With a nod of thanks, Tayrey takes her chair. That her offer was ignored is glaringly obvious, but she can easily think of a half-dozen reasons for that, from pride to mistrust, and so she isn't going to read anything specific into it. She'll hold back. She won't let the fact that she's already missing her comrades affect her decisions.

Priorities. She listens carefully, and responds: 'It was my thought that they gathered such disparate people because of the diversity. Of culture, and of thought. Both to gain the widest range of opinions and because - well, it is very easy to have a calm and peaceful society when everyone agrees. The real challenge is in the differences.'

She pauses for a moment, considering. 'Still. I'm not discounting your perspective. If there's some greater threat here, it's utterly unconscionable of them not to tell us what their true purpose is - but that I don't like the idea doesn't mean it can't be true. I don't think we have enough evidence to draw many conclusions at all.'