"She has a lovely smile." Kim leaned against the wall and watched McBride and the alien embrace each other.

"She sure does." He moved back just enough to reach up and stroke her cheek. "Never would've said this an hour ago, but she's beautiful."

"I take it you're over your arachnophobia, then?" Cora grinned at him.

"Definitely."

"How do you feel?"

"Weird. Very weird. I know I didn't love her before I pushed that button, but I do now. I feel like we've been in love our entire lives."

"I wonder if the effects are permanent or temporary."

"I hope this is permanent. I want it to be."

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't be very effective if it was only temporary. The warring factions would be right back at it as soon as the effects wore off."

"That gives me hope for the future, then." Timmy leaned closer to the alien and pressed his lips gently against hers. She hesitated and a bewildered look crossed her face, then she closed her eyes and went along with it. When they parted, she smiled again.

"She's cute." Kim glanced at Cora. "Especially now that she's not trying to kill us anymore."

"Don't get any ideas." Timmy put his arms back around the alien and they held each other for a long moment before he stepped back and waved a hand at Cora and Kim. "I know you can't understand me yet, but these two are friends. They don't mean you any harm. We work together."

She fixed another nervous stare at them, stepped forward, and held both left arms in front of Timmy.

"When we get back to the ship," Cora said, "maybe you can show her some of the stuff you've recorded. Show her how friendly we are with each other."

Kim nodded. "I'm hoping you got a shot of Drewfus falling off the ramp and Cora helping him up."

"I did, actually. That's a good idea." Timmy rested his hand on Cora's shoulder, glanced at his new girlfriend, and nodded. "It's going to be okay."

"We should head back to the Sagan. I've requested another shuttle with an all-human crew so she won't be surrounded by synths on the way back. Once she learns our language and we learn hers, I'm hoping we can find out what happened to her people and who they were."

Timmy put his spacesuit back on. The alien watched him uncertainly, then put her own gear on. Kim nudged Cora's shoulder as they sealed their helmets and Timmy held the alien's lower-left hand.

"It's been a hell of a day. How about we check on the other four lovebirds and call it a night? Give our new friend a little time to get used to us."

"Sounds good. We shouldn't try to pressure her into communicating before she's comfortable around everyone."

"Yeah." Kim fired a huge grin at her before entering the tunnel. "In the meantime, you get to fill the Colonel in on how our reporter got involved in this."

Oh, whee. "It's good to know there are more adventures to look forward to."