“I know,” he says, tilting his carapace in what I’ve come to realize is a smile. “I know. We’ll talk more about it later. I have to get home anyway. Adrian is going to sleep soon, so I have to be there to watch.”

We both head toward our respective exits, but he pauses. “Hey, Grace. Do you ever wonder? About other life out there?”

I lean on my cane. “Sure, all the time.”

He walks back in. “I keep thinking about it. The theories are pretty hard to dispute. Some ancestor of Astrophage seeded Earth and Erid with life billions of years ago.”

“Yeah,” I say. “And I know where you’re going with this.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah.” I shift my weight from one leg to the other. Arthritis is starting to settle in my joints. High gravity isn’t great for humans. “There are fewer than fifty stars as close to Tau Ceti as we are. But two of them ended up with life. It means life—at least, the life Tau Ceti puts out—might be a lot more common in our galaxy than we think.”

“Think we’ll find more of them? Intelligent species?”

“Who knows?” I say. “You and I found each other. That’s something.”

“Yeah,” he says. “It really is something. Go do your job, old man.”

“Later, Rocky.”

“Later!”

I hobble out of the room and make my way along the perimeter of the dome. They made the whole thing out of clear xenonite because they thought that’s what I would want. But it doesn’t matter. It’s pitch-dark outside all the time. Sure, I can shine a flashlight out there and occasionally see an Eridian going about his business. But I don’t get sweeping vistas of mountains or anything. Just inky blackness.

My smile fades a little.

How bad did it get back on Earth? Did they work together to survive? Or did millions die in wars and famine?

They were able to collect the beetles, read my information, and implement a solution. A solution that would have involved a probe going to Venus. So there’s definitely some advanced infrastructure still there.

I bet they did work together. Maybe it’s just the childish optimist in me, but humanity can be pretty impressive when we put our minds to it. After all, everyone worked together to build the Hail Mary. That was no easy feat.

I hold my head up high. Maybe I will go home someday. Maybe I’ll find out for sure.

But not right now. Right now, I’ve got work to do.

I continue along the path to the large double doors leading to another meeting space. And I have to say, it’s my favorite one.

I step into the chamber. About one-fifth of the room is my Earth environment. The other side of the divider wall has thirty little Eridians bouncing around like idiots. Each one is no more than thirty Earth years old. The selection process for which ones get to attend… well… again, Eridian culture is complicated.