"Of course I want to go back," he hastily answered. "Earth is my home, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss my mom. But I..."

Claude floundered for a moment, wondering where he should even begin.

"Well, I don't think it's a good idea for me to go home," he added, his voice growing quieter. "The doctors did something to me here, and people on Earth are going to figure it out once I undergo a mandatory physical. Scientists in my mom's field are going to get ideas, and I don't want anyone to even think about doing this to someone else."

The situation wasn't so cut-and-dry, but these were Claude's personal feelings on the subject. Even after everything he'd been through, he still had a right to make his own judgments, didn't he?