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installed by the building’s AI, was a trio of small, geologically impeccable cones that spouted steadily from the center of the commons. How the building’s intelligent response system had managed the plumbing to both deliver and recover the boiling hot water without swathing everything in sight in a sheen of condensation was a mechanical mystery Walker made no effort to try to unravel. He had long since given up marveling at or trying to comprehend the wonders of Sessrimathe science.
    The four friends sat around the bubbling, spraying, simulated geysers, but they were not relaxed. Not while faced with the single most momentous decision that had confronted them since their arrival on Seremathenn. To go with Walker or to stay: each of his friends, irrespective of their own individual manner of thinking, could only come to one of two conclusions.
    Braouk was uncertain but ready. “Too long here, away from my home, hearts breaking.” All four massive upper tentacles curled forward to rest against the sides of his mouth. “I am prepared for whatever may come.”
    Suspended in his custom-built chair—which he was definitely going to miss, he knew—and with the Tuuqalian on board, Walker turned his attention to the K’eremu. Sequi’aranaqua’na’senemu sat on the floor across from him, her tendrils splayed out around her in familiar floral fashion. She would have reveled in the water from the geysers had it only been many dozens of degrees cooler. As it was, the occasional droplet that escaped the system’s recovery field dripped from her maroon skin or glistened on the bits of metal and gemstone and beads that cloaked her person in a small riot of color. Somewhat to his surprise, she concurred with the Tuuqalian.
    “There is still much to learn here, both from the Sessrimathe and from those other sentients who visit them. But there is much to learn anywhere that is new, and I tire of the conversation of well-meaning fools, no matter how superficially intelligent they may appear to be.” A pair of tendrils rose to wave in Walker’s direction. “I too am ready to move on. There is always something to learn, and one may hope, however unreasonably, that such a journey will indeed bring us nearer K’erem, the true center of advanced civilization in this or any other galaxy.”
    Two aboard. Only one more left to signal his agreement and, truth be told, the one whose acceptance mattered most to Walker. He glanced down at the small figure that was sprawled on the semianimate rug to his immediate left.
    “George?”
    The dog looked away. “I dunno, Marc. Talk about taking a leap into the unknown         .         .         .”
    “You said before that you’d leave here if the right opportunity presented itself. Well, it’s presented itself. We don’t even have to worry about money. In fact, not only do we get free transportation a parstep closer to home, we’re getting paid for going.”
    Dark brown eyes looked up at him from beneath shaggy brows. “That’s just it, Marc.
Are
we getting closer to home? If the other arm of the galaxy is where Earth lies, we’ll be heading off down the wrong trail. With a good chance we won’t be able to retrace our steps.” One paw gestured to take in their surroundings. “We’ve got everything we could need here, and we don’t have to work for it.”
    Having dealt with it before, Walker had anticipated the dog’s reluctance. “We’ve been over all this, George. Seremathenn is nice, and the Sessrimathe have been very good to us. But this isn’t home.” He looked up, through the mist being generated by the miniature geysers. “Not for any of us.” He indicated the sprawled shape of the K’eremu. “If the odds are acceptable to Sque, they should be for any of us.”
    “Appropriately astute of you,” she observed approvingly. “You continue to exhibit a limited but commendable ability to learn, however slowly.”
    Wrestling with himself