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there wine?” inquired Nektar.
    â€œHold on,” said Lureen. “My treat.” In a flash, she’d teeked in a case of champagne from her wine cellar. “Pop a few of these corks, would you, Kittie? I’ll fetch some glasses, too. Come on, Thuy and Jil! Have a drink!”
    â€œI’ll get meat and fish from my restaurant,” said Nektar, not to be outdone. “And some big salads. You do want to have a cookout, right, Jayjay?”
    â€œYeah,” said Jayjay, out in the clearing now, arranging the leftover rocks in a fire ring. He’d already reassured himself that there were no flying stingrays to be seen.
    â€œScavenger hunt!” Ond told Bixie. “Bring Jayjay dry thin sticks and then some fatter ones. Dead but from a tree.”
    â€œI’ll help,” said Chu, who tended to hang as close to Bixie as she’d let him. It was obvious to everyone that Chu had a crush on the girl; she was only a year and a half younger than him. Bixie tolerated the fourteen-year-old’s attentions, at least for now. Though odd and unworldly, Chu was smart and quite good-looking. He had big brown eyes, tidy features, pleasantly olive-colored skin, and shiny brown hair.
    â€œGo get ’em, Chu,” said Ond, smiling at his son. Inside the house, another cork bounced off the ceiling. The women were laughing uproariously.
    In a matter of minutes, Bixie and Chu had assembled more than enough wood. Jayjay set about half of it alight, making sure to teep into the fire silp and beg it not to go out of control.
    The fire crackled briskly, reveling in its consumption of wood, sending a thoughtful column of smoke into the growing dusk, blending with the wisps of fog in the high reaches of the redwoods. Steadily the air grew cooler. Slender Bixie moved closer to the fire, wrapping her arms around herself.
    â€œHere,” said Chu, handing her his wool overshirt.
    â€œFrankenstein offers his coat to the meager orphan girl,” said Momotaro. “Just kidding. Can we cook the meat now, Jayjay? Where’s your grill?”
    Jayjay teeped to BigBox Home Furnishings via one of the virtual ads that hovered overhead. Not that Jayjay generally liked buying new products—it was more Earth-friendly to borrow stuff via the Web. But in this case, it seemed like he might as well get a permanent grill for his homestead. It took only seconds tofind the grill he’d visualized, to charge it to his account, and to teek it here, along with some lightweight plates and a picnic table.
    The grill was simple: a heavy-duty wire rack with adjustable legs. Jayjay set it in place, and Nektar appeared from the house, bearing platters of raw steak, chicken, salmon, and pork medallions. Kittie followed, carrying a green salad, a bowl of strawberries, and a potato salad. The men gathered like flies.
    â€œDibs on a steak,” said Momotaro.
    â€œChicken for me,” said Ond.
    â€œI’ll have a pork medallion,” Chu told Jayjay. “Don’t let it touch anything else while it cooks.”
    â€œI would enjoy a piece of the fish,” said Khan.
    â€œOne of each for me,” said Sonic. “Surf and turf and sty and coop.”
    â€œYou’re hungry again after that burrito?” asked Jayjay, drinking from a bottle of champagne and passing it on.
    â€œAren’t you?” said Sonic. “We just moved a frikkin’
house
! And it’s getting dark and cold. Does your house have lights?”
    â€œYou can just ask the ceiling to glow. It has special paint. But right now, the dark is kind of cozy, don’t you think? And look over there past the trees: a full moon is coming up. Anyway, we’re omnivident, kiq. We can see with our minds.”
    â€œLike earthworms,” said Sonic, waggling his head. “Sniffle snuff.”
    â€œYou better fix that porch right now,” Jil advised Thuy. “I don’t want anyone to break their leg. And take it