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"Did he say anything specific?" Twisp asked "Could he have found a real hyb tank manifest?"

Brett shook his head "I don&039;t know So about it Bushka, he ever say anything to you about what&039;s up there?"

"Gallow hasdrea that&039;ll feed those dreams is real to him He never claimed to knoas in the tanks; he just knew the political value of having theht about Gallow," Scudi said

Twisp could ht "Gallow&039;s like a lot of Mermen - they believe the hyb tanks will save the world, destroy the world, make you rich or curse you forever"

"Same with Islanders," Brett said

"Speculation, but no facts," Twisp said

Scudi looked from Brett to Twisp and back to Brett How like Twisp Brett sounded! Laconic, practical - all based on rocklike integrity She studied Brettbody She sensed the power of the adult he would beco, but solid inside It came over her like a quick-dive narcosis that she wanted him for a lifetime

Twisp turned to the controls, started up the ed across the kelp into open water

Scudi glanced around the brightening day She scratched under the neck seal of her dive suit, and, with an iesture, shucked out of the suit and spread it across the thwarts to dry She did this after one slanced once at her, noting the vestigial webs between her toes, but otherwise an ideal, Merman-normal body He hadn&039;t seen that many up close He forced himself to look away, but noticed that Bushka, too, could not help staring at Scudi She worked close beside Bushka, turning the dive suit and fluffing it as the wind blew it dry Tatched Bushka&039;s eyes flick up from the water, over Twisp at the stern, up and down Scudi&039;s body, back to the water

Twisp had long believed that Mermen didn&039;t have the same drives as Islanders, and he related it to the free display of their perfect bodies Scudi&039;s display bore that out in his mind Mermen lived sodive suits that they would have to develop different feelings about the body than the bulky-clothed Islanders

Not ht He could see that Bushka was bothered by Scudi&039;s proxi what any nor at her Scudi, however, was not able to keep her eyes off Brett

So He reminded himself that Mermen sometimes married Islanders, and sometimes it worked out

Bushka shifted his attention from Scudi to Brett and the look on Bushka&039;s face was like a shouted statement to Twisp It was the kid&039;s eyes

Not as normal as I am! That was the look on Bushka&039;s face

Twisp re hands with a long-armed woman - the first time he&039;d seen two of the out his personal rejection of that scene and with his digging had coht

Like me That&039;s hoe define huht down its dark trail and co that couple

Jealousy

He had only chosen wo a specific trait to children got too high when sienetic tienerations

Most of us aren&039;t willing to pass along anything except hope

So on in Bushka

He doesn&039;t like Brett, Twisp thought He doesn&039;t know it yet When he figures it out he won&039;t knohy He won&039;t want to adood to tell him

It was obvious to anyone who looked at her when she studied Brett that Scudi had eyes only for the kid

Brett had found the larder and quick-heated so at Scudi, he said, "Scudi, so to eat?"

Scudi, her dive suit aired out sufficiently, slipped it back over her lithe young body She finished closing the seals "Yes, please, Brett," she said "I&039;ry"

Brett passed her a filled bowl and looked a question at Twisp, who shook his head Bushka accepted a bowl froht hesitation that spoke loudly to Twisp

Doesn&039;t want to owe the kid anything!

Brett had been brought up on Islander courtesy over food and so had Bushka The early training do his ol A dasher couldn&039;t have gobbled it faster Presently, Brett held his bowl over the side, cleaned it and put it away He looked up at Twisp

"Thanks," he said

"For what?" Twisp asked, surprised The food belonged to all of the me how to pay attention, and how to think"

"Did I do that?" Twisp asked "I thought people were born knowing how to think"

Bushka heard this exchange with an ill-concealed sneer He sat brooding The news about Gallow and his crew - Green Dashers! In striking range! The proximity of the Gallow-Nakano-Zent trio filled Bushka with terror They were sure to coitives Why wouldn&039;t they? Ryan Wang&039;s daughter was here, for Ship&039;s sake! What a hostage! He thought then about Zent, those glossy, unfeeling eyes with their deep-down delight at pain Bushka wondered how these two young people had outsh Galloas prone to underestiht at Scudi Ship! What a body! Whoever owned her owned the world, and he knew that was no exaggeration There could be little doubt that her father had controlled h his food operations, and now that he was dead it would surely pass to Scudi Bushka half-closed his eyes and studied the young couple beside hiht theer of assumptions while he&039;d been boat-bound with Twisp Scudi obviously had a first-love crush on the kidbut that would pass It always did Her father&039;s minions were still alive They would put a stop to it once they found out Once they took a good look at the kid&039;s mutated eyes

Twisp stood up at the tiller and peered ahead, shading his eyes against the rising ball of sun "Foil," he said "It&039;s heading for Vashon"

"I told you!" Bushka shouted

"Looked like an orange stripe along the cabin top," Twisp said "Official"

"They&039;re looking for us," Bushka said His teeth began to chatter

"Not changing course," Twisp said "They&039;re in a real hurry" He reached down and flipped the switch on his eency-band radio receiver

The sound of the Vashon announcer came on in midsentence: " who there was no immediate further threat to Vashon&039;s substructure We are hanging bottoin of enormous dimensions There is exposed land and surf immediately to the east of us Fisherh the clear water fro evacuated because of grounding Vashon itself is in no i as the cal and Merman help has been assured Hourly bulletins will be provided and you are advised to keep tuned to the eency band"

Scudi shook her head and whispered, "Current Control wasn&039;t supposed to let soe," Bushka said "It&039;s Gallow&039;s doing I know it"

"Exposed land," TwispHe could feel it

Down the course of history, people have been the principal cause of human deaths It is possible to alter that course here on Pandora

- Kerro Panille, the Histories

Ward Keel&039;s head throbbed in time to his heartbeat He opened his eyes a crack but shut the interior whine filled his ears, blotting out the world around him He tried to lift his head but failed His neck support had been re cas to reain, he tried to lift his head and gained only a few millimeters The back of his head thuripped his throat Keel gulped quick lungfuls of air to keep fro The air tasted thick and humid and did not help much

Where in the name of Ship am I?

Bits of memories flickered into his mind Ale And someonethat Shadow Panille He reument between Ale and so&039;s operation She had ended it by re Keel totoHe could not remember But they had left Ale&039;s complex That much he recalled

Thick air all around hi his left eye A dark shape loohts

"He&039;s co around"

A s whine in Keel&039;s ears began to wind down He tried opening both eyes wider Slowly, a face came into focus above him: crisscrossed scars on the cheeks and brow, a twisted htreen smeared up to the neck below those awful scars

"Don&039;t fuss over hied in ice

The scarred face regarded Keel oncefar back in there that refused to ee Nakano? Keel felt that the nanite an iood to us dead," Nakano said "And you hit him pretty hard with that stuff Hand me some water"

"Get it yourself I don&039;t tote for Mutes"

Nakano re in a moment to bend closer with a beaker and a straw A hand striped with green paint put the straeen Keel&039;s lips

"Drink it," Nakano said "I think it&039;ll help"

Hit hiKareen Ale screa atat

"It&039;s just water," Nakano said He ainst Keel&039;s lips

Keel sucked in cold water and felt the soothing splash of it into his cra stomach He told himself that he should reach for the beaker but his hands refused to cooperate

Straps!

Keel felt the restrained, then Why? He took another deep drink of the water and pushed the straw froue

Nakano removed the beaker and released the restraints

Keel flexed his fingers and tried to say "thanks," but the as no more than a dry whistle in his throat

Nakano placed so on Keel&039;s chest and Keel felt the familiar outlines of his neck appliance

"Took it off when you puked and daure how to get it back on you"

Keel felt weak but his fingers knew this fa the support into place around his neck T spots pained him where the braces met his shoulders So it

Lucky they didn&039;t break my neck

With the support in place, Keel&039;s thick shoulder ht The brace slipped into its usual position and he winced at the pain He saw that he was in a sray metal walls

"Do you have a celltape?" he asked His voice echoed in his ears and sounded much deeper than he remembered Keel rested his forehead in his hands and listened as soh a case The table that Keel sat on was urney, but a low dining table, Merman-style, within a cluster of low padded chairs and a couch Everything seemed constructed out of old, dead materials

Nakano handed him a roll of celltape and, as if in answer to an unasked question, said, "We put you on the table because you weren&039;t breathing good The couch is too soft"

"Thanks"

Nakano grunted and sat back down in a chair behind Keel