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“The poor thing is probably exhausted," he said as he picked several packets from a stack on the counter. They must be what he deemed safe for her to consume. “Has she told you anything about her life on the station?”

“No, not yet. She's reluctant to speak of her past,” I said, “She's very insistent about making sure I'm happy.”

Lexarit sounded an angry rattle. “She's probably been abused by those with power over her. Have you explained that she's safe with us?”

“I've told her she's safe, but I haven't explained that she belongs to us,” I said.

“Does she know we've left the station?” he asked.

“No, she slept through the launch,” I said. “I wanted her to eat first.”

Lexarit rumbled in agreement, pulling one packet out of the reconstitutor and putting in another one.

We talked about our next stop and the accommodations we'd need to make for Opal. Once he was done, he handed me a tray with far more food than even I could finish.

Before I could say anything, he sounded a negative rattle.

“I know it's too much, but I need to know what she likes so we can stock plenty of it. Try and get her to sample everything and note what she enjoys.”

I sounded a rumble of agreement. “That's an excellent idea. Thank you.”

“She might have chosen you, but she's still precious to all of us," he said, his voice gruff.

Picking up the tray, I felt a sudden burst of confidence. “We're all going to find our humans.”

“I hope you're right,” he said. “Now go take care of Opal.”

I left my friend in the galley and returned to my cabin. I was a little surprised to find she was already finished in the cleansing unit and dressed. She was at the small table with two attached chairs, which had a complicated mechanism to unfold out of the wall. I even struggled with it. I’d have to ask her the secret to getting it to deploy.

She was leaning her head to one side and combing her mane with her fingers. Looking up, she smiled at me and straightened in her chair as I crossed the room to set the tray on the table.

“You need to sample everything," I explained, sitting across from her.

“I'll try,” she said with a chuckle, tucking her wet hair behind her ears. “You have a really nice cleansing unit. I’m so used to sonic cleansers that it was a novelty to bathe with hot water.”

“Next time I could join you,” I said. “I’d enjoy bathing you.”

Her smile brightened. “Sure. I’d like that too. I’ll bring my favorite washes with me next time.”

I was confused for a moment, then remembered she thought we were still at the station.

“You need to eat,” I encouraged, desperate for her to have a full belly before finding out the truth.

My Ident chimed with a message moments before the ship shook slightly. Opal froze, her hand halfway to her mouth.

“What was that?”

There was no point in pretending any longer. “The engines are probably transitioning to a long burn cycle.”

Her hand shook, and the food she was holding dropped back down onto the tray.

“Long burn cycle?” she repeated, her voice barely above a whisper. “Ships only do that when they're outside the final retrieval boundary."

“Yes,” I said. “That's correct.”

Her eyes went wide and she stumbled to her feet. “No. Please tell me you didn't leave the station with me onboard."

I remained seated. “I saved you.”