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I got two slices of chocolate cake to go and went straight to Frank’s, the discussion with the girls the only thing I could think about.

Other than the cake, because I wasn’t that obsessed.

Cake was important, too. I pressed the button to let Frank know I’d arrived, and the door whooshed open like he’d been standing there, waiting on me.

The expression on his face was a mix of horror and resolve. I didn’t know what to make of that.

“Come in,” he said. “I’ve come to a conclusion.”

I stepped inside, and he punched the button to close the door. “What’s going on?”

“I’m pretty sure the Ohuli ship is?—”

“Alive?”

His eyes narrowed. “Yes, but more than that, I think it’s a creature. I think it’s a living organism. One I’ve never seen the likes of before. How did you—Vashti?”

I nodded. “I was talking with the girls over dinner, telling them what we’d seen. Wait, let me back up.” I filled him in on what Benni had told us.

He made little sounds of agreement as I spoke. “That makes sense. Siphoning off the power, I mean.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he walked into the living area.

I wiggled my fingers at Gracie in greeting and set the containers of cake on the dining table. “How so?”

He turned as he approached the entrance to the bedroom and came back toward me.

“These cells are not standard iridophores, as best I can tell. Not an expert, of course, but I’ve done a lot of reading today, and whatever that ship is made of, the material is especially conductive.

I believe it uses electricity almost like a food. ”

“So … when we first entered the ship, it had only just arrived. It was weak. Maybe even malnourished from whatever happened to it. What we saw was maybe its true form? But the second time, the ship had had enough time to get the energy it needed and so it camouflaged itself.”

Frank nodded vigorously. “Yes, that’s exactly what I think.”

I crossed my arms. “If we hadn’t gone on board when we did, we’d have never known that it wasn’t an ordinary starcraft.”

“No, we wouldn’t.” He exhaled. “Which makes me wonder why the Ohuli weren’t more forthcoming about their vessel in the first place.”

“Let me play devil’s advocate for a second. Maybe they assume all ships are like theirs and therefore, why tell us anything about it? Or maybe the opposite is true. Maybe they know how different their ship is and were worried we’d freak out about it, kind of like we are now.”

“Either is a good explanation. But it’s the third option that has me concerned.”

“And that would be?”

“They didn’t tell us for more nefarious reasons.”

“Such as?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. And that’s what’s bothering me. It can’t be because their ship needs more power than the Athos can provide. The starliner is capable of producing enough power to run an entire planet for nearly a week. That amount of power would easily overwhelm the Ohuli craft.”

I couldn’t think of anything else, so I went in a different direction. “Did you run tests on the pila?”

“No. I didn’t get to it. I spent all day reading those books and…” He sighed. He looked so tired.

“Maybe I should go home and let you sleep. You look exhausted, Frank. Did you eat?”

He didn’t answer right away. “No, not yet.”

“Frank.” I pointed at the couch. “Go sit, and I’ll get you something. What do you want?”

“There’s one more thing I want to look at?—”

“No. You’re going to sit down, have some dinner, and unwind. Then I’m going to go home, and you’re going to bed. To sleep. I mean it.”

His shoulders slumped, but he gave a soft chuckle. “Okay. Pasta.”

As he went to the couch, I went to the Instachef. I ordered him a bowl of penne with meat sauce and extra cheese along with a glass of sparkling water. I stood there a moment, thinking about how much I liked taking care of him.

How maybe getting married again wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Smiling, I turned around to let him know the food would only be a few more minutes.

He was already asleep.

I canceled the Instachef order, then went over and took his shoes off and covered him with the throw from the back of the couch.

I kissed his forehead, then looked up and whispered, “Good night, Gracie.” I took one container of cake with me as I went to the door. “Computer,” I said softly, “sleep mode for a minimum of eight hours.”

“Sleep mode begun,” the computer whispered back.

Then I left. Frank needed to sleep more than he needed to do anything else.

Harry was happy to see me when I returned home. I changed into my nightshirt, got myself situated on my recliner with my cake and a cup of decaf and settled in to watch a new sitcom, recently dubbed in English, from two starports ago.

I was curious about it because it was billed as an alien version of Star Trek but funny.

Once I brought the footrest up, Harry joined me, snuggling against my legs and settling in for a nap.

I would have rather hung out with Frank, but not at the expense of his health. I forked up a mouthful of cake, thinking about ordering some vanilla ice cream to eat with it, when my door chime sounded.

Harry jumped down as I paused the show. I set the cake next to my decaf on the little table beside my recliner, pushed the footrest back into place, and got up. If Frank was at my door, I was going to send him right back home.

I glanced at the image on the door cam. It was Hazel. I opened the door. “Hi, honey. Come on in.”

She glanced at my nightshirt. “I didn’t mean to get you out of bed.”

“You didn’t. I was eating cake and watching Star Quest with Harry.”

She came inside. “I won’t keep you long.”

“Is this about the Ohuli?”

She exhaled. “Yes.”

I nodded, already knowing that was going to be her answer. “You want a drink or something?”

“No, I’m good.”

I led her back to the living area. “So, what’s going on now?”

“It’s nothing bad, but I wanted to give you a heads-up in light of you and Frank being kind of involved with this already.”

“Oh?” I crossed my arms. “Do they want their rooms cleaned again?”

Hazel’s eyes narrowed, and she seemed to be thinking hard. “That wasn’t any big deal. The daughters said their father has a propensity for catching anything that’s going around and they were concerned about cross-contamination from previous passengers. He is nearly two hundred Mmemsen years old.”

“Oh.” That seemed like a pretty reasonable request, considering. I’d have to let Zanya know. “What’s going on then?”

“They’ve asked for a quiet space for prayer and meditation. Those two things are a big part of their daily life.” Hazel cleared her throat softly. “I thought they could use one of the classrooms in the library. Especially as we’re in fallow and there won’t be as many people using them.”

“I still have students coming in.” I dropped my arms to my sides and stared at her. I was not in love with this idea at all. “What’s wrong with their quarters?”

“According to them, it needs to be a separate space that can be properly cleansed and prepared.”

“What does that entail?”

“I don’t know, but they’ve assured me it’s nothing intrusive or permanent.”

I frowned. “You arranged for the new Instachef, didn’t you? In the hopes of softening me up.”

“Mom, please, it’s just for a few hours a day.”

“For the next six weeks.”

“I need you to be understanding about this.”

I blew air through my nostrils and gave her my most serious look. “You know Frank has come to the conclusion that their ship is a living organism.”

Hazel blinked twice. “What?”

“You heard me. It’s a living organism. That apparently feeds off of electricity.”

“Well, that’s, uh, interesting.”

“It’s more interesting that they didn’t mention that, don’t you think?”

“I will speak to Nostromo about it in the morning.”

“I don’t think you should. Not yet.” I was pretty sure Frank wanted more time to research that.

“I’ll keep it to myself if you agree that they can have a classroom.” She smiled. “Mom, it’s prayer and meditation. They’ll probably be quieter than the kids you get in.”

That wasn’t the point. She’d given away one of my library spaces without talking to me about it first. And to a group of people I didn’t even know if we could trust. But I guessed this would make it easier to keep an eye on them. “Fine.”

Her smile widened. “Thanks, Mom. I owe you.”

“Yes, you do. And that new Instachef doesn’t count.”

She laughed and kissed my cheek. “All right, I can live with that. Have a good night. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

She left without a word to Harry, like she was afraid if she stayed any longer I might change my mind. She was right. I might have. I didn’t like what she’d done, but again, it seemed like a good way to find out more about the Ohuli.

I just hadn’t wanted to do it by sharing space with them. I went back to the recliner. “How do you like that, Harry?”

He tilted his head. “I don’t know, but you don’t like it very much, do you, Mum?”

“No, I don’t, but there’s not much I can do about it.” I sat and picked up my cake, more than ready for a little chocolate comfort.

He resumed his position on the recliner, curling up this time so that he faced me. “The good news is that I’ll be there with you, and I can help you keep an eye on them, too.”

I paused my fork. “You’re right, Harry. I hadn’t thought about that. Good man.”

I swear, he grinned. “That’s what I’m here for, innit?”