No Place Like Home

The alien Umlari sent out a thousand starships in search of resources and to find, if they can, their long-lost home world. Walkers like Drewe are trained to use a custom-grown body to explore each new world. If she and her crechemates find the one where the Umlari first evolved, it will be the greatest discovery of their time. Or will it? For a terrible secret binds their lives together, and learning the truth may mean the end of all. First published in Forbidden Planets ed by Marvin Kaye (SFBC), this stunning science fiction novella received Honorable Mention in Gardner Dozois' Year's Best SF.