopes, and they'll see everything in the valley."

"Knight, how do we pay him a commission?"

"I don't know, Blade, but I'm sure the gleam in Nev's eye means we owe one."

"Your place first. It's going to be steaming down there another six, break a few and come back for at least twenty. It won't really cool off there for another twenty after. We'll see how many of this first batch we can get talking before it hits again. Knight?"

"We'll put some time in. Probably three days, starting tomorrow."

"It'll be ready to rent in three days. Pick your room. Come by mid-morning and show us where you want it. We've got rain coming, so we'll be doing outside first."

"See you tomorrow. Comm out."

"Let's go to a wedding and describe 'glittering gem' to Grandma, and hope we don't need to rent a construction crane for the solarium she chooses."

"Case and Stats are going to need the high-loader too."

"Yes, but the gem is last and they can do two before rain."

"Us four, them four?"

"Yes. Drand is going to be doing flyers with the girls, to start. He won't mind at all. Let's go to a wedding."

"Nev, we know why we really ran."

"Why, Knight?"

"Because if you were there, everyone would turn to you for direction."

"Us, Knight. They think of us as a team, and not of any of us as leader of it. Blade thinks I'm wrong. He doesn't notice how often people ask him for direction because it's most often of a different type."

"I know. You get asked for ideas, I get asked for specifications and he gets asked for wisdom."

"At least it's not me money, you muscle and him dates."

"Date... That's a fruit, right?"

"That's why I told them to wear blue and gold, Blade. They're volunteer colors."

"Ooh, you are so smart."

"We got ourselves into the position of not really being able to ask women on the West Side for a date."

"You got us. You're the person who keeps telling people they're getting married, as soon as they open their mouths to ask for one."

"He's right."

"I know."

"Five of us have schedules to catch up and some inserts, but we can do a lot of prep in the workshop."

"Yes, Knight, and quite a bit of catch-up on partly rainy days."

"Long days for about eight."

"The flyers won't be done before we get to work on them. Nothing we've done is as much work, and there are four. Danny, Ronnie and Dawn can't work full-time, though Danny will arrange for Dawn to be off a few days. Elise, Essa, Kendra, Day, Kady and Reesa have work. Mike and Loren are on breakfast, so they'll have a bit more time than if they were on lunch or dinner, but no one can work late either. That flyer is a masterpiece of design. You two haven't really seen it."

"True. Here-look-in-let's-go is not really seeing, but enough to know we'd have forgotten assessments if we looked more. Summer may be over before we can start on the Bolt."

"Or the LH."

"Nev, we may not be able to stand to colorbond it. You behind us, and getting out of that battered old once-white thing is a fond memory we really like fresh."

"It's such a contrast to you, and fits you perfectly. And it's deeply reassuring to see you right there."

"Always, Blade. I love you both very much."

The family was gathered and giggling, when they got to the house. Drand and Dawn had disappeared. They'd just been found. They'd been talking about what they need in the hangar, gotten the tools out of the flyer, and forgotten they were getting married. They were nearly done installing the generator in the hangar, when found. Case and Stats had helped them finish, so they didn't wander off from the reception. The judge waiting to rehearse them loved it.

Case and Stats retrieved Drand again, when they got to the park. He'd seen blue and gold and gone that-a-way. The West Siders had heard the hangar story and shared it with the northeast side bunch. They shared stories of Drand's legendary support of Bressler teams, and the flyer that was the center of every parking lot party.

One of the northeast-side girls said attending Drand's wedding wasn't really her dream evening with him, but the looks-brains-talent combo was pretty intimidating. One of the West Side boys said he understood completely. They all agreed the two deserved each other, stopped being two groups and melded into wedding guests.

Knight and Blade were supporting Nev. He'd gotten nervous and they thought it was hilarious. So did Danny and Ronnie. They were maid and matron of honor, and holding each other up. Case and Stats retrieved them and steered them to the bride's pavilion, a small tent. Nev's dad, the groomsman, retrieved him and led him up on the bandstand. Case and Stats retrieved Drand from an examination of the bandstand construction and got him in place. Case noted the judge had left a lot out of the description of usher duties. Stats agreed. They walked up the aisle to the back and took their places on each side. Stats held up crossed fingers and Case matched.

The crowd in the park was huge. It spread past the pavilion and all the way around the bandstand. The parking lots were full, the spaces along the road were full, and every street in West Side that faced the park had cars parked along both sides.

Many had carpooled, but there were still almost two hundred that could become invisible. A very large number had appeared where the belt road went between a tall hedge and a stand of trees just south of West Side. Nearly all of those had carried produce and pinkfish filets to the park.

The portable banquet kitchen in the parking lot closest to the bandstand had been leased from the Brevilla Resort Hotel on the west coast. The staff had come with it, except for chefs. There was a great deal of room to store, prepare and cook food in it, and it was all in use, but the chef and chefs-in-training were standing near the bandstand watching a beautiful woman, in an incredible gown, walk down the aisle with her father.

Bance had told Hammison the first wedding party would only be shown from the back briefly, the whole segment would be short clips, not live feed, and wasn't to be passed. The groom was a fantastic engineer, but couldn't get a job as one. Everyone wanted to give him one as a vice-president, so they could stick his family name on the door. Hammison told him not to give surnames. The wedding went smoothly until the vows. Dawn added, "and help you change out the Tibbet-Beram initializer circuit."

"It's the second time it squealed 'replace me' in a year."

"We could rework the priming system to use a Holber ten-sixteen."

"Good idea. It'll handle a higher power flow."

"Takes more charge to start, so we should probably change the leads."

"We may have to increase capacity from the module back."

"I now pronounce you a matched set and married!"

"Drand, put these on her."

"Dawn, this one goes on him."

"Oops. I love you."

"I love you. Thirty-seven millivolts is well within specs."

"It may be the oscillation curve."

Case and Stats were already climbing the bandstand steps. Everyone else was laughing. By the time they got the wedding party moving back up the aisle, they were. They followed, holding each other up. Drand and Dawn had gotten lost in each other's eyes and their promise to share forever. It had happened millions of times before, but they did have an unusual language of love.

The second wedding started immediately. Larry carried his best man and steered his groomsman up the steps. Kendra held her escort up, as they came down the aisle. Elise and Essa leaned together and staggered down it behind them. The groom helped the judge get on her feet. Knight did manage to keep Blade from collapsing again.

Larry stood in the middle of the bandstand, smiling widely, and watched his bride come down the aisle. She wasn't wasting any time, and Elise and Essa would catch up.

His bride had seen it too. Waiting five minutes would be an anticlimax. The way to make their wedding just as special in everyone's memories was carry the laughter into it.

Kendra tossed him her bouquet, caught her gown skirt and lifted it with that hand and assisted Nev up the steps with the other hand under his elbow. When they got to the top, Larry picked Nev up and set him beside Knight and Blade. Knight grabbed hold and held him up too. Elise and Essa crawled up the steps. The judge managed to get as far as the vows without a laughter break.

"I'll love you forever, and it's such a surprise love like this came to me. I was sure I was always going to be Lone."

"I said, 'Ooh, that man for me,' the first time I saw you. I admit I was most impressed by your muscles at that moment, but it changed as soon as you spoke. I love your beautiful soul and incredible mind, and they're in such a nice package. Forever."

"I think Blade's trying to get the ring out. Thanks."

"Thanks, Elise."

"I want to be married to you. The lonely past is ended."

"I want to be married to you. The lonely past is ended."

"I think you covered everything. I pronounce you married."

"Thank you, Judge. Do you think we should let them try to get down off here?"

"No."

"I think Knight can make it if he's not supporting two."

"I'll get the girls."

"I'll get the boys."

Kendra put a hand under an elbow of each and supported Elise and Essa down the steps. Larry picked up Blade and carried him down. Knight had gotten Nev to the top of the steps. Larry picked him up and stood him beside Blade. Knight made it down before Nev sank. Larry leaned him on one side of Knight, then put Blade over Knight's other shoulder, walked around Elise and Essa, offered Kendra his arm and they walked back up the aisle.

Knight made it halfway and sank. Elise and Essa sank right afterward. Larry and Kendra looked over their shoulders, at each other and kept going. He pointed out they'd forgotten something. At the end of the aisle they stopped. He lifted her veil and kissed her, then whispered, "They don't miss ad lib cues, either." She winked.

Chal said, "Buffet!" Mike and Loren were on their feet and running too, before he got three steps. Loren was going to be a good chef, and Mike was going to be great. That afternoon Chal had told him he wouldn't ask for the recipe for his stuffed pinkfish, because it was worthy of being a signature dish, then he'd admonished the staff not to repeat it or share it with others, except at home, and then identify it as Mike's. The staff had applauded.

Andrea Pimberly climbed the steps to the bandstand and held up her hands for quiet. People spread who she was to those who didn't recognize the erect elderly woman with long snowy-white hair. She pointed at Bance and he ran for the bandstand. Jace was right behind him. Silky got off the floor and into his chair. He alerted Hammison the matriarch of one of the oldest families in the area, and on the world, had news. She waited for Bance to nod.

"My family has owned a piece of land since this valley was settled. That land always had a purpose, and all we were waiting for was someone to suggest that purpose. Early this afternoon, I got a call from someone who wanted to buy that land, for exactly that purpose, though his plan did have an addition. Since my caller was Nev, the addition was a good idea too. I'm donating the land and he's building the town a public golf course, so we can both get tee times. That will be due north of here. The rest of the land from the town limits to Harvest Road Two and Tiara to the mountain is hereby donated and reserved for the Northwest Agriculture Science and Humanities campus of Bressler University! This region is now a local tuition area. Scholarship and Building Funds are both accepting donations. Geon, at Mountain Growers Bank, has been drafted to manage the accounts."

"That makes Bressler tuition less than Mountain City University!"

"Yes, Bance. We could have done it alone, but they want to aid us with their accreditation and reputation for academic excellence, and the Board of Regents are sure our kids will help their sports teams standings. I called an old friend for guidance in setting up the various committees we'd need to prepare to build an independent university here, in about fifteen years. She said we have too many who don't go to U because of cost and distance now. We all know it, but it was very surprising to learn they did not only see it, but had discussed it. They couldn't do anything under the old gov. Now, they plan to begin some extension classes here in a year."

"Hello! I'm Milla Holscott-Valens. Our extended family would like to donate a building before the new gov gets quite appropriate, but tedious, large donation oversight structures in place. Should I call Geon, or Wynda at Bressler?"

"Geon. Wynda won't be ready for a request for the architectural firm yet and Geon will call Lambert and Morelli, so he can give you a choice and approximate cost."

Nev sat and giggled. Blade couldn't even sit up. Drand and Tarn were organizing a clearance team of West Siders and the Bressler bunch, so the architects could see the contour of the land. His grandparents had decided to make their lake place their primary residence, before someone nominated one of them for a Richland "city council seat or something." Nev's dad sat down beside him.

"It didn't take us long to learn why you love it here."

"The people."

"Are wonderful. Your grandmother Valens is building her social schedule with Andrea's aid and her mother and sister are talking to a realtor. Your mother has Knight cornered. I don't know what they're talking about, but I suspect our lake place may be growing in an interesting fashion, and we may just move."

"What?!"

"I did my piece of the job in Richland. I don't need to be there to stand between the gov and the company any longer."

"Dad, it gets very cold up here and you'd be bored not working."

"Definitely, but there is a job up here for me that will be a great deal more fulfilling."

"Build a university."

"That's the job. Andrea had to call for what-next. It was the best thing she could have done, but they don't move or think fast enough for these people. They'll be quite happy to dump the job on me and I'll love it. Hello, Knight, my wife worked a personality evaluation into a discussion of work on the lake place?"

"She was a little worried her mother throwing 'real' family money around would stress our relationship. She'd already decided the West Siders will think it's just as fun-funny as when Nev does it. Blade, you're figuring out how to 'at least triple' the area available for entertaining and make it 'Greenly attractive.' I told her there was only one item on the agenda no one has mentioned, wipe out the stigma the gov created to keep people caged in sub districts, so they had a big-budget pocket. She headed straight for Doc Larry."

"She watched him blend their wedding with Drand's to create one joyous, laughter-filled memory of 'matched set' loving union in all these people, Knight. I'd have gone to him immediately, if you'd given me a change-worldwide-perception task. You three were good, but Elise and Essa get my personal award for artistic excellence."

"Dad, we were laughing that much."

"Of course, Nev, otherwise it would have been a show, not wonderful spontaneity. Hello, Andrea, did you learn I'm the harmonic phase module between this high-power system and Bressler's low?"

"Eleven people said they were sure you'd realized it and two new Veil Lake property owners asked I tell you they're interested in employment applications when you design a form. Would you believe things moved fairly slowly here until they arrived?"

"With no difficulty whatsoever."

"It bothers him, Nev. Not anybody else, but she does. Fix it."

"Thank you, Blade. Andrea, this is my dad. We don't need to hide, but we like what we do and everyone knowing would be a real obstacle to being who we wish to be."

"Thank you. Now we can all stop pretending we didn't realize you're six of the students IS tried to murder, as soon as all your families showed up. Ressen said the performance was outstanding and he'd have believed it, if he hadn't been trying to figure out who to kill for a year."

"Someone did."

"Thank you, Knight."

The wedding reception was wonderful. Children playing in the park was the highlight for many. It wasn't helpful to the growth of new grass, but not as bad as the next day would have been and a second seeding was planned for the area.

The local band got to use the bandstand first. They played from nineteen until twenty-one. The reception ended then. The next day was a work day for most, and many went to work very early.

Some cars disappeared on the way home, but not a great many. Through the mine wasn't enough shortcut for most to use, and very few had decided to uninstall a shield yet. All that stopped for an uninstall had a neighbor to follow them to brush out tracks, and to take them to the mine, if they wished to go.

### Chapter Seventeen

All the families went to their places on the lake that night, Nev's parents and grandparents for the first time. Several had jobs, but all could call employers, tell them the heat had gotten to them, and not endanger them. By midmorning, all were sure the decision to buy cabins on the lake was a very good one.

Nev, Knight and Blade were discussing the viewroom placement at Dorn Michaelson's cabin when Nev's father arrived. The three went back to work. Kail and Dorn sat on the end of the dock and began building a friendship. When Dorn left to buy a solarium, Kail went with him.

Kail and Dorn returned in midafternoon. They had a trailer with a solarium, columns and the materials to build the platform, from which the viewroom would be placed, Knight had described to them. They also had posine, glasselle, doors and all the bits and pieces that went into constructing a viewroom with a posine path. They unloaded it all with their high-loader.

"You both decided you want to watch, can't wait, and got a parts list from Dawn?"

"She and Drand may be here soon, Knight. He was getting a detailed description of the construction process, while she was checking to see you have all the tools you need with you."

"That is a happy man."

"There was a discussion of a sequencer system change in their vows, Dorn."

"We ran into the judge's son at Dolden's. He said she recessed court for a laugh break today. It's a suit over some vases. One of the attorneys said, 'matched set,' and most of the people in the court room started laughing."

Nev, Knight and Blade gave them a time remaining on what they were doing and told them where to find the brewer in the car. They finished roof, wall and trim repair and masking the cabin for colorbond a few minutes later. In thirteen, they pulled the masking off and Blade began on the trim. Knight and Nev began working on the viewroom, with installation of the door mechanism.

There wasn't a great deal of trim, and Blade worked very fast, but he didn't go to help with the viewroom when he finished. He began on the yard. Six hands on the viewroom wouldn't really speed things at that point. When everything but the mowing was done, he began working on the water construction platform. As soon as he did, Knight switched jobs.

The platform was supports and frame for a posine floor. It was just a matter of assembling the frame, attaching the posine to the front and pushing it into the water. It floated, to start. When they had it positioned, the sixteen supports were triggered.

Broad feet unfolded and the supports unscrewed, until they could not go deeper. The posine was still well above the water. After it was charged, the high-loader was driven onto it. The entire assembly sank, but not a great deal. A scaffold was connected to the end and two more supports sought the lake bottom.

Blade left that job and went to work on the viewroom. Knight stood on the scaffold extension and calculated position in depth for each column. When he finished the calculations, he gave them to Blade and began working with Nev again.

Blade trimmed columns and drilled them for hardware, then moved them onto the platform. Once they were off the lawn, he began mowing.

Knight left Nev and began setting the columns. Blade finished the lawn, except where Nev was working on the viewroom. Knight got the last column set, then he and Blade began assembling the frame for the viewroom. When that was almost complete, Blade left it to cut a narrow trench for water and power conduit.

Knight finished the viewroom support frame, connected the utilities to the house and ran the conduit to the water's edge. Blade filled the eight-cen wide trench and coated it with grass seed.

Knight lowered the scaffold between the columns to waist depth, then went back to work with Nev. Blade began assembling the doorway that would allow a person to pull a covered path from the side door of the cabin to the end of the posine path from the viewroom. It could be heated after connection, but was primarily designed for use in wet, not cold, weather. Nev left the viewroom to help Blade. Knight picked up the viewroom with the high-loader and moved it onto the platform, then finished mowing the lawn.

When Knight began working on the door assembly, Nev left it and began moving tools and equipment to the LH or into the cabin. He went back to working on the door assembly when that was done.

Knight left the work on the door, unrolled the utility conduit, slipped a loop over a column, then connected the end of it to the viewroom. Nev and Blade finished the doorway, as Knight was setting the viewroom onto its frame.

Nev and Blade stripped to swimbriefs and dropped from the platform onto the submerged scaffold. It wasn't as easy to reach all the frame bolts as it was from the high-loader platform, but none were out of reach.

They collapsed the scaffold supports, disconnected it and took it out of the water. The platform supports were collapsed and it was pulled off the water. The posine was discharged, disconnected and rolled, then the support structure was disconnected in two places. It became three footed rails and a roll of posine, which fit neatly into the LH.

Knight, Nev and Blade walked from it to the front porch, where Kail and Dorn were seated and handed Dorn the remote. There were also controls at the side door and in the viewroom. Dorn smiled widely and touched the control. The door assembly extended, carrying the enclosed path to the shore.

"Beautiful! I'm real glad I watched you do this. It's going to make me real popular tea company at Berda's, for days. That platform and scaffold design is great. I didn't know how you were going to work in the water. I certainly didn't expect you to have everything done on the outside by dinnertime."

"I'm impressed. That's gorgeous. The path is wide enough you could carry a couch through it and it's pretty extended."

"Don't retract it until we check the walkway connection and seal, Dorn. You might want to watch this to explain it to your tenants. Posted instructions wouldn't work as well. 'Stick your hands out and punch the buttons, reach up, punch that one, grab hold of the edge and walk,' is all it takes, but people look for diagrams, correct terminology and such in posted."

"Yes, Nev, they do, and they expect anything with posted instructions to be complicated. That's simple, all right."

"You pull to see how easy."

"Light as a feather, Knight. Now what?"

"When you get to the end of the path, just push the tabs, where the buttons are, into the slots. If someone accidentally retracts the path with the walkway connected, they'll disengage, but they won't reconnect if the path is extended again. This is too light. It would just push it back. After connection, disconnect and walk it back, so you can see it will collapse into the doorway frame properly. This does have footlights, but they're barely discernible in sunlight. It doesn't opaque. No one's going to see enough to know people are running through it nude at night. The path walls and roof do opaque. They're much more brightly lit and the opaqueing glasselle is better for construction stability. This won't blow around when connected. The frame collapses, but it doesn't bend."

"I noticed I'm pulling it straight because that's the way it goes."

"It's as idiot-proof as we can make it, Dorn. That's why there's an interlock on doors at both ends of the path, and it's not just an open, or railed, path. That might be more interesting, in appearance, but a way to assure people don't step on the posine, until it's charged, just has to be included for a rental property."

"Absolutely, Nev. Tabs line up perfect."

"Nev, I really am impressed. You three are fantastic at what you've chosen to do. You know I thought it was a waste."

"I was sure you'd see how much what we do contributes and how much we enjoy it. Drand didn't show up. Odds he now owns a high-loader and Case and Stats had help on a job?"

"No. I don't think even the land clearance and flyers could have kept him from needing to see one of these done immediately. You expect him to hook up with Case and Stats."

"Not the same way we are. I think he and Dawn are going to get heavier licenses, and Ronnie's going to really go to work with Danny. Doc Larry is going to work for you. You have other people in mind."

"I'd like to hire them all, but Danny's parents don't want to move from Travella and Ronnie's won't leave Lambelin. Stats' mom and Dawn's dad want to change jobs, and move out of Richland. His dad and her mom wouldn't have any problem finding work up here, if there weren't positions associated with building the campus. You know who I really want and am trying to figure out how to convince to move."

"Balleon Industries will fight to keep him."

"I'm really hoping Case and his mom will help me, not them."

"Case will, but it will be very subtle. He'll look like he's not even expressing an opinion, but living here will become very attractive, to his mom."

"Which may be exactly why Drand and Dawn aren't here."

"True. I want to build a golf course and we're way behind on promised work."

"You also want to work on flyers and a car. How long here?"

"Everything is ready for pickup and we can get ready for carpet and appliances by tonight, I think. We should be done here by midday and maybe finished with three easy inside jobs by tomorrow night. We've got nine more, but four are going to take about a half-day each. Five or six days of real push, then we have yours. I'd just hire someone to do the course, but I really want Blade to design it."

"Why?"

"It'll be beautiful, play beautifully, be comparatively easy to maintain, tournament quality, with things like gallery space, convenient toilets and good cart trails and maintenance access, and he'll learn he has real talent for aesthetic and useful greenscape design. It's something Knight and I both see and he doesn't. Roper district is basically trampled dirt, sidewalks and streets. It's a totally unexpected ability and we didn't see how much talent he has, until we started designing the park. He doesn't realize it's primarily his design. So, a golf course, so I can teach him to play golf."

Kail burst into laughter. Nev grinned and told him there were only three firms on the continent that listed golf course design and it was a sideline of their landscaping business. There were only four golf course design specialists on the planet and he really wasn't impressed with any of them.

He expected a real boom in the pleasure industry to begin as soon as a stable government was in place and new technology began to be developed. People were going to have more disposable income and larger families, and be looking for ways to spend one to entertain the other.

His dad told him he'd wondered what he'd planned for the time rental maintenance was just maintenance. He didn't think general construction would interest them long and hadn't seen the viewrooms, living space expansions and golf course were the next step."

Nev told him he would have if he'd talked to Knight and Blade very long. His main job was "assemble the ideas presented in just talk into a plan outline pointing the right direction." He'd learned it at home and it had been what he did on the physics project, so he knew he had good training. His dad smiled widely. Nev's job description was the same as his.

Not long after Dorn and Kail left to take the trailer back, Nev's grandmother chimed the door of the cabin. She led Nev to her car and pointed to a container in the back seat. As soon as he got it out, she got in the car and left. Nev carried the container into the cabin, opened it and burst into laughter.

"Dinner is on top. A statement Grandma was frustrated is beneath it."

"Frustrated? Mobile comms!"

"Three wrist comm chrons and four comms for cars, Blade. Yours. Knight, yours. Your car, the LH, the T and a flimsy with a comm code for the Bolt. Note says separate service, not through the house."

"Why?"

"Because they're personal gifts, Blade, not for the business. The comp takes messages concerning jobs. We can specify current contractor and others be forwarded, but these are for family and friends to reach us with things like, 'Hi, I'm bringing you dinner.' You'll love this. Grandma makes great noodles with punkit cream sauce."

"Smells wonderful. Elven Silver Blade and Silver Green Bolt, nice codes."

"Knight of Pyramids and Knight Arrant's Steed."

"Nev to a T, Old White Workhorse and Prince of Purse!"

They burst into laughter. It was a great code. Nev's grandmother had obviously gotten a book update. They weren't surprised they all three got calls, as they were finishing dinner. Danny, Dawn and Drand gave them comp codes for 'everyone else's' and they entered them and shortcuts for all. Nev's grandmother had obviously had great fun creating comm codes for everyone, too.

Danny told Knight that Milla had gone comm shopping right after Gem World Communications announced all IS required monitoring and tracking installations had been removed, and mobile units would require specific programming to serve as locators for verified loss-of-contact emergencies. She also told them none of them would get a bill for service. It was paid for a decade and it was global, so there would be no long-distance records.

Gem WC had come up with exactly what people wanted first, and there might not be a mobile comm left in a store on the planet by the next evening. The other services were working fast to copy and would probably offer slightly better rates, but Gem WC was making a fast fortune.

Dawn told Blade who made the comms, their specs and how long they'd been on back shelves. Nev got the specs from Drand, along with a list of possible system integrations for the vehicle units.

Knight told Nev and Blade what Danny said. Blade and Nev told him about the lists they'd gotten. Nev said Dawn had "instantly reverted," but he wasn't sorry. He figured all that work they'd done teaching her most people didn't think of tech specs as casual conversation would probably be noticeable again by midwinter, and she'd help Drand remember. Since they now had her code, each of the three called Milla to thank her for the terrific dinner, the great comm codes, and the comms and service, too.

They finished installing and enclosing the spa, polishing the kitchen and baths, colorbonding the walls and ceilings, then changed the lights and set up the cabin for an entertainment system. It was twenty-three fourteen when they got that all done, but all that remained was putting in new carpet and appliances.

They installed the mobile comms and reconnected both the comm and power receiver in the Bolt, before they went to bed. All the vehicles were more than five years old, so all had once had comms. They put them in the slots and told the comps they were there. It didn't take long. Knight used the comm in his car to tell Dorn the work was done, as they left the cabin the next morning at ten seventeen. At twelve forty-two, they had sandwiches on the way to the second easy job.

Kail called Nev and told him that he, Dorn and a pair of secondary students had gotten all the furniture in the cabin, just before the rain began, and the two boys thought watching the rain from the viewroom was "peak-on."

The rain was off-and-on for three days. Case and Stats were doing the same thing they were, doing every inside job and working from about six to twenty-three daily to catch up. By the day the forecast no longer had periods of rain in it for "probably eight days," all they had left to do was a day's worth of outside work before they began on the rest of the viewrooms and 'house expansions.'

Case and Stats did have a high-loader to use and had done one "please," but had five to do. Knight, Nev and Blade had passed to calls to them because Nev's parents place and the ski cabin were both going to take time.

They were going to use a construction crane for the ski cabin. Nev's grandmother had showed him a catalog image. He told her she was paying for operators' licenses for three, crane rental, a lift installation license and the building permit, then asked how high she wanted it. When she'd told him he told her to order five columns.

The day after they finished the last jobs scheduled, before Nev's parents and grandparents, they went to Mountain City for the first time. There were campaign signs in front of homes and posters in windows of businesses. They were delighted. They weren't as pleased with the people who were sure one needed school to use a crane and install a lift, even though they said they'd studied.

Knight got impatient. He described a Velter plex lift, all parts and specifications, the installation process and the maintenance schedule. Nev named the twelve types of construction cranes. Blade put the formula for computing wind-deflection and shear stress on a datpad, then flipped the stylus into a cup across the room. Knight started on operational capacities, primary uses and manufacturing specifications of six models of the 'first type' and they were very quickly shown to test booths.

When Knight, then Nev and Blade walked out, a short time later, a clerk asked them if there was something wrong. The comp began printing licenses and the clerk blinked.

Case, Stats, Dawn and Drand walked into the Association of Construction Industry Insurers courtesy licensing office, while it was still printing list installation licenses, Blade pointed to a light that was "yelling fix me."

"Caprot seventeen eleven frequency regulator, Drand."

"I've got a Bortel-I nine oh six, Dawn. It'll adapt. Case, give me your micrometer."

"I've got a Totson circuit shaver in one of these pockets. Here."

"Thanks, Stats."

"Boost me up on Stats' shoulders, Case. I'll dismount it while Drand's adapting the Bortel-I. I don't know how you could think, Blade. I know you can hear this frequency."

"If it had been steady, or started before I went in the test booth, I'd have climbed Knight and yanked it out, Dawn. I figured you'd have something to fix it faster than a circuit rebuild. See you later. Shut the door, Nev. Comm Case. Signal Dawn there's nothing wrong with that module before she takes it apart. I was preventing a long argument you need training certificates from a school on their list. Comm out."

"Nice, Blade."

"Knight, I had this vision of Drand and Dawn starting on various matrix specs and Case and Stats going back every day for ten, before they could ask for apps."

Knight and Nev burst into laughter. Before they left Mountain City, they stopped at a Millson dealership. It was a surprise for Blade. Everything needed to restore the Bolt was waiting for pickup, including upholstery, carpet, headliner and the appliances that went in the compartments around the rear seat.

The woman at the service counter was almost as excited he'd found and was going to restore a Bolt as Blade was. He promised he'd drive it down when they finished, and told her it probably wouldn't be long. Half the people of West Side in Teal Valley had tools laid out to grab when they started. She said she'd see him in the morning.

They did start on the Bolt that evening and they did get a lot of help. They moved the Tourline and T out, put the Bolt in the center and left the garage door open.

Doc Larry came over while they were working. He was grinning widely. Kail had commed, transferred files, given him a schedule of meetings, and said, "Oh, you're hired. I'll figure out the title and salary later. Comm out."

They got a lot done on the Bolt that evening, but it wasn't near finished. They began tripling the entertainment area of Nev's parents' cabin the next day. They did have a building permit for the job. They were going to put in two sets of double doors. They'd be open much of the time. They were going in the side and end of the living room.

They began with the viewroom. It was over the water, but high over it. The path from it would lead to a deck. That was second.

They used columns to support tiered decks. The space under the two decks was usable. It was filled with plants with walks through them and alcoves, to be comfortably furnished for groups of from four to eight. All of the area beneath the broad curving stairs wasn't usable, but they were. They would be reasonably easy to climb, but designed to be comfortable to sit on, broad and nicely cushioned so both step edges and rails were comfortable to lean against.

The heating and cooling system was installed. Outlets were small and on the outside of deck and stair rails and on the ten-cen high border around it all. They put in a personal lift up to the decks near the end doors, then placed lights over plant areas, along paths, and beneath the roof overhang of the cabin and installed torchier lamps 'everywhere.'

They poured the floor over utility conduits to all areas, then built the waterfall fountain that cascaded from a pool on the top deck to one on the ground. The column that supported it was wrapped in vines and so were the arms that held the shallow clear basins, which overflowed into the next lower, spiraling around the column.

They built a circular bar in the center, put in all the plants and built small cascades of water many places through them, then carpeted all non-plant areas in a deep pile silvered brown that was highly stain resistant, didn't show normal dirt and was very easy to clean. They programmed the comp to send the small housekeeping bot to all areas, put the appliances in the bar and placed dark green recycle units among plants at the edge of walks, many places.

They went up on the roof of the cabin and installed the unit that held the roof, then they built the doorway for the viewroom path. At each corner they set a tall, thick plant pole into the holes in the border made for them and attached them to the top deck. They hung large baskets of trailing plants on arms that contained sprinkler heads. They put potted vines beside the doorway, wove them through and over the narrow arched trellis in front of it and connected the drip watering system. At dusk on the sixth day, they turned on the water and lights, then walked into the house and told the comp to "enclose deck."

The corner poles and roof assembly opened. Extensor arms carried sage green walls, bases moving along tracks in the outside of the border, on both sides of the area and to the side of the house behind the end doors. Extensor arms carried opaqueing glasselle from both outside corners to the doorway. A glasselle wall dropped down from the bottom of the doorway to the viewroom. All leading wall edges had vand seal male edges. The wall that had gone down and open panels in columns and the outside of the door had female. The roof assembly unfolded on one side.

All walls had tracks at the top edge with posiseal beneath them. Pale cream posine, carried by two extensor arms of the same color, a third of the way in on both sides, moved along the wall tracks, then inserted into the one in the glasselle walls and the doorway. Posine was the only material they were sure wouldn't collapse from the snow load on a flat roof. As soon as all walls and roof were in place, the comp charged the system. The posine became rigid and the vand and posiseal swelled.

Knight ordered the viewroom path extended. Kail and Lillen walked out into the big beautiful room and sat down at the bar. Knight, Nev and Blade followed.

"This is a work of art and genius. I don't know why I expected glasselle all around."

"Glasselle all around would have just been a rectangular dome, Mom. If you just wanted an enclosed space a dome would have been fine, but you'd have asked for one if that's what you wanted."

"Room capacity about two hundred. If you wish, or ever need, to get people out, order the front wall open. There's a manual seal discharge and reel in the right pole bottom."

"We couldn't get the seal in the same color, so went with transparent. You can see it's there, but it's not obvious."

"Blade, it's nearly invisible. This room won't be particularly expensive to heat."

"Your parking area is done, Dad. It's got a standard parking dome with automatic door. Not particularly warm, but pull the path cover up from your door and people won't freeze coming in or leaving. Leave it up in winter. It's reasonably cheap to heat if people aren't in and out all the time. You'll use the garage, so it won't lose much heat either."

"You finished just ahead of rain."

"It's that time of year. The harvesters call it 'work-dry-party-wet-season,' Lillen. The lights can be dimmed in sections, or all of the light bars or torchiers ordered on or off, and they'll all dim. You can order, 'plant lights on,' and those will be all that come on. They'll get light through the glasselle, but the lights over the more interior plants should be on about eight hours a day. The comp's programmed for that, but you can override. House comp, torchiers, plant and viewroom lights only."

"It's even more beautiful this way, Blade."

"I thought it would be pretty."

"Comm Milla. You've got to see this. I'm opening the champagne you gave me and Lillen is dashing for treats. The parking dome is up and we'll cover the path, so you don't get wet. Tell everyone. Comm out."

"There's no furniture yet."

"She'll call Dawn to call your neighborhood and the five families, and a few others, Blade. She knows how much champagne she gave me and what we have for treats. We'll have a social occasion after it's furnished. This is just come-see and she knows who wants to most, who should get to."

"I'll take the path up."

"I'd like to do it, Knight. It's my new path. Going to use that one too. I think lightweight, not quite patio-style furniture that people will move around."

"That's about what we envisioned. Watch for people on stairs carrying chairs, Dad."

"They'll more move them around on tiers than up-and-down, Nev, but I will. Milla will be so stunned, and proud of you. I am, all three of you, but I always am."

"Poor Drand, another night everyone deserts work on the flyers."

"Rain all day tomorrow and most of the next day, Blade. We should get the Bolt done easily and have real time to help with those too."

"I used to really dislike rainy days, Nev."

The 'gang' were "awed." The bar and steps were perfect for the gathering of about forty. Essa suddenly yelled she knew the furniture. Lillen, Milla, Silky and Blade 'chased' her to a screen. Blade knew alcoves and numbers of lamps on tiers and the ground. Lillen told Essa to "order right." Essa told Silky he was helping.

They chose several styles and fabrics, but the chairs, loveseats and low tables, were all transparent with random vaporous swirls of creamy white. The fabrics chosen were predominantly dark brown and forest green and all leaf and branch patterns. The furniture was softly sculpted and looked very comfortable.

The little company on the northwest continent that made it was open. They acknowledged the order and request for rush air delivery to Teal Valley and gave midafternoon in Teal Valley in two days as delivery time.

Lillen commed the company president to say thank you personally and told him they'd send images of the "design triumph" where it was being placed, both as room and decks. The company president asked questions, then said, "We'll get it there tomorrow."

Lillen told him it would be two days before it stopped raining and they could retract the room, but he'd get images of that as soon as the furniture was in it. When she got off comm, she checked on the company. It was three young couples and the designs were theirs. She was delighted.

Case surprised them all. He told his dad the university was more important, he was changing jobs, and borrowing the money from his boss to expand their lake home, until their other house sold. He told his mom keeping up with the competition wasn't easy, but he had some ideas. Stats' mom whimpered. Stats said he had ideas too. Kail hired her and Dawn's dad. Dawn and Drand told her parents they had ideas.

Case's dad just nodded when Kail told him he was hired and had "an until-the-house-sells loan." He was laughing too hard to talk.

The next morning, they finished the Bolt. Knight and Nev 'went along' to the Millson dealership in Mountain City. Blade gave the woman who'd been excited, and then eight others, short rides. When they got home, Nev pointed to the comp and said, "Golf course," then he and Knight dashed out the kitchen door to the T. Blade yelled he'd never even played golf, then began looking at images of courses and reading comments on their design and play on various types of grass.

Blade arrived at the hangar with dinner. He was smiling widely and told Nev and Knight he'd had fun, after he got over the panic. He told Nev he was going to have to hire a construction company to build the workshop, but cart parking was just a smaller version of their boathouse.

They finished the first flyer that night. Work on the other three had already begun. Some things had just been simpler to do all at once. The flyers weren't going to be all alike, but generators, tool compartments, workbenches and rooms were, and all of those were done. The second flyer interior had also been started. They got quite a bit done on it and the third and fourth well underway by the end of the second day of rain.

The next day, Lillen got day and evening images with walls retracted and sent them, and more with walls in place, to the small company. Case and Stats began work at Case's parents' cabin. Knight, Nev and Blade, with Milla's "dying to play golf" consent, began work on the course.

More rain was coming, but intermittent showers wouldn't slow them greatly at her home or the ski cabin, where some work would be inside. It would on the golf course and having it seeded before it showered would aid grass growth immensely.

Blade dug sand traps and water hazards. Knight moved and planted trees. Nev tilled fairways and the driving range. Blade changed equipment and prepared greens, including the putting green. Knight changed and laid the sprinkler system, other water and sewer lines and power conduit. Drand and Dawn made all the connections. Nev cleared and leveled the Pro shop and cart rental area. Blade prepared tees and filled sand traps. Nev cleared and leveled restroom areas. Knight poured floors. All three, Drand and Dawn erected restroom 'sheds,' installed faucets and toilets and placed waste recyclers around the course. Knight poured cart paths, while the others began erecting the pro shop, snack bar, banquet hall and cart rental and storage area. Blade seeded it all.

Drand and Dawn had a construction license. It didn't cover homes or office buildings, but it allowed them to build permanent structures of some types. The snack bar and banquet hall, which overlooked the course, were designed to fit within the strictures of their license and signed off by architect Andon Lambert.

The cart barn and maintenance shed were constructed in hours. The building was quick, but it would have taken many more than three days without a flood of volunteers. The recessing domes to cover patios were installed and landscaping was completed, as the appliances were being installed in the snack shop and banquet hall and carpet was laid.

Because they'd borrowed very large farm equipment for the course preparation, the land had been well-cleared in advance and so many worked on the main structure, the whole project was done in eleven days, except for the fairways and greens. They were rapidly changing from brown to green, but the course wouldn't be ready for play for at least fifteen days.

The specialty grasses wouldn't be ready for trampling as quickly as the type used in the now fully 'trampleable' park. There, ball and soccer teams were already practicing and playing and picnics, concerts and plays were already taking place. The schedule of events was growing and parents were bringing children to see and play from all across the region, not just Teal Valley.

Case's parents had needed additional living space, not just room to entertain more. Ronnie's and Danny's parents had gone home, but returned on days off to see progress.

Case and Stats used solariums to create bedrooms, baths and office space at various heights. They enclosed the area between to create an atrium and expanded the kitchen and living room by removal of walls, under Drand and Dawn's license. They also expanded the master bedroom, adding doors and an enclosable spa area. Lights beneath the solariums and steps up to them assured plants beneath them were happy.

The fountain they built in the center of the atrium was a spiral of slender transparent columns with water bubbling out of the lighted top of each. The one-point seven five diameter, point seven five meter deep pool at the base was on a point seven five meter high pedestal, and transparent. It was stocked with water plants and ornamental fish. The pedestal contained the best aquarium continuous-cleaning and filtration system available. It also contained an auto-feeding system, which released food in the area in the center of the columns, but that wasn't turned on.

Case's mom really enjoyed sprinkling food and watching her fish, from one of the three plant-surrounded 'lobes' of various sizes, furnished for four-to-six with transparent green swirled furniture.

The living room-atrium combination gave Case's parents room to entertain sixty to seventy comfortably. Their viewroom was on the water and they still had a nice lawn area between it and the atrium doors. The only open or enclosed area Case and Stats had built was the spa patio.

The atrium had melt units and water channels in its arched transparent roof. It also had many baskets of trailing plants and lights for them beneath it. They were the primary source of light in the atrium, but every solarium had its own. Case's parents now had a five-bedroom, three-bath home and the rest of the extended family were all scheduling visits. They were already at work on Stats' parents' cabin, building a "patio-greenhouse with fruits and veggies in reach along every walk and from every chair in an alcove."

It was going on the back side of the cabin, with doors from the kitchen and dining area, and would enclose. The cabin was quite close to the lakefront on a wooded lot. The road side had enough cleared areas to make the inside-garden-orchard-patio Stats' parents wanted. Platforms would give more seating areas and allow people to pick fruit off trees. Stairs to them would be spiral. Water would run through the entire area in a brook with gates to irrigate planted areas. Lights would be on columns of many heights and focused on planted areas.

The walls and roof were glasselle. The roof was steeply peaked, matching that of the cabin, but there was a sub-roof of gel-core solar sheeting, used by floral growers for its heat exchanging properties. It could be set to cool or warm the area it faced and was ninety-nine-point eight three percent transparent to sunlight. The glasselle was less, but snow would slide off it quickly. It would make pockets and eventually tear the sheeting.

By the time Knight, Nev and Blade had finished the viewroom, building and enclosure for the rest of the exterior entertainment area, installing a dome over the parking area and green-escaping Nev's grandparents' house, Case and Stats had finished Stats' parents' cabin and were helping Dawn and Drand with Dawn's parents'.

Knight, Blade and Nev began on the ski cabin with a five-days-before-downpour weather forecast. They set the columns, with the viewroom frame already built onto them, used the platform they built for the construction crane to connect it, lifted the viewroom into place and fastened it in, then installed the transparent lift shaft between two more widely spaced side columns. The glasselle walls, ceiling and doors of the lift could be opaqued. The shaft could not, but it didn't refract light and was as near invisible as advertised.

The path they built was from the bottom of the lift shaft, which was a bit above ground level, to the broad loft deck. They quickly enclosed it and the very large first story deck. The enclosures had no retracting walls. That was unnecessary. The cabin was for winter use. They returned the crane the third day.

They installed the garage dome over the additional parking area and built a covered path from it that joined the one from the garages. The garage dome wasn't a recessing type either. It was shorter and assembled in sections. It had melt units in the top of the supports and lights on the bottom. They finished all the exterior construction almost ahead of the rain.

They built the connection between the walks with the rain pouring down on them. It didn't take long, but they were soaked and dripping when they finished. They stripped off clothes, put them in the clothes cycler to dry and got in the spa to get warm. That's when Blade told them his plans for one hundred cut crystal snowflakes.

"Five mobiles suspended from the ceiling. I've got five each of four thin chrome rings in diminishing sizes. I'm going to hang them one each in front of the five windows over planters. They won't obstruct the view and the ceiling is high enough to give nice space between the rings. I've got a lot of other crystal stuff, including glassware and decanters for the bar, and I ordered plants and furniture for the viewroom and decks and carpet for the decks. It's silver-gray. It won't show dirt badly and people shouldn't get that far with dirty feet. I've got chrome lattice for plants and stuff to build a curving chrome plant-framed waterslide into a warm pool from the top to bottom deck. That's why I said enclose out past the deck on that end. We'll fill the whole area with flowering plants in hanging chrome planters on chrome poles and crystal bars and panels hung from the top on monofil. Since moisture won't collect on glasselle, the water in the slide pool can be hot enough to steam, if someone wants it that way."

"I'm really looking forward to doing this. How big is the pool?"

"We'll be digging a hole for it, assembling a frame and lining it, Nev. Seats all around the sides, mid-chest deep on me, a chrome ladder up to the bottom deck, and a chrome stand with dozens of white fluffy robes beside it. Not a spa. No water jets. Just a big pool that'll hold about twelve comfortably, and a slide that puts people in it at one end. They can go down the ladder if they prefer. We just don't carpet in a half circle around the ladder, and water runs through. The whole idea is ancient history. Nev, we just lost Knight."

"Crystal, chrome, refraction, steam, slide, tub or drip-through, something connected in there, Blade."

"I figured we were going to have to come up with something. Everyone else is still reworking the math. They need a kick in the ass to get their minds moving."

"They need one to get them started building a new government, so they can get the spaceport, the portal and interplanetary communication going. The families of the oligarchy have 'made port,' so people know there's something going on here. And nobody's even building a damn shuttle!"

"Comm Danny. Beautiful, Knight's glazed and Nev's steaming. Do a gov-job-open list and a congressional district map. Tell them people are about to show up at the portal, and land, and if they don't get their asses in gear to get ready for visitors, they'll take the math ingredients home and work up recipes, because we obviously aren't going to close our mouths and get to work. Yes, they need local gov, but they can't wait to get every local gov in place and running before they think about planetary, unless they plan on city-states and the comp just keeping things outside them going. Drenched doing the last panel, but we'll drive into dry to work from now on. Thanks. Comm out. The others just got the enclosure done. They've still got thirty-nine minutes before it rains."

"I've got an idea."

"Oh, we knew that, Knight."

It took them four more days to finish the ski cabin. The next morning, Nev called Andrea and told her his grandmother had gotten impatient and there were several golf carts in the cart barn. The rain had topped off water hazards, the course had been mowed, and it could handle two teachers and a pair of students. She said her clubs were in the car.

They taught Knight and Blade to play on the course Blade had designed. Andrea told them not to expect most courses to be as much fun to play. Blade looked surprised, then smiled widely. While they were on the course, Nev called the mayor and said the cart barn was filling, so they'd better get someone in the pro shop and snack bar, if they planned to collect greens fees. The course had been overseeded, mowed and would be ready for full play after the third mowing in five days.

"Comm out."

"That soon?"

"At that point, golf cleats will do more good than harm, Andrea. Drand ran an aerator around the greens yesterday. The rain really helped the grass root well. He checked plugs all over. Even the third seeding will be sturdy enough by then. It's time for the city to relieve the volunteers of course maintenance duties, and several people to get new jobs. They know who's going to manage the snack bar, pro shop, banquet hall and course maintenance, but the contracts aren't signed yet."

"They'll get signed fast now, probably within minutes, so they can start stocking shelves and pantries. The banquet hall was a good idea. It'll help pay for winter upkeep."

"It'll also reduce the probability we'll be doming the bandstand area, so there's a place for a wedding reception. Summer is ending. The course will be playable until jackets are traded for coats, but summer people are already asking about boat storage. It's going to be full quite soon."

"It'll be hot down there until well after the first frost here."

"Which will be a bit early this year."

"Such a change from last year and you brought it all. Not just to here, to the whole world."

"We intended to do something about the world. The rest just sort of happened."

"Andrea, he intended. The others knew it and, of course, helped."

"I realize that, Knight. What are you going to do about all the attention you're going to get?"

"Oh, we'll slip any tech we come up with in quietly and dump the money in the building fund."

"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the cabins. This too, but it isn't going to put your names on the front of every design and architecture site on the infonet in thirteen days."

"What?"

"You're going to win the Design Academy Award for Innovation, Nev, and Case and Stats will get second. Nominations are complete as of yesterday and your little businesses are listed. You may get the big one, Design of the Year."

"Uh... How did we get nominated?"

"Some member of the Academy submitted your name. Who knows who was cruising around the lake, then ran in some place in Veil Lake and asked who did your parents' place. Many have. Everyone up there and down here gives a list of go-see and now people in Frostlea are. Your families aren't going to put opaque domes over all their homes and refuse to allow the nominations committee to get images for Academy members to look at. In thirteen days, the member votes will be tallied and you'll both be in the top five, two itty-bitty rental maintenance companies from Teal Valley, which everyone has now heard of, in the top five in the most prestigious design competition on Gradelode. The Academy is based in Coral Hills on the northwest continent, so the awards didn't get much attention by anyone but architects and interior designers, here. This year, it will."

"Yipe."

"We need to do more real fast to distract from family names, Nev, preferably somewhere else."

"You're available?"

"Clear schedule as of this morning, all of us."

"Comm Penny. Penny, Knight said all three companies finished everything yesterday!"

"I thought we were going to get some time off."

"Eventually, Blade. We aren't going to build stuff outside in snow to our nuts."

"I remind you, mine are much lower."

### Chapter Eighteen

Danny got the complete plan the group in the mine had built, after Larry did a bit of tailoring and polishing, and put it on the infonet. There were two party platform proposals, not terribly different in general, but there had been conservatives and liberals in the group and they'd defined their differences well.

She scheduled both party conventions, appointed the chairs and committees on Larry's list, paid the meeting room and convention hall fees, appointed the slate of pro tems, sent voter registration requests to every taxpayer and put government job listings on the net. All the pro tem bureaucrats, members of congress and party committee members received messages.

"The interplanetary news services are coming! They could be here in four days! You've been drafted to make it at least look like we're getting ready to support R and D on the formulas, so they don't just take them home and forget us. Congressional session starts at nine, Lodestar time, tomorrow, agenda attached. Bureaucratic appointees, get to offices by then and start reviewing applications. If you wanted the job, you wouldn't have been appointed. Find replacements. Personal office key and auth codes attached. We'll sound like total idiots saying, 'Duh, we don't have any shuttles, so we can't get to the portal.' Move it.!"

Since the full list of pro tem appointees was attached all would know who else. It was an extremely competent and respected group, despite the former gov's attempts to control or coerce them. Day or night, wherever they were on the world, their comps sounded emergency buzzers.

Danny commed Knight and told him to get the shuttles somewhere visible fast. He told her they were on the seventeenth green and they'd be visible in a half-hour.

On the northwest curve, Knight turned on the shield. They went up to the mine, hooked up the three repaired, and open, shuttles, put a message on their comp screens, floated them and invisibly towed them to the top of the tallest hill on the campus land. They set them down, unhooked them, opened the rear end of the shield until it cleared them, closed it and reduced the shield size when they got to road. Knight drove to the flyer hangar and the car became visible when he parked in its shadow. They went in the side door.

Blade told everyone about his first golf game and most were giggling too hard to work in moments. They finished the fourth flyer at thirteen twenty-three and Nev invited everyone to their place for late lunch. At fourteen oh eight, Kail came in the kitchen door and leaned on the counter. He was laughing so hard he needed support.

"Donations to the building fund!"

"Donations?"

"Three shuttles, Drand, with 'I'm a donation to the building fund. I'm sure someone wants to lease me,' on their screens. They were on top of a hill on the campus land."

"They weren't there when we played golf. We'd have seen them."

"Oh, I'm sure they weren't, Blade."

"Answer comm. Hello, Andrea."

"Since Kail's there, you've heard."

"Just. Knight, Blade and I took turns eating and answering the comm chime. Thank you, I think."

"They were all just waiting because no one knew what else you had to do, Nev. We have the most anonymous anonymous donation anyone's ever seen. There's absolutely nothing to identify those shuttles in their comps, or anywhere else. Judge Wadronna said we have shuttles. One moment. I've got a priority message. It's a planetary voter registration form!"

On a shaded street corner in Roper district, six people sat at comps and entered information people gave them. The lines in front of them were long. Behind them, four people cooked and filled cups. A sign above them said, "Voter Registration. Free fried gint pods and iced tea. Bring the kids."

Knight, Blade and Nev had five 'building' jobs and three rental prep. Case and Stats had three and five. Drand and Dawn had three building jobs. They were passed any that required more than rental maintenance licenses covered.

People had been told the two businesses would be working together and their place on the combined schedule. Since Danny needed Dawn to do some contract tailoring checks, she wouldn't be working with the business full-time. Nev nodded his uncle into the living room to talk.

"She doesn't like the carpentry as much."

"You don't like the math as much. You're both tech crazy, but a lot of what we're doing is primarily enjoyable to her because of you and new. She loves using tools of any kind, but the sixth time she builds four identical platforms, she'll wish she was using the bonder on something interesting. Danny's tugging because she isn't going to let the pleasure of working together be diminished by routine. The flyers are done and you have licenses to build anything you want. Next?"

"I was out of next when I got here."

"Knight! Blade's right. He's being careful not to attract attention to us. He won't even think about something that won't fit in the garage."

"Drand, at this point, we're just dodging people who want to push us into a physics lab. Everyone in the region is obviously going to help. Blade said building a spaceship under a dome would be a good long-term hobby project, but you have what's needed to get the university building bid process open."

"I do?"

"Go introduce yourself to Tatton Tellerlock. He can't bid on the science building, until he has someone who knows all the systems needed and can price and build them. The bid committee doesn't want to open bids until someone local can."

"Dawn! I'll be back!"

"Drand?! Nev?! Knight? Blade!"

"Nev said you were both going to get bored, Dawn. My personal experience with boredom is extreme, so avoidance is always at the top of the priority list."

"You're not going to tell me where my husband was going when he ran out the door."

"I don't actually know, but probably not to buy parts for spaceship. Yet."

"What?!"

"I didn't think building a shuttle would keep you happily busy evenings all winter."

"Dawn, Ronnie and I need you. You're important to two businesses, but neither need you full-time. A spaceship will be fun. I hope you find somewhere close to build it. I wanna play too."

"So do I."

"Me too."

"It's unanimous. We all want to help you and hubby with your hobby project. Meanwhile, Knight had an idea."

"A revelation, Nev. There are as many applications as the measurement count. That's why it's there. The measurement is from outside and inside. Empty and fill, anchor and move, block and assist, save and squander, open and close, pull and push, and all the other opposing actions. The more bases, the more refined the actions. A cone is stop and go, or on and off."

"From outside stop, inside go."

"Yes, Case."

"Messing with a cone is dangerous, Knight. It could stop the planet in its orbit, or all electrochemical processes."

"Damn! Danny, get a warning out. Blade's right."

"Knight, someone would think 'ultimate weapon.' We have to refine the warning."

"The cone is stop or go, of everything. Totally inert or accelerated through atomic breakdown, you wouldn't be around to record the results of an experiment."

"Thanks, Ronnie. Sent to all universities, known corp R and D labs and high-tech retailers. If you want anything else checked, changed or sent, tell me now. I expect my auth code to auto-expire shortly after eight tomorrow, our time."

"Danny, don't do that."

"Why, Blade?"

"Because there are about fifteen thousand greedy sociopaths still running around out there and some have got a lot of money."

"Not unless they declared it on their taxes last time. There are two fully-funded political conventions scheduled, including rooms and meals for four delegates from each congressional region. There are fully funded classroom and on-the-job training assistance programs already beginning in the four large subsidized districts, and the new government has a lot of research grant money to distribute. There are no longer a large number of nonexistent people with bank accounts and stock portfolios. The pro tem Treasury Minister has correct figures to use. The adjusted population figure is noted as correct except for an unknown number of 'removed.' The method of computation is noted. Since I used it to identify non-existent people and remove them from records, I already had an actual count."

"Method?"

"Every hospital, clinic, midwife, rural physician and birth-at-home register gets a new baby kit, Stats. Every death recorded has a notation if there's no one to notify, or who was. Every inoculation series, education program and cremation is recorded. Our identities didn't kick out when I ran a cross-check, but thousands did. I eliminated births that didn't happen, registered deaths that did, noted exile of the families of the oligarchy and subtracted the five hundred forty-eight duplicates and several known removals."

"You noted five hundred forty-eight duplicates?"

"Yes, Blade, but there's no record of how many rebels were convicted, nor how many were once in Horgen Field or Fataner. Doc Larry said the total figure is a validation of pro tem appointments. It's one hundred ten more than the total who made the first pro tem administrative and congressional appointments, and they appointed many from among them. The five hundred forty-eight figure, representation of every region on the planet and notation none of the selecting body, nor their family members, were appointed is at the top of the agenda, the first item to be read into the new congressional record."

"Danny, five hundred forty-eight didn't... Selecting body."

"Yes, Ronnie. It's the same term that was used the first time. Larry said it's probable that more participated in making our appointment list than theirs. By that time, the cost of staying in Lodestar would have become a financial burden to most of the delegates. The election was only twenty-two days away and the pro tem job was change 'Colonial' to 'Planetary' on forms."

"Ours have a lot more to do."

"They were chosen for their ability to do it, Dawn, not because it wouldn't bankrupt them to stay in Lodestar another twenty-two days, and ours have quarters, transportation and a nice meal budget."

"A very large number of large, unoccupied houses, unowned cars and more money than you could spend."

"Addresses, key codes and auth codes to pay for groceries or meals, Knight. The cleaning services and comp installers have enough done to assign three to a house with three cars in the garage. The rest get for-sale signs as they're completed. The other cars already went to used car lots in four cities. That money, and the money from the sale of houses, goes toward replacing 'approved' texts with good ones for elementary and secondary education, and to retraining teachers and school administrators, if needed. Basically, elected and appointed people aren't going to all live in one neighborhood, and if they want one of those houses, they'll have to buy it."

"You think all those houses are going to sell?"

"Very fast, Blade. They're priced at their assessed value. Do you think any of those people paid property taxes on their real value?"

"People on subsidy will be buying them."

"Not if they plan to rent or resell them within two years. That's in the contract, and all eight of the realtors who have listings have been notified potential buyers must be told Lodestar city government is expected to reassess for property taxes, as soon as an assessor is elected. They'll sell fast, but to people who can afford to pay taxes on what they're worth, and intend to live in them."

"Two years is a congressional term."

"And the max of five consecutive terms, with two terms intervening before reelection, is back in the constitution, Nev. Some may still serve twenty years in congress, but it will be over twenty-four years."

"A lot of gov employees can afford those houses, Danny."

"Yes, Case, and they'll be able to pay taxes on them, if they actually work. All offices have been notified employee evaluation will begin at nine tomorrow, Lodestar time, and be ongoing. The attached note said anyone not doing everything in the job description will be terminated, unless allocation of time and completed work is submitted and comp verified, so new job descriptions can be written. Any person taking, or asking for, a bribe or gratuity, other than those declaring gratuity income for tax purposes, such as food service personnel, will be arrested and prosecuted."

"There are going to be a lot of resignations and early retirements."

"They'll discover they have what they said they had, Blade. They don't have four other accounts, and they'll either live on their retirement or job hunt. The people actually doing the work will submit it, or smile widely, because they'll get promoted, and there will be lots of on-the-job training positions open in the government. I didn't do it. The whole plan for blowing out the chaff, reconstructing education and getting people in sub districts trained and working is from the bunch who worked with Doc Larry. He talked to a lot of them and many others at the wedding reception and since, and refined it to specifics. He said it's the fastest way to change 'grab everything in sight to honesty and hard work pay off' in the minds of our children. Dump the grabbers, reward the workers and take everything grabbed and give it back as education. Even their own kids will know why, and no longer think it's the smart way. We'll probably end up with former gov employees on subsidy, but the kids in subsidy and low income families now have educational priority and a big government grant fund to help with post-secondary education of any type."

A man in Jenneara watched a live-cam image of four people coming out of the building he'd just leased to the planetary government. They'd carried a hauler-load of office equipment into it. One of them set up a ladder, carried the end of a banner up and attached it to the wall. He moved the ladder, got the other end from a woman holding it and climbed. As he did, the banner spread. It said, "The Work Place. Employment, On-The-Job Training, Work Skills Training, Higher Education, YOUR government bringing opportunity to YOU. Hours 8 to 20. All programs fully funded with what we took away from the greedy pocks."

He burst into laughter and told his employee no apology for the jiggling cam was necessary. He completely understood. The last image was of the sign just posted on the door. "Opening Celebration. Free tea and biscuits 7-9. Warning: OJT in action. Twelve people will be told they're counselors, led to desks and paid well."

"Spread the word. Make sure they have twelve who'll be good at it, and will stick with it, waiting at the door at seven. Don't limit, but at least twelve. They'll find good jobs for others."

"I'd have trouble believing it if it didn't say, 'greedy pocks,' Boss."

"That's why it says it, Kerp. Tell the pimps to encourage, not discourage, their girls and boys to go."

"They won't like that, Boss."

"They'll like feeding and clothing more prostitutes than there are customers less. Any good pimp has excellent managerial skills, and job counselors from the district will know it. Half their customers were 'greedy pocks,' and the pimps know it. Some should decide if they'd like to have nice condos in the burbs and spend evenings at Bardrips and Speed Lane. They won't have to work any harder and they won't have to kill somebody to make more. Income just keeps going up and invitations to play golf and attend cocktail parties go up with it. Successful licensed brothel operator, smart enough to grab the opportunity to change occupations to well-paid middle manager, with unlimited career growth potential, won't be a social detriment."

"Boss, they work for you."

"My business is changing too, Kerp. You should consider becoming a police officer."

"What?!"

"You like people and you like making sure no one hurts them. You're fast, smart and know the right questions to ask. That's what a police officer is supposed to be like. If you showed up there in the uniform, those people would all know the city government means what it says about serving the citizens. They don't pay as much as I do to start, but you'd be a sergeant before long and a captain, if you decided you wanted to be."

"Like up in Teal Valley."

"You'd have to work harder, but addicts and pushers are gone and the door to opportunity opens at seven."

"I could still say give it to me to give back and don't do stupid again."

"Probably get an award for getting all those kids going the right way."

"You're going to tell a lot of us we should be looking for other jobs, aren't you?"

"The right people are taking on the job of taking care of the people. The people needed protection from the ones taking the money to do it before. No police in the district station yet, Kerp. Who would the people trust enough to call when they need help? That's who belongs in it. Your job of record is security officer. Your current employer, and a lot of people, will give you a good reference."

"Somebody needs to do it first and you think it should be me."

"You'd be who I'd want in that station, if I still lived two blocks down, fifth floor back."

"When you were a little kid. All right, Boss. I'll set the example. If they'll hire me. Police officer, my mother is not going to believe it."

"She'll be very proud of you, when you teach everyone in Roper what it's supposed to mean. Comm out. Comm connect Larton Gliss."

"Good afternoon."

"You're taking over my other job, look after the people of Roper. Since you're the one who's supposed to be doing it, I'm not unhappy they don't need to pay me to do it, but I've got a lot of people on my payroll who should be on yours. They're going to start coming in to put on uniforms to do the same job they've been doing for years, protect and help the people. They're the only ones the people in Roper district will be sure they can trust in the Roper district police station. They intend to help you teach them this government is of the people."

"I'm... stunned."

"Why, when you knew they were liars, did you believe what they said about Roper district and me? A lot of my business was illegal. I assured people could buy a used comp for kids to study, even though they couldn't afford to pay the gov taxes on used comp sales. I assured none of the greedy gov, who went to Roper, beat up prostitutes. I assured the slime, who wore uniforms, didn't grab girls on the street or take the little people had, and I assured no one sold dream dust to kids in Roper district. Every apt I own meets building codes and I get someone there in the middle of the night if a cooler goes out. I hated the gov, loathed IS, and I've been doing just what you have, watching close and following the examples of how to bring it down. Why did you believe nothing else they said, but were sure they told the truth about Roper and me?"

"That's a good question and I don't have an answer. I'm sure you're telling the truth, and still can't pitch the feeling, but at least I'm aware it's based on lies."

"That's a beginning. The new planetary government is opening an employment office in Roper district tomorrow and the sign on the door leaves no doubt they know who the people are and understand them. I talked to the person I know is best for the real job of police officer in Roper into applying for the job and setting the example. I want to make a donation for the purpose of changing the color of uniforms and patrol cars."

"That's a real good idea. Color?"

"Kerp said, 'Like Teal Valley,' when I talked about what police are supposed to be like. A touch greener or a couple shades lighter than Teal Valley's?"

"My opinion on color is ask my wife. Liva! New police uniforms! A little greener or little lighter than Teal Valley's? She said lighter won't be as hot and she really likes the idea."

"Will twenty thou get you started?"

"More than. We haven't got twenty police officers yet. Maybe a color change will help."

"Wilton Kerpella will help too. Let me know if you need more."

"Shouldn't. We suddenly got more money just dumped into the budget. Got a note said it was being returned."

"I'm finding a cam image of the note Roper district got. There."

The new mayor of Jenneara burst into laughter. He found the reference on accepting civic donations, established the fund for the purpose and the money was transferred. He checked his reference text again, conference-called the new city council and showed them the image. The new council member from Roper district whooped and said her district was about to shrink.

The mayor told them about the comm call and the donation. The Roper rep said "the boss" was exactly who he said and Kerp in a police uniform would fill every good heart in the district with joy that ran over in tears.

The mayor showed them the color for uniforms and cars his wife had picked. They were unanimously approved. The Roper rep got the job of getting it started with additional funding approved. Seventeen minutes later the first dark blue police car entered a custom colorbond bay. In eight minutes it exited, white, with the city police logo across a broad "light teal" stripe on both sides, and the next one entered.

The rep had gotten the city a very good price. The shop was doing the cars for cost plus dinner at Datser's for the seven people donating their labor and working all night. At six the next morning, the first fifty "light teal" police uniforms were delivered to police headquarters. The man told the astounded woman at the desk it had taken a while to get the dye blend right, but they'd have the other four hundred fifty in "standard healthy active size distribution" in two days. Thirty-eight more people were planning what they'd order at the best restaurant in Jenneara, as thanks for donating their labor.

By the time the pro tem prime minister called the pro tem congress, with all members in attendance, to order, Datser's had said they'd donate the dinners, nine other cities were changing the colors of police cars and uniforms, and a man called "Kerp" was dressing in a light teal uniform. Police Academy would come after there were police enough to start one. Kerp already knew the important part of the job, protect the people.

Danny, Ronnie and Dawn watched the GGN coverage on Channel Forty-eight for a few minutes, then called the guys, already working on the first jobs on their lists. Every person appointed had made it to Lodestar by nine, Lodestar time, eight theirs. Danny sat and watched resignations and retirement requests be auto-processed, openings be auto-added to the jobs available list and applications pour in, until nine forty-six, Teal Valley time, when her code auto-expired.

"They're in! All the auth codes are in! And mine's out. I'm very happy, and bereft."

"You did the job, Danny. The old gov is gone and good people have taken on the job of building the new one."

"I know, Ronnie, but it's like my favorite game just expired."

"World Builder Eleven, level twenty."

"Eight and three-fourths, Dawn, and level nine gets played by someone else. What happened?! What... Who the hell did that? Uh, hello."

"I'm Kabelle. Who are you?"

"Danny. You're the pro tem Comptroller General. It was supposed to expire when all the auth codes were in."

"I realized that. I got 'primary auth code expired,' hit 're-auth and notify' and rode along. I couldn't have traced it. We have a very clean and well-organized mess."

"That was the best we could do. Clean, put everything in its place and set out sounders to chase the roaches out."

"You did fantastic. Five hundred forty-eight?"

"That's the number. It includes gov captives and people IS tried to kill, just because they might know something. Since they didn't, they blamed it on an innocent."

"The physics lab. No records of anyone not currently in Horgen Field or Fataner. None of rebels. I knew those prisons were empty. None of you wanted anything but a new government."

"Oh, yes, many wanted something, to hug the ones who'd missed them so terribly and hopelessly so long, their families."

"The census method was genius, and the number hurts."

"They'd figured out how many slaves they could control."

"Yes, they did. I bought a house. I'm donating it to my congressional region. They have to pay the taxes. It's not a rich region and I don't want them limited to selecting from those who can afford to leave their land or businesses there for two years. Most would have to pay two people to put in the hours they do."

"That's why no rent or resale, but it doesn't say anything about donate. I'm the programmer, but the number is five hundred forty-eight, and they're five hundred forty-eight the gov was so afraid of they shackled and buried them beneath the ground, or labeled them mad beasts and caged them behind high walls. The gov was right, very dangerous to it."

"Five hundred forty-eight people where?"

"In nice homes in nice neighborhoods, working at good jobs."

"And even baby kits are the right number."

"We don't have to hide who we are, but we'd really rather not be trailed around, asked questions, or be nominated for something. You were appointed because you'll get that office put together right, so whoever comes in to go to work can get to work. If you decide you're right to continue to do it, even though you don't want to, you'll tell someone, but you and I, and the large group who talked, thought, and discussed, think you can get it set up so just a very good programmer-manager can do it."

"Thank you. Yes, I think I can. You dumped enough rotten fodder in the cycler to find the barn floor and swept it clean. I like the employment training program."

"You've got some people who took and did the jobs because someone had to. Move them out of cubicles arranged so they didn't see anything, take out the view blockers and let them OJT a room full who've been kept in boxes, to assure a big-budget was available to steal and they were easy to catch to sell."

"That's the plan. We all see it. Thank you, for every decent person on this world, I thank five hundred forty-eight, and you, because I know what kind of programming it took to do this. Want the auth code canceled?"

"Of course not. Absolutely."

"If you ever get a re-authed message, I'm sure we're in trouble. I won't copy. I'll set it up so I can do it from anywhere at any time, but only key a re-auth. You've proved beyond doubt you can be trusted with it. I just proved I yell and key fast."

"Very. We wish you well."

"That's real obvious. Nice clean, big office. I like my cluttered tea-dripped little one better."

"Get the election scheduled soon."

"Very. Farewell."

"She followed it back?"

"She's the very best, Ronnie. There are quite a few as good as I am at programming. We're not as good as she is and she's a superb manager too."

"You've got a feeling it's going to come back on someday."

"Yes, Dawn, but not for the same reason. Not the gov is trouble, the government is in trouble."

"I guess I'll keep my invisible car."

"You were thinking of not?"

"I was thinking of one not quite falling apart, like Blade's."

"Switch it, after the car's done, or put it in Drand's, or do both."

"Good idea, both. I want to take him to the big play room to play."

"Knight's got ideas, so we'll suddenly all be running that way soon."

"Danny, I'm worried. No one in your spa for ages."

"My patience is wearing thin, Ronnie, but they're still settling their relationship."

"No one else interests?"

"Not until I get Blade in the spa. Then I may try for all three."

"Danny!"

"Married a few days and already getting staid."

"She'll get over it, Ronnie. You did."

"Ow. Work?"

"Updates. Caelton, Bresmir, Ferrim."

"Caelton first."

"And middle and last and first..."

"They do pay well."

"And promptly. Let's go, Dawn."

"Maybe I want a different car because we always take yours."

### Chapter Nineteen

Knight, Nev and Blade made a materials run. They all went because they were meeting Case, Stats and Drand for lunch, with Kail and Tatton Tellerlock. They'd 'snuck onto' the golf course that morning with several others, including the mayor and town council. The golf pros from the other two courses had played ahead of them. Both had agreed with Nev's perfect date, and both said they wanted to switch courses, but agreed the new pro was very good. She was going to have a thorough mix of real beginners and real good, and was setting up the shop and schedule well for them.

They met Case, Stats and Drand on the walk in front of Delant's. Kail and Tatton were both smiling widely when they walked in.

"Nice game?"

"Nice course, Nev. The campus land looks gorgeous from it, and the campus will, and vice versa. We checked with Bressler. We don't have to take bids if a local company can do it."

"Now, that's good news."

"The mayor told the regents Tatton would keep costs down, or he'd be paying it back in tuition and dinners, where everyone else pointed to him when the bill came."

"For decades. I never really wanted to do a big project before. I requested sixteen people for on-the-job training. We're starting tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!"

"I told them we can get two to the point we can dome them to work this winter, if we start now, Drand. Can't do that until the big equipment work is done."

"You're going to pull Drand off the current jobs?"

"Not for long, Case, but we need power out there to work fast. We can generate, but it limits the number of tools we can run at once and is more expensive. Ponce Caelton said he may strangle me for asking for Dawn too, but I need both to get us set up quick."

"Yes, they do it in a fifth the time together. We're not sure why, but we are sure it's a fifth."

"Now, the real reason for this meeting. I want all of you when you get your current projects done. I'll upgrade your licenses to subcontract, or employ you, though I think that's a little silly. I think you'll teach my people and the OJTs a lot, and we may be able to get a third building start under a dome. Kail said you like the building plans. Morelli said tell you to really look at them, then get over to their place and help redesign the whole thing fast."

"What?"

"She said they're architects. They learned how it's done and design well within those parameters, but you're designers you use materials, shapes, colors, plants, water and light to create the total composition, specifically for the people for whom you're building. They want to learn to 'move past the way it's done' and think you can help them make the whole project less expensive, easier and faster to build, more beautiful, and get the design of the year next year. The big one is specific group use, I think, but materials are part of that. She told me not to order a damn thing and spend the next ten days training OJT's to use equipment if that's what it takes. They want those buildings to 'speak their function and blend into a total educational environment.' They know they did a real good job, but think you can help them make it a work of art, like no other campus on this planet or any other. She said they designed the physical science building for equipment to go in, and you can help them change it to a building designed around the equipment within it."

"I'm not sure we're going to suggest any changes at all."

"They are, Knight. They think you will help give them closed or open space, areas that configure for current use and classrooms and labs that function together and just don't get too small or outdated. All this began because Vairdslea is going to have to tear out two walls and 'add a lump' on a building for a lab expansion."

"It needs a bigger childcare center."

"They see that too, Blade. There's room for a lot more, but 'the future' just got moved up. Morelli said the campus will be the best option for supplemental elementary class space, which will be needed for a large 'batch' in five years, but may not be needed permanently for twenty years."

"Kids from other places are going to come here to school. They've all heard about us. Bressler warned us they've got a lot of students watching for a transfer date."

"Dormitories."

"Yes, Case. Very few Bressler students are local. The planetary government education grant and lending programs will make it possible for many to go to school anywhere, not just within commuting distance, or where they get local tuition rates."

"Do we want to pull those students, Kail?"

"Universities are already working on plans to specialize in areas, like Vairdslea Tech, Stats. This one will, but its mission is to be a home region university that offers at least the basics in whatever the people want. Here, that's primarily going to be a forest and alpine agra-prac. We can set it up to dovetail into Vairdslea on higher tech, but the agra base is going to be overshadowed a bit by general and basic tech to start, I think. Other large groups looking this way for a couple years maybe teachers, social science and government students, who see the community as a big part of a good fundamentals education. You're going to bring design students, who don't care if there's not a degree program because they'll learn from what's been built, while they get basic U curriculum. Agra, botany and environmental science students from everywhere, because of the unusual, and successful, cultivation in habitat."

"Those, at least, were expected."

"Guys, some of what's confusing you is the push to prepare for as many as possible. It's a private university, not public. Every credit in tuition goes to hiring and building, because it doesn't get public funds for anything but specific grant projects. The draw here will give them funds to increase the academic quality and variety on both campuses and facilities on that one. It will not be cheap to go to school here for anyone but kids from here. Right now, there's a lot of money available for not a lot of students. The more they can get right now, the more they'll have available for the time when babies born this year are trying to find any U with room for them and funds are tight, because there are so many. Every graduate now is a source of building and scholarship funds in the future. Sports teams that do well bring credits from broadcasting networks, more money to prepare and more scholarships. They don't usually move fast because the financing plans were made ten to twenty years ago. Public U's didn't get much help from the gov before, but they got some. Now they'll get much more. Bressler wants it that way. It doesn't want to be a huge public U, but it must have funds to be a very good choice for the students who will benefit most from the highest academic quality money can buy. That's its mission. People with money pay for that quality for their kids, and for scholarships for kids who don't have the money, but have the abilities to become the leaders of our, now free, world. Philosophy, political science, social science, and all the other less practical choices are essential to our society and Bressler assures they have the best and supports them with really good practical programs. Pracs aren't common. Doctorates are."

"Richland isn't going to rebuild the physics program."

"What?!"

"Not to the level it was, Nev. They can't dedicate the resources without contradicting their mission as a public university. They're making room for every kid who couldn't afford to go to school and adding two education buildings. We'll get teachers, now, who intend to teach there in five years. It's one of six big universities expanding education programs and medical schools are yelling they need money, too."

"You think we should build it here. I'm not sure I want to teach math and physics students, Kail."

"You saw right through that one, Knight. I think we could find a way to fund it and no one else can right now. Whether or not you teach isn't the real issue. That is. We're not getting applications for that theory, and some of it is there's no concentration of talent around the necessary equipment. Vairdslea comes as close as any, but it's not a research-oriented school. Tech development, but not theoretical application."

"Private university grant stuff, Knight. Way off the scale of good higher education for the general population."

"I'm trying to think of another university, somewhere on Gradelode, that has the structure to expand to that level, to donate money to, Drand, and I can't."

"I can't either, Stats."

"They want to keep them separate, Kail."

"I know, Blade, but they're the most qualified to build it, even if they don't do it."

"I'm going to stop pretending I don't know what he's saying. Trust us. You came here injured, angry and determined. You found freedom, friendship and peace, and gave us your skills and love, while you freed the whole world, pointing to us as example. You're ours and nobody is going to make your life even difficult, or they'll be pitched over the pass and warned not to come back, by every person in the region. You ought to be done and just have a good time, but IS destroyed the great center of advanced physics research on this world, and tried to kill the greatest concentration of brilliance, because no person was valuable to them, only things were. It's damn mean to force you to accept you are more valuable to all the rest of us than others. You already proved it. You know that doesn't mean 'better,' but 'better at' is essential to get us, who have been isolated and imprisoned so long, into the community of worlds as an equal, not as the stupid shits out there who didn't slam the crooks into prison one hundred fifty years ago."

"We should have, Tatton."

"We all know that, Blade, but it was running fine and the gov was ignorable, until about twenty-five years ago. By the time we all realized we'd ignored the pests too long, we had an infestation so vast we had to have something totally new, in the hands of the best on the world, to clean out the nests. We were all ready to help, but it had to be all at once or they'd have just overrun whoever tried."

"One man saw it coming twenty-six years ago and tried to get rid of the source of the infestation. He was so careful not to damage anyone else, he barely slowed it, but he did attract enough attention to it you noticed it twenty-five years ago."

"The Bicentennial Banquet bombing, when we all realized we wished he'd gotten them all."

"That's the event, and the reason. It happened three years sooner than he expected it, and Alladisi was why. If he hadn't thought there was something that would give him the power to take control sooner, it would have been three more."

"And thousands, maybe tens of thousands, would have died in the uprising, Knight. Thank you for saving all those lives. You going to let him stay big guy in the back forever, Nev?"

"He's sure it's impolite to block everyone's view, Tatton. The best we can do is fan out and keep abreast. When he notices we're running to keep up, he drops back again."

"Nev always noticed when we were running too, but he ran circles around us to keep from noticing he was leading."

"Stats, I am not the phy..."

"Sicist we are. You are, but a different type. The project coordinator has to know and understand it all or wouldn't know who to give each piece. Lunch, you to Morelli, Drand and Dawn to get power out there, and Stats and I to pick up materials for two projects?"

"Yes, Case."

"Hello, I glanced, but you were talking and drinking tea, not menu-looking, so I caught up and watched teacups."

"Perfect personal service, as always, Cambi. Drift fungi soufflé. It'll be great, Kail. It's the best it can be for about fifteen days."

"The fungi are perfect snowdrift shape with a hint of blue on white, Tatton. Not an aqua tint on any."

"Oh, that's pure perfect and real unusual."

"The chef is ecstatic. The harvest crew got to it at just the right time and Mirton yelled as soon as he saw what they were picking. Delant bought it before they finished picking the patch, this morning. Nev, I know you're crazy about popcorn fungi, but this moment, the soufflé is the tastiest treat on the planet. Chal came in for early lunch."

"Definitely the soufflé, Cambi."

"Everyone? All around. Caim pods, whipped brightroot and temptea with mine."

"And mine. Six more?"

"Easy table."

"Caim pods, brightroot and temptea are all at peak too, or I'd have ordered a lunch, not dinner-size meal."

"We know when to follow a good example, Tatton. Not much longer?"

"No, Knight, but there are some late summer, early autumn and just after first-frost goodies still to be picked at perfection. The late fruits and nuts will start coming in pretty soon too. There are a few things there aren't enough of to get past the buyers here, which will show up clipped to menus at staggering prices for a day or two. We'll get more overnight visitors from all over the world this year, so tell Cambi and Chal to make you reservations, as soon as they know the days. You'll get in ahead of the gourmands, if they do it. If you wait for a call, you could be hopefully waiting to see if there's enough. A lot of people here haven't tasted because a one hundred credit dinner requires a real special coinciding occasion."

"Why so much?"

"We can't cultivate them, Nev. Everyone watches for one sudden appearance. The crews scour the forest looking for more than one in a spot. Got to be at least two because spores have to spread wide to find a place just perfect the next year. If the same place always was, we could increase, but it takes the right amount of sun and rain through leaves, or just the right deterioration and density of bluefang dung, or a dozen others, and the best we can do is be sure the spores can spread. Every harvester will have grass snips. It's worth that many people to harvest a few because people will pay for the labor for the taste."

"Cambi! Reservations for... sixty, every time a harvester yells, 'I found one!' and crews rush to search for two. Spread the reservations out however needed, but get us in."

"Sixty?"

"I hit thirty before I got garage buddies counted. I'll be doing who-this-treat-who next-treat at sixty."

"Six us, six the hotel. Other restaurants and hotels have hopeful claim over any of our reserved, if we get all we hope for. I'll tell you now I may call and say we've got thirty and you're paying for eighty to get, but we expect good this year. Lofterbach said it 'smells right.' That's the most accurate prediction available. Call the hotel now if you want. Their please-call list fills earlier than ours."

"Comm Chal. Fast. Reserve sixty for the six gourmand's dream delights, as soon as you know. Donce and Barrett at least once. You twelve. Guessed it. Comm out. He's had tiny tastes, too rare and expensive for more."

"He's only gotten in here twice. I know the chefs share nibbles for nibbles of others, but they're tiny nibbles. Servers are reminded not to lick plates after they get a taste."

"Sixty."

"I'm not worried about the bill."

"Drand and I sometimes beat his dad with a code, but no one has ever beaten his mom."

"Oh, a challenge, Nev."

"Cheating may be the only way to beat her, Blade. Cambi, I'll pay in advance for chefs perfect meal selection and wine, steward's choice to accompany, as soon as you know the price."

"I think I'll tell the chef after lunch. She slows down when she's giggling and lots heard slurps over the drift fungi. You cheat well."

"Mom will be giggling for days."

"Just don't tell her until Chal doesn't have sauté pans in both hands, Drand. I got dizzy watching the screen. Mmm... I know temptea is only this good fresh, but I'm going to buy a huge supply of dried anyway."

Morelli yelled for Lambert, as soon as she saw them through the window. Lambert yelled for the staff to stand by for possible total redesign, and let spouses know they might not see them until morning. Two architecture interns ran down the hall with sketch pads in one hand and stools in the other. Knight, Nev and Blade walked into a flurry of preparation, including the receptionist running through with a big tea brewer and the secretary ordering food delivered.

"They definitely expect to be working late."

"Start tomorrow morning, Blade, and Bressler redesigned the student body this morning."

"I've been thinking about what Drand said, Knight. I think we've got to do a sports complex quick, to help get ready. They don't have great teams because that's not who they get there. Here, they could, and people want it. Look how busy the ball and soccer fields are, and tennis and hoops courts. All the people waiting for the golf course and the size of the swim teams at the public pool. I don't think it should wait."

"Physics, agra and phys Ed?"

"And maybe a couple more if we can figure a way to get them under domes and more people working, Nev. An agra building?"

"They'll know that part, Blade."

"In here! We started there, said, 'there,' then ran for here when we realized all together made sense."

"We're not sure how to go about this. We design in his head."

"Blade said sports complex is essential for scholarship fund building and get more started if possible. We've been steering Knight since, so it's probably possible, but we... may be using things that haven't been invented yet to do it."

"We'll help with that, especially if you need 'displacement,' Nev."

"The answer is not to use domes, and a different type of foundation. I don't know what yet, but I've got an idea on how."

"How many building codes are we going to break, Knight?"

"How many are there, Andon?"

"What do you see, Knight?"

"The bottom of a pyramid, Nev. Empty and fill. Block and assist. How big can we make a stick?"

"Are we going to get sick going back?"

"No, Blade. I wish I could figure out a way to do in and out doors, but the other bases don't hold possibilities. If it was up and down, but it's open and close. Worlds turn fast and geo-sync out that far is too fast for that close."

"It may be the open of another shape. Later! This thought now. I don't think the stick has a physical limit, but it's got a definite practical one. How big is a door?"

"Let's figure out how big we need it to be, Nev."

Knight, Nev and Blade talked and pointed. Four people sketched. They knew it was dinnertime when the secretary brought dinner. They noticed night had fallen when Case, Stats, Drand and Dawn arrived. Danny, Ronnie, Bance, Silky, Essa, Day, Jace and Elise arrived before they were 'up to date.' The big meeting room held them all.

Essa's forest harvest and Bance's farm knowledge aided greatly. Danny on a comp aided. Kendra and Larry arrived with Mike and Loren, who had food for them, at twenty-two thirty-eight. Mike and Loren brought food again at two oh seven. By then, people were sleeping in corners, but they just napped until they were needed, or they could focus their eyes. At six fourteen, Mike and Loren brought breakfast. Kail and Tatton were with them, and the redesign was nearly done.

"Is that possible?!"

"Not with what we think of as building materials, Tatton, but they don't put 'building' in front of 'materials.' Some of what's noted has been made in labs a few times."

"It can be produced in the shape and size needed, Melleen, but no one's asked it be done. Most won't be terribly expensive to produce. Cost was a factor."

"That was a big surprise, Knight. My experience with new has been deciding to wait for the price to come down."

"On tech, or corp-developed materials, the cost doesn't drop for a while because you're paying for all the time and money in R and D. Most of these materials were developed several years ago, but just developed. They were only news to other people interested in the field, not fantastic new useful products, because they didn't do anything better than something in use, but they do several things almost as well, and the several is why they're the best for this."

"Labs move, classrooms change shape, entire sections of buildings, come apart and reassemble for other purposes, on other buildings, and it's done by a comp program on presets. And it'll cost about two-thirds as much because it'll take half the time. If 'outside' wasn't a distraction, they might have designed the whole thing without walls. The landscape plan is going to make outdoors usable class area, year-round. You don't need domes, Tatton. They're going to enclose the entire area with a field that people, objects and light penetrate, but rain, snow, and air don't."

"Oh, shit. Air?"

"It's warm or cold. It'll actually be two types of fields. The roof field will be object impenetrable, no flyer lots under it. It lets light through, but that's all. In nice weather, just switch fields off. The other field blocks defined molecules, air. You'll feel it when you pass through because the air around your body will be replaced as you pass. It won't affect your breathing because you can't be in it. If you stood with your nose through it, you would need to breathe through your mouth, but the kids who try it will discover it's not worth the work it took and nose plugs do the same thing. No one will pass out because they'll get out of position before that. It does have depth, but it would take the equipment in a physics lab to measure it. The shielded area will be vented. It's an inexpensive method of temperature control and people and plants like gentle breezes. It also allows greenscaping, without carbon dioxide-oxygen exchange evaluation, and Blade's sure he's done enough math assignments for a while."

"At least until I sleep. The equipment will be cold when you drive it in, but Knight said we'll figure that one out later."

"Sleep? I think I remember that word."

"Eat first, Nev."

"Yes, Mike. Thank you both for watching over us and being sure we had the right fuel to sustain us, and making sure it was in such tasty form. We noticed every meal had a careful balance of quick and long-burning body and mind fuel, after we noticed delicious."

"You're welcome. I wish there was a chef's school in there."

"There is."

"What?!"

"Not general. You still have to go to Mountain City for basic culinary arts, but there will be advanced training for chefs in the crops and forest-cultivated foods of this region, as part of the agricultural program. It'll be an odd term schedule because it'll begin with harvest, which you'll participate in as part of the course. You'll learn why some things are rare and expensive, personally, and what perfect is for each item from the best harvest crew supervisors. You'll learn the how and why of packaging and be trained to prepare perfectly, and what's been tried and didn't work, so you'll be ready to create with those foods, without repeating what was just not bad, and therefore wasteful of a limited supply of fantastic."

"Kail, you really do know how to get people excited about learning. I'm not going to be a great chef, but I found out nutrition really interests me."

"He may be a chef clinical dietitian before he's done. I consider nutrition late third after taste and appearance."

Knight walked to Mike's car with them. Both knew he was thinking of cracking their heads together, but they didn't know why. When they got everything unloaded, Mike asked.

"Are you going to go to your cell and lock the door every night for the rest of your lives? You show up to feed us, and we really enjoy it, but then you go right back to the kitchen or house. You're worrying Blade and Elise is nearly stomping. What's wrong? There is something wrong."

"We don't... really fit."

"Oh, shit. Mike, we let this go too long. Blade and I kept telling ourselves you were enjoying work and really busy learning everything you could, and ignoring it began in the mine. You came down here to be with us and we were busy all the time. You're our friends and you're retreating, and we caused it. Conversation jumped to masters level tech after hello, so you quit talking. Why don't you just tell Elise you want to make love to her together and stay home because you can't both have her?"

"Uh..."

"That answered that. Loren called his sister. Once?"

"Twice."

"Did you tell her where you are and what you're doing?"

"No."

"You didn't tell us you felt estranged. You haven't told Elise you're both in love with her. You haven't told the people who love you that you're home and happy because you aren't. You really do enjoy what you're doing and learning, but you see it as... less than what we're doing. Yes, some of us are off the scale on math and tech talent, so what? Tarn's not. Chal isn't. Day, Kady, Reesa, and Elise aren't. Bance is off the scale, but he just likes tech along with everything else. Larry's almost as lost by tech talk as Chal. You two aren't, but you brought food when people were working on flyers, then left. You didn't stack the dishes and grab tools. We've all been telling ourselves you have different hours, you're tired, you're... Yes, all. Case and Stats like having a couple other guys next door, but you don't yell you've got tea on and biscuits baking. You fix it and take it somewhere. Blade wants me to give you math assignments, point to a corner and start over. What do you need?"

"Maybe to know you and Blade are worried."

"And miss us, too. Knight, we're comfortable at work. We really like what we do, and the people we work with. We don't want to go back to study engineering. We don't cook because it was what we did all those years. Our reaction was 'real food to cook!' not a groan because someone needed to and we knew how to feed a horde."

"We don't know what to do about Elise. She's got a permanent happy-ever-after roommate dream and we want... her with us."

"Well, that certainly isn't going to happen if you won't go anywhere with her. Blade said she should be saying, 'Hi, I'm Elise, these are my escorts, Mike and Loren. They brought food,' and crashing parties."

"She would, and we'd find out we were crashing when someone helping carry trays said they didn't mind."

"And you'd love it or she wouldn't do it. Two houses too far apart?"

"No, but..."

"She's got a three-bedroom house, half isn't office and you'd like to put girls in two bedrooms."

"That's a good analysis."

"Give her a cat."

"A cat?"

"She wants a loving roommate and you want those rooms occupied, but not by men. That sounds like a cat to me."

"Not a dog?"

"Dogs have to be walked and usually have one or two places they like. A cat will learn to use the toilet and occupies a whole house. Put a path connection in and he'll occupy yours too."

"You had a cat?"

"No, one of my tutors did. They wouldn't let him give me one."

Knight gave Mike and Loren an errand, then went back in. At six forty-nine, the government patent office completed its checks. Eleven patents were granted to Bressler University. The group in the large meeting room cheered. They'd been worried the office would open before the computer finished.

The specifications were completed and materials and equipment lists were done at seven thirty-eight. Orders were sent to thirty-seven small companies with the capability of producing the specified materials in the dimensions and shapes required, by Tellerlock Construction, with a computation of production costs and prepayment from the campus building fund. It was unusual, but so were the orders. Other orders were sent, then a request for thirty-two more OJT people to learn "modern large project construction" was sent.

At seven fifty-eight, Geon walked into his office at the bank and began to giggle. It was full of containers of raw gems and valuable ores. The handwritten note on the top of one said they were donations to the campus building fund.

The bank president arrived a bit late. She told her secretary she'd been giving instruction on the care of feeding of cats. She'd found a home for the last of an unexpected litter of kittens.

The spermicide had been tailored for humans and had almost no impact on domestic animals, or farmers, ranchers and breeders would have noticed it immediately. There were tight restrictions on pets, but the bank president's kitty had made a dash for the door, while Mike and Loren were explaining they really preferred not to be identified as the ones who'd "found the containers just sitting," and asking aid in making them just appear.

Loren had blocked the path of the purebred cat and asked if the bank president knew where they could get a boy cat for a friend. After they put the gems in Geon's office, the bank president had given them a bright-eyed ball of gray and white fur. They named him PLMR, and called him "Plimmer."

He'd been to a veterinarian for immunizations, to a pet store for recommended equipment and supplies, and Mike and Loren had installed a 'cat run' that connected two paths, with covers permanently raised, and two pet doors, before Elise got home. When she arrived, they chimed the back door, now with cat door, carried in the supplies, and gave her the kitten. She looked at the name on the immunization certificate and asked what the acronym meant. They told her, "Permanent loving male roommate," then ran down the path, through the people door at the tennis court, through the people door to their path, through their house and to the car.

They were four minutes late for work, but the chef managed to say, "Excused," through laughter, when they explained why. Elise was still sitting in the floor, giggling, with the ball of fur purring in her lap, when she called Kendra. When the story reached their house, Blade knew who had suggested.

"You will always amaze me."

"I didn't suggest the name."

"No, that's their combined sense of humor, and I was worried because it disappeared."

"Chal said not at work, so the problem had to be here."

"Too much tech talk."

"Stop feeling guilty, Nev. You weren't the friend they felt didn't have time for them. I felt like an idiot. Blade said he was worried and I was sure they'd come out of it with Elise tugging and the not extreme high-tech work on the flyers. This morning, Larry asked me if I was going to pay the caterers. I figured out why Elise couldn't get them out of the house, but they still had to tell me they felt like I only noticed they were around when they fed me."

"What are you going to do about the preoccupation that kept you from realizing you were hurting them?"

"We're following him to his damn room, Blade."

"We need to sleep and get to work."

"Lead, Nev. I'm out of patience!"

Knight left Nev and Blade asleep and hunted what he wanted in the planetary library, now with all listings accessible. He refined the search parameters four times. The fourth gave him one reference listing. He read the three hundred fifty-six-year-old analysis of the settlement period social experiment on Carousel, then went to the jewelry store. When he returned home, he woke Nev and Blade.

"No one here will know these little ruby ear studs mean a pledge of love forever specifically between men, but they'll know we chose them as an expression of love. It's not fair to ask you to let me put yours in your left earlobes and mine in my right."

"Left is fidelity, but just men."

"Yes, Blade, a diamond is both and emerald women."

"He knows I'm going to say yes, and I'd go get the cutters if he put his on the left, Nev."

"I'd hold his ear for you. I love you both. I pledge it forever. I do not pledge not to explain why it's a ruby and in my left ear to any and every person who asks."

"I pledge the same thing. If you don't want people to know you've got a gap in rational, when it comes to us and other men, you can try to convince us to let you put them on the right."

"Thank you. The custom was created by a social experiment group during the settlement of Carousel. The opinion of the researcher, whose analysis I read, was that the experiment was a success. The studs worn by the people in group marriages reduced the confusion of people in neighboring communities, reduced friction, and aided in widening the gene pool. The practice of wearing ear studs identifying the type of pledge had faded by the time the analysis was written, three hundred fifty years ago. I didn't do enough research to be sure, but I think that experiment may be why group marriage is common on Carousel and several other worlds in that area of settlement. It's considered a better choice for the financial security and emotional health of a child than single parenting."

"I don't know if group marriage is even legal here."

"It's not illegal, Blade, but 'no social experiments' was specified in the original settlement application, per agreement with the mining corps that were paying seven percent of the cost of pre-settlement survey and settler transport."

"I thought they paid more than that, Nev."

"The corps promoted that opinion, beginning before settlement, Blade. They widely advertised they, in association with various others, were sponsoring settlement of a new world. There were two hundred twenty-six others and many people paid their own way, but neither advertising nor texts mention they paid ninety-three percent of the cost. You have to find the list, look how much each paid and obtain a total to compute the percentage. My grandmother always gave me hard, but very interesting, research assignments. You're going to put yours in yourself?"

"I was."

"You put the stud in, Blade. I'll bond the back."

"Thank you, Nev. I didn't realize I wanted to do it."

"I could keep the pledge."

"We know, Knight, but you'd break Case's heart, and disappoint a lot of others."

"Just don't start looking for them yet, please. I'm sure this is the correct ear, but I might be reminding myself of it while I'm checking to see if I broke a jaw."

"Don't worry, Nev. By the time he figures out how to get from noticing to doing something about it, we'll both think it's hilarious. Are you ready for me to accept an invitation to Danny's spa now?"

"She invited you?"

"Of course not. She wouldn't add that to the difficulty we were having figuring out what we needed to do and say. She's going to be real happy Knight found a way for us to both pledge love and faithfulness, without keeping us out of her spa, and will probably start working on how to get us all in it. Both blinking. Oh, well, I'm sure she knows it'll be a challenge. I don't feel like going to work, but we need to."

"Yes, we do."

"Groan. Let's go."

Case, Stats and Drand were 'moving,' too. They were in the boathouse shop loading their work truck, when Knight, Nev and Blade got there to load theirs. Case walked over to Nev, looked at the little stud, looked at Blade's, then found Knight's on the other ear.

He grinned widely, called Danny and told her they "got it settled." Five laughed and Blade grinned, when his comm chimed right after Case said, "Comm out." Blade said he'd bring wine and cheese. Knight told Nev they still had a lot to learn. Nev said he'd learned the theory, but needed work on application. They were nearly finished loading when Larry walked in with a platter of sandwiches.

"We got three calls to get food to you before you headed out; Mike, Dawn and Kail. We'd have probably gotten more, but Kendra called the everyone list and said we were assembling sandwiches. I was as sure as they were you were planning to work a while before you ate."

"We were."

"Mike said take breaks about thirteen and fifteen, Knight. Have some tea and eat at least two of the fruit and nut bars they put in the LH's. There are two types and Loren built them to keep you going until dinner. Drand, Dawn said Caelton really did need them to do it this morning, because the run is already beginning to taper off. They'll be done in about a half-hour and she'll call just before her 'body hits the bed.' The people you're working for know you worked all night. If you want to work until dark, take turns taking long naps, or you'll really worry them. If you're not home by seventeen-thirty, you'll be stopped for dinner and quizzed to find out if you slept. I like the ear decorations. Since they're little things, I suspect the size was specified."

"The culture reference is in the current use directory on the comp in my room. I'd like to know if I'm right about it being the reason group marriage is common in the second settlement area, after you get more sleep."

"I'm very interested, but I know I'm not as young as you are, too. I could do what you're about to, but I'm grateful it's not necessary. Take another, Knight. We made you three and extras for anyone else that wants more than two."

"I'd like another."

"Nev used a lot of energy."

Nev blushed, groaned and laughed with the others. When he got back to their house, Larry told Kendra what Knight had said. As soon as the six left, they ran to the big house. Tracking the spread of the custom was their kind of fun, and they weren't that old. It was eleven oh nine and they had both napped during the overnight session.

After the break at thirteen, Knight and Blade 'tucked' Nev in for a nap in the back of Knight's car. He awoke before they took a break at fifteen. Knight argued Blade should be next. He didn't win. Blade didn't win when Nev opened the back of the car and told him to get in with Knight at fifteen fifty. At sixteen forty-eight, Knight carefully and quietly got out of the car. At seventeen forty-two, Blade sat up, when Mike and Loren arrived with dinner.

"Obviously, I napped. Case, Stats and Drand?"

"Worked until seventeen. Dawn got dinner down Drand before he dropped. We watched to make sure Case and Stats didn't land in their plates. Danny's the one we almost missed."

"Oh, shit. Worked the whole time Dawn and Ronnie did, then kept going, putting the info together."

"Bowl of sugar in five flavors and high caff tea next to the comp. Tate called Day. The Caelton sorting floor manager didn't have any comp codes in the neighborhood and she sent another update at fifteen oh seven."

"She was handed a big cup of soup and put to bed by a mob."

"Day called Loren to ask what to feed her."

"And you had soup on."

"There's some of Loren's soup in your warmer for when you get home. Even if you don't work long after dinner, drink the soup. He packed it with everything your bodies need to restore, except sleep, it'll help you do that and tastes great. I've got a sample and the nutritional workup, including long slow cook, for Chal."

"You do?"

"That soup belongs on the room service menu, Loren, it's what a lot of people really want when stress, time zone jumps and altitude are making sleep difficult. He calls it, 'Nighty-night soup.' How long did you two sleep?"

"About two hours each."

"Caelton yelled Denny was still working at fifteen oh seven."

"I should have known!"

"You're all mad at yourselves for not expecting it, Nev."

"She did it at school, Mike. She'd start working on something and we'd catch her halfway through the next day. A little candy and black tea to keep going, and going, and going, and always surprised how long it's been."

"Day said she was. Don't work late, big boy. You'll get a lot more done tomorrow if you give your mind a little waking rest time before you drop."

"We don't plan to work under lights, Loren."

"Knight, we've got a date with Elise and we'll all have trouble leaving early enough to see the show if you aren't home by twenty."

"We'll be home, Mike."

"I thought we were going to 'casually mention' we saw the show tomorrow."

"I had a vision of the three of us going round and round the block 'just going by' to see if they were in yet, and Elise yelling get their asses home before we ran out of fuel."

"Not unlikely."

"Everyone in the neighborhood is pleased you're wearing rubies. Larry and Kendra have got us all giggling. Different subject material, but they sound just like Drand and Dawn. They had fun, and you were right. Larry says the reason for the size of the studs is 'indicative of the adept societal planning and sociological analysis of the aggregate regional culture.' He's impressed by the paper, and with you for finding just what you wanted."

"Always the same size and not centered in the lobe wouldn't be copied as 'decoration,' and small would help that and not be expensive for anyone, guys."

"This little dot of red's been touched a lot today, Knight."

"So has mine."

"Mine has too."

"It doesn't belong in the other ear. You're still working on fair and not seeing this is. It's a perfect fit for each of us. A perfect fit for us and you working to ignore being squeezed into too small wouldn't be fair. It's your turn to remind him next time, Nev."

"Estimate on project completion?"

"Just before one of us cracks his thick skull to try to get it through it."

"Not long."

Larry finished the precis and Kendra nodded. He sent it to the people waiting for it. In a few moments, he'd gotten some version of 'terrific and just what we need,' from each. When he had, he made a call to a personal comm code Milla had tracked down for him.

"Good evening, Minister. I'm Doctor Lawrence Cartier. I'm a sociologist, educated before the gov wiped out the profession and carefully disguised as a statistician. I prepared a precis for you. It's been reviewed by sixteen others, who carefully didn't mention they do sociological research, or call themselves sociologists. We believe it will aid in developing a tax structure that will promote the economic and emotional health and growth of our society, and patch some holes before people begin to fall through them in large numbers."

"I was careful not to mention I did sociological research too, Dr. Cartier. I want the precis, but I'd like a fast brief on patch."

"Our society does not stigmatize women who want children but not husbands. However, unknown father, and therefore clinical insemination, is not socially acceptable. Even though the penalization of people choosing to have more than two children has been removed, there is no provision for households which provide emotional and financial security that a single-parent household cannot, such as best girlfriends living and nurturing their children together. The current tax structure requires a separation of family units by 'blood' relationship. Unless it includes marriage, which in our societal expectations includes a vow of fidelity, a household in which one adult has the primary duty of nurture must compute the share of finances of the nurturer as wage, and that person must declare everything, from bed slept in to a child's use of the swing in the yard, as income. I believe we've found both a way to eliminate that and establish a method, in which women, and men can indicate their emotional commitment to families that are not based around heterosexual couple marriage; that will aid women seeking fathers for children without requirement of financial support, that will allow men to give love, and aid if needed, to their children, that will not be anathematic or abrasive to our social structure, or cultural customs. It worked so well on Carousel, four hundred fifty years ago, group marriage is common in the entire second settlement area. I believe I've successfully eliminated the promotion of group marriage, while still promoting the establishment of financially and emotionally stable familial environments for the nurture of children, and emotional health of adults. The research bibliography, cultural-spread tracking diagram, and the who and why I believe it will achieve near instantaneous global acceptance, are attached. Basically, it's about to happen and the government can keep up with it, if you move fast. I'm calling from my home in Teal Valley's West Side."

"I just dumped 'after the election' in the cycler. Send."

"I'm including images of why you've got twelve days, if the members of the Design Academy can keep from yelling for everyone's attention before then."

"I'm receiving them now. We'll get it in tomorrow's session! Comm out!"

"Her son's an interior designer, Kendra."

"I thought 'Design Academy' hit with a bigger splash than usual."

"It's always been bigger-splash on every other continent."

"It's a fantastic precis and lays it all out for them, and I know how scary 'exposing' yourself was."

"Terrifying, but I don't look much like that tall, skinny young man."

"And there's no record he did anything, except in the memory of people who wish he'd gotten many more."

"It stopped the plan to institute euthanasia. I got all who were working on it."

"You've never told anyone that's why before, have you?"

"No, there wasn't anyone who'd believe I saw the plan and whose it was, in a few words of gov propaganda in the new 'approved' sociology texts before."

"I love you. Today was such fun."

"I love you, and it certainly was. It'll be fun tracking it here, and tell us a great deal more about the developing post-revolution society."

"It's going to be a great sociology reference work. You write beautifully too."

"Thank you. I couldn't do it without you, and not just because of your skills."

"I love you too. What the hell are we going to do about Danny?"

"Stand back and watch Blade."

"Good solution."

It didn't surprise Blade to get a date reminder at twenty fifty. Knight and Nev grinned when he put a therm of soup in the basket, with the wine and cheese. When he picked the basket up, Knight asked him if he'd decided what he was going to do. He set it back down and pointed to the table. They sat down around it.

"Can we accept any unilateral decision she makes?"

"You think she's made an emotional commitment."

"We know she has, Knight. I think she knows she has, doesn't have difficulty admitting it to herself, but feels it would be an intrusion to speak of it to others."

"To whom?"

"The whole neighborhood you built her, Nev. That's how she sees it. You built your princess a castle in the rich and peaceful land, and filled the apartments around the courtyard with heroes full of love. She doesn't want anyone else occupying her tower, but she wouldn't be happy without the love all around her. We're a little... above the courtyard of the castle, the loved warriors in the keep on the hill watching over all. She sees herself as one of the guardians, with, but not the same as, us. All around are her worthy companions and loved friends, but the prince, the knight and the sage are her peers. She doesn't go anywhere, and she doesn't need a date or a group to go places. So why isn't she going? Why doesn't she notice there are other interesting men?"

"She's not 'settled' because we weren't."

"That's how I see it, Knight. He's having trouble again."

"Nev, you're ours. We're yours. We're together. Nothing can change or intrude upon it, but you don't feel that yet. Blade, you or I will be driving the LH for a few days, even if we're all riding it."

"Very good idea, Knight. Tuck him in your bed tonight. Danny's not going to make a fast decision, other than to get a cat and leave the door to Case and Stats' open."

"The princess' companions."

"Dawn and Ronnie are loved, married women friends. We're a family. That's what she's sure we should be and hoped for us. This is the symbol of a complete emotional commitment. It tells every woman, and man, none of us will make one to anyone else. That's why it's important Knight wears it, Nev, to us, to him, and to all the women and men it politely informs he is not the man of their happy-ever-after dreams. Love affairs, but not true love. That's ours."

"You think Danny's made that deep commitment to everyone in the castle and us."

"Yes, and it wouldn't change if some moved out and new families moved in, except in this house."

"You're right. Sit on her and put a diamond in her right ear. She's fully committed to the 'people of the realm' and it'll pitch her well-founded fear of breaking hearts in the waste cycler."

"He's always going to amaze me too. I was going to let her figure it out."

"He loves her too much to watch her keep working that hard to be obviously noncommittal."

"But you're my happy-ever-after. I'll get the stud gun and the mini-bonder."

"I don't have a stud."

"Comm connect Bance."

"Hi, Knight, no discovery yet."

"Good, but not the reason. You got the specs. Get a diamond for Danny's right ear to Blade at her place. If she wasn't emotionally committed to the whole damn neighborhood, and it wasn't mutual, she wouldn't have been pacing the parapets of the tower, until we got settled and a mob wouldn't have put her to bed."

"Bance, call somebody!"

"Obviously, my wife agrees. Comm out."

Blade put the stud gun and mini-bonder in the basket and went to Danny's. Ronnie had seen it as soon as Knight pointed. There might be others who chose studs for the same reason, but Danny was the one who knew she was committed and needed a way to express it and warn off the dreamers. She saw the stud gun, as soon as he opened the door, but let him in anyway.

"No intentions of getting close to your left ear and neither rubies nor emeralds would complement all your varied wardrobe."

"Blade, I'm not making a commitment to anyone."

"Danny, a diamond is 'every,' not 'any.' Do you want to spend the rest of your life trying to keep suitors from being damaged, or let them know the princess is emotionally committed to her people, before they ask for a first dance? We could have twenty people here to help sit on you and supervise placement if Ronnie decides to make a statement in support of Nev's instructions. Knight told Bance to get a diamond. How many were upset with themselves because they hadn't checked to be sure you had gone to bed?"

"Everyone."

"It's mutual, isn't it?"

"It hurts you're so wise."

"It was worth it. I'm a very happy man. I thought I'd found all the love I could want or need, then Nev doubled it. I admit a pledge of love forever did not occur to me, as the way to deal with the jealousy I was not successfully ignoring."

"Until you were suddenly trying to figure out how to get him in bed and realized you're in love with him too."

"The exact order. Surprise, abrupt realization. I'm not interested in other men. It was Case who made me realize Knight is."

"Case isn't interested in any others."

"I know. If Stats was interested in any man, he would be."

"Oh, I missed that one completely. Big, beautiful, smart, caring, gentle as only truly strong men can be."

"Ow."

"You're the most gentle of all."

"I definitely feel better. Diamond?"

"I have recent experience arguing all of them would find a place to sit. Swimwear in the spa suddenly seems appropriate."

"I was prepared to observe your preference."

"You have a swim briefs under, in case I decided a bit of enticement was in order."

"You are always an enticement, the most physically beautiful woman I have ever seen, and the physical is a low res projection of the beauty within."

"I've got an itsy-bitsy hot pink two-piece you will love."

"I'm going to be facing the wall while someone else does the stud."

Ronnie called Nev and Knight. After she spoke to them, she called everyone in the neighborhood, Silky, Essa and Jace, Tarn and Bellin, Chal, Donce and Barrett, Kail and Lillen and Tate. After that, she called Knight and Nev again. Nev said, "You called Bance," between giggles and Knight supported him on the way to Danny's. Blade was laying on the living room floor laughing and Case and Stats were holding each other up, when Knight and Nev got there. Knight 'dropped' Nev on Blade. Danny walked into the room, nicely dressed, asked why Blade wasn't and Case and Stats collapsed.

"My clothes are drying!"

"Oops."

"He was almost out and you threw them behind him!"

"He made... a diving catch!"

"We fished out his clothes and him! He was laughing too hard to climb out!"

Knight sank. When Ronnie, Dawn and Drand walked in, Danny was standing over five laughing men on the floor. She looked from them to Ronnie and told her it wasn't the "interesting evening" she'd planned, and she wasn't telling her why they were laughing until they got Blade dressed. Ronnie asked where his clothes were and five men roared with laughter.

By the time all the people and representatives had arrived, Blade was dressed. However, there were several others laughing too hard to stand, or sit.

Plimmer was 'in attendance' and obviously thought it was a great party. He leapt from one shaking body to another. He curled up next to his food and water under a chair, when everyone finally managed to at least get off the floor and into a chair. Danny's was in the middle of the room. When Bance opened the small case for Blade, he looked at him for explanation. The diamond wasn't alone.

"They called while I was there."

"Does everyone who called Bance understand this is a statement of complete emotional commitment? If it isn't forever, this is not correct."

"I made that very clear to them, Blade, so did Larry."

"It's a statement of the same depth of commitment as a wedding ring."

"It's the symbol you're in a family, Larry. It's right for Danny because she feels this entire neighborhood is hers, and is totally committed to it."

"Blade, we'd have gone happily on as roommates our whole lives without really making a commitment, to anyone, avoiding it just as Danny has. When we asked ourselves why, we realized all we were doing was avoiding making the statement."

"Jace and I are ready. Marriage isn't right for us, but this is. Ours are going on the left."

"Our emeralds are going on the left too. Reesa and I won't ever split. Someday, a man might belong with both of us forever, but that's a possibility we examined, not an expectation in any form. We're a family. We wished we'd been sisters, but that's going to be how a lot of women, and men, feel about it. We never had best friends forever, without a wedding ring and fidelity."

"Blade, there was nothing except sisters or brothers that expressed the family feeling before."

"I'm a little jealous, Larry, I want to deny they feel the totality, or the incompleteness without it. I have three diamonds."

"I proposed. They said yes. I don't even want to contemplate life without them in it. It was an abrupt realization. I had to kick out 'one-man' and it had thirty-eight years of cultural roots. They're a family. They showed me my place in it has been waiting almost since we met. Ours are going on the left too."

"We'd get married, Blade, but that would make our lives difficult. This is the same thing to us and won't."

"Two houses."

"We're working on it. There's a family that belongs in this neighborhood, but I don't know if they'll move."

"He's talking about us, Silky."

"Uh..."

"If you decide to move, I'll buy your house."

"Tate?"

"Keerse and Devy both want to move, Day. They aren't going to move without me. It's amazing how unimportant the word 'party' is compared to 'child.' Devy's pregnant and has career plans. Keerse wants a home and children. They set me up. I'll say thank you forever. This is right for us."

"Move the sculpture garden?"

"Silky, the house is bigger, but two stories, so the yard is bigger. It has a family room, with the door into the side yard between it and Day's."

"Tarn, we love our neighbors. What would they think?"

"Essa's pregnant and figuring out how to keep baby fingers off paintings and sculptures."

"He's right."

"What?!"

"Guys, we're going to move the sculpture garden, and a path."

"I see that, Blade."

"Let's get this started. Danny, they're all here, and all made their decisions to make their commitments because you admitted you had made one, not because of ours. You ready?"

"I'm so happy I'm about to cry. I didn't know I needed Silky and Essa, and their children, here."

"Loren did. He's been figuring out what you need to be healthy, since he found out you were stuffing yourself with sugar. This isn't the interesting evening I planned either, but that plan isn't as important as this, and I'm sure I'll believe it after that planned interesting evening. All done, Princess, your love for all visible in your lovely ear. Case and Stats. Why diamonds?"

"It's not just each other."

"We'd be wrecks if the people in the five houses on this end went different directions, and it's spreading."

"You're saying yours is the same type of commitment as Danny's?"

"No, it's to each other, and everyone else as part of that. We called Bance back and said diamonds instead. Rubies didn't encompass the commitment. It's 'I love you. I'll share my whole life with you, and we'll usher for all the rest of our loves."

"The commitment to each other is complete, Blade, but 'and all our loved friends' is part of who we are."

"I agree, but the others needed to hear you say you fully intend to be Uncle Case and Uncle Stats to all their kids. Otherwise, they might hesitate to yell at you to change stinky baby because they've got their hands full."

"Not Ronnie and Dawn. They've been giving us stinky jobs since freshman chem class."

"Am I going to do all of these?"

"No one is worried you won't get it in exactly the right place, Blade. You even caught your clothes."

"Stats, I'm not supposed to have to match giggle jiggle."

"It's a good thing you did Case's first."

Kail had read the precis. When they left Danny's, he and Lillen went to Larry and Kendra's. There hadn't been a 'reception.' A party was planned, but not that night. It was only twenty-one fifty-three, but most still needed a long night's rest. Blade and Danny's 'interesting evening' was starting an hour late, but neither minded. When they sat down in Larry and Kendra's living room, Kail grinned.

"You picked every one."

"When the minister called me back and told me her son had said he hoped they could handle the attention they were going to get, I started figuring out who'd spread at least that piece of it. I knew Reesa and Kady would be working on the idea. When Ronnie called, I called, told them exactly what it meant and to decide. Case and Stats surprised me."

"Diamonds."

"And they're right for them."

"Of course. It wasn't an example they wanted to set. Blade said, 'jealous.' It was a very personal commitment, not what 'everyone does,' the symbol Knight found for Nev."

"He's very happy, deeply in love, and if anyone had told me my raving romantic son was going to end up with two men..."

"No one else is 'romantic' enough for him, Lillen."

"The custom?"

"Will spread through the region in hours. Tarn, Chal and Tate were there. There will be little studs just below the cartilage on the outer side of many earlobes tomorrow. All will be correctly placed and none will have them who haven't made a forever commitment. When Loren asked Silky and Essa to move, it was for Jace and Day. They're probably the only ones who don't realize it, though no one will mention it. You'll see the cohesion of the outer community Tarn and Chal helped Nev build. Knight, Nev and Blade will be called upon to move five sculptures. Knight and Blade's strength and training are why they were asked to do it and they can't be copied, but everything else will be done by others, because they need to work elsewhere."

"I looked. They got a lot done today, but not as much as usual."

"They weren't all three working most of the time, Kail. Tomorrow, they'll be rested, including Blade, and start early. It's important to them all he spend this night with her, but it won't be a long one."

"Why important?"

"It defines her relationship with them, and she's been waiting for them to define theirs. Blade's there for her, and has been all evening."

"Once he has been, she'll relax and grab the hand of whoever puts a gleam in her eye, and not just them. Case and Stats will notice every woman who walks by again, and so will Knight, Nev and Blade. Yes, Nev. He has his dream of together-forever pledged love, so he'll relax and have fun with women who think he'll be fun. There are a lot of women whooping and dancing around here. Fully committed, they aren't marriage candidates and won't be worried that's how some women see them, or Case and Stats. They were in the position of being such eligible males that they couldn't show an interest. That was always the case with your son. 'Raving romantic' was quite practical. He could only be interested in one girl and the only one right knew better. She loves him very much. She's now completely happy because he is. They were the most interesting group I'd ever seen, and none of them were couples. Very unusual."

"I know, Kendra. There's usually at least one pair in a bunch like that."

"The minister?"

"They'll have the entire package ready to go when session opens tomorrow. She warned me several are going to be using 'chunks' of the precis as speeches and just tell everyone they're plagiarizing. I told her to also tell them the author gave permission. They agreed with the tax structure recommended. The elected congress won't be able to move as fast. They'll have both party and constituency to consider. The pro tem congress' job is get what the planet needs done now, with the knowledge of their regions to aid. None are going to campaign for election, at least not this one. All agree 'get it running and get out of the way' will aid our interplanetary image."

"Elections?"

"She didn't say. I'm sure the date will be announced before the conventions in six days. Campaign ads are already beginning to appear. The proposed platforms give enough basis for people to choose parties."

"People are amazed the structure it's complete, no gaps they suddenly discover."

"Excuse me."

"You have good reason for a yawn, Kendra. I'm going to borrow it as an excuse to get my husband home to bed. We'll definitely come back some time when you two aren't short of sleep and he hasn't been working sixteen hours. There are some days he only works twelve."

"It'll settle down soon, Lillen. I hope."

"So do I, Kail. 'Settle' is our best hope. 'Slow' is not in their repertoire."

### Chapter Twenty

Knight, Nev and Blade were called at eleven seventeen, the next day, to move sculptures. When they got to the sculpture garden, they were the only things in it and walls were being taken down from around them. Even the planted hedges were gone, but another type was going in. So was a spa. Tate was working on building an enclosure for it. He had a little diamond in his ear. Nev looked in the door of the house, when he picked up straps. Keerse was inside running their extractor.

"This happened very fast."

"We had two neighborhoods working, Nev, Essa directing both. This neighborhood moved the solarium. Mike, Loren and Elise did furniture sorting early. Keerse selected some from their leftovers. The rest is going to other homes now. None of us needed to make anything on it and everyone knew who 'ought' to get newer. Currently, we're all leasing, until you get time to rework contracts. When you get those moved, Silky will be a very happy man. Essa's already building a play yard beside the house and all the art just moved to the same spot on a bit bigger walls in that one. Essa knew it would."

"He loved this house."

"Still does, but the word 'child' made that one even more right. He bought the play-yard equipment, nursery furniture and child-size furniture for the family room, this morning."

"A happy man. The path?"

"Danny, with the aid of Day and many, moved it to go around the sculpture garden. Doors were changed. She obviously plans to share a cat with Case and Stats. We like our new neighbors, and our old neighbors like them too."

"You really surprised us, Tate."

"I surprised me. The only ones not surprised were Keerse and Devy. My condo already has a tenant waiting. He can afford it now and his two roommates are waiting to spread out some and party at his place. Waco got a nice promotion and raise."

"Congratulate him for us. Web time. I'm glad you're over here."

"So am I. It became right for us when Knight found this for you. We're just sure you're the best examples and copying is a real good habit."

Nev thought about it while he webbed sculptures and realized the living room of 'Elise's' house really was slightly larger 'the same.' Even the walls and carpet were the same tones. As he worked, he began to feel the rightness of having Silky, Essa and Jace in 'his' neighborhood. When they got the sculptures in place, they sat in the sculpture garden and ate the lunch Mike brought them. He sighed in contentment and Knight and Blade burst into laughter. Five blocks really had been 'too far away.'

They worked until twenty that evening, then finished that project the next at twenty twenty-eight. They did two maintenance jobs in the morning and began the second project at thirteen nineteen. Case, Stats and Drand did three maintenance contracts and began their second project at fourteen forty-eight. Knight, Nev and Blade finished two short projects and their other rental contracts in four days. Case, Stats and Drand's second was larger.

The election was scheduled to be held in seventeen days and two political conventions were in progress, but no ships had arrived and the patents hadn't been found. The Design Academy nomination committee arrived two days into Knight, Nev and Blade's fourth project. Case, Stats and Drand finished a short project and began their fourth the next morning.

Both companies had begun fifth projects, two days later, when they suddenly got a flood of aid. 'Everyone in the neighborhood,' except Plimmer and Danny's black kitten, Bop, arrived at one or the other to help finish two big projects fast. Danny gave Knight, Nev and Blade an update.

"The Design Academy committee put you both in five categories, the most ever, not all the same, seven total. The pro golf-tour selection committee is on the course and raving. The park has twenty-six city mayors and planners wandering through it. The sculpture garden had six art museum curators in it. Custom Vehicle News called for an appointment to see the flyers. The Design Academy passed the plans for the U to the Association of Architects and Builders. The patents were found. An interplanetary news service ship arrived at the portal three minutes into the news frenzy. Bressler is in 'full stall mode.' Yes, the patents are theirs. Yes, they knew about the redesign incorporating the patents. Yes, it was all done quietly, so they didn't overshadow the election. Yes, the proceeds from the patents will be used to complete funding of building the campus and an advanced physics program, then for facilities expansion there and scholarships at both. No, they're not saying who. The who did not choose the one hundred fifty-eight-year-old option of co-patenting with the university, and anonymous is anonymous. They're doing their best to keep the news crews circling there, until we can get this done and get you home at normal quitting time for the U crews. You there and Case, Stats and Drand with one more shorty before they are is Larry's best attention-spread plan. Lambert and Morelli are doing 'Of course it was redesigned. New methods, increased funding and incorporation of advanced programs required it.' They aren't denying they got the specs for the new patented tech first, and a little in advance of patent apps. They consider the reason obvious. Our little studs are wide-spread enough through the region, they're being noted as a 'cultural solution whose time had come.' The revision to make taxes simpler and lower for nontraditional families is being proposed as the 'trigger' for adoption, and it's spreading as fast as people can run to jewelers with printouts of size and placement."

"Naturally, the news ship got here just as the pot boiled over."

"Any info on interplanetary reaction to the exiles?"

"Bance said the planetary news crews will be getting casual, while they're mutually on the big news, Knight, but he suspects we've got a perception problem, probably screams of abduction, theft, inhumane treatment and anything else they could think of to scream. He said the perception will change as fast as cam ops can talk while getting in position, reporters and editors will get the real story organized and out in a hurry and they're going to really wish they'd kept their mouths shut before it's over, but we may have to deal with the interplanetary courts first. Since we don't even know if we're members of anything out there, or really what they've been doing for the last thirty years, they ought to get the real image of just how walled-in we were. Those news crews are going to get a lot of 'Where the hell were you while the gov here was packaging us for sale as slaves?' The obvious peacefulness and total, 'Of course we helped get rid of them,' of the people will be noticed. We were evidently totally boring and not worth a glance. A way-out-there-and-who-cares entire world. New worlds and everything else interesting were the other direction."

"Ooh, steam."

"Bance, Jace and Silky scald at two meters, Blade. It's a little ship and came here after covering an 'interesting' planetary soccer championship game. They hadn't even noticed our money wasn't on the currency exchange. The mining corps were as oblivious to the branches out here as the branch managers expected. We hadn't been important producers for eighty years. The news crews expected an agrarian society. According to all their information, Gradelode was a low pop, low-tech iconoclastic world of little farms and big mines. Our cars have tech they've never seen. They aren't better, but they're different."

"The tech wasn't more profitable than stealing from the people, or they would have."

"I'm sure they would have, Blade. This one is really unusual."

"Lots of color was a design request. We looked over the inside of the house before we started. Fem Bainer did it herself and it's great. Some rooms are vibrant and some muted, depending on their function. She has a lot of green inside in colored planters and pots, so we're carrying that out here. She told us to put hers after shorter projects because it would be 'big and different.' It was fun figuring out what to give her, but we don't mind the construction help at all."

"We were sure you wouldn't, Nev. Here, bright red; over there, dusky pink?"

"Shading from vibrant to muted between the two doors from rooms done vibrant and muted. This will have several retracting partitions that will make it comfortable for the size and type of group. Only the one from there to there will totally enclose an area and there's a sub roof for that, very sound-damping. That door is from the family room and their fifteen-year-old son plans lots of loud big parties between now and when he finishes U. This is designed to hold more people than Nev's parents'. He's the main reason."

"We have more space to use, but masses of teens will be moving around in a big part of it. Figuring out how to keep them from running into lights, tromping plants, falling over rails and down steps, while still making it all fit together and with the house decor wasn't easy, but it was fun."

"It's going to be spectacular, Blade, and it's going to be done when the design-loving masses get here. It'll really help pull some of the attention away from the family places."

"We may be increasing the size of their son's party invitation list, because they were sure it should. This is the biggest house and yard in the north central part of town, a block north of the historical district, two blocks from the park, pool and golf course one way and the secondary school the other. There's no doubt they'll use it all. Andrea said their social calendar looks like an ambitious salesperson's appointment schedule."

"Ponce Caelton is raving about the job Case, Stats and Drand did on their house and already sending party invitations, Nev."

"Dad asked Dorn about social occasion schedules. The hotels will actually make more. Catering pays and sorry-booked doesn't. Last year, several New Year parties were in temporarily emptied equipment sheds. There wasn't enough big stuff to make it pay for the hotels or town to fund construction, but private entertainment space was badly needed."

"And the social schedule just got busier, especially in the luncheon and banquet listings. Drand reeled off a list of fundraisers that are annual traditional, into our personal calendars. They dovetail with Teal Valley's because Bressler jackets are sold at Merrill's.

"We have more than half the neighborhood."

"Case, Stats and Drand actually have more help. The intent is get them done fast, so they can get here. You were expecting to still be working here when the rain comes or the roof and wall assemblies wouldn't have been installed first."

"About five days."

"Uh, oh, do we need more help to get your done by seventeen?"

"I doubt it. Case said they only expected to be three on theirs and maybe get the fourth started the third day. It's a just-like. It won't be, but it's close enough in size and shape to make the design and construction process simpler. You're on this, Blade. We'll start getting partition assemblies built."

"I'll start on the fountains after this, Knight."

"Good."

"Two on bonders here! These planters are part of the support structure, Danny. That's why I'm working on them now. Because of the kids, this thing is going to be extremely solid and somewhat padded."

"I noticed some materials were springy and corners are few in number."

"We told them we wanted to spend more and why. They were very pleased to approve. We're going to use some of these materials fairly often. Some we'll use only when necessary. I think we'll still get more requests for primarily transparent than color, because of the lighting effects, but this place is going to give some people 'bright' ideas. It's also going to kick some always-use-the-same-thing designers and builders in the ass, before they start screaming, 'You can't do that,' about the U. Lambert and Morelli expect to hear a lot of yells. Design innovation is desirable, but don't change anything. Learning to use new stuff costs big companies training hours and raises bid prices. That's why most really new ideas come out of small ones. Morelli on why it'll be shocking but not surprising."

"Tellerlock's OJT's made it going-to-train-anyway reasonable."

"Appearing. They just plain wanted to kick ass and take next year's design award. Only built can be nominated, or they'd been in there for the original design, I think."

"It was excellent. The new one is mouth-drop-open astounding."

"We learned a lot from them. They built us all into an architectural design team in a very short time."

"That I noticed fast. Here come the bonders, Mike and Loren."

"Terrific. I'm going to lay out the five like this, start on the fountains, then lay out the next bunch. You decide when to move to more complex stuff."

"Probably soon. Knight and Nev just covered an area with circuits."

"Lots of partitions."

They finished at seventeen thirty-eight. The Bainers had caterers filling the family room with food before they got all the people and equipment out. Mike and Loren were teased about changing jobs in the middle of a shift, as they went through. Loren said it had taken him a half-hour to remember he was using a bonder and he'd have stirred it several times if there'd been a spoon nearby. Elise said she'd moved a multi-wrench out of his reach fast and reminded Mike the bonder wasn't a sauté pan at fifteen-second intervals, for a while. The catering crew laughed and warned them hotels were filling fast.

At twenty-two thirty, Knight, Nev and Blade went up to the mine. Sixty-three people were already there. They finished the roof and wall field projectors at two sixteen. They went home. Others invisibly transported the projectors and nine other less complex pieces of equipment to the campus construction site. When Knight, Nev and Blade went to work at seven thirty the next morning. Tatton walked over as soon as he saw them, grinning widely.

"Here's a datpad with the plan. We need those things installed before the rain hits."

"We need Drand and Dawn to do some of these connections."

"Dawn's coming at thirteen. Drand doesn't expect to be much later. We'll try to have all the ground vents installed by then. We're moving fast. The OJT's are great."

"Some may recognize me."

"If they do, you'll be the only one they tell, Blade. There's heavy expectation about four of your reservations will come up in the six days between the two weather systems, Nev. Cambi and Chal said they'll make sure you don't get lunch or dinner two places at once, when I called and said I'll let whoever run for them and hope I'm leading the pack."

"None yet, so they're going to stack up."

"It happens about two years out of ten, and it's usually a real good year when it does."

"I'll get everyone working in at least once."

"I suspected you were planning on it when you said sixty. We'll work a little on 'appreciate is for wine; it's just plain taste good' and you think 'saving it for truly appreciate' should be dumped in the cycler. Paying in advance will help. They won't get hiccups looking at the price. They're so surprised to be paid decent, I had trouble not growling all day payday. And they're smart, careful and good."

"If you weren't smart, careful and good, it was unlikely you'd survive long enough to have kids."

"It was a more harsh environment than I could have imagined, but I see it in them, and work not to growl. Be careful talking to Harmon. I doubt she cooled down overnight. She learned they expected to start paying for their housing as soon as they got paid. She impressed them all with her extensive vocabulary, while I got on the comm and yelled be specific on what 'provided for program duration' means. The OJT coordinator yelled, 'Pock! Comm out!' I'm one of the first on-location employers. That was my third yell. The coordinator and I have a someday date for an actual conversation. That's your crane. That trac has everything else you should need on or behind. It'll make the hill. Personal comm code is 'dammit Tat.' I'm subcontractor contact on this stuff. If you need, yell for delivery. Don't run back. There's a kid learning the entire equipment and materials list getting things to people. If you get those set up, I think Dawn and Drand can get roof connections made before it rains."

"They think so, or Drand would be here. Nev check out the crane. Blade, trac. I'll take the LH. Are you ready to get power generation started?"

"We should have eight generators installed in two hours. Shellet-Hollison said they'll have eight more here tonight and the other sixteen in two batches over six days. I may not believe those little things can power everything after they're doing it."

"There will be a lot of airflow through the vents. Once we get the whole system charged, they could turn on everything on the campus and run it for ten days with negligible reduction in the system level, but the eight will run this and your equipment direct with no problem."

"Ventilation, power generation and heating all in one."

"It's been around millennia, Tat, but broadcast and solar didn't take fans, so no one upgraded it when tech and storage improved. The new power stores and the venting system just made it real silly to buy power."

"In at the bottom and out of the top, silent invisible and a gentle warm breeze."

"Not invisible, but you have to get close to see a ten-cen vent in the ground."

"And they'll be in discreet little spots all over campus. The crew running the trenchers call themselves 'lawn lumpers.' The ducts aren't much bigger than their burrows. They'll have them all laid in about two days. It sure is an interesting way to do a project. Do all the land prep and put in every system going to every building, and the sprinklers, first, literally from the ground up. Huge projects like this were usually done in chunks over several years. This one's going to flow across the land and be finished in one. When I get these kids trained well enough they don't need someone close to ask questions, I'll get more. I'd enjoy coming in so far under projected time, the whole region would giggle, and everyone would know just how big the gov lies about them were. Ready?"

"Nev?!"

"Ready!"

"Blade?!"

"Ready!"

"We'll be back when these are up. Here, Loren made. Eat those midmorning. You'll notice the work he put into packing them with brain and body fuel."

Tatton checked the intake vents, all under a lip on the outside of the one-point five meter high white wall that ran across the front of the campus land. He found where the vents were covered and smiled. The kids installing the little fans, and heat units behind them, were definitely going to be done in an hour. Like everything else in the plan, the wall had been fast and simple. Every vent narrowed to an aperture in a pipe below the ground. The pipes were already prepped for fan, heaters and conduit.

Generators would be housed in the pedestal bases of fountains. The thirty-two fountains were in place and plumbed.

The approved campus colors were teal, of course, and gold. In the center of the shallow gold-veined teal pools atop the pedestals of the same color, were thick torchier-crowned teal columns. Cascading gold 'dishes' were mounted on a wide band of gold that spiraled around them. Each column was ten meters tall and sixty cens in diameter. Each was also a 'power stick.' Only the fields required a great deal of power, and they didn't require eight generators. In a few days, Drand would have the system connected. As soon as he did, all power not required to maintain steady-state would go to charge the columns.

The eight outflow vents on the back of the campus were translucent columns. Their intakes were just openings a half meter below where the 'roof' would be. Their outflow was a second set of columns. They were more carefully constructed. Their tops curved forward and widened. Their openings were wind-shielded and they would blow down on the roof and east, dissipating the warm air. Their placement and shape were to prevent warm air reaching the forested mountainside behind them. Sensors already on trees within it would warn if design alone was not enough. A warning would be very surprising, but no chance the warm air would impact the forest would be taken. It wasn't close and a wind toward it shouldn't carry warmth that far, but it would be watched.

The contour and shape of the field could be set as a projector was built. It couldn't be changed, unless the projector was rebuilt. That had allowed them to follow the shape of the land, not make a box within the boundaries of the property. It had been that which had required Knight, Blade and Nev.

They'd taught several the method, but building the shape of the field to fit the ground to a depth of one cen, choosing trees to leave out and trees to go in and determining how far around each to go on three sides had not been easy. They'd worked on it many evenings.

The wall field was a complete enclosure, a dome, though the bottom followed the rise and fall of the land and the top was flat. It only required one projector but it had to be above and behind it and the roof field couldn't be between. The roof couldn't have a steep overhang in that one place. It had to be wider. That meant it would keep moisture from a wide area. The solution was a steep hill.

It was the back wall of the campus. The vent columns were near the base and the projectors would be near the top, but getting up there took a trac with more than usual tenacity.

They got the hole dug and Knight held onto the trencher down the hill. They got the conduit in the projector column connected to that in the trench and set the column very precisely, filled the hole and checked the precision of the alignment again. The projector mounts couldn't be moved. If the column wasn't set correctly, they had seven minutes to turn it and it would take all three of them.

They whooped, covered the orange garliner with dirt, tamped it, added more dirt, then replaced the sod and pounded a low ridge of quick bio-degrading material into the ground above it. It would protect the sod from runoff until it was again part of the mat that held the soil on the hill. It would also feed it as it deteriorated.

Knight and Nev filled the trench. They tamped, added dirt, heavily seeded and pounded ridges about every third meter down the hill. Blade drove the trac down, then began seeding and pounding ridges across its tracks. Knight rode the crane up with an armload of ridges and began pounding ridges across, down from the top. They were a forest agra development, specifically for the purpose of deepening and thickening the root mat. It was scheduled maintenance, every three years.

Nev used it to deliver more ridges to Blade, placed some about where Knight would need them, checked the plan and began digging a conduit trench from the base of the hill to the grid of conduit being laid across the campus. Before long, he met lawn lumpers coming from the other direction. He handed over the trencher. The one running a trencher began digging a cross-trench. The one to whom he'd given his measured the distance along the path of the cross-trencher, then began digging going east. The laying, filling and seeding crew weren't far behind the trenchers.

Nev watched a moment and smiled. The entire campus would be wired and plumbed in a very short time. He walked back to the crane and delivered the last of the ridges to Knight and Blade, then attached the work platform. He backed the LH into position, put the platform right on the tailgate, then moved the projectors to the center of it. They were neither small nor light.

When they got them mounted, they would have one more thing to do, wrap the column with grower's mesh, plant darkthorn and wrap its tendrils around the mesh, up the column. It wouldn't spread across the hill or onto the projectors. It had to have something to grasp and neither ground nor projector mounts provided it.

It would keep anything from climbing the column. In spring, it had deep-throated blue blossoms the pollinators loved, but nothing landed on it. They had gloves and gauntlets to work with it. It was native to the region and forest farmers used it to keep small animals and bark beetles out of fruit trees, and its berries were a more attractive lunch to avians. The mesh was sized for it.

In the wild, it grew in several types of bushes, protecting them from two creatures that ate twig buds as fast as they appeared. It didn't become too dense and heavy for bushes because it broke off old growth and fell, making room for new growth and adding nutrients to the soil as it decomposed.

It took Knight and Blade a great deal longer to wrap the blackthorn tendrils than it did to mount the projectors. By the time they finished, the lawn lumpers were halfway back up the campus and they were hungry. They drove the crane, trac and LH back to the east end of the campus and got their lunch out of the back of Knight's car. Everyone else was heading for the big tables that had their lunch on them. Tatton sat down on the ground beside their car with them at eleven fifty-three.

"The fans and heaters are all in. The lawn lumpers are going to finish tomorrow, probably well before quitting time. We'll be ready to hook up everything as the generators come in. I got a bunch of delivery times. Not all were pleasing. We're going to put roads in first. We've got one little company that's having to wait for a piece of equipment from a big one. They're having a quality control problem and won't ship until they track it down and make sure the equipment won't break down in the middle of a job. From the sound of it, the tracking may go back about four companies before they find the problem, but they're working on it."

"It won't hurt to do roads, walks and even parking lots first. You could put in fountains, bushes and benches first. Do everything except right around where the buildings are going in if you want."

"I know, Blade, but I'm not teaching these kids to build doing the landscaping, and that's almost all we've done. I'm also not making good use of your time."

"We can do a couple other projects and come back, but I understand the frustration of not being able to teach the OJT's what they're really here to learn. And yours. I'm sure you'd want to yell you're a builder not a landscaper well before it was done."

"Some of it's anticipation of using the new materials and methods, Knight. Worked them all out and haven't gotten to try them. It's always exciting to see what you're building go up anyway. There's Drand, early."

"Hi! Case and Stats don't need me after lunch! The whole thing will be done about fifteen thirty!"

"That's fast! What happened?"

"Stats suggested two design changes, Nev. They loved them and they made it much simpler to do. It'll make it far less just-like and fit their entertainment style better. He was talking about a party plan and Stats saw a way to make it more just-for-you. Pleased customers."

"Had lunch yet?"

"Munched on the way, Tat, too hungry to wait until I got here. You're ready for me?"

"We've got the generators in and the fans hooked up. All we need for those is you to hook them to a control matrix. The whole campus will be ready to connect tomorrow, but about six days before all the generators are here."

"A piece that goes on the bottom is stuck, with unknown send date."

"I wondered why he sounded disgusted when that's so fast, Blade."

The hookup of the system was laid out, but it wasn't simple. The matrix controls had to be programmed and there was a great deal of computation involved. Dawn got there at twelve fifty-one and it began to go much faster. One did hook, test, unhook, hook, test while the other ran computations and constructed the program. They were done at thirteen twenty-two and the generators switched on. There wasn't a great deal of air moving through the system, but it was enough. Drand grinned and turned on the projectors.

"There will actually be more power in the system with those power-eating monsters running. I suggest you leave them on until all the generators are here and we're ready to connect the main matrix."

"There's no real reason to turn it off at this point, is there?"

"Not really, Dawn. We're not done with ducting and vents, but those are going in with everything else being laid. The kids will notice it's blowing harder in their faces when they connect, but it won't be difficult to get the vent caps on. I'm about to be wasting your time."

"Please don't take our excuse to tell people we aren't available for a while, Tat. We've got all the people who desperately needed entertainment space done. Andrea said so. We'd be delighted to landscape and go home at seventeen for a while. Oh, and have days off. Maybe play a little golf, swim in the pool..."

"Get back to doing regular workouts, Nev."

"Ow, it's going to hurt to start, Blade, but I've been counting days we didn't have time too."

"Anybody wanting to stick their noses through the field, do it now! It's on!"

Harman ran for the front wall and the OJT's whooped and followed. Bance, Jace and Silky, on the road, knew the field was on by the people lined up moving their faces back and forth, working to get their noses in position to block airflow into them. Jace stopped quick and got an image, changed places with Bance and they drove in the entry with the windows down to feel it. Jace got out smoothly, went around the front and Bance got out.

"There was a slight chill as the warm air around our bodies was replaced, but it's summer and I doubt it will be noticed by anyone walking through in winter. Flyer parking will not be on the campus itself because of the cap shield. 'Cap' is a good word for that one. It's not flat or snow would lay on it. It's convex. It doesn't need to be more. Any slope at all will cause snow to slide off because there's nothing to grip it. 'Slick 'is an inappropriate term because it implies a surface and there isn't one. In thirty-seven minutes, it will begin to rain, but we won't get wet. We would if the cap shield wasn't on. Everything but air passes through the wall field. However air flows beneath it, and will be warmed in winter, before it's vented all around and through the campus. This is Tatton Tellerlock, owner of Tellerlock Construction. Tat, how many vents?"

"One thousand two hundred eighty."

"That's a lot, but it's a big campus. Will people feel the heated air?"

"If they stand right over a vent, they'll notice a slight warm breeze coming up, but not much. The airflow through each intake vent is split, and each outflow vent is bigger than the duct to it. The campus will have a gentle breeze through it, but because the outflow is at the west end. Now, that's for a reason. Wind can come from any direction, but here, it's seldom east. The vent towers at the rear of the campus point east, so the wind doesn't blow warm air into the winter-adapted forest. It's also higher back there. Warm air rises, so the vents will keep it from getting too hot here too. The vents aren't really necessary for there to be enough breathable air in here. With as much green as this will have, there's more danger of there being too much oxygen than too much carbon dioxide, but they give us temperature control and power."

"Power?"

"Wind power. The incoming air spins fans and they drive generators. When fully charged, the system could power the whole campus and Teal Valley for half-a-season, before it needed a recharge. It's fifteen hundred-year-old tech with the materials of today increasing it's efficiency vastly."

"You haven't started a building yet."

"We were supposed to, but we've got the type of can't-ship-yet tie-up every builder dreads and expects. Here, there's a great deal we can do while we wait. The first thing done was the small amount of reshaping of the land needed, and removal of big trees that wouldn't survive without winter. The whole campus power, plumbing and vent system will be done in a couple days, then we can do everything from roads to landscaping, if we still have to wait."

"For what?"

"The foundation materials. If it was anything else, we could start. We'll prep for foundations for every building on the campus if it takes that long, but it shouldn't. A lot of good people are hunting down a quality problem, and I don't expect to be running a grass seeder."

"Is the foundation problem due to the materials?"

"No, we'd be waiting if we'd ordered plastine. I won't say who, because it might sound like they're not a good company, but a big tech manufacturer yelled, 'don't ship,' until they found out why some recently produced usual equipment failed. It could go all the way back to a circuit-etcher in someone else's company that's not cutting deep enough or a micrometer too wide. They'll find it before I'm scattering grass seed, I really hope."

"There's good grass here."

"We aren't going to remove it, but we'll seed with a better type suited for the purpose. Because it is, it'll eventually take over. The whole campus has already been power raked, so is prepped for it."

"Ridges of dirt everywhere."

"Power, water and vents everywhere. In a few days, every brown lump will flatten and be covered in grass. The sprinklers are going in right along with the rest of it."

"An odd way to start a big building project?"

"Very, but we'll never tear up the place to hook up a new building. Everything to do it is already there."

"It's really moving fast?"

"Yes, and the OJT's are why. I've never seen better workers, and you don't have to explain anything twice. I very highly recommend participation in the program to every employer in any business. The gov lied. We all knew it. I've seen the biggest lie they told was about people in the sub districts. They knew they were capable of learning and doing anything. They just didn't want anyone hiring them because they planned to sell them. The ones planning to buy them weren't worried they couldn't handle high-tech equipment. Slave labor doing skilled worker jobs, very profitable. That newscrew probably doesn't believe it. It may be only we can describe it. People other places couldn't look at anything but their feet, or they'd be beaten, raped, imprisoned, usually all three. We watched what we said on comm, didn't give them excuses to come here and assured we were more profitable if left alone. It was all anyone could do, until every sane person on this world was ready to take it apart themselves, knew everyone else was, and was just waiting for someone to say, 'Now.' We got more than that or we'd have still been fighting in the streets, but we'd have fought, man, woman and child to the last one, once it began."

"Perhaps that's what they don't understand, that we were ready to sacrifice our lives to free our world and were spared death and destruction."

"They probably don't understand that if IS hadn't been in such confusion they didn't supply their troopers, and we hadn't made sure they didn't have an excuse, they'd have just killed ten or fifteen thousand up here, in an attempt to scare the rest of the world into precisely following orders, either. They couldn't have won the war they started, but they had all the weapons and couldn't see wars are fought by people, not weapons. They'd have lost either way, but I'm really grateful we're not in mourning for tens of thousands."

"We all are, Tat. It wasn't a bloodless revolution, but only the most vile of our abusers died and there's no one mourning them."

"Maybe we should tell the newscrew every person on this world would donate to cover the cost of trials. Exile isn't really satisfying. It would really tie up traffic in Lodestar, when every sane person on Gradelode showed up to say they want to testify, but if that's what they want, they can come back."

"We'll remind people to carpool, if they do. Bance Neardon, Channel Forty-eight, on the future campus of Bressler Northwest University. They renamed it this morning, Tat. They'd had to repeat it for reporters so many times it was driving them crazy, and then the reporters shortened it for broadcast after saying it once."

"I wish they'd left agriculture in it."

"It's the BNU College of Agriculture, College of Physical Science, College of... The accreditation rating and status rose as soon as they put 'College' instead of Department' or 'School' in front. They're reworking that campus too. They're trying to develop a way to not split the pool of best professors for each field between the two, and make it obvious where the top grad students belong. There will still be many Departments on both, but the highly-developed programs, with the best they can get to teach, will be specified as being in the college of."

"I knew a lot did it, but not it got them rated higher."

"It won't stay if it's not proven, but Bressler's got enough prestige to get it to start. You all look pleased."

"It's because were sitting down, Bance. We all remembered how."

"I'd been wondering if you would, Drand. I'm sorry to suggest Tat send you west to work, preferably on big equipment."

"The swarm is right behind you."

"All coming to watch the rain not fall, Dawn, and find them. Case and Stats got a crew fast, Vass Bainer is hanging onto some. Carler and Milla have some. Kail has some. Lillen has some. Morelli has some. The golf pro, Abra, has some. They're all talking about anything that sounds remotely like the subject to keep them from overrunning Case and Stats, but they can't hold them when it gets close to time to rain."

"Want to build a road?"

"Sounds lovely, Tat."

"You can cut right to where the lawn lumpers are on the main, Knight. You're chief on the subcontract, whatever you decide it is. If you want to use the crane to install fountains, that's contract."

"Thanks."

"A walk layer is real loud, Knight, and there are two."

"Good point, Blade."

"Tat, if you want some of the OJT's to learn this stuff..."

"Another good reason to leave you alone, Nev, and I definitely do."

"I'll set fountains with a crane, and teach whoever you send out to use it."

"Perfect! Harmon!"

Case and Stats got there ahead of the swarm and ran for equipment. Their OJT's didn't get left behind. The lawn lumpers were proving the trenchers could operate at specification maximum. They'd been asked if they wanted old-timers to take over. They'd said they wanted to finish the job, but it was obvious they intended to do it fast and get in on the heavy equipment training. Tat's regular crew weren't being left out, of course, but they had fewer OJT's than they'd had and they were teaching those to use other things. They were beginning two more foundation preps.

Tat smiled widely. Nev had come up with exactly the type of training and missing-material solution he'd been trying to figure out, since he'd learned they were going to be stalled. He was sitting on the tailgate of his LH, writing a training subcontract on the comp on his lap, and the only one in the area of the construction site 'base,' when the first of the "swarm" came in. Dawn had run for it and Bance, Silky and Jace had followed the big equipment west. He glanced up, waved and smiled and went back to work. Lunchtime was over, and he was sure one of the spokespeople would be there before long. Kail was the next arrival and drove over to him.

"Drand called. It's great."

"I'd been going in circles of 'what the hell do I do with forty-eight, four, eighteen and six,' when Nev came up with it."

"That's my boy. Very busy construction site, obviously."

"Tied up on one thing can't stop work. They're getting a lot done and getting the kids ready to do the main piece. I'm subcontracting the two companies to help train, and it'll say so as soon as I finish this. Lunch ended at thirteen, abruptly."

"That bunch is moving fast."

"I've moved up the estimate on how soon they'll have power, water, sewer and heat ducts done for the whole campus every day since they started, but I didn't expect to do it twice today. You know I'm dodging the swarm. Did my spiel for the news at lunch."

"I'll remind them not to interrupt training sessions, but they'll probably wander."

"Just let them know we keep track of time in minutes and 'just a few minutes' interruption of six to eight is steep enough the accountant looks for who to send the bill. I might not worry about it, but the OJT's record how long they're on the toilet. You had one of those bars Loren made?"

"Yes, and felt it."

"I want one hundred fifty of them, or some other he does for everybody, twice per work day. Look at those kids. They're going to need something by fifteen and I know what we've got isn't enough. I learned it's not even enough for me this morning, so I want for my regular crew too."

"He said they aren't expensive to make. I'll figure out some way he won't be doing it at night and charging eight credits an hour, because I said add labor. He's not a dietitian or a chef, yet."

"Get a calorie count on them. I've got a couple with slow enough metabolisms they watch. If they split one, there are a couple of real fast-burners who won't argue if Harmon slaps a bar and a half in their hands."

"I'll probably get a nutritional analysis. Here they all come. See you later."

Since the wind was blowing from the west, and he was near the west end, Knight ran for the hill to see if rain was blowing into the place the roof didn't have an overhang. His trainees couldn't keep up, but they followed. So did Bance, Jace and Silky. It wasn't a wide area, but it had to be wider than the projector. He explained what he was checking and why, then grinned when Bance got a 'from here to here' and stood in the middle of it. Knight motioned his trainees back to watch.

"I'll do a pan down to him, Silky. Bance start with 'what's this.' Five second image, Silky, and..."

"Those are the field projectors. The lower one is the wall and upper the cap. In this place, the cap can't overhang. The wall field can't project through it. The projectors are on that steep hill because it blocks the wall here. It's not as good as the cap overhang. I can feel a little coming through right here, but I'm not getting wet. This storm was described as being, 'like it read optimum test parameters.' Jace, give them a good image of the grass right here. There are a few visible water droplets, and it's a damp, but this is as 'bad' as it can get. Bigger or smaller drops, more or less wind, snow or hail, none would make this place more wet. The combination of the mountain, trees, hill and the cap that extends over just a bit, shelter this a great deal. Something it's interesting to note is that it's only the other field that the wall field projection can't penetrate. A blizzard or a solid object wouldn't affect it, but it can't project through another field. It's very wet out there. Right here, and only here, a drop falls occasionally. Bance Neardon, Channel Forty-eight News, on the west end of the future campus of Bressler Northwest University in Teal Valley. Wrap it."

"Full identifier every time?"

"Hammison said any and every chunk could be picked up by others, Knight. This one more likely than most, but there are a lot of people much more interested in what they're doing than the rain not coming in."

"It's more important."

"Yes, it is."

"You both mean that."

"Abram, no thing is as important as people. The whole mess we had on this world was because people who value things above people got control of it. That's what greed is."

"Gov propaganda was intended to make everyone think of people in specific areas in other terms than people. Subsidized, addicts, economic indebted, any word but 'people' was used and promoted. It was terribly successful. Tatton says, 'OJT's,' but he also says, 'kids,' and far more often. Some of you aren't kids, but that's people-plus to him, and to most. The gov called children in the subsidized districts 'sub-adults' or 'minors,' not kids or children."

"Been talking to Doc Larry?"

"You've been busy, Knight. You know I go nuts if I haven't asked somebody a question in two hours. Better run for it. Some of those designers walk fast."

"Yipe!"

It was the designers who saw the shape of the campus. They walked around trees and saw branches didn't penetrate the wall and had room to grow, though some would need to be pruned at intervals. They looked through rain past a tree and saw another dry area.

The designers watched fountains being set. They weren't alike and each was chosen for its location. Another crew were preparing pools and building fountain bases. Sidewalks were broad and straight, but there were narrow footpaths being laid, where a few people would take a shortcut and make one over time.

Seventeen types of trees and bushes were being planted. They checked. Trees that required winter to survive had already been removed, holes filled or other trees planted and all the pools dug out. Nine caught Tanton with a cup of tea in one hand and a biscuit in the other.

"There wasn't much to do to the land. We rounded a couple hills, filled a few dents and smoothed some lumps."

"There's a group using a construction crane to move fountains one person could lift. I know it's training, but why those?"

"A heavy load is easier. It takes a lot more precise control to position something that light. After they learn on the fountains, most of which wouldn't break if they hit a tree or were dropped, they'll be able to control big loads, which could take out a hunk of what we've already built if they swung into it, or cost a great deal to replace if something was dropped and cracked. My break's over. I'm about to stuff a biscuit in my mouth, wash it down and get back to work. Now that I've got everyone here I need to train the kids, I have a schedule to work out, so those not being specifically trained will still get familiar with all the equipment. The next batch of OJT's will be setting benches with a crane. Of course, I'm going to ask for more. They're fantastic and every builder on the planet will be looking for someone with experience with new methods, materials and technology very soon."

"Where are you getting the new tech?"

"So far, right over there the day it's needed. No manufacturer licenses have been sold yet, so it's probably lab produced prototype. Where the lab is and who's in it, I don't know, but I sure wish everybody else was as on-time with delivery."

Late that afternoon, Tatton got a delivery date on the foundation material. The quality control problem had been found. He was very pleased. The timing was perfect. It was going to arrive the day everything else was done and all the OJT's were ready to build.

He called the OJT program coordinator. They had a nice conversation and worked out when and how many would be sent in each batch, until he had all three hundred he wanted. He was sure they'd find a way to train or familiarize all of them with all the equipment before the project was done, "impossibly early."

### Chapter Twenty-one

The election took place before other news services could get ships to Gradelode, in response to the reports from the first. They'd been surprised none of the local services had bid to be affiliates, and just send coverage. A few had figured out why, one hundred fifty years of being ignored.

Most of the former police and IS had dropped old habits fast, but newly appointed judges, prosecutors and court-appointed defense counsel were quite busy. Since real rehabilitation programs were proving extremely successful, prisons weren't becoming overcrowded. Universities, tech and business schools weren't either, but most were at capacity. They didn't plan to expand, yet. The number of students would drop again after those who'd been denied education for economic reasons graduated.

The government programs to educate and employ wouldn't run out of money, but their funds would decrease to what would be needed for far fewer people in a healthier economy. Nineteen more patents of new tech had been granted, none to Bressler, when the second news service ship arrived, just ahead of the start of a steady stream of corporate representatives. The corporations didn't understand why comm deals weren't considered, but didn't wait for explanation.

Two little Teal Valley companies had won five and two of the ten design awards available. The company with two had placed second in three other categories, behind the one with five.

One hundred twenty-nine days after a hole had been made in Horgen Field, Danny got a message her code had been re-authed. She jumped in and began to hunt. The government of Gradelode was in trouble. The interplanetary court had ordered all expenditures other than essential services be halted, pending investigation of criminal action and human rights violation by interplanetary court treaty signator.

The pro tem appointments were being investigated. If they were found to be illegal, the election would be nullified.

The class action suit being brought by the persons, also charging criminal abduction, and seven corporations, would result in seizure of assets and revocation of the planetary charter, voiding the constitution and placing the planet under the control of a court-appointed colonial governor. Danny yelled for Larry and they went to work.

Forty-nine hours after Danny's code was re-authed, billions of credits poured into a fund established to sustain gov programs and file suit against the Interplanetary Court, for dereliction of treaty enforcement, resulting in the oppression and abuse of the people of Gradelode.

Every person had been asked to donate one credit and report one instance of abuse of authority. Most people donated more and reported more. All trade negotiations were halted. All patent licensing was suspended. A legal firm on Earth was notified it had been selected to represent the people of Gradelode and warned the compressed data burst of testimony would begin in fifteen minutes and last for twenty-three. They would need fourteen terabytes of storage for compressed text.

Newscrews that had been sure people's statements, 'everyone sane participated in changing the government,' were exaggerations learned they were not. They also learned no one would talk to them. When they attempted to ask questions, people said they'd been told the story and the truth and hadn't reported it.

The attorneys on Earth did talk. Often tearfully, usually angrily, always remorsefully, they told of the testimonies they were reading, the result of no one bothering to verify government supplied information, or even ask why no news was reported, no people traveled from it, and no businesses tried to establish interplanetary trade.

The news services and court were sure 'everyone sane' couldn't have wanted the government changed, but for over a century they'd been sure everyone on it was isolationist and boring. The legal firm on Earth loudly filed petition for an injunction, to halt all research and development based on the discoveries made on Gradelode and physicists on two hundred fifteen worlds screamed.

When the court didn't grant the injunction, the legal firm filed suit against it in Earth Superior Court and filed charges of charter treaty violation with the office of the Earth Prosecutor General. The interplanetary court hadn't sent investigators to Gradelode. It was 'investigating' in one hundred fifty years of gov-filed reports and mining corporation records.

The Interplanetary Human Rights Commission joined the suit against the interplanetary court. The next day, the president of Earth introduced a motion to rescind the treaty creating the court. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court 'reached down and yanked' all related cases from the lower court on Rimland. The Interplanetary Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision sixteen hours, seventeen minutes later.

Twenty-one days after Danny's code had been re-authed the justices found the interplanetary court system guilty of dereliction and treaty violation, rescinded all actions against the elected government of Gradelode, ruled the exile had been "restrained and humane disposition of members of an oppressive oligarchy and their families" and granted the injunction, for a period of two years. One hundred nineteen accounts of the IS bombing of the most advanced university physics research laboratory on Gradelode were appended to the decision. Physicists read of years of research, a discovery and all equipment being destroyed in the attempted murder of the finest student researchers on a world, and why, and didn't scream.

Eleven hours later, the families boarded ships. All family names had been changed. Communication between families during the ship journeys was prohibited. All would be delivered to settler embarkation points for one of nine worlds, no two families to the same one, and no two destined for the same settlement.

None knew the new name of another. All had been told, with all family members present, the people of Gradelode had chosen to give them the opportunity to construct new lives and futures for their children, or the court would have prosecuted every adult among them. The children were told their parents didn't know right from wrong and to pick other examples.

The government of Gradelode bought Earth currency and paid their attorneys, then asked the people what they'd like done with the rest of the money. In a GGN interview, the Center Continent Northwest Region Representative suggested an independent educational foundation be established, with the mission of assuring schools had the physical capability of educating children born in the next three years. She explained, though the government had resources to fund their education, that didn't mean schools could locate classroom space, or design programs to handle the temporary surge in students. The government would aid any who asked, but most didn't know what to ask. She believed a foundation to develop physical and program designs of many types, then aid schools in individualizing the one believed most suitable, so they knew exactly what to ask the government to aid them to do, was good use of the money. She didn't expect it to all be used, so design aid would always be available, when a town or city needed it.

She said she thought architects would really appreciate someone reducing the number of times they submitted plans to school boards and heard, "That's not quite what we have in mind." Eleven professional architecture, design, construction and educator organizations made statements in support of the suggestion in the next three hours.

When representatives' opinion registries opened in their regions, "the School Help Foundation," as GGN newscasters suggested it be called, was such an overwhelming favorite, representative aides called people who'd registered other opinions to discuss the issue raised. It worked extremely well. People who suggested the money be used for something else had seen a current or future need not being filled.

Tatton attempted to lease equipment from other builders, when they stopped using it for the season. They offered to donate its use and asked permission to watch and learn. Tatton warned them people wouldn't believe them if they told him some of the techniques being used and invited them to come to a "foundation appearance" to start. At eight the next weekday morning, Tatton handed enrollment forms to seven builders.

"You're the first class on this campus. Kail set it up so there something that says you learned it all, officially. This is a four credit seminar with a two credit lab. We'll figure out times around your winter work schedules. I'm going to teach everything from how to use equipment and materials to how to train three hundred OJT's."

"Three hundred?!"

"Yes, Carel, three hundred. The fourth batch, fifty more, start this morning. All of the original forty-eight I got have a training crew of five and twelve have six, as of this morning. In ten days, they'll take a little test and graduate. They'll get scale for general construction labor. At that time, they can choose if they want to move out of the barracks or stay in it, either paying for it, or having it provided, if they wish to continue aiding in training others. Most want to learn something specific, but they'll probably stay in the barracks until there's a dorm done and they can buy cars. After they graduate, the second batch will be the training crew chiefs. After they've scheduled everyone on their crews to be familiarized with all the equipment and trained on a specific piece, and worked as general labor at a bunch of different tasks, they'll get to take their tests and make their choices. The next crew chief's job is see to it the training crew of four does some of everything. When that one graduates the three left on the training group will pick another crew to join up with to be a job crew. They'll figure out who should be chief on what type of job and that one will study it, so whatever they're given to do, one knows more, and when to ask questions. Those crews won't be broken up when some graduate. They'll join up with another crew with different knowledge. They'll do the same next graduation. They have to do it all themselves. They'll get help figuring out how, and help each other. They're all going to leave this job with crew-chief experience, because that's what builders are going to need. Everyone will pick something to learn really well, and some will choose training others. We've already got three we're sure are going to want to put OJT trainer on a resume."

"You're going to pay them all scale as general labor?"

"Hell, yes, Black. We're going to finish this whole thing by spring."

"Whole thing?"

"Whole thing. Hop in the transport. You're all on scholarships."

"Where are we going?"

"To where we're actually working. We decided it would be more fun to do it from back to front and surprise the hell out of everyone, primarily because somebody in a big corp decided we couldn't possibly need in what goes in that building yet and sent the company assembling equipment for it a forty-five day delivery date, with possible preemption to ninety. We told them if they're preempted, cancel the order and we'll build them the equipment to assemble for us."

"Say what?"

"It's high-tech, Keefe, but it's not a field projector. If we can get those, and the equipment you're about to see, built, why couldn't we just say, 'build that piece?' Probably get something impossible that works better. That's what happened last time whoever builds it wasn't sure something wouldn't infringe on the 'spirit' of a patent use license. I'm not in contact. I slam a couple doors, yell problem a couple places, tell three or four people and get a delivery."

"Used to be just the region was like that. Now the whole world's getting that way."

"Sure is, Jol. Great."

"Damn!"

"It's moving right along, Black."

"How the hell..."

"You're about to learn, Lanter. I've got my seven students, Knight!"

"At least they're not giggling. Ours are. Every time one of the new bunch asks what the scaffold is for, they all start again."

"I didn't try to explain. I was sure I'd start giggling."

"Those two tankers have the foundation material, half in each and it's a precise amount. The leads going into each always have to be used. If the material fills half of one teacup, both leads have to go in it. It doesn't matter how deep, but the ends must be in full contact, so it's easiest to just submerge if you're using a liquid. If you use two, it must be half each. If the material needs an additive to set, dump it in just before you do the fill. It'll mix completely in the transfer. If you need more than two, you can add, even years later. My crew's ready to mount the platform. You're on, Tat."

"This building has twelve, six meter by point five meter foundation anchors. There are forty-two structural supports, eight exterior and thirty-four interior. The exterior columns and beams are set in place and held with bolts through their base plates. The bolts aren't needed. They just reduce the likelihood they'll get bumped and fall over. The form we're using is a strip of gansine. It won't come off. It's unnecessary, but it's the perfect color and this way they'll never have to colorbond. If we wanted gold or diamond dust, we'd put them in a light oil, paint them on something and define the something as outside the form. This technique can be used to do walls, but this material is a liquid and does require set time, so it's not really good for that. A solid is best, but it's usually not necessary or even desirable to have the bond this makes, so having it built to specs and installing is usually easier."

"Wait. Built and installed?"

"Most are actually poured around the interior bracing and connecting hardware, Black. We'll show you that after we finish the first floor this afternoon. The platform they just put up there will move across the scaffold. The mount on it is for the transfer device. It'll be delivered with the crane. It's not too heavy for Knight to get it up the scaffold, but this is less work than him strapping it on and Nev can give it to him with the leads attached. He can program the transfer dimensions in seconds, but he'll be showing the trainees how, so it'll be a couple minutes."

"Tat, transfer."

"From the tankers to the form, Carol, including in the holes for the anchors. On a smaller area, the moving platform wouldn't be needed, and a much smaller pour would be simpler. They'll do this one in four sections, so all four of the OJT's learn the programming. It could be done in two. They call it a 'magic trowel,' fills a hole and smooths it perfectly."

Knight supervised the programming. The other three OJT's helped with it. They reminded what had to be included. If the gensine, columns, beams, and their base plates and bolts weren't defined as part of the hole to be filled, they wouldn't be bonded. The gensine would lift off and the only thing holding the beams in, or the building up, would be the plates on the columns and the beam bottoms.

It wasn't at all complicated. The sensors gave the exact shape of the target area, but all the attachments and areas had to be remembered and entered. Knight checked it, nodded, and the OJT pulled the trigger and they moved to the next.

The second trainee worked faster. It was expected and needed. The material was extremely viscous, but it was liquid. She got done before she had to redefine due to sag. They moved the platform and the third programmed. She was so fast, the others yelled, "Blazer!" as the platform was moved.

The OJT's watching from below cheered and applauded. It meant accurate and fast. Accurate was always first. It was essential. Fast came with practice of accurate. The fourth wasn't as fast, but he didn't have to redefine for sag. He touched the trigger pad and Knight yelled, "No redefines! Blazers!" Tatton grinned at his students.

"Redefining for liquid sag is expected. Working fast enough it's not necessary is exceptional. No one is ever slow. If all of them had needed to redefine the area for sag, he'd have yelled, 'accurate' or something else that meant they'd done it right. Some are better at some things than others. 'Better at' is always kept together. 'Better than others at' isn't said. It's one of the first things taught. People can't be better than, only better at. Keep the words together so you don't ever forget the 'at' has to be there."

"That's very wise."

"They're far too wise, Lanter. Get in and I'll show you the training area. They'll spend about two hours showing the new kids what's been done and answering questions. We'd just do all the foundations, but we want all the OJT's to see a couple. They won't all do a piece of the foundation, but they'll all fill a hole. The northwest corner will eventually be a big parking lot. Right now, it's an equipment practice area. They learn to lay a strip of road, take out a strip, grade it flat, lay a walk, take it up. Plant a tree, move a tree, hook things up, unhook, trench, fill, place, remove, everything we do, including learn to drive."

"Drive what?"

"Everything, Carol, beginning with a car. You can't buy one on subsidy, there isn't much parking in sub districts, and public transport ran infrequently at odd times, and past, not through. If you walked eight to ten blocks, through neighborhoods where you weren't welcome, you could get to a transport that would get you to work on time. Of course, sending an employee register with the sub address was an invitation to the IS to visit. 'Smart and careful' is the description of them all, because you didn't survive to have kids if you weren't."

Blade grinned at the woman not looking at him and walked over to her. She was the third who'd recognized him. There had been two in the second batch. When she saw him coming, she motioned two others over.

"I'm Silverin Bladesly. They call me Blade. The man is a friend of mine."

"That's not a surprise. I don't know why here is."

"Shouldn't be, Mirsa. It was the most free place on the planet."

"You've got a promise stud."

"Knight and Nev, Corm. A date is the only place it occurs to me to go without them, and the reverse."

"You changed it all for us."

"I got to help, Lenny. Making holes in the walls around the subs was always top of the list. They just had to take the whole thing apart to do it."

"They?"

"Nobody will tell you who. When you see it, you won't tell anybody. Everybody around here knows, but they don't mention, a lot like Roper. You'll like and understand these people. The big surprise is that they were always mad the sub districts were boxes, and they get madder as they learn how hard it was to survive in them. Expect to be called, 'kids.' Tatton is sort of fond uncle about you all and age is irrelevant. You'll come out of this giggling because mouths are hanging open, and with everything you need to teach any good construction company, and their OJT's, how to do all this stuff, and get well-paid to do it."

"We were hand-picked. We got told, 'go now, apply for this.' It's great for us or we wouldn't have been told, but the man thinks it's real important."

"He knows Tatton plans to help you make it real obvious just how big a lie the gov propaganda about the people in the district was, Mirsa. The most fun you've ever had is about to begin. Your training crew chiefs are waiting to show you how much and watch you get excited."

"I'm not sure I like mine."

"You'll get used to Grim, Lenny, and like him real well, when he makes some comment that has you all laughing so hard you can't stand up and the expression on his face doesn't change. The goal of every OJT is crack him up. So far, Harmon and Nev are the only ones who have and they did it together."

"Thanks. That fixes all my worries."

### Chapter Twenty-two

The OJT's and builders progressed through training as the buildings rose. Nev got the last special treat reservation the day the last group arrived, so did manage to get them all in for one. Since there was more than usual of all the treats that year, everyone he'd have usually called got reservations for it. Since they were more plentiful, the price was a bit lower, so many others also got in for a special treat.

Nev, Knight and Blade were on the eighteenth green of the golf course, the last group out, when the first real snow began to fall. The green wasn't green, but none of the courses closed until the white winter blanket began to fall.

The harvests were all done and the one hundred twenty day-leases ended. They'd done a lot of cleaning, winterizing, viewroom installations and projects on the days they weren't on the campus building site. The boat house was full and 'most' women were visibly pregnant.

In their neighborhood, Essa, Kendra and Elise were pregnant. Kendra had been told she'd have no difficulty. Elise still giggled when she told the story of Mike and Loren running into each other in the hall and "clothes flying." She'd asked if they'd like two children, too, and they'd both run to move in with the other. They'd about finished making one-bedroom a nursery when Elise reminded them they'd never answered.

Jace and Day had each been asked to father a child by a pledged pair of women. A physician had aided. All three pairs had made vows of fidelity. Jace had known one pair since childhood. Day had known the other one hundred fifty-nine days.

Older women were hurrying. Couples who had longed for children, or only had one, though they wanted more, were also hurrying. Most women of childbearing age were in both groups. Nev was going to have little sister and Knight and Blade had spoil-rotten plans too.

Neither they, nor Case and Stats, had yet been asked to father children. They would be, but they didn't long for them. Men who did, especially those who wanted to be daddy but not husband, were asked first. Day and Jace hadn't known they did. The two pairs of women had.

Singles, couples, pairs and households, who hadn't planned children yet weren't hurrying, but they were a thirty-two year-minority. Most who hadn't planned a child immediately would wait at least three years. Couples, pairs and households with plenty of time would probably wait that long for a second child, but all had been reminded to choose the time for their families, not any other reason.

Many of the OJT's would become parents in spring, but most weren't women. As rentals had emptied after summer and OJT's graduated, a few had brought spouses, and a few children, north, but most had not. They were saving for new homes where their knowledge would be in demand. Teal Valley didn't really need them, but the rest of the world did.

Mike and Loren hadn't had to start from scratch in the culinary arts program. Both were final term students. Though they had many of the same classes, and would both graduate as chefs, Mike's focus was on gourmet preparation and Loren's on nutrition. Some of Loren's classes were in the medical center. Some of Mike's were scheduled when guest chefs could teach them.

Loren hadn't been sure the hotel should pay for his course. The food and beverage manager had given him the number of orders for his soup, to date, and the pay deposit for his share of another contract for his break bars.

Elise put her car in the boathouse and rode to work with Day, so Mike and Loren both had warm cars in the garage. They'd "felt odd" not being on the same schedule and in all the same classes at first, but no longer did. They were busy and happy, and Plimmer had a path to Case and Stats', and then to Danny's, to play with Bop, so he wasn't lonely.

Nev tapped his ball into the cup, grabbed it and they ran for the cart. They had the flags from all the greens and had winterized the course as they'd played. They stored their cart and gave Windall, the greenskeeper, the flags and other items they'd collected. Abra was posting winter hours for the pro shop and snack bar as they went in. It was warm and smelled wonderful. The end of season banquet was being prepared and they'd have known it would be great, if they didn't know Chal, Mike and Loren were all in the banquet kitchen.

"You didn't rush through that game."

"We sighed every time we picked up a flag, Abra."

"Nev mentioned it could be covered, at some time on every hole. Knight and I took turns reminding him he has eight flyers from which to select, a lot of golf courses are opening now and some only close when it's too hot to play."

"I'll go play some of those too, Blade, but I like four seasons and winter hours, with people in no hurry coming in to sit and talk courses, clubs and grandkids' great hoops games. Here, it's just a flyer hop over the pass, or not very long drive, to open courses, so the pro shop will still have customers talking about yesterday's game and looking for a different putter."

"Dorn and Tarn both said a whole lot of people who've never done it before will go south for a day or two, or even just an afternoon."

"I understand why no one did, Blade. After this third-season, I understand why they'll go for a day or two, or for an afternoon. Chelse said this snow is the close of 'get-together-and-party season and the opening of we're-having-a-party season.'"

"After about the eighth time someone told us that, we began to wonder if it was a warning."

"For you, it probably was, Knight. Everyone who's played recently is grinning widely and not mentioning the view from the ninth tee."

"They all know Tatton and the OJT's are out to set a record that will 'stand for century.' We're on inside work now. The training corner came out yesterday. He took the last bunch down to get crane operator licenses this morning. They haven't finished training, but they finished that part. There's still outside work and the lot are still learning it, but it won't be long before all the buildings and the stadium are up. The ones in the front are getting done a little at a time, so it looks like it's moving a little faster than expected, from the road."

"We're about to finish two dormitories. Those barns aren't cold, but they aren't designed for living and the farmers won't mind getting their equipment sheds back early. They all donated them, so they won't be losing income. The OJT's are really looking forward to cooking in a real kitchen, when it's their turn to fix breakfast or dinner."

"They're also looking forward to carpeting, nice furniture and parking places. It's not going to cost the ones who've graduated the program any more to live in the dorms than where they are."

"What about married housing, Blade?"

"The building is up, but we've barely started inside. There's only one and it's primarily one-bedroom. It's good-size because the campus is, but there are a lot of apartments and such available in town and building married housing that really won't be needed in two or three years doesn't make sense. Public transport passes, student housing assistance and school proximity are going to make in-town living a good choice for a lot. They don't expect to get as many married, or households here as many places, and most in the area have homes they'd prefer to commute from. Evert Bonderman has a chunk of land he's not planning on using for a couple years and would even consider selling, if the university needs more, but he really doesn't expect it, either. There are already a couple housing groups from the other campus looking at big places and land available for building here, so there should be plenty. They're going to have a half-year to work out the logistics of the first less usual batch of students."

"Thank you. They all know there's an info office, but I'm 'next door' and they ask me anyway."

"We'll send Kail in for tea and a long talk. He'll understand winter hours changed you from busy golf pro to aux info office instantly."

"You'll get a lot of help from the OJT's, once they get into the dorms and get more cars. You might consider staying open some evenings."

"I've been thinking of it since you said they'd be moving into the dorms, Nev. I think a lot of West Siders would come down if they knew they were likely to meet some, too. Comm connect Teera. Hi, would you be interested in working evenings in the snack shop? The construction crew will be moving to the campus soon and they'd probably make it worthwhile. No, I didn't really think he'd be interested in evenings. All I know is soon. Probably. Good idea. Would you talk to them and figure out what you'd like? You know my schedule. I've got the best time for golf talk. Thanks. She was sure this place is going to be just plain busy and she wasn't enough help, as soon as I said, 'moving.' I'll tell her it earned her a raise, when I point to her and tell someone to talk to the manager."

"Enclose the patio now. It'll be cheaper to warm it before it gets really cold, and keep it that way, than just warm it later."

"You think it's going to be real busy too."

"I think we'd come down fairly frequently, if it was open later. There's really nothing else close with a parking dome."

"I'm not sure of the town will consider it worth heating that, Knight, other than for banquets. They don't earn that much from the pro and snack shops."

"Tell them to wait for the first bill to decide."

"You did something to reduce the heating cost."

"Of course. We expect to come to a lot of functions here. Wading through slush in warming-a-little did not appeal. Want help putting the plants back out on the patio?"

"Windall would definitely groan if I asked him, Nev. We just moved them into the cart barn."

"I'm buying three heartmint teas and six hot pretzels. You have to say you're buying before you order, or Nev beats you to it. Let's move plants, guys."

"The cart's still by the door, Blade. I'll start the pretzels, change signs to 'Pro Shop Winter hours' and post 'Snack shop will be open evenings starting soon,' several places."

"And tell Chal. Since you want it known, everybody will know it tomorrow."

The banquet that evening was good food, long conversations and short speeches. Nev's was very short. He said Knight and Blade had talked him out of enclosing the course every hole, the snack shop would be open evenings, and he was sure the town would appreciate Knight's idea of how to make the parking dome cheap enough to heat no one would wade in slush coming to banquets. Andrea's was short too. She said she'd be there for hot pretzels, preferred dry feet and asked Knight his idea.

It was lined and sub roofed with greenhouse gel-core, the door panels mag locked to each other and the ground, so there was no air leakage. They only lifted where a vehicle pushed through and the parking lot surface wouldn't heat exchange with the ground. People walked out to the lot and walked back in, smiling. Carler, Kail and several business owners asked theirs be fixed. Knight groaned, Nev said, "Oops," and Blade laughed.

When the two dorms were finished, all the OJT's moved. The next day, the six were teaching fix-it-yourself car buying and repair in one of the dorm parking lots. By the third, "the whole neighborhood and half of West Side" were helping. Every car purchased and those of regular helpers was registered with the gate comp.

Elise and Day put up a public transport stop sign in the parking lot behind the two dorms and grinned when a large number ran for it. The route was seven twenty-two in the morning and once an hour from seventeen twelve to twenty-two twelve workdays, once an hour from nine twelve to twenty-two twelve non-workdays, except Fourday and Nineday, when there was a last bus at one twenty-two. The next stop for all but that one was the golf course snack shop. The last bus route began at one twelve from the garage behind Waindain. On party nights, they could go to any club in town, leave between oh twenty-five and one and get home.

Theirs wasn't the only last bus route on Four and Nine days, but the town didn't expect to send several "last buses" on others. Twenty-nine minutes after the sign was placed, the first bus driver delivered two hundred thirteen sixty-day and thirty-six thirty-day passes.

Fifty-one had cars or plans to buy one soon. Some of those lived in town. Those who'd brought spouses to Teal Valley could now leave the car. The next morning, three of the regular crew rode to work on public transport. They always did if there was a stop close to a job.

The three hundred began to truly explore the town. Many watched money with specific goals in mind, and many sent money home, but most were single and now had bright futures.

About twenty became avid skiers after their first lesson. The nine-thirty lodge shuttle to Frostlea and the eighteen-thirty return got crowded. The lodge asked when they'd like to come and leave and began sending a shuttle to the dorms at seven fifteen, with a return time of seventeen fifty on off days. Seventeen bought season passes, many more bought skis, and the lodge sent two shuttles on Five and Tenday. Those were a bit less busy for them than Four and Nine.

The snack shop at the golf course was busy every off day and evening it was open, in hourly bunches. Teera, the manager, said they had ten minutes to straighten up between "shift change."

Kail requested assistance with delicate and heavy tech and two people from the small-company in Vairdslea, assembling the equipment for the physics lab, helped him unload a piece of tech "instead of" the one that had been preempted another forty-five days.

He called the corp, that had decided they knew when equipment ordered "now" was really needed and told them the university was quite pleased to be canceling the order. They now had two patents on equipment that had been designed and built by people who didn't expect them to rearrange the schedule of "the three hundred thirty-two most skilled construction workers on the planet, twice."

"It makes your unit obsolete!"

"Comm out. Thank you, Marsden. I really wanted to say that and was sure I shouldn't."

"Thank you. I was working on coming up with an apology I meant. How? Who? Please."

"When IS bombed the Richland U physics lab and blamed it on the student they'd abducted, because they thought he'd made a discovery and they wanted a secret weapon, many physicists and advanced physics students just walked away."

"Your son was the most severely injured."

"Yes, and he didn't go back. There was nothing to go back to there, but he didn't go elsewhere either. None of them did. They weren't alone. Students, professors, researchers turned away from the pursuit of knowledge, but some turned to the pursuit of justice and the end of oppression. The explanation I got is the ones who built this like their new lives and just don't want the attention. Money was never important. They believe there must be an advanced university physics program on this world, but they don't want to be part of it."

"And your son?"

"Hasn't flatly refused, yet."

"When IS bombed that lab, it was the beginning of their end."

"I have no doubt of it."

"We can ship this when it's assembled, but we prefer you pick it up. Four days to integrate and test. We'd be pacing the floor wishing we were here if we took days off."

"That will give them the three workdays of second five-day to move and install. I think that will be perfect for them. I'll say, 'Yes, between eight and ten on Sixday,' and call quick if I'm wrong. Tatton will send enough who know enough to do it right."

"Excellent. I'll give them the day off and start mine when this room is empty."

"I'm sorry we didn't do this sooner. You've been tied up too long."

"We didn't have a contract we needed this much space for until two days ago, and you didn't cause it. I will find someone to get the license to make that unit. Braster Technology lost this customer."

"Every tech producer on this world will lose all their customers soon. They don't have long before off-world bidders yell they have a right to license or sublicense."

"Comm connect Nort."

"Hello, Marsden."

"Nort, do you plan to refer all your customers to an offworld producer to get tech that isn't obsolete?"

"What are you talking about?"

"How long do you think Bressler can wait for planetary producers to get off their asses and bid for licenses to produce invented tech?"

"We haven't seen any trials."

"What type of trials do you have in mind for tech that's been in use a quarter-year?"

"Marsden, two uses of a laboratory prototype is not a good trial."

"Where did you get that number?"

"The Builders Association Information Office said they're using two buildings for training and will start two more late next spring, when domes aren't required for exterior work. That's two uses."

"Didn't you hear the expected completion date of a year?"

"That was before they decided to make it a training program. The info office said they may complete two buildings of the first phase by then."

"Nort, there are almost three hundred people living in completed dormitories, inside the shields that have been in operation since last summer. The entire thirty-nine building-plus stadium campus is expected to be completed ahead of the one-year projection, by three hundred thirty-two skilled users of the new methods and technology. Which the info office evidently thinks means holding a nail between thumb and pinky and using the backside of a wrench to hammer!"

"Add Builders Association Information Office."

"Good afternoon. How may we assist you?"

"What is the current status of the Bressler Northwest University Project?"

"One moment, please. That project is basis of an extensive training program. They are beginning second-story exterior construction on two buildings being used for training."

"Where did that information come from, please?"

"The Builders Association database."

"When was that database last updated from the site?"

"One moment. Shirl! The BNU info is coming from a one hundred two-year-old apprenticeship program record! The computer 'corrected' the missing decimal point in the input data! Gen, we've got a mess. We'll find out what's actually going on and call back."

"Wait! I'm Marsden Walberti, Physical Research Technology. Dr. Fallon added you when I learned the information he'd gotten was incorrect. Dr. Kailvon Terschell, BNU campus development project coordinator, is with me."

"Hi, I'm Kail. Corrected a decimal point?"

"Wallen and Shirl. Forty major units in a year had to be four point oh and it had a training project 'just like that' in the database."

"If they've sent updates, it's just been dumping them."

"Tatton Tellerlock probably hasn't sent any, Shirl. The new materials, methods, technology and training technique all work great and they're ahead of schedule. Behind is notify. Ahead is wide smile."

Wallen and Shirl were on the news planetwide that evening, along with the president of the Builders Association. None of them had known the computer had 'fixed' the input data on the project. The association president said they'd made two more attempts to enter the project data, then called a programmer. She apologized for the misinformation and embarrassment it caused the two people who did a good job answering questions.

Shirl said they'd have checked on the information, if the computer hadn't given them "change of initial project focus to training program" and detailed information on its progress. Wallen said they'd spent the day trying to decide whether to laugh or cry, and he really wished they'd gotten a reminder computers made decisions based on info in their databases, not a thorough demonstration.

The association president finished the short interview segment with the statement the piece of the project that was going to bring the greatest benefit to all people was the training method that had been developed for it. They were calling it the Tellerlock Team Method and expected it to become the standard for training in all trades and industries across human space within five years. BNU would offer a course in it that would include adaptation to specific business needs, when it opened, next term.

She gave the infonet address for the complete BNU course catalog and registration information, noting all professorial positions had not yet been filled, and she suspected some of the reason was the misinformation on the campus construction project. The group in Knight, Nev and Blade's living room toasted themselves with teacups.

"We couldn't have made it without you, Danny."

"The degree program course workups were complete, Kail. They just needed to be organized as a catalog for the infonet."

"You're famous, Tat."

"Someday, I'll get you for that, Kail. I'm going to stress it was the team, including the kids, who built it, to everybody who mentions it."

"It's 'method developed by the Tellerlock Construction BNU project team' in the course description, Tat. Wallen and Shirl will also stress it was the team and the suggestions and aid of the OJT's were invaluable in its development."

"Maybe I'll just cream you with a snowball or two. Speaking of which, I'm going to head home before I need sensors to find my car. We haven't had a snow season like this since my grandparents were kids. A lot of the people listing summer-only rentals as available during Winter Carnival are going to want you boys to do them again after. My feeling is you should refer them to others. They need the cleanup business and you're beyond it now. If there's damage to repair, or they want a viewroom or an enclosed party area, that's different, but you don't need to clean toilets and carpets to support yourselves, or even just keep busy. You should consider getting a flyer big enough to carry your equipment and taking jobs other places. I'm going to. Rindy thinks it would be fun to stay somewhere while we do a big project and fly back to spend time with the grandkids or friends. Harmon and a few of the others will like it and Brasketton will be good running the home and small construction business here, and prefers it. I don't think you prefer rental cleanup and prep or I wouldn't be making a rec you drop it, and upgrade your business licenses."

"We were putting off thinking about it, Tat."

"We hit 'leave home?' and just stop, but you're right about other people needing cleanup work we don't, so we'll begin with that."

"And going to Bressler games, Nev. Drand had to nearly drag me to the flyer the first few times, but I look forward to them now, and get excited every time I think about having our own teams to support and follow everywhere. Start wearing teal and gold and go as BNU fans in training."

"That will help them get good coaches here, Dawn, and I'd wear a BNU cap or armband with my blue and gold."

"Everybody in most of the region would, Drand."

"I'll get paraphernalia production started tomorrow, Tat. I want a cap, a sweater, a jacket, a ski suit, a decal and pennon for my car, glassware, teacups..."

"I'll take that package, Kail."

"That's a great idea too, Larry. Danny, BNU has another catalog job for you."

"I want a package as pay. I'll add a coming-soon to the course catalog tonight."

"Glad Forty-eight got word out here before that GGN cast. BNU is going to hit max enrollment fast. Goodnight. See you boys on the job on Oneday."

The whole neighborhood gathered at the house quickly. They had great fun designing the paraphernalia. Some was just order in color and design, but much of it they designed themselves. They also designed team uniforms that night. They started with the ski team and just kept going. When they finished designing, they built packages. The next morning, Kail sent orders to manufacturers, helped Abra set up an area for BNU 'stuff' in the pro shop and sent a list of who was making what to every store on the northwest region retailers list.

BNU had a warehouse and people to assemble packages by midafternoon. Kail sent a shipping address update to the manufacturers and Danny put the catalog, and team uniform designs, on the infonet.

On Threeday, Case's and Dawn's dad's, Stats' mom and eleven others walked into their offices on campus and the offices of the Registrar, Financial Aid, Accounting, Counseling and Student Housing opened. On Sixday, Kail and Larry moved into their new offices and became the Chancellor and Vice-chancellor of BNU.

It had been totally unexpected decision by the Board of Regents. The chair said they doubted anyone on the planet would wonder why they'd chosen them, but if anyone said something about not the expected credentials, they'd dump enough honors on them to shut them up. Six hours after Kail sat down in his chair the first time, Knight, Nev, Blade, Stats, Case, Danny, Ronnie and Dawn walked into his office.

"Uh, oh?"

"We believe we've found the right physics research program director and professors, Dad. Here's our list."

"You think these people will be as good as you'd be?"

"They will be after you get them here and we train them. We don't want to do it and we think they will."

"It hurts you because you want to point and say, 'That's my son.' We had a long talk about it. They don't want the attention, but it hurts them too. We think that list is the solution. Most of those people quit just like they did, but none of them are doing something else. They think they can teach them enough that they start coming up with applications and tech. That's what's not happening. I think that would diminish the attention enough they could let the identities fully blend. I think the design awards and participation in this project will aid in reducing the number of people giving them shit for not using their education and talents for physics. If someone else does something."

"I'm still going to hope you all change your minds someday, Blade, but it's a memory of my son glowing with excitement, when he talked about what they were doing. I dream of seeing it again, because I near desperately need to know it wasn't banished forever by a bomb."

"Dad, there won't be anything like that again, not in physics in my lifetime. If I 'glow with excitement,' it'll be about something else. The bomb didn't destroy my love of physics, but I want to play with my friends in our hobby shop, not do it as a job. I don't want to direct research. Knight doesn't want to teach physics. We want to teach, but we want to teach other things in other ways. We think those people can become the type of team needed. We can teach them how, because of what we learned here, and they'll be able to teach it to other researchers and students."

"I just realized some of these are students."

"There must also be student researchers to develop the program, Kail. We'll be done constructing the physics lab in three days."

"I'll try to get them here, Knight, but you're going to have to help convince some of these you know what I'm doing."

"That's why we're all here."

"Comm connect Silvertown, Dr. Adeela Creschnev, identify BNU Chancellor Dr. Kailvon Terschell."

"Good morning."

"Good afternoon. Doctor, the team that discovered and has been developing applications of the new physics are in my office. They selected you to learn their methods and direct the physics research program at this university."

"I just got my doctorate last year from a... nothing university and haven't used it."

"Good, I won't have to fight another university or corp R and D director to get you. Introduce yourselves, kids."

"Nevin Curran – Tarse Terschell."

"Knighton Pyramid – Bard Loden."

"Silverin Bladesly – Harim Havadan."

"Danniera Tracy – Ritzinna Schermacher."

"Cascony Laudren – Garil Hobart."

"Statton Sharp – Panner Santiago."

"Veronica Neardon – Shelima Oberetta."

"Dawn Valens – Brimilee Hanaloahala."

"They think they've got a team for you they can teach to work together like they do, and they're putting together the most advanced physics research lab that has ever existed on this planet to do it in."

'Deely' was just first to ask to "come now, please." Only one other professor was as portable as she and the students were, but he arrived in Teal Valley twenty-six minutes after Kail called. It had taken him eight minutes to get a flyer. He had tears in his eyes when he hugged his former students. He'd always known they were the only ones who could have done it. He agreed with all their selections, including research program director. He didn't want it, but he did want to teach, and his wife was ready for him to go back to it.

He found the house just right for them, and the twin boys they'd soon have, that afternoon. He met every other arrival that evening and the next two days, with a list of available houses or a dorm or apartment assignment. His wife and families of two other former Richland U physics professors arrived on Nineday with three haulers, each towing a car with a BNU pennon and physics department logo decal.

By the end of the next tenday, all the families of the core of the advanced program were new residents of Teal Valley, Veil Lake or Willaville, though all didn't move in. A large number of others were beginning to arrive to house hunt as deans and professors accepted Bressler offers of employment. All knew winter was the best time to buy a house, even if they wouldn't be moving into it until summer.

Fraternities, sororities and housing associations were house-hunting, as well. Several huge old homes that had been converted to apartments were sold. None of the tenants were asked to move immediately, but most did. There were more houses and apartments available to rent in winter, too.

### Chapter Twenty-three

As New Year and Winter Carnival neared, the social season approached frenetic. Milla had reserved a large lodge suite and told Nev he had the ski cabin for the twelve days of the carnival, so she didn't "end up a reservation clerk," in early autumn.

Fraternities, sororities and housing associations had building permits posted and work parties at least once per tenday. Winter Carnival was during midterm break at other universities. Most of those at the work parties didn't plan to switch universities, but wanted a place to stay during the carnival, and it was a great time to have a rush party.

Six days before New Year, five people asked permission to look over the physical education buildings, sports scholarship housing and stadium, none yet complete. Kail and Larry ran for the front gate. Teal and gold had been noticed at Bressler games and elsewhere. Five of the coaches, from five other universities, they wanted as head coaches had decided to meet for an unannounced visit.

"Welcome! I'm Kail and this is Doc Larry."

"He's the chancellor. I've got the office beside his so I'm close enough to tell people that."

"You know why we didn't say we were coming."

"Yes, the whole population of the northwest region would have been around where you were landing and working to convince you to coach here."

"I'm not as disinclined to believe that as I would've been if we hadn't looked around awhile."

"It's a little hard to tell how good secondary teams are up here, because they don't play others."

"I'm sure you understand why, Coach Grettens. All we can do to show the quality and interest in secondary level sports is point to attendance and park league participation figures, show some game moments, and note Teal Valley doesn't dominate, even though it's a much larger school."

"Those are all reasons we're here. One of the things we've discussed is star athletes. We won't try to bring any with us."

"If some decide they wish to follow you, they might be able to get in before the registrar says, 'full,' Coach Leitmueller. We think the program and team play should do all the recruiting. There will be many sports scholarships available, but we want students to choose this University for the program, whether that's agra, physics or a university level sport."

"Academics are priority, but this region wants this university to include teaching and coaching sport because they love it. They want a great program and great teams here, and they'll support them. Home team fervor will not diminish when the university opens."

"No, Kail, I don't think it will. I'm Dale. Jessa, Dellen, Murt and Renker. This is incredible, a warm spring day."

"About the only teams that can't play or practice comfortably year-round are skiing and golf."

"Hockey?"

"In normal practice configuration, the ice rink is on the second floor of that building. It moves into the stadium for competition."

"You're kidding."

"Teaching and practice don't need a large seating capacity and parking area, Murt. The design criteria was give every sport practice area and adequate facilities for competition attendance. The shape of the stadium and what's in it changes. If a scheduling conflict does arise, the bottom floor of that building will become a fieldhouse, and/or seating will be moved to surround a practice field. Transports will run from several large parking lots, with winter domes, in town."

"That will always be true. The parking lot has four tiers, but they're usually collapsed and stored beneath the stadium. The materials used make these things possible, but the design to make use of their capabilities is astounding."

"I heard the architects designed this whole thing in a day and a night."

"Absolutely true, Renker. The other about thirty of us there pointed, answered, looked up, drew, found, mentioned, computed, typed, called, checked, fed, poured tea and napped in corners, until they called on us again. They pulled the rest of us into a design team with great skill. This complex design took shape from questions about what people played in parks, how many played and attended Junior League games, how many parking lot parties were there, how many carried pads to put on seats, how many arrived two hours early, so they didn't have to walk so far from parking, what percentage of alumni contributed to schools with winning and losing teams, what percentage of voters approved bond issues or sales tax increases for each, what new materials had this quality, what mechanical structure would support this or that, what type of injuries were common in play, in how many were the structure or surface contributing factors, how many children carried around a ball glove or wore team logo caps, and those are just a few I remember of hundreds."

"Everything on this campus is designed primarily for the people of the area, except the physics laboratory. That was designed to serve the planet in the way the one at Richland U had. It was the regents' decision to do that and the patents which were donated that were the beginning of the redesign. They widened the mission of the university and the architects went to work, and assembled the team needed, to support that wider mission. This complex was much larger in the original design, but it didn't have a third the capacity for practice and play of the sports the people of this area love. The ball fields in parks are seldom empty and people with any type of field game equipment under an arm attract crowds, as soon as they walk into an area large enough for play. Swim teams are large, hoops, tennis and handball courts busy and getting a tee time on a golf course anywhere in the area so difficult that another was desperately needed and very busy every day it was open."

"This is a far less sedentary population the most. The primary industries involve physical labor and the cultural attitude reflects it."

"You'll see a surprising number of people in Larry's condition here."

"That we noticed immediately, Kail. I'll take the job."

"So will I."

"It appears to be unanimous."

"Wearing one of those caps probably isn't the appropriate way to announce my decision, but I want one anyway."

"Teal and gold goodies are part of the welcome package, Jessa."

"Teal and a gold sword, 'Go Big Teal' doesn't sound right."

"We don't use 'Big,' Renker. We are Teal Magic!!"

Shouts of, "Magic Teal! Magic Swords! Go!" rang from work areas. Another shouted, "We are Teal Magic!" and the replies rang out again. Larry yelled, "We are Teal Magic!" and the reply was a chorused cheer.

Kail pointed to pennons being waved out Admin and Physics building windows. The five coaches smiled widely and called universities to tell them they wouldn't be signing new contracts.

It was unusual for coaches not to negotiate contracts, but Bressler, and BNU, were known to make best offer and the contracts were well-written and very liberal. Twenty-four minutes after they'd arrived, Kail led five of the best coaches on the planet to the pro shop to choose teal and gold goodies. Each already had their team decals for cars. Bance, Jace and Silky arrived in the mobile news unit before they finished choosing them.

Coach Dale, "Mule," Leitmueller explained the five of them had decided to meet in Mountain City, rent a vehicle and really look around. 'Everyone knew' they had expiring contracts and other universities had been "showing an interest" in getting them to move.

Bressler had sent good contracts and images of the BNU campus design, the region and secondary school games, not personnel recruiters. They'd also sent a list of the people they were hoping would accept other positions to complete the various team coaching staffs, and the statement of their belief the people of the region dreamed of home teams to support, and had the young athletes to make them great ones. The coaches were all pleased Bance arranged opportunities for them to recommend other coaches on university staffs be promoted to their positions.

Within four days, the BNU coaching staffs for all sports were complete and more families were house hunting in the area. Tellerlock Construction and several other recommended builders also had contracts to build homes. The available north side land zoned residential on both sides of the belt road began to decrease.

Six days before New Year, the catalog was updated with staff images and biographies. Three days before, it was done again, and the preliminary class schedule for some specialized summer courses and the first term was added, with the notice all departments would consider requests to offer additional courses. The next day, fifty-seven degree and prac transfer programs, in conjunction with Bressler, Milton City, Vairdslea Technical, Coral Hills Institute of Art and Design, Kellony Institute of Performing Arts and Bronze Mesa Teachers College were added.

No one in the neighborhood had a New Year party. All were invited to so many, so early, they decided to 'join the thousands of party hoppers.' All planned to be at Tarn and Chal's big party in the golf course banquet hall at midnight. Knight, Nev, Blade, Case and Stats began their party evening with the many who hadn't gone home for the holiday, at their dorm. They were teased about not having dates. Case said they had different party hopping schedules, but would meet at twenty-three forty. When asked who had Danny as a date, all five raise their hands and the teasers burst into laughter.

"We're meeting up with a bunch. We expect to collect some others, who'd really prefer louder parties along the way. We've got Kail's party scheduled just about the time some of the younger profs are going to be sure they've fulfilled their social obligation and are wishing for a wilder crowd."

"Oh, and some of them are nice, Stats. All of the students have this as their last stop and we expect them to make it a fairly early one. Got quite a few club hopping who plan to be here before midnight too."

"Our 'evening' ends with breakfast at six, Blams. We've got parties that don't start 'til clubs close on our list."

"We'd have brunch if we hadn't said were going to breakfast. We've got late lunch and dinner tomorrow. Everyone around here thinks of this as the beginning of Winter Carnival, with a little work in the middle of party."

We noticed that, Blade. Tat just gave anyone who wants to go to an event, or spend a couple days over there the time off. He told us every business does. He also told us you're taking all twelve days, or he'll thump your heads."

"We've got Carler and Milla Valens' ski cabin for all twelve, Mint. We've got some friends who'll be there for specific events, but we're going to have a party when it gets to be one and overnight guests, when people hunt flat spots to lay down bodies. They couldn't do that and figured they'd end up with people asking for 'reservations,' so we get to use the stuff we built."

"We got together and rented four big transports, with lay-down seats, and parking room for them and party tents, Nev. Were putting one in each ski town and we've got four smaller ones to shuffle people around."

"You didn't find big ones around here."

"No, Case, we got them from an outfit in Seaview. It's their off-season and we got a real good price for supplying our own commercial-licensed drivers. They know the big ones are going to sit for twelve days, so we got a break on the insurance too. One of the grad students knew about the company. They take big groups from golf course to golf course along the southwest coast during their winter. The price we got for twelve days is well worth a ten-hour drive each way for a bunch, and the company is picking them up and bringing them home in a big flyer. Two toilets, big keepers and warmers, big ones sleep forty, and they're putting pads in the luggage compartments, in case we need to bed down some in the tents, which they're also supplying, as part of the package. They're being very good to us."

"You're opening an off-season market for them, Lenny."

"We promoted the idea of stu packages for big games and the carnival, Blade. The drop in flyer license costs and such are going to hurt them some. It's an idea they needed."

"We tend to forget some companies were built to provide services because the gov made things difficult for us. Comm Larry. The bunch here came up with a rescue plan for a little company that was in the business of moving people fun place to fun place on the ground, because owning a flyer cost so much. There may be many little tourist transport businesses looking at their last season for that reason. Equatorial southern hemisphere. One of the grad students knew they needed. Park and sleep transports and party tents for stu groups to games and events. More fun and a lot cheaper. Probably because they're little companies and not in trouble yet. Thanks. He's headed for our congress rep. There is an aid program, but the noise is about the big commercial flyers and ground transport companies. They'll get word spread they want to help little guys with ideas and changeover plans before they're in trouble. They now have one good idea to start."

"That makes me feel real good, Nev."

"If someone had told me this world, and my life, could be like this a year ago, I'd have been sure they were crazy."

"A year ago, I was trying to crawl home. A couple police had beat me because I didn't have any money they could take."

"They were worse in Kellerton than Jenneara. We had the man. He paid protection and they left us alone, or they got dead."

"Our boss couldn't enforce it like that. The sub district is a long strip and she couldn't cover it all, or keep other people from paying them more not to leave us alone. How are we going to keep people from offworld from bringing drugs in? We've got too many who used to make too much money not to be looking for suppliers."

"Halse, the gov didn't want any competition. Every centimeter of the portal and the spaceport is covered by sniffers. We also know who they all were and we're emptying their marketplaces. The people with money, who used to be in the business, aren't going to get back in it. They're not risk takers. They bought from the gov and paid business insurance. Look what they did when they were suddenly about to become nonprofitable to the gov. The families that ran with corrupt city officials are contacting the amnesty program office and asking assistance in selling expensive houses and furnishings, getting their names changed and getting started in new places. That program is doing a good job preventing resentment in kids, who shouldn't be punished. That's going to save us a lot of trouble in the future."

"I think we all agree with that, Blade, but we're all still watching for faces we recognize."

"Lenny, I think most of them are dead. If they survived through both the IS control period and the revolution, they're probably smart enough to change and we don't need to do anything about them. The confidentiality of the amnesty program is important for that reason."

"You think that many are dead?"

"Do you know anybody who didn't have a list, Halse? They may not have wanted to kill them personally, but they all had a list of predators we needed dead. I suspect they reduced their own numbers significantly, as well."

"You're talking about thousands."

"In a population of many millions with lists, Lenny. That's one of the reasons our government decided to wait a year to do a census. It gives employment, education and amnesty programs time to work, and a lot of babies time to be born. We don't really want to know how many bodies went in waste cyclers. Our government knows that. We're picking up the ordinary bullies and putting them in rehab. Do you think the real monsters had enough restraint to be law-abiding this long?"

"I don't, and everybody I know had a list."

"Everyone I know had one too, Halse. It wasn't just in subs. Tatton, Kail and Andrea had lists. They have a lot more lines with question marks on them than you did, but they had lists. I think the reason some bodies were left laying is they were on so many that people would still be hunting if they'd just disappeared."

"I know of one like that, Nev."

"For awhile, I thought Warkerdoll was going to live through the whole thing."

"He would have if he hadn't tried to supplement his retirement, Corker. He arranged his demise and Norbralt, Loftenbach, Murcholl, Huertos, Garken and Jameson all went to prison. Nice package deal."

"Yes, Stats, it was. The more I think about it, the more I think Blade may be right. A lot probably removed people who knew too much about them, like where they were."

"And when they did, somebody else who knew where they were decided they were dangerous and removed them."

"That's what I figure, Halse. Basically, the only ones left are the ones smart enough to change and the ones dumb enough to wind up in prison."

The four unofficial representatives of the four big subsidized districts on Gradelode 'drifted into' the crowd, as the group moved toward the refreshment table. Blade got a bit behind, talking to a fellow who was discovering he had a real interest in greenscaping. When he got to the table, Knight, Nev, Case and Stats all turned around and held out a cup of punch for him. Blade said, "Thank you," took two, handed them to women, took the other two, handed one to a third woman and asked all three if they'd like to find a place to sit and chat.

Nev leaned on Knight, Case and Stats leaned together, and several laughing people moved punch bowl and table fast when Knight began to sink. Case and Stats collapsed and the crowd cheered.

Blade took a bow and sat down with the three women. He'd turned the tease of the four cups of punch and everyone loved it. Only the five of them knew the punch tease had been because he'd accomplished the big task their rep had asked Larry's help with, in the first thirty seconds of the party.

The Comptroller and Prosecutor General had assembled a lengthy list of who had become non-problems. The "big task" had been find a way to end the people's quiet hunt, without having to conduct investigations and search for those who'd made them non-problems. The Interplanetary Court, Human Rights Commission and the rest of human space didn't need to know they had a very accurate count of their people, and the number who had 'died in the revolution.' The people didn't need to know either, but they did need to know they could end the watch and hunt for monsters.

Blade watched several make quiet calls on their comm chrons and smiled. At midnight Lodestar Time, at the moment the new year began on the world, the Prime Minister would announce the amnesty program was complete. By then, everyone who had still been hunting would know their government had 'checked off' everyone they were sure shouldn't be around to request it. Lenny had asked, "Known true?" with a slight turn of hand. Blade had answered, "Fact. From the source. Spread it." with a slight lift of three fingers. He'd said, "Now!" by a slight lift of thumb.

"Excuse me a moment, please. Comm connect, Larry. This is a great party. Knight, Nev, Case and Stats are laying on the floor, laughing, and I have the company of three lovely ladies. Our government is of the people. We all know who our representatives are, and that they truly represent us. Teal magic is in the air. Everybody on the planet will be in a bit more party mood within five minutes. Happy New Year. Comm out."

"Teal magic in the air."

"All our last New Year wishes came true, Lissy, even the ones we couldn't imagine well enough to make. Check off every wish on your list, and every name. It's official. Happy New Year."

"It's official..."

"The government is people of the people. Your rep knows what was on your wish list, Lissy. The revolution was a total success. The oppressors and the abusers are gone, from every government building and street corner on the world. Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year. Happy New Year! We are Teal Magic!"

"Magic Teal! Magic Swords! Go!"

"Happy New Year! We are Teal Magic!

"Magic Teal! Magic Swords! Go!"

"Happy New Year! We are Teal Magic!"

"Magic Teal! Magic Swords! Go!"

BNU had three hundred fans who would stay fans wherever they went. They were "the first Teal Magic." Tatton, Kail, Larry and the people of the region made sure they knew they thought of them as their first great team. They were the first graduates on the campus, and every one of them had a diploma, a cap and would receive a vid of the campus they brought into existence as it 'grew' across the land.

In each vid would be a clip of the recipient wielding a magic trowel. The Stadium was being done in three hundred sections so each used it again.

One of the things each had defined to be part of the section was a five cen-high gold sword on the face of the lowest tier of the section. The name of the person who wielded the trowel to create the section was stenciled in the blade. The little swords were twenty-four karat gold almost-leaf thin and held upright in position by a thin wire base.

It was the perfect hard problem of placement and defining to give them. They'd never have one more difficult, or they wanted to get perfect as much.

The final shipment of enough solid material to do twenty-five sections had arrived the previous day. When the final section was done, at fourteen thirty-three, their New Year holiday had begun, with every little sword perfectly placed, and every stenciled name perfectly defined in the teal of the section material.

There was great deal more to do on the sports complex and many other buildings, but the most personally important piece was done and, there or among family and friends in their home districts, they intended to celebrate. They'd loved it when Harmon checked to be sure there were enough going to each area to do a good cheer.

Danny looked at the file on her screen, closed it, told Bop to be a good kitty, picked up her evening wrap and walked through the house to her car. The book should be done, but it wasn't. It was supposed to be 'got rid of the wizard, happily ever after, the end,' but it wasn't. She didn't know what was still to be written, but she was sure there was something. In about one hundred days, there would begin to be babies everywhere, but she didn't think that was it. People weren't moving out of subs in large numbers, yet, but she didn't think that was it, either.

She hadn't canceled her auth code again, because Larry had said, "Don't," so he felt it too. It wasn't 'over,' but she couldn't find what still remained to be written.

She'd decided it was something about the heroes. They'd moved to the background. What still remained for them to do? How could they be called upon again? She couldn't see away. She knew the 'non-body' count. The remaining 'beasts' were capable of becoming people and the remaining demons were already good business demons, quite pleased to be having to do a great deal less work to make a little more profit. Why wasn't it 'the end?' If Ronnie didn't feel it too, she'd have gone back, found the right spot and put it there.

When she arrived at the Caelton's she smiled. Everyone didn't have parking domes, but they had covered walks and room to entertain. She parked her car, set it's warmer to keep it pleasant, waited a moment for the little automated shuttle, then took one step through a light snowfall.

Another little shuttle was coming from the other way. It was from the parking area for all-evening guests. The street was reserved for those who would be party hopping. Most didn't, but some had social obligations and many friends having parties. Her schedule was some of each.

Knight, Nev, Blade, Case and Stats left the dorm, split and went to east-side parties in entertainment areas they'd built, then north-side in others, then all left those and headed up to Kail and Lillen's. Stats was driving his transport and Knight was driving his car, with all the seats in it. They expected to fill them at the party. The rest of their evening party plans were fun and loud, finishing with breakfast at Carler and Milla's.

Their dome would have many cars in it long before then. People would drop them off and consolidate, as social evening moved to party night. Knight parked his car and Stats parked the transport beside it at twenty-two sixteen. The dome was rather full, but the two spaces were close to the path. Some first arrivals had left for the next party on their schedules. Larry met them at the front door.

"The 'nice warm dome' may be an even more popular topic of conversation than the room. People from over the pass expected to be chilled before they got to the door."

"We'll teach someone to do it. Meeting?"

"A lot of guests from other places are looking at this place and wondering if you can be pried out of here long enough to do something elsewhere. Tatton put me on 'defense' before he left. He's got two transports with about a dozen future profs in each he's chauffeuring from party introduction to party introduction. Brinda, our rep, is leading a group of cars to others. She's got the Bressler regent contingency."

"We managed to miss both? Nev must have shaken his head."

"Brinda timed it so you got out of where they're going, Blade."

"Uh, oh."

"Dr. Walston is rather sure you know a lot more about physics than how to install equipment, Nev. They were developing a who list when Kail preempted with yours. She wants to know 'what happened' to the Richland U project. Brinda's getting her to Laril, so he can tell her it wouldn't have made things invisible."

"She thinks Richland should have it because of all the money and labor invested in it."

"Yes, Nev."

"So do we, but it's not needed for its intended purpose any longer and too likely to be used for illegal ones."

"Loril's going to try to get her to accept it's been superseded."

"Larry, it actually was that project that led to the development of the rest. It was a little too close to impossible for there not to be something we didn't know. What do you think we should do?"

"I don't know, Knight."

"Build them a physics lab. Not like that was, but the one they need now."

"They've got what they need, Blade. Or do they?"

"What are you thinking, Nev?"

"Deely's students are ready to choose a direction, Knight. Perhaps it should be development of lab equipment for the new 'usual' education required to get a good job as a physicist."

"I don't know what that is, Nev."

"She does, and it will probably require patentable tech."

"It doesn't need to be new application?"

"Maybe it shouldn't be, Knight. If something new comes along that they'll be using on their jobs, they'll learn it just like Harmon learned the new methods and equipment. She learned them faster than the OJT's because she already knew what it took to hold up a building. Maybe 'totally new' isn't the right idea to push. Maybe it should be there's going to be lots of new coming, so let's get the training equipment to prepare to work with new stuff built. It'll be patentable as tech. Maybe 'as tech' is what the R and D people need to see. This does this. How can we use that in our work?"

"I think Blade found the reason they're all just looking at the theory. When you need a piece of tech, you develop the application to give you what you want. Most tech is developed to use applications in a different way, or combo, to do something better, faster or less expensively, not something completely new. None of you are that type of thinker. Drand is."

"That's what I needed, Larry. Deely!"

"He doesn't know he's interested in that woman."

"I know, Blake, but she does."

"That's Knight. Now you."

"I'm interested in someone?"

"Does Case and Stats' obvious opinion the question was hilarious answer it?"

"Does she know it?"

"If she wasn't about as oblivious as you are, I wouldn't be thinking of cracking your heads together."

"Who? Professor Littlefield? Uh, yes. I am interested. Now what, Blade?"

"How did I end up with two of you? Go talk to her about later parties that aren't just conversation."

"She's quite a bit older."

"Is she older than Drand?"

"No, a year younger. Talk to you later."

"You two and I are going to find interesting evening companions. If we don't, Danny won't.

"Coach Dollier."

"Attracted her attention when she was doing the catalog, Stats. He would really enjoy having her company, while showing off why he's the BNU ski team head coach at Winter Carnival."

"I'll get Silky and Essa working on perfect fan-ski outfit complements for the various competition and coach uniforms he'll be wearing, Blade."

"She'll appreciate it, Larry."

"You're putting her right in front of the cams, Blade."

"We all will be, Case, but the identity is BNU team fans, and there will be thousands dressed like we are. Yes, we won design awards. No, were not available yet. We are subcontractors helping build the greatest design this world has ever seen. Tonight's job is assemble a BNU Carnival mob with lots of credentials to list along with ours."

"Got it."

"Larry?"

"Beautiful, Blade. We are Teal Magic!"

"Magic Teal! Magic Swords! Go!"

At twenty-two fifty-eight, their time, people at every party and club in the region turned on entertainment screens to watch the fireworks display in Lodestar bringing in the new year they'd dreamed of for more than a century. The gov hadn't been oppressive that long, or it would have been overthrown long before, but it had been corrupt.

They'd tried to change it democratically, but reform candidates 'never got enough votes.' Now they knew that had been assured. The last fifty years had taught them only revolution could succeed. They knew there had been no other as successful. There were no loyalists and no smoldering resentments. The last five years had assured it.

The "old gov" hadn't set off fireworks, "an ancient and dangerous unnecessary expense." The new government was of the people and they wanted a great beginning to their celebration. Precisely at midnight, a huge flash of light, loud boom, then streams of gold announced the beginning of the new year on Gradelode, then the cams focused on their prime minister.

"By order of Congress, the following items shall be placed before the people in a special referendum election, to be held in fifteen days. Item one: This world shall be renamed Liberty Gem. Item two: The Great Seal of Gradelode shall be recast as the Great Seal of Liberty Gem. Item three: This continent shall be named Citrine. Item four: The northwest continent shall be named Amethyst. Item five: The southwest continent shall be named Garnet. Item six: The northeast continent shall be named Topaz. Item seven: The southeast continent shall be named Peridot. Item eight: The Gradelode credit shall be renamed the Liberty Gem Crystal. Item nine: One one-hundredth of a Liberty Gem Crystal shall be named one facet. Semiprecious gem names were chosen because it is the people who are precious upon the continents, not the gems and ores within them. The value of the ore stripped from this world was cause to cage the people upon her. Liberty has now made her a shining gem set in the black velvet cloth of human space. In other words, we aren't going to let anybody out there forget we had the battle for it, because the only thing they noticed was there wasn't enough ore left here to raise corp profits a significant digit. I have two other announcements. A full minerals survey will be conducted, with the object of determining if the mining corporations exceeded mineral depletion allowed by the colonial charter. Since we all know they did, we're preparing a suit for damages. The second announcement is a real nice way to begin this dreamed of new year. The amnesty program is complete. There are no more victims of the warping of our culture by greed hiding in fear. If that doesn't astound the anthropologists and historians, who suddenly noticed there are people here, they're too dull for anyone to stay awake reading what they're writing, anyway. Happy New Year, people of Liberty Gem!!"

"Happy New Year, Liberty Gem!!"

"Happy New Year, Liberty Gem!!"

"Happy New Year, Liberty Gem!!"

The fireworks display was going to be a full hour in length. People sat down in conversation groups around the screens in the living room and out in the party room, but most were far more interested in the talk than the display. The content of the Prime Minister's speech had been a surprise to everyone, except Kail and Larry. Knight, Blade, Nev, Case and Stats had only known of the one announcement. They were among the many obviously thinking it over. Larry steered them and several conversation companions to one of the larger alcoves. There were only eight chairs, but there was plenty of floor seating for seven more.

"No one's changed a world name and you're not sure you like the one they picked?"

"The first doesn't bother me. I'm working on the second."

"That's what they expected, Blade."

"Why not just Liberty, or Gem?"

"They didn't want to make it that easy for the people out there, Deely. Both are expected world names. There are worlds named Emerald, Sapphire and Freeland. We took this gem away from our oppressors. They held it in their greedy grasp so tightly, freedom didn't exist upon it. We had to rip this entire world, every speck of dirt and drop of water, out of their hands to be free. They plundered it abominably, committed great offense against it, and nearly succeeded in enslaving us. This world is free of plunderers because we cast them off. It is our home and the prize, trophy and monument to our suffering and battle for freedom, our Liberty Gem. And it doesn't fit in the insert-planet-name field on every damn 'standard form number such-and-such' from the Interplanetary Court Clerk's Office. They'll notice everything we send them because the comp will kick every form out for hand entry."

"It's not... Not the length, the spacing!"

"Yes, Gast, the spacing. You may not drop the space between, add a space between, or otherwise deform the name of the world on any official document without rendering it invalid. The Garnet Region Eight rep suggested we call it L'Gem, because the newscasters will love it, but you can't put a nickname on a legal document."

"Is there someone at every party on the world explaining this, Larry?"

"No, Deely, but we're sure there will be before it's midnight on the west coast of Citrine and everyone will have heard before it's midnight on the east coast of Amethyst."

"Why those?"

"The mining corps didn't cut them out of the heart of the world, so we still have some pretty rocks. They stuck them on continents and came up with Citrine as obvious for this one, but we're not going to say that."

Blade smiled and called Lenny. He made a suggestion that made both Deely and Knight smile widely. Larry called Brinda and told her they could stop worrying about minting and counterfeiting, the design and physics bunches had teamed up and their eyes were twinkling.

Coach Dandren, 'Dandy Doll,' Dollier drove Knight's car to the banquet hall party. Knight, Deely, Nev, Keeva Littefield and Blade were all working on pocket comps or datpads. His assistant coach, China Blankenship, was driving Stats' transport. She did have two others, of eight, not working.

Danny ran in the banquet hall and an aisle cleared between her and a comp in a corner. Donce looked very surprised when she grabbed his hand and pulled him along.

"Our job is figure out how to make this a very simple changeover for a vend service tech."

"That'll be a first."

"We'll add it to the firsts list. A quarter of the cash on this planet is probably counterfeit."

"That's obvious. It's not so worn out the vends can't read it. The old gov wouldn't spend the money to mint new."

"It came in handy, but cash-in may be the only way to count it to get an accurate in-circulation figure. Our new money won't be cheap to make, but it won't take long. It'll be gorgeous, won't wear out and no one will counterfeit it. However, putting every cash vend out of service, until a service tech can change a large block of programming wouldn't be nice."

"How do you plan to avoid that?"

"By doing it for them."

"Uh, huh."

"Call a code, give the comp the access code, and it reads the vend ident and reprograms for that specific model, or reads and reprograms for real odd ones."

"Size and weight?"

"Size is 'this is comfortable,' or most worlds wouldn't have coins about the same size. We like cash, or most worlds wouldn't spend the money to make it. The government doesn't plan to slowly collect the old stuff over years. 'Oops, found some way under there' is expected, but the new coins, not chips, will be trade-old-for-new-now, as fast as possible. Our government hopes everyone, who doesn't decide to keep a souvenir, starts turning it in immediately. People don't need fifty credit bills for cash vends and our government is not going to look at what they've got or how they spend it. No more bills. A fifty-crystal coin will be gorgeous, suitable as a fine jewelry pendant, but it will take a physics lab to make a hole in it. Everyone will know exchange day in their area in advance, so they can empty cash drawers, specify needed and refill with new. Different denomination coins will feel a little different, and it will be easy to tell facet from crystal denominations."

"They're going to do this without changing the cash slots?"

"Can you feel a difference between the cloth of your shirt and my dress?"

"Got it."

"Most common vend manufacturer this area?"

"Proferra Food Technology."

"Type?"

"Model eight-two-oh-seven Multi-vend."

"Cash unit?"

"Bredden Vend-meter six. Hyphen there. No cap."

"Change capacity?"

"Twentieth-credit, forty credits; tenth-credit, thirty credits; quarter-credit, one hundred credits; half-credit, one hundred fifty credits; one credit, two hundred fifty credits. That's this area, Danny. In other areas, they put in a smaller change box and don't take fives."

"We only need an example or two to work with, Donce. Once the program is written, it'll read any not in database, do the rewrite and store for next use."

"That's not going to be a simple program."

"Simple programs aren't as much fun, and don't pay as well, either."

Dandy Doll ran in, yelled he needed a half-dozen to steer and ran out. He steered Knight in, turning his shoulders to get him through the doorway, a moment later. Bellin was steering Deely, who was working with Knight on a comp, which is why Dandy had to turn him. Tarn steered Blade through behind them. Day got interested while steering Nev and Kady yelled for help. She'd been steering Keeva, working with Nev, and suddenly had a clump of three. Jace came from behind her and got both Nev and Day through. Silky, Essa and Bance steered Drand, Dawn and Ronnie through semi-sideways behind them. They had another clump develop when Elise got interested in what Case and Stats were doing.

By the time they got all twelve, plus two, through the door into the corner where Danny was working, everyone else was laughing. Blade winked at Danny and went back to solving the equation on his datpad. Danny began to giggle and the laughing, gorgeous man, who'd steered Bard, lithely and elegantly knelt by her chair.

"Dandren Dollier, Dandy."

"The ski coach. I'm Danny."

"The programmer I was told to get them to. Hook up?"

"Start links between, please. I've about gotten this ready. If I get started on assembling what they're doing, I'll forget what I was."

"First a question."

"Yes?"

"Do you have a date for Winter Carnival?"

"That's twelve days."

"And evenings and nights."

"I didn't."

"It's going to be a great Carnival. I'll be back to look over your shoulder. The program is beautiful, too."

"The coach is a programming prof, Danny."

"I remember noticing that, Blade, after his image, and the ski jump vid, several times. This is a cute little thing. I'm sure the service techs will like it. Personna image... He's cute. Voice... Computer record intro for personna image. 'Hi, I'm Seffy, the currency change genie. Give me a link to that vend and its access code, and I'll get it switched for you.' Close intro. Record signoff. 'Ready for crystals and facets. See you next vend.' Close signoff."

"This one's done, Knight."

"Thanks, Blade."

"Before he hands me another, we noticed you noticed. He moves lot faster than we expected, but we expected. Silky and Essa are working on perfect fan ski outfits to complement his BNU coach and team ski outfits. Lots of BNU 'and is also a fan in teal and gold' attention."

"Math assignment, Blade."

"Yes, Knight."

"Linked. Danny, I need to attract attention for the team. I'm a surprising choice."

"You won't be after Carnival."

"Nice shortcut."

"It's a handy little thing that adapts well to many programs. I wrote it for middle school assignment that was boring me to distraction. This is going to be real pretty money, and no one's going to counterfeit."

"You are incredible."

"I'm becoming one of the best. Nearly every contract I've gotten here has required a truly unique programming solution. It would be every, but Kail and Larry yell for things like course catalogs and accounting programs. However, they always need them 'Yipe! We've got minutes!' so they're a challenge too."

"That's what makes it fun. Coaching skiing is the same. Just competition wasn't. I enjoyed it, but teaching... I wouldn't trade even one kid's excited yell of, 'I did it!' for a championship medal. You can use that there, there and there, with a replacement of the second statement."

"Oh, I sure can. Thanks. Ronnie stands over me and watches for things like that. I'm usually on the third or fourth before I realized I could have used."

"I usually see I could have when I'm doing the proofread too. Mind has to be on what you're writing now. You didn't write that one in middle school!"

"Nope, wrote it for the Caelton contract. That little discriminatory function cured a lot of headaches in the sorting area. Little changes... and there... and... Now it sorts coins not produce."

"I hope someone pays you for this."

"Oh, yes. Donce is talking Chal into making me glailberry brandy marinated trill hearts in bubble fungi sauce. It takes days of gentle coaxing at carefully timed intervals to make, what is basically a block of wood, open into a tender florette of delicious. Ordering three at the hotel has occurred to me, but they use a different sauce, so I've never had the combo Chal says is 'perfection.' He'll make enough for all of us and teach Mike the sauce, very high pay."

"Yum. My only disappointment since I was offered the coach position is I couldn't find a place to live."

"What?!"

"Qualified. I looked at some nice places, but none are what I need, for one reason or another. Looking has been in short bursts between getting my classes ready for midterms and me ready for Winter Carnival, but it did teach me what I do want."

"That is?"

"A big old fixer-upper fairly close to campus, in a neighborhood where a bunch of exuberant kids yelling they got a vid of a competition on another continent is appropriate. I need a place some kids will get used to opening the front door, yelling for me and getting a yell back to bring a soda to where I'm resealing a window or floor joint, or colorbonding a wall. A few who think of my door as always open before term starts will assure every kid who needs me comes over or calls, whenever they need me. I want a call at three, if a program problem is causing tears, upcoming competition is causing sleeplessness, or a deteriorating relationship is causing heartbreak. Usually, an assistant coach in sports scholarship housing is the one with the open door, but that's not where most of my kids will be. They'll primarily be in housing associations, apts or living at home. Since I've been the cute grad assistant the girl in tears 'just couldn't call,' I know that's not always enough. I may have a self-finisher built."

"You were heard. This one's done, Knight."

"Thanks, Blade. It was last. Tell Tarn he needs."

"On the way."

"We're done!"

"We're right behind you, Case. Done!"

"We're... done!"

"That's our piece."

"One more spec and... done!"

"Finished here."

"Done. All yours, Danny."

"It won't take long, Knight. I've got everything ready for it."

"Admiration just became awe."

"I've done this many times before, Dandy, enough with this bunch I know whose piece goes where most of the time. I do not stop to really look while I'm assembling, or I'd get happily lost in math heaven. My other love. Whee! Read it, Maxine! Maxine is my simulation program."

"Check line."

"Knight says can be done."

"Accepted. Check line."

"Hmm... Next two. Try in that order."

"Search time reduced. Check line."

"Blaah! Typo. Try it."

"Proceeding. Check line."

"Previous. Let's try... Back two, then proceed."

"Check line."

"Knight says can be done."

"Accepted. Simulation check one complete. Two proceeding. Complete. Seffy simulation check complete. They'll work."

"Send, disconnect and return to standby."

"Treasury Department computer confirms receipt and store. Happy New Year. Goodnight."

"Happy New Year, our government from BNU Physics Department and friends. Oh, look at that smug smile. What did you find, Tarn?"

"My great-grandma found, Danny."

Tarn led Dandy, and several others, to the northeast window and pointed to two lights in the distance, beyond the campus, on the north, on Tiara Road. They were over a farm equipment shed. The farm family had decided to build a new house on the east side of the shed for themselves, sell the big old farmhouse on the west side, and build four more big houses with big yards north along Tiara. They'd planned to fix it up and start new houses before they began on their own, because they wanted it to be a home, not a housing association, and that was all who had been looking for big houses that needed a little work.

They thought the ski team "draped on the covered porch around two sides would be a great neighborhood decoration." They'd be delighted to move to a big condo they owned, and leave him lots of furniture, and "a busted walk melt unit," while their house was built first.

Dandy had driven by the house and definitely wanted it. He said he'd ask for a dorm room until the family moved. Knight asked about "remaining half-term." There wasn't one. The university at which he'd been teaching hadn't been particularly happy about "another university's colors," and Dandy had known a young programming professor, soon to have a family of three, in need of a job. He'd departed the university on Amethyst continent amicably, but abruptly. His former department chair had helped him pack and flown him to Teal Valley, where he'd rented a transport big enough to hold everything. It was in Kail's parking dome.

Blade called Kail and asked him if he knew his ski coach was "jobless and homeless." Dandy yelped. At the end of the call, Dandy needed steering. He had Carler and Milla's ski cabin in Frostlea to use, "though shared during Winter Carnival," then programming work for the University, and campus housing, if he still needed it. Danny agreed her skiing would improve greatly over the next eight days.

### Chapter Twenty-four

Everyone's skiing got better, even Bance, Jace and Silky improved. The ski pro at the lodge wasn't unhappy. Dandy had worked with her a bit on teaching technique and her students improved.

Dandy had seen the Tellerlock Team Method among the former OJT's. He brought it up during a pre-Carnival interview by a sports broadcast network and said he was "astounded." The interviewer was delighted with the way he defined the difference between instruction and coaching, then the difference between personal and team coaching. Dale Leitmueller called Kail right after the interview was over.

"Every coach and coaching instructor on the planet may use a vid of that interview. Putting that boy up there in that cabin was pure genius."

"Putting him up there was he showed up with everything he owned New Year Eve, after color-clash abrupt departure from his previous place of employment. He wasn't the coach, but they preferred people not ask why not. He moved a young about-to-be daddy into his job and house, and happy U said thanks. We were sure he'd make good use of the cabin's proximity to the ski slopes. We've been giggling since he got there, and we've got a programmer who knows university departmental needs to help get set up too."

"Something really likes BNU. My contract ends in two days, but I'll be on my way in about two hours. The after-season coach shuffle is surprising sportscasters, who were sure they knew who would go where."

"And have been talking about what the coaches they were sure were going to go there would change. That's why several hold-outs suddenly announced retirement?"

"It may be why they decided to retire. There weren't any real surprises and nobody moved up. Someone should have grabbed two of my assistant coaches as head coaches, when their contracts expired, several times. There are whispers of 'professional league' in the air."

"No one was going to consider it under the oligarchy and IS."

"No, they weren't. I don't want to coach professional, but I think there should be a league. They may ask me to help write the rules, and watch they aren't broken."

"You think it will happen before next season?"

"No, I think they'll push the idea during the season and try for a somewhat different play season, beginning later, so U playoffs are occurring as pro season begins to get hot, not so you're picking one or the other to follow. I don't think any of the other big team sports are ready for a pro league yet, and I don't think pro play in this one will hurt their support."

"We'll do a sabbatical or something to give you the opportunity to assure a pro league has strong standards of sportsmanship and ethical conduct, Dale. We need you to build the team, but we want the best building a pro league too. We'll figure out some way to fit them together, and use it to non-obviously promote BNU sports."

"Thanks. Any idea what we're getting?"

"About twelve years of the finest athletes in a sports-playing population of a quarter-million, most first term students, plus a number of varsity-level second through fourth term transfers. Kids from here, who did attend universities, didn't play sports at them. They didn't want attention turned here. They got their pracs, or degrees if required, as fast as possible, with as little fanfare as possible, and came home. Most of those commuted to Mountain City, or Vairdslea, from here. Most just didn't go. You're getting a large number of young men and women who look like they work out with Larry and state it's just from 'working around the place and tossing a ball around with friends,' and they'll get into real shape and practice before they try out for teams. They plan to walk over every other U team on the planet, and don't doubt they can with the coaches we got them. And the Planetary Intercollegiate Sports Association wants to put us in A-two."

"What?!"

"Yesterday's communication said BNU should start there as a new school and work our way up to double-A. I messaged back our enrollment would exceed double-A cut off, and they'd rework their damn four-A schedule, or we'd just tell the sports networks it was because they wanted several years of broadcast rights payments before we smeared them all over the fields, courts, courses and slopes, and prove it every eighty-to-nothing game. They may try to negotiate for three-A."

"Four-A is the only way we can hold pre-opening team formation practice, under the precedent set sixty-seven years ago in the Amber Coast University campus split."

"Also a reason they don't want us to have four-A. We've got a lot of intend-to-be athletes who aren't doing much this time of year, and they'll be too busy for more than standard length preseason practice."

"How's enrollment doing on supporting the four-A claim?"

"Well over minimum in preenrollment, which they're saying isn't the same as enrollment. They pointed to our student housing as indicative of low actual enrollment expectations. That was an error."

"It was?"

"The town rezoned a large chunk of land group-residential, a new category. A developer association hired Lambert and Morelli, for one crystal, to design a scholarship and housing association development. The developer association then purchased land rezoned multi-residential, the other side of the north belt road, and Lambert and Morelli are designing a development of two-bedroom six-plexes, for one crystal. That happened between nineteen fifteen and nineteen thirty last night. They hired Tellerlock Construction, and all three hundred thirty-two working on the campus, to do the projects at seven thirty-two this morning. As of fourteen thirty, they still hadn't figured out who to give back how much of the excess needed to pay for it all. Tatton figures it'll take them about eighteen workdays total to do both projects."

"How... so fast, everything?"

"No configurable interiors, no specialized equipment installation, no heavy structural support, no oversize shipping required, no seam bonding, no colorbonding. The PISA made the BNU fans mad and they decided to West Side them."

"West Side?"

"When a community organizes, gets to work and gets done so fast it makes mouths drop open, it's a West Side. This one is going to be great fun. No two buildings will be alike, all will have 'charm and character appropriate to their northside location,' and all will be zapped into existence around everything from the ground up. Appliances, fixtures, computers and carpets will wear out, but nothing else will ever need maintenance. Even hinges and handles will be wear-proof."

"They don't want them to come apart and reassemble in other patterns like sections of the dorms do?"

"No, there will be enough different styles and room groupings for students to choose what suits them. Our changeable-furniture supplier has already been notified there will be more orders coming, but some places won't be furnished and some will have furniture that doesn't raise, stack, connect and others. They won't all be the same price, but they aren't being built to make a profit and only students will be able to get a room or six-plex unit. Houses, condos and apts will still be the choice of many, but they just poked a big hole in the rezoning argument of a couple big development corps that wanted to put complexes on the east side."

"The east side?"

"High rent condo complexes for all those well-paid working people, and summer people, the students will displace."

"Grr, I'm not even there yet and I'm developing a regionalist attitude. It's a new experience."

"I'm not sure that it's not contagious. We've got about three hundred who don't plan to stay who have it. When and where to transfer containers from flyer to transport?"

"Razhel will be there and I don't have enough left to get cold before it's transferred. I think we'll go home, but she mentioned getting to the opening ceremony early three times, when I talked to her this morning."

"It'll be nice to have you here."

"I'm singing as I'm packing. See you at the ceremony. Comm out. Comm connect Willet Barldale, Silvertown."

"Hello, Dale. What did they say?"

"Coaches don't usually get 'a sabbatical or something.' PISA is trying to keep BNU out of four-A. If they do, next season is going to be such a farce it'll take years to rebuild network interest."

"It's a new U."

"Lett, PISA is beginning to irritate the BNU fans. We said we belong in four-A. Anyone who ignores what we tell them will be shown they're fools."

"Dale?"

"I'm going home, to my dream U, my dream team and our dream home town. Tomorrow, Winter Carnival starts just over the pass, and my wife and I will be there in our teal and gold, cheering for our ski coach, like tens of thousands of other BNU fans. PISA is irritating us. We're going to West Side them. Comm out. Comm connect Kail."

"Hi, Dale. Need?"

"Tens of thousands in teal and gold, with lots of 'going to try for this team' groups sort of getting acquainted here and there, over twelve days, anywhere Dandy Doll is about to ski. The other coaches are a 'fan contingent.' West Side them. I just realized something."

"It is?"

"When it's time for BNU to get a different head coach, I'll help pick and apply for a job at the bank."

"I understand completely. We've got an assistant coach who plans to show a cross-country race is a race, too."

"I'll be cheering."

"So will tens of thousands of others in teal and gold. Come on home."

"Pack is about to be pitch and sort later. Comm out."

Kail called Dorn, Andrea and Nev. Dorn and Andrea started on lists. Nev called Tarn. Bance was on live feed. As soon as he was off, Nev checked to make sure they'd heard the coach wanted to "West Side them." Silky said they'd heard and Bance was calling his dad.

The various paraphernalia suppliers didn't know what was happening, but they knew something was. The president of a small company that had sent a sample to a ski shop called her mother and yelled for help. Her "teal and gold frame eyewear in four styles" had obviously been a great idea. Every store in the region seemed to be ordering "Rush, rush, rush!"

No one else backordered either. They all knew Winter Carnival was about to begin and anything not there fast wouldn't be needed. Most had some stock. It went out immediately. In the early morning, much more was arriving in haulers that had delivery routes. A great deal of material had been dyed and garment fabricators were fast. So were people using them. Hauler drivers reported stores were open and full of people waiting at every stop, beginning about five.

Most people in Teal Valley already had something appropriate to wear. It might be only a cap over a 'real hat,' but it was appropriate. There were a great many who had teal and gold winter hats, scarves, ear warmers and gloves, and nearly everyone had a pennon. City transports, growers' transports, and rented transports filled early, and joined the thousands of cars going over the pass.

Everyone knew BNU had a huge tent in every town, where they could get warm, get hot tea, use flash-pot toilets, and buy things like therm cups and eye protectors. The big tents that had been set up late the afternoon before weren't the only ones flying BNU pennons. Every refreshment booth, restaurant, store and most ski cabins had pennons on them.

By opening ceremony, held in all four towns at ten, the "tens of thousands" the coach had requested were "a sea of teal and gold" in the stands and the gallery areas of the slopes. West Side had turned out in force in Frostlea and had a huge teal and gold banner that said, "West Side for BNU; Magic Teal! Magic Swords! Go!"

Dandy was in the opening run in Frostlea. He wasn't the only one with BNU pennons, but he was the only one with one on each shoulder and one in each hand, and in the teal with broad gold diagonal stripes uniform of the BNU downhill team. He wasn't carrying poles. It wasn't a race, just a nice show of skiers going back and forth across the slopes. He intended to be real easy to see. He succeeded. The crowd spotted him at the very top.

China, in Snowvale, in the teal with wide gold V of the cross-country team, was also spotted by the crowd at the top. Two team "hopefuls" in ski-fan white with teal and gold bands were noticed in White Peak and Alpinair.

Someone in every 'sea of teal' yelled, "We are Teal Magic!" and the response was 'thunder.' Bance was beside Kail at the bottom of the slope.

"That was amazing, but not really surprising."

"Not to us, Bance. This is the first time the BNU fans have been able to show their colors, and they're assuring everyone sees them. People in other regions don't understand when we say, 'fans.' The university is still being built, and hasn't even started classes."

"How can the teams have supporters?"

"That's the question they all ask. The university, and every team, is a dream coming true. Hundreds of fine athletes from this region are preparing to start university classes and play on teams. They didn't leave here to play on U teams after secondary. Even if they left to attend a university, they didn't play sports. Especially the last fifteen years, they were very careful not to turn attention this way."

"We all grew up knowing that, Chancellor. This is a sport-loving region, but after secondary, we played in parks. The Planetary Intercollegiate Sports Association isn't listening to BNU?"

"No, they're not. BNU will be a four-A-sports-level university when it opens. We won't be the biggest by a very long way, but our pre-enrollment is well over minimum, our coaching staff is superb, our fan support is incredible, and our teams will be four-A-level. It's unfair to force smaller universities to play us, and us to play them. Four-A universities have some chance against us. Not a great deal, but at least they'll give us a good game."

"People will think you're overconfident, Chancellor."

"Bance, secondary schools in this region still aren't planning to compete outside it. Why not?"

"We'd kill them, and that's not nice."

"Precisely."

"Bance Neardon, Channel Forty-eight, reporting from the Frostlea opening ceremony of the Winter Carnival. Kail, a couple of the network boys say some of the four-A U's don't want BNU in the level because they need the broadcast rights money, and they know BNU would pull it."

"They wouldn't need it so badly, if they didn't spend so much recruiting athletes to get it. Our stated policy of not recruiting is probably also irksome."

"No doubt. Hi, Blade. You're still running around without a companion. That isn't safe."

"Not safe?"

"They're all going to realize you don't have one 'over there somewhere' soon, and you'll be mobbed."

"Thank you. You look good in your fan ski suit too. Look for Knight's head above the crowd for me, please."

"That way, obviously looking for you."

"I will definitely wait for him here. This is a tall, dense crowd."

"I've boosted several people to look over, Blade."

"Thank you, Jace, for not mentioning they were all women."

"Blade!"

"Knight, I would like a stepladder I can fold and put in a pocket. They would sell very well in this crowd."

"No doubt. We had scouting parties looking for you and now we're looking for some of them. Blade, get on my shoulders. I'm not tall enough for them to see."

"For you, that is a new experience. Don't worry about the ladder. This is perfect."

"Love you too. Deely has a tall friend with her. There!"

"Uh, huh. Who is that woman, Knight?"

"Jilli Farrigan, assistant hoops coach. Two meters two of fast-moving, fast-thinking hoops champ, and a math professor."

"Math?!"

"This is her first trip here, Blade. She came in from Crosston U on Peridot at four twenty. The first question she asked was who did the 'pure math' for the money design. The second was if we could find a fan jacket for her."

"You obviously had a ski suit waiting, Kail."

"For every coach coming in, Blade."

"That was a good idea!"

"I certainly thought so, Deely. Hello, I'm Blade. I'd get down to meet you, but there are several other not-tall people using me as a guidepost, which is a great excuse for not admitting I'm so short I got lost and they're all relieved to see me."

"Only crowd I've been in I needed to jump to look over since I was twelve, Blade. The math is gorgeous!"

"It was also fun."

"Finally! I could see, but we couldn't get through. Keeva yelled she's a professor and she'll flunk them if they don't notice her in class, and laughter parted the crowd before us. We were sure you'd find us, Blade, and looked anyway."

"Love you too, Nev. Bance, Ronnie and Essa just gained the assistance of a young man Larry's size and shape, getting through the crowd. Dandy and Danny are having no difficulty. Everyone steps back to admire. Case and Stats are close. Elise is having no difficulty, either. Kady, Reesa and Day are escorting. Who else was looking for my little body, Knight?"

"Drand and Dawn."

"Found them. I also found the coach contingent. The entire group is moving this way. They're having no difficulty, either."

When Lillen also arrived at the mobile unit, because she knew it had a toilet closet, Bance called the facilities manager. He told him the pregnant women were going to spend Carnival going back and forth or standing in line. He yelled, "I'm stupid!" Coaches were still meeting hope-to-be team members around the mobile unit, when six people ran out of the lodge and cleared an area for a flyer drop.

Two big flyers appeared in the distance and one dropped altitude and speed, passed between the lodge and the ski cabin viewroom, then four men pushed a big bundle out the cargo hatch. The six people were opening it before the flyer had regained altitude. The crowd cheered when the people ran in several directions with flash pots, heat units and pastel bundles.

In moments, little pastel tents were being set up, a heater and two flash pots going in each. A woman ran from the lodge to the closest and people waited to see what she was stenciling on the door. When she left, the waiting people laughed and cheered. It was an obviously pregnant stick figure. The facilities manager and two others carried a stack of folding partitions out of the lodge and Bance 'caught him' at a tent. He used the opportunity to thank the Azure Bay events supply company that had "come up with something" and gotten it to them that fast.

Deely and Blade were walking between Knight and Jilli toward the ski cabin. Deely nudged Blade. She put her thumbs side-by-side, then extended her forefingers. Blade burst into laughter. Both Knight and Jilli looked down. Deely put on a look of total innocence and Blade sat down to laugh. Knight and Jilli looked at each other, over Deely and him. Jilli noted "being above it all does have drawbacks." Blade tipped over and rolled with laughter, in the snow.

Keeva said, "No, Blade, like this," dropped, made a snow angel and sprang up. Nev fell on Blade. Deely told her "professor is pretty ingrained." When Case, with the Chief Campus Maintenance Engineer, Roma, Stats with Evva, molecular physics professor, and Danny and Dandy caught up, Deely and Keeva were the only ones on their feet.

"Is this a frequent occurrence?"

"Not recently, Dandy, and we have been worried."

"I want to stay here and smile, but I need to soak in the spa, eat, meditate and loosen up well before the short slalom."

"I know the food you need."

"I'll show you to the kitchen, Jilli."

"I'll be twelve in the spa. Comm connect China. Checking on your prep. I'm headed for spa and Jilli, hoops coach, is being led to the well-stocked kitchen. Be back. Comm out. Comm connect Larry. Find China a stretch partner before and after a short soak. She's 'excited tense.' Perfect. Thanks. Comm out. Comm connect China. A secondary gymnast is coming to help you stretch. Do standard eight before and after a six-minute hot soak. Don't go over. It's just to aid the stretch. I learned it from a dancer who got excited-tense four hours before. Comm out. Comm connect Clint. How you doing? Who have you got? Fantastic. Headed for spa with a hoops coach in the kitchen. She's next. Comm out. Comm connect Libra. Hi, Clint said he's got your usual champ-sitter. Who have you got? Good. Anyone else you know I should check. Comm out. Comm connect Snow Snark. Hi, Libra said you might not have a champ-sitter. Where? Bring them all here. We'll get them spread. Brandon, we have food. Get over here. Comm out. Damn!"

"What's wrong?"

"Nine hopefuls, all going to ski sometime today or tonight, Knight. All in a transport they're using as 'base.' One planned to drive to drop skiers off, get back here for his event, pick them up... They were about to look for a food booth without a long line. I know that's how it's done for fun, but I got possessive. They're my skiers, even if there's not a team yet. Comm connect Kail. Hi, I just ordered nine, who intend to be on the ski team, out of the transport that's evidently their temporary get-everybody-to-event home. Yeah, why we only found Clint and Libra. She gave me the comm code. Feed them first. Knight, how many cars do you have here?"

"Six ours, eighteen we can yell for."

"Move is not a problem. Coach overwhelmed competitor between the door and the spa. I'm sure Jilli got help in the kitchen when I added nine, I hope. I'm caught between wanting to watch over and not mess up their fun plans. Good idea. Thanks. Comm out. He said have Nev remind me it's 'half show, half competition, and they're not in training at frequent intervals.' Him, because the rest would forget."

"Probably. You in the spa. My reminder, have fun showing off. Don't get 'intense.' You'll do well. You don't need to win. Everyone out there in teal and gold knows why the BNU picked you. The people you 'just helped out' are their friends and neighbors. You're not in training either. Danny will remind you."

"Knight, every time I look at her I remember I'm not in training."

They had fourteen before they got lunch done. China's gymnast stretch partner knew where two girls were. One was her second-cousin. They knew where two girls and a boy were. All but the two 'hometown kids' invited to ski in the opening were in Frostlea. They knew there were some others, but they were older, probably had cabins and might be only skiing for fun, not competing.

Blade made a comm call and the kids, between eighteen and twenty-three, whooped when he told them they had "dome parking by facilities, including party tents." All the kids had planned to go home and return several times. That didn't change, but use of a spa, good meals, more transportation and "a little work with a coach" were added and they didn't mind, at all. All were given teal and gold patches that said, "I intend to make the ski team," and the few who didn't have them were given BNU fan ski suits, on which to put them.

As the skiers were getting ready for the short slalom, Kail told Bance, and all the Channel Forty-eight viewers there would be I-intend-to-make patches for every team in the BNU refreshment tents and available on request from the registrar's office. They were fan-donated, free, and BNU would keep no records of who requested them, just check for preenrollment.

Kail ran for his seat. Bance reminded the patches were for all teams, not just sports, and mentioned debate and chess as other team examples. Jace panned from Kail running to the top of the slalom course.

Dandy Doll was sixth in the lineup, not the best position for snow quality on the course, but not bad. One of 'his team' skiers was fourth. Dandy watched and noted what they'd work on, and smiled widely when Lanly posted an excellent time for the first run of three, then it was his turn. He yelled, "We are Teal Magic!" as he got in position, then burst onto the course, as the reply rang out. The cheer was perfect accompaniment for his run.

He knew it was fast and clean, and there were lots of BNU fans present, but he didn't expect the wild cheering as he drove for the finish line, and it didn't stop. He turned and looked at his time. It was the fastest he'd never done it, and 'shattered' the event single run record. He shouted, "We are Teal Magic!" then fell over.

Case and Stats stepped over the ropes, picked him up and handed him to Knight and Nev. He was laughing too hard climb over and skis made crawling under difficult. Blade removed them during the hand-off. Danny said, "Thanks," and gave Dandy a kiss. Bance and Jace got that and the next skier yelling he hoped he'd made tracks.

Both I-intend skiers in the event requested their coaching session, while the course was being groomed for the second run. Dandy laughed" and told them to yell, "We are Teal Magic." There wasn't time for them to work on technique, and even hints could slow them until they were practiced.

After the second run, Dandy and his skiers were all laughing. The 'coaching' had helped. Both had faster times the second run. Dandy's was very close to his first run. All three posted their fastest the third, and took first, second and third place. In the other venues, 'their' skiers were yelling and doing well in events, and more skiers had requested patches.

China was very happy. She'd found three cross-country skiers. By the end of the last event of the day, I-intend BNU skiers had won all but three of the day's events, and their coaches had won two of those. The other winning skier was Frostlea's ski instructor, and she'd worn a BNU fan cap for her event.

Winter Carnival wasn't a world-rated competition. The events were part of the fun. They were mixed in with shows by ski and skate clubs and classes, open skiing, and parties and nightlife. None started early or ended late. Morning and night skiing and skating were for everyone. So were club shows and dancing, if you could get in. If you couldn't, you could find a party. There was one at every bar, most ski cabins, many houses, and in at least one big tent in every town, opening night. It was Nineday, biggest party night of the tenday all over the world. That night, there were Winter Carnival parties in homes all over the northwest region of Citrine, as well. "Dandy Doll," "China Blaze" and the "future BNU ski team" had made it a night to celebrate.

When 'the neighborhood' met at the Frostlea Lodge lounge, Larry described the look on China's face when she heard "China Blaze" the first time. Roma bowed to applause. She'd come up with "the natural," when Bance asked for suggestions, just before they left to cover her race in Snowdale. She was attending a party, in her honor, in a big tent there.

Early in the morning, as the BNU tents were being stocked for the day, a group from one of the elders' clubs arrived at each one. Each group had two sewing machines and a transport full of blankets and little heaters. The volunteers in the tents quickly gave them places to sew on I-intend patches and make heated "foot pockets" in the blankets they'd dyed BNU teal. They also gave them a container full of BNU fan patches.

The elders wouldn't charge for sewing on I-intend patches. The "foot pocket lap blankets" were their scholarship fundraising project. There was a girl in her second year of secondary in White Peak, who wanted to be a geriatrician. They wanted to pay for her education. Bance, Jace and Kail got there as 'kids' from the Frostlea campus-construction-team tent were carrying loads of blankets to it.

"This is a great idea."

"This is a my-feet-get-cold idea, Chancellor."

"It's not from being outdoors in winter. We prepare for that better than for sitting on the porch on a cool evening, but yesterday we noticed younger people wrapping scarves around their feet."

"My wife borrowed heater socks from her mother after the opening ceremony. Her mother never turned hers on."

"It's quite individual, Kail, and if it was actually a circulation problem, physicians would do something about it. Some of us just slow down more when we're sitting awhile. Going in the house to put on heater socks to watch a sunset isn't convenient. Neither is going to the car. I'll keep my foot-pocket blanket by the door, so I can just grab it, whether to watch the sunset, a BNU game or my favorite drama series in the living room."

"Or go to the elders' club. My feet sometimes get cold when I'm playing bridge."

"You're selling them to raise scholarship funds for Telia Frensterbach."

"Our government would assure she gets the education she wants, Bance, but we want to help. We're going to need her by the time she's finished, even if another geriatric specialist begins practice here before then."

"Our elder population is growing. People who have come to this region every summer for years, are making it their home and going south in winter."

"We think that's going to increase, not decrease, now. Spring and autumn sports at BNU are going to add to the year-round attraction of the region."

"We've got a patch! Jon's going to wrestle for BNU!"

"Zip, zip, pin! PISA is definitely irritating us. We can't buy season tickets until there's a schedule!"

"And we'll be furious if they put our kids in the position of breaking smaller school teams' hearts."

The special election was in the middle of Winter Carnival. As soon as it was official, the region's representative delivered the minting machine. Three grad students assembled it and taught them how to use it; enter number of denomination desired, fill hoppers with specified materials, push pad. It would tell them when hoppers needed filling and wouldn't mint with the wrong materials.

The Treasury Minister pushed the pad to begin minting Liberty Gem crystal and facet coins at nine Lodestar time, the day after the election. At fourteen twenty-two, the Great Seal of Liberty Gem was delivered to congress. By sixteen the next day, the planetary emblem had been changed on every government vehicle and document and new money was being delivered to banks. That night, service techs began changing vends.

The northwest region of Citrine switched money the tenth day of Winter Carnival, on Eightday. That evening, as they were preparing to have a party, Kail slammed in the cabin door.

"PISA tabled it and recessed for two tendays!"

"What?!"

"They didn't even talk about it, Dandy."

"We scared them and they ran. Who the hell are these people?"

"Everybody from retired coaches to alumni fans, Blade. The board is elected out of the membership. Their job is monitor and promote intercollegiate sport, and we are a threat to the system. Broadcast networks have sports coverage budgets determined by subscriber share. BNU is a sudden big attraction that's going to throw the expected U shares up in the air for grabs, if it's in four-A."

"Kail, they're acting like nothing changed. The education funds will assure every kid can go to school. They don't have to hoard every 'credit' to assure they have money to support programs and provide scholarships for athletes. Fans have more money to support their favorite teams, but the only U that seems to realize anything changed is Bressler."

"Blade's right. They're trying to maintain a system that was built to support U level sport, despite lack of gov assistance and with a great deal of interference. We know why broadcast networks aren't offering the money the gov's not taking. The pro league will cause a bid war. The U's... Rigor mortis?"

"That may be a good description, Jilli. Cabin comp, comm connect Teal Valley, Delton Hammison."

"What's wrong, Bance?"

"The networks are putting money in savings accounts for a bid war, if a pro league forms. U's are acting like sports programs will die if another U gets broadcast rights money. PISA tabled BNU and ran for twenty days. If they put BNU in a small school level, it'll make the season ridiculous, and maybe kill interest in a pro league. I'm looking for a link between rigor mortis in U budget planning and PISA stupidity, and it may be fear of a pro league taking the money they still seem to think they have to have to fund sports programs and athlete scholarships. That party you're going to may be a place to look in some heads and see what they're seeing."

"It may be. I saw a couple enrollment estimates. They're way too low. The U's seem to think everyone below middle income is going to go to trade school."

"They haven't started pre-enrollment."

"No, they haven't. Thanks, Bance. I'm going to enjoy this. I haven't gotten to hunt down the links in a while."

"Have fun. Comm out."

"That didn't occur to me, Bance."

"Twenty days is too nervous, Kail. I remembered who they are too. There's no fee for pre-enrollment. They may believe those figures are bunches of excited people filling out the form, who'll change their minds when it's time to pay up and commit to 'go away' to school for years. BNU is in a small town and the nearest city has a U. It can't be a commuter university because there aren't two hundred thousand people in a thirty K radius. People in their late twenties and up have jobs and mortgages."

"Why can we see there are millions who dream of learning who will seize the opportunity and they can't."

"They don't know any of them, Danny."

"They're also sure people with low income are going to pick fast and easy ways to raise it, because university classes would be too much work for them."

"I want to deny that, Blade, but I can't. Comm connect Larry."

Larry agreed with Bance and Blade as soon as he heard, "recess." Kail called the chair of the Board of Regents. She listened to their theory and added a few things she'd observed that didn't "add up." She said people with enough money they didn't need university degrees had "a better understanding of the desire to learn for the joy of learning," than people who'd gone to universities with the goal of getting good jobs, and it felt a bit odd to realize it. Kail agreed. She told him the board was "getting used to holding impromptu meetings" and disconnected.

Seven minutes later she called Kail. She told him to open enrollment, and they'd have it open there by noon Oneday. Danny and Dandy both got on comps. She updated the infonet site. He checked everything was ready, then started the program to send class schedules and enrollment and financial aid packages to all pre-enrolled students. Bance interviewed Kail.

"The Bressler Board of Regents decided flooding the education funding program office next summer would make it difficult for the office, the students and the universities to get everything done for the start of the term. Our pre-enrollment figures indicate most universities are greatly underestimating the number of people, who are going to seize the opportunity to obtain a university education."

"They've got jobs. Why invest four years?"

"Or choose a four-year course of study, when a term at a trade school would raise their income. Bressler isn't career-oriented. They're more aware how many choose university study for the joy of learning, not getting a good job. Our pre-enrollment is primarily upper twenties through forties. We have almost as many in their sixties as eighteen to twenty-seven. We have many in their seventies and some older, including several in their nineties."

"People who didn't have the opportunity before."

"People to whom higher education has been a dream they believed they would never make come true."

"What about house payments and such?"

"That's covered by financial aid."

"It is?"

"It is if you're commuting. If you aren't, there are other supplementary programs. Frankly, most people who have been buying homes somewhere probably plan to move after university. If you sell a house with intent to relocate after obtaining a prac or degree, the sale price is excluded from financial aid computation, if you put it in an account, specified for the purpose of investing in another house. Our financial aid staff has information on the type of account and will help establish it."

"Do you think more people will choose higher education than trade schools of some type?"

"No, not more, but some published enrollment projections indicate many universities expect nearly everyone at low or low-middle income level will choose a trade school or an OJT program. Our studies indicate about twenty-eight percent will choose higher education and most of those will pursue degrees, not prac programs. Art, literature, music, philosophy, social sciences and all other 'non-practical' degree programs are listed as intended major in unprecedented percentages. People want to learn. We increased our Humanities course schedule three times before we published it. Art, music and theater had such high interest we developed transfer programs specifically for them, then we did it for other humanities and social sciences. We expected it for technology because this is a rather high-technology-use region. We developed a transfer program for teaching. We knew we needed a solid phys Ed program, but the number of people indicating they plan to transfer after completing a four-year degree is very surprising."

"Interest in graduate education is high?"

"It's astounding. So far, we have almost as many who indicated they plan to obtain doctorates as pracs."

"What?!"

"That was supposed to be my evening news, Bance. The Minister of Education requested we send a query to our pre-enrolled students. Late this afternoon, the response number reached the preliminary reporting percentage."

"BNU is the only university that's had pre-enrollment open for an extended period."

"Precisely. We are currently the best source of information on the coming term."

"Most people didn't have time to prepare for the current term."

"Which may be much of the reason other universities don't expect a large number of older students. We're in a region that didn't have an institution of higher education. That makes us more suitable as a statistical source for low and low-middle income area educational funding request predictions than others. The reason we have so many who didn't continue beyond secondary is fundamentally the same."

"The former gov, especially IS."

"That's the reason. This afternoon, the Minister of Education asked if we really thought all our first-term enrollees belong in first term classes. We replied, "Absolutely not." I think we may see a placement testing program from the Department of Education, which establishes term levels for a rather well self-educated population, and gives students the credit hours and grade point average to put them in the level which is correct for them. It just doesn't make sense to pay for four years of higher education for people who only need one or two, or should be in graduate programs. There are going to be quite a few of those in the subsidized districts."

"Why there?"

"A young man from Roper district said you had to be smart and careful to survive to have children. We've seen the truth of that in the high intelligence of the campus construction workers. They had no difficulty whatsoever with the type of computation required for the work. Basically, the planetary library was the only entertainment those very smart people could afford."

"The people of the sub districts have higher than the planetary average intelligence?"

"Of course. The gov was using economic hardship, physical oppression and drugs to conduct a selective breeding program, to produce slaves capable of operating and maintaining very high tech equipment. Tens of thousands succumbed to the enforced boredom and were rendered incapable of reproduction or died in the last three generations, of the seven those populations have been under extreme duress. That's why the former gov replaced texts in the social sciences and removed reference listings, for those and a great many studies of animal population and adaptation to extreme hardship, in the planetary library, almost thirty years ago. The average intelligence of the entire planetary population rose over the last three generations, and so did our average physical health. Both rose most in the most stressful environments. The proof the former gov was far too successful in eliminating access to two thousand years of accumulated knowledge in social science, is that everyone doesn't know that, and far too many still believe the former gov propaganda all those people are lazy and dumb. Anyone who has any understanding of environmental science sees that's impossible. Lazy and dumb died without reproducing."

Jilli recognized a protective formation when she saw it, and one had formed around Blade after Kail had delivered a slap in the face to other universities, and a very large number of bigots. Keeva, Evva, Roma and Dandy were also watching. Deely was in the formation. Kail wasn't, but she saw he'd expected it before he left.

"Blade, five of us don't know what's going on, but we all know none of the others can keep from hovering over you."

"I'm from Roper district, Jilli. My parents were murdered when I was five. My education wasn't on a comp after that. There weren't many kids who ended up on the streets."

"He found homes for all the kids younger than he is who did, and paid all the bribes and gov fees, so nice people could adopt them."

"I never said that, Danny."

"No, Blade, you just carefully avoided denying it."

"Blade, we all know who you are. You heard every child who cried in loneliness and fear. You gave them your love and care, until you could give them loving homes, like the one you had known."

"Yes, Stats, he did."

"Knight!"

"The gov isn't going to learn who was doing it and who you entrusted with the task now, Blade. If this one did, you'd probably get medals. Only in Roper district were children made safe."

"I was an assassin, Jilli."

"Only he knows who he killed, but we all know they were monsters."

"That's what heroes kill, Nev. Now I understand the incredible physical precision."

"Why are you still... hiding?"

"Dandy, they overthrew the gov, took out the IS, built the new government system and invented all the new tech. They really don't want all that attention."

"Even I wouldn't want that much attention, Deely."

"Nev's my nephew, Kail and Lillen's son."

"It must be very hard for them not to shout it from the rooftops."

"Most people around here know who they are and what they did. No one had to tell them, and they don't feel a need to mention it to anyone else. Case, Stats and Dawn's parents all work for the U too. Two asked and four were drafted."

"I feel blind, Bance."

"Dandy, I worked very hard to keep blinders on you until Winter Carnival was over, because you would have worried about the attention you were attracting to me, and I felt guilty using you to spread it."

"We used all of you to spread it out, to make us and-also fans. It was my idea, and I was dodging feeling guilty in a personal way, for about an hour, and then I met Jilli."

"I feel much better. I kept telling myself your renown aiding my hoops team promotion was just happenstance and I shouldn't feel guilty about it, and figured out how to bring up the hoops team every time someone focused the cam on famous-design-award-winner you."

"I mentally said, 'Bless you,' every time you did."

"Deely knew I was getting behind her."

"Keeva figured it out quick."

"We knew why Case and Stats were always behind us, too. I have a question."

"Yes, Roma?"

"Are we going to be ready to have a party, Nev?"

"Damn! Kitchen crew!"

Bance gave Ronnie a hug and whispered in her ear. She gave him a kiss. He checked his chron and they counted it down. Precisely at nineteen, the kitchen door chime rang. He told her it hadn't been the stall he planned, but he'd used that one sometime when it was his turn to fix dinner.

They sniffed and tracked the aroma to the kitchen. Mike, Loren and Chal had all gotten the evening off, and their favorite part of a party was watching people enjoy what they'd prepared. The others from the neighborhood and Donce, Barrett, Tarn and Bellin were with them and helping unload.

Bellin, Kendra, Essa and Elise were escorted to the living room, all complaining they were pregnant, not invalids. Tarn told them he wasn't worried about them, but people could get hurt running into each other watching they didn't run into them. The four admitted that was true. Larry, Mike, Loren and Silky all gave him a pat on the back when he got back to the kitchen, then Kady and Reesa took the four special dinners to the living room.

Elise told the other three women to pretend they didn't know they'd been gotten out of the kitchen and dining room, so they didn't notice their dinners weren't quite the same as the others, and they'd gotten them first. They all agreed they were spoiled and enjoying it.

It was a great party. People arrived and departed to go to other parties from twenty until two, including many West Siders and many of the campus crew. By two twenty, the only ones left in the cabin were the six couples who had enjoyed sharing Winter Carnival so much. They had two more days of Carnival, then four had to return to other universities.

Roma would return after she trained another to watch over the systems of a university on Garnet. Jilli wasn't going with the hoops team for their last two games and the tourney at the end of the season, but she had a half-term of teaching. So did Evva and Keeva. It was why they'd chosen that night for their party, to have the last two evenings just to be together. They planned to visit parties and such, but they didn't want to host.

The group was walking toward the lodge for brunch, in the morning, when a man screamed. The others learned how fast Blade really was. They strung out, as they ran for the place the scream had come from. Blade had the pregnant woman in his arms and was running back toward the med-vehicle before others reached her. He handed her off to Knight. He could run faster carrying her.

Blade ran past Knight, grabbed the scanner out of the med tech's hand, ran back to Knight and used it on the woman he was carrying. The med techs read the results on the base unit and got the treatment unit ready. Nev yelled, "Now!" and he and Blade began getting the woman's clothes loosened.

Jilli caught the scanner and passed it to Case, then caught shoes and passed them to Dandy and Stats. The medtechs got out of the way as Blade and Nev got ahead of Knight to go through the door. They got her stripped and in the unit fast, then they got out of the way of the medtechs.

Case and Stats saw an older woman carrying a big kit with the med insignia on it, running. They tossed shoe and scanner to others and went after her. Stats scooped her up and Case took the kit. Case gave her what they knew, as they ran.

"She slipped getting out of the car. The back of her head hit the top of the car, then she bounced forward, hit the car door and landed on her stomach. Her husband was a meter away and it happened too fast for him to do anything but scream. We heard that. She's unconscious, the back of her head and nose bleeding."

"That poor man is going to be blaming himself for not having a hand on her, parking in an icy spot and everything else."

"We're working on him."

"I heard the med call and saw a lot of people running. I expected a skier, but I'm here because something like this could happen. I'm an obstetric surgeon."

"Mountain City?"

"Azure Bay. My nephew said there were so many they needed a large number of toilets just for them. I yelled bring me a sleeper transport and grabbed that kit. It's got a preemie set in it. I came to Frostlea because it felt right. I won't ask why I'm in the right place, but I will say thanks. Thanks. I'd have been pooped, and still running. Jetti Watkins, OB surgeon! What have we got?"

"An OB surgeon?"

"With a 'preemie kit,' Nev. Her nephew is evidently the toilet tent supplier, and called her because there were so many. She's got one of his sleeper transports."

"I like that man."

"So do I, Blade. How are you doing, Prence?"

"Scared, but the doctor made it a little less. I didn't even know where to take her."

"Prence, I've got a feeling they're both going to be all right, and a real good record on feelings."

"Dandy, you need to eat."

"I don't know if I can leave, Jilli."

"Comm connect Bance. You heard? We don't know yet. I called you because Dandy needs food and would get about five steps toward the lodge before he turned around. I'm sure you know who to call. Thanks."

Kail brought the food for Dandy. He said at least eight would've gotten there before it, but Carler yelled, "Sit down." He noted even Larry had sat down fast. Carler had also told the lodge dining room manager the other eleven of them didn't need to eat at a specific time before a race, or they'd have sent for twelve. Nev said people knew why Dandy was eating there, but the rest would've felt a little guilty, then Blade's comm chimed.

"Prence, they're both going to be fine."

"Thank you. Oh, God, thank You!"

"They had everything needed, and it's easier for both to heal, so you have a baby boy."

"We have a son. We have a son!!"

The crowd cheered, but no one left. Dandy had finished eating when Blade's comm chimed again. He told Prence to get ready to get in the door fast, so they wouldn't get much cold air in with him. When he was in position, Blade said, "Ready." The door swung open, Prence jumped in and it closed fast.

Blade yelled they were going to take them to the med center and asked people to clear the way. The crowd moved back and began to disperse quickly. Another med vehicle arrived, to take the place of the one that had just left, before the twelve reached the lodge.

Dandy had tea with them. He'd needed to eat when he had. Even a few minutes would have made a difference in the 'fuel' he had for the giant slalom. It was his premier event, and one of the kids he'd coached was going to make him really work to win it.

### Chapter Twenty-five

Dandy won his race, barely. China barely won her last event too. I-intend kids were winning events their future coaches weren't in. The coaching sessions hadn't been observed by sportscasters, but the results were. Dandy and China were "excellent choices in a superb sports program coaching staff." That day sportscasters began to push a bit for four-A level rating for BNU.

Hammison had found the links. It wasn't just the money. Universities were worried a pro league would pull their best players and team support. The networks hadn't been helping the situation, just watching and waiting.

Hammison had told a group of editors they were going to lose both the possible pro league and subscriber interest in university sports if they didn't "start talking the right way." That day, sportscasters began to mention players with great "ten to twelve-year pro career potential" and several postseason college draft methods in use on other worlds. They also mentioned the rumor the people working to set up a pro league were planning to start their season when interest in U competition was at its peak, so it would "carry over." Dale Leitmeuller got a comm call, then found Kail fast.

"Who? How?"

"The Channel Forty-eight news editor-in-chief at a party last night. Dale, how old are players?"

"Oh, shit."

"We're so out of touch with other worlds 'pro career' didn't penetrate that eighteen to twenty-three mindset."

"We've been so quiet about it, trying to avoid speculation, until there was a firm outline, speculation about destroyed it."

"You were right and they're idiots. I wish I thought we were ready for broader interplanetary contact."

"We're still nineteen days from the closest world, and I wasn't impressed by them."

"Transpatial comm is instant to anywhere in human space, but we aren't using it much yet. They call us. We don't call them."

"We're still mad at them for ignoring us, and they're still trying to buy our patents, not our products."

"Nineteen days."

"Is a lot of shipping cost. I think we're a little mad the only thing they seem to want is license to produce the new tech, too."

"That seems to be 'the way it's done.' They're surprised, but we haven't built any spaceships yet, or asked to buy any, either."

"We still have the reputation of iconoclasts, and may be earning it. I really like the fellow coming this way."

"He's the first friend I made here. Hi, Dorn!"

"Hi, Kail, Dale. It's a beautiful day, the people here are really looking forward to a good snowfall."

"Dandy said whoever made the snow schedule did a perfect job. The grooming equipment got a night's rest every time a night was about to not be enough."

"Best Winter Carnival weather in decades, plenty of snow and all in the wee hours. Prettiest too. Teal and gold go real nice with white. We've got a show plan for tomorrow, but we're not sure about it."

"What's the plan?"

"We've got a teal and gold flag for every town in the region, and a BNU banner that will take two skiers who can move together. The flags are light, but not small. We're not sure it can be done safely. We've got kids sure it can be, but we want more careful opinion. We'll plant them around the closing ceremony stage if the experts say no."

"Have you got a sample"

"I've got white practice in my car in the lodge employee lot, but no poles. We don't know what's best."

"Comm connect Dandy. Dorn and bunch may have come up with a great finish for our showing here, but they need an expert safety check and engineering aid before they ask for skiers. Banner and flags. Pole design. The lodge employee parking lot in ten? Comm out. They'll be there."

Dandy said the banner would just take practice, but the flags were going to require work before he was sure. Skiers began to gather before the pole designers were done. When they were, six ran for the cabin and Knight's car. It disappeared as they went around a curve, then went off the road two-thirds of the way around it. The deep snow on the mine adit road wasn't a problem for it and the shield did a very nice job of grooming without making a snow plume. Knight admitted it hadn't occurred to him as an application when Deely mentioned it.

She and Evva were the only women with them, and Blade was not. He was 'doing math assignments' for Danny, as they worked out the timing for the show. Officially, Deely and Evva had helpers in the U physics lab to make the poles. The two women laughed when Nev told them 'everybody knew' the mine adits were blocked, as Knight keyed the code to open the access doors. The two women were "awed" by the setup in the huge cavern.

In a few moments, they were creating flagpoles that would support the flags, but collapse if someone fell on them. The skiers were already working on speed. If they went too fast, the poles would bend.

Case and Stats had begun work on back harnesses. The skiers would wear, not carry, the flags. 'Hands-free' had been the safety factor that Dandy had most wanted. He and China would carry the banner. It would be the first time they wore their coach ski suits. Everyone else would wear fan suits.

Unlike the opening ceremonies, which were in all four towns at once, the closing ceremony moved through the towns, with just enough time between for the Channel Forty-eight mobile unit to get from one to the next. Big monitors assured others would see 'the whole thing.' GGN sports was assembling the review of the Carnival that would be shown between.

Frostlea always hosted the finale. Their town council had proposed their ski festival be expanded to a twelve-day winter carnival in all four towns. The other towns had outvoted them on the proposal to alternate hosting the finale, seventy-four years before. Ideas to make the Diamond Anniversary Winter Carnival spectacular were already being presented.

The one about to end was being commemorated as "The Teal and Gold." Medallions would be ready for sale the next day. The proceeds from sales would go to the ski team travel expense budget. All of that year's participants would receive a special issue medallion, and all four ski lodges would present BNU with team member and coach lift passes "in perpetuity," and thanks for making it the biggest Winter Carnival they'd had.

Towns were told their flags would be "flying" in the finale and people cheered and got ready. Frostlea was warned transports would be coming from every town in the region.

The town got ready to prepare a huge field as parking, as soon as it stopped snowing. Two additional transport loading areas were designated. The other three ski towns were going to send transports too, though not as many as some others.

Teal Valley was closing public transport routes for the day and sending the entire fleet, and thousands would drive. Large passenger capacity vehicles were common and nearly every vehicle was stuffed with all it could carry, often more passengers than it should carry. And charter flyers landed and flyer lots filled, as people from all over the world, many wearing BNU colors, arrived.

The skiers had their 'bells' and had made two practice timing runs, when the "pole team" returned. A slight change had been made in the program and everyone thought it was fantastic. Five I-intend skiers were proving they could do it, when Dandy and China, with banner, and the first group of skiers with harnesses and flags caught the lift to the intermediate slope. They wanted to limit practice with flags on the big hill to once, if possible.

Bance and Jace were in the viewroom. It was going to be the best place to get it all. GGN and other networks would be carrying their coverage. Bance knew every town and every skier who would be carrying a flag. He also knew who from the towns were wearing I-intend patches for what. He told the GGN editor, who had accompanied them to see the cam view, his "phenomenal memory" was often of being "smeared" by someone on another team.

Jace noted he'd been smeared less often than many teams had wished, because he ran fast. Bance said anyone who didn't run fast with someone the size of Wes, Monster, Moncriff chasing them did not have good survival instincts. When Jace noted Bance was the only one who'd outrun him, the editor got very interested.

"That's something that's going to surprise a lot of teams that play BNU, the speed of the really big men. We've talked about football, because it's the big university sport, and skiing because that's what's happening here, but the organized sports we all participate in from the time we toddle are soccer, hoops, volleyball, baseball, swimming and hockey. We play every other sport you can name, and most games have enthusiasts. Archery is very popular and so is team dancing of several types. Most of us learn to play bridge and chess when we're kids, and secondary wrestling has the type of attendance they expect at hoops games down south. In some towns, you won't find any store open on the night of a hoops game against an archrival. We play rugby and wickets. I was on five teams in secondary, and that was about average. The kid may be on debate, bridge and chess as three, but the other two will be physical, maybe golf and archery, but physical."

"They said, 'sport-loving population,' but that sounds like it's everyone."

"It is. Qualified. Some people don't enjoy playing physical games, but they'll go for walks, join a dance group, or something, or their family, friends and physician will worry. Supporting your community teams is part of supporting the community, and a big part of the social life of most. BNU is the dream team of every town. All their best will finally get to play together, not against each other."

"Silky says they're going up."

"They only went down once."

"With flags. They don't have to be precise, just well-timed. The order is random except the last five. They're the five best. The four in back will try to stay together, so the flags always stay in the same alignment, with the fifth skier aligned center front. They did it on the intermediate, so now the big one."

"The 'grand finale' is usually planned a bit more in advance, like half-a-year."

"Never let a good idea go to waste if you can do it. This one was presented for a safety check first. The flagpoles were built in a physics lab."

"That I heard. I also heard they're speed governors."

"They'll feel them bending if they go too fast. This run will tell them if they can go slow enough down the big hill. They'll go back to intermediate if they can't by the second try. They only have time for two before the wind speed increases."

"We could put people along the slope."

"Silky, were sending Dave down to you to see what Jace is. He's nervous about one cam. Tomorrow, I'll be watching a monitor and talking while they come down, Dave. Go watch how Silky and Jace will make sure I see everything, so I can. Silky, try Cholloni's Fifth Concerto. If this times properly, it's about the right tempo and length. Yes, on his way. Just used to all that equipment they need because they don't have Jace."

"Oh, I feel nice. Thank you both. Even if Hammison would have sent several crews if everybody wasn't watching for us to rush from place to place."

"Our job, Jace, be in their hometown when they have something special happening."

"Keeps us busy, and out from under Hammison's feet while they're assembling everything else in the casts. Damn, it's nice not to be avoiding getting IS uniforms in the image this year. This view is a wish come true, too."

"If we start counting wishes granted the last two-thirds year, we'll still be doing it when they start down the slope tomorrow."

"True. Sorry, Silky, but he looks so good in his ski suit. I thought you'd quit complaining when I widened the view. Yes, she's cute plump in the right place. Almost to the top. The slope looks overused. They'll be able to go a little slower tomorrow, Bance."

The skiers did it the first time. Jace and Bance took the lift down and Silky met them in the cabin. He told them Dave had been "appropriately astounded." They got ready for dinner and went up to the lodge. They'd go back to work afterward. There would be a great deal of celebration that night, and they had four towns of it to cover. Other reporters would be aiding, but they were the ones whose presence told people their hometown news was considered important. That evening GGN decided they were. Vanson was waiting at the lodge.

"Gens, we apologized to your dinner companions and promised not to keep you long. My editor decided you're a piece of this story that should be told. After dinner, you're going back to work."

"Our job is be there when something is happening in the communities in our broadcast area. Teal Valley gets the most coverage because it's the biggest. We're the newscrew who assure our subscribers know we don't equate size with importance."

"We've watched you three rush from town to town during this wide-spread event. Channel Forty-eight has several teams covering it, but many things are scheduled to assure you have time to get to them. Tomorrow's closing ceremonies have start times with 'if Bance, Jace and Silky are ready' appended. People have told us you don't know everyone's name, yet. A quarter-million are sure you'll eventually learn them all."

"They help us remember who they are. They give us connections. 'My nephew played hoops with Jace, my mother went to school with Silky's, I sold your dad that piece of new equipment, my great-grandparents built the house across the street from you.' We sometimes need a name again, but we remember the connection."

"You all come from 'old' families in this area, which I'm sure aids people's view of you as their 'star' newscrew, but the talent and the way you've trained it for your work is, quote our sports editor, 'astounding.' You three could start at the top with any major network, but people here are sure you won't leave Channel Forty-eight."

"They're right."

"This is home, and every community in it is part of our hometown. If we didn't feel that way, we wouldn't be right for the job."

"Eventually, we'll need two crews doing it. When we train another crew to help with it, everyone will know it's because Channel Forty-eight, and we, think we're not assuring all the communities are getting the coverage they should."

"Their news isn't only important to them. It's important to everyone in the region."

"Our job is keeping that feeling of greater community strong. We think it's the most fun job there is. You can't put a price on smiles, waves and 'Is your dad sleeping in the shed next to that new tractor?' They know who we are, neighbors."

"We've observed the unity of the people of this region. Bance turned it 'greater community.' You think that feeling is part of the amazing support of Bressler Northwest University here?"

"More than part, it's the core of it. We didn't create it. We're the Channel Forty-eight acknowledgement of its existence and value. BNU 'belongs' in Teal Valley because the location is more accessible from all over the region than any other would be, but the support of the people of Teal Valley wouldn't be less if it was in Mount Fortress, the town in the region most distant by road."

"We spoke to a young woman from Mount Fortress who plans to commute to classes at BNU. She found our surprise she'd drive that far humorous."

"It's not far to people here. Students up there will compare class schedules and carpool because it's more fun, or maybe flyer pool because it consumes less study time. One of the questions BNU will be asking, after students have built their term class schedules, is how many plan to commute by flyer all or part of the time. If more flyer parking and shuttles from it are needed, they'll be added, probably the day they decide they may be needed."

"By supporters before Kail has a chance to officially announce it."

"Everyone uses the chancellor's call name."

"If someone from here doesn't, he knows they're addressing the position. It's usually notification they see a need for fast official action of some type. Prestige just isn't done here. Everyone knows who you are and what you've accomplished, and most of us look around for our great-grandparents if someone uses our surnames."

"Respect is given to all. Admiration need not be stated. Everyone knows who's earned it."

"You've earned ours, Silky, with your news coverage, your understanding and your attitude, and so has Northwest Region Channel Forty-eight."

"Thank you, for us, our station, and all the people who make our job so much fun."

After the interview, Vanson warned them they'd have "fast kids with cams trying to keep up" with them that evening. Bance, Silky and Jace liked the two young women. They understood Silky's complaint they were supposed to cover the news, not be it, very well.

When the three finally got to dinner, Larry grinned and passed Bance a datpad. He burst into laughter. Their coverage that evening wasn't going to be as 'let's see what's happening there' as usual. I-intend teams were assembling and coaches would 'find' them. Organizations from many towns would have bunches in various places to express their support and tell what they were doing or planning, to show it.

That night, the neighborhood bunch didn't stay together. The couples got in cars and chose directions. They expected to run into others, but they wanted to reduce the always-together image.

Day, Essa and Ronnie chose one place they knew Bance, Jace and Silky would visit, to spend the evening.

Elise went home to spend the evening with Plimmer and Bop. Mike and Loren had to work that evening, but not Tenday. She'd made reservations for "every meal of the day and tea breaks!" as soon as they told her. Mike and Loren wouldn't have regular schedules for at least another half-year. She didn't plan to spend any of a rare full day they had together in a kitchen.

Blade and Jilli went to Snowdale to the Snow Ball. It was a "special occasion" dance, dress was "formal after-ski wear." Blade was given a plas collar and waistband and Jilli was given a plas snowball "corsage" at the door.

They stayed about an hour, then went to the campus construction team tent. China was there, spending the last evening of Winter Carnival with the friends she'd made. Case and Roma were also there, but about to leave. Blade and Julie's formal attire was admired and several decided to accompany Case and Roma to the ball.

Nev and Keeva were hitting the clubs. They'd decided on a which-has-the-best-band evening with Hi-just-stopped-by side trips . They were the first to be somewhere Bance, Jace and Silky arrived.

Nev was in an arm-wrestling match with a young man with a track team I-intend patch when they walked in. The head track coach was judging. The band was playing "music to arm-wrestle by" and everyone in the fairly small club was watching the match and cheering on the contestants. Keeva was on the table leading cheers on one side and an assistant coach was on one leading them on the other. They were leading together and everyone was cheering for both.

Nev slowly pushed his opponent's arm down, everyone cheered and the coach called for "the shot man." A huge young man set a glass of water beside Nev. He 'measured' his forearm with his hands and asked Keeva if she'd like to dance. The band played "music to run away by." Nev yelled it was his favorite song and the crowd laughed and cheered. When Bance and Jace led the two GGN 'kids' out, Nev, his opponent, the coach, the shot man, the two cheerleaders and the band bowed to applause.

Knight and Deely were 'caught' helping a group of elders make nightlights of optic fibers at an elders' club. The president explained she'd drafted them to help, as they got out of the car in White Peak. The club would be selling the nightlights to raise funds for educational toys for the BNU childcare center. She showed off the soft teal base that played a lullaby, when a big gold button was pushed, and then demonstrated the fibers being used weren't stiff and their support was flexible. Deely said it was a great design and all they'd needed was a little assist figuring out a way to seal the pieces together so a toddler couldn't pull it apart.

Knight held a finished one for Bance to tug on, then pushed the button to make it work. Bance watched it turn, grinned, lifted it off Knight's hand and gave the club president a twenty crystal coin. He said he expected his "eyes to uncross from Silky's yell to get one, by the next stop."

Jace and one of the girls got the other getting three. She looked into Jace's cam and crossed her eyes. Jace burst into laughter. Knight handed the president a one hundred crystal coin.

"Yes, Kail, Larry, Tarn, Mike and Loren, I got you one. The fifth goes in our little-visitor room. Everyone else, please call the White Peak Elders' Club, not me, to reserve yours."

"I'm setting up the comp to take orders, so he can take me dancing."

"Thank you, Deely."

"Your club is going to help assure the BNU childcare center has lots of good toys, Mary."

"From smallest to tallest, BNU will be a fun place of learning for all."

"I like that."

"Brenly told me not to say, 'Brenly said,' when I used it, Bance. Brenly, do you have a tummy ache?"

Jilli was standing on Blade's shoulders hanging his plas collar as a hoop for 'balled' napkins, in a bar in Alpinair, when Bance, Jace and the girls walked in. They didn't see Blade until the tall crowd split. Blade said he was the only "stool" the right height. The others were all too short or would have put her head through the roof.

He caught her when she jumped down, then tossed a 'ball' with each hand. Both dropped through the hoop. Coach Grettins yelled, "Draft him!" Jilli said she frequently did, but he reminded her he had a masters degree every time she started talking about shots from the foul line.

The coach told him to add her to his reminder list. Blade pulled out a pocket datpad and the tall people with hoops I-intend patches began calling out their names. A young woman about his height repeated his trick and told him she didn't have a masters degree. He asked if she had the periscope in her pocket.

Dandy and Danny were in a bar setting up an infonet site for a Lionshead Falls civic group selling a half-dozen different teal and gold hockey puck-shaped items, from tea cup warmer stands to large planter stands. They were raising funds for the hockey team away game budget. A large number with hockey I-intend patches were listening to the coach tell several members of the civic group about four-A level schools' hockey facilities.

Case and Roma were helping a Talon Peak elementary teacher design a "BNU fish bathtub toy." His second level class had written a fight song for the swim team and wanted the fish to sing it. They'd agreed giving the fish hands to do the motions was "sort of silly," but they wanted the tail to move, so it went through the water, and the fish to do a flip turn when it bumped a wall. They wanted to raise team travel funds too. A large group of swimteam I-intends were learning the song, with hand motions, along with everyone else in the bar.

Stats and Evva were dancing. A dance group from Skyloft had created a dance called the épée and were teaching it to everyone in a bar in Frostlea, including several fencing team I-intends and the coach. The football team I-intends were in a bar on the other end of the block cheering the fight song the Ambertown civic chorus had written.

The soccer team I-intends were in the campus construction team tent in White Lake. All there were having a great time chasing teal cat-toy soccer balls that suddenly began to roll and changed directions, as they did. The Dawn Ridge secondary science teacher, whose class had designed them, was on a table with a cam recording the fun for his students. Blade and Jilli walked in right after Bance, Jace and the girls. Blade missed one, yelled they were perfect and he wanted eight. Bance asked why.

"Knight and Nev, Case and Stats, Dawn and Drand, Day and Essa and Elise, Mike and Loren will all just have to take one apart to see how they did it and I want one each for Plimmer and Bop."

"That's seven."

"I was hoping you'd lose count."

"He wants one to chase, too."

"Knight, Nev and I will have a lot of fun trying to catch one of those. How do you stop them?!"

"Clap your hands loud to stop or start!"

"I'm going to be watching when they take it apart."

"If you all do it together, you'll have five to play with."

"Yes, Jilli, but they wouldn't all feel silly for just not being able to resist."

"I'll take three. I really don't think Danny, Ronnie or I can resist either."

"Glad I didn't tell you guys the class filed a patent app and you get a design diagram with them, before you ordered."

"Ow! It definitely deserves a patent."

"I'm so smug my class did it that it's embarrassing, Bance. The sale proceeds go to the soccer travel budget. The patent proceeds go to getting the kids to some away games."

"Got it!"

Blade was cheered. He wasn't the first to catch one, but no one else had gotten it in two tries. Nev and Keeva ran into the tent a few minutes later. Case and Roma weren't far behind. Knight and Deely were next. In fifteen minutes, they were all there. Silky had called them. The kids in the Dawn Ridge Secondary advanced science class were the first to get an education institution license to make and use power sticks. GGN got a full crew there fast.

The advanced science class in the little town in the northwest corner of the region had what their teacher believed an advanced secondary science lab should have, the equipment needed to make anything that could be mass-produced. They'd begun assembling equipment capable of making power sticks the day the patent had been found. No one in the town doubted the teacher's opinion they'd be mass-produced. They all had something they'd like to put one in.

The CEO of the Vairdslea Corporation that had the commercial production license for power stores arrived shortly after the GGN crew. Tom, the science teacher, had a soccer ball kitty toy in a gift box for her.

"Do you have orders for the power stores?"

"Seven hundred sixty-two for large capacity towers from towns and businesses in this area. So far, there hasn't been a great deal of interest in the size that's in this, but we're sure that will change. We'll be producing five standard sizes, plus large capacity towers to system specifications. Manufacturers and individuals will have the option of purchasing charged or non-charged units. Initially, we believe most will choose non-charged. It allows the tap unit to be built into the device, and gives them the option of allowing the consumer to charge the power store. At some point in the not-distant future, we expect many manufacturers to install power generation systems which will reduce the cost of charging the units vastly, and make sealed devices, such as this toy, far more common. We have installed such a system, but we're using most of its capacity in production. Our facility isn't large enough to expand that capacity greatly, so there's a point at which the cost of charging begins to increase."

"Do you plan to expand in the future?"

"No, we plan to do a great deal of subsidiary licensing and concentrate on large-capacity towers. We believe that's the best export market for us."

"Export?"

"There are two hundred nineteen worlds out there. Eventually, they'll realize there are some things they're going to have to buy from us or do without. One of those will be large capacity towers for systems such as BNU has, and those many towns, farms and businesses are installing, in this area."

"They aren't installing them in other areas yet?"

"Broadcast power still seems extremely low-cost after what we had been paying. However, we're going to need to increase production capacity in one way or another, as our population increases. We're going to pay for that in one of three ways, higher power cost, higher taxes or on-site generation systems. On-site generation makes the most financial sense for large power consumers. It would pay for itself, eventually, for even small consumers, but a matrix takes very little space and is worry free. If large consumers reduce their demand on the system, the convenience of broadcast power will remain a bargain for the small consumer."

Roma and Case did a fast workup of a forty percent-over-current-needs system for GGN headquarters, including a liberal estimate for artistic design talent and construction on a datpad and handed it to the CEO. She smiled and said their poke-holes-in-the-bottom-and-top of the building design worked well and would pay for itself much faster and gave the GGN reporter the datpad. He asked permission to show the bottom line on cam. Even the high-art-estimate system for the GGN power monster would pay for itself in less than six years.

Bance, Silky, Jace and their company found more I-intend teams, clubs and groups, until snow began to fall at one forty-one, over six hours after they'd begun the evening coverage. By eight nineteen when the snowfall ended in Frostlea, the slopes had over twenty cens of fresh cover and the trampled areas were pristine and glistening.

### Chapter Twenty-six

People began to arrive for the last day of fun long before the snow ended. The slopes would need grooming before closing ceremonies began in Snowdale at thirteen.

The ceremonies were scheduled very approximately after that. One of the Carnival officials told Planet Sports Network the object was to "get the whole show done before dusk in Frostlea," and finishing early was better than finishing late. When asked if Snowdale "minded" always being first, she said most of the people moved inside to watch shows in the other towns and the restaurant and bar owners did not complain. They expected more to run for Frostlea than usual that year, but the best view would still be through Jace's cam on a monitor.

Snowdale's closing ceremony opened and ended on schedule. Alpinair's started four minutes early, but they used those and two more. The children's ski group took a little more time to get ready than expected due to "a shy attack," then another group had a slight equipment problem.

Jace made up lost time and they got to White Peak two minutes early. Their show finished eight minutes ahead of schedule. From skiers on the slopes, to the children's chorus on the stage, everyone took a bit less on and off time than allowed. Bance Jace and Silky got to Frostlea ten minutes early, but it took five of it to get through to the ski cabin to park. No one got in the way. It just wasn't safe to go faster.

Bance drove and talked and Jason recorded the jam as they passed through it. They had a crowd estimate of over double the largest for any previous event in Frostlea. The total crowd for the four towns was almost two-thirds of the population of the region, and half were in Frostlea, wearing teal and gold.

As they were setting up, someone shouted, "We are Teal Magic!" The final thunderous response rolled down the valley and Avalanche Mountain lived up to its name. Jace got the cam on it and the crowd roared its approval. The first thing the mayor of Frostlea said was that had worked better than the concussion shells they usually used, and the town appreciated the money saved. The crowd laughed and cheered, then he introduced the first speaker, their congressional representative.

"We know why we're all here today. We just shouted it loud enough they heard it in White Peak, Alpinair and Snowdale and we're sure they added their cheers to ours. They heard us in Teal Valley, Ambertown, Dawn Ridge and Mount Fortress, and cheered with us. We have a university. It's everything we dreamed and more than we could have imagined. It came into existence in the tide of freedom that rose on this world we now call our Liberty Gem. I'm going to quit talking and insert something in the schedule. Fems and Gens, I've asked the Laughing Peak Secondary Octet to sing the song the eighty-two students in their school have written. Come up here, kids."

"We had planned to sing this for Kail much more privately."

"We've been working on a school song for BNU."

"It's, of course, titled The Teal and Gold. Ready?"

"Hmmm..."

"In a wide teal valley, in the high northwestern range, we build our golden dreams of tomorrow. Bressler Northwest University, our hearts abide with you. For our life's success, we shall always bless, our beloved BNU."

"In a wide teal valley..."

"In the high northwestern range..."

"We build our golden dreams of tomorrow."

"No chill of winter..."

"Can touch our souls."

"They hold forever summer of teal and gold."

"Bressler Northwest University, our hearts abide with you. For our life's success, we shall always bless, our beloved BNU."

"In a wide teal valley..."

"In a wide teal valley..."

"In the high northwestern range..."

"We build... our golden dreams... of tomorrow..."

Larry began to sing. Kail joined and the octet and hundreds followed. Everyone was singing before they reached the chorus. Silky told Bance and Jace the mike was "down" and they sang. All over the region in homes, restaurants, bars, and in the ski towns around big monitors, the people stood and sang The Teal and Gold.

People didn't stumble over the words or the phrasing. They didn't lose the melody. The song was simple and beautiful, a living work of art created by their children. When the song ended, one of the boys in the octet shouted, "We are Teal Magic!"

Silky worked through the applause and the rep's thanks. He found a fanfare that was in the right key and ended in a perfect fade, edited it to the right length, he hoped, kissed his wyvern and asked it to please help, then he briefed Bance and Jace.

Bance whooped and Jace told him to kiss their lucky wyvern for them to. Silky gave it two more kisses and promised it another just before they began, then caught up with the image Jace was giving him, and what Kail was saying.

"...problem with this ski suit is the sleeve doesn't blot tears well. We have a school song. The children, for whom the university was built, wrote it, and we all chose it. It was the only way that was appropriate, because we all built it. Every one of us knows we've been there in spirit everyday, building our university but there's something you don't know about it. Prepare yourselves for a shock. Are you ready? It will be done in fifteen days!!"

The campus construction crew burst into laughter at the silence and Jace caught the stunned look on faces. He found Tatton Tellerlock, laughing, just as the crowd burst into cheers. The crew shouted, "We are Teal Magic!" in unison and the crowd responded in chorus.

The show began as the final response rolled between the mountains, down the valley. By the time the next-to-last started, everyone knew there should be just enough time for the flag parade to be in the sunlight.

Silky kissed his wyvern and keyed the music just as Dandy and China started down the slope. Bance identified each person and the pertinents of the town, whose flags they bore. Jace moved the image from the face of the hill to traverse through its wide upper curve to the top. The first five started down as the fanfare began the second time and Silky whooped. It was perfect so far. Then Bance finished talking as Dandy and China came off the curve and Silky reminded himself to breathe.

They dropped out of view behind "the hump" as the fanfare began to fade, and he softly counted. The banner rose into view at the top of the slope as Larry sang, "In a wide" and began down as Kail led others in "teal valley." He told their little wyvern it had obviously gotten some big help and said, "Thank You."

Jace kept the cam on the face of the hill and Bance didn't talk. Silky said his mike was off and he did as most were, softly sang again. Jace and Silky both sang too. The five crested the hump and Silky whispered it was perfect, and he'd turn Bance's mike on when the song ended. The five skiers 'crossed the finish,' when the song ended. Bance counted three seconds.

"Bance Neardon, Channel Forty-eight, in Frostlea, at the closing ceremony of the Winter Carnival, that will be forever remembered as The Teal and Gold. We are Teal Magic!"

"Magic Teal! Magic Swords! Go!"

Silky whooped as Jace yelled the response with the crowd. Bance always knew how to end a segment. He slowly faded the cheering after the last response, leapt out of his chair, whooped and danced. No one needed to edit the segment for length. It was perfect, perfect, perfect. From the top, from the curve and from the banner coming over the hump, it was perfect segment length. He shouted his thanks to the sky and danced with their lucky wyvern. The world had been watching and they'd been blessed with a masterpiece.

"Answer comm."

"Damn!"

"Boss, something loves BNU, and us."

"There's no doubt of that at all. Silky, that was the most beautiful piece of news coverage, and live broadcast art, I have ever seen. I admit bias, but I had tears running and was singing, and you know I don't sing. If that segment doesn't win a Broadcast Institute Award, it's fixed."

"Uh..."

"I was sure that hadn't occurred to you. We're being flooded with rebroadcast requests. If there's a station that covers news on this planet that doesn't broadcast that tonight, or morning, or both, people will look for one that does, and they all know you did it on the scene, live."

"Now I know how Nev, Knight and Blade felt, plus."

"A lot more noticed award. You three will go if nominated."

"I can't get a babysitter?"

"No one would believe that one, and you should take him along, anyway."

"Her."

"For sure?"

"Yes, Essa decided to confirm my feeling, finally. I told her I was sure, everyone knew it, and somebody at the clinic would be blamed for blabbing. She said, "Girl," and I got all the things I bought for a baby girl out of the car. Bance said we've got a friendly mob headed this way, and a mob of friends moving fast to get here first."

"Get behind Knight, Nev and Blade. Everyone in that mob knows who put it together."

"I sometimes miss the days of 'and our editor is in there,' but I wouldn't go back."

"Silky! Let's go!"

"Yipe, Boss. Comm out."

"Asking if he liked it seems superfluous."

"His greeting was, 'Damn,' Bance. We're running for the cabin?"

"The viewroom seemed great, until I had this memory of a siege scene in a costume drama."

"Get in Stats' transport!"

"What?!"

"We'll never get you out of here if we wait!"

"I thought they liked it, Case."

"They loved it, Silky. We're moving you to the campus crew tent. Your wives are already on the way."

"I was not expecting this."

"We'll get the mobile unit out if you're not in it, Bance. Otherwise, there will be so many who want to tell you how you made them feel, it'll snarl things hopelessly, and the transports won't get through to load."

"Oh, now it makes sense. The cabin is too close to loading."

"Yes, you not there or in the mobile will break this apart reasonably. It's well-planned, but your incredible, fantastic, uplifting and everything else broadcast will, not could, do it in. If we yell we got you out to prevent an incurable traffic jam, people will laugh, agree it was a good idea, and tell you how much it meant to them in much smaller groups."

"In and duck."

"I don't think I like fame, Stats."

"I understand that well, Jace."

"Tinler's got a break in traffic set up, but it's timed close!"

"Yipe!"

"It's real close timed or Case wouldn't have boosted the mobile unit, Silky."

"I know, Stats, but I'm only used to moving that fast sitting down."

"Down, Silky!"

"Yes, Bance. You put me on cam so everyone recognizes me."

"I had to, Silky. You were news."

"Answer mobile comm."

"We got Ronnie, Essa and Day in. He did not expect to be noticed among all the other guys in fan ski suits. Until several people said, 'Day, please tell Jace.' He's still surprised."

"He has no idea how recognizable he is, Dawn."

"I don't think he realizes how often he's left of center in crowd scenes either, Jace."

"Oops. I didn't realize I was doing it that much."

"He doesn't realize he's usually where crowds are thickest, either."

"Jace, Hammison would have said something if it wasn't because that's where they're thickest, even if Silky didn't notice it first."

"I do notice, Bance, but he's where the most crowd action is. Jace finds it faster now."

"My sweet social butterfly. How are the others doing on becoming non-traffic-snarls, Dawn?"

"Eight just got on the lift. The big slope will be open long enough for one run, then they'll move to intermediate under lights a little while. Kail and Larry are staying south side of the grandstand, so well away from the road. Roma, Evva, Lillen and Kendra are here. Kady and Reesa blended into a bunch of girls headed for Votto's for munches. Tatton was the other who didn't expect to be a traffic problem. Carler, Milla and Brinda pulled him and his wife out of a widening snarl and up to the lodge suite. We've got China in. Where are you now?"

"Down! Dawn, ask, 'Stats, where are you,' next time, please. I had three heads bob up to look. We just made our traffic break. Tendler deserves an award. A hole 'just happened' right in front of me."

"Drand told Lakeson you made it. She'll try to get you a break on the left into here."

"That dome can't be clear either."

"No, but if you keep right, you get around to a spot you can cross, I think. No one here is going to leave until after dinner. Two transports in and two more close, big dinner party. They've got four keepers to empty, and I think they filled them this morning, when Kail asked to announce. Be back. Comm out."

"Answer mobile comm."

"Stats, I'm parked in the cabin drive exit, waving to crowds who look disappointed it's me. Working well. They're moving right along to the transport stops. Here come the first three, six, nine. The road just became one-way. I've got my feet up on the console, obviously no hurry, or polite transport drivers would stop for me."

"They know how many there are. Where are you taking the unit?"

"Your spot in the garage when this thins more. Blade said, 'Obvious don't need to hurry. Move later,' and shut the door. He's not happy she's got to leave tonight."

"I think it's the first time he's ever had to work not to mope. Danny said he's got a feeling she won't come back alone."

"Ow. We're all just buddies but Blade and Jilli and we're worried?"

"He knows he has his lifelong loves, and she knows what that ruby means to him, Case. Yes."

"Comm connect Knight. After she leaves, don't work on it. Go ahead and get furious-possessive. Comm out."

"Thank you, Case."

"You're welcome, Stats. You know, IS limited me even more than I thought. I couldn't have imagined 'needing' three comms. Comm out."

Deely agreed with Case. There were times jealous was appropriate. Knight interrupted her list of things she needed to get back to after Winter Carnival, with a kiss. Nev noticed Knight was better and relaxed. So did Danny. Dandy noticed she did and touched the little diamond in her ear. She smiled, pulled her ear cover down and said, "And nights." He called Milla and asked if he could borrow sheets and pillows for a night or two. He knew his house still had at least one bed. He yelled he needed a ride car shopping, as they made their last run of Winter Carnival down the big slope.

Blade and Jilli didn't go back up to the intermediate slope to ski awhile under the lights. They went to the cabin. They didn't have much time left to be together. She was packed, but not ready to leave. She was going to wear her ski suit home, even though she was traveling into summer. It would be very early morning there, and she had to work that day, but she told them she was wearing her "teal and gold Winter Carnival back, not home." A little over an hour later, they loaded her bags in the Bolt.

She had many friends to whom to say farewell. The campus crew would be gone when she returned. She also had many who wouldn't be, and some to "commiserate with," who also had to "go back."

Dinner wasn't really festive, but it was wonderful. 'Everyone' was there. All four transports were there with tents set up, but wide open. People wandered between them and talked to everyone.

The coaches and professors, who had a half-term left at schools, and the campus crew were all a bit wistful. China was more so than most. She'd spent almost all of Winter Carnival with the campus crew in Snowdale. She collected promises to tell her where they were going, when they knew. She also collected personal comm codes and made promises to call and "just chat."

Keeva loudly complained that she wouldn't have to go back if the south continents "started autumn classes in autumn." Several others laughed and agreed. Coaches noted it was the first time they'd been unhappy terms in both hemispheres were on the same schedule.

Jilli sighed. Blade told her she was going to love summer in Teal Valley, and so would her parents. One of the first things she'd told him about her family was working on her parents', "You'll be so far away," with reminders she was the perfect excuse to leave cold and damp winter for beautiful summer.

They left a little early for her flight, so they could drive through the campus once more. They didn't know their departure began the end of the evening, but anyone's would have. It was time to let the Teal and Gold Winter Carnival become a memory.

Many aided cleanup and the tents came down. 'Extra' food was loaded into cars to go back to the dorms and the transports were cleaned, then everything that had come with them was packed and stored to go back. The driving teams got many reminders to trade off frequently. They said they'd be home for lunch and drove out. The dome still had many cars parked in it, but it looked empty without them.

Those who had driven to the dome gave those who'd walked rides to their vehicles. Everyone was packed, even Dandy's 'ski shop' was ready to go, though the only vehicle it would fit in was Stats' transport and it did take a while to load. Others racked skis and loaded cars.

They'd all decided not to spend a last night, even Mike, Loren and Elise, who'd planned to, felt it was time to go home, and watch the Carnival Recap Special after the news at twenty-two. Many would remain in the ski towns, in cafés and bars, until the recap ended.

Danny and Dandy would get him unloaded, then go to the golf course snack shop, open late that night, with the doors to the banquet hall open, for all who wanted to have tea and hot pretzels with friends, while they watched. It was where Knight had told Blade to meet them.

Knight took Deely home to get her car. Nev took Keeva to the house she'd bought her first trip to Teal Valley. He laughed when she decided to unpack everything. She put on her BNU jacket and cap and stated she was ready. He said, "Ow," and drove her to the flyer lot. It would be early evening there, when she arrived, but her body would still be on BNU time.

Blade had just walked into the snack bar when Knight called and told him to come to Dandy's. Work lights came on as he was driving toward it and he knew what he'd find when he got there. He parked the car in the clear drive and waded into the drifted snow.

"Knight, it's night."

"This won't take long. Case and Stats will be back with material for a walk cover in a few minutes."

"At least you didn't decide to dig up the walk to fix the melt unit."

"Covered will also keep people dry, and doesn't require digging in frozen ground."

"I'm going to do something about that convoluted garage entry, Blade. I don't know what yet, but something. It is not important to me to have a pantry that can be stocked from both sides or the laundry room next to the kitchen. I may take both out. I was just going to shovel to get it clear to move furniture, but I was outvoted, before Knight got here. Danny votes proxy for your neighborhood."

"Princess prerogative, Dandy. Extensible?"

"I don't know yet. Case and Stats said they have materials, what type not said. I do know getting ground clear both sides is a good idea."

"One shovel. My turn?"

"I'm really spoiled. I calculated how much faster this would be with seven different types of equipment, all sitting over at the U or in the workshop."

"But we'll have it done in the length of time it would take to load any of them."

"That's why we're shoveling. Nev stopped at the shop, so we may get it anyway."

"They liked the front of the place open view, or they'd have done fixed, not removable, porch enclosure."

"The porch isn't particularly warm, Blade. More used as non-freezing for plants than pleasant for people, I think. The enclosure is tight, but it's outdoor carpeted."

"It looks like a summer-use design, Dandy. How is it inside?"

"I love it. Some things need work, but it's just time to do them. It's been lived in, but given loving care. I've got almost enough furniture. Notably lacking is dining room. The kitchen has counter and booth and they left me the counter stools. I hate to mess with the kitchen, but the pantry is right in front of the door to the garage."

"You could move the door."

"Then I'd have a short-hall going nowhere, not big enough for the clothes cycler I'd have to move."

"Short hallway two ways."

"Yes."

"The ladies?"

"On flyers, except Deely and Danny, of course. Deely plans to watch with the grad students, so they can tease about how often she's on the screen, though it may be at the snack shop. Danny's inside making a furniture list. There they are. Nev's got the LH."

"I'll move the Bolt."

"He's not coming up the drive."

"You will have a dent in your snow, Dandy."

"We've got carpet and insul pad for the porch, cover for the walk and canopy for the drive, heaters for all. Case and Stats heard a forecast."

"It's about to get frigid and unpleasant too. Warning melt units won't be able to keep up with wind in about three days, for about five. Real long-range is 'Well, it'll be nice again someday.' Teal Valley seems to have been chosen as a wind tunnel. It will be nice skiing in Frostlea most days. Here, the sledding hill may need a windbreak to keep from being a snow plateau with a bare middle."

"Ooh, time to cover our drive."

"We'll have to get a wider frame tomorrow, Blade.

"Day's getting a snowblade. This drive and yours are the only ones too long and too exposed to be a quick clear."

"You were planning and he beat you to it."

"He said everyone in town won't call him, and fifteen days is fifteen days, Knight. My mom said she's getting one, but it won't be as blow up there. I think she plans to assure her staff can get out."

"Probably, Stats. Enrollment is open. Perm frame?"

"We've got ground sets that will let him take it down and store it. Extensible would probably hold the curve in a one hundred K wind."

"Yipe!"

"Probably higher gusts, Blade."

"This wasn't expected."

"It was a possible pattern shift. It shifted."

"You guys aren't as used to having a twenty-day pattern shift as I am. Beldana doesn't have a climate. It has weather."

"This is ready. Weather prediction is an exact science, for two days."

"I'm thinking of putting a field over the yard again."

"Put one over Silky's instead, Nev, that's the one you miss walking in, and their side yard is a great place for kids to play."

"It's also a two-story house, Stats. With no trees higher than the roof."

"I'm not the only one who misses walking in the sculpture garden, obviously."

"We missed you coming through our house on the way there. It's still beautiful, but you sat on the grass or one of the benches most, not in the solarium."

"Wait. None of us use the viewrooms like we planned. Why? What's missing in them? Milla uses the one at the cabin more than the one at the lake, but she uses both. Kail and Lillen use theirs. We have five in the neighborhood. We use one as a decoration and four as path connections. What do they lack for us to use them?"

"I like them, Blade, I... just don't think of going to them, like the spare bedrooms in the house."

"The view isn't enough to pull us to them, Nev."

"Practice?"

"Knight, you may have hit it exactly. We didn't build ours for the view, or Silky's, either. We're using them for the purpose we built them. Going just for the view doesn't occur to us."

"Keeva and I used the one at the cabin."

"So did Jilli and I, just the two of us, above the whole world, together."

Knight grabbed one with each hand and threw them into the snow, side-by-side. He dove on top of both of them.

"We are pledged to each other! You're my life companions, my pledged loves! I'm not leaving! You're not leaving! You can't have a lost love! And it's good thing the snow is deep, or I'd have damaged you reminding you I love you. And you love me!"

"Knight, they're face down in the snow."

Knight rose to his knees and yanked them both up with him. Both gasped for air and began to giggle. Both thanked Case for the reminder. Knight thanked him, too. He said he didn't lose his temper often, and they'd better remember it, so he didn't. Dandy sat down and laughed.

It didn't take them long to cover the path and put up the canopy, which was actually an enclosure. They laid carpet and rolled out the walk pad as they went to cars. Danny set up heaters behind them. They walked into the snack shop just as the hour-and-a-half recap of the twelve-day event began, at twenty-two thirty.

At midnight, people applauded. Bance, Jace and Silky among them. Silky said they'd have company at the awards. Bance and Jace nodded.

Hammison wasn't sure he wanted to approve the rebroadcast request on his screen. He had the feeling it was an irrevocable step for the world. He decided he needed advice. He called Kail, Larry, Chief Dennon, Andrea Pimberly, Bance and Nev. He told them all who was on the comm list at oh oh eight.

"I've got a request for rebroadcast of both the closing ceremony segment and the recap, from Transspace News Network and I'm absolutely sure I should talk it over with someone else. You're the ones I got when I asked myself who, and I think I called your teams."

"Three of us are at the snack shop, with teams."

"I want Carler and Dorn."

"Caelton and Ressen."

"Geon and Morelli."

"Where?"

"Our house. We'll let our team select itself. A move will make it simpler, and we've got six comps."

"Good idea, Nev. I'll call my boss. I don't think she'll come, but I want her to know I'm not making this decision alone."

Nev told the big bunch what they were about to meet to discuss. He said he wanted everyone there who had a feeling they should be, and no one to feel they should be because it was expected. Bellin said she was going home and Tarn wasn't. Kady said she and Reesa were going home and Day wasn't. Elise said she and Loren were going home and Mike wasn't. He looked surprised, then nodded. Danny told Dandy he wasn't going home. Essa said she was. Chal offered Bellin a ride. Dawn surprised them when she said she and Drand were going home. Kendra said she'd like to, but wasn't. Ronnie looked at Dawn and said it wasn't time for her yet, either.

Larry told Day, Mike and Tarn they were on his team. He told Kendra she was probably on everyone's. Danny told her protesting that was pointless, but she'd have a large number tucking her in if she yawned. Case looked at Stats. Stats told him they were going to a meeting, and he was probably on Bance's team. Case told Kendra Stats could keep up what she was doing, when she needed a bed. Stats nodded. Larry called Kail and asked him if he thought Milla was too pooped to be on his team. Kail told him she'd been sure she should come. Lillen would also be with him. Larry told him she was probably on Bance's team.

When all arrived, they discussed what they felt and didn't know. Carler reorganized them a bit. He put Chief Dennon and Dorn on Larry's team, Hammison on Bance's, Ressen and Caelton and himself on Andrea's, and Morelli and Silky on Nev's. The 'everybody's' group were Kail's team. After he had, the teams knew what their jobs were. They needed a picture of the community of worlds and their interactions. They requested access to the archives on the Transspace News ship.

Bance his team began finding the news that would aid them and Kail's began assembling the data in it for Cultures, Finance, and Design. The teams wouldn't really work separately, but they focused on different aspects. Within a few moments, they were functioning smoothly. Morelli said she was awed. Nev said he'd always known where he'd gotten his management talent, and that he'd only gotten some. Then Blade saw a landscape design and yelled an alert.

There was something wrong with Jaden. A few moments later, they added Rimland, Manhome and Charasana. The four worlds closest to them were "stale if not stultified." Kendra said it was "a spreading disease," and they began looking for the source. Why did four worlds "do everything by a dull book?"

It took them a while, but they found the source of the "fear of change," in a treaty, a religion and an interplanetary court decision. The odd religious sect no longer existed, but the treaty still did, and the decision rendered in the suit by the religious sect still did. The court decision hadn't been intended to stop innovation on the world of Jaden, but businesses had used it "as a tool to control competitors."

They'd sent their exiles to a world on which the actions of the oligarchy were established procedure and their revolution a horror. They sent a message to the Chief Justice of the Interplanetary Supreme Court. Carler began it.

"Two hundred twenty-eight years ago, the Supreme Court handed down a decision intended to protect the rights of a small group of people to live as they chose. That decision was used by businesses as a weapon against competition. The Northeast Interplanetary Commerce Treaty, ratified two hundred sixty-four years ago, allowed use of that weapon against businesses of neighboring worlds. There are four worlds on which no business can develop a new product and sell it, until all businesses can produce and sell it, and two more worlds are now being limited by law due to a second treaty."

"The resulting cultural attitude is 'innovation is evil.' There's one world on which imagination is horrifying, three on which it's shameful and two on which it's becoming impolite to mention you have an idea."

"The case is Followers of the Simple Light versus the government of Jaden. The sect met to meditate facing the rising sun each morning. A proposed intercontinental gravway would have put hauler traffic in their view of the sunrise on the east, and noise behind them on the west. The dawn meditation was central to their way of life."

"The decision was not incorrect, but it was too broadly worded. Businesses sued any competitor, with a new product or method, on the basis loss of market share would infringe on the right of workers and stockholders to 'maintain their way of life.' Workers could not be fired unless businesses proved their incompetence or laziness were affecting the business and infringing the 'right of other workers to maintain their way of life.' Damages awarded in such suits were punitive, resulting in fear of not following established procedure precisely."

"We have granted permission to rebroadcast the recap of a twelve-day sport and cultural event. During that period, this world was renamed, the continents were renamed, our money was renamed, and new coinage, made of new materials and minted with new technology, issued. The result of other new technology was announced, demonstrated and spoken of as both available for subsidiary licensing and export. We hope you can forestall declaration of war against this world. We'd win, but we'd dislike it intensely, or we'd have had a bloody revolution over a century ago."

"Information source list, analysis, prediction of proliferation and recap being authorized for rebroadcast are attached. End message. Send to designated recipient. Copy to Defense Minister of Liberty Gem."

"She's not going to be able to stop it."

"No, Blade, she's not, but she may be able to tear apart the lace of treaties that would require thirty-four worlds to give military support."

"Comm connect, Liberty Gem Portal, Transspace News ship, Bureau Chief Lardi Miller."

"Miller. Good evening, Gen Hammison."

"No, Fem Miller, it's not. Permission to rebroadcast is granted. Payment for use is waived. Get it out fast. Thirty-four worlds need to see it before Jaden, Manhome, Charasana and Rimland declare war on us and invoke military support treaties."

"What?!"

"We found the reason for the pervasive feeling it wasn't time to develop commercial and social ties with other worlds. We'd have started with those four and they consider us criminals, and the sale of new technology an additional illegal act and threat to their 'right to maintain their way of life.' That phrase is the basis of 'nothing ever happens' on those worlds. It was so abused by businesses to limit innovation by competition that the word 'innovation' is not used in the presence of children. That's literal. Calling someone 'imaginative' is grounds for a charge of verbal abuse, also literal."

"You found this in our archives?"

"Beginning two hundred twenty-eight years ago, in archives purchased from Northeast Interplanet News fifty-seven years ago. They purchased them from Outlands News one hundred forty-seven years ago. By that time, businesses were carefully not 'beating the competition,' to avoid suits with punitive damage awards on Jaden. By the time you bought it, they were avoiding it on four and suits were so common on two more they didn't make the newscasts. They're being quickly settled with fast apologies and polite offers of use of patent license without fees now. Being sued for 'destroying lives' is embarrassing, so it's as un-news as possible. Four worlds are stultified, two are being crippled, nine are under threat and, because it's 'don't do anything new,' it's not news."

"Most recent from one of those worlds is forty-one manufacturers put a four-year-old tech improvement into production the same day."

"Nothing worth investigating or expanding. Get it out fast. Give thirty-four worlds as much time as possible to learn who we are, and decide not to send innocents to die fighting on the wrong side of war. If there are only four, we may be able to figure out a way to keep from killing them because they were taught 'idea' is a dirty word."

"We'll get it out, then we'll get the real story there, and everywhere else. We're trying to get it here. It's not easy."

"You have it. We're smarter, stronger and more unified than the people of any other world. That's not a brag. Smart, cooperative and profitable to the oligarchy were the premier survival traits for seven generations. For three, only healthy children could be born, and anyone not profitable enough in the workforce was added to the breeding stock being culled to produce high-quality slaves for export. Comm out."

"We precipitated a war, but at least we're aware of it."

"I wish I had a doubt of it, Andrea."

"We all do, Chief."

"Nev, look behind you."

"How long has he been a statue, Blade?"

"I think 'precipitated' precipitated something in there."

"Let's get him on a comp."

"No, Danny. He'll find a place to stop to rest. Nev and I will steer him to his room and stay to see what he does."

"We have many beds available. Please use one if you'd even just like a nap before going home. Knight, this way. Blade, pull."

"Come on, Knight. Nobody will head for bed until you move, and Lillen and Kendra need to."

"That worked well. Goodnight, everyone."

### Chapter Twenty-seven

When Knight awoke, Loren was in their kitchen making breakfast for many. He told him Nev and Blade had gone to get drive cover supplies and there were several, who thought they were only going to take short naps, in beds. Knight said they didn't have that many beds. Loren pointed to the back patio.

"It's a town meeting?"

"Four napping were noticed fast. Ponce Caelton's wife knew where they were. Chief Dennon called Nev with a warning. Mike had your comm on forward to us. Nev and Blade still woke up as soon as I started breakfast."

"Nev always hears the tea brewer. Blade hears any unusual step."

"That's when they came out. Elise is covering the town office, I think."

"It looks like it. How did you keep the drive clear?"

"Not me. Chief Dennon said keep off until you get it covered, so you could get to the campus."

"Comm connect Old White Workhorse. Good morning."

"Good morning. We're close."

"I've got an idea and we've got a full patio."

"That's why the patio is what's full."

"They'll probably be gone by the time we finish the drive."

"After breakfast, Blade."

"Yes, Loren."

"Knight, if they're not, we'll disappear."

"What about work?"

"What's most important?"

"It's all part of it, Nev. It's all got to be too fast. It's what 'Hammer' said."

"I thought the trigger was 'precipitate,' Knight."

"It was and we are, Blade."

"Got it."

"Breakfast ready."

"Coming in, Loren. Comm out."

The 'neighborhood crew' arrived for breakfast and to help install everything Nev had decided to build. The drive cover would recess into the ground. So would the enclosure that would cover the area from the house to over the front walk.

After Nev told Knight the plan, he said he now understood why he'd expected their guests to be gone before they finished. Blade told him Nev had decided an enclosure would be less 'view blocker' and encourage more use of the front door and the viewroom. Nev added it also gave Blade some room to play in the front yard. Knight smiled and nodded. Blade groaned.

With all of them working, it didn't take long. It was all simple installation. When they finished, Blade turned the heater on in the front enclosure, took the back seats out of Knight's car and left. Knight said he obviously had an idea about the "play room." Nev walked into the house and opened the windows to the "new room to speed warming."

Blade came back, unloaded plants and left. he came back, unloaded containers and left. They'd all gotten too curious to wait and were exploring containers when he returned.

Blade 'directed' and they dug, planted, filled and installed things. In a very short time, the new enclosure became a "blooming paradise." Everyone knew they weren't done. Blade had made four more trips, while they worked, then left again. When he returned, there was an MH following him. Blade had decided to 'greenscape' the viewrooms.

They were no longer part of the path to any of them when they finished. Each had a low brewer bar with containers of tea and cups that coordinated with the big pillows. They had plants and flowing water "from ceiling to floor" and invited people to brew a pot of tea and use a pillow nest, to sit and look out between cascades of green.

They weren't carefree. Water would have to be added, but the tanks in the brewer bars were large enough to make several pots of tea and the plant water systems wouldn't require filling often, either. The last container opened had a crystal water pitcher for every house. If someone carried water that wasn't needed, the pitchers would be pretty sitting on the brewer bars. As they walked back to the house, Nev told Blade he'd been sure he'd find a way to "enhance" the appearance of the house year-round, and worked at being sure.

"I had to, Nev. We both ached a little the whole time we were figuring out how to do all this stuff. We ached some when we made this walk because we'd kill the grass here."

"You did?"

"Of course, Knight. We were changing the image of home and it's precious to us too."

"I wish you'd told me that."

"You thought it was just you?!"

"I thought resenting it the whole time we built it was sort of childish, Nev."

"Knight, I wish you were ever childish. Once in a great while, you're 'nineteen' and it makes both of us feel good."

"Like last night."

"When I nearly suffocated you, or when I realized you were both in my bed got excited?"

"Yes."

"Yes. I deserved it. She's a very special friend, but not my best friend or my true love. I wasn't ready for the love affair to be over, but it was just shorter than I wanted it to be. Now I realize it was probably a good thing. She was working to remember you two are my forever loves and I was so damn secure I didn't need to. I'll call her, because I do love her, but I'm looking forward to laughing at myself for being jealous when she finds her forever love."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

"I love you three? Perfect timing. Here they come. Let's sit at the table and watch expressions."

"Touralee! And blue velvet. Millipinks?"

"You have a good nose, Andrea."

"Obviously right out this window. Move over, Nev, I want to watch faces too."

"She doesn't miss anything, Blade."

"I've noticed that, Nev."

"Several of us have been anticipating seeing what you were doing, Blade. We knew it was taking far too long... You did the viewroom, too."

"We had too much help not to get done too soon."

"You did them all?"

"We weren't using them as viewrooms. Working on them, to make them places to sit and look at the view, should take them out of the mental part-of-the-path niche."

"We were working on 'mental niche,' too, Blade. Going over the pass is an excursion to most of us. It's a natural boundary, but we tend to think of it as a border."

"I do. Even flying out, it's no longer in our homeland. It was such a relief to get back across it every time we left, it's going to take a while, I think."

"So do we, Nev, but we think BNU away games will aid. Precipitate?"

"We put off talking about it. You escaped before the discussion of what was discussed at the door?"

"I always try to get to the door before Trulia and Juro get to it, Nev. Both of them do it about half the time, right in front of it. Dorn will get them moving. Watch. He'll get them both discussing, get them turned, half back-half sidle through and they'll follow. He does it so smoothly, most people don't realize it's a technique. His father-in-law is a door-discusser too."

By the time Dorn had gotten the "door discussers" through two doors, Knight, Nev and Blade were laughing. Lillen got to a chair and giggled. She'd seen it. When everyone else was out, Kail and Larry burst into laughter. Dorn had 'discussed' them down the drive into the cold air. They went to cars quickly once he had. Carler and Milla came out of the bedroom.

"We were too tickled not to laugh and too close not to be obvious."

"Carler got us down the hall. I was snickering against his side."

"Comm connect Dornbuggy. You got Carler and Milla. They took an escape route to giggle."

"Forty-two years practice getting my father-in-law to his car, Kail. Trulia and Juro don't always do it. He does. I almost didn't make it without laughing. Sort of backing up like I was, I saw a lot of faces when they came out the door. I know how fast those boys work. What else did they do?"

"The viewrooms. We're looking forward to Larry seeing them. Kendra put his favorite tea in a container in one of them."

"I shall talk to you later. I have a tea to find, so I know which to tell her I like, and be surprised my favorite tea is there."

"I suspect you'll know without finding the tea."

"Probably, Kail, but I'll check, and appreciate the hint."

"He's got happy-marriage figured out, Kail."

"Yes, Dorn, he does. We'll see you two this evening. Comm out."

"This evening?"

"Dinner at their house, Lillen."

"He complained it's their turn."

"Exactly. I need to get home, get changed and get to work."

"Case's dad called and said they're sipping tea, watching and smiling. Financial Aid is running smoothly, so is Housing, and Bressler is delighted with the processing programs Dandy adapted and sent. They're open and beginning to get enrollments. They said the student center is the noisiest it's ever been, and they'll be publishing the class schedule and opening enrollment during the term from now on. The professors are excited. They're learning what the students hope courses will cover, especially in some of the more esoteric types. You do need to accept a donation though."

"What donation, Nev?"

"Two hours per day and four days overtime. The crew decided they want to make a contribution, and still surprise everyone."

"I had a feeling 'fifteen days' was probably going to be twelve or thirteen, when Tatton said it. One day, after two off, just didn't sound like our crew."

"We're including us, Kail. We're about to get more done than possible in several ways. The campus, the housing projects and other things are going to happen too fast. We haven't heard from the Defense Minister."

"Comm connect, Lodestar, Government Center, Department of Defense, Office of the Defense Minister."

"Good afternoon, Chancellor. I've been waiting for you to call. I was sure you were still working on things up there when you weren't in your office, so I told your comm not to forward."

"We were, though more how to deal with the feeling the pass is a border that's rather strong here."

"It would be odd if it wasn't. I agree. They're going to view us as a threat, and already see us as having committed illegal acts. You have a plan of action?"

"We told them to get the recap out fast and far, so thirty-four worlds bound by treaty have time to get off the wrong side. We know the Chief Justice can move fast. We just don't think they can stop it, though they may be able to pull two worlds out of the mire. If the attitude had permeated the cultures, there wouldn't be as many suits as there are."

"Agreed. There had to be some reason they were so surprised we weren't dull, but they didn't realize what it was either."

"The nothing-ever-happens-there quadrant. Do what you can to get people to move so fast it makes them dizzy watching. The real planners have indicated we're going to West Side them."

"I have experience with the term. The Freedom party clobbered the Rights party on the Fratlin Island issue. Rights had just begun assembling data and Freedom slammed sixteen megs of analysis supporting their position into record. This department is the one with an office in the corner no one expects to need to notice."

"True, but they put the best they could find in it in case they did."

"Thank you. I'm as displeased as everyone else it needs to be noticed, or I wouldn't have taken the job. It begins with?"

"A demo of what the new tech can really do. It was already a West-Side-them plan, but PISA seems a rather minor target now. I don't know more than that yet, but I'm putting on running shoes."

"I'll tell congress they're appropriate session apparel. I wish I hadn't needed to ask for a time to address them. The Prime Minister is wishing too. Time to call and say our real planners are at work. Five hundred forty-eight?"

"I doubt they've called them all yet, but I'm sure they'll all be ready when the call comes."

"So am I. Got to go, but at least I have 'West Side' to give them. It will make them feel as much better as it did me."

"A West Side?"

"Dad, if very nice housing for a couple thousand can be built in eighteen workdays with one magic trowel, how many spaceships can be built day and night using many?"

"Did you just feel 'duh' too, Kail?"

"Yes, Lillen, I did."

"Good. I was trying to decide if I was getting slow or needed more nap. I clearly remember two days in the same clothes because I was too busy to change. I don't need the memory of ick refreshed further."

"I thoroughly agree, Andrea. Kail?"

"Ick. See you boys later."

As soon as Andrea, Kail and Lillen left, Knight went to his room and sat down at his comp. Nev and Blade watched a few moments, then went to their rooms and got on theirs. Danny 'came in' from her house. Case and Stats walked in the front door and went to the spare bedroom comps. Ronnie came in from her house and Dawn and Drand joined from theirs. None were truly surprised when Deely and her grad students 'came in' from the university. As they worked with the neighborhood team, they tightened theirs. Nev didn't realize he was managing both, but everyone else did.

They built a plan and designed equipment to do it. Applications were discovered, as they needed ways to accomplish things, and tech was designed to use them. Mike and Loren complained about "people all over," as they delivered dinner to everyone in the neighborhood, then at the university. By then, Day, Elise and Dandy were working with them. Deely 'reached around the world' and Keeva and Evva were added. Nev managed and Deely learned. So did one of her students.

They were finishing when Mike and Loren delivered food the third time. It was very early breakfast, a few minutes after four their time. At five oh two, Deely sent twenty-nine patent applications and Dandy sent seventeen program copyright registrations in the name of BNU. Five designs and three programs weren't submitted. They were sent to the Defense Minister.

Keeva and Evva confirmed they had Loren's recommended meals. Several in Teal Valley noted their days and nights were in agreement with Evva's, as they sought beds. By ten, all were at work on regular jobs. That night, they went to bed early. By morning they were well-rested and ready to begin the series of long days the defense plan required. Others were already assembling materials.

The message system was once again in use. One group was at work on the piece only mentioned on it. They were using four new pieces of tech to dig a tunnel, support and line it, from the mine to Nev, Knight and Blade's house. Other groups were building the vehicle that would use the tunnel and the lift that would raise the section of the now-enclosed side patio. With the new equipment, it wasn't going to take long.

Deely's team sent five more patent apps, then messaged all universities the "recommended standard physics lab equipment and instruction manual" were on the infonet on Fourday. The tunnel was completed that afternoon and the lift installed that evening.

They would still move 'big stuff,' in and out of other mine adits, but the howling wind was already closing the access from Teal Valley. Snow was drifting to a depth of meters in front of the adit. On Fiveday morning, the very fast closed car, which carried six, was waiting in the tunnel, when they took the lift down. Knight, Nev and Blade used it to reach the central cavern of the mine and sent it back. Case and Stats arrived in it a short time later. It was so quick, it wasn't necessary to wait for a full load, even if others were right behind.

The mine had become a Defense Department facility, though the department didn't know anything about it except they had one, and someone would pick up supplies requisitioned. The Defense Minister told the congressional appropriations committee, "just leave them at," was a very effective method of assuring a secret facility remained secret. They agreed, submitted a rather small budget request to congress and blanket-approved requisitions.

On Nineday of the tenday after Winter Carnival closing, Tellerlock Construction completed the landscaping around all buildings and vacated the campus. Construction domes for the student housing projects had been in place several days, so snow was gone and ground was thawed and dry. The only equipment not moved to them was the crane. If it had been needed, domes could not have been used.

On Tenday, five additional magic trowels appeared in the domes. On Oneday morning roads were poured and foundation prep begun. By noon, foundations were being zapped into existence and two of the twelve tankers were already on the way back to be refilled. After lunch, first-story construction began. By the end of the day, second-story work was underway on several of the housing association buildings.

Crews had chosen jobs and three hundred thirty-two were moving from building to building, as they completed their piece. The crews weren't donating overtime, but the additional magic trowels reduced the workdays needed.

Knight, Nev, Blade and the others from the neighborhood went to the mine each evening. On Fourday, when they weren't working on the housing projects, they went early in the morning.

On Sixday morning, a secure government warehouse, in Richland, had four trailers in it. The trailers, which had been left loaded with requisitioned materials, had the equipment they'd been used to create on them. They were taken to a huge construction hangar near Shimmer Lake.

The government owned a great deal of flat land in the area and the town had a lot of available houses and apts. It was a nice place to live. The old prison guards, their companions and entertainment suppliers were gone. There weren't nearly as many guards needed for the humanely run, and low-inmate-population, prisons and their families were nice, too.

By Eightday, Tatton Tellerlock was sure both projects would be complete within fifteen total workdays and the hangar was becoming a spaceship construction facility. The drive going in the ships wasn't vastly faster, but it was enough more efficient to reduce long journeys by days and the cost per day by eleven-point two one two percent.

That evening, Knight, Nev, Blade, Case and Stats walked out of the docking arm on the portal and went to work. The portal was currently empty of ships and the staff had been given two days' leave, while construction was in progress. Danny, Ronnie, Dawn, Drand, Elise and Day were in the mine building equipment. When most was done, they followed carts through the doorway, then pushed back the empty ones they found in corridors.

Danny walked into the portal main computer room and downlinked to BNU. She and Dandy had about seven hours of direct-link time to work. Both had satchels of food and drink prepared for them by Loren.

None of them left that night, but they did stop work to sleep at one. There were still many empty cabins and one trip back was all anyone wanted to make. In the morning, hundreds came out of the docking arm and carts began to move through it both directions in a steady stream. That night, people went to bed when someone noticed they were "too tired to think straight," then went back to work when they awakened.

Seven minutes before the shuttle with the crew was due to arrive, six twenty-seven Teal Valley time on Oneday, the last cart was pushed through the doorway and Knight, Nev and Blade followed. The portal upgrade and remodel was complete. The Portal Chief of Staff called the Portal and Spaceport Administrator.

"We're not sure we're the same place!"

"What?"

"The shuttle 'entered the environment.' We got a message to stay in it until the 'warming field' was off and gravity reached full. We then got one that they were and air temp in the bay was optimum for humans. We just walked out, across the floor that had assembled under us and into a 'boarding lounge.' New carpet, new colors, new interior configuration, new power system, new shops 'available for lease.' There's a hotel with the health club with a big spa. There are two smaller ones, too, all remodeled with new kitchen equipment. Our cabins have everything right where we left it, but the carpet, counters, appliances and furniture under our things is different. Everything is right where I left it in my office, but the office is a different shape and the desk around things in the drawers is new."

"Now you know what the minister meant when he said the portal was going to get a West Side."

"I've got no record of any of it in the comp, but it's been reprogrammed, and that has us awed. Oh, did I mention the three new docking arms and four additional decks?"

"What?!"

"There's an atrium with enough plants in it to make the whole place smell fresh, fountains, walks, grass and lovely little shops and cafés around it. Plants everywhere, no care required. The maintenance program does it all, including running mowers and pruner. We have solar arrays and power storage towers. The air-holding field wraps the whole thing. I have a list of 'shield commands' that I can implement to stop an object or beam hitting us. Wait! There's a comp flimsy with the text note in my teacup. 'Happy new home. The five hundred forty-eight.' Fazin, I'm not really functional."

"I understand. I'm watching an LH with two haulers following it resurface the spaceport. Traffic control says they're being 'reprogrammed.' The LH and haulers have government emblems on them. Kaffer, Department of Defense emblems."

"Oh, shit."

"You've got shields. I'm going to find out what we're getting, and who wants to lease space on the portal. Comm out. Comm connect Defense Minister."

"Hello, Fazin. We're getting ready for lots of company. Most will be extremely friendly. We just patented a better ship drive."

"We waited until Transspace left?"

"Not really, but empty was convenient up there. Down here, we'll have to request all five ships move. They'll have company in three days. Our first will be finished. We're building some shuttles capable of moving everything needed to install new drives up to the three new construction bays. We'll be ready to lease those in four days."

"Who not-friendly is coming?"

"We really hope no one, but our four nearest neighbors are very sick and it's contagious, carried by lawsuits and treaties. There are twenty-nine new patents no one else seems to have noticed. This time from BNU, out of their physics department. They had 'undisclosed aid,' but they did do it."

"The portal remodel was done by the five hundred forty-eight?"

"Yes. It was needed and they volunteered. Fazin, the object is make every world, that isn't sick, sure we're great friends to have, and the four that are, need treatment. Changing anything there is immoral and innovation is illegal. I'm not kidding. Business sued business into stagnation and the culture became aberrant. It began on Jaden, while this world was in the second stage settlement, with a business that saw a way to use a human rights judgment to keep a competitor from putting a 'new and better' product on the market. The Interplanetary Supreme Court is trying to find a way to end it, but the last message was we may be the only ones who can. They're concentrating on stopping the spread and getting other worlds out of treaties. We definitely want that done first. The four worlds don't move fast, but they move as a unit. We think fast and move in unity, very different."

"Yes, it is. It really was the five hundred forty-eight?"

"Yes, it was. Those most abused by the former government came together again to begin the defense of us all. We don't really know anything about them, except they're completely trustworthy and damn smart."

"How the hell did they get there?"

"Fazin, the only person I tell everything I know is the Prime Minister, and there are things she doesn't ask."

"We do have things we don't share with everyone."

"We think someone may be about to declare war on us."

"I'll be looking for a new ship."

"It will definitely be noticeable. It's going to look like it's made of glass."

"What?!"

"It's the best material. It can't be opaqued and colorbond won't stick, but the Transportation Department decided drapes were only necessary in living quarters areas. It is obvious there something between you and space or they'd have put in interior walls. They haven't decided if they're needed on field-wall shuttles. They considered doing a few field-wall ships, but the engineers said there wasn't enough reduction in the cost of moving mass to be worth it on anything smaller than the portal. Comm out."

Fourteen work days after they were begun, on Twoday, of the fourth tenday after Winter Carnival, the two student housing projects were completed. On Fourday, the BNU Stadium was used for the first time. The first event was the showing of the recording of the reconfiguration, that made the field seating for an additional twelve thousand with the stage in the center, on the big monitors. The stadium was capacity-plus and people were watching the broadcast all over the world. The occasion was the farewell to the campus crew and dedication of the campus of BNU.

Every person who'd worked on it was there. Those who'd come to it as OJT's would be called individually, the section number with their sword given and their vids and "medal of service" awarded. Each would also receive a work helmet and toolbelt, with the university logo and "We are Teal Magic, Campus Construction Crew; The First Sword Team." on them. They were on the medal which hung from a 'formal dress,' wide teal and gold ribbon. Larry was Master of Ceremonies.

The Chair of the Bressler Board of Regents stepped up to make the dedication, then very obviously laid her datpad facedown on the podium.

"I worked on the right thing to say for days. When I stepped up here, I realized it wasn't right. This campus, this university, is 'from the heart' and reflects the beautiful souls of you all. I dedicate this campus of Bressler Northwest University to the spirit of the people of this region, to the dreams they join together to make come true, to their joy in its creation, and to the task for which it was built, to give every person in this region, and all who choose to come here, the opportunity to obtain higher education. Throw open the door to learning! This dream is yours!"

The tens of thousands in the Stadium surged to their feet and the roar of their cheer thundered against the wall fields and back. It wasn't an echo because the field wasn't solid, but the sound of the concerted shout of joy was too great to just dissipate. Deely smiled widely, as she listened to the roar. The physics lab was receiving very interesting data from the sensors around the campus.

When the cheering finally died down, the BNU Board of Regents was introduced. Carler, Dorn, the Mayor of Dawn Ridge, the school superintendent of White Peak, Jaril Ressen, the president of the Forest Growers Association, the only physician in Mount Fortress and finally the chair, Andrea Pimberly.

"My family said, 'Someday, a university right there. Someday, someone will say it's time to build one.' We know why it took so long. Record your memories of the long wait and the joy of this day in the hearts of your children. Soon, there will be thousands. No one is better qualified to teach them the joy of learning than you are. You've dreamed and waited a very long time. Great-great-great-grandfather, you were right. It's someday! Look what we built!"

Larry smiled and waited. Everyone knew what was coming next, but they didn't know how it was going to be done. Then the image of the uncleared land appeared on the big monitors. It faded into Andrea on the concert stage in West Side Park announcing she was donating it, then the land being cleared.

Lambert and Morelli were next, then Kail at the first town council meeting he attended. Tatton Tellerlock signing the contract and then the original design of the campus was 'swept away' and replaced by the new.

The campus construction 'flowed across the land,' short vignettes showed each of Tellerlock's employees and the subcontractors working with OJT's at the point in construction they were recorded, until it reached the Stadium, and the image of each trainee using the magic trowel.

"Section One: Bensel Earlakner, certified in lift installation. Section Two: Lori Macleigh, certified matrix technician. Section Three: Wendon Wolsoski, licensed crane operator. Section Four: Becker Sanchez, certified in lift installation. Section Five: Lopel Mowanda, greenscaping specialist. Section Six: Genner Hagedorn, interior construction specialist. Section Seven: Honson Latham, certified in plumbing construction. Section Eight: Lola Ristonna, certified matrix technician, certified in lift installation, licensed crane operator, wind generation system specialist, technology programming specialist, nicknamed 'Blazer Lo.' Section Nine: Carson Llewlyn, licensed crane operator, construction schedule planning specialist, Tellerlock Team Method specialist and major contributor to its development."

The show was of each as he or she touched the pad to bring a section into existence. The expressions on faces were wonderful. At fifty, an image of the stadium to that point was shown with "The first BNU Sword Team; Modern Construction Technology Experienced; Tellerlock Team Method trained crew chiefs; Comm Code: I-need-a-sword," in teal and gold text overlay. The crowd cheered.

Larry announced magic trowel construction units were now available from CVV Advance Technologies in Vairdslea, campus construction materials and supplier lists were available from the Builders Association Information Office and the campus design, with materials specifications, was on the BNU infonet site. The text faded and he called, "Section Fifty-one."

Danny had changed Larry's employment history and done a few other things when Bressler's Board of Regents named him Vice-chancellor. The chair had told the board if any of them mentioned he was one of the five hundred forty-eight, she'd strangle them personally. All the others had volunteered to help her strangle anyone who did. He had an odd-job past suitable for Doctor of Sociology under the regime of the gov that hadn't wanted it taught.

It didn't bother him at all to be on worldwide news. There was no record of what had been done or who had done it twenty-seven years before, and Lawrence Cartier was on all his university records. He'd personally contacted everyone he'd actually met at Roundin Lake and apologized for "fibbing." They'd laughed and said they wouldn't tell that, but they'd like to brag they'd met him. All were getting autographed dat-cube copies of his about-to-be published reference work.

CVV had gotten into full production ten days before, after the Defense Minister had called and said, "Move it!" They went from almost out of warehouse space to store units to backorders in under an hour. The people knew the Department of Defense was busy, and the word passed was "Work fast."

They watched the broadcast from BNU and redefined "fast." The Defense Minister was sitting among the special guests. It was a very clear message. "Like this." No one had started new large construction projects with old methods, but there weren't many of those. That day, architects scrapped house and apt complex plans. Builders were suddenly ready for the ideas they'd been playing with.

The CEO of GGN was sent an image of the Defense Minister at the dedication, got on comm and the Board of Directors approved a power generation system a pair of their engineers had designed "for fun." Around the world of Liberty Gem, people watched the dedication, looked at images of the upgraded portal and enlarged spaceport and got moving.

### Chapter Twenty-eight

Seven minutes after the BNU dedication broadcast ended, the Transspace news ship docked again, at the very different portal. The chief editor called Hammison.

"You know why they told us to turn around."

"Been expecting you. Like the new accommodations?"

"They're stunning, literally. What do people know?"

"The Defense Minister is seen many places and so are Department of Defense vehicles, and everywhere they're seen, things are moving fast."

"Answer a question that's driving me crazy and I have not found any references at all. Why ministers and departments, not ministries?"

"It's a very simple system. The unicameral legislature is population-based. There are no regional governments and no cabinet. The head of government is the Prime Minister. The bureaucracy is all departments, but some are so important to us the person at the top needs to have direct access to the Prime Minister and congress. A minister can call and say, 'Put me on the schedule today.' A department director can't. If one asks, a reason will be given, and it would be odd if scheduling was refused, but there's a specific committee that director can call and say, 'Schedule me today.' The system wasn't the reason we ended up with an oligarchy, though a more complex checks-and-balance system might have prevented it. Might have. The mining industry had too much power over our economy. They forced concessions and controlled appointments. They could have, literally, starved a large segment of the population, and would have. Within twenty years, they had people they were sure they could pay to do whatever they wanted in control of every department. Twenty years later, the mining corps didn't have that power, but we couldn't reverse it. This was the first election, since the time the mining corps held the power of life and death over us, we're sure our votes were counted."

"You waited a damn long time."

"Until we were sure the vote to remove the oligarchy and repeal the amendments creating the IS and supporting the corruption was unanimous, among those not part of the corrupt system. We call it a revolution, but it was an ouster, not a rebellion."

"What happened to them all?"

"Some were incapable of change and are now in prison. The amnesty program gave all who were capable of it the opportunity to build new lives, without the stigma of the past. You're looking for a known-missing-or-dead total and there isn't one. If you don't know how many there were, you can't compute how many there aren't. Some gov officials were forty people, all being paid a nice salary. Most office managers were three or four. Some were a dozen businesspeople. It was the standard method of avoiding the appearance of conflict of interest."

"You're not doing a census for a year."

"We don't want to know what the former gov forced us to be. We want to know who we are."

On Sixday, the Supreme Court surprised them. It suspended all treaties requiring support of military actions, until reviewed for language that would allow their use for the purpose of conquest. The treaty that was cited as basis for the decision was two hundred seven years old.

The military support clause wasn't the one Bellasea thought Avalon had broken, but the legality of the treaty, not just that clause, had been called into question by Avalon. Both worlds were pleased the court had found something in it that would help them get out of it, without campaigns to sway public opinion before a special election to rescind or supersede, which the treaty required.

The worlds were friends, but the treaty tied their economies too tightly. Avalon had changed their prime interest rate to stimulate business investment in new technology, without approval of Bellasea. That wasn't specifically forbidden in the treaty, but it wasn't specifically permitted, either. The Chief Justice was interviewed by Earth Interplanet. Transspace passed the feed to Liberty Gem networks.

"Everyone is so sure it won't happen, they say 'and standard military support blah, blah, blah' and don't pay attention to what they're committing their people to do. Some of the treaties we're reading don't require a signatory world be engaged in a military action to demand others supply money for ships and weapons, or even troops."

"How many treaties will this affect?"

"Hundreds, but they won't take long to review. If they specify only in the event of attack, or even imminent attack, they're not a problem."

"How many do?"

"We'll know after we review them. If we didn't suspect it's far too few, we wouldn't have suspended them."

"Start over and leave this out?"

"Why bother?"

"You don't think they're needed?"

"Our records indicate they've caused huge numbers of legal disputes and done more to curtail than support economic growth. Of course the treaty is beneficial when it's written, but it's highly improbable it still will be in a half-century. In most cases, it's either becoming a problem or meaningless in twenty years. Bellasea and Avalon are in economic lockstep. They're not the only ones, nor the worst. If the trade or economic treaty aids, write it for the period you're sure it will, and make it simple to renew. If you want to declare your friendship in a treaty, wonderful, but putting in 'and we'll send our people to be slaughtered, if you ever decide you don't like someone, to prove it' is foolish. They just might decide you can afford their temper tantrum."

"They clobbered them!"

"No doubt of that, Nev."

"Let's look at the treaties with the two worlds they're suing to death."

"I think Larry had them in quick reference, Knight. Here they are. Keywords: 'military' and/or 'armed.' That should do it."

"All of them!"

"Nine treaties suspended, Blade. Answer comm."

"You're all by the comp, so looking."

"Yes, Larry. I was about to widen from two worlds."

"Cautious wording was not common, Nev. 'Blah, blah, blah,' I like that woman."

"Where are we?"

"They're not worried someone will help the 'criminal world,' and they'll assure they aren't forced into human rights violations to survive, by ending research and manufacture here, until all interested businesses are prepared to produce. Punitive damages will be assessed and criminal charges will be brought against all persons party to the illegal actions of the abduction, theft and usurpation of the government. They are completely sure millions here are horrified by it and terrified into false statements of agreement. They aren't worried about the two worlds the court cut loose, because they're well on the way to 'civilized' and appropriate action here will speed it. They also still compare the number of their worlds and people to ours, and add 'right' on their side."

"The recap put us in the front row of violators of rights."

"We loudly stated this region has resisted the rightful government for decades, Blade. It must feel odd to you not to have a schedule of many tendays of work ahead of you."

"I thought, 'Sixday,' and was out of bed before I remembered I didn't need to go anywhere. Vacation, holiday, even mornings after too long work the night before, I remember before my feet hit the floor."

"He didn't turn around and get back in bed. I did, long enough to luxuriate in being able to do so."

"They both came out as soon as I started the brewer."

"Nev, did you like the coffee that Transspace reporter shared?"

"I think I'd develop a taste for it extremely fast. Why?"

"We don't have a crop that grows where it does, and a grower from Carousel is interested in a crop and product trade. Your little ear studs were noticed, and he looked for more about us. It surprised him we didn't have coffee. He thinks heart tea would grow well in an area on Carousel that could use a new cash crop. He thinks the crop exchange would benefit both worlds in the long-term, and trade to develop taste would get some moving."

"I like him. I didn't like the coffee."

"I couldn't decide if I liked it, which is why product trade."

"Yes, Knight. He messaged us because we're about to be an agra school, and because of ear studs and heart tea. He isn't sure his info on land and crops is correct, or if cultivation in the area he mentioned is environmentally wise."

"I really like him. I'll try coffee again."

"That's the decision I made, Blade."

"Where?"

"Tropical, nine to eighteen hundred meters, volcanic soil. He thinks their harvesting tech is better than others', but doubts trade for it in five to eight years is a reasonable hope."

"Five to eight?"

"It's a tree, Blade, and coffee is still hand picked many places."

"I've got it on the comp. That is a very pruned tree. This is a very old reference text. A tree produces a half-kilogram a year?"

"It's grown on one hundred eighty-seven worlds and is the largest export crop for twenty-three of them, Blade, including Earth."

"That is a smart man. We'll be buying huge amounts of it before we can produce enough for it to be a common market item, if people like it."

"Exactly."

"Something to trade for tech."

"Carousel is hunting, Nev."

"Usually shipped as dried unroasted beans. There's a lot of ways to prepare it and a lot of different types of beans."

"His first trade proposal is one hundred kilograms of assorted beans and personal hot air roaster for ten kilos of heart tea, BNU paraphernalia package two, three nightlights, six kitty toys and three coins each, up to a chrissie. There's a ship coming this way."

"I'll take it. It's about an equal trade."

"Kail said he thought you'd enjoy making it, Nev, and you have good help on the crop plant choice."

"Three tea connoisseurs and Mike and Chal. Probable agra area?"

"Doctor Bruner said there's nothing rare at that altitude in the Tail of Peridot, the Catpaw Islands or the Garnet Bandeau, in general. There are seven localities that should be excluded, but they don't substantially reduce land environmentally safe and suitable in the areas. Anytime we begin any type of regimented cultivation, we impact the environment, but she thinks coffee would be a good compromise there."

"Carousel is not close. Good."

"I thoroughly agree, Knight. How many days less?"

"Six-point four three."

"Will you take your trade back?"

"Uh..."

"We'd be gone two-thirds of a season."

"We want them to make journeys, but we don't want to spend that much time, Nev?"

"What about Jaden, Manhome, Rimland and Charisana?"

"Is staying-at-home our way of life, Blade?"

"Everyone else feels the same. Leave for two-thirds of a beautiful season? Go now, when they're right over there? We don't even leave this region for more than a day. And I don't want to."

"Can you think of the way to walk from your living room to theirs, Knight?"

"No. Not... really."

"Is this going to make me throw up?"

"I don't know what 'this' is, Blade, but it can't be physical."

"Astral projection?"

"Larry, the statue is wide-eyed and open-mouthed."

"I'll send Donny Sunder an answer, Blade. Comm out."

"Let's see if we can't get him sitting down at the comp."

"He's steering very easily, Nev. I think I'm nervous."

"Let's have some tea. Something soothing."

"You've never seen it, either."

"No, but he had the idea for the formula before he came to the university. Answer comm."

"Hi, Nev, we were thinking of... Oh, shit."

"We're about to have soothing tea, Case."

"We are no longer thinking of swimming. We'll be over for tea."

Eight sat in the kitchen, sipped tea and waited. Drand said telling people watching someone not move for forty minutes was so exciting, he was considering mopweed to get his heart rate down, would probably get him a referral to a therapist. Blade checked his pulse, then several others and told Nev to put a pinch of mopweed in the next pot. Nev thanked him and made a fresh pot. Blade checked Knight and he looked at him.

"Tea for him too, Nev. Make it two pinches. What were you seeing?"

"Want to ride a comm burst to visit another world?"

"What?!"

"Your body won't go, but your thoughts will and will seem to take your body, to you and people you see and talk to. You can't take anything, or bring anything home. You can't fuel your body or sleep there, but you can taste, smell, touch, hear and see."

"How can you do those things?"

"With the power of imagination and tech help. Trips to other worlds, just to visit, but you can visit anywhere with a transpatial receiver and you don't have to stay where the receiver is once you're there. You can buy things with an account code, but you have to have them shipped home. Going home is just a decision, or falling asleep. It'll cost what it does for a comm message. However, the major cost of a comm message is initiation. It should be quite profitable for tour companies, and make physical visits, to stay twenty days or so, more popular. You have friends there. A cruise on a lovely ship, twenty days with friends, a cruise home. Need to work? Go on a ship with fewer amenities and report for work."

"If you can't fuel your body there, you'll be hungry."

"Part of the expense of the send equipment will be fluid and nourishment delivery. It won't require infusion. You may notice the equipment is giving you a drink, but swallow is a reflex and you could ignore it. It'll be drink, or you'll return to eat and go back. That will be more expensive because it's two messages, but people may prefer it. It'll be great for sporting event excursions, but you can't field a team to play a physical sport. They wouldn't get tired, and could imagine every play perfect and it would be."

"Knight, there's more to this. Your chin just hung from your face for over forty minutes."

"Much more, Blade, the mathematical description of thought."

"Do we want to do that?"

"It's a description, not an explanation. However, it proves there is no physical method of thought control possible."

"It's nice math."

"No one's going to build a mind reading device, a future viewer, or mental eye or ear. It won't work with standard comm, only transpatial. It's 'not real,' so can be used. The method connects transpatial comm to physical theory."

"You found the link!"

"Yes, it's thought. It has no physical component, but is quite real, and why people with psychic talent comm family or friends to ask what's wrong."

"You're sure it can't be used to boost psychic talent?"

"Yes, Dawn. I doubt anyone else will see there's a linking structure for a long time. When they do, they probably won't see it describes the psychic talents. It links between this and translight theory."

"It's a circle."

"That's not incorrect, Blade, but circle is just too smooth for something that fits together in chunks."

"Why did you choose twenty-day journey?"

"It was just a number, Nev."

"I doubt it. Look for it."

"Glazed. Nev, you could have waited until the tea was done."

"I don't think it will take long, Blade. He already had a number."

It didn't take long. Knight grinned and said they couldn't make a ship drive faster, but they might be able to make the fuel faster. For ten days, they played in the playroom. It was the first time. Every time they'd used the equipment in it, they've been working as fast as possible to get something done because their time was limited. After those days, they donated several more patents, several to the government of Liberty Gem, the fuel, the device to convert it and the monitor and control system. They also donated the programs needed.

After that was done, they played with the "day trip" idea. When they finished, they donated the patents to BNU and put the math on the infonet. BNU got a license payment before anyone else knew there was a patent. Loren supplied the drink recipe and Kail and Larry decided how much it was worth. Veil Lake Excursions leased space for "Daytrippers" on the portal and a high-tech assembly company in Vairdslea built forty trip chairs for them.

Twelve days before the vernal equinox, Tarn and Bellin's son was born, Daytrippers opened, and four worlds declared war on Liberty Gem, for "criminal disregard of human rights."

Liberty Gem filed suit for "attempted imposition of culture and beliefs by force" in interplanetary court, and stated intent to build a defense fleet. The Supreme Court ruled the courts of Jaden had "grossly misdefined 'way of life,' allowing use of the human rights decision to wage economic warfare, resulting in aberration of the culture, total imposition of the aberrant culture on Manhome, Rimland and Charisana and ongoing exportation to worlds signatory to economic treaties." All the lower court decisions were reversed.

The Human Rights Commission cited Jaden, and subsequently, Manhome, Rimland and Charisana for human rights violations, and the Interplanetary Superior courts on six worlds for "economic definition of human rights and giving claimant rights supersedence of all others."

Liberty Gem built a fleet of one hundred fifty ships in ten days. They created and trained a space corps in sixteen. Ships on the way to Liberty Gem from all over human space didn't even slow down, and daytrippers shuttled up to the portal, among merchants and their employees.

The portal was fully leased and companies on every world were buying licenses to produce trip chairs, ship drives, fuel and fuel systems, magic trowels and many others. By the time the fleet lifted off, Liberty Gem was figuring out what to do with other worlds' money.

Ten from the neighborhood were space corps officers, on active duty "for the duration." They'd attempted to protest when the Defense Minister pulled them out of fighter training and put them on the flagship in command of the fleet. Kail and Larry had attempted to protest being made Admirals in Space Corps Command, too.

The Defense Minister asked them to name someone else everyone was sure could "put it together and keep ahead of everyone else." The people of Liberty Gem told reporters they were sure the Defense Minister knew what he was doing, because they'd have "grabbed the BNU bunch," too.

The fleet performed maneuvers for three days, then deployed to meet the huge fleet coming from four worlds. Bance, Jace and Silky, and many other news crews were daytripping on the flagship. The numbers fell rapidly, as it neared its position. The vast fleet appeared in space beyond Liberty Gem's solar system at the expected time.

"Disable beams. Fire!"

"All ships fired. Beams disabled, Admiral Pyramid."

"Thank you, Commander Tracy. Deploy photon and missile shield fields."

"Shield fields deployed, Admiral."

"Thank you, Commander Valens."

"No gaps, Knight."

"Danny!"

"He tensed twice and Nev and Blade did it with him last time, Ronnie."

"All ships. This is Blade. Danny said forget 'rank for the news.' We're relieved. We'll give them a list."

"You knew it wouldn't last, Alden."

"We all did, Kail."

"I've got a comm relay established, Knight."

"You're on, Nev."

"This is Nevin Curran, currently an admiral. You can't do anything but sit there or go home. We have no intentions of engaging in battle."

"This is Admiral Holcun Lamburden. The Northeast Treaty Alliance has accepted the moral obligation to restrain the criminal element on Gradelode, which has overthrown the rightful government and is now destabilizing the interplanetary economy. The unlawful government will be removed, and economic coercion of the Interplanetary Supreme Court and Human Rights Commission ended."

"We reject the 'moral' of imposition of one culture on all others by economic coercion or force, and stand by our ethic of allowing all people to live as they choose, if that does not include the victimization of others. We reject your 'moral obligation' to support the enslavement of the people of Liberty Gem, in accordance with the policies of the ousted government. We reject your judgment of us as criminal, on the basis of the ethic no person or government has no right to torture, beat, rape, murder and enslave people for profit. We state our intent to remove the threat of your fleet against our world. Your options are accept the ruling of the Interplanetary Supreme Court and return to your worlds voluntarily, or ignomius defeat. Your weapons are useless and you can't get around us. In ten minutes, you will be locked in your relative positions and all communication will be blocked. Decide. Comm out."

"All ships except this one, tell your daytrippers bye-bye and engage cloaking."

"They were ready, Knight. Sensors say nobody there."

"Remind them to stay put until the ten minutes are up, Ronnie."

"Reminding as they report ready, Blade."

"Engineering, are we ready?"

"We're all set down here, Knight. Day says it's going to be a long ten minutes, and we're all four caught between hoping they go home and wanting to do it."

"We know just how you feel, Case, but it's real unlikely they can think fast enough to even start turning around. If they can, we know they can change. Right, Larry?"

"That's why only ten, Blade."

"We confirmed relays to their worlds. They were in comm conference the whole time. The Chief Justice is still trying to get them to accept the court ruling. She just gave them the same deadline we did. If they don't turn around in ten, the court will seize all interplanetary assets and pay everyone back for them."

"Thanks, Kail. This isn't going to be a short trip. That fleet's so big were going to have to go around a lot of things we'd usually go between."

"At least you'll be able to come home days, Knight."

"Yes, Bance, we will."

"Thank the businesses of Liberty Gem for guaranteeing our comm bill for us, Alden."

"They were delighted, Nev. The comp system is a good way to spread out some of the money deluge. They're considering building a space facility just for daytripping."

"Dorn and Milla considered and everyone else yelled they want in on it."

"They're becoming quite a team, Kail. Nev complains because Knight and I don't figure out ways to spend money fast enough to keep up."

"I've got a course, if they stay where they are."

"What's it look like, Stats?"

"Not too bad, Knight, seventeen days there, twelve back."

"They're moving! Knight, they're going to run into the shield!"

"Engage relative position lock field! Apply braking!"

"Engaged! Braking underway."

"Blade, did we give them enough safety margin?"

"I think so, Knight. Yes. Some will bump, but they won't bump hard."

"I don't know whether there's hope because they surprised us, or it's hopeless because they didn't believe us."

"They didn't believe you, Dawn. They don't believe the Supreme Court can enforce their decision either."

"How did they get so sure it's... Never mind. Two hundred years of court decisions said so."

"Yes, Ronnie, they did. One judge made an error in judgment and the precedent was set. Businesses offered settlement because their attorneys pointed out the decades of precedent and punitive damages. By the time it reached interplanetary courts, the judges were enculturated."

"The court and Human Rights Commission learned a hard lesson, Larry. For seven hundred years, they believed selecting judges from worlds, to sit on their benches on them, assured they would understand the people well enough to make fair judgment."

"They also learned waiting to appoint a judge until the world has an interplanetary case or treaty was an error, Blade."

"And the Human Rights Commission found out they can't depend on reports, Ronnie. You're going home."

"What?"

"We don't need all of us on the ship at night, and Bance needs you there."

"Cut feed. I'd like it, but it's not fair, Blade."

"Everyone's going home but us, Bance, and most of the other crews are going home, too."

"We are not going home. Right, Case?"

"Absolutely, Stats."

"Why do you guys need to be here at night?"

"We don't, Nev. Neither do you. No one needs to be on the ships at all except on watch, but we think it'll be fun."

"Fun?"

"Knight, why do we need to go straight home?"

"We want to?"

"Do we? We can go home any waking hours. We can even lay down in our own beds to sleep. We'd wake up here, but we would not be uncomfortable enough to wake up until morning. Let's go explore. Case, I need help."

"I've got three odd expressions down here, Stats. Maybe we should send them all home and just us do it. I didn't expect Nev, Knight and Blade to realize how many women we'll attract, but I expected Larry to see how important it is these transparent ships land on other worlds."

"I'm quite aware of that, Case, but this is a Navy ship."

"Decommission it, us, and any others who want to go, when we drop off the alliance fleet. We'll take out the secret stuff and buy or lease them."

"We need at least six thousand crystals in coins up to a chrissie and to go home to pack."

"You decided we're going, Nev?"

"No, Knight, you did."

"You decided."

"I did?"

"Your left eyebrow said, 'Yes,' when Case said, 'women,' Knight."

"Ronnie, we'd have told him, eventually."

"Thank you, Ronnie."

"You sure you want this ship?"

"No, Alden, we want two luxury yachts, but we'll take this one while we design and build them, then rendezvous when they're done."

"Stats, we want a luxury yacht."

"I heard, Case. Pool?"

"Nah, we'll use theirs, but we'll put in a spa and have Blade design the garden."

"Why did I think they might want a smaller ship?"

"We think of them as very large flyers, Alden. They think of them as moving homes, and have large opinions on what a home should have."

"We also think no one being sure where we really are is reasonable."

"You're going to merge the identities."

"Danny's ready to finish the book, Dad. She said this is what she'd been waiting for, the last piece."

"There had to be something else, some reason the other wizards didn't know they had a bad one."

"An evil spell?"

"No, a spreading pall, Kail, created by accident. They can't end it instantly, but they can push it back from the great road, stop its spread and plant the seed of a magic dream vine. Everyone who tastes the fruit is freed to imagine. They know they have been, so they plant a seed. The wizard knew it was there, and used it to hide his evil. It will take time to free those wide lands, and the wizards, who were also overcome by the pall, but many now travel the wide road from the sea to the realm."

"It sounds a lot more exciting in the book than... Message all ships, uncloak and close the box. Time to tow them home."

"All ships back on sensors, Knight. Close-the-box maneuver beginning. Looks great."

"Thanks, Danny. You don't really want to go."

"I know, Knight. I know you wouldn't if you couldn't be home most of the time. And Bop would know the difference. I'll visit."

"Chief Justice Hoschgerten on comm."

"Good day, Justice."

"Not really, Minister. They told us they were pained by the court's 'fall to economic brigandism.' Justice Castor says she's planning on personally telling them off, when our trip chairs arrive. I told her I'd called them the greatest tool of diplomacy and understanding in the history of the species and I would appreciate it if she didn't hit them over the head to get their attention. We feel so... damn foolish blind. The Human Rights Commission is in worse shape. They're citing themselves for failure to fulfill their charter. They're right and we didn't do any better. It was dumb luck that we had something we could use to keep other worlds out of it. Protest they knew what they were doing when they made treaties ended abruptly. I just spoke to your Prime Minister. She said supporting the alliance currencies on the exchange, so no one else was damaged, just seemed the 'neighborly' thing to do."

"We haven't figured out what to do with all the money we're making. Any idea of how to put some back in other economies is seized upon with glee."

"I noticed. She was delighted with the idea of helping those poor worlds rebuild their business structure and catch up. They have a lot of money to put back into their businesses. We had a complete list of who paid who how much. We didn't get it all back, but more than we expected. They didn't really trade with other worlds, so most of it just sat and earned interest, ninety-four-point two percent."

"They didn't buy anything they didn't make."

"From the looks of it, the only reason they imported anything was to get a treaty so they could sue, Chancellor. It's not going to damage anything but their plans to add two worlds to their 'righteous' alliance."

"Justice Hoschgerten, it will cause many to doubt, and to dream. It's the first time 'new' has 'changed everything.' People will go to work on other worlds, commuting by trip chair because the cost of transpatial comm will go down as more use and support the system. People will travel more physically because a small cabin with trip chair and lounge down the corridor allows them to work and travel for a tiny fraction of taking a half-season off and booking passage on a cruise liner, with things to keep them occupied for that."

"That one hadn't even occurred to me, Dr. Cartier. Trillions more could afford interplanetary travel in every sector."

"It should be in the price range of most middle-income adults within ten years. Such a liner with classroom and day care facilities could put it in the price range of most families. Ninety-three percent of the cost of interplanetary tour travel is entertainment facilities and staff. Those will become more popular and less expensive because travel cost and time is down. A thirty-day pleasure cruise is much more affordable than a fifty-day."

"We're going to spread across space much faster."

"Yes, we are. We can send children to grandmother's for a day, even on another world."

"And where will you go?"

"The museums of Earth, the most popular daytrip destination."

"They love it, and the costumes."

"That was a surprise. We expected people to wear what they had on. The third person said she'd been dressed in a gorgeous outfit she'd seen in the store window, and people describe what they're going to wear to other daytrippers on the shuttle up. So far, they have all worn something."

"We're a little worried Knight will forget."

"Me?!"

"Nev and I both dress. You reach in the closet and get something."

"Remind me just before we go."

"We'll install a transpatial node in the house, Knight."

"That's probably a good idea, Nev. Completion percentage, Danny?"

"Seventeen percent and perfect. The comp isn't busy."

"All ships, everyone doesn't need to go. Some don't need to go home after we deliver the package. Stats and Case had the idea, so talk to them."

"Yipe! Wait! Let us do this all at once, not one hundred fifty times."

"That was good, Knight."

"Thank you, Blade."

"You know why they decided to do it this way, don't you?"

"Why?"

"A personal comm doesn't work on a day trip."

"That goes on the shopping list! I can't live without it. I'll be buying one everywhere we go on a day trip."

"Nev, we won't know someone everywhere we go."

"I won't remember they're not on the same world before I say, 'comm connect,' Blade."

"True."

"All three of our codes are available transpatial! That will make it much simpler."

"Danny, will it make it simpler?"

"It will after I program it, Blade."

Some ship crew members were staying in the space corps. Some wanted to explore. Some wanted to go home and daytrip to ships. Some wanted to go on ships and daytrip home to work. Stats got it all sorted and some reassignments were made, though not many. The ship needed someone on it, but ship night was day on half the world. People began tripping home to pack.

Nev did some shopping, then Knight and Blade tripped home to help 'pack.' They built a transpatial comm node, installed it in the house and chose some clothes to take a long. Nev said it would have been "logistically simpler" if the ships had been in the sun's gravity field because they could have moved equipment through a doorway and rebuilt the ship. Blade used the house comm to call Kail. He gave him a list of seven pieces of equipment and "nice element stock." Kail told him Deely had given him a longer list, but everything he asked for was on it. Blade called Deely and told her he thought she was beautiful, too.

The 'box' was completed. One hundred fifty ships surrounded a fleet of seven hundred sixty-eight and fields merged. Since one ship was almost touching the field, all they had to do was start slowly. They didn't need to very carefully move up until the field touched one.

The 'point' of the ship at the field wouldn't collapse. The position field wouldn't allow it. Their fear had been for people in the ships. If ships abruptly stopped, they'd have bounced around inside.

### Epilogue and Transition

Fifteen ships delivered "luggage" and picked up and moved people. There wasn't a person on every ship when they left, but they took enough trip chairs with them to assure there would be when they reached Liberty Gem. Knight, Nev, Blade, Case and Stats were all 'promoted,' given new uniforms and told they'd be on reserve status when they left the alliance. Case and Stats were vice admirals, Nev and Blade admirals and Knight was Fleet Admiral. All were given a combat "star," with a gold heart, with a small diamond on it, hanging from it. Alden explained.

"We got advice from Earth Space Force. Those are the same as their top ranks. They said you should have them when you get to the alliance, and after. Those uniforms will both get you in places and back people off. They warned they won't work as well with reporters as business promoters and importunists, but they'll be more polite."

"This?"

"They said, 'service ribbon, combat star and anything else we could think of to decorate you with,' would also help. This little heart is our creation, solid for officers, an outline for others. It means you sought 'with all heart' to reduce loss of life, on both sides. The diamond means no lives were lost. If we ever have to fight anyone and some are, a teardrop will be inscribed or hung in the heart. If none of ours are, we'll put a colored gem in it too. We're still deciding what, but we'll figure it out before long."

"An alexandrite, both green of life and red of blood."

"Thank you, Blade. That's perfect, and we don't intend to need it, so we don't have to find any. Watch those ships. Don't let them do anything stupid."

"We will and we won't. I don't want to be a fleet admiral."

"Reserve, and you'll all yell you're admirals, if you're ever in a situation in which people need to move fast and in an orderly fashion, anything from a banquet hall kitchen fire to a volcanic eruption."

"We'll yell we're admirals. Five on one ship."

"Is usually only for the length of a meeting, Nev. Four or five playing golf together is common."

"Thank you. We're rather young."

"We talked you into reserve, so we can yell for you for seventy years if we need you, and no one argues you're in charge. There are work, lightweight dress and formal uniforms in here. Work are in a couple styles. We didn't copy Earth's, just assigned the same type and number. Now, people want hugs, even if you're home days."

They got hugs from everyone leaving, then from Larry and finally Kail. Nev understood the tears in his eyes and whispered, "Soon, Daddy." His father smiled and said his parents couldn't stay away much longer, and neither could his or Lillen's grandparents and great-grandparents. Nev nodded.

The Valens' had two children and the Holscott's had two. He had been the only grandchild of the Terschells, and great-grandchild of the Terschell and Andrev and great-great-grandchild of those and the Braighton and Haverly families. They would soon have another. When they did, "the wealth of the world" would gather.

When his father left, Nev called them all. That afternoon, Lambert and Morelli got a contract. They smiled widely and began designing. Tarse Braighton had told them the families had decided to "get closer" to his new great-great-grandchild. They'd "looked over everything from Veil Lake to Willaville and decided to do something West Side."

Kendra had been a big help. She'd known who owned everything and exactly where the town, and they, wished it was located. Tellerlock Construction and seven other builders smiled widely and called for OJT's. It was time to 'practice' and show the Tellerlock Team Method worked as well with four to ten as three hundred, and on any size and type of project.

Business owners and the mayor and planning commissioner laughed and said they doubted they could keep it quiet long, but the whole region would attempt to keep the surprise until the baby was born.

Jaril Ressen and Jason Andrev became instant friends, when Jason answered comm in his BNU cap. Jason told Jaril they had four family fortunes and "dumping them all on two kids would be mean," especially since there were four other families who would be dumping a quarter of theirs on them. Jaril told him they'd probably make money. Jason said that happened almost every time they tried to get rid of some, but the Valens had managed to do it there, so they did have hopes. Jaril made a suggestion, Jason whooped and they planned together.

The BNU college of agriculture was going to get one each of the five types of crop areas, wild land and a student flyer lot, daytrip terminal and the land to expand. They also planned a few other university donations, all land, and most for agra studies, but Bressler would get some for expansion of their social science programs, as well as a daytrip terminal. They believed it was the right school for students and scholars from other worlds to learn about theirs.

Knight, Nev, Blade, Case and Stats didn't 'stay' on the flagship. 'Everyone' in the neighborhood' helped cover watches. Some space corps personnel filled in when needed, as well. The five men were in trip chairs most of the time. Much of it at the spaceport, where former space corps ship builders were beginning to design and build ships for civilians.

Some they planned could only be built in space. They were too large to land. The two yachts the five were building weren't, but they were much larger than any other yachts they knew of, and bigger than many trade ships. One was bigger than the space corps flagship, but that had been designed to be comfortable for about two dozen, not hundreds.

The yachts were designed to be 'roomy' homes. They both had "yards" and room to entertain. They also had "garages," "flyer hangars," workshops and "playrooms." Many helped construct the ships, but they didn't cost Knight, Nev, Blade, Case and Stats a great deal. They were helping found a new industry, including teaching four to design for it.

The ships weren't done when the fleet reached the alliance worlds, but they were nearing completion. The main things left to do were furnish and stock them. Each would carry a shuttle, two flyers, a car for each one of them, two boats, two-person water skimmers and single-person racing skimmers and glides. Nev, Knight and Blade's would carry a sailing yacht and LH. Case and Stats' would carry a transport.

Both had gyms and therapeutic spas. Both had personal spas. Both had party pools and lounges in their gardens and the big one had a swimming pool, which converted to a ballroom, and the type of entertainment area they'd built for Kail and Lillen.

It didn't have a banquet kitchen. If they planned a big party, many who attended would probably be 'trippers,' and they'd hire caterers to provide for others. The shuttles were designed for "about eight and shopping spoils" and "well appointed for small group entertaining," with bar, snack kitchen, comfortable seating, a toilet, shower and closet much like the flyers had.

### Part Two

### Under the Pall

### Chapter Twenty-nine

Full crews 'arrived' on every ship, as they approached Alliance space. The four worlds weren't any closer together than those in other settled areas, so the fleet just chose a spot about three days' journey from each. They slowed, stopped and shut down fields.

Sixty large objects that sensors saw as rocks 'dropped' beneath the fleet and began their journey to a rendezvous point, where three of the ships going back to Liberty Gem would 'net' them to take them home. The position field projectors had only used eleven percent of the charge in their power storage towers, and over half that had been to brake the fleet. Everyone on the bridge was in a new uniform when Ronnie comm connected to the flagship of the Alliance fleet. Nev spoke again.

"This is my combat star. This little heart is the great honor our government bestowed. It means we tried 'with all heart' to reduce loss of life in conflict. This diamond means no one died in battle. That's our 'way of life.' We exiled the families of the oligarchy and gave them what they needed to build new, and respectable, lives. We brought you home. Think on that when you call us 'criminal.' Live here as you choose. That is your right. We will live as we choose on our world. That is our right. If others choose to live as you do, as we do, or in other ways, that is their right. Only those who have known violence and oppression truly understand how precious peace and freedom are. You are free to go. Go in peace."

"Let's go get stuff off ships and get rid of it."

"They don't want it and they don't want to store it. That's nice."

"Yes, Blade, it is."

"It's a lot easier to keep a file secret than guard a warehouse, Knight, and the shield file is ours."

"It's still out there on a lot of cars."

"No, just a few, Knight, eleven outside the neighborhood and only you three, Case and Stats have it on more than one vehicle in the garage there."

"They all decided to remove them?"

"Yes. There's one vehicle capable of towing a heavy trailer and moving twelve people at a time per adit and ours. They built a plan to get everyone there in a fairly short time, but don't expect to need it. Trina said no one needs its shelter any longer and it's only homey for about sixty now, those we call to help build things fast. Basically, it's our playroom and they'll all carpool when we have a party in it. They asked we not shut down any hydro tanks. They're the 'first taste of freedom' for them all, and sometimes they will ask for something to be brought to them. No one took out a message system, but the shields would be too easy to abuse."

"They made the decision because the space corps did."

"Exactly. They'll always watch over our freedom and be ready to aid if a little light flashes, but the right people are doing it now."

"It hurts a little."

"Yes, Blade, it does, but the friendships aren't gone. Tate said, 'It's like moving out of the condo complex plus.' We'll have an anniversary party, but not there. It's still secret, and they don't want one they can't share with loves and children. If we ever choose to share it, they'll take them all to see it."

"We should think about it."

"What?!"

"Explain, Stats."

"Isn't it important, Ronnie? It's the place the freedom of this world was built by the only rebel organization that could come to exist on it."

"We just got a very private entrance to our playroom. I don't want it to be part of a museum. That sounded very selfish."

"Enclose the comp and work areas and don't tell them about the tunnel, Nev. Put a screen behind the enclosure and project shut-down comps and equipment on it, or just opaque it and say, 'ours,' and tell them what's in it, or not. It's the place we built our freedom, not the equipment used to build it, that's important."

"Like the book, Nev, in front of everyone, so it can't be secret."

"We'll think about it, Danny. I like 'enclosure and screen,' but it will still require..."

"Nev, we're going to get windows people think they're looking through."

"Yes, Blade, we are."

"Let's steer him to a comp."

"Don't everybody run for a comp. We'll figure out who's needed when he starts doing something. I doubt this will take long or be complex, and until we meet the other ships, somebody needs to be paying attention to this one."

"Ow, me, Drand and Day, Blade."

"Thanks, Ronnie."

"You're not really welcome, Nev. Neither are you, Stats. Move over."

"Ronnie, if you hadn't said, 'ow,' Day and I would be growling."

"We can cover the watch and still peek over shoulders, Drand. The others would get too distracted."

"Drand and I will elbow each other frequently."

"Danny will notice if I'm more there than here, Day."

"Ronnie, this is going to be a real quickie, for everyone but me. He's already designing the tech."

"He's just combining a couple things."

"Oh, that is too elegant."

"Help!"

"He's 'locking' the first view through a shield field into it, Drand. It'll be the same every time it's turned on and no one will realize it."

"I'm not sure the explanation helped, Sweetie."

"He's been working on it for the doorways! That's why it's almost done."

"Yes, Nev. The answer was get the image, then put it behind the doorway and put that against a wall. Your turn, Danny."

"This is going to be interesting. Blade, I could do this, but you make it so much faster. Math assignment."

"Approaching rendezvous. Hello, everybody. They've got rocks."

"Comm connect Alden. Hi, at rendezvous. Ships with rocks just ahead. We'll do them first."

"You all did perfect, Knight. Larry said Nev 'planted the seed of change, in soil killed by sixteen days of knowledge we could have destroyed them all.' I hope, with all my heart, we never need what you're taking out of those ships again."

"We all do, Alden. I don't think they'll come back, but keep watch. They wouldn't all come from one direction again. Neither would anyone else."

"It was how we knew they thought a show of force would give our 'loyalists' courage to protest our takeover."

"They can't imagine the abuse, so they can't believe the unity. We're about to dock with a rock net ship and get busy."

"We'll come visit in the morning."

"Goodnight."

"Yes, it is, but I ache for those people who had such pride in their service."

"They knew we all did. Comm out."

"Docking commencing. Ship lines forming. Looks good."

"They're excited and ready to head out or head home, Dawn."

"Done, Danny."

"Thanks, Blade. No more assignments."

"All ships, we forgot to do one thing. Hurrah!"

"Hurrah!!"

The flagship had to dock with the three net ships individually, but the five trippers didn't have to wait for them to do it. By the time they'd docked with, and removed "cloaking shields," two weapons and a program from the three ships, two lines of seven and one of ten were waiting to dock with them. There was no reason to put good parts in a waste cycler, but the reason all the ships had to dock was two big installations to dismount and move. The equipment to do it was on the flagship, but they had four sets and a loader. The ship crews could aid with some of the work, so it moved quickly.

They averaged twenty ships an hour while working, but docking took time. The others insisted Knight, Nev, Blade, Case and Stats stop to eat twice, as well. Ten hours, forty-eight minutes after they reached the rendezvous, they finished the ships and turned the ship toward 'adventure.'

They'd chosen Mandolin as their first destination. The president had invited them. They were rather sure an old treaty had made them next on the Alliance list. When they were on course, five went back to Liberty Gem and five went to bed.

Eleven hadn't been to Teal Valley in sixteen days. Larry had, and was very much anticipating the return of five, the visit of five and Kail's return to work in two days.

Six ugly warehouses were gone. Three large business structures were also gone. The former occupants of all had moved to larger and more convenient locations. Even the company, for which the area on the northwest side of town had been zoned residential-commercial, was sure the new agra-industrial park northeast of town would be more convenient. It had been planned for their type of business, including parking for oversized equipment trailers, transports and many cars, and it was beautiful.

Trees and hedges hid the huge parking and equipment areas. All were accessed from a road that went around the 'park,' by curving, not abruptly turning, drives. The front of the buildings faced a loop with a fountain in the median. Parking there was not skimpy, either. They'd been about to outgrow the west side facility. It would be a long time before they outgrew their new one. It was designed to grow with them. They, and all the other businesses, also agreed the "northwest corner" really should complement the university.

Nev was losing his nobody-there-at-night neighbors, but Larry was sure he wouldn't mind. The walls had been removed, his line of trees moved back, his hedges lengthened and sound dampers installed in them. The other house on his block also had a two-lot-wide lot, trees and hedges, and would face the other way.

It was going to be a huge, four-bedroom beauty. Bram and Jenlin Terschell planned to have their grandson's family company plan their outdoor-indoor entertainment area, build their viewroom and do the greenscaping, other than trees and hedges, which matched theirs.

Jason told Jaril his daughter and son-in-law hadn't "specifically" moved in next door. It had been their "sneaky way of making one house on four-plus lots fit in." He told Jaril they'd have never figured out how the land had actually been contoured before it was "scraped flat," without the images in the town planning commission records and it had a pretty shape.

Jaril went to look and laughed all the way home. Nev was going to like his new neighbors.

The small shopping center, going where the large business had been, between the West Side Flyer Lot and the golf course, would be convenient and pretty storage garages behind it wouldn't hurt Nev's business. The student flyer lot going between the six-plexes and Tiara Road made sense, and pulled it all together. Duplexes were being built behind it. The big homes with big yards going north of Dandy had all been purchased by people who planned big families.

Kail's grandparents and great-grandparents weren't all neighbors. Jason and Maureen had chosen one of the six big homes with big yards being built on the two narrow blocks, the west corner of the east block.

The four older couples had chosen smaller houses and yards, in the two-by-four block north of them. All had neighbors, as soon as the plans for houses were complete. Many professors had still been looking, but most were claimed by lifelong residents of the area.

Expanding families and older couples, who no longer needed large homes, chose new ones. More expanding families found homes in those they listed for sale. More professors found homes on the north and east sides. People bought duplexes that would help pay for themselves. They had no difficulty finding tenants. Every duplex had enough yard for children. When Kail drove into the campus the next morning, Larry was waiting.

"What happened?!"

"Your family."

"What?"

"Your family, three generations, decided to 'fix the ugly blotch' over here. The businesses all moved to two industrial areas, one agra-industrial, perfect for them, that eight construction companies built in seven work days. A small shopping center, designed specifically for West Side families and students is going south of the golf course. There's a student flyer lot, duplexes, homes. The university now owns the land north of it, the other side of Harvest Road Two. The College of Agriculture has five 'fields,' one each of the types in use in the area. West Side said, 'Thanks for working not to intrude on our community, but we're claiming you.' The north side said they'd object, but it was obvious they belonged. This morning, Milla called and said their entire family, including her sister's in-laws, are moving to Veil Lake, except the grandnephews enrolled in BNU. Nev's yard got longer, so your dad and mom had an excuse to put a house on a wide half-block. I think your grandfathers started it, but it was Jason Andrev and Jaril Ressen who teamed up to give us, Bressler and about a dozen other universities room to expand."

"Everyone knew but us."

"And the ones from the neighborhood, on the ship and in Lodestar. Most of the houses and duplexes are already sold. Most were sold to lifelong residents. Others are buying homes they're selling and getting about-to-be families with children out of condos and apts. People in apts are leasing condos, and one complex is going entirely owner-resident. Older people are buying those and more expanding families are moving to family-size homes they no longer need. The whole town is in a happy real estate shuffle, and the land and funds for an elementary school have been set aside. One of the other north side businesses decided to get in on it and is moving east to a new facility. Their building is being renovated and remodeled to be the home of the Northwest Elders Club and Daycare Center."

"My father lengthened Nev's yard?"

"He had the whole block sculpted to match the pre-warehouse-scrape images. There are sound dampers around the yards and their house will face north. They added to the sprinkler system and sodded the extended yard with grass to match. I don't know where they had to get it from. They asked Kendra to ask the ones in the neighborhood here, and West Side, if Nev, Knight and Blade would be mad if the walls came out and their yard grew, and told them what they planned. Dozens showed up to help move and plant trees and hedges."

"Comm connect Nev. Forward call. Did you talk to my dad? All of them? Both sides. I don't know if it's, 'Uh, oh.' Did you like being surrounded by an industrial area? Yes, I said, 'did.' All of them. Your yard. Yes, your yard is behind you. My dad's is beside you. It's the biggest block. Comm out. Comm connect Knight. Forward call. No, he won't recover soon. I'm trying to get this call done before I start. Briefly, West Side is sure my family belongs in the neighborhood, all of them both sides. Lillen's is remodeling Veil Lake. He said he missed them and hoped they'd be close when the baby's born! Comm out! Larry, park my car!"

Gant and Joel, Nev's mom's cousins' kids were backing a loaded vehicle transport up to the drive when Knight, Nev, Blade, Case and Stats tripped home. Nev whooped and ran out the door. The others were close behind. The two boys, seventeen and eighteen, yelled they were glad they were there. They'd really prefer not to learn if they had enough muscle to push "them" up the drive. None of them ran, but they had most of the parts to rebuild all six.

"Where did you find them?!"

"All over... Nev. Joel said you should have the best ever to show off, so we called Resto Baskert, president of the racing association. He polled the members for us and these are the five cars and light hauler they voted best ever built on Liberty Gem."

"This one was number one by a wide margin and no one expected us to find one not in a collection or museum. Know what it is?"

"Uh, huh. I don't believe it, but there's only one 'best ever' that... They only built two hundred of them."

"This is number two."

"What?!"

"One went on a pedestal. Two went to a mining corp exec's kid. Best guess is he got drunk, overrode the comp, wrecked it and had it towed to an abandoned mine shed. When we advertised for one in any condition, we got a quiet call from a girl about nine or ten. She told us where she'd seen one. We told her it was worth a lot. She said it was called 'a missing work of art' on the infonet and that made it worth calling, but not her parents' smiles and disconnected."

"The amnesty program works."

"Everyone knows what it is but me."

"Fifty-eight years ago, three engineers, a racecar driver and her artist husband had a dream, Blade."

"A Jenetta Muse?!"

"Yes."

"That's yours, Nev. This one is Blade's."

"I don't know what that is either."

"A silver Caston Vehicle Engineering Windblade, forty-two years old."

"It's yours because of the car, not the name, but we did laugh when the one we found was silver."

"Case, you know what this is."

"A Broletta Virtura, an engineering masterpiece with a nice-looking cover, about thirty-five years old?"

"Thirty-four. Stats, this one is yours."

"A Granton Selene. How did someone do that to it in fourteen years?"

"We think they worked at it. Knight, this one is yours."

"What is it, besides scorched?"

"No one else would sell one. An insurance agent called and told us this was in a salvage lot. It's a four-year-old Shellin V-T Land Dragon, with enough intact under the burn to be worth holding onto it."

"I knew our LH was good. I didn't realize it was the best."

"Resto said three years ago there would have been heated debate. These drove right through the thirty-year-major-repair wall. They still just need a part and a pat."

"How long do you have on the transport?"

"Until we sell it, Blade. We can get liability insurance and repair it if we do stupid. Rental companies don't have that option."

"At our age, we'd have paid for one in ten days, anyway."

"You did this all yourselves."

"It was fun. We have one more, a twelve-year-old Lostollin Wander transport. It doesn't need work of any type. It just wasn't used much. It'll be delivered to the ships."

"We're going to brag we found them and helped work on them at our new school. It's not because you're our cousin."

"You finished secondary."

"No, we finished secondary Ed programs."

"Good point. Veil Lake?"

"In time for track."

"We'll come to meets."

"If we make the team."

"Comm connect... This drives me crazy!"

"We have to go in anyway, Nev. We need to move cars out to get these in to work on them. Did you look over there?"

"The wall's gone!"

"Aunt Milla said they expect to be loud lots more often than you are. They surrounded the place with sound dampers."

"Nev, we have yard behind the yard, a lot of it, and it's green, and the sprinklers are on."

"They wouldn't have left that out, Blade. Veil Lake?"

"We may spread out a little more, but maybe not. We like the lake. Currently, they're all looking at lakefront and not-so lakefront. It's nice all around. Both our moms are pregnant and both plan another, maybe."

"My mom does."

"She does?"

"Yes, Blade. Both their moms are thinking about one maybe two, too."

"They are? Nev, how do you know?"

"Sort of happy-stunned looks on your dads' faces, Case, and a discussion of 'better with sibling' I overheard."

"I knew it was coming. Dawn's mom is pregnant."

"They'll time for work, Stats."

"That's what I figure. This was a big yard. It's now a grass farm."

"It reminds me of the lawn at the mansion and I'm reminding myself they don't need a place to store furniture, Stats. Let's get cars moved."

They moved cars out, put two in the garage and four in the workshop. Danny staggered across, up the drive and into the house, then collapsed in giggles. They'd just flown in. Drand had looked down and said, "Kail's family are here. They fit right in."

Nev, Knight, Blade, Case and Stats went back to work on ships and others, including Gant and Joel, went to work on the cars. After the crew they were teaching went home, they tripped back to the house. By then, people were working on a car in the workshop, too.

Deely and her grad students were among them. The grads said the campus still felt really empty in the evenings, without the campus crew, and made them appreciate having something to do "with a bigger bunch" much more. Deely said she had to "chase them out of the lab" and the others learned they'd found an interesting application. One gave a little more detail about where they were stuck and Gant made a suggestion. Deely and the grads all turned and looked at him.

"Oops. I don't know enough to make suggestions."

"He doesn't know enough to realize we're all stunned, but he sure knows physics."

"You're still in secondary."

"Yes and no. Joel, I got myself in it."

"When you don't go to school, you can get a long way ahead in things you like."

"Like doctoral project level?"

"We didn't live close, Brell."

"You didn't... Oh, shit. You didn't have anything else to do."

"Of course we did, but working together on stuff on a comp was fun. We always did assignments together. We weren't ahead of everyone. We were working in standard texts. Comm monitoring ended just when we were about to run out."

"We've never been in a physics lab and we'll be there when term opens. We'll take the comprehensive bank, just like every other entering student. We aren't going to be grad-student level in everything."

"We don't want to be. We want to try for the track team at Veil Lake this spring, then for the one at BNU. We've both practiced a lot and we think we'll at least get on the teams."

"We're not well-rounded. We know it."

"No wonder you're all moving here."

"It's a great place, Dent."

"Yes, it is. The only thing it doesn't have is a place for physicists to work after they graduate."

"Get a trip chair. Go to work on Sapphire, Gaylana or Earth. They'll probably even pay the comm bill. They need you at universities."

"Blink, blink, he's real right."

"Comm connect Kail. They've got another year before they can start doing research. That doesn't mean their U's should be waiting to teach kids to be ready. Seminars there, not just here, would get a lot of them started. No, I don't. It's what they're doing here, getting all the universities ready to teach it. I got blinks when I said U's on other worlds would pay their comm bills to teach there. They like it here too. Yes, that may be a problem. Comm out. He said if every transfer student decides they don't want to leave, this town is going to get to be a city fast, and the Planning Commission is not ready for that, either."

The ones sleeping on the ship got a comm call and ran for trip chairs. Essa had begun labor. They tripped home, ran out the door and got in Dandy's transport. Silky and Essa's daughter was "a West Side kid, for sure." Essa was not going to be in labor long.

At three sixteen, local time, Serena greeted the world with a loud complaint it was cold outside. The clinic was packed with people there to meet her. Silky's family, everyone from the neighborhood and a bunch from Channel Forty-eight formed up to get their turns waving hello, when Silky carried her into the nursery and to the viewing window.

The greeters didn't stay long. Three other bunches of greeters were waiting to hear loud complaints and their turn to say hello. Serena and mommy would be home late that afternoon. Family and friends were making appointments, according to the clinic's don't-tire-them-too-much schedule, as they walked out the door.

Three more babies would soon be born. Larry and Kendra's son was due in fourteen days, Kail and Lillen's daughter in sixteen and Mike, Loren and Elise's boy in twenty-eight. The five from the ship left from the clinic parking lot. Four hours later, they tripped to work on ships.

It was the last morning they'd be training the building crew. That afternoon, they'd begin training the two finishing crews. Each of those had an interior designer on them. They both knew what was going in the ships and shuttles and had helped choose it. The training would be in how to prepare, stock and secure everything for an improbable, but remotely possible, loss of internal gravity. When the work day was over, they tripped home. They had that evening and the next two full days to work on cars.

Boats, skimmers, glides, a sailing yacht and a transport would begin arriving the work day after. Most were already "perfect." Some were custom beauties. A few they'd work on themselves. One of the things their ships had that most would not were "playrooms to do just about anything." The building and finishing crews knew most of the equipment to go in the tech shop had been delivered to the flagship.

Work on the cars had continued, while the five had worked on ships that day. They went to meet Serena personally first, then returned to the house to help finish the first two vehicles, the LH and Stats' Selene. By the time they went back, all that was left to do on the Virtura in the workshop was colorbond and install the interior. They finished it in the morning, loaded the three on the transport and moved the Windblade into the garage. They were still restoring parts for the Muse, and it was easier to scrape off scorch and fill holes in the Land Dragon in the workshop.

Case and Stats complained it "killed" them to have to wait until the ships rendezvoused, then got to a planet, to drive their cars more than around the block. Night, Nev and Blade sympathized. Gant and Joel grinned.

They got everything done except "appearance" on the Windblade that day. Interior restoration took longer than tech because it wasn't easy to match some of the materials. Some were produced in the BNU physics lab, but they had everything for the Land Dragon. The next morning, they finished both of those and went to work on the Muse. Everything in it had been handbuilt when it was made, so they knew exactly what-and-how each piece, from disk to solar panels on the top, was made. There were twenty-three working on her and almost everything but the body had been prepared. They finished her at twenty-two seventeen. Nev open the doors and motioned for Gant and Joel to get in.

"No, to drive. Take her around the belt road twice, once each."

"You should be first."

"I didn't find her and you did more work on her than I did. This is the work of art a child risked her family's new life to give you to restore. She wouldn't have called if you hadn't been kids too. It will be you two in this car she looks for on the news and infonet, not me. I'm the one who'll take it for all the worlds to see, but you're who made it possible."

"Get images for her."

"We'll meet you at BNU, Joel."

"Thanks, Bance."

"You guys bring the transport with the others. Now that they're done, it's news."

"I wish it wasn't a long drive to Lodestar."

"You think they should go tonight, Blade?"

"Yes, Nev, I do. If I could figure a way we could trip to the transport, I'd say sleep and trade-off. Too many people will be trying to make an appointment to see them and there will be news crews from everywhere. They should be in their places in the ship and part of its show, not the main attraction."

"We can take alternate drivers in a follow transport. Someone can bring your flyers, plus one to meet us, and we can deliver and get back in time for our school enrollment appointment. Track practice is starting, so we're officially staying with Carler and Milla until we get moved."

"You two will sleep almost all the way, so you can deliver them, Gant."

"Yes, Knight."

"Take her out. We'll see you at the campus."

"Thanks, Nev. Muse, you were a victim of the old gov too, but now you're free."

They timed the transport to arrive when the ship construction company opened. Joel and Gant whooped, as they drove into the spaceport, then called Nev. The transport with the Wander was ahead of them. Nev laughed and told them "everything else" was behind or above them. The finish crews would be doing garage work that morning. Even the yacht was coming in the next half-hour. Joel said that was too much to be coincidence and he suspected their great-uncle Carler had been busy. Nev agreed it was too well-timed even for his luck.

The two boys had enrollment appointments at eight-thirty in Veil Lake, nine-thirty Lodestar time, so they had time to stay for all the deliveries. The crews worked fast to get everything in and they recorded images of it for the kids at their new school, before they ran for the return flight.

The vehicle transport was already on the way back. It had been purchased by the half-junkyard used car dealer in Teal Valley, for a nice price and a promise to call if he found anything "half as interesting" as Blade's Bolt. Carler hadn't been the only one who'd been busy that morning.

That evening, the five men tripped home "just to be home." It was the first time they'd had time to drive around and look around, since their yard had grown. They went to "view construction" in Nev's T. It was a beautiful evening and domes were down, so they saw everything so far. The domes would be moved to other places the next day.

Mid-spring rains would make wet days more common than dry ones for sixteen days, then rain would "just be frequent." When they watched the weather before going back that night, Nev said the weather in Richland was "about to enter excuse pattern, day after day of drizzle following a short break after two half-seasons of glimpses of the sun." Streams and rivers were "channels through two hundred K long lakes" and the fields beneath them were getting ready to show the city name was appropriate.

"Almost a year."

"Danny says I'll have a lot of editing to do soon, Blade. Some years, it freezes and snows this late up here."

"Nev, why does editing bother you?"

"I haven't read it since they wrote me in, Blade. I'm not sure I want to know how they see me."

"I understand that perfectly. They're about to start every one of your family's houses."

"They're all ready to move to be here for my sister's debut. I'm the only descendent of six families, with my two cousins, fourteen. I'm the only Braighton-Haverly-Lancesta, Moskone-Andrev-Terschell descendent. In two more generations, if we married in our financial class, we'd have had half the wealth of the world, outside the oligarchy."

"Why one child each?"

"It kept us from becoming inbred, avoiding being pushed into merging with the oligarchy. If these families had one and those families had one, they weren't cousins or a few that might be cut from the herd to get attachments to the money."

"Seven generations."

"Yes. Dad and Mom both looked 'outside.' Everyone did. Ritzi's family was big and sturdy, no one in it, out to fourth cousins, was interested in money, and I did and do love her, but I don't miss her, not even like I would Case and Stats."

"I want to be Bard Loden, but I don't know if anyone else wants to go back to previous names."

"I don't. My mother said Harim was 'old family,' but nobody from that old family came. I may be the last one too."

"I understand why you want to go back to Bard. You were named 'poet-teacher' and Knight was what you had to become to be free to be who you are. He chose to be the silver blade."

"Case and Stats?"

"Will probably stick with Case and Stats, even if they used their surnames, but those are who they always were, too. I like Nevin Curran, but my family may need me to be Tarse Terschell. I told my mom the custom of taking the man's name had been dropped on Earth well over a millennia ago and people should keep their names and kids 'take turns,' when I was four, and realized there wouldn't be any more Braighton, Haverly or Andrev families. She told me every extended family who came to settle had been put under one name by the mining corps and changing names and taking the husband's hadn't been an option. It was how the mining corps did it, and you weren't married, and your children weren't your husband's too, so no one was entitled to insurance or anything else, unless the woman's name was changed. Trying to change the man's to the woman's got you a form for legal name change and the bill for it, and you still weren't married, just two with the same surname."

"I keep finding out more things they did to us."

"Are the family names important? Why are there so many of some? They had that many sons?"

"Some 'extended families' were actually settlement groups, Knight, but they'd have had to have a lot more in equipment and supplies, and they might have been scattered, if they weren't families, so they all took the surname of the patriarch and just needed one of the required-per-family items."

"You about know who was poor by how common the name is."

"They did a lot of things they weren't really supposed to, Blade, but they always had some kind of excuse; insurance, recordkeeping cost, comp capacity limitation, possible social conflict, something. One of the reasons they left the truly wealthy alone was they could have made things extremely difficult for them legally in the first seventy-five years. They didn't because it would have made it difficult for those settlers without much in assets. They chose to be 'one big family' to start new lives here. Wealthy families did the same. Most of the non-mining industry on this world was funded by eleven families. They were the banks of the world. Most people who came here had money to trade for colonial funds. It was used to import things to build industries like agriculture manufacture, clothing manufacturer and others. That's first-stage settlement, and there are always wealthy families in it. There are also always artisans and farmers. On this world, there were huge numbers of people with high technical aptitude to be miners, as well."

"So many, the whole world is tech crazy."

"Far more so than most, Blade, even other mining corp supplemented settlements, because so much of the equipment used here was new tech at the time. It's interesting we use comps to do less than most worlds, but they can actually do more because our programming is more efficient."

"A couple worlds, where people were surprised we drove haulers places, instead of just entering the destination, and that we didn't consider that usual in a car."

"The daytrippers are teaching us how diverse we really are, Blade. Traders didn't really teach us that like the trippers do. They visited a few regularly, or came back and said, 'all different' and people saw clothes, cars, sports contests and such that look alike, and even sociologists and anthropologists thought we were generally homogeneous. 'Instantaneous' comm has been around for one hundred twenty-two years, but only businesses and settlers on three worlds had people to call. Mobile comm connect the Prime Minister. Identify callers, all present."

"Hello, gens. I want to see your cars."

"We were sure you'd hear. We'll arrange it. We've been thinking."

"Share, please."

"A good job for space corps trippers might be exploration. Leave a transpatial comm node and drop relays, when a world is discovered. Seed worlds we've ignored that could support our type of life, with a few hundred years growth. Find more pleasant green worlds, but make some. We netted a fleet and moved it. Could we do it with the moon to give a world some nice tidal action? How about a planet? What could we do with the mental image of a self-contained-everything enviro suit and a shuttle full of equipment to make a nice atmosphere mix?"

"I'm not going to take part credit for that idea, Knight."

"Neither am I."

"You were the ones talking about settlement and trippers."

"It's a very propitious environment for growth in there."

"Yes, Blade, it is. It's a great idea, Admiral Pyramid."

"Ow."

"Make it Admiral Loden, Bard Loden. I'm Tarse 'Nevin' Terschell."

"You're going to do this now?"

"We weren't. Nev?"

"My family can't all be there for my sister's birth without Tarse, Bard."

"He's the Knight of the Pyramid. Make it an honor society, or order or something. Don't make it as hard for others to get into it as it was for these two."

"If we're in it, you are."

"I wasn't there when IS tried to kill you, and you decided that was it. You were going to get Bard back and the gov and IS were coming down. Bard knew you'd find a way, as soon as he learned you were still alive. I hope she rewrote that book to put you at the place where you came in. You are the beginning, the indomitable will that brought about the change."

"Without a prince, a knight is just a man in armor."

"I hope she changed the book too, but you're still the right fleet admiral. It's a superb 'final order,' before you officially go on reserve status."

"I thought we were."

"We decided to wait to make it official, until you send the ship back. We don't want to decommission it."

"You're making our visit official."

"Say official hello, then go on leave, until your ships rendezvous. No business, you're admirals on vacation."

"Thank you. I think."

"It's a space corps ship, but its business is deliver a greeting. It's just still there while the crew have shore leave. Attend one formal function, then put on play clothes and run off. If you're still in the space corps, business deals would be conflict of interest. After this one, we'll have things spread around enough you won't be the best chance to 'get in on it.' Do visit Earth. Their Space Force Command is putting a lot of time and thought into helping us keep you from being mobbed by businesses waving contracts and governments waving treaties. The others are just 'out and bought my old ship.' You know everything and everyone. In a half-season, someone down the road will be setting up production."

"Nice people. We'll dress-up for them, and get a list of their favorite golf courses. Like some that have been played almost seventeen hundred years."

"One admiral said the only thing wrong with daytripping if he'd play every course perfectly, and be even more disgusted with his usual game, Blade."

"It's just not the same when you know you'll do everything right, unless you expect to do it wrong. It's an interesting way to find out part of the reason you slice is you expect you will."

"You just gave us a sports 'approach,' Blade, and it's going to reverse that but-I'd-play-perfect-so-why-go attitude. Thank you. I suspect half the hitch in my backhand is mental. When?"

"When Nev needs to tell his family he loves them in that way."

"The perfect time, Admiral Loden. I'll run off to see those cars tomorrow."

"See you then. Comm out."

The Prime Minister arrived with the Defense Minister, just as they finished the ships the next afternoon. They got a real tour of both, then sat down in the "bridge lounge, what you call the family room in the house," to talk. They got the ships' comms set up and called Danny, Ronnie, Dawn and Larry. He'd be known as one of the five hundred forty-eight when they merged the identities. He was least bothered. Blade was most. They 'tracked' it to how many knew what he'd done before and called 'the man.'

He told them everyone knew some had to be stopped, and many had learned what the assassin had used money to do. If someone linked it all, he'd ask them what they'd done to stop the murder and abuse of children. Blade smiled and nodded. Danny asked Nev if he was ready to edit and he winced.

"He's not sure he wants to know how you wrote him, Danny."

"I know, Blake, but it's who he is and better us than historians making us the 'revolutionary cadre under the adroit leadership of.' In the story, he's the half-faerie prince, who rides beside the knight and elven companion, not the mastermind. He's always been a hero, but many are. He could do more than most, and we, and his family, are why. That's what's in the book. He's heroic and a bit silly-romantic, with a terrific sense of humor about it. The trip chairs were actually the finishing touch, the magic spell that let's the heroes go adventuring, but be always near, watching over the realm from the castle on the hill."

"You don't expect to do rewrites."

"Of course I do. I just hope I've already done them all. Ronnie thinks we have."

"I hope we have, and our moms like it, but they just catch boo-boos. They don't edit."

"We think we did a good job."

"You've been working on it too, Case?"

"We all have, Nev. They do ideas. Dawn, Stats and I point places with holes, or things that support and Danny writes. Your turn."

"What do you think of the prince?"

"It wouldn't be a book without him. At the end he keeps trying to give away the magic purse. People with big smiles bring it back, show him their full purses and tell him they put a bit in it to help the next person, so he tries to just leave it somewhere. People with big smiles bring it to him, show him their full purses, tell him they realized it was his, when they learned it was magic, and added a bit because it helped them so much. He just gives up and puts it on his belt. Because so many put a bit in, it runs over frequently. He spends a lot of time looking for places to dump it that it will help people. It always does, so everyone figures out the thing to do with money is help people and they're all doing great, and he's got coins piling up in a corner of the castle. Every time they leave, he takes a bag full and looks for places to dump it that it will help people, and to dump the magic purse. One day, he realizes the pile in the corner is bigger than before he filled the last bag. He asks the faerie king about it and he bursts into laughter, pats the prince on the back, tells him he's proud of him, and suggests he find a large room they don't need. Every time someone he's helped decides to 'pay back,' by helping someone else, the pile grows. So they pick a big room and put the pile in it. He stops taking bags along, but the purse does run over."

"That's cute."

"It's also true, Alden. The ships are ready to leave."

Bance, Jason and Silky drove down. They'd been discussing what they'd need to take in a flyer and Essa told them that was silly. She and Serena would be fine, and she'd have more help than she needed. Everyone would love the excuse to spoil them rotten. Silky called his mother and told her she had an excuse, if she hurried. She came down from Talon Peak in a flyer. Silky was still laughing when they went over the pass.

The five men tripped home and went to the mine. Danny, Ronnie, Dawn and Drand were already there. It didn't take them long to build the projector. It did take a while to 'set the stage.' The tunnel entry had to be invisible from all directions, and the comp and lab area "should look like they were used." They laughed at themselves when Blade told them he'd dropped a stylus on the floor four times and someone had picked it up every time, moved chairs out and they'd pushed them in, put the micrometer out on the lab bench twice and the next person by had put it away. Everyone just watched when he walked into the tunnel and got in the railcar. When he wasn't back in about ten minutes, they decided to gather some produce. They had enough for everyone in the neighborhood before he got back.

He grinned and handed Nev a fairly large package. He began opening it and burst into laughter. It was one of the big vertical BNU banners. It was designed to hang on the side of the building. It was taller and just a bit wider than the tunnel entry. They hung it, making sure it didn't move with thin metal strips on the wall and small magnets behind the gold border of the banner.

Blade moved them out of the image, put chairs in just-for-a-break, slightly out and turned, position, laid the micrometer out, dropped the stylus and got out of the image. Knight keyed the remote 'capture,' then turned it off. He walked over and picked up the stylus, then turned on the field. He yelled, "Hello!" and could tell they hadn't heard him. He turned off the field.

Blade burst into laughter. The micrometer was put away and the chairs pushed in properly in less than two seconds. He told them the stylus was "intended to drive people crazy." They'd be sure no one had been there, because it would have been picked up by the first person who walked by. They decided to move the banner over, not take it down. It added to the aesthetics.

They did that, switched on the field and went back to work. They still had several hours before Bance, Jace and Silky got to the spaceport in Lodestar and the new tech was probably going to take days. They wouldn't be sharing it, and they didn't plan to look for other applications, but all were sure there would come a time when tripping was not enough. By the time they needed to leave, the theory was complete.

The ships had been moved out of the huge construction hangar. They were going to show them off, then start them on their journey. Knight, Nev, Blade, Case and Stats walked out of the big ship and were waiting when the mobile unit arrived. Bance was driving and talking. Jace had a cam on the ships. The president and chief engineer of the company that had built them arrived in a car, just before they got to them.

They were big ships and there was a lot to see in them. They started with smaller one. The cars and transport, and who had recommended them, were first, then the shuttle was shown off. They didn't know something was going on until they left that ship. A government and space corps car and one of their flyers were between the two ships.

Silky told Bance to follow the plan. The addition was on the end and still being worked out. Bance told the five men and two women he didn't know why the cars and flyer were there, but they'd been told to do the tour as planned. They began in the garage.

Nev said the "second Muse made" had proved the amnesty program was working. A child had chosen her "parents' smiles" over money for the car, but had called with the location when she learned the "old wreck" she'd seen was a lost work of art. It was obvious, from both her call and her priorities, that her parents were "someone's nice neighbors" and teaching their child the right values. He was sharing the confirmation, because there was no way the child could be traced, and he knew all of them wished only good things for the nice family.

After they'd shown everything but the bridge lounge, Silky told Jace their timing was perfect. They walked off the lift and there was a space corps honor guard at attention. The five trippers 'changed clothes,' as soon as they saw them. Bance noted it. They hadn't. Knight thanked him and the admirals returned the honor guard salute and walked to where the Prime Minister, the Defense Minister, several representatives, Kail, Dandy, Day, Danny, Ronnie and Dawn, in uniform, were waiting. The admirals returned the salute of the officers and stood at attention. The prime minister smiled widely.

"When the Defense Minister chose you to command our fleet, when a four-world alliance declared war on us, people said they'd had picked 'the BNU bunch.' But we knew more than they did. Today, you gave the fleet one more command. In a few days, you will perform your last official act for us, carry our greeting to a world that learned it too had been threatened by a terrible error that had made well-meaning people see us as enemies. You found a way to end that conflict without loss of life. Today, you gave our space corps the task of exploration, finding new worlds, and bringing life to those around us that can support it, with the aid of daytripping Space Corps personnel. Would you three please join ranks with the admirals. We have created an order of honor. By order of the Congress of Liberty Gem, we name the eight of you Knights of the Pyramid, for your actions of the past two years. The book is written. The story will be told as allegory, as you chose to plan the freeing of your loved classmate and his companion, right under the noses of the IS, from Horgen Field. I want an autographed copy. Knighton Pyramid, step forward to receive your order, and state your true name."

"Bard Loden."

"Silverin Bladesly."

"Harim Havadan."

The knight and the half-elf companion. Nevin Curran, the half-faerie prince."

"Tarse Terschell."

"Danniera Tracy, the princess who wields the air magic."

"Ritzinna Schermacher."

"You four are called the 'Hands of the People' in the book. Cascony Laudren."

"Garil Hobart."

"Statton Sharp."

"Panner Santiago."

"Veronica Neardon."

"Shelima Oberetta Neardon."

"Dawn Valens."

"Brimileena Hannaloahala Valens."

"Day, would you speak for all?"

"Yes, they have asked me to do so. I asked a question, and sought an answer. I caught a glimpse of truth, was convicted as a rebel and sent to a pit of despair, chained and forced to make dream dust. Others killed those who murdered and raped with impunity because they were IS, or selling the horror we were forced to make. They were sent to inescapable boredom and brutality as punishment. You found and freed us all. You prepared a place of safety for five hundred forty, freed us to be others, gave us the tools and led us to free our world, and no one mourned. And then you wiped out all that kept us from our families, even the news archives of our truthless convictions. We don't want to be known. We don't want the attention, but you didn't either. You accepted it as an act of love. That is the truth of who you are and all you've done. All the Valens and Terschell's gather for the birth of a child. You wouldn't allow people to believe Kail and Lillen's son was not among them. So, on the anniversary of our freeing, we will all gather in the place you prepared for us and show the world there really are five hundred forty and eight of us."

"Now you know that all we did is hand uniforms to those already doing the job."

The Teal Valley group 'grabbed' Bance and Jace and a space corps driver got the key code for the mobile unit from Silky, as he ran for the flyer. The prime minister led the rest of the government group off the ship at a run. The people from the shipbuilding company ran out of it with the space corps honor guard, and ran for their car. They cleared the safety zone and stopped. The other cars kept going. Seventy-three seconds after Bance said, "Wrap," both ships lifted from the spaceport.

### Chapter Thirty

The space corps and congressional information offices issued press releases detailing Space Corps base construction plans, recruiting and training programs, educational assistance programs and cooperative exploration and training offers being sent to other worlds' space forces. Earth Space Force Command issued a press release that negotiations for joint development of "exploration training" were underway. Carousel Space Navy Command issued one of joint development of world-seeding technology. Brammiser Cruise Lines issued one on development of passenger "trip ships" designed to reduce cost of travel by allowing people to daytrip to places of employment during journeys. The PGA of Earth issued one recommending daytrip golf to determine if consistent drive or putting problems were partially due to expectation. The Earth World Tennis Association added their recommendation. Worddance Publishing issued one that they were promoting the acquisition office OJT, who yelled for comm connect, as soon as he heard "book." They had three chapters and weren't worried anyone would think it won awards because of its connections. The Association of Broadcast Arts announced award nominations, and noted the six Teal and Gold and three Winter Carnival Recap newscast nominations were by vote of the members over eight preceding days.

The Liberty Gem Space Corps issued a press release stating the five base golf courses were eleven through sixteen on Nev, Bard and Blade's schedule for the year. Congress issued one that their diplomatic reception area was fourteenth on Case, Stats and Drand's schedule. Nev answered comm. Case put Kail on a split screen.

"I'm at Drand's."

"Sorry, Dad, Drand to Case and Stats and them to us was the only way we could think of fast. If we'd done a list of allowed, we'd have forgotten someone and hurt feelings. 'At Drand's' wasn't planned."

"The physics-to-art' shift was my idea. I got comm duty here when Case yelled, 'just you' while we were diving into the flyer. The, now Commodore, girl who's being Space Corps Information Office, a Lieutenant JG at Earth Space Force Command and an Ensign on Carousel, both ranks probably past tense, assembled the distraction and shift. I hope you like Worddance Publishing as much as Dawn's great-grandmother does. The OJT remembered that odd name from the soon-to-be-released bulletin list. She said they were good and get it done fast and I yelled yes. She got the three chapters you approved last night from Dawn's mom."

"You also yelled she's agent?"

"She did volunteer."

"Who did the schedule?"

"Joel, Gant and the kids watching the newscast with them at Millen's Tea Shop. My dad, Carler and Dorn volleyed it to them. They knew everyone who wanted in here and the new commodore and congress thought their suggestions and the numbers were great. You've got ten golf courses. Those were counted as one, two or three, and are on one or both schedules, depending on what they want included. Six want year-round. Four of those are in Frostlea, White Lake, Alpinair and Snowdale. Two are space corps bases. Veil Lake wants pro shop etc.. Three space corps bases just want courses. The four the other side of the pass are the kids' idea of how to fill lodges and cabins in other seasons and open some harvest jobs here for forest-agra students. The Growers Association thinks it's a great idea and are helping fund. The lodges plan six-course golf packages from snowmelt to snow fly, and to get the pro tour here at least once a year. The nursery here needs more space in their space and the rest of your schedules are family homes. Some of those count as two or three. Number and count aren't the same. The kids expect to get bonus points in at least one class each for the work they did on it, and Gant and Joel both have dates for the Spring Formal on Nineday."

"Track tryouts?"

"Next Twoday. The track coach is working with them a little before then. They asked for help finding what's right for them and the team. Today they figured out it's not sprint, jump or shot. Joel said being told he might be right for high hurdles after thinking, 'Oh-shit-yipe-yipe-oh-shit-yipe-yipe,' was strange. How soon can you come home for happy-tear hugs?"

"We're about finished with systems checks."

"You don't want to come home."

"Backwards, Dad. We want to really come home, not trip home. These ships don't feel homey. Everything in them is too new, I guess."

"They won't until you sprawl at the kitchen table, with the tea brewer burbling, fall asleep on the couch and wake up there, do laundry, sweep up snack crumbs and all the other things that will make it feel lived in. Right now, the flagship is the homey place for you, and that's tempered by knowing you're not staying, a thirty-day vacation suite. What are you planning, Tarse?"

"I thought I was sticking with Nev."

"Not what that look in your eyes."

"We're planning impossible, Kail, and it has to stay that way, probably for a millennia or two. We're not sure we trust us with it, but we're sure it's going to be needed someday."

"I trust you with it, Blade. Choose fragrances. Work out in them. Have the comp analyze them and reproduce them for you. Memorize them. If you can do more than one, fine, but start with one you always wear. You must be so sure that's how you smell, you 'wear' it when you trip."

"Who does?"

"Brasserd, and his wife noticed it's not quite the same. He doesn't smell how his body changes it. Calm down. He's high psi and the fragrance is part of his identity."

"You knew we didn't expect it."

"I spent three hours working out how he could, Bard. The answer is it's him and more probable his perception of himself affects people than changes the air around him. You won't find any psi tests in planetary reference. Try Earth. Comm out."

"Oh, shit."

"Yes, Case. We underestimated the power of personal perception. We say 'high psi,' but we don't even try to quantify it."

"Dad realized no one on this world wants to know. Why?"

"It was dangerous, Nev. It was a survival trait we needed, but awareness of its strength could have made every high-psi child a potential secret weapon. We were about to build a device without testing the main component, ourselves."

"Stats says now. Comm out."

"The ship systems can check themselves."

"Yes, Nev, they can. Let's set it up."

"I think we should create our own fragrances."

"That's an art, Blade."

"Yes, Bard, it is, but some of that art is making one that won't smell odd on anyone and tens of thousands will like and think, 'That's me.' Let's start with us and build to suit us both physically and psychologically. We don't wear fragrance often. Nev has a wardrobe of them, but he still doesn't, except to go with an occasion. Perhaps we should do more than one each, but let's find out who we are in all ways, then figure out how to say it with a fragrance. Put it in context. You don't need to know how you run to run around the yard, but you do if you're on a track team. You don't need to know how fast you can respond to drive to the store, but you do to drive a racecar. The trip chairs are drive-to-the-store. There are people who could be racecar drivers doing it, but they're just people who can respond fast in drive-to-the-store cars. We're about to get in race cars. We don't have doubts we can drive them well and respond fast enough, but finding out how fast is a real good idea. Training may be a good idea."

Blade's analogy helped Case and Stats, too. It took them a while to get ready, but by the time they found good "psionic talent" tests, they'd gotten somewhat frustrated and stubborn. The tests came from Verdantine, third-most-distant world from Liberty Gem. Bard thanked the Director of the Talent Research program in the College of Psychology at Helene University and sent the test bank to Liberty Gem planetary and Bressler and BNU reference libraries.

He sent a message to Alden telling him how far they'd had to hunt for tests that would aid in assessing who had talents that would aid exploration and judgment of planetary suitability. Then he called the director again and suggested she also test people when tripping and see if talent was more or less, to determine if it was inhibited by expectation. He told her he thought exactly the same was the only result that should not be expected, because people usually over or underestimated abilities a bit.

"Yes! Thank-you-thank-you-thank-you. You severely underestimate yours, probably in everything but science. I look in your eyes and at your hands and want to hand you a cello and bow. The cello is my favorite, and it's always 'cello' when I think of large hands on strings. You kids already had to accept you have more talents and abilities than is comfortable for anyone. Mentally prepare yourself to accept who you are. You chose to bear that name. Knight is simpler. It only illuminates a part of you. There is far too much mythos involving true name for us to waive it as primitive superstition. Blade, Case and Stats all prefer those nomers because they're closer. Tarse-Nevin doesn't really care. I searched for Tarse I think it may be a corruption of targe, which is a light shield, but that may be me trying to find something that feels better. The Nevins is a river. That isn't bad, either, but I'd love to get him in the class where we spend a good part of the term discovering true names. It's interesting how many 'bunches of sounds' turned out to mean something in one of our many ancient languages."

"We're going to try to create fragrances for ourselves."

"That's a wonderful idea, Blade. I'll add it to my who-am-I class program. None of your people have visited us yet. We do plan to visit you. We think the trick with the planet name is hilarious and just what they deserved. Do something to relax before you start, not something to make you alert. We usually schedule them at mid-afternoon-groggy time. We don't say it's because people's expectations are less domineering if they're having to work to keep from blinking. If you're extremely tense, a very small amount of that mild euphoric herbal tea your people use may aid.

"You know about mopweed?"

"We study all culturally accepted botanical substances. This program has been part of ongoing psychological research here for eighty-seven years. Your revolution did surprise us, but because we were still trying to figure out why that whole area was so damn boring and you were included in the question. Class time. Do visit. Comm out."

"Next world?"

"We'll plot a course with visits to convenient rest stops between, Stats."

"I'll make some tea."

"I don't... Yes, Nev."

"Shield and river, interesting."

"Yes, Blade, it is."

"You're going to be fun to find a fragrance for, Stats. You're a very complex person."

"Yes, Blade, he is, and he's not sure he wants a fragrance that shows it."

"It shows in his eyes, Case. You two will be less surprised than we will be, I think. You looked more deeply into yourselves when you chose your studs than we did. Kail's right. The ships won't be homey, until Nev's making tea."

"Let's just go get them after Mandolin. I'd like to go get them now, but were only four days from Mandolin and... eleven back that way is a little silly. Three or four doesn't seem so."

"Let's go get them on the right course, Stats."

"Blade agreed with me, Bard."

"So did Stats, Case. You're the only one excited, not half dreading this."

"I'm not as too-much-more-already as you guys are. I'd love to find out I have musical or acting talent. I know I have some psi talent because I've gotten 'Yes, that way,' since we started in the physics program. You needed a kick in the rear to keep you from limiting yourself because you could be exactly, and only, what you expect. So could Nev, Blade and Stats. Danny and Ronnie both could, but Ronnie would, will, feel like I do. Dawn will be open to the idea and completely surprised there's anything but tech there. Bance won't be surprised by anything. Jace will be a little and Silky will stumble over and run into things for days. Essa, Elise, Larry, Kendra, Kady and Reesa won't be surprised and Mike and Loren will be shocked. Dandy will be delighted and so will Deely. Kail will look for an excuse to miss the scheduled time. So will my dad."

"Answer comm. Hello, Jilli."

"Hi, heroes. Blade?"

"Case is impatient, so he and Stats are changing the course of our new ships to straight for Mandolin, then we'll go back for them."

"Absolutely sensible idea. I want to introduce someone to Blade."

"You found someone special."

"I'm not sure 'found' is the right word. I've known him since he was born. Four days ago, he yelled I was not leaving this continent without him and showed up at my place with a gym bag stuffed with memories. Clothes and such didn't occur to him. Neither did the importance of secondary graduation. I called his parents and told them he was here. They said they'd been making winter vacation plans since he disappeared, with the holo of me teaching him how to hold a ball, when he was four. He'll be eighteen in twenty-two days. He likes to watch sports, but thinks of a ten-K hike as the way to get produce for dinner. I got him enrolled in forest agra. It hadn't occurred to him to enroll anywhere."

"Why not?"

"Family-owned restaurant he's been working in since he could say hello and lead people to empty tables. His mom just had a baby. He suddenly realized the kid they hired loved working there, he didn't and he disliked Blade intensely. My parents decided a playmate a lot closer in age was appropriate. There adopting a baby. Yoohoo, every woman who got a surprise wasn't happy about it. Every clinic on the planet watches for women trying to be happy and matches with couples trying not to be heartbroken it's just a bit too late. Every child is wanted, but some are an impossible dream come true."

"Blade will understand that well."

"His understanding is why they were on a clinic's 'dream' list."

"Jilli!"

"Hi, Blade."

"Ow time?"

"You expected it?"

"I know how special you are. I admit very selfishly hoping you didn't find someone else special for a while, and severe pangs of jealousy, but I did expect it."

"This is, literally, the kid next door, Lance."

"Literally."

"I'm not as young as I look, quite. I'm old enough to know living without her would be... no sunshine in my life. I've always loved her. It matured as I did. I'm not typical. I've worked since I learned to walk. Dropping everything and coming here is probably the most immature thing I ever did, but you were on the news, again, and I was growling at you, again, and I suddenly realized why. I was on a public transport on my way here before the newscast was over."

"Four days ago. His mom suggested I put him in secondary here and we get married on his eighteenth birthday. His dad suggested they sign consent and we get married now to avoid court costs for guardianship document filing, for twenty-two days. I suggested we go back and get him some clothes. I did not convince him to stay there. I gave up when my dad helped him pack and my mom sat in the driver's seat of my car until they were done."

"We're getting married tomorrow. We'd like you to be there, but if you kiss my bride, they'll be scraping me off the walls of the reception room. I'm sure I'd splatter if you hit me for trying to slug you."

"The jealousy is mutual. Time and place?"

"Jilli's sending your invitations. She's inviting everyone who ran around with you at Winter Carnival."

"Keeva will be there!"

"Ow. We've got it. Thank you. Lance, I think you actually know how special she is. That's a nice surprise."

"I like you. That's a big surprise."

"Got to go. Class starts in twenty. See you all tomorrow."

"Tomorrow. Comm out. He's a damn child! A scrawny kid! And he's taller than I am. He's going to make her very happy."

"Drink this."

"There's a lot of mopweed in this."

"I added more as soon as I saw Jilli."

"Arguing I don't need assistance untying the knot in my middle would be silly. I love you very much, but the knot is still yelling she's my girlfriend. And he's a damn kid!"

There were a lot of tests and some required two people to test one. They nearly stumbled to bed when they thought they were done. When they got up, tests were waiting. They postponed them and went to a wedding. They went back to the tests that evening. They got up and tests were waiting. After lunch, the computer called them for the next session. They had dinner. The computer called them back. They nearly stumbled to bed again in the wee hours of morning. When they got up, they groaned and took tests, and tests, and tests. Fifty-eight hours, eleven minutes after they started, at thirteen thirty-six on Nineday, the computer said physical tests would commence in twenty-four minutes. They giggled through a tea break, went to the gym and started physical tests. They were two hours, four minutes from Mandolin, and needed naps, when the computer said, "All tests complete." Nev called his dad.

"You started tests?"

"Yes, Alden asked if he was going to have to activate me and order it. Do they end?"

"Eventually. They were everything but academic, and a lot was the same thing different ways different times. Did that make sense?"

"Probably, but I'm not currently a good judge. Larry is awed. Do you know they go back for evaluation?"

"Yes. She told us a comp could only score, but the people evaluating don't know who, where, or if they're real results. It's part of the program training. Two teams of eight work on them until they develop a consensus every time, then that's checked against a team that's very experienced and they work to develop a consensus. She said it doesn't take as long as it sounds like it would because consensus is 'the usual' and not a struggle. We told her it was the usual on L'Gem too. Oh, they got the reason Liberty Gem and believed it deserved."

"Next visit?"

"Yes, with a couple interesting side trips. Get back to your tests."

"Groan. Comm out."

"Let's nap. Computer, wake us in one hour, thirty-five minutes."

"Not the best place in the sleep cycle to awaken, but I'll take it."

"Me too, Case. We have to pay them for evaluation."

"Someone else has that duty, Admiral Terschell."

"Ouch. Yes, Admiral Santiago, they do. I'll probably need more reminders."

"They needed us gone, and we needed it too."

"Yes, Blade, they and we do. Summer dress gray, gentlemen. See you in uniform."

"The order?"

"Only with formal, Case, and always with formal."

"Agreed, Bard. It's not a military... order."

"It's an honor without formal duties, Nev. We'll figure out if it should have some later."

"Attending the swearing-in of a Prime Minister, Bard."

"Agreed, Blade, that should be a duty."

Space Corps colors were pearl gray and pearl white. Pearl gray was three shades and more and less pearl for dress for work. Summer-weight dress gray was a light shimmering, long-sleeve, tightly-fitted double-breasted jacket and pants of the same color with a darker waistband. Officers had a narrow darker stripe down the outside of the right leg. Winter weight were the colors reversed. The shirt worn under was soft, not starched and pale pearl gray, summer-weight almost off-white. Rank symbols were embroidered, not pinned, on the left side of the soft, but erect, split collar and a beret that matched the uniform color. They were always shimmering pearl, even on formal white, though that uniform shirt was a softly draped tunic, with cuffed wide sleeves and long-pointed collar. The jacket was a hip-length vest, which had no closures. The pants were also softly draped white. A sash at the waist and head tie were both tied in prescribed manner on the right. The pants were tucked into soft midcalf-height, fitted pearl boots.

Soft boots matching the jacket color were part of the dress uniforms too. Work uniform shoes ranged from ship slippers to high-shanked protective exploration boots. The uniforms ranged from shorts and short-sleeve shirts to enviro-suits, but most common was a shipsuit, a bodysuit of soft-stretch, which was rapidly becoming a very popular and broadly licensed material for shipsuits.

Bard's insignia was a shield outline with a ring of five ships in it. The shield was 'defense.' Nev and Blade's shields had diamonds of four ships in them. Case and Stats' had three in a diagonal line. The number of ships were the same for ranks, but the ship types, as well as the outline, were different. Theirs were fighters. Exploration would have a star outline and exploration ships.

They didn't know what those would look like yet. They did know what the supply ships that would go in a globe for support looked like. They'd built several. Training would have the same type in the slightly rounded-corner rectangle of a datpad, but those were just for admirals down through commodores. From captain down, a single shape in an outline would be duty-assignment specific and rank denoted by stars beside it. Enlisted insignia were duty-specific with bars.

Earth Space Force had said the insignia wasn't easily recognized. Alden told them anyone who couldn't tell if someone else had more lines or stars at a glance didn't belong in the space corps. They had a tendency to use first names, and everyone knew who to listen to, or they'd send them home.

The function of the space corps in their society was very different. It was to keep idiots from attacking them, try to "figure out a way to keep them from proving they're too stupid to survive," if they did, and find something useful to do with all the money they were making. The space corps wasn't needed to provide education or employment, though it would do both as part of its spread-money-around job.

Bard smiled widely when Blade walked out of his room. He didn't realize the uniforms had been designed to look good on him, but the rest of them did. They looked good on them too, but they were easy. Longer or looser jacket styles would hide Blade's incredible taper and make him look blocky, even overweight. The formal uniform had been just as carefully designed to show his musculature and slim waist.

Bard knew the hair tie had been designed for Danny, but he appreciated it too. Their space corps didn't specify hair a certain length. They provided 'bands' and caps for various uniforms. Hair below collar length was banded or caught in one of the two cap styles with work uniforms. With dress uniforms, it was brushed back and tied back or 'netted,' if a little too short to look good banded at the collar. The band was the width of the collar and should be even with it when the 'spacer' stood at attention. Bard handed Blade his.

"You can do this."

"I know, but standing straight while you do it is much faster."

"You know the headband with a formal uniform was designed for you?"

"I was just enumerating things designed for various people. I missed that one."

"This beret is for Nev."

"Definitely. The jacket is for you."

"Oh."

"Like everything else, it looks good on us all, but I can't think of any other style would look as good on you."

"I concede. The boots?"

"Maybe Case."

"That's a good guess. I can see that. Did you get Stats?"

"Hmm..."

"The work uniform vest."

"Of course. Pockets."

"Big ones designed to be stuffed. We just haven't worn any of them but the ship suits."

"Which are very comfortable, and would slide nicely into the covalls."

"Also with many pockets. The only problem I have with the uniforms is we won't be wearing them."

"Yes, we will, just not as part of duty. We already grab the ship suits for things. Comm connect Alden."

"Obviously about to arrive."

"You're taking tests?"

"Yes, and hoping you're not just taking a break."

"They do end. We like these. When and how can we wear them?"

"Good question. My thought is whenever you wish, but there should be something to denote you're reserve, not currently active duty. Bency has an idea. She's sketching."

"Do it in mother-of-pearl in something real light and pin or adhese over. My feeling is pin, but I'm not putting it on my collar. Raised like this, it'll be obvious there's something over the shield outline. 'Yes, denotes reserve status.' Show off you have them and will be putting them all in, or point them out next stop or whatever."

"Great idea, Bency, for any rank. We're too close to work on it right now, but we'll send you specs."

"Thank you, about-to-be-reserve Admiral Loden."

"We'll try to come up with a way to put them on so they stay there, but come off easy when desired without pinning. Later, Bard."

"I have an idea. Three minutes!"

"I hope it's only three. I much prefer he do the landing. He'll remember 'protocol.' I might get busy and forget I'm not just looking for a place to park. Three minutes and I've got a math assignment?! Somebody land us! Comm out."

Nev landed the ship. He'd run onto the bridge when Blade yelled and had no idea with the others were doing, just they were in the lab. They came onto the bridge, grinning widely, just as he got a landing beam. He heard Stats call Alden from the communications station and say, "Sending specifications," but he was talking to the spaceport traffic control. As soon as they were down, he yelled, "What?!" Bard dropped two shield outlines in his hand.

"Put them over shield insignia to denote reserve and wear uniforms when we feel like it."

"Nice little storage dome. They won't come off until you run a swab with alcohol around them. Shortest math assignment he's given me. Short ones it took me a long time to do don't count."

"Answer comm. Hello, Dr. Smith."

"You're going to hate me, Nev. You have to take them over."

"What?!"

"Everyone who went out to play all night, in their day, in the middle does. Both teams yelled they had a 'double-polarity reversal.' Since we'd never heard of even a single, it was significant. They saw you change day and night and reorient. We're building a new bank for you."

"My little sister is due soon."

"Your mother is sure you won't be interrupted. I called to see how many we had there first."

"We have things to do here... She's going to be early, or late."

"Calm down, Nev. Doctor, we need to talk to these people. Send them when they're ready."

"Yes, Admiral Bladesly. Gorgeous uniforms. Comm out."

"Comm connect Liberty Gem, Teal Valley, TV General Health Clinic, Maternity Ward, identify."

"Hello, Admiral. Gorgeous uniforms."

"The unanimous opinion, Dr. Greller. I called you, not Kail or Lillen's family, to get a transpatial node there. They would be way too much assistance. We have three days of tests, at least two days of being polite here, and Nev's mother is sure we'll be there and not interrupted. Nev's saying, 'early or late,' and I'm thinking, 'middle of the night.' If there's a node there, we know we can get there on time, even if we have to finish a test session or run for the ship. We'll get Kail and Lillen and down there and reduce the downhill race some too. Many of her family will be at our place, beds for seventeen."

"Fantastic idea. I'll try for comm code magic teal baby basket. Basket should make it unique enough. If not, I'll call."

"Thank you. Comm out. Comm spaceport TC. Hello, please apologize for our tardiness. We're doing comm call assurance we're present when Admiral Terschell's sister is born, in the next few days. We won't be much longer."

"We'll let them know, Admiral Bladesly."

"Thank you. Comm out. Comm connect Carler."

"Hello, Blade."

"We have to take that long test bank again."

"So Drand complained, to everyone."

"I understand perfectly. Lillen is sure we won't be interrupted. Nev panicked, but experience indicates middle of the night is more probable than early or late. I arranged a comm node at the clinic. If Kail aids others to do the test bank in the neighborhood, and he and Lillen stay there, and people borrow the beds at our house, the night race down the hill will have fewer participants, and reduce the stress level of many."

"Excellent suggestion. Our house and theirs are developing floor-space reservation lists. We'll overrun the Terschells' new homes. They'll love it, and Chiefs Walkinson and Dennon will sleep better."

"Thank you. We have a planetary president staring at the hatch, with many cams focused on him. Must go."

"I'm watching. You're right, but they just announced why it's not open yet. Nev, thank you. Thank you all. We love you. Comm out."

"Feel better?"

"Yes, while sleeping didn't occur to me."

"I love you."

"I love you too, Bard."

"I love you two three?"

"Let's go tell people they're welcome and we like them too."

"After you, Admiral Loden."

"I thought I got to go out last, Case."

"Do you want us to form an honor guard?"

"Follow me, boys."

### Chapter Thirty-one

Bard went out into the bright late morning, said, "Hello," then reached back, grabbed Nev and pulled him around in front of him. Nev said, "Hi," and began to giggle. Case and Stats burst into laughter and Bard grabbed Blade. He was sinking. Nev leaned on him and he groaned.

"Obviously, all my plans don't work. We're very happy we got it stopped before it really got started here. You're our neighbors. We live right over there. Lots of us are coming to visit and looking forward to you visiting us. Thank you for inviting us. This is the only official visit were making. You can see why. We're not really good at dignified stuff, but we're here to officially say, 'Hi.' Nev?"

"That's right."

"Officially, 'Hi.' We're glad you're here, and we're really enjoying all our visitors. One of the official things we have planned for your visit is opening our first daytrip facility."

"That's great! We're all excited you're going to come over and play in our yard. The universities are looking forward to seminar exchanges and professors and students coming for classes and the space corps is looking forward to training and working with people from here on ships, and getting jobs here at universities and such."

"Your people are going to look for work here?"

"We need skills we don't have to explore. You need people who have knowledge of the new tech. Trip-chair commuting to work, getting paid and paying taxes where your home is, makes sharing those skills simple. There aren't enough of us to import much, but transpatial comm bills and employing people with skills we don't have to help explore, will get most of the money back in circulation, and businesses who bought licenses to make tech will have customers who can afford to buy it. A trip chair is transportation. It's an interplanetary car. The cost will go down fast as more people use the transpatial comm network and spread it out. That's why we encourage people to go everywhere that looks interesting, to get that cost reduction process started and make it less expensive for people to daytrip commute to work. Why not a TSC node and trip chairs in most homes? Why not employment listings for every planet with TSC bills paid as a commonly listed benefit? You can't steal, smuggle, or spread a flu. No interplanetary legal or tax issues to resolve, so treaties unnecessary. Ship traffic will increase because people can continue to work, or go to a hockey game, as they travel. Cruises will still be popular for the amenities, but part of the package may be daytrips to places or concerts. Or they can hire incredible entertainment for one night and sell additional tickets to trippers. And we make friends everywhere, and the possibility of war becomes less with every smile exchanged."

"It's very difficult to grasp the full implications of any new technology. The 'car' analogy will help with this one a great deal. The other common-use item is the power stores."

"They'll go in everything that's independently powered and really help reduce production costs, as part of an on-site generation system. 'Prosperity for everyone' may be an impossible dream, but we can make it possible for a lot more by bringing prices of essentials, like homes, down and widening the area in which they can seek opportunity. It will be less expensive for businesses to expand, because the cost of new facilities will be lower. They can hire more people. More people working means more who can purchase, and others can expand and hire. We're going to seem a little odd because our wealthy try to figure out ways to spend, not make more, money, and no one else works to accumulate it."

"The good that has arisen from our suffering the greed and abuse of the mining corps and gov is the choice of response to it by the people, not good 'caused' by it. That's something that's hard to teach. Evil never begets good, but the triumph over evil does. We must take care to show evil is not necessary for good to be created. It is the teaching that is its birth. When evil arises, we know the teaching of good had become weak. It's not surprising that there is a resurgence of it after we have suffered the horror caused by that weakening. Good begets good, and evil begets evil. If we do not carefully teach it's not a cycle, we will be doomed to suffer one."

"About time you said something, Blade."

"You did very well, especially on the 'show them who we are' part."

"I forgot about that. We'd have come up with all the tech, if they hadn't bombed the physics lab. They slowed down, not increased, the speed of discovery and development."

"It took us nearly a year to reconstruct the work we'd been a half-day from finishing and get Bard, Blade, and the other heroes, who had sacrificed their freedom because something had to be stopped. When they tried to kill us to cover taking Bard, because they thought it was finished and they wanted a secret weapon, they proved, beyond doubt, they had to be stopped before any more work was done."

"There are discoveries you didn't share, Admiral Terschell."

"There are applications that have no practical use, or the only use they have is not something we want generally available. That's a truth of R and D. Any tech can be abused, a multi-wrench can be used to commit a crime. The trip chairs are as non-abusable as any I can think of. Where and when your first facility?"

"In a few moments. I'm told we're having a bit of difficulty coming up with a comm code not in use for the node they've got set up over there, so our first tripper can come here."

"Mandolin spaceport breezer."

"Wiltens?"

"Available!"

"Put an unexpected word in somewhere, add a suffix, spell your name backwards, describe your cat. Using something sensible won't work. Try for something people can remember long enough to get a shortcut into their comms."

"Mandolin Daytrip Tours is now open!"

"Congratulations! Our uniform looks good on you, too."

The elderly woman looked down and burst into laughter. The president led the applause. Six space force trippers from Liberty Gem arrived, and thanked the woman for the compliment. The Prime Minister and Defense Minister arrived. The Prime Minister said they'd come to invite everyone to come visit and brought an advertisement they were "calling a comm code listing." Bard pointed. Case went in the ship and came out with a datpad a few seconds later. He gave it to the Prime Minister.

"Now, this is for your new facility, but I'm going to give it to the president. Most of us don't remember we can't carry anything, until we have something in our hands, get back without it and have to call someone to go back to pick it up off the ground. In this listing, which was also sent to your new business, is the code for Space Corps Recruitment, and its hours in your facility time. There's a long list of skills we're specifically seeking attached. We will pay the trip cost for persons with those skills. That is not dependent upon employment. We'll set payment up in the simplest way for you to do this for us. President Waters, I ask you to accept this welcome to the fun and convenience of daytrip travel for your people and Mandolin Daytrip Tours."

"Thank you, very much, Prime Minister Lowinsky. This list is long, and somewhat surprising."

"We don't need just people with doctorates to train to explore new worlds. The only civilian employees we're sure we have for our new space corps bases are golf pros. We got applicants for that as soon as we said they'd be building the courses. Come play sometime and find out if that hitch in your pitch is actually physical."

"I definitely will. We have a celebration planned. Will you stay for it?"

"I'd be delighted. However, the Defense Minister needs to go back and we'd like to borrow your cams a moment."

"Please."

"Got them, boys?"

"Now?"

"Yes, Bard. We want to set the precedent of yelling for you to do something, without having to put you on active duty for a day or two."

"I knew there was a catch in this somewhere. Please try not to have any emergencies. I'm sure it's someone else's turn to do the math assignments."

"Oh, we will try, Blade. We're sure you should be building beautiful places and it's someone else's turn to do the math too. Vice-admirals first."

"Two sets each."

"Thank you, Case. These are designators of reserve status. With placement of them on your insignia, we denote your release from active duty. With them in place, you may wear your uniforms at any time you feel it appropriate to show your pride in your service, or just because you feel like it. Admirals. He caught you completely unprepared."

"I couldn't even think of anything to say. I was waiting for places to help him and... total blank."

"The options were sitting down or grabbing the back of his pants to stay on my feet. If I'd done that, Case and Stats would have been laying on the ground laughing."

"You are now in the reserves. Fleet Admiral Loden."

"The only problem with wearing the uniform is people call me that."

"No, Bard, they call you that because you did the job, and we're proud of you. You're our first Fleet Admiral and everyone who follows will remember the task is try to keep everyone alive and uninjured, while assuring the people of Liberty Gem are free to live as they choose."

"If the space corps makes someone who doesn't know that already an admiral, I'll yell for help to find out what's wrong, and I'll get it, because we'll all know something is."

As they were walking into the reception pavilion that had been set up, accompanied by many news people, the prime minister told the president Alden had gone back to put on a uniform. The BNU Board of Regents had said they wanted both their chancellor and vice-chancellor back and given them a suggestion for Defense Minister. Landerton U's regents weren't happy about losing their chancellor, but agreed she'd be good, and they didn't think irritating the BNU supporters was a good idea, either.

"We have many people who would be good as Space Corps Chief of Staff or Defense Minister, but we always have to consider who can fill the position a person had before we draft someone. We really would have liked to keep our admirals, but there's no one else who will be as much help to us out here wandering around, and aiding other worlds in preparing for the changes the new tech will bring. Some of that aid is the artistry of their design of living space, and golf courses."

"The new tech is going to change what and how we build."

"Yes, but that's just starting point of changes in people's lives. They're going to have more time and money for leisure, and to increase the aesthetic quality of their lives. Currently, many fear they'll lose jobs, or businesses, because the new tech will make what they do or make obsolete. That's always true when new ways of doing things are discovered. Some of what we'll be doing, with our space corps and our wanderers, is helping reduce that fear by showing the new types of work and business opportunity it brings and shortening the transition period, as much as possible. One way we'll start doing that immediately will be by reducing the time it takes to prepare and settle new worlds. We can move huge amounts of equipment to a world, use it and move it to the next, while settlers begin using other equipment to plant fields, construct production facilities for furniture, open shops and everything else, while they're preparing to emigrate and in transit. The greatest change the new tech will bring is a huge decrease in the cost of opportunity. It's going to change our definition of overpopulation vastly in a short time. Bard, how fast can a nice world get to second stage settlement?"

"How many ships with equipment do you want to send and how many people will trip to use it? It could be done in a day, if enough people are working on it, but a year to plant and bring crops to harvest in both hemispheres is probably most practical. Three hundred people could build the industrial facilities to produce farm equipment, and tech to build more tech, to build houses, shops and everything else in a few days. Basically, first stage settlers could prepare their world for second stage settlement during the journey to it. I think we're underestimating our ability to prepare worlds from scratch a great deal, one hundred years to create atmosphere, then one hundred to develop soil, then one hundred years for forests to grow? Why? Planets in the right place have water and atmosphere. We just need to change the atmosphere to suit us and construct an ecology. We have over two hundred worlds where we can grow everything we need to transplant, and constructing vast orbital seed and bug farms to move from world to world would just take a few days. If there's not a planet in the right place, calculate the mass needed to add or subtract from one to get what we want and shove it into the right orbit. Give it a nice big moon and come back to it when it settles down a little to seed it with life. Basically, if the sunshine is nice, build a place to live to bask in it."

"Lack of employment opportunity is no longer a problem because transportation to wherever jobs are plentiful is now available. Moving to a new world no longer rips families apart, so singles and households will become the most probable settlers, not large extended families. Comm baby's grandma and tell her you're desperate for a babysitter for the evening. So what if she's on another world. Pick her up at the trip terminal-public transport stop a block down the street and go to where your transport to a play on another world is waiting. Want to send a gift? Drop it in the mail. It's cheap. Huge ships to carry container mail aren't expensive to build or operate, and neither are facilities to handle the mail in those containers. Lots of nice jobs for people to watch over the equipment doing the sorting. Lots of people living on pretty worlds, who work on a big transshipment station in space. Lots of companies shipping huge items built on space stations to every world. Solar power generation and storage tower systems keep a nice field around the place and nobody's actually breathing there, so all it needs to be is pleasant-feeling. Gravity or field failure wouldn't hurt anybody, and air circ is just for aesthetics. The business doesn't have to buy a huge chunk of land and build the type of support needed to hold up a building, or keep the space station from depressurizing. Opportunity for employment is not a problem. Corporate boards of directors, who don't believe the new tech has any potential benefit to their business, and investment and insurance corps sure anything without one hundred years of statistics is high risk, are. Dump them. Find someone whose brains aren't petrified and tell the insurers you don't need them at that price."

"Blade!"

"Nev, did you see the interest and insurance rates they're charging for facilities built with the magic trowel, and the builders using them? They're computing method and materials that are thirty-seven percent lower risk at seventy-two percent higher risk."

"What?!"

"They're making it only seven percent reduction in building cost."

"That's here?"

"It's everywhere, Gen President. The Interplanetary Institute of Fiduciary Ratings issued the recommendation about twenty minutes ago. My opinion is they're either scared, greedy or both. Basically, insurers are going to make about seven hundred percent net profit over a three-year period, unless everybody who's using the equipment drops it on their toes and breaks them. After that, they'll make about two hundred percent per year, unless everyone in the buildings runs into a wall and breaks their noses."

"Just finished the math?"

"I had to do a lot to come up with what would have to happen to equal the risk rate, Bard, and it was really hard to figure out some way people could hurt themselves with a magic trowel."

"Inspired, Blade. I doubt if I could have come up with any way they could."

"It did take most of the time, Case."

"When did you get the figures?"

Business news headline brief while I was in the shower, Nev."

"They're not using any statistics at all for the computations. As far as they're concerned, we haven't built anything, or they're including the cost of the war as part of the insurance risk computations."

"Probably, Stats. Nev?"

"Transom IPI is pretty diversified. They'll last about two years before they're just a savings account someone with brains is using to make money. Most of the rest will be savings accounts in a half-year. The object is to maintain the replacement cost of buildings, and the current rates on existing structures. They obviously don't think any governments will repeal construction insurance requirements and replace with a bond system or provide government-backed insurance programs. It should reduce taxes a lot, especially those of investment and insurance corps that aren't making the money the bonding companies and government-backed insurance programs are. Most governments could reduce taxes. The people holding stock in the finance and insurance corps won't be hurt. They'll just make less on that investment, not a lot because the insurers' costs will go down, as the companies dwindle to bank accounts. The employees won't have trouble finding jobs because other financial institutions will be expanding, and people to do data manipulation and statistical analysis will be in demand for planetary settlement planning. Basically the only thing damaged will be the IIFR and the people who did so stupid no one will hire them. Stats?"

"I came up with seven-point three percent tax reduction plus or minus point four percent. The big insurance and investment corps would have made a lot for their investors promoting and financing new construction, but the investors will diversify and someone else will make a nice profit for them. They should come out about point six percent ahead with the tax reduction."

"Construction cost dropped so much that individuals can finance a new factory, housing project or even a space station, personally. They don't need an investment corp to assemble enough money to do it. An upper-middle income neighborhood could pool sixty days of pay to finance a small luxury condo complex or housing project and start getting their money back in forty days. About three-fifths of the investment would go to making it luxury, including land and architects."

"The cost of everything changes, when the cost of building does. The IIFR fears the change and is trying to slow or prevent it. They don't see the expanding possibilities, or people's delight they can have half-again the size home at two-thirds the price, just dropping cost of replacement and insurance rates. They can't see the forest because their noses are pressed against the bark of one tree. The traditional conservatism of financial institutions is very likely to make them bookkeeping services for people making direct investments with their money. They don't hear people talking about their dreams of a bigger house, a trip to hear a fantastic band, a new school for their kids, or going to school themselves because the cost of education is plummeting."

"Explain that one, Bard."

"On-site power generation, multiuse configurable rooms, low-cost new buildings to replace old ones with high maintenance costs, enviro fields to reduce separate building heating and cooling systems, and the maintenance they require, no melt units in walkways or roads, shared lab and research facilities with U's on other worlds, professors of specialized subjects working at four U's, each paying a quarter of what that professor commands as salary for that subject, and not that salary for one course of that level and three that don't require the specialized knowledge, ten U's sharing a huge space platform that's both teaching facility and profitable seed, sod and bug growing place, xeno-botany labs on new worlds, not in sealed, sextuple-filtered, hugely expensive iso-domes, stadiums and fieldhouses that configure for a dozen sports each and vast reduction in the land required for a great sports program, allowing increase of class space."

"Mining corps don't want new materials to replace the things they gouge out of the hearts of new worlds and very expensively ship to old ones, for them to do new construction to accommodate all the people we don't class as excess population. They can house and employ them, in vast complexes of apts and business towers. The complexes and towers stacked them up, so most of the land can be used to grow food for them. We wouldn't need to gut new worlds, if those people were spread across them, and the high-pop worlds could ship recycled elements to build structures on them for decades, as people spread across the land that's no longer required for crops, to feed people in stacks of boxes."

"Case really dislikes the policy of selling mineral rights to finance settlement. Since the Human Rights Commission seems oblivious to the fact the mining corps force the cultures of new worlds into patterns they want, he plans to assure they don't get any rights or concessions on any more."

"I'll help with that, Stats. Making new worlds minerals poor, forcing people to all use one surname and making heterosexual couple marriage the only financially viable form of household formation all irritate me."

"Are they still doing that, Nev?"

"It's all 'standard settlement contract' material, Prime Minister. No social experiment groups, legal marriage for insurance purposes is man and woman, woman takes man's name or they don't qualify for spousal benefits, and their children are legally only hers. If the man takes her name, they're not married. If an extended family of forty wishes to settle together, they all have to have the same surname, or a family settlement package for each surname and they may be split up. The Supreme Court knew it and named our exiles accordingly. Liberty Gem was the first world they did that shit on. They're now on the fifth."

"Well, they won't get any more. We won't let them pay seven percent of the cost of settlement to make everyone live the way they say. If they want to do that, they can find and finance worlds themselves. Of course, they won't have much money left after they pay damages to all the worlds on which they exceeded allowed mineral depletion by a large margin, eight so far."

"Make that nine. We just completed our survey, and will be joining the suit."

"You're as mad as we are."

"We're furious. They lied when we asked confirmation they weren't over, one hundred nineteen years ago. They didn't partially fund settlement of this world and we're going to press charges for theft. They took sixty-three percent more than they bought. We requested subpoena of the records of all eleven that had contracts, and we intend to close down any and all that were guilty of the crime committed against us. We suspect every world settled in the last two hundred fifty years was robbed. We want them broken into bits and sold. I wasn't supposed to announce that yet, or say we intend to destroy them, but we don't care if their stock becomes worthless and people lose money. They've been known to be without ethics for two centuries. You just said they're not a necessary evil we must tolerate to maintain our civilization. Thank you. We don't want a settlement and legal constraints. They ignored the ones that existed. We were told, 'People didn't do it. The corporations did.' If that's true, they're parasitic businesses not under the control of humans or human law and will be shut down and dismantled, like any other out of control device."

"Oh, we do like you. We've been very careful to be moderate in our language and assignation of guilt for the events on our world."

"They're comp-run profit mills, with no one looking at anything but their personal bank account totals. I suspect the only word that's been changed in a settlement support and extraction agreement in two hundred years is the planet name."

"My great-great-grandfather says the whole social thing is probably the result of a document clerk, with a personal opinion on how everyone should live."

"Considering the non-management of those corporations, that wouldn't be surprising, Nev."

"BNU jackets!"

"Those are my five grandchildren. They ordered their jackets the day they saw the Winter Carnival recap. I'm going to mention the two oldest girls are seventeen and sixteen, because I suspect they wouldn't."

"Thank you. They do not look that young."

"I know, Blade, and so do they."

The two girls knew their grandfather had 'told.' They said they still wanted rides in cars and offered two "car-crazy" younger brothers and "why-kid" sister of one, as chaperones. The "why kid," age five, and Bard became buddies in seconds. They resolved the talking-distance problem quickly. He squatted down and she climbed onto his back. The two girls talked about societies and philosophy with Nev and Blade. The two boys talked about tech and cars with Case and Stats. Subjects changed as the four 'political kids' deftly steered the admirals into meetings with people working to get new technology into production and new methods into use on their world.

Bard's small rider-companion, Billie, steered too. They zigzagged back and forth across the room to talk to people who were also wondering, or would know, why. They agreed it was "the most fun official kind of thing" they'd ever attended.

They were talking to Billie's mother, when her aunt called. The fuel regulator on her car had "gone crazy, then died." Bard ran for the door as soon as her mom said, "shaking and crying." Billie got directions from her mom on her comm chron and relayed them. Bard ran for a vehicle that looked like it would make the hill. A woman yelled a key code for it. He commed Blade, as soon as they were in it.

"You know why run or someone wouldn't have yelled a key code."

"A fail-safe that didn't work fast enough. Case wants that part and so does security. They're sure it was just a part failure, but she's the president's daughter-in-law's sister. Rodney says she's also twenty-seven, single and beautiful, and he wants the part too. They're working hard not to shake. There aren't many places to get off the road on the road and most of them are cliffs. Nobody's died taking curves too fast because comps override."

"She did it perfect the first time."

"She knows the road. She drives it four times a tenday for volunteer work."

"She teaches guitar to people who want to learn at the Kelston Elders Center. They make sure people who really want to have guitars to play. Aunt Wendy plays mandolin too, but that's not very unusual here, for the obvious reason."

"Guitar is?"

"Not in Kelston, but I haven't met anybody else who plays it here. Aunt Wendy teaches six and twelve-string and whatever kind of music they want to learn. There's a boy learning classical and she's real excited. He's the first one."

"Was she going or coming home?"

"I don't know. Comm connect Aunt Wendy. Hi, Bard and I are coming to get you. Which way were you going? She was going to Kelston. She says it's been a too exciting trip, but some of her students come a long way."

"Blade, apologize to people for us, please. I'm going to take Wendy and Billie to Kelston. I'll tow the car out on the way home."

"We'll get it. Case, Rodney and Security Officer Mitchell can't wait that long to get their hands on the part. That's a two-year-old car."

"Get that part now. Comm out."

"Why?"

"Fuel regulators shouldn't wear out in two years, Billie, even on cars that people drive a lot. That one didn't just quit working. It surged, pushed a lot through fast. Those two things together may mean something in the fuel regulator was made wrong, or the equipment, to check it was made right, didn't do its job. Either one of those things would mean many people's cars might do the same thing soon. If it's a manufacturing defect, something made wrong, the carmaker needs to know now, so it can get the part changed in every car it sold."

"Wendy, Bard's going to take us to Kelston, and Case, Rodney and Sec Officer Mitchell are going to check if there's a manufacturing defect. No, not even driving it lots and not surge like that ever. Bard always tells me what the words mean too. He asks as many as I do. We're lots alike. Do you want us to stay on comm, so you don't feel all by yourself? You don't have to walk to the road. Bard was going to tow your car up the hill. Blade would have said if he couldn't. Right?"

"Yes, Billie."

"You're going to like all Liberty Gem's... Reserve admirals?"

"I don't know, but admirals reserved sounds weird, so probably. We'll ask."

"You call us if you want to talk instead. Comm out. She's going to play her guitar to get calmed down."

She was sitting on the ground looking down at her guitar, so the first thing Bard noticed was her hair, a cap of dark curls, with silver-blue highlights. Then he noticed she was a very good driver. She'd steered the car going too fast down a hill too steep in a place almost too narrow.

He whistled. Billie almost whistled too. He said it just took practice. She practiced while he drove down the hill, and got a good whistle, just as they got to the bottom of the canyon. By then, 'Aunt Wendy' was standing, and he was working to keep his eyes on where he was 'at,' not the tall slender woman in front of them. When he stopped, Billie got out fast and ran for her aunt.

"That was almost scary slow!"

"It was real scary fast, Billie. Hello."

"Wendy Stanhope, this is Reserve Admiral Bard Loden."

"You are a good driver."

"That was my best performance. I retire."

"I wouldn't do an encore. That's when people keep clapping, so the performer, usually musicians or singers, comes back and does one more song."

"Thanks. See? He tells me what they mean too."

"He sure does. It happened so fast I didn't have time to yell, 'Shut down,' which the comp may have been trying to do. This was scary, but it was 'the' place to get off. I thought it was going to flip when it hit the ground."

"The disk is going to need work and one of the rim wheels has a bent shaft. We'll leave it for close-following well-equipped. I'm going to check your pretty neck. That shaft says you took quite a jolt. That's sort of the jerk all over, and more than just surprise, a shock, Billie. When the car came down hard, your aunt's head went forward then back hard. That's called 'whiplash,' and it's been the most common injury to people, since we made things to ride that go faster than we can run. It almost always happens when those things come to a sudden, wham! stop. That shakes us from our toes to the top of our heads, a jolt, too. You need treatment. It won't take long and you will give your students a better lesson. You're going to get stiff and ache all over quite soon. We'll take you to the clinic, then Billie and I will host a small celebration of your driving performance for your students while you're there. I'll take care of extra time for babysitters or other expenses of the type."

"Aunt Wendy, your students don't want you to ache either!"

"Arguing with a Fleet Admiral is silly?"

"He's a reserve Fleet Admiral now, but he still right, and real pretty."

"Thank you, Billie. What do you need besides your guitar case?"

"Two more guitars. I checked them for injury before I called my big sister."

"I'll get them."

"He's real nice, Aunt Wendy."

"Yes, Billie, he is."

"You sure you don't want to go to the dance tonight?"

"I changed my mind."

"I would if I was big."

"I brought this case too."

"The music and picks! Thank you."

"Put on the safety webs, please. The computer would complain as soon as we started up the hill."

"Your neck hurt when you turned your head to look at me."

"Yes, Billie, it did."

"Let's get it fixed. Comm connect Nev. Tell the clinic in Kelston I'm bringing a whiplash injury. Arrange a nice little celebration we're only waiting for that at the Elders Center. It grounded hard. The left front rim wheel shaft is bent."

"I'll inform, arrange and worn tow may not be simple. I'll get back to you with the time estimate."

"Nev?"

"They all left, including the kids and the Prime Minister. I have the reception all to myself."

"You were set up."

"They enjoyed it immensely. Comm out."

Larry watched the news, and saw what Alden meant, but didn't have time to look for a reason for the oddity. He was in the middle of the test bank. He set it aside. He had no doubt Bard, Blade and Nev would stumble onto the reason. He requested references on Mandolin, then went back to his tests.

After they took Wendy to the clinic, Bard and Billie worked on "strategy." He'd gotten "pretty famous," so it wouldn't be easy to get people to relax and call him Bard. They went into the center with her on his back, wearing his beret, practicing whistling.

One of the elders was a 'real whistler' and Bard practiced too. Their strategy worked well. They got him from "famous admiral" to "nice young man who did a good job as admiral." People called him, "Bard," and he learned what they thought about the new tech.

"No, it won't put you out of a job, William, but it will change your job, and give you a chance to change what you do completely, if you want. The situation now is some places have more jobs than people and others have more people than jobs. The trip chairs will help change that. We're going to make thousands of new jobs with our space corp, but we don't have thousands of people who need them. Houses will get lots cheaper, so almost everyone can move out of a dinky apt into a nice-size house, lots of jobs building them. Lots of jobs building on-site power generation systems, so business costs go down. More people with money to buy what they make, so they can expand and create more jobs. New worlds that people can build their homes on, while they're on the way to them. Transpatial comm will have lots more business and need to expand, but they won't have to pay people to spend a half-year on a ship to work six days total. So the cost of a trip goes down, and more people can afford to use trip chairs to get to jobs on other worlds, or the other side of one."

"You don't have to go through space to use a trip chair, but it's a little silly to use one to go to the grocery store, because you have to have somebody bring your groceries to your house."

"That's right, Billie. Currently, people are noticing things happen on this end of human space, and they're so surprised. Between us, that's a lot of why we hunted for some way to make it possible for almost everyone to commute anywhere. Excuse me, but there's no such thing as an uninteresting inhabited world. We found out any that look boring should be watched real carefully. We also found out every world's culture is different. We thought they were all about the same. They're not. We had transpatial comm, but no one knew anyone to call to talk about what they did yesterday, so none of us knew their usual thing and ours were different. We knew the culture of different places on our own worlds was a little different, but the cultures of worlds were the same? The differences aren't big, but a lot of little differences make a visit to every world an adventure. Traders told us that, but there weren't many and most of us never met one. That will change real fast."

"Why?"

"Because ships are cheaper, they don't have to stay on them, everyone who goes somewhere buys something they want delivered, and lots of businesses make things no one else does. Trade ships become nice big homes in space, and traders go to hockey games, concerts, dances, fishing and lots of us meet one."

"I want to see your ship."

"How about as your first daytrip?"

"Kids can use them?"

"Kids Billie's size can. A baby can't decide to go, or go back. Once they've learned enough to do that, they can use them. The chairs have to be able to adjust to any person's size, shape and nutritional needs. School trips on which no kid can get hurt, lost, sick from eating too much candy, and everything else that makes insurance half the cost for most, should be really popular, even before comm prices go down a lot."

"I need more explanation about costing less, I think."

"May I borrow a datpad? Thanks. It costs this much to do something, Billie. Now in that is all the equipment, power bills and pay for people who figured out how to do it and the ones who did it. For TS comm, that included spaceships and a lot of time on them. This is maintenance cost, all the equipment and people to keep it working. You pay it yourself when you buy a car, but comm services, water departments and such do it for everyone and charge for the service. This service only had this many people using it. They had to pay this whole thing so was a whole lot each. Divide to get a whole lot. Now there are this many. They have to have more in equipment but it's cheaper to get there and work on so this number doesn't get much bigger. Now, we figure out how much each of them has to pay."

"Lots less!"

"And it works that way for about everything. That's why a bowl that's handmade is lots more expensive than one made in a factory. You pay for all the work done on it, not share the cost of the equipment and pay for a few people with thousands of other people."

"Now I know why art is expensive too!"

"Yes, but some of what you pay for in art and music is all the time the people practiced to get good enough people would pay for the art or music, and because they're really good at it. We get paid more than others to do someone's yard because we have talent and skills that make the yard beautiful and just right for people. It's the art, not digging the hole to plant a tree, that costs."

"You picked that way to make money and gave all the money for the tech inventions away."

"We didn't need it, and designing and building things is more satisfying. That's more important than the money, but the nice pay we get for it really helps keep people from chasing us down the street trying to get us to invent something for them. Blade says money is only important when you don't have enough to buy your own food and pay for a place to live."

"And people are scared the new tech could make that happen to them."

"Yes, and because so many people are always a little worried about it, a lot of people start to think money and things are most important, and having them makes them important. We don't really know how to fix that, but everyone on Liberty Gem knows how dangerous to all of us thinking like that is. Giving away the tech patents makes people ask us why, so we have a chance to remind them most of them know better, when they think about it, but they don't talk like they do, and their kids hear the talk, not what they really think."

"Aunt Wendy makes chances to remind people, too. She could make lots of money playing guitar concerts, but she can buy food and a house and teaching here is more spiritually satisfying."

"She's that good, Bard. Once in a while she does a benefit concert, and music lovers and other performers get tickets fast."

"I need a guitar, or five, William."

"Six. She can't bring one to your ship to give you a lesson."

"Thank you, Billie! We need somebody to do something like that so other people get ideas about what they could do. Six guitars?"

"Bremerton Music will have that many, but they won't be alike."

"Were not alike. We just dress alike, sometimes. I saw Bremerton's on the way here. Do you want to stay here or go with me to get guitars and Wendy, Billie. I'm asking not assuming... Know that one?"

"Yes."

"Because you might want to stay here and get more whistling lesson from Alan."

"I'll go with you. My pucker is tired."

"Mine's a little tired too, but we'll get our pucker muscles stronger fast and they won't get tired so soon."

Bard was delighted with the selection of guitars, three of them used. He asked Fem Bremerton if he'd deprive someone of an instrument if he bought all ten of them. She said they could get more in a few days, including one or two used and the Elders Center had three to loan to start lessons. He bought those, two banjoes and two mandolins, then noticed an acoustic piano.

Fem Bremerton smiled and suggested something else to "go with that ship." She brought a catalog up on the comp monitor and he smiled and nodded, then bought the smaller used one too, for Case and Stats' garden lounge. Since it would fit in the utility vehicle he'd commandeered, only the grand piano would have to be delivered. It was on the way before they left the store.

Billie carried a guitar out too. It was a tenor and hers, a thank you gift for helping him talk to "just people," to the ease their nervousness about the tech, and suggesting a way to spread the idea of commuting by trip chair to teach.

Bard also planned to spread the idea of acoustic instruments for personal enjoyment. On other worlds in the area, very few were made and those were orchestral. Fem Bremerton told him she didn't know of anyone, other than the two companies she bought from, who made flattop guitars or banjoes. When they took Wendy back to the Elders Center, Bard learned which type of guitar was used for different types of music.

Though any could be used for all, they had different sounds and the "character of the tone" was part of the music styles. When she got out her twelve string, "just to demo," Bard discovered what he wanted to learn most, classical and twelve string, and he had two, one of them used. It had been hers and she'd traded it in there in hopes of interesting a student with a much lower price. It hadn't worked quite as planned, but Bard wouldn't have bought just one, and she'd gotten a student who truly wanted to learn that instrument.

When the five admirals walked into the ballroom that evening, Wendy was seated not far from the door. All of them noticed her immediately. She was in a devastating shimmering royal blue gown, and laughing.

"Hi! What happened?"

"You called home."

"Nev called home, but I played the lullaby you taught me."

"His mom loved your 'one lesson performance.' Evidently, the entire town loved it, then the world loved it."

"Yipe!"

"I found four more guitar teachers for them and our two guitar makers are hiring people, to teach to make them, to fill orders still coming in. I'll be teaching four classes at BNU. It's one of five universities that added classes, and community centers and music stores are hoping I can find more teachers for them. Kellony Institute had a class, but it was classical and not acoustic. I've been patted on the back so many times I'm against the wall because it's getting tender. Our first 'big' export to your world is acoustic musical instruments, and they're sure nothing else would be as appropriate."

"Your back is pink."

"We do it as a bit of a tease, Blade. Here, it's the usual way to acknowledge a job well done. Billie turned for me to pat her back. It was a great example of the surprising little differences that make visiting every world fun, and an adventure."

"I'm going to find some quick-heal for it. People may not notice it's pink before they pat."

"It's not... Arguing would be silly. I'd wince and they'd feel bad because they didn't notice."

"Smart, beautiful lady. We're all jealous. Keep her out of pat position until I get back."

"We will."

"I will, Nev."

"Bard, she's our best chance to meet other beautiful, single women. So far, 'single' has been the missing part of that description."

"There are several who intend to assure you know they're here tonight, Case. They're all disappointed your leave was canceled."

"Shh, we're coming back. Billie said people need to see our 'house and garage ships,' so we can spread the word of how much they don't cost."

"Ships like ours would be quite expensive, but that's because of the luxury installations and furnishings, not the ship itself. A 'space house' with large cargo area attached, and I mean attached, would cost about what a house, with the same amenities and living space, currently does here."

"Attached?"

"Fields negate the need for the type of single unit construction that made cargo holds inside ships most practical. A cargo container, or platform for several, that attaches to the ship is now as practical in space as for haulers on gravways. They'll attached on top, not in back or below, because of the drive and a-grav. Many will still be built with cargo holds, but those will be more akin to light or mid-haulers and transports. Vast ships will be constructed in space, but they'll be passenger ships. That's probably where large cargo containers will be made too, just because they'll be big, not because they'll be heavy. Many will probably have power systems and a-grav, especially the smaller ones. That reduces the cost of handling. Those may be designed to hook on to a hauler."

"The materials and diminished need for shielding reduce the mass to move so much, everything would be cheaper to ship if ships weren't faster and didn't require far less human time."

"Traders will still trade, because they love the hunt for cargo that will sell well elsewhere, selling it, then finding another, but a lot of people will choose contract container delivery, many companies will deliver their own product, many shipping companies and delivery services will expand into space, and many will begin there."

"Stuff for back. I just learned ours is a little better for contusion and theirs a bit better for laceration. An information exchange began a half-second after I said that to an emtech. She wasn't pleased to think about why we had to develop better."

"We're all a little angry at ourselves, Blade, everywhere. A brutal oppressive government, four sick societies, two more worlds about to fold to them and it was starting here, and no one noticed. The one thing no one does is say, 'that's only two-and-a-third percent.' We think of the individual suffering and the stamping out of creativity in each child. We're disgusted with ourselves and a bit proud we are."

"It's a very civilized response. We know we're quite civilized because we waited until we didn't have to kill any innocents. That was always the reason, but we wouldn't have waited much longer. One incident somewhere, one act of abuse would have been one too many, and the people would have arisen, and bloody revolution would have raged around the world."

"Nev, you shocked her."

"No, Bard, he surprised me. The anger had to be there, but you're all so friendly and pleasant it's hard to see it in you. And you didn't kill them."

"We didn't kill all, or most. Seven who'd ordered the slaughter of ten to fifteen thousand, as a 'demonstration,' were executed. We don't know how many others were judged too dangerous to live, by those who had been their victims. We do know those were all who died. No one killed anyone just because they were gov or IS. They were injured by the corruption, too."

"If they considered hurting people fun, and screams and begging them to stop music, they're dead. We know that because they couldn't have changed to live peacefully among us, but we don't know who, how many, or who had too much proof they were too dangerous to live, and we don't want to."

"I think that's something we're all working to understand, Blade."

"Do you have a bug or animal you classify as vermin?"

"Several."

"Are any of them deadly?"

"One is poisonous enough to kill a pet or small child."

"When you spray, or whatever, to kill that deadly vermin, do you want to know how many you killed? Or just that they're all dead and your yards and families are safe? They had chosen to be deadly vermin. They had no human qualities. We don't want to know how many deadly things were in the yard, just that our families are now safe."

"Thank you. Twice. My back is definitely better. Would you like to meet some of my single friends."

"Please."

"He wants you to introduce us to them, so he has all your attention."

"Yes, please."

All of them met interesting women that night, and quietly told them they planned to be back in ten days. They also told them what time it was to them, so the ladies did understand why they ended the evening at the end of the ball.

The next day they attended a luncheon in the southern hemisphere and several time zones east, to celebrate the production of the first magic trowel. They wore their winter-weight uniforms, and their lunch was served at eleven twenty-three ship time. They spread the word a bit more, then called Tatton to come meet the builder who had bought the first trowel. They went to the space portal, so she could go back with him, before the luncheon ended.

Bard got another lesson from Wendy, then they left Mandolin to meet their ships at sixteen eighteen ship time. They had a somewhat early dinner and started the test bank at seventeen thirty. Thirty-nine minutes after they went to bed the second night, Kail called from the clinic. He'd waited a while, but they still spent over an hour in the midst of Nev's family, everyone from the neighborhood and several of Kail's and Lillen's friends, who "couldn't stay away," even though they knew the clinic would be packed.

Day helped. He set up his party tent in the parking lot and got enough out of the waiting room two other happy families could also get in.

Carla Terschell was born at two fifty-two Teal Valley time. As they left the trip lounge, Nev touched his shoulder. Bard and Blade hugged him and promised "soon." His shoulder had been damp, but the evidence of the happy, loving tears of his family had been left behind.

### Chapter Thirty-two

They finally finished the longer test bank the fourth day. They'd made short trips to check their ships each day. That day, they docked them and rearranged furniture to make places for their pianos. They also built ship-type guitar stands. They began to slow and turn the flagship when they got back to it. They computed the course carefully and then began getting ready to move at thirteen twenty-two the next day.

In the morning, they checked everything and began to accelerate the flagship and slow their still-docked ships, then they visited the clinic. They were there when Kail, Lillen and Carla came out of the maternity ward to go home. They were the only family 'present.' Kail and Lillen were "sneaking Carla out early," so the family and friends didn't all gather again.

The five returned to the ship at twelve nineteen, checked everything and had lunch, then cleaned the galley well and packed Nev's brewer, teas, coffee roaster and coffees. At thirteen twenty-two, they began the docking maneuver. It didn't take long. At thirteen twenty-six, they successfully matched, locked and checked cargo hatch docking.

The first things they moved were the two pianos. The small one was simple. They carried it through to the other ship, put it in the spot they'd created for it and secured it. The grand was not simple. It barely fit with the packing case on it, but they decided they'd rather work to maneuver, than take it off before they got it to the 'living room.'

The piano made them even more pleased they'd decided to put 'odd' stairs down to it from the back of the bridge lounge. The galley across from the stairs, and bedrooms behind them, would make the living room a more used room. There were four, smaller, bedrooms behind the living room. They didn't expect to take guests on journeys often, if at all, but they did plan parties and all agreed places for bodies were a good idea. Case and Stats had three spare bedrooms in their ship.

When they got the piano to the living room, they unpacked it, put the legs on, secured it, then called the piano tuner. They'd gotten most items out of the hold when she called to tell them she was about to arrive. They stopped to watch her tune both pianos, with the equipment Bard had bought for the grand, to learn to do it. When she finished, she played a moment.

"It's mental! I do that wrong because I think it wrong. I've been blaming my left wrist for it for years."

"Qualified. Your wrist may be part of it, but you now know the expectation is there."

"Yes, Nev, I do. Did you find a piano teacher?"

"Yes, on Verdantine. They don't have a daytrip facility yet, but we're going to start with basic comp instruction and checks by comm. We do plan to go to Verdantine, but he'll be coming to the ship before we get there. A friend we made there said he's not the finest performer, but he's the best teacher, and the finest performers agree."

"The two aren't mutually exclusive, but musical talent isn't teaching talent. Too often, people assume a great performer would be a great teacher. Most often, they're pretty good. I was a little nervous about this, but it's wonderful. I must..."

"Go. She'll say goodbye before she makes the return decision next time."

"And called to apologize, Nev."

"Yes, Blake, she... Answer comm."

"I learned to get back."

"That happens to many people the first time."

"I'm a repeater. I decided in the middle of saying goodbye three times."

"I don't feel quite as silly, Stats. I'm going to tell all my friends it was physically comfortable, lots of fun, and make plans to go many places."

"Most people expect discomfort or disorientation the first time, but word gets around the expectation is just nervousness, because it is the first time."

"I'll definitely help spread it, Blade. Have fun learning music."

"We will. Thank you. Comm out. Let's get the rest moved."

"Definitely, Bard. I want a cup of tea, and the brewer isn't here yet."

"Let's finish the cargo hold and get the stuff they don't want out first, Nev, then we'll change to a forward hatch dock."

"I'll start our brewer, Nev."

"Thank you, Stats. I think."

"We'll have yours all set up before the next one, Nev."

"I believe you, Bard, because I'll stop to do it if it isn't."

"I knew once was all it could be postponed."

They finished the cargo hold, took out the cloak and weapon systems the space corps didn't want, then changed hatches. Emptying their quarters and living space didn't take long. Neither did cleaning the ship. They did that before they released the flagship because they preferred to use their usual equipment, and they'd find anything missed, dropped or left on a shelf by anyone. They found four items, put them in a container and Bard called Danny.

"One pair of earclips, a hair clip and a thin gold chain recovered in cleaning. None in quarters, but the earclips were by Ronnie's bridge station."

"The chain is mine. I thought I lost it in Lodestar. The hair clip is probably Ronnie's too, but we all... Dawn's. Drand gave it to her and she hasn't noticed it's missing or she'd be in tears."

"We're going to send them on the ship. It's the only way."

"Understood. Work?"

"We finally finished the longer tests."

"I think 'how long is this thing' is part of it, and they had to change the length."

"Reasonable deduction. We miss you. All of you. And we miss home. Almost a year."

"Sixteen days. Mike, Loren and Elise should have a son two days before. Kendra is due any time."

"This is the last thing to do. Top right drawer at the helm station. Next time you see me on this ship I won't be here, for a while."

"Bard, don't test it out there. Please."

"Danny, it's where we are."

"Please. We'll figure out how when it's done. Please."

"I don't feel like anything will go wrong."

"Neither do I, but I'm expecting a surprise."

"We won't try it out here."

"Thank you."

"Thank you. Comm out. Answer comm. Hi, Stats."

"That's an interesting expression."

"Danny got a promise no test out here, right after she said she expects a surprise."

"We won't test it out here. Set the comp to like us and leave. I'm ready to trip over and start it home, before Nev yells it's teatime."

"Comm out. Computer, answer and open comm channel for calls from personnel list one, and location list four. Forward general comm to Bard of Braighton Blade, if no personnel aboard. Forward personal for personnel and comm code list one-a to Bard of Braighton Blade, personal for personnel and comm code list one-b to The Case is all Stats, if personnel are not aboard. Commence."

"Forward routine established."

Bard walked off the flagship and smiled at his feeling of farewell. He hit the hatch seal pad when he walked through. Nev commed Stats and told him they were clear. Forty-nine seconds later, the flagship curved away. Stats and Case came through the hatchway from their ship, Castanetta, a few moments later. Case sniffed the air.

"He's not wasting any time getting Nightwing Dancer homey."

"He's baking bread, has a timbypod casserole in the oven and created a new tea blend just for the occasion."

"Sounds like we should help you 'sprawl' in the galley, Blade."

"We were waiting for you to come over. I think he plans to send fresh-baked bread to Netty, so she smells as homey as Dancy, Stats."

"Netty and Dancy, I like it."

"He's really working on it, Case. He's homesick, I think."

"We are."

"We are?"

"Yes, Case, we are. Nev knows we all are and is working to make the ships home too, so here or there, we're home."

"You're right, Stats. We're homesick. I felt a pang both times you said, 'home.' Ow."

"I think driving our cars will help. A sailing yacht."

"What every well-stocked traveling mansion should have, Blade. I loved Larry's expression when he listed it. Mmm, smells wonderful in here."

"I like the breadmaker, Case. It's as easy as Loren said. I'll get one for home."

"Pang."

"Homesickness is epidemic, Nev. We discovered we all have it, as soon as we weren't too busy to notice. You're doing something to affect a long-term treatment. We sincerely appreciate the effort. And the aromas."

"Thanks, Blade. I didn't think I was the only one, just worst case."

"We're going to start doing something about it this evening, install the systems in both ships and set up the physics lab."

"That wasn't what I had in mind, Bard, but I do want that long-term solution too."

"They're just prep, Nev. When they're done, we'll go home to work."

"We have something else to do that's been postponed for some time, fragrances."

"The piano tuner smelled faintly floral. I'm glad Kail told us about it. I'd have been real worried."

"This is going to be a very interesting process."

"And a fun first use for our chem lab. After we go home?"

"Sometime in the next few hours, we'll go to greet another baby, Nev. Jace and Day are about to be daddies too."

"I don't think they'll call us for those, Bard, to tell us, but not to be there. Neither will be in Teal Valley and they're their mothers' family."

"You're probably right, Stats, but I'll like it if they do. I like greeting new babies."

"Answer comm. Time?"

"The doctor said within the hour, Nev. Kendra said our son is starting off sensibly, not in the middle of the night. Finish your tea. I'm pacing and they're running out of places people can get their toes out of danger."

"I'm sure they are, and there's a parking lot party too."

"A rather large one, Bard. The town office just closed and no one went home. Comm out."

There were four people there they didn't expect to see, Larry's and Kendra's parents. Kail was there "for all three of us" and working on "introduce without overrun." Bard walked over and gave all four hugs and told them they'd done a "fantastic, spectacular, incredible, unbeatable" job as parents and he'd wanted to tell them so, since he'd met their children, then he asked for "terrible twos" stories to tease with and the neighborhood 'assembled' around them quickly. Larry said, "Dad, you wouldn't." His father grinned widely and his mom began to giggle.

Blade raised an eyebrow, put a finger against Larry's cheek and announced he was blushing. Everyone in the room applauded, Larry groaned and his dad told the story of their perfect son escaping nursery and diaper and leaving a large deposit right outside the chapel doors at the huge wedding of the daughter of his mother's employer, which smeared in perfect arcs when the doors were opened for the procession from the chapel. A nurse opened the door and said, "Very close," and Larry yelled, "I love you, Kendra," and escaped the peals of laughter.

Bard, Blade, Nev, Case and Stats went back to the ships for dinner after greeting Vincent Cartier. Larry called them, as they were putting it on the table.

"Thank you. It worked magnificently. We have house guests and they're running up the comm bill bragging they're grandparents. Neither of us realized they wanted us back in their lives. They didn't. We've got grandparents coming too. They were still afraid they'd identify me. Kail told them I had an unshakable identity and people would say, 'Of course he saw it coming and did what he could to slow it,' if they knew."

"It's true."

"He wouldn't say something that wasn't. You're missed."

"We're missing. Were going to finish getting moved in tonight, then we're going to spend a lot more time there."

"Several of us got our evaluations."

"They said?"

"We'd traversed Hell and emerged victorious. We're all above the eighty-fifth percentile on psi talent. Kail is above ninety-fifth. Silky, Jason and Bance came in at ninety, ninety-two and ninety-six. Alden's eighty-seven. Other talents are spread. Kail's a bit embarrassed he's got so many. So is Case's dad. My talents are 'grouped.' Stats' mom's and dad's are 'polkadots.' Overlay the graphs and you about get a dotted line. Some things we don't have. I should be supervised when in the kitchen and watched closely in a workshop. According to those evaluations, Mike and Loren found just right for themselves. The rest of us knew we did. Essa, Lillen, Elise and Kendra are looking forward to taking them. We told them they'd realize why we were all sure they were a little odd. We're waiting to see what the nine of you, who took them over, did."

"We all started immediately and took a day-night off."

"And everyone else started after. The second set are enough different I think they're going to work with both."

"We noticed they were longer."

"Yes, Blade, they are."

"They really are different."

"I'm planning a trip, after the evaluations come back, and our son is older. Basically, when I can stand to leave them to go to work."

They installed the systems from the flagship and the one from another ship they'd kept. The rest were all just components in parts bins, and some elements. They'd emptied all of the element bins from the flagship into theirs and wiped the record. They didn't actually know what they had for the physics lab until they unpacked it. When they did, they realized Deely had known they hadn't every time they'd seen her at the clinic. They called and Nev, Blade, Case and Stats told her she was "fantastic," "beautiful," "perfect," "wonderful." Bard said, "I like you, too," and she burst into laughter.

She'd seen the lab design, knew what-goes-there and sent it all. They didn't have to build anything. She'd also sent elements not usually found in recycle bins.

They finished setting up the lab at two fourteen and went to bed in their space homes for the first time. Bard awoke sure he'd had odd dreams, but he couldn't remember them.

They checked on the flagship that morning, then officially 'turned her over.' Bard left her when a space corps lieutenant arrived on her. He felt the same slight nostalgia when he returned to their ships, and smiled. She was under Corps command and they had the duty of getting her home. He'd shown them the 'lost and found' and told them to whom the items belonged. They'd return them. When he walked out of their trip lounge, there was a surprise waiting.

"Billie!"

"Hi, Bard! Aunt Wendy and I came for our first daytrip! It's fun!"

"Yes, it is. Wendy's giving a guitar lesson?"

"Yes, she had to start right away, because she has to go back when she gets them caught up to you and everybody some more."

"You don't?"

"Not really."

"You need an invitation extension, make longer."

"Yes. I can't have lunch with you, but I can keep you company. It smells like good lunch."

"You can taste the bread Nev's baking, then we'll give you a big slice to eat, when we get to Mandolin."

You tell me how to taste without eating, because I don't know that."

"Put a tiny bit in your mouth and roll it around on your tongue, until you get all the taste. If it's little enough, nobody notices you sort of wipe it off the end of your tongue when you're done. Let's comm your mom, then I'll show you our ship house, until Wendy calls me and we'll continue after our lesson."

"Comm code Tripsy Dippens."

Wendy was pleased. All of them had worked on chords, and got the strings pressed to frets, so the sound was clean. They didn't learn instantly, but they learned fast and practiced correctly. They were also physically precise. They were the best students she'd had. That day she taught them an ancient folk song and discovered all had good voices, and all could sing harmony. They weren't sure they agreed with that, but did know they'd get better with practice.

Billie's 'why tour' of the two ships and her visit were fun for all of them. She went back at fourteen forty. She said she wanted to stay, but it was because she liked having all their attention and she was pretty sure they had other stuff to do.

Bard told her they were planning a daytrip to visit Nev's new baby sister. She extracted a promise he'd take her to visit their other house, see BNU and meet Nev's baby sister, while they waited for confirmation her dad was at the daytrip tour facility. When it came, she said goodbye then disappeared. The five of them went to their trip lounges and went to Teal Valley.

They didn't go to the mine that day. They visited friends and family, Nev's family. Drand took Case and Stats "around." His 'side' had been relocating to Veil Lake "in a steady stream," as they found places to buy or rent until homes were built.

They weren't clustered as Kail's side of the family were, but there were many more of them. Milla's sister and her husband's parents and grandparents, and their daughter, son-in-laws' parents, grandparents and great-grandparents had all decided to move there, too.

Case and Stats learned their extended families were moving to the area, along with Dawn's, when Case's dad called Drand to remind him to "tour" Teal Valley. They were rather relieved the elder members of their families had decided they liked the idea, the designs and the amenities of the condo complex being converted to all owner-resident, with older couples and singles in mind.

The complex wanted on-site power generation, field wall and cap and precipitation 'catches,' so the complex water bill would also be small. Case, Stats and Drand designed the system and gave them the manufacturing settings for the projectors while they were at the office finding out what they wanted, then they found them a construction company to do the work at a nice price. They were feeling rather smug about the quickie, until they got calls from three more complexes before they got home.

Danny found a small engineering company delighted to learn the technique and with the addition to their business. The two engineers flew to Teal Valley immediately and Case, Stats and Drand taught them how to do it on the three complexes. Bard, Nev and Blade showed them how to compute projector sets, if they got projects that weren't boundaried by parking lots and roads. Case and Stats complained they still hadn't spent any time at home when they went back to the ships at twenty-three fifty.

In the morning, they did a "real workout," practiced guitar, then went to Teal Valley. Bard, Nev and Blade laughed when Case said, "Don't tell anyone we're home," and he and Stats ran out the door. They did understand. They wanted to be home too.

None of them hid. They mowed their lawns, trimmed their hedges, washed their cars and got homes ready for summer. That evening, their West Side friends came over to 'sit around' with them.

Barrett brought someone special. They were in love and he was about to change houses, but he wasn't moving far. He'd met her when she bought the house behind and one over from theirs. She didn't live there yet. She was BNU's ceramics instructor and had a piece of term left at Baskinsun Art Institute in the southern hemisphere of Citrine.

Donce and Chal both had ladies too, but they were as confirmed single as the men. They too were still living elsewhere, but they'd both bought duplexes. One was on the campus facilities staff. The other was a botany professor. They'd met when they were moving things into across-the-street duplexes. Donce had met his lady when Kail referred her to him for "non-hype" recommendations for vends and suppliers. His former usual companion had met an assistant soccer coach and he was expecting a wedding invitation.

Several other West Siders had met interesting people and the area was rapidly changing to young-family-owned, as Tarn had predicted not quite a year before. Long-time summer people were buying places and making them primary residences, as the elders had predicted at Winter Carnival. The town wasn't growing so fast or so much it would change it greatly, but BNU had added to its year-round attraction and job opportunities.

The summer influx would be less because so many people had decided to purchase former rentals, but the harvesters would have no difficulty finding places. Many duplex tenants would happily sublet furnished places for off-term. There would be fewer of those looking for places in a year, when the four ski towns had summer attractions and many students stayed through to work harvest.

Roundin Lake and Ambertown were both benefiting from the reduction of summer rentals available in Teal Valley and Veil Lake, happily advertising they had them, and upgrading and expanding a bit, too. Talon Peak and Willaville were also growing a bit, but every town and city on the world was. Obstetricians and birth-aides were very busy people.

Early the next morning, the Department of Education released its enrollment projections and the placement test bank. PISA had stopped arguing BNU didn't belong in four-A quite some time before, but they hadn't released a play schedule. That day, they finally did, and also gave permission for team formation practices. People in the region weren't happy they'd waited so long, but had assured all hopeful player families had harvest aid.

Bard, Nev and Blade arrived in the midst of a region-wide celebration and "moving frenzy." Dorms, housing associations, fraternities, sororities, and six-plex units opened doors for incoming athletes. The permission was for every autumn sport, and the schedule was as hard as they could make it.

BNU had scheduled placement testing for every new student by noon. The Education Department had given all who tested at graduate level the option of choosing to be classified as fourth-term students. The decision wasn't for the benefit of BNU. The request petition had come from Lovington University in southeastern Garnet. The psychology department had gotten backing for their opinion, many self-educated students would benefit emotionally from a year of undergraduate environment, from Helene University on Verdantine.

The group didn't go to the mine that day either. They ran around and added muscle and know-how to aid arriving students. Both Student Housing and Campus Facilities had them, Dandy and other coaches, Teal Valley residents students and last-term students from Teal Valley, Willaville and Veil Lake secondaries, plus many other volunteers, getting everything up and running and people moved in, one hundred thirty-four days before first term began.

A lot who weren't athletes were moving in early, as well. Housing associations, dorms, Teal and Gold Student Center and others needed people, especially in kitchens. Most of those would be resident staffed, and residents, who could, were getting there to staff them. Very few had made last-minute decisions to move. They'd been waiting for the doors to open, many with cars, transports or light haulers packed.

The frenzy continued the next day, but nine weren't in it. That day, they went to the mine. The two ships were only two days from Mandolin, people were wondering when they'd begin projects and they still hadn't begun on fragrances. They didn't finish that day or the next, but the third morning they finished the design and began building the tech. The two ships were twenty-eight minutes from Mandolin when they finished the first unit.

"Now how do we test it?"

"We don't have time to even figure that out right now, Danny. We have to land our ships and do 'social promotion' this evening."

"Maybe what we should do is build another one and test it ship to ship, on the ground, there."

"Ahg! We won't be there if you do that, Blade, but I got less nervous about testing when you suggested it."

"So did I, Ronnie."

"Everyone agree with Ronnie and Stats?"

"I think I'm just an echo of Ronnie's 'Ahg,' Nev."

"I do understand, Dawn. Got to go land ships."

"And drive our cars."

"Ye...!"

"Nice work, Blade. You got both Nev and Case. Tease material for days. Bye!"

"Farewell."

"Bard?"

"One of those I-have-more-in-my-hand-than-I-know feelings, Danny. Like the trip chairs and fields, uses I'll see constantly for days, but I can't see how. This one stays here for now. See you all soon."

"Something is going to be a real surprise."

"If he doesn't see what it is, there's no doubt of that, Danny. Did you find out where Nev is on the book?"

"Too 'ridiculously busy' to read a line, Ronnie. I suspect they're all going to hit max speed to clear the schedule, very soon."

"That's supposed to be at least a half-year's work."

"Do you think it will be, Drand?"

"No, I think I'm going to be reminding them twelve years does make a difference and I need two more hours sleep to keep up days."

"You do?"

"No, Dawn, but Loren won't be following me around trying to figure out what he can do to replenish my overworked, under-slept body with two more."

"True."

### Chapter Thirty-three

Bard and Stats landed the ships. The other three were sitting in their cars. Stats 'made it' before he collapsed in laughter. He told Case he was crawling that way and he went back for him. He put him in his car. He really wasn't in any condition to drive his yet.

Nev and Blade were out of the 'garage' when Bard got there. The reasons why they left without him were standing in front of it. He whooped, drove out, jumped out and opened doors for Wendy and Billie, while the ship 'buttoned.'

Nev and Blade drove by and their passengers and "chaperones" waved. Bard followed them out the spaceport gates. Case and Stats followed him. Case called Nev.

"Where are we going?"

"The kids are getting us out before the business bunch have a chance to schedule 'ten days of social-commerce events the next three.' Granddad is a co-conspirator to give us some time off."

"We told Granddad you'd had about two days actually off since your New Year. He said that was his schedule and you hadn't worked to be elected to it. The 'upper crust' is arranging for you to show cars, boats, shuttles and ships to those who can appreciate and afford them, while you play places they do, no sales pitches needed. We're currently headed for a very social sporting event, a horse race with Nev's car as main attraction. Sorry, but 'numbered limited edition' on this one make it more their kind of thing than gorgeous and great. Those they can get."

"Understood. The ladies we met?"

"Will all find you. Wendy was just 'appointed company' for Billie. Don't be shocked if some of them introduce you to others. A whole bunch having a great time with one man with a great boat or car is a traditional way of reducing love-affair questions by society reporters. It also keeps money from looking snobbish. Janie Office Manager and Kathy Heiress are 'school chums' and show up at society parties and corner lunch counters together."

"Men?"

"Rugby teams, polo teams and so forth. Bunches of them run together too, but they never gang up on a woman. Our society is a little skewed on gender expectations. We know it and try to do something about it, but society reporters get more viewers with who's in her bed, than who's in his, and are not assisting. Basically, a woman's dress designer, hairstylist, and probable past lovers are all prominently noted, and the fact she's president of a successful company is an addendum they'll stick on if there's time for it. Men, that's noted first. We can't even figure out where it came from in our culture. It's an always-been-there and we can't find it in settlement groups."

"Comm add Larry. Hello, Daddy. I see you've been getting lots of diapering practice."

"He yells the instant he gets damp, Nev, and that's very frequently. You've got a puzzle furrow between your brows."

"They've got a culture skew on Mandolin they can't trace to the source, and the social casters have been exacerbating it, to the point young men and women avoid being seen in pairs and socialize in same-sex groups. A successful woman executive's chest measurement is more important than her company name. Men, business premier."

"That's what I needed. On it. Comm out."

"Uh, oh?"

"Yes, but I think most of it was, 'Uh, oh, he's about to yell for dinner,' not the culture here."

"Agreed. I've seen that look of new-daddy-desperate on Silky's face. I've also seen it on Day's and Jace's. Is Blade getting a brief? Wendy is not worried."

"He is and she isn't. About a year-and-a-half ago, a reporter asked her about love affairs. She asked him if he was as worried she'd die a virgin as her mother was. They don't bother her."

"Comm connect."

"Got it. They were close. Brenton Framer, second colonial governor, split news coverage with a legal cleaver. In an attempt to find personalities to interest an audience, the very new Mandolin society reporters focused on two businessmen and their new-fashion-industry-promoting wives. One son followed into business more than successfully, and one daughter and the son's wife, very glamorous non-working rich, were the social leaders for three decades. Transition to prurient speculation is pure market-share competition, about thirty years of it. The wealthy families put up with it because they were the only ones who reported social events to aid worthy endeavors. Political and business news are extremely factually reported. Political family private lives aren't really private, but no one speculates on what any family members are doing with anyone. They'll report they were lunching with, but never a hint there might have been a kiss, unless it was on cam. It's 'who women are with' because they're the social elite. The men are 'maintenance staff' prospects. That's why their business accomplishments are reported."

"It's actually in the reporting?!"

"Yes, and that's where it has to be changed. You have five who can help you do it fast."

"I want a vacation! How?"

"By being the most glamorous, interesting, genius 'Oh, but art is so much more fulfilling,' who-people-make-love-with-is-their-own-damn-business social news to ever hit the planet, Nev. Drive social cast viewer numbers through the roof and be interested in women for what they do, and say, not what they wear, or in their dads' business, unless they're execs. Pull men in. Find some who can be pure elegance getting in a sports car or riding a horse. Pull the groups together and hit society-supported charities' thrift shops for beachwear. Do personal style in beat-up clothes and kick their designers in the ass for men's clothes that make them look like sloppy-draped posts for women to lean attractively against. You couldn't do it fast, if it was based anywhere else in the culture. The women aren't discriminated against, or ignored in business or political reporting, but the attitude they should be decorative, not ambitious and fast-thinking is beginning to make mothers recommend literature and art as more appropriate degree choices than business and science."

"That's what we saw that scared us. Granddad's study bunch said it's gotten worse fast in the last twenty and we could have 'women don't belong in business' in thirty."

"I got the study-groups' data. They had the timeframe. Do you two know people to help?"

"Uh, oh."

"We have a lot of how-it-works-here to integrate, Case. You sort of get that with baby food if someone in the family is in planetary politics."

"I think it'll work, Sis."

"I know two men who can help."

"Case, Stats, are you ready to try this?"

"We have no idea what to do, but Stats is pulling references from Earth society news. I saw something in it. That one! We've got a society-news-darling rich boy as reference. Passing, recording to two and reference to three. This is exactly what you worked hard to avoid."

"Yes, it is. Larry, make sure people there know it's for a reason."

"To sell yachts all over space, especially Earth."

"Ow. If my granddad thumps my head, I'm passing it."

"You'll be spectacular, Nev. You have a muse to aid."

"Oh, thanks, Stats. Comm out. Comm connect split screen Bard and Blade."

"Yipe!"

"Blade, I am not worried about you pulling this off. Me, but not you."

"Wendy and Billie are working on who will help and who will be shocked lists. I'm working on finding something to hide under."

"Comm connect Granddad, code whopper dopper. They got Larry to help from where the study group got to. It's because of the casters and society being different news. They worked to be kind of boring, so it got worse and now it's just dresses and guesses about what they don't see. Larry put the admirals to work on it and we're all staff! Wendy's sending it for you when you can look. Uh, huh, they get drafted by everybody. Comm out."

"She's the only one who can get put straight through any time. Her grandmother chose her as the one to get the family rep access, when her grandfather was reelected."

"Grandma got calls from people who wanted her to interrupt him for politics stuff. I only get president stuff calls, like the river that moved."

"A seven-year-old-boy saw a cliff face fall in a river and divert it. He called her and her grandfather got flyers there to blast a ditch back to the riverbed above a small town."

"They named a street for Joey and I got to be in his parade."

"He deserved it and so did you. Nev, I have no personal style. I just wear clothes."

"I know, Bard. You're going to be a challenge."

"That's the perfect excuse for a thrift shop binge, Nev. You can't discover a personal style in a closet full of uniforms, but they did give an indication there's hope. He noticed he looked good in them."

"Actually, I noticed you did, Blade."

"Bard, you said, 'look good on all of us.' You had noticed you."

"Maybe I'm not hopeless."

"It will also help with our chemistry assignment."

"Chemistry assignment?"

"Nev's dad told us to create personal fragrances for ourselves, Rodney."

"It's a piece of my lack of personal style. I was shocked when I learned some people 'wear' a fragrance when they trip. I didn't realize anyone would carry the one they always wear as part of their personality. I have fragrances. They gave them to me. I wear them, when they suggest one. I had light blue, green and brown shirts, and dark blue, brown and black pants. Only the color was different. I wore what was on top. I had brown shoes. I wore them once a tenday, when I got to go outside to run around for an hour."

"Nev, Blade, you have assistance. Billie just got mad."

"He's been free one year and forty-three days since he was six, Billie. He knows so much because he spent all day, every day sitting at an Ed comp."

"Blade..."

"The children ask why, Bard. Your life is the answer that will teach them they are free, and we were not. No one could keep the government from doing that to a child on our world."

"It made her cry."

"I know, but she's the best help you could get to help fix her world. That's a piece of who you are she needs, to understand why it's going to take all of us to make who you are inside show on the outside."

"He's right, isn't he, Billie?"

"Yes, Aunt Wendy, and I can help most 'cause we're lots alike, and he's still a kid inside, where nobody could find him."

"It makes Blade and me real happy when he does something a little silly-kid, Billie. I still hope Blade will someday, but it's not a big hope. He couldn't be a kid and stay alive, not even inside. I'm the only one of us who got to be a kid. My uncle Drand made sure I had somebody to play with. He sort of stayed a kid just for me. He's twelve years older than I am."

"That's like Brenda and me. Sometimes she's just a kid for me too. Warren doesn't have to work so hard at it yet."

"She noticed I have to work at it some."

"She notices everything, Warren. Turn left on the next road, Nev. You'll be going back north in a minute, but this was a lot faster way to get you out of the spaceport than the east gate."

"I don't mind a little longer drive at all, Brenda."

"Becky, who did you come up with?"

"Landon Brant and Norman Martindale."

"That's who I got."

"Stace Quinn might be a possibility."

"Rodney, he's as... bland as gets."

"Yeah, Becky, better at it than anyone else."

"Where does this speculation come from?"

"His hands."

"He's right. If you watch his hands, you know he's got a big grin inside."

"I've noticed his hands too, Billie."

"You notice everybody's hands, Aunt Wendy."

"Landon is twenty-six. Norman is twenty-five. Stace is twenty-one."

They took the road that curved back north, then one northeast. They were approaching the foothills east of the city. Brenda told Nev they were going in the back gate of the racetrack, which was the one the "society," who lived in the foothills, used. She also told him that horse racing on Mandolin was an amateur, not professional, sport. There was betting, but it was between individuals, not organized. They rode horses for pleasure and they were bred for that, not racing.

He learned more about their culture, as the kids explained their attitude toward gambling, then addiction of any type. They dealt with it rather successfully and their criminal element was small. There wasn't anywhere on the world it appeared to be the way to financial success. People who sold addictive drugs were considered to have a contagious mental illness, and paying for them was a symptom and proof you'd already caught it.

They had two casino districts, but those had no gambling machines and their major attractions were shows, great food and luxury accommodations. Personal betting with a friend, card games and raffles and bingo games to raise funds for good causes were common. Nev asked about "bingo." They promised to show him the most popular game of chance on their world.

After they entered the gates, which were open, they traversed a tall flowering-hedge-lined curving drive. When the hedge on the right ended, Nev whooped. There was a bit of stand seating on the other side, but the area to the right of them was wide lawn with people 'picnicking' among gorgeous cars.

"No parking lot!"

"It's around the curve a little farther. If you don't have a real show-off car, you park there and walk across. It's shorter walk than drive."

"They're making room for you guys fast, right in the middle."

"It appears we we're expected, but center parking isn't common."

"If everyone's seen your car, it doesn't belong center stage. You'll like ours too."

"Gorgeous."

"That's Landon. That's Norman. The one very obviously dressed like 'everybody,' following 'everybody' is Stace."

"Blue shirt, too coordinated pants, socks, shoes?"

"Too coordinated. He's always that way."

"But his hands give him away."

"Very precise, never flutter, never adjusts to pick up a goblet or fork. Gestures small and neat. His posture is always perfect too. I think Rodney's right. He's your super-elegant being precisely the social norm."

"Does anyone use shortened or call names here?"

"Very personal-group-limited. Landon and Norman's rugby teammates call them Land and Norm."

"Does Stace have brothers or close cousins in this bunch?"

"No."

"He's Quinn. Comm connect Bard, Blade and Case mobile. The boys are Wren and Rod. Girls are Bren and Becks. Wendy is Frets. Comm out."

"She'll love it!"

Wendy was laughing when Bard parked. Billie was deciding if she was Aunt Frets or just Frets and Bard was assisting. They decided "just Frets" as they got out. He walked around and opened the back, then touched the control pad and the camp kitchen rose, extended and unfolded.

The Land Dragon was designed to get to great places roads, and IS, didn't go, and aid in enjoying them for days, or for a real party for a bunch. If they'd brought the Wander, too, they could have provided food and drink for the large group for a long party. Nev opened the systems covers of the Muse, walked over and began blending teas from the stock in the Dragon.

"You're blending the temptea?"

"I have an idea for the not quite as luscious long-dried."

"Loop blossom?"

"A pinch to enhance and smooth the blend. Let's see how I did."

"You'll get famous again if this all northwest region tea is as good for export as your smile says you think it will be."

"Caught. Taste here, order shipped."

"Excuse me, please. Are you Stace Quinn?"

"Yes."

"Billie, Rod, Wren, Becks, Bren and Frets said you do I'm-totally-average-find-someone-interesting-for-a-cam-shot with such style, that the only way anyone would realize you're elegant is by watching your hands. Your costume is superb for the part. Mine is clothes-go-on-body-before-breakfast. Your social casters are shoving your gender equality in the waste cycler. We're supposed to blow the lid off 'males are only support posts for women, whose purpose is be beautiful,' and kick your designers in the ass to stop it, and these guys only hope I'm not hopeless. Since your world drafted us, I'm drafting you, him, and him to help them figure out if it's even possible I can do personal style, or I should stick with looking at weather and putting on matching uniform. Quinn?"

Billie told Bard her mom said if you didn't give people time for blinks in the middle, they did them all at the end. Bard said he'd noticed that. Nev lost his 'lean' on the Dragon, fell on the grass and laughed. Frets sank down to sit beside him, leaned on the Dragon and laughed. Blade had obviously heard. He was laying by his car.

Quinn didn't really blink long, considering the size and content of the info dump. As soon as he stopped, he asked for more information. Bard leaned in the Dragon and brought the study-group's report up on screen, then Quinn leaned in and read fast. When he finished, he told Bard he understood it quite personally. He'd had his "expected" business degree twenty-nine days. Bard asked him what he'd have preferred.

"About anything."

"You've been doing exactly as expected because it was the known survival method."

"It was the only respectable option for a young man in a wealthy family. I'm expected to select an appropriate junior executive position and rapidly show I can handle a senior executive position, in one of the family-owned companies. I didn't make a great friend from a nice middle-income family. None of us would use someone to fulfill that expectation, but several of us are on rugby teams with men who know we need the association. Since we aren't snobs, they're quite willing to aid in keeping the society casters from driving a wedge between society families and everyone else."

"But you don't really meet girls, because even talking to them puts their beds in cam focus."

"We're marrying later and arranged marriage might already be the norm, if political functions didn't give us some opportunity for close personal contact. That hasn't spread yet, but one boy with a group of young women is becoming a too-common sight at secondary student gathering places. That needs to be ended before one girl of the group always sitting next to the boy becomes uncommon."

"Are you ready to help?"

"In any way I can. It's definitely going to be more fun than being drafted to prepare a lawsuit settlement proposal, or to meet a warfleet."

"If it's not fun, it won't work."

Nev handed them cups of tea and watched hands, then faces. He saw what Rod had seen in the way Quinn took the cup, and the difference from the way Bard did. He saw his success with the tea blend in their faces. He watched more hands as he gave cups of tea to many more people, both men and women, and watched them cluster in same-sex groups.

Case and Stats had collected Landon and Norman, told them Bard had drafted them and put them in Case's car to read the report. Nev watched their hands as they took cups. Blade caught his eye and nodded. He'd seen elegance too. Nev doubted he realized his own grasp of a cup was more so.

He wasn't looking forward to attracting cams, but he was anticipating "kicking their designers in the ass." It was very obvious the male body was considered irrelevant, if not unaesthetic. None of the clothes actually complimented the men's very good physiques. Sexy was non-existent. Blade saw his sudden smile and moved in to talk.

"Realization?"

"Bard is sexy."

"No doubt of that. You found the starting place, for everybody."

"This year's beach fashion for women is various-colored patches and strings under tight lace bodysuits or shorts and jackets. The lace replaces last year's net. For men, it's shapeless, baggy, knee-length pants, under crewneck pullover, opaque tents, with elbow-length sleeves. Chartreuse replaces mustard yellow as fashionable color and both pants and tents are longer and baggier."

"Larry obviously saw it. Their society casters are even lazier than the designers. They don't wait to hear what plans are. They call and ask which of two or three dates people will be having specific types of parties. That way they can copy previous reports in advance and just change dress colors, and names of who's in whose bed. They probably do that in advance and tell the cam ops who to get in images together."

"I'm realizing why they're so sure the alliance would've taken them over. They're already being forced into following a pattern they don't like."

"This will be easier than I expected."

"It will?"

"Reluctance is disappearing. You're getting disgusted and Bard's getting mad."

"So are you."

"I know, but it still surprises me I'm looking for an excuse to take off my shirt."

Bren, Becks and the boys were working on groups. The boys were over, under and in the cars with every car-crazy bunch. Bren and Becks led girls to "let our little brothers show off." The car-crazy girls really appreciated the excuse.

Case and Stats were the focus of attention of groups with the women they'd met. Eventually, they got them bunched with men, talking rugby and soccer, around the cars.

Shortly after the races started, one of the society casters made an error. She asked a young woman if she and a man were "still lovers," and Nev heard.

"Don't answer! It was a loaded question and intended to 'prove' speculation about your personal relationships. Comm message Granddad. If one of these so-called society casters speculates about our personal relationships with women, buy the network and replace the disgusting gossip-monger, using people to make money, with a journalist. End message."

"Beautiful!"

"Thank you, Bren. Maria, tell me more about the stock feed you developed to reduce sensitivity to blisterfly bites."

"Injection wasn't giving us the steady-state we needed, and we had post-injection renal inflammation in six percent of the horses, twice yearly."

"Ooh, not good."

"Minor, but the potential for damage was there."

Bard talked materials with two young women. Blade talked math with three. Case and Stats talked construction with a mixed group. Frets talked daytrip commuting with a mixed group. Becks, Rod, Wren, Landon and a mixed group examined and discussed every system and artistic design aspect of the Muse. Quinn and Norman sniffed and tasted every tea in the Dragon, then blended a tea.

Nev knew it had something in it that hadn't come from the Dragon stock immediately. They grinned and led him to a patch of ground cover in a flower bed. Norm plucked some of the little round leaves and rolled them between his fingers. Quinn said they had no idea if it was available as a tea. They'd just wanted minty and knew it was and nothing toxic to anything would be planted there. Nev gave them both pats on the back.

After the races, four of them with short breaks between, the five men, Frets and their young companions followed a number of cars up into the foothills. They weren't far south of the road to Kelston when they reached the home of Quinn's family. They'd just arrived when the flyer from Dancy landed. Dandy got out of it.

"Danny's bringing Stats his car."

"Did you ask for your car?"

"No, Case, but I wished for it."

"That explains it."

"Why else are you here?"

"Your five younger companions have been invited to a play in West Side Park. The two eldest have also been invited to a dance sponsored by Veil Lake Secondary. This is the first play of the season at the park, and was written, and will be performed by, five West Side kids, ages five to nine. The dance at Veil Lake Secondary features the band Broadbond. Joel and Gant, Nev's cousins, said the band is great and they suspect you'd really like to go to a dance where nobody who cares your granddad's president knows you're there."

"Bren, you don't have to go home to get ready. You wear what you decide is right when you get there, anyway."

"I forgot that, Billie."

"They're going from our ship?"

"Yes, Bard. Billie's grandmother is 'sneaking off' to see the play, as well, and someone will be aboard while they are. Bance said tell you they'll record it, when you started looking wistful."

"Their last play was lots of fun, Billie. You'll be going to our house first."

"I'll wait for my tour until you're there, Bard."

"Thank you. I didn't know that was a big piece of my wistful. Let's go to the next West Side kids play together."

"Yes! If Mommy says I can go on a date."

The group was still laughing when Danny arrived in Stats' car. She was wearing worn-to-white brown work pants cut off to be shorts, an old white button-front shirt, with the tails tied to be a halter, white slippers with ribbons that wrapped around her calves and tied below the knee, and a beaded headband. A beaded pouch hung from a white ribbon around her waist. Dandy was wearing what he always did to work around his house; a half-open mag-front shirt with the sleeves ripped off, near worn-out camp shorts and a BNU cap, on backwards.

Danny pulled a hair tie out of the beaded pouch and handed to Bard, then gave Nev a handful of one facet coins out of it. Bard said he appreciated not "eating more hair" and Nev's said he'd "stock the Muse next time" and began handing out cefas.

Bard got a hug from Billie. The other kids said goodbye and got on the flyer. Just before she closed the flyer door, Danny broadly winked. Five men and Frets burst into laughter. She'd met Danny and Dandy on her trip to BNU.

"Not a word!"

"That's our princess, Frets. You there, Quinn?"

"No, Nev, I went with her. Comm connect, Grandma Jeanine. Have two of those cargo container ships built. Start a shoppers shipping service. Liberty Gem to here, here Liberty Gem. Ship-to addy on both worlds. Buy trip chairs for there staff. Charge by size, not weight. Fragile insured only. Deliver for any world here, from any world here to there. Do it fast and first. Carry other 'til busy, then contract ships. First suggestion for other; power store towers. That's my contribution to family business. I retire. I don't want to run it. I don't want to talk it. The only thing I'm sure I want to do with my life is not that. No, it's not wasted. I'm sure I don't want to spend even a year doing it. At the house with about forty friends. Probably figuring out where to get clothes that don't look like boys are wearing bags and girls belong in a brothel. Comm out. She was laughing too hard to talk anyway."

"She didn't push you to 'do' business."

"No, she said I was stubborn enough to put up with it, and she thought I was smart enough to realize that was dumb. She's the only real business-oriented person in the family. Why did they bring a fifth car and take the children?"

"Probably because of what's in the car. Stats' car is not a sports car."

"The best sedan."

"With capacious cargo space."

"Going to see what they brought us?"

"Yes, Nev. Quinn pointed out the children are gone."

"The president's grandchildren are gone."

"Quinn, shut the gates."

"Comm connect Q. Shut the gates. Comm connect mom. Where is everyone? Call before you come home. Because I was drafted and the fleet admiral told me to close the gates. No, Mom, their world is fine. Comm out."

"You intended to worry her?"

"Yes, Frets. It'll make it much easier for Grandma Jeannine. She'll tell my parents I still know what I'm doing, or wouldn't have been drafted. They'll be sure she knows what I'm doing and whatever's wrong is getting fixed. Convoluted, but that's my family."

"They have a great deal of confidence in you."

"I earned it, Frets, as you did. You're the one your family is sure will 'get it fixed.' We've been very careful not to pull you out of the loose political association into our mess. We're labeled promiscuous and some of us have made love, usually at least once by the time we're twenty-five. One reason we don't close our gates is fear of reports of orgies. You took care of that nicely, Nev. Private comm message and 'if one,' and neither threat nor personal, quite accurate, opinion could be used against you in a legal fashion. Since your family could, and would, buy a network to dump someone using people, this time it's safe to close the gates."

"You're abused. When those casters walk toward you, you tense, just as we did when an IS officer walked toward us. Sometimes IS weren't choosing a victim. The casters always are. The abuse is emotional, not physical, but it's still abuse."

"Thank you, Blade. That's the word never said that should have been shouted years ago, but I doubt anyone would have listened. I want to dress like he was."

"Who supports the designers who do stuff like chartreuse produce bags."

"Political function formal occasions provide most sales income, Bard. 'Bag' hasn't, and probably won't, move into formal. Gowns are less revealing or they wouldn't sell for those."

"So it's primarily casual wear that's not worn."

"Our clothes don't get much notice except at formal affairs."

Bard and Nev had expected clothes. That wasn't what they found. Bard whooped and yelled for Blade, then he and Nev began assembling. Frets and Quinn were helping by the time Blade got there. They had 'floating' scooters made in a physics lab. They also had helmets and knee, elbow and shin guards, and wrist braces.

"The wheels on the bottom are friction generators, Blade. They charge the power store. These things will float, drop, float, drop and they're going to be fun to learn to control and use."

"Comm connect, Danny. Who invented these? Nev's grin says he knew. Definitely. Comm out."

"Drand and Dawn."

"Yes, Nev. Larry said we needed a toy 'every big kid wanted' that gave us a 'costuming excuse,' to really change fashion."

"The wheels 'freewheel' with this control down, Blade. That will give time to get up to good speed before they start drag to generate power. A-grav is these four disks, together or separately. That's going to be interesting. It'll give banking on turns if controlled well. All controls are press pads under fingers and thumbs. There are no brakes and thruster is your foot. They're scooters. They'll float about... three to four minutes max, depending on mass to lift and power use. They aren't steady-float, and the power store is deliberately small. They'll lift about three meters fast, but you'll land on wheels."

"These are going to make them another fortune."

"They'll find someone to dump the patent on, Quinn. We're getting good at it. Probably the Space Corps on this one. I wondered when you guys were going to get here."

"We were learning why kids leaving and closed gates scared people, and I mean scared. One of the older woman said she'd gotten out of the center of the image, just before she announced she got the cams out of her crotch long enough she was no longer an approaching-thirty virgin. She thinks the casters move focus just before a woman gets disgusted enough to do something like that."

"They do, Case. When a woman stops being afraid of them, they pick a new victim."

"Have you considered a class action suit?"

"No, Stats, they'd rip us apart. 'Everybody knows' what we're doing any time were not in public view."

"They don't believe it."

"Most are bright enough to know it's market-share-grabbing speculation. It's too exaggerated. They show those outfits, but you don't wear them. I suspect the example you're setting with kids is same-sex groups and having a great car and money is the way to get a group of girls notice you. That reinforces the gender expectation problem. Promiscuity wouldn't. Pubescent boys would be circling girls with society aspirations if it did. They talk sex, but you don't show it. The women dress very conservatively."

"There's another piece to add to that, Blade. Any girl who did would be a volunteer for gossip."

"Yes, Case, she would be."

"Quinn?"

"Viewpoint realignment, Bard. The idea we're reducing sexual activity among young teens has appeal."

"Not at the expense of boys thinking their bodies are ugly and girls thinking theirs are their only value. Nice girls only sell their bodies once? Boys are successful if they can buy a beautiful wife?"

"You kicked my 'realignment' in the ass, Frets."

"Did you notice anything about the protective gear?"

"It's lots of colors, Nev."

"It also requires smooth underneath, Quinn. Bunched-up clothes will abrade quickly. Bare skin or skin-tight are the options."

Thirty-seven young people got out of eight holds-several vehicles and invaded a charity thrift store. Two more ran in with three large shopping bags each. They passed out athletic supports, sport halters, tights, leotards, seam rippers and shears.

Clerks scanned purchases and watched in amazement, as pantlegs were cut off, sleeves ripped off, fasteners removed, strips were cut from 'right-color-with-enough cloth and young people ran for dressing rooms. When the young people came out, they stared.

Pants had become shorts of different lengths with straight, frayed, jagged, scalloped or fringed bottoms. Shirts were vests, half-length, tied and no two were done alike. Most wore head ties, many were hair ties, some had 'scarves' at neck and waist.

All were over tights in an assortment of colors from subdued single-color to fluorescent patterns. Many were over leotards in matching or coordinated colors. They watched them leave, most tossing clothes they'd worn into the store in a pile beside the donation bin. One young man said, "Sorry they're not clean," as he tossed.

The next place the large group invaded was the best store in the city for sport shoes. The three clerks there heard, "traction," "ankle-support," "absorb impact of three meter drop," and started hunting through shoe specifications quick. There was something new and it already looked like fun.

In a few minutes, the group agreed on one type of hoops shoe, with adaptations. The clerks watched in awe when the big man took over their comp and began designing mathematically precise additions to the sole of the high-top shoe, specifying materials. They finally realized who they were when he said, "Blade, grab a datpad and solve this." After the clerks had fitted everyone with shoes, with someone recording each size measurement, a man and woman walked in carrying a large container.

"Good thought, Bard. Picked socks?"

"Those and roll them down over the high-tops, Dawn. They could bunch under the shin guards."

"We considered ankle braces, but they'd have had to be very carefully and specifically designed, and we'd have wanted an orthopedic sports specialist in on it, like the one who helped design these high-tops."

"They should give us enough support, Drand, but find that specialist to design a shoe. This is the only one with both support and flexibility available here, and I doubt we have better."

"We've got these in sets under names, and four bonders to do them. This is just over half. Ronnie and Day won't be far behind us in the LH. I want a Wander."

"You'd use one. Ship?"

"We're still planning, but mainly because we're having so much fun doing it. Roberta!"

"Me! They match my pads!"

"Why we asked. Before I start bonding things to these, paid for?"

"Yes..."

"Dawn. Bert, Robbie or Bobbie?"

"Uh... Bertie."

"Heel drag pads will wear down fastest. We're using a bonding agent that has a solvent that won't dissolve the shoe, too, so those can be replaced fairly easily. Replace when worn down, not worn out. That goes for all the drag and traction pads. The toe pads will get scuffed-looking. Use a tooth polish and brush on them. Make sure pads are exactly right size, place and material. We'll show everyone how to check the first two as we go. These won't be uncomfortable to walk in, but take other shoes along if you're planning a day of other activity too, or any other sport. Ronnie and Day are working on a pad and helm bag scooter lock-up, that stuffs in a pocket until needed. They'll bring stuff to do decorative name-on-helmet and guard marking. They're including stencils and stuff, so great art talent isn't required. Our experience indicates the guy who has art talent ends up with a whole bunch describing what they want, and working after most start playing."

"Bless you. Three of us could have had many."

"You're welcome, Bertie. Bard said those socks. I recommend extras. I have a tendency to take shoes off, then notice socks are disgusting, damp or both when I start to put shoes on. I also lose one of a pair frequently. I'm afraid to ask Drand where he found them when they turn up the next time we do laundry. Dance slippers that scrunch in a pocket might be an idea. Done. Run your finger along here, now here, here, here and here. That size and placement. Any bumps or dips at all is wrong."

"Got it. Thanks. This is going to be so much fun."

"Take it easy and keep quick-heal nearby, at first. I didn't hit a tree branch. It slapped me. Gust of wind and whap! Marcus!"

"Here!"

Drand asked Nev if they'd "coordinated." He grinned and shook his head. Colors of tights and leotards in Bard's size had been limited, so they'd gotten all four and just given him the bag. He and Blade had run off to choose things and left Bard alone. He'd been 'all over' the store, by the time they'd gotten there. Quinn said he and Frets had reminded him shears made neck and armholes bigger a couple times.

By the time he and Blade had found things and gone to work on them, not together, Bard had been in a dressing room. He pointed out Case and Stats were in forest green, tan and gold and they hadn't worked together. Drand told him that wasn't three in black, white and ruby, and sleeve caps of some type. Bard's were strips. Blade's were points. Nev's were single point. Their shiny tights and leotards were an assortment of colors, and so were shorts and vests, but all were black, white, ruby or a combination.

Bard had surprised both of them, and himself. Everything he'd chosen was shiny, and he'd picked the ruby leotard that had bands of bare in it. Like all the other leotards designed for men, it had come out of a bin in a corner of a back room. Even male dancers wore 'loose,' and they'd learned the number of those was falling rapidly. That had upset Nev and Blade both. Blade even more than Nev, and it had surprised him. It hadn't surprised Nev.

Shoes were only available in four colors, and two secondary school color combinations didn't suit many of them, so most were white. Bard, Nev and Blade chose black and white. The store had been able to fit them all because they'd just gotten their pre-school-term stock from the company.

Ronnie and Day brought the rest of the supplements for the shoes, and helmet and pad decorating kits, just before the four doing shoes finished the first batch. They also brought two more bonders. Kady and Reesa had built them, while Ronnie and Day made the pads and kits. With six bonders, and four with practice on several pairs, shoes were quickly finished. The three clerks were promised "a demo" when they learned to use the "float scooters."

The helm decorating kits worked well to get every person to figure out 'names' on the way back to "Quinn's place." Some chose descriptions, like Frets. Most chose some form of their names.

When they were done making helms and pads identifiable, they began learning to use the scooters. "Freewheeling" and charging the power sticks was simple. They learned to use the shoes fairly well, while they learned to just push the scooters.

All were athletic enough to develop fairly good timing quickly, then they began to learn to float. They somersaulted, dove, rolled, tumbled and splatted off scooters. They yelped, yiped, yowed, laughed and laid and giggled. They also scraped, bruised and twice twisted, once sprained and several times pulled joints and muscles.

The doctor at the nearby clinic learned what they were doing, thought the pads made sense, the helms were necessary, and worried about broken necks. They promised "junior models" would have float height limits.

They took a break for dinner, delivered by a sandwich-plus shop, at seventeen forty. The delivery driver yelled he wanted one, when people zipped by as he was unloading. He added, "Maybe," when Bird flew off his and three people ran to check for damage. Quinn told him it was wise to learn near a clinic, but no one had broken anything, "yet."

By twenty, everyone could keep up and some were ready to show off. Skill wasn't part of that decision for the men.

They 'piled' into cars and headed for the big park in the center of the city. It had a huge parking lot, open for car parking only when events were scheduled, with ramps and very good lights. They arranged for the lights to be on when they got there, as they drove to it.

They stopped at a health club bar on the way for "energy replenishers" and had an audience following in four cars, from there to the park. The audience called friends and increased its size on the way.

Social casters didn't know something was happening, but news and sportscasters did. They followed an emergency medical vehicle into the park. One sportscaster heard, "Look how they use what they put on the shoes!" and led his cam op to the young woman fast.

"What are they? Who are they?"

"They call them 'float scooters.' They were invented on Liberty Gem today. They built the shoes for them in Court and Field shoes on Eighty-seventh. I work there. They're the Liberty Gem admirals and a bunch who live up in the northeast hills rich-rich area. That's Quinn! Look at him bank it! That's Marty! Uh... Martindale. Go, Frets! Wendy Stanhope. That is a very high-tech toy. Now I see why the outfits. You couldn't wear usual clothes with those pads. Look at the legs on that man! The sparks are when the friction generators in wheels are in use. David!"

"Kerry! That's the wildest thing I ever saw! Did you see Quinn use that side pad they put on the shoe?"

"Yes! Is Loren going to get here?"

"He just yelled he was closing early to see why we sold out the Loverton hoops shoe stock in a half-hour. Whoa! Who was that?!"

"Um... Alisha Alberts, I think."

"Her helmet says 'Al,' Fem."

"Thanks."

"Did you remember to mention the store?"

"First thing. Damn!"

"Now we know why med vehicle."

"And lots of guards and braces. He's laughing."

"Quinn would laugh if he broke a leg."

"Who's Brat? Him."

"Landon Brant."

"They made the outfits of stuff they bought in the Good Neighbor Club Thrift Store. There they go! That's Bard, Blade and Nev!"

"I would not try that, but Al, Quinn and Bertie are!"

"They did it! He got over them!"

"This is a dangerous sport."

"These people play rugby, polo, jump horses, race horses, race cars, race water skimmers, ski jump and everything else. We sell sport shoes of a half-dozen types to every one of them. They know how good they are and aren't. Everyone isn't doing stunts. They probably will after a lot of practice, but only the ones with well-trained physical talent are doing high and fast."

"It takes power and timing to get fast, David, but the traction and drag pads on the shoes really help. See why precisely placed?"

"They could cause a forward flip or break an ankle if off a fraction of a cen. There's Loren."

"He's not going to notice us. Let's go. Court and Field Shoes on Eighty-seventh. We've got the specs on the pads!"

"Crossland Sports! May we see a float scooter?!"

'Tip' came down 'in friction,' dragged and stopped right in front of them. She picked up her scooter, pointed out what was on the bottom, then the controls, showed them the shoes, explained each pad, got on the scooter and pushed off. When she got it moving fast, she locked it in freewheel and did a handstand from a squat. She steered it through a turn with her foot, returned to squat and then up and shoved off hard as she hit a-grav. She was giggling when she came down beside Frets.

"You had fun."

"They have no idea who I am."

"An athlete, obviously."

"Obviously. I thought I was hiding in the crowd."

"Quinn was spectacular at that too. That's how Rod noticed him. 'Precision' always attracts his attention. These are why kids went bye-bye. We could not have kept them off them, until several could yell, 'Don't try that yet,' with experience to back it up."

"They're not back yet?"

"Billie and Louise hours ago. Billie called Bard. She's watching the news to see if we make it. The boys got back not long ago. They got a custom flyer tour with Drand explaining what he built in and why. They also saw, and got to try these, in controlled circumstances. It's about three-and-a-half hours later there, so not long for the girls either. Nev said we'll all suddenly run off after newscasters get good images, or if social casters show up. They're really angry. Opinion: Larry saw how angry they are and adapted the plan, so they can just leave the social casters in the dust."

"Nev made it real clear what they think. Since I almost said, 'And I was a virgin until I was twenty-six, and only one love affair so far,' while I had a different type of caster's attention..."

"Blip said she considered putting 'virgin' on her helmet. Blade said it's too exaggerated to be believable, and the proof is teen boys aren't orbiting girls being 'like us.' I think he's right."

"I want to adopt your opinion desperately."

"What to try that double crossover?"

"Yipe. Let's do it. You over, then me over."

"Let's go!"

The news reporter thought he was about to get an interview, but the person made a sudden turn, and the whole group suddenly lifted to various heights and went southwest. He turned to see why and sighed in disgust. He told his cam op someone at the network had done stupid. He agreed. They'd almost had an affiliate sale story, but someone had told Walter Baskins 'Society Reporter' and it had flown away. The reporter called the head editor.

"If that gossip shows up every time that bunch does something newsworthy, you won't get any stories about the admirals."

"Society news is his job, Frederick."

"His job is get the highest market share with the most gossip about sex. That exodus was a fleet maneuver. The Admiral was signaled. They're going to leave any time Walter, or any of the others, get close, and I don't mean just this bunch, here, or until the admirals leave."

George watched the feed again. After he had, he called the programming director. He pointed to Walter's market share. George sent him a clip from Walter's last 'report' and the last forty seconds of the feed from Frederick and Andrew, and told him what Frederick had said. The programming director said he'd call back, then called the CEO.

"We may be about to be charged with abuse for profit and we're guilty."

"What?!"

"Marketshare is good, so who cares what the method of maintaining and increasing it does to people."

"What are you talking about?"

"The reputation-destroying malicious gossip we call 'society news coverage.' According to the reporters, every single woman is promiscuous and every married woman under fifty is an adulteress. Men are promiscuous too, of course. They're congratulated on being successful enough to get into a lot of women's beds."

"That's not hurting anybody. Nobody believes it."

"I'll arrange invitations for your daughters to attend the charity fundraiser in two days. You're successful enough for them to join in the support of good works."

"Point made. Suggestions."

"Pull the society segment. Replace it with a new tech report, who's buying and using it from a societal, not business, viewpoint. Focus on fun. Daytrip shoppers and store clerks having a great time, architects filling comp data banks with new ideas, construction workers grinning in anticipation of 'wielding' a magic trowel, guitar-makers giggling and hunting more teachers to daytrip commute to go with guitars they shipped, society young people having a great time with a very high-tech toy, older members of the social set planning yachts, kids suddenly switching majors to fields that will get them jobs on exploration ships. At the end of every segment, ask 'What are you doing with the new tech,' and give a comm code. People will come up with all kinds of new ideas to get on the segment, if it's fun."

"Brilliant. Who are you going to give it to?"

"Every hometown kid reporter. I'm going to put Walter on the run doing 'live from' introductions and see if I can save his career. I think I'll give him 'Walt on the run' and the question as tag-line. He doesn't like his job."

"You think they'll accept him?"

"Liberty Gem gave people a chance to change."

"How fast can you get it changed?"

"George may have enough time to build a preview tonight."

"Get him on it."

George yelled for clips and called Walter. Seven minutes later, he was 'shoved into' a running suit, while he rehearsed a script. George got Crossland Sports' 'interview,' with the shoe store clerks as cap and Frederick and Andrew at the spaceport by the ships as lead for the next segment. At twenty-two fifty-four, the CEO was called with 'ready.' He called Bard.

"Mandolin Planetwide Broadcasting understood what you and our society young people said this evening. We took a good look at what we were doing, and agreed with you. Our programming director recommended replacing the society news segment immediately and permanently. When we went to work to do that, we learned that featured reporter, Walter Baskins, despised what it had become, but knew he couldn't compete with reporters with experience in political, business or breaking news coverage. He was 'hanging on,' until he could retire with minimum benefits in two years. I think you'll understand that and help our people give him a chance to change. The news segment previews at twenty-three eighteen in that time zone. The head news editor said it's obvious he much prefers his new job."

"No one is uninjured when the system is abusive. We'll be watching."

"Thank you. Comm out."

"Quinn, you won."

"What?"

"Mandolin Planetwide dumped society news and discovered the reporter considered it something he must endure two more years, until he could retire."

"Walter Baskins?!"

"The CEO said it will be obvious he's happy, when the replacement segment previews at twenty-three eighteen tonight."

"They dumped the Care to Share Luncheon coverage?"

"Was it important, Bloom?"

"The reason for the luncheon is, Case, but nobody asked questions about that."

"From now on, that network will send someone who will."

"One down, sixteen to go. I wish I thought Baskins was typical."

"Would you have called him 'typical' before this, Rocks?"

"Yes, Quinn, I would have."

"They're performers. We'll see how many are happy to get new parts."

"If they get new parts, Al."

"We'll see what MPB does and see what we can do to help, Timjim."

"I'll be watching for ways, Brat."

They saw themselves riding their scooters in a short clip on the news and whooped when the caster said, "More on the New Tech News segment preview." The segment opened with Walter Baskins running onto the set. He said, "It's time for NTN! New Tech News! What's that?! It's this!"

It wasn't what they expected. It wasn't about tech. It was about people; a woman daytripping to famous waterfalls and sending images home to do watercolors, two boys figuring out how to adapt their little sister's favorite toy to use a power stick, a man with a list of things he'd tasted on four worlds and recipes he was collecting, an architect filling terabytes with new designs, two shoe store clerks pointing out people and making sure everyone knew their store had the pad specs. At the end, Walter Baskins was shown running toward a flyer. He turned and looked in the cam, smiling widely.

"This is Walt, on the run. What are you doing with the new tech?! Call us at: New Tech Whee! And we'll be there to see!"

"Fantastic! They'll have everyone on the planet trying to come up with something!"

"They'll have everyone watching to see what they come up with, Al."

"Absolutely brilliant, Marty, and I'm still not sure that was the same man."

"It's amazing how a real smile changes a person's appearance. Comm Grandma Jeannine."

"You didn't kill yourself on that thing."

"You saw it?"

"Your great-aunt Carolyn does not miss the Crossland Sports recap."

"Did you see MPB's society news replacement?"

"Replacement?"

"Hang on. It's on the way. Figure out how to get the shopper shipping on in the right tone to help keep it across the financial and social spectrum. They worked to make it broadbase. We won the first battle. They didn't surrender. They switched sides and put troops in the field."

"Stace, what's going on?"

"The social casts are causing a fifteen hundred-year regression in gender equality. Women are 'decorative' and men work to make enough money to attract a real beauty."

"It's in the society casts?!"

"Yes."

"I've got the clip. Comm out."

"You didn't tell us everything, Quinn."

"Cory, there have been programs trying to slow it down in middle and secondary schools for years. Two years ago the president assigned a study group to it. The basis and source were found today."

"Quinn, Marty and Brat were drafted to help fix, subtly. That plan went in the waste cycler when Nev went from disgusted to furious in a one-question blast. Ending the abuse became primary goal, period."

"Nothing else could come first, Frets, but they're inseparable."

"Cory, you love literature. You're comfortable with the gender expectations, but they're not necessary for you to be comfortable. Should every boy who loves literature study business, and every girl who loves business study literature, because some don't find them uncomfortable?"

"Of course not, Blade."

"Of course not, but there's a great deal of emotional security in knowing you're doing 'the right thing.' It's part of being a social species. Millions of parents out there want their children to be happy. Currently, they feel they've got a better chance of that if boys study business or science and girls study literature or art, even if they don't really like them. Women's accomplishments aren't mentioned and men's bodies are disguised. The clear message is both are somewhat embarrassing. Since promiscuity and adultery aren't, that gives a real good measure of how embarrassing."

"And it's the juxtaposition of the market-share-grabbing sex speculation and the increase in the rate of change in gender expectation that identified our abuse as the cause of increase, and the society news casts as the source."

"I can see it, Quinn."

"Cory, you're not the only one working to reconcile feeling with knowledge and feeling guilty and embarrassed, because it's needed. It's not unhealthy. It's normal. That's what Blade just told us. I felt exposed out there tonight with my muscles showing. Most of the guys stayed in a pack because of it. I doubt it was easy for Quinn, Marty and Brat."

"I did a my-body-is-beautiful litany the whole time, Timjim."

"I did an it's-a-great-costume litany."

"I did, shove this up your don't-distract-from-the-breast-image asses, Marty."

The group burst into laughter and Quinn grinned. Bard reached over and patted him on the back. Quinn theatrically folded under the pat and the laughter increased.

The group had already made next-day plans, so began heading for cars and home. When all were gone but Bard, Nev, Blade, Case, Stats and Frets, Bard told Quinn to strip.

Frets, Case and Stats made tea and sat in the kitchen, while Bard, Blade and Nev treated Quinn's many small bruises and the very large ones he'd gotten in the fall in the park. Quinn was in a bathrobe when they walked into the kitchen.

"I feel much better."

"I hope everyone does that when they get home."

"He'd still have been smearing in an hour without help, Frets."

"I don't doubt it, Blade. I noticed how many times he went down hard and didn't grab salve. I'd like to know why."

"I would have for the dive I took in the park, if it had been here. Nothing was hurting me. I'd have treated before I went to bed, or I'd have been getting up to treat the first time I rolled over."

"We were sure you'd do something about that one. We just figured you'd ignore the rest."

"Um..."

"They treat dots on me I don't notice unless someone, or something, points it out, Quinn."

"Nev does a forearm or hip block of things when his hands are full. If we stack a load, things don't shift when something is lifted off, but there are a lot we don't stack. He does most of the get-the-next-section-ready and there were a couple times he had blue stripes. We knew he'd noticed them, because he blocked with a different spot the next time."

"We asked if he'd hit every one twice. He said one was a surprise. The next time we got a load from that place, we restacked it."

"Would you teach me to do what you do?"

"Quinn, we don't have business degrees, and there are three of us."

"I know that, Bard, but you don't use new materials or create new mechanisms each time. You can, but why do that when a few different materials and mechanisms will adapt? Others... I don't know who, but someone will find out I'm learning and yell I need a partner or two. We don't have pre-constructed viewrooms here, but we have other types of modular additions. Posine is something I'm sure we want. Your materials development and ours diverged widely about eighty years ago. We have some you might find useful. Mandolin isn't a high-tech oriented world, but many people on it are. One of our best trade items with your world may be our puzzles."

"Puzzles?"

"That globe of dodecahedrons on a pedestal in the living room is a puzzle. I'd show you how it works, but it's my father's trophy. It takes hundreds of moves to get it all one color and you don't know what color it must be to change to crystal when solved, when you get it. The pedestal comes with it."

"Many people spend a year or more working on very complex puzzles that are decorative accents when finally solved. If he released the completed puzzle to turn a piece to show you, it would change the move count and that one is extremely low."

"Our shoppers haven't seen them, or they'd be filling ships with them."

"I realized that when it occurred to me we'd look to see what's in your fine furniture stores and you wouldn't know why."

"They're sold in furniture stores?"

"They're accent pieces for lovely rooms, Stats."

"Comm message Dad. The perfect gift for Mom is on Mandolin. No one's discovered their really complex puzzles, because they're in furniture stores. I'll send. They probably haven't discovered our office equipment stores have executive toys. Point. End message."

"Executive toys?"

"Hundreds of things designed to go on a desk that give you something to do with your hands and/or eyes while your subconscious works. You probably have smaller puzzles. Ours are predominantly physical. Tap, jiggle, turn, roll, push, pull to get the fish on the book, golf ball in the hole or a multitude of others."

"Were learning we all have little fun things..."

"Nev?"

"World Builder Eleven, Bard. I doubt anyone has a better game of the type. I always figured if anyone in the oligarchy could have played it, they'd have taken it off the market, as teaching too much about how things really work. The level eight financial manager 'locked' and ran the gov. IS accidentally 'downsized' themselves, reworked the gov budget and sent everyone a huge tax refund, by naming the list of people who showed up for a roster check 'Available for assignment.' It took us hours to stop laughing too hard to talk."

"It surprised us people used separate computers for home, work, personal, then we realized why."

"It's harder to tap a half-dozen, Quinn. We didn't make it easy for them. Time for us to go. You're not going to have an allergic reaction and Frets is thinking she should have brewed stimulating, not relaxing, tea."

"Mind reader."

"Stace!"

"Kitchen, Mom! You waited two minutes too long."

"Hello, Fem and Gen. We smeared your boy with blue dot reducer and watched for reaction. I'm going to keep pushing everyone out the door instead of getting acquainted, and ask you accept my apology. It's three forty-seven our time and I may be keeping up a running conversation to assure four other drivers and I stay awake to the port."

"Understood perfectly, Admiral Bladesly."

"Blade, please."

"Elvira and Robert."

"I'll show them the short way to get there, Elvira, but it's still approaching the time they got up yesterday morning."

"We should leave before temptation to see how that puzzle in the living room works, overwhelms Bard, Nev and Case."

"Sit down and relax. We know you worked hard today too, and we can find our way out. Stats, you hang onto Case. I'll take Nev. Frets, keep Bard moving."

"I'll take you where they're sold tomorrow, Bard. I promise."

"Remind me again as we go by. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

"See you tomorrow"

"I just told them it's a puzzle, Dad. As they were leaving seemed best. I had an incredibly fun day. Did you?"

"Yes, your idea seed took root in Mom's fertile mind, grew and blossomed. We spent half the evening on comm to Liberty Gem, much of it with Nev's grandfather. We called BNU first because Mom said they're getting a lot of our people as visitors and know what they're buying."

" I'm sure they are and do. Ships?"

"He helped us a lot there. That company has a huge order list, already. He got us a priority as a needed-service buyer. They all, even the people we bumped, agreed."

"After that, we built a network of shippers, and helped design nineteen space stations."

"What?!"

"Transshipment stations. There were places it didn't make sense to go all the way to a world to be transshipped. Your father pulled up a stellar map, said, 'There, there, there,' and everyone yelled, 'Perfect!' He said it was obvious where they needed to be."

"It was. Your mom found small shipping companies and traders, in a who-do-you-know-who chain that hooked up every world, but the four sick ones."

"Amazing. And I thought I helped make big changes today."

"You did. Business is easy. Everyone who hears a good idea yells they want in on it. You began a change we couldn't even imagine."

"We still have to deal with the others and a lot of social aftermath, but none of us expected MPB to just switch, or Walter Baskins to be very grateful they did. We're expecting to be more pleased than we expect. Did I really say that?"

"Yes. Time for bed."

"Obviously. I asked them to teach me to do what they do. I want to build beautiful living space and fill it with green. I also want companions like they have, but even partners will make me happy. Goodnight."

"Goodnight. He's lonely, Robert."

"He realizes it, Elmira, but he's sure he'll find a friend sometime, the right one for the right reason."

### Chapter Thirty-four

Bard sighed when Frets got in her car to go home. She was right. He was tired, but not that tired. When he got to the bridge of the ship, Nev told him all of them would have been jealous. Blade said they'd been left some presents. The others had built the device, while they'd played to change a world. They'd also made a lot of scooters, helms, guards and shoe pads in a stock of sizes. Five sets were labeled for the kids.

Billie's scooter had a steady-height float that just lifted wheels off the ground and the boys' had altitude limiters. One could still get hurt falling from one meter, but it would be much less damaging than from three.

The note on the datpad said the boys had helped figure out what a less dangerous 'for bigger kids' scooter should do. It had worked well to reduce disappointment they shouldn't set the example of kids their age doing the type of jumps the adults were doing on no-limit float scooters. Those had been dubbed, "pro models," not recommended for inexperienced riders or kids under sixteen.

Their element stocks had been replenished after construction of many scooters and gear sets. The patents had been donated to Space Corps Training and the suggestion was appreciated.

Alden had found someone to make "official Space Corps Float Scooters" and they'd be on the market in a few days. Blazer Lo had been hired to daytrip commute to Mandolin to "teach everything" and builders on other worlds were already beginning to call for referrals to others who could, and were available.

Nev laughed when he learned his grandfather had "drafted both sides of the family" to help Quinn's grandmother set up a shoppers shipping network. The note also said Quinn's father had done most of the station design. Though he needed aid on tech and materials, he was responsible for the very efficient systems for transfer of cargo and had grasped how field projectors could be used to speed and aid construction. Quinn's extended family on both sides, and Nev's on both sides, had made a very good team and were somewhat amazed at themselves and the "West Side" job they'd done.

Bard picked up the device and Nev and Blade followed. Neither tried to convince him to wait until he was rested to install and test it. They all had a feeling 'now' was the right time. Since it was designed to go in a trip chair, and it only took moments to hook it up, Case and Stats were warned, then Bard got in the chair. He felt an odd disorientation and arrived.

"Oh, shit!"

"Bard!"

"Comm connect Blade. I'm all right. I'm beside Frets. I went where I evidently was wishing, not where I planned. I have a feeling I won't be able to get back until I really want to leave. In her driveway, I guess. She's beside her car. It was definitely a surprise. I don't think we'd have learned it, if I hadn't been both tired and wishing. She's waiting for an explanation. Comm out."

"Well?"

"It was a test of a device we didn't plan to tell anyone we'd developed. I'm... actually here. I teleported. Blade said I went before comm connection to Case and Stats' ship was made."

"Why not tell?"

"It opens up a whole range of applications we don't think we're ready for yet, if you have the talent to start with. This is actually the simplest. It doesn't involve interaction with another mind and will."

"I'm not sure about that. I just really wished you were here. I may be why you didn't go where you planned."

"Real high psi."

"So high, I knew there was someone worth waiting for and he'd bring a complete change to my rather dull life. I knew it was you the first time you touched me. I also know I can't keep you. I don't need, or want to, but you're my key to 'unlock the universe.' I love you, but I do, and will, love others. Billie is actually my life companion. I've known it since before she was born. 'My sister's going to have another child, my best buddy forever.' So, I may have wished you here."

"It was mutual. I wonder how many days everyone is going to have giggle relapses."

"You should tell Quinn."

"Why?"

"A feeling someone on each world should be able to get to you, or call you and he's the right one here. You know he's more than an acquaintance. He's been waiting for you to unlock his future, too, I think, though I doubt he knew it in the way I did. Mine was a revelation, when I was being handed gowns to go to political functions, where I'd meet nice young men, of one group or the other."

"His family and Nev's worked together most of the day, on building a shoppers shipping network, that includes all but four worlds. And nineteen space stations. His father was the principal how-to-do-it-simply designer on those."

"They were puzzles of a different sort."

"How low is his score on the puzzle?"

"In the best one hundred, and some of those were its designers and a great many are ties. What you do, running your own small business and designing and building unique living space additions, maybe the only thing that would let Quinn use all his talents. I suspect he knows a great deal more about engineering, physics, materials, and even plants, than he realizes. The business curriculum had to be extremely easy and acutely boring for him."

"I don't doubt that. I came home with you?"

"My parents are seldom here. We don't usually tell anyone outside the family they spend most of the time at the cottage on Cello Bay. I'm single and living alone would have invited speculation. This monster is actually my home. If someone asks if I'm having affair with you, I may tell them my mother said it's about damn time I noticed something besides a guitar, unless it's a caster. I'll tell them I don't have a license to help spice up their boring sex lives."

"You had that one waiting?"

"I've got a couple dozen. I'd have shared, but the women who needed help couldn't use them. That changed today. Now they know it is abuse, and is damaging our children, and they'll come up with their own."

In the morning, Bard accidentally wished himself back to the ship. He arrived in the spa in the big bathroom. Nev and Blade heard him burst into laughter and found him, laying on the deck beside it, giggling. They joined him. Bard said he had no idea how they were going to get control over the device, but he wasn't worried about it. He was quite sure they wouldn't go anywhere they didn't want to go. Blade and Nev rolled away from the water running out of his clothes, giggled and agreed.

Danny laid on her floor and howled with laughter. Bard had turned pink while Nev and Blade were telling her what "surprise" had been, twice. She'd managed to call Ronnie and Dawn, but not tell them what had happened. Bop was having a great time using her as a stop for his kitty toy, when they and Drand ran in the door.

Ronnie said she wasn't going to be able to talk for some time and called Case, as most likely to get all the way through the story. He made it all the way to the call. Danny managed to get out, "Two bright pink blushes, to finish it. Bop decided there were too many stops on the floor and played person-to-person bounce. He didn't know, "Oof!" meant he was too big for the game.

Telling Quinn wasn't an option after Bard's second attempt to use the device. He arrived just in time to break a fall from his scooter at the top of a full boost. He was yelling he wasn't supposed to try stuff like that alone, when he realized Quinn was staring at him.

"Comm connect Blade. Quinn evidently really wished he'd waited to try a stunt until I was here, as he began a three-meter tumble. Just in time to break his fall. Calling everyone who might be wishing for me before I try to test it doesn't really seem reasonable, but it is causing some very mixed feelings. What?! No, definitely not ready for it. I could try. Pick up a packet of salve. Broke, not stopped. I'm ready, I think. Here, Blade!"

"That worked."

"Yes, it did, but we still haven't figured out... anything."

"Hello, Quinn. Obviously, we're testing new tech and getting very unexpected results."

"Yes, Blade, obviously. Trip without a node?"

"No. We're here. The tests have sort of blown holes in the plan not to tell anyone actual teleporting is possible. Bard's stunned because he came before the device activated, evidently learned to do it without it. Though getting where someone wants us a great deal is very nice, we haven't figured out how to get where we planned yet."

"You didn't plan to go where you wanted to be. If you came without the device... I could have killed myself. I knew it the instant I slipped. He may be here because I needed his help to survive my stupidity."

"What were you trying to do? Quinn?"

"You were trying to impress Bard? Do you know why? You didn't want to ask yourself that."

"I didn't even want to ask myself why I didn't want to ask myself, Blade. I'm not used to being confused. I've avoided it extremely successfully."

"Bard?"

"I haven't left because I only think I want to?"

"I'm trying to figure out why I think two confused is progress. Comm connect Nev. I agree. I think we're both wishing you were here to help figure this out. What did you find? I have no idea what it means, but I'll tell Bard. He's already confused and I doubt that will add to it. Comm out. From residual energy trace analysis, you used it, even though it wasn't powered, to get home this morning, too. You may have used it to bring me, but I may have because you wanted me. He considered trying to get where he was planning, but had a feeling it was silly to try until we got more info. Case said Drand and Dawn haven't decided if they want to take the device or you apart, though they do realize the latter is impractical."

"Comm connect Kail. Oh, I was sure you'd hear my morning has been interesting. I want to send Quinn for the placement bank. Frets is sure he's wandered through a lot more information and learned a great deal more than he may want to know. I'm also hoping we can find the time we can do without him a few days to do the other test bank. When? His house, too? Please. Thanks. Comm out. You're getting a comm node and trip chairs when your grandmother does, today sometime. Kail is scheduling you for our university test bank and you're being listed as Space Corps recommended for the talent test bank, which makes it simpler than a separate agreement. Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"To do something about me not being able to leave, even though I think I want to."

"I'm not sure I want to do something about you not... Stop trying to figure it out?"

"It's not complicated. That's not my opinion. I borrow Blade's on things like this. So does Nev. You and he have a great deal in common, probably more than either of you would really find comfortable."

"Comm connect Nev. I'm sitting in the yard watching Bard attempt to figure out what Frets is sure he knows he should do, as he leads Quinn to the house to attempt to figure out what he's sure he knows he should do. I'd attempt to do something, but I suspect it wouldn't be where I thought I was attempting. Shopping sounds like--Yipe!"

"Fun, obviously."

"Yes, Nev. Comm out. Comm connect Bard. I decided to go shopping with Nev. It was a surprise. I was suddenly toe-to-toe with him. He currently has an interesting scanner on the device."

"Used."

"I, or you, or Nev, or somebody, used it. This is true. Comm out."

"Interesting morning?"

"That's what he said. Shopping?"

"Were going to look at puzzles. Stats wants one for his mom. We're also going to attempt to meet some not-society women and get an idea of 'usual attitude and courtship patterns,' as Case termed it."

"In other words, he's getting a little frustrated and decided to find out if he needs to leave the planet to do something about it."

"Probably."

"You're jealous?"

"Extremely, about three times."

"He called me too?"

"That's three, or four. Case is trying not to be, I think."

"Hopefully, he'll find a distraction, but you may both be overestimating what's happening."

"We may?"

"Yes. You also may not be, but Bard doesn't know what Quinn wants or needs because he doesn't."

"Answer comm. You're at Danny's!"

"And I brought Quinn with me. I'm not worried. This time I remember thinking she's really the right one to help him figure out what he needs. They're doing a giggle duet on her office floor. I'm trying to figure out if I can leave without..."

"Him. The answer was yes."

"Yes, Blade, it was. Comm out. Traces?"

"Two more."

"What am I doing?"

"Going wherever you're needed or want to go. You just don't realize you're making the decision. Or perhaps the decision was made in another way. Did you decide to be there when Quinn needed you?"

"Yes, Blade, I did."

"Let's work on the idea you learned the... mental path through the device. You may not need it at all, but it's easier to follow the path in it than construct it outside it. The comp connection is not necessary. It's a part of the path that may be useful in general, but it wasn't where you wanted to go, so you didn't travel that piece of the path. We've called it 'wish' and that may be the most correct term. Can you do it without the device?"

"Not yet. The answer surprised me, Blade."

"Blade, can you do what he did?"

"Yes. Can you?"

"Not yet."

"We have our subconscious answers. Nev has to learn how. I have. You need practice to do it without the device. You also need to look at the math differently?"

"Yes, and to get the results of the test bank."

"Let's go shopping. Comm connect Case."

"Hello."

"They both decided shopping would be fun."

"Oh."

"Case?"

"Let's take the Wander, Nev. You drive. Stats and I will be on the floor waiting. Comm... out."

"He may have meant the floor of their rooms."

"Yes, Blade. He may have."

Danny left Quinn asleep in her room and called Ronnie. She started giggling, as soon as she answered. When Ronnie got there, she was brewing tea and giggling. Ronnie said, "capable of movement is hopeful," and waited. Danny handed her a cup and sat down.

"I think I did it."

"Did what?"

"Got Bard to bring Quinn here."

"Slurp."

"Exactly."

"Foreplay was a bout of shared giggles and a bodyslam?"

"Exactly. Very clear, 'Dammit, I want to be first!' after I did 'Mama worries' on comm to Stats, and there they were."

"Bard heard. Theory: Potential was there. The device... built a connection."

"Sensible. We need those evaluations."

"They may tell us who can and can't use the device to build one?"

"Yes."

"You can. I'm sure of that. Blade, Nev, Stats... Ooh, my Bance."

"Case?"

"Yes, if he wants."

"He may not?"

"Hmm... Bard. And Quinn. And you."

"Uh, oh."

"You 'skipped' them. You always have, and it may be more Stats than Case."

"Buddies, and I couldn't with Tarse... Together, huh?"

"That I don't know. I don't know if you'll get past your feeling it might change your relationship either."

"You don't think it would."

"Oh, yes, but not essentially."

"I'm working on that."

"You haven't invited Nev, Bard or Blade to your spa. Dandy was essentially why, but you've both had wandering attention for half the season. However, no one held it until Quinn."

"Agreed. We were working on two. Now we're at seven. Is this progress?"

"Quinn will be back."

"Ooh, yes he will."

"Nev, Blade and Bard?"

"Don't visit anyone often, do they?"

"No. Whose relationships aren't settled that would cause them to not notice they don't just wander to the neighborhood, singly."

"Mine."

"With who?"

"Case and Stats. I thought it was. We're comfortable."

"Are you? Are you all?"

"Whap! I barge in both houses, and others. The five of them don't barge in here, but nearly everyone else comes in then yells they're here. Case and Stats yell they're here, then come in. Bard, Nev and Blade call first, if they're coming, and that's just what I didn't want Nev to ever feel he should need to do."

"He's the man you love to the tips of your unfaithful toes. Quinn reminds you of him in many ways."

"Yes, he does, but that's not why slam. He's very unique, too."

"And Case. And Stats."

"I've got them mentally inseparable and I don't do groups. Yet."

"Bard, Blade and Nev are a very attractive primarily-to-watch fantasy?"

"I doubt I'd notice the watch went, but it's comforting."

"Case has been waiting a year for..."

"Bard, but..."

"Stats, and you. You can't unbind them, Danny. Neither of them want that type of relationship either, but you'll never get a yell of, 'We're headed for the spa,' and strip as you go to hang out with your two, three or five best buddies. Nev won't just show up alone, either. They get each other excited when they wish. Why shouldn't you be able to just wade in with the bunch and tease one he's obviously spending too many nights at home?"

"I'm comfortable in the princess costume now that the chastity belt went in the waste cycler?"

"You'll always be princess, but you're currently riding sidesaddle in a princess dress. They can't imagine you hiking up the skirt because sidesaddle doesn't make sense in a charge. Can they imagine you hanging the dress on a hook to play soccer in the courtyard?"

"I'm maintaining Nev's image, aren't I?"

"You love him, and he loves you, not the image."

"True, and he's due for a thump. Bard's about to deliver one too. Blade's just watching and grinning."

"Identity confusion again."

"Yes. He was Nevin Curran. All at once he's 'the Terschell kid' again. They aren't worried they'll submerge his identity, because they know they're Nev's relatives and everyone knew Kail, Lillen, Milla and Carler were Nev's parents and grandparents."

"They're worried. They weren't, but they are."

"The whole bunch, both sides are rather staying a bunch. Milla may thump Bard to thump Nev. He hasn't noticed he's always standing behind someone."

"Totally unprepared when Bard pulled him around in front."

"Everyone on this planet giggled, but it was a bit symptomatic."

"Case and Stats?"

"Are gorgeous and I might... get Case the touch he'll never want because Stats doesn't want to give it. If not, only we'll know that's why he doesn't want it."

"Men are simple, but all persons are complex."

"Exactly. As long as you can tell when you're working to understand the person, not just the man, there's no confusion."

"Hello."

"Hi, Quinn."

"Hi, Ronnie. You heard I did dumb?"

"Yes. One time proving to Bard he has a yell-for-me list and you're on it was sufficient."

"I was very aware of that when he got under me enough to keep me from... killing myself."

"You're really sure you would have."

"Yes, Ronnie, I am. I don't want to go through the list of injuries that could have done it, with no one there to get me to help fast, to pick the one or combo, I'm sure it would have been."

"I don't blame you."

"I don't really want to leave, Danny, but I need to. My... people need me."

"The pride you can help is almost enough to offset the pain of realizing you're more important than any sane person wants to be."

"Let's see if we can send you home. There's a device Nev's house."

"I wish I was sure I'm going to end up where I planned to go."

"I'm sure we have more giggles coming."

"I'm not going to end up where I planned."

"This way. It's raining, so we'll use the walk most of the way. Just a dash from the viewroom to their door. I didn't think about no one being there to pull out the walk cover and us wanting it."

The rain changed from steady-light to downpour, just as they began their dash. They were drenched and laughing by the time they got to the porch. Quinn said he'd like to look around but he'd leave puddles, not just tracks, if he stood still. He was wearing rugby shorts and short sleeve shirt, not his scooter costume, so the towel Ronnie tossed him, on the way to the spare bedroom, with the trip chair in which they'd installed the device, helped. Then she called Bard and warned they were about to try to send Quinn to their ship. Bard told her they were close. Quinn disappeared before the connection was made.

Danny answered her comm, burst into laughter, pointed at the wet trip chair, managed to say, "On Bard's lap!" then slid down the wall. Ronnie fell on a bed, laughing.

Case said, "Comm out," Stats found a place to pull over and Bard looked down at Quinn, on the floor, where he'd dumped him when he felt wet. Quinn, Blade, Nev, Case and Stats were all laughing. Bard was rather sure he'd 'done it.' He'd wished Quinn wouldn't get to the ship before they did. When he realized it was because he wanted them to show it to him, he began to giggle.

Quinn got a walk-through tour of Case and Stats' ship, after they parked the Wander, then a real tour of Bard, Blade and Nev's ship while his clothes dried. He was teased about touring their closets longest. He told them they held the most things he'd never seen, clothes designed to make men look good.

When Quinn's dried, they put his helmet and guards and their costumes in carryalls and left the ships in the Wander and the Dragon. It was eleven twenty-nine local time, and Brat had called with a lunch suggestion. They picked up Frets on the way to get Quinn's costume and scooter and for him to change.

When he came out, they grinned. He wasn't too-coordinated. He'd managed to put together something with style. He told them he'd raided the storage closet in the attic and thought the pants and shirt might have been his great-grandfather's and the hip-length vest his grandmother's. He had no idea when the thick multi-color-pattern woven belt, he had tied loosely over the flowing white shirt, had come from. Frets looked at it and said probably his great-grandmother's youth.

The 'bunch' met at a small park. Quinn wasn't the only one who'd worked on style. He also wasn't the only one who'd hunted pieces in clothes stored for decades. Shirttails were tied, the bottoms knotted at a side, or sashed. Pant legs were rolled to various heights. Several more had vests of various lengths or overshirts with rolled or pushed-up sleeves. When all had arrived, and a bit more personalizing, such as turned up collars, had been done, they went to The Braiserrie, for lunch buffet.

When they walked in, some people looked very shocked, then a group of late middle-age women stood and applauded. Several more joined them, then men and couples added their approbation. Members of the group waved and shouted thanks. The staff looked confused. Quinn smiled at the young host, obviously struggling to keep his curiosity under control, as he led them to their reserved tables.

"Don't you think 'high-fashion' clothing designs for the last several years are horribly boring, if not just horrible?"

"I didn't think about it."

"You're not expected to wear them. The women just quit buying them a couple years ago."

"Our styles have no style."

"That's one thing we're sure none of the tourists are going to buy here. We hate them."

"Some might, Al. Prostitutes make good money, and this year's beachwear for women would be perfect in a brothel."

"The men's look like they cut holes and sewed on sleeves to adapt toy bags."

"I wondered where they got some of those blinding colors, Timjim. Most bags that size are black or brown."

"Here's something you can't possibly personalize. Wear it and be uniformly ugly."

"Or have people ask your price. That exposed is not sexy. It's for sale."

"The social casters tell everyone we are, Bertie."

"I actually had a conversation with one of the men I supposedly had an affair with last year, Feeds. I had to read bios of the other two. I'd never met them."

"You were once in a ballroom with them and over six hundred other people, Al. That's an affair, by their definition."

"Oh, is that what it is? I kept wondering how a virgin could have a half-dozen."

"It's time to put them out of work."

"Yes Quinn, it is. We'll leave if any society casters show up, so I'll pay for everyone's lunch now."

"We shouldn't let them in?"

"It got to the point we didn't speak to women except in large groups because any we did were badgered for 'steamy details,' which they knew didn't exist. Now they do it anyway. They don't give a damn it's obvious a woman wants to run from them. That's good 'proof" for the lies. Telling the whole world she's a bed-hopping slut, while shoving a cam in her face, until she runs away to cry, gets lots of viewers. The more abusive they are, the more money they make. Do you want them in your restaurant?"

"No, Gen Quinn, we don't. No one believed it."

"Of course not, but that's not great comfort to a woman who sees her breasts on a planetary newscast, with a long list of who she's invited to handle them, as accompaniment. Her research is saving lives, or her business is helping pay your wage, or her invention is the handiest little item in your kitchen, but that's not mentioned. She's just a female body the society casters can use to make money."

"They won't get in here again. Enjoy your lunch."

"Thank you."

"The buffet smells terrific and you're hungry?"

"Exactly, Frets. Warning to all: I'd have killed myself this morning, if Bard hadn't been there. He broke my fall, but 'there' was the lifesaver. Don't practice stunts alone."

"Head down from three meters, moving fast enough to arc."

"What were you trying?"

"Stupid, Marty. Even with Brad getting under him, it took two packets of quick-heal."

"Blade, I slipped."

"You're going to try it again?"

"No, Nev. It very obviously didn't work."

"Are you going to tell us what it was?"

"No, Brat. These guys reminding me of the stupid is sufficient. When I get a great deal more experienced, I'll decide if there is a way to do it without extended visits to the clinic."

"You way overestimated your skill."

"And my balance, and my grip... It's a long list."

"Excuse me. Walter Baskins is here. He said he's not a society caster any longer, hated it, and just came for lunch."

"All true."

"Tell him the act was too damn good, but we saw it had been one on his terrific new segment."

Walt, smiling widely, did a little run-in-place and waved. The group returned the wave, as they headed for the buffet tables. Quinn handed Bard his plate, said, "Heaps, no orange," and changed direction. Blade took Nev's plate and he turned and followed. Walt stood, shook hands and motioned them to chairs at the table."

"Thank you."

"It wasn't easy to come here."

"No, Admiral, it wasn't, but I can't do the new segment hiding at home, and I think it's important. I was so surprised they gave it to me. I didn't realize they knew I hated what society reporting had become. It began slowly. By the time I realized where it was going, I thought I couldn't get out, without losing all those years invested. Last night, I learned I could have. They wouldn't have just dumped me. Marketshare wasn't the only thing important to them, but I didn't tell them what it was doing to people on both sides of the cam, and they thought it wasn't hurting anyone because no one believed all that... garbage."

"It was hurting a lot more than just us, Walt. Oops."

"I like Walt."

"Quinn."

"Nev."

"Hurting more?"

"The society casts are the cause of the skew in gender expectation, Walt. The presentation of women as 'decorative' and men as 'support posts' for them began one hundred eighty years ago, but the addition of 'sex to the most successful male' is warping your culture fast. Your clothing styles reflect the sickness. Your young men think their healthy, muscular bodies are ugly. Your young women think being intelligent is embarrassing and ambitious shameful, unless the ambition is get a successful man to support them to show off their bodies."

"He's not exaggerating, Walt. The president asked their help. I was just plain drafted. They knew who could overcome the embarrassment of having our body shapes show to begin the change. Everyone could do the stunts we did last night, physically."

"You can't compete with other worlds on an equal basis if they think you're sick. We're the first of our society to come here. It's not a belief system or chosen way of life that comes under 'you respect our way and will respect yours.' We'd have been market-share-boosters, and every caster would have been adding us to affair lists to see who could come up with the most profitable couplings, if we hadn't been warned and stomped on it. If my parents came here, my beautiful mother and successful father, your society casters would be 'reporting their acts of adultery' on news seen on our world, and trade and daytrip visits would end before the casts did."

"Comm connect GNMB News Division, Gordan Allsup, urgent. Subject: Bar of entry to restaurants, revocation of press passes. Gen Allsup, the Admiral moved fast to keep the society casters from causing an interplanetary incident that would have put Mandolin in social and economic isolation as a diseased society. That 'outrageous comm message' contained the precise viewpoint other worlds would have of the usual society news. Your caster had every intention of using the admirals to boost market share. We all did. The intent to use the admirals' genitals to make money ended all tolerance of the 'formula' for society news segments. MPB judged itself guilty of abuse for profit one hour forty-seven minutes before a scheduled segment and permanently replaced it. You have nearly eleven hours to do so and warn other members of the Association of Broadcasters. If the health of this entire world was not at stake, and the people in whose abuse I participated not desperately trying to heal it, I'd have gleefully watched Admiral Terschell screw GNMB News into the ground. Comm out."

"Let me guess, a couple decades of mad and they were going to try to sue me?"

"Three, they began it. Your 'public private message' was coercion and was intended to limit free speech."

"Three decades to minimum retirement?"

"Over four, but it's age-based across the industry, not a single company. MPB adds considerably to it for each decade with them, but that's not available until age 70. I don't have a journalism degree. I was not quite twenty. I worked in a place like this for two years. There was a big charity event at a park. The society reporter had changed jobs abruptly and the temporary replacement pulled me out of the crowd and put me in the mobile unit with the editor, to supply names and snippets of background. Three temporary reporters later, they put me in front of the cam. I liked the people and the job. I didn't really follow the formula because I knew what they considered important about themselves. As younger people began to replace those as most interesting, I began to have to depend on stock bios. I'd just gotten married and bought a home. She stuck with me, but I told her not to use my name or say I was her husband twelve years ago."

"Are there others as unhappy as you were?"

"I suspect there are, Quinn, but we weren't colleagues. We didn't even exchange curt nods."

"Are you ready to be 'Walt on the run' and help get this world out of its mess?"

"I bought running shoes that fit this morning, Nev. My wife and I spent two hours soaking and rubbing my feet, and laughing, after I wore the pair I had on last night less than one. It was the most fun we had in years. We're getting calls. We went from 'there's enough' to 'how are we going to do all this' in three hours."

"Do a screen full of images of what people are doing, bring some up a few seconds, each with who and what, then go into one image with a report, more short who and what, second report and so on. How you choose which to do is yours to decide, but you might consider an infonet site with all of them on it."

"Comm connect George. Your wish of 'good luck' had great power. I'm sitting with Admiral Terschell and Stace Quinn, and the Admiral just solved our too-many problems. I'm going to eat lunch and run for the flyer. Get the list ready, the local reporters moving and an infonet site, and get me a running outfit that doesn't look like I'm wearing a deflated balloon. See what they wear to run on other worlds. Theirs can't possibly be as ugly. I'll call back with details from the flyer. Comm out."

As they walked back to their waiting lunches, Nev realized Quinn was grinning at him. He gave him a questioning look. Quinn said several people had told him he reminded them of him and he was feeling very smug. Then he asked Nev why he didn't use Curran if Terschell made him uncomfortable.

"What?"

"You're smooth and confident with Nev, or even Admiral, but the instant they say 'Terschell,' you pull back and examine everything carefully, and wait for someone else to say something. If Quinn was the power name in my family, I might, but it's actually Donlevy that carries the historical wealth and power load, and my second cousins won't live on this continent because of it. They're several years older and Grandma is the business exec, so they ducked it by living on big dairy farms and being involved in quite local politics. From overheard comments, you have it backwards."

"Backwards?"

"They tell people they're Nev's family on the Terschell side, and everyone giggles and says they can see the family resemblance, when they do something terrific so fast it makes heads spin. The others say they're Nev's family on the Valens side, and people giggle a little more. It's not Admiral, Nevin Curran, Nevin Terschell or Tarse Nevin Terschell. It's Nev, and all the other names are just synonyms. Your 'our' son, grandson, great-grandson, neighbor, citizen, admiral, Nev. The whole world claims all of you with vast pride. Why should your extended family be different? Right now, they may be trying to figure out how to apologize for embarrassing you."

"What?!"

"Didn't they? It certainly looks like they did from my point of view. They came to your neighborhood and attracted everyone's attention, and now you have to watch everything you do or say because it's 'Terschell,' not just you. They're sure your identity can't be submerged in theirs or they'd have moved somewhere else close in the region, not next door. What you do cannot make them 'look bad.' Your family identity is that one, and me thumping you has gotten be less painful than Bard doing it."

"True. Why no orange? Something you don't like?"

"I love it, but vipsy squirts when you stab it with a fork or bite it. The probability of getting through a big helping without a couple orange dots is low enough asking for a vipsy bib to protect clothes is not unusual. I eat it at home, or when I'm wearing colors on which tiny orange speckles don't show. I feel stupid in a bib with cute cartoon vipsy pods squirting each other on it. Since vipsy is both delicious and expensive, I suspect the bib design is a cost control on the buffet."

"Excruciatingly cute?"

"Yes."

"I agree."

After lunch, the bunch left the city and went north, up the broad, rich valley of the river that drained two-thirds of the continent. They were headed for the vast lake created by damming two of the rivers that fed it.

The resort town of Serenade was the destination of many cars and flyers that afternoon. It was a playground of the wealthy, and the young adults of the families were gathering to play with new toys. They were from political, as well as business families, and they had shoes and costumes with them.

Knight, Nev and Blade had 'everything else.' There might not be enough of everything for all, but the estimate would be close, and five had names on them. Billie ran for Bard as soon as he stepped out of the car, stopped on the walk by the car and waited.

"Shoe pads! Scooter! Your costume is great!"

"I made it all by myself! I didn't even have to ask help with the seam ripper!"

"You cut the scallops?!"

"Uh, huh. I used a measure cup to draw them and I cut right on the lines. Daddy was sure I could and reminded me to go slow. He's who decides what were ready to try. He said he's ready to try Rod's scooter."

"I think most people will want scooters like his and not ours. A lot of us made trips to the clinic, and all of us got bruises."

"I've got your kind of quick-heal in my pocket. Rod said it's part of the costume to start."

"He's right, but your scooter won't make big jumps, so you won't need what's in three other people's pockets too. I did."

"You have lots more... area to get bruises."

"Perfect use of 'area.' Where's Rod?"

"Over there being jealous I could leave before Representative Walston stops talking and he can't. Becks said he's a problem. He's telling people the scooters are too dangerous and the costumes are ob... steen?"

"Obscene. Just the boys?"

"Uh, huh."

"He's the representative for here?"

"Yes."

"Nev! Quinn! Frets!"

"Others included tell me you weren't just yelling for this bonder."

"The local rep has the other kids stuck listening to a diatribe, real nasty criticism..."

"I know that one."

"On dangerous scooters and 'obscene' boys' costumes."

"Somebody told him we were coming here and he followed us. Rod thinks it's somebody who thinks they can make you do what they want, and everybody will make everybody else help."

"Comm connect Bance. It's probable the Association of Broadcasters here, at least the top echelon, is going to try to stomp on Mandolin Planetary Broadcasting for judging their formula society news sex speculation 'abuse for profit,' and stopping it. My comm message to granddad was 'attempt to limit free speech by coercion.' If there is general accord, MPB could be fighting for its life and there could be no mention of what I actually said or MPB's real reason for pulling the segment. He told them to look at other worlds and get him running suit the doesn't look like a 'deflated balloon.' Yes, he does. We like these people a great deal and they were working on the problem long before the source was identified. 'No one believes it so it's not hurting anyone.' Precisely. Thank you. Comm out."

"He thinks?"

"Transspace will think the segment is worthy of syndication."

"I need that one, Nev."

"Well, syndicate meant an association of representatives of businesses, Billie, but the meaning spread out. In broadcasting, it means a show gets sent to every big network and little station signed up to get shows, at the same time. Now, those can decide not to use it if it's included in the package of programs they buy. If it's not they decide whether or not to buy it. If Transspace decides to syndicate the segment, they might offer to pay MPB for the idea and ask networks on other worlds if they want to do a New Tech News show like it, also sent everywhere, then you might build a long show from all of those and send it to entertainment networks, not as a news show."

"The Association of Broadcasters is going to find out they aren't as important as they think they are."

"I'm going to change that one a little, Billie. They're not as powerful as they think they are. Do you see why I changed it?"

"Yes, Frets, they got important mixed up with powerful too."

"That's exactly right."

"My turn. Comm connect Grandma Jeannine. Rep Walston is doing an 'obscene costume and dangerous scooters should be banned' on the president's grandkids, probably loudly to show his constituents he's 'supporting their moral standards.' Apologize for offending their sensibilities and promise we'll all go elsewhere to play from now on, please. I'm sure we can find someone who would like to have our business. Probably the Association of Broadcasters. Transspace may already be stepping over them to talk to MPB about their great idea. I suspect they're sure you want their assistance controlling us, and like things just as they are. Speculation about us is 'free advertising' for businesses. They do get mentioned as why women are inviting men into their bedrooms. Thank you. I don't want to be featured stud on several networks, either. Everyone! Pack back up! We've been told no one here wants our business any longer!"

"Wait! What are you talking about?!"

"Your moral outrage at our costumes and toys. Your representative is making it very publicly clear you do not want to be associated with us in any fashion. We're sending an apology for offending you."

"You should check with Broadlake Resort, before we tell everyone headed here to go there instead, Quinn."

"You think they'll have enough room, Marty?"

"Good question. My parents said eighteen reservations. Yours?"

"Probably about the same. I know they invited a huge number of daytrippers, but I'm sure Broadlake has a comm node too."

"She's moving fast."

"May I go watch everybody tell Rep Walston to be quiet, Frets?"

"He made you mad?"

"He said my cousin should be ashamed to show his disgusting bulges in public."

"Come on! Comm connect Martin. Walston told your son he should be ashamed of his 'disgusting' body. Bail me out if I slug him."

Bard tossed shoe and bonder to Blade and caught up with Frets and Billie in two strides. He swung Billie onto his back. Frets began to run. Billie told Bard it was Frets' "turn to be guard." He said he'd remember if no one "pushed" her. She said she'd remember unless someone did, too.

Becks and Bren were in front of their little brothers and clamp-jawed furious. Walston was loudly telling them what an embarrassment they were to their grandfather, and that their parents obviously didn't realize the "deleterious influence of persons with no morals." People converged on him from three sides. The police officers were farthest distance, but Frets and the resort manager saw them and slowed.

"Representative Walston, you're under arrest. The charge is child abuse."

"What?!"

"Please, come with me. You may call your attorney or personal representative. You are advised not to discuss the incident leading to your arrest until you meet with your attorney. All statements made by you until that time will be recorded."

"Fems and gens, we ask you all to remain here until the investigators arrived, and to cooperate with them. They will ask for any and all recordings and for statements. Please do not discuss what you witnessed with others, until those have been recorded. They estimate arrival in three minutes. Kids, your parents are coming. Rodney, your father asked us to give you a personal message. 'You're right. It stomp time.' Fem Stanhope, getting here before you did was a challenge. Thanks for waiting for us."

"What he said was child abuse, Frets?"

"I think so, Billie, and so does your uncle Martin. Rep Walston doesn't. A court will decide."

"Fems and gens! Our staff will bring chairs, tables and refreshments! Your patience and cooperation is appreciated. The resort sincerely apologizes for our tardiness, and inattention to... what was going on out here! Damn! Leave the premises immediately! We will not be party to defamation of character and emotional abuse of our patrons! Security! Escort those people back to their vehicle and assure they leave! I should have done that years ago."

"We should have sued them decades ago, Gen Lostrum. Since we didn't, no one realized we wanted it stopped."

"You're giving us more credit than we deserve, Fem Stanhope. I wonder how my assistant is doing convincing people we really don't want them to leave."

"Well. Here come the ones who were repacking cars."

"And here come the tables and chairs. This resort could not function without her. Admiral Loden, I planned a much more pleasant, and sedate, welcome."

"I understand that completely, Gen Lostrum, but I doubt I would have felt more welcome."

"Thank you. Welcome! Our staff is so excited they're going to see you ride your scooters! We reserved the large west parking lot for you, and our people will add ramps and such to it. Just tell us what you wish and where."

"We'll try to come up with something right for us that you can store in a reasonable amount of space. We've all been to events here that filled that lot and more."

"Fems and gens, we didn't even realize he was talking loudly, until people began to gather. Frankly, the only thing that keeps me from feeling totally foolish is that I didn't vote for him."

"Frets, can I talk to Blade about it."

"Absolutely, Rod. You should all choose someone to talk to, girls too. If you want to wait for your parents or call a friend or counselor, do that."

"Let's go sit over by that tree, Rod."

"Wren, you talk to Nev. See if you can get him calmed down."

"Oh, give me the hard one. That tree, Nev?"

"It looks sturdy enough I can pound on it, Wren."

"He couldn't really hurt us, Nev, because we know what he's like. Rod's talking to Blade about what his dad said, not what Rep Walston did. Well, that's part of it, but... a symptom. It might have hurt if we didn't know what's going on. We just got real ugly proof how bad it is. We also got proof some people do believe that stuff on the society casts."

"How did he get elected?"

"A lot of people in this district vote party, not candidate. He's an ultra-conservative, but most Conservatives think that's better than a moderate Liberal. He actually thought he was helping everyone, guiding them to maintain their morals among the immoral and amoral. He was sure our parents didn't know we were setting a terrible example, and everyone who saw us needed to know that's what it was."

"You feel sorry for him."

"Of course. He's injured. That doesn't mean I'm not mad. Rod's got a lot of muscle for a kid because he plays lots of sports. So do I, but a couple years age makes a lot of muscle difference. He's got a more muscular body to start with, so I won't catch up, unless he stops doing anything and I don't. He's proud of his muscle, but he wouldn't be if I wasn't around to be awed he's got so much. His dad tells him it's great, but it's not the same. Rep Walston didn't like your uniforms. He said Liberty Gem should have designed different for women and men, not put men in something only woman should wear."

"That's not surprising considering how he feels about the shape of his body."

"Ooh, I missed that piece. Why are you so... deep disgusted, Nev. It's not just our mess."

"This world is messed up too."

"Why did it become too far for the kind of trade there once was, Nev?"

"Transpatial comm."

"Don't bother to bring that. We've got something that works as well without shipping cost."

"Yes. We still thought we'd get lots of traders. We got a few and a huge number of comm call bids to buy licenses to make our inventions on their worlds."

"The only place they got lots of visitors was Earth, and they didn't get them from out here. There are things your world won't sell licenses to make. That was really a surprise."

"We know. We were too ignored. They'll come get it or won't get it. Every world should have done that."

"Every world doesn't have something everyone wants."

"There's not one that didn't have a patent that would have brought traders to buy and take to others. Trade between worlds thirty to forty days apart, at that time, flourished two hundred years ago. Transpatial comm was a tinkerer's discovery. It worked, but why really wasn't known. It was suddenly simple to talk to that business with something new, reach an agreement, get all the specs and license to make it. It might take ninety days to a half-year to get it in production, but that wasn't much longer than it took a trader to get there and back with one load."

"But it was so expensive, it was only reasonable to use for that."

"Families saved the whole year to make a comm call to talk to all the rest of the family, if some remained on another world. But after two generations, they were just people who shared ancestors. By the time it became much less expensive, people didn't really have anyone to call, and traders were primarily among the 'close' worlds. They didn't take huge loads of grain and woods and such any longer. Those were traded by comm and just shipped. Over about nine years, the number of traders diminished to the few who just couldn't stay in one place, and they traded between worlds close enough together to make a profit."

"The great advance in communication increased trade, but it became nonphysical."

"Exactly. How do you feel about your body?"

"It's hard to extract that feeling. I like me in general. That's the odd part of the skew the kept us from seeing it until it really began affecting things like university enrollment. The I-wish-I-was wasn't there. Girls were beautiful. Boys were dynamic and neither was trapped. There wasn't a limitation on what they did. Body shape was the offset. I'm not beautiful, but I'm great because... Girls are so beautiful that everything else is minor. I don't think my body is ugly or misshapen, but it's hard to see it as beautiful. I can see it in our art now. Curving lines are aesthetic. Female figures predominate vastly. Anything ridged or angular has a shock component. Male nudes just don't exist. Who'd buy them? I think women feel differently about male bodies than men do, or we'd have a real rise in female homosexuality, but that may be nature fighting back."

"It may be, but it's gotten so strong in the culture in the last thirty years that you could have more 'overcoming the natural preference' than you know. There's a strong bias against it in the culture and it wouldn't be there if there was no reason for it. It's not against male homosexuality. That's considered a somewhat odd choice. Transvestism is probably rampant and a 'dark secret.' Passing as a woman may be the goal of many men who have a closet they only unlock when the bedroom door is locked and comm monitoring off."

"There's a lot we're pretty sure we can't even find out in anonymous questionnaires. No one would be absolutely sure they were anonymous. It's too easy to backtrack to a comp."

"You might consider doing it in print, with a fold-and-drop-in-the-slot collection, with monitoring to assure all get dumped in a larger bin, until they get to people who unfold for comp scan."

"That's a good idea, especially if it's a long questionnaire with a whole bunch of culture attitude questions that about say the same thing."

"The Helene University Psychology Department on Verdantine might be good help designing it. Their talent test bank is so well-designed you don't even know what applies to what, but the scoring and evaluation are very accurate. Sometimes there are real surprises, but known talents are always found, and that's anonymous at the evaluation level. They toss in program answered test banks. They're the basis of evaluating the evaluation teams, frequently."

"You had to go to offworld sources for anything like that."

"Every human science text was garbage, from political science to psychology. It was so obvious, we concentrated heavily in business, physical science and fine art. Philosophy, sociology, psychology and anthropology were all taught, but they were history and literature courses. It was how Bressler managed to teach 'around' the gov-approved texts."

"Where did the kids of the oligarchy go to university?"

"They didn't. They got degrees by 'extension,' whatever degree was appropriate for the title of the position they were given. They had the best Ed programs and elementary and secondary 'classes,' but they were all 'advanced students,' so sports play against others wasn't reasonable. Their last term secondary students were about age fourteen. They all had 'doctorates' by age twenty. The children of all their good friends could participate in their Ed program, by extension. It was how they kept their kids away from others. The wealthy, who'd earned it, sent their children to private schools or educated them at home, primarily the latter, until they chose universities. Most chose one of about six of those. Their reason was the reverse of the oligarchy, keep their kids away from the attitude money was most important and having it made you better than others. Back to subject."

"I think my body is nice because it's real healthy, and being awed by Rod's muscle helped a lot, I think. If he couldn't hit a ball farther and lift more than any other boys his age I know of, I might not like boy-body as much."

"Comm connect Blade. Wren may have the key to 'male muscle is beautiful.' Rod's muscle is awesome because it's the basis of his hit-farther-lift-more admirable boy ability. Wren said his 'awe' was important to that. Yes, I think they were fighting it together without actually realizing it."

Blade stood up, took off his shirt and flexed. Bard noticed and took off his. Nev, Case and Stats stripped to the waist and the five met on the flat lawn by 'Blade's' tree. He called standard upper body calisthenics. Quinn saw Rod take a place beside Blade. He told Marty people might wonder why exercise turned him pink, then walked over, took off his shirt and joined. Marty and Brat followed, then all the other men did.

Frets led the women over to "watch and be awed." A middle-age man, who looked heavyset, left the witness seating, walked over and pulled off his shirt. The women cheered. He was massively muscled and in obviously fantastic condition.

Men began to 'roll out.' Leebo yelled it was obvious why Timjim and Marty never wore out and needed to be replaced in a rugby or soccer game. Rod rolled out and was cheered for "incredible" for a boy his age. Quinn rolled out and yelled he'd run out of "stubborn," too. Brat and several others went with him. Marty and Timjim rolled out, then Case and Stats did. Case yelled they obviously didn't work out with Blade, Bard and Nev.

The middle-age man kept up until Blade call stop. He grinned widely, as he reached for the shirt that made him look fat.

"I'm Blade. Who are you?"

"Anthony James, dean of the Friendstown University Physical Education Department. One of our alumni called me. I'm here specifically to support these young men against those who'd stop their play because it requires form-fitting clothing. Weightlifting, wrestling, gymnastics, diving and swimming have disappeared from men's sport competition, and several track and field events are on the way out. You can't get a wrestling hold on a tent and you can't swim fast in a bladder."

"And it's difficult to run and jump in a sail. You've got to be losing the ability to judge figure-skating and see what they're doing incorrectly to coach about everything."

"We're losing our ability to referee about everything. We have people trying to develop tech to give us images through clothes and people fighting it as invasion of privacy, and even voyeurism and contributing to pedophilia."

"Just like our world, we keep discovering more damage. The plan to use the society casts to reverse what they did got dumped when we saw what it was really doing to them. They're trying to help come up with something new."

"A sports competition in the historical Olympiad form, in which we're unable to do well because of our odd clothing style."

"You had that idea waiting a while."

"Decades, Blade, but it was a dream, not an idea."

In two hours, they'd built the dream into a plan. Space platforms would provide athletes a place to practice and acclimate to the gravity of whichever world of a "region of space" would host their events. They would also be transportation when it was time to move them. Physical travel would be encouraged by free venue tickets to people from offworld who would 'plug' a great deal more into economies than trippers. The answer to their proposal, sent to Larry, came from an unexpected place.

The resort manager announced Earth "region" was going to host the first Olympic games in five hundred forty-eight years, in two years, and Liberty Gem was building space platform practice facilities for athletes. A few moments later, Walt called and told them his segment had been "picked up" by Transspace. By then, a great many more people had arrived and many were learning to ride float scooters.

### Chapter Thirty-five

Quinn ran for a young man who'd taken a dive and yelled for transport. The kid was "broke not bent." The fall hadn't done it. He rolled with that well, into a lamp post. He thought it was hilarious.

"That's the second time I've done that!"

"Hit a lamp post?"

"Last time it was a tree. I was nine. I rolled into it after falling off a porch rail I was using as a balance beam. I hit the same clavicle the same way."

"Bramton!"

"I'll be patched in a few minutes, Francine."

"Your mom warned me you were going to introduce me to another doctor when she saw the float scoots."

"Mom has been taking me in for patching at somewhat regular intervals since I learned to walk. I decided to try stairs after I could take three consecutive steps. I might have made the stairs, but I fell off the gate across them. This time no one has to come along."

"He was eighteen yesterday. I thought this was the perfect present."

"It is, most wonderful I ever got."

"I believe him, Frankie."

"So do I, Quinn, but he's still my little cousin, and I'm going along. He hasn't introduced me to a doctor in three years."

"It may get crowded. Christopher and Lawrence are shedding gear."

"Everyone from Cloverlea may be."

"I know. I'm not really complaining, Quinn. I got to tag along more than any other kid I know. Mom considered it a good way to keep clinic bills down. When I was with them, I stayed out of trees, off roofs, didn't string wires to tightrope walk, didn't see if I could ride a piece of plas down a wet grassy hill standing up, and several others."

"He did try to catch glowfish in one of his shoes, see if he could ride a float down Trippet Rapids, and several others. We bought several pairs of shoes, pants and shirts and applied quick-heal many times. Adventurous is an understatement. So is curious."

"You didn't see the post?!"

"It was a choice. I picked roll over splat and the lamppost was just a bit too close."

"He said it was a repeat performance, Topper."

"He had to break something again, Quinn. There's nothing left to be a first."

"I learned to roll with a fall at an early age."

"We taught him to use rock-climbing gear when he was six. He said it worked better than what he'd been using for rappelling down the side of his house."

"Much better. I lost my grip on the bed sheet several times, but I did have how much to stack on the bed so it dragged across the room at the right speed figured out. I just had to unstack it to move it back every time. Climbing the rocks to get to the top was more fun."

"Did you have to prove 'Bam' was a suitable name?!"

"Well, you were talking about chemistry, Labs."

"The doctor at the clinic is probably trying to figure out how you broke a clavicle rolling into a lamppost. Do explain you were doing a very good imitation of a bowling ball at the time."

"I will, Blade."

"I'm going along. I'm sure he's going to say something else about stuff he tried, and I'm comparing it to my list."

"You did that kind of stuff too, Quinn?"

"No, Bam, I have a list of things I decided not to try until I had the right equipment because. You're doing a good job of confirming my estimate of the results."

"Rope swing from a tree branch and hit the tree on the back swing?"

"Check."

"Use a piece of elansa to bounce the ball back and find out how hard you bat it extremely personally?"

"Ow! Check. Get in carefully."

"I've had a lot of practice at it. I once rode to the clinic with my ass carefully highest. I fell off the mower when it turned to avoid the red thorn flowers. Dad decided to put blue cushion flowers in that flower bed. I said thanks every time I landed in it after that."

Blade grinned at Bard and he nodded. Nev said he felt like they still had one "partner" to find. Bard turned and pointed. Frets gave him a hug. He raised an eyebrow in question.

"Louisa is the girl every society caster droolingly awaited to debut in society, who didn't. Her parents bought a huge farm about ten years ago, after a kid on an opposing soccer team said her mother was a slut and everyone knew she wasn't her dad's kid. Society casters had been proposing every successful man on the planet, except him, as her father since before she was born. Her parents locked the gates and didn't appear in public again. They're the heirs to the two largest fortunes on the planet, Culbertson and Sanders. Their families began CLD industries and Farmers Bank of Mandolin. She's twenty-two. She has a doctorate in Agricultural Engineering. She's got a patent on a bumpfruit picker arm control and a trophy for custom flyer design. Neither has her complete name on it. Not all of them. Frankie wants a husband, kids and a big house everyone visits."

"Basically, what Loopy doesn't."

"She thought she did, Blade, then she told him who she really is, and he told her he has two little sisters and goodbye."

"Ow."

"Yes, Nev, but she did realize she doesn't want to be Louise Sands any longer."

"Who is Bam?"

"Bramton Ambrose, the family association is Ambrosia Foods. You'll find their products in the best restaurant kitchens on the planet, and in grocers' gourmet aisles. They also have several subsidiary companies that assure those restaurants have the best equipment to prepare their foods. Labs is Lawrence Blackburn. His family built Millsap Technologies. The float scooters and what you brought with you may be the only complex equipment on this world that doesn't contain a component they made. Topper is Christopher Strand. His father's family began Cornet Vehicles."

"Is Cloverlea a neighborhood?"

"You're wondering how they escaped the society casters?"

"Yes, I am.

"Cloverlea is a town with a college. A degree from Cloverlea College is considered to be a head start on a career in law or politics. Cloverlea has the highest per capita income on the planet. It's gone up considerably every year for the last twenty-two."

"But no one sued them or charged them with defamation of character."

"One woman tried, very early, Blade. The questions were 'request for verification of a rumor, not statement of fact.' They're always questions and lists of reputed affairs."

"They aren't going to back off, are they?"

"I don't know, Nev, but I'm not worried about the outcome."

"Comm connect Mandolin Offices of the Interplanetary Superior Court. Identify. Fem Wares, I was informed someone intended to bring suit, or press charges for 'attempt to limit free speech by coercion,' against me. At issue are extreme differences in the definition of free speech and the right to privacy. Can I, as a citizen of another world, be sued in planetary courts? As a non-citizen, in what court would I request an injunction against what I'm sure is at least gross invasion of privacy, and believe is abuse for profit, and they term free speech? No, I believe the intent is to tell gross lies, described as 'overheard rumors,' about my family and companions, possibly before suit is filed. I believe society casters intended to say they 'heard' we're all having affairs, probably with several each. Even if I had one, which is highly improbable considering affluent young women here are too terrified to carry on a private conversation with a man, I don't think the casters have a right to talk about it. Of course they're terrified. They're pilloried on planetary broadcasts as sluts. 'Ooh, we caught her' is literal. They're going to say obscene things about her, and she can't escape it. Blushes and tears sell well. They're not going to use our shafts to verbally rape women for the entertainment of the planetary audience. I prefer an injunction, but I'll blast their broadcast satellites to stop it."

"Nev!"

"They were warned it would cause an interplanetary incident, Frets. Yes, Fem Wares. A feeling it was considered a challenge. Add Bard."

"Answer comm. Hello, Fem Wares. Absolutely. The duty is minimize damage. That's less damaging to this world than being branded as a diseased society. They've caused gross warping of the entire culture. Float scooters and costumes are organized effort to repair the damage quickly, at the request of the president and with expert sociological guidance. If the basis was anything else, or included any other factors, that would be impossible. Yes, Fem. That too."

"Presidential Study Group report S G one-one-six. Thank you, Fem Wares. Comm out."

"Thank you. Comm out. You got the right person."

"I was being carefully 'legal,' and it just boiled over. She's going to stop it."

"I'm sure of it too."

"Who is she?"

"The court answering service operator."

"The last question was if the casts were responsible for her six-year-old great-grandson being ashamed he's good at drawing."

"She has to know quite a bit to do the job."

"Yes, Blade, she does."

"Answer comm. Danny, are you going to be able to tell me... Bard, they're at Danny's!"

"They?"

"The five of them, the treatment unit, and a giggling doctor."

"Oh, shit."

"Take Loopy."

"I didn't know I was going, Frets."

"Aren't you glad she warned you?"

"Danny... Comm out."

Bard left the three of them laying on the ground, giggling. He was giggling by the time he got to the place Loopy was practicing. He motioned her to follow him, let her around some bushes and held out his hand. As soon as she touched it, they were in Danny's crowded bedroom. Bard collapsed on the bed. The floor was full.

Loopy stepped over people, looked to see who was in the treatment unit, walked to the window and looked out, walked back to the bed, sat down and burst into laughter. A few seconds later, the people she'd seen coming that way got to the bedroom.

"What happened?!"

"Quinn!"

"Quinn happened?"

"Yes."

"You want to try, Bance?"

"No, Drand. I'm just going to sit down and laugh."

"The power fluctuated. I was going to take him out of the unit, Quinn said, 'Whoops,' and connected it!"

"Quinn, the wish was a bit wide!"

"I didn't bring the chairs, Bard. That's how they... ended up on the floor!"

Nev, Blade and Frets were suddenly on the bed on Bard. He said, "Oops." Danny screamed with laughter, and everyone else found places on the floor. Loopy fell off the bed. The unit beeped and the Doctor opened it. Bam sat up and said, "And I thought my stories were funny." The doctor felt his clavicle, and slid down the wall. Bam reached out, got his tights, leotard, cutoffs and shirt off the shelf on the unit, got them on and climbed out, then he looked out the window.

"Welcome to Teal Valley!"

"Thank you. It's obviously an unexpected visit."

"Yes."

"A piece of tech that doesn't work quite as wished?"

All the others roared with laughter. Bam watched two cats jump from person to person. He sat down and they both came over to meet him. He checked his chron and began to giggle. He hadn't been in the unit long enough. Eventually, some people began to recover enough to talk. The gorgeous redhead who welcomed him was not one of them. His first info came from Bance.

"Quinn wished you here. New tech and it's not working as expected."

"I got that. A clean break doesn't take long, but it takes longer than it took."

"When we recover enough, we'll see if it was the unit or Quinn. Or Bard. Or Danny."

"Or the cats!"

"They do like him, Dawn."

"I like them too. I always wanted one, but they're not allowed in Cloverlea."

"Why?"

"An endangered low-nesting animal, too endangered for even indoor-only restriction. It's dying out, but we're not contributing to it. It actually does a little better in our hedges than the wild."

"Doctor, what have you found?"

"An odd record, Bard. It begins with the power fluctuation."

"Have you had previous fluctuations?"

"One, the matrix tech couldn't find anything wrong and all our equipment tested in optimum range. I've got a feeling it's this unit."

"Something too right or dangerously wrong and we got lucky. Let's get it apart."

"Wait, Dawn. Let's do some scans first. Danny, link the lab comp. Trace scanner?"

"On the bring list, Nev."

"How many arms do you need, Drand?"

"Two more sets, Bance."

"Let's go."

"Uh, oh, he's wet. I'll tuck him in at home and get on the comp for numbers."

"Actual medical numbers, Kendra."

"True, Danny, even if not quite my type."

"Medical numerologist, she was one of the first 'rebels' the gov shoved in a hole in the ground. Others changed jobs fast."

"I realized a lot of medical professions had to 'not exist,' Blade. Here's the first fluctuation and test record."

"It looks like a power fluctuation."

"Everything was affected, Nev. I had a patient in it. I pulled her out quick, but the treatment was nearly complete. We finished it with the equipment in the mobile unit, while we checked everything. I hope you plan to explain this to the staff. I wouldn't get through an explanation if I knew what to say."

"Every piece of new tech doesn't work exactly as expected. Since this unit wasn't either, we took it apart too."

"Blade... They'll believe they wouldn't believe me if I attempted to explain."

"Dr. Brewer, what is this reading?"

"The cell construction monitor, Danny. I'm Bruce."

"Bruce Brewer?"

"I told my mother protesting the name simplification of the charter signers, with me, was mean, Quinn. She said she was too tired to remember what they planned, Dad wasn't there and her uncle Bruce was. Dad said it was a sneaky way to encourage me to become a doctor, like he is."

"Why did they require name changes?"

"It was a piece of who they wanted as settlers, Ronnie. If you didn't want to 'meld' into that new society, there were four other worlds being settled and three more being prepared. Any name pronounced as spelled was acceptable, but most chose one from a very long list comp selected from Earth comm directory. Stanislavski said if theirs was spelled as pronounced they wouldn't be listed in a media pronunciation guide and chose Stanhope. Mandolin settlement wasn't sponsored by mining corps, social services and such. It was funded by business people who paid their own way, and often that of many employees. Some of those business people chose new names to disassociate themselves from extremely old businesses that threatened legal action every time they tried to use their family name on something. We've wondered if our odd charter actually set the 'name simplification' precedent that the mining corps used to force people to adopt one family name."

"It may have been convenient, Frets, but it wasn't contributing. They'd have forced simplification if they weren't using 'simplification of record-keeping,' as an excuse. Did you guys hear twenty-three other worlds joined the suit?"

"This morning, Danny. Greening is going to press charges too. They were chartered as a nature conservancy planet, and the corps took three times as much as was legal, and reported a third of what they took. Their assets are going to be seized and sold."

"I think we're going to find out there's a lot more illegal activity than just taking too much and lying about it, Frets. What were they financing with what was stolen from us? Who had a hidden agenda and what was it? They're probably long dead, but somebody had one, or the corps would have taken legal and moved on, not pushed social oddities and falsified reports. We may find Liberty Gem was financed with stolen minerals and... I don't know what was intended, but I don't think it worked. I think the greed of the oligarchy messed it up."

"I agree, Bam. Too weird to be just profit motive. The cost analysis doesn't make sense. Some of what they did there reduced efficiency. Not all of it. There's a timeframe of about forty years that's real odd, and spread from one to another."

"You think they may all be one, Quinn?"

"I'm wondering about it, Loopy. Why are you here?"

"I don't know. Bard was laughing too hard to talk when he... zapped me here."

"You five are a set. You belong with him."

"What?"

"Ooh, I missed that one, Ronnie."

"I would have if they hadn't looked at each other to 'share the laughter' several times, Danny."

"I'm... engaged."

"And just realized it's to the wrong girl?"

"No, Ronnie, that I may be engaged to an office. Comm connect Mandolin, shortcut Regina. Hi, I think I'm going to turn down the offer and stay with the clinic until you get your degree. You haven't said where you plan to start your career and the resort may be a better place than a hotel in Sonata. If not, I can find a clinic there or somewhere else. Yes, there's no doubt it's a successful practice, but it would keep you in Sonata and limit your opportunity to advance, and I'm not sure I want that type of practice. I enjoy clinic work. Really? You'd do that? Are you sure? You do? I know the perfect place. There's a small town that needs a doctor to do it all, office and clinic. It's a great place to raise kids. Why? I see. Regina, find another doctor. Comm out. Comm connect Mandolin, shortcut Dad. Tell Dr. Marshall I'll be ready when she is. I decided not to marry the most successful practice in Sonata. No, I arranged it. Because I fell instantly in love with the most beautiful laugh, and cutest giggle in existence. Frankie. No, but I expect she'll tell me when I'm sitting down. She's from Cloverlea. Comm out. I'm not engaged. I'm going to live and work in Heart Falls, population about six thousand, but the clinic serves about fifteen thousand and they need a doctor."

"Yes, they do. Dr. Marshall is eighty-eight and she's been trying to find someone for them for a decade. Dr. Wilbur is doing most of the on-call hours for both Heart Falls and Ricky Lake and he's pooped. The Winslows are selling their house and moving into one of the condos the Brocks built. It's huge and gorgeous and way too much for them now, even though they've been leasing the fields to the Marleys for fifteen years. The Anders family do have use of the riding ring in winter, because they helped build it, but there's plenty of open time to give several horses good exercise."

"Horses, that's how you knew about it."

"I've been going to Heart Falls with Grandma, to help exercise the horses she has pastured and stabled there, since I was four. It's my favorite place."

"We've all been there many times. We learned Bam can find more adventures on a farm than three of us can keep up with the first time we took him, but with the whole town helping watch, we have kept him out of the clinic since then."

"I'd have gotten the saddle on the horse, if it had been a little lighter, Topper. When I pushed it off the rail with my foot, I shot into the air, hit the ladder I used to get to the beam I had the rope over, then the wall. At that point I was low enough to let go. It seemed like the best option, until the saddle came down me."

"The usual notification he wasn't with any of us was a series of crashes."

"Saying, 'Stay right behind me,' did not work. He stayed, but he could be half-dressed, with an animal or bug in various clothing items, which he was attempting to carry, when you turned around. He never actually got bitten or stung, but we can describe the smell of most small creatures on Mandolin that use odor as a defense."

"That's how Labs got interested in chemistry, trying to find things to deodorize me, without having to get in a vehicle with me."

"I know every plant, which grows in settled areas, that produces a natural deodorizer and how to extract it."

"He carried a portable chem lab in a backpack when we left our yards for three years."

"By then, I could personally identify most strongly odorous critters and plants."

"Life with you is going to be fun."

"Blink, blink. He hadn't gotten that far, Quinn."

"You did, Loopy."

"I've wanted 'best friend forever' my whole life. Frets said I'd find 'them' someday."

"I realized I wanted 'partners,' when I asked Bard to teach me what they do."

"Yes! Oh, yes, I want to do that."

"So do I."

"Christopher, we were waiting for something."

"Yes, Lawrence, and Bramton had to grow up first, just like you said."

"Ready for little diamonds?"

"Uh..."

"Right ear, Quinn."

"Yes, Danny, right ear."

"I'm ready for a big one for a finger?"

"Yes, I'll marry you."

"Now we know how you got them all here, Quinn. How Bard got us here is still a large question, but they all had a wish, and this was the place to grant it."

"Scanner, scanner, scanner, gauge, gauge, multi-wrench."

"Thanks, Drand. Jace, Bruce is going to have difficulty leaving to ring shop. Take a cam and show him selections at Haggetty's?"

"On the way. I'll bring the judge back with me."

"Uh..."

"Bruce, do you want ten thousand people and fifty reporters at our wedding?"

"Bring the judge. Can your judge marry us?"

"Yes. We'll make sure of it after we figure out what this did."

"Thanks, Nev."

"Don't worry, Bruce. Bance and Silky went too. You'll have everything for perfect memory."

"Thanks, Ronnie."

"What?! Bard, look at this, and look when it was."

"I don't want to, Danny. I knew I didn't want to."

"Bard, this unit, with a not-quite perfect circuit right here, may be why you and Quinn, could use the device when it wasn't powered. It may also explain how you got us here. These traces say this unit was 'aiding' our device."

"Scan the circuit, Nev. Blade, get a datpad."

"Datpad."

"Math assignment."

"Oh, this one's going to be fun."

"Blade, I didn't plan to do this part."

"I knew we'd end up doing it, Bard. Still no device to do mind control?"

"Can't exist. You're about to prove it, and that telepathy is common, but mind reading isn't possible."

"Telepathy is common?"

"Very, Bam, but it's not talking. It's 'I know what you're thinking about' between people who know each other well. Much of that is still deduction from minute physical clues and familiarity with circumstance, but some is the 'psychic connection.' It's a talent. Like any talent, it can be trained. If Blade gets the answer I think he will, it's possible for some people to train it to the point of deliberate symbolic communication, almost language. We're beyond the realm were devices can 'do it all.' Bruce, how often and specific-desperate-when have you wished with all you are, this unit could work a little faster?"

"It's Emergency Unit One. It's closest to the door. We get something scary once in one hundred days, on average. Five since I've been there. This unit arrived nine days before I did."

"Here's the circuit, Bruce. Onscreen"

"It's fuzzy there."

"It operated and tested properly, but the path was shallow. Instead of burning deeper, it fuzzed. That's you pushing it to do what this circuit, if constructed properly, couldn't. Now, here's your power fluctuation. This path, through this way, across this gap, through here, jump there and... it worked faster than possible, because it's a different piece of equipment, but it takes a mind to 'wish' it."

"The woman's son, age five. 'Fix my mommy, now!' She was teaching him to ride a bike, running beside him. He had kneepads. She did not."

"It has to come out."

"Drand!"

"It can go in his pocket, Dawn, but it has to come out of this unit. It's not needed in ordinary circumstance, even to reduce suffering, and the tech would find it next full check on the unit. He's more likely to need that 'fan' where people ride horses, and there may have to be a device there to use it."

"This one's done, Bard."

"Thank you, Blade. There doesn't have to be a device there, but he didn't 'do it,' alone. Next one."

"Oh, this one's cute too. Give him the circuit. He can yell for them when he needs help. Teach him to change it fast."

"Yes, Blade."

"Answer comm."

"Got a selection for Bruce."

"You just left!"

"Silky saved a pre-cropped image that has Haggetty's best in it, Danny. He remembered it as we were coming this way. He doesn't know he selected one, but we do."

"Show me, please. Yes, no doubt."

"Now Frankie for Bruce."

"Perfect."

"We put Silky and Essa on anything 'artistic,' Frankie."

"Call for an account code, Bance."

"I will, Bruce."

Case and Stats bought the wedding gown in the display in the formal shop in the resort. They told the clerk the couple were going to get married in the sculpture garden in Teal Valley, but the bride wanted a real gown to wear and that one was "perfect fantasy real." She agreed and promised not to tell why the gown was changed, until the bride came back in it. Case told her the groom was being "outfitted Teal Valley style" at his request. She said he had good taste too.

Bard 'picked up' Case and Stats. He yelled check before they wished and took them back. Case fell out of his shower with the wedding dress box before it got wet. Stats crawled out. Bard turned off the water, stepped out and took the towel Blade, laying on the floor laughing, held up for him. He got dressed and took the gown to Danny's. Nev, Blade, Case and Stats were still laughing too hard to walk.

It was later in Teal Valley and everyone in the neighborhood was home from work, when he assembled for the wedding. The judge said she had no doubt she was performing a legal marriage, even if it became legal after the marriage. She did warn Silky loaning the sculpture garden for daytrip weddings might not be a wise precedent. He began working on criteria with "dodging a guest list of ten thousand and fifty press passes." Frets told him he'd narrowed it to a few hundred of Frankie's friends.

Bruce realized no one had told him Frankie's name for a reason. He told Quinn images of his surprise were liable to include a faint. Quinn said the only girl from Mandolin that would cause that had a diamond stud in her earlobe.

"The 'heiress in hiding,' she never was."

"No, but she hid she was the heiress. She's been a thousand places none of us could go because we couldn't be just kids. Bruce, you know she's from Cloverlea. You know what that means. If we have to pick you up off the ground when you hear her full name, it'll be a very funny wedding memory in a day filled with laughter, and no one will doubt you married the girl, not the family."

"Especially the family."

"They know she'd recognize that instantly. The truth is, we wouldn't surprise you if she was from anywhere else. It wouldn't be fair not to warn you about all the lies plastered on her."

"I don't watch. My mom said it's the most disgusting filth being broadcast and the ugliest lie ever told on the planet is calling it news. She never understood why someone didn't demand it be shown as fact, which any legal entity whose name or image is shown on a newscast can do, under section nine, article fourteen of the broadcast license code."

"What?"

"They call it news. If it's news, it comes under the codes for news. That code is primarily to protect businesses and politicians, but they can't exclude society casts during newscasts, without a disclaimer stating they're not news. If they're not, they have to get legal consent to use your names or images."

"Who is your mother?"

"She's a librarian. Her hobby is word definitions. 'News' has a very tight definition for public consumption. It's even tighter on Mandolin than most other worlds. They're assuming they can call them 'society updates,' or various others and not have them subject to licensing stipulations, but 'insertion of material to promote as factual by association' is not allowed under article seventeen."

"We could have stopped it?"

"Mom said you could, but you have to defend yourselves as not being public properties first. They're defining you that way. The onus is on them to prove you are, that your profession or, quote, 'chosen other,' makes you such. She said that's the piece you probably didn't find, or you'd have realized they have to be just as factual about you as politicians. The word in there with the definition they can't overcome is 'chosen.' Did you choose to be born rich and have a surname everyone knows? Sorry, but your parents choice to have a child isn't yours and your choice is the defining... You didn't know any of it."

"None. I didn't know the licensing code had... There was no section nine."

"What?"

"I asked for it when I was fourteen for a school project. It had eight sections."

"It has ten. Where did you get it from?"

"The Association of Broadcasters."

"Comm connect Mandolin, shortcut Mom. Hi, I'm getting married. I don't know her name, but I know her to her beautiful soul. No, no one will tell me. She's from Cloverlea. We're avoiding ten thousand guests and fifty reporters. My best man promised to hold me up if my knees buckled when it's dropped on me. Mom, they didn't apply articles fourteen and seventeen of the Broadcast License code because they don't know they exist. Request a copy from the Association of Broadcasters and see if only people with 'known' names get copies with only eight sections. Quinn, my best man. In the sculpture garden in Teal Valley on Liberty Gem. We'll be back at the resort as soon as it's over. The clinic does not know how, or to where, I disappeared. They're missing a healing unit too. This all started with a circuit in it that didn't always work right. Big power fluctuation and that unit was out of there until fixed, and I fell in love. I had a long engagement. I decided not to marry an office. My girl knows Dr. Marshall is eighty-eight, Dr. Wilbur is pooped, the Winslows want to sell their house, and the names of the horses in the stable. Mom, that's part of why Liberty Gem. She gets mine. We avoided asking options. It's right for us. See you at the resort. I'm going to learn to ride a float scooter, and probably spend my honeymoon in the healing unit. Comm out."

"Ready?"

"Yes."

"Any doubts?"

"No. I'm even sure I'm not dreaming or crazy."

"Your dad didn't want you to marry an office."

"No, he didn't. He and mom didn't get married immediately, but he proposed the day they met. Neither of them think I'm crazy either."

The judge said, "Francine Denton," and Bruce giggled and said yes. Shortly after the bride and groom went back up the path, the wedding party and tripping guests disappeared. Quinn said, "Oops," Bard groaned and others sank with giggles. They were on Dancy. Bard took all their float scooter costumes out of the healing unit and told Quinn to take it back.

"I don't seem to be succeeding."

"Don't you wish it there if one of your friends gets hurt?"

"Yes, but it's not working. Help."

"All right. Let's try..."

"It worked."

"We were just supposed to bring the unit!"

"We could try taking everyone... Oops."

Danny fell on her bed and screamed with laughter. They were all back in her bedroom, and she'd been in Silky and Essa's house. Quinn noted they were making progress. They didn't had the healing unit with them. Bard began to giggle, and they were suddenly all on the ship, including Danny.

"I can try to take her back."

"No! We'll send her home using the device."

"Do you think that's wise?"

"I don't know, Blade, but I'm sure things can't get more interesting."

"Shuttle!"

"Good idea, Nev, but I'm not going to get to it yet!"

Bard fell on the couch and laughed. The math said they could control it. It also said they were all helping, and learning. Some would always need the device, and those below a quite specific, but unknown level of talent couldn't use it. The only way to learn who could and couldn't was integrate psi test results with device results.

There was no doubt they could all use the device. All knowing who belonged with whom, meant they had a high psi talent 'rating.' Who could train to not need it at all was unknown, but he and Quinn didn't need it 'turned on, and he rather suspected none of the others did either.

### Chapter Thirty-six

Eventually, they all made it to the shuttles, some to each. Bard asked Nev why shuttles and not flyers. Nev told him flyers were expected to land in flyer lots. Nev got permission from the surprised resort manager, then warned traffic control. A few moments later, the two shuttles landed on the wide lawn of the resort, and Bruce escorted his bride off Terpsichore, Cora, Nightwing Dancer's shuttle. Quinn's family followed from Flamenco, Flo, Castanetta's shuttle.

People whooped and ran to meet them. Two of them were the only newscrew that had been allowed on resort grounds, Frederick Larch and his cam op, Andrew, of MPB.

"The reason a number of people disappeared from this resort this afternoon is now known, but we don't know the identity of the man Francine Denton, youngest of Charles and Margaret Denton's three children, and only daughter, obviously married. Andrew, get a close-up of Stace Quinn. Our editor confirms Gen Quinn has a diamond stud, of the size and placement indicating membership in a vowed pair or group, a family of non-traditional form. Four others, three men and a woman also have diamond studs. A diamond indicates there are both men and women in the family. Placement on the right ear indicates a vow of fidelity is not part of the pledge of 'friendship forever' and statement of family membership. I'm receiving the identities of the other persons who have firmly and permanently removed themselves from who-will-marry-whom speculation. Bramton Ambrose, Christopher Strand, Lawrence Blackburn. Do we have the woman's identity? We do not. We now have the name of the man Francine, nee Denton married, Dr. Bruce Brewer, currently the chief physician at Lakeside Clinic, which serves this area. Who?! I'm sorry, but the identity of the woman in the pledged family was a distinct surprise. Louisa Sanders, known as that 'hidden heiress,' has appeared among those we term 'society' in a very unexpected fashion. We have just learned Fem Denton and Dr. Brewer were married in a ceremony in Teal Valley, with subsequent legal confirmation of that marriage by Mandolin Superior Court and registration here. Superior Court Judge Wallace Archer stated daytrip marriages may add significantly to the trade exchange, as couples choose the perfect setting for their wedding on any world. We have Judge Archer on comm. Judge Archer, you also stated this creates a new type of market for gown designers. Would you please explain."

"Gen and Fem Brewer can easily afford the type of wedding attire we deem fantasy beautiful. For most young couples and their families, that type of attire is too expensive. Most people don't have the talent to design a perfect fantasy gown. However, if the designer creates one for them, they can carry its image in their minds, and a young woman can wear the beautiful gown designed just for her in her daytrip wedding. She could include the design sketches with the images of her wearing the gown in her wedding album, at a fraction of the cost of having such a gown made. There won't be fewer beautiful gowns made because most who can afford them will choose to do so, and most couples will choose to be married in their hometowns, but that still leaves a great many who can have their fantasy wedding at a fraction of the cost, and designers can sell many gown designs, not just one or two to companies that make bridal gowns."

"Do you see daytrip costuming, in general, as increasing opportunity for designers?"

"Yes, but not so much in sale to individuals as the expansion of creative expression, and subsequent sale of a far wider range, and number, of designs to clothing manufacturers. It takes seconds to program fabricators to produce a different design, but 'this year's style' limits the number of designs it's reasonable to produce. The images of the costumes those young people have created, because protective gear can't be used with the prevailing current styles, indicates a wider range is needed. The costumes our daytrippers are wearing on their trips indicate they're desired, at all ages, not just among the young. I've spoken to several people with far more expertise in market analysis and such to assure my semi-official opinion wasn't way off the mark. They agreed daytripping is going to be 'an injection of creativity in fashion,' as Dr. Mandara Smith, head of Helene University of Verdantine's famed talent research program, phrased it."

"You didn't speak with just our experts."

"My opinion is on interplanetary trade, travel and art, so I sought supporting opinion from interplanetary experts, as well as our own most astute businesspeople. The next court comm bill will be rather high."

"Then this is an official semi-official opinion?"

"Yes, it's subsidiary to, and in support of, the decision to recognize marriage of persons during day trips to other worlds. They are, in all ways but bodily, present on those worlds, and legal marriage on any world is recognized on all others, by the Human Rights Commission and the Interplanetary Supreme Court. I expect both to issue statements of concurrence with this decision quite soon. There will be some legal details to be worked out on worlds with tight marriage licensing procedures, but it shouldn't take long. It's a delightful way to add to income from daytrip tourism for places, such as resorts, which won't benefit with room rentals and such. Those might include honeymoon suite packages. Those suites are not reserved primarily for time spent sleeping."

"Very true. Thank you, Judge Archer, for MPB, and for our interplanetary affiliate, Transspace News."

"Congratulations to MPB on that affiliation. I'll be watching for Walt on the run and New Tech News."

"Thank you, again, Judge Archer. With me now is Stace Quinn, pointing out the diamond stud signifying his pledge of family. Gen Quinn, that symbol, and the identities of your family members are, at least, surprising."

"The symbol is polite notification we're fully emotionally committed. It doesn't mean we formed a family. It means we realized we are one, and made a pledge of lifelong love and sharing. Of course it's a surprise. No one knows anything about any of us. We're not asked our dreams, plans or what we're doing. Those would conflict with what people are told were doing, and they might begin to think of us as human."

"You don't believe people think of you as human?"

"They think of us as names attached to large amounts of money. If they thought of us as human, they'd ask themselves how they'd feel if someone used their names and images to sell prurience and viewer subscriptions. If they thought of us as human, they wouldn't laugh when a woman cries because she's being branded as a slut on a planetwide newscast, and she's never even been kissed. I have. That's unusual at my age. Average age for first kiss for 'society' men and women is twenty-five."

"You're serious."

"Yes, I've actually been kissed. The age? That should be obvious. Were going to be portrayed as emotionless sex machines anyway, but no one's going to volunteer by actually having a personal conversation with someone of the opposite sex. I admit I was visiting another world at the time, but if marriage during a visit counts, my kiss should, so I'm claiming it. My family are all costumed and I'm the teacher. Hopefully, with four of us watching, we can keep Bam from trying something that adds to his store of misadventurous stories. We all agreed cousin Frankie deserved to retire, and will be reminding Bam she found the right one and arranging further introductions to doctors is unnecessary. No, Bam! Learn the pad drag on the ground first! Bye!"

"On the ground?!"

"On the ground, Loopy! Brat! Watch them! They're two hours short on practice! And Bam and Loopy think it's supposed to include clinic visits!"

"Not always."

"Piano practice doesn't."

"Bam's did."

"It wouldn't have if the glue had held the shoes, Labs."

"Glue and shoes?"

"I decided to use the pedals too, Loopy. I tied long sticks to my ankles and glued my shoes to the ends. It worked well until one of the shoes came off and the stick got stuck. When I ducked under to try to wiggle it loose with my right hand, the stool shot out behind me, I hit the piano with my head, the key cover came down on my left hand, the stick went in farther, the other shoe got caught and I sort of hung between until help got there."

"Broken finger, sprained ankle, lacerated leg, gashed head, five years old, yelled he was stuck, and said, 'I should have got the good glue.' We built him pedal stilt shoes."

"Labs figured out how to get my socks out of the shoes I tried first too."

"The glue worked on them and his toes. Frankie was babysitting and yelled for help."

"I used quite a bit trying to get the sticks to stay."

"The toes were so full, the glue was still wet two days later. By the time he was six, his parents just bought three of each style when he outgrew shoes, and we supplemented."

"Shoes don't squash things like pockets do, and they make good scoops."

"His parents increased our allowances for 'Bramton maintenance.' Our parents bought supplemental Ed programs and supplies."

"Topper got a workshop for his thirteenth birthday, and Frankie got an em-tech training program for her twelfth. The clinic agreed it was a good idea."

"A house in Heart Falls?"

"Ricky Lake, Quinn. It's seventeen K downstream, eight K on horseback and forty-six K in a car. About twelve thousand full-time and five thousand part-time residents."

"Very vacation community, Topper."

"The town isn't dependent on them, but they make it extremely, not just comfortably, affluent. Chase River Valley, Loopy."

"Thank you. I was hunting a town-crop-region bell ringing. I want to live there. Rich soil, pure water and eight hundred seventy square K of flowers."

"It's an incredible view flying over the lake spring through summer, and the breeze from the southwest is intoxicatingly fragrant. From the north, it smells like manure in summer, but that's not too bad, and not real frequent."

"How hard is winter?"

"Generally mild, but it has weather. One year, midwinter day was too warm for a sweater and they got seventeen cens of snow overnight. Those floral growers want field projectors for one thing."

"Hail."

"That's the thing, Quinn. They'll use them for many other purposes, probably, but they can't cover those fields with anything else that makes money sense. If prediction is real bad, they'll spend a day and night covering, but they have to choose between fields sometimes."

"Localized patterns. They can give exact time and amount of precipitation, but not exactly where hail will fall."

Brat grinned and sat down by Frets. She was watching Bard teach Billie how to use her shoes to do her "kind of float scooter stunts." Brat said he was sure Quinn belonged in a bunch, but he hadn't been able to imagine the bunch, because he really couldn't imagine Loopy and Bam. She laughed and nodded.

"I saw you 'watch' them for him."

"I don't think they realized they all just bunched up and went with him. I'm not sure they'll notice they have their scooters when they get inside."

"Ow?"

"It's never going to happen for me."

"Brat, you don't want that."

"I know, but I want something. I'm not a group person, but I'm not a loner either. I'm sure you're sure I'll find it, but I don't know where to look, except not where I am, and I'm tired of just waiting."

"Business?"

"Doesn't bore me part of the time."

"Charity work?"

"Is always worth doing, and once in a while I can do something six other people didn't do."

"Have you asked Marty or Al?"

"They're as tired of waiting as I am. The same answer for all of us?"

"You just decided it was. Bard! Brat, Marty and Al know there's a key to a door of opportunity, but they can't figure out what it is because they can't find the hall with the door."

"Why do they keep looking on the ground floor?"

"Marty! Al! We've got the wrong degrees!"

"All he needed was to be reminded there was a lift."

"Eighty percent have the wrong degrees."

"The men got the only ones they'd have some chance of using. Most of the women got the same, with less probability of getting to use it. It's not really a double standard of conduct. It's that men are 'supposed' to be in business, so they're at least behaving properly in that way."

"It's just as wrong, but they're a brief glimpse of a face and a bio that sounds just... Comm connect Nev and Blade. Why is it Liberty Gem? I keep hearing standard... Out. This should be fun. Nev was quoting poets. Comm connect Danny. You may be the only real redhead on this planet. Comm out."

"I missed that completely."

"Your hair is beautiful, rich blue-black. I don't think your chemistry is as good as ours. In general, business types are somewhat conservative."

"Non-attention-attracting was also a very good idea."

"It was the best choice, or Quinn wouldn't have been the best at it. I suspect Bam is still growing, and won't stop for a while."

"You think he's going to get to your height?"

"Close, maybe a bit taller, if 'non-attention-attracting' isn't a very good idea."

"He has that... No, Topper, Labs, Loopy and Quinn have that control, with his agreement."

"His decision. He's always been totally confident someone will 'patch' him. He really does think of it as 'Oops, I need patching.' He's not fearless, but he's completely sure he'd know if he was risking his life, and if it would, not could be fatal. Risking 'limb' is just, 'Ow, I'm glad the clinic is close.' Five and just yelled he was stuck."

"He's the binding force of the family, but Quinn's its center."

"He's the one Bam picked to follow. Loopy is going to help him make sure they all laugh a great deal. She's not 'Frankie.' She's 'two who think practice includes clinic visits.' They'll all make sure Quinn has 'misadventures' too. Or he wouldn't have had any."

"Agreed. If he'd been in control, it would have been 'faultless.' Whimsical was dangerous for just him."

"It was dangerous for everyone but Bam. Topper and Labs had him as an excuse not to be ordinary, and he worked very hard to be a good one. He is aware of it."

"Definitely. Frankie is 'maternal.' That's the key she wanted to fit in a door of opportunity."

"Like Cory, the 'expected' fit, except too much name and money to carry in this society."

"At least she has two older brothers. She wants 'a dozen' children. Bruce just grinned."

"Match them, Frets. Have Billie help. Get them all here, not just those who want to ride. If both of you are sure there's 'another,' it's not time, or something else, tell them. You know why psi talent is unusually high. They'll all see it's been concentrated and trust their feelings."

"Extreme business success isn't just following the plan. You have to have hunches too."

"Exactly. Get the couples who've been abused here too, and the successful women who no one mentions."

"Basically, get everyone here for a makeover and a non-standard bio."

"I was sure you'd get it. How many?"

"Two thousand nine. That number was a surprise to me too."

"It's exactly what we needed to know we're playing the correct hunch. I don't really want to train it, either."

"I know, but our species needs it or wouldn't be strengthening and becoming common. Billie! The fleet admiral assigned us a duty, a big one!"

"We're staff. That means all our duties are big."

"We can do this one on our scooters, at least to start."

"Don't worry. I know how staff gets big duty done quick, Frets. They tell people it's their duty too!"

Danny had no difficulty getting where she wanted to go. She arranged 'guides' first. She also taught a number of people to use the device.

She hadn't planned to teach most of them, but several of Nev's family gathered at his grandfather's house, then walked over to his, quite sure they were supposed to be there. Ronnie noted it was becoming a "rather wide secret" and Jason Andrev noted there weren't five hundred forty-eight of them. Tarse Braighton said it was about time they "got in on the fun." Milla said she'd remember she was supposed to have things she bought shipped.

Danny, Gant, Tarse Braighton, Corinne Holscott and Bram Terschell all knew they could learn to teleport without the device. All who Danny taught could 'go without comm connect.' Danny 'went to' Quinn. In a few moments, she taught his family and Frankie and Bruce. Quinn, Bam and Bruce could learn to 'go' without the device. Frets told her she couldn't, but Billie 'just would,' when she was ready.

By then, a large amount of permanent hair color change treatment was being moved to a suite in the hotel, and more people were beginning to arrive at the resort. Many were bringing 'costumes,' but Case, Stats, Dawn and Drand were 'emptying' the wardrobe rooms in the mine.

The resort was 'rented' for two days. All rooms and suites were just opened and arriving people chose one. Other guests and the hotel staff watched in anticipation. Something was definitely going on. Over the course of the evening, sixty-three people "just sure" they should be there arrived. After the first two were delightedly welcomed, the hotel reservation clerk said, "Welcome" when people said it. Twenty-six other guests were 'absorbed' by the assemblage of the wealthy old families.

Frets and Billie finished their 'big duty' at nineteen twenty-six, when the last of the sixty-three just-sure arrived. At twenty eighteen, a courier brought a 'shipment' from a jewelry company on another continent.

People began visiting a large suite in the hotel and the ballroom filled. Bruce got very busy. Frankie assisted. There were a very large number of people not following directions to watch over.

At twenty forty-one, Nev and Blade finished building the nonstandard bio format and began distributing printouts. Two thousand nine people began choosing where and how they'd do their bios and 'studying' the printout that would help them prepare. Nev and Blade got so many pats on the back, both considered pads under their shirts. Bard gave them hugs.

"It's incredible."

"It actually came together fairly quickly once we had all the literature references assembled and indexed. I'd have never thought of it and it's the piece that will help each person individualize the general outline."

"Thank you, Nev, but I'm going to disagree it's a 'general outline.' I sent it to Dr. Smith."

"What?!"

"I agree with Blade. It's an aid to self-presentation that they should have. There's nothing like it or you'd have found it. You combined the best character-building programs, resume building programs and literary quotes into a simple to use printout to tell people who you are, and learn a great deal about yourself in the process. Answer comm. Hello, Dr. Smith. We were just telling him it was. No, we didn't. Thank you. How many other worlds have problems you're waiting for someone to discover, Doctor? Which ones? Lucinda, an odd attitude toward only female homosexuality. What?! Get everything you've got on it to Larry. That's too odd. Something is pushing and it may have been the mining corps. Comm out. Braverly, don't have children by natural means, unless you fit pairing recommendations. If you meet all 'good family' criteria, purchase implantation of an 'appropriate' zygote."

"Braverly has been settled one hundred eighty years. It was 'right after' our world."

"Every other oddity is a cultural quirk that arose out of the settlement group and is non-damaging, Blade. This one wasn't non-damaging, but they expected it to topple because Mandolin is very business-oriented and it would hurt business. Lucinda's is traceable to have-lot-of-kids, but it's not going away as it should. They're a research program. They don't think of doing anything, but they've been waiting for the doers to ask for the research."

"Our evaluations?"

"Sent a few minutes ago. Since she thought the call was about them, we should... Damn!"

"Bard, we obviously both agreed we should look at them or we wouldn't all three be on the ship."

"I know, Nev, but I... don't give myself any warning."

"He's worried he'll leave the shower for some place very public, Nev."

"I'd worry, Blade."

"I agree it's a less than desirable result, but I also think it's extremely unlikely he wishes it enough to do it."

"He has a point, Bard. I don't want to look anymore."

"You knew it, Nev."

"I didn't have to admit it, Blade."

"No, you could pretend you were 'just close enough to keep up' with us. This is an overall judgment we belong together, Nev. Our scores vary in talents, but yours is the will that freed a world. This is why Bard's learning guitar a little faster, but here's why my ear is better. Here's why you feel what the next chord should be. In total musical talent, there's barely a difference, but these modify it."

"It's time to create our fragrances."

"How, Bard?"

"Where did you get that?"

"I stole it, Nev."

"You stole it?"

"Well, I didn't ask permission to use it, Blade. There wasn't a price or a publisher to ask, so I just copied it. It hasn't been updated in one hundred seventy years."

"There hasn't been a new world surveyed in one hundred seventy years."

"I know, Nev. This is the current 'Complete Fragrance Analysis' for human space. Here's the basic chemical compound table. Here's the spicy to sweet, bold to shy and every other from-to listing the perfumers use. Now, it's up to you two."

"Us?"

"Yes, Blade. I'm just sure you and Nev, with others, should do this. I don't really want to read all of that evaluation either. I will because we decided we are the ones to 'fix' two more worlds, and I'll look at the truth behind the decision. I'll look for fun surprises and add things they tell us we'll enjoy to our playrooms. Right now, I'm going to get us a fantastic cold beer while you to talk about why you're worried about me."

"We're worried about him."

"We're both pleased this didn't come before we spent a day giggling over the 'test' results. You're worried about us too."

"I know. I knew all he is and you had to be before I met you, Blade."

"But you ignored who you are."

"He's doing the same."

"No, he's putting it in storage. He doesn't need it yet. He's the bard. He's all of who we are, the teacher of our past, which gives guidance in our present. You're the one who chooses the path to the future to which he guides them. I'm the one who aids them in understanding themselves, so they follow the guidance with vision, not blindly."

"He says, 'this is what we know.' You say, 'this is who we are.' I say, 'we're going that way.' Danny sweeps the path clear. Ronnie keeps track of where we are. Drand and Dawn keep the equipment in good order. Case and Stats notice places the path needs blasting before sweeping and keep everyone moving forward."

"You knew you were stuck with saying that-a-way, since you realized the knight needed a prince, and you were the only one for the job. That's what it says, Nev. There isn't another. In all of human space, only you could be all the prince the bard had to have to be the knight. Usually, you can ride beside on the path. Sometimes, another will say 'that one.' In battle, you follow the knight. You don't have to ride in front alone or make every decision, but we're worried about him and he isn't."

"He only has to lead in battle and he's seen all he creates arises from... 'the lays and legends of the past.' It's new in existence, but it's built the way the bards built their new songs. You had to accept who you are long ago."

"Oh, I like this evaluation much better than mine."

They began to work on fragrances. They hadn't worked long when Nev called Bard and said he wanted a beer. Bard arrived wearing a pack and they both looked at him. He was smiling widely. He opened the pack and extracted three different beers. Nev and Blade compared labels, then checked his and whooped.

"You did it!"

"I wished myself to find the beers we each wanted, Nev. I thought I'd get to a liquor store with something we'd tasted. I arrived at three breweries on three worlds we haven't visited. All three are beers, not porters or ales. None of them are rice or wheat beers."

"From Seneschel, white tuft beer."

"Bali, Regina grass. This is beer for the gods."

"Foresta, hoddum. Ooh, I'm sure I like this too much. I did bring more than one each."

"Good. We have work to do and you're helping."

"I'm sure it's you two and others, Blade."

"It is. You're the first other."

"Comm connect Quinn. Everyone who just ports around must have a fragrance they memorize so well, after they've worked out wearing it, they can carry it on a regular trip."

"Understood, Nev. We're in the midst of changing our body chemistry."

"Stalling won't work for you either. This part is also 'Who am I?' and everyone else will help."

"We'll be... right here. Comm out. This is?"

"The beer I wanted."

"I see. Yum."

"I have a selection of three. Are they the beers your family members want most?"

"I'll find out. You used the device how?"

"Powered and initiated a comm sequence to the shuttle. I went to three different breweries; outside, in a foyer, in front of the cooler in a sales outlet. All three were open."

"If I have to steal it, it's not the one that's right."

"My reason for not worrying about it. Be specific. Beer was a criteria. Bright orange-red curls?"

"He's sure too, Quinn."

"I concede, Bam. I'll put the nice red-brown back."

"He had to really hide. It's a strong habit."

"Yes, Bam, it is but he does know he built it. You?"

"Goldilocks, more curl and a little lighter than yours. Labs and Topper thought they were going to skip it. They picked mine. Loopy picked hers and theirs. Quinn's was four hands reaching for the same package. Not a brunette or brown in the bunch."

"I'm sure I'm honey blonde, and it's not kinky."

"The auburn she picked for me is."

"The package says the white she picked for me is blond."

"It'll be great, Labs."

"Loopy, if you like it... What is that?"

"The reference Bard stole."

"Stole?"

"I'm sure it ought to be paid for, Labs, but there was nothing that says how much or to who. I said, 'thank you, whoever,' and copied it."

"Where were you searching?"

"Everywhere. I'm not sure anyone else knows this was somewhere. It's old, but I didn't think we needed all the hybrids developed in the last one hundred seventy years."

"It won't fit in my pocket comp."

"I'll put it on a datpad for you, Labs."

"It will fit on a datpad?"

"One of ours. You don't use them like we do. We stuff anything we won't be doing a great deal of manipulation on in ours, and our compression programs seem to be better."

"Our pocket comps do more. Our portables more than those, and our desk computers much more. Our house computers are house computers. They have the speed and storage of yours, but they aren't used as mains. It wasn't simple to tap our comps because they're only connected to comm when we're using them for something which requires it. IS had to program the house comp to maintain the connection to the personal comp to tap it. A lot of house comp capacity is used to maintain separation of functions, then integrate them smoothly and instantly on demand. Connecting the six comps in our house is instant, but it's only a connection. It's separate from comm and a tap of the house comp would just find a program to connect them, not penetrate the connection. That would require reprogramming the house comp to add a comm connection to a specific comp. That's done easily, but from the desk comp. The house comp is still not part of it."

"Your programming is different?"

"Quite. It's not better, but much of it is more complex. The planetary government, all regular services, was maintained by a program written for one level of a game with twenty levels. Of course, World Builder Eleven is the most complex game there is. We've looked. No one else has anything comparable. No one else needed a program that taught every person, who could play it, exactly how a planetary economic system and government operated, what was wrong with theirs and how much and how money was embezzled."

"Who could play it."

"Exactly, Topper. Most people could get through about three levels. It looks like other games of the type with a few enhancements through those. However, those enhancements are the building blocks for a game you can't play without learning how education, business, politics and bureaucracy function and integrate to build an economically successful world. Level eight is called the 'lockstep' level. There are very few major game moves because there are very few ways a government, of the complexity it's reached by that point, can stimulate education and business growth without going into debt, and that's not allowed. A budget surplus over a certain amount isn't. You have to build your private sector to stimulate research and development. One of those few game moves is downsizing your military to create a budget surplus, which causes a complete recomputation of the gov budget, and a tax reduction and possibly refund, but you have to retire people and designate who's been retained. The program helps you name, 'educate' and employ all your people through the levels. It tells you if you've put people on gov assistance and who's out of work. If you can win World Builder Eleven, you can run a world. It made it very simple to find people who could reconstruct ours."

"You won it."

"All six of us had. It usually takes about four years. Most kids restart several times at level eight. You can't back up. You can only start over and do it a bit differently."

"Kids?"

"Yes. It's the game to get when you're in second or third term of middle school. That doesn't mean younger or older don't, but it's known to have the best programming, graphics, soundtrack, character generation. Pick any business on your world and be the CEO, chairman of the board, or stock clerk. Be a farmer, or engineer, or senator. The computer will tell you if who you are needs more education, or study, or money to do what you want. 'Sorry, your lab doesn't have the equipment to do that.' 'Sorry, you have the equipment, but you have to get someone from this list, currently working these places, or wait for someone from this list to graduate.' 'Sorry, your soil isn't right for that crop. 'Sorry, you didn't watch your forecast. 'Sorry, you didn't damn that stream to control flooding.' 'Sorry, your tourist industry didn't do enough advising.' You can't leave anything out, but you have a fantastic time talking crops and weather in the local tea shop, discussing the dam being built on the site, trading stock on the exchange. It's eight hundred sixty gigs of program, plus graphics and music files."

"Uh... How long did it take to build it?"

"Twenty-one years, over a one hundred two-year period, with six to ten of the best game programmers on the world working on each upgrade. The last upgrade took four years, and no one has suggested even a minor improvement in nine."

"This is not an inexpensive game."

"No, but the price goes down each year and more kids awe their friends, when they say they got to level nine."

"If that's nine..."

"Twelve is fund and settle a new world. The last four levels, you have to resolve all the social and economic issues that your burgeoning population causes. Your government gets bigger and slower, regulations begin to proliferate, all the problems worlds that had been settled four two eight hundred years have are probable. You can back up to the beginning of level nine, but if your world goes bankrupt, you have riots, and extreme high crime and violence, five or six times at level eleven, you might as well start over. You probably built the problem in at the beginning."

"Bankrupt worlds don't fund settlement. And they didn't see what it taught?"

"Yes, kids who won it made a great deal of taxable income when they grew up. If their kids won it, or even got to level eight, they learned too much about real 'world building,' and identified with too many farmers and business people to participate. Everyone born in the gov enclave didn't stay there. Many left, but they couldn't do anything from the outside, either."

"You knew many could change because many had."

"We knew they weren't the brightest gene pool on the planet. The kids with real brains ran as soon as they got old enough to get out the gates."

"Oh, working in here is going to be so much fun."

"We'll build you a great playroom, Labs."

"I've got most of what I want in it, Loopy, but I'm out of room and some things should have more safety control than mine. My parents offered to build what I wanted, but I was sure I was going to move out, eventually."

"Most of what he didn't have was room for playmates."

"Let's begin the makeover process before we start the fragrance construction. This is going to take time and you guys have a lot of area to cover."

"Who gets to cover you, Loopy?"

"Blade."

"Loopy, I will not be able to keep my mind on the task."

"Good."

"I'm jealous."

"So am I."

"There will be four jealous."

"That's why none of you. I chose my first lover almost five years ago. I'm not inexperienced. You all are. I intend to make love to all of you, but I'm not going to make a schedule and give lessons. If this was the right time, we'd all know it."

"True. Let's change us."

"If you do it too fast, you can get pretty sick."

"Labs gave us all spot tests, Blade, and we took our orals, almost long enough ago, including Quinn."

"All right, let's do your heads. We'll do the sections, just as recommended, after that."

Quinn got back with an assortment of beers and a wine. He said he'd ended up in front of the same wine in two stores and realized Topper didn't really want a beer. Topper smiled widely and said he wanted a nice wine. Blade checked exact time they'd taken the oral treatments and put beer and wine away for a break.

They began working on 'hair' and fragrances at twenty-two forty-three. Case and Stats arrived by car at twenty-three thirty-eight. At four oh nine, they finished hair. They didn't finish fragrances, but they were at a good place to stop. At nine seventeen they went back to work.

Danny and Frets joined them and began the process. By then, they'd developed a method. It would take those Danny would aid to do it far less time. At noon, all but Danny went to the resort.

The resort was a very busy place. Flyers were coming and going, some nearly operating as shuttles for people who had personal places that were right for their bio recordings. Cars came and went, as well, though those were actually fewer and were often headed for party room refreshments.

Many people extended resort stays. Several of those used flyers to go bridal gown shopping. Several others took patterns to tailor shops. A large number visited thrift shops, attics and back bedroom closets to assemble outfits.

There were no reporters at the resort. MPB had been promised an exclusive later. The three networks with society news scheduled the night before hadn't pulled them, but the five admirals had not been mentioned. Fem Wares called Nev that morning and told him two had said they'd be changing the segments. GNMB had only "backed off," when she'd asked them if they wanted to be charged with intent to incite war.

Bruce's mother had done some investigating. The Association of Broadcasters had made the licensing regulations request-for-copy, instead of posted on the infonet, not quite thirty years before. Her copy was thirty-two years old. Law libraries had all received updates twenty-nine years previously, as had public libraries serving large areas. There had been no changes made to the regulations in fifty-four years. That change had been to make Section Four, Article Four, paragraph three, two paragraphs. No words had been changed.

That was the place she'd found a copy with all ten sections, in the regulatory committee record of the change. She couldn't find who'd actually truncated the regulations, but a computer error wouldn't have sent updates to everywhere.

Danny delivered a large number of float scooters of the non-pro type on a trailer. Case and Stats hooked it to the Wander and drove the last two K to the resort. The ones on the trailer were for sale. They weren't full price plus shipping, but a company had bought the patent and there was a license fee to pay. Seven minutes after Case and Stats began 'selling' the float scooters, a company on Mandolin had purchased a subsidiary license to manufacture both non-pro types.

Pro models were going to be export-only items. Topper's grandfather agreed the added expense of shipping, though minor, would aid in making the less dangerous models the usual purchase, especially for young teens. He didn't waste time. One of the family company facilities began retooling to produce float scooters seventeen minutes after the deal was complete. A sports shoe company was already producing the pads, and awaiting a shoe designed specifically for the sport.

A second trade news item was added to announcements to be made, when Frederick and Andrew were invited back that evening.

Eighteen trip chairs were delivered at fourteen oh nine. They were all personal property and would go home with their owners, but they were temporarily installed at the resort. Wedding parties began going places at fourteen thirty-seven. A large number of people had small ruby, emerald or diamond studs. A large number were enrolling in universities 'elsewhere,' to get the education they really wanted. That afternoon, five who had diamonds in their ears flew to Ricky Lake. At sixteen forty-seven, Bard went to see what they'd bought.

"How long has this place been unused?"

"Forty-six years, but it wasn't for sale. We found out who owned it and would not sell it. Every person who inquired wanted to tear the big cabin down and build seven or eight or a hotel. The former owner lives right over there."

"Straight across the lake."

"Yes. Her family used to meet here every summer. Not quite sixty years ago, she met a young man who'd bought a piece of lakefront and was planning to build a home on it. She helped plan and build. Gradually, this big cabin stopped being used. It was old and they had a nice big house that wasn't. This is the third oldest cabin on the lake. She stopped maintaining the yard twenty-eight years ago. It reduced the large number of people who called with 'great investment ideas,' most of whom wanted her and her husband to finance them. From the lake, it looks undeveloped. From the road, it looks like there was once some reason for a drive. Only from the air you see this big, once beautiful, place."

"Structure is in good shape. It was built and maintained well, and hasn't been completely neglected."

"No, they watched for damage and vermin invasion. It looks worse than it actually is, Bard. I think she waited nearly a half-century for the right neighbors to ask for it. The sale price was seventy percent of the property taxes for forty-six years. She said that's more than most would pay for it, but they don't see the cabin as an asset."

"You thought?"

"Damn cheap for an eight-bedroom house on a gorgeous piece of lakefront."

"You want eight?"

"We want ten, but not in the house. We want to make the eight five bigger, then add five around a court that way, lab, workshop, flyer hanger, parking dome and shuttle pad that way, outdoor/indoor entertainment area that way, lots of lawn all around."

"How big is the property?"

"Over a half-K square."

"The price wasn't low."

"No, but it was still a bargain. It's where we want with the room we want, and the training we want is everything it needs to make it perfect for us."

"You don't plan any children."

"Yes, but not here."

"Explanation, please."

"We just all know we don't want to raise children, but we'll all have kids we love we'll spend a lot of time with. We also know we're going to have siblings. That 'all' does include Loopy. We're not in any rush, and we don't need to know who or how yet, but we know we will. Don't you?"

"Yes, I do. Are you going to do bios?"

"Not until we're building our home. Creating it and learning our craft is the right setting for us."

"We'll start tomorrow. I suspect it won't be early. There is a very large wedding reception for many being planned. You said there are modular units. Figure out what you can adapt for various uses and get them ordered. Nev's your aid on that. The more you figure out for yourselves, the more you'll learn about the creative part of this. You have to decide what you want where to know how much of your land to clear. You don't want to get rid of all these trees, but some must be moved or removed. Our house was a house. This really is a big lake cabin. It wasn't expected to be used as a home for a family. It was lodging for several for vacation. Find out what type of building permits, if any, you have to have to do things, and licenses required for things they say you can't. It may be the only thing you can do for a while is clear land."

"It may be. Were having a hard time finding out anything. The only answer we've gotten so far is from the computer that verified our purchase of deed was registered, and it came with a bill for filing fees and a property tax due in thirty-seven days statement. We paid those and were given a menu of selections, when we requested comm connect to a person. They don't want us here. We're not the type of people they want in the community, and they definitely don't want us close to their children."

"You're sure of that."

"Yes."

"Comm connect local, Mayor's office Ricky Lake, identify Liberty Gem Fleet Admiral Bard Loden, on emergency duty assignment to Mandolin at Mandolin Presidential request. No, it's not a good afternoon. I've got one hundred ninety-six virgins terrified to talk to the opposite sex, because nice people like you paid to listen to lies about them, and laughed when the emotional abuse made young women cry on planetary broadcast. I've got the highest psi people on this planet bringing couples together and twenty-three worlds helping them get married without cams focused on their genitals for the entertainment of upstanding citizens. I've got children talking about mommies and daddies afraid to leave the house or take them anywhere, because kids tell them their mommies are sluts and can't even remember who their daddies are. I've got over two thousand people you nice people pay to watch emotionally abused, and the people who buy the porn called, 'society news,' are making sure the victims know they're loyal patrons of the art of their emotional torture. One more fool who does 'we don't want your kind here' will put Ricky Lake on the list of examples of the rampant social disease caused by the casts. Commodore Quinn wouldn't do that, but I will. Comm out. Comm connect Billie. Hi, warn your granddad I had a temper tantrum and made Quinn a commodore. If he wants to keep him, he'd better come up with something before Alden hears about it and decides it's in our space corps. Thanks. Comm out."

"Answer comm. Bronze. Thanks."

"Bronze?"

"What do I call this shirt color. It's pretty with my hair."

"Billie decided you should have a space corps."

"I wonder if the rest of the people of this world would feel more secure knowing a five-year-old was a presidential advisor."

"The people of a town with a street named Joey would."

"True."

### Chapter Thirty-seven

The president called a press conference. He announced the formation of a space corps, per the emergency powers clause of the constitution. He grinned widely and told the reporters they currently had a commodore and three captains, and Liberty Gem Space Corps didn't. Mandolin expected to have a large number of other brilliant and skilled young people Liberty Gem's Space Corps didn't. A reporter asked about cost.

"We don't know. We have a lot of decisions to make before we do, but we don't plan to raise your taxes. We don't need a defense fleet, but we drafted some young people to do a defensive job, and if we didn't give them the rank they needed, Liberty Gem would have. Since several plan to join the exploration force, commissioning them and loaning them to us would have been reasonable. We may attach our space corps to theirs. It may be all reserve except those serving in the exploration fleet. We don't know those things, but we know we had a job no organization we have was right to do, and civilian wasn't getting the point across it was ordered done. One moment, please. Yes, Senator Millson? The Senate has ordered an investigation of the Association of Broadcasters' actions as a self-regulating body. Their records have been subpoenaed. Commodore, you're an Admiral. We've got nine days. Excuse me the Senate is waiting."

Billie designed the uniforms, with the aid of her brother, sister, cousins, aunt and a young man called Sketch.

They used Liberty Gem's to "get all the kinds," but theirs weren't copies. They started with the idea of "softer." They designed around their four officers, but they checked the designs on images of Liberty Gem's admirals and three women who weren't built like Al. Eventually, they found a waist-length jacket design that would look "almost as good" on Blade and Mikey as Quinn and Al.

Their formal uniform was crisper and had a bolero jacket. Work uniforms were too function-designed to be really different, but they weren't just other colors.

That part of the task was finished quickly and sets of those were added to the order on which a tailor shop was already working. The eighty-three-year-old woman who owned it had been delighted to do "something with some artistic flair," when sent Liberty Gem men's formal designs. It had gotten her shop the job of making the first uniforms and the patterns for them, for the new space corps, and a very substantial payment for the work.

Frederick and Andrew were at the very large wedding reception at twenty-one oh three, when the five Liberty Gem admirals left the ballroom with four other people. Frederick was asking questions about the Shoppers Shipping Network, when Jeannine Quinn suddenly pointed. They turned around and headed for the main doors fast.

Twenty Liberty Gem corpsmen marched in, flanked the door, lifted and held salute. The five admirals, in formal uniform, walked to the end of the corridor they formed, turned and raised salute. Quinn led Marty, Brat and Al, in their new formal uniforms, into the ballroom. The crowd applauded as they walked between the corpsmen, then saluted the admirals. The corpsmen marched out and closed the doors. The crowd laughed when Quinn grabbed Nev and 'put' him between him and Frederick and Andrew. Nev said, "Hi."

"Admiral Terschell, Liberty Gem just formally acknowledged the Mandolin Space Corps in the persons of the officers hiding behind you. Would you please explain why?"

"Considering everyone thought someone else told your captains and they were captains, and uniforms were a distinct surprise, we figured a bit of formality might prevent them collapsing in laughter in the doorway. They deserve the recognition for the job they've been doing for you, and the assistance in doing that recognition will give them."

"Admiral, you're not wearing the reserve covers on your insignia. Is that because of this acknowledgment?"

"No, it's because were on active duty, assigned as advisors to your new Space Corps. Your turn, Admiral Quinn."

"Yipe. I hope someone remembers I was drafted for a task, not a career. Those three have been planning theirs. First, 'nine days' made us yelp, but didn't really scare us. There are a lot of people helping, and today was the first time I needed an admiral to pull rank for me. Jeannine Quinn, drafted as admiral, Chief of Staff. Carl Wilson, drafted as admiral, Supply and Support Command. Franklin Bosley, drafted as admiral, Personnel. Robert Quinn, drafted as admiral, Strategic Command. Doctor Anthony Brewer, drafted as admiral, Medical Command. Michael Sanders, drafted as vice-admiral, Strategic Command, Interfleet Operations. Carol Quinn, drafted as vice-admiral, Supply and Support Command, Transport. Aaron Ambrose, drafted as vice-admiral, Personnel, Recruitment and Training. Kevin Blackburn drafted as vice-admiral, Exploration Command, Science and Technology. Marilyn Gaston, drafted as commodore, Chief of Staff Aide. Loretta Wilders, drafted as rear admiral, Chief of Staff Office, Information and Public Relations. Laurel Jamison, drafted as rear admiral, Support and Supply, Facilities. Alberta Ramsey, drafted as rear admiral, Personnel, Payroll and Benefits. The previous command positions are active duty. Those persons may request reserve status in one year, retirement at one-third established pay grade benefits in three, retirement at half pay-grade benefits in five, or full pay-grade benefits in eight. Years in reserve are computed at one year equals one-third year active duty, for retirement computation. This retirement computation is for ranking officers drafted to serve during the organizational period only. Benefits for all other personnel, drafted or enlisted, and pay grades for ranks are not yet established."

Quinn's grandmother walked to one side of the room and the other drafted admirals followed. When Andrew had gotten vid of the group, Quinn continued.

"The following are drafted as Mandolin Space Corps Reserve Officers and activated for the duration of current emergency: Wendy Stanhope, commodore; Timothy Jamison, captain; John Trevor, commander; Maria Masterson, captain; Louisa Sanders, commander; Thomas Lund, commander; Corrine Brock, lieutenant commander; Bramton Ambrose, commander; Christopher Strand, captain, Lawrence Blackburn, captain; Doctor Bruce Brewer, commodore; William Jenner, lieutenant commander; Roberta Lancer, commander; Dorian Mitchell, lieutenant commander; Warren Anderson, lieutenant commander; Marian Flowers, lieutenant commander; Jennifer Reed, commander. Reserve draft is three years. Active-duty equivalency for reserve draft only, one day equals three. For the duration of this emergency, Captain Landon Brant, Captain Norman Martindale and Captain Alisha Albert will be acting as commodores. The reason they're not being promoted to commodores is their expected function in the exploratory fleet. Should reserve officers at the rank of commander or above choose active duty in that fleet, they will, at such time be counseled on appropriate rank for expected function. We'll be doing a lot of 'Hi, there, we're friendly,' just as a number of Liberty Gem's, now Space Corps Reserve, people are, though our visits are expected to be primarily daytrips. If someone suggests an 'unofficial' visit, get it logged as active-duty time, in case they decide everyone should do some amount each year. Grandma, you're a great choice as Chief of Staff."

"Just remember that when you're running the business."

"I made my contribution to that family business. Now I have to make it to ours."

"I know, but you enjoyed drafting me too much not to make you squirm a little. I'm sure Bram Terschell will keep an eye on the space station construction and anything else Lowell Cropper wants someone helping watch, while he staffs shipping offices."

"Oh, I am not worried about that business running smoothly. Lowell's a great choice, and Frind-Rolleran has enough talent to survive without him."

"You wouldn't think so from they squealed when I lured him away, but Alberta Crayton knows that Shoppers Shipping Network will benefit them and he's the right CEO. Frederick, we're not ignoring you. We were working up curiosity for the business announcements. Beginning at four thirty-two, local time, on every world, except the four alliance worlds, and we hope to add them someday, daytrip, or comm, shoppers, will have no problem shipping their goodies home, at a very reasonable price. Every item can be sent to a single address on the world, and from there to your home. Every shipper in the network is ready, and your purchases won't ever wait for a ship going that way again. Transshipment point for packages to and from all worlds are established. Some of those are a bit out of the way right now, but the nineteen transshipment space stations will soon be in place. All facilities have enough staff to handle the expected volume at this time. The announcement is being made this evening on all worlds. Merchants, the address is Shoppers Shipping, Building Fifty-seven, Mandolin Capital Spaceport. Your turn, Thomas."

"This is a float scooter, and so is this. This one is Billie's. She's five. It's altitude stable, just right for a small child or an adult who wants fun, good exercise, without the complex controls of the stunt scooters. That doesn't mean you can't do some fancy stuff, just that it won't jump and you won't be far off the ground if one doesn't go as planned. Now, this one does jumps. It doesn't jump three meters straight up, but can you can do a whole lot of fancy stuff in a long float at a meter-and-a-half off the ground. This has all the complex controls of the pro-sport model, but it's designed for use by most people, kids and adults, who aren't real athletes, well-acquainted with the staff of a nearby clinic. If you're one of those buy your float scooter on Liberty Gem and send it home Shoppers Shipping. If not, get a flooter like this, or a flooty like this, from your local Chanson Skimmer dealer, in five days."

"Five days?"

"Five days. Beginning tomorrow, major sport shoe stores will have the shoes, the pads, and the location of where to get safety equipment and great costumes, if they don't carry it all. We expect to run out of everything, but no one will have to wait long. Don't ride without the safety gear and shoes. You can't ride' right' without the shoes, and a bunch of dummies who get hurt because they didn't wear gear could make the flooter require a skimmer license. Besides, the costume just wouldn't look right without them."

"You're saying kids should get the costumes too?"

"It's part of the fun. It's also part of the safety gear. If I put that elbow guard around this sleeve, the bunched material would pinch, rub, maybe make a blister. If I didn't put it on tight enough to do that, it would go around my arm with a hard push. Sweat makes bare skin slick and the guard could slip, or it could pinch. If you're just going to stand on a flooty, give it a little push now and then and go straight down the walk, wear it anyway, so you don't set a bad example. Wear it under your jacket if it's cold, but don't go without it. Make yourself two or three costumes and change or put school clothes over if you ride there. Oh, Chanson dealers will have gear bags and lockups too. Get all the pieces. Practice just riding. Before you get fancy, learn to use this very high-tech toy and the shoes well. They are part of it. You'll get some bumps, but if you work to learn right, and wear the safety gear, your parents probably won't store your flooter for two years, even if you do get an introduction to the doctor at the clinic."

"Never practice stunts alone! Never! Never, never, never, not even flooty stunts. It's not the fall that hurts you. It's the stop. You can get going fast enough on a flooty to put your pad down for a double-back, catch the ridge, and go tumbling. If you don't run into anything, you've just got dots to smear with quick-heal, and maybe muscles that yell for a soak in hot water. If a tree stops you, you could need help. Moms and Dads, speed is dependent on push. Your little one is safer on a flooty than you are. It takes timing, which takes practice, to go fast. It takes timing and a lot of muscle to go real fast."

"Like 'don't swim alone,' and many other 'Yes, but something could happen' admonitions, don't do it alone. Everyone of these riders, young kid, young teen and young adult is nodding. They've all seen something that could happen. The admiral has a did happen?"

"Bard, Admiral Loden, broke my fall and kept me from being badly hurt, but it's that he was there that saved my life. I only thought I was ready to try that stunt. I'll try it again when I have as much muscle as Admiral Terschell."

"I'm going to add don't do stunts with a jacket, or anything else, over. I watched today. Even the loosest 'over' would have pulled a pad or interfered with movement on anything but 'just ride,' and that includes on the small children. I'm inclined to say make tights and leotards for winter riding, not wear jackets over. I think a fourteen-year-old would remember 'no stunts in jacket' after "Watch this." There are sports for which 'loose' is dangerous. This is one of them. We have nine days to stop this 'put boys in bags' shit, before everyone in space asks why we dress so weird we missed the Olympics."

"Grandma!"

"CS Grandma. Keep up the good work, Admiral."

"Yes, CS Grandma. My job is fix it. Commander Maria Masterson."

"I have filed suit against Global Mandolin Broadcasting for the content of last evening's society update segment; that A: I have made no choice of career or other which places me in the category of public property. B: Section Nine, Article Seventeen of broadcast licensing regulations specifically prohibits insertion of material in newscasts to promote assumption of veracity by proximity. C: Section Nine, Article Fourteen, requires proof statements made about any legal entity be verifiable. Fem Laura Anne Brewer."

"For almost three decades, I've wondered why the well-known wealthy did not pursue their rights under Section Nine. My copy of the Broadcast Licensing Regulations is thirty-two years old. That personal copy and the copy in Congressional Record, pursuant to a minor change of physical organization, to improve readability, fifty-four years ago, may be the only copies of the Broadcast Licensing Regulations that were not 'updated' twenty-nine years ago, with a truncated version with only eight sections. Doctor Anthony Brewer, Admiral, Mandolin Space Corps Medical Command."

"Medical examination results: sixty-eight women reported on planetary newscasts as 'rumored' to have had over ten love affairs each have intact hymens. They're virgins. Five hundred ninety-seven young people and children reported as 'rumored' to be conceived in adulterous relationships over the past thirty years are DNA proven offspring of their mothers' spouses. They are the biological children of wedded couples. Admiral Quinn."

"We're people. We fall in love, marry and keep our vows. At one time, we aided all who needed it with our money, and guided others to share in accomplishing good things with our support and presence. Now, those fund-raising events are schedules for using us as visual aids for voyeuristic fantasies that we despise. The following annual events are canceled. The East Hills Arts Society Symphony Orchestra Fundraiser, Art Camp Fundraiser, Guest Maestro Series Fundraiser, Chanton Museum Exhibit Fundraiser, the Lowellin School of Performing Arts Scholarship Benefit Ball, the Hamilton Museum Benefit Ball, the Courtly Children's Concerts Luncheon, The Fair Skies Society Community Service Banquet, Bring-a-bat-and-ball Tea, Playground Equipment Fundraiser and Little League Tourney Sponsorship Picnic. We're the only ones who attend, except for the casters who call us names for your entertainment. Last year we donated eighty-seven-point nine million stels at those events, to provide quality entertainment for all. No donation, or the fun we bought for you, was mentioned on any society cast. The broadcast networks made eight hundred twenty-six-point four million spewing filth on us at those events. Obviously, we misjudged the type of entertainment people want. We're not paying to be abused to provide it any longer. If you go to work tomorrow and the doors are locked, we pay your salary. The networks said it didn't hurt anyone because no one believed it. That too was a lie. If it wasn't, the president wouldn't have needed to make me an admiral to get the job done. Infonet site: The nonstandard bio. We promised MPB an exclusive, Frederick."

"Yes, Admiral Quinn you did. How long is the lockout going to last?"

"No one knows. None of us has had a temper tantrum before. I know that sounded like a lot of people when I was reading off that list of officers, but there are some big holes."

"We have more departments and admirals than Liberty Gem."

"That's why."

"I missed that. We're supplementing their space corps."

"Complementing it. It's what their admirals and Prime Minister said they hoped worlds would do on their first visit. We realized we're the right world and people to do it."

"He's being quite specific on 'people,' Frederick. The people in this room understand us too well."

"They were victims of an abusive system we didn't even realize was one, Admiral Terschell."

"Wealth is usually a protection, though that's often restrictive, guards for person, home and money to the point you're about caged. One has to be careful about people who guard money. Too often, they see you as the primary threat to it. You don't understand its 'value,' or you wouldn't spend it. You'd listen to them and invest it to make more."

"I can see that happening too easily. You've experienced it?"

"I think every wealthy person has to some extent. They've also experienced the depersonalization of becoming a name attached to a large amount of money. Here, that was exacerbated by their use as 'props' to increase network revenues."

"I was the first drafted to aid in changing it because I was better at being 'too average to be interesting' than anyone else. My hands gave me away. Rod saw it was an extremely well played part in the way I reached for and held things. I was so shocked when Bard told me I was drafted because of it."

"The president's grandchildren do a lot of observing. They attend all those affairs, but they aren't participants. They go places and meet people, and hear things he never would. This time, Rod's observation unmasked Quinn. He's probably the best actor on the planet. The only part he wasn't ready to play was himself."

"I still work not to blend in with the crowd, but the job is show them all how not to do it. Brat and Marty were drafted when I was, and this couldn't have been accomplished without all three of us working to get it going, with the admirals, Wendy Stanhope and the president's grandchildren helping. The women understood how very difficult it was for us to not bunch and huddle and protected the men a little, until they overcame the urge to hide."

"The women protected the men?"

"They develop 'calluses' to protect them from the casters and cams after a while. We did everything we could not to be the face and name used to flay them in front of them. We were taught our bodies are ugly, misshapen and should be hidden. All boys are."

"Look at yourself, Frederick. You stand behind the cam. You don't get in the image often. When you do, it's just your face. Andrew knows the 'real' news has very little except 'landscapes' and faces of men, and you back up to get women's bodies, if one happens to do something 'oddly' newsworthy. Even in business and political news, it's men's faces and women's bodies."

"He's right. It's taught in broadcast schools. 'Male close-up, female backup' is an axiom of the trade."

"We really did cause the skew in gender expectation."

"The society newscasts are responsible for it. Backup, Andrew. Think about the diminishment of our features and dominance of our uniforms, and shapes, in the image. Do you feel odd showing our bodies? Did you use Al, a woman, to show the uniform?"

"Yes to both. He's got a big job, Frederick."

"Yes, Andrew, he does, but he's got our best and some of Liberty Gem's best helping. I don't know how much of this or how it will be edited for broadcast, but MPB management realized it was in the wrong the first time they actually thought about it. We're seeing what it did, and George will choose how we can aid. Two sections dropped, and no one realized it. George, it was Clayland!"

"Clayland?"

"Henry Clayland was programming director of GNMB thirty years ago, Admiral Terschell. They were bottom of the market. He put sex in newscasts, a huge market success, and became CEO of Bell Tower Advertising two years later. Two years ago, at age eighty-eight, he committed suicide. The note said, 'Betrayal is punished by the eyes of children.' No one knew what it meant. He was with them four years, from advertising, back to advertising, with twice the salary because of his huge success at GNMB. He retired at eighty-three, when the Bell Tower Board of Directors elected a new chair. He had no friends, no family and no business power to wield."

"GNMB is ruthless. If you can't be, don't apply for a job. They pay people well to leave their ethics at the door. It's a business, period. The reason it exists is to make money. If that's not what you want, don't invest. They don't break the law, or so they thought."

"Do the investors know how ruthless they are? Do they know they'd have destroyed this world's economic future for this quarter's marketshare numbers?"

"No, Nev, and neither does the very absentee Board of Directors."

"Basically, there's rich 'society' and there's rich who don't have old names and do nothing that would associate them with it."

"Three decades ago, they came to fundraisers, made attention-attracting donations, played golf with us and made sure their kids met us. Politicians did too. An old family name in the family was an asset. Answer comm. Good evening, Gen President. Thank you. Work on our house. Precisely. None. That's their decision. They're about to find out. We didn't get started on the house. Fantastic idea. It should be interesting. Except ships. They did? Thank you. Goodnight. Liberty Gem Space Corps assigned fifty ships to our Space Corps. We have ships. We have ships! Grandma!"

The reception ended at twenty-three thirty, but suite parties lasted until near dawn, with every inner courtyard door open and people moving from one to another, or sitting in the courtyard talking.

There weren't a great many other guests still at the resort on Tenday night, but those who were participated in the long social evening. 'Society' hadn't watched the late evening news, but they had.

MPB had volunteered their records of all A of B meetings and communications for thirty-two years. A of B seemed to have lost many. 'Society' didn't watch the morning news either. They knew how many people were employed in businesses in which they owned controlling interest. The rest of the world learned.

When Quinn awoke at ten twenty-nine capital time, he requested a news recap. Nev arrived with a therm of coffee just as it came on.

"You're practicing?"

"We all are. I brought a coffee from Carousel that's eventually going to be a popular Liberty Gem crop."

"Mmm..."

"Developed on Carousel, and they'll make money selling it to us for decades before we produce enough to nibble at their market. They're very shocked."

"They're angry. We can't do that to them. They're finding out they're wrong. Most of them seem to be sure Dr. Brewer was lying when they heard the numbers. 'Everyone knows' what were like. MPB asked one exec if he thought we were human, then to describe human."

"That's what no one expected, the CEOs and presidents who can't get in the doors."

"Exactly. They didn't know they worked for us either. Ah, another bank."

"You feel a great deal of satisfaction."

"Especially about banks, insurance companies and brokerage firms. Any person can get their money out of a bank, or spend it, insurance premiums and claims are being processed and paid. Comps do it when they're closed, anyway, but no one's borrowing or investing money, and no stocks are being traded. The exchange couldn't open. The comm office was locked. It's sub-contracted and one of us owns it."

"You shut down the world."

"Actually, only about six percent, but it's all connected and it affects everyone. Real estate was the real shocker, I think. People went to work, sure we didn't have anything to do with them, and couldn't get in the buildings they lease from one of us. A judge checked a lease and said the company could move out, on grounds the building was unusable. That wasn't what the company wanted to hear."

"How long do you plan to keep yours locked?"

"I told Grandma to clear mine when she did hers. There. That's why no one has yet."

"Ransom?"

"It doesn't seem to occur to them we decided we didn't need to make money today. Well, well, a voice of reason. Comm message... suite E-eleven. Thomas Harris Carter, shipping office, Maribel Plains Manufacturing, just told his coworkers he'd lock the doors if his employees were using part of their pay to support people saying his wife was a slut and his kids were someone else's. Unidentified woman said 'everybody knew' you couldn't go faster than the speed of light, too, and had a lot more substantial evidence.' Keying clip save for you. What did she say?"

"If you've got half the money in the world, you don't need to rent your box to pay the rent."

"Ooh, those women are getting direct."

"She's right. Beautiful young women don't invite old men to their bedrooms because they made a tenth as much money one day."

"More of them. The women are... telling them off."

"Most are in their late fifties, early sixties."

"Bleeps!"

"That woman evidently has an extensive vocabulary. And knows just when to use it."

"Laughing and nodding. She just convinced them all. End clip save and send. More women!"

"Signs! 'We're with you. End the smut.' Some don't pay for it."

"Crossland Sports?"

"They've got a list! They want us in the Olympics. There's not enough going on to fill their schedule. Ooh."

"Sport uniforms, winning times and accident stats. They had to be there. We'll be--"

"Comm connect, Nev. You'll be? We'll see if we can rent, or buy, clearance equipment by then. You went? I'll bring it. Comm out."

"I heard Nev."

"The coffee therm is low, Topper, and he accidentally wished himself back to the coffee maker. We're winning. Older working women and sports lovers are starting to yell what they think."

"Sports I got. Women?"

"You don't need to make a living on your back if you're rich."

"True. Prostitutes probably never believed it."

"Probably not."

"Martin's not going to back down on Walston. He told the party chair his kids are more important than politics and his dad agrees. The whole family is pulling out after he finishes this term. Hugh said he's going to enlist."

"They had plans for him."

"A Senate seat in two years, and he realized he was doing the expected not what he wants. Who did you hear?"

"A lot of 'when do I get my uniforms?' The president backed my drafts this morning. He added four. Justice Waverley is Vice-admiral Waverley, Office of Chief of Staff, Legal Affairs."

"Other three?"

"She took her staff with her. Good morning, Bam."

"Good morning. I like this resort. May we go home now?"

### Chapter Thirty-eight

They picked up equipment on the way. They bought a "truck" in a small town. They bought a ranch wagon, utility trailer and dozer in a small city. They bought a ranch multi-tasker that was sitting by the grav-way with a sign on it. They bought a trac-rig with a flatbed at a used truck dealer at the edge of a city and filled it, the ranch wagon, truck and trailer with supplies at a builder's supply.

They had lunch at a rigger rack, a restaurant with parking designed for trac-rigs, and bought another trac-rig. It had a road-apt click-on.

They hooked the flatbed to the trac, then went back into the city with the trac-rig and ranch wagon, bought a multi-van, two boats, five skimmers, two trailers, a flatbed and filled that flatbed, around the multi-van on it, with more supplies from a different builders' supply.

They had six vehicles with them, four more at parents' places and no place to put any of them, when they got home. When Bard, Blade, Nev, Case and Stats arrived, all five were standing between the dozer and the multi-tasker at the top of the drive, smiling widely.

"Equipment parking is obviously first."

"This is all yours?"

"Yes, Blade."

"Two haulers, I thought Nev shopped heavy."

"Haulers? Trac-rigs."

"Light hauler."

"Truck."

"Utility transport."

"Multi-van."

"What's that thing?"

"A ranch multi-tasker. That one needs some work. The rancher dredged a pond with it and forgot to drop the bio screen. It's got targer carapace flakes in the blow-through. He priced it to be worth the work to disassemble it and deal with several thousand extremely sharp septic blades the size of your little fingernail. He said it was worth the price of a new one to find out he had targers in the pond, and one of his kids cut was two too many."

"Tell me about this creature."

"Freshwater amphibian. It's nest is underground, above water level, but entry is underwater. It makes a vent hole about the size of your finger on land, up to twenty meters from the water, if it has to go that far to get above it. The carapace is formed in layers of very thin plates, getting thicker and broader as the targer grows. It's primarily silicates it exudes. It carries the carapace. It's not attached. The plates spread as it grows and new form beneath, so it doesn't outgrow it, but plates break off. The animal would be harmless except the plates are deadly. An animal that swallows one while drinking will be cut up inside, probably while swallowing. If it doesn't swallow, but mouth or tongue are cut, it may die of infection. In the wild, plates settle, float downstream and settle, get broken apart, become silicates another bottom-feeding targer uses. Targer plates are used by a half-dozen other creatures, including two that break them up to make their own shells. Targers have a predator, a very venomous water worm, but a type of fish gets most of their young ones, so it's all balanced, in the wild."

"This lake?"

"Wrong geology. There are animals that exist in both areas, but they're in the upper third of the food chain. This is a rather welcoming habitat for our domestic animals and us. There's nothing here that does more than make a welt if it stings. We will check you for allergies to a couple of those before we wade into brush. Labs picked up test kits for seven."

"Blisterflies?"

"Make welts, but even those are less problem to our horses here. I hear the reason. That tree. Look for a small blue-chested avian."

"I see two."

"Those two would reduce the size of a swarm of blister fly's fast, but they don't eat the primary pollinators."

"Bluebibs in a blackwood tree, it's a nice place to live."

"Yes, Bam, it is. Those two bluebibs are going to be very friendly when we start cutting brush. Don't be surprised if one decides to use a shoulder, or head as a perch. They like people, yards, cats and dogs."

"They like cats?"

"It's mutual. Cats and dogs will play with them, chase them, but never chomp or bat hard. The bluebibs will laugh if a cat knocks them out of the air. They're pretty sturdy and like to play, and cats will yowl for help if they accidentally hurt one. That's the only 'wild' animal on this planet that will let a human pick it up, take it to a vet, fly back up to the nest when fixed, and come down to play with kitty an hour later. There are people they don't like, and they're the same ones cats don't. Bluebibs live up to eighteen years, mate for life, have one chick every other year after two until they're twelve, and their only natural enemies are a plant disease that kills blackwood trees and weather. They eat the bugs that make holes in blackwood bark, which allows disease to enter, so weather is the most common killer. They don't migrate. We'll build our bluebibs a windbreak."

"Windbreak?"

"The blackwood holds its leaves until new buds push them off. The leaves serve as a natural protection against freezing rain and snow. If the wind is too strong, it blows through and little bluebibs freeze."

"What do they eat in winter?"

"Billions of leaf-cutter eggs in brown lumps on winter-brown plants. We'll supplement with tipple seed. Our lawn won't be the dinner pail this brush is and making them go farther to get food reduces the energy they have to fight cold."

"Does the blackwood have to have winter?"

"A field?"

"It doesn't sound like the bluebibs would mind. The avians on the BNU campus certainly didn't. Some fly into the cap, but they aren't damaged, do learn where it is and some go under. We've got a migratory pair that hopped out, flew south and hopped back in this spring. Next year, they may stay. They only go one hundred fifty K."

"I'm not sure fields would accomplish what we want to do here, Nev. They're far too expensive for most people."

"That's not what Bard, Nev and Blade do, Quinn. It's not what they taught us to do. Create the home you want for you. If you want a field ten meters out in the lake, do it. If you want a parking area that rises out of the deck of a big swimming pool and covers it, or unfolds over a field of flowers, do that. If you want it all lawn and everything else underground, do that. If you want the whole half-K plus in walls that can be opaque, do it. People will ask how much this, that or 'something like' will cost. They'll know what fields cost, and they know what domes cost. They'll know what posine costs and that they can have it shipped easily if it's not available here, conveniently imported and stocked."

"We were doing a 'like that one' for a family. Stats said, 'This isn't what they taught us.' He walked in and got a description of the life and entertainment style of the family, made a design change, chose a different material, and we gave that family a far more useful addition in less time for about the same price, and it's gorgeous too."

"Case doesn't mention he listed materials that would be easier to use to do what they really wanted until I said, 'that one,' and Drand adapted the mechanisms to do it, and... Figure out exactly what you want and build it. It's the perfect-for-us that makes it worth hiring you to do it. That's the 'designers.' If you standardize, sell plans and let builders build it."

"Did you know we taught them to do that, Bard?"

"No, Blade, but I know it's what Nev taught us to do."

"Me too."

"I figured out what my parents needed and you guys helped. 'Taught' is a little too he-did-it to fit. However, it was what we learned making places right for our families. Stats is right. Stop thinking of it in terms of 'example.' Build exactly what you want. If you love playing in snow, or just looking at it, don't enclose it. If you like looking at it a half-K away, do. If you like that and a quarter-K to run bare in, make a room with walls you can opaque that big. If you hate paying power bills, generate your own power. We can pay a license fee to make you a storage tower to get the idea across it's not just for big businesses or schools. Design and build perfect for you. That's the right example."

"Nine days."

"So yell for help to get it done that fast, or in three, if you think you might be told to put on your uniforms and told go do something."

"The blackwood and bluebibs would do fine, as long as there's airflow and tipple seed, but I don't know if they'd like it. I don't know if we would."

"You like sleet?"

"No, Bam."

"Good. We'll go somewhere to play in snow."

"We're going to start over?"

"No, we want the same things. We'll just rethink how we want a couple. There's no reason to run a field all the time, or even when it rains most of the time. Personally, I don't see the need for both wall and cap fields. Put an object field over it and a gate field just across here."

"We'd have to make sure the bluebibs are home before we turn it on, Loopy."

"All right, we leave it on all the time and don't worry the bluebibs or the cat are stuck outside."

"You want the 'lock' of an object field?"

"I don't know, Quinn. I'm not sure I want everyone to know where we live."

"Define the feeling, Loopy. Look for the why, the when and who."

"I'll try, Blade. By invitation only. Just drop in, but yell to open the gate. We're famous and everyone isn't polite, or sane. We're changing the world. Sinful? Express an opinion destructively?"

"Comm connect Drand. Put a cap shield over the sculpture garden. That's what they'd destroy to 'express an opinion destructively' on our world. Loopy looking for why she wants walls and a roof. Comm out."

"Sorry, Nev."

"I'm not, Loopy. Drand will decide to make it 'always summer' and I'll go there in winter too. We talked about it last winter. Here?"

"Safety is close neighbors or a good security system. Tell everyone you have one or both, and thieves or crazies don't try. Your world is very nice now. You're thieves and crazies all identified themselves and you did something about them. We don't have a high percentage, but we don't know who they are, until they steal or destroy. A feeling we'll be glad we did, sorry if we don't, we're not the only ones it will benefit and... Some others far more. No 'when' because I think we will and won't be."

"Let's figure out how, and how to do it from inside."

"That's not one field, Quinn."

"I expect it to be a half-dozen or more, Bard."

"Where do you want to plan this?"

"In the road apt. This is how a lot of riggers live."

"Very nice."

"This is a two-bedroom apartment that goes along, Blade. It's not a camper. It's a home, and most who have one don't have another, though they may have a place they own to park their rigs in four or five locations."

"I thought most hauling was done by robo-haulers."

"It is. Riggers are large shipment couriers. Most don't have routes or regular schedules. They have a central dispatch you call if you need something here to there 'now.' You pay for the run, not the size of the load. They get more work than you'd think for that reason. A rigger can move a really big load for less than standard shipping because they're taxed differently, but they won't make five stops. Most do 'out-and-back,' from one city to another and back. The dispatcher sets them up that way. Riggers with road apts go 'wherever.' They each have a personal definition of 'nearby' for picking up a load and the dispatcher knows it. One might be twenty minutes and another 'over an hour away they pay extra.' I think most of those would happily move from doing it on the ground to doing it in space. There aren't a lot, but they say, 'Some are born restless,' and we heard one complain he was 'running out of continent' today. Another said she was on her third and would be out before she was sixty."

"He gave her a never-run-out-of-new-places-to-see comm code."

"The thought was obviously depressing, Topper. Cheering her up seemed polite. Here's the area we did with plan overlay."

"This?"

"Scooter... rink? Field?"

"I have no idea what to call it either, Quinn. Nice plan. What do you want to change?"

"This. I like Stats' suggestion of not using all the space for something we need seldom, Bard. However, this needs to be bigger."

"So does this road if all this is going to be parked here long. Let's figure that out first. That spot is?"

"First because we need the multi-tasker for everything else. It's the place I figured I could set up the hazmat dome I got, clean the multi-tasker and dispose the whole dome."

"Specs on the dome?"

"On my pocket comp."

"This was not a cheap unit. Why dispose?"

"The plates, I don't think we could get them all out."

"How much did that rancher knock off for the cleaning job?"

"About twenty thousand stels."

"I have greater appreciation of the difficulty, and danger, of this task."

"The hazmat dome was about two-thirds that, Blade. He was relieved when I said I'd use one. It's too good a piece of equipment not to do it, but I know he considered just hauling it to a large disposal site. I considered 'wishing' it to the best place to do it, but realized I was sure I hazmat dome there was the best."

"Let's get it set up."

"Bard, I'm going to do this with him. Don't argue, anybody. I'm sure we'll get it clean safely and I don't feel that way about anyone else."

"I don't like it, Blade, but I'm just generally, not specifically, worried."

"I love you too, Nev."

"Quinn... I love you. Be careful."

"I love you too, Bam. I will be."

"You guys haven't all said, 'I love you,' yet."

"No, Blade."

"And you haven't kissed."

"No."

"Everybody kisses everybody else and says, 'I love you,' before we start. Nobody is going to have what-if-something-happens-I-should-have-said feelings while we do this. He would feel them and rush. Let's go outside. It's going to be hard for these guys to kiss without us here."

"Stats, I'm going to kiss you."

"Case, that's not..."

"I love you. You do excite me. I don't need, or really want, to do anything about it, but I do want to kiss you."

"You don't excite me. No man does. I know that's actually odd. It is, guys. A little excite, but not enough to want to do anything about it, is usual. However... I love you very much, Case, and I'd like a kiss."

Case kissed Stats. Stats said it was definitely time to find some "not shy" women. Case said, "Definitely," and went out the door. Stats grinned and followed. Bard kissed Blade and Nev, then Blade kissed Nev. Bard steered him out the door. Blade winked at the five, stepped out the door and closed it.

The three of them were suddenly in their house in Teal Valley. Nev said, "Oops." Bard and Blade were not standing when Nev wished them back to Case and Stats. Case and Stats were rolling on the ground laughing too. Nev sat down, tipped over, and giggled.

Quinn looked out the door. Blade said, "Standing on his bed, and we know we helped!" Quinn burst into laughter and closed the door. A few minutes later, he came out of the road apt. He had tears in his eyes when he said, "Thank you," and told Blade he was ready.

Quinn had gear to go with the dome, though not full hazmat suits. He'd bought 'more than enough' sturdy covalls, shoe covers, caps, face shields and the only gloves the plates couldn't penetrate. They covered to midforearm. Nothing over-the-elbow had been plate impenetrable. Blade asking if the gloves would be enough. He took a deep breath and nodded.

"Quinn, nothing... scared you like this. Why?"

"Two times out of nine, amputation is required to give time for anti-bios to work on redvein. The scan said it's present."

"It usually isn't."

"It's a mutation. It didn't exist sixty years ago. We think it's going to prove nonviable, now that we found the reason the mutation was beginning to dominate in some regions, soil remediation for Terran crops. We stopped and it's down in samples, but the ranch is in one of the regions. Cleaning this here isn't likely to contaminate if it 'got loose.' It has little enemies that live here and the environment isn't healthy for it in other ways. Our biggest fear is it will mutate again, not revert. So far, it hasn't."

"That's surprising."

"We know. We think 'back' is most viable. It's dangerous, of course, but we're more naturally resistant to it."

"It's not 'the nightmare,' but it's a damn bad dream."

"Yes. We didn't change something so much it killed us all, but something we did changed an organism to much more deadly. If it had been another type..."

"If we can use the plants and animals, they can use us. If we push them around too much..."

"We may push them into something meaner than we are. The bluebibs are volunteers for change. I think they'll move in with us in a couple hundred more years, maybe sooner. We didn't know they'd eat tipple seed, until about thirty years ago."

"Tipple is?"

"A grain grass were working with in hybridization experiments. It doesn't grow were bluebibs live. A student took a bag of seed home to work on the project over summer and a chirr bug went into the open bag. A bluebib got the chirr bug, laughed in delight and ate seed, went to get his mate, she ate seed, then they took seed to their fledgling."

"Laughed?"

"You'll hear it when we start cutting brush. They chirp at you, and have the distinctive song you heard, but there's no doubt the other sound they make is 'fun' and it's laughter."

"They don't look big enough to be that smart."

"They're much smarter than Terran birds, and other avians their size on this world. They're very different. They split off a long way back in their evolutionary track. Their brains are heavier. They don't have long necks. Theory is the brain developed to process vision. There are bugs that they can't eat, and some they don't. But they eat the bugs that mimic those in coloring to fool other avians."

"And cats like them. I think you've got a high-psi avian."

"Shh, so do we, but we don't say it."

"Some people don't say cats are high psi either."

"I know. Bam wants a cat. I don't even know where to look."

"Where the right cat is."

"I hadn't thought of that. If I land in a basket with a litter of kittens, I'm going to giggle."

"I think some of not having control is it does make us giggle."

"Probably."

Quinn disappeared and Blade giggled. When Quinn came out of the road apt, he stopped. He could see he was furious. They were halfway down the drive, pushing the multi-tasker, which they learned was commonly called a 'georgie,' with the dome package on top, when Quinn suddenly burst into laughter.

"I'll bet I scared the hell out of them! I just remembered how I'm dressed."

"There was a 'them' where you went?"

"Two boys. They were torturing a cat. That's literal. They had it tied spread-eagle between two stakes. I yelled, 'You're sick!' and kitty and I disappeared, without strings and stakes. Labs thinks the quick-heal will prevent scarring, and the fur they burned will grow back. I was on another world, fast glimpse of hundreds of very tall buildings on the horizon, so an older one."

"I hope you 'scared the hell out of them.' It needed to be done."

"I hope so too. I hope they stay scared a while, and have nightmares. They deserve them, and the lesson of not being able to tell why they had them. Never do anything that gives you bad dreams you can't tell your parents about."

"These were not big boys."

"About ten or eleven."

"They may have been why he's the right cat."

"They may, but I'm sure he's the right one. He was already trying to make Bam feel better. He named him Buddy. He wasn't well cared for. He's skinny, but that won't last long. Nev went for the 'right food' and came back with go bowls of brown rice and brown gravy. He said he was surprised to arrive in a restaurant kitchen in front of the pots, but he wouldn't have known what to order if he'd arrived at the door. He thinks it's a fungi, not meat, gravy, but asking what he'd just ordered, after slipping out of the kitchen felt odd."

"Asking the planet is a little strange too."

An hour and thirty-seven minutes later, Blade stepped out of gear onto the georgie, lifted it and Quinn cleaned the bottom. He opened the dome and Blade drove it out. Quinn stepped out of his gear and the dome, closed it, then collapsed it. They picked up the dome, with seventy-five liters of antiseptic in the catch tank and their gear in it, with the georgie, and drove it up the drive, and onto the back of the truck. In eleven minutes, they had the dome, and contents safely recycled. When they got back to the top of the drive. Labs told them the area where they'd worked had the usual beasts, no plates or redvein.

Quinn sighed deeply and visibly relaxed. He and Blade were pointed to the road apt for dinner and to meet a cat named Buddy.

### Chapter Thirty-nine

Bard, Nev, Case and Stats were "in love with a piece of tech," before Quinn and Blade finished dinner. They'd cleared the place for the equipment garage and dozed and poured the drive to it. Bard 'went' to the ship for a magic trowel, while Loopy drove a rig down the drive and backed it onto the "rig garage" drive. The others placed connections and fixtures. In a few moments, the huge garage was complete and they moved everything off the road and into it.

The bluebibs they'd named Chirp and Cheeky had already decided they were friends, and the georgie was the best place to wait for dinner. Quinn had one on each shoulder when he began clearing and trenching the outline of where the shield field would be, and extruding the base behind him. They flew circles over him and laughed, when he raised the georgie's water hood and drove it into the lake, to trench and extrude around where they would build their dock and boathouse.

The projectors had been ordered from not-distant Granger Technologies. Since the order included settings, it wouldn't take long. The family had no difficulty with the computations. By the third they'd planned, they were working as a 'Tellerlock team.'

The shuttle pad was the next item on the schedule. Granger would deliver the projectors by flyer in a bit less than an hour, at sixteen fifteen. They were the first they'd sold, and Quinn's family had bought nine 'all' and four air impermeable field projectors. The trench Quinn was digging and filling wasn't shallow. When he came up out of the water, the georgie's extruder attachment tank was refilled.

They were cheating a bit. Dawn and Drand were making material for the extruder in Dancy's lab. The air intake vents were in place when Quinn got to the northwest corner. He trenched and extruded over them. Outflow was just two gaps defined at the top of the wall field in the lake.

Bam took over the georgie, cleared the land for the shuttle pad and made friends with Chirp and Cheeky. Topper drove the dozer to level the pad base and Labs used the magic trowel to make it.

The Granger flyer could have landed where they had the day before, but the shuttle pad was much simpler. When the flyer lifted, Danny and Ronnie landed Cora and Flo on the pad. It was just big enough for both.

Frets was driving the transport and Gant was driving Bard's car to the lake. Both had company. Joel, Becks and Bren were with Gant. Billie, Rod and Wren were with Frets. They'd go back to the capital in a shuttle.

Day called and said, "Ready," and Bard wished himself to Teal Valley to get two wind generators and a large container of conduit and vent parts. Nev went to the ship for the power storage tower and another type of material.

Placing the shelves for the projectors was going to be much simpler. They were using the magic trowel to make towers for them, and several could sit on the ground. They were also using the trowel to make the corner joints for the fields. They didn't stop for dinner, but three did nonstandard bios, while they worked.

Bard, Nev, Blade, Case and Stats got more equipment from the ships and 'the bunch' who brought the cars, and some groceries, made sandwiches in the road apt and delivered them to the ten clearing land, preparing soil, seeding, trenching, laying air vents, power and water conduit, building corner posts and door field frames, installing controls, setting projectors and hooking everything up. Drand and Dawn arrived and Topper learned how to connect the power generation system to a matrix.

In deepening twilight, five days after the longest day of the year, the power system was switched over and the projectors turned on. Quinn smiled widely and invited people into the house, which now had lights. It had a better comp and transpatial comm a short time later.

One of the corner posts was the path for the signal. The various gateposts and frames, and comp controls in them, gave them the ability to open the door fields from the outside. They also gave them depth, so the solid field projector could be in front of the air impermeable field. They could open the gates at the top of the drive, in the lake, over the shuttle pad and the flyer lot and not lose heat.

The lake door would be open most of the time, until closed for winter, to allow the exchange of water. They hadn't decided what they'd eventually do, but a bubbler was already assuring the water behind the field was aerated and moving.

The roof and door heights had been determined by the height of the tallest tree and Nev's yacht. The front gate was plenty of clearance on the trailer with masts up. The lake gate was top of the mast plus a tall BNU pennon.

A great deal was moved off trailers that evening and one more thing was done under lights. The small spring on the property was tapped and fed into the water system. The water was cleaned of some minerals and all bio contaminants before it went into the house, but it didn't need purification for the sprinkler system.

In a very few days, most of the very large piece of property would be lawn, but there was a wide band outside the field on both sides, and most of the large trees, and many bushes, had been left inside.

A few trees had been removed because they couldn't survive. Only one tree had been moved. The blackwood tree had been painstakingly excavated, gently moved and carefully replanted in a spot designed for it near the house. The bluebibs had cleaned its root system of bugs on the way.

Only Earth had insects and insectivores, but every world had creatures that filled those niches. They had 'bugs' and 'bug-eaters,' and bluebibs were very efficient. That night, two were also stuffed.

Bard, Nev and Blade took the kids home in Cora. Case and Stats took Flo back to the resort, to take Loopy to her flyer. Gant and Joel didn't have school the next day and didn't go with them. The kids pretended they didn't know the two boys were going to camp in the Wander.

After Loopy took off for her new home, Case and Stats went to their ship in Flo. Bard didn't stay with Frets after he took her home in Blade's car. When he got back to the ship, the three of them went home, back to Nev's room. He'd told them he wanted to be there with them in an unmistakable fashion. They learned Case and Stats had gone 'all the way home,' too, when they walked over for breakfast.

"Just as you said, Nev, the whole sculpture garden nicely always-summer, and he included the side yard."

"He noticed several of us looked longingly that way last winter, Case. Nothing we did yesterday took long. Today, we start real work, and real teaching."

"Teaching is point and watch them figure out how to do it, Nev."

"True, but most of yesterday was individual work."

"They don't know they're a team yet, even though they feel it."

"They're going to learn that fast, Blade. Gant and Joel?"

"Will probably do go-get for us, Stats. They know what we're doing. The kitchen doesn't need much work, but appliances need to be replaced and cabinets filled. Some furniture would be nice, and that's the room that just needs a scrub and a colorbond. They won't detract any from the whole job doing that piece."

"Good job for them, Nev. They're at loose ends the next four days?"

"No track practice or meets and they really don't need to study for exams. Almost a year."

"A few more days and a baby to be born. Nev, you need to finish the book."

"I know, Stats. We weren't supposed to be too busy to... do anything now."

"When they work together smoothly without thinking about it, we'll get the whole bunch here to meld with them and get it finished fast. They need to get back on scooters, and also go places in uniform. They need to be seen on active duty, helping get ready for the Olympic Committee visit and building the Mandolin Space Corps."

"They need to do the inside and build the room themselves, Bard. They may need to lay it all out."

"I know, Blade, but I think we're going to have to take a little of the joy of doing it themselves away from them. It's too big a project to give them time for the other things their world needs them to do."

"Ow, but I'm sure that's the choice they'll make."

"If it wasn't, they wouldn't be the right ones to do it."

"I wonder how Buddy's doing."

"Probably complaining you didn't shop for kitty food and making friends with Chirp and Cheeky. He's home and safe, and he knows it, too well."

"It's a nice place for a kitty."

"Nev... Bard, we may be about to get a cat."

"If there's one that needs rescuing as badly as that one did, I hope so, Blade."

"I'm glad I didn't see it."

"He's a sturdy little... You have a wet lump in your shirt, Nev."

"He was freezing, Bard, and he's just a baby."

"What's his name?"

"Boston."

"Boston?"

"That's where he was, Blade, under a sign beside a gravway that said, 'Historic Boston.' Somebody dumped him beside the road. Freezing rain and no shelter, he was huddled next to the sign support."

"Give him to me. I'm going to take him to a vet."

They went to the house without Blade. When he arrived, he had a warm, bright, playful ball of fur, and a large container of kitty stuff. He looked rather surprised, then smiled widely and said Buddy evidently had a buddy, because he'd wished to take Boston home. Buddy obviously agreed. He was cleaning Boston's ears, with Chirp and Cheeky 'supervising.'

Nev and Quinn suddenly both disappeared and everyone laughed, but they didn't come back quickly. After almost a half-hour, Bard called Nev.

"Where are you? Is Quinn with you? How many? Kittens, not 'somethings.' Nev, they didn't get any or you'd have gotten there before they did. No, I'm sure you'd have wished then. How's mama? What did the vet say? The vet said there's a great band at her favorite club. Mama and three kittens. Four animals that look like a cross between a rat and pig had them trapped under a tree root. It took both Nev and Quinn to fight them off and both were 'tusked.' They're on Filigree, but the vet didn't recognize the animal description. She did recognize Nev. She's been wishing to meet him. She knows they're there. Daytrippers don't bleed all over her animal clinic. Mama kitty and kittens will all be fine. The vet says mama has had too many litters. She's a purebred and she suspects she escaped a breeder, who considered her a money producer. The kittens aren't purebred. They're not quite old enough to wean, but mama needs time. She's going to keep her. Kittens and formula are coming back with them. When? Tell her thank you from your families. Comm out."

"They were messed up. Why didn't we feel it, Bard?"

"I don't know, Blade. Maybe her. The clinic is full of non-pets, and he suspects nonpaying, patients."

"A xeno-veterinarian."

"What you know we don't, Joel?"

"Filigree is in second stage settlement."

"Yes?"

"All the xeno-biologists Alden has talked to want to list animals, not get close to them. If she's got a clinic full of 'other,' she's treating everything running into humans disastrously and they're not known species. An exploration ship might be a great home for a too-many-litters cat and a very high-psi vet."

"On, not daytripping."

"It's the one thing he sure needs a live person. He's right."

"You think she's that rare?"

"Everyone's 'that rare,' Bard."

"I deserved that thump, Gant. That combo of training, talent and interest are that rare, Joel."

"Alden would like fifty. Nev and Quinn found one. The combo of talent and interest might not be, but where but one of the second-stage settlement worlds would the hands-on training be found? How many vets are settlers in early second-stage?"

"Damn few."

"Add 'could learn to teleport' to search parameter and Nev and Quinn found one."

"Blade, where did you go to a vet?"

"Anthem University vet school on Brightland. Now where did he go?"

Bard picked up the tattered young male and wished himself to the 'right vet.' He smiled and walked into the university vet school clinic. When the woman in a lab coat turned around, he grinned and told her she was drafted.

"What?"

"Drafted. Doctor, we're hunting veterinarians for the exploration fleet. You didn't recognize Blade. You now know who he was, and you know I'm not daytripping."

"How?"

"I thought I was building a device that would allow people to... physically daytrip. I didn't follow the math far enough. It can do that for some, but it... teaches. This is the right cat to the right vet. Some of your students, and you, are needed."

"Three of them and a graduate. If I hadn't immediately come up with that answer, I'd have at least argued. The graduate is a settler on Filigree."

"She's the one we found, but she didn't send us."

"It's that rare?"

"Probably not the talent, interest, even willingness to do it, but you're teaching more to those who can... feel it."

"It's the caring that counts. Use what you know to learn as you go. The diagnostic comp will tell you what not to try."

"How bad is he?"

"He's fought several battles already. He's not all domestic cat. He's from Earth, North American Continent and his mommy or daddy was part bobcat, lynx rufus. He's going to be huge."

"He's going to be ours. He matches our uniforms."

"Take him everywhere. Don't leave him home and visit. He'll wear a harness, not collar, and leash and walk with you. If you start now. He'll also learn to use and cycle a toilet. Any cat will, but it requires training. He's younger than you think, about one hundred days old."

"He's going to be huge."

"As outsize as you are."

"You and three students."

"One is just getting started."

"Is it the school or the education? Is learning domestic animals, and those of this world the only way?"

"It's term break here, or I wouldn't be in this clinic. If you teach this cat to teleport by himself, get him neutered."

"You're not just recommending it."

"I don't always immediately recommend it. This is the third time I haven't in nineteen years."

"Lynx rufus."

"Smart and sturdy. Don't let him run loose and teach him not to fight. He will learn that for you. He's enough domestic cat he won't be a problem, unless there's a female in heat. If, by some chance, there is, get other males out of his way or get him out of there and disinfect the scratches. It is possible you can train him not to do that, but it's not likely, and his desirable wildcat genes in the domestic cat gene pool are why I'm not telling you to neuter him now. You decide when. Male cats have far fewer health problems if neutered. That's an average, of course, but exceptions are few, and he's a pet, not a stud."

"Understood. Big gray kitten, what shall I name you? Sorry, I wouldn't pronounce it right."

"He has some Siamese too, a real talker. He'll have an opinion on everything. If he sprays, give him yours."

"He might?"

"He hasn't been taught anything, yet. You're just who he wanted as teacher."

"He'll be our kitty?"

"Oh, yes. He may follow one of you around more than others, but he'll be quite sure he owns all of you and each should have plenty of opportunity to bestow strokes and chin scratches."

"What's your name?"

"Gerta Tchaivosk."

"Gerta, you'll teach it to many more out there showing it to all people on all worlds than here."

"It's a long way."

"Comm connect Alden. Hi, we found a veterinarian who thinks of domestic animals as unusual patients, and her teacher. She has three more students with the feel you need, in various points in school. Anthony University on Brightland, Dr. Gerta Tchaivosk."

"Oh, my, right the first time. No, I doubt he'd do as well with that. You'd probably better let him pick the name."

"She's covering off-term hours at the clinic now. You're welcome. Comm out. We need things. Blade's stock went with Boston. He, Buddy and a pair of bluebibs named Chirp and Cheeky are having great fun with the toys."

"The toy store is this way. Bluebibs are the most... I don't know whether to congratulate those people on leaving them alone, or thump them for not studying the most advanced animal species we've discovered."

"Advanced?"

"From our viewpoint, yes. They looked us over, decided the new neighbors were nice, and have been helping take care of the neighborhood, and spending time with us and playing with our pets ever since. They're probably a little disgusted we aren't doing more to help fix up their yards than put up a windbreak, but we keep bugs out of our houses and they didn't know there was something else they could eat, either. We haven't offered them a bowl of seed and a perch in the living room, or built cozy little homes for them in blackwood trees. I've read 'may move into buildings in one hundred years' and wondered why people didn't invite them and see if they wanted to now. Do you know why nothing eats them?"

"No."

"Other avians and animals are afraid of them. Once in a while, a young goldtail will swoop for one. If it doesn't grab it, bluebibs from kilometers around will just hound it in circles for a while. If it grabs one, they'll kill it and several pairs will help the mate feed the injured bluebib, and the fledgling if there is one, until it heals. A bluebib that loses its mate dies. It takes two to survive winter, but the widowed mate doesn't really try. It sits in the nest and chirps softly, but it doesn't sing and it doesn't laugh. It will make sure a fledgling is well fed and healthy, but after that it just sits."

"There's a pair inside nothing-through wall fields, twenty-five meters high and around a half-K square. Next year?"

"I don't know. But I really hope I can arrange to be there to see how they tell their neighbors what they want."

"You think they're underestimating their intelligence?"

"I think they're far underestimating their domesticity. They don't require domestication. We fit in their homes comfortably. We make dinner easier to see, provide entertainment for the leisure time we give them, and usually add a bit to their probability of surviving winter. Our hands are very nice. They laugh. It's not like a cat purr. We don't understand them, or their heavy little brain, enough to judge intelligence, but they laugh, and they laugh at themselves. They have feathers and fly, but they're not birds, and they're not fragile. Their muscle tissue is different. They're the most alien creature we've run across. Everything else is about what you'd expect in a generally compatible environment. Those little avians are not."

"Obviously, one of those."

"Best scratching post made. You already have the best play-alone cat toy."

"Yes, we do. Load us a bin. Pat and I need to get going before we're causing delays."

"Pat?"

"Pat-pat whap that toy. Pat-pat scratch. Pat-pat... It's about the same way Danny's cat, Bop, got his name."

"Patrick, with this nice smoke gray harness and leash and... silver tag with comm code?"

"The Prince of Purse. It's Nev's."

"They'd call in hope of reward."

"That's why his."

"Good thinking."

"Hey! Stop that! If you want to go out, you have to get dressed. Bare is only allowed in the house. Sorry, but Teal Valley has tight rules on kitty nudity, too, but we'll visit a kitty nude beach occasionally. Good boy. There. If you just lay there, we won't have much fun. Come on, Patrick. Pat! Let's go. On your feet! Walk! Four steps will do for first effort. In with your stuff. Account code in... Bye!"

"About time!"

"Patrick needed patching. I found Nev's vet's teacher. That's who you visited. She said bluebibs probably wonder why people don't invite them in. We don't understand even their muscles, let alone their brains. We move into their yards, do great stuff, and of course they like us for making food easier to get and giving them leisure time to play."

"She's... probably right. A windbreak in a blackwood would be an invitation to move into the neighborhood. An open window would invite visits?"

"With a bowl of tipple seed, Bam."

"They won't invade our homes. We don't invade theirs?"

"Exactly. Domesticity, not domesticated. She said they're the first real aliens we've met and they like us. Can we apply animal intelligence to a creature that laughs at itself, and mourns a lost life companion? Does it know it will die too? It can't survive winter alone. Does it want to? We don't understand its heavy little brain. How can we say it thinks like an animal? It thinks like it thinks and there isn't any way to measure it, because there's nothing comparable. Everything else we run across is like enough to something like us to measure. They aren't. Patrick! No! You stop that right now. Buddy is not a rival, and this is his yard. That's better. No hissing! I know. You never met big tom that you didn't have to fight to survive, but that's all over. You have to be a very civilized kitty to wear your uniform and go places with us, when we wear ours."

"Bard..."

"Blade, he's part bobcat. His genes are needed. He's wild, but he doesn't want to be. Right now, he's scared and not talking. Talking to him will let him know it's not a scary situation, when he gets accustomed to it. He's a one-season-old kitten and she healed layers of scratches, lumps of infection, torn ears, split nose, a gash here... Buddy is bigger and Boston smaller. One's a threat to life and the other food supply, in his experience and instincts. The harness and leash, and a yank, say 'not usual' very clearly. Dr. Tchaivosk said don't leave him home and visit. We teach him to walk with us, and use and cycle a toilet. He's not a house yard cat. He's a traveling companion kitty. Now, whether that's her understanding of him, us, or both, I was way too impressed to do anything but nod and say, 'Yes, Doctor.' The comm code on his tag is Nev's."

"Perfect, but he's got three babies."

"Comm connect, Nev. I want to know if you're looking in her eyes while you heal enough I won't go nuts when I see it, or just looking in her eyes. I want you to meet our cat. He's all one color, gray. His uniform is smoke gray and silver. His insignia has your comm code. His name is Patrick. He's in basic training and Blade's considering thumping me for it. They're getting-- Damn!"

"Calm down! It looks worse than it was! Comm out."

"We should have gone to get pants instead of waiting, Nev."

"Bard, it took time to run those things off. Like cutting a finger and wrapping it in tissue while you finish something. The cut's not bad, but the tissue looks like you almost chopped off a finger."

"Nice try. Why didn't you yell for help?!"

"I had help."

"So did I."

"Bard, there wasn't room for another person. We'd have been able to dodge better if we'd had more. Renna is looking for what it was and where we were. Those things were too close to people, or they wouldn't have had a mama cat and kittens trapped. They couldn't get out, or she could have climbed a tree. The kittens would probably have made it too. Those things were demolishing the root over her, and they were a hungry pack. I don't think she's big enough for them to be that determined, if they weren't starving."

"Renna agrees, and is surprised she doesn't know what we fought off."

"Comm connect Brightland, Anthem University Vet Clinic. Dr. Tchaivosk, Renna's got bloody evidence a pack of something dangerous and starving is too close to humans, and she doesn't know the animal to pinpoint world, let alone range. She yelled, 'What?! Comm out!' Did they try for your genitals?"

"No, they lift heads to gore and that's the only 'under' place we have."

"We turned fast. Scrape across thigh wasn't pleasant, but..."

"We got one gore each, neither terrible and the rest were skin rips when we avoided. That's why they bled so bad."

"If they lifted heads... A rooting animal?"

"That's what Renna's trying to figure out. We're sure it wasn't 'stamp out invader.' They could have done that smashing the root. There just wasn't any doubt they were intent on dinner."

Renna and Gerta found the animal, and the reason. Gerta called the government, got nowhere, called a university school of veterinary medicine, and got a computer taking messages. Quinn called his mom.

Three minutes later, the president of the Loreland company in the Shoppers Shipping Network connected Gerta, now Rear Admiral Tchaivosk, Liberty Gem Space Corps, Exploration, Xeno-biology with the Secretary of the Interior. The 'rotusks' were in a park, and they were meat hunting, because the fungi that was their primary source of protein was gone. They'd probably nearly exterminated getleafs, nuttucks and rootduckers in their range and about twelve thousand were moving toward the smell of protein, humans and their domestic animals.

Cattle, sheep, hogs and adult humans were too large to attack, but calfs, lambs, piglets, cats, dogs and small children were not. She estimated they had two days to "get a lot of fish or other smelly protein" upwind of them and six to reduce the population to about eight hundred. Ninety percent of the predator that kept rotusk population down had been exterminated because one pair killed three lambs. She sent him the ecological impact analysis no one in his department had "bothered to do," and the survey xeno-biology analysis of the rotusk, which included when, why and how the "omnivore, not herbivore "hunted.

Bard took Renna and Gerta to Alden. Loreland didn't have any organization, not even firefighters, that could move fast enough. Liberty Gem Space Corps personnel were already tripping to Loreland, when Gerta and Renna were uniformed and led to trip chairs.

Both would be ready to catch Shoppers Shipping Network ships in a few days. Space Corps ships had already been dispatched to rendezvous with those to pick them up. Some Liberty Gem adventurers were also arranging rendezvous with shipping network and corps ships. A few very skilled people had asked transport, not trip chairs. Alden expected more when word spread that Liberty Gem Space Corps would arrange transport for families, including cats and dogs, for skilled exploration force personnel.

Blade, Case and Stats and Quinn's family had just waited. Gant and Joel hadn't. They were on a materials run. It wasn't a big one. The five had gotten almost everything needed the day before. They'd have had it all, but they'd changed the design plan.

The front gate had been left open. They were expecting modular addition deliveries and some items Joel and Gant were getting were to make a sign warning of a field gate and instructions on requesting entry. They were also getting tipple seed.

Bard, Nev and Quinn arrived with three tiny kittens and food for them, as Bam was ordering a botanic and bio-survey of the area for blackwoods and bluebibs.

"He designed a bluebib house that fits around the nest, or invites bluebibs to build a nest in it. We just don't doubt they'll like them. They're not-quite-transparent greenish and include a tipple seed plate, a way to get seed up to it, perches and a 'fledgling porch.' That one surprised us."

"Why a porch, Topper?"

"Fledglings leave the nest when they learn to fly, but they stay beside it until they mate, which isn't with the closest bluebib of the opposite sex. They may leave and return every day for one hundred days or more. He thinks some may not find mates and die. That may be the reason some pairs have been observed non-active, just sitting in the nest for days, after the first bout of nasty winter weather. So, a fledgling porch and house already in blackwood trees, to give young ones more time to hunt mates and build nests. He thinks the porches will also provide shelter if they have to range farther the find the right mate."

"I have far too little information to know if that's a reasonable assumption, and I'm completely sure he's right."

"So are we, Nev. We're going to use a magic trowel to make the houses. We're also going to try putting some in other types of trees and putting feeding stations some places. We know they don't use the evergreens because of their sticky, seeping sap, but they might use houses anywhere off the ground, including a house porch, or just move inside, if there was food and a bluebutton bush in a planter."

"A bluebutton bush?"

"A bluebutton bush is a bluebib toilet. The bush center is a funnel and the foliage grows out of the base and around it. It doesn't cover it. Anything that goes into that funnel is quickly broken down to feed the plant. It doesn't need bluebibs to survive, but it flourishes and is a near solid mass of fragrant little blue flowers in late spring with their aid. It's used as decorative foliage and as a houseplant because it smells fresh. Its dense foliage releases a lot of oxygen, if given food, water and light. It forms waste nodules on the roots and some people harvest them for decorative purposes, or trace elements. A few have had success feeding them specific elements to get nodes with dominant colors, but most who try it poison the plant."

"I got permission! The Secretary of the Environment approved and we can do it on private property, and we'll have help! The Conservation Club is making it their summer project. They'll assure everyone knows we, and they, will be putting bluebib houses in trees in their yards. They're excited about the idea of trying other trees and places too."

"That's great, Bam! Ready to get to work on our house?"

"No, Quinn. I want to give the bluebibs theirs first. I'm sure we should."

"All right. What do we need we don't have?"

"Tipple seed."

"If Gant and Joel aren't back with it soon, I'll go get some the quick way."

It took them twenty-six minutes to figure out exactly how to build and support the house without disturbing the nest, or restricting the growth of the blackwood, in any blackwood.

Boys and girls between the ages of ten and eighteen would be placing houses, and supports needed to be somewhat adjustable to fit any tree. The seed plate filling system had to be very easy to attach, as well. When they finished that, they built a house-making frame.

Gant and Joel had split the materials pick up and brought the tipple seed. They too were present when Bam zapped the first bluebib house, and first plate filling system, into existence.

Quinn carried the ladder for Bam. It would have been simpler to use the georgie to lift him, but Conservation Club kids wouldn't have those. Bam was pretty sure he would know if it would be difficult for a much smaller person. Topper was sure if anyone was going to fall off it would be Bam. Loopy had a cam to record how the house was put around the nest, and everything was adjusted, connected and checked.

Bam went up the ladder, then pulled the house up by the "just a dog leash or something," clipped through the loop on the top of the house.

"Make sure you get well-braced on the ladder, like I am. This is hardest. If you've got collapsible scaffold or lift, use it. It's lots easier from right in front than beside because the ladder's in the way. Set the house over the nest with the fledgling porch on the tree side. The bluebibs don't always sit facing the same way in the nest and they can look out any direction. A fledgling always sleeps on the treeward side, until it finds its love and helps build a nest for two. We may be giving them hotel rooms they can use while they hunt too. Population stats say some don't have enough time before winter. Now, once you have it set, undo your lift string and then go down your ladder until you can reach under the house easily. Slide the three supports to touch the branches, then reach under and get the bottom flap. Pull it around under the branches and snap it to the front corner. It may be floppy like this one, or you may have to stretch it. Either way is fine. It has more stretch room than the blackwood will ever need. Now push up the middle of the side and close this clip to hold it. It's supposed to have gaps. The bluebibs need ventilation and even a cold wind won't bother them, if it's not blowing on them. Don't try to do the other side from here. You have to move the ladder to put the seed plate filling system on anyway."

Bam went down the ladder and moved it, showing it was carefully set in place, reminding the kids to check its footing. He suddenly had interested small company.

"Hi, Chirp. It's not quite done, but the perches are solid. All right, you can sit on my shoulder, but it's going to be moving around. Another reminder to always make sure your ladder is solidly footed and against the branch. Take the time to be sure. The bluebibs would be very upset if it fell with you, and so would your parents. You should really do this in pairs. It's nice to have company and a guy down below can steer the house and plate filling assembly up. Attach your pull-up string to the top of it and head up. Now, snap and clip the bottom flap on this side first, then go up a little and pull up the assembly. The assembly cord will blow around at the bottom, but it won't blow high enough to tangle. The rods up higher are flexible and even a tall person won't get poked by one. If something gets caught in a loop, like your head, it'll pull the assembly down, not strangle you. The assembly will bounce. Figuring out how to make this so it's not dangerous in anyone's yard was the hardest part, but I think most people will love being able to give bluebibs some tipple seed, especially in winter and making it easy... Well, a bowl on the porch or maybe inside an open window, is great, but a little plate by their house says, 'I'm glad you live here.' We don't know how smart they really are, or how they think, but we know they get 'you're welcome in our yard.' Of course, they may see it as we're welcome in theirs. I'm sure Chirp and Cheeky do. See what I mean about help steering the assembly? Thanks, Quinn. Cheeky, would you please wait to use the loop as a swing until I get it connected. Thank you. You just saw why the loop is that size. I've seen them use other loops of rope and such as swings. Now, this clip, this one and this one. Unhook your pull string and down the ladder. Time to check the assembly. Pull the loop to bring the little cup down. Fill it with seed. It doesn't hold much. Too much would just blow away. It's a plate, not a bowl, so it doesn't collect water. Here we go. If I did it right, the little cup will get to the top and dump right on the plate. If there's any seed left when it gets there. Oh, they think both trying to ride the cup is fun. Watch out. Quinn, do you think that would have gone on the plate if Cheeky wasn't under it?"

"Yes, I think she was right in the middle. They think her seed shower was hilarious."

"Yes, they do. Well, Chirp, what do you think?"

None of them expected the answer to Bam's question, or not one so clear. Chirp and Cheeky flew down, landed one on each shoulder, then hopped in, until they could rub their heads against his neck. He reached up and gently stroked Cheeky then Chirp with a fingertip. He had tears in his eyes when he softly said, "You're welcome." They'd underestimated the unique little avian, and the reasoning power of its heavy little brain.

The inside work on the house went quickly. The five learned fast and worked fast. Gant and Joel did work on the kitchen while the others worked on making eight bedrooms and four baths into five bedrooms and six baths, the sixth with a spa and exterior door. Their workout room would be on the other side. It also gave them a third easily accessed toilet from their entertaining areas. The last two nonstandard bios were done that morning.

By the end of the day, Patrick didn't have to be watched around Buddy and the kittens. A place to sit to watch and brimming bowl of kitty food where one of the three were working had aided in reducing friction greatly. Box training was as simple as with any cat. Toilet training would require time and patience. That evening, they took him home and ceremoniously removed his harness. His 'ship chair' was placed in the bridge lounge, his ship food and water dishes filled and placed in a corner of the kitchen, and his ship litter box placed next to the toilet in the front bathroom on that deck. Then they took him to their house and did the same with his 'home' things.

When they sat down in the living room, Nev clapped his hands loudly. They watched and laughed as Patrick chased the "best play-alone kitty toy." He wasn't any happier to 'get dressed' the next morning, but he seemed quite pleased to be set down in the huge yard with Buddy and Boston.

That day, they finished the house. They talked it over and decided they wouldn't miss shopping for furniture. They figured out how and Quinn, and the family member whose room it was for, went to get it. Each time they arrived by something perfect.

They were very carefully specifying on Mandolin. The logistics of large item pickup on other worlds were too complicated, and it just wasn't necessary. The reason they'd decided not to shop was the selection of beautiful was too wide to make it a fast job. They did 'take it home,' but doubted anyone would notice vehicles they rented to pick it up were sometimes rented a short time apart a long way apart.

At twenty-three fifty-seven, they finished furnishing and decorating. They were laughing at themselves a bit when they opened a bottle of champagne at midnight. Several times, they'd arrived in their parents' homes, not stores. They'd left messages they'd "stolen" something at each.

The fourth day, they began on the outside. They'd begun to work together as a team, but the type of work inside the house had limited it a bit. By lunch that day, they were a bit awed at themselves, and Bard, Nev, Blade, Case and Stats were very pleased.

Joel and Gant complained they weren't going to be there to pre-assemble for them, or see the work progress any longer. They had school the next day and kitten deliveries planned that afternoon. All three had been claimed by family members.

They left right after lunch, and after they made sure Chirp and Cheeky knew they were taking the kittens and all their things. They made sure Buddy, Boston and Patrick knew they were going too. They'd kept them in the kitchen days and the Wander nights, but all three cats and Chirp and Cheeky had known they were there.

The others knew it had been a good idea when Chirp and Cheeky checked Buddy and Boston's toys, boxes and dishes. They didn't check Patrick's. He'd arrived two mornings and his chair and dishes were moved around. They obviously knew he was a visitor.

Gant and Joel had done a great deal to get things ready for them. They'd built the frames for the parking lot assembly, preassembled many walls, picked up plants and arranged them in order of use, set up work areas in the big equipment garage and more. That evening, Quinn called both and told them they'd gotten "three days work" done that day, and knew it was because they'd already done two-thirds of it, then he complained they were going to have to do that two-thirds were themselves for the rest of it. Gant and Joel laughed and said they were sure their help had been appreciated.

The fifth day, the five 'blended into a working unit.' Topper was surprised to be the one who managed the job. It didn't surprise the others. They'd known he kept a mental schedule for everything. Once he realized they didn't expect him to tell them what to do, just what came next, he relaxed and they worked fast and smoothly.

That evening they worked several hours under lights after Bard, Nev and Blade left. In the morning, 'everybody' would be coming to help. Gant and Joel had given them an extra day to become a team, but they were out of time. Quinn, his family, and the five admirals had to 'get back on stage.' Jeannine needed them at events and affairs, beginning with a ball the next night.

Bard and Danny moved everyone in the neighborhood, except Plimmer and Bop, to Mandolin the next morning, including the two babies and about-to-be-mommy Elise. All who worked 'regular jobs' had taken the day off to help. They began working at five local time. Frets called for a ride at seven ten.

At eight thirty, Gant and Joel came back. They'd asked to be excused at noon Veil Lake time, when they learned there wouldn't be track practice that day. Their coaches were daytripping to Mandolin to help them get some competitions restarted. They went back to work prepping, as soon as they arrived.

Twenty-nine people worked quickly and smoothly. Topper knew everything that had to be done and each person knew what piece of next they'd do fastest.

Larry said he knew he was best at hold, carry, brace, brew tea, make sandwiches and change diapers. Quinn grabbed a sandwich and dispo cup of tea and told him he definitely made work faster and easier. Mike and Loren grabbed, said he understood "sustaining energy" well, then checked on Elise. She said she was checked so often she wondered how anybody had time to get anything else done.

At sixteen forty-seven, they finished. They watched as the boats and skimmers were moved into the boathouse. They saluted themselves with tea, then Danny and Bard took everyone from the neighborhood home.

Bard and Nev moved Bard's car and the Wander successfully. Blade, Patrick, Frets, Case and Stats followed in the shuttle. They'd been gone eight minutes when family members of the five began to arrive with cars, clothes, flyers and momentoes.

All were gone when Walt, in a Liberty Gem style running suit, arrived to do an NTN report, with a 'local kid' reporter and cam op. The two locals were extremely surprised. Walt wasn't.

Cheeky and Chirp sat on the perch on their house and welcomed each arrival. The yard was still a long way from being a lawn, but it was greenish with new growth and the area right around the house, including under their tree, had been sodded. When the sprinklers came on at eighteen, Chirp and Cheeky played in them.

Bam had explained the fountain by their tree was for them. So was the window into the big entertainment room. They'd learned the levers to open and close it quickly. Buddy and Boston couldn't get out, but they could get in to play. They could also shut it if a party got noisy.

There was a window like it in each enclosure on the house. Buddy and Boston wouldn't be allowed to roam when the family was gone for quite some time, if it all. The bluebibs weren't the only previous inhabitants in the yard, and it would be a while before all were comfortable and not fear the non-hunting cats.

Patrick went to his first affair that evening. He was rather shy, but generally quite well-behaved. Blade took him for a 'walk,' and to the ship and his kitty box, in the middle of the evening. He was a good kitty and enjoyed the kitty treats he received for doing his duty. He spent most of the remainder of the evening under the table asleep.

Bard, Nev and Blade made sure one of them was at the table, but all three danced with a number of women and stood and talked with groups the last half of the evening.

Bard danced most with Frets, but not exclusively. Quinn's family were also in uniform and at their table. They danced with more. Dancing was a good excuse to ask a great many questions, and a lot of people had them.

The next morning, Quinn's family got help again. Danny brought Ronnie, Drand and Dawn and then she and Bard picked up a large number of loads of materials, for bluebib houses.

Quinn and Bam used the rigs to deliver two large loads. They leased trailers and took them home for more. They didn't stay to help make them. They went back to where they'd left one of the loads in Labs' and Topper's cars and spread out with the Conservation Club kids and reserve officers Quinn drafted to put the houses in blackwood trees.

By fourteen, two more trailer loads had been delivered and the first two trailers, now empty, were picked up by Day and Larry. They picked up loads of materials to make houses on the way back.

Everyone wore 'work uniforms.' The Conservation Club kids were wearing theirs. By the next morning, a great many of the club kids were wearing far more tailored uniforms. The method of tailoring had been distributed and the closer-fitting style was also for sale. Six loads of bluebib houses were delivered that day.

The next morning, all the kids were in closer-fitting uniforms. Two floppy-clothes-caused accidents had been recorded. Neither boy was badly hurt, but the planetary club officers had said, "Change them now!" and every club had someone to do it for those who couldn't. Basically, they made new uniforms out of the material of the old. There was more than enough to do it, and the trim covall style looked good.

The world attention on the bluebib house installation and the Conservation Club instruction 'did it.' When the Olympic Committee tripped to Mandolin that day, the odd style and the odd attitude were both disappearing from Mandolin. That evening, they were flown to the estate on Ricky Lake, where the wealthy young were gathered with their scooters, and in their costumes, to put on a show in the first rink built just for the purpose.

They were extremely impressed before it even started, as they watched the rink rise out of the ground and unroll along tracks that locked seamlessly into place, including the jump ramps. Then the grandstands and lights rose around it. The 'scooters' cheered and Quinn, Bam, Loopy, Topper and Labs bowed, watched for the charged light, then lifted their pro-scoots onto the rink they'd designed.

It was much larger than the first design because they could put it away. The grassy area would also be their soccer field.

The posine they'd used was a new type, very new. It wasn't 'cushioned.' It was firm with optimum roll and drag for float scooters. It had been developed just for that purpose, by the company that had developed posine and the BNU physics lab, six days before. That day, rinks using the family's design had been completed near the ski lodge, hockey rink and where the new golf course would be in Frostlea. They planned to show off too.

Representative Walston was sentenced to counseling the next morning. The Association of Broadcasters was reprimanded and a Broadcasting Regulatory Commission created not long before noon. GNMB broadcast a formal retraction of speculation about Cory, and every network pulled its society news segment and reported the reprimand and that there had been no factual basis to reports of 'personal misconduct' for twenty-eight years.

Former society casters flatly stated their jobs had been come up with the most popular story and get the best reaction for a cam image. Only Walter said he'd despised it, but thought he'd had no other option but restaurant server. The others all said the only thing they liked about it was the star pay. One woman said it was "the only reporting job a woman could get" and using her masters degree in journalism to "fetch coffee" for men with bachelors degrees, for a third their salary, had been less appealing.

The five and Patrick were at a reception for the first daytrippers from eight worlds when Mike called. They ran out the door to their cars and drove to their ships. Patrick was undressed and taken home. Nev started the kitty toys rolling, then they got in the T and went to the clinic.

They laughed at themselves for being irritated they couldn't just pop in. Case, in his car behind them, called and complained.

They got to the clinic 'in time to wait' with their friends. At twenty fifty-three Teal Valley time, Milo yelled it was cold outside.

Bard, Blade, Nev, Case and Stats didn't go back that evening. All of them needed time at home, and Nev needed time to work on the book. At a little before midnight local time, Quinn arrived with a bottle of champagne.

"We did it. Armond Fashions released new summer designs, and there's not a bag, tent or brothel advertisement in the bunch. Tens of thousands of kids are listening to their parents tell them they should take with they'll enjoy in school, dads are bragging about their smart daughters and moms about their talented sons. Boys are remaking their clothes themselves and parents are helping. They're also taking them shopping for flooter costumes, even if they don't have flooters, and won't for a long while. School boards are changing gym clothes recs for next term and insurers are giving reasonable rates because of it. Beginning gymnastics and dance classes have boys in them and sales of workout equipment are soaring."

"Something happened we don't know about."

"Walt on the run and New Tech News debuted with the image of Bam making bluebib houses, and Chirp and Cheeky's thank you, then Conservation Club kids putting them in trees, then the shoppers shipping, back to us and the house, then the rink. He did 'high Society having fun' and mixed in people having fun 'with' us, spread women's accomplishments and men's art and sensitivity on thick, gave the nonstandard bio addresses... They gave him a full half-hour this morning, showed clips this evening, then interviewed him on an hour news special this evening. MPB delivered the presidential group study, including the basis of it all, backed with images and statistics for one hundred eighty years, and finished the job. Our society is 'true nobility.' You five are the best advisory command ever. Liberty Gem is the best neighbor any world could have. The president exemplifies the office. His grandchildren are beyond description. We're planetary heroes. The 'power of the press' to manipulate and form public opinion was forgotten because the word 'press' was no longer used. Henry Clayland will go down in history as a figure of pathos, not a villain. He's our example of the result of putting success above all else, and of that power abused."

"Ten days. Not exactly how Larry recommended, but we've decided to rip apart and reassemble instead of 'bring about change' before, and he doesn't get mad, or left behind."

"High-tech, muscle-powered, can't-wear-bags, takes-an-athlete toy. Start with this."

"That's Larry, and Uncle Drand can figure out how to do anything with a good set of parameters."

"You're not going to stay a while."

"You don't need us, Quinn."

"Yes, we do, Bard, always, but we don't need your help. We love you. No one else will ever know or understand the five of us as well as the five of you, and I still don't know what to do about five separate bedrooms and Loopy being disgusted we all get... chivalrous."

"Comm connect guys."

"Hi, Blade, champagne?"

"The planet job was finished by MPB, with our bunch as stars and Walt as emcee, Case, but Quinn's got a team who know they're a family."

"But don't know how to be slobs in the kitchen together yet."

"Four boys and a girl, and the boys remember it before they leave their separate rooms."

"You have a plan."

"Your turn to wish nine men to the right place."

"Thank you. We'll be right over. Comm out."

"Attire?"

"Nev, do you think we have appropriate for what Case has in mind?"

"Not if it includes cloth."

### Chapter Forty

Quinn went to get Bam, Topper and Labs. He told Loopy they were going where Case wished. She grinned widely, said she'd seen them in a few days and waved bye-bye. Labs said, "Days?" and Quinn laughed and moved them.

They arrived in front of a big glide shop. They walked in, looked around and figured out they were on Aldora by the name of the glide race being shown on a big ad screen.

Nev suddenly went one way and Bard when another, moving just as fast. The group split to follow. Blade, Topper and Labs followed Nev. He'd found costumes. He'd also found the backyard, with a large number of people, who wore the clothes and accessorized in a quite different manner than the ad screens showed.

Bard had found the main back door. He led Case, Stats, Quinn and Bam through it. The used glides in the lot were far more interesting than the gleaming new ones. Most were also far 'less' glide. Everything not essential had been stripped off, then they'd been colorbonded very interestingly and seats and 'trim' added. Blade walked out with a size scanner, said, "That one and that one," scanned them all and went back in.

Someone noticed Topper, Labs and Blade were carrying things Nev loaded on them to the purchase counter. When he walked in, Topper said, "I'm buying." Nev and Labs complained.

"Topper is going to be tough to beat."

"I've been practicing, Blade. Between Quinn and Loopy, the only way to claim the bill is get to the cashier before they start choosing."

"Nev says he's paying when he makes reservations, if his grandma will be there. The only time we got to spend anything was when he wasn't with us. Putting it all in one account was the only solution."

"Yes, it is."

"Bam yesterday, 'They can't think of us as a family because we've got all these too well-known names.' And they give both sides of Loopy's."

"B R A I G H T O N, Braighton."

"That's not spelled as pronounced."

"It's his great-great-grandfather's. There aren't any others on two worlds. Are you going to find four other families, Nev?"

"No, but they will, now. If you do it fast enough, several hundred attorneys, accountants, bankers and commentators won't assist."

"Let's go, Topper."

"I'll be back to pay!"

"Total that, please! I'll pay for the rest."

"Rest?"

"That was gear, Blade. Through that door is style. Unlock it, please!"

"He was outside, and what's in there gets more than a comp watch."

"Exactly, and Topper and Labs are not prepared for it."

"Are we?"

"No, but we're ready, or we wouldn't be here."

"Good point. Maybe."

"This is designer."

"Are we advertising?"

"Yes."

"All right, if you think this will sell golf courses..."

Nev the burst into laughter and pointed to one of the racks. Blade checked the sizes and just took everything out of six sections to the counter, then moved to the next rack of men's clothes and took the contents of two sections to it.

Nev sat down on the floor and giggled. Blade cleared sections of the third men's rack, then started on shelves. There weren't many of those, so it didn't take long. After that, he emptied accessory trays and cleaned wall pegs. The clerk walked in and blinked. Blade said, "Total, please. He'll recover enough to enter the account code," and walked out. Nev motioned 'yes' to the clerk, laid on the floor and giggled.

Quinn moved fast. He led Bam, Topper and Labs out the back gate, out of comp watch on it and took them home, got Loopy and took them 'to the right court.' They arrived in a small office. A young woman walked through a door on one side, smiled widely and asked why they were in her office in Tappintree. Bam asked her if she'd seen Walt's special.

"Yes, I did."

"Did you notice he worked around calling our home the 'something' house, and everyone else lists all our full names and those of both her parents?"

"Not then."

"Well, we want a family name and Nev gave us his great-great-grandfather's, because he was the last."

"It hurts him he and his sister are the only descendents of six families, and five of those family names are just gone. It wasn't a choice like our families made. We're a family, not roommates."

"The names you carry are pretty special here too, Gen Quinn."

"We don't want to drop them. We want to add one, without a hyphen."

"And without the helpful advice of people who see us as attached to the money those names represent."

"We want to dump all our cash in one account, have one name, and thoroughly confuse the heir counters. Our parents will think it's great. It makes my dad as mad as it does me when someone says, 'and Louisa Sanders, the Culbertson-Sanders heiress, and wealthiest of the group.' This is my family. These are my parents' kid's family, not her investment group, with relative financial contribution being denoted as percentage of stock shares, or 'reserve' noted as buyout leverage. We want to dump it all in together, all spend it together, all work at our own business together, and share a family name, so they can't wedge us apart with financial statements. It's hurting us. This is my symbol of forever love, not a membership badge in an exclusive investment club."

"If you and your husband used different surnames and kept all your finances separate, would people immediately think of you as a family?"

"No, Gen Ambrose, they wouldn't. Name?"

"Braighton, B R A I G H T O N."

"That's not spelled as pronounced."

"We're not settlers, and it's a precious gift from our loved friend."

"Braighton. Let's see how we can use our laws to make you legally a family, so you can file taxes jointly. I've got an idea."

She was an attorney. Her grandmother was the district court judge. She found a code and precedent that could apply. She told her grandmother they proved it was needed on Mandolin, just as it had been on Liberty Gem, and it was a whole lot simpler than making a batch of new laws and filing categories. Her grandmother said their taxes could be higher, not lower. Quinn said that wasn't a consideration, but they'd rather pay the taxes than five accountants to do them, anyway.

In eight minutes total, in a little town, the other side of the world from the capital, that was home to a district court, they became legally the Braighton family, got all their cash and "legally held assets" in the family account and the family name, got their family-business license, 'set the precedent' for other nontraditional families, and ended the spelled-like-it-sounds 'period' on Mandolin.

The judge considered that essential before people began to consider moving to another world just a matter of paying passage and studying for a citizenship test in a year or two. That was all it required, anywhere, after settlement period, and the Interplanetary Supreme Court was narrowing what could be required in colonial charters rapidly.

Quinn took them home, then took Bam, Topper and Labs to Aldora. They were all laughing when they arrived. Loopy was making an announcement list, practicing corrections, and really anticipating the look on people's faces when she spelled their name for them.

Topper hurried in to enter their account code for the clerk. The clerk hadn't been worried. The others hadn't left. They were entering information for license check for a test ride. When Topper got to the back lot, Nev was on comm to his great-great-grandfather.

"I gave them Braighton. They consider it a gift. I doubt their great-great-grandparents will mind sharing 'bragging rights,' Grandpapa Tarse. They already have their drivers licenses and insurance certification changed. The judge wanted a name that has to be spelled on Mandolin and the precedent of forming a family, without having to get it through their congress. Their attorney found a way, fast. I didn't think you'd mind the middle of the night call. I love you too. Good night. Comm out. He said he gets visits or he'll complain loudly. I was named for him. It pains him a bit I don't use Tarse, but he understands... everyone too well to be angry."

"Thank you. We'll visit."

"Two blocks east, one north of our house, northeast corner. Would you like to do their house addition instead of us?"

"Yes, we would. Would they mind?"

"I think they'd like it very much."

"We've got a job!"

"Yes, Bam, we do."

"May I tell Loopy?"

"Of course. Oh! No, it's not my good news. I didn't get it for us. Nev gave it to all of us, too."

"I love you."

"I love you too, family."

"Family. It helps, Quinn, already and more than I expected."

"Me too. Let's ride. Blade said we need a place to 'sort' everything they bought."

They rode to a little park and Bard went to the right place for them to stay. When he got back, he was laughing. He'd arrived beside a big vehicle with a for-sale sign on it, in the parking lot of the glide shop.

They rode back, looked it over, looked inside and grinned. It was a 'room,' with places to carry two glides and lots of party beverages and snacks, and it expanded. They went into the glide shop, said they'd take the glides and were "asking inside," as the sign on the vehicle had said to do.

The clerk said it didn't run and Case said he'd take it. He walked into the "yard," said he needed to pay Bocko for the Blast Room and borrow tools. A woman said she was Bocko and tools weren't enough.

"So the clerk said, but we need tools to find out what else it needs."

"Too much or I wouldn't be selling it, but it's not overpriced for the stuff I did inside."

"You're a designer-builder, not a mechanic."

"That's some. Some is I'm getting settled."

"She's getting old!"

"Ow! Load, I'd get you for that if it wasn't true. When the Blast Room sat through two blowouts, and so did I, it was time to sell it to somebody who'll use it."

"A party room on a disk is half a dream come true. The other half is getting it to where I can get a party in it. I'm Case. There are nine in the bunch, all men, all acutely short of feminine companionship after sunset recently. Before sunset, we were working."

"You're about to take on another big job."

"No, just a little fun with friends. Vacation stuff, and we all deserve it. We can fix anything."

"Anything?"

"Got a spaceship you want repaired?"

"You fix spaceships?"

"Haven't found one that needed fixing."

"Lopel, open the tool cabs for them while I do the doc work with Case. It sounds like the Blast Room is going to the blowout this time."

The tool cabinets in the shop area were opened. The documents didn't take long, so Case was outside with the others shortly after they got the big vehicle up on lifts. They bought disposable covalls and caps, said they'd pay for solvent and wipes they used when they finished, then went to work.

A crowd gathered to watch. All of them knew Bocko had built the Blast Room on an old Loftletts Merchander, and it had gone to many blowouts in the eight years since she'd finished it. It had gotten good care, but it was worn out. That began to change fast.

The watching group agreed on "best close place" to get parts. Nev called and began listing. The list grew as the rest of the vehicle systems were exposed. When the person at the parts store said they couldn't deliver in less than two hours, five laid down tools and got on glides. Bard, Nev, Case and Stats added six more parts to the order. When they added a seventh, Case got on his glide. They'd gone over capacity of the small carry boots of the five glides.

Nev added one more part to the list, then picked up two and carried them into the glide shop. They just needed a good cleaning, but nearly everything that didn't need replacing did.

Stats followed with two. Bard took more parts off. Stats returned with a bucket of solvent and a big stack of wipes and began cleaning the drive compartment. Nev brought parts back and picked up more.

Bard finished disassembly and carried parts into the shop. He made a half-dozen trips, then brought back another bucket of solvent and stack of wipes and began cleaning the thrust tube housing.

Nev brought out parts and took more in. Stats carried the bucket full of used wipes and a part in and brought clean solvent and wipes out, and began cleaning the inside of the disk. Nev brought parts out and took parts in.

Blade got back, unloaded and unpackaged parts, carried trash and a part inside. Bard finished cleaning and carried his used wipes and a part in. He brought two parts and the empty bucket out. He took off his shoes and carefully stepped into the vehicle.

The five more that came back with parts, one after the other, used the bucket for trash. By the time it was full, the second bucket had been brought back empty. The full bucket and last small part to be cleaned were carried in, and empty bucket and two parts brought back. Topper and Labs picked up the thrust tube assembly and carried it inside. They came out with two parts each.

Bard stepped out of the vehicle, put his shoes on, Stats took his off and stepped in. Bard told Case all the interior appliances and systems looked good and rolled under the vehicle to begin reassembly.

The others were pre-assembling, making small parts large units. Blade came out with parts, and rolled under. Case rolled under and the others began handing in units. Topper and Labs went in and Nev came out with parts. He handed them to Bard and rolled under.

Quinn left Bam assembling and went to get cleaned parts. He made three trips, then began pre-assembly again. Topper made two trips out with two parts and went back in. A short time later, he and Labs carried out the cleaned thrust assembly. They went back in, then returned with the last cleaned parts.

The Blast Room began to be reassembled in chunks. Stats stepped out, said the comp components tested good and he needed power before he could learn more, then went to work on pre-assembling the a-grav system.

Thirty-nine minutes after the tool cabinets were opened, the tools were cleaned and put away. The Blast Room was ready for a blowout, except for stocking. The first thing they stocked was the water tank.

Quinn, Bam, Topper and Labs went into the vehicle then went home to get clean. They weren't filthy and could have all used the sonic shower unit in the Blast Room, but preferred hot water. Bard, Nev, Blade, Case and Stats talked with their audience, got acquainted and learned more about blowouts.

They were usually two-day parties in a park with cabins for overnight lodging, but some were on "un-farmable" land and people took along "sleepsacks." Twice a year, they were twelve-day "gathers" with dances and "showoffs," games and competitions for gliders. The only other vehicles welcome were those like the Blast Room, that had toilets, "cold keeps," "hot preps," "sonics" and a place to carry a glide.

Families were welcome, but they came on glides, not in cars, and very few attended the usual blowouts. "Fats," glides with all the accessories that were stripped off the "sleeks," were more suitable for families with children and a "fat town" was part of the semiannual blowout plans. One of the gliders said it was the way a lot of old friends stayed good friends after their "party years," and how new generations of gliders learned the "traditions" and kept them fresh.

Bocko wasn't planning to trade her sleek for a fat yet, but would eventually. Most did, even if they didn't get married and start families. There were gliders over a century old in fat town at the big blowouts. Most "drifted out" over the years, but some were "born to glide" and rode "from license day to dying day."

They learned the back of the big store wasn't the social center for the gliders. It was just close to home for several, and a pleasant place to have coffee and talk. It closed at eighteen, but the restaurant and lounge named Highglide was always open. Most were going there that evening.

Corlo advised they move the Blast Room at fifteen twenty-three local time. Traffic would not get less heavy for ten hours. Case didn't get any volunteers to ride with him to the lounge, just to help load his sleek. They turned into the alley to park in back, as recommended, to leave the front parking area for dinner customers, and several whooped.

There was obvious parking for vehicles like the Blast Room and a few parked there. The rest of the big lot behind the very big place was marked for glide parking, and there were many glides in it.

'Sorting' took quite some time. They spent a lot of it laughing. Many of the 'clothes' were straps, strings and bands of cloth, and they had no idea how they went on to be 'shirts and pants.' That task was made more difficult because they were often designed to be fastened or 'completed' with the bands, bars, brooches, buttons, chains, cords, patches, pendants, pouches, scarves and strings of the accessories.

Many of those were gemmed, and some patches, pouches and scarves were nearly crusts of them. Those were usually semiprecious or lab produced, but real gems were often the focus of the design. They were also always cut or set to show their uniqueness.

Lab produced gems were too uniform and perfect to be jewels. The designers of the accessories used them for flash and glitter, and as settings to display 'the real thing.'

The pieces of the costume Topper had bought were nearly a uniform. The waist-length jackets were several styles and colors, but all were waist length and all had detachable sleeves and back panels that came off. Pants were several styles and colors too, but all had removable panels that made them hip-riding leg wraps, and those had panels that came off and/or seams. Gloves had fingertips and panels that came off. Even the sturdy-soled, soft-shafted mid-calf height boots had removable sections.

Pouches were part of costumes, and fastened or strapped on, because one needed a place to put all the pieces that came off, and the warmer it got, the more that did. The yard had been warm enough some pieces were removed, and Nev had seen what some more under. It was not the casual shirts or even bare skin shown in displays of 'covers.'

The ads talked little about ventilation and much about protection. When fully fastened, including helmets with face shields and throat covers that attached to jacket collars, the outerwear was sturdy protection against all the hazards of riding a non-enclosed, non-shielded vehicle.

Straps and braces were used to keep the semi-reclining riders on the glides at speeds of up to four hundred KPH. If the sleek 'windwings and beak' were designed right, the wind went over and around the riders. If they weren't, they learned it before they reached two hundred KPH. The sleek could go faster, but it would be without riders.

Most of the time, people rode their sleeks at much lower speeds, in the cities, or on long pleasant rides to and through parks or farmlands. Sleeves might be removed, helms not worn, leg seams opened, but "unders" were party clothes, and gliders "vented" to dance.

You knew a band was "the hottest" if the gliders took off their jackets, and four bands had "heated up the Highglide dance floor" so much, the gliders removed their "hip riders." One of the four was playing that night, and another would be at the blowout on a campground two hundred thirty K northeast the next two nights.

The men were almost finished sorting, when Bard answered a call on his comm chron and burst into laughter. He listened, said, "Definitely," then told the others about the call.

"Danny, Loopy and Frets went shopping 'Blade style.' The clerk was giggling too hard to do it, so they did the price scans for him. They said this is going to be too much fun not to do often. They've got sleeks and they bought a place to store them and the Blast Room. They're going to 'repair, replace and add to the rock field with a shed,' while we play, this time. They found out it's getting more difficult to find a place for a blowout all time. The place they bought has a drive to it, period, but there's water under it and they got a well permit. We're invited to 'park our glides' after the blowout. Danny said Gant and Joel are going to build their own sleeks, and may not be the only ones who decide the big blowout is the fun place this summer. Nev's great-grandfather, Jason, thinks fat town sounds fascinating."

"They can really play here!"

"I wonder why I wonder how everybody finds out these things."

"I told Gant and Joel, Blade."

"Thank you, Bam."

"I told Danny."

"I'm not surprised, Case, but it's two seventeen there. How did Jason hear about it at this time?"

"It's not two seventeen somewhere else, Blade, and that may be where he's talking to or working with, or it will be. Grandpa Jason 'resets his clock' more easily than anyone else I know. He also naps, gets up, naps, gets up to talk to people around the world. Calling him at two seventeen doesn't disturb him even if he's asleep. I didn't, but everyone on Liberty Gem may be planning daytrips to get sleeks and go to blowouts by now."

"Oh, if everybody knows, the time there isn't surprising. I thought it was just your family."

"As Blade pointed out, our time is way off from theirs. If we want to play late with them, we need long naps. The band doesn't start for over five hours."

"Good point, Bard. See you guys in four hours for dinner."

"See you then, Quinn."

"We'll nap here in case someone we met looks for us, and make dinner reservations."

"Both good ideas, Stats. We'll be back in four hours."

Danny moved the georgie. She realized she had a limit because the dozer was heavy for her. She told Frets she suspected some of it was tired. Frets and Loopy told her to nap. She curled up in a corner of the big shed on a pad. Frets and Loopy needed a device to move, though both were sure they'd learn to use one "wherever." Danny wouldn't leave them without a "mover."

Frets and Loopy went to work changing the landscape. Even with the georgie and dozer, it was going to take time to clean off enough rocks to do what they wanted. The government had leased the land and shed for seventeen years. It had built a new equipment facility forty-six K away and no longer needed it for road-building equipment.

Frets and Loopy got a lot done in the two hours Danny napped. When she awoke, they installed the two generators and fans in the shed, then the interior lights. After that, they put the big work lights on the outside of the shed. They didn't hook them up. Dawn and Drand would do that in their morning, using hand lamps until they were done. Danny took them home at dusk in that time zone, a few minutes after the men had gone back to it.

### Chapter Forty-one

After the nine got dressed, Case sighed and loosened them. Even Stats, Nev and Blade were fastened chin to toes. Nev said, "uniform button up," had gotten to be a habit fast. Case told him he'd be going home to sleep with Patrick if there wasn't some "glitter amid fur" showing on his chest, and burst into laughter when eight reached up and opened another jacket fastener.

None of them really expected or planned to spend the night with women. The object was to meet them. They hoped to find companions with whom to have fun, of course, but if sex had been the actual goal, they'd have arrived at a brothel.

Dinner was good, as advertised. Great was also advertised, "Next block east, well worth the price." The server told them the two restaurants did very well with their we're-different cross-advertising. People didn't compare food or prices. The other restaurant that had opened "on the next corner" had followed their lead and brought more business. It was named, "Just Want a Sandwich." They had both restaurant menus posted under a "We recommend our neighbors," sign, and Highglide had theirs posted in the lounge.

They got to the lounge early enough a server pushed two tables close together for them. They thanked him and requested recommendations of "beer with character, white wine with sophistication and water with sparkle." When he brought the pitcher of beer and bottles of wine and water, he reminded Bam the computer would "notice" if he "even tasted" the beer. All were pleased, especially Bam. He liked one beer occasionally and was spoiled by their spring water. He'd tasted the city water.

They knew they'd shopped in an affluent area of the city. When the lounge began to fill, they realized how affluent. They also realized the gliders who couldn't afford the jewel-studded accessories considered those who could as "wearing art for everyone to see."

Many knew who had created various items and asked to see them. The gliders who bought and wore the designer pieces from the room in Brennon Heights Glides supported a unique art form that was for gliders, and was "proof" gliders were "contributing members of society," and that was how the art form had arisen. A young woman who'd asked to see Bam's "Delvern open chrysalis," a patch, gave them the history.

"Seventy-two years ago, a politician decided to use gliders as an example in his clean-up-the-city campaign. They were 'trash,' people who didn't work and spent taxpayer money, subsidy, to paint 'junk' glides, that were dangerous on the streets, and spent days drinking and being a problem. That was what most people seemed to think. Gliders were 'ragged' and 'dirty.' The creativity of the vents people made in jackets and pants, and what they made to go under was not appreciated. Six gliders with real good jobs and three with family money got together with two young designers who should have been getting more attention, with the idea of making it real clear 'ragged' was a style and they weren't on subsidy. The gliders bought a bunch of jewels and set up a charity fashion auction. The designers weren't doing well trying to incorporate the gems in the unders. The story may be stretched, but it goes they got in an argument. Breffers yelled the thing Gostleiber had done was just a bunch of strips and threw it on the floor. Gostleiber picked up a piece of cloth Breffers had made a pattern of jewels on, yelled it was just the expensive hunk of material and threw it down. They both suddenly stopped yelling, turned and looked down at the floor, whooped and danced around the room together and the style was born. The charity auction was top-of-the-newscast fundraising-fashion show success and gliders who can afford it have been wearing designer creations for us all ever since. I thought I recognized you, but you wouldn't be sweating."

"Coral, we're here to not be who we are. How we got here is a discovery we're sure our society isn't ready for yet, partially because very few have the talent required, partially because some who do might abuse it, partially because it's only very generally controllable. But those are all reasons we give ourselves for just being sure it's not its time yet. Transpatial comm damaged our species. If it hadn't been discovered until now, this world wouldn't be overcrowded."

"Explain that, please, Blade."

"We stopped traveling from world to world. It nearly killed physical interplanetary trade. People stopped just moving to other worlds. No one even noticed we were caged on our planet because no one visited anywhere. 'Hi, how are you? We're fine. Comm out.' There are only three news networks with ships, and Transspace has most, seven. If transpatial comm hadn't been discovered until now, there would be about five hundred space stations, fifty terraformed worlds, thirty thousand ships engaged in trade and delivery of goods, and about twenty more settled living worlds. That's not my theory. It's what every statistical extrapolation said there would be when the discovery was made. Fifty years later, no one went anywhere. License the patent and make it on your world. Do all business by comm. Don't pay anyone to traverse space. In fifty years, worlds seven days apart no longer had cross-trade and tourists. Cruises were only for those who could afford ultra-luxury for twenty to eighty days and business travel and passenger liners that had carried thousands were gone. The attitude had become 'other worlds are too far away.' The only way to overcome it was find a way people were sure they didn't have to 'spend time' on ships, trip chairs so they only sleep on them. Travel has to be reestablished as 'normal' and people must just decide to pack fondest memories in a container and move, or we're going to be two hundred nine races becoming different species. Earth and the nearest worlds and the four alliance worlds will be one each."

"Havenly is four days away now, but nobody plans to visit. Eight days out of my life just to get there and back? There's nothing there worth that."

"How do you know? Do their gliders know you have an incredible twelve-day party twice a year? Four days in a luxury hotel, twelve days party, four days in a luxury hotel, for one package price that includes fantastic meals and entertainment. Would you go to a luxury resort here for eight days and consider it wasting eight days of your life?"

"No, I wouldn't."

"That's why cruise liners are still in business. Some people still think of them as luxury resorts with an interesting stay in a port of call in the middle of vacation."

"But you took a shortcut."

"No, we took a couple days off to play. When we get back on our ships to travel, we'll be going to work every day. We've got about forty jobs on our schedule."

"Excuse me, please. I've got an idea of how to get one done fast, and it may be why we're here, and why I made a discovery two hundred years too soon."

"Bard, be careful."

"If I'm wrong, I'll learn it before I get in trouble, Nev. Agreed?"

"Yes, I agree. Blade?"

"Not quite what he expects, but it'll work."

Bard walked out to the Blast Room, sat down and thought about what he wanted to do. When he had, he wished himself to the right person, and it wasn't who he expected.

"Hello, Dr. Smith."

"Give me a moment to widen my view of possible."

"I've had to widen mine several times. We're correlating with the test scores. It appears to be a quite narrow piece of a broadly defined talent. I wished myself to the person this talent will cause to fix Braverly."

"And came to me. How?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure you and I can find the answer."

"Let's see exactly what the psychologists have said about them."

"What are they trying to breed?"

"Perhaps you."

"Ow."

"You're not alone, Bard. There are about a dozen others close."

"Quinn is. That's why I got him listed as space corps testing recommended. He's been aware he's 'too much' his whole life, but like Nev, he had a very good and strong family to keep it from damaging him. Unlike Nev, he used none, so no one used him to damage others."

"What did you have?"

"Captivity. One thing was my only value to them. The rest was mine and they didn't realize I had it. I was also always sure they couldn't use me. I was easy to control because I didn't fear them, and knew it wasn't time to make them fear me, but I would."

"And you'd help destroy them. 'Help' is the important word in there. Tarse Terschell is older than you are and so is Harim Havadan. You couldn't not-know they existed below the conscious level, and in Tarse were many."

"He's the manager, and the real leader."

"Yes, he is. You have two near equals on Liberty Gem. He doesn't."

"That's not... You didn't tell him everything."

"We don't have words for it that don't imply divinity. I took them out. Only you could deflect those terms, and you would have been the focus if Danny hadn't named you 'Knight.' You're the bard, but he is the prince. He's the shield of defense and the river of power, unstoppable."

"Yes, he is. The princess knows it."

"She knows everything. She just waits for Ronnie to organize it into a brief for her."

"That's an unusual talent."

"At that level, yes, but it has to exist at that level, just as your ability to see a mathematical description is incomplete, and the physical object the math describes has to exist at yours. They all have to exist at those levels in someone, but that person may never discover them. Nev wouldn't have discovered his, and neither would Quinn, if their worlds hadn't needed them. Frets and Billie are almost a single talent, but it's Frets who makes it that way. They're as much the result of a population under stress as the people of Liberty Gem, but it's primarily in specific families and it already was."

"They brought it with them. I don't really know who I am. Blade doesn't know who he is either, no grandparents we know about."

"It can only have been deliberate, Bard. Neither of the surnames show up in any other record on Liberty Gem."

"I know. Harim is 'old family name,' but there is no family and no Harim."

"The 'old family' may be someone else's."

"Braverly."

"No bloodlines. Let's see if we can figure out why."

"The mining corps."

"I think so too. It's a genetic tracking program. They were keeping track of everyone. Your greedy mining corps execs and bureaucracy destroyed it. Someone on Braverly tore it apart in another way. Comm connect Chief Justice Hoschgerten."

"Hello, Dr. Smith."

"I think we found a eugenics program. Stolen minerals may have been paying for surreptitious screening. If I'm right, settlements have concentrations of specific talents. The enforced marriage and naming custom is part of the tracking program."

"What was the purpose?"

"Technical genius there. Botanical genius there. Art genius over there. Mandolin, Liberty Gem and Braverly were the clues. Mandolin was business genius and the new mining technology was an excuse to load Liberty Gem with techs. Someone on Braverly discovered money was being used to follow bloodlines and broke it in pieces, but that got out of control too. I think they were building 'races' with particular talent concentrations. You've got current settler aptitude test records. See if I'm right and who is actually determining which settlers go to which world."

"Hang on. I'm not the best that this type of... thing. It was too easy. It was already organized. Aptitudes, life spans, physical characteristics..."

"Exactly, and Braverly was deliberately diminishing the talent concentration, but it's out of control. It's gotten to the point having your own child is a social oddity. You get a comp-selected gamete that complements your genes implanted."

"What?!"

"Natural fertilization isn't recommended, even for couples who are 'appropriate' pairs. A clinic will assure the 'right' mixture."

"Suggestions?"

"Find out how the money gets used, where the sorting program is, tell them why they do it, and point out they're creating a race of generalists, which I'm sure was on the list of the people who set it all up."

"Look for propaganda. 'Other worlds are so far away. It's a waste of so many days of your life to go there. There's nothing there really different. Comm is instant.' You should find a lot of it about the time Liberty Gem began to be settled. That's when transpatial comm 'killed' interplanetary ship travel. They'd have expected it to last at least five hundred more years. By then, small physical differences in planets would cause clear raciation in isolated populations on the older settled worlds. They wouldn't have included physical characteristics in the selection if they didn't expect it."

Bart walked back into the lounge, smiled when he saw Case and stopped in the entry. He removed waistband, groin panel, sleeves, back and side jacket panels and leg panels, put them in his pouch, then undid the rest of the seam fasteners. When he finished, he glanced at his reflection in the door panel, very obviously intended to mirror, and walked the rest of the way in. Case grinned widely when he saw him, and the others began 'thinning' their costumes a bit more.

"It's not until you do it all that you see the true genius of the designers."

"I saw from the doorway, Case. It was good no matter how little, or what piece was undone, but it's 'complete' only when it's all undone."

"And you're all done, but you almost did something... you'd have been sorry you did."

"Look for our families, Blade."

"We're our family."

"That's what I realized, and... our parents had reasons they chose not to give us. I know mine did. Did they know they'd die before they explained why we didn't have family to visit?"

"Ow."

"Bam, we do now. Nev's whoopingly claimed us as 'grandsons-in-whatever-you-call-its' to the whole family. We'd figure out what to call it, but it still makes his mom giggle."

"It helped to have all our parents and grandparents together at the resort, and the reception, and to have other families that formed too."

"All those people who came there, just because they were sure they should, and the best-buddy-always-together friends, who suddenly became three families with none of the society bunch in them."

"They gave it a great deal more credibility, Blade."

"Stats, they're clueless."

"Nev, Blade and Bard aren't any more, Case, but we're all severely out of practice."

"Which is why we're here. Excuse me, gens. I think she wants to dance."

"So does her cute friend, Bard."

"Two. Nev?"

"Later, Case."

"Three."

"Four, Case. Bye."

"And now you four."

"I'm going to ask Coral."

"Go, Bam."

"Labs, let's ask those two women not in glider outfits."

"They obviously want to meet some, Topper."

"Quinn?"

"Woman dilemma, Case."

"First, family and friend's companion?"

"You're good. None really confusing, but I'm... just seeing half the people here are women, not noticing it."

"Do you want Danny, Loopy and Frets to all thump you?"

"Ow, no."

"That table?"

"Lead me. I, quite literally, haven't done this before. They have."

"Cloverlea was a safe place to be young."

"It still is, but now most others are too. They're leaving."

"No, Quinn they're coming. They just told us they'd decided to ask us."

"Good. I was worried."

"They were waiting for the table to break apart. Hi, Case and Quinn."

"Kips and Mookie. We're 'Ooh, them!' so partners are a toss."

"Why bother. Let's go."

"Sweet!"

"Vow studs, my cuz said west region is one wide smile and he's got a bet it goes right around the ring with a Corkanellan who hopes he loses."

"Mookie's cousin is a space trader."

"There are going to be many of them soon. It's going to be a fun and profitable life."

"He never minded the ship time. He says the going gives him time to paint and makes money, not costs for a studio."

"Sensible artist, much more unusual than trader."

"Point on that, Quinn. Kips, Vinti kicked the red!"

"They're going after the record!"

"Record?"

"Heat it up to strip down soonest, Case. Now we watch Nolo. If he kicks a red panel, there won't be a break until the place boils or the bartenders yell their shifts are over."

"We're stubborn?"

"Nah, but you've got to be sweating enough to need more air. Nobody does a challenge without a new song. These guys are ready to go planet tour. Red kick two!!"

"Kips, I'm supposed to introduce our new song."

"So introduce the song, Nolo!"

"Red Kick Two!!

It started as a steamy bass-heavy grind beneath the laughter, cheers and applause. Nolo spoke the beginning, deep and throaty.

"Red... kick, I-need-the-place-a-steamin'. Red... kick, t-huh t-huh. Red... kick, I-need-to-hear-some-screamin'. Red... kick, t-huh t-huh. Red... kick, I-need-the-place-a-steamin'. Red... kick, I-need-the-place-a-steamin'. Red... kick, I-need-the-place-a-steamin'. Kick-kick!!"

The lead screamed in and board, bass and drums pounded into a driving rhythm. It was the wildest music any of the nine had heard. It drove people to dance, then it suddenly went back to the grind and the lyric. The second time the lead screamed in, it was the boards. It was different, but just as wild and driving, then it dropped to the grind and lyric.

Two screamed into a third wild and driving piece, Stats yelled, "Damn!!" and threw his jacket onto his chair. Case whooped with Vinti. Blade leapt onto a table and tossed his jacket over the crowd onto his.

Nev walked to the table, hung his on the back of his chair, and dumped a glass of ice water on his head. His partner held her head over the table. He poured water while she removed jacket, then she took off boots and leggings. Nev watched her do it and dumped the whole pitcher on himself.

The music dropped to the grind, and Nev's removal of his leggings was suddenly a very watched strip. So he did one. Bard howled and pulled his jacket up from the back and over his head.

Case tossed Kips onto a table and jumped onto one. They stripped down together. Labs and Topper efficiently stripped Bam. He said, "Much cooler, thanks." Quinn suddenly realized there were eight men and two women headed for him. He yelped and pitched jacket, boots and leggings onto his chair in very rapid succession. The crowd laughed and cheered.

Nolo began the lyric and Bard, Blade and a lot of women stripped down. When he reprised it, more men did. When he yelled, "Kick-kick!!" very few were still in leggings and no one was wearing a jacket or boots.

The non-gliders had participated. Labs' and Topper's partners were wearing open shirts over minimal swimwear. All non-glider-costumed people, including bartenders and servers, were in swimwear of some type, with or without shirts over. There were many. It was a great place to dance. The gliders appreciated their aid assuring the lounge could pay great bands, and a lot really wanted to be backrider to a blowout.

Topper and Labs were sure they weren't the ones to give the two women rides. They were just dance partners through the long song that ended when the last few stripped off their leggings during the next grind and Nolo shouted, "We kicked!"

Mookie and Kips joined the bunch. Nev's partner, Rundy, joined him. Over the evening, more people, not just women, joined the group and a couple tables were pushed over.

The band didn't cool down. By the beginning of the third set, everyone knew Grazerlock was "going planet tour." They'd play at Highglide again, but they'd be special guests, for a night. They were ready for the "high stage" in huge places that had many dance floors, many monitors, tech and service staffs of hundreds and a capacity of thousands.

When they left the club at about one thirty, Nev went with Rundy and Stats went with Jib. The others went to the Blast Room and home, except Case, who stayed in case someone knocked. It was near noon in Teal Valley and eight thirty at Ricky Lake when the men got there. The women hadn't been gone long, but the shed lights had been on several hours and there were a lot of materials and equipment in it.

Danny, Loopy and Frets could have had a great deal more help, but they wanted to build the place themselves. They'd gotten a list of the types of games and the description of blowouts "in the old days," from a woman Danny 'found,' a fat rider who owned a coffee, tea and herb shop.

They were building a place for a blowout of the type there wasn't room for anymore. The two big blowouts were held on fairgrounds, winter in the north and summer in the south of the southern hemisphere continent.

They weren't 'endangered.' It was the get-out-of-the-city-and-play type that were becoming fewer. The "cabin parks" and open land were full or disappearing under buildings, as the huge southern city expanded. The north wasn't "as bad," but a fourteen hundred K ride to have a party "chopped" those who only had one evening or day to play, and sudden decisions by a bunch to run for fun and comm many on the way were "gone," even "just ground" had to be arranged in advance.

The three women were changing that. They wouldn't say, "only blowouts" or "only gliders," but the place wouldn't be for rent and only gliders could decide to loan it to some other group. They expected they would. Kids' clubs and elders' groups were having difficulty finding places to get out of the city too.

By local dawn, Danny, Loopy and Frets had drilled the well, installed the waste treatment plant, zapped all the structures, cabins and dance pavilion into existence and hung the 'curtains' that could be unrolled and fastened to make walls around the pavilion in winter, or in summer if it was too hot to dance.

Danny moved all the equipment but the georgie and they took a break. All that was left was greenscaping. They knew where they'd get big trees, but they had to wait for businesses to open to get a vehicle to move the big trees and get young trees, hedges, flowers and sod from a nursery. They'd already fenced and installed sound dampers around the place.

It had been severely overgrazed by cattle. Since there weren't any cow piles to use as fertilizer, the owner of the cattle knew it. The women didn't intend to provide free pasture and the profit made from selling manure. If it hadn't been grazed to bare ground, they'd have just sound dampered and hedged, leaving a gap and making a path for cows. Loopy had said it was obvious the ranch all around was "managed" and the land around the shed had been used any, and every, time the rancher wanted to give an area of the ranch growth time.

They were sodding with the type of high-traffic evergreen grass that grew to an even height of seven cens, and didn't need mowing, used in public parks in the city. The grass was usually planted as plugs, but one large nursery advertised sod. It was very expensive, but that wasn't a problem. Lack of topsoil and erosion were. The thick-base sod was advertised as a solution to both.

At eight local time, seventeen forty-four in Teal Valley, they picked up the "lorry" and trailer they'd reserved, went to the construction site Danny had 'found,' purchased all the big trees that had been carefully removed and began moving them. The trees were loaded two per trailer load with the crane. They took them off the trailer and planted them one at a time with the georgie.

Danny was "in love" with it, too. She called Jason Andrev and told him they wanted one of the five hundred he'd ordered for the neighborhood. He told her they had three. The "boys" didn't usually need more than the smaller equipment they used, but they wouldn't need to rent any specialty equipment smaller than a construction crane after the first shipment of georgies arrived and neither would anyone else in the family, or West Side.

The first thing the boys wouldn't need to rent things to do was move trees to family yards and around golf courses. They were a bit behind starting their schedules, but everyone knew why, and Drand was doing prep work on several, primarily mowing and getting power systems ready to hook up. Several of Gant and Joel's friends were delighted with off-day jobs assisting.

Danny, Loopy and Frets finished at fourteen-twelve local time and Danny went home to sleep. The next day was a big occasion. Five hundred forty-eight were gathering in the mine, bringing their families, to celebrate a year of freedom. The mine would be opened at the end of their celebration, all but the work area people thought they were seeing through field walls.

When Danny awoke, she whooped and went to work on rewrites. Nev had somehow found time to finish editing the book. She got done with the minor changes he'd suggested, sent them to him and got them back approved before time to leave for the reunion. She sent the book, titled: Our Wizard Is Evil, to the publisher, and called Nev.

"How?"

"What's sleep? I couldn't have if you hadn't gotten so good, and done so much work on self-editing and rewrites."

"Thanks, and I'll take credit for all the dictating. We wrote it together. Are you about ready to go?"

"Yes, and Patrick decided his harness was preferable to home. We're amazed."

"Smart cat, and the preference is unusual."

"We know. He's as special as Gerta said."

"Nev?"

"Go to the blowout tomorrow, Danny, all three of you."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I just got the feeling you should. It's a change, I think."

"All right, and I agree, a change. Something happened. Comm out. Comm connect Frets. Hi, sudden change and Nev says go to the blowout tomorrow. It's weird and he's bothered."

"It's weird, but I'm not worried."

"Neither am I, but I'm bothered."

"And extremely curious. I am. Who or what could cause us to go from sure we shouldn't to sure we should, fast."

"Add Loopy."

"Good morning. What happened?"

"You've got an opinion change too?"

"Quinn said we shouldn't stay home, Danny, and I know it was a surprise."

"I'm going to see if a wish for a reason gets me somewhere. Comm out."

Danny arrived beside a med vehicle under bright lights. She walked around it and gasped. Two women were being loaded into it and a man rider was being treated. A third woman sat on the curb crying over the remains of four sleeks. Danny sat down beside her.

"I'm a sleek rider. Talk to me."

"We'd just parked. A lorry driver swung a trailer into us. She said it was an accident. I don't believe her. Not all of us. The police aren't talking, but I think they agree."

"I can see damage to hearts. Bodies?"

"Mookie and Kips will be physically healed in a few hours."

"Shit! Comm connect Nev. Your 'sudden change' is four smashed sleeks and Mookie and Kips going into healing units for hours. Opinion, something snapped in the head of the person who slammed them with the trailer as they parked. You are and he is?"

"Bridder and Gat."

"Bridder and Gat. He's battered, but quick-heal's enough. I can see she's had some smeared on. Destroyed beauties. Insurance?"

"For about half their value in about ten days, more if the police decide the driver snapped. The insurer will wait for cause to determine liability. We'll get more from the victim fund, but not soon."

"Too damn long and not enough. Thank you. Comm out. There are white knights on sleek steeds on the way. Don't let anyone move the sleeks until they get here. They'll have cams to record the damage for insurance and equipment to load and haul them to the glider workshop three of us just finished building and equipping. It's ninety-eight K out in ranchland, but it's got everything needed to get those rebuilt in time to go to the blowout."

"They're scrap."

"No, they're damaged dreams and injured loves. If the only thing recognizable from one was a piece of trim, your sleek would be rebuilt under it. You two can go?"

"Yes, we just got off work. We're bartenders. We were going over there for breakfast with Mookie and Kips."

Joel and Gant walked out of the shadows and sat down, one by each of the bartenders. Danny walked into the shadows and went home. She was with Case and Stats on the way to the mine when Frets called.

The driver of the lorry had 'snapped.' The man she'd been seeing was now seeing a glider. She had a drug in her system. It wasn't what she thought she'd taken. The police were hunting and so was Quinn, for a way to lead police to the garage lab he'd found.

Labs was sure the people in it didn't know the caffeine and herb extract would combine into an irritant that had already caused one woman to "go over the edge," if exposed to sunlight. The woman had left the cap she'd taken in the window tray of the lorry, while she'd slept that day.

When the three got out at the mine, Case gave Danny a quick kiss on the cheek. The one he got in return wasn't quick, or on the cheek. She laughed. Stats looked almost as surprised as Case did.

She grabbed a hand of each and towed them deeper into the big central cavern where the ones they'd freed to help free their world were gathering. Ronnie was right. Being the princess and the woman wasn't worth being left behind, when they all went out to play.

Families were introduced and babies were admired, a huge dinner was fixed and they talked about the year that had passed and all they'd done in it. It was a very social late morning through early evening reunion.

One vehicle for each of the eleven adits remained capable of becoming invisible, in case the need arose for many to aid in building something again, but the mine would not be secret after the newscast that evening, and no one had hidden the many cars that drove into it that day. When the only vehicle left in the mine was the mobile unit, Jace panned around the huge cavern and stopped when Bance was centered in the image.

"For over one hundred years, the people of this area thought this was inaccessible, closed by rockfalls. The six who prepared it, and brought all they'd freed to it, knew it couldn't be. They found the records of the design and materials used in the main accesses and knew they were closed by doors, not cave-ins. One year ago today, they brought five hundred forty-two most wronged by the government to this sheltering place, this unknown haven to plan and work to end the abuse of us all. Today, five hundred forty-eight brought their families from far and near to celebrate what they, and we, have done in that year. Now, they've returned to the homes and lives they've built, and given us all this place, where our freedom was born. Beginning tomorrow at ten local time, this place will be open to the public at times specified by the Planetary Parks Department, and managed and staffed by them. This is our Museum of Liberty, and it will grow in exhibits and use, as we add to our history as a free people, but this area behind me will never change. It's the first exhibit. Walled by fields maintained by the power stores designed and first created in it, is the workplace of those who led us to liberty. This is the final paragraph of the text beside the exhibit. 'We didn't work alone. Every person who wanted this world freed worked with us. Every person who wrapped a path, every child who practiced a blowgun, every woman or man who picked up a rock to defend a neighbor, every IS trooper who drove just a little too slow to 'catch a rebel,' then turned and walked away, helped free us all. Defend your freedom with your vote, and teach our children the meaning of 'neighbor,' we had to learn to the depths of our souls, to become free. Never let us become us and them, remain respectful of each other and our world, for the rock, wood and plants of it aided us in our time of need. We know some of who guided us to freedom now, but they gave us examples, not orders. We chose, each of us, to follow them to bring freedom to our world together. A united people, we created our Liberty Gem. Bance Neardon, for Channel Forty-eight, deep in the heart of the Northwest Range, in the Museum of Liberty."

"That stylus is going to drive people crazy, Bance. It's perfect."

"I know, Jason. I've reminded myself it's not there two dozen times today, and seen many people laugh at themselves when they bumped a rope going to pick it up. Let's go home."

"There were also pleased someone would harvest the fruit and vegetables now."

"They were the 'first taste of freedom,' as the text says."

"It's going to bring tears to the eyes in two hundred years, and swell hearts with pride. I'm sure of it."

"So am I, Jace."

### Chapter Forty-two

A little after twenty Teal Valley time, Danny and Bard moved people to the workshop on Aldora. The six from Mandolin, Joel, Gant, Bram and Jenlin Terschell, Tarse Braighton and Jason Andrev had gotten quite a bit done on the sleeks but the influx of engineers was needed to finish them by noon, local time, as they'd promised the two bartender-riders when they convinced them to go to sleep in one of the cabins. Kail sat down next to his dad and held the windscreen he was repairing with a fuser.

"It would have been much easier to replace."

"Everything, but that's not what those kids need. How was it?"

"Wonderful and a bit poignant. It helped them all to know it won't be 'darkened and abandoned.' The way they feel about Nev and the other five can't be expressed. Larry warned me, and it was still overwhelming, and I knew dozens of them and had no idea."

"They were just such nice people they were dangerous to the government."

"Exactly. One was a boy of not quite fifteen, thirteen when he was convicted of being a rebel. Danny said he's going to be the greatest programmer on the planet in fifteen years. He's planning on joining the Space Corps in three. He tested into fourth term at Jonathan Pastonly College."

"Help. Where?"

"Garnet, Larelton, famed for great programmer graduates. His family lives near enough for his mom to take him and pick him up."

"He'd have dormed, but they need him home?"

"Almost exactly what his dad said. He's not a child and they're very proud and very pained."

"Too many stories like that. Nev, Bard, Blade! Come here a moment, please. I looked for your families. I went to your house, Kail's house, Danny's house, my house and quit. I was going to look for your names and got a very clear 'no.' I didn't when I decided to give you my grandfather Terschell's for your family."

"Granddad, that's..."

"Really going to mess up the people saying, 'Ambrose Braighton, Blackburn Braighton, Strand Braighton,' Nev. 'Admiral Terschell' gets three answers and Terschell Terschell throws the two name practice out the window, or you give them the whole bunch if they want to get formal, five each."

"Who got disgusted?"

"Bam's dad. He told a reporter, if he was going to give mother's family name for one, he should give it for all, and if he was going to give more than first or call name and family name, then he should give full names. Topper has three, Labs four, Quinn four, Loopy three, Bam six and Braighton."

"It's up to you, Nev."

"Why me, Blade?"

"Because Bard's the important piece of his and I picked Bladesly."

"Nev, if you choose one of the others, all the rest would wait for you to bestow another."

"I couldn't choose, Dad, or I would have. Braighton is because I don't use Tarse, and it has to be spelled. Yes."

"Thank you. Comm connect Liberty Gem, Bench flat bottom. They said yes, Wayna. Thanks. Comm out. Comm connect Mom. Send it out. I didn't have to use that. I will. Comm out."

"Didn't have to use?"

"Spread the damn load of Terschell out before it lands on your daughter too, Kail."

"Thank you."

"You had it all set up."

"Of course, Nev. I'm a West Sider."

"Yes, you are. Nice job on the windscreen."

"Thank you. Patch was simple. Getting the optics values was a pain, in the knees. I'm glad we put a spa in the house."

"We will get to work on it, Granddad."

"Do the nursery and golf courses first, Nev. Those people need this season."

"Thank you. I'd planned to warn you we were going to bump you."

"I'm sure I'll have a yard sometime this summer, Nev, and remind myself often."

"So, how did you set up our names?"

"Silverin Harim Bladesly Havadan Terschell; Bard Loden Knighton Pyramid Terschell, Tarse Nevin Curran Terschell Terschell. Names shouldn't follow formulas and I'm sure it will set an example. Blade, I'm Granddad to you to. Kail and Lillen are 'Dad' and 'Mom.' That's what it meant when I went to your house, their house, then Danny's and mine. Your neighborhood didn't come before Kail's, and I would've expected it to, if I'd expected. I figure my next stop would've been Drand and Dawn's or Carler and Milla's."

"Sons-in-what ever-you-call-it."

"Milla may be about to shorten it to 'sons-in-WYCI,' then 'wykey' or 'wikki,' to see how long she can keep Lillen giggling, Kail. I think she has cohorts on Mandolin."

"And at your house."

"Who, us? We will come up with something official for it, Bard. It's needed by a lot of people to express their relationship to the families of their children."

"They need something now, Dad. 'A member of my family' wasn't enough when Quinn introduced Loopy, and 'vowed companion' has a connotation of one they avoid. Larry's been working on it, but Danny's 'a lump in the mix.' It has to include her vow to the people of the neighborhood to be right."

"The problem is plurality, Dad. How did they solve it on Carousel?"

"Couples are husband and wife, Nev. Groups are spouses. If fidelity wasn't stamped into marriage in our culture, you'd have married. On Carousel, there are some, for whom marriage isn't right, wearing ear studs."

"We're going to have to come up with new words."

"Or new definitions, Blade."

"What are you turning over in there, Bard?"

"Pledge, vow and oath, and the difference in connotation, Blade. I think 'singular or plural' is solving for the wrong value. It's fidelity that makes Day and Jace and us, different in our vows."

"Danny is pledged."

"Yes."

"I agree. A vow means 'confess' or 'state,' not pledge, Bard."

"I know, Nev. It's not that far off in their statements, confessions, to each other, but it's not right."

"You're grinning at us, Granddad."

"You're 'married,' Nev, no matter what you call it. Jen's been working on what I'm thinking for over fifty years."

"It's the proof of the bond..."

"That's it. It separates it from the vow of fidelity that's part of marriage to most, and they're all gender-neutral."

They worked on it, then Larry added a piece. After he had, they worked a bit more, then Bard called Billie. She agreed with Bard's feeling about Frets and their future family. They were all pleased with their solution when Quinn and Bam rode their sleeks to get Mookie and Kips, to bring them to the workshop.

Danny, Silky and Essa 'painted' the four sleeks. They reconstructed the layers of color that created the patterns and shading from the images of the damaged sleeks, with a comp and discerning trained eyes, then Danny programmed it. A comp program couldn't create the airbrush strokes used, but it could duplicate them

At three minutes before noon, the last of the sleeks was brought out of the drying booth. Bam and Quinn arrived with Mookie and Kips as backriders, as Danny led Bridder and Gat up the path to the 'garage.'

Seven men and two women were sitting on sleeks, behind the four, and all the others who had helped were standing behind them, when Danny opened the big doors. Four stared, then Kips ran to her sleek, wrapped her arms around it and burst into tears.

"It's mine! You healed my glide! My sleek baby. Thank you. Thank you."

"I don't know how... this was possible."

"You did just what you said. Even the spot I didn't get the colorbond quite right is there. This is the first time it doesn't irritate me. I'll never feel the same way about it again."

"My signature has the place I trimmed it with my fingernail and got the T a little too thin."

"Your sleeks aren't like ours. We saw it. We primarily bought sleeks by people who do them for fun. They're works of art, but not really personalized. All four of yours were labors of love, and very personal."

"You're really special people, Quinn. All of you who did this for us... We'll never forget it. Please, who are you all?"

"Bance and Ronnie, Day and Jace, Uncle Drand and Aunt Dawn, Silky and Essa, Kady and Reesa, some number cousins Gant and Joel, Father-in-bond Kail, Grandmother-in-bond Jenlin, Grandfather-in-bond Bram, Great-grandfather-in-bond Jason, Great-great-grandfather-in-bond Tarse. Our neighbors and some of Nev's family. The girls are Danny, Frets and Loopy. Loopy's in the Braighton bonded family with Quinn, Bam, Topper and Labs. Case and Stats, Nev, Bard and I'm Blade. Day and Jace are a vowed family. Those two, those two and we are bonded families. Case and Stats are also pledged. Danny's pledged and Frets is pledged-in-waiting and s'bonded to the Braighton family. All the rest are married except Joel and Gant, who aren't old enough to be dodging matchmakers yet."

"We figured this out today, because Kail was losing patience with 'sons-in-whatever-you-call-it' and women weren't sure Blade and Nev were available for a bit of fun. You're the test bunch. Ask questions."

"You're pledged?"

"I'm single to my toes, Bridder, but fully emotionally committed and pledged to all the people in my neighborhood."

"She got that stud in her ear the day a mob pulled her out of her office and tucked her in bed."

"You're vowed."

"Marriage isn't a perfect fit for Jace and I, but fidelity is. There's a vowed family of three, as well."

"Case explained Nev and Blade's studs in the left ear mean no boys outside the family the night we met. Pledged-in-waiting and s'bond."

"They sprang that on me, Mookie, but it feels very right, and so does this little sapphire stud. I've known who my companion for life was since before she was born, but she's not quite six yet. She described s'bond as 'whole families who know they're going to be best family buddies forever.' The Braightons are my s'bonded family. If Jace and Day were that best-buddy family, I'd be their s'bonded, but they'd be my s'vowed."

"Nev is his bonded. Day is my vowed."

"Quinn's my bonded. If it was group marriage, he'd be my spoused. How did we do, Kips?"

"It works, Bam. I got it all. You guys are Braightons..."

"That's where it began, with family names. Bram gave his grandfather's, Terschell, to them. Day and Jace chose to use Jace's family name. Case and Stats chose not to use a family name."

"We probably will because we agreed it's not time yet."

"And frustrated my father-in-law immensely."

"They didn't 'immensely,' Bram. My father-in-law did that. He gave his mother's family name, Moskone, to Mike, Loren and Elise."

"You don't give your own, but it can be the same?"

"That's how we've done it so far, but the choice is always the family's."

"We're a family."

"Kips?"

"Aren't we, Gat? We don't take morning shifts because we always meet you for breakfast. We live in the same building. We don't come where you work often because you work there, not because gliders go to Highglide. What are we telling ourselves?"

"Gat, they wouldn't let us ride with them to the hospital today."

"We're a family, bonded."

"We use Gat's name?"

"Yes."

"Yes. Gat, close your mouth. It would break your dad's heart if you changed your name. His dad has over two millennia of family history he's putting in a book."

"We'll be the Kuniyoshi family."

"Silky, we're buying a book."

"Yes, Essa, we are."

"You know the name?"

"We love art."

"That's the name."

The four chose to "acknowledge" they were a family at the blowout, because they thought there were others who were families and hadn't realized it. They also thought there was one who was "like Danny," fully committed to the community of gliders, and still riding a sleek decades after most changed to fats.

When the sleeks and Blast Room left, Drand reminded Gant and Joel they wanted to create their own. Gant said they'd remember it when they weren't missing a blowout, then all went home. They'd accomplished more than they realized that day. Mookie's cousin was a trader.

The blowout was on the other side of the city. It wouldn't begin for several hours, but Kips, Mookie, Gat and Bridder had said getting to the campground early was a very good idea, and the Blast Room needed to be stocked. Arriving early would also give time for naps.

The "fast and many" jewelry store recommended for studs was much deeper in the city than Highglide. The Kuniyoshi family lived near it and Gat and Bridder worked in the area. It was also near where they'd been hit a little after two that morning.

They needed to "go by" their places, but recommended Case take the loop around the city, and stock the Blast Room at the store on the other side. Case had surprising company. Danny was riding with him. Bard, Nev and Blade followed the four on reconstructed sleeks into the heart of the city.

The four lived in three apartments in the same building. It was a nice building, well-maintained, but quite old. Kips and Mookie shared a one-bedroom apt on the twenty-third floor. Bridder and Gat had efficiency apts on the twenty-sixth and twenty-eighth floors. They were very nice, but even Kips and Mookie's would have fit in the living room of the 'Terschell's' ship.

The three saw them all. The Kuniyoshi family began getting ready in Kips and Mookie's and worked up to Gat's figuring out what to take to wear for their ceremony, and talking to their families, who had left worry messages for each. All four families were surprised by their decision, but none thought it incorrect for them, and Gat's was delighted.

All the families said they'd look for a place big enough for the four of them that day. They'd have no difficulty finding new tenants for theirs. The building had a waiting list. None of them expected to find a two-bedroom close to where Bridder and Gat worked. Three-bedroom was "probably impossible."

They picked up the studs and punch at the jewelry store and got on the gravway out of the city at thirteen fifty-seven. Traffic was already beginning to increase. Kips led them into the high-speed lane and Nev, Bard and Blade really used their "outgear" for the first time. Everything in the lane was traveling at high speed, getting out of the city before Eightday afternoon traffic got heavy. When they got to the campground, the others were working to clean it up.

"What a mess!"

"You should have seen it before we started, Blade. This was done this morning."

"At least it's a fresh mess, Danny."

"Comm connect Tanser Glade Park Maintenance. I'm Gattler Kuniyoshi, with the group coming in. Someone, literally, trashed the park this morning. I was just handed a go-wrap with nine oh six timestamp. My guess is over a hundred. I think you had an end-of-term picnic. We'll have a place on private land after this. Thanks. Comm out. They're going to lock the gates, except when in use, by reservation only, and off days are full until late autumn. She was glad we have a place. We don't leave it a mess."

They finished picking up the trash, chose cabins and went in for naps. Cabins were assorted sizes, but most were for four or six. They had sound damper curtains around beds, so weren't quite as shared as they appeared when one looked in the door and saw beds a table and chairs and small food prep area.

Bard found one bed long enough, if he slept corner to corner, a double. He pulled the curtain around it and went home. Case 'opened' the Blast Room. The side and roof panels extended and supports dropped down smoothly and locked in place, quadrupling its nicely-carpeted size, but he didn't stay in it. He and Stats had taken one of the five two-person cabins. They laid down for naps in it, but didn't close curtains completely. The Braighton men took a cabin for four and went home. Danny, Loopy and Frets did the same.

Case woke at the sound of many sleeks and people, checked the time and called Danny, Bard and Quinn. Stats rolled off his bed and headed for the shower. Case really wished for two, and whooped. He was in his shower at home. He called Stats and told him where he was. Stats told him he hoped he could wish himself back. Case said he was sure he could. That's where the party was.

A few moments later. He stepped out of his shower. He yelped and Danny burst into laughter. She handed him a towel to dry her back, then led him out of the bath in her bedroom. They'd be a little late. She called Frets and told her. Case called Stats and told him he didn't have any control yet, but he was sure Danny was going to help, and they'd be "later." Stats, Loopy and Frets were all laughing when they walked out of their cabins.

"What happened?"

"We don't know all of it yet, Nev, but it starts with Case wishing himself into his shower at home and ends with he and Danny are going to miss dinner."

"And he's sure she'll help with his control."

"This is going to be great tease material, Stats."

"I know, Blade, and some was her wishing."

"You're working on why?"

"It was short work, Nev. The pedestal is nice, but the step down is so long she's missing out on the fun."

"And it was Case more than you."

"Actually, it was Nev, Loopy."

"Me?"

"You're the one who put her in the princess costume. Case always builds nice pedestals for your designs, and I help."

"It was you, Nev."

"Yes, Blade, but it still fits."

"True, but she wants to take it off around the house."

"Frets, Quinn has a guitar case."

"I may be getting off my pedestal too."

"Ow."

"Bard, you and Billie set me up."

"She's great help."

"Yes, she is. All the Waters family are. They helped me build it high enough I didn't get coated with slime."

"Are you going to stay in that big house?"

"It's comfortable, Loopy, and it's close to my sister's family and Kelston. So help with why the answer was no."

"Becks is almost eighteen, the political matchmakers are making lists, your family and ours would really prefer you daytrip to Kelston and it would give all the Waters family an excuse to move out of Politics Central, and their current congressional districts."

"Ricky Lake?"

"Yes and no."

"Me too. It's too late to call Billie and Bard has his mind on her. Let's see if Quinn can clarify."

"Bard."

"Yes, Blade?"

"I know who she is."

"You do? Who?"

"Mimma, you're wearing one of her designs."

"The glider who became a designer."

"Because she needed something to go with dark auburn hair almost to her waist. Which is why you're undergear is perfect with long hair."

"Thank you. See you later."

"There's Rundy! Later, Blade."

"This happens too often, Stats."

"There are many more coming. My party companion will be here after dinner, and she's coming with a large group of mostly women."

"I feel better. Why mostly women?"

"They outnumber men who live in the northeast area. They're having dinner while southbound traffic out of half the city clears. She said they could start two hours earlier, but might get here the same time."

"I'd have dinner."

"That's what I said. Accidents are rare. Slowed to a crawl across eight lanes because people are getting on and off the gravway is the norm."

"Why, Stats? Why do people stay in this city? Half are underemployed and the cost of living is outrageous."

"It's not really better elsewhere, Blade. The pay is less where cost is less, and jobs are fewer. They do well assuring most people have jobs that will support them, but 'underemployed' is common everywhere. It's very well-managed, but it's crowded."

"Kids aren't happy, Stats, or we wouldn't have picked up more trash than should have been possible. It was deliberately spread, and the adults, if there were any, didn't even try to stop it."

"Mookie said they resent the cost to come places like this. It's real not cheap."

"And so they mess them up, they get fewer and fewer and more and more expensive to maintain."

"That's the formula, but anyone who dropped a piece of trash or plucked a blade of grass in a park in the city would be mobbed."

"They belong to them. This is 'just for people with more money than they need.' I understand the feeling very well."

"At least here, they work to keep people off subsidy, and don't cage them in a district of just subsidized housing."

"It's a nice world, with a good and caring government. It's just overcrowded."

"And others are much more so. Aldora is classified high-medium population."

The people who had arrived began assembling dinner for those present. Stats, with the aid of Quinn and others, contributed more than had been in the Blast Room. Everyone did bring something, but sleek carry boots weren't large, and it was obvious to them some hadn't had much to bring. There would be more party wagons the next day, and collections for food would be made.

Quinn got a "chunk" of additional cash from a robo-tel when he took the grocery carts back. Those who had more always contributed more. His family had much more, and the riders would eat well the next day-and-a-half. And Mookie's father was talking to his sister's son.

Danny got Case's outfit from the cabin. He wasn't going to try to take them to the blowout without it. He admitted arriving nude in her bath had nice results, but he was going to be dressed before he made any wishes. She handed him his outfit and collapsed in laughter, on the Blast Room floor. Stats, Blade, Topper and Quinn joined her. Case groaned, grinned and dressed fast. He almost finished before Frets, Loopy, Labs and Bam came in.

"We missed it!"

"He was a real hurry to get to the party, Loopy. He was... carrying his clothes!"

"He stepped out of his shower... into my bathroom!"

"Nice pink, Case."

"Oh, thanks, Bam. I'm sure you'll find a unique way to make your learning experience hilarious too."

"Probably."

At twenty-one thirty, the about-to-be Kuniyoshi family walked out of their cabin, and even the band got quiet. Most didn't know what the costumes were. There was a soft susurrus in the crowd, as those who did told them they were from the ancient culture on Earth that was where Gat's father's book started, and called "kimonos." The four walked to the dance floor and Blade walked out of the crowd to meet them.

"Kips, tell us why you're out here in front of everyone."

"We realized we're a family. We run around together, have fun together, and love each other very much. When we got an explanation of what the ear studs mean to the people who wear them... Well, that's us. I love them very much. I'm not going to marry somebody else, or drift away. I'm fully committed to what we share together. They're my loves and my life companions. I pledge my love to Mookie, Gat and Bridder. I want the symbol of our bonding and to share a name with my family."

"You've chosen 'bond' as the term for your pledge. That means fidelity isn't part of your vows."

"You explain it better, Blade. All right, it's the words 'bonded,' 'vowed' or 'pledged' that... define what the symbols are. People who vow fidelity to the family are vowed. People who don't are bonded. I could get a diamond in the right and emerald in the left, because I'm not going to make love with any other girls, but that's not a vow they need or I want to make. They'd still be my bonded because it's not a vow of total fidelity. A pledge is a statement you're fully committed, heart and soul to... a community, I think, like Danny, Case and Stats are to their neighborhood, but it's people, not things. You can't pledge yourself to your sleek, but you could realize you're fully committed to the community of gliders and pledge, and get a little diamond saying you're... not emotionally available. How'd I do?"

"Great. This is the symbol of your pledge to your family, your vow of love, and the bond you share. Mookie."

"I love Kips, Bridder and Gat, and know it'll never diminish. I'm fully emotionally committed to them. I pledge myself to the family we already are, vow the love that already exists and ask for the symbol of the bond we already share."

"That's exactly right, Mookie. This is the symbol you already are a family, and a polite warning not to expect what you've already given. Bridder."

"When Kips and Mookie were hurt last night, this morning, I realized my whole life is... wrapped within what the four of us share, and there's no need for anything else. I love them very much. I pledge my love, vow it's forever and ask for the symbol of the bond that makes us a family."

"You're shaking."

"I'm nervous and excited. This is... so perfect for us, forever and ever."

"Gat."

"I love Kips, Mookie and Bridder, more than words express. I almost hit the police officer who said I couldn't go with them, when Kips and Mookie were hurt. I'd have never married because I love all three with all I am, and I'm sure I'm not capable of fidelity. I'm fully emotionally committed to them. I pledge myself to the family we are, vow my love forever and ask for the symbol of our family bond."

"Kips, Mookie and Bridder chose Kuniyoshi as your family name, because of its importance to your father, their father-in-bond, and we're recording this for him and the rest of your families. No one needs to officiate at the acknowledgement you're a family these studs symbolize. It's between the people who realize they are and choose to show it, but sharing it in this way was nice. All done. Gliders, the Kuniyoshi family."

After the applause died down a bit, Kips yelled she hoped "certain others" didn't need more "demo," the kimonos were for their father-in-bond, not required and they had more studs. Two men and a woman walked out of the crowd, then two women and two men, then three men.

There was a bit of uproar and a man in his sixties was pushed out of the crowd alone. Danny told him she'd been threatened twenty would sit on her to put her stud in, and she'd thought that was a lot. He grinned and said he hadn't set any records in thirty years, and it was time he did.

Blade put his stud in first, then handed him the punch and told him he'd make sure he got studs in the right place to start. Before he did, Blade explained Frets' sapphire and s'bond families, and a group of five, three women and two men, then two women walked out of the crowd.

When all the studs were in, Blade showed everyone he had three diamonds and a sapphire left. One of the band members walked off the stage and said the sapphire was for him, and he needed to claim it, so the others realized the diamonds were theirs. The two women and man looked at each other and walked off the stage.

Frets walked onto the dance floor with her guitar in her hands. She played a bit of a classical piece. She was his "key" to finding his family and future. He was the composer she'd known she'd find. He had seventeen years classical training, a doctorate and a neighbor ready for his job.

The three yelped, and he told them he'd been eighteen four days. Three eyebrows lifted and he laughed and made a comm call, while the three got their studs. Halfway through the next set, a 'wagon' arrived and a kid with a bush of orange hair 'stormed' the stage with four instrument cases in his hands. Two other kids followed and began setting up light poles. The one opening cases said they were auditioning to follow the band around, and he'd "feed and groom them and walk them twice a day."

"Gliders, this kid has wanted my job for eight years. My favorite neighbor, Bushbrain Lou."

"Thanks, Cole. I didn't expect to get his job, but there just weren't any other people who played like Cots, Mim and Tonda, or who'd get as good with practice, so I practiced their songs and wished. Yes, this is my real hair. I've been 'Bushbrain,' since I got fast enough to outrun my mom when she picked up shears. Spot and Mutt have been practicing too, Cots. You name it."

"Cole, they're going to drive us crazy."

"It'll be rich crazy, Tonda."

"That's a cue. Loco Cash. One, two."

Bushbrain Lou was a 'born star.' He stomped and strutted and he could really sing. In a half-set, everyone in the crowd was sure Cole was right. The three boys were going to make Trolldenner famous, and rich. During the band break "Spot and Mutt" added a great deal more tech to the light poles. Frets sat down beside Cole on the grass and grinned.

"You've known for years."

"I built the band and wrote the songs for him. I knew Cots was the right bass when he walked in to audition, after a nasty experience that about made Mim just walk away from music. Then we found Tonda, sitting on the walk crying, with a broken board on her lap. I convinced Cots suing the landlord, who pitched her equipment out the door, would hurt him more than pounding him to a pulp. He could charge more for two people in the ground floor apt, and thought 'noise' was enough excuse. The other tenants testified for Tonda in the suit. He lost the building. The judge hit him for the value of the equipment and emotional damage, then fined him max for seven tenant rights violations."

"You earned the love you're going to find. How old are you?"

"Thirty-four. I've been playing in bands like this since I was sixteen, more than half my life. Do you know... who?"

"No, but I know you won't wear that sapphire long, and you'll find part of your family very soon, but not here. Parents?"

"My mother and father were sixteen. All I know about them is they knew they were too young and the choice they made was place me in the care of the government. Gov homes are homes, usually big houses. There were always fourteen kids in ours. Our house-parents were warm and loving, and they had help with meals, cleaning and got days off and vacations, so fourteen weren't exhausting. We had a yard to play in, toys, games, we could go play with kids from school, or invite them for lunch, and we had a piano. When I was seven, I asked for lessons. Five years later, I asked to go to a performing arts institute halfway around the world, here. When I was sixteen, I got a job in a band that played school dances and such. Not long before I was seventeen, I petitioned for emancipation. The government would have paid all my expenses through university, even though I was earning money, but I wanted to do it myself. I didn't have difficulty paying for my tuition and housing, but I saw how difficult it would have been for my mother and father, and understood the advantages they'd assured I had with their choice. When I was eighteen, I changed type of band. My doctorate wasn't for a career. I had a music job that paid well and others dreamed of teaching and orchestra careers."

"Those four are really the closest thing you had to family."

"Yes, but I didn't belong in theirs, or theirs. I don't think that one's complete, but they won't split up, and I've known it since Lou introduced me about a half-year ago."

"Spot and Mutt?"

"Lou's dad started that, because they were always right behind him, and they loved it. Their names are Scott and Martin."

"You're ready to leave."

"Yes. I hadn't planned to do it in the middle of a set, but it's right and everyone here already knows it, and they haven't seen Spot and Mutt really show off yet. Neither has the rest of the band. The concert clubs don't have better."

"What do you need to take with you?"

"You meant leave literally."

"Very."

"A container full of memories, my instruments, including my composition bank, and two trays of datcubes."

"If you could only take one item, what would it be?"

"The folder of birthday cards Lou made me. Funny?"

"I just realized I know exactly what time it is where I was about to call, but I don't know what day it is."

"Not this world."

"No."

"I'm going a long way."

"But you can come get a hug any time."

"Daytrip chairs."

"Cole, when people realize they can use them to commute to jobs fifty planets, or a quarter-planet away, they'll get real common real soon. I'll be teaching guitar on two worlds and a ship in a few days. People on Liberty Gem are hiring guitar teachers to trip there from all over space. People are hiring them to come to ships. I can't explain why acoustic instruments, especially guitar, are suddenly becoming incredibly popular, but it started with Liberty Gem."

"Everything in the last year has, and it'll take us a century catch our breath."

"Oh, they aren't going to slow down. They're getting the rest of us in shape to keep up."

"It's the first time I've thought of Aldora as flabby."

The next band set was as amazing as Cole had predicted. The gliders loved it, and the families that suddenly hugged at various times in it. Blade did find a special dance partner among the later arrivals. She had a little emerald stud in her left ear, but she was bonded not vowed. It was the first time he'd met someone who personally understood both the personal and family pledge. She hadn't thought anyone would understand the 'bunch' who were her family.

Frets laughed at herself for going through a mental list of everyone she knew for Cole. She shared the reason with Quinn and he said he was on G. Danny, dancing with Case behind them, turned around and said she was listing by location. They were all working on it. All of them liked Cole a great deal, and didn't quite know where to take him.

Bard really liked Mimma. She thought her fame as a designer was extremely humorous. She really had gotten frustrated with clothes that "didn't work with" her hair. She'd designed things to be interesting glimpses when it was moving, and frame it when it wasn't. A well-known designer, who enjoyed the challenge of undergear designing, had taken a few of her designs to his "fashion house," and she'd suddenly been a "creative genius."

Over the evening, all of them found companions they really liked. Loopy's was Bam. He'd told her he wanted to learn to make love, and considering his "usual adventures in learning," asking her seemed like a good idea. At least she'd be prepared if he found a unique way to add to the list. She smiled and told him she loved him too, and was very pleased he wanted her to be the first with whom he made love, but appreciated the excuse and agreed he did have a valid point. As they walked toward her cabin, she was talking about romance and he proved it. Eventually, he got them to Quinn, in the cabin where they'd been headed.

"You're soaked!"

"Rinses in several places!"

"Bam?"

"Well, she was talking about the fragrance of flowers being romantic, and I wished us into a vat of column flower oil. That was definitely more flower fragrance than desired. I decided we needed a good rinse, and we were suddenly in an ocean somewhere with a nice moon. A wave came down on us, and that was more rinse than I wanted. We were suddenly in a river under a waterfall. Loopy was giggling and I was worried she would sink, and we were in a fountain. At that point, she yelled, 'Take us to Quinn,' and I did."

Frets fell on the bed and laughed. Quinn sat down on it. Loopy laid on the floor and giggled. Bam got towels from the bath. He was just beginning to dry Loopy, when Danny and Case walked in. Case noted "puddle of giggles isn't usually literal," and Quinn fell over.

Bam told Case his "prediction was obviously correct." Danny said she smelled flowers, and three people yelled, "No!" She and Case were both laughing when she wished them to her house, then they heard a yelp and ran for the spa. Stats was laughing and crawling out of it.

"I obviously learned how, even if I missed it by one house."

"Where's your friend?"

"On her way home for a family breakfast, before her cousin's wedding."

"Good."

"Good?"

"Stats, you wished yourself into my spa, and Case and I were probably both helping."

"Probably."

"Take the wet gear off and get back in the spa."

"I need a soak after all that bending to get drinks out of the cooler?"

"If you need that as an excuse, we'll let you use it, but you're usually more honest with yourself and we'll worry a little. Frankly, this is the way I feel it's right, but I didn't know how to... get it started. Case chose, but anything between us includes you. Ronnie said I'm 'riding sidesaddle in the princess dress,' and no one thinks of inviting me to play soccer in the courtyard. No one else knocks before they come in and yells they're here. Of course, Nev, Bard and Blade don't come over unless specifically invited and... I thought our relationship was settled too, but everyone who loves us feels it's not."

"It's Case and me as much as you."

"Let's see if I'm the right 'emulsifier' to stop the separation. Oh! You don't know about Bam's learning experience."

"They'll probably still smell like column flowers tomorrow, but Loopy, Quinn and Frets may have succeeded in convincing him to try a shower rinse and clothes cycler this time."

"It begins with Loopy explaining romance and mentioning the fragrance of flowers."

Stats stretched and Danny and Case and both dove on him. He burst into laughter and told them he suspected someone would soon be collecting for breakfast, and really did prefer they found them at the campground. They were suddenly on the Blast Room floor. Case got their clothes from the cabin and Danny's house. He was getting dressed when Quinn and Frets walked in.

"I'd have been dressed, but neither of them could manage it alone."

"All three of you?!"

"I'm going to practice in my clothes, in hopes I remember them, Frets."

The games were how many silly ways can you use a sleek and the roads through the campground were the playground. There were also stunts and races, but most of the races were things like who can get a specific item for dinner fastest, and also games. There were two that were speed, but both were short distances and included a run for the sleeks.

Nev, Bard and Blade would have known Danny, Case and Stats had settled their relationship, even if they hadn't heard Case had gotten impatient to get to the party again. They were more comfortable, especially Danny. Nev burst into laughter and Rundy questioned.

"Case was looking at her, Danny stuck out a foot, and Stats 'fell down,' too. She got both with one trip and just gave me a very smug smile."

"Something happened."

"They're her best buddies, but she was 'princess' and getting left at home, when the boys all went out to play."

"Got it. She decided the way to fix it was get tease-comfortable to have along. It's the only practical solution."

"You know other instances?"

"Princess is pretty deep in our base culture. Since it's very nice, many women find themselves in the position of pedestal-sitting instead of going out to play with the guys. Riders have less difficulty because they start out playing crazy together, but you still have to kick apart the pedestal quick, if you're going to run with a bunch of guys. She couldn't get away with 'just one of the guys.' Wisty runs with six. After four years, they still all look surprised when she dresses for an occasion. Danny is too-too for that. So, her best option is get tease comfortable. That's not simple. You have to really look at yourself and all of what you're doing on pedestal maintenance. 'Missing the fun' isn't enough. Only missing the sharing with real friends forever, and them missing it too is, and it's scary to change that buddies relationship. It's very special, but the pedestal becomes a barrier, eventually."

"It was beginning to, and it was in Case and Stats' way, too, I think."

"And yours. You're all too close for something to affect any one of you without it affecting all of you."

"You're an amazing person, and woman."

"Thank you. I'm getting off this world."

"You are?"

"Yesterday, I called the government info office and asked about cooperative programs for space exploration and terraforming with Liberty Gem's Space Corps. There aren't any. They don't plan any. In ten or so years, when the program actually starts, they'll examine possible benefits to Aldoran citizens and determine if they should fund students."

"What?"

"They think it's an educational program administered by Liberty Gem, and it will take ten years for their space corps to do the exploration that's required, before universities can send 'qualified students' to explore new worlds and participate in terraforming experiments."

"How did they get that from what we said?"

"What you said was probably 'interpreted' for them by some university professor who 'knows' you can't even begin a new program without five years of prep, and you can't do anything without twenty years of research to analyze, to decide what you should do. So, the ten-year figure was obviously set up time, and in about one hundred years, the Liberty Gem government will begin to see a profit on the initial ten-year investment."

"Comm connect Bance. Someone is 'interpreting' the news from Liberty Gem. We're funding ten-year space corps set-up of cooperative university programs in world exploration and experiments in terraforming. Yes. Rundy called the gov info office. I don't know. They're just sure it takes thirty-plus years to begin doing anything. Thanks. Comm out. Bance is the newscaster who lives in our neighborhood. He'll get a trace on where the interpretation was done, and how many worlds got one. I know Earth knows better. Olympics?"

"That's just a big sports tournament. Everybody does those. Athletes who really want to go that far will be aided with travel expense. Sponsors to support them on worlds for thirty or so days of acclimatization, and to get back in shape after the long ship trip, will be sought."

"They just don't believe any of it."

"They believe the tech exists, but they don't believe 'big' can be organized or built that fast, even with the tech. It just doesn't connect. Six to ten years to arrange funding for 'big' is average here, even for businesses. Getting a new product on the market fast is within two years. They're moving with 'blazing speed' on the trip chairs and expect to ship the first one in a half-year."

"That's not what they said when they sublicensed the patents."

"Well, of course they gave you the minimum estimate, but everyone knows that's if no one is delayed, and most are for some reason or other."

"Where are you going?"

"Wherever I can get the training I want in terraforming tech design. At the rate most worlds are moving, probably Liberty Gem."

"A lot of worlds are moving fast. Earth is sending three hundred ships to have drives replaced and one hundred fifty of them will stay out there. They'll have trip chairs in full production in twelve manufacturing facilities in three days. A lot of worlds are starting to open many daytrip tour facilities now. Magic trowels are in use on eighty-three, and field projectors are in production and beginning to sell well on nineteen. Those are a bit slower because of the power cost, but on-site power generation is becoming quite common and that will increase sales immensely. So will the total security aspect of gate shielding."

"Explain that."

"Wall fields with separate shields across holes for doors, usually backed with an object-penetrable field to keep warm air inside. A few shafts that run under the shield at the bottom of one end, and gaps at the top of the other, provide power heat, ventilation... If you want to limit access, it's quite simple and all the projectors can be inside. Cap fields over air-impermeable fields are only necessary for egress all around. We'll use those on golf courses, of course."

"Golf courses?!"

"Some in temperate zones want them playable year-round."

"We aren't getting news here. I think they just don't believe it and don't include it."

"That's possible. I don't think they'd censor it."

"No, just not broadcast things they think are too fantastic to be anything but... experiments and hyperbole."

"Bance will find out."

Bance did find out. A fifth of human space was getting 'interpreted' news. Transspace was furious. Interworld had the affiliate contract for an area that included eighteen of the most populous worlds in human space and they were 'explaining what it really means.' The senior news editor of Transspace added Bance to the call to the senior editor of Interworld. He listened to Caron Telerose "take Interworld apart."

"It's against interplanetary law to falsely report and censor news. Do you want to be charged with it?"

"We did not censor the news!"

"Yes, you did. You decided to give people of thirty-nine worlds your version of events and reports. You lied to them and withheld information. Terraformed worlds will be ready for settlement in ten years. Exploration vessels are already moving outward. Most of the worlds in space are within days of full production of all the new tech. The piece of construction equipment known as a 'magic trowel' is in use on eighty-seven, as of today, and four space stations are under construction. They'll take about twenty days each, and that includes all systems for vast amounts of cargo transfer. The space stations are paid for. No airlocks, safety equipment or insurance needed. There's no one physically there. They're in trip chairs on a planet. You have two hours to tell the people the real news before we contact world networks, individually."

"It can't be done that fast!"

"It can be done in twenty seconds. I'm giving you two hours and not calling the Interplanetary Court Prosecutor. Interworld connect comm out. I should have given them five minutes."

"New tech, in a decade or two it might become common."

"Exactly, Bance. I'm not sure it'll make a difference on those worlds."

"I promise you it will. By the billions, people will look at the future opening before them and rejoice. How the hell did he get that job?"

"I have no idea. It certainly wasn't his ability to put the parts together to get a complete image. We'll be watching."

"So will we."

"I feel safer knowing good reporters are. Comm out."

Earth's two big news organizations had both had a "run-in" with Interworld before. The big distributor "on the southeast side" had been "choosing" the news for planets, to which they distributed, since they'd become the only all-space distributor for the area, when they'd purchased Allworld Media, sixty-three years previously.

Interworld considered it a service to pass only relevant news, so planetary news services didn't need to sort as much. "Interpreting" it was new. It infuriated them, but didn't surprise them as much as it had Transspace. They'd known Interworld's target-market news programming was becoming narrower for some time. There was more profit in programming than straight-through distribution.

The two big agencies were "delighted" to help Transspace develop a fifty-day recap and figure out exactly who to contact on thirty-nine worlds. They included clips from New Tech News. It was the "ordinary people connection" that Interworld had ignored, and the idea and format were beginning to sell, as more worlds got the new tech into production and distribution.

One hundred seven minutes after Transspace gave Interworld a two-hour ultimatum, the recap was ready, the comm list prepared and many people were watching Interworld's feed. If they didn't meet the deadline, it would go to the networks on the comm list. It went out four minutes early, from Earth. Interworld had spent the two hours seeking an injunction to prevent Transspace contacting planetary networks directly, as "clear breach of contract." That story was added to the recap, as lead.

Bance called Nev and told him to get Channel Seventeen on a screen in the next four minutes. Nev yelled for Bard and Blade to "get it on the stage monitors!" Rundy yelled for "a gather." They were ready when the commentator came on.

"This special report will be repeated at twenty and twenty-three thirty this evening, and at six, nine and thirteen tomorrow. You will see why the major news distributor for thirty-nine worlds was sure it couldn't be right. They had 'experts' tell us what they thought it meant. Those experts didn't understand an essential fact that makes all of what you're about to see possible. These are the numbers they couldn't believe. The cost of all construction, not a part, the total of all costs to build on the ground is less than nine percent of what it was. In space, it's less than two percent. That's primarily because of the new tech called a 'magic trowel,' but field projection, trip chairs and materials previously developed on Liberty Gem contribute to those 'unbelievable' numbers. We were told, 'in tests,' 'experimental,' and others, which led us to believe new tech would gradually spread over a decade or two, as it 'always does.' The following recap of the news of the last fifty days will be difficult to believe. The truth often is."

The group from Liberty Gem and Mandolin were in the recap. They knew they would be, but 'only some can use and not predictable' had been given to the few who knew they were physically there. When it was over, Nev sat down on the front of the stage.

"I called a reporter when I learned you were getting the wrong info. 'Reporter' is the important word. A call to any good reporter would have gotten the same result, no matter who made it, but I did, so we were called to watch. What do you need help to understand and explain to others?"

"How can it be two percent?"

"The cost of space construction usually started with an insurance bill of about a quarter million. An enviro suit was about twenty thou. Every piece of equipment had to be built for the environment and every seam had to be triple sealed. Wages were hazard pay. Docs, air locks and a dozen others that were expensive and required no longer are. Add those to much less time and no hazard bonus and you've got ninety-eight percent of the cost of space construction. Sit in a trip chair and walk around in space. People are more comfortable knowing there's gravity and air, but they're cheap and equipment operates without additional shielding. You don't need to worry about circulating or replacing air. No one's breathing it. Loom?"

"A lot of the cost here is land."

"Speculators have driven it up time after time. Your inflation rate is atrocious and your money is steadily worth less in exchange for other worlds'. It's that way on most high-pop worlds. A couple have extremely strong controls on land speculation. It's cheaper there and their money is worth more against other currencies. That's the way to judge how much things actually cost and how much you get paid. The cost of construction includes the wages people have to be paid to support the cost of the land. It'll still drop vastly because it takes so much less time. Ganna?"

"How soon will we notice it?"

"I'm sitting here. Notice me? How soon do you want to notice it? Do you want to invest in a transpatial comm node and a trip chair and get a job on another world? Or hunt for one on another that will pay for comm node and chair? Do you want to use one to go somewhere they're using the new tech and train to sell skill with it here? How soon will someone walk into the store where you work and give you the Shoppers Shipping address and then one on another world? Your manufacturers must move faster. People can import from Liberty Gem in thirty-two days. How much can a builder save and make with a magic trowel between thirty-two and projected availability of one hundred seventeen? More than shipping cost, I'm sure. Vallet?"

"Get moving or get left behind?"

"You've been left behind. Get moving, or be left out. The lower pop worlds are faster. They're the sleeks. You can't go as fast, but there's a place for you at the blowout. That place won't be taken by another. If you're not there, it will be empty. You'll get the benefits of the tech eventually. Your businesses won't go broke, but you'll miss the party and the fun. Earth is the exception to the analogy. It moves very fast for a big world. Call it a lorry with a huge powerplant. So far, we haven't seen any other lorries on the road. Kath?"

"I like the analogy. We'll get the benefits eventually?"

"If there are fifty worlds ready for settlement in twenty years, don't you think your population density will drop considerably? The cost of building on them won't be higher, and settlers using trip chairs can build their homes and businesses while they travel. Mookie?"

"We're not waiting to move. All four of our extended families and two others are moving to Liberty Gem. Every one of our parents, aunts and uncles already found better jobs there, in minutes. My cousin is going to be here in two days and they're selling stuff and packing. They called and told us just before the news started. They want neighbors like the people who fixed our sleeks. We won't have trip chairs, but some will start work by comm. It'll cost a lot less camping out in my cousin's ship hold than they'll make, and the companies they're going to work for are paying the comm cost, and will finance the houses they choose until their places here sell."

"We're going to join the Space Corps, and use our diplomas for something besides wall decorations. There's room on lots of worlds, and jobs that let young people, and older ones, use what they learned. We're taking our sleeks, and our families are taking a lot. You get a bunch together, it's cheap to charter a ship. We won't have cruise ship accommodations, but we'll have lots of company and we won't get bored with all those people and plenty of room to move around."

"I'm amazed, Kips. It's always been that way, but no one moved. It was like everyone was sure the only way to go to another world was as a settler, or just visit a close one on a luxury cruise."

"I don't think it would have occurred to our families if Mookie's cousin wasn't a trader. He said to just take along some furniture and appliances, make apts in the hold and stock up on frozen and packaged for the trip, and he'll 'stop by' a world, if it looks like we'll run short. My mom said they plan on sort of communal cooking and dining and aren't taking apts full of furniture, but everyone's got some things they want, and it costs practically nothing to shuttle it down. Up isn't as cheap because they have to rent a lorry and a shuttle pad, but it's only for a day or two."

"All it really takes to move is a bank account, Gat. The trader will include everything else in passage, but the way your families are doing it is even less expensive. They aren't paying for someone else to do all the work."

"They expected it to cost, Nev, not save money."

"It's saving them money?"

"There are forty-three families, Taka. You figure how much less it is for our great-grandparents just in utilities and condo association fees. Even our parents will save a little. The exchange rate is lousy, but retirement incomes will still get a lot bigger and newer places there, and buy more fresh food, because it doesn't have to be shipped in from way out somewhere."

"My dad is already learning what he can grow in a garden in his big yard. Their new jobs sound like they pay less, but the money buys more. Like Nev said, that's how to figure out what you're really making, what your money is worth on other worlds. Look at ones where it's not worth a lot, then look at the cost of apts, houses and food there. You'll find out we're paying more for less, because we have to pay for everything to be brought to us. Pick a world where your money doesn't look like much. That's usually where there's plenty of room and opportunity to raise your standard of living."

"You don't have to move in a bunch of families like we are. Like Nev said, just pay passage. My cousin said most traders will have trip chairs soon, so you can go to work while you travel, or even keep your current job until you get a new one. Don't miss any blowouts and have your sleek shipped when you're making real money. Some here have great jobs and real good incomes. The only reason for them to move is more space. But if they've got jobs like that here, they can probably get them anywhere, and have plenty of money to come back to visit family, or go to blowouts."

"The band's arriving. We have apologies to make for tearing into their equipment, and we haven't begun the dinner to which we invited them. Anyone else have a question they think a lot would like to ask? Garr."

"How much space is there to store sleeks at the new blowout place?"

"There will always be room for anyone who needs to store one. Hi, guys, sorry about usurping your screens, but we got a yell to watch a broadcast. If you didn't see or hear about it yet, you will."

"Lou's dad yelled to get it on in the wagon. I yelled at the comp to drive. We were going to put it on in twenty if you hadn't seen it."

"You guys are mad."

"There are people saying it's a hoax, Nev, and some want Seventeen told they can't show it again, because it's not good for our delicate psyches, or business."

"Many people are afraid of change, Mutt, but they can't stop it. No one's going to tell Seventeen they can't show it again. The news distributor did real stupid. It brought the Interplanetary Court into it. Censorship is illegal, and the court knows everything in that recap is truth."

Cole arrived not long after the band. He brought everything he 'needed to take' in a rented a wagon. It was unloaded into the Blast Room, then he took the wagon back and got the car he was giving to Lou. He was also getting his condo, and everything in it. He had to take over payments and condo association dues, but it was a two-bedroom Mutt and Spot could share with him, and the payments were lower than rent. Three families had assured Cole the payments would be made, even if their boys were "a little short." Cole knew they wouldn't be.

They watched the broadcast again at twenty to get updates on what people were doing and saying about it. There was a great deal of that from places it was day on the world, but only one manufacturer had announced it was "substantially reducing" the time to get a product to market. Then a pair of traders were interviewed by comm.

"We just changed course. We've got six magic trowels aboard, and had over one hundred inquiries on them in a half-hour."

"We sold them to the first six who called, after we put it on the infonet, with the price. We sold the rest of the cargo too. We know another trader who's moving a bunch of families from here to another world, so we're going to offer that instead of looking for a cargo."

"You're taking passengers?"

"Not like you think. We're going to do it like he is, get some office partitions for walls and let families set up living space in the hold, take everything they want, including the keeper and the cat. The people he's moving already found jobs, and will have houses to move into when they get where they're going. He doesn't have trip chairs yet, but we've got eight, so some people can start work before they get there that way, or stay working here, and some can probably work by comm, like some are on his ship."

"Where do you plan to take people?"

"It doesn't really matter. We can pick up new tech to sell on high pop worlds, that aren't supplying the demand yet, on almost any of the low to low-mid pop worlds. We'll see where the first ones who call want to go, then tell everyone else we're headed there, and when we'll be back here to take more elsewhere."

"We know other traders who are thinking about doing the same. It'll be quite a while before new tech production catches up with demand on most high pop worlds, so tech to and people from will be profitable for many for a while."

"You believe there are that many who wish to move and will spend that much time in a ship hold?"

"Tell me why you're sure twenty or thirty families sharing a big space with comps, entertainment systems, room to dance and for the kids to play, is a horror to be endured? Why does it make more sense to spend forty years at a nothing job than forty days on a ship?"

"We've got a list of great places to daytrip. There's a ranch on Gaylee that has a special rate to teach daytrippers to ride, because they don't have to insure them, but most of our list is things that just cost the comm call."

"Like a visit to a park in the new hometown, so the kids know kids when they start school."

"It sounds as if you've planned well."

"No, they plan their own adventures. We just give them a ride to where they want to go and a comm list, if they want to visit other places on the way."

"We'll pick up more trip chairs when we get the first group to their new home. That way more can work while they travel and be well ahead when they get there, instead of just saving a little while they make the trip."

The gliders burst into laughter. The commentator looked so surprised, when the two traders did a fast calculation of cost for thirty families to live thirty days in the city, compared to their ship operating cost plus their average "net" on a trading trip, and showed anyone with nine days vacation pay coming should come out ahead.

The Kuniyoshi's families and Mookie's cousin were cheered, then the band took the stage. People were in the mood to party. The new tech had already touched their lives. It had brought opportunity, as promised. Only a tiny percentage would seize it, but it was available to almost everyone, and that was definitely worthy of celebration.

### Chapter Forty-three

Many aided the band to pack up after they played. All were sure they want to spend some time with Cole. Lou had spent the day with him and had no doubt he'd see him fairly often. Cole had bought a transpatial comm node and Mutt and Spot had installed it in the condo that afternoon. He got a hug and made another promise of "soon," then Lou left in his "new car."

Cots, Mim and Tonda were sure they'd see Cole again too, but he was "leaving the band," and though they loved playing with Lou and he'd smoothly taken over the task of leader, it was still the departure of one who'd shared their lives, laughter and music for years. About three, Cole stepped into the Blast Room, which was blasting. Frets smiled and steered him back out. His things had been moved.

"I'm sure you're more accustomed to that volume level than I am."

"Not really. Loud is in front of the stage, not on it. My things were moved. I didn't see it."

"They were moved, and I didn't either. Stats said they moved them out when they realized many intended to 'fulfill Case's expectations,' when he bought the Blast Room, and make sure he knows they're pleased."

"I'd say they accomplished it. He's obviously enjoying conversation at yell level."

"Yes, he is."

"You know where I'm 'supposed' to go, don't you?"

"And what you'll be doing, besides composing. Billie said a 'doctor of music' is supposed to teach music to people who want to be doctors of music. I said, 'Duh, that's true,' and checked. They're short a professor, of course."

"Of course?"

"Well, they thought they had all they needed, but Kellony Institute of Performing Arts asked them to offer two terms of composition practicum. Basically, theory, programming and use of a composition bank. They had more requests for courses and private instruction than expected, so are short a professor. I recommended you and was fervently thanked. Your 'roommate' is probably still laughing."

"Frets!"

"Liberty Gem, Teal Valley, BNU, a great big house owned by the ski coach, is your new home. The ski coach is also a computer programming professor. Stats said Case yelled, 'Three more bedrooms to fill. Don't play in his composition bank programs until he gets here. There's a party headed for my place,' then 'Bye,' after they were back in the Blast Room."

"What?"

"Teleportation, Cole. There's a device, but it... trains those who are capable of it. Learning to control the wish to go has been hilarious for everyone watching those who are. Case has gotten in a hurry to get to the party and arrived before he got his clothes on, twice. So far, Danny and Blade have managed to get where they planned when they planned, but Nev wished himself to his coffee pot in the middle of a sentence, and the adventures of Quinn and Bam... I wouldn't get through them. They're the only ones who don't start laughing too hard to talk telling them. If someone should learn it, they'll show up on someone's doorstep because they're sure they should be there."

"I wish... you'd be on mine."

"I plan to be. I'll be in Teal Valley and at BNU often. I'm teaching there too. Most of the time, I'll use a trip chair. It's very comfortable and I won't get tired and spend a whole lesson wishing it was over, but that's work."

"Thank you."

"Hi, ready to go?"

"I guess so, Danny."

"Lou?"

"Yes."

"Dandy has six trip chairs."

"Six?"

"So he can take several kids to see great skiers on other worlds. You two are going to have a lot of fun, all your lives."

"He's..."

"Not totally unaware he's waiting for the right companions too share that huge house. It's twelve forty-three there."

"I'll explain it's about eighteen and the day started at two in my personal time. Season?"

"Late spring."

"Wonderful."

"Dandy!"

"Oops. Hi, nice equipment. It wouldn't have been a temptation I didn't realize I was no longer resisting, if Case hadn't said, 'program,' Danny. I got curious about differences and... have no idea why 'that belongs to someone else' didn't pop up. Uh, sapphire and... my house."

"I'm Cole Allen. Since my surname was selected by a computer, I'd prefer to use a family name on my work."

"He just retired from eighteen years of playing dance music."

"People enjoyed it and it paid regularly."

"The first is not unusual. The second is. Professor?"

"I was told I was a few moments ago."

"That is a nice program."

"My personal gem. I think every person who intends to really use one of these needs to write their own."

"Ooh, pretty."

"Thank you, Danny. That little check has saved me from 'sounds familiar' thousands of times."

"You don't know the 'next logical step' has been taken, until you've gotten half a passage someone else wrote."

"Exactly. Combinations are infinite. Combinations that make a melodic structure that doesn't make people wince may be, but billions have been used, and every person knows thousands of them. That little thing asks me if I'm headed into new territory or down a remembered path. Dandy..."

"Welcome home."

"Frets said I won't wear a sapphire long, but it's not just us."

"I didn't expect you, but now I expect others. You?"

"Never believed I'd spend my life alone, but didn't expect the right girl, either."

"I'm sure faithful is not in my repertoire."

"I'm sure it's not too. See you guys later."

Danny had no idea where she was, but she knew why she was. She'd 'taken the wrong wish.' She got her gear unvented quickly. It was cold. When she had, she walked out of the alley.

A cat ran by her and she grabbed the collar of the large dog chasing it. He was not easy to hold, and the leash clip hanging on his collar indicated someone else hadn't. A young man ran around the corner. She pointed down the alley. A woman in late middle-age ran around and slowed. She had a leash without a clip, was panting heavily and looked very relieved.

"Thank you."

"That leash was not well-made."

"No, it wasn't, but I still don't know what got into her. She doesn't chase cats, or hasn't before, but that one was already running and she lunged and..."

"The leash clip came off. Tied very securely around the collar. Take the collar off to get it off."

"I shall. I hope that young man finds his cat."

"I'm going to help look."

"Apologize for me, please."

"I will. Hello! Did you find him?!"

When the young man didn't answer, Danny realized he wasn't calling the cat, just searching for it.

She walked into the alley and called, "Kitty, kitty, meow, meow." The young man smiled and nodded, so she called again. That time she got an answer. The cat peeked out of a loading dock recess, then walked out to be picked up and cuddled by the young man with tears in his eyes.

She asked where he lived and he shook his head. She guessed the shake meant he didn't currently live anywhere and asked. He nodded. She asked if too many people had tried to learn why he didn't speak. He looked surprised, then slowly nodded and pointed to his head.

"And they've done everything but unscrew the top to look inside. You and kitty decided to leave before they tried that? Relax. I'm real high psi and my guesses are extremely accurate, even about things other than people. You were abused. Stop that. It's obvious. They've probably been trying to find out who by. They know who? Long ago? You're not old enough for it to be that long. Eighteen? Seventeen? You're not sure. I'm going to take you where you and kitty belong. It's why I'm here. Remember, very high psi. I came to this spot to find the one who belongs there. Damn!"

Danny moved them and the young man ran into Dandy. He bounced off. Cole caught the cat and checked her for "collision damage." Danny said the young man didn't know his age, Cole had the only friend he was sure he had, she was sure that was a piece of why he didn't speak, his kitty had been running from a dog, but they were both running away, and disappeared.

"Mews and Johnny?"

"Great names. Let's give her some treats and get us a beer."

"We have cat treats?"

"Danny has a cat."

"I'd buy cat treats."

"We were rather preoccupied with each other for a season and a half, but it became pretty obvious we no longer were the other day. We were on a corner and crossed the street in different directions because we were both looking at someone else. We realized it when Deely and Roma, physics prof and campus engineer, burst into laughter."

"We're in Teal Valley on Liberty Gem, Johnny, and I got here the same way you did a few minutes ago, but I got a little warning I was about to personally learn some people can teleport."

"Mews probably called her."

"Mews? Yes, that's you."

"The 'right cat' has been found and rescued several times. It was always the 'right cat' because of a person, or people, including the two best xeno-veterinarians in human space. For you. Oh, oh, treats will not be enough long. Johnny's probably hungry too."

"Let's start with a beer, anyway. Johnny's probably never had one."

"Then... this one for him. This one for you. It's got a bit too much character for first beer, but I think you'll like it. Breakfast or lunch?"

"I like it. Lunch, please. My day usually started at about nineteen. It's about three there now, usual dinnertime for me, but I had breakfast for dinner frequently. Often, the only good food close was a breakfast buffet. We usually went home after a gig, but we went close after packing up the equipment."

"How long did you play clubs, Cole?"

"Sixteen years. I played parties and school dances for two years before that. I don't have... other family, Johnny. My mother and father were kids and the government of Aldora was my parent. It did a good job. Yours, who or whatever it was, didn't."

"You don't have to drink it if you don't like it."

"It's like coffee, you wonder why anyone likes it at first sip, then wonder how anyone could not like it when you get used to it."

"Uh, oh, coffee is a rare thing on this planet. We just planted our first trees and began importing."

"Yipe."

"Let me think... Comm connect Chal. Hi, I said coffee was rare here and my future bonded yelped. Yes, two of them and our kitty came home today. Thank you, twice. We'll have many friends visiting soon and some will have coffee, roaster and brewer for us. Johnny, relax. You're home. You belong with us and you can feel it. You'll like everyone who comes over. The damage done to you will make them as mad as it does us, but they'll thump each other if they notice they're pushing you for who and why."

"Theory: They know the who and that may be why."

"That makes sense. 'Tell us what they did, so we can put them in rehab forever,' and won't talk went to can't talk in the pressure to tell what must never be told. You don't have to talk about it here, Johnny. Comm connect Danny. Do you know where you found them? Good. Comm out. She has no idea what planet she was on."

"Good. When he needs to tell us, it will be just his story and have no effect on anyone elsewhere. He's Johnny..."

"Good question. I'm Dandrin, 'Dandy Doll,' Dollier."

"Changing Dollier could change that and you need it?"

"It's the ski coach sportscast identity. Answer comm. Hi, Jason."

"I give you my grandfather's name for your family."

"You felt we were discussing it?"

"No, I was sure I had to move fast or you'd tell me I was too late."

"I'm going to end up 'Dandy Andy' and get called Andrew."

"No, you're firmly established in history and legend as Dandy Doll. I'll be over in a few moments. Bram just drove up and opened the car door, and Tarse is with him."

"Bring cat food."

"Treats?"

"I have, but they aren't the meal Mews needs."

"We'll stop by Gerrell's for necessities."

"Thanks. Real food, kitty box and who knows how many toys are on the way, Mews. The family name is Andrev, and the three who will assure that's the only name you ever have to use are on the way. Yes, everybody around here knows everything, and many are high psi, too."

"How much education have you got?"

"Way up there and none. That's common here. Come here. See those fountains? That's Bressler Northwest University, BNU. This is late spring, but it's always summer there."

"He knows about the field walls."

"We'll schedule you for placement testing, no oral. Here, your self-education is study completed and they'll hand you a doctorate in your field, if you've got all the basics and that much more of something, or allow you to choose to be a fourth-term student, even if you do, if that's what you wish."

"Very definitely no. How did they screw up so badly with him? He's not sure he wants to even get near the campus."

"University research? Wonderful, several thousand students getting his detailed case description and suggesting treatments."

"Knock, knock!"

"Kitchen, Kail!"

"Hi, I'm Nev's dad, Cole, also chancellor over there. Hello, Johnny. My grandmother-in-law said tell you that your silence has brought you home at last, and life and better tomorrow no longer depend on it."

"I missed that piece. 'Life' I got, and not really his."

"Someone really messed him up, Cole, but Corinne is sure part of it was knowledge following the order to 'never talk' would bring him home, eventually. Well, you talk. Hi, Mews. Yes, I smell like baby kitty. We're kitten-sitting for Lillen's great-aunt, while she gets a music camp program established in Kellerton."

"She gave up trying to find someone who didn't squeeze cefas?"

"They all have a very different idea of the phrase, 'spend what's needed,' than she does, Dandy. When she said, 'unlimited budget,' and they asked how much 'unlimited' was, she gave up and went to spend money. She said three days. One for spend and two for them to get over shock and giggles enough to get back to work setting it up."

"Hopefully, she'll 'cure' them. I've heard several people yell they don't ask for enough funds for what they should be doing."

"I think she plans to."

"You had lunch?"

"With the town council at the hotel. They thought it was hilarious when I didn't get what I ordered."

"Loren decided you needed something else."

"He was right. I feel better than I did an hour ago. I spent half the night on comm. It was day where they are. However, we now have an Olympic preliminary competition schedule for sixteen sports, including skiing."

"Yes!! Thank you, thank you, bless you!"

"You're welcome, and Loren did. I have no idea what I had for lunch, but it tasted good and I'm no longer worried I'll fall asleep in a meeting in about a half-hour."

"Jason gave us Andrev."

"It is the right name for your family, but he'll still be teased about yelling it before you found it all."

"It was perfect timing."

"Of course, it was Jason's. You've got a Tourline Landover and a Morrisey Torch coming, when Gant and Joel get out of school. Day told me, so you can guess how much work they'll take."

"I'll teach Johnny to drive. I'm sure Dandy's driving is not the best example."

"I'm a very good driver, Cole. I just need frequent reminders everyone on the road doesn't know it and scaring the shit out of people isn't nice. I assigned reminding to three of my skiers. Worked well. They don't scare the shit out of people anymore either. Here, Johnny, put your main field of study on my datpad, so we can give Kail an idea where the advanced area of the test bank will be."

"Johnny, it's academic only. There's a test bank we'll want you to take eventually that's talent of all types, takes days and your body and mind are both lumps when you finish. We all have and want everyone to understand why we groan and laugh when we discuss it. You'll get it too, Cole. We've now got nineteen on the list for it, including the Braightons and Frets, and four new mommies who are already laughing at themselves for wanting to take it. I've a feeling 'psychology research' is the wrong phrase to use, but it's from the talent research program at Helene University on Verdantine, and they won't know where, who, or maybe what comp, the test is from."

"Johnny, no! Mews can't go out here, not without a harness and leash. If she can't wait, we'll clean up and apologize to her. The pet shop is close and Tarse, Bram and Jason can clean out a store section in under a minute, so it won't be... long."

"What did he write?"

"Pharmacology, self-defense."

"Comm connect, Mandara. We've got a young man who doesn't speak, who learned pharmacology as a defense. Dandy's family. Danny just found him and his cat. About eighteen. No. We won't ask. He wants the door slammed and the keycode forgotten. A 'real' opinion. She's sure we're friends. Thanks. Comm out. That was the best research psychologist in human space. She said there's nothing wrong with you or we'd know it. Not talking is a 'shield,' and you'd have probably laid it down, if people hadn't kept trying to pry your hand open to make you drop it. She said Mews has good taste in people, and you know it."

"Currently, she's upset we won't let her out to be a good kitty."

"Comm connect Dad. How close is the cat box? She's about to jump for the door keypad. Comm out."

"Catbox and litter."

"Thanks, Grandpapa. You're smug."

"I went where I intended the first time I intended to go. Steaming mad?"

"This is Johnny's self-education. Grandpapa, you will end up somewhere hilariously unexpected. Dad might not, but you will."

"I'm sure you're right, but I didn't the fir..."

"Comm connect Dad. Grandpapa disappeared mid-word. Comm out."

"So much for keeping him out of mischief."

"Dad tried, Dandy. He did get here to aid the lady in distress."

Bram arrived beside Tarse. He said, "Pharmacology, self-defense," as they walked around the corner into a busy corridor of the medical center. Bram called Dr. Smith and gave her the name of where they were. She yelled, "Damn idiots!" and gave him the name of who they were going to tell off. They heard, "I told you to put that cat in a kennel!" and got mad.

"Dr. Martidini!"

"I'll be with you in a moment, Gens. We've got a missing patient."

"He's not missing. He and his kitty are at home."

"What?"

"They're at home."

"Your home?"

"No, theirs. A friend of the family rescued them. Mews was being chased by a big dog that doesn't usually chase cats and yelled for help. So, she was probably part of the plan to get them home."

"Granddad, he's going to be sure you belong in one of these rooms."

"It would teach him a lesson when I disappeared, made a huge donation to the university and told them to dump him."

"True, but he's an idiot, not a villain. You were going to put his cat in a kennel?"

"That stray cat is a danger to the patient. We found him outdoors at three-twenty night before last, hunting it. A nice kennel was intended to assure him it was warm and well-fed."

"Did you plan to experiment on it, too? He's probably sure you did. You never left him alone long enough to heal, just kept picking at the scab. When he didn't pour out his guts, you tried drugs to get the wound open."

"Granddad?"

"He's been 'the patient,' since the day someone stopped his abuse, Bram. It was the only identity they allowed. They maintained the emotional abuse his entire life to this point, because he was 'patient,' and not a person to be asked if he wished, or needed, to be 'fixed.' He went from afraid to talk to 'I will never speak to you,' and they planned more experiments. He knew even 'patient' was a lie. You don't experiment on patients, just on 'specimens.' It occurred to no one that he loves that kitty, because they don't think of him as a human child. He was a lab animal and knows it."

"Of course, he may be one of the highest psi talents in human space, strong enough to use a dog and his cat to keep it hidden, even from himself. He's also brilliant. He's been building counters to the drugs you gave him for years. He's the best research pharmacologist you had."

"He couldn't get into the lab without an alarm..."

"He couldn't get out the door at night without one? How many years has he been here?"

"Twelve. Who are you?"

"Bram Terschell."

"Tarse Braighton. We're from Liberty Gem, but we have family friends on many worlds. One was here."

"Was?"

"Do you think he wanted to stay on this world, whose courts gave him to a university for 'research' and forgot about him? He and his kitty are at home, and that's not this world. The only love he found here was hers. The others of his family are happily asking her opinion of assorted cat toys, beds, chairs and food. She can't go outside, but decided the cat box is an acceptable alternative. She's not a stray. She left home because he needed her more."

"We're going to look for a worried person after this?"

"We both know that cat was trained and treated well, Bram."

"True. You tell us why you were given a 'patient' you forgot was a person."

"Tolland Brach had been beaten, burned, sexually abused and was in critical condition, when found by a woman walking her dog. Eventually, the investigation culminated in the arrest and conviction of two people who were employed as cleaning staff in a government children's shelter. The threat that silenced him was to burn it down and make sure no one got out, and they had friends who'd do it for them, if he ever talked about it. He was repeatedly burned and healed as a 'demonstration' over the near year they victimized him, before they damaged him too badly for quick heal and 'got rid' of him. He's why even grounds maintenance people for shelters must pass psych exams now. After they'd been caught, the reason he was terrified to speak was known, but nothing worked. You're right. Twelve years of classes with him as 'case study,' and we forgot he was the abused child we so wanted to help, whose fear we wanted to end."

"He was an abandoned child?"

"His mother was a gleam addict. He was put in the shelter when she was picked up in a police raid on a dealer and sent to a treatment program. Seven hours after she walked out of the clinic doors, she was brought back, DOA overdose. She was using the drug when he was born. She birthed at home and it wasn't recorded. Much of the research was to determine if there was some effect of the drug we'd missed. It seemed probable. His age is a very general guess because premature birth, slow physical and/or mental development, accelerated physical and/or mental development, missing nerves, organs and limbs are all common. His mother didn't neglect him badly. He was alone in a playpen in an apt, but he wasn't dirty or malnourished. She didn't remember when he'd been born, or giving birth to him. He was a present and she'd had him a while."

"Did they do DNA tests?"

"Memory lapse, chronological confusion and illusion are common as well, Gen Terschell. 'It was a present' is the most common delusion. It's part of why gleam is such a problem. You're special. People love you and give you presents. The most common method of discovery of gleam addicts is they don't make car or condo payments. They can't owe anything. They were presents. They still believe that when they're off the drug. You can show proof otherwise and some will accept it. Since most are sure the drug was a present, it's hard to catch dealers."

"Did they do a DNA test?"

"It's routine on admission to any medical facility."

"Did they compare them?"

"Doctor, my grandson is knocking on your thick skull. If that woman was his mother, she was very high psi. It's near certain she'd know the gleam would lead to her death. If she walked out of that clinic free of the drug, she either committed suicide or was murdered, and she'd have known she would be."

"Did they compare them?"

"Comm connect police, Captain Avel, identify. Captain, I need to know if the DNA comparison was done on Tolland Brach and Canderan Brach sixteen years ago. Because if she was his mother, she knew she was about to die when she left the clinic, and it may have been murder. Would you please explain 'seventeen years is too far back to matter' to Bram Terschell and Tarse Braighton? They're in my office. Captain, have you heard of trip chairs? I quite agree."

"They have enough rich pains in the ass on this planet and aren't pleased to have all the rest too?"

"She said, 'neck.' Yes, almost exactly. It wasn't. Get me that scan. Because I'd get put at the bottom of the queue and get it in a tenday. 'Professional courtesy' is not extended by data clerks. Thank you. Comm out. Intercom Rogee, the police are getting us Canderan Brach's DNA scan. No comparison was ever run. I need it instant. Rogee, Tolland is very high psi. What do you think he felt from twelve years of students reading his case? Pitch the results of all the drug tests. He was building counter-agents in the pharm lab at night. How much could you learn in twelve years, if you knew your mind was at stake? I was sure they'd get it faster than we could. What?! Out. Comm connect police, Captain Avel, identify. Yes, thank you. She wasn't his mother. Not even gross match. We may have taken a child from the babysitter, and the sitter, and put his family and him through hell. She's checking missing person reports. Who?! Oh, my God. What have we done? Comm out."

"Who?"

"Dr. Baernadine Holcomb from Clanloft. Her son disappeared from a hotel nursery. She got one ransom message, then no more."

"Main comm connect transpatial comm Clanloft, Dr. Baernadine Holcomb, identify. Dr. Holcomb, you know your son isn't dead."

"I always have. Where is he?"

"He's with his new family. They haven't found all who belong in it yet, but they will quickly now. They call him Johnny, though everyone has believed he was Tolland Brach since he was found in the home of a gleam addict, probably moments after he was taken. My grandfather and I will be there in a short while. Comm out. Contact Dr. Smith at Helene University on Verdantine. She plans to tell you off too."

"You'll feel punished and it will knock some of the guilt off."

"Granddad! It's cold out here! Chattering teeth don't agree with daytrip. That house."

"Thanks, it's cold out here. Hello, you're missing a cat, and we know who she went to save."

"I am, and... Come in."

"Cold isn't supposed to bother you when you're daytripping. I hadn't convinced myself it didn't, or that I was wearing a coat. My great-great-grandson 'changed for the occasion' in an instant and I couldn't work up a coat."

"We'll get it, Granddad. I'm Bram Terschell. My grandfather, Tarse Braighton."

"It's nice to meet you. Mewlin 'saved' someone?"

"A young man desperately needed a loving friend. She heard him crying for one, at the university hospital, though he can't speak. She found him and led him to one who knew where home and love was, for both of them."

"I knew she was special. So did her vet. She's not neutered, but I was just sure that wasn't why she ran away."

"You and the vet were right. We saw she was well cared for, and knew someone was worried, but Johnny needs her badly, so we're going to ask you let him keep her, and offer one of her kittens. Daddy will be special too. He's part bobcat, lynx rufus, from Earth. He's my great-great-grandson's family's kitty, and they were told to introduce him to many potential mama kitties."

"The vet is sure the bobcat genes will benefit them, and Patrick is a smart cat. So is Mews. They'll have smart kittens. You don't have to wait. Two cats in the house is not too many."

"Bram, it is if you have to budget the vet bill. She's paid that hunk of money in the last year. Twice more in the next year is too much."

"Thump, Granddad. Thank you."

"He's been asking for them since he was four."

"They're much lighter if he's sure my brain is already working. If we find a kitty that needs a home, will you give it one?"

"That would be unusual. We take good care of our pets, or the neighbors would have rescued one, not be waiting for kittens."

"Someone doesn't think it's unusual. He was going to put 'stray cat' in a kennel, not look for owner."

"He'd have found out he was wrong and probably have been fined. Any kennel would have required veterinary records, and contacted animal control for a missing pet list if there weren't any. However, there is no collar and tag requirement for cats on the U campus. It's security fenced and gated. He's seen people's pets in a protected area and 'stray' was his response. I suspect he hasn't been here long."

"That we didn't check. Contact your vet for me, please."

"House comm connect Dr. Werdell."

"Hello, Elena. News?"

"Yes, my cat performed a miracle and the recipients, especially a... mute young man wish to keep her. We've been promised kittens with lynx rufus in them."

"How?!"

"A young tom that's about an eighth. In a half-season, we can arrange it, then assure kittens are close enough to be delivered when weaned."

"She's a very healthy cat genetically. He's big?"

"Still growing, going to be huge."

"A vet close would be a good idea."

"There will be. Now, I told Elena she didn't need to wait and two cats isn't too many, and my granddad reminded me three initial vet bills is. I've developed many budgets, but never lived on one. I'm Bram Terschell."

"Admiral Terschell..."

"Is my grandson."

"Oh, dear."

"Elena, I believe Mewlin performed a miracle."

"Mew's new family will want to assure Elena's new kitty's vet bills are paid. My grandson's family will want to assure Patrick's kittens' are."

"Am I going to get in on this?"

"Of course, Granddad. You're impressed with the responsibility and caring people here give their pets too."

"I am. We want to know the best organization to aid in the good work that's obvious here."

"There are several, but they call the Frippy League if they need help."

"Frippy had a cat and Frippy had a dog."

"That's the right story, Gen Terschell."

"It's a good aid in teaching children the responsibility of owning pets, and has been about a thousand years. Now, what we're going to do is look for a kitty in need of rescue for Elena. We may bring it from some distance, but I'm sure there's one that does somewhere. At that time, we'll pay initial costs and for neutering, when you think it's time for it. We know it makes sense to allow a few litters with the lynx rufus genes to be born, if there are good homes for them, so we'll figure out some way to help spread them with the Frippy League."

"It does, and they'll assist."

"We'll see you sometime soon. Comm out. Elena, your new kitty may come by flyer, but we'll assure it gets to Dr. Werdell, or you."

"If in-need includes an injury, we won't fly it here before treatment."

"You're very nice people, and very generous."

"Most people are nice, and most wealthy people are generous, but they have to be careful in their generosity. The not-nice people sort of congregate around them and it's not easy to assure money goes to those it's intended to aid."

"And if they give it all away, there is none to aid when they see something else that will benefit, like a business idea that will provide jobs for many."

"We tend to forget that's a form of aid too."

"Good business benefits many. Like the prince with the magic purse, who used it to help people, and ended up with a room full of money, because a coin appeared every time someone followed the example and aided another."

"That's cute."

"It's also an ad for the book my grandson edited."

They left Elena's home and went to Dr. Holcomb. They arrived in another side corridor, though this one was in a university administration building, not medical center. They were a little surprised by that, but expected to learn why soon.

Bram checked on Dr. Holcomb and laughed. She wasn't a physician. She was a biologist, and had developed a method of naming that would encompass even the most unusual species discovered on new worlds.

It gave people essential information about a creature, including diet and habitat and was simple enough it didn't require years of study to do it. She was also a co-developer of a new classification method that made scientific naming simpler, and gave more information on species. She'd been on Sonnetta, only five days from Clanloft, teaching the method to educators. The exploration fleet would use the Commonality Name System and Universal Designation System and were looking for teachers.

They walked into the biology department office and a young man ran for a door and opened it for them. Dr. Holcomb was standing behind her desk, when they walked through the door.

"Hello, I..."

"We can almost imagine. You always knew he'd be found, but he wouldn't be a child."

"And his life to then would... be painful."

"Why did they kidnap him? You weren't wealthy."

"Perhaps because he wasn't protected like the child of wealthy people would be. They didn't ask for more than the hotel insurer would have paid, and that may be who they expected to pay it."

"And they had a plan they thought would work. They found a convenient gleam addict and gave her a baby as a 'present.' Most gleam addicts were sure things they had were 'presents.' It worked too well. They just assumed he was another birthed-at-home child of an addict and present was the common delusion. They didn't even compare her DNA scan with his, just watched for signs of 'non-apparent damage.' He was abused by people on the cleaning staff of a gov shelter, who terrified him into not talking. They were caught, but he still didn't talk, so they decided they'd found 'damage' and spent twelve years looking for a treatment. His life as 'patient' wasn't hell, but it wasn't happy. It will be filled with love and laughter from now on."

"That was... I was sure it would be and he'd be sure it was worth it someday, but I hunted anyway. I knew I wouldn't find him... I knew I'd lose him if I went, but... the future of many depended on that."

"Beginning with the five children you adopted."

"I was forty-nine when Jonathan was born. I shall always be grateful to the student, and I have no idea who he was, who walked over as I was getting out of my car, told me he was adopted and too many aren't. I called a worried psychologist friend and told him I was about to rip into another outmoded classification system, because the language was difficult and the system excluded far too many 'good adoptive homes.' It took three years, but we, and a great many others, got the system changed, so adoption by older couples and single people became far easier, and thousands of children have loving adoptive parents, who couldn't have qualified under the old system."

"So you know what the separation from your son accomplished."

"I knew it was the real... value the moment he said it. It hadn't been easy for me to get clinic insemination because I was over forty-five and single."

"How badly are you needed here?"

"You want me to teach the classification to the space corps?"

"My grandson would have just offered you a job, if that's what he had in mind. You, the kids, the keeper and the cat move to Liberty Gem. That's where your son is."

"We expect him to test through doctoral level in pharmacology, and join his two found family members as a professor at BNU, though not necessarily soon or in that field. Wouldn't you like to be there to help him explore the many science fields to which the fundamentals he had to learn apply?"

"He's not... ready for me yet."

"No, he's not, but it won't be long. Dandy and Cole both know how to play, and he'll be laughing and working to keep them out of too much trouble quickly."

"They're professors?"

"Dandy will teach programming and is head ski coach. Cole will teach music and is a composer."

"Dandy Doll?"

"That's the one."

"My daughter is sure he's the perfect man. He has both computers and skis, and he's 'beautiful even standing still.' I'll be officially retired in twenty-three days. My children are thirteen to nineteen years old. Office comm connect kids, multi-panel screen."

"Mom, my teacher isn't happy. Yes, my mom."

"It's my mom."

"My mother."

"I'll go in the hall. It's Mom."

"What happened, Mom?"

"Jonathan was found."

"I knew it! Gen Lorn, my brother was found. I'll leave."

"Fem Lances, I'm going home."

"Roy!"

"We all are, Mom."

"I'll be there to pick you up in a half-minute, Alan."

"Running for the west door, Gisele."

"We'll be north side here, Gisele."

"Two minutes, Carly."

"Who are the men, Mom?"

"Tarse Braighton and Bram Terschell, Admiral Terschell's great-great-grandfather and grandfather, Roy. I told them you think Dandy Doll is perfect, Linny."

"He is."

"He's also about to be your brother-in-bond."

"What's that, Gen Braighton?"

"It's what you call the members of your brother's family, once they put little gems in their earlobes."

"Jonathan is on Liberty Gem?"

"He is now, Carly. They've asked us to move there. Gisele, this is primarily your decision."

"I'll miss people, Mom, but I can visit. The half-term isn't important in the long term. We can take Coco and Tubby, or you'd have mentioned."

"They said, 'and cat,' but I'm sure dogs were implied."

Bram called Alden as soon as they left the office, told him who they'd gotten and get some ship there fast. He heard Alden yell to find out what ships were currently on Clanloft, or about to dock, just before Tarse moved them into sleet.

"I'm sure anything in this needs rescuing!"

"There!"

"Comm connect Nev! We're in a sleet blizzard, with about fifty cats and dogs in open cages! We need shelter fast!"

### Chapter Forty-four

Nev dove through the Blast Room door. Bard, Blade, and nine others were right behind him. Nev was yelling equipment into his comm chron and fastening vents with one hand. Bard and Blade took over fastening and the other nine worked on theirs, as they ran behind them. Case, Stats and Danny 'went.' Nev 'went,' then Bard, Blade, Quinn and Bam 'took' the rest. They arrived in sleet.

"Get out of here!"

"We have to be here, Bard! We're sure of it!"

"Coats and gloves!"

"Bless you, Danny!"

"Tarps, 'til equipment!"

"Toss, Case!"

"We'll cover that end!"

"Middle! These animals are starving!"

"Some are sick!"

"This is the middle of nowhere! What the hell is going on here?!"

"We don't even know what planet it is, Quinn, but we're going to get answers!"

"I've got a bulge! Nev!"

"I brought our vets, Bam! They need more light!"

"Hand lamp!"

"Thanks, Labs!"

"Projector, a big box with a hole on one end!"

"Billie!"

"They've got flu! Nobody who touched anything can leave! Everybody else has to get stuff to cure it! You got to have Johnny!"

"Go home!"

"You got to have me, too, Bard, or I wouldn't have got here! I was going to comm! I'm cold!"

Tarse grabbed her and wrapped her in his coat. She hugged him and said he'd "saved everybody." He said he'd just planned to save one kitty, but wasn't sorry his subconscious knew better.

Stats left and Bance, Corinne and Gant arrived with Dawn, Drand, Ronnie and the rest of the equipment to hook up the projector, including power tower. Bard got their location from the transpatial relay number, then yelled, "Quarantine!" across human space. The president of Riverdine was patched to him.

"We haven't got any reports of disease!"

"You've got fifty-some sick animals in cages in a sleet storm in the middle of the open land on... Grassand continent. They're sick and starving. Someone knows you do. They left them to die out here."

"You're not actually there."

"Fem president, I wish the hell I wasn't. We'll have a transpatial comm node set up in a few moments, so no one else teleports in to defend our species. One who did is a five-year-old girl. She arrived in summer play clothes and yelled, 'They've got flu, nobody leave.' We've got a pair of veterinarians, and my great-great-grandfather-in-bond, who was looking for a cat that needed rescuing, and was suddenly in a sleet storm. How many trillions of our species' survival instinct focused on the people who are here? Comm out."

Nev reached for the tool being held out, then stopped. The hand that held it wasn't human. He looked at the alien, said, "Thanks," and took the tool. It was human. Seventeen people of three different species were handing out tools and setting human-style stools and lab benches in the area that would be covered by the field.

"Who... are you?"

"Havadan, hereditary Harim, keeper of wisdom, of my people. I have the same job you do. Figure out what we did in the past that made the mess in the present and fix it."

"Blade's name."

"His parents' families sought to keep them apart because they were sure they'd die if they married. That huge thing with the orange mane is Loden, legend-singer of his people. He has the same job, too. The little gray thing in the too-many colored coat is Curevrakshisk, Curren, prince of his people. All the names of our peoples translate as 'people,' so we'll give them to you and let you find 'call names' that don't sound very odd to you. It's what is 'always done' when a species is ready to meet others."

"We're ready?"

"We're rushing it a bit, but we no longer doubt you're going to straighten out the mess the premature discovery of transpatial comm made."

"You're here because this..."

"Is a surprise."

"Yes, it is. I'm sure it's... wrong, that it's evil, and we shouldn't need to be fighting it."

"We've known something was going to happen since your legend singer, your Bard, reached into the future for a device that aids those who cannot move themselves with their minds. We are looking at your early development of transpatial comm from a different place, as well. Perhaps all was to prepare for this moment. So, we have come to aid."

"You don't have the device?"

"We don't have trip chairs either. Those, we want. We also want cats, dogs and horses, and to invite bluebibs to our worlds, but we suspect they'll prefer settling new ones with you first."

"They may. You came to me and the prince went to Blade."

"It seemed wise to let him tell him I shattered nine crystal meditation medallions with my whistle of rage, when his parents were murdered, and it took six of my family to keep me from going to get him, even though I knew I must not. Bard's parents knew the government would kill them eventually. Blade's had almost twenty years of sharing, and knew, but I wanted to kill the ones who did it, which I was supposed to be too civilized to desire."

"We're going to kill what's killing these animals. They were obviously deadly, and the things killing these animals didn't choose to be."

"Which is the lesson we learned from your Harim, and your world. Your path to this point was far more rocky than ours. We were less civilized."

"What?"

"The concepts of equality and democracy didn't arise until one tribe controlled everything, and got tired of having to run it all. My job is a leftover. They wouldn't let us drop it. Loden was 'appointed,' when he teleported into a Council of Worlds meeting and yelled they were all idiots. He was four years of age. They were delighted. They hadn't had a Legend Singer in almost two hundred."

"We were the subject of the meeting?"

"Yes. We were considering nudging you downarm. You're about to run into them."

"The prince?"

"An elected hereditary office. Someone in his family gets elected to it by the people. He can retire, but he's stuck with it for another ten years if they reelect him anyway."

"Your species are all bisexual?"

"Almost everything above a certain level of complexity is, plants and animals. We're all omnivores. We followed totally different evolutionary paths, but we're all upright bipeds with an opposing digit on our hands. Our vertebrae are all different, but we're all vertebrates. We followed very different paths, but arrived near the same place. We're not sure we'd recognize something that didn't, like the bluebibs. Our scientists are as stunned as yours. That's a unique evolution and we don't know why, other than something totally different had to happen somewhere. We've found a dozen species of sea creatures we're quite sure are sentient, but we can't communicate. Hello, goodbye, that way, yipe and yippee, but not truly communicate."

"We haven't progressed beyond that with those of Earth. Others?"

"Many, but we're the neighbor kids, who've been watching you get big enough to come out to play, for six hundred thirty-seven years."

"We're all kids."

"Yes, we are. There are older species who've looked us all over, warned about dangers, such as trying to change our genetic structure to make ourselves immune to everything, and a few space anomalies, told us where our yards ended and others began, and said, 'play nicely.' We think they're watching to see we do before they invite us to more 'adult' occasions, and yours is the key species."

"Why us?"

"Because you did develop the concepts of equality and democracy so very early. We didn't have to survive our nuclear ages. One culture had already overrun all the others. Diplomacy and alliance were not part of our history. At about the stage of your Roman Empire, we had one that just kept going. We knew our worlds were round by then and 'scouts' sought ways to go from one side to the other in the far north and south and found more continents."

"Your mathematics were more advanced than ours at that stage."

"Our 'Romans' had different concepts of God. Ours lived in the Sun, so the world went around it, of course. Theirs was the world and their three moons danced for Her, and they wouldn't dance only part of the time. Theirs was watching over them, every star was an eye, and they believed the sun was the closest."

"All monotheisms."

"The conquering cultures were. Theirs developed technology fastest, because they brought every invention and discovery they found to the equatorial capital to show God they were working hard to make themselves interesting to watch. Since God was obviously focusing the closest eye on something else part of the time..."

"The world was turning and there was someone too interesting on the other side."

"Yes, and the way to deal with it was make them part of them, assure they were interesting all the way around where the 'gaze of God' made the land warmest."

"Your people?"

"Much simpler, make sure everyone said hello every morning, so God didn't get irritated as often. We always knew when someone wasn't. Crops drowned in floods or withered in drought, and the great storehouses had to be opened to feed people. After we were all one, it became obvious God wanted us to 'commerce,' and that's when we began to develop philosophically."

"You fed all the conquered peoples."

"It's hard to smile and say, 'Good morning,' if you're starving."

"You were philosophically advanced in your belief system. In most of ours, those were punishments. You deserved it or you wouldn't be starving. Theirs?"

"Godworld is beautiful and bountiful, see as much and taste as much as possible, and don't let anybody bother farmers."

"They didn't have to conquer. Farmers made lists of natural wonders in their area to visit, and merchants assured there were nice souvenirs, like pouches for dried fruits and grains and containers for tasty spring water."

"They weren't that nice. Farmers belonged to the worldgod and their children were taken somewhere to farm. It might be next door, but it might be another continent. Everything the farmer didn't need to eat or plant another crop went elsewhere. A house and barn were built and furnished and people 'put' there, with animals and seed for a crop. People with artistic talent were escorted places to record them for those who couldn't travel. No option. They outgrew it fairly quickly, but it's an interesting period in their history, and the visual record of the exploration of their world is incredible."

"Two hundred-plus worlds?"

"We expected you to have more than everyone else when we met."

"You don't expect to be immune to this."

"No, but we expect to help you find a treatment that works for all."

Bard and Loden screwed the support posts into the ground, then got the canopy attached. Blade, Havadan and Curren unrolled the walls around the support posts. Bard and Loden unrolled the posine floor and waited in the field 'box' until it charged, then walked onto it and began shoving the roof canopy up with the curved supports that would arch it and assure water and snow didn't accumulate on it. They would use fields to make a larger sheltered area, but the specifications had to be built in, and fields didn't give the feeling of a cozy place for beds and dinner tables.

Bance appeared with five big containers and disappeared. The four finished sealing the canopy to the walls, came through the door on the end and sat down at the table Corinne had just delivered. Gant was moving lab equipment into the field-sheltered area fast.

"This was a good idea, Blade."

"Thanks, Loden. I hope we're done out there."

"We are. Everything else is inside work, including reassembling the pharmacology lab Johnny, Deely and Roma are disassembling and sending. We needed your help to keep the rest of our families and neighbors from joining us."

"We've waved hello every time a group brought something to remind him we are here, so they should go home, Bard."

"We appreciate it, Curren. Hi, Billie, you did it without training, like their people do."

"I think I used it, Bard. Bruce and Frankie are getting stuff together too, but he had to wait for his dad to get to the clinic. Bren and Becks are going to the Braightons' house to keep Buddy, Boston, Chirp and Cheeky company. My mommy is better after Tarse talked to her."

"Why did you have to stay, Billie?"

"I ask lots of questions, Havadan."

"An essential person to have when looking for answers."

"Explaining things to Billie is a good way to see things you've overlooked, Curren."

"I have a grandchild her age I talk to a lot for that reason, Bard. Vlinst! Neat."

"Great, Corinne!"

"Thanks! Bye!"

"Bedrooms, preassembled will save time here. Some are using the device?"

"The ones with packs on their chests."

"Now we know why so many of your family just showed up to learn how, Nev."

"Yes, Blade, we do. Gant!"

"Big load, Nev! I'll rest a few!"

"Comm connect Joel! Did he get back?! Sit on him! He nearly fell over. Watch Bance and Stats. Great-grandma Corinne will know better, I think. Thank you. Bruce just started moving things. Tell them to rest while we get the medical equipment set up. Grandpapa, you got into real big mischief."

"I certainly did. You yelled what I was about to."

"Sit down."

"Yes, Bard. I know I'm old. The person not being able to fetch and carry is driving crazy is Danny, Nev."

"Thanks, Grandpapa. Let's start getting her comp connected to the medical equipment guys. Integrating it will give her work she can do best. A brewer! Bless you, Grandma!"

"Lots of tea and water! Coffee coming!"

"Bard, is there any way to develop an isolation field?"

"There should be, Blade. If we had one... No, I'm sure all it took was a touch, as long as they don't touch and stay in the upwind area..."

"In here isn't."

"Your feeling?"

"They'll be done before it gets dangerous, Nev. Stats is not going to leave once everything is here."

"I know. He would if he felt it was needed, but... he'll move our sleeks and the Blast Room and come here. Danny! Let's get your comp integrated into this hodgepodge!"

"Bance is bringing the device chair from your ship so everyone can get back, Nev! I'm worried he's getting too tired!"

"I yelled, 'Break!' when Gant came last time. Joel is yelling for people to sit on them a while."

"Thank you. Hodgepodge is right. Kendra's standing by. She's yelling at the med people here to find out where those animals came from and get ready to move to do whatever is required. Bard, they're not talking."

"They're not sick, yet."

"Oh, shit."

"Yes, Blade."

"Are we going to have time to find a way to cure this before we are?"

"Yes, almost, we won't feel good, but we won't be bad sick."

"Thank you, Billie."

"You're real welcome. I didn't know until you asked, and I really don't like being sick!"

"Neither do I. I'm mad I'm sick all the time I'm sick. Billie?"

"You were sick and this sick isn't going to be as bad for you."

"Comm connect Kendra. Billie said last summer's flu gives us a bit higher resistance. Find someone who didn't mention they got something on it."

"Get this connected! That diagnostic comp and mine don't speak the same language and we need a translator."

"Confirmed it's a virus!"

"Thanks, Renna! Can you save them?!"

"We don't know! Food, water and warmth are helping!"

"Billie?"

"Somebody made them sick on purpose!"

"That's your 'evil,' Nev."

"Yes, Havadan, it is. You wouldn't have gotten it."

"We don't know that, and we wouldn't have been the nice people came to help, either."

"Good points."

Bance didn't 'stop.' He had one more load. He brought Jace with his cam. Seventeen people glanced up, waved and went back to work. Bard, Loden, Nev and Havadan moved the diagnostic comp. Jace used a chair, which he hadn't recorded, to go back, Bance got back to the mobile unit and Jace yelled he was sitting on him out the door.

"Bance, you need to talk."

"There they are, 'the neighbor kids.' One said they'd been waiting for us to 'get big enough to come out to play for six hundred thirty-seven years.' They're really there. They don't have trip chairs. They want to buy them. A few extremely gifted of our neighbors felt a few extremely gifted of us suddenly teleport, to fight a threat to our species, and came to help. They haven't been spying on us. They've been watching our news and our broadcasts of concerts and comedies. They learned our language, but the carefully planned future meeting was canceled, and they came to help. They know they're not immune, but there they are. What are their names? Limman, Colp, Halasa, Gund... Their species? They gave us what they call themselves and their languages and said, 'pick something that doesn't sound weird,' to us. So, they're the tonnid, yomal and brevvy, the best kind of neighbors to have, ones who just show up with tools in their hands when something needs to be fixed. All of them didn't 'bring' themselves. All of our people there didn't either, but a few brought themselves and others. And a very few have made many trips to bring what they need, because no one who touched anything can leave. A five-year-old girl 'arrived,' to give that warning. They have about as many worlds as we do. Their ships go about as fast as ours. Their cars and homes are much the same. They're not 'bigger, stronger, smarter, faster.' They're people who talk about their kids, and brag about their grandkids. They like our pets, and are sure we'll like theirs. They said there are older species, but not in this spiral arm. One of those said, 'This is your big yard and that's theirs, play together nicely.' So, they been waiting for us to get big enough to come out to play. This isn't how they wanted to meet us, but the planned meeting was canceled, and the neighbors came over to help. Wrap."

"They've got catch those people fast, Bance."

"It's not an alien attack. It's human foolishness."

"You're both sure someone created the virus."

"I'm not sure 'created' is the right word, Silky. Dogs, cats, humans, tonnid, yomal and brevvy, what were they trying to do or learn?"

"Whatever it was, Bance, animal experimentation is illegal, and has been since we reached ninety-nine-point nine six percent accuracy on comp simulation, a millennia-and-a-half ago."

After Gant had eaten two of Loren's energy bars and taken a short break, he took Drand, Dawn and Joel to the site with one more system. He and Joel laid 'tubes' and extended the transpatial comm antenna, while Dawn and Drand set up the system, then the four of them camouflaged the intake vents for the wind generator, the tubes and antenna with brush. Drand switched on the shield, the area became invisible and Gant took them home. Loden motioned over and Bard nodded.

"They decided no one should see us. Since I feel more comfortable, it was a nice addition."

"I prefer soft glow to dark day. Do we truly need the rest now?"

"It will be easier to heat and it's still nice to have an enclosed area. The shield is a drape, not really roof or wall. It's not airtight. It just extends to the ground. However, it adds a bit to our insulation on uneven ground, covers the gaps under the field walls. The fields are far more versatile. 'Invisible' is actually a side effect."

"What was someone trying to do, Bard?"

"I don't know."

"Neither do I, and it worries me."

"You've never..."

"Not this far along in the search for an answer."

"Blade says figure out how to stay alive first, then work on everything else."

"Very practical advice. They've begun to use trip chairs. Only their spirits are here, but it's such an amazingly physical manifestation."

"Do you have the device we call magic trowel, yet?"

"Yes, though you use it more effectively because of your materials. We have most, but convincing my people a house does not require rock and wood to be livable is difficult."

"The trip chair is an application of the fill type."

"Using the power of the comm burst?"

"Yes. As long as the person maintains the identity cohesion, by an act of will, it's completely stable. They don't have to be conscious of maintaining it, but they do have to want to be there. So, when they stop wanting to be, they return."

"My people are going to love it. They have lists of things they want to see and do on your worlds. Your float scooters have gotten another burst of petitions to rule your patents not applicable in our space."

"You... respect our patents?"

"We do on things like that and the trip chairs, which we'd be copying, not concurrently developing. We thought we'd be trading our ship fuel to you, but you developed it. We were a bit ahead of you, though not enough to damage you, since you proved physical laws don't have exceptions, but you then packed twenty years of application development into a season and we're wondering if you'll like lupberries."

"We decided we like coffee."

"I think you worked at it."

"Yes, but we got used to it quickly and very few are still having to remind themselves trade is important before they take each sip. Enough changed their minds, it's not necessary. Hi, Billie. How are we doing?"

"Pretty good, but some people have to be all the way here and aren't."

"Why?"

"Because they think of things when they're asleep and they won't start fast enough to remember if they're not here when the thinking wakes them up."

"Johnny and?"

"Milla and Kail."

"Johnny! Milla! Kail! Billie says you're going to wake up with an idea sometime during this and need to be here!"

"It doesn't look much like places I usually get ideas, but I'll go pack essentials."

"I'll see if I can convince Milla 'essentials' fit in one container."

"One container, Kail?"

"A small one."

"We'll have Carler put away the two containers' worth you take back out."

"I'm sorry, Johnny, but I'm sure. Get real hugs and kisses. Yes, you should! They're your family! The hugs and kisses are important too! And pet Mews and tell her it will be... seventeen days. That's long, isn't it, Bard?"

"We will be bringing back a few regular trip chairs. I promised Carler I'd go fishing with him."

"Good idea, Milla. See you when we've left most of three rooms in a pile for Carler to put away."

"Bard, comm Johnny's house and make sure."

"Comm connect Dandy. Billie says we need Johnny 'really here' seventeen days, and don't let him leave there without hugs, kisses and kitty rubs."

"He's all achy inside."

"She says it really hurts him, so don't let go until he does. If daytrip hugs were enough... Comm out. Comm connect Stats. Milla gave you an excuse. Bring trip chairs and floor flop pads for more. Stats, you're the last one we want here because you're usually the first to get sick. Stay upwind until we're sure you're done. Thank you. We really appreciate the idea. Comm out. Nev! Blade! Stats is taking Patrick to Dandy's for the duration! He's our cat, just one season old, and he'd get lonely, even with visits by neighbors."

"All of you ache for the sick animals, and are so very angry."

"It's unlikely they're all homeless, Loden. Some, most, or all, may be people's loved pets, abducted members of their families, made sick and left to die of thirst, hunger or disease."

Stats drove the Blast Room into its garage, set everything to maintenance levels and went to get Patrick. He gathered his things and then 'dressed' him, set him atop the pile and took it to Dandy's. He arrived as Dandy and Cole were working on assembling things for Johnny to take for seventeen days. Stats made sure Patrick saw where he put everything, then took the three soccerball cat toys he'd found to the living room, clapped and the balls took off. Both cats took off after them. Johnny clapped and they stopped. He looked so surprised, Stats burst into laughter. He clapped and they started moving again.

"Johnny, we all agreed someone who didn't know how they worked would go crazy trying to figure out how to stop them, and you just proved us all wrong. We're a set. They're sure you're needed there and you don't want to go, for good reason, not even one night at home. I usually get flu first and worst, could do what I do best from here and I'm going anyway. That's where Case is. Don't do what I did. Case has been my best friend, and I've known we'd share our lives for seven years, but I have no physical interest in men, and I thought that was relevant. For seven years, I didn't give the one I love to the depths of my soul a loving kiss. When I finally did, I learned I'd placed 'interest' above love in importance. Call when you're prepared. We all know you can't be ready. I'll know if you gave those loving kisses, Johnny. Dandy and Cole will be disgusted they can't think of good reasons to go with you, but they'll be prepared too."

Dandy walked into the room, said, "Thank you," to Stats and told Johnny to get in the car. He yelled for Cole to get in it, then made a comm call. Stats smiled and left. Dandy and Cole were older, and wiser men. So was Johnny. His childhood had ended terribly, many years before.

Stats gathered and moved trip chairs, then decided there was something missing in the supplies. He picked up ale, beer and wine and moved them. By the third trip, Case was singing and many were laughing. Stats moved an entertainment system and two racks of vid and music chips, thirty kilos of coffee, more teas, another big tank of water and recycle system, his comp, then sat down in his and Case's kitchen and considered what else was needed to make people comfortable. He finished his tea and went shopping again. He delivered a portable spa filled with water, then a tub. Bard called him after he had.

"Bruce said, 'Brilliant.' We told him you were too aware of how much help a cooling bath could be."

"Case is happy with everything I'm bringing, except me."

"He loves you too much to want you here, but Billie said your bout of flu last summer will aid."

"Kendra said she found good info on it."

"She did. Your comp helped. It gave Danny more to do. Milla 'took over' the sample prep area. She's got Kail, Shrind and Ganka 'arranging it pleasantly.' Bruce said he's 'taking notes.' It's going to be very easy for one or several to use to do one or many types of prep."

"Bard, I love you all too, but I'd be there until I couldn't stay awake, and back as soon as I'd napped enough to wake. That's a dangerous place and I'll sleep better if I'm in it with Case."

"We know. Johnny?"

"I added a personal-experience thump and Dandy felt it. He and Cole aren't dealing with Case."

"Who would never need anything you didn't really want to give."

"My dad said it was about time I quit ignoring I knew it, and they're all pleased I finally got us ready to accept a request to be daddies."

"We aren't yet, but Nev's working on it, and the rest of the family is helping."

"The family name accomplished just what Bram intended."

"Yes, that's our great-great-granddad in there telling Billie and many a story."

"Her mom?"

"Will trip here almost as often as her big brother, sister and cousins. What have we forgotten, Stats? There's something."

"I know. I can't think of anything else people..."

"Not people, the animals. I'll have Milla call you. Comm out."

Dawn, Drand and Ronnie made pet beds, while Stats picked up 'covers,' rugs, litter boxes, puppy pads and posine strips and material to make 'rooms' for the animals, then he got samples from healthy cats and dogs. Gerta and Renna didn't need them, but they'd aid others with lab work.

The sick animals were bathed and moved out of the cages, by people wearing dispo gloves, or day tripping, then the cages were broken down and put into the waste cycler. The ground where the cages had been was sterilized, then a posine floor was unrolled over it. When that was done, Billie said they were going to save all the animals, because they knew they were "supposed to get well" and the flu wasn't "really their kind."

They'd found what was missing, and she was suddenly interested in dinner from Teal Valley. Mike and Loren tripped in to prepare it. When it was ready, the only things still to move were Johnny's, and the only ones not there, who would be, were Johnny and Stats. Renna sat down beside Milla and gave her a hug.

"They're perfect. They're easy to clean and every dog and cat feels cared for in a way I didn't realize..."

"Simple molded bed units with flip-up tops and nice soft pads, rugs, and places to potty the way they were trained, would make us feel better, so they feel better."

"Yes, but the baths helped them a great deal. Each animal was given gentle handling, and that was needed. Gerta and I knew it, but we learned we think like vets. It didn't occur to us to ask you all to help give it for longer than we could, with that many."

"Sick animals are your job. You'd probably assure they got strokes of reassurance from their owners, if you had to keep one more than a day or two."

"The only ones I've kept that long were wild and the usual reason was to rebuild their muscle tone. I moved them into areas they could get enough exercise and left them alone to do it."

"It bothers you not to be there for all those that will run into humans disastrously."

"Yes, but that was becoming less frequent and I built a good database for other vets."

"You have plans for my grandson."

"I have a plan that includes him, but it's quite long-term."

"Yes, thank you, I'd like a great-grandchild."

"I doubt ours will be first, but Bard and Blade won't be ready for the idea until he is, so the plan is important."

"Agreed. My curiosity is killing me."

"Going crazy trying to figure out how you'll come up with a middle-of-the-night idea?"

"Precisely. My son-in-law thinks it's hilarious."

"He's just as curious, but far more accustomed to it."

"Another precisely. My husband is going to visit here a lot. He didn't say he was wrapping up everything he's been working on recently, but I know he and several others are."

"I noticed every work area got bigger."

"We're rather sure my husband, son and grandnephew are assuring we have expert assistance of any type we decide we need, at any time we yell for it."

"Planner, builder, mover, each with a staff of volunteers that includes families, neighborhoods, universities, space corps, and the governments and populations of at least two planets as auxiliaries."

"And those are just the ones who knew who to call to give their comm codes. What did you see?"

"An influenza virus with extremely tenacious H and N factors. That's all so far."

"Type A, of course."

"Of course."

Dandy called Stats. None of them were ready, but they were prepared. Both he and Cole gave Johnny one more long hug, then stepped back. Johnny stooped down, patted Mews, then nodded and Stats moved them and the container. When they arrived, he told Johnny he liked sapphires, but was looking forward to seeing a diamond there. Johnny touched the little stud in his right ear, smiled and nodded, then touched his left ear.

"Don't rush that. Make sure all the rest of your family agrees with that personal decision. Family members have said, 'Huh, uh, we love you too much to let you do that,' a couple times. 'Can be faithful' is not the right reason. Most of us could be. The people who love you most will know if you need, not just want, to make that vow. It was the first time you really wanted to say something and couldn't? Wrote it on a datpad? Don't worry. The time will come when you accept the reflection of you in the eyes of those who love you, and realize you're big enough to just step over the defensive barricade. Ooh, surprise. You were working on how to dismantle it. Not necessary. You built it when you were little. You built as high as you could reach, but you've had to sit behind to stay out of sight a very long time, and you don't realize how tall you are now. It's not a low step, but it's just a step over. Last two reporting for quarters assignment, Admiral."

"Stats, that smug may cause you to 'run into' more than one opinion."

"Thanks, Bard. Who should I watch for besides Case and Nev?"

"Bruce, Drand, Dawn, Danny, Case's mom... quite a list."

"I'll work on smug reduction. There they are. You didn't know they'd trip in to help you get settled and spend more time with you? That's silly. Being with you is important. The comm bill isn't."

"Johnny, your family is going to have several very nice incomes. They'll probably let you make a budget, but I doubt they'll pay attention to it. Those two both know the time they needed to is over."

Johnny had a bed in a cubby for four. There wasn't much space, but panels around each of the tier beds gave quiet and privacy. The beds had thermal and respiratory sensors. If someone got sick, closed panels would not keep others from noticing it, but they could be delayed an hour, just in case someone planned to get quite warm. Johnny hadn't planned to check the delay function.

By the third day, they knew the head start they'd gotten on the influenza was all that would prevent it from killing thousands. Nothing they had did more than slow it a little for a little while. They needed two things, a cure and an inoculant. That night, Milla had an idea. She awoke and yelled for Renna and Gerta. A little over an hour later, Bance and Gant, in full biohazard gear as ordered, delivered about thirty kilograms of plant leaves and eighty steam pots.

Milla's idea had been a childhood memory of a woman inhaling over a small pot to reduce the congestion caused by an allergy she considered "too mild to medicate." The plant leaves Gant and Bance delivered hadn't come from Liberty Gem. Gant had wished himself to a bush and gone back for harvesters. They didn't know what it was or where it came from, but they were all sure it was the right herb. Within an hour, all the animals were breathing easier, and plant leaves were being analyzed.

Kail's idea, two nights later, was so obviously a dream he "almost rolled over and went back to sleep." He'd dreamed he wished himself to a plant with magic berries, and if he made a pie, it would cure everyone, but he had to find the right pie recipe. He wished himself to a screen with the recipe on it. That's when he'd awakened. They were sitting around the table talking about the dream when Johnny grabbed a datpad and wrote, "Wish to formula to start from. Too many."

A few minutes later, Bance was standing beside a bush with small brownish-gold berries. He knew he was outside human space when his comm didn't work. He went home and got a harvest crew and a cam. He wished himself to nightside, got images of the stars, then went back and took the crew home. The expressions on faces when he delivered a large container of "magic berries" were amazing. A half-hour later, he called with the right extraction process recipe and the planet location. It was in the 'yard' of the yomal. Bard told Loden to let him know how many trip chairs they owed for berries.

They had something that was different. The organic compounds were unusual, but none skilled in medicine or biochemistry could identify what was killing some of the virus in their tests. The animals were beginning to recover by the ninth day, but most of that was because the flu had run its course. They began developing an animal inoculant. The twelfth night, Johnny awoke, thought, "Silly idea," jumped from the top tier and ran for the lab.

Pies had to be baked. He began cooking the extract, using various methods and temperatures. Midafternoon the next day, he had a compound, the same one from four methods. They tested it, and got high enough kill to begin working on just that compound.

The morning of the sixteenth day, eleven of them were sick. Bruce began treatment with the compound. By evening, everyone there was sick, but those who'd had the flu on Liberty Gem the summer before were "just miserable."

Bruce and Johnny were still working. Milla said the reason was "half symptomatic treatment and all stubborn." At ten thirty-seven the seventeenth day, the trip-in staff cheered and put the rest the bed. They had both pieces, the formula for the medication went everywhere. The method to make the vaccine and the culture from the people who'd had the flu on Liberty Gem went to forty biomedical labs. with healthy and sick samples from animals and people. They'd identified the immunity factor.

Over five hundred cases had been reported in the last eighteen hours, including six people from ships that had turned around.

The pharmaceutical producers, bio labs, Public Health and medical professions on Riverdine were prepared. Within four hours, inoculant and treatment were spreading across Riverdine. Six traders were aiding investigators looking for people who had intended mass murder, with a virus as agent. They made a connection that evening. Nearly everyone was moving out when the Director of the Planetary Investigation Bureau call Bard at seven thirty-two the eighteenth day.

"We found money, but not people. We don't know if they even realized the flu would be spread."

"They were just hired to do a job, illegal because of the animals, but they were needed to check the factors."

"Looks like. It didn't come from here. We've got a money connection to the mining corps hidden agenda. The intent was obviously to end the increase in interplanetary travel. Two of those traders would have been on two planets each before they got sick."

"Which was why here. You have more close neighbors than anyone else."

"Yes, even if we didn't visit much. The finance records we found show there was propaganda."

"The animals?"

"Thirty-six missing pet reports that fit descriptions, spread across the planet."

"Your personal feeling about the tonnid, yomal and brevvy?"

"How soon can we daytrip to visit?"

"They said comm service in twenty-eight more days. My feeling said we're going to get impatient."

"We needed to find the connection, Admiral."

"There are always some who want to blame everything on some 'them' who are different. There are still going to be a lot of sick people."

"Yes, but they won't be sick long. Thank you. Our president is working on an official thanks to you all."

"I'll warn Nev he's doing the talking."

### Chapter Forty-five

Daytripping people helped disinfect everything, and they began taking it home. The pets were their first priority. Every person who could, wished themselves to the right home for a dog or cat. Tarse was delighted to find himself in Dr. Werdell's office with a big white with gray splotches tom they'd called Mikey. Havadan, Loden, Curren and several others made instant friends, when they'd delivered missing pets. After his third trip, Havadan came back for supplies. His mother had a cat, a young female. Nev promised to visit with Patrick.

A few minutes later, they were all laughing. Curren, Gund, Havansa and Harkin were bringing pets to, not taking them from, the vet station, and Patrick had a list. All the pets being brought weren't cats, and all weren't healthy when they got there, but they were when they left.

Renna and Gerta treated four linicks, two holps, three mibbas, a pair of goradinaknaubs and a pregnant browalk, as well. Some very surprised, but extremely pleased, people on Liberty Gem got unusual pets that day. Milla led a shopping expedition.

That evening, Havadan, Loden and Curren worked with eight in the mine to integrate their comm technologies and adapt trip chairs. Sublicenses to manufacture had been sold. Payment would be made when financial systems were connected. They were nearly done with three very different beings arrived. Havadan whispered, "Toofaynook," and Nev greeted them.

"Welcome to our workplace."

"Thank you, Nev Terschell. We have come to tell you that your people have astounded the many of the elder races. You have exceeded all expectations for such youthful peoples. You have leapt beyond cautious meetings and careful diplomacy to friendship. It doesn't exist in the hearts of all, but those who fear otherness are few among many, and great fear is rare."

"There are some who fear any change or difference. They're important to us. They slow us a little, and make us more cautious. To ease their fear of change, we must ask why it has value. They're the balance to those who embrace anything new and different. Most of our people are somewhere between the extremes, and keep watch on both."

"You are wise. You were attacked."

"We have watched over your four peoples for over three thousand stellar orbits of your birth worlds. Eleven times, another species sought to interfere with your development. Each of those times, we sought the consensus of the many to intervene. The consensus was reached, but it wasn't needed. Each time, you integrated the interference into your cultures and maintained your progress."

"Why did they fear us?"

"Your location. They called this the 'Arm of Disparagement. In their seeking to halt your growth, they have fulfilled the prophecy of its naming, and slowed their own. You have stepped beyond them with the peace of your meeting."

"We're a bit surprised at ourselves."

"Our histories tell us we were when we met others in peace. We have brought you a gift, a mapping of the peoples of our galaxy."

"Thank you."

"You are very welcome among the many. This spiral arm is now in your keeping. We do not doubt you will see that young species should be given time, and worlds on which to build, to develop without interference."

"Our 'adult' method of dealing with people who don't agree the majority have the right to say no-no is a rehabilitation sentence."

"That's why we are entrusting the task to you, Blade."

"It won't be integrated into the culture before we decide it will be stopped."

"Curren, the consensus of the many is it's a relief to give the watching to people who will assure others keep their dirty digits off the young species."

"Your four areas of this arm are the greatest assurance they will be allowed to grow without interference. Others must go past you. It was only required they go by us."

"This task is in your keeping. Pass its keeping to others when it's time."

"That's what you're doing."

"Yes, Blade. The younger species are developing too quickly for us to watch all. You are toofaynook, watcher with connotation of looking outward, of the young species of this arm. This task is not secret, but it's entrusted to you, not the governments of your peoples."

"You have welcomed us among the many. What does that mean?"

"If consensus is sought, your opinion will be asked, Curren. You are also among those that others may visits, or offer trade. No technology is beyond your capacity to understand or build."

"Is there a faster ship drive or fuel?"

"No, Havadan, there is not."

"May we know your call names?"

"Thank you for asking, Bard. We are Vill, Tonel and Barra."

"And nobody asks. You're lumped as toofaynook and not asked personal identity . You know its value to us because you know 'identity by job' is not enough for anyone."

"Your insight is why you are chosen as toofaynook, Blade. Yes, we know it's not enough and it was an error made long ago. We believe you will aid in changing it. You don't look so much alike."

"Six is also different?"

"Four species is different, Havadan."

"What's the danger of trying to make ourselves immune to everything, Vill?"

"If no cell can be invaded, Loden, fertilization cannot take place. You have a question of the spirit you have not asked, Nev."

"If they're about to annihilate themselves, may we intervene to save them?"

"You can try, but it is our experience a species either stops themselves, or finds some other method if they are once stopped."

"If they're that bent on self-destruction, we won't blame ourselves. Your turn. You have a question to ask."

"Yes, Bard. Will you accept the lengthening of your lives?"

"Just us?"

"Would you give the weight of many centuries to many?"

"No, but there are some to whom we would offer the experience of many."

"Who?"

"Nev's great-great-grandfather nears the end of his life. Most who do seem to be content with their years. He accepts he is, but it doesn't lessen his irritation he won't be around to see a great deal more."

"He would be much changed, Bard, and his mated of many years might not wish it."

"She'd wish it for him."

"You would give gift and burden to him instead?"

"I know he would cherish the gift and find the burden worth the bearing."

"Do you know such a one, Havadan?"

"Yes, I do."

"And you, Curren?"

"My great-grandmother is constantly counseled to have patience with her years. She replies she's enjoyed all of them, and her impatience is that she can no longer run to see new things."

"His great-grandmother and mine await these chairs with impatience."

The three disappeared and the six looked at each other. Havadan said he was sure they'd made the right decision, but he didn't know what it was. A few moments later, Vill returned. He had a piece of equipment with him. The six saw a flash.

Bard awoke and checked his feeling time had passed. He'd been unconscious about six hours, and he was hungry. He checked Nev, and he opened his eyes when he touched him. Blade did the same. Curren, Loden and Havadan didn't. None of them were worried, but didn't know why, then the three returned.

"They will awaken soon. You are younger."

"Less damage to repair."

"Yes, but each year adds little."

"Klillit!"

"Food in his language."

"We're hungry too, Loden. Our bodies have evidently been hard at work."

"Those of many have, Bard. You, and they are the seed of longer life in your species."

"You were not asked to choose, because it was our decision to give the gift and burden to them. Only you will remember we have done this, but some will know they youthen in feeling and appearance."

"How long?"

"That is unknown, Loden, as are the identities of those we gave gift and burden."

"Farewell. We shall see you again."

"So much for asking what they did to whom."

"Yes, Blade."

"I'm sure I've been working hard, for days. I'm very hungry."

"Blade, turn off the projector. We'll snack on fruits and vegetables, on the way to fix a large meal."

"Thank you, Nev. I'm too hungry to think about cooking, or anything else."

"They returned, Havadan. They gave 'gift and burden' to many. They don't know who, but they were the right ones to seed our species. They don't know how long, but we'll see them again."

"I don't think they know what they did, or rather how what they used changed us."

"They suddenly decided. They didn't seek consensus. I wonder if they've ever use that thing before."

"I wonder if they're alone, Blade, and chose not to do that to us."

"Someday, we'll learn, Nev."

"Elkan dus mun!"

"He's starving. Food is a few steps away, Curren."

They ate enough 'salad' to finish the chairs, then went to the house for breakfast. Tarse arrived while they were preparing it. He said he was looking for answers, but one of the questions was, "Where's breakfast?" then he held out his hands.

"Age spots disappeared as I watched them, Nev."

"Grandpapa, Bard said he'd give his 'gift and burden' of longer life to you, instead, and the three who watch over the young species... I've got it all mixed in chronology. They gave us the job of making sure no one messes with the developing species on this arm, said we'll get visitors of many species, asked us if we'd accept longer life, flashed a light on us and told us there are many and we're the 'seed' of it in our species. Blade thinks they're lonely and wouldn't do that to us, and Bard suspects they don't actually know what they did. I agree with both, as usual. Grandpapa?"

"Your great-great-grandmother..."

"Isn't changing. It isn't right for her. It isn't for any who would find it more burden than gift."

"And she would. She doesn't want to die, but she doesn't resent knowing the end of her life is coming soon. We both knew I'd live years without her. Who else, Nev?"

"We don't know. They didn't."

"Since I found a cat and a lot of trouble that way, I understand."

"Grandpapa, I wish..."

"So do I, Nev, but they listened to hers, not ours."

"I want to argue that, but I can't."

"We'll find our way together, Nev. We've still got time to share. Now, tell me about 'job' and 'visitors.' You obviously impressed them."

"Our peaceful meeting impressed them, but they began it. They were already friends and patiently waiting for us to be ready. Four species that decided to work together... No, it was the exchange of pets. We trusted them with our loved animals and they trusted us with theirs. We had no doubt they'd be given love and care."

"You're right, Nev. I'm sure of it."

"So am I, Loden. We have given pets to those we have come to know when asked, but not just took many to the right homes."

"Which reminds me. It's time to bring Patrick home. I'll be back as soon as I have his things gathered."

"Leave Mews a toy, Bard."

"I will. We should get more. I wished I could send one with every kitty."

"So did I. I'll order and hope they get to our order before we run out."

"You noticed I gave one to Havadan for his mom."

"You were just quicker, Blade. Did you warn him it feels very strange in a pocket when someone claps?"

"No, Nev, I was planning to watch his face."

"Oops. Sorry. Plates, please."

"Mmm, you're forgiven. Good morning, Patrick. Bard?"

"Dandy, Cole and Johnny are having supplemental breakfast, and so were Mews and Patrick."

"Nev is right. It was the exchange of pets that impressed them."

"I agree, Curren."

"I do and don't want to know who else. The feeling is reasonable, but that doesn't make it more comfortable."

"Comm message to neighborhood and family lists. Everyone who woke up exceptionally hungry call. End message. Send. Answer comm."

"We're about to supplement breakfast and Danny's on her fifth piece of toast."

"Thanks, Case. Comm out. Answer comm."

Nev's family and the neighborhood 'checked in.' Kady and Reesa didn't call, but everyone else in the neighborhood, including three babies, was eating. All Nev's grandparents were, but Corinne was his only great-grandmother who was. His great-great-grandmother Terschell was the only woman of her generation who was, but all men on the Terschell side were.

Gant and Joel were "raiding snack vends." Three other students were racing them to them. Jaril Ressen was at the Andrev's and Dorn and his wife were with Lillen, looking for food and answers. Four men on 'the Valens side' were hungry, but there were more of both men and women in Milla's sister's family, though only two of the eldest, both men.

Case called again, said his and Stats' parents were eating, no one on Mandolin was answering comm, Gerta, Renna and nine others in space Corps, including Alden, awoke hungry. Several spouses and all children had as well.

Kail called and told them Deely and three of her students were cleaning out vends. Bance called to tell them his and Silky's parents and grandparents had awakened extremely hungry. Jace's grandmother and great-grandmother had, but no one else in their families was. Ronnie's parents and her mom's mother, dad's father and both great-grandfathers on his side were.

Dr. Smith called and asked, "What in heaven's name is happening?" She had a list of eight, five men.

Havadan, Loden and Curren went home to check. They returned with lists of hungry and "too asleep," which included cats, dogs and families, but more males than females, as well. Then Billie called Bard.

"She said?"

"Say, 'thank you,' asking for more isn't polite, and other people's pieces of birthday cake wouldn't be pretty if we got all the frosting flowers on ours."

"I need a reference."

"We've got a recipe with image, Curren. There."

"Thank you, Blade. It's near too pretty to cut, but the great appreciation is in its eating, and each piece is many-layered and lovely."

"Our slices are very large, but theirs are also slices of a beautiful delicious cake, and they don't want larger. More would make them uncomfortable, perhaps sick."

"A perfect analogy from a five-year-old."

"Almost six, Tarse. Birthday cake is relevant and high on the anticipation list."

"I know, and I didn't get an 'I'd like' out of her in seventeen days."

"Bard?"

"She may have gotten her birthday present, Blade."

"You may be exactly right. Add comm connect Braighton house."

"Good very early, very hungry, morning, Blade."

"A lot of people woke up that way, Quinn. Telling you we know why is an exaggeration. We know a few of who. We may have made a piece of the suggestion, but Billie may have made a birthday wish. It's time to get to work."

"Frets is home hunting, with a third slice of toast in one hand. Topper and Labs are cooking with one hand each. Bam just delivered a second helping of seed to the bluebibs and Buddy and Boston are ready for their second day's worth of food."

"We're on second breakfast and Patrick may be on third day's worth by noon. People may still be waking up very hungry until it's been morning on every place on every world, but everyone who is may be waking soon."

"You really don't know."

"We know Billie reminded us everyone doesn't want a big slice of birthday cake, and asking for all the frosting flowers too isn't nice. It is relevant."

"I... see. Who?"

"The guardians of all the young species of the galaxy are too sure three, or even six, is very lonely after a long while."

"And..."

"It will be less lonely with every generation for humans, tonnid, yomal and brevvy."

"Thank you. Thinking we don't have the physical potential just got me a 'that's true' answer."

"We got the same one, but cats would seem to argue against it being a mental power we possess."

"That's... true."

"What did you hit, Quinn?"

"It's not ours, Bard."

"Yes, it is. It's a gift that's been waiting for us a very long time."

"We have a visitor, perhaps with more explanation. Comm out."

"Welcome to our home, Vill."

"Thank you. We felt your sadness."

"Some chose not, and we would have chosen otherwise for them. None of us are unhappy with our choice, but it takes time to reconcile knowledge they made the right choice for them with the pain of knowing they won't always be there. Basically, it took a little girl's thump we were arguing with their choices and asking for more, and grandpapa Tarse's acceptance his wife and daughter both chose not. Thank you. We do see it as gift, not burden, and are sure all our peoples will grow into it over time."

"We also thank you for giving us the love of the animals we consider members of our families for more years."

"They will not live as long, but much longer than they would have. You know we didn't build the devices used."

"We do, but we still wish what explanation you have."

"The power of them came from your peoples. How it was 'captured' and focused is the secret of the creators of the devices. When they no longer function, the task will be complete. Other species have long lives which they gained slowly over many tens of thousands of years, but the devices were for those who would come who were ready for them much sooner, though their only use was to give toofaynook the time needed to learn and watch. If you hadn't been the ones for whom they were created, they wouldn't have given more than the six of you longer life. If there were not four species of you to grow together, and you were not so alike you leapt from greeting to understanding in moments, we wouldn't have realized you might be the ones for whom they were intended. They'll be given into your keeping. You can take them apart and put them back together. We did, but we didn't learn how they work."

"Some of the 'how' has no physical component. It existed in and beyond the creators."

"Yes, Havadan."

"We would not have been so alike without the interference, would we?"

"No, you would not, but the gravilocek need no more teaching of the truth of their use... by Fate to fulfill the prophecy their assurance they are 'greatest of species' would be destroyed. They're learning to accept the idea they are no more or less important than other species. Yours are, but it is the ability to watch over others that makes them so."

"We've all had to face that personally. It's not easy to accept, or carry."

"And so, you show the wisdom that is required to bear the burden of responsibility, and the wisdom of your cultures in its recognition. Don't expect it of other young species. It's usually very long before they grow from the 'glory of power,' to the weight of responsibility."

"If it wasn't, watchers would only need to watch for people who want to help them."

"Those are most common, Blade, and it's often hard to resist."

"We know that one well. Our peoples spent centuries reminding each other it would damage humans if we just gave them the math they were missing."

"Your patience was rewarded, for they developed technology you don't have, and no others do either."

"What?!"

"Your patent for trip chairs has been placed among those of other singular species developments, Bard. All won't respect your right to choose who will make them, but many will. You are the ninth to build a device that aids people to move themselves with their minds, but no other uses a communication system to give most the power to do so. We followed your choice not to reveal it to all, though some may develop it once they have the knowledge of trip chairs."

"If they do, they'll probably decide it's not for everybody, just as Bard did, Vill. It's just too easily abused. If they have trip chairs, it will be less tempting."

"We believe so as well, Blade. Many now seek that which you might accept in trade for right to make them."

"Lupberries. They build everything else they want as soon as they realize they want it."

"Several have made the complaint, Loden. Are you ready to meet others?"

"I am!"

"Grandpapa, call Granddad and Grandpa Jason. If they're trying to figure out how to start trade with us, you three are going to be the best help."

"Comm connect Bram. Grab Jason and get here now. The boys' trip chairs are the trendiest trade item in the galaxy and figuring out what to trade is a stumper. You three get your best here. We need a money exchange structured now. It'll be easier if they've got that to work with, and about a thousand worlds might want something they've got, so they don't have to find something we specifically want. We'll work on what other things you have for trade, as well. Languages are going to be a problem. An aid in learning them may be the best trade item to start with, if someone has such a thing we can adapt for us. Comm connect Quinn. Bring your grandma. We're about to dive into the business of the galaxy and she'll help get the four of us into a functioning trade market fast. Comm out."

"You see why we were sure he wouldn't consider more years a burden?"

"Yes, Bard, I do. The other younger species are going to be very pleased you are among the many. You will change the pace. That is the gift you give in return."

"We're going to mix together too. Humans will decide to live on their worlds, and some of them will live on ours. For one hundred eighty years, the last 'interference' has kept us from moving around. Most people didn't, but some always did. It kept us from trading, just because we like a bit different taste or art than everyone else. We pulled that incredible push to all accept the 'general opinion' into the sense of community required to free our world, after one hundred fifty years of not doing a damn thing, because revolution wasn't done. They just watched and waited because they were so sure we had to be part of anything. One hundred eighty years is too damn long to form an opinion something should be done about an emergency, and them giving us that hunk of math wouldn't have hurt us, if we hadn't been 'sick,' and they know it. We could have developed every application right after transpatial,. We'd already found a piece of it, so we'd have said, 'Thanks for the shortcut. Want to trade?' We got too damn settled, but you felt it was going to be... a contribution, just like the last times, and didn't ask to do something until it began to look like they were going to succeed in making it possible to buy us as slave labor."

"Yes, Blade. We were seeking consensus when Havadan, Loden and Curren decided to search for the way to end your oppression. First they, then you, accepted the responsibility to act on the opinion of your peoples. That is when you integrated the interference into your cultures, blended the heavy push to conform to 'general opinion' with your view each must act on personal principles completely."

"They were the source of the 'everybody knows travel is a waste of time' propaganda?"

"Yes and of that in the others, as well, Bard. The trip chairs, exploration fleet and Olympic Games restoration prepared your people to think of travel again, but it was the decision of families to move to this world that made the great change needed."

"Thank you. That was because our neighbors and family worked to repair shattered works of art, and mend broken hearts."

"All are here? This is what your peoples have truly earned, an introduction to the many peoples of the galaxy, and your place among them."
