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    But though most Worlders had written off Caelian as a dead loss, not everyone had. Every year or two some group of young visionaries would surface with a new plan for dealing with the deadly plant and animal life that was so determined to choke mankind off their world. Jody's friends Geoff Boulton and Freylan Sonderby were merely the latest in that long parade of idealists. "If she thinks Uncle Corwin's going to help her visit Caelian, she's sorely underestimated his senility level," she said.
    Paul shrugged. "Perhaps."
    The estate's grounds were compact but well gardened, and Jin could smell the delicate scent of budding bablar trees as they walked toward the house. Some gardens of this sort included pools, fish ponds, even small waterfalls, additions Corwin hadn't bothered with.
    So why then did he call it the Island?
    No one in the family knew, but that hadn't kept them from speculating about it. Jin had always thought it was a reference to the ancient no man is an island aphorism, but had never been able to coax a yes or no out of her uncle. Jody's theory was that it was a reference to an old Earth classic book, while Lorne believed it to be a not-so-subtle jab at the five islands in the lake west of Capitalia and their rather snobbish inhabitants. Merrick, typically, hadn't bothered with the question, declaring that his great-uncle would tell them when he was good and ready.
    Jin and Paul reached the house, to find Jody waiting for them just inside the main door. "Mom; Dad," she said in greeting. She was silhouetted against the hall light, but Jin's optical enhancers were able to pick out the tension lines in her daughter's face. "I hear you had a bad day."
    "It could get worse," Jin warned her, "depending on what's happening with your project."
    "I showed Geoff and Freylan my trap design today," Jody said. "They liked it."
    "What about your application?"
    Jody shrugged. "You know governments. These things take time."
    "But Uy hasn't denied it?" Jin persisted. She'd been hoping against hope that Caelian's governor would shut down the project at his end.
    "Sorry," Jody said.
    "I think," Paul put in wryly, "the day's just gotten worse."
    "It won't be that bad, Mom," Jody insisted. "We really do know what we're doing."
    "Do you?" Jin countered. "Do you really?"
    "Yes, we do," Jody said. Her voice was low and earnest, matured and reasoned.
    And grown-up. Despite all her emotional expectations to the contrary, Jin couldn't ignore the fact that her little girl had grown up.
    "I imagine we'll be discussing it further tonight," Paul said. If he was feeling the same surge of emotion, Jin thought resentfully, he was hiding it well. "Meanwhile, you have your mother and father standing out in the cold Aventinian evening air."
    "It's not that cold," Jody said, a hint of her little-girl dry humor peeking out through the adult she'd become. Nevertheless, she stepped aside out of the doorway. "Come on in—dinner should be ready soon."
    "Who's cooking?" Jin asked. "Uncle Corwin, or Aunt Thena?"
    "Merrick, actually," Jody said. "He said that as long as he'd called this dinner, it was his responsibility to feed all of us."
    "As long as it's Merrick and not Lorne," Paul murmured.
    "Trust me," Jody promised. " No one wants the day to get that bad."
     
    When Merrick had first become a Cobra seven years ago, Jin remembered fondly, he'd sworn the whole family to secrecy about his culinary skills. Not because he'd been afraid the other Cobras would rib him about it, but because he'd been on enough field maneuvers during training to fear that he might be designated official unit cook and chained to the stove while the others dealt with the real Cobra work. So far, he'd managed to keep his secret.
    The dinner conversation was as pleasant as the food. Jody, who'd always been good at taking hints, avoided any mention of Caelian, instead focusing her end of the conversation on the last few