Through a cloud of comet dust, the Grey’s outpost appeared out the window. Chiron stopped engines and called their contact to set up an exchange. The Grey Ambassador was surprised to see them.

            “I’ll admit I thought we’d have more time to complete the experiments involving your men,” he said.

            “Sorry,” Karen said. “I could send some extra scientists over to the labs they’re working in to help them tie up their experiments before they leave. Will twenty-four hours be enough?”

            There was indecipherable chatter, then translated English came on again. “The time will suffice, but assistance is not needed.”

            “We’d like to talk to our people,” Karen said.

            “Your people are safe. We can show you live feed of them in their living quarters.”

             There was something a little strange going on, Karen thought. “That’s a good start. We do need to know what they’re working on, though. It can’t be a secret, they’ll tell us once they get back on board.”

            There was some more chatter, then, “Here’s the feed.” On the central holo, she and Walsh watched their mission specialists. They were relaxing in their bed chamber, one reading what looked like a comic book out of a huge stack, and the other playing a music instrument from a large collection.”

            “Heather, can you confirm the feed is live from this location?” Walsh asked.

            “Working on it, sir.” A few minutes later, she said, “Confirmed. They do seem to be safe.”

            “Well, they’re not working them very hard,” Walsh commented. “Do we just wait around for the Greys to send them back to the lab to finish things up?”

            O’Bien was staring at the scene with horror. Quietly, she said, “I think they are in their lab. The experiments are being done to them, not by them.”