Grandma had been gone many years but still Sarah remembered the day of the inquiry and she thought about it now. She was standing with father along the Grand Fare: the main boulevard that passed through Undersea. Today it was Founder's Day, the most important holiday in Undersea; a celebration of that day when the great elders of the First Migration stepped from their subs for the last time and moved into the Old City. The new part of Undersea, where they now stood, was at least five times bigger then those cramped confines in the Old City. Sarah thought back to when she first stepped from a sub into this city.

The crowds pressed close to the barriers, necks craning to get a glimpse of the parade that marched by in celebration of this historic day. Green, blue, and white streamers hung from lampposts and the flag of Undersea, a white starfish on a blue field, was everywhere. A marching band playing sea pipes and blasting on conch shells went by and as they played that old familiar hymn the crowd sang:

"Beneath the swollen tide,

Away from human strife,

A new city of life,

Upon which all hope rides;

Undersea! Undersea!

Gladly now we greet thee!

Undersea! Undersea!

Protectorate of all!

Courage and inovation,

Shall guide us now along,

We know the past was wrong,

The cause of all tension;

Undersea! Undersea!

Gladly now we greet thee!

Undersea! Undersea!

Humanity's new light!

Soldiers of the future,

Come take that which is yours,

Our strength of mind endures,

And shapes our high culture!

Undersea! Undersea!

Gladly now we great thee!

Undersea! Undersea!

Let science be our guide!"

Father stared at the ground while everyone sang. When it was done moved his lips to speak to Sarah but was drowned out in a crescendo of voices, instruments, and marching boots.

"Well there he is," shouted Sarah into father's ear, nodding to the street.

The people roared louder as Sir LaRosa came into view, riding in an open topped vehicle with his wife and son, saluting the crowd as he swept down the Grand Fare.

"For the good of the city! For the good of the city!" chanted the crowd. Vehicles followed carrying prominent scientists and politicians, all dressed in their Undersea finest, some waving the starfish flag, some saluting. Many Sarah had seen before; some had given speeches at her school. All were devoted to Sir LaRosa's vision for Undersea.

The crowd began to move towards the steps of the Lab where a large platform was set up for the speeches about to be given. They waved flags and sang, glowing in the civic pride of the moment. A great city had been birthed from the rock, and though few were alive to remember those tentative first days, all reveled in the marvelous achievements told to them by those who knew. And more was happening each day: the scientific breakthroughs, the expansion of territory, the continual carving of Undersea from the living rock!

"Do you want to go down to the Lab and hear the speeches father?" Sarah asked as the crowd thinned.

Father's eyes clouded with a distant memory, but he shook himself free of it before Sarah could see pain.

"No," he said, "you go ahead, I have to go to the boilers soon anyway. There is a special review of the subs, and I am to be on board at my post."

"Even on Founder's Day?"

"I was selected to work the shift today, 'selected at random' the foreman said."

Sarah's face drew hard lines. He was always being "selected at random", but father held up his hand before anything was said.

"Careful Sarah, remember what we discussed?"

Sarah stared angrily past father at the white starfish in the middle of a flag hanging from a lamp post.

"Remember what grandma said that day," said father. "Remember: bitterness is a choice."

"Well maybe I want to be bitter!" blurted Sarah. A few stragglers in the street gave them quizzical looks.

"Come Sarah," said father, "we'll walk home together." But Sarah turned her back and stalked off after the rest of the crowd leaving father by himself.

- - -

The speeches were long and braggadocious on Founder's Day, beyond the usual pontifications heard year round. Everyone roared approval at the right spots, cheered when necessary, and applauded without needing much prompting. Sarah found Zenith and Beamer, friends from school, and went to stand with them.

"Hey!" said Beamer pointing to the people seated on stage, "There's...Oof!"

"Shh..." hissed Zenith who elbowed Beamer in the ribs, nodding towards Sarah, "She'll hear you."

Sarah pretended she had not heard Beamer, but many knew, and usually she was looked at with scorn when recognized. Not many would associate with her, but she had found friendship in Zenith and Beamer. Zenith was from the above world and had a caring heart. And Beamer was, well, Beamer was Beamer.

Sarah forced a smile and straightened. She gave Beamer a playful shove that he exaggerated the effects of for comedic affect and Sarah laughed. A few frowns directed their way told her that Sir LaRosa had risen to give the main address. A fervent cheer rested in the throats of all the people; ready to be loosed at the first inclination, but there was no cheering yet and everything got still.

Sir LaRosa, wearing his crisp uniform, went slowly to the podium, stiff and deliberate, reminding Sarah a bit of a walking stick insect she had seen in the above world once when she was young. All eyes watched his movements as he smoothed the front of his neatly pressed dress jacket and ran a tidying finger across the front his crisp gray hair. Starfish glinted on his shoulders. Sir LaRosa looked down at his notes and then up at the crowd, placing the palm of his right hand on the podium. His left hand went to his hip and rested there. Noble Sir LaRosa leaned forward staring out across the sea of faces with brooding eyes, and all who returned his gaze felt as though they had been graciously included in his vision. Sarah turned away. The crowed waited.

"Fellow citizens of Undersea," began Sir LaRosa in the reasonable tone friends use when addressing each other, "most beloved and valued citizens of this great city. Today we celebrate that most wonderful of days: Founder's Day." There was no clapping or applause at these remarks. His spell had them. The warm words continued. "I stand before you humbled. Humbled by the singular magnificence of this city I have been given charge over."

"Taken charge over you mean," mumbled Sarah under her breath.

"When it first began some thirty years ago there wasn't enough space to hang a string of pearls."

There was a smattering of laughter.

"But now...NOW LOOK AT US!!" Sir LaRosa thrust out his hands to the people in exhaultation. There was an answering roar from the crowd that seemed to shake the very stones on which they stood. Conch shells where blown. Beamer joined in with many spontaneous "Hurrahs!"

Sir LaRosa waited for everything to settle down, and then tapped his podium like a conductor ready for the next act.

"Today is a day of jubilation," said Sir LaRosa with calm, "a day of joy and merriment. Which is why I am loathe to make an announcement." Sir LaRosa bore a pained expression and silence came upon the crowds. "My friends... my friends we are at war!"

There was a sharp intake of breath from the crowd and as voices began to murmur. Sarah felt a hand slip into her's. It was Zenith's.

"Friends, friends," continued Sir LaRosa, moving his hands in a calming manner, "we need not panic, for I know what is to be done. Fear ye not, I have been preparing for such a time as this!" And then Sir LaRosa told a story. He told how there was another underwater city, a city not two hundred leagues away. A city less prosperous and esteemed then they: a city that had been founded later then their own. It was all news to Sarah.

"They have encroached on our territory, harvested from our kelp fields, and dug ore that is our own," said Sir LaRosa bringing a hand down upon the podium. "And if that would have been all that would have been enough! But did that satisfy those devils, those vermin? No! Early this morning, this very Founder's Day morning, one of our patrol subs was torpedoed. They sent a distress signal before all communication was lost. They identified the enemy as combatants from the city of Mawdeep!"

A current of disapproval rumbled though the crowd and conches were sounded angerly. "Boo!" shouted Beamer with the rest.

Sir LaRosa held up a hand for silence. "Let not their sacrifice be in vain!" he said. "Mawdeep must pay for the spilt blood of our mariners! In this time of crisis I have taken the liberty of ordering ten of our best subs to be armed and crewed. There task is simple: we shall torpedo the gates of our enemy until the sea rushes in to claim them! For the good of the city!"

"For the good of the city! For the good of the city!" cried the people of Undersea.

"Come! At Moon Pool Harbor and we shall see them off!" said Sir LaRosa.

Sarah closed her eyes and leaned on Zenith as Beamer bounded up.

"Can you believe it? Can you believe it!" yelled Beamer. "Mawdeep, those treacherous curlsnouts! Come, my father works at Harbor Control, we can see the fleet off from there!"

The crowd surged towards the nearby harbor while Sir LaRosa and his retinue disappeared into the Lab. Beamer, Zenith, and Sarah skirted the crowd to the far side of the Moon Pool Harbor, or the Pool as most called it, to the building where Beamer's father worked. When they got there, Sir LaRosa had already arrived and was standing on the observation porch in the Harbor Control Building overlooking the Pool. Ten fully armed and fitted subs floated on it's large surface in an ordered line waiting as the crowds began to ring the harbor. The captain of each sub stood alone on the conning tower, stiff at attention, saluting Sir LaRosa. His voice echoed over loud speakers.

"Soldiers of the future," said Sir LaRosa addressing the captains, "It is only fitting that on this Founder's Day, this most sacred of days, that we strike out to seize the fortune that has been gifted us. We are destined to rule the tides. Our knowledge is superior. Our science is superior. WE ARE SUPERIOR!"

The crowed roared.

"Your faith in what we are, what we have built ourselves to be, will on this day be rewarded! Heros go forth and win the stuggle, our victory is but fruit to be picked at your leisure! Seize glory, seize spoil, and all the seas will fear the name of Undersea! For the good of the city!

"For the good of the city! For the good of the city!" shouted all the people.

Sarah felt sick and wished she was with father just then, and as the thought came to her Sarah remembered and was dismayed it had not come to her sooner. Her face twisted in anguish: the boilers, the submarines, father...

The subs let off blasts from their horns and the waters of the harbor seethed as one by one they left their berths and moved into the middle of the Pool. Each sub slipped below the surface, one by one, and on silent engines moved under water towards the large access tubes that tunneled though the walls of the city beneath the surface of the Pool. Through the tunnels they went, and then out into the ocean depths.

- - -

It was a long slow walk home from the Pool for Sarah: Zenith and Beamer had Founder's Day celebrations to attend with their families. Both would have invited Sarah right then, but she wished to be alone, for she felt there was little she wanted to celebrate. On the kitchen table in the small apartment Sarah and father shared in the Old City Sarah found a note scribbled on light blue kelp paper. "Went with the subs, don't know how long." Sarah went into her room, shut the door, and got out grandma's old book.