"Because I felt I owed you an explanation," I said.

"For what?" Rybicki said.

I motioned. "For this," I said. "Why I'm here and not on Roanoke. Or anywhere in the Colonial Union."

"I assumed it was because you didn't want to be tried for treason," Rybicki said.

'There is that," I said. "But that's not it. How are things in the Colonial Union?"

"You're not seriously expecting me to tell you anything here," Rybicki said.

"I mean very generally," I said.

"They're fine," Rybicki said. "The Conclave attacks have stopped. Roanoke has been secured and we'll be landing a second wave of colonists there within a month."

"That's aheac of schedule," I said.

"We decided to move quickly there," Rybicki said. "We'll be massively fortifying its defenses as well."

"Good," I said. "A shame that couldn't have happened earlier, before we were attacked."

"Let's not pretend we don't know the whys and wherefores of that," Rybicki said.

"How did the Colonial Union take our victory, incidentally?" I asked.

"It was naturally extremely pleased," Rybicki said.

"Officially, at least," I said.

"You know the Colonial Union," Rybicki said. "The official story is the only story."

"I know," I said. "And that's the reason for all of this."

"I'm not following you," Rybicki said.

"Just before our battle with Eser back on Roanoke, you said something to me," I said. "You said that the Colonial Union more than anyone else was acting in the best interests of humanity."

"I remember that," Rybicki said.

"You were right," I said. "Out of every government or species or intelligent race, the Colonial Union is the one that is the best at looking out for us. For humans. But I've come to doubt that the Colonial Union is doing that job well. Look how the Colonial Union treated us at Roanoke. It deceived us in the purpose of colony. It deceived us in the intent of the Conclave. It made us complicit in an act of war that could have destroyed the entire CU. And then it was willing to sacrifice us for the good of humanity. But none of the rest of humanity ever knew the whole story did they? The Colonial Union controls communication. Controls information. Now that Roanoke survived, the Colonial Union will never tell any of it. No one outside the CU power structure even knows the Conclave exists. Still."

"The Colonial Union believed it was necessary to do it that way," Rybicki said.

"I know," I said. "And they've always believed it to be necessary to do it that way. You came from Earth, General. You remember how little we knew about out here. How little we knew about the Colonial Union. We signed up for a military we knew nothing about, whose goals we knew nothing of, because we didn't want to die old and alone back at home. We knew that somehow we'd be made young again, and that was enough. It got us here. And that's the Colonial Union way. To tell just enough to achieve a goal. Never more."

"I don't always agree with the Colonial Union's methods," Rybicki said. "You know I disgreed with the CU's plan to cut Roanoke loose. But I'm not sure I'm following you. It would have been disastrous if the Conclave had known of our plans for Roanoke. The Conclave wants to keep humanity boxed up, Perry. It still does. If we don't fight, the rest of the universe gets filled up without us. Humanity dies."

"You're confusing humanity with the Colonial Union," I said. "The Conclave wants to keep the Colonial Union boxed up, because the Colonial Union refuses to join it. But the Colonial Union is not humanity."

"It's a distinction without a difference," Rybicki said.

"True enough," I said. I pointed out the curving window of the observation deck. "You saw the other ships here as you arrived," I said.

"Yes," Rybicki said. "I didn't count them all, but I'm guessing there are four hundred and twelve."

"Close," I said. "Four hundred and thirteen, including this one. Which, incidentally, I've named the Roanoke."

"Wonderful," Rybicki said. "The flee: that attacks our next colony world will have an ironic tinge to it."

"The Colonial Union is still planning to colonize, then," I said.

"I'm not going to comment about that to you," Rybicki said.

"If or when the Conclave and the Colonial Union square off again, this ship won't be part of it," I said. "This is a trade ship. So are all the other ships in this fleet. Every ship in this fleet is carrying goods from the race whose ship it is. This took a lot of doing, you should know. It took a couple of months before every race signed on to this. General Gau had to twist a few arms, or whatever. It's easier to get some races to give a warship than a cargo ship filled with goodies."

"If a fleet of warships isn't going to convince the Colonial Union to join the Conclave, I doubt a fleet of trade ships is going to do it either," Rybicki said.

"I think you're right about that," I said, and raised my PDA. "Jane, you can skip row."

"What?" Rybicki said. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I told you," I said. "I'm explaining myself to you."

The Roanoke had been floating in space, a prudent distance from any gravity well that might interfere with her Skip Drive. Now Jane gave the order to engage the drive. We punched a hole through space-time and landed somewhere else.

From the observation deck, the difference was not great: One moment we were looking at a random field of stars, and the next, we were looking at another random field of stars. Until we began to see the patterns.

"Look," I said, pointing. "Orion. Taurus. Perseus. Cassiopeia."

"Oh my God," Rybicki said, whispering the words.

The Roanoke turned on its axis, and the stars faded out, replaced by the immense glowing orb of a planet, blue and green and white.

"Welcome home, General," I said.

"Earth," Rybicki said, and anything he meant to say after that was lost in his need to stare at the world he left behind.

"You were wrong, General," I said.

It took a second for Rybicki to shake himself out of his reverie. "What?" he said. "Wrong about what?"

"Coventry," I said. "I looked it up. The British knew there was an attack coming. You were right about that. But they didn't know where it would strike. The British didn't sacrifice Coventry. And the Colonial Union shouldn't have been willing to sacrifice Roanoke."

"Why are we here?" Rybicki asked.

"You said it, General," I said. "The Colonial Union will never join the Conclave. But maybe Earth might."

"You're going to take Earth into the Conclave," Rybicki said.

"No," I said. "We're going to offer it a choice. We're going to offer it gifts from each world of the Conclave. And then I'm going to offer it my gift."

"Your gift," Rybicki said.

"The truth," I said. "All of it. About the Colonial Union and about the Conclave and about what happens when we leave our home-world and come out to the universe. The Colonial Union is free to run its worlds however it wants, General. But this world gets to decide for its own. Humanity and the Colonial Union aren't going to be interchangeable anymore. Not after today."

Rybicki looked at me. "You don't have the authority to do this," he said. "To make this decision for all these people."

"I may not have the authority," I said. "But I have the right."

"You don't know what you're doing," Rybicki said.

"I think I do," I said. "I'm changing the world."

Out the window another ship popped into view. I raised my PDA; on the screen was a simple representation of Earth. Around the glowing circle dots appeared, singly, doubly, in groups and in constellations. And when they all arrived, they began broadcasting, all of then, a message of welcome, in as many human languages as could receive them, and a stream of data, unencrypted, catching up Earth on decades of history and technology. The truth, as near as I could tell it. My gift to the world that had been my home, and which I hoped would be again.