Beowulf's Children

"And what eats grendels?" A child's voice from the back of the room.

Several older children shushed him.

"Big grendels eat grendels. I've been over there," Joe Sikes said with belligerent pride. "That's your ecology, Chaka. Big grendels, little grendels, grendels that live in snow, water grendels, grendels that build dams, grendels that are dams. Grendels eat grendels, and they deserve each other. There aren't any grendels here, and by God we'll keep it that way, so why do we care how our stupid eel interacts with grendels?"

"That's not fair," Jessica said.

Chaka cleared his throat. He sounded more positive now. "We do have to know, Joe. What you don't know can kill you. If you hadn't known grendels need to cool off... ?"

There were murmurs of approval from the tables where the Surf's Up crowd sat. Linda nodded and pulled Joe Sikes back into his seat; and Joe didn't resist. You wouldn't have dumped burning kerosene into the Amazon Creek, Chaka hadn't needed to say, to sear the grendels raging through humanity's last refuge.

"We have to know," Chaka repeated, "and it should be clear there's only one way to find out. We need a full expedition to the mainland. A permanent base there. Not just trips to the highlands, mine inspections. We need a full biological team in place to study the mainland, study it now, before the winds carry Earth species from Camelot to the mainland, because once that happens we'll never know!"

"Now just a minute!" Zack Moskowitz half rose. "If it comes to that, we don't have to know-"

More murmurs. Cadma

"Wrong way to talk to the youngsters," Carlos said.

"We do have to know," Chaka said. Jessica nodded vigorous approval as Little Chaka stood to his full height and let his voice rise. "We must study what is there now, we must understand the natural ecosystem, or we will be caught unprepared. For the past twenty years you have ignored this truth, the truth that it is impossible to live on this planet and hide from it at the same time. I say that this is our world, and we don't know enough about it. It's time we learned."

There was loud applause from the Star Born, mostly silence from the First Generation.

"And we'll need all the resources, here and the mainland," Coleen McAndrews said. Her voice was as serious as a fifteen-year-old's can be. "To go back to the stars!"

The audience buzzed like an angry hive. There was no organized back-to-the-stars group, and no real leader, but the issue cut across the generations. No leader yet, Cadma

Zack Moskowitz rose. He took his place at the second podium, across the stage from Chaka. "I think," Zack said, "that an issue as important as this one should be considered as formally as possible. I propose a debate a week from today-"

"No!" Jessica stood, flushing.

"The chair hasn't recognized you, young lady."

"The chair didn't recognize you either, Zack!"

"You know that I am the chairman-"

"Of formal discussions, yes. But this isn't a regular meeting, it's an after-di

"No-"

"Then wait for Chaka to recognize you."

Zack looked to Cadma

Little Chaka's white teeth gleamed. "Jessica first," he said, "and then you."

Zack smiled sourly.

Jessica took the podium. "The time to decide this is now. We're already taking the Grendel Scouts over, and we've got to send a repair crew as well. It's the right time. Make this the begi

"For what?" Zack said.

"For what? To learn about our world," Jessica said. "We need toxological tests, soil tests, we need to know about parasites. The highlands would be perfect for an initial base. That's safe, at least."

She looked as if she had more to say, but had changed her mind about saying it. "Chaka, can we alter this format?"

"Into what form?"

"Informal debate. Allow Zack to take the opposing view, at your podium. We can then field questions and see if we can come to a consensus this evening."

Chaka yielded the floor, and Zack took his place, giving Jessica a grudging nod. "May I?" he asked. She inclined her head.

"May I ask what is the great hurry?" Zack began. "You will shortly visit the mine site. Others will carry out the Grendel Scout rituals. When you've returned we can decide what needs to be done next. Perhaps by then we will know what has gone wrong at the mines. It's probably something natural but surprising. In any event nothing need be done in haste."

"There you go, being reasonable again," someone shouted.

Zack shrugged. "I try to be."

"You wanted to kill the eel," Jessica protested. "That wasn't reasonable!"

Zack nodded. "Yes it was. The eel was unfamiliar, and we have standing rules formulated by our best experts after discussion. The rules aren't perfect, but they're the best judgments we can make."

"And that one is wrong," Jessica insisted.

"Perhaps. This time it appears to have been wrong. But that doesn't mean all the rules, or even that one, are wrong as a general case. We can't foresee everything."

"We don't have to foresee everything," Jessica said.

"You're talking past each other." Aaron Tragon stood. "I beg your pardon for speaking out of turn, but don't you see it? Governor Moskowitz is concerned that when an unexpected danger appears, we won't be able to decide what to do in time, and while it is unlikely that the delay will destroy the colony, it might. Isn't that it, sir?"

"Yes, exactly."

"But here there is no possible danger to the entire colony," Aaron said. "The people who go to the mainland may be in danger if they are careless, but the colony won't be... Actually, to be callous for a moment, if there's something so dangerous on the mainland that the only way to find out about it is to have the entire expedition killed, that knowledge alone is worth the price! It will make the colony safer, not less safe. Wouldn't you agree?"

Aaron waited a moment, and when Zack didn't answer, nodded politely and took his seat.

"Arrogant little snot," Mary A

"I thought he was quite reasonable," Cadma

"You would."

"Not that there is that much danger," Jessica was saying. "We've been to the mainland dozens of times now. We even take the children to the highlands. And in all that time, the only dangers have been grendels, and we know how to deal with those."

"I'm still worried," Zack said.

"Name the danger."

Zack shook his head. "You know I can't. Call it Avalon Surprise. We couldn't have named grendels, but they were real."

"But you learned how to fight grendels," Jessica said, "and you taught us. By the way, thank you. From all of us Second-"

There was a murmur of approval. "Well said," Aaron shouted.

"But Zack, you knew it would be dangerous before you left Earth," Jessica said. "But you came. You couldn't ask if we wanted to come-"

"We did think about that, you know," Zack said.

"Yes, sir, we learned all that in school," Jessica said. "And we're not sorry you brought us. But it's our world too, and we want to know more about it. Don't we?"

Another chorus of young voices in enthusiastic approval.

"Except I want a shopping mall!" someone shouted. Everyone laughed.

"And we're learning," Jessica went on. "The eel is important because it's a reminder that we won't always have an artificially simple ecology here. We still don't know when grendels came to this island. We don't even know if these were normal grendels! Maybe they were-"