“So this is encrypted?”

“Everything is encrypted, except public channels. There’s never a reason not to.”

“Well okay,” Patrick said, “but can we turn you off? I mean, turn off the automatic logging?”

“Why would you want to?”

“Same reason I learned to pilot the ship. Just in case.”

“Well. I feel like I should be offended, but I just don’t care enough. Simply hold down the ‘off’ button for three or more seconds, until it buzzes. Logging will automatically turn on next time you press the ‘on’ button. I can provide documentation with little pictures if that’s too much to remember.”

“Thanks, Sheldon.” I said, forestalling Patrick’s reply. I held up the communicator to my friends and raised an eyebrow. Nat made a face and shook her head. Patrick shrugged.

I put the communicator back down on the table. “Honestly, the logging is handy. We can ask you to replay or search for something in the logs, right?”

“Of course.”

Patrick growled and snapped his laptop closed. “I’m beat. C’mon, let’s go. We’ll take this up tomorrow.”

I lay in bed and stared up at the ceiling, my thoughts whirling. What had started out as a random fender bender on a country road was rapidly turning into an interstellar political and diplomatic mess involving multiple species and the fate of the human race. At least based on my understanding so far. It seemed unlikely that Sheldon was lying, or even exaggerating things. And if he was, how would we even know? And what would be the point?

And how long had the Loranna been here? Had they infiltrated the government? Could they replace people with disguised Loranna in some kind of Invasion of the Body Snatchers scenario?

Really, unless new info came up, we no longer had any realistic alternatives. At this point, I didn’t have any confidence that the police or even the government alternative would be better. At best, we’d be laughed at or dismissed out of hand; at worst, we’d end up handing the Halo over to someone connected with the Loranna. And if we got it wrong, it could be literally the end of humanity.

The thought of what we were doing had me keyed up to the point that I was having trouble getting to sleep. Unfortunately, it meant I’d be groggy and slow tomorrow, and Dad was sure to comment if I dragged my butt around too much.