Elijah crooks his neck at the language they've lapsed into, glancing at Jenny, who merely shrugs. But he's got the general gist.

"Ms. Achebe," he says in English. "I understand that this might be difficult to believe, but your gifts ... they're meant to protect the entire planet. My name is Elijah Snow, and I represent the Planetary Foundation ..."

That seems to get her attention.

"You are the Ghost of the 20th Century," she says, flatly. "Yes, I have heard of you. My grandfather spoke of you, many years ago."

It's not often he's caught off guard, but Elijah is startled by that revelation.

"How can that be?" he asks, and his heart is pounding just a bit faster as his mind races. "I've been to Congo," he says, but I've never been here."

The thinnest bit of a smile pulls at Vaada's lips.

"Our grandfather was not from here," she says. "Not originally. But he remembered your talks, which he admired, and Lord Lord Blackstock, whom he disliked."

Elijah gasps.

"Opak-re," he says, after a moment. "You're descended from the people of Opak-re."

A fierce intelligence glimmers in her eye, and she smiles, but says nothing.