Arden fought herself free and said: "What's going on?"
"We've just contacted a ship in space."
"So what? Haven't we been doing that for months?"
"They've just contacted us, too!"
"Huh?" asked Arden, her eyes widening.
"None other. Wait, I'll get an answer." Don contacted Ben, in the decoupler room and said: "Ben, hang this line on the Lady of Cathay's beam, will you?"
"Is that her?"
"None other."
"Go ahead. She's coupled."
Don pecked out a message. "Please describe the intercommunication system used by your ship in detail. We have heard you, and you are, therefore, the first ship to contact Venus Equilateral from space flight. Congratulations."