"There's room to extend the hut," she said. "We'd have another pair of hands, adult hands. The children are growing up, they're not as much fun any more-"

And if some of us marry Serjent women, we'll have their loyalty when the Admiralty comes to us! Logbearer can't be the only ship in the sky. Gavving wondered if his brain was working in the service of his seeds. Minya had not referred to Mishael's alien beauty.

And if we do visit the Clump, his brain ran on, we'll need guides. Booce or Ryllin would have to go. With their daughters among us, we'd have their loyalty-

Chapter Five

The Silver Suit

from the Admiralty cassettes, year 3 SM:

WE WERE CHOSEN FOR THIS. NO CITIZEN LEAVES EARTH ORBIT UNTIL THE STATE HAS LEARNED HIS TOLERANCE FOR FREE-FALL. ONE IN TEN THOUSAND HAVE THE GENETIC QUIRKS TO SURVIVE MONTHS OR YEARS OF FREE-FALL WITHOUT SOFTENING OF THE BONES, WITHOUT FAILURE OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM, WITHOUT THE TERROR OF FALLING.

WE SERVED THE STATE BY FLYING TO THE STARS. WHEN THE DRIVE WAS OFF WE PLAYED AT FLYING, WHILE CRAMPED IN A SEEDER RAMSHIP WITH BARELY ROOM TO FLAP OUR ARMS. HERE IS REAL FLIGHT. OF COURSE THE SMOKE RING SEEMS AN INCREDIBLE DREAM COME TRUE-TO US.

-SHARON LEVOY, ASTROGATION

"KENDY FOR THE STATE. HELLO, JEFFER. IT'S BEEN more than thirty days."

"I was busy. We got our council. It's over."

"How did it go?"

"We lost."

"Who sided against you?"

"Clave. Jayan and Jinny. Minya. Mark."

"Five out of ten. If you count the Serjents, twelve."

"Thirteen. Mishael's old enough, and married too, but she acts like a junior wife. She won't make Minya or Gavving angry. Gavving doesn't want to fight with Minya. The Serjents don't think like citizens yet. Anthon won't get into the arguments. I'm not really sure where he stands. The rest of us want to see what's out there, but we don't all want it enough. Debby loves arguing, but she's not very good at it. We didn't give Clave any trouble at all."

"You're disappointed. Don't be. Did you think that flying would bring them around? People tend to side with authority, and authority tends to protect its own power. Clave is the key. Clave has everything he wants in Citizens Tree."

"Kendy, do you see us as savages?"

"Yes. Don't take that too seriously, Scientist. I would probably see the Admiralty as savages too. I want to educate you all."

"Then educate me, Kendy. I can't just take Booce and Ryllin and go off into the sky. We-"

"You must go, Jeffer. The wealth of the L4 point is almost irrelevant. It takes many people to hold a civilization together. There are too few of you here to be more than savages!"