Nessa was caught in Laze’s hug. She patted Laze’s back.
“You don’t know how much this means,” Laze said.
“Well, I hope two hundred fifty is enough to tide you over,” Nessa replied. “My friends have a way to help us.”
Maz tapped a beat with his foot. Nessa winked at him, and he asked her again: “Has the Great Dome been opened?”
“I think so,” she said.
“How do we get in?” Elektra questioned.
These questions would require a holospace call.
“I’ll have to call Kommer,” she said, and gagged.
“Don’t like him?” Skyla asked.
“I went to Earth--of all the better planets--because he asked. He’s my contact to save Akron. He annoys me to no end.”
“I heard that!”
Nessa and the younglings traced the exclamation to Kommer, who plodded down the staircase.
“Here we are,” Nessa diverted the conversation, moving Maz forward. “This is Maz, my friend from Earth. Those are his friends. Scion is on the left. Then Eklun. That’s Skyla, and that’s Elektra.”
She placed her hands on each youngling’s head while saying their name. Kommer bowed at the younglings and rolled his eyes at Nessa.
“What are we doing?” Kommer demanded.
“Opening the call center,” Maz chirped.
Kommer tipped his head back.
“I’d offer you a ride, but I took a tram. Nessa has my ship. You guys have your own. Meet me at the Great Dome. Nessa knows where that is.”
They joined him on the staircase. Maz and Scion bounded up the steps.
“What’s our goal?” He tossed a question up to the group.
Maz woke his implant.
“Stealth mode deactivated,” an airy female voice said from the implant.”
Long-measures were darkened in three dimensions. It took a rounded shape. An area unsealed, and Maz jumped inside. The nestmates followed. Maz poked his head through the opening.
“The people need to wait for a call from the elder race,” he ordered. “They should go to the learning centers.”
Then he pulled out of sight. Nessa and Kommer were left.
“You heard what he said,” Nessa remarked as she moved toward the ship. “See you there.”
A hand stretched from the opening. Maz grinned down at her. Little Maz was learning to be a gentleman. She accepted the help. Back in the control center, Nessa and Maz joined the others.
“They’ll be independent of the other home-worlds,” Maz announced. “We’ll teach them like our parents taught us. Remember First Level Economics?”
“That was a hard class,” Scion said with a grunt. “I hated it.”
“Look!” Maz pointed out. “It’s useful now. We have to save our planet. Do you see where Kommer is?”
Skyla pointed at the log-drive.
“About half a long-measure ahead,” she said as the clouds parted over the Great Dome.