"This is sera Emory," Dr. Wojkowski said to the frowning Security Instructor who looked at her like she was an upstart CIT brat. "Florian and Catlin"s Supervisor."

The man changed in a hurry. "Sera," he said, Catlin-like, stiff. "We"re still investigating. We"ll need to debrief both of them under trank."

"No," she said.

"Young sera, -"

"I said no. Let them alone."

"Sera is correct," a hard voice said, from a man in ordinary clothes, who had come up on the other side of the group, a man a little out of breath.

It was Seely. She never thought she would be that glad to see Seely in her whole life.

Uncle Denys couldn"t run. But Seely had, clear from Administration. And Florian and Catlin were right: Seely was Security, she knew it the minute he launched into the Instructor.

It was a lot lot better. Florian had had a piece of metal driven into his leg, that was the worst, but they had gotten that out, and he had sprains and bruises, and he was going to be sore, because they had pulled a lot of building blocks off the door that had fallen on him. better. Florian had had a piece of metal driven into his leg, that was the worst, but they had gotten that out, and he had sprains and bruises, and he was going to be sore, because they had pulled a lot of building blocks off the door that had fallen on him.

"Fools," was what Seely said when Ari asked him what he had found out, talking to Catlin and talking to the Instructor and the Hostage, when he came around, what little he could. When she heard it she drafted Seely into the room where Florian was starting to come around. "Tell him," him," she said, while Catlin came into the room behind Seely and stood there with her arms folded. she said, while Catlin came into the room behind Seely and stood there with her arms folded.

So Seely did. "Are you hearing me?" Seely asked Florian.

"Yes," Florian said.

"The Instructor is under reprimand. The amount of explosives allotted exceeded the strength of the set-up. The Hostage attempted a distraction according to his orders, while the team inside was Trapping the door. The Hostage doesn"t know what happened at that point. He took out one team member. Apparently the two working with the door had set their kit close to them, probably right between them, and possibly the distraction, or the third boy falling against them-dropped the charge they were working with into two others they had in the kit."

"They didn"t start Trapping the door they were behind until we got in past the Minder," Catlin said, walking close to the bed. "They thought they could get out and score points, because there was a third team coming in at our backs. They didn"t tell us that. They were working with the Enemy and they were supposed to hit us from behind. But they were sticking to the Instructor"s timetable and we got past the Minder too fast. . . ."

"Too fast fast?" Florian murmured, with a flutter of his eyes. "That"s crazy. What was I supposed to do?"

"... so the other team tried to improvise and tried to Trap the door when they knew we were ahead of what they expected. And the Hostage followed his orders, kicked the guard, but the guard fell into the two at the door and they dropped the charge right into their kit. Wasn"t your fault. We couldn"t fire into the room because of the Hostage. He was supposed to be on our side and cause them them trouble. It was a double-team exercise. So it was the set-up that went wrong." trouble. It was a double-team exercise. So it was the set-up that went wrong."

"You didn"t Trap the door," Seely asked Florian.

"I can"t remember," Florian said. Then, blearily: "No. I wouldn"t. No reason. Not in the plan."

"You didn"t," Catlin said. "I was covering your back, in case the third Enemy was behind. You were going to blow the door and gas the room, remember?"

Florian grimaced as if it hurt. "I can"t-remember. It"s just gone. I don"t even remember it blowing."

"Happens," Seely said, arms folded, just like Catlin. Ari sat there in a straight chair and listened. And wondered at Seely. "You may never get those seconds back. The shock jolted you. But you"re all right. It wasn"t your fault."

"You don"t put your charges-" Florian said thickly, "under where you"re working."

"You don"t exceed your building limits with the charges in a training exercise, either, or set up a double-team course with a Murphy-factor in it like that in a dead-end room. You exceeded expectations. The other team fell below. End report. You"ll be back in training next week. They won"t."

"Yes, ser," Florian said quietly. "I"m sorry about them, though."

"He needs tape," Seely said, looking at Ari. "He shouldn"t feel that way. That"ll give him trouble in future."

That made her mad; and shouldn"t. Seely was trying to help. "I"ll decide," she said, afraid he was going to say that to uncle Denys too.

Seely nodded, very short, very correct. "I have business," he said, "if that"s all, sera. You"re doing everything right here."

"Thank you, Seely. Very much. Tell uncle Denys I might be over here for supper."

"Yes, sera."

Seely left.

Catlin walked over to the chair, arms still folded, and sat down.

"Catlin," Ari said. "Did you you get hit?" get hit?"

"Not much," Catlin said. "Most of my end of the hall was still standing." She flexed her left arm and wrist. "Sprain from moving the blocks. That"s all."

"I went too fast," too fast," Florian said, like he was still a little tranked. "That"s crazy. It was an old-model Minder." Florian said, like he was still a little tranked. "That"s crazy. It was an old-model Minder."

"They made the mistake," Catlin said firmly, definite as the sun in the sky. "We didn"t."

Ari bit her lip. Florian Florian got to use the House library. Florian got into the manuals for the House systems. Florian knew a lot of things they didn"t, down in the Town, because Florian and Catlin never stopped learning. got to use the House library. Florian got into the manuals for the House systems. Florian knew a lot of things they didn"t, down in the Town, because Florian and Catlin never stopped learning.

She went out in the hall, got permission for the phone, and called uncle Denys herself.

"Uncle Denys," she said, "Florian worked the course too fast. That"s what they"re saying. He got hurt for being better. That"s lousy, uncle Denys. He could have gotten killed. Three people did. did. Aren"t there any better Instructors down there?" Aren"t there any better Instructors down there?"

Uncle Denys didn"t answer right off. Then he said: "I"ve got Seely"s report up now. Give me a while. How is he?"

"He"s d.a.m.n sore," she said, forgetting not to say d.a.m.n d.a.m.n to uncle Denys. And told him what Dr. Wojkowski had said and what Seely and Catlin had said. to uncle Denys. And told him what Dr. Wojkowski had said and what Seely and Catlin had said.

"I agree with you. If that"s borne out in the report, we"re going to have to do something. Do you want to spend the night down there, or is he going to need that?"

"I want to do it. With Catlin."

"All right," uncle Denys said, without arguing at all. "Make sure you get something to eat. Hear?"

Uncle Denys surprised her sometimes. She went back to the room, feeling a little like she had been hit with something too. Everything had been so good, and then everything went so bad. And then Seely and Denys both got reasonable, when she least expected it.

"They"re going to fix things," she said to Catlin, because Florian"s eyes were shut. "I just called uncle Denys. I think there"s a foul-up somewhere higher up than the Instructor. I think you know too much for down there."

"Sounds right," Catlin said. "But it makes me mad, sera. They keep saying we"re a little better than they expect. They wasted those azi. They were all right. They weren"t the best in Green, but they didn"t need to get killed. They lived right across the hall from us."

"Dammit," she said, and sat down with her hands between her knees. Cold all over and sick at her stomach, because it was not a game, what they did was never a game, Catlin was right from the start.

ix Florian was still limping a little, but he was doing all right when he came into the barn with Catlin and Amy and the other kids. Ari watched him, watched a smile light his face when he saw the Mare and the filly-two fillies. One with a light mane and tail, that was Ari"s; and one with black-that was Horse"s daughter.

"Look at her!" Florian exclaimed. And forgot all about his limp; and came and patted the Mare on the shoulder, and hugged her around the neck. Which impressed h.e.l.l out of the kids. Except Catlin, of course, who knew Florian wasn"t scared of horses.

The Mare deserved it in Ari"s estimation. The Mare mothered both babies, the one she had birthed and the one who was her genesister, which of course the Mare could not understand, except the Mare was just generous and took care of both of them.

"She"s so big," Amy said.

They were a little scared of the fillies top. It was the first time they had ever been close to animals, and they were still afraid they were going to get knocked down-good guess, because they tended to spread out and get too close and dodge into each other"s and the horses" way when the horses shied. Even Catlin, who backed up and tucked her hands behind her, stiff and azi, when "Stasi nearly b.u.mped into her. Maddy yelped and nearly got it from the Mare"s backside, and Ari just dropped her face into her hands and looked up again, with the horses all off across the big barn arena and the kids looking a little foolish.

"You have to go a little slower," Andy said from behind them. "They don"t want to step on you. But you smell funny to them."

The kids looked at Andy as if they thought he was joking or they had just been insulted.

"Come on," Ari said to Florian. "Let"s see if we can get her."

"Wait, sera, I can," Florian said, and walked after her.

It was strange finally to come out in the open, and pretend they were mostly friends of Amy"s, that everyone knew was her friend, and who, she figured, was safer from Disappearing than anybody else because her mama was a friend of uncle Denys and uncle Giraud. She didn"t think it would happen anymore, but the kids worried; and that was the set-up she had worked out with Amy-because the kids were still worried.

But, she told them, they could go to places like seeing the new babies together and not have anybody get onto the fact she had friends, the same way she could buy things for people and not have uncle Giraud know they saw each other more than at parties. Andy wasn"t in the House circuit, so Andy wouldn"t tell everything he saw and neither would the azi in the barn. So they felt safer.

Florian caught the Mare with no trouble. He brought her back and the fillies came right along. That impressed the kids too.

It was strange how the kids looked at Florian and Catlin now, too, since Florian had come back still a little stiff and sore, and she had had Florian and Catlin tell what had happened down there in the Exercise-it was all right to tell them, she had explained to Florian and Catlin, because they were CITs and they were in the House, except Sam, and Sam was all right. So Florian had started telling it, but when he got to the part where he went down the hall, he couldn"t remember past that point, and Catlin had to tell it, and about the hospital and everything.

It was the first time either one of them had said more than a sentence or two at a time to the kids, and it was something to get Catlin to tell a story; but once Catlin got warmed up, Catlin knew enough gory stories to get them all going, and all of a sudden the kids seemed to figure out that Florian and Catlin were real. That a whole lot of things were. That they had seen dead people That they really could do what she said.

-Not, really, she thought that they had ever doubted her, but that they had had no way to understand what it was like to walk down a hall toward an Enemy, carrying explosives which, thank G.o.d, had not gone off... or even that there were Enemies who could come right up on Reseune"s grounds and try to blow things up or shoot people.

They started wondering why, that was one thing that was different. They wanted to know what went on on in the Council and why people had wanted to take things from her in Court-and they got to questions where she couldn"t give them all the answers. in the Council and why people had wanted to take things from her in Court-and they got to questions where she couldn"t give them all the answers.

"That"s something I"m still trying to figure out," she had told them. "Except there are people who don"t want azi to be born and they"d like to shut Reseune down."

"We do more than azi," Sam had said.

"Florian and Catlin wouldn"t like not to be born," Amy had said.

"They might be born," Ari said, "but they"d bring them up like CITs and teach them like CITs. They wouldn"t like it."

"Would you?" Amy had asked them, because they had started asking Florian and Catlin questions that didn"t go through her.

"No," Florian had said, very quiet, while Catlin shook her head. Ari knew. Florian was too polite to say what he had said to her when she had talked with them about it before: that he didn"t like most CITs, because they were kind of slow about things; a lot of CITs, he had said, worked harder trying to make up their minds what what to do than they did doing what they d decided, and he hated to be around people like that. And Catlin had said, a depth of thought which had surprised her, that she figured CITs had made azi to run things like Security because they knew they couldn"t trust each other with guns. , to do than they did doing what they d decided, and he hated to be around people like that. And Catlin had said, a depth of thought which had surprised her, that she figured CITs had made azi to run things like Security because they knew they couldn"t trust each other with guns. , "Do you like like being azi?" "Stasi had gotten far enough to ask, that time down in the tunnels. being azi?" "Stasi had gotten far enough to ask, that time down in the tunnels.

Florian had gotten a little embarra.s.sed, and nodded without saying a thing.

"I think he"s s.e.xy," Maddy had said outright, in school, not in Florian or Catlin"s hearing. "I wish I I had him." And giggled. had him." And giggled.

I"m glad you don"t, had been Ari"s thought. had been Ari"s thought.

That popped into her head again while Florian was leading the horses back: he was so neat and trim in his black uniform, you couldn"t see he was a kid if you didn"t know the Mare"s height. Florian and Catlin-were enough to make you jealous you couldn"t walk like that and look like that and be like Because CITs didn"t take care of themselves like that, she thought, they ate too much and they spent too much of their time sitting down and, face it, she told herself, nature dealt Amy eyes that had to be corrected and made Tommy just average-looking, and didn"t give Maddy any sense.

While Florian and Catlin looked like that and were so good at what they did that they were out of Green and into House Security, because they were just better than their predecessors-because they were taught after after the War, Denys had said, using modern-day stuff that made them work harder and use what they had, and because she was right, they had learned a lot of cla.s.sified stuff up in the House that the Instructors down in Green didn"t even know about, that was different since sometime in the War, too. All of which came down to the fact that they started doing their tape in House Security, and that after this no Exercise with them involved could use a double-blind situation. the War, Denys had said, using modern-day stuff that made them work harder and use what they had, and because she was right, they had learned a lot of cla.s.sified stuff up in the House that the Instructors down in Green didn"t even know about, that was different since sometime in the War, too. All of which came down to the fact that they started doing their tape in House Security, and that after this no Exercise with them involved could use a double-blind situation.

Like adult Security. Because their reactions had gotten so fast and so dangerous there was no way to make it safe if they got surprised, and they could push other teams past all their training.

She was d.a.m.ned glad Maddy didn"t didn"t have their Contracts. d.a.m.ned glad Maddy didn"t have her hands on Florian and didn"t have any chance to mess with that partnership, because she understood now beyond any doubt that it was life-and-death business with them. She had made Florian late for one study-session, Florian and Catlin had thrown everything they had into their Exercise, afraid they were going to fail it; and that had made them overrun the course and push another team to the point it got rattled and made a mistake, that was what had happened, so that three azi had gotten killed was, at least remotely, her fault. Not blamable fault, but it was part of the chain of what had happened, and she had to live with that. have their Contracts. d.a.m.ned glad Maddy didn"t have her hands on Florian and didn"t have any chance to mess with that partnership, because she understood now beyond any doubt that it was life-and-death business with them. She had made Florian late for one study-session, Florian and Catlin had thrown everything they had into their Exercise, afraid they were going to fail it; and that had made them overrun the course and push another team to the point it got rattled and made a mistake, that was what had happened, so that three azi had gotten killed was, at least remotely, her fault. Not blamable fault, but it was part of the chain of what had happened, and she had to live with that.

She was terribly glad she hadn"t done anything with Florian that would have put any more strain on him. Because he could just as well have been dead, and it would have been her fault, really, truly her fault.

Maddy was right. He was so d.a.m.ned pretty. She wanted so much to do with him exactly what Maddy wanted to do.

And Maddy would have no idea in her head why she couldn"t.

She wished to h.e.l.l Ari senior could could talk back and forth, because she had tried to ask Base One if Ari had anything to say about Florian being in hospital or about whether it was safe to do s.e.x with her azi, if they were Security. But Base One had said there was no such information. talk back and forth, because she had tried to ask Base One if Ari had anything to say about Florian being in hospital or about whether it was safe to do s.e.x with her azi, if they were Security. But Base One had said there was no such information.

She was so desperate she even thought about getting Seely off in a corner somewhere and asking him him that question. But Seely was as much Seely as he had ever been-and not even s.e.x could make her that question. But Seely was as much Seely as he had ever been-and not even s.e.x could make her that that desperate. desperate.

Yet.

x Her twelfth birthday, she had a big party-a dance in the Rec hall, with every kid in Reseune who was above nine and under twenty-uncle Denys begged off and said he had work, but that was because he hated the music.

He missed something, because Catlin learned to dance. Catlin got the idea of music-it"s a mnemonic, Ari said, when Catlin looked puzzled at the dancing: the variations on the pattern are the part that makes it work.

Florian had no trouble at all picking it up-but he was too self-conscious to clown with it in public: that was the funny thing; and it was Catlin Catlin who shocked everybody, by trying to teach Sam a step he couldn"t get-an azi out on the floor with a CIT. Everybody got to watching, not mad, just amazed, and Catlin, in a gauzy black blouse that covered just about what it had to with opaque places, and black satin pants that showed off her slim hips like everything, -smiled, did three or four fast steps and showed what you could who shocked everybody, by trying to teach Sam a step he couldn"t get-an azi out on the floor with a CIT. Everybody got to watching, not mad, just amazed, and Catlin, in a gauzy black blouse that covered just about what it had to with opaque places, and black satin pants that showed off her slim hips like everything, -smiled, did three or four fast steps and showed what you could do do if you could isolate muscle groups and keep time with the music. if you could isolate muscle groups and keep time with the music.

After that every boy in the room wanted to have one dance with Catlin, and it was funny as h.e.l.l, because all the girls in the room didn"t know whether to be jealous of an azi or not.

So Maddy Stra.s.sen flounced over and asked Florian, and the other girls started asking him, and the few older CIT kids who had azi their own age began showing them the steps, until the thing got all over the House by the next morning.

"You know," uncle Denys said about it at breakfast, "there are are azi that could bother. You really ought to be careful." azi that could bother. You really ought to be careful."

"Seely was there," she said, tweaking uncle Denys just a bit. "And a lot of Security. They could have stopped it, anytime."

"Probably the music paralyzed their judgment. They were there to stop Abolitionists with grenades. They needn"t have worried. They couldn"t get past the noise."

"Well, none of the azi got pushed. Some would dance, some wouldn"t, n.o.body pushed anybody. Florian said Catlin thought it was interesting. She"s supposed to protect me, right? And she"s not as social as Florian. But she can imitate anything physical and she can act act like anybody. So she was having a great time out there. She was psyching everybody and getting the feel of how they moved and they never knew what she was doing. Want to know what she said?" like anybody. So she was having a great time out there. She was psyching everybody and getting the feel of how they moved and they never knew what she was doing. Want to know what she said?"

"What?"

"She said they were all soft and they were generally real vulnerable in their balance. That she could take out any one of them with an elbow."

Uncle Denys sneezed into his orange juice.

xi More shots. They brought her period on. She swore she was going to get Dr. Ivanov. A call at his door at night and blam! a gift from Florian.

He probably had enough of her blood to transfuse most of Novgorod.

"I think I want a different doctor," she said to uncle Denys.