She smiled faintly, ironically. "With your model spaceport. I hope you and your friends get to finish it." "Of course we'll finish it," Tony said, surprised. "It's almost done." What did she mean? The Pas-udeti woman hurried off before he could ask her. Tony was troubled and uncertain; more doubts filled him. After a moment he headed slowly into the lane that took him toward the residential section of the city. Past the stores and factories, to the place where his friends lived. The group of Pas-udeti children eyed him silently as he approached. They had been playing in the shade of an immense _hengelo_, whose ancient branches drooped and swayed with the air currents pumped through the city. Now they sat unmoving. "I didn't expect you today," B'prith said, in an expressionless voice. Tony halted awkwardly, and his EEP did the same. "How are things?" he murmured. "Fine." "I got a ride part way." "Fine." Tony squatted down in the shade. None of the Pas children stirred. They were small, not as large as Terran children. Their shells had not hardened, had not turned dark and opaque, like horn. It gave them a soft, unformed appearance, but at the same time it lightened their load. They moved more easily than their elders; they could hop and skip around, still. But they were not skipping right now. "What's the matter?" Tony demanded. "What's wrong with everybody?" No one answered. "Where's the model?" he asked. "Have you fellows been working on it?" After a moment Llyre nodded slightly. Tony felt dull anger rise up inside him. "Say something! What's the matter? What're you all mad about?" "Mad?" B'prith echoed. "We're not mad." Tony scratched aimlessly in the dust. He knew what it was. The war, again. The battle going on near Orion. His anger burst up wildly. "Forget the war. Everything was fine yesterday, before the battle." "Sure," Llyre said. "It was fine." Tony caught the edge to his voice. "It happened a hundred years ago. It's not my fault." "Sure," B'prith said. "This is my home. Isn't it? Haven't I got as much right here as anybody else? I was born here." "Sure," Llyre said, tonelessly. Tony appealed to them helplessly. "Do you have to act this way? You didn't act this way yesterday. I was here yesterday--all of us were here yesterday. What's happened since yesterday?" "The battle," B'prith said. "What difference does _that_ make? Why does that change everything? There's always war. There've been battles all the time, as long as I can remember. What's different about this?" B'prith broke apart a clump of dirt with his strong claws. After a moment he tossed it away and got slowly to his feet. "Well," he said thoughtfully, "according to our audio relay, it looks as if our fleet is going to win, this time."