He nodded, turned, and had to use his hand to re-create the doorway. The opening lingered a moment behind him, letting him see back into the Zimmers’ compartment. Sleep, Chiasa had advised him. How could he sleep? How could any of them? Pavesi he could understand. Their ongoing ordeal had completely worn her out. Reed’s anger would eventually drive him to lie down and seek surcease in his headphones. The Zimmers—he was confident that the Zimmers could sleep anywhere, under any circumstances.

He was halfway to his own cabin when he decided that waiting for inspiration to strike was a poor waste of time. With every hour, with every minute, they were doubtless journeying farther and farther from home, from Earth. If the aural receptors in their living quarters would not respond to their queries, perhaps there was another way. As had been discussed, a potentially dangerous way. He felt it was incumbent on him to try. If he did not, then Reed probably would, and Reed was just stressed enough to go beyond questioning and do something that might get them all killed.

In contrast, if he made the attempt, he might only get himself killed.

He found Vantolos forward, just inside the entrance to the control center. At least, Dev assumed it was forward. There was no way, currently, to tell on what part of the alien vessel it was located. Remembering the numerous images he had seen of it while back on Earth (such a strange thought to have: “back on Earth”), he knew the ship was huge. Yet he and his colleagues had entered and been exposed to only a small section. Was the area that housed the crew more extensive but as yet unseen? Were there vast areas devoted to the propulsion system and related engineering? Or was the bulk of the ship’s capacity devoted to carrying cargo such as the organics and other materials that the aliens had demanded and received? More questions he would have to ask.

It certainly seemed that he would have plenty of time available in which to do so.

Considering the dimensions of the ship, at least when viewed from below, the extent of the control center was hardly excessive. There was ample room for perhaps thirty or forty individuals to function simultaneously. As on his previous visit, most were A'jeii, though this time there were several Kaijank present instead of one, and two more Olone in addition to Vantolos. Dev felt a small surge of pride as he approached the tentacled interlocutor. He was good with details, and he felt confident he had memorized the distinctive pattern of the banding on the Olone’s limbs as well as the slight mottling of his exposed skin. The small shapes underneath his tunic (a pale chromatic blue fabric having replaced the earlier gold, Dev noted) were moving about at a slow, deliberate pace.