Ensign Takahashi had agreed to come along as the Captain's 'pilot', and so she and Captain Littlecrow suited up and flew over to the orbital structure in the Vostok with Dr. Kang and his supplies.

Dr. Kang led the group back to where his team had patched into the Zethite computer system. It took them only a few minutes to attach their own neural interfaces and prep them for insertion into the simulation.

McAfree handed Littlecrow and Takahashi the neutral interfaces. They looked like white headband with a glowing blue interior side. McAfree mimed placing them at the base of their skulls and the two women copied her.

"Sit or lay down in a position you'll be able to maintain when you lose all muscle control," said Dr. Kang "If anyone has to make a bowel movement do it now before I start this. I'm not kidding you should both make an attempt right now."

"We'll be fine, Dr. Kang," said Captain Littlecrow.

"So you say," said Dr. Kang "We've coded a Foundation shuttle into the system."

"'We'" snorted McAfree.

"We're going to have the two of you resolve into the simulation from the shuttle so that it appears you have come from space."

"Sounds good," said the Captain "Ready when you are."

"I'm ready too," said Takahashi, giving a thumbs up.

"The first few minutes while you acclimate are notoriously unpleasant," said Dr. Kang "Brace yourself."

Captain Littlecrow experienced a sensation like all of her guts spinning in a centrifuge. Then her vision changed and she was sitting in the pilot's chair of the Vostok, flying through the atmosphere of a fully terraformed planet, and her eyes hurt. She was nauseous but she couldn't vomit. She steadied herself with a hand on the shuttle controls.

Beside her Ensign Takahashi was dry heaving.

"Kang!" the Captain swore.

* * *

Galen was thrilled when Dr. Kang's assistant had contacted him and told him to expect the Captain's visit, although he didn't like how cagey she was about what the problem finding the right planet turned out to be.

It had to be done on short notice but most of the preparations for the welcoming committee had already been made. In addition to himself, the world's foremost expert on non-terrestrial humans, the committee consisted of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Science, the Minister of the Interior, the highest ranking General in the Army and three photogenic children from different social classes carrying gifts of flowers.

A landing pad had been designated in the courtyard of Three Sisters University, also surrounded by flowers. Flowers seemed like a good way to signal peace to the non-terrestrial humans. There had been a lot of buzz around doves but working with them proved to be worse than herding cats. Flowers did what they were told.

Of course the whole area was ringed by photojournalists. That couldn't be helped. They had been warned, however, not to be intrusive. For what little good that would do. Spreading out from in and among the photogs was one of the largest crowds assembled for non-violent purposes in the history of Zethes. This wasn't something anyone was willing to miss, short notice or not.

It was a pleasant, well manicured area of Earth-type greenery. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It would make a good first impression. Of this Galen was certain.

The welcoming committee waited the minimum safe distance from the approaching shuttle as it slowly lowered itself onto the awaiting landing pad with a powerful hum. The entire committee could feel the historic weight of the moment as the spaceship touched ground on the planet for the first time since the age of myths.

The door to the shuttle opened, and out stepped Captain Littlecrow and another woman in an almost identical uniform.

The cameras had already begun to flash. The murmurs of the crowd merged into a dull roar.

One of the three photogenic children, a little girl with the best voice of the three, presented Captain Littlecrow with a flower.

"We welcome you to Zeffes on be-haf of the Confederation of Middle Kingdoms," she said, the words well practiced but completely devoid of comprehension on the part of the speaker.

The other children two added their flowers to Littlecrow's collection. She gracefully took them all.

Of course the other dignitaries had to be greeted in order to generate suitable photo ops. It was several hours before they were satisfied enough for the Captain to get Galen aside for a private word. Takahashi stayed behind giving interviews and keeping the crowd from having a complete mutiny at her absence.

He took her to his office in the University for privacy. The place was like a mausoleum for old books.

"So what was the problem from before?" asked Galen, moving a pile of books so that Littlecrow could sit down "It looks like you found our planet and I think you agree it isn't in a state of apocalypse."

"Before I can tell you that I have to ask you some unusual questions," said Littlecrow "And I need you to answer me honestly."

"I hope you don't still think I'm a computer program," Galen said with a smile "Now that we've met in person that would have unsettling implications for yourself."

"Galen I'm serious," said Littlecrow.

"Okay, okay," said Galen "I'm an open book. Ask me anything."

"How... attached... are your people to your world as you know it today?" asked Littlecrow, choosing her words very carefully but still not liking how it came out.

"I would say high," replied Galen "Maximum attached."

"Would they be willing to leave if there was a sufficiently compelling reason?" she asked.

"I have to be honest with you, no I don't think so. I think most of us would die on Zethes rather than leave," said Galen "What is this all about?"

"I have one more question. Do you think it's worth knowing the truth of something if you have to pay a terrible price? Would you want to know the truth if it would be guaranteed to make your life worse?"

"Whatever you're trying to talk yourself out of telling me can't be worse than what I'm imagining at this point. You might as well tell me what you have to say."

"Answer my question, Galen," said Littlecrow "Please."

"I am a scientist," said Galen "The pursuit of truth is everything to me. I would always choose knowledge."

"My people found the source of your signal was an orbital space station," said Littlecrow, solemnly "We investigated. Inside we found a million people being kept alive on life support and plugged into a virtual reality simulation. That's you, Galen. That's you and them and all of this."

Littlecrow indicated everything with a sweep of her hands.

"That can't be true," said Galen.

"I know for a fact it is," said Littlecrow "We were able to learn enough about the system running it to insert Ensign Takahashi and myself into the simulation. I really didn't know if I should tell you. I was trying to figure out what you would decide."

"Well, Alexandria," said Galen "I don't find that to be a particularly credible claim. However, I will humour you. If what you are saying is true then I insist you remove me from this system at once. If I am truly in a virtual prison then I demand my immediate release."

"I can do that for you," said Littlecrow "Just come back with me on the shuttle, for appearances sake. I don't want to tell the others yet until you've had a chance to have a look outside the simulation. Then you can decide whether we tell them."

"You expect me to decide for everyone?" asked Galen, incensed.

"Someone has to," said Littlecrow.

* * *

Reporters huddled around Takahashi, jostling for position like puppies. She had already trained them to wait their turn to ask questions.

"Well on Titan we just call ourselves Titans," said Takahashi "We don't use any kind of fancy suffix."

"What is Titan like? How does it compare to Zethes?" asked one reporter, pushing himself to the front.

"Titan is really built up," said Takahashi "All the people live in self-contained arcologies and all the rest of the space is taken up by industrial blight. It was terraformed once-upon-a-time but I guess it didn't take. There's no greenery like here or on Mars. The air outside the arcologies is lethal."

"So Mars is different from Titan?" asked a second reporter, thrusting her microphone towards the Ensign.

There had been a can of worms standing between the reporter and Takahashi. The reporter had just picked it up and opened it.

"You could say that," she said "Mars is where all the rich people live, right? So it gets reterraformed every time they get a tiny bit better at it. Mars is gorgeous, it looks like how they say Earth used to. But who can live there is really strictly controlled. They have arcologies too but their arcologies have gargoyles and fountains and other nonsense, plus just outside of them is woodlands. Meanwhile I don't think Titan has ever been reterraformed, we just have those broke ass old Imperial oxygen towers. I didn't get any media coaching so I don't know if I'm supposed to be pretending that Mars is the best but that's on the Martians. They're letting the Sol System fall to absolute pieces in favor of Mars and a bunch of far off colonies in what they laughably call the 'core worlds'. What about all the neglected moons in the Sol system? Where do they fit into the core? When is Titan getting reterraformed? What about Ganymede?"

"Oh dear," said the reporter. She wondered where all these worms had come from, and why she was now holding an empty can.