“Well, my ancestors did,” said Bokket. “Im sixth-generation Sororian.”

“Sixth generation?” I said. “How long has the colony been here?”

“Were not a colony anymore; were an independent world. But the ship that got here first left Earth in 2107. Of course, my ancestors didnt immigrate until much later.”

“Twenty-one-oh-seven,” I repeated. That was only fifty-six years after the launch of the Pioneer Spirit.

Id been thirty-one when our ship had started its journey; if Id stayed behind, I might very well have lived to see the real pioneers depart. What had we been thinking, leaving Earth? Had we been running, escaping, getting out, fleeing before the bombs fell? Were we pioneers, or cowards?

No. No, those were crazy thoughts. Wed left for the same reason that Homo sapiens had crossed the Strait of Gibraltar. It was what we did as a species. It was why wed triumphed, and the Neandertals had failed. We needed to see what was on the other side, what was over the next hill, what was orbiting other stars. It was what had given us dominion over the home planet; it was what was going to make us kings of infinite space.

I turned to Ling. “We cant stay here,” I said.

She seemed to mull this over for a bit, then nodded. She looked at Bokket. “We dont want parades,” she said. “We dont want statues.” She lifted her eyebrows, as if acknowledging the magnitude of what she was asking for. “We want a new ship, a faster ship.” She looked at me, and I bobbed my head in agreement. She pointed out the window. “A streamlined ship.”

“What would you do with it?” asked Bokket. “Where would you go?”

She glanced at me, then looked back at Bokket. “Andromeda.”

“Andromeda? You mean the Andromeda galaxy ? But thats—” a fractional pause, no doubt while his web link provided the data “—2.2 million light-years away.”

“Exactly.”

“But … but it would take over two million years to get there.”

“Only from Earths — excuse me, from Sorors — point of view,” said Ling. “We could do it in less subjective time than weve already been traveling, and, of course, wed spend all that time in cryogenic freeze.”

“None of our ships have cryogenic chambers,” Bokket said. “Theres no need for them.”

“We could transfer the chambers from the Pioneer Spirit.”

Bokket shook his head. “It would be a one-way trip; youd never come back.”

“Thats not true,” I said. “Unlike most galaxies, Andromeda is actually moving toward the Milky Way, not away from it. Eventually, the two galaxies will merge, bringing us home.”

“Thats billions of years in the future.”

“Thinking small hasnt done us any good so far,” said Ling.

Bokket frowned. “I said before that we can afford to support you and your shipmates here on Soror, and thats true. But starships are expensive. We cant just give you one.”

“Its got to be cheaper than supporting all of us.”

“No, its not.”

“You said you honored us. You said you stand on our shoulders. If thats true, then repay the favor.

Give us an opportunity to stand on your shoulders. Let us have a new ship.”

Bokket sighed; it was clear he felt we really didnt understand how difficult Lings request would be to fulfill. “Ill do what I can,” he said.

Ling and I spent that evening talking, while blue-and-green Soror spun majestically beneath us. It was our job to jointly make the right decision, not just for ourselves but for the four dozen other members of the Pioneer Spirit s complement that had entrusted their fate to us. Would they have wanted to be revived here?

No. No, of course not. Theyd left Earth to found a colony; there was no reason to think they would have changed their minds, whatever they might be dreaming. Nobody had an emotional attachment to the idea of Tau Ceti; it just had seemed a logical target star.

“We could ask for passage back to Earth,” I said.

“You dont want that,” said Ling. “And neither, Im sure, would any of the others.”

“No, youre right,” I said. “Theyd want us to go on.”

Ling nodded. “I think so.”

“Andromeda?” I said, smiling. “Where did that come from?”

She shrugged. “First thing that popped into my head.”

“Andromeda,” I repeated, tasting the word some more. I remembered how thrilled I was, at sixteen, out in the California desert, to see that little oval smudge below Cassiopeia for the first time. Another galaxy, another island universe — and half again as big as our own. “Why not?” I fell silent but, after a while, said, “Bokket seems to like you.”

Ling smiled. “I like him.”

“Go for it,” I said.

“What?” She sounded surprised.

“Go for it, if you like him. I may have to be alone until Helena is revived at our final destination, but you dont have to be. Even if they do give us a new ship, itll surely be a few weeks before they can transfer the cryochambers.”

Ling rolled her eyes. "Men," she said, but I knew the idea appealed to her.

Bokket was right: the Sororian media seemed quite enamored with Ling and me, and not just because of our exotic appearance — my white skin and blue eyes; her dark skin and epicanthic folds; our two strange accents, both so different from the way people of the thirty-third century spoke. They also seemed to be fascinated by, well, by the pioneer spirit.

When the quarantine was over, we did go down to the planet. The temperature was perhaps a little cooler than Id have liked, and the air a bit moister — but humans adapt, of course. The architecture in Sorors capital city of Pax was surprisingly ornate, with lots of domed roofs and intricate carvings. The term “capital city” was an anachronism, though; government was completely decentralized, with all major decisions done by plebiscite — including the decision about whether or not to give us another ship.

Bokket, Ling, and I were in the central square of Pax, along with Kari Deetal, Sorors president, waiting for the results of the vote to be announced. Media representatives from all over the Tau Ceti system were present, as well as one from Earth, whose stories were always read 11.9 years after he filed them. Also on hand were perhaps a thousand spectators.

“My friends,” said Deetal, to the crowd, spreading her arms, “you have all voted, and now let us share in the results.” She tipped her head slightly, and a moment later people in the crowd started clapping and cheering.

Ling and I turned to Bokket, who was beaming. “What is it?” said Ling. “What decision did they make?”

Bokket looked surprised. “Oh, sorry. I forgot you dont have web implants. Youre going to get your ship.”

Ling closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. My heart was pounding.

President Deetal gestured toward us. “Dr. MacGregor, Dr. Woo — would you say a few words?”

We glanced at each other then stood up. “Thank you,” I said looking out at everyone.

Ling nodded in agreement. “Thank you very much.”

A reporter called out a question. “What are you going to call your new ship?”

Ling frowned; I pursed my lips. And then I said, “What else? The Pioneer Spirit II.”

The crowd erupted again.

Finally, the fateful day came. Our official boarding of our new starship — the one that would be covered by all the media — wouldnt happen for another four hours, but Ling and I were nonetheless heading toward the airlock that joined the ship to the stations outer rim. She wanted to look things over once more, and I wanted to spend a little time just sitting next to Helenas cryochamber, communing with her.

And, as we walked, Bokket came running along the curving floor toward us.

“Ling,” he said, catching his breath. “Toby.”

I nodded a greeting. Ling looked slightly uncomfortable; she and Bokket had grown close during the last few weeks, but theyd also had their time alone last night to say their goodbyes. I dont think shed expected to see him again before we left.