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either. Are you sure?”
    Of the many races humans had met since joining the Talus, the nord were easily the most obnoxious. Resembling—and sounding much like—wild turkeys who happened to be six feet tall and had arms and hands where wings should be, the nord had lost their homeworld several years ago, when the rogue black hole known as Kasimasta, or the Annihilator, passed through their solar system. They’d managed to evacuate most of their population before Nordash was destroyed, and since then, they’d become something of a gypsy race, their ships traveling from one system to another, taking advantage of other races’ hospitality until they inevitably wore out their welcome through what seemed to be innate traits of arrogance and argumentativeness.
    â€œWe’re sure... It was the nord , all right.” Harker grinned. “They’re a pain in the bum, but there’s one thing you can say for them... They love our banjos.”
    â€œI’ve heard that. Our banjos sound a lot like some musical instrument of their own. Most of them were left behind, though, when they had to evacuate their world, and the trees from which they were fashioned were on Nordash. So they buy banjos from us as an acceptable substitute.”
    â€œThat’s right,” Harker said. “Only don’t ever ask a nord to play a banjo for you. Not unless you want a migraine that’ll last all week.” He became serious again. “Anyway, Frank traded them a container full of brand-new banjos, and during the exchange he learned something very interesting. The nord are no longer wanderers. The danui have recently given them permission to establish a colony on a world within their own system, and since then, the nord have been sending their people there.”
    â€œWell, that’s generous, I suppose.” Andromeda sipped her coffee. “But what does that have to do with us?”
    â€œThe nord captain told Frank that there may also . . . very probably, in fact... be another world in the danui system that would be habitable by humans. And that if we approached the danui emissary and asked nicely, it might give us the hyperspace key for their starbridge.”
    For a few moments, Andromeda was speechless. Feeling the coffee mug about to slip from her hands, she leaned forward to carefully place it on the table. “You’re joking,” she said at last, then shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. What I meant to say was, they’re joking, and you fell for it.”
    Harker neither smiled nor frowned. “No, I’m not kidding... and neither is Frank, or the nord , or even the danui . As soon as Frank let our people know what had been said to him, our Talus emissary went to see their Talus emissary, and the danui confirmed what the nord told Frank. Yes, there’s a world in their home system that’s human-habitable, and we’re welcome to it.”
    Andromeda opened her mouth to respond, only to discover that she didn’t know quite what to say. In the four hundred years that humankind had been exploring space, only one unoccupied world capable of supporting human life had been discovered, and that was Coyote. Every other planet humans had found or visited either required survival gear to cope with differences in atmosphere and temperature, or—as in the case of Sanja, the soranta homeworld—was already inhabited by oxygen-nitrogen breathers. Fortunately, Coyote’s population was still small enough that no one expected to be bumping elbows with their neighbors anytime soon. All the same, though, the Navy had made the discovery of another world suitable for colonization a high priority.
    â€œAnd that’s it?” she asked. “The danui have a habitable planet in their home system, and they’re willing to let us have it?” Harker nodded. “Just like that? No questions asked?”
    â€œOnly a