"Brothers are ready," Stonemaker said, smelling of ripe fruit and cut grass.

"Then we bring the plan to both crews." Hans raised his hands and the Brothers lifted their splayed heads high. "Courage!" he said. "Does that translate well? "

"It is the smell of being born," Stonemaker said.

"Couldn't put it better myself," Hans said.

Martin came awake to a soft touch on his shoulder. He had fallen asleep in the schoolroom, leaning against a wall. He rubbed his eyes and saw Erin Eire kneeling beside him. "Too much drill?" she asked.

He stood and stretched. They had two days until the split; preparations had come flooding down on them, and he was embarrassed that his exhaustion had made him drop off in a public place. "Trying to sleep before super deceleration."

"Uh huh," she said, unconvinced. "Donna guided the Wendys and a few Lost Boys in costume manufacture. Moms provided the fabric and did some assembly. We thought you'd like to see them. I think they're pretty neat, myself."

"Sure," Martin said. Erin led him past groups of other humans, sleeping. Many Smells and Dry Skin conferred with Giacomo near the star sphere; everybody looked exhausted except Erin Eire, who as always was bright-eyed, calmly confident.

"Where's Hans?" Erin asked as she walked steadily ahead.

"Putting together battle plans with Stonemaker, last I heard," Martin said.

" Trojan Horse'screw won't know the battle plans?" Erin asked. "In case they're captured?"

Martin shook his head. "No strategic weapons. What can we do?"

"Pray, I suppose," Erin said tersely. "We've been working in Kimberly Quartz's rooms, just up ahead…"

Rosa stepped from a side corridor, Jeanette Snap Dragon close behind. They blocked Erin and Martin's way. "We need to talk to Martin," Jeanette said.

Erin stepped aside. "Don't take too long. I'm going to show off the costumes."

"For a masquerade?" Rosa asked caustically. She looked if anything even more exhausted than Hans.

"You should leave," Jeanette said pointedly to Erin. Erin looked to Martin.

"If she wants, she can stay," Martin said.

"This is a private audience," Jeanette said.

"Who's giving the audience?" Martin asked.

"I thought you might have some promise," Rosa said. "Now I have my doubts. Let her stay, men. Word will get around faster." Rosa turned her full attention on Martin. "There's a separate crew forming. We're choosing a new Pan."

Martin folded his arms, too tired to express much surprise. "Oh?"

"I'm inviting you to join the crew. Some have said you'd be an asset."

"I said you would," Jeanette added, as if defying him to disappoint her.

"What good is a separate crew?"

"The ship is splitting," Rosa said. "Those who go with me have their freedom, Those who go with Hans… That's up to them. Will you join us?"

"We're dividing in three to perform a mission," Martin said. "There's no plan to let you or anybody take a ship."

"We've voted to split," Jeanette said, face flushed, left hand quivering. "You shouldn't stop us. Hans shouldn't. It would only prove how much freedom we've lost."

"I have concluded that Leviathan is innocent. We're in the wrong place," Rosa said.

"You've been told?" Martin asked without sarcasm.

"I've been told," Rosa said. Erin lifted her eyes and tilted her head to one side.

"Let's talk with Hans about it," Martin suggested.

"Hans is our enemy," Jeanette said. "He's—"

"Please," Rosa said, touching her arm. "Nobody's our enemy."

"How many agree with you?" Martin asked.

"Enough to make a difference," Rosa said.

"I'll meet with your people, then," Martin said.

"Without telling Hans?" Jeanette asked.

Rosa watched him closely, expression taut but not agitated.

"Without telling Hans. Erin, I'll see the costumes a little later."

Erin nodded and marched off.

"This is strictly between you and me," Martin called to her.

"Of course," Erin said. "Your secret."

"I'll call the people," Jeanette said.

"Do that," Rosa said. Jeanette ran down the corridor, vanished around a corner. "Hans taught me that extremes accomplish nothing. If I receive privileged information, I'm not about to give it to just anybody."

"Good," Martin said.

"You needed my words once, didn't you?" Rosa asked.

Martin saw no reason to lie. "They were attractive."

"But Hans' influence soured you. You thought I supported him and his plans, that he had co-opted me."

"It seemed that way."

"It wasn't that way. Hans took what he wanted from me, and I learned what I needed to learn. I must say, I miss the innocence of those first few weeks, when I could behave as the word took me."

"The word of God," Martin said.

Rosa shrugged. "Something speaks to me. Call it God if you need a name. For me, it's just a very powerful friend to all of us. We live in confusion… It clears away the confusion. "

Jeanette returned. "We're meeting now," she said.

Rosa had made new quarters for herself on the perimeter of the ship's second homeball.

Fifteen Wendys and five Lost Boys had gathered among the flowers. Rex Live Oak squatted on the floor next to a potted rosebush, glancing at Martin, turning away after a brief staring contest. The air thickened with an unpleasant mix of flower scent and stress.

Rosa took the center of the room.

"I've brought Martin here to explain our position," she said. "We are not planning a mutiny. We are simply asking to be allowed to go our own way. We opt out of the Law. "

How can they? Don't they feel it, the dying Earth, hear it in their blood and flesh?

"We'd hate to lose so many of you," Martin said. "I'm willing to listen, though."

"The aliens who have joined us are not acceptable," Rosa said. "They don't like us, and frankly, most of us don't feel comfortable with them."

"We're working with them," Martin said. "We're getting along pretty well, I think. Most of us." He looked at Rex, but Rex did not meet the challenge.

"I have been told their work does not fit with our own," Rosa said. "They have a different moral standard."

"If anything, their moral standard seems a little higher than our own, from what I've seen," Martin said.

"It is different, and that's sufficient. I have been told that it is not right to mix our destiny with the destinies of those not human."

So what is it, an abomination in the eyes of the Lord?That was Theodore Dawn talking in his head, tone bitter, voice nasal, a caricature of all that Theodore had hated.

"I don't see that at all," Martin said.

"I have been told, and for us, that's enough," Rosa said.

He conceded that for the moment. "We can't spare you. If you leave, we might not get the Job done."

"The Job is merely vengeance, and I have been told the races of Leviathan are innocent."

"I wish I had your sources," Martin said, trying to smile without showing his exasperation.

"You do," Rosa said, nodding. "I tell you."