She waved the idea away. “Oh, they’ll have DNA. And it’ll be similar to what we have. But of course it won’t be identical. I’d expect a helical structure with base pairs using simple sugars and so on, but we’re likely to get some surprises. Ken has been talking to them about their culture, which would be hard to separate from ours. Guys, for the most part, are the bosses, and females keep the family running. He says that comes from Arin, not from Kwylla. Arin thinks the guys need to pull up their socks and treat the females better.”

“Sounds like us back in the old days,” said Hutch.

Beth heard footsteps approaching and switched to talking about a Randy Harkman movie on the schedule for that night. Kwylla came in. “Hi, guys,” she said. “Sorry I’m late.”

•  •  •

A few days later, they watched a documentary about the Triassic period, with lots of dinosaurs charging around. Kwylla and Arin found it hard to believe such creatures ever actually existed. “I’m sure we never had anything like that,” said Arin.

Kwylla laughed. “I’m reaching a point where nothing shocks me anymore.”

“You sure about that?” asked Wally. “You never had any of those on Volaria?”

“No. Not that I’m aware of. It sounds like something you’d only see in a fantasy book. Or in one of your movies.”

“Come to think of it,” Beth said, “we have a movie with some dinos. What’s the title? Ummm—”

“Breakfast with T. Rex,” said Ken.

“That’s a comedy.”

“I know, love. I think if we decide to watch any dino movies, we should stay with the light stuff.”

“Actually,” said Derek, “I suspect there wouldn’t have been enough space for giant lizards on a world that is mostly ocean.”

•  •  •

As they moved into the last few days of the flight, Kwylla and Arin seemed to be growing somber. Hutch tried surrounding them with scenes from Barcelona, Venice, Tokyo, and Rome. But nothing really seemed to ease the malaise.

They were all seated, looking down from a hillside in Athens. Directly ahead, the Acropolis stood outlined against a sunset. The conversation revolved around the ancient gods. “I guess,” said Arin, “people always have to explain to themselves how the sun sets on one side of the world and in the morning comes up on the other.”

Kwylla abruptly changed the subject: “The trip is so long, it scares me.”

“Why?” asked Beth.

“You’re talking about sending an entire fleet back to help us? Twenty ships? Thirty? Whatever? Will you actually be able to find volunteers to do that?”

“Volunteers,” said Derek, “will not be an issue.” His eyes clouded. “It’s the politicians we have to worry about.”

Hutch realized she’d been missing something. She got up, went onto the bridge, and activated Barry.

“Yes, Captain?” he said.