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Loka ran a hand down one horn. “Then you are unusual.”

“I’ve heard that before,” Heather muttered. “I like to consider myself unique.”

“That is a good word. My work will help you revolutionize your understanding of what has been over and around you all this time. This will be your first opportunity to see everything, to understand why it’s there and how to relate to it. It will make you consider yourself in the appropriate evolutionary stage of development.”

Okay, Loka was smart, but it was sliding quickly into patronizing. “By showing us how big the universe is, you’re going to make humans feel appropriately small?”

“Yes. Well, not small. It’s important you understand your place.” Loka shot her a worried look.

“I get it. We’re primitive. We don’t even have space travel. Well, we have the kind of spaceship that is a one-time deal. You buy a ticket, knowing you don’t get home. The one I came on to Prodigy exploded on the way back.” Heather scuffed her foot on the floor. “Everyone inside was killed.”

“That’s a perfect example. You have yet to perfect space travel. You do not understand your place in the universe.”

“You’re here to educate humans on the origin and evolution of our galaxy? Help us figure out the hard stuff?”

“That’s right.” Loka failed to hear her sarcasm. “Every star you see has a trace of its origins. What I’m mapping with Hoan will ensure you can look back into your past, not just a few thousand years, but billions of years. You might even see the birth of your very own galaxy.”

Despite him sounding like a pompous know-it-all, that did sound sort of neat. “I wouldn’t mind seeing that.”

“We will share our knowledge of solar systems beyond yours, as well. And there are thousands of exploding stars and don’t forget the supernovas. We will chart those.”

“Do you look at brown dwarves?” Loka might be a smart ass, but his conversation was fascinating. Heather had always been into science geeks, especially the space science geeks. There was something about their passion that tweaked her own.

“You study brown dwarves?”

“Not really. But they fascinate me. Why do some planets work, and others don’t? What went down on these brown dwarves that meant they never came to life?”

Loka’s smile was genuine. “I should have you on my team. You know a lot about our studies.”

Heather waved a hand in the air. “I’m not clever enough for that. I’m just a primitive human, remember?”

“You could do some basic analysis. It would be hard to get that wrong.”

Heather gritted her teeth. “Really, this isn’t for me.”

Loka’s eyes sparkled with undiluted joy. “Have you heard of your Earth scientist, Einstein?”

Heather pressed her lips together. She’d had a picture of him on her bedroom wall when growing up. “Crazy-eyed guy with super cool fluffy hair?”

“He had an interesting theory about general relativity. Most of it was incorrect, but he had the basics right-”

Heather placed a finger against Loka’s lips. She needed to stop him talking before he went into smug, know-it-all alien scientist mode again. “Another time. Why don’t we see if those bots have gone?”

“Yes. Of course.” Loka followed her to the door. “There’s also Einstein’s prediction of ripples in the space time continuum. That might be of interest to you.”

It was. Heather didn’t want to discuss it with someone who considered her too primitive to understand the concepts. She’d study it on her own time, without being judged.

She pressed her ear against the door and pulled back. “I hear scuttling noises. Alien bot scuttling noises.”

“We’ll wait a few more moments. They will move on soon.”

Heather returned to the workbench in the center of the room. She eased herself onto the stool and studied the label on the petri dishes in front of her. She lifted one, fascinated by the word stenciled on it.

Loka plucked it from her fingers. “Do not touch that.”

“I wasn’t going to open it. I’m not a complete idiot.”

Loka carefully placed the petri dish back down. “I didn’t say you were. These experiments are sensitive to contamination. I do not want to have to restart a whole set of tests because you have smeared your fingers on them.”