Zouichi blinked at the arm-patting; Alan merely looked on disapprovingly from his perch on his owner's far shoulder. Clearly that shoulder was much too small for you to be sitting on, Doctor. Any parrot worth his feathers would know that.

"I'm afraid I can't take you up on that offer. If, as they say, our worlds can be restored, I'll have to return to Earth and finish my mission. I can't exactly be running off to smell things on distant moons."

As curious as he was about where everyone else on the ship came from, and as much as he might like to see what their worlds were like, his duty came first.