EPILOGUE
Captain Nereenital stood on the observation deck, a dome at the pinnacle of the tallest spire of the Savannah Runner, waiting patiently for the elevator to arrive. With a sigh the transparent car rose into the room, bobbed to a stop, and then opened. Pietro Danielle stepped out on his two thick legs. His small human eyes flicked to the Harmonizer Special Advisor, Preeajitala, where she stood behind the Captain. No one else was on the deck. The two Neelee seemed to stand alone among the stars.
“It shames us to ask this of you, human Dockmaster Pietro Danielle,” the captain said. His pronunciation of the Italian’s name would have been unrecognizable to someone who had never left Earth, with the consonants all collapsing into soft barks. But Danielle had long before grown ac
