By this point everyone aboard the Daring Leap was tired of microgravity, space and each other. They'd endured about two seasons of travel in a cramped tube, first to Kalina,then to Gri'oux, back to plinth and back to Gri'oux to meet this human. It was enough to make even Wensly dour, but they endured under Saule's steady hand and the still underlying emotion of something great happening. No one tried to unseal the tube containing their world's response, though each had their own ideas about what it said. Each crew member held their opinion close, lest voicing it make it untrue. Except Wensly, he made his thoughts known and repeated them frequently, as if by repetition he could make it happen.

Time passed along with thousands of units. They had returned to the coordinates of the structure left behind by Eli in the ring of the imperious giant Grio'ux. The circle of clear space surrounding it had been cleaned further of any debris, and near the edges of the clearing large asteroids had been anchored together with cables. The human vessel, however, was nowhere in sight.

As they approached Captain Saule stretched, popped his shoulder, cleared his voice and spoke, "Naytani, can you please bring us in line with that access port on the object. Stuhkey, please get a recording going and a transmission ready to go in case it is actually some convoluted trap. Wensly be ready to help me and have a camera ready. I'm going to get presentable and ready," as he rose from his seat, turning the controls over to Naytani.

'Yessirs' echoed from each of them as Saule went to the only private spot in the craft, the sleeping area. He went about wiping his grey fur down, combing it and checking his uniform slowly. His hands trembling slightly as he did so, his verdant eyes had almost no light emanating from them. He finished, retrieved the tube as slight tremor vibrated through the ship and his radio chirped as Naytani's voice came through.

"Captain, we've docked. The object has some sort of magnetized guidance and pulled us in. "

"Thank you, any issues with the airlock seal?"

"None at all sir, blue across the board."

"I guess we can't delay anymore. Wensly, meet me at the lock," he said, as he drifted from the room towards the airlock on the aft section of the ship.

Wensly met him at the inner airlock seal, a hefty camera held lightly in one hand, his other on a hold by the door. His Vacuum Suit already donned. He paused for a moment, his mouth half open, then spoke, "I've been waiting for this ever since I saw Eli leave this behind. If we never come back here again, at least I'll have recorded every possible thing that's in there. I know it won't turn out like I hoped no matter what happens, but we got to be ones here, and I'm happy for that."

Stuhkey chimed in from down the main corridor, his voice raised to be heard, "I concur with Wens, it probably won't be as good as he hoped, but I don't think it'll be as bad as I feared."

"Then let's go, otherwise some other space faring race will beat us to it, and that would be embarrassing," the Captain stated with a small smile, donned his helmet and entered the airlock with Wensly following.

The air didn't hiss into the object as they had thought it would. Rather a mist flowed around the seal as it opened. Lights flicked on, growing to a comfortable level and mimicking natural light. A monotone voice broke the silence that had grown in the airlock, "This station is a temporary meeting place, where the native species may submit their response to contact, without fear of attack or harm." it intoned, "Please continue to the terminal and submit your message."

Saule listened as he glided into the craft, Wensly following with the camera under his arm, recording since they entered the airlock. The interior of the small station was roomier than Saule had expected from the exterior. One large hallway, a soft white with orange lines lead to a large screen with a strangely shaped keyboard on it. A recognizable microphone was perched atop a thin stand below the screen. Saule motioned for Wensly to stay by the airlock, as he moved to screen. As he came close the screen came online, glowing a pale blue with type set in white giving introduction on how to use the terminal. Unclasping his helmet, Saule held the sealed tube in front of him, paused as if thinking, then grasped one side and popped the seal. Inside was a black page with silvered letters.

Saule's eyes glittered like a tumbling shard of green glass as he read the silvered words on the onyx page, his voice cracking like stone.

"We the Glint, a people of three nations, new to the vast sea of stars, are grateful for your kind words and offer of friendship between us. But we must ask for you to leave us be, as your presence could unduly influence us before we can learn to behold the galaxy our own way and find our own unique way of life amongst the stars.

Not out of fear, doubt or malice do we ask this but so we can meet you in the great ocean, having struggled there by our own wills. We will meet you as equals, and stand beside you when that happens. Until that day comes, we humbly ask for you to wait for us and let us learn what needs to be done on our own. We hope you will wait for us."