They left the docking bay surrounded by soldiers, and were marched into the station. They had not gone far before they entered a wide room, where display screens stretched around most of the walls. People were watching them, others were working busily on consoles, and a murmur of voices filled the air. What words could be picked up did not sound like casual conversation.
Another room opened onto the control centre, on its far side a window looked out to space. One of the post's docking arms could be seen through the window; it caught the red glare of the star and threw it into the room. There was no other light source, so when the door closed the figure standing on the other side of a desk was silhouetted in the dim glow.
The figure stood watching them silently. The outline was almost human, apart from the wide head and peculiar stance. The head moved slightly, as if turning to look from Kirrik to Aeyris and back again.
"Space can bring many strange things," it said at last. The voice, if it were human, would have sounded androgynous, and had a peculiar accent and oddly musical tone.
"You are human," it stated at Aeyris. Turning slightly to face Kirrik, it continued "But you I do not recognise. Not from a Treaty world, nor any Schriy planet I know of. Perhaps your claims are true?"
"Claims?" asked Kirrik.
"That you come from the Far Colonies. Your ship is of strange design, yet we see familiar hints in it, ones which bear a greater resemblance to designs from there. Yet who knows what may have changed in hundreds of years?"
"And what are you?" Aeyris said.
"I say nothing about myself until I know you. Security is a concern, greater than courtesy. Where are you from, why are you here?"
"Security is a concern of mine, too," Kirrik said. "So I'm not saying anything either."
"This cannot be allowed. I am in the stronger position here."
Aeyris started to speak, until Kirrik elbowed him in the ribs. Aeyris responded quietly but angrily. "We aren't going anywhere without the help of this lot," he whispered. "Your concerns are over-ruled this time."
"Interesting," noted the strange alien. "Self interest against a larger cause. Selfishness versus paranoia? Or the realisation there might not be a threat against a very possible one? You cannot resolve this without knowing what is here. And the same concerns work in me. Yet remember that you are alone, and I am not." This could have been a threat, but the expression in the voice had not changed.
"We're always bickering," Aeyris said.
"Very well," Kirrik sighed. "I was investigating an illegal base on a remote asteroid. I was caught, but rescued by his people," he nodded at Aeyris,"who had been stranded on the asteroid when the base was built. We all escaped on the ship you've got here."
"How did you reach us?"
"Some ancient device. The ship was programmed to take us to it."
"Tell me about this device."
"We've nothing to say," Aeyris said. "It pulled us in, three days later we found ourselves over a thousand light years from home."
The creature on the other side of the desk sat down, and pressed a button. Artificial lighting suddenly illuminated the room. Aeyris covered his eyes with his hands in the unexpected brightness. The alien's face was revealed at last - widely spaced eyes, nose and mouth almost a muzzle, pale grey fur covering the skin.
"You have passed unmolested through Thargoid territory," it stated.
"What?" said Aeyris, who was still concentrating on blinking in the light.
"I said what about the Thargoids?"
"Never saw any sign of anything. We weren't travelling in ordinary hyperspace."
"Then what?"
"Don't know."
Their interrogator sat silently, without any discernible expression. When it spoke again it was without any warning. "Give me your sensor and scanner logs," it ordered.
"May I?" Kirrik asked Aeyris. Aeyris handed him the commlink.
"Have you got a storage unit handy?" he asked the alien.
It pulled open a draw in the desk and took out a small box and handed it to Kirrik. He held it next to the commlink's interface port and tapped a few buttons. There was a pause of ten seconds or so before an artificial voice spoke "Device understood."
"Come in, ship," Kirrik said.
"What's up?" asked a voice that sounded like one of the pirates.
"Nothing. Send sensor and scanner logs for three minutes up to entry of the portal at Esdi."
"Give us a moment, then," the voice replied.
Time passed with Kirrik standing and watching the commlink, Aeyris fidgeting with his hands, and the alien watching them quietly.
"OK, transmitting," the same voice said. A message "Receiving data stream" appeared on the commlink's tiny display. "Anything else?" the pirate on the ship said a minute later, as the message flashed off.
"Not yet. Kirrik out." He tossed the box to the alien.
The storage device fitted into a slot on the desk, then a screen popped up next to the slot. With it's usual lack of expression the alien studied it for several minutes, seemingly ignoring the two people standing opposite it.