At the end of the meal, five of the locals, two males and three females, left the room and came back with horns and string instruments. They played soft, melodic rhapsodies, more like adaptations of classical music than the noisy clattering which had become popular at home over past years. There was no way, she realized, they could perform in that style and not inspire dancers to take the floor. And it happened: Tables were abandoned and the Volarians went forward with their partners. Hutch and Beth were both invited into the action with the locals. Derek and Ken needed a minute to realize some of the females were lingering nearby.

It was obvious to Hutch that her first partner, who towered over her, wasn’t anxious about getting too close. Nevertheless, he folded her into his arms while she held her breath. He provided what she thought was a name, and his eyes reflected an amusement at their mutual discomfort. Hutch told him she was Priscilla, and he butchered it, turning it into a garbled hiss. She tried her luck with his name and thought she’d done pretty well until she saw his smile.

It didn’t matter. They needed a few minutes to adjust to each other, but in the end they danced around the ballroom, and when the opportunity presented itself, she pulled his head down and kissed his cheek. She was pleased to see that whatever reluctance he had shown about getting close seemed to have evaporated.

At the end of the evening, all the islanders lined up near the door, where they shook hands with one another and took turns embracing their guests. They whispered to Hutch, and to the others, as they filed out. And though no literal translation happened, the emotional expression was impossible to miss.

Beth Squires’s Notes (handwritten)

These guys do know how to party.

—Date unknown, 2256

27.

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,

There is a rapture on the lonely shore;

There is society, where none intrudes,

By the deep sea, and music in its roar.

—Lord Byron, Childe Harold IV, 1818

Hutch was just coming down the staircase in the morning. Derek and Ken were talking in the living room. And someone started knocking. Derek got the door and Arin came in, grinned at everybody, spotted Hutch on the stairs, pointed at the ceiling and asked a question. Ken’s response included Beth’s name. Presumably that she was still asleep. There was another exchange and Arin headed back outside.

“You want me to get Beth?” Hutch asked.

Ken looked up at her. “Is she awake?”

“I haven’t heard her moving around.”

“It’s okay. Let her sleep.” He wrote a note and left it on the table.

Derek was still on his feet. “You want to come?” he asked Hutch.

“Where are we going?”

“I’ve no idea.”

“You sure we shouldn’t get Beth?”