“Thank you, Mr. Vly,” said Zip, extending his hand. “It has been a remarkable visit, and we appreciate very much your letting us drop in.”
Montezuma shook Zip’s hand. “Wait a minute, Starmen. Let me give you something to help you while away the long hours in space.” He turned and rummaged through a box, then scanned a shelf behind him. After a moment he pulled out a gold disc in a flat, clear container.
“Take this,” he said, handing it to Zip. “It’s a recording of the entire works of Johann Sebastian Bach. That’s more than 1,200 compositions. The music is so complex that some of its mysteries weren’t even discovered until the computer age. Lily made this disk. She’s an expert in the music of the Renaissance. Does research all the time.”
“Lily?”
“Lily and I have been partners out here for over twenty years. Us and the koalangs.”
Zip put the disk into his pocket. “Thank you, sir. Best wishes to you.”
“You too. An occasional visit once in a while is welcome, especially when people respect my way of life. Most don’t understand. I think you three do. Just protect George. He’s a good friend, and they’re hard to find.”
About 56 hours later, the Vigilant Warrior came into the proximity of Z25. Joe eased the ship through a scattering of moderate-sized asteroids and then came into a space where there were relatively few chunks of stone and iron moving through space. On the far side of the open area was an asteroid nearly twenty miles long and half as wide.
“There it is,” announced Joe. “Z25.”
Zip gave a nod to Mark, and Mark opened communications.