Clave had a hand on Gavving's shoulder. "Calm down, boy. Grad, where would they go?"

The Grad tried to think. It was Horse who spoke. "Not the fin. That's Navy. Maybe nobody would notice some extra women at the Commons or the schools. Or maybe they'd just stay where they are and wait."

"Jinny'll be at the treemouth anyway. Okay." The Grad fired the forward motors.

The carm lifted tail-first from the tuft, leaving fires in its wake. Lawn screamed, "You're setting the tree on fire!"

She was ignored. "I've been to the pregnant women's complex," the Grad said. "I haven't been in the Commons."

"Aifm has," Gavving said. "It's big, and it reaches to the treemouth. If we can get the carm into the treemouth-"

Lawn writhed. "You can't! You can't burn the treemouth, what are you? This isn't mutiny anymore, it's just wanton destruction!"

Anthon asked mildly, "Will London Tree trade with copsik mutineers?"

Lawn was silent.

"Lying wouldn't have helped. You were too convincing before. We'll go get our people."

The cam moved sideways above the tuft, accelerating sluggishly.

Then there was clear sky below, and the Grad swung the carm around. They were dropping past the treemouth. The carm slowed, hovered.

The Grad touched paired yellow dots. Light flared into the Commons in twin beams, as if the carm were a tethered sun.

Women were running . . . away. Jungle giants all, leapfrogging across the woven spine-branch floor. None were the right size, nor dark enough, to be Jinny.

"Drop it," Clave said as if his voice hurt him. "Go for the pregnant women's compound. How do we get there?"

The Grad let the carm sink. They were below the tuft now: blue sky below, green passing above. "It's under the branch. I think our best move is to go up into it. I may not hit it exactly, and the Navy may have figured out what we're doing by now. Are you ready for a fight?"

"Yes," said several voices.

The Grad grinned. "Maybe I can scrape off the silver man too. I notice he's still with us . . . Now what's that?"

Things were falling from the foliage. A bundle of cloth tied with line. Long loaves of bread. A bird carcass, cleaned and skinned. Then the green sky was raining women. Jayan, Jinny, and a jungle giant: lIsa?

"They jumped," Gavving said in wonder. "What if we hadn't come?"

"We did," Merril said. "Get 'em!"

Two big leather bags fell, and then another woman, leaping head-

down to catch up with the rest: Minya.

The Grad cut the motors and took a moment to think. He was aware of voices yelling at him but was able to ignore the intrusive noises.

Got to catch them in the airlock What about the silver man? He was still clinging to the dorsal surface. The Grad rotated the carm to put it between the pressure-suited dwarf and the falling women.