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Lucius Greer lived threethe first settler on the island, as yet unnamed, to die upon its soil He spoke no ained full consciousness Yet from time to time, as Sara or one of the others attended to hi fro surrounded by tall palms with a view of the sea Apart from the men who had worked on the boat, few of the ship’s complement knew the man or even who he was, least of all the children, who had heard only vague ru hout the ceremony Nobody minded; it seemed suitable Lore was the first to speak, followed by Rand and Sara They had decided in advance that each would tell a story Lore spoke of his friendship with Michael; Rand, the tales Greer had told him about his life in the Expeditionary; Sara, the day she and Greer had o, in Colorado, and all that had happened there When this was done, they forrave, which bore a simple marker Lore had fashioned from pieces of driftwood:

LUCIUS GREER

SEER, SOLDIER, FRIEND

It was the next hies to return to the Bergensfjord, which waited at anchor a thousand yards offshore There had been soreement on the matter--the ship contained all manner of usable materials--but Lore was firm and, as captain, had final say We let her rest, she told them It’s what Michael wanted

She had not, in fact, opened Michael’s letter until their second day on the island, by which tiun to suspect what it said She could not say why this should be so; perhaps it was merely her sense of the man Thus it ithout undo surprise, only a pleasant sense of hearing his voice, that she read the three sie locker 16

Scuttle the ship

Start over

Love, M

The storage locker contained a crate of explosives, as well as spools of cable and a radio detonator Michael had left instructions for their proper distribution Caleb and Hollis ran the cables through the passagehile Lore and Rand distributed the explosives throughout the hull The fuel tanks, now nearly ehly combustible diesel fumes Lore turned on the e

There was no further discussion about ould happen next; the job was Lore’s The h the ship, its silent rooht of Michael as she walked, for the two, Michael and the Bergensfjord, were one and the saratitude, for all he had given her