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Barnhart squatted.

The Leader squatted.

Before they could speak a muffled explosion vibrated the ground and Barnhart caught a fleeting glimpse of an unstable chemical rocket tearing jerkily into the maroon sky.

“Celebration for my arrival?” Barnhart asked.

“Perhaps so. We are putting the un-needed ones in status.”

He decided to let that ride for the moment.

“Tell me, why didn’t you recognize me before I joined you in your—ritual, Leader?”

The alien tilted his head. “What was there to recognize? We thought you were some new variety of animal. Before you xenogutted how were we to know you were rational life?”

Barnhart nodded. “But how did you so cleverly deduce that I was your Master?”

“There are one hundred of us. You were the one hundred and first. You had to be the Master returned.”

The Master had been some friendly lifeform in the Federation, obviously. Otherwise the qurono androids wouldn’t speak Galactic. Barnhart nibbled on his under lip.

“I want to find out how much you still know after the Master has been away so long,” the captain said. “Tell me, how do you communicate with the Master?”