As Silgvani finished talking, she found Doctor Githaiy staring at her in disbelief.

"Y-your Highness... what do you mean, "abandoning ship"?"

The princess eyed the doctor with a stern look.

"I mean what I say. Our reactor took too much damage from the attack, we won't make it home like that. The Kiroscha's raider is still docked, and Gehnnat thinks he can fly it, so we'll take that."

The explanation didn't really seem to convince the doctor, who was still kneeling next to one of the consoles for some reason.

"But... the Star Treader..."

"... is a ship, nothing more."

"Shouldn't we at least try to call home and ask for help?" Githaiy asked, still not wanting to give up the royal vessel. The princess sighed.

"We're no longer on the secure routes, no relay station in reach for us," she answered, slowly closing the distance between them. As she did, she noticed a small water canister in one of the doctor's hands. Behind said console, Nadine came into view. The small alien had wrapped the cape tightly around her body, making her look even more helpless than her small frame did already. Someone who hadn't seen what she was capable of would definitely doubt whether she could even harm a plant. Right, the doctor had mentioned getting some water. The princess quietly locked eyes with her for a moment before she spoke again.

"And even if we managed to start our engines without overloading the reactor and keep them running for long enough to get close enough to the station for a signal, we would be sitting kighkras while we wait for help. The Kiroscha might have more than one raid team roaming the area, and if one can find us others might as well. Not to mention that there also is a chance that the life support systems will fail."

"But can't we-"

"Doctor" Silgvani interrupted her. "I will not risk any more lives, just to save a sentimental piece of scrap metal. Are. We. Cleeeaaar?" The last word was drawn out and distorted as her vocal organ convulsed, to the point where it vibrated heavily in the air and didn't sound like her own voice or an actual word anymore. She hated it when that happened. Unfortunately, it was a bad habit of hers when she got angry. The Vanaery had inherited this odd ability from their evolutionary ancestors, although in this day and age, most couldn't use it anymore. The princess had figured out how to do it when she was just two cycles old, and now she frequently wished that she hadn't.

"Y-yes, your Highness."

"Good. Now go to the medical bay and pack everything you think we may need. I'll take care of her."

She then turned towards her attendants who had followed her here.

"You, help to carry her stuff!"

The two looked at her, then at each other, then at Nadine.

"Your Highness, we can't let-"

"DO I LOOK LIIIIIIIKE I'M IN THE MOOD FOR DISCUSSIIIIOOOOONS RIGHT NOW?!"

After a startle, the attendants took a bow and followed Githaiy. Silgvani took a moment to calm herself down. Despite everything, this was still a first-contact scenario, and it wouldn't be good to give this "Human" a bad impression of her kind.

She turned to Nadine and crouched down to get closer to her. However, Silgvani was tall by the standards of her kind, so even now she completely dwarfed the alien girl. White orbs with shimmering blue circles in them looked up to her. Despite the fact that Silgvani had seen what Nadine was capable of, it was still hard to not see her as frail and helpless. Within her, a strange urge to protect the small creature gradually became stronger.

"Your name is Nadine, correct?" she started. "We didn't get the chance to converse during the... last encounter, so allow me to catch up on that. I am Silgvani, 1st Princess of Hohmiy, homeworld of the Vanaery."

Nadine lowered her head.

"Oh, I-I, errm... err, g-greetings, Your... Majesty?" she stuttered with a soft and shaking voice, almost too quiet to hear. Silgvani had to give her all in order to keep a straight face. This was hardly the kind of response she was used to during this kind of talk. For an official representative of a species, fumbling like this would be beyond shameful. But Nadine obviously was not one, and since they were alone, the princess saw no harm in overlooking it once or twice considering what this person had just accomplished. In fact, she couldn't help but find her answer quite adorable, though she of course would never dare put her guest through the disrespect of voicing such a thought.

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I guess official talks have to wait until we find the rest of her kind and I can talk to the lord in charge of the "colony program".

"Well," she said with the faintest hint of a chuckle, "I'm not queen yet, so it's just 'Your Highness', to be exact."

"Ah! I-I'm sorry! I have never spoken to royalty before, I-"

"Don't worry, it's fine. While we are out of the public eye, you may speak with me in a way you are comfortable with. First Ones, I should be the one bowing to you. You are the one who saved us all."

The girl seemed to relax a little after hearing that. Silgvani picked up the container Githaiy had left behind.

"I would love to offer something, but we didn't know what your kind eats. However, the doctor concluded water would be a good start."

Nadine, with an expression that appeared to be thankful, took the container with both hands - it looked much bigger in her arms - and then turned a few times, seemingly unsure how to use it.

"Should I-"

Show you, was what she wanted to say, but before she could do so, a gush of water hit Nadine in the face. This time she could not suppress her chuckle, but Nadine, although surprised, didn't seem too displeased with the result. She merely repeated the motion, and as she got hit by more water, and then started to frantically rub her face.

Ah, she wants to wash off the blood.

While it was a bit of a waste to use drinking water for cleaning, the urge to get the blood at least from her face was understandable. She was still covered in blood - First Ones, her clothes were probably more blood than fabric at this point - but at least her hands and face were back to their natural, pale pink. She then put the container to her mouth and started drinking. One gulp was all she did though, quickly putting it down right after.

"Is this... pure water?"

Silgvani cocked her head. What kind of strange question was that? Of course it was pure water otherwise she wouldn't have offered it for a drink. Wait, did she really think that purifying water was beyond the Vanaery's capabilities?

No, calm down, she is not trying to be rude. She knows nothing about us, and considering her situation her caution is understandable.

"Yes, it is 100% pure water. You can drink with ease."

Nadine, however, didn't. Her reaction confused Silgvani until something clicked in her mind.

"Wait, is that... bad?"

"Well...," Nadine started, seemingly looking for the right way to explain it. "Depends on how pure exactly, but judging by this prickly feeling... if it is really 100% pure and not just distilled, then it is bad, yeah."

Bad? Water? To a lifeform that, according to the doctor, had more water in her cells than any known species? ...how??

"Then what would have to be added for it to no longer be... "pretty bad"?"

"Um, some minerals, I guess. Calcium, sodium, magnesium, something like that."

Silgvani wasn't familiar with those things, so it was probably best to leave that to Githaiy or Kahbbut. Still, intentionally polluting water to make it more healthy was a... bizarre thought, to say the least.

"I see. I'm sure that can be arranged," she answered in a diplomatic tone. "I have people specialized in catering to the needs of other species, I'll introduce them to you once we have departed."

"Thank you."

"Is there anything you want to ask? The servants are currently bringing all necessities over to the raider, so we have a bit of time before we depart."

The small alien closed her eyes and thought for a moment.

"Can we go to my escape pod?"

"Of course."

She stood up and gestured for Nadine to follow her. On their way to the lower layer they frequently passed people guiding automated crate carts, and more than once did they see a group of dead guards. There had been eighteen of them, now none were left. And on top of that, they didn't have the means to bring home their corpses.

They also came across the mangled corpse of one of the Kiroscha. Silgvani didn't need to be a doctor to see that its death had been quick and brutal, even more so in the knowledge that the deed had been done with bare hands. Nadine walked diagonally behind the princess, but Silgvani could see in the corner of her eye that the Human stopped for a moment during each of these encounters. She however caught up quickly before the princess could turn to her, so she didn't comment on it.

Finally, they reached the loading bay. There were still a lot of things here since the small raider didn't offer nearly enough space to take everything. And all on the other side, right at the ramp, was the object that had started all of this.

The spherical capsule was painted white with some writings in the human script and symbols that probably also meant something. The hatch was still open, and Nadine quickly climbed inside. Silgvani decided to take a peek.

The insides seemed kind of cramped, but that was to be expected considering the Human's small frame. There was a seat as well as a lot of technical parts, one of which Nadine was currently using. While Silgvani wasn't someone who could estimate the function of something just by looking at it - she was no engineer after all - it was always fascinating to see how different technological achievements from other planets looked.

Nadine put the device away and let out a long, quiet sigh.

"Is something wrong?"

"It's just... if any of them had caught the capsule's signal, they would've sent a confirmation return to show that they know I'm here and are coming."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing. I... I doubt we could take it with us, huh?"

"I'm sorry, but we indeed can't," Silgvani affirmed. And even if they could, the signal wouldn't do anything once they passed the hyperlane anyway. And while their engineers would surely love to study human technology, that wasn't something she could prioritize right now.

Nadine nodded, opened a compartment, and pulled out a small, red box before climbing out again.

"Is that all? Our space is limited, but not to this degree."

"It's fine," the small alien merely said. She then went quiet and looked back at the pod.

She is about to leave behind the only thing still connecting her to her kind, the princess thought. Then, she got an idea. It wasn't much, mostly symbolic, but maybe it would help her a bit.

"It is a bit late," she said, garnering the Human's attention again, "but things have been hectic, so I hope you can look past it."

She then assumed a traditional pose of her people, folding three arms before her torso while extending the fourth.

"Nadine of the Humans. I, Silgvani of clan Kyiron and first princess of the Vanaery, would like to formally invite you to our home world Hohmiy. Would you allow me to host you as my guest?"