"There were two single billionaires in this town and I didn't know it?!" Daniela wailed.

"Well, Dani, would you have been interested in either of them anyway?" asked Marianna, rolling her eyes and trying to keep from smothering her sister with a bar towel.

Daniela pondered for a moment, and Mari thought she could almost see steam rising from Dani's head. "No. They're not pretty."

Alan didn't even try to keep from smothering Daniela; Marianna had to restrain him the best way she knew how- she threw herself in front of him. He was still paranoid about the babies, no matter how much Marianna tried to explain to him that Amanda was now out of trouble.

"You're perfectly pretty, Alan, knock it off. You can't kill the Queen," Mari said, grabbing his wrists and twisting his arms down to his sides.

"Yeah, you can't kill the Queen," Dani said gleefully, and flounced back to the dance floor.

"I don't like her," mutters Alan.

"Oh, don't take it personal, hon. She's a brat to everyone." Marianna returned to the boring task of wiping glasses dry. She was seated behind the bar, pretty much out of Alan's way as he tended bar, but still where he could make sure she wasn't over-exerting herself. o/So drink to me, drink to my health, you know I can't drink anymore o/ Mari sang to herself quietly as she ran the towel around inside a glass.

What song is that? asked Dream. Marianna jumped slightly.

Ye gods, Dream. It's been a while since you interrupted me like that!

It's been a while since you didn't have blocks up.

I'm not the only one who uses blocks. Where are you, anyway? Mari looked around the Club, trying to locate Dream, but unable.

Oh, I'm waiting for Uly outside. You never answered my question. What song is that?

Picasso's Last Words.

McCartney?

Bien sur. How do things look outside? My 'bouncer' is running the bar tonight.

Not bad. It's quiet, for Calypso Beach. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it... it's oddly quiet. Is it going to be another one of those seasons, Mari?

I sure hope not. I don't need another murder around here.

I'll say. Oh, there's Uly! We'll be in in a minute, okay?

Marianna returned her concentration to the glasses, and to singing, until UPChuck bounded into Club Calypso. He had Dream by one wrist, and she was fairly flying along behind him.

"Great fish, UPChuck, are you trying to break her?" laughed Marianna.

"Great fish? Mari, are you on something?" UPChuck stared at her for a moment, then figured she was just being herself. "I need your help on a project."

"Do I get to 'save the Universe' again?" she grinned. He shook his head and grinned back.

Dream looked from UPChuck to Marianna and back, and said, "Is this an inside joke or something?"

"Um... yeah." Marianna blinked a few times. "So, what's the project?"

"I'm founding a charity."

"For what?"

"That's the project. I need to figure out what I want to help save or whatever."

Marianna twisted her face up in mock-serious thought. "Save the squirrels," she finally answered.

"Yeah!" UPChuck's eyes lit up, a goofy grin crossed his face, and he almost bounced on his barstool.

"No." Dream gazed at UPChuck unblinkingly until he calmed down and realized that the squirrels really did not need saving.

"Clothe the third-world children or something," said Mari, and yawned. Immediately, Alan was at her side.

"Why don't you go home and get some sleep?"

"Alan! It's only nine! Are you crazy? I'm not going anywhere!" Marianna stared at her husband in disbelief, a horrific thought crossing her brain and coming out of her mouth. "You're acting like Mac used to!"

A deathly silence fell over the small group.

"Do what you like then," Alan said quietly, then went back to serving customers.

"Mari?" Dream asked tentatively.

Quite frankly, I'm sick of it, she projected to Dream and UPChuck. I'm a grown woman, I can take care of myself. I worked longer hours than this when I was pregnant with Pollythene.

Dream nodded silently. Then she resumed the previous conversation. "So are you going to clothe third-world children?"

"Nah," said UPChuck. "I'm going to found a charity for the beach grubs, get them into real clothing, school them, feed them, open an orphanage or a family shelter or something."

"Beach grubs? Cool," said Marianna. 'Beach grubs' was a term used to describe orphaned children who made their homes under the docks of Calypso Beach and Surf Strip. Since the Frogwar of last April, the number of beach grubs had multiplied. It wasn't so much that parents had been killed in the war (not that that hadn't happened, it just wasn't so very prevalent), but that they had gotten amnesia, forgotten about their children, and started new lives in different parts of the city. Layla:) had been so disorganized after the Frogwar that these people couldn't be correctly identified (hence a sudden proliferation of people with the last name 'Doe'). By the time things got back to normal, their old identities had been forgotten- especially those disfigured by falling debris.

There were also entire families living under the docks, families who had lost their homes and their life's savings during the war. Most of these people were much too proud to ask their friends for help, and definitely too proud to ask strangers. Instead, they hid out under the docks. Some of the children still attended school, if they had appropriate clothing, but it was hard to tell the beach grubs from the 'normal' kids. If UPChuck could organize well enough to drag all these people back into society... well, the more power to him!

"I need you to help me, though. I need a big kick-off party."

Marianna's eyes shone. There was nothing she loved more than planning a huge party- except maybe dressing up and going to a huge party. "You wanna have it here, or what?"

"If that's okay. Unless you know of somewhere else?"

"Actually, UPChuck," Mari began, the corners of her mouth turning up in a slightly evil grin, "I do know of somewhere else. Somewhere very familiar to us both..."

"Spit it out." UPChuck looked curiously across the bar at Marianna, wondering why she always had to be difficult about revealing an idea.

"Our backyards. We'll throw a luau for all of Layla:), we'll roast pigs, and have drinks in coconuts, and the Club will be in charge of drinks... I'm sure one of the local restaurants won't mind catering the food. It'll be perfect, right on the beach so people will remember it's the grubs we're raising money for. And everyone loves a luau. We'll get some hula dancers- Daniela loves to dress up and show off, and I know Suki is looking for work. If we get really desperate for entertainment, I'll just ring up some of the last dance contest entrants. The Trenchcoats will play, of course. I'll dig out my old ukelele-"

"You have a ukelele?" asked UPChuck as Mari took a moment to breathe.

"Yeah, doesn't everyone?" Receiving disbelieving stares, instead of confirmation, she shrugs and continues. "Anyway, it'll be a lot of fun, and we can do it next week, yes? That's plenty of time for me to plan it, anyway. Who are you going to invite? Anyone, or just rich folk, or what?"

"Our backyards? You mean, yours and mine?"

"Yeah... hey, there's Doreen. Dori!" Marianna beckoned to the waitress as she flew by on her way to the kitchen.

"Just a second, Mari, let me get this order!"

"Okay. So," she said to UPChuck, "we could probably get Doreen to sacrifice her section of the beach, too, even if it was just for the food. We could have all the people on our properties... who else lives on Calypso Point?"

"Tomas is on the other side of Doreen," Dream said. "I can probably convince him to help you guys out. He'll dance or something, too, and I'm sure he'll contribute to the charity."

"Hey, that brings up a good question- how much are you giving, UPChuck?" Marianna tilted her head cutely, causing her hair to fall across her face not-cutely. She brushed her hair back and straightened out her head.

"Oh, I don't know," he replied. "A couple million. I'll give a couple million every year, I guess. Plus I'll give my time."

"Time is important," nodded Marianna. "That'll show you're really dedicated to the cause. People won't hate you because of your money if you give time."

"That's good. Too much hate in this world as it is," he said.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about, Mari?" Doreen said breathlessly as she came up to the group.

"UPChuck here is starting a charity for the beach grubs, and we're going to have a big luau on the beach behind our houses. We were wondering if you'd be willing to give up your beachfront for the evening."

"Sure. I mean, I'm not going to be able to sleep anyway, if you're having a big party. I'll be there anyway, right? So why not let people in my yard? Anything to get the beach grubs out from under my dock."

"You've got grubs?" asked Mari. "Wow, I didn't know they'd migrated so far north!"

"Yeah. They're sorta cute, but they breed things under there."

"Squirrels?" asked UPChuck, in a way that was starting to get both annoying and frightening.

"I was thinking more along the lines of lice, fleas, tapeworms..."

Marianna shuddered, shivered, and finally went into mild convulsions for a moment. "Okay, I'm finished being disgusted. Tapeworms... ugh..."

"I've got to get back to work. Let me know later when this thing is, okay?"

"Will do," said UPChuck, as Doreen grabbed her tray and dashed back to a particularly demanding customer.

"Hey, you guys go have fun, okay?" Marianna commanded Dream and UPChuck. "Just because I'm stuck here wiping glasses doesn't mean y'all can't have fun. Go, dance. There's another contest coming up in... umm... four or five months, I think."

"Oh, yes, we'd better practice!" UPChuck pulled Dream off of her bar stool, causing it to spin wildly. They charged onto the dance floor, shocking even Mari with their unusual enthusiasm. Usually, they both took more than a little convincing to dance.

Then again, people can change, can't they? Marianna glanced over at Alan, now joking with a customer as he drew another beer from the tap. She wasn't sure he'd actually changed, but as long as she had him back... did it really matter?

Dava Guru Jini had to talk fast- faster than he'd ever talked before. And, unfortunately, he was speechless.

"Mr. Jini, we're waiting." A stern, somehow familiar FBI agent was glaring at him from across the room. She tapped her dagger-sharp fingernails on the table in front of her. "Where did you get that... communications device?"

"A Star Trek movie set. It was a gift from one of the extras, a friend of mine who was showing me around the set. He said they'd never miss it. As for the transmissions, I can't say how they're coming through, but I can identify them as the Frogwar."

"The... Frogwar?"

Dava raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You haven't heard of the Frogwar? Well, well... I think we have a lot to talk about."

Agent Josie Martin raised her own eyebrow. "What exactly happened in Layla:) while I was stuck in this god-awful basement office?"

Not far down the hall, Agent Emma English was muttering the same thing. She had the commbadge sitting on her desk, between a photo of her cat and a frog-shaped pencil holder, and directly in front of a tape recorder. It was an old-fashioned reel-to-reel, and it had probably been around since such things were invented. Certainly there was money in the budget for decent recording equipment- she knew teenagers with digital recorders they'd bought themselves. She shrugged and continued to listen to the transmission.

"Infinity- this is Lorin. Two to transport to sickbay immediately."

"Yes, ma'am."

Emma rubbed her throbbing temples and wished the whole issue would go away. She didn't want to know about people from other times, other dimensions... She was a rational person. Multiple universes could- and apparently, did- exist. But why did they have to come here? How did they come here? And why the hell did she have to figure these things out?!

She was interrupted by a sharp rap at her door. She looked up guiltily as Agent Martin walked in. Emma outranked Josie, had the tenure Josie didn't have, had experience Josie could never hope to have... and she still felt inferior to Josie. Maybe it was her manner, her focus on formality and procedure. Emma was much more casual.

"The Wizard is telling us stories now. I don't know how to deal with him. Usually interrogation under hot lights makes a man confess... or at least sweat attractively. I don't think Jini has any sweat glands, and that frightens me."

"Let me talk to him, okay?" Emma soothed. "Send him in here."

Josie shook her head, irritated, but sent Dava into the cubicle anyway. He looked around as he entered. The room was much nicer than the one he'd been in before. There were pictures on the wall, photos on the desk, and flowers in a vase. The lighting was decidedly less harsh than that in Josie's office.

"Dava. I know you want to tell me the truth about this thing." She poked at the comm. badge, which responded with, "We're ready." The disembodied voice of the Starfleet captain sounded jarring in the small office.

A thought flickered through Dava's mind. The reason it's so jarring is... it happened months ago. It's not only technologically anachronistic, it's... out of sequence. He shook his head, slowly, sorrowfully. "There is no truth. It's all just speculation. But if I don't do this, the entire world could suffer from the anachronism."

"Do what?" asked Emma, but it was too late- Dava grabbed the comm. badge and ran out of the room. Her first impulse was to call security, but she waited a moment. She understood his point of view- it was her own, really. She didn't want to know about other cultures, and he didn't want her to know. It worked out pretty well, actually.

Then she remembered Josie. Josie would be really mad if she let Dava get away. Emma called security, making sure to tell them she had no idea which way Dava had run. It was a popular belief throughout the department that she was dumber than a sock, so they'd believe that. She ran, down a hall and up a flight of stairs. She knew exactly where Dava was headed. And she was going to help him escape.

"Okay," said Marianna as she walked through a floral shop crowded with flowers. "Here's the thing. We need those beach roses, the ones that range from hot pink to white, in terra cotta pots, marking off the area where the people are allowed. Then we need leis for everyone, I don't know what flowers are good for that, but I can trust you, right?"

The florist, who was actually a botanist part-timing as a florist to make ends meet, nodded through her bewilderment. She'd already met one DeSka sister- Daniela- and was quickly noticing similarities between her and Mari.

"Other than that- centerpieces and stuff- you get to choose what you donate."

"Sure thing," the florist said. "Actually, I have a new flower that I've been working on that I'd like to donate. It's nice, small, delicately scented, white, grows in tight bunches. It also grows like crazy, so I have lots of it that I need to get rid of."

Marianna nodded absently while stroking a Venus fly trap. "That's good. I'll take one of these carnivores, too. They're cute." Just then, the fly trap reached its head up and nipped her on the finger.

"That's the Audrey 2- I've been working on it for some time. I'm not sure you want it, though."

Mari sucked her bleeding finger and nodded emphatically. "Yeah, I want it. It's cool. And it'll scare my husband." Marianna grinned at the hesitant florist. "By the way, what name should I put for who donated the flowers?"

"The shop is Phil's Phlowers, but if you want to put my name, it's Phillippa Oden-Dron."

Mari nodded, a slight smile playing at the corners of her mouth, and stepped out the door.

The cooler air of the late summer morning was refreshing after being in the humid flower shop, but the glare of the sun caused Marianna to squint. She never remembered her sunglasses, and probably never would. Not a problem, though; her business was to the west, the sun at her back as she walked through Calypso Beach. Mari didn't like running errands, especially when she walked them, but the doctor had recommended mild exercise. Besides, she had to do this for the luau.

She looked at the to-do list that she had managed to not lose, and smiled. It was only nine o'clock, but she was mostly done. She'd discussed roasting pigs with a local butcher, managed to convince a green grocer to contribute fruit and vegetable salads, and talked a local pasta house into giving three kinds of pasta salad. She'd also consulted with Dream (the local expert on Hawaii, since she'd vacationed there years ago), trying to determine what kind of vegetarian food might be appropriate- or at least what should be made available. Mari was a vegetarian, sure, but she wasn't creative beyond "99 ways to serve a veggie burger."

Now, all that appeared to be left was getting the local bank to give them a safe place for the charity's money. Just as Marianna stepped in front of the bank, the manager unlocked the door. Perfect timing, she thought. "Hi, Chris."

"Marianna, hi. How are you?"

"Oh, fine, except the extra body I'm lugging around." She grinned and patted her stomach.

"Of course. How are your sisters? We've been seeing more money go out of their accounts than in lately."

"That's my sisters for you," Marianna said. "Chris, I need to open a new account."

"An inheritance?" Banker Chris asked. "Or a new business?"

"The second was closer. My friend Ulysses Chuck is starting a charity, and I'm doing all the grunt work. We need a nice, safe place to keep our funds."

"Of course. What is the charity for?" Chris asked as he started pulling forms out of file cabinets.

"Beach grubs." Marianna proceeded to explain the entire charity to Chris as she filled out the pile of forms. As she went through, she set aside the ones requiring UPChuck's signature. In fifteen minutes, she walked out the door with a small stack of papers- and a brand new charity.