He set his feet, grasped the metal thing, put his back into it. The collar lurched. Again. He turned it until it was loose in his hands, and kept turning. The hose came loose. A mouthful of water spilled out. Lawri nodded and turned away.

"Scientist's Apprentice? Where does the water go?"

"It's taken apart," she said. "The skin of the carm picks up sunlight and pumps the energy into the water. The water cOmes apart. Oxygen goes in one tank and hydrogen goes in the other. When they come together in the motors, the energy comes back and you get a flame."

He was trying to imagine water coming apart, when Lawn asked,

"Why did you want to know?"

"I was a Scientist. Why did you tell me?"

She sent herself skimming across the seats and settled herself at the controls. The Grad moored the coiled hose to fixtures in the cargo area.

The tank must be behind the wall. The carm had been nearly out of fuel . . . which came in two "flavors"? There must be fuel by now; the artificial pond was visibly shrunken.

Lawri tapped the blue button as he came up behind hen. The display she'd been studying disappeared before he could see it. The Grad had half forgotten his question when she turned to him and said, "The Scientist quizzes me like that. Since I was ten. If I can't answer I get some dirty job. But I don't like having my buttons pushed, Jeffer, and that information is classified!"

"Scientist's Apprentice, who is it that calls you Lawn?"

"Not you, copsik."

"I know that."

"The Scientist. My parents."

"I don't know anything about marriage customs here." "Copsiks don't get married."

"You're not a copsik. Would your husband call you Lawri?"

The airlock thumped, and Lawn turned in some relief. "Kiance?" "Yes. Put that display on again, will you, Lawn?"

She looked at the Grad, then back at Klance.

"Now," said the Scientist. Lawn obeyed. She'd made her point: she'd show scientific secrets to a copsik, but only under protest. Dominance games again. If she really cared, she would have removed the hose herself~

Theblueightsandnumbershadtodowithwhatmovedthecarm, as green governed the carm's sensing instruments and yellow moved the doors and white read the cassettes . . . and more. He was sure that they all did more than he knew. And red? He'd never seen red.

Every time he saw this display, certain numbers were larger. Now they read 02: 1,664. H2: 3,181. Klance was nodding in approval. "Ready to go any time. Still, I think we'll feed in the rest of the reservoir. Jeffer, come here." He cut the blue display and activated the yellow. "This number tells you if there's a storm coming, if you watch it."

"What is it?"

"It's the external air pressure."

"Can't you see a storm coming?"