“It’s gone viral on the Web.” The game was in the first inning, and the visiting Red Sox already had two runners on with none out. “It’s nice to have you back.” She reached across the table for her wrist.

“Next time we go anywhere,” Hutch said, “I’ll arrange for you to come along.”

“That would be good. Miami would be nice.” Her mom took a deep breath. “I love you, Priscilla.” It wasn’t the first time she’d said that, of course, but there was more emotion than Hutch usually picked up.

They brought their menus up on the display and ordered dinner. Both got the special, barbecued pork. Then: “So, tell me about the flight. What was the waterfall all about? Did that have anything to do with the aliens you interviewed?” She kept her voice down.

Hutch explained about Calliope and the ice world and Tarka and, when opportunity presented itself, asked what her mom had been up to.

She got a surprise. “I’m on the school board.”

“Really?”

“I’m thinking about running for governor.”

“You’re kidding, Mom. I’ve never thought of you as a politician.”

“Well, I’m your mother and you’re becoming better known every day. You may not have noticed, but you’ve been drawing attention since we walked in the door. I figure I might as well take advantage of it.”

“Well, good luck, Mom.” She’d always thought her mother could have had a decent political career. She was likable and she never forgot anyone’s name. More than that, nobody could have bought her support. “I guess I’ve had a good run,” Hutch continued. “If you can—” She stopped dead. Ornsbee’s had gone silent, except for a woman’s voice. “—your reaction,” she was saying, “when we first told you?” The World Series had vanished from the display, replaced, incredibly, by her own image. Hutch was listening to her own voice.

Then Kwylla was onscreen, her eyes large and dark and impossibly sad. It was a clip from the eighteen minutes. “We could not believe it. We refused to believe it. Except that it was you and your friends who were saying this to us.”

Somebody behind her said, “It’s the alien. The show they cut off.”

“I know.”

The picture froze and Matt Ornsbee took a moment to speak to his customers: “We thought you’d want to see this. It’ll run for a little more than ten minutes. We’re saving the game, so don’t worry; you won’t miss anything.”

Then all three of them, Kwylla and Arin and herself, were back onscreen. Hutch was speaking: “—long time before it will arrive.”

A woman at a nearby table: “They’re really cute. Look at their eyes.”

And the guy she was with: “Why do you think they shut it down, Lorrie?”

“I don’t know.”