Tilting back his head, Dev gazed skyward. Somewhere up there the great gray bulk of the alien mothership hovered in Earth orbit, taking on loads of terrestrial foodstuffs, woods, metals, and the other substances the aliens had requested. Soon he and his colleagues would board it. Would actually step aboard an alien spacecraft. For how long? An hour? Two? Vantolos had promised they would see wonders. How long would it take for all of them to be amazed and astonished beyond measure? His heart was pounding. A great, if brief, adventure lay before them.

Directly ahead, a circular portal resolved itself in the side of the smaller ship and a ramp extended. The Zimmers led the way, followed by Pavesi and Dev, with Reed a final reluctant boarder. As he stepped onto the ramp, Dev thought the material underfoot more closely resembled his grandmother’s ceramic dinner plates than anything else. Then the portal closed behind them as Vantolos led them deeper into the ship.

—V—

Expecting surfaces hard and shining, Dev and his companions were surprised to discover that the interior walls of the alien vessel looked almost soft. Since no one moved to stop him, Dev reached out to run his hand along one sweeping, nearly translucent curve. Replete with concealed conduits, bulges, and concavities whose purpose was unknown, the small section of corridor felt like warm glass beneath his fingertips. He jerked his fingers away when a series of tiny but intensely bright lights ran away from his touch, quickly fading into the depths of the wall.

A fork appeared in the arched corridor down which they were walking. Vantolos continued to lead the visitors onward while the Kaijank turned down the other passageway. Plainly, now that they were aboard their own craft, the aliens felt that the bodyguards’ presence was no longer necessary to ensure the interlocutor’s safety.