"Clearing Saturn's atmosphere, Miss O’Malley."

"So what's the best way?" asked Ann.

"I shall attempt to guide us through gaseous nebulae and other obstructed but navigable paths" said Butler One, "We can travel in places where a fleet of warships could not safely fit."

"Good. Do you think we'll be safe if they do find us? We're not an official Space Force vessel. Maybe we could bluff it out."

"We could try. My previous owner Jeradd was not well known in any galaxy, so we could easily say that we are a private vessel."

"And even if they search us! That's another good reason that I am glad we did not bring that live warhead with us. The Kadromians will never find a computer record in your memory bank, but we can reveal it to them later, if we discover anything useful on their world.

Let's avoid the obstructed routes until we detect the Kadrom ships approaching."

"A wise suggestion, Miss O’Malley."

"Yes. It means that we can travel faster for most of the journey."

They accelerated to light speed and sped through space. To Ann it was the thrill of a lifetime to pass the planets that she had studied in science classes at school.

"In school books they just looked like coloured marbles, but out here they're one of the best things I've ever seen," said Wendell, “And my planets must be smaller than these ones.”

“What’s he talking about?” asked Ann.

“He comes from a parallel universe, where everything is smaller than its counterparts here,” said Butler One, “Presumably his universe’s planet Saturn is as small in comparison to ours as he is in comparison to you.”

“I wasn’t thinking,” said Ann, “Just enjoying the trip before we have to solve this mess.”

I am pleased that you are enjoying such an important journey, Miss O’Malley."
"So Jeradd did program some etiquette into your otherwise emotionless brain. What is it, do you think, that makes people always believe the worst?"

"You must excuse me, Miss O’Malley. I suspect that your question stems from your possession of such human qualities as emotion and morality. I know of these concepts, but I cannot incorporate them into my speculations. I would be incapable of conducting a conversation based on these characteristics."

"Well maybe I could try to explain."

"Such attempts may be futile Miss O’Malley. Do you wish to risk wasting the energy?"

"Yes I do. We have a long trip. We need to talk about something."

"But you should know that the amount of vocal energy expended various according to certain quanifiable factors-"

"Be quiet and listen, even if your computer mind cannot appreciate everything. Right now you are the only one to whom I can talk. I did not bring any human friends with me from earth."

"Mark Logan was human."

"Mark Logan was a nosey blackmailing stickybeak. He could hardly-"

"That does not alter the fact that Mark Logan is human, Miss O’Malley."

"But he was hardly a friend. I could never rely on him."

"Understood, Miss O’Malley."

"Thank you. Now what I was starting to ask is the reason that people always believe the worst. I know that it looked very bad for Space Force, but why couldn't Kibok have spared a tiny hope that Nezz Narf might not have lied?"

"He was looking only at the facts."

"Like a robot. Like you? But you can see things my way."

"Yes, but I am bound to follow your instructions."

"It all reminds me of the wars we have had on earth. We did not need to have them, but people misunderstood each other, and so they fought. If a whole country fights, it means that people die, and that is awful."

"Miss O’Malley, your knowledge is valuable, but we must consider the options open to Kibok the supreme ruler of Kadrom. What would happen if he were to ignore the explosion of Kadrom's touring vessel?"

"We don't know."

"Why not? We know more than they do, Miss O’Malley?"

"Yes, but we don't know what really happened. We know it was not Ragol's fault, but we don't know what was responsible."

"Then you have the advantage of Kibok."

"How do you mean?"

"We at least know it was an accident. Kibok has no proof of that. If faced with the fear of losing another vessel, should a similar incident be allowed to arise, what would he do?"

"He would think of any way to stop the same thing happening again."

"Correct."