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bridge to watch their arrival at his home world. “Captain Nightsong, I don’t get it. Where is your civilization?”
    “Are you looking at Asgard?” asked Captain Sheppard. “Our civilization is not there; it’s on the moon.”
    “No,” replied Ensign Sommers, “I know that. I’m looking at the moon, and I don’t see any signs of habitation. There are some shipyards in orbit, but it looks like it’s completely uninhabited.” She put the long-range visual onto the front view screens. The bridge crew could see the planet Asgard as a backdrop, with its moon Golirion in the foreground. From space, the moon appeared very similar to Earth although a little smaller.
    Captain Nightsong smiled. “You mean, where are all of our major cities? Where do our people live?” Sara nodded her head. “Most live below the surface of the moon,” he said, answering his own question. “Our civilization developed there to protect itself from the asteroids which often hit our world. By the time we made it to space and could ensure the safety of our world, our civilization had adapted to living below the surface of the planet. Those of us who moved back to the surface live in harmony with nature; we enjoy its beauty and do not want to see it spoiled with the buildings and factories that pollute other races’ planets.” The Terrans could hear a large measure of pride in his voice.
    “And what Captain Nightsong is leaving out,” said Steropes, “is that very few outsiders have ever seen the surface of the moon. Usually, visitors are discouraged. When the Alliance of Civilizations moved off my planet, the Aesir were the only member nation that didn’t want to host its headquarters.”
    “Look at our world,” said Captain Nightsong. “If you were us, would you want that group of thieves and incompetents to come here and destroy its beauty? Many of the nations have no respect for nature or culture; they are only interested in what will make them the most money or gain them the most influence. We desire neither of those things. We desire peace and the opportunity to appreciate the finer things in life. Unfortunately, peace is often obtained only through strength of arms. We joined the Alliance of Civilizations, not because we wanted to, but because we wanted the peace we thought we would get by being part of a large defensive alliance. Other than that, we are content to stay out of the bickering and squabbling that goes on at Alliance meetings.”
    “You didn’t want the prestige or monetary benefits from having the headquarters on your planet?” asked Sara.
    “What is prestige when compared with the colors of a perfect sunset?” asked Captain Nightsong. “What is the value of artificial currency when compared with a still lake in the early morning before the fog burns off? We have no desire for anything the Alliance has to offer, aside from a galaxy-wide peace that would let us pursue our quest for knowledge and beauty.”
    “What is your society like?” asked Calvin. “What can we expect?”
    “Unlike the other races I have met, we value our individual freedom more than anything else. We tend to be more solitary than the other races; even our cities are small. Most Aesir are very locally focused. We follow a local mayor, who follows a regional leader called a reeve, who owes allegiance to the king and queen who rule the planet. You would not be comfortable in our society; there are very few rules.”
    “How do you keep people in line then?” asked Captain Sheppard. “What if someone infringes on the personal freedom of someone else.”
    “Normally, most laws aren’t needed,” said Captain Nightsong; “most of our citizens don’t do anything to harm anyone else. When someone goes rogue, which is extremely infrequent, the group will band together to modify his or her behavior.”
    “How do they do that?” asked Calvin.
    “In whatever manner it takes,” said the Aesir. “We try to be minimally invasive, but