“Both of you. Please follow me,” Nond said. “We have a conference room prepared. I regret I cannot offer you refreshments other than purified H2O, but we were not prepared for hosting a Terran delegation.”

“That’s fine, sir. Water’s good. I don’t think we’re in an eating mood, anyway.” I tried to add a smile, but gave it up after a moment.

Nond led us through the same hatch he’d appeared from, where we found yet more storm troopers waiting. The first set followed us through, and I began to wonder just how much security the Gen required for two miscellaneous humans.

We were led to a room very similar to the conference room in the Halo, but with easily twice the seating capacity. The walls displayed a number of stellar and planetary images, none familiar to me. But probably all real. You didn’t have to invent such vistas if you could just go there and take pictures.

We were given seats, each with a glass and a pitcher of what was probably water. The glass and pitcher were of a proper size for a human, and in fact looked quite mundane. Very probably they’d been printed just for the occasion. That was a good sign, surely. No one would take the time to customize a table setting if they were about to vaporize you.

But then again, aliens.

Nond sat across from us, leaned forward on his elbows, and tented his fingers in a very human gesture. If you ignored the claws, that is. Another item I’d missed.

Before Nond could start, I spoke up. “Sir, I don’t think this has come up in conversation, but we have two of the Loranna in custody in our ship. The two leaders, apparently. We’d kinda like to unload them, if you don’t mind.”

Nond stared at me for several seconds, then looked at the ceiling. “Clusterfuck, San-Joh called it. I think the word is already being used by some crew.”

He gestured to a crewcritter standing to the side and spoke rapidly in what I assumed had to be Gen. The crewcritter hurried out, and Nond directed his attention back to me. “We have a number of items to discuss. First and foremost, there is the matter of the Lorannic presence on your planet. While we believe we have located them all, and they certainly will not be able to continue their planned takeover, we still need to document the situation. As primary participants in the recent events, your testimony will be critical.”

He paused.

“Secondly, there is the issue of the Foundation ship that you are in possession of, the Quest for Knowledge. It is, of course, Foundation property and must be returned. However, the ship claims to be your property and has refused to follow legitimate orders. It is clearly malfunctioning.”

Again, the pause.