Bath counted the passage of 6 hours, then decided to wake Lisa and Lepochim up. The sky remained an unrelenting dark gray overhead. While Lisa slept, Bath improved her eyes so that she could see better in the dark. Bath figured Lepochim had his own methods to adjust.

While the two had been asleep, Bath had expanded his essence out to its full reaches and found...his reach had actually expanded. Before, his limit had been just about 3.5 miles, while now it seemed to be 3.6 miles. The difference didn't seem significant, but to Bath, the change was impossible to ignore.

He had smiled to himself as he thought of reasons why his long-range-manipulation range had extended. There was only one cause he could think of: devouring vast numbers of new species.

While Bath extended his essence out, he discovered that this planet didn't have very many lifeforms. There were a few multicellular organisms, however they were all primitive. They all reproduced by binary fission and had a simple RNA-esque gene system.

Lisa mumbled incoherently as Bath nudged her sleeping form with his head. Lepochim nearly jumped to his feet when Bath ran his tail over the deepthink's back. He gave Bath a pained look before shaking his head and walking over.

"Did you find any interesting aliens while we were asleep?" Lisa asked, clearing her throat.

"No; for the most part, this planet seems deserted."

Lepochim gave Bath an odd look. "Then what's this boneyard doing here?"

Bath's eyes suddenly widened. That...was a really good point. "I guess we'll see as we look for the gate," Bath finally said, his eyes searching. "Lepochim, your implants tell you the name of whatever planet you're on, right?"

"Yeah," he admitted.

"Great. What's the name of this planet?"

"39910."

Bath looked to Lisa. "Can you look up the planet's gates?"

"Already on it," she said under her breath. After a few seconds: "Okay. There's a gate here," she pointed at a holographic sphere of the planet with three glowing marks. She noted that there were three gates off-world: two that led to different planets, and the one that they entered through. That was the first two-way gate the party encountered.

"Can you see where the other two gates lead?" Bath asked.

Lepochim knew where Bath was going with his line of questioning and shook his head. "We won't be able to tell unless we enter the gates. Without someone stabilizing the gates on a weekly basis, their terminal destinations are subject to change in a set rotational pattern. Since this planet is at the fringes of civilized space, there won't be any information on its gate schedule."

This coincided with what Ritus' leader, Jessup, had said about "fishing": they needed to wait for time to pass before fishing again. Clearly the Ritus kursi had been unable to determine a gate schedule themselves, which implied the "rotational pattern" Lepochim referred to only repeated itself after a long period of time.

Bath sighed. "Well, we can try both of them. I can scout out the entrances to both gates."

Bath soon internalized Lisa and Lepochim. This time, he made a concerted effort to surround Lepochim in a pocket of the planet's air.

Bath flew off across the relatively flat world. The ground wasn't all at the same altitude, but was rather composed of countless plateaus. Bath found the world exceedingly easy to traverse: he could simply fly straight over the ground without the need to evade obstacles like mountains. The only natural fixtures he avoided were the volcanoes, but those stuck out clearly against the dark landscape and were easy to avoid.

As he moved, he continued to see large animals bones strewn over lifeless ground. However, Bath still hadn't been able to find any organisms bigger than a human head.

The planet had one giant ocean across its entire western side. Bath hadn't explored the ocean, and suspected it might contain more varied life than he saw on land.

Bath knew that this trip wasn't for the purposes of observing--and devouring--alien life, no matter how strong his curiosity or hunger. Reminding himself of the importance of finding a gate leading back to Earth, Bath quashed his desire to explore and went straight toward one of the gates on Lisa's map.

"It should be here," Lisa piped up as they approached an area of volcanic activity.

"Are the gates here all submerged in lava?" Bath muttered bitterly as he landed next to a pool of magma. He quickly sent out his essence and found a gate 100 feet down, definitely within his ability to reach.

"Interesting," Bath said out loud. In stark contrast to the lava-surrounded side of the gate, the opposite side was surrounded by salty water.

"What's the planet like?" Lepochim asked.

"Nobody's here to receive me on the other end," Bath said.

"I think we should look into the other gate then," Lepochim said grudgingly. "The less populated a gate is, the less chance it'll lead anywhere we want to go."

"Like this world," Bath snorted. "Sure. That makes sense."

"Doesn't anybody want to leave Lime World?" Lisa voiced. "Because then they'd need go through Gray Land."

"Gray Land?" Lepochim balked. "And to answer your question: the sapients on 'Lime World' likely have a schedule on hand that lets them enter the sole exit gate when it leads to gates they've already mapped out. It's completely possible they haven't mapped out this place because the gate leading onto the world is submerged in magma."

"Sapient? So that's what you call intelligent life on other planets," Lisa mumbled out loud. "Sounds better than alien."

"It's the politically recognized term, yes. Generally, it only applies to species that can serve as kursi hosts." Lepochim turned to look at Bath. "Clearly there are some...exceptions to this rule."

"Thanks for the information," Bath rumbled as he flew off towards the other gate. After about an hour of flying, they arrived at another volcano, this one larger than the last. A huge, lava-filled caldera filled the horizon line, as large as some seas on Earth.

"Let me see what's on the other side of this gate," Bath trailed off.

Bath stretched his essence down 1000 feet before finally entering the gate.

Almost instantly, his essence was struck by a series of what almost felt like...lasers?

"I think there are hostiles on the other side," Bath said tentatively. "At the very least, something is intentionally ripping into me." He quickly formed a set of eyes that looked out into the foreign world. So they were lasers! "It seems like the gate is located in a room that's unmanned. However, I think there's a motion sensor or something since a fleet of lasers is firing on me."

Lisa's face screwed up into a scowl. "Like, how bad are these lasers?"

"They'd probably burn you and Lepo, but they wouldn't destroy you by any means. They're probably there to incapacitate you while...sapients come running."

"It's better than an empty world, unfortunately," Lepochim sighed. "I think this is our best bet. Sapients that leave their gate under automated control must have fairly advanced technology, even for backwater standards. Just make sure you take precautions."

"You'll both be fine," Bath said dismissively, knowing that "taking precautions" was passive-agressive Lepo-speak for "don't get your companions fried." As he dove down towards the lava, he fortified his skin and covered himself in a series of smoothly-interlocking heat-resistant metal plates bordered on the inside by insulators for his two passengers' benefit. The design was a notable step up from his centipede-like design on arrival and quickly dove to--and through--the gate.

Coming from the high heat of the magma, the lasers were completely ineffectual when they aimed at Bath's plated form. The gateroom was fairly small, and exuded an air of sterility with its gentle curves and white surfaces. It also had a little voice-box at the upper-right corner of the room.

That was when Bath had an idea.

"Lisa, you're going to be my pilot."

"Wait, what!?"

Bath's movements suddenly became somewhat stiff and robotic. He lowered his head to the ground. Then, his mouth opened, revealing a metal-lined passageway that led to the cavity where he was keeping Lisa.

"Just say something about how you were lost in space while out traveling the far reaches of the universe," Bath offered with a tinge of devilishness.

The only thing Lisa wanted at this moment was Bath's human form in front of her so she could slap it.

"You're so fucking impossible," she hissed. Her anger was clearly palpable, but it was only a mask for incipient fear. So far, Bath had pretty much taken care of everything. Lisa wasn't sure if she was up to the task of communing with intelligent alien lifeforms. What if they were hostile?

She swallowed, then headed forward. Bath quickly outfitted her in a slick-looking white suit, no doubt made from some kind of tough organic fibers. 'Maybe even insect silk,' Lisa thought as she walked outside. By now the lasers had stopped.

"You'll be fine, Lisa," Lepochim's voice said softly as she neared Bath's now door-like maw, "just state why you're here and where you want to go. General intergalactic practice is to help, rather than hinder, Travelers. Also: Earth's planet code is 39123."

Lisa put on her best, confident front. "Hello," Lisa's voice rang out. Since there were no other living beings in the room besides herself and her companions, she felt embarrassingly conspicuous addressing the speaker box in the corner, especially since she was so used to conversing with people while monitoring their shells. "I'm a Traveler kursi from planet 39123. I have unfortunately made a few erroneous gate exchanges and am simply trying to return to planet 39123. I would appreciate any and all assistance to use a gate on this planet to continue on my journey back."

Silence for a moment, then: "Welcome, Traveler. This is planet 39843. Somebody will come down to escort you to into the complex. Tell any of your companions to exit your vehicle. We'll bring it to the hull while you meet with one of our resident Waykeeper Assistants."

"That won't be necessary; my ship collapses into a...cube," Lisa explained. "Lepochim, come out, and bring the ship with you." Lisa turned back towards the speaker box. "Lepochim is my assistant."

"Noted. Is he also from Earth?"

"Uh..." Lisa looked toward Bath and saw Lepochim currently exiting through Bath's maw. He gave her a quick shake of the head. "No, he's a slave that was delivered to Earth some time ago. Now he serves me."

"The slave is your assistant?"

"Well, he was a slave, originally," Lisa explained awkwardly.

Lepochim briskly walked over to where Lisa was standing and gave her an exasperated look. His arms shook with the weight of the cube that was, of course, Bath. He, too, was outfitted in a white suit.

"You have a strong assistant," the voice from the box noted. "Where is he from?"

Now Lepochim stepped in. "This humble one is from a colony of the Core Worlds." Lepochim knew that the sapient on the line wouldn't know enough about Core World colonies to ask any probing questions. "Additionally, this cube is an advanced piece of technology my Traveler has picked up on her travels, and is deceptively light."

Lepochim was actually very annoyed with how heavy the cube was. He knew Bath could make the cube as heavy as he wanted, and yet the cube was just heavy enough that Lepochim could carry it, but only with great strain. It wasn't nearly as heavy as the sapient believed, only weighing around 100 Earth pounds.

Lisa felt the escort's well-shielded shell before the speaker announced the sapient's approach.

"Your escort has arrived," the voice suddenly declared. "I hope to see you shortly."

A door at the front of the gateroom slid to the right, revealing a sapient with six limbs and a smooth form. Bath could see that its skin consisted of extremely small, sandpapery scales. It wore a brightly-colored robe that draped over its form, giving the sapient's body the appearance of a long-haired yorkshire terrier or shitzu.

"Come inside," the creature said; its twin mouths, located at the center of its ovular face, made slow, up and down movements that didn't sync with the translated speech. Bath and Lisa both found it a bit disconcerting; even though Lepochim's mouth movements didn't map perfectly onto the translation provided to them by their translators, the movements were similar enough that they weren't distracting. This sapient, however, spoke using a speech system quite different from that of Earth, or even Tu-71.

Bath was incredibly eager to encounter a species that didn't resemble slugs or humans. Even though he only saw the sapient, he felt an intense desire to consume her.

Lisa led the way inside the complex, Lepochim trailing behind her with Bath cradled in his arms. 'This is going to be interesting,' Lisa chuckled under her breath, already knowing her words to be an enormous understatement.