Chapter 3

J.D. followed the quartet through the tangled tunnels of the Four Worlds ship, letting them guide her through the maze. They passed hundreds of tiny dioramas tucked into the walls. J.D. still had not had the chance to inspect one closely. Now and again a colorful bat-bird winged past.

At the entrance to the connecting tunnel, Smallerfarthings and Largerfarthings waited to see them off, bringing with them baggage and equipment and food, all the supplies their colleagues would need while visiting Starfarer, an alien ship.

In the connecting tunnel, J.D. led the way toward the Chi, feeling like the leader of a caravan on the silk road. The contents of the Farthings’ baggage, no matter how ordinary to them, would be as strange and wonderful as any cargo of rare spices.

o0o

Victoria unfastened the safety straps of her couch and let herself float free in the observers’ circle.

“Let’s go,” she said eagerly. “Let’s go meet the Four Worlds people.”

“And their parasites,” Satoshi said. He grimaced. “Ugh.”

“Their mutualists,” Europa said. “Not parasites at all.”

“Whatever you say,” Satoshi said.

Zev pushed off to the ceiling and rebounded to the doorway. Satoshi floated to Victoria’s side. Europa and Androgeos joined them; Stephen Thomas followed last.

“Are those things in your hair really alive?” Zev asked Europa.

“Yes, young ichthyocentaur.”

“I’m not part fish,” Zev said. “And I’m not that young!”

Europa smiled. “You are to me.”

Stephen Thomas’s hair came loose again. He gathered it up at the back of his neck and shoved the tangled strands down the neck of his t-shirt. The soft loose fabric would not hold it. It came loose again and drifted in front of his eyes.

“Fuck it!” he said angrily. “Is there a pair of scissors on board?”

“Don’t cut your hair!” Victoria stopped, embarrassed by the strength of her outburst.

“Take this, Stephen Thomas,” Europa said. She drew one of the silver worms from her hair.

“What the hell for?”

She teased it around her finger. It wrapped snugly, searching with its biting end for something to grasp.

“To hold back your hair. You’ll break Victoria’s heart if you cut it, and your fussing is driving me crazy.”

Stephen Thomas looked at the silver worm.

“Do they disturb you as much as they do J.D.?”

He shrugged. “Interesting critter.”

She drew the worm across the nape of his neck. The worm coiled around his hair, keeping it in place. The biter clamped its jaws onto a few strands of hair.

“That’s better,” Europa said.

“How do I get it out?”

“Tease it, stroke it. It will relax.”

Stephen Thomas fingered the thin silver strand.

“Do you want it, or not?” Europa asked.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Stephen Thomas said. “Thanks.”

Victoria wondered how it would feel to tease the silver worm out of Stephen Thomas’s hair. But Satoshi looked ill.

The airlock clanged. Victoria forgot the silver worm.

o0o

 The Farthings and all their baggage piled into the Chi’s airlock, crowding the small chamber. J.D. edged in after them Late floated from Sharphearer’s back, his spines undulating out of his coat and beneath his fur, scarily close. J.D. believed that his poison would not harm her. But she also believed those long sharp spines could give a painful jab.

“Goodbye,” J.D. said to the Farthings who had accompanied them down the connecting tunnel. “I’m sure we’ll meet again soon.”

The hatch closed, sealing off the Chi from the Four Worlds ship.

Orchestra, the artificial intelligence from Largernearer, popped into view.

“May I go with you?”

“Of course,” J.D. said.

Outside, the connector tunnel released itself from the Chi. Light streamed through the port. The Chi hummed faintly, its engines gentling it away from the Four Worlds ship. It powered toward Starfarer, a few minutes distant.

The airlock hatch opened into the Chi. J.D. ushered her companions into the explorer craft.

Europa and Androgeos joined the quartet and embraced them, one by one and all together. The trills and hums of the Largerfarthings’ language shimmered in the air.

Zev met J.D., grabbed her hands as he sailed past, and drew her into a slow spin. Diplomatic restraint was foreign to him, and J.D. was glad of it. He pulled himself closer to her. The speed of their spin increased. J.D. hugged him, laughing. The quartet watched, tangled together in a similar conglomerate. Longestlooker’s low trilling hum tickled the lower ranges of J.D.’s hearing.

She touched the wall to slow the spin. Zev slid his hands down her arms, hooking his fingertips with hers till they were barely touching, rotating very slowly. Finally he let her go. He caught himself against the wall and used up his momentum with his legs. He hovered, smiling, watching, fascinated by the quartet.

J.D. hugged Victoria, but instead of an embrace she received a brief, cool touch of Victoria’s cheek to hers. She drew back, startled, thinking, I stepped over a line, I know Victoria’s more proper in public than Zev is. Of course, almost anyone is more proper in public than Zev is.

Like J.D., Zev missed the casual, continual physical contact among the divers and the orcas of his family.

Regaining her composure, a composure Victoria had never lost, J.D. introduced the other members of the alien contact department.

Victoria offered her hands to Longestlooker. The two touched. Longestlooker raised her chin and ducked her nose thoughtfully.

“I’m honored to meet you,” Longestlooker said. “It’s rare, and wonderful, when new members bring a unique contribution to Civilization.”

“I hope Earth will be allowed to join Civilization,” Victoria said evenly, “so we can all share our work.”

“We all anticipate a favorable result,” Longestlooker said. “And we’re anxious to appreciate what you’ve done.”

“And use it,” Stephen Thomas said.

J.D. flinched, but Victoria’s lips twitched in a quick smile.

“Yes.” Longestlooker closed her eyes slowly from outer corners to inner. “We have our practical side.”

“Perhaps you’re wise to wait,” Quickercatcher said.

“We want to proceed on a basis of trust and goodwill,” Sharphearer said.

“We’d like to proceed as members of Civilization,” Satoshi said. “That won’t be till our solar system regains its access to the cosmic string. Till we can come and go freely from our home.”

Quickercatcher made a figure-eight of agreement.

o0o

Esther Klein bounded over the craters of Nautilus, moving easily in the low gravity. Soon the bright orange top of the excursion tent rose above the starship’s curving horizon.

The tent was a windowed elongated orange dome with an airlock projection, like half a giant squash. Liftoff scars and bootprints scuffed the dust around it, marring the pristine surface. In a million years, J.D. was the first being to visit Nemo.

Esther lengthened her stride. She would be glad to get back. She bounced completely over one big crater. She was tired and hungry. Before leaving the expedition tent, she had watched J.D.’s first encounter with the Four Worlds. She was rapt, like everyone else on the expedition.

But Nautilus fascinated her. As soon as the quartet cuddled down with J.D., Esther had hurried outside to explore Nautilus. Now she was hurrying back, to watch the Four Worlds’ first encounter with Starfarer.

Starfarer’s sail rose over the horizon.

The spin of Nautilus and Starfarer’s orbital motion brought the enormous sail, the gossamer lines, and the double cylinders of the starship into view.

The stellar sail lay edge-on to 61 Cygni. Iphigenie Dupre, the sailmaster, wanted to be sure the push of the stellar wind did not conflict with the gravitational attraction of Nautilus. To avoid the stress of furling the sail, she oriented it to cut the wind instead of catching it.

Reflected light illuminated the silver sail, turning it into an immense mirror. On its surface, a reflection of Nautilus shimmered behind the minuscule reflection of Starfarer’s double cylinders.

Esther watched, awed, as the starship rose farther above the horizon and passed overhead. The mirrored images crossed the surface of the sail, then disappeared, as the sail’s angle to her changed. For a few minutes the sail reflected stars. Then it was directly overhead, edge-on to her as well as to 61 Cygni, visible only as a silver streak.

She raised one hand toward the starship.

“Doing okay?” A disembodied voice spoke to her through her suit radio.

Esther smiled.

“Yes,” she said, replying to Infinity Mendez through the personal channel. “Watching the sights. I didn’t think anyone would see me wave.”

“I’ve got your transmissions running,” Infinity said. “Quite a change, from when J.D. was there. Before Nemo died.”

“Yeah.”

When Nemo was alive, the planetoid teemed with Nemo’s attendants, strange creatures that draped the caverns with iridescent silk, created the air, maintained the complex network that was either an ecosystem or Nemo’s body, depending on the observer’s point of view.

“How about you?” Esther asked.

“Okay so far,” he said. “I miss your help. And Kolya’s. And I plain miss you.”

“Thanks, Kenny,” she said. “Me too.”

When Infinity Kenjiro Yanagihara y Mendoza had joined the deep space expedition, he decided to stop being Kenny Yanagihara and start being Infinity Mendez. No one ever called him Kenny anymore. Except Esther, once in a while, for old times’ sake...

It surprised him; he took a moment to reply.

“See you soon,” he said.

“I hope.”

 

As Starfarer dropped toward the horizon, the edge of 61 Cygni flared above the rough edge of a crater. Esther’s faceplate darkened against the light.

She reached the tent, entered the airlock, and waited for the pressure to equalize. The interior door opened. Esther stepped through it, unfastening her helmet and pulling it off over her short curly hair.

“Hi, I’m back, you should see — Oh.”

Holographic images filled the main room of the tent, nearly hiding Kolya.

Awfully crowded in here, Esther thought, considering that Kolya always describes himself as a hermit.

Some of the images moved aside. Beyond them, Kolya Cherenkov sprawled in one of the air-tube chairs, all lanky limbs and angles.

He raised one hand in greeting. His smile deepened the lines at the corners of his dark eyes and made his striped eyebrows look even bushier than usual.

The largest image had not moved. It sat before Kolya, bringing the real-time presence of Griffith into the tent.

“Sorry,” Esther said to Kolya. “Didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“You’re welcome to join us.”

“That’s okay. I’ve got some work to do.”

Esther disliked Griffith. He was in the employ of the people who had tried to disrupt the deep space expedition. She believed that if he ever got the chance to make Starfarer return to Earth, he would take it.

She tried to avoid him, but that was tough. Esther had volunteered to help Infinity, and so had Kolya. They worked together frequently. Griffith tagged around after Kolya all the time.

I can understand admiring Kolya, Esther thought. Join the club, Griffith. But don’t act like a puppy dog.

Esther wished she had entered the tent in silence. Then Griffith would not even know she had returned. Now she had to make an appearance in the transmission area, or be directly rude. She considered rudeness, but decided not to make Kolya uncomfortable.

“Hello, Griffith,” she said.

“Yeah,” he replied, and went right back to his conversation with Kolya. “There’s no sign that the Four Worlds ship is staging an invasion,” he said. “I don’t like the idea of letting them on board Starfarer. If they try to take Nautilus... I’m keeping a lookout, don’t worry.”

Disgusted, Esther left the focus of the tent’s transmission spot.

So much for being civil, she thought. Why do I even try? And he’s so damned paranoid... On the other hand, if we all didn’t feel a little paranoid about Nautilus, Kolya and I wouldn’t be standing in for J.D. in the first place.

She stripped off the rest of her suit and sat down to clean it. She was tired, but she was too pissed off to sleep. She felt sticky and she wanted a shower, but if she had to go outside in a hurry she wanted her suit clean even more.

“I doubt the Four Worlds will be so inhospitable as to invade Nautilus, Petrovich,” Kolya said. “They would risk their representatives, besides.”

“That’s a small price to pay for a starship,” Griffith said. “Anyway I’m going to keep watch.”

What the hell for? Esther wondered. Starfarer’s unarmed — unless Griffith sneaked some ordnance on board, and I wouldn’t put it past him, in which case we’re in even more trouble. We could use Nautilus as a great big wrecking ball, but... what a waste.

“Thank you for your vigilance,” Kolya said to Griffith, sounding perfectly serious. “I’ll speak with you later.”

Griffith’s image faded from the center of the room, clearing some space. Esther felt relieved.

I try to be civil to him because I’m scared of him, she admitted to herself. Because he is scary, when he lets that undercurrent of danger show, when he isn’t making himself invisible.

Usually he acted as if Esther and everybody else on board Starfarer was invisible too, not worth bothering about, no threat. Except Kolya, of course.

Maybe, Esther thought, I ought to ignore him and let myself be invisible.

She wondered what it would be like to go through life like that, ignoring everyone who could not be of direct use or direct threat, pretending to be of no interest to anyone. She did not think she would like it much.

So far she had avoided any direct disputes with Griffith. She had been in her share of scuffles, even a few real fights. She had always been able to take care of herself. But she had never been in a physical confrontation with someone who had serious training. Griffith did not brag, did not show off, did not even mention his background. But Esther had no intention of testing him.

“I apologize for his rudeness,” Kolya said.

Kolya smelled of stale tobacco. She had not seen him smoke since they had come to Nautilus. An open flame was not a particularly safe thing to have in an expedition tent, with hard vacuum a few layers of fabric away.

Esther applied a trickle of lubricant to one of her spacesuit’s stress points. After she had tested the range of motion, she shrugged.

“You’re not responsible for Griffith’s behavior,” she said. “No reason for you to apologize.”

She wondered what Kolya was doing about his nicotine addiction. Not smoking made him sick. Cigarette smoke made Esther sick; stale smoke was even worse.

“But I am responsible for his presence,” Kolya said.

Esther chuckled. Infinity Mendez had told her about finding Griffith trapped in an emergency pouch, where Kolya had left him.

“Ah,” Kolya said. “You know what happened. I wasn’t sure if you’d heard the story.”

“Infinity probably would have kept his mouth shut, if Griffith hadn’t threatened him about talking to anybody. Infinity’s a lot more stubborn that most people think, and prouder. Griffith’s not too smart, I think.”

“He’s as smart as any of us. Maybe not Victoria, or Miensaem. But as smart as the rest of us. He has a different viewpoint. And conflicting loyalties.”

“He’s a spy!”

“A guerrilla accountant,” Kolya said.

Esther laughed. “Guerrilla accountant?”

“He says he is an accountant.”

“And you believe him?”

“I believe... what he tells me. I might not be so quick to accept what he told anyone else.”

The deep lines in Kolya’s face, and his brindled hair, fascinated Esther. She wanted to ask him if they were the result of living in space for so many years. She respected and admired him. There was hardly a pilot in space who did not admire Cosmonaut Cherenkov.

“Why do you call Griffith ‘Petrovich’?” she asked instead.

“An old custom from my homeland,” Kolya said. “The custom has probably disappeared as thoroughly as the country.”

Esther wished she had not said anything; she had brought up a subject far more painful than the effects of solar radiation on hair follicles.

“The Mideast Sweep banned the Russian language when they took over,” Kolya said. “Perhaps no one uses patronymics anymore. I call Griffith by his patronymic, he calls me by mine. By chance, they’re the same.”

“Why not call him by his given name?”

“He doesn’t like it.”

“What is it?”

“You’ll have to ask him that.”

Provoked, she touched Arachne and asked for information. She got nothing back but the passenger list of an incoming transport that she herself had flown. It recorded only his initials, his job — his cover — with the Government Accountability Office.

Griffith was not a member of the deep space expedition, so his résumé was not on file. He was on board now by mistake, along with two United States senators and the niece of the U.S. president, carried away when Starfarer fled the order to turn it into an orbiting weapons platform. And fled the military carrier sent to enforce the order.

“We owe him some respect, my friend,” Kolya said.

“Respect! He was spying on us. He —”

“He would have sacrificed himself to try to help us.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I wouldn’t let him. That’s why he was in the survival pouch. I put him there to keep him from throwing himself out the airlock.”

“Why?”

“Why did I stop him?” Kolya asked, startled.

“No — why did you have to?”

“He thought the carrier might end its pursuit. He thought it would stop chasing us to rescue him.” Kolya hesitated. “I feared it would not do so.”

“You were probably right,” Esther said curtly. She knew most of the people on the carrier; many had been her friends, until they ordered her not to disembark from Starfarer with her transport full of people. They had fired the nuclear missile. Only Kolya and J.D.’s actions had kept the missile from destroying Starfarer.

Esther still felt embarrassed and guilty about obeying the order not to undock.

“The expedition has reason to be suspicious of him,” Kolya said. “And he’s certainly alienated enough of its members. Florrie, for instance, and Stephen Thomas, not to mention you and Infinity. He’s not a hero in wolf’s clothing. But like most people, he has heroic potential.”

“Why would he want to help the expedition? He tried to destroy it!”

“As I said... conflicting loyalties.”

“He did it for you.” It was the only reason that made any sense.

“He tried,” Kolya said, troubled.

“Then he’s not a complete bonehead — somebody got through to him.”

“I wish that was true,” Kolya said. “I wish he had heard me out, and considered, and decided I was right. Instead, he divined what I wanted — what he thought I wanted — and he tried to make it occur.”

Esther shrugged. “What’s the difference?”

“A great deal, to him and to me. Perhaps not so much to Starfarer.” Kolya sighed.

Esther hung up her suit.

“In any event, I’m sorry he was rude to you. I think perhaps he was not brought up very well —”

She shrugged again. “I don’t care what he thinks about me.”

“— and he is, of course, furiously jealous.”

Esther frowned. “Jealous? Of what? Of me?”

“Of your being here. On Nautilus.”

“He could’ve come, if he wanted.” She flung her hands up, spreading her arms wide. “I only came because J.D. asked me to. I wanted to see Nautilus, sure — what pilot wouldn’t?”

“Very few. I couldn’t resist.”

“But it’s not like either of us can fly it. There’s not even much left to see, since Nemo died. Nothing but a few curled-up shells from the attendants.”

“And the core.”

“Yeah. Only I’m not a physicist. Or an engineer. I can’t take the center apart and figure out how it works and put another one together. And I don’t much feel like getting irradiated.”

“There is that.”

“So there’s no reason for me to be here. Or you.”

“Someone must be here.”

“A couple of warm bodies. So Civilization can’t claim it’s abandoned. Salvage it. Take it away from J.D.”

“Not much satisfaction to my friend Petrovich.”

“I’d be a lot more use back on Starfarer. Working with Infinity. God forbid any of the faculty should get their hands dirty.”

“They would if he asked. They helped you get the artificials back to work.”

“This is supposed to be a community — he shouldn’t have to ask.” She snorted in frustration. “I suppose I’ll have to read them the riot act. That’s what it took last time.”

“The point is,” Kolya said, “that J.D. asked you. She didn’t ask Griffith.”

“He’s not a member of the expedition,” she said. “He —”

She stopped, realizing the contradiction before Kolya voiced it.

He drew his eyebrows together in a quizzical glance.

“Neither are you,” he said.

“I know, I know, I don’t know why I said that. But it’s different —”

“Neither am I.” He knitted his eyebrows in a thoughtful look. “It occurs to me, J.D. may have chosen you, and me, for exactly that reason.”

“Because we’re not members of the expedition?”

“Because we have no contractual obligation to Starfarer. No matter. She trusts you. She does not trust Petrovich. So he is jealous.”

“It isn’t my fault — !”

“But that is the explanation.”

“He’s a scary guy, Kolya.”

“I suppose he has that effect,” Kolya said reluctantly.

“Not to you,” Esther said. She realized what it meant, that Kolya had forced Griffith into the survival pouch. She saw Kolya anew, not as the legendary cosmonaut turned starfaring hermit, but as the former guerrilla fighter who had bested a similarly trained man less than half his age.

“He’s scary, but you’re not,” she said, with wonder. “Why aren’t you scary?”

“Because I’m not dangerous.”

“You could be.”

“Not to anyone on the expedition. Except perhaps the person who killed Feral.”

“Yeah,” Esther said. “Me too. I’ve had some pretty awful dreams about what I’d like to do to Chancellor Blades.”

“The evidence points in his direction, but nothing is proven,” Kolya said.

“It’s proven enough for me.”

“Nothing is that simple,” Kolya said. “He has not had his say.”

“He had a chance to defend himself.”

“I’m glad he refused,” Kolya said. “What would have happened if Iphigenie had made him admit he was guilty?”

“Beats me,” Esther said, recalling Jenny Dupre’s first mob, recalling how close she herself had been to joining it. “He’s lucky he’s got the silver slugs to hide behind. He’s lucky that Infinity thought of making him stay in his house.”

She shivered. The chancellor’s house was blocked up and cut off, isolated by the silver slugs. It was dark, and silent. The chancellor was too dangerous to allow back into Arachne, even if Starfarer’s control computer would have him. The evidence J.D. and Stephen Thomas had discovered was enough for Arachne; the computer had immunized itself against the chancellor’s neural pattern.

The evidence proved that the chancellor had crashed Arachne twice. Feral had died during the second crash. Maybe Blades had not hunted him down and killed him; maybe his death had been an accident. Blades was still responsible. The chancellor lived in darkness, and loneliness. But for Feral, the darkness and loneliness would last forever.

Kolya patted Esther gently, awkwardly, on the shoulder. She flinched, and he jerked his hand away.

“I —”

“It’s okay,” Esther said quickly. She took his hand and squeezed his long bony fingers. The smell of smoke was pungent, unpleasant. “You startled me, that’s all.”

“Ah.” He let his hand fall; Esther released him. Her exertions were catching up with her; she yawned.

“I’d really like to grab a cat-nap,” Esther said. “Just until the Chi gets home.”

They both glanced at the small hologram being transmitted from the Chi as it approached Starfarer.

“I’ll call you when it’s time,” Kolya said.

“Or if anything happens.”

“Yes.”

“Thanks.” She had her link set to nudge her, but she appreciated Kolya’s consideration.

Soundproofed fabric walls segmented the tent into several cubicles. Esther was glad of a place to herself. She kicked off her pants and pulled off her sweaty t-shirt. Feeling drained, she slipped into her sleeping bag and hugged it around her.

Being in the exploration tent made her appreciate Starfarer, where she could sleep in a bed, with sheets, and open all the windows and doze in the sweet cool breeze, the birdsongs, the scent of rain showers.

Not to mention blizzards and floods, she reminded herself. That was the trade-off for a dynamic weather system.

The tent felt stuffy, the air flat.

Esther stretched and closed her eyes.

She could not sleep.

She had been startled by Kolya’s comforting touch. He did not often touch people. But more than that, she had been startled by the pure sexual desire that radiated across her skin when she felt his hand on her shoulder.

He was attractive. She had always thought so, even when he was a distant, elusive, larger-than-life myth. She had not been prepared for the strength of her reaction.

Lousy timing, Esther thought. Back on Starfarer, it crossed my mind once or twice to see how he’d react to a pass. Even after I found out about the cigarettes. I don’t know how he’d react to a pass, and I don’t know how I’d react to kissing a smoker. Too much was happening, anyway.

Now we’re stuck here on Nautilus until... who knows? If I proposition Kolya now — if he’s even interested — talk about a cliché. Two people working alone, and all they can think about is sex.

Half my friends would fall apart laughing, and the other half would never speak to me again from jealousy.

I’d probably never live it down.

o0o

The Chi decelerated as it approached Starfarer.

The explorer craft docked easily against the axis of Starfarer’s campus cylinder. The Chi settled; the hatch connected; variations in pressure equalized.

The hatch opened.

J.D. and Quickercatcher paused at the entryway. It was as crowded here as it had been in the reception room of the Four Worlds ship. Nearly everyone on board the starship floated in the waiting room, anxious to meet the alien people of the Four Worlds.

Quickercatcher ducked his head and brushed the side of his neck against J.D.’s arm, a nervous and endearing gesture. Starfarer’s people sighed with a collective intake of breath, and an exhalation.

Another first time, J.D. thought. The first time anyone except Alien Contact has been able to meet an alien being. Except, of course, anyone could go out on Starfarer’s surface and meet Nemo’s offspring. Not many have.

Then she thought, Can you meet a being who isn’t born yet? Or is “born” even the right terminology to use about the squidmoth egg?

Had her colleagues accepted Civilization’s assessment, that the squidmoths were not worth any bother? Androgeos thought the squidmoth nest should be pried off Starfarer and jettisoned. J.D. avoided drawing attention to the nest, afraid others would agree with the Minoan.

Gerald Hemminge, the Acting Chancellor, floated forward to greet the Four Worlds people. He was, as always, well turned out, wearing a dark suit, linen shirt, leather shoes with a high polish. The impeccable white linen set off his dark skin and hair, his golden brown eyes.

How can he always wear linen without getting wrinkled? J.D. wondered. Gerald’s clothes were impractical in zero gravity, but he did look elegant.

“I’m Gerald Hemminge, the acting chancellor of the deep space expedition,” he said to Quickercatcher. “Welcome to Starfarer.”

“Thank you,” Quickercatcher said.

J.D. and Quickercatcher floated into the waiting room. Victoria followed with Longestlooker, Satoshi and Stephen Thomas and Zev with Fasterdigger and Orchestra’s artificial intelligence, Androgeos beside Sharphearer and Late. Europa watched from the entryway, like apprehensive chaperones.

The members of the alien contact department spread out behind J.D. and Quickercatcher. The rest of the faculty and staff of Starfarer, and the two United States senators, hovered in an irregular array behind Gerald and the senators.

Late rode Sharphearer’s back like the caparison of a show horse. His back edge fluttered; his spines glistened.

Just behind Gerald, Senator Ruth Orazio carried a ceramic vase, a strangely curved container with a twisting, interconnecting handle and spout. The shape formed the three-dimensional projection of a four-dimensional object, a closed form possessing a single surface, its interior contained by, yet connected to, the exterior. The Klein bottle’s graceful pattern of glazes accentuated its strangeness.

“We offer you a guest gift of water,” Gerald said.

Ruth Orazio touched off from the wall at her feet. She moved forward, offering the bottle. William Derjaguin moved beside her.

J.D. felt uncomfortable. The two senators were not members of the expedition. At best, they were unwilling passengers, at worst hijacking victims.

The senators had every right to watch the welcome, to attend the meeting. How could they resist? But they were acting as major participants. J.D. thought it was inappropriate. She glanced toward Victoria. Victoria’s shocked expression left very little to the imagination.

“This is too much,” Quickercatcher said. “You have already reciprocated our guest gift.”

Ruth Orazio froze. J.D. had a quick sharp shock of apprehension, of something gone wrong. But Longestlooker scooted up beside her and spoke without the edginess that so often colored her voice.

“It is all right, brother,” she said to Quickercatcher. “We accept the gift in the spirit of its giving.”

J.D. still felt the introduction had gone awry, but Ruth smiled and opened the vase. In a neat maneuver, she spun it. A globule of water popped from the spout in its side.

Quickercatcher hesitated, glanced at Longestlooker, then stretched his long muscular neck and snapped the globule between his sharp teeth. A few bright drops glistened in the fur of his muzzle.

“The water is very pure,” he said formally.

Orazio handed the Klein bottle to Derjaguin. He spun it, releasing another blob of guest water.

The quartet drank some of the water. Late rose and captured a sphere of water, balancing it against his teeth and his radula

punctured a ball with his sharp teeth. Orchestra swam through a loose spray of droplets. Longestlooker accepted the bottle and freed the water left in it for everyone to drink.

Gerald introduced the Four Worlds representatives to the faculty and staff and to the images of Esther Klein and Nikolai Petrovich Cherenkov, projected from the surface of Nautilus. J.D. shared her colleagues’ reactions, re-experiencing delight and amazement, curiosity and trepidation.

Gerald introduced Longestlooker to Professor Thanthavong, who was losing her usual equanimity; she pressed her sleeve against her eyes to stop tears of elation.

“Professor Thanthavong is a Nobel laureate. That’s our greatest scientific honor. She developed a way of combating viruses, and she stopped a terrible plague.”

Longestlooker raised her chin, then ducked her head, and made the soft trilling purr of pleasure.

“We of the Four Worlds have great respect for scholars,” she said.

“I never dared believe I’d see this day, meet someone from another world — I’m honored.”

“We are honored, too,” Longestlooker said.

When Florrie Brown was introduced, she took Longestlooker’s powerful hand and enclosed it between her palms, her fingers shaky and frail. Longestlooker gazed at Florrie and closed her eyes from outer to inner corners in friendly amusement. In the meantime Quickercatcher hovered near them, inspecting Florrie’s three long braids with interest. Florrie was the only human in the room whose hair was as flamboyant as Quickercatcher’s fur: one braid pink, one green, the third natural white, all three plaited with beads and bells.

Longestlooker gracefully extricated her hand from Florrie’s, and moved on. When J.D. glanced back, Quickercatcher and Florrie Brown were trading hair ornaments.

The representatives moved among Starfarer’s faculty and staff and guests: Orazio and Derjaguin; Iphegenie Dupre the sailmaster and Chandra the sensory artist; Avvaiyar Prakesh the astronomer and Infinity Mendez the gardener. All the graduate students, including Mitch and Lehua and Bay who worked for Stephen Thomas, and Fox who was in Satoshi’s department. Griffith, who in a moment of uncharacteristic straightforwardness had recently described himself as a guerrilla accountant. Esther and Kolya, back on board Nautilus; they welcomed Orchestra’s virtual presence with their own.

Drifting at the edge of the crowd, J.D. enjoyed watching the encounters. Stephen Thomas floated nearby, withdrawn and distracted. J.D. was worried about him.

Gerald Hemminge moved free of the crowd clustered around the Largerfarthings. He gave Stephen Thomas a disdainful glance.

“I must say this, Stephen Thomas,” he said. “Don’t you ever think of dressing adequately — let alone properly — for any occasion?”

Stephen Thomas looked through him, then brought his attention to Gerald with an angry snap of his head.

“Fuck off, Gerald.”

He kicked off hard with both feet, flew over the edge of the crowd of his colleagues, and arrowed out the waiting-room door.

Gerald watched him go, grimaced with disbelief and distaste, then turned to J.D.

“Quite a successful meeting, I’d say.”

“It was until a minute ago,” J.D. said, but Gerald ignored the implication.

“And do you think,” Gerald said, “that they’ll agree to return with us to Earth?”

“No, Gerald,” she said. “Why do we keep having this conversation?”

“For one thing, because Nemo would have agreed if he — she — if it hadn’t been entering metamorphosis.”

“You can’t keep asking members of Civilization to strand themselves in our solar system.”

“We have no choice. We have to prove aliens exist.”

“Why are you so anxious to go home?” J.D. asked. “If we’re patient, the string might return to our system.”

“It’s selfish of you to stand in the way —”

“I don’t think I’m alone —”

“— just because of Nautilus.”

J.D. frowned. “What does Nautilus have to do with anything?”

Gerald glanced at her quizzically. “You’ll have to turn it over to EarthSpace, of course,” he said.

She stared at him, shocked. “What — ?”

“It’s in your contract,” he said.

“Nautilus was a gift.”

“Come now, J.D.”

Gerald’s upper-class condescension made her grit her teeth.

“You know perfectly well,” he said, “that as an EarthSpace representative, you aren’t permitted to accept valuable gifts. It would be a conflict of interest.”

Nautilus is mine, she thought desperately. She could not think of anything to say.

“And here’s Crimson Ng,” Gerald said heartily. “At last!” He pushed off from wall and floated toward the artist, leaving J.D. without a backward glance.

Orchestra’s AI vanished from one side of the room and reappeared directly before Crimson, who started with surprise. All four members of the quartet arrowed toward her, and even Late stirred himself to rise up and watch her with animated interest.

“You’re the archaeologist —” Longestlooker said.

“— who found the fossils —” Quickercatcher said.

“— that Androgeos showed us!” said Sharphearer and Fasterdigger at the same time.

“Are there any more?”

“Your analysis is impressive!”

“Is the physical provenance preserved?”

They all spoke at once. Crimson, flustered but pleased, spread her hands. She had dirt beneath her nails.

“You can see the dig. After the floodwater recedes. If there’s anything left of the site. Maybe tomorrow.”

“The fossils were damaged?” Late asked, stricken.

“We’re lucky to find them at all!” Crimson said. “We dug them off the moon, you know.”

Gerald moved between Crimson and the quartet, bluff and hearty, smoothing over the possibility that the flood had washed out the site.

“I’m sure the fossils are safe,” he said. “Let’s go see you settled in. It’s traditional on Starfarer to give a party for newcomers. That will be this evening. Tomorrow’s soon enough for serious matters... such as the fossils.”

He wanted Civilization to believe in the fossils. J.D. did not see any way of persuading Crimson to admit the fossils were fakes. Not since the sculptures had fooled Androgeos and Europa. J.D. sighed.

Late clamped himself against Sharphearer’s back, quivery with disappointment, but Longestlooker reacted with patient amusement.

“Come with me,” Gerald said, “and I’ll show you where you’ll be saying. The artificials will bring your baggage along later.”

The Four Worlds representatives followed Gerald from the waiting room and into Starfarer proper.

Soon J.D. and her colleagues in alien contact were the only expedition members left behind.

“I don’t believe —” Victoria said. She stopped, and blew out her breath, and smiled sadly at the others. “I suppose I should get used to the way Gerald gravitates toward power, eh?”

Before anyone could reply, Europa left the Chi’s hatchway and joined them.

“It went rather well,” Europa said. “Despite the extra gift. You should be proud of your colleagues. Proud of yourselves.”

“Proud, and superfluous,” J.D. said.

“I’m not ready to step out of this picture,” Satoshi said.

“I have to,” J.D. said. “You have other work to do. My job is to open the door, then stand out of the way.”

She tried to keep her voice cheerful, matter of fact, job-well-done. But she felt sad.

She left the waiting room last, following her colleagues and the alien humans and Starfarer’s faculty and staff and the ambassadors from the 61 Cygni system. The Farthings had left without giving her a backward glance. Not even Quickercatcher had looked to see if she was coming.

The members of the alien contact team straggled apart. Victoria moved through zero g, floating easily along the corridor. Zev and Satoshi had gone on ahead; J.D. and Victoria were alone.

J.D. caught up to Victoria.

“Victoria,” she said hesitantly, “if I was presumptuous — when I hugged you — I’m sorry. I won’t —”

Victoria touched J.D.’s wrist, her fingers strong and gentle and cool.

“Don’t apologize. Please. I... I was afraid to hug you back.”

“Why? I don’t...”

“I enjoyed our time together so much. I think about it, I find myself planning when we’d have a chance to be together again. But...”

Her partners don’t want her to, J.D. thought, her spirits sinking. Did I misjudge their relationship that badly? She felt herself blushing.

“Is it Satoshi and Stephen Thomas?” she asked.

“It is, in a way.” Victoria sighed. “But not in a way that has anything to do with you! Not directly.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You’ve probably noticed... some strain.”

“Some,” J.D. said, thinking, that’s putting it mildly.

“Everything is so complicated. Satoshi and Stephen Thomas and I, we have things to work out together.” She hesitated, then said sadly, “If we can.”

“Do you think...”

“It isn’t that I don’t want to be with you — it’s that I feel fragmented... I feel like Satoshi and Stephen Thomas and I are desperately hanging on to each other by our fingernails.” She hesitated. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I love you, I don’t want to hurt you — I wish I’d never led you on!”

J.D. managed a smile. “The leading on was mutual.”

They reached the border between the stationary axis of Starfarer and the rotating campus cylinder. They crossed the boundary; microgravity gave a faint perception of “up” and “down.” The radial acceleration here, several levels down from the axis, was strong enough to create a perceptible sensation of gravity. The perception of gravity increased as they continued downward.

“After you and your partners work things out,” J.D. said, and let the unfinished sentence hang in the air.

“Would you let me start over? Could you?”

J.D. brushed her fingertips gently against Victoria’s cheek.

The corridor opened out onto the hillside sloping from Starfarer’s axis to its living surface, the hill that formed the end cap of the starship’s cylinder. Here they could walk, instead of bouncing and gliding. J.D. paused to regain her equilibrium on solid ground, after so many hours in weightlessness.

All around the conical hillside, switchback trails led downward to the floor of Starfarer. The cylinder stretched away into the distance. Hills and streams and rivers, groves of young trees and fields, paths and gardens covered the starship’s inner surface. At the campus’ far side, fog obscured the ring-shaped sea.

A little way down the hill, at the first switchback turn, Satoshi and Zev waited with Europa and Androgeos. Stephen Thomas was nowhere in sight.

At the bottom of the trail leading down from J.D.’s position, Sharphearer’s bright fur stood out in the group of Largerfarthings. A number of Starfarer’s faculty were still following the Four Worlds people, but Gerald and the senators were monopolizing the visitors’ attention. Gerald join the faculty members, spoke seriously for a few moments, then left the group behind, and hurried after the representatives.

The faculty members began to disperse.

Victoria whistled softly in surprise. “Gerald’s got more nerve than brains,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to be the one to shoo that group away. He shooed Professor Thanthavong!”

J.D. knew how they all felt, as the group broke up and straggled toward home or work, most accompanied by Arachne’s holographic projection of the Farthings.

J.D. reminded herself that her part of this meeting was over. She and Victoria joined the others at the switchback turn. Zev slid his warm webbed hand around J.D.’s fingers.

“I think I’ll go back to Nautilus,” J.D. said to Victoria. “Kolya and Esther must be getting bored out there all alone.”

“You’ll be all alone,” Victoria said, protesting.

“I’ll be okay,” J.D. said.

“You won’t be all alone,” Zev said. “I’ll go with you.”

J.D. squeezed Zev’s hand gratefully.

“I wish I could talk to Alzena,” J.D. said. The head of the ecology department had fled from Starfarer, seeking sanctuary from Earth and from her family. Europa had taken her in.

J.D. glanced at Europa, beseeching. “Won’t you ask Alzena if she’ll help terraform Nautilus?”

“Don’t you care how fragile she is?” Androgeos said angrily. “She’s beginning to regain her equanimity. To find some happiness. She doesn’t wrap herself up in a shroud anymore —”

Europa put one hand gently on his wrist. He fell silent, but glowered at J.D., at Victoria.

He’s trying to protect Alzena, J.D. thought with surprise. His reaction eased her perception of the arrogant younger Minoan into a new, more sympathetic, shape.

“Give her more time,” Europa said. “She thought of herself as dead, you must let her think of herself as alive again. Reborn.” She smiled. “Haven’t you thought to ask me for help?”

“Yes,” J.D. said. “But... I’m afraid to owe you a debt.”

Europa’s voice held sadness. “I can’t blame you for making that decision. I can only blame myself.”

“You don’t have time to go back to your squidmoth ship,” Androgeos said.

“All I have is time!” J.D. exclaimed. “Why are you trying to keep me away from Nautilus?”

Suspicion crept into J.D.’s reaction. Europa and Androgeos knew how to exploit the great value of Nautilus. But J.D. was not prepared to give it up. Not to EarthSpace, not to Europa, not to Civilization. Especially knowing that Civilization’s method of controlling the massive little starships required destroying the knowledge surface. Even if J.D. never found out how to use the knowledge surface to its whole potential, it was all she had left of Nemo.

“We won’t prevent you from returning to your ship,” Europa said. “But first you have another task.”

“What’s that?”

“The Nearer Worlds, of course,” Europa said. “A visit to the Nearer Worlds.”