She was looking forward to seeing her kids again. And Tom. And wandering through a shopping center. She couldn’t help thinking about the things in her life that really mattered, and the degree to which she took them for granted. Until they went missing.

As they drew closer to Earth, a frightened look appeared in Kwylla’s eyes. “Everything will be okay,” Hutch told her. “We’ll be with you.” Reluctantly, she got up from her seat and signaled Derek. “We need to let Union know we’re back. We’re also required to inform them we’re carrying aliens. I don’t think that’s ever happened before.”

“No, it hasn’t. This flight keeps making history.” He took a long deep breath. “It’ll cause a stir. You have any thoughts on how to phrase the report?”

“We could start by suggesting to Zhang that he not get upset.”

“Hutch, we can pass on the jokes.” He accompanied her onto the bridge.

“Barry,” she said, “open a channel to the station.”

A brief pause. Then: “Done, Captain.”

She took her seat. “CommOps, this is the Barry Eiferman. We are back in the system. Estimated arrival forty-two hours.”

The station responded: “This is Union, Eiferman. Welcome back.”

“Thank you.”

“Is everything in order?”

“Yes. All’s well.”

Derek held up a hand. He would take it from there. “Union,” he said, “this is Derek Blanchard. Be informed that we have two visitors on board.”

“Visitors? Clarify, please.”

“They are natives of another world.”

“Eiferman, did I hear that correctly? They’re aliens?”

“Yes, Ops. You did. They’re from an ocean world that has a serious problem.”

“Roger that. I’ll pass it on to the director.”

•  •  •

There was no immediate response from Zhang, and life on the ship returned to normal. Ken worked on his notes. Derek and Arin talked about physics and philosophy. Wally became immersed in a game that required him to rescue a Roman strike team trapped by Egyptians in an alternate-universe version of the struggle between Augustus and Mark Antony. Kwylla, Beth, and Hutch took over the workout room.

Later that afternoon, they settled in to watch the time travel film Quantum Waves, but they’d only gotten to the opening scene, in which a research team is getting ready to travel into the past to watch Charles Dickens speak to an audience in New York, when Barry stopped the movie and broke in: “Captain Hutchins, Union is on the circuit.”

She got up and headed for the bridge, followed by Derek. “This is the Eiferman,” she said. “Go ahead, Union.”

“Is this Captain Hutchins?”

“That is correct.”

“Wait one for Director Zhang, please.”

The voice clicked off and the channel went to a steady stream of static.

“That’s not good,” said Derek. “He always makes you wait when he gets annoyed.”

Finally, he was there: “Hutchins.”

“Yes, Director Zhang?”