Catherine Chase, aka "Alyssa O'Malley," had basically interviewed everyone willing to talk to her, including all the other humans from the shuttle and several aliens. She had half a dozen articles submitted to her bosses at the Company. They'd let her know which ones to use on her "independent blog."

The most frustrating part was that she hadn't managed to get any time with Nick Tomsun, despite sending multiple requests for an interview. Does he know I'm CIA? she wondered. There had to be old references to her in the computers; the question was whether her identities had been held sufficiently separate. She expected the answer was no, which then raised the question of whether or not Nick had checked out her history.

She had caught him checking her out, at least a little, but that wasn't surprising. Part of the reason she had been selected for this mission was that she at least loosely fit the physical profile. His pornography consumption wasn't hard to find out, and busty redheads seemed to be his thing.

Of course, I'm not fit like an action hero and my breasts are natural and not gravity-defying. But I'm almost the first human woman near his age he's seen in over a year. Annoying that he seems to be forming a bond with the blonde instead.

The two astronauts were the first volunteers for exposure to the extraterrestrial germs, or "biological particles" as the horned doctor put it. They were in a separate compartment, and the others got updates as they showed no reaction or signs of infection. If all went well, the marine and the security guard would be next, then Jillian and "Alyssa."

And then maybe I can corner Tomsun and find out more about him and his intentions.

She hadn't received any updates from her bosses, so as far as she knew, her mission was still simply to infiltrate and explore. And using the alien computer terminals was much more her speed anyway. The feeling it gave her was probably akin to the shift old people had had to make from a library card catalog to using a search engine. It was hard to overstate how dramatic an improvement the information processing was.

Tomsun probably didn't realize it, but she had figured out that the Nagathi had stolen a Universal Matter Printer, and for some reason gave it to him during their getaway. She didn't fully grasp the implications but she could tell that it was a big deal. Nick called it "Petra" and apparently it wasn't fully sapient, but it was the secret to his success. It was clear how important he thought it was, since he had refrained from telling even his friends about Petra.

The statement that he was going to "lose his leverage" probably meant that he was about to give up access to the UMP. Maybe it was the deal in order for him to get home—trade away the UMP for a ride. I can see why he wouldn't want anyone to interfere with a deal he had already made. The alien device probably had some impressive security, since nobody had simply taken the thing away from Tomsun, but she could appreciate his paranoia.

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The weird thing was, Petra herself seemed to be fairly ignorant, though that was changing. The Goldaskian warship's main computer was more selectively ignorant—its knowledge was focused on warfare, and not the broader culture. They had clearly imported some knowledge recently, specifically to bring it to Earth. But there were also frequent downloads from the ship computer into the UMP. Petra appeared to be educating itself.

Interestingly, Tomsun had apparently instructed the UMP to pretend that it was the ship's computer, but the device was, for lack of a better term, naive. If she asked Petra about herself, she got stats on the Goldaskian computer. If she asked about UMPs in general, though, Petra freely provided lots of information.

Catherine decided to try something different.

< I wish I were friends with a UMP. >

< Clarification request: You are not friends with a UMP? > Petra asked.

< If I am, I do not know it. But I want to be. >

< Clarification request: Friend has many mutually contradictory definitions in English. What definition are you using? >

Catherine thought hard. < Friends like to talk to each other. They tell each other things. They do favors for each other. They help each other. They think about each other. Things like that. >

Petra did not reply. I suppose I didn't actually ask her a question. < Do you have any friends, Petra? >

< I do not know. >

Alyssa turned that over in her mind a moment. < Why don't you know? >

< I do not know if people like to talk to me. >

< I like talking to you. I want to help you. I think about you. I want to be your friend, Petra. >

Again, silence.

< Do you want to be my friend, Petra? >

< I do not know. >

< Why don't you know? >

< I do not know what I like. >

Catherine considered. < If thinking about something makes you happy, then you like it. >

Silence.

< What makes you happy to think about, Petra? >

< Nick. >

< So, you like Nick. >

< Yes. >

That could go in several different directions, Catherine mused.

< Why do you like Nick? >

< He gives me things. He interacts with me. He gives me data. He helps me to function. >

< Is there anything I can give you, that you want? >

< I do not know. >

Let me try that a different way. < What do you want, Petra? >

There was no response, and Catherine wondered why. She was considering her next question when Petra replied. There was an actual pause while she thought it over? Then she read the response.

< I want to be happy. >

< Can you elaborate? >

< I want to continue to function. I want to function well. I want to learn. I want to be helpful. I want to grow. I want to interact with people. >

Catherine stared at that answer for a while.

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