"Supergrendels?" Chaka said. He grinned.

"Or stunted, stupid weak grendels," Jessica said.

"My God," Rachael Moscowitz said. "That's a horrible thought!"

"So we go find out," Jessica said. "And now's as good a time as any. A highland base with expeditions into the lowlands. Now. This year."

A swell of applause, and not only from the Second.

"Count me out." That too came from where the Second were seated, to be answered by catcalls. "Aww, poor baby-"

"Who staffs that base?" Zack had lost and knew it. "Who plans this expedition?"

"We can work that out," Jessica said. She looked meaningfully at Cadmann. "We're not fools, Governor. We want your advice."

"But not our leadership," Zack said quietly. "That's plain enough."

"We want that too, unless your leadership means doing nothing without your orders."

"We just want you to be safe-"

"If you wanted to keep us safe, you could have stayed on Earth!"

Mary Ann stood. Cadmann looked at her in surprise. Mary Ann almost never spoke at meetings.

She didn't wait to be recognized, but no one said anything. Certainly Jessica wasn't going to interrupt her. "Why do you think it was safe on Earth?" Mary Ann demanded. "It wasn't safe. Not even in the best neighborhoods. You must know that. We brought recordings."

"Mom-"

"It wasn't," Mary Ann said. "You think of Earth as some kind of paradise lost? An Eden? It was a horrible place, where all the education in the world wouldn't save you from losing your job, and there was nowhere you could go without graffiti, and smutty drawings, and criminals, and people demanding handouts and accusing you of being a criminal if you didn't give them something. Where... Jessica, it's safe here, really safe, but it wasn't safe on Earth. That's why we came here!"

There were murmurs of agreement from the First.

"Well, Mom, you make Earth sound more dangerous than the mainland."

"It was," Cadmann muttered. "We forgot that."

"It's still the end of the debate, amigo," Carlos said. "Jessica still wins."

"Yeah," Cadmann said. "And we'll have to plan it."

"What you mean ‘we,' paleface?"

"We've got some time, though," Cadmann said. "First they go look at the mines, initiate the Grendel Scouts. Time enough for serious planning when they get back."

Jessica thanked the audience and made her way back to her father. She quietly touched his shoulder. "Thanks, Dad. Mom."

Cadmann put his arms around Mary Ann and Sylvia, drawing them in close. Mary Ann chuckled. "If I know your father, you might be taking that thanks back in a few days. He's going to put you through the wringer."

"I wouldn't want it any other way."

"Jessica-can you and Justin come up for dinner?" Mary Ann brushed a strand of blond hair out of her eyes. "It would be nice to have a family dinner. We've been gone, and you'll be going over to the mainland..."

"Not tonight," Jessica said apologetically. "This is going to be big news at Surf's Up. I think that I need to be out there tonight."

Sylvia looked up at Cadmann. "How long do you think it will take to set up a lowland expedition?"

"Skeeter-based? Scouting out a location? A little preliminary work." He closed his eyes, musing. "Built it around the Robor vehicle. A fairly quick in-and-out. I would say no more than twelve hours, preparing for a much more thorough expedition in maybe a... month?"

Jessica nodded happily. "You're reading my mind, Dad."

"Plans will be on Cass by tomorrow morning. Okay?"

"Finest kind."

The meeting was breaking up. Jessica and her brother headed toward each other, hugged fiercely, and collected in a cluster with some of the other Second. They headed out the door together.

A hand smacked Cadmann's shoulder, and he turned around to face Aaron Tragon.

As usual, the sheer size of the young man hit Cadmann, hard. Reminded him of a friend... long ago.

Ernst. First casualty of the Grendels.

As such he should have felt a touch of nostalgia, of loss. Ernst had died because Cadmann thought he could handle it. Could handle everything.

And for a moment it felt as if Cadmann were moving in slow motion, Tragon's glittering, wide smile so intense and intimate that it seemed that the other shapes in the room faded to nothing.

The full force of Tragon's personality was so strong that Cadmann had to consciously remind himself where he was. Not in the past, but here, in the present, as if he had awakened from a micronap.

"-you for backing us, Cadmann. Jessica said that we could count on you."

His smile was dazzling.

"I imagine that you'll be going over?"

"Wouldn't miss Grendel Scout initiation."

"Good," Cadmann said, and meant it.

"Not that Justin can't take care of the kids," Aaron said carefully.

"Well, good night, sir. Thanks again."

Aaron turned, but before he could walk away Ruth Moscowitz blocked his path. She stared up at him in admiration. Aaron paused and took her hand. "You look lovely tonight, Ruth."

She beamed. "I thought you were just brilliant."

He touched her right hand to his lips, winked at her, and strode off to rejoin his coterie. Ruth took her right hand in her left as if she wanted to wrap it in tissue paper.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Mary Ann said.

Sylvia chuckled. "He's a nice young man. I can understand what Jessica sees in him."

Mary Ann's smile was ghastly. "Let's get home, Cad. I'd like to build a big fire in the bedroom. Get really toasty. Okay?"

"Sure."

Sylvia unwound herself from his arm, and headed off. "I want to check with Linda on her simulations. I'll be up to the Bluff later, all right?"

"No problem." The crowd was thinning now. Cadmann took Mary Ann's small hand in his, squeezed it gently. "Things are changing fast now. It had to happen."

"I... don't want to talk about it just now. Cad. Take me home."

SURF'S UP

Friendship is Love without his wings!

GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON, Hours of Idleness

Justin brought the skeeter in for a last approach to Surf's Up. He'd skidded through the mountain passes. The land road would have added an extra five minutes to the trip. The thermals coming over the mountains could be a little hairy, but there were beacons in the pass, both visual and radio, so that it was just dangerous enough to be fun. There were unofficial records for three paths through the mountains under varying conditions: on visual, on radio, blind at midnight, fog, storm.

It kept the lords and ladies of Surf's Up busy, if not out of mischief. It also drove the adults crazy.

When he called in for landing he didn't just get the usual Cassandra go-ahead. He got an audio channel, and from the background noise, the party had already begun.

He shot out of the pass at 120 kilometers per hour accelerating all the way, putting him well ahead of the other Seconds racing him back from the colony. Light flooded the beach from a huge flat vidscreen twenty meters square that showed a daylit mountain scene on the mainland. He took the last few meters skewing sideways, shot straight over Surf's Up and out over the ocean, where a little night action was under way.

Justin had viewed holograms from Hawaii; Malibu, California;

Australia; and other places supposed to have the best surf action on Earth. In Justin's expert opinion, Camelot Island beat them all. The water was cool but not cold, the waves rolled forever, and the surfing season lasted all year long.

Someone was riding his board in with a torch held aloft in one hand . ...o, now that he saw it more clearly, there were three of them, carrying horsemane gum torches that silvered the entire wave crest. Two girls and a guy, and one girl was Katya Martinez, lookin' good.