Derek produced his notebook and brought up a photo of the waterfall, the one from the intercepted transmission. “Shalon, do you recognize this?”

His eyes widened. “Of course,” he said. “That’s Kayla Tor. How do you happen to have that?”

“It’s a tourist attraction?”

“Yes. On the other side of the world.”

“It was part of a signal sent, we think, during the evacuation of the world we talked about earlier. Probably by whoever was overseeing the rescue.”

“But, Derek, please understand, none of that happened.” Shalon looked puzzled.

“We thought it was probably being used to show the people on the endangered planet that the world that had been set aside for them was attractive. That they would like it. That they would be safe.”

Two children were staring at Derek. And then two adults came into view. Derek responded with a smile. One of the kids retreated. “It’s all right,” Shalon said. “These are friends. They are visitors who have come a long way to meet us.”

Derek said hello in the gentlest tone imaginable. Hutch was remembering the Volarian beach when they’d first come ashore. “We must look pretty scary,” she told Wally.

Shalon apologized. “Our security people were supposed to have cleared the area.”

“It’s okay,” said Derek. “I’m sorry if I scared the kids.”

Two of the robots appeared and said something to Shalon. “I think we left a back door open,” Shalon said before whispering into a communicator attached to his wrist.

Moments later, a loudspeaker issued a statement: “Attention, please. We have an unusual visitor with us today. There is no reason to be concerned. Do not be alarmed by his appearance. He is a friend. We suggest everyone simply go on enjoying the displays and exhibits.”

Uniformed guards who were not robots came into the area and escorted everyone out. Meanwhile, Hutch was distracted by statues on the far side of the hall and would have liked a closer look, but Derek had enough to think about, so she said nothing.

A door opened in back. Shalon led the way through it into another corridor. He took Derek to a side office. It was a wide room furnished with armchairs and side tables with lamps, and several filled bookcases. “The Repository director is very excited about your arrival,” he said. “She would like to meet you. Please have a seat, Derek.” He lowered himself into a chair. “I apologize for the way they reacted. I should have waited until the place was closed before bringing you here. Stupid of me.” Again, he showed those fangs. “I’m just not accustomed to having visitors of your status.”