“Oh. I’ll tell them to make amends, then. Shall we?” Praxys flourished a claw, and as Qalu passed, his neck ruff frilled a little.

She didn’t know what that meant, but Helix made an angry sound behind her. She turned to find him shockingly close, not giving her any space at all. Puzzled, she navigated through to the inner doors where the shuttle had docked. Three others waited for them, all giving Aevi intense looks, and the Pherzul hissed at them in turn, showing her teeth in a display of dominance. It would be funny if Qalu didn’t know how seriously her small friend took such things.

“Introductions then. You already know I’m Praxys. Meet Maglan, Carow, and Bojak.” He indicated each with a sweeping claw.

Maglan was Tiralan, shimmering in silver tones, with a few scars marring otherwise smooth scales. The rest was obscured by a sizable swator, but it didn’t matter. Qalu made the traditional greeting, given back by Maglan, then she faced the next crew mate, another Barathi, this one bearing only one color, a muted yellow. By Barathi standards, Carow was homely, but seemed friendly enough. The last person made Qalu stare. She had never seen anything like this alien, not even in a documentary. Smooth skin, no scales or headtails, bulbous eyes, no claws, and fur scattered here and there.

“You have a human on board,” Helix said, sounding quite startled.

“I’m not really named Bojak,” the human said. “Long time ago, I made a joke and it just kind of stuck.”

“You’re called after a jest?” Qalu thought that sounded most unfair.

“There’s a program—oh, never mind. You wouldn’t get it anyway. Humor is half shared context and this translator…” As if on cue, the technology fritzed. “There it goes again. Bojak is fine. Nice to meet you.”

“The honor is mine.” Qalu had no idea how to greet one such as this; she turned to Helix for guidance, but he stayed quiet.

Either he didn’t know or he wasn’t currently inclined to be polite.

“We can talk more once we get back to base. Maglan, hide our tail. Carow, show our guests where they can freshen up. Bojak, see if you can appease the Pherzul. I don’t want her killing us.”

Qalu thought that was excessive, but Aevi lashed her tail, proving that she liked being viewed as dangerous and worthy of respect. The human-alien promptly hunkered down and waited; large eyes locked on Aevi.

“I owe you an apology. We were rude, and I should’ve known better. They treated me like a pet for ages. It’s not fun in the slightest. Will you forgive me?”

“You understand,” Aevi breathed.

“I do. I’d be honored to show you around the ship.”