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hand covered her mouth, her eyes watching Rachel instead of Andrew. Harry was stoic, not looking at any of them. He must have felt Rachel’s eyes on him, because he turned and blurted out, “Andrew, apologize!”
    Ali looked at Harry sternly, and said, “You have been known to help Andrew play his jokes.”
    Andrew’s eyes widened. “Harry didn’t help me.” His voice still sounded surly. “The tree’s okay. So what are you going to do to me?”
    “Which choice I make depends on you.”
    “I . . . I . . .” Andrew looked back at Rachel. “I’m sorry. I’ll get your tree down and help you plant it back.”
    “That’s better,” Gabriel said. “A little. Explain why your actions were wrong.”
    “Because, because it was right before the test?”
    “And?” Gabriel asked.
    “I don’t know.” Andrew glowered at the ground, fiddling with his bracelets.
    Ali picked up the conversation from Gabriel. “You must forge a working team. Mistakes in a project like this can kill. Oh, I know, pulling up one tree won’t kill anyone. But what might you do with more powerful tools? This is not a stable planet—it’s a moon being forced into a temporary home. There are too many humans to fit on
John Glenn
, and if we destroy the fragile ecosystem, some of you will die. Small mistakes can mean a lot here. Why do you think we’re so careful about what we let you do? Even the four of you, our best students?”
    Gabriel looked sternly at Andrew. “Andrew, you’re young. And smart. You will stay here for the next tenweeks and you alone will care for Teaching Grove. You’ve had a demonstration—we can see what you do. See that you convince us you care about Rachel’s plot as much as your own. Actually, better than your own. Failure will cause additional consequences.”
    Ursula clutched Rachel’s hands. Rachel’s heart sank. Andrew responsible for the grove? For
her
trees? What would she be doing?
    She glanced at Andrew. His face was beet-red and he murmured, “Okay. I’ll prove myself.”
    “Rachel, Harry, and Ursula will go with us for this season’s planting. Be packed and back here by dawn tomorrow. Requirements have been sent to your pads.”
    Rachel whooped. Ursula’s grin stretched ear to ear. Harry turned toward Andrew whose expression had shifted from penitent to stunned.

C HAPTER 2
L EAVING HOME
    R ACHEL AND U RSULA stood at the edge of the grove, the path home winding away below them. “I can’t wait to see more of Selene,” Rachel said, pulling her right arm wing buckles tight against her biceps and forearm. “I’ve never been out of Aldrin before.”
    “Maybe we can see the Hammered Sea,” Ursula lilted.
    “See the sea? See the sea . . . see the sea . . .” Rachel teased her.
She passed! We passed! We are going exploring
. . .
    Ursula laughed out loud. “Well, you know what I mean. None of us has been that far from Aldrin yet.”
    “My father has,” Rachel said quietly. “How can I leave him? You won’t have any trouble leaving your great brood of brothers, but Dad will be all alone.”
    “He’ll want you to go.”
    Rachel nodded. “That’s what he’ll say.”
    “I know you don’t want to leave him.” Ursula turned to grin at her friend. “I also know you couldn’t bear to stay home.”
    “Of course I couldn’t.”
    “You’ll manage. You’re
always
okay, Rachel.”
    “It’s too bad it’s not just us, or maybe Alexandra. Harry makes me so mad—he’s always right, and he’s so quiet it’s uncanny.”
    “Besides,” Ursula broke in, “he hangs around with Andrew.”
    “I guess I’ll just be grateful it’s Harry and not Andrew—silence beats meanness.” Rachel stretched, poised to begin the run into flying. “Maybe Harry will do okay.”
    “Maybe Apollo will rise twice tomorrow.”
    “I’m excited,” Rachel said. “We passed!” She ran, beating Ursula into the air by two steps, extending her lead, all the way home.
    The girls arrived at the outside