Donald leaned toward Richard. “What circumstances?” he repeated with accentuated derision while shaking his head in scornful wonderment. “The thing I’ve never been able to understand about saturation divers is whether they have to be stupid in order to be willing to do it, or whether it’s the pressure and inert gas that destroys the handful of brain cells they may have had when they started.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Michael asked, taking immediate offense.

“I’ll tell you what I’m talking about,” Donald snapped. “Look around you! Where the hell are we? What are we doing here? Who are these people dressed up like they’re going to a college toga party?”

For a few minutes there was silence. Everyone avoided Donald’s glare. They had been scrupulously avoiding such questions.

“I know where we are,” Richard said finally. “We’re in Interterra.”

“Oh, jeez,” Donald exclaimed, throwing up his hands in frustration. “We’re in Interterra,” he repeated. “That explains everything. Well, let me tell you, it tells us nothing. It doesn’t tell us where we are or what we’re doing here or who these people are. And they now have us conveniently isolated in separate living quarters.”

“They said they would tell us all we want to know,” Suzanne said. “They asked us to be patient.”

“Patient!” Donald mocked. “I’ll tell you what we’re doing here… We’re prisoners!”

“So what!” Richard said.

Silence reigned again. Michael put down his fork, chastened by Donald’s outburst. Richard resumed enjoying his dessert, brazenly staring Donald down. Suzanne and Perry just watched, as did the mute worker clones.

Richard took another large bite of his dessert. With his mouth still full, he said, “If we’re prisoners, I want to see how these people treat their friends. I mean, just look at this place. It’s fantastic. If you don’t want to eat, Fuller, don’t! Me, I like this stuff, so screw you!”

Donald leaped to his feet with the intention of lunging across the table at Richard. Perry intervened before punches could be thrown.

“All right, you two,” Perry yelled. “Stop baiting each other! Let’s not fight amongst ourselves. Besides, you’re both right. We don’t know squat about the what, where, and why we’re here, yet we’re being treated well. Maybe even too well.”

Perry let go of Donald’s arm when he felt the man relax and glanced over at the immobile worker clones, wondering if this mild outburst bothered them. But it didn’t. Their faces were as immobile and blank as they had been throughout the meal.

Donald followed Perry’s line of sight while straightening his tunic. “You see what I mean,” he growled. “They even have jailors keeping tabs on us while we eat.”

“I don’t think that’s the case,” Suzanne said. Then in a louder voice, she added, “Workers, go, please!”

Without any acknowledgment of Suzanne’s command the two worker clones disappeared through one of the three doors leading from the dining lodge.

“So much for the watchful eyes of the attendants,” Suzanne said.

“Ah, that doesn’t mean a thing,” Donald said. His eyes roamed the chamber. “There’s probably hidden mikes and camcorders all over this room.”

“Hey,” Michael said. “Looking at this dish and fork, I’ve been wondering. Is this stuff real gold or what?”

Suzanne picked up her own fork to gauge its weight. “I was thinking about that earlier,” she said. “Surprisingly enough, I believe it is.”

“No shit!” Michael said. He picked up the plate and hefted the two items. “We got a small fortune here.”

“We’re being treated okay for the moment,” Donald said, returning to the main topic.

“You think it is going to change?” Perry asked.

“It could change in a second,” Donald said with a snap of his fingers. “As soon as they’ve gotten whatever it is they want, who knows what will happen. We’re completely vulnerable.”

“It could change, but I don’t think it will,” Suzanne said.

“How can you be so sure?” Donald demanded.

“I can’t be sure,” Suzanne admitted. “But it stands to reason. Look around. These people, whoever they are, are so advanced. They don’t need anything from us. In fact I think we stand to learn extraordinary things from them.”

“I know we’ve been avoiding this issue,” Perry said. “But when you say they are so advanced, are you suggesting that these people are aliens?”

Perry’s question brought on another period of silence. No one knew quite what to think much less say.

“You mean like people from another planet?” Michael said finally.

“I don’t know what I’m suggesting,” Suzanne said. “But we all experienced the astounding ride in the saucer. It must represent some kind of maglev technology that none of us has ever heard of. And we’re supposed to be under the ocean, which I still have trouble accepting. But I have to tell all of you. The Mohorovicic discontinuity definitely exists, and no one ever has been able to explain it.”

Richard waved a dismissive hand. “These people are no aliens. Christ, did you see those girls! Hell, I’ve seen a lot of movies about aliens, and they sure didn’t look like these people.”

“They could be altering their appearance to our liking,” Suzanne said.

“Yeah,” Michael said. “That’s what I thought at first. We’re dreaming they look so good.”

“That’s why I don’t give a goddamn,” Richard said. “It’s what’s in my mind that counts. If I think they’re gorgeous, they’re gorgeous.”

“The real issue is their motives,” Donald said. “It was no accident that brought us here. It’s even more apparent that we were literally sucked down that shaft. They want something from us or we’d already be dead.”

“I think you are right that we were specifically brought here,” Suzanne said. “Sufa admitted several things to me. First, she confirmed that what we’d gone through was a decontamination.”

“But why were we decontaminated?” Perry asked.

“She didn’t say,” Suzanne said. “But she admitted that they have had visitors like us in the past.”

“Now that is interesting,” Donald said. “Did she say what happened to them?”

“No, she didn’t,” Suzanne said.

“Well, you guys can worry yourselves sick,” Richard commented. Then he put his head back and yelled. “Worker clones, come!”

Instantly two humanoids appeared, one male and one female. Richard took one look at the female and glanced at Michael conspiratorially. “Pay dirt!” he whispered with unbridled excitement.

“Richard,” Suzanne called. “I want you to promise that you will not do anything that will embarrass us or put us in jeopardy as a group.”

“What are you, my mother?” he asked. Then he glanced up at the female worker clone and said: “How about some more of that dessert, honey?”

“Me, too,” Michael said. He clanked his golden fork on his golden dish.

Donald started to rise but Perry restrained him again. “No fighting,” Perry said. “It’s no use.”

Richard smiled provocatively at Donald, relishing the man’s frustration and anger.

A soft chime interrupted the muted background music and echoed about the room. A moment later Arak energetically swept into view. He was attired in the standard fashion with a small addition. Around his neck was a plain blue velvet ribbon that perfectly matched the particular blue hue of his eyes. It was tied in a simple bow.

“Hello, my friends,” he called exuberantly. “I trust that your meal was to your liking.”

“It was great,” Richard answered. “But what is it made out of? I mean, it doesn’t look anything like what it tastes like.”

“It’s mostly planktonic proteins and vegetable carbohydrates,” Arak said. He rubbed his hands enthusiastically. “Now then! What about the celebration I mentioned to you earlier? You have no idea how many people here in Saranta are extremely pleased about your arrival to our city. We’ve had to turn people away. You see, we’re not a city that gets many visitors from your world: certainly not like Atlantis to the east or Barsama to the west. Everyone is anxious to meet you. So that brings us to the pivotal question: are you willing to come over to the pavilion or are you too tired from the decon?”