“Case! Thank the Blessed, you’re alive!”

I was frozen. My mouth was hanging open, though I didn’t realize it. For four months (and afterwards on rough days) I had grieved the loss of the face on the huge control room monitor. “How…?” I asked, my voice thick with emotion.

Helga turned to look at me, then looked back at Nathan. “That’s good enough for me. One moment, Mr. Brooks.”

The monitor cut to a screen showing graphs and other data about Brock Station as the feed was disconnected. I began to make a noise of protest before Helga cut me off. “Just hang on. So you know this guy. Haven’t seen him since before your explosive exit, right?”

I stuttered, trying to find my footing. My mind was struggling to comprehend what this all meant, and my right eye was brimming with tears. “Y-Yeah…”

“Who was he?” Helga asked.

“He… he was my friend,” I replied, starting to find my voice again. I rubbed at my eye. “A guard at the station I worked on.”

I heard Helga swear under her breath. “I hoped he was lying.”

“What’s going on?” I asked, getting increasingly anxious. “Why is he here? What did he say?”

Helga raised her hands in a calming gesture. “One thing at a time,” she said. “According to him, hes been tasked to come talk you into coming back to Ulthea.”

My stomach dropped, and my face followed suit. Helga frowned in sympathy. “Yeah. Like I said, I was really hoping he was lying about knowing you. Could have really simplified things for us.”

After all this time. And why Nate, of all people? It felt like a huge cosmic joke. Where had he been? Did they actually retrain him? I didn’t know how long the process took, but rumors said that the Department of Cooperation usually kept people for at least a year. “Did he say anything else?” I asked.

“Just that you were friends, and it’s only him aboard that ship,” Helga said. “He wanted to make sure you were actually here, so he didn’t want to say anything else until I proved that you were.”

I nodded, but I didn’t say anything. Helga sighed. “So, what do you wanna do? I can tell him to leave, you don’t have to hear him out. I can’t imagine anything good is waiting for you back home.”

“What– um..” I started, unsure of myself. Deep breath. “What if I tried to convince him to stay?” 

Helga’s face was blank. “To stay,” she said. 

Now I was very unsure of myself, but something in my mind told me I owed Nate something, anything. “I mean, would you want an Ulthean guard?” I asked. “He was good at his job, I think.”

“I don’t–” Helga started, then sighed in a huff. “There is a lot that needs to happen before I think about even putting that man in the canteen kitchen as a dishwasher.”

“What? Why?” I asked.

“Because even you have to realize that this is suspicious as all hell,” Helga said. “Come on, I know you’re smart, don’t pretend you don’t see what’s happening here.”

I gripped my horns and groaned. “Okay, yes! But he was my friend! I can keep an eye on him, and you said Brock Station is secure.”

“Uh huh. And you’ll feed him and take him for walks every day?” Helga asked.

The joke went entirely over my head, while at the same time completely short circuiting my thoughts. At this point I was getting overwhelmed, which shortened my temper considerably. “What? Can you speak clearly?”

Helga dismissed it with a wave. “Nothing. I don’t think you’ve thought this through, is what I’m saying.”

“But you took me in,” I protested. “Why wouldn’t he work out the same way?”

“Because he’s a soldier,” Helga said. “I don’t take Ulthean soldiers. They get conditioned worse than civilians.”

“I know him,” I insisted. “We were friends for two whole years before we got caught, do you know how rare that is? He didn’t like Ulthea any more than I did. Please, let him in.”

Helga was quiet as she studied my face, then looked back at the front monitor as if Nate’s face was still there. Her mouth was a thin line, showing how unsure she was. Then she swore under her breath again. “Wanderer, guide my damn stupid idiot steps. Fine. I trusted you with Benni, and it’s been working out, but you have even less control over something like Mr. Brooks there, so I’m exercising my authority. If he agrees to come aboard, he’s going to be under serious watch. Regardless of how much he disliked Ulthea, he’s still here on behalf of it, which means he was either a liar or he’s compromised. I can’t trust him.”

It was my turn to fall silent. Her words hurt, but I couldn’t deny what she was saying. At this point, we just had to hear him out. “Okay, that’s fair,” I muttered.

Helga nodded, then turned to one of the comm techs. “Kort, bring our friend back up on screen.”

The monitor flickered, and then Nate’s face was there again, larger than life. He looked like he was reading something off to the side, but perked up when he saw the connection had been restored. 

“Mr. Brooks,” Helga started. “Casey has agreed to hear you out, if you come aboard.”

Nate beamed, and my stomach tightened again when I realized how much had I missed that smile. “Really?” he said.

“On the condition that you submit to a search of your person and ship, along with a 24/7 security detail.” Helga added. “Relations between Brock Station and Ulthea have been strained, as of late. Is that alright with you?”

Nate’s enthusiasm dimmed a bit. “Not… entirely,” he said. “But if that’s what I have to do, then it’s worth it.”

Helga nodded curtly. “Okay. You’ll be dock 314. The traffic controllers will take you from here, and we’ll join you in the dock shortly.”

“Copy,” Nate responded. “Dock 314. Anything else, Ma’am?”

“Just don’t hit my station on the way in,” Helga growled, before terminating the connection. “Kort, please guide Mr. Brooks to his dock. Casey, with me.”

Helga brushed past. I hurried to catch up and got in the elevator after her. It was a tense and silent ride down to the third ring, made a bit more tense by the forced proximity of Helga’s bulk. The fact that she had given Nate the dock next to mine wasn’t lost on me. Was this a concession to me, or a way to keep us closer together for easier surveillance? 

The doors opened, and we made our way to dock 314. As we walked, Helga spoke into her communicator. “Val, it’s Helga. Need a two man team at 314, ASAP. …Are they good with smugglers? …Alright, thanks. Double time them, would you? Helga out.”

I glanced up at her, doing my best to keep pace. Reading Helga’s mood wasn’t difficult. When she was upset, you knew it, and I was beginning to think I had pushed too hard this time. “Helga?” I ventured.

She glanced down at me, then looked back at where she was going. “Yes?”

“This was too much, right? I shouldn’t have asked you to do this.” I twisted at my left horn, unsure if I should even be asking.

“No, you probably shouldn’t have, and I shouldn’t have agreed,” Helga said, sounding more thoughtful than angry. “Call it a weakness for strays. That’s all you’re getting.”

I nodded, not entirely satisfied, but I took the hint. We finished our walk in silence. When we got to 314, the security detail was waiting for us. They made an interesting pair, and I saw they had embroidered name tags like mine, identifying them as Officers Whirrel and Fizzet. Whirrel was a large, brown furred Ursid, who nodded at Helga. Fizzet was a Goglin, a very short, Ursid like species with red fur and long striped tails. I usually saw them on the Engineering Team, but this one was dressed like a guard, and saluted enthusiastically. 

“Who’s the perp, Sir?” Officer Fizzet asked.

“No perp,” Helga said. “We have an Ulthean gunship visiting. You two will be searching it for anything outside of the ordinary, assisted by Miss Black, here.” 

The officers’ eyes turned to me, and I looked up at Helga in shock. She looked cooly back at me. “You just spent half a year reassembling one of these,” she said. “Meaning, you know all the tricks Ulthea jammed into them. I’ll be keeping an eye on your friend in the meantime.”

I frowned, upset at being put on the spot, but I nodded anyway. “Fine. I get it.”

“I sure hope so,” Helga said as she opened the dock bulkhead. “Because if this goes bad, we’re both screwed.”