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former sponsor – had provided, at special order, the suit that he wore, and which might be saving him.
    The suit was intended for conducting delicate scans for any signs of Versari artifacts, on the varied surfaces and caves of the asteroids in the Aurora system. To that end, it did not generate nor reflect any measureable amount of electromagnetic radiation, which would interfere with the scans. In practical effect, it was a stealth suit, and he was invisible to the ships.
    Evan needed to pee, so he did. At least that part of the suit was working well.
    He considered having another sip of water, but decided not to. Maybe later. Evan did his best not to think about the plumbing.
    His suit had an outside zipper pocket. Evan pulled off his left gauntlet, revealing the thin inner glove. The gauntlet floated by its tether. It would stay nearby.
    He unzipped the pocket and pulled out a small grey box. For a moment, he left it suspended in front of him. It was drifting, very slowly, away and down to the left. He reached easily to retrieve it, then engaged the catch to open it. The amber cube floated out.
    A little vacuum wouldn’t harm the cube. For the last nine hundred thousand years, it had been just fine in the absence of air.
    Evan delicately caught the cube between his index finger and thumb, and then placed it, as still as he possibly could, directly in front of his visor.
    He supposed that he didn’t actually need the original any more. All of the information had been meticulously copied, even that which could not be understood. Which was most of it.
    Still, the object was special. The Versari had not known that they were leaving this for him; a gift, across almost a million years.
    The amber cube was turning, ever so slowly. It might make a complete turn in several minutes. The sunlight partly reflected and partly transmitted into the center of the object, lighting it within and on its surfaces. Evan thought he could see details inside, slowly shifting.
    Sunlight, unlike the vacuum, probably was bad for it, or at least for what was stored within. Only its perfect location, deep within the asteroid in the Aurora system, had allowed it to be sheltered, not only from any kind of atmosphere, but from radiation as well.
    It was poor curating to leave it out in the sun. But then, there was nobody around to reprimand him.
    In an instant, he could swat it away, and it would never be found again. One cubic centimeter, in endless space.
    Evan didn’t want that. It was his discovery, after years of searching. What a triumph, finally something of value from the Versari. It was worth all of the years away from home, scratching at any place that hinted of a Versari presence from a million years ago. Even Kate might allow that it had been worth something.
    Evan’s hand was getting cold. He pulled the gauntlet back on, leaving the amber cube turning in front of him. Both he and the cube were hurtling through space at over ten kilometers per second, yet neither he nor the object appeared to be going anywhere.
    Evan considered the object in front of him. Maybe he would have another try, at composing the message for Kate.
    He really should send that SOS.
    The Vector
    From her branch at the top of the tree, Mira saw motion, coming closer. Hopefully it was Kestrel. He had pinged Mira just a minute earlier, and she had quickly climbed back up to wait for him.
    She picked out hints of his shape and features. Tall, lean. Bare arms even in the cool night. Curly dark hair. Same blue shirt he had been wearing before.
    Without a word Kestrel sat beside her on the branch, then put his arms around her. She felt him kiss her on the cheek. Then he held her close for a long moment.
    “You were fortunate?” she asked.
    “You and me both.”
    “Just thirty minutes,” she whispered. “Must have been easy for you, to do it so quickly. I’m overpaying! Twenty thousand per hour!”
    “But you are paying for years of learning,” he whispered back.