The spaceship was nothing like the sleek, solid vessels Lenora had seen before. The hull had been patched together out of various metals of all shapes and sizes. Windows bulged randomly in odd locations and, even more curiously for a spaceship, some of them were open. It looked like a house that had been put together in a hurry. A door on one side was just the size of the bearish, caterpillarish animal building the ship. Above the door were the words TARDIGRADE TRANSPORT.

The animal, which Lenora strongly suspected was a tardigrade, spotted her and promptly plunged a claw into the toolbox. After a bit of rummaging, she held out a headset to Lenora. “Let me guess,” said Lenora. “It’s a Tardigrade Translator 3000.” She fitted it expertly onto her head.

“4000, actually,” said the tardigrade. “Tardigrade speech is much more complex than that of, say, penguins. All they ever talk about is sliding around on the ice on their bellies, whereas we tardigrades have sophisticated conversations about interesting topics such as cryptobiosis and space travel.”

“Space travel?” said Lenora. “I guess that explains the spaceship.”

The tardigrade nodded. As she spoke she continued to move her claws about, simultaneously working on the spaceship, doing calculations, and playing chess with herself. Lenora felt certain that tardigrades would make excellent librarians. “You see,” the tardigrade said, “yesterday my brother decided to voyage to the multiple-star system of Alpha Centauri, just over four light-years away, to start a new life. He invited me to go along, but I declined. I regretted the decision the moment I watched his spaceship take off. Thus I have built my own spaceship so I can join him.”

“You built an entire spaceship in one day?” asked Lenora, amazed. But that would explain its appearance. Cinnamon, for her part, was scrambling all over the rickety vessel, emitting a fishy scent that suggested great curiosity.

“Oh yes,” the tardigrade said. “I know it’s not much to look at, but as it’s made by experienced space travelers, tardigrade technology can be trusted utterly. I’ve even installed an artificial gravity generator, a technology humans have yet to discover. My only trouble is that my brother took all our books on how to get to Alpha Centauri. My first thought, of course, was to ask a librarian. I miss my brother terribly, and I fear I will never catch him if I don’t leave soon.”

Lenora’s heart went out to what was clearly a very sad tardigrade. “Never fear. I can help you. I think. There was a book on orbital mechanics in my section. It seems to be the sort of thing you could use.”