Rachel sat back and tried to think. It was hard to get beyond her instant dislike of this woman. But she had to try. Good ideas didn’t only come from people you liked. “Hard to know. Fraq might be sending all this back home as… diplomatic messages. Through a relay link out at the wormhole, wherever. For some unimaginable Foreign Office.”

Chen relaxed somewhat in her chair. “Of course, his actions might mean all of these things. Our duty as Librarians, even though I am merely a Seeker of Script, is to consider that this alien might be doing several things at once. But at the same time he gives away secrets of his own world.”

“You think they could somehow tell us something about the hidden assumptions in his society? Or in their SETI messages?”

Chen shrugged. “It’s not a crazy idea.”

“Except we don’t know what SETI messages come from his world. He’s never revealed it.”

“I… I have talked to him. Through the translator, of course. Using formal Ythri terms, quite labyrinthine. But that’s compromised.”

“How?”

Chen even chuckled. “She records and reports all conversations.”

“Of course. But—”

“Fraq has his own electronic means. He uses it to send messages.”

“How?”

“That’s between him and me.” Chen leaned forward eagerly. “Look, Prefect Stiles wanted to tell me things you should know.”

That’s a bait he didn’t try with me, Rachel thought, but let her face show only startled interest. “Oh?”

“Fraq says the truly advanced alien civilizations have learned to be adept at contacts. They insist on a menu of tests.”

“You mean—”

“Designed to gauge the abilities and sensitivities of humans. He’s part of that. The tests. The ‘four universalities,’ he calls them.”

Rachel couldn’t resist. “One is… falling from orbit?”

Chen shook her head impatiently. “These are preliminaries. Part of the first test—how do we react in unfamiliar situations? We pass, so far.”

“If unexpected means crazy, yes. And we pass, so we’re crazy.”

“The others are, how are we when meeting superior civilizations? Then how are we when running into lesser civilizations? How about when we get temporary great powers? That is, while showing empathy for the downtrodden.”

Rachel took a deep breath, let it out slowly. “And he told only you about this?”

Chen beamed, brightly sure of herself. “I have a way with him.”

5.

Rachel hugged herself against the cold and eyed the distant meadow, far below. Despite her oxy feed, she was short of breath. A chopper had brought her up here hours ago, and now the downslope takeoff ticked along, down to mere seconds… and she wondered why the hell she was here. Again.

The landscape inspired awe. She stared agog at the view of the northeast ridge of Bugaboo Spire, a massive pyramid of rock towering over the sprawling glacier, nearly blotting out the crisp, hard blue sky. She sucked in as much of the thin air as she could and it bit deep in her throat.

She was thrilled, but her doubts always overlayered her feelings. I’m a Librarian—why am I doing this?