Oakes hunched forward toward his audience in a gesture of confidence, smiling. “Few of our people are here this morning and you all know the very good reasons for this. Pandora is unforgiving. We all lost loved ones in the four failures on Black Dragon.”

He gestured vaguely westward where the rocky eminences of Black Dragon lay hidden beyond the mists of more than a thousand kilometers of ocean. Oakes knew that none of those failures could be laid at his hatch; he had been very careful about that. And his presence permanently groundside imparted a feeling of excitement about Colony prospects here on the undulating plains of The Egg. That sense of impending success had contributed to the confrontation brewing in this room. Colonists were beginning to think beyond the present state of siege, rubbing their wishes together, shaping their desires for personal futures.

“As most of you know.” Oakes said, lifting his amplifier to make his voice carry, “I am groundside to stay, groundside to direct the final push for victory.”

There was a polite spatter of applause, much less than he had expected. It was high time he came groundside! He had loyalties to weld, organization to improve.

“The Demarest petition, then,” he said. “Point One: elimination of one-man patrols.” He shook his head. “I wish it could be done. Perhaps you don’t understand the reason for them. I’ll put it plainly. We are conditioning the animals of Pandora to run like hell when they see a human!”

That brought a rewarding burst of applause.

Oakes waited for it to subside, then: “Your children will have a safer world because of your bravery. Yes, I said your children. It is my intent to bring the Natali groundside.”

Shocked murmurs greeted this announcement.

“This will not happen immediately,” Oakes said, “but it will happen. Now—Point Two of the Demarest petition.” He pursed his lips in recollection. “ ‘No major decision about Colony risks or expansion shall be made without approval by a clear majority of Colonists voting in Council. Do I have that right, Rachel?” He glanced back at her but did not wait for her to respond.

Glancing once more at the scattered papers of the petition on the floor below him, he looked hard at the front row and swept his gaze across the audience.