The human men are finally waking. The medbay is small, but well stocked, and Stacy seems to have everything she needs as she tends to the men as they rouse, helping them sit up on the various surfaces they’re lying on. They have already proven slower than any Velorian at recovering from a stunning, much less an actual wound, and I have no doubt that they would be too easy to break by accident.

I wait out of sight, pressed against one wall in the hallway outside, only able to see what it is occurring thanks to my truly excellent peripheral vision.

Stacy’s voice is cheerful as she tells the lead scientist, Darwin, to drink some water, carefully placing the glass in his hand. I don’t understand why this one is their leader; a leader should never run when his comrades lie injured behind him. But I don’t pretend to understand to customs of a society so different from my own.

The two human soldiers stand first, looking less than pleased, but not nearly so woozy as the scientists when they get to their feet.

“The effects can linger for a good while,” Stacy says brightly. “If you start to feel sick or dizzy at all, it’s better to sit down than to fall down.”

“Not my first time,” one of the soldiers says. “But noted.”

“We’re fine,” a scientist says, shooting a look of annoyance at Stacy rather than his situation. Stacy pointed out who was who as we were bringing them back to the ship, but even without her help, I would be able to discern the scientists from the soldiers and the pilot. The pilot, while not a fighter, moves about the ship with a confidence that says it is his home.

“I’m not sure I understand exactly what happened out there,” the pilot says. Paulson. Stacy said his name was Paulson. Human names are strange, and it will likely take me a few tries to commit them to memory. “Whatever it was, I think we can all agree that this was a bust. We need a new plan.”

Stacy snorts, cutting her eyes toward me as though I can sympathize without context. “Now we need a plan.”

She is a strange looking being, as are most humans, but she seems completely unthreatening aside from the daggers her eyes can throw. She smells nice as well: different but intriguing. I have never before been intrigued by the presence of someone who wasn’t of my own species, and I find it odd but not unpleasant. This isn’t relevant. My plan, as it stands now, is to repay my life-debt to her and return to business as usual for a Velorian mercenary. It likely will not take long to find an opportunity to save her life in turn; these humans seem like the sort that are adept at attracting trouble.

The scientists are still strangely quiet.

“One question first,” the soldier who spoke a moment ago says. He has dark skin and darker hair, a relatively thin frame, lacking the muscle one might expect on a soldier. Stacy called him Vince and said he was ‘tolerable’, which was higher praise than she gave the others. “How the hell did you get us back here by yourself? I remember seeing a very blurry alien, but not much else.”

Stacy bites her lip. “He’s on the ship,” she begins, and though I’m still cataloging human facial expressions as I learn them, none of their faces look accepting.

I’m considering whether I should step into the room and out of the shadows to aid her in her explanation, when one of the scientists does something that alarms me. He moves toward Stacy, anger that exceeds the merits of the situation visible in every line of his body. “What the hell were you thinking, letting him stay here?”

“Hey, Richards. Calm down,” the second soldier, Slate says. “We haven’t even left the landing zone yet.”

“Yeah,” Vince throws in. “You do see Paulson standing here and not in the cockpit, right?”

The words don’t calm the man, and he takes another, threatening step forward. I step into the doorway, moving to stand behind Stacy, a threatening noise not unlike a growl beginning to emanate from my throat. Humans are easily frightened by those that look different. I recognize that I am likely more intimidating than most things they’ve encountered. The men retreat, panicked at the sight of a potentially dangerous warrior boxing them into such a small space. I must look to them like some fearsome shadow cast behind her.

“Whoa,” Stacy says. “Let’s all calm down.”

Richards has backed far away from her at this point, and though his anger now has an edge of fear, it’s still there as he speaks. “I think your friend is the one who needs to calm down.”

I do my best to look a bit less frightening, crossing my arms over my chest and moving to stand beside Stacy rather than behind her.

Stacy merely shrugs in answer. “It’s not that strange a reaction when you understand the context.”

“Alright,” Vince says. “I’ll bite. What’s the context?” I note that he and the other soldier seem to have recovered from the fright far quicker than the scientists, who still look rattled. They have obviously seen at least a bit of combat, and I am glad that the group isn’t completely incompetent. Hopefully the next firefight will turn out better than the last.

Stacy looks uncomfortable, unsure of how to begin. “Well,” she says. “He sort of pledged his life to me—it’s a whole thing.” She took it in stride when I explained it to her as we moved the men back to the ship, asking only a few confused questions before she shrugged, apparently not willing to attempt to talk me out of it. Perhaps the determination on my face dissuaded her. “I don’t know how to get him to go away, so we’re just going to have to deal with having him here for now.”

“She saved my life.” I say, and all the eyes in the room jerk toward the deep sound of my voice. “I can only leave once I have repaid her. It’s the honor code of an Ice Velorian.”

The scientists, soldiers, and the pilot merely stare for a moment.

“Velorian?” Paulson asks. “Are you from the planet Veloria?”

The name Veloria always makes my lips twitch. The planet’s true name is unpronounceable.

Darwin clears his throat, and manages to speak steadily for the first time since waking. “We’re here to collect a plant that grows only on that planet. It could cure a disease spreading across our planet.”

It doesn’t take me long to put the information together once I’ve been presented with it. The Xzerg must have heard about people who wanted a plant from Veloria and smelled a possible alliance between my own species and humans. If humanity gained their cure through the help of my home, such a huge favor might be rewarded with a place in the Federation. We have been on the outs with the rest of civilized society for so long that it doesn’t seem possible, however much we try to prove ourselves. But if I manage to pull this off, it just might work. My people have wanted to join the Federation for quite some time, but we don’t have the best of reputations. It has kept us from joining with other planets and nations for centuries.

If Veloria joins the Federation, we will have access to so much—not the least of which, powerful alien alliances against our enemies, the Xzerg. It makes sense that the Xzerg would do whatever they could to prevent something like this from happening.

Proving to humanity that anything to do with Veloria is dangerous? That’s a good way to keep us out of any alliances.

The humans are talking, continuing the conversation about me as though I’m not still standing in their midst.

“We can’t trust him,” Cole says.

“He saved all of your lives,” Stacy says back. “Aside from that, having an extra soldier won’t be a bad idea since two obviously isn’t enough.”

There’s no arguing with that. Even with my fairly limited understanding of humans, I know that there isn’t much of an argument.

“She’s got a point there,” Vince relents.

“Well,” Darwin says, in attempt to soothe hurt feelings all around. “He may prove useful, and ...” He looks to the scientists. “... he may just have the knowledge of Veloria that will help us locate the plant.”

The words don’t have the desired effect. I smell distrust, sharp and bitter, and anger, burning like flames in my nostrils, but no one says another word of dissent.

Richards stares at me for a long time after the others have left the medbay. I reveal my sharp canine teeth, and give my tail a flick. Cool energy tingles down the spines on my back, unseen. It isn’t a terribly threatening gesture among Velorians, but for a human, it is strange and discomforting enough to send him scampering from the medbay.