As it turned out, there was no contest in the results. The crew had voted unanimously to follow this to the end. We’d been through hell and back over the last few weeks, and we were more tightly bonded than any crew had ever been. The vote demonstrated absolute trust in our captain – and, as I found out, in me.

“Ok, carto,” Harrigan said. “This is your show. What now?” His demeanor was still serious, still that of the captain, but I thought I detected a bit of relief in his voice.

“Now, sir, we plot a course, same as always. The overseer already knows our destination – and the translation.”

He nodded. “Just tell me one thing.”

“Anything, sir,” I replied.

“Tell me we won’t have to go gallivanting the galaxy just to converse with this new species.”

“No, sir, I don’t believe so. That, before, was a calibration run to teach the overseer how to translate the new language.”

“Very well,” he said. Then, “Get the engines warmed up, people!”

And with that, he turned and thumbed the comm for ship-wide broadcast.