It's been nearly a year since the end of the world.

The exploratory vessel Rain in Starlight is searching for habitable planets. It finds one.

There are... people... on it.

They dutifully compile an extensive report and then flee back to Goskal-2, where the academics pore over the recorded radio transmissions and then forward their results to Tseiza-3, where the diplomats and assorted specialists read through everything and then send a copy to Suranse, where the Ceirene governing council reads through it carefully and then hosts an open session to discuss the appropriate response, and the King of Aluvanna reads the first three paragraphs and then schedules a meeting with Assistant Coordinator Sikyal Tegati on Ityen-6.

Two weeks later, Rain in Starlight jumps back to the newly named Kadrixi system and approaches the inhabited fourth planet. The King, the Assistant Coordinator, three linguists and two xenosociologists, and one-third of the original crew are all on board. (None of the diplomats wanted to come.)

They park in orbit and eavesdrop on radio transmissions. The linguists argue with one another over how to translate the ones they can decipher, and the xenosociologists argue with one another over the implications of the translations, and Dalvor sits at the back of the conference room and murmurs to Sikyal, who rephrases his comments for the group.