Dev nodded. “Immediately.” He looked over at Reed. “What I am guessing is that their version of heavy weaponry arrived soon thereafter. Whether it was going to put in an appearance anyway and the timing of its arrival with my exposure was coincidence, or whether my stepping out galvanized the response, I cannot say.” He looked back to Katou-Zimmer. “The Mozehna did not just ‘react’ to my appearance. I would judge their response to have been a mixture of anxiety and aggression. It was almost as if they recognized me.”

“You mean your kind, your species,” she said quietly. “Not you personally.”

The look on Reed’s face was memorable as he jumped in. “That’s impossible. If anything, they might be familiar with another species that happens to resemble humankind. Based on what Dev has said, another species that the Mozehna regard with some awe. And maybe a little fear. Convergent evolution at work.”

“Maybe.” Dev was reluctant to agree. But what other possible explanation could there be? “If that is the case it could explain why the A'jeii wanted one of us to accompany the landing party. But if they thought my appearance was going to somehow intimidate the locals, they certainly had that element of the equation badly wrong. If anything, instead of intimidating them, my appearance went some way toward inspiring a hostile response.”

“We need to find out what this is all about,” Jakob concluded with finality. “I, for one, am tired of being treated like cargo. As if we should fall down on our knees in gratitude for not being killed outright.”

Actually, that was a real possibility that had long been on Dev’s mind, but he was not about to broach it. Not now that the elderly professor had asserted his defiance.

“We need to understand what happened down there. We need to know why the A'jeii thought your appearance might overawe the locals and why it provoked an entirely different reaction.” Katou-Zimmer was of the same mind as her husband. “We may be prisoners of these aliens, but that does not mean we should spend the rest of our lives as uninformed tools. We need to confront Tilenyii about this.”

“Or better still, Syrenii,” Jakob countered.

“Then we are agreed?” Katou-Zimmer looked at Dev.

“I want answers as badly as you do.” He glanced over at Reed. The big man shrugged.

“Gotta admit I’m curious. Maybe not as curious as the rest of you, but curious enough to go along.”

As they made their way resolutely toward the bridge, they drew curious stares from passing A'jeii. As usual, the numerous automatons they encountered in the corridors ignored them. Leading his colleagues, Dev deliberately did not alter his path to accommodate the machines, forcing several to dodge out of his way.