The first thing Niki said when she got onboard Janet was, "Are you in contact with your grandfather at all?"

     "We just got through talking to him."

     "Can he get here? Do we need to go get him?"

     "He's with Mother Naturia," Cathy said. 

​     Niki's voice dropped an octave. "Oh." That was not good news.

     "You're in contact with the Azure?" Skip asked.

     "We don't contact them. They contact us. I have no idea really how to..."

     "We're supposed to do something for them now, but we don't know if we want to do it."

     "We don't know what will happen ​when we do it," Cathy said.

     "You're supposed to do something," Niki said. "What is it? Tell me specifically." 

     "That's just it. We were told to...Niki? Niki, are you okay?" 

     Niki didn't respond. It was like someone had turned a switch in her brain to shut her down for a heartbeat or two. Then, blink, blink. Niki touched the edge of the control panel to steady herself.

     "You just got a message from the Azure, didn't you?" Cathy asked.

     Niki nodded. The Azure communicated telepathically and visually, never with words, and they never announced their communications ahead of time. 

     Niki went right to the control panel. 

     She said to Cathy and Skip, "You two may want to strap yourselves down to something."

      "Janet contains her own gravity," Skip said. "I've never felt the slightest bit jarred in the last..." 

     "I'm just saying this next part of the trip might get a little bumpy."

​                                                    CONTINUE