Tierney's consciousness slowly returned to her. She felt like she was floating, her body tingling and swaying. She tried to open her eyes, but though her mind sent the command, her eyelids couldn't respond. Panic gripped her, but even this familiar emotion was strange, as it was merely the thought of panic, without the racing pulse or tightened chest that normally accompanied it.

Finally her body seemed to solidify, her senses returning. She felt the weight of it pulling her down, heard the sounds of the world around her coming into focus. A sharp, metallic scent invaded her nostrils, and her eyes popped open.

The first person she saw was the Relican commander. He stood in front of her, and slightly to her right, as he had in the Situation Room. Grateful that his eyes were still closed, Tierney took advantage of the moment to stare at him, as she'd been afraid to do in the meeting.

He was different in person, less intimidating, somehow -- perhaps it was because he was behaving more like a sensible diplomat than a temperamental military general. His rude demeanor during the video conference had also prevented Tierney from noticing how handsome he was. He might be an alien, but he bore all the same features that she generally found attractive in human males. And that body... he might as well be walking around naked in that skin-tight uniform, showing off every chiseled line of his muscular form.

But the most enchanting thing about him was his skin. While First Arrat's skin was a matte charcoal color, Commander Corwin's silver skin shimmered. Fine flecks of some glittering substance glimmered as the light hit them, as if he were wearing sparkly lotion. None of the others had reacted much to it, but to Tierney it was almost mesmerizing.

The commander's eyes -- as gray as his skin -- flew open, locking onto hers. Heat rushed into her cheeks, but she didn't look away, not wanting to appear weak. Although they hadn't had time to discuss it, Tierney knew that Nelle had sent her not only to keep an eye on the Vice President, but also to represent her personally. These aliens might say they had good intentions, but if they turned hostile, they needed to know that humanity wouldn't go down without a fight.

His eyes flickered to her dress, and before she could stop herself she brought her hand to her side, another wave of embarrassment washing over her. After escaping from Jonas, she'd run to another bathroom and patted herself down as much as she could. The spot was nearly dry now, but in the bright lights above them it was still plainly visible.

It was worth it, she thought, remembering how ridiculous Jonas had looked in the Situation Room in those pants that were about an inch and a half too short. I wonder who he blackmailed to get those off of.

"Where are we?" Minister Zhou demanded.

Tierney thought she caught the ghost of a smile on the commander's lips as he turned to address the room, and she was certain he was laughing at her.

"Welcome to the Relican Squad Cosmic Vessel Irral," he said. "This is the conveyance chamber." He was still speaking in his own flowing language, the invisible speaker in his sleeve translating his words into English. Tierney made a mental note to have a linguist analyze the Relican footage from both meetings and start trying to learn the language.

Minister Zhou stormed across the platform and reached for the commander's face. With a look of alarm, he dodged her outstretched hand and leapt from the dimming platform.

"I must know!" she cried, chasing after him. "I must!"

First Arrat jumped between the two and held out her hands to block the Minister's path. "What is it you wish to determine, Minister?" Though her tone was calm, the Relican's expression was forbidding.

"It is makeup," snapped the Minister, reaching for First Arrat's face. "It must be makeup!"

First Arrat grabbed Minister Zhou's thin arms and forced them to her sides.

"Let me go!" she shouted, struggling to free herself.

Commander Corwin had regained his composure and was now standing by the door, which was more of a large hatch, like on a submarine. "Minister Zhou," he said, "it is against Relican custom for the skins of two to touch, other than between two mates."

At the word mates, the Minister froze, glancing in horror at the hand that had nearly touched the Relicans' silver skin. Then she sneered. "What a convenient custom," she said, jerking her hands out of First Arrat's grip.

"If you need proof, Minister," said the Vice President, standing beside a small porthole, "here it is." Minister Zhou and Director Willoughby scurried over to Caleb's side, and their gasps and cries of disbelief were enough to tell Tierney what they saw on the other side.

Rather than joining them -- she never willingly went that close to Caleb -- Tierney surveyed the small room. Every surface was metal, with gleaming steel wall panels, iron grate floors, and copper pipes running along the ceiling.

"So this is their vessel," said a warm, soft voice. The President of Botswana, Baruti Moroka, had moved beside her on the platform. Tierney had seen him but hadn't interacted with him at all during Nelle's visit to his country, but Nelle spoke very highly of him afterwards, which was enough to earn Tierney's respect.

"Mr. President," she said in greeting.

Speaking too quietly for the others -- including the Relicans -- to hear, he asked, "Do you trust them?"

Glancing at the commander and First Arrat, who were engaged in their own hushed conversation, Tierney whispered, "Not at all." President Moroka nodded gravely in agreement.

"Commander." The Vice President had moved away from the porthole and was walking towards the Relicans with his hand outstretched. "Commander, I have to say, this is quite a day, quite a day indeed." Commander Corwin stared at Caleb's hand with confusion, but then accepted it as the Vice President continued.

"I am honored -- I know I said it before, but I am honored to be here, to work with you to find a solution that will serve the interests of both our peoples. Thank you for bringing us here. It's a shame Nellie couldn't be here -- she'd get a kick out of this. Thank you."

Tierney narrowed her eyes at him. The Vice President was always looking for a way to get the upper hand, and there was no doubt he and Jonas had devised some sort of scheme to make Nelle look bad in front of these people.

"Just a convincing backdrop," said Minister Zhou, though her voice shook. "More Hollywood trickery."

"You can't believe that," said Director Willoughby, gesturing back to the porthole. "That is Earth out there -- unquestionably the Earth. We are in space."

"Follow me, please," said the commander, opening the hatch and stepping through.

With First Arrat taking up the rear, the group followed Commander Corwin through a series of hallways that were all similar in appearance to the room they'd left, with smooth steel walls and copper pipes running above. The halls were surprisingly quiet, and Tierney saw no other Relicans anywhere.

Tierney's heels kept getting caught in the iron grate floor, so, with a helpless smile at President Moroka walking beside her, she took them off and followed barefoot.

With a friendly smirk, he gave pointed looks at the Minister's flats, and then at First Arrat's combat boots.

"Next time," Tierney muttered with a shrug.

The floor was cool, and without her shoes she could feel the gentle vibration of the ship's engine with every step.

I'm walking on a spaceship. A spaceship!

Although her brain told her this was a huge deal, she still felt like she couldn't fully digest it. She was on high alert, and surprisingly it was directed more towards Caleb than the Relicans. He walked alongside Commander Corwin, speaking softly to him almost the entire way, undoubtedly planting seeds of doubt regarding Nelle's competence and authority to represent her people.

For the thousandth time, Tierney wished Nelle hadn't picked him as her running mate. After Nelle had won the Presidential primaries, her advisors convinced her to reach out to some of the defeated candidates in the opposite party, as a sign of her ability and desire to work across the aisle. Caleb had come with open arms, talking a good talk about bringing the parties together, and promising Nelle that he'd bring at least three states' worth of votes that she wouldn't get otherwise.

Of course, Jonas had been his campaign manager, which didn't bode well for Caleb's judge of character or trustworthiness. But Nelle deemed it a worthy risk, and Caleb's voting record placed him more in the center of the two parties than any of the other potential VP candidates, so she brought him on. After they won, however, his true colors began to show, as he tried to insinuate himself into every decision, questioning Nelle's experience and judgment, even in front of other staff and heads of state. He held those three states over her head as if he was the only reason she'd won the entire election.

Finally Nelle had kicked him out of most meetings, only bringing him in when appearances demanded it. Now -- although she hadn't been able to prove it -- Tierney was positive he was actively working against their agenda in Congress, undermining Nelle's attempts to reach out to the other side, all the while lamenting the "lack of will" in both parties.

Commander Corwin led them past several other hallways, then stopped in front of a closed door. "This is our free room. Hopefully this will end your doubts."

He stepped through, and the rest followed him into a room that had to be about three stories high, with padded walls, floor, and ceiling. First Arrat closed the door behind them, and Tierney ended up standing beside Commander Corwin. When their eyes met, he looked away quickly, touching a finger to his forearm. Although the material that his black uniform was made out of couldn't be thicker than a sheet of paper, a small screen with a grid of buttons -- not unlike her phone -- appeared where his gloved fingers pressed. It was as if it just slid into existence, as if it were embedded in his clothes. Tierney couldn't help but think it was a projection, and looked up in search of the source.

"Is that how you connect to the ship?" asked Director Willoughby, also fascinated by the commander's sleeve. "I haven't seen any buttons or access panels anywhere."

The commander nodded. "Our mechasuits are our primary way of accessing vessel operations. We do have direct access as well, if the need arises."

He tapped one more button and then looked at Tierney. She thought she caught a hint of humor in his eyes as he said softly, "Hold on to your shoes."

Is his translator working properly? Why would he tell me to --

Suddenly she felt the floor slipping out from under her. She cried out, thinking she was falling, and the rest of the humans did the same, flailing as if they were toppling over. But instead of dropping onto the floor, their bodies were suspended in the air.

"What is this?!" cried Minister Zhou, still flailing as she floated higher.

"No gravity!" Director Willoughby laughed, flapping his arms and flying through the room. "This is irreplicable on Earth."

"Remarkable," said Caleb, although he didn't appear pleased that he was slowly rotating upside down.

While the NASA Director was clearly enjoying himself, Tierney was struggling to keep her cool. Heights were pretty much the only thing that truly frightened her. Ever since she was a kid, her parents had always egged her on to climb trees, ladders -- they even bought her a bunk bed to try to help her face her fear. She'd lasted all of three minutes, although it felt like a lifetime. A few years ago she'd even tried a therapist, but all he'd done was teach her a few mantras in between veiled questions about whether she was single.

She must have been showing more of her fear than she'd hoped, because President Moroka, who was floating serenely past her on his back, said, "Miss Dawson?"

Although she couldn't manage a smile, she nodded her head more times than was necessary and whispered, "I'm okay. I'm fine."

First Arrat and the commander, clearly used to this environment, were kicking off the walls, sailing purposely across the space. As if performing some kind of dance, they moved in perfect sync, flying straight at each other to meet in the middle and grip each other's hands, pulling the other so each continued in a different direction than the way they had originally been traveling.

Watching the two of them only made Tierney feel nauseous. She was starting to rotate like the Vice President -- who was completely upside down now -- and everything inside of her was screaming to get away, to get her feet on the ground.

Maybe if I can get to the wall and grab on...

Not caring if she looked foolish, she flapped and flailed in an attempt to reach the nearest wall. But the fact that she could no longer discern whether it was the wall, the ceiling, or the floor, made her head start to spin. She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths and counting backwards from one hundred in Italian, like that asshole therapist had told her to do. She felt her hair tugging upward, threatening to undo the hasty bun she'd made after the incident with Jonas, and she wondered how politically incorrect it would be to puke in an anti-gravity room full of world leaders during a first contact encounter.

"I warned you."

She popped her eyes open and saw Commander Corwin floating in front of her, with her black heels in his hands. Because of her confusion earlier, she had indeed failed to heed his warning. When she had thought she was falling, she'd dropped her shoes, and they'd gone flying across the room.

The humor in his face disappeared, and she realized he must have seen her terror. She tried to recover, to appear strong and dignified like Nelle would have, but it was all she could do to keep from reaching out and latching on to him, just to have something to anchor herself to.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concern flooding his silver eyes.

She couldn't lie and say she was fine -- it was obvious she wasn't. Everyone was watching her now, even Minister Zhou, who had managed to grab ahold of one of the pads and was perched halfway up the wall with a scowl on her face.

Without waiting for her answer, the commander touched his sleeve keypad, and instantly Tierney felt her weight returning. The pull of the ground had never felt so good, and her nausea diminished with every inch closer she got to the floor. She even regained her senses enough to feel embarrassed that she was going to land face down, since she had been floating parallel to the ground. Unwilling to humiliate herself further by trying to shift her position, she reached out, not willing to risk a bloody nose, even if the floor was padded.

A hand grasped one of her arms, and she almost cried out, having nearly forgotten Commander Corwin was still beside her.

"May I assist?" he asked.

"Please," she said, only remembering at the last moment to smile politely.

He gently tugged her upwards, and soon both of them were landing gracefully on their feet. As Tierney felt her full weight settling back on her bones, the commander held out her heels.

"Steady?" he asked, and she realized he was still gripping her arm.

Her legs were feeling shaky, but she knew she'd already lost too much ground with these Relicans as it was. First Arrat was watching her and the commander intensely, and Tierney wondered with a sudden spike of fear whether this had been some kind of test, to find out what each of them feared the most. Would the next room be full of spiders? Or a claustrophobic closet?

Just as she was removing her arm from his grasp, the commander's arm chirped, and a voice spoke.

"Alkad, nakal!"

Presumably, since the translator used the same speaker, it couldn't both translate and transmit.

Commander Corwin tapped a button and said, "Firka, Aspri."

The voice rattled off something in Relican, and whatever he was saying affected the commander. His silver face paled slightly, and he cast a sideways glance in the direction of First Arrat with what looked like guilt or embarrassment.

"Kafla," he said, cutting off the voice. "Mird elalamdula nafi vi ta hua maja. Irja ila ka awajib."

"Firka, alkad."

Even though that had sounded like goodbye, the commander continued to stare at his sleeve.

"Everything alright, Commander?" asked Caleb.

The commander's face hardened. Tierney thought he glanced her way, but then he straightened up and said, "All is well, Vice President Grant." Addressing the entire group -- although Tierney noticed he looked at everyone but her -- he said, "Are you all thoroughly convinced that you are in orbit around your planet, and that we are not... Hollywood tricksters?"

Minister Zhou clearly didn't appreciate the jibe, but she ignored it, instead saying, "So you're aliens. That doesn't mean everything you say is true. What of this supposed asteroid?"

With an almost imperceptible smile, Commander Corwin said, "It is a start. Follow me."

He turned to open the hatch, but as he did so, his gaze slid past Tierney. For the split-second that their eyes met, his expression darkened, and in that instant Tierney knew she'd failed Nelle. The weakness she'd shown a few minutes before had caused the commander to lose respect for her, and by extension his respect for the President of the United States.

A warm hand pressed her shoulder, and President Moroka said, "Feeling better?"

She forced a laugh and said, "Much better. I guess I need to take some floating lessons from Director Willoughby, here."

Director Willoughby grinned as he passed by, though he was mid-conversation with First Arrat. "... have no problem with anti-gravity, since that's the natural state in space. The more remarkable piece is that we're experiencing gravity now. How do you replicate..."

President Moroka squeezed her shoulder and said, "We all have much to learn."

Despite his comforting words, Tierney couldn't shake the feeling that she'd let her country -- make that her world -- down. She was on her own, 400 miles above the Earth, trying to judge whether these aliens were trying to save or enslave them. Humanity's only hope was to showcase its strength and resiliency in the face of great odds, to prove that their spirit was mightier than any fancy technology. Yet she had just revealed how easy it was to break that supposed unbreakable spirit. She had failed.

And the the glint in Caleb's eye as he looked at her, following the others through the hatch, proved it.