Present observations favor a small but positive cosmological term. Recent theoretical developments suggest the possibility of fundamental brane degrees of freedom. Branes coupled to a three-index gauge field have implications for the cosmological constant problem. The three-index gauge field contributes to the effective cosmological term through its four-form field strength, and the resulting contribution may be relaxed in discrete jumps through bubble nucleation. I consider the possibility that the present cosmological term is the end result of a series of such jumps.