Number Four had a world in the zone. And, to everyone’s distress, there were small clusters of lights on its night side. “It’s quiet,” Barry said. “We aren’t acquiring any radio transmissions.” A cratered moon hung in the sky, about half the size of Luna. As they drew nearer and were able to see the sunlit side, they discovered it was an ocean world. No continents were visible, only occasional island chains, mostly covered with green vegetation. It had polar ice caps. And large white clouds drifted through the sky. Then Barry was back: “I have located an oceangoing vessel.” He put it on the display. It could have been a freighter out of the nineteenth century. Three smokestacks left a trail behind it. Crates were piled fore and aft.

“There’s something moving on the deck,” said Barry, “but I can’t get enough magnification to make out what it is. Other than it’s wearing gray clothes. Or maybe it is gray.”

“It’s a beautiful world,” said Beth. “Do we know for certain that it’s going to get wrecked? The way that other place was?”

“We haven’t really checked the numbers,” said Derek. “All Barry told us was that the black hole is headed this way.”

Hutch turned the question over to the AI.

“I regret being the source of bad news,” he said, “but there is no way this system can escape what happened to the ice world. I don’t have enough information at the moment on the trajectory of the local sun to provide details, but I am aware of the general direction of its movement. It will be at least pulled apart.”

Derek sighed and shook his head. “I don’t believe this,” he said.

•  •  •

Hutch took them into orbit and they quickly found two more cities. A number of the islands had towns. There were also fleets of boats, some with sails, others powered with engines. And occasional ships, like the freighter. The skies were empty of aircraft, though, except for a dirigible. “Well, one good thing,” said Derek. “I don’t think we have to worry about these guys chasing us back home.”

“I guess not,” said Hutch. “They’re trapped here.”

Probably because of the towns and ships, she had almost expected the inhabitants to resemble humans. But they didn’t. They had the basic parts, arms, legs, and a head, but the similarity stopped there. Their skin was gray, with no fur or hair visible anywhere. They had enormous, sharp noses and huge mouths lined with teeth. Their eyes were large and placed well back on the sides of the head. She saw no sign of ears.

“They look like dolphins,” said Ken.

They did. There was even something on their back, pushing up under their shirts. A fin, maybe?

“Barry,” said Derek, “when will the hole get here?”