A beep signaled an incoming call. Nick answered it with a thought.

"Hi, Sana. What's up?"

"Hi, Nick. You should come down to the quarantine area now, if you are available."

"Um, sure. I'll be right there."

Nick apologized to Polla Mastook, who had been kind enough to talk with him about Goldaskian engine technology. He hadn't understood any of the theory, but descriptions of what it could and could not do he could handle, and it was interesting. He was taking a break from dealing with the thousand and one fires Earth had lit in response to their arrival.

About a thousand people had been rescued stealthily from nasty situations so far, which he felt good about, but he did worry about what would happen when people noticed, as they would eventually.

People were already clamoring for the second volume of Arrurran mathematics, but Nick was waiting for word from Yiyirari, who had volunteered to go over the book, looking for information about code-breaking math or other hazards to Earth civilization that might be included.

The United Nations was offering to arrange events around meetings with Visitor diplomats, while most of the nations on Earth were competing for the privilege of hosting permanent embassies.

Captain Telnik had presented Earth's geologists with a full analysis of the tectonic plates all over the Earth, with especially detailed scans of the plates currently under extreme stress near Japan. The debate over whether to accept his offer of assistance attempting to reduce the severity of the coming quake was already loud and fierce. It involved everyone with a shoreline on the Pacific, where the expected tsunami would hit. They would have about two weeks to decide; after that, there wouldn't be time for the ships to prepare an intervention.

Then there were the emails. The last time he checked Petra's analysis of messages at his new email address, Nick had received 12,368 offers of marriage, 211,138 pleas for medical assistance, 65,302 death threats, 29,444 business offers, and 7,231 requests for Nick to find missing persons, lost pets, or misplaced valuables.

It was a lot. Nick was constantly trying to keep from feeling overwhelmed. So, when Sana called, he was glad of another distraction. He hoped that it wasn't actually a fire he needed to put out. He headed right over to the quarantine area. He turned the corner of the passageway and stopped short.

The two American astronauts, Jason McAffee and Penelope Schmidt, were standing next to Sana, outside the quarantine zone. There was nothing between them and Nick but air. He slowly walked forward as they all turned to him. McAffee offered his hand with a toothy smile. Nick walked up and took it in a firm grip.

He found it a little hard to think, and his muscles were tensed. He tried to say hello but the words caught in his throat. For a moment they just looked at each other, and his vision started to blur a bit. McAffee's face shifted to an expression of understanding, and he hauled Nick forward into a strong, fierce hug, holding him tight.

"Welcome back to humanity, Nick."

That broke something in him, and he felt the tears starting to escape. He hugged the man back for a few moments, then looked over the astronaut's shoulder and took one arm away from the hug to offer his hand to Schmidt. She took it with a tender smile and they shook firmly.

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"Thank you. Both of you. Welcome to the New Hope." Nick disengaged and wiped at his eyes and face. McAffee gave him a couple of hearty slaps on the back. He cleared his throat. "Can I show you around?"

"Please! We've done virtual walkthroughs of both ships a few times, but it's exciting to get to see it in person."

"Thank you, Sana," Nick muttered to the doctor, who was smiling at him. He glanced through the transparent wall into the quarantine area. About half of the people were watching. More to the point, Jillian was recording the whole scene, and after a quick moment of horrified embarrassment, Nick let it go and nodded to her.

"Let's start with the bridge," Nick suggested. Meanwhile, he used his interface to message Captain Telnik.

< Captain, is the Guranaki Melor available to take human visitors? Our astronauts are out of quarantine. >

< Yes, Boss. We can dock in about ten minutes. >

< Please do. Thank you. >

Nick explained again about the dynamic ship structure, and added a couple of anecdotes from the voyage to Earth. Everyone in the crew was very polite to the astronauts, and nobody was surprised by the staring on both sides. The astronauts repeated a lot of virtual conversations in person, including thanking Captain Geh!aoa for having them aboard.

Finally, they reached the airlock and transferred to the Guranaki Melor. Sana assured the humans that the quarantine procedures had taken care of compatibility issues with the crew of the second ship as well. They passed through a cylindrical docking connector and crossed an invisible barrier that tingled oddly but apparently kept the air in as well as a solid metal hull would.

Captain Telnik greeted them personally. "Boss! And other humans! Welcome aboard. Let me show you around." The fazzab were a bit...pungent in person, but not so bad that anyone started coughing. Nick glanced at the two astronauts from time to time, gauging their reactions. He needed have worried; excitement and awe were their most obvious reactions.

The freighter had very low lighting. The walls tended to very dark grays and browns in a mottled pattern, unlike the New Hope, which was mostly light gray and beige. The space was also a bit more cramped by human standards, and both Nick and McAffee had to duck in a few places. There was also a lot less living space overall, since the Guranaki Melor was a much smaller vessel than the New Hope, and a freighter besides; much of the ship's volume was set aside for cargo.

McAffee tripped over something at one point, and nearly fell. "I'm sorry, I didn't see that there. I'll be more careful."

There was a brief pause, then Captain Telnik started chittering. The translation was, "Oh, the lighting! Your people like things a lot brighter, don't you?" The fazzab called out a warning to his crew, then started increasing the light levels. Nick could see the alien gradually squint more and more as the light approached what the humans considered normal.

"That's good," Schmidt said first, being considerate of their hosts.

"There. I've set the lights to brighten when a human walks into a compartment, and dim when you leave."

"You can turn that down a little, and we can cope," McAffee protested.

Captain Telnik turned to Nick, who suggested, "How about halfway between?"

"Sounds good, with the exception of the bridge. Apologies, but the crew needs to be able to focus on their jobs without distractions."

"Of course, Captain. Thank you."

The bridge was a cross between a human science fiction show and a cavern. The engine room was a bunch of mysterious black boxes that the astronauts looked at covetously. The mess was...a mess, to human eyes. The guest quarters, however, looked almost exactly like similar compartments on the New Hope.

"We set these up Goldaskian style, since your people are so similar. I hope you find them comfortable. Oh, do you sleep together?"

The astronauts flashed each other alarmed looks for a fraction of a second before their faces shifted back into professional expressions. Schmidt answered smoothly, "Separate bunks, but the same compartment is fine. We understand that space is limited."

"Well, tell the wall to extrude a partition if you want. Feel free to redecorate. I understand that you'll be aboard most of the time until our contract with the Boss is up?"

"Yes, if that's permitted. We'd like as much experience with star travel as possible."

"Very good. Well, then, now is the center!...Um...'No time like the present,'" Captain Telnik said awkwardly, reading from somewhere. "Hm, I like that expression. So, how about it? Shall we stop by the closest couple of stars before lunch?"

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