“Awe-inspiring would be more like it.” Trying to find purpose for his nervous fingers, Causeway ended up hiding his hands behind his back. He hardly knew what to say. “I wish you and Chiasa would stay. You have tenure.”

Setting the old book he had selected atop a small but growing pile on his desk, Zimmer made sure the stack was balanced so it would not topple to the floor.

“Tenure. What is that? A whole new world beckons. Just imagine, Bob: embarking on such an adventure, at my age. I accepted my offer as soon as Chiasa received the standard Gadeu exemption for spouses.”

Causeway did not try to hide his melancholy. “We’ll miss the two of you at faculty get-togethers, parties. Elaine and I will miss our weekend nights out together.”

As he chose another book to add to the pile atop the canvas bag on his desk it struck Zimmer that Causeway was struggling to express emotions that had nothing to do with academics. Pausing in his delving, he walked over to put both hands on his colleague’s shoulders and look him in the eye.

“The Gadeu have assured me that communication with Earth will continue. The fact that they are, in a sense, repatriating lost brothers and sisters does not mean they intend to ignore the rest of the species. I am told that out there, all intelligences welcome the company and friendship of others. Only occasionally do individuals, not entire species, seek to take unfair advantage of others.” He smiled anew as he dropped his hands. “Something I had occasion to experience firsthand.”

A mystified Causeway shook his head. While the details were by now well and widely known, he still had trouble trying to visualize what his friend had been through. “Accidentally abducted by aliens, then rescued by descendants of your relatives. It’s hard to wrap one’s mind around it all.”

Zimmer turned thoughtful. “There was nothing else we could do. I and my colleagues simply reacted to the situation in which we found ourselves. It’s something humans seem to be good at. It helped that our captors were not inherently evil. Just avaricious. I look forward to encountering less acquisitive representatives of their respective races. As well as entirely new species.”

“Some of me envies you, Jakob, but the greater part does not. Giving up everything you’ve known, from friends to home, the scenery, strikes me as more than a bit frightening. You’re not frightened? Even a little bit?”

For a second time Zimmer hesitated in his book sorting. “I would be insincere if I didn’t admit that I’ve had some hesitation.” He laughed softly. “Interestingly, Chiasa has been relentlessly enthusiastic. She can’t wait to leave. That’s helped me to overcome any reluctance. All she can talk about is starting a life on a new world, yet one that is inhabited and has been developed by other humans.”