The lunch with the Executive Council had ended, and Yahweh, with his entourage in tow, had left not long ago. The Assembly was about to begin a session where the subject of Earth would not be discussed, when the computer announced that visits from certain commissioners were not yet over.

«Their undiplomatic delegation just left!» Wilol, the only Executive along with Kidhe to have already taken a seat inside the dome, had the kind of enthusiasm for being disturbed that one typically has while wrestling with digestion. «Tell them we're not home.»

«Computer, go ahead and patch through the communication,» Kidhe resigned himself.

«Sir, the ship has landed.»

Kidhe's eyes widened. «How dare they...» he struggled to murmur.

Wilol sprang to his feet and thundered in a tenor key. «This is an invasion!»

He turned toward the Coral City and couldn't see it because the metal disc, as wide as at least ten pairs of outstretched arms and as tall as three people, was parked on the beach, just a few steps from the dome.

«Alert the defense systems. Computer, activate the anti-aircraft missiles!»

The computer ignored Wilol. Kidhe closed his eyes, pressed a palm to his forehead, and finally let out a sigh of resignation. Then he looked beyond the swarm of Assembly members who were starting to gather in the dome.

The flow of those passing by the invading apparatus was irresistibly corrupted by curiosity.

«Come on Wilol, let's go see.»

With a brisk pace, they went upstream against the current of people entering. Exiting the dome, they crossed paths with Nyark. She was off the shady path, and the sun shone on her black skin, smooth as river stones.

«Hey, Kidhe! Why weren't they announced?» she said with an excited smile. «Is it a surprise?»

«No kidding, that's some surprise... I want to know why we don't have anti-aircraft missiles,» Wilol complained.

«Fair enough,» Kidhe agreed, «let's shatter ten millennia of peace on this planet. Will you be the Minister of War?»

Nyark's smile turned into a mask of wonder. «This thing arrived without permission?»

Kidhe simply grimaced and raised an eyebrow.

«How can there be people so insolent and... uncivilized! And domineering! And... wait! I'm coming with you!»

Nyark chased after the two who had headed toward the ship and stopped with them on a small dune near the edge of the vehicle. Still and silent, it hovered at about human height or slightly more.

«Well, it seems they're not coming out. Can we shoot a missile at them now?»

«Maybe they've retained a shred of decency, after all,» Kidhe noted. «Computer, authorize disembarkation.»

An entrance opened at the base near the center of the disk, and the ladder formed down to the ground. The telepathic imprint of the lone occupant caught the attention of all the planet's inhabitants. Those who were already inside the dome stopped what they were doing to head outside. Those who were outside turned to approach the spaceship.

Nyark put her hands to her mouth to keep from letting out the emotion that was taking her breath away, Wilol was dissolving into tears, and Kidhe clenched his teeth while hoping with all his being that he was not prey to an illusion.

Clyella descended the stairs of the ship and breathed in the scent of her own planet, clouding the gazes of what had been her family for millennia.

«Computer, is it really her?» Kidhe murmured.

«The mental image of the visitor is congruent with the last events experienced by the Executive on Earth.»

Kidhe ran towards her, and with four long strides, enveloped her in a hug. Nyark and Wilol were beside her in an instant. Clyella found herself surrounded by the rest of the Executives and her closest friends who had anxiously made their way through the stunned crowd of the Assembly.

She couldn't speak, her eyes were teary and her forehead was furrowed. «Forgive me...» she finally managed to say.

At the gathered Assembly under the dome, Clyella found herself recounting the unexpected events of her return to life. She hadn't considered, she clarified, that the sensors of Earth's Book of Judgment would take note of the existence of Serena Pinzini. The phony university professor had a resume as extensive as that of a newborn and, most importantly, a DNA foreign to the creation of the Elohim.

After Clyella's account, the session continued to deal with a pre-industrial civilization that condemned food consumption for purposes other than nutrition. A political movement favorable to hunting gastronomes, gluttons, and heretical dieticians was gaining concerning momentum. Spice traffickers were a criminal scourge, and the people's repressive moralization was generating superstitions that sinful acts, like playing with food, could cause loss of sight.

The afternoon light reflected yellow and warm on the calm sea to the west. By the end of the session, the dome was half empty, and only a few members of the Assembly had stayed behind in groups to spend a few more moments together. Among these, a handful of Executives were still celebrating Clyella.

«I heard that Yahweh took a vacation here with us.»

Wilol shrugged. «Since we had to celebrate your funeral, we invited him to stay.»

«Was it a nice funeral?»

«Are you kidding? With Yahweh and Yeshua complaining at every opportunity about the loss of Flavia? You should have been there.»

«I should have guessed.» Clyella shook her head and let out a laugh somewhere between irritated and amused. «Flavia's mental image has been recorded by the Book of Judgment.»

Kidhe clenched his jaw; the other executives let out a breath of surprise. Sleeld's blue eyes widened, and he began to stammer.

«But he told us that... he said that he didn't... I mean, he didn't tell us...»

Sleeld gave up and closed his non-speech with a grunt of annoyance.

Clyella looked at the steaming faces around her and stated the obvious that everyone else was holding back.

«He didn't tell you because he wanted to come here, chew the Assembly out, rail against you, and show that he's always right. You've been fooled. Moreover, he believes that if he had told us, we would have insisted on getting the image, perhaps to cause more chaos by bringing her back to life on Earth.»

«Back to life on Earth... absurd!» Wilol feigned indignation. «How does he even come up with such ideas!»

Nyark ruffled her curls. «We do have some responsibility for Flavia...» She examined the uncertain faces around her until she caught Clyella giving her a knowing look.

«So, who will talk to Yahweh?»

As the others' eyes wandered to the ground of the dome, Nyark started and took a step back. «Don't look at me! I wasn't even there when you screwed everything up seven years ago!»

Clyella sighed and ordered the computer to record an urgent message to be sent to the Planet of the Eternals.

«Dear Yahweh, you're an asshole. I hope to see you soon, you already know why.»

Flavio had found out that, for the first time in her career, it was Captain Leanza who had asked her father for a favor, rather than being forced to accept one. Thanks to General Leanza's arrangements, Cristina was able to move away from IUPITER and far from Rome. The arrangement was grudgingly granted by the General, but Cristina had put her career on the line. And she had done it, it was said among project members who had seen her, without a hint of hesitation.

The tragedy of her friend and the subsequent media frenzy had in part justified the officer's choice. Only Flavio knew that the other part of the justification was his presence in the project. The situation soon became terribly uncomfortable for him, and he wished to disappear himself.

The "madness" of Professor Serena Pinzini quickly became the leading national news story. Pinzini's apartment had been searched, and personal diaries revealing her tormented obsession with her student were found. Flavio was caught off guard by journalists who bombarded him with questions—greedy, persistent, and tactless. As the only witness still able to speak, he was the only one who could provide the most lurid and sensational answers, the ones that could drive up sales. Did Flavio know about the extracurricular relationship between the two? Had Maria Claudia Felicetta ever encouraged the professor? Did Serena Pinzini act out of jealousy? Did she want to kill him too?

He began the week with cameras pointed at him and microphones approaching him like hungry parasites. He avoided commenting and managed to stay on the sidelines for a few hours until the journalists' insinuations forced him to defend his friend, who lay unconscious in the hospital.

He had to endure being showcased on television and newspapers, realizing that it would be unavoidable for some time. On the other hand, he also knew he wasn't the only one. Fabrizio's burden was heavier and, Flavio thought, even less deserved. The marshal whose weapon had been mysteriously stolen was dragged into this and was now paying with a stalled career and a transfer.

For being part of a secret project, Flavio realized he wasn't much of a master of discretion. The administrative officers were making him feel the weight of it. Sitting at his workstation, he sighed as he checked on the internet to see if his statements from the previous day had been reported without distortion in one article, and another, and another...

«Hey,» Clelia draped an arm around his shoulders with such caution that it took Flavio a moment to react. «How about thinking about something else? For a while, at least...»

Flavio attempted a smile to show goodwill, but he was aware Clelia could see a tiredness in his eyes that had never been there before. She sneakily looked at the other employees in the open space, then leaned closer to Flavio's ear.

«In eight weeks, you have to go on a trip with me. I have to give you proof of my extraterrestrial contact.»

Flavio assumed it was an attempt to cheer him up. Then he looked at her face and saw that her expression was neither consoling nor tender. She was terribly serious.