Final thoughts, Dev mused as he used a napkin to wipe red sweetness from his lips. He’d grown up listening to his mother ramble on and on about reincarnation, remembered being utterly bored by the interminable details, and wishing at the time that he were anywhere else but trapped in the same room with her. Now, as he made his way back to his room, he found himself recalling a good deal of what she had said. He still didn’t believe any of it, of course. He was a scientist, a representative of science and reason, and knew there was no more proof of reincarnation than of any of the other afterlifes proposed by religions large and small. Besides, if the aliens’ demands could not be met and they ended up methodically destroying the Earth, what could he reasonably come back as anyway? A cockroach? Better just to be dead.

Buck up, he told himself. Whether the implacable aliens requested plutonium, or rare earths, or pails of diamonds, it was possible that their demands could be satisfied. If that turned out to be the case, they might very well take what they needed and be on their way, leaving the Earth and its peoples unharmed and moderately, if uneasily, wiser concerning the presence of intelligent life in the galaxy. Why anticipate Armageddon at ten in the morning?

Feeling a bit better, if not exactly optimistic, he attended to the necessary ablutions, made sure his attire was in order, and left his windowless yet comfortable room. There was no need to lock the door. The few possessions he had managed to bring with him, including a little money and some credit cards, would be safe concealed beneath the grounds of the Space Center. Anyway, there were no locks on any of the doors.

The mood was solemn as the five members of the contact team were led out of the subterranean complex and to the underground transport rail system. Even the usually garrulous Zimmers were reduced to a few subdued murmurs. Reed had his headphones back in, listening to Shiva knew what. No, not Shiva, Dev hastily corrected himself. Wrong god to invoke on this particular morning.