DAY 1370. I'LL STOP FEEDING THE PIPEFIRE SOON. LET IT BURN OUT BEFORE THE BUGS CUT THE TUFT LOOSE. I CAN GUIDE US INTO THE POND ON THE LAST OF OUR STEAM.

IF THE ROCKET RUNS DRY IT'LL TEACH THE GIRLS CAUTION. WE'LL STILL FILL THE TANK BEFORE WE REACH THE CLUMP . YOU ALWAYS BUMP A POND OR TWO WHEN YOU'RE MOVING.

DAY 1380. A MATURE TREE IS DRIFTING TO BLOCK OUR PATH. DAMMIT. MAYBE IT'LL MOVE PAST. NO FURTHER ENTRIES.

THE CARM PICKED THEM UP ON THE BRANCH AND returned to its dock with the cabin half filled with foliage. Rather suspected that they would not eat foliage again, nor sleep in decent tide, for a long time.

He heard the argument when Clave wanted to restart the motor. "There's no point," Jeffer told him. "We'd be using fuel to fight wind. We're doing fine."

Booce added his voice to Jeffer's. "We'll sail even further in after the tuft severs. Leave us something to breathe!"

Had anyone else seen Clave glance aft? Clave had taken less than a breath to read the faces of his crew, but Rather had caught it.

Not so long ago, far away in Citizens Tree, Gavving had spoken thus to his eldest son: "You're a citizen now. Watch Clave during a meeting. He leads where we'll go. He always has. You don't have to go Clave's way just because Clave says so ..." The motor stayed off.

The tree moved ponderously west and in. Its westward motion slowed over several days. The days were shorter, and Voy had come nearer. The smallest children learned never to look directly at Voy; but Rather could tell. In the corner of his eye the violet-white pinpoint was more intense, closer and smaller, with less sky to blur and distort it.

It took six days to make a sleep; then seven. Time whirled around them until they stopped caring. The journey had become more important than their destination.

The crew lived on the bark, all but Jeffer. They found the CARM too strange. Even Rather left the CARM after a few sleeps. He had learned that he liked strangeness;

but he sensed that Jeffer saw him as an intruder. The Scientist captains the CARM.

Debby and Booce disappeared down the trunk to monitor the progress of the bugs. They returned with smoked dumbo meat and two cured skins, which Booce shaped into armor that looked remarkably like the silver suit.

"We won't use it this trip, but it's standard gear. The Navy will expect us to have it."

A grove of integral tree sproutlings passed Voy-ward of the tree, the first the citizens had ever seen. They were a few scores of meters long, tufted only at the out end.

"The seeds drop away, out and in," Booce told them.

"After they sprout, they have to sail back to the median. They'll grow the other tuft when there's enough to feed them."