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damned fools. Tasneem liked him.
    Tasneem, of course, lived with her mother in Callisto City. They shared a small compartment on the interior causeway, far from the picturesque outer residences. Of course, the station administration insisted that all residences were equal, that in fact all residents themselves were equal, but Tasneem knew that could never be true.  
    Audra had thought her pessimistic, but David had agreed with her. Equality, he would sometimes say, is a myth even in cultures that acknowledge and promote it.  
    David had always sounded smart. He was smart, but he talked smart. Tasneem didn't know anybody else like him. He was from Europa City, and while Tasneem and Audra played after classes released, David took the station line to Galileo City University, where he sat with the professors and talked for hours. They call me stunningly bright, he confided to Tasneem once. But I think it's just that they're surprisingly limited in their vision. I thought professors were supposed to be smarter than everybody else, but this has just taught me that no matter how high you climb, there will always be people who shouldn't be there with you.
    David lived alone, and somehow managed to do so without attracting the attention of Ganymede Administration, which surely would have placed him with a guardian pair. He never talked to Audra or Tasneem about his parents, or whether they even came to Ganymede with him in the first place.  
    Audra and Tasneem each knew that David was going to be special. There was no question which of them he would end up with -- Audra was visibly interested, and clung to him in a way that Tasneem was incapable of. She seemed quite content to -- well, to serve him. Audra understood, Tasneem often thought, that David was on some plane above her, always thinking, always contemplating. Without her, David would forget the most basic human needs. So Audra cared for him, and David mostly didn't acknowledge Audra's ministrations.
    Tasneem loved him. This was never a secret. Audra understood this, and wasn't bothered by it. To her, Tasneem was too similar to David. If the two of them were ever together, they would have one explosively intellectual year together -- then die of malnutrition and lack of exercise.  
    The social circle that they would dance in for the next twenty-one years was decided.

    I'm not going, David said.
    Oh, come on, Davy, come on, you have to go! Audra insisted. Please , please, please go. Please.  
    Tasneem laughed, trailing behind the two of them as they walked through the corridors of Ursa Academy. She and Audra had taken the station line to the school to meet David. They had waited outside David's classroom, Audra peeking in the windows repeatedly to try to get his attention. He's just so serious , she had complained. He won't look up at all .  
    Do you think I should go? David asked, looking over his shoulder at Tasneem. He pretended not to notice Audra, who had draped herself over his arm and was practically limp, her feet almost dragging along the corridor behind her.
    Don't ask me, Tasneem said.
    But I am asking you.  
    Audra popped up. Yeah, Tasneem. He should go, right? He should go.  
    I don't know, Tasneem said. Do you want to go?
    Oh, man, no, Audra said, throwing her hands over her face. Don't ask him that .  
    No, David said.
    See? Audra said.
    Well, then you shouldn't go, Tasneem said.
    Tasneem says I don't have to go, David said.  
    Yeah. I heard. Audra shot a withering look at Tasneem, who just shrugged.
    They're supposed to be the best band in the whole world, Audra whined. Come on-nnn.
    How do you know they're the best band in the world? David asked. What were the criteria? Did someone perform critical studies? What were the characteristics determined to be best ? Is a consistent voice the best indicator of the best band? Or is experimentation a more appropriate --
    David. God, Audra said. Come on, Tasneem. Let's go.
    Audra dropped David's hand like a hot