“Should I address you as ‘General’?” the president said.

“We have no rank together, sir. Only Namir.”

He nodded and leaned back in a chair that was slightly larger than ours, slightly higher. “I exercised my right as Grand Inquisitor of this honky-tonk, and asked the scientists whether I might talk with you first. They acted like a bunch of folks who do have a sense of rank, Namir, not to mention tenure. So they agreed.”

I think our response was appropriate, for six people who were trying to behave like a proper audience while actually wanting to scream. Twenty minutes.

“What I’d like to do, before we go on camera and do all the cube-ops, is ask each of you, if it’s possible, to sum up your feelings in a line or two.” He smiled a wry curve. “Something I can misquote in an off-the-cuff speech. Namir, you’re oldest.”

“May we speak without fear of being exactly quoted? Let alone misquoted. No one will like what I have to say, and I would as soon have it not be ‘on the record.’ ”

“There are no recording instruments in this room. You have my word on that.”

Namir took a sip and his brow furrowed. “It’s not complicated. Never trust them, not one iota; not on the most trivial thing. But never forget that we have to live with them.” He set the glass down and smiled. “The lone Israeli speaks. I got that with my mother’s matzo.”

Meryl was next. “I think we should find a way to disconnect from them. Even if it means giving up free energy; even if it means giving up space. They’re too powerful and too unpredictable.”

Gold chuckled. “Watch out, Meryl. That attitude could get you elected in thirty states. Elza?”

“I think we’re in a position like a child with a toxic, abusive parent . . . who is also extremely rich. So our problem is twofold: Can we live without the wealth? And can we leave it somehow without the parent exacting revenge.”

“I disagree with you both,” Dustin said.

“Your turn.”

“We can’t maneuver our way out of this, Mr. President. They’re too powerful, and they’ve said outright that they’re testing us. We have to pass the tests. Channel all our energy right there. Maybe they’ll give us an A and leave us alone.”

“And if we fail the tests?”

The air shimmered and a holo of Snowbird appeared between the two men. “I have been listening; sorry for not appearing.

“If you fail the tests, then you cease to be. If you were Martians, then that would be of little consequence.”

“So if we were Martians,” Gold said, “the problem would disappear. Along with us.”

Her image pressed her head. “You are a humorist, Mr. Gold.”

“That’s a nonanswer,” Dustin said.

“Wait,” the president said, and touched his ear. “Oh my God.”

I looked at my wrist. It was 1600:22.