No one was surprised when it was Reed who did the unthinkable. Stepping forward, he reached out and grabbed the interlocutor by one shoulder. Or as it was positioned at the moment, hip. Reacting to the tug from human fingers, Vantolos turned. Dev tensed, expecting a bellow of outrage from the Olone. The Zimmers looked at once nervous and intrigued. Pavesi hardly moved.

No threat eventuated. No bellow of indignation was forthcoming. From the Olone there issued not a roar, not a shout, not even a sharp whistle of protest. Instead, Vantolos’ exposed skin turned from white to a pale shade of yellow. Black lines matching those that striped his limbs appeared on his upper body and face. In the absence of any verbal response from the alien, Reed spoke firmly.

“You can’t leave us like this. What are you talking about?”

“Yes.” Surprising himself, Dev moved forward until he was standing alongside the much bigger Reed. A single automaton boasting one flexible limb paused to contemplate the confrontation, then moved on. “You said ‘required.’ Not ‘require.’ Does that mean we have already left Earth orbit?”

A shudder passed through the Olone’s body. Shrugging off Reed’s grip, the contact master scuttled sideways until he was standing beside the curving wall. Reaching out, one tentacle tip traced a circle on the nearest soft, responsive surface. A section some two meters in diameter immediately turned transparent. As it did so, Pavesi let out a gasp.

The ringed world whose orbit they were crossing was immediately familiar. As they stared, it shrank in less than a second to a tiny point of light before vanishing altogether. Astonishingly, there was no feeling of acceleration, no vibration, no sense of motion whatsoever.

Dropping into a crouch, Reed clenched both hands into fists. For an instant, Dev feared he was going to attack the Olone. What kind of defensive response that might elicit from Vantolos, not to mention the scurrying flurry of automatons or the increasingly active A'jeii, Dev could not imagine. Thankfully, his fears were not realized: Reed held himself in check.

The respect he had developed for his fellow contact team members now rose to even greater heights. Pavesi’s expression was grim, but that was her only visible reaction. Staring at the star-filled image that had replaced the section of wall, the Zimmers were resigned but calm. Taking a step toward their alien counterpart, Katou-Zimmer spoke quietly but with the characteristic firmness that belied her physical stature.

“This is not acceptable. You must return us to our home. To our world.”

The black stripes that now crossed Vantolos’s face had doubled in number. Was their appearance a sign of anger? Embarrassment?

“I am afraid that is not possible.” A tentacle tip gestured at the circle of superstructure the Olone had rendered transparent. “As you can see, we have already left your system far behind.”