“Steady on,” said Peron. “Don’t get carried away. Sol is eighteen light-years from here. I know that’s only a few weeks travel in S-space, but it’s nearly two centuries back on Pentecost. Everyone we know there would be long dead before we even reached Earth, let alone came back to Cass.”

Rosanne shrugged. “I can’t speak for you, but I already said goodbye to all my best friends. It’s curious, but I think we were set up for it. We said our farewells before we lifted off from Pentecost. Remember, they encouraged us to do it, and we thought it was in case we died in the off-planet trials? But it makes sense. If winners go through indoctrination and move to S-space, they would outlive all their contemporaries on Pentecost in just a few S-space weeks. Do you realize that the people we left back home have already aged five years since we last saw them?”

“I’ve been thinking of that,” said Lum. “I’m not like you, Rosanne, I really miss some of the friends I left — and I’d like to see them again sometime. That’s something else we ought to be worrying about. We’ve been dealing with Olivia Ferranti on the ‘united we stand’ basis, as though we all have identical objectives and want the same things. But we don’t. I know you all well enough to be sure that’s not true. We should get our personal preferences out on the table, so we’ll know what we’re bargaining for with the Immortals.” “But what are our options?” said Elissa. “We can go to Headquarters, I suppose, and live in S-space there. Or we could return to Cass and live on The Ship, and work with the government of Pentecost. But I’m sure they won’t let us go back down to the surface of Pentecost, and live the way we used to do, even if we want to. We know too much. Maybe they’d let us go to one of the other colonies. Or maybe we can go to Earth.”

“That’s why I’d like to know what we want,” said Lum. “We each have our own desires and priorities — but what are they?”

“Why don’t you start?” said Rosanne. “It’s your question, and it gives the rest of us more time to think.”

“Fair enough.” Lum took a deep breath. “I’ve known what I want ever since the moment when I found out there are other planets and colonies, and a way to reach them in a reasonable time. Ferranti mentioned at least seven inhabited planets, and I’ll bet there are more. I want to move to S-space, and see everything. I’d like to visit every planet, and every arcology, and every headquarters. If I could do it, I’d like to see every planet in the Galaxy — even if most of them prove to be like Glug.”

Rosanne nodded. “I don’t know if that’s all possible, but at least you’re voting for a move to S-space — otherwise you’d be dead long before you reached your first colony. Sy? What about you?”

“Wandering around forever isn’t for me.” Sy was smiling, but there was something in his look that suggested his disdain for Lum’s travel plans. “I want to visit Immortal Headquarters — whichever one is the most appropriate, wherever their science is farthest developed. What we learned on Pentecost is probably generations out of date. After that, I’d like to visit the galactic center.” “That’s thirty thousand light-years!” said Peron.

“Sure it is. I don’t mind. If I have to go back to cold sleep for a while to get there, I’ll do it. The rest of us have all been under once, and it wasn’t a bad experience.”

Rosanne was staring at him and shaking her head. “Sy, I worked with you on the Planetfest trials, and I know you’re pretty much all right — but you’re certainly weird. The galactic center!”

He grinned back at her. “So? Let’s hear from somebody normal, then. Where do you want to go?”

“Well…” She hesitated. “I like the Cass system, and I liked Pentecost. But I agree with Elissa, they wouldn’t let us go back there for a long time. So forget that. I’d certainly like to see Earth — who wouldn’t? Apart from that I suppose I’m a lot like Lum. I want to see lots of other places, wander around the colonies and the habitable planets, see what’s there…”

Elissa winked at Peron. I told you so, said her look. I win that bet. Rosanne’s a lot more interested in Lum than she’ll ever admit.

“What about you, Peron?” she said loudly.

Peron looked as perplexed as he felt. “I’m not at all sure, and I just wish I knew. I want it all — to be back home on Pentecost, to travel, and to take a really close look at the Immortals.”

“You’re not much help!”

“I know. I suppose the best answer is that I can’t say for the long term. But for the moment I want to know more about S-space, and the only way to do that is to move there for a while. Olivia Ferranti makes me feel like a child in the cradle. She didn’t exactly say it, but she must think we’re upstart babies. When I think of all that she has seen and done, and the things she told us about…”

“Not to mention all the things she has seen and done, and not told us about,” said Sy drily. “Kallen, it’s your turn.”

The tall youth nodded. He stood silent for a while, as though organizing his words.

“Rosanne told Sy he was strange,” he said at last. He smiled shyly. “I am afraid that she will judge me even more so.” He cleared his throat, and spoke louder than any of them had heard before. “Back on Pentecost, I lay awake at night with my own dreams. I wondered what we are, as a species, and what in time we might become. It has always seemed to me that humans are best regarded as a transitional stage, something between animals and what may come after. I speculated. What will that next phase be? The question always seemed an unanswerable one; but no longer. I want to see the future — the far future. And like Sy, I will be happy to return to cold sleep in order to accomplish that.” He smiled again. “After I have had a good look at S-space, but not before.” “I always told the others you were the dreamer,” said Elissa. “The far future? You’re worse than Sy. Let’s see, what conclusions do we have? We’re quite a mixed bag. We’ve got two votes for the colonies, and for taking the grand tour; one for science and the galactic center; one for the future; and one who’s not sure just what he wants. What else? We all think we’re not getting the whole story, and that Olivia Ferranti knows things about S-space life that she hasn’t told us. Nobody relishes the notion of spending a long time at local Headquarters, but we know we’ll have to start there. And I gather we’re all itching to take a trip to Earth if we can find a way to do it. That’s my summary. Anything missing?”

“At least one thing,” said Peron. “There’s still one person we’ve not heard from. What about you, Elissa — what do you want to do?”

She gave him a peculiar stare. “You mean, where will I go? Peron, you’re a bone-headed idiot and a blind tardy. Are you trying to embarrass me?” To Peron’s surprise there was a burst of laughter and incoherent comments from the other four.

“You name it, Peron!” said Lum.

“Name it. Name what?”

“Anything you like.”

“Lum’s right,” said Elissa. She moved across to Peron and hugged him, while the others cheered.

“You name it.” She ran her knuckles along his ribs. “Shake me loose — if you can. I’m going where you’re going, and it would be kind of nice if you’d make up your mind and tell me where that is. But you don’t have to do it now, because it looks like we all agree on the next step. We go to S-space, then to Earth. Think it’s feasible?”

“We’ll have to do some arm-twisting,” said Lum. “But we have an awful lot of power so long as one of us is here in normal space. Do you realize that a tiny boost from the engines of this ship, one we wouldn’t notice, would make it impossible for anyone in S-space to stand up? You can bet that they all know it — they must be wondering what we might do next.”

“So let’s tell them we’re ready for the next round of bargaining,” said Peron. “And let’s insist that it be done here, not in S-space. That’s going to make any of them uncomfortable, and eager to get back to their usual environment. Agreed?”