Reluctantly, the big man released his grip on Tilenyii. Thus freed, she hurried to join her anxious colleagues. Their relief was manifest as they surrounded her. Ignoring the freed supervisor, Syrenii focused her attention on Zimmer.

“You realize this is only a pause, a temporary reprieve for your continued existence.”

“No, I don’t think so.” Zimmer eyed his wife, who nodded in agreement. “I really do think that, for reasons as yet unexplained, this ship has allowed my colleagues and me to assume control of its higher cognitive functions. Not necessarily to your detriment, mind. As long as you agree to cooperate.”

“This is beyond contemptible!” Had he been capable of levitation, Vantolos would have been angrily waving all four limbs. “You overstep your bounds, biped!” He raged at Zimmer. “A moment will come when your attention fades, and in that moment your limbs will be torn from …!”

“Shut up, Vantolos.”

Eyeing the captain, the shocked Olone started to respond, reconsidered, and went uncharacteristically silent. Turning back to the Zimmers, Syrenii continued as though the tense confrontation had never taken place. As though nothing had happened. When she next spoke, her tone was almost pleasant.

“What kind of cooperation did you have in mind?”

“You agree that I and my friends are, for whatever reason, now in control of this ship,” Zimmer informed her.

“I agree to nothing. But since I can’t find a way to kill you—yet—then we will proceed on the understanding that if we can come to some sort of mutually acceptable arrangement, no one will kill anyone.”

“Sounds good to me,” Reed said. Dev noted that the big man continued to keep a tight grip on his knife. He considered handing over the alien rifle he had picked up but decided against it. For the moment, he would keep it. While the highly trained Reed could undoubtedly make better use of the device, given his temperament it might be a good idea to keep it out of his hands for a while. At least until Zimmer and Syrenii had reached some kind of understanding. The weapon was cool to the touch. Though Dev studied it intently he was unable to locate anything resembling a trigger and so was careful not to let his fingers wander too freely over the relatively smooth surface.

“Our request—our demand—is to be returned to our home. To Earth.” Zimmer was quietly insistent.

Syrenii’s head bobbed several times to one side. None of the humans could interpret the gesture. “It has already been explained to you on several occasions that that is impossible.”

“Why is it impossible?” Katou-Zimmer regarded the captain with a mixture of frustration and curiosity. “You never explained exactly why, never went into any detail.”