It was after seven o'clock, much later than I'd realized, when Zey and I finally said good night. Stefan and a security officer were waiting outside to escort him back to his ship. Elena walked me to dinner. "I take it things are going well?" she said.

"I guess so," I said dubiously. "Zey's great, he was really helpful, but there's just too much material to cover in one day. It'll take months to get through all of it."

"Just think how the other Strangers must feel."

I shook my head. "I can't even imagine. They're braver than I am."

"Says the woman who's about to leave on a solo mission to a new planet," Elena said lightly. "Are you going straight to the dormitory after dinner?"

"I'll probably check out the assignment lists first. I told Kylie I'd meet her at eight."

"Don't stay too long," Elena said. "You have one more appointment today."

"What? How? Meeting with Zey was the last thing on the agenda. There's nothing left to do. Except launch."

"It's a surprise." She smiled at me. "Don't worry, it's a good one."

I ate a pleasant solitary dinner in the dimly lit dining hall. The hour was late, and the room was empty save for a few support staff finishing their meals in a far corner. The quiet was a balm to my nerves after a day spent chasing meaning back and forth from one language into another. I had forgotten how draining the first immersion into a new language could be. All my days would be like this now; every conversation, no matter how simple, would be a negotiation.

At eight o'clock I went to meet Kylie. It took me a while to find her. The corridor outside the dining hall was thronged with what looked like the entire membership of the List, all milling around chatting with their friends while they awaited their assignments. Eventually I found Rajani, Kylie, and Scott huddled with several others from the first wave of arrivals. Kylie nodded to me but didn't say anything. She looked tense. While I was trying to think of something encouraging to say, there was a stir at the front of the crowd. A staff member had arrived with a sheaf of neatly typed pages, which he began taping to the wall. There was a general drawing back to give him space and then a convergence when he'd finished. "Do you want to fight your way in?" I asked Kylie.

"No point, is there? We'll know in ten minutes anyway."

It was significantly longer than ten minutes before the crowd dwindled enough for us to make our way up to the front. After people found their names, they stayed close, hunting for their friends' names, blocking the view of those behind them. There were cries of triumph and exclamations of disappointment. Finally the commotion subsided as people began to drift away. I went up with Kylie to look. Somehow I'd forgotten that I was still part of the List; it gave me an odd jolt to see my own name in the first space, with Vardesh Prime written next to it. Next to the List was posted an enormous two-dimensional map of the section of Vardeshi territory that lay between Vardesh Prime and Earth. Every starhaven that would have human occupants was marked and named, and the routes of the ships had been drawn in and labeled as well. I knew the map intimately—I, along with Kylie and Rajani, had spent most of an evening poring over it after the Vardeshi had released it to the Villiger Center a few days before—and I could have sketched in the Pinion's route from memory. It spanned the entire breadth of the map. I found it thrilling, and a little disturbing, to see my journey laid out in such visual terms. The right-hand side of the map, where Earth was, was dense with the routes of orbit crawlers and short-range vessels. As the eye tracked left, past the cluster of starhavens within a few months' travel of Earth, the map grew steadily emptier. The Pinion's flight was a solitary line running on and on, leaving all the other markers behind, until it reached Vardesh Prime at the very margin of the paper.

Kylie was running her finger down the List. "Here I am . . . Arkhati Starhaven. Let's see, that's"—she checked the map—"three months into Vardeshi space. That's brilliant, really. Three months out, six months at Arkhati, three months home. Perfect."

"Congratulations." I hugged her.

Rajani joined us. I'd already seen her name, but I let her find it for herself. "The Cloudspear? I don't believe it! That's the third-best placement! The route goes deep into Vardeshi space. And we'll probably stop by Arkhati on the way out!"

"Where's Scott?" asked Kylie.

"Right here." I hadn't heard him come up behind us. He reached a long arm over my shoulder to point out his name.

"The Seynath? Well done." Kylie traced the arc of the Seynath's route on the map. "You'll get to see at least—let's see—three different starhavens and a colonized moon."

"And it was the original ship to visit Earth twenty-five years ago," Rajani added. "You must be pleased with that."

"I am." I glanced back to see that he was smiling. "But I bet I can tell you someone who's even more pleased than I am."

"Who?" said Rajani.

Instead of answering, Scott rested his finger lightly beside the second name on the list. The placement had been highly coveted: Elteni Starhaven, one of the oldest and most heavily trafficked in the entire network, located only a month's flight short of Vardesh Prime. The name was Fletcher Simon.

"The rumors must be true," Scott said. "He's a prodigy. The placement says it all."

"Where is he?" I asked. "Was he here before?"

"I didn't see him," Rajani said. "Maybe he already found out."

"Well," Kylie said expansively, "he didn't push any of us onto an orbit crawler, so he can have Elteni for all I care. What now? I could go for a drink, but that's not really the thing here."

Rajani said, "The dining hall's still open, isn't it? Let's go get a coffee or something."

"Good idea," Kylie said. "Scott?"

He shook his head. "You go ahead. I'm going to call it a night."

And so I found myself sitting once again at the same table I'd vacated shortly before, joined now by Kylie and Rajani, cradling a decaf latte. The other two chatted about their placements. I looked out at the dark glitter of the distant lake, thinking about the world I was leaving behind. Silence settled briefly over our table. I said, "I can't wait to see Vardesh Prime. But I have a hard time imagining it could be any better than this."

"Not more beautiful, maybe," Rajani said. "But a place without crime? Without disease? Without poverty? That must be something to see."

"We don't know that it's really like that," Kylie pointed out. "All we have is their word. And they've been awfully vague on the details. We know they're not a perfect society. They have factions. They fight."

"About us," I said. "Maybe that's just what humanity does to people."

"You're nervous," Kylie said.

"Of course I'm nervous. What if I screw it up? What if I do something to offend them? If they decide that humanity has no redeeming qualities, and that they have nothing to gain from an alliance, we'll never hear from them again. They'll disappear. Just like they did the first time, but forever. I only have one chance to get it right. What if I don't?"

Rajani shook her head. "You're taking it all on yourself, Avery. You can't do that. It's too big for one person. You need to think smaller or you'll make yourself crazy. Forget about the alliance. Forget about Vardesh Prime. For now, just think about the ship. There's one of you, and ten of them, and you have six months to figure it all out. And you will. It's as simple as that."

"And remember," Kylie added, "It's not just about impressing them. There are two sides to this exchange. An alliance might not actually benefit us as much as we think. And if not, the sooner we know it, the better. In a way, that's your real mission—to find out whether Vardeshi space is safe for humanity. That's more important than making them like you."

"Maybe you're right," I said, unconvinced. "But it's not a very big ship. I'm hoping they like me at least a little bit."

Kylie sighed. "It certainly will be a long year if they don't."

We finished our coffees and walked back to the dormitory. Kylie stopped outside the entrance. "I'm not coming in. There's bound to be a party in someone's room. I'm going to find it."

"Seconded," Rajani said. "I'd try to talk you into coming with us, Avery, but I couldn't handle the guilt. You'll have enough to cope with tomorrow without being exhausted. Let alone hung over."

"Honestly, I'm not even tempted. I'm barely awake as it is. It'll have to wait until next year." I hugged them both. "I'll see you guys on the other side. Good luck."

"Be safe," Rajani said softly. "Be strong."

I went up the stairs slowly, lost in thoughts of the hot shower and clean pajamas that awaited me, and was halfway into my room before I realized I wasn't alone. I gasped—and then flung myself at the intruder. "Dr. Sawyer!"

He stood there in my little slant-ceilinged room looking as neat and affable as ever, as if he hadn't disappeared into police custody nearly three weeks ago. As he gently detached himself from my impulsive hug, I felt a rush of guilt. After all, I'd essentially forgotten about him in the heady excitement of selection and training. "What happened to you?" I demanded. "Where did they take you?"

"To a holding facility in France. Don't worry, I was treated very courteously, as you see. As interrogations go, mine was remarkably civilized. It was a precaution the Council had to take, and one I fully expected. Now that I've been cleared of suspicion, I'll take up a post here at the Villiger Center. I've been asked to serve as language director. Seline is flying in tomorrow."

"Good," I said. "That's good. But will you ever be allowed to go offworld?"

"I don't know. Someday, perhaps."

"I'm going," I said.

"Tomorrow. I know."

"I'm scared," I said.

"Avery, do you remember why I chose you as a student? It was because there are qualities in you, good human qualities, that I wanted the Vardeshi to see before they passed sentence on us as a people. I'm not surprised that you were the one they asked to come to Vardesh Prime. I take it as a testament to their good judgment. They saw something in you too, something beyond merely language ability. They knew, just as I did, that you were the right choice—the inevitable one."

"You make it all sound so . . . predestined."

"Perhaps I do. There's a certain comfort, at my age, in imagining that things unfolded precisely as they were meant to do. I'm sure Novak Takheri will tell you the same thing when you meet him." He reached into an interior pocket of his coat and withdrew a small paper-wrapped parcel. "I'm sending you with a gift, by the way, in the hope that you do meet him. It's a token of my thanks."

I took it carefully. "What is it?"

"A gold pocket watch that belonged to my grandfather. Not very original, I know, but I'm more than usually certain it won't be a duplicate. During the silent years, I used to look at it and wonder if the seconds were counting up from our only glimpse of the Vardeshi or down to our next encounter with them. Now that I know, and the waiting is finally over, I'd like him to have it. I think he'll understand."

"I'll do my best to get it to him," I promised. All my luggage had already been transported to the launch site. I tucked the parcel into the tote bag with my notebook and turned back to Dr. Sawyer.

He was studying the uniform that hung on a hook next to the door. I hadn't even noticed it until that moment. I had no idea who had delivered it, or when; I hadn't been back to my room since morning. At a glance the garment looked identical to Zey's, but I'd been too distracted by his presence to pay much attention to what he was wearing. This one was mine. Since the moment I had known I was permitted to wear one, I had been desperate to hold it in my hands. As a symbol it was potent, but even more than that, it was the first physical artifact of the Vardeshi to come into my possession. My fingers itched to stroke the fabric, to puzzle out the unfamiliar fastenings.

Dr. Sawyer must have felt something of the same compulsion, because he reached out and brushed a hand down one silky gray sleeve. Without looking at me he said, "Avery, I need you to promise me something."

"Anything," I said instantly.

"That may be easier said than done. You and I are the same. We feel the allure of the Vardeshi like a gravitational pull. We're drawn to them. It's more than curiosity. We don't just want to comprehend them. We want to become them. Somehow, they make us want to transcend our own humanity."

I was silent. I hadn't realized he knew me so well.

"It appears that they are offering you the chance to do precisely that, and I can't deny that I'm jealous—profoundly so. But I'm also afraid for you. I'm afraid that out there, far away from your own kind, you'll forget your reason for going. After all, it's meant to be an exchange. A sharing in both directions."

"I know."

"Wearing their clothing, speaking their language, following their orders . . . Your immersion will be nearly complete. I need you to promise me that you won't let yourself drift so far into their world that you begin to reject your own."

"I'll . . . try," I said.

He nodded. "Just remember that humanity has something unique to offer the universe. So does Avery Alcott of Earth. She was here before Novi Alkhat of the Pinion. She's the one I'm proud of. She's the one I love like a daughter. And she's the one I hope will come back to me when it's all over."

I hugged him again, wordlessly, and then he was gone, and with him my last lingering connection to Earth. I was adrift in the dark, alone, and my journey hadn't even begun.