You could start by not diving into an angry mob to say hi, he thought. “Just . . . do what I ask you to do.”

“DO THEY INTEND TO INTERROGATE ME?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“TELL THEM I AM EAGER TO ANSWER THEIR QUESTIONS.”

Kaveh told the people waiting outside to come in, including Sol Kaplan, Sevak Ghasabian (who went by “Dr. Sev” like he was some daytime talk show host), and Luciana Ortega, who was obviously shocked to see him but said nothing. Kaveh wasn’t shocked to see her since he knew she worked here, but it was jarring to see her again nonetheless.

“Thank you for doing this,” said Ghasabian to Kaveh, shaking his hand. He seemed to be the one in charge.

“This should be a learning experience for all of us,” said Kaveh.

Everyone stood back, all of them looking at the two of them like he’d first looked at Cora and Ampersand, the single unit, Nikola the brain and Kaveh the voice.

“Is it true that of your entire Superorganism, only you have the ability to travel faster than light?” asked Ghasabian, looking at Nikola.

“I ALONE HAVE THE ABILITY TO TRANSVERSE COMPLEX MATTER THROUGH FOLDED SPACE INSTANTLY.”

“Yes,” said Kaveh. “He says it’s a technology he alone developed; the Superorganism doesn’t have it.”

“It seems a bit far-fetched that only you have this technology,” said Kaplan.

“THE STUDY OF THE TRANSMISSION OF MATTER THROUGH FOLDED SPACE WAS MY LIFE’S WORK ONCE I EXITED THE FIELD OF XENOBIOLOGY. AS YOU KNOW, I WAS A PART OF A GENETIC GROUP THE SUPERORGANISM PURGED, ONE YOU HAVE NAMED ‘FREMDA.’ BUT I ESCAPED BEFORE THEY COULD COMPLETE THEIR GENOCIDE AND TOOK MY KNOWLEDGE ELSEWHERE.”

Kaveh repeated him. Funny how that happens, isn’t it? he thought. Even alien societies have brain drains.

“If only you have the ability to fold space, what’s to stop them from developing it?” asked Kaplan.

“THE SUPERORGANISM HAS PURGED ITSELF OF GENETIC DIVERSITY OUT OF FEAR AND XENOPHOBIA,” SAID NIKOLA, AND KAVEH REPEATED HIM. “WE WERE THEIR MOST UNIQUE AND DIVERSE GROUP THAT HAD BEEN BRED IN GENERATIONS. THE ONES WHO COULD INNOVATE ON MY LEVEL ARE ALL DEAD, AND I MADE SURE TO DESTROY MY RESEARCH BEFORE I DEPARTED. THE SUPERORGANISM WILL NOT REPEAT MY SUCCESS.”

“Scio told us that it was unlikely we would see any more Fremdan refugees,” said Ghasabian. Apparently, he hadn’t quite made the switch to “people names” yet.

“He says that’s correct,” said Kaveh. “He’s an anomaly, and he came for Scio specifically. It is highly unlikely we will see others.”

The group fractured into quiet murmurs, Kaplan and the military group whispering among themselves and the small ROSA crew doing likewise. Then Ghasabian stepped forward. “So with the rest of the Superorganism restricted to light speed travel . . . we can expect First Contact in two hundred years, at the soonest.”

“HOW DO YOU SURMISE THAT NUMBER? IT IS NOT ACCURATE.”