The bulkhead opened, and there he was. Every impulse screamed at me to rush into Nate’s arms, but overwhelming caution drowned out the noise. He watched us approach with a faint smile, standing next to another Heartland-class gunship. The callsign on its tail identified it as the UAN Hope. There was something else, though. The dock had been sealed completely. Instead of the vacuum field that usually kept space at bay while allowing those inside to see outside, a massive blast door had been closed, preventing escape. Helga wasn’t taking chances.

Nate hadn’t changed at all. Tall, broad, and handsome, with a close-cut crop of black hair on his head. He wore the same grey UAN Guard uniform he always did, with black shells of armor attached to his arms, chest, and legs. His helmet was tucked under his arm as he stood at attention, and his striped tail swung back and forth anxiously. 

By the time we got within a few arm’s lengths away, my impulses won out. I sprinted away from Helga, her grasping hand just barely missing my shoulder, and ran full force into Nate, wrapping my arms around him tight enough to make my arms hurt. Mashing my face into a hard polymetal breastplate wasn’t the most comfortable thing either, but when he returned the gesture, I felt safer than I had in a long while.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” he said, resting his head on mine.

“What happened?” I asked, pulling away to look up at him. “Why are– I mean, how–”

There was a pointed cough from behind me. We both looked to see Helga, arms crossed, foot tapping in clear frustration. I took a step back from Nate and gripped my left horn in embarrassment. Thankfully, Nate had the good sense to at least look apologetic.

“Are we done?” Helga asked. She was speaking Ulthean again.

“Yes Ma’am. Sorry Ma’am,” Nate replied.

“Good,” Helga said. “And I don’t want to hear you call me Ma’am again. It’s ‘yes, Sir’, got it?”

Nate stared. “But, aren’t you… uh, like Casey?”

Helga and I looked at each other. “Yes and no, Nate,” I said. “Everyone’s a bit different, don’t get caught up in it.”

“Um, right,” Nate said. He looked up at Helga. “You wanted to search the ship?”

“Kind of, you and I are going to chat while these three take a look,” Helga said, gesturing to myself and the officers. “Last chance to declare any stowaways.”

“Wait, Casey too?” Nate asked.

“She knows these ships, my officers don’t,” Helga said. “Including any secret holds. So, like I said, last chance. I hope I don’t need to spell out what happens if they don’t come back.”

Nate turned to me with an overwhelmed expression, then back to Helga. I watched him with a pitying look. Being the subject of a full-on Helga interrogation wasn’t fun. “There’s no one else,” Nate said, pointing a thumb at the Hope. “These things practically fly themselves, they didn’t need to send anyone else with me.”

“If you say so,” Helga said, sounding unconvinced. She turned to the two officers and I. “Better get at it, then. Stay safe.”

I touched Nate’s arm before heading towards the main airlock of the Hope. “It’ll be fine, she’s nicer than she comes off,” I whispered.

“When does she stop coming off?” Nate whispered desperately.

“Get moving, Casey,” Helga growled. Her patience was clearly reaching the end of its tether, so I hustled over to where Fizzet and Whirrel were waiting. Their disparate sizes made them a little comical to look at.

Officer Fizzet threw another salute. “You’re the specialist, then?”

“I guess?” I said. “I thought you guys were the specialists.”

“Only when it comes to smuggling,” Whirrel rumbled. “Not Ulthean ships. You can help us get it done faster.”

“Right, okay…” I said. Deep breath. In… and out. “We better get this over with.”

The three of us entered the Hope, officers first. On my recommendation, Whirrel and Fizzet wore their helmets with their blast shields down, in order to obscure their faces. I didn’t want them to be targeted for stepping onto a confidential vessel. The hallway was well lit, and quiet. Compared to the Benevolence, it was squeaky clean. I glanced at the surveillance camera in the ceiling of a t-junction. The little black bubble gave nothing away.

“Attention to anyone on this vessel!” Whirrel boomed. “The UAN Hope is on lockdown. Any action taken against us will be repaid by the rest of Brock Station. If you have them, lay down your arms and show yourselves!”

We waited, but after half a minute, there still wasn’t a sound. “How many rooms?” Officer Fizzet asked.

I thought for a moment. Cockpit, medbay, canteen, bunk, captain’s quarters, engine room, AI core. “Seven. And the cargo bay.”

Fizzet gave a low whistle. “Big ship,” she observed. “We’ll lead the way. Stick together. If you think there could be something in a room, speak up. Any questions?”

I didn’t have any, so we got to work. Searching the Hope made me nervous. Not because there could be someone hiding in wait, or that there was some kind of trap for us, but because it was so similar to the Benevolence, barring two main differences. One, it hadn’t gone through a catastrophic flux drive malfunction, so the walls and other fixtures were in much better condition. The second difference was far more significant in my mind, however. Benni wasn’t here.

Every time I said something, I half expected its voice to pipe in through the Hope’s intercom. I knew that every Ulthean ship had the same AI installed, but I thanked the Blessed that this one was still leashed. This AI would also sound exactly like Benni, which would definitely just freak me out. Some part of me wondered if the same code would set it free, but there was no way to know what it would do if I did. Benni was a special circumstance, having similar goals to mine.

Struggling with the ethical and philosophical problems this highlighted in my head, I almost didn’t notice the little hand waving in front of my face at intervals. I blinked, losing my concentration. “Huh?”

Officer Fizzet had been jumping up and down, trying to get my attention. We were inside the AI core, and I had been staring at the hexagonal column in the center of the room. “We’re done here,” she said, slightly out of breath. “Just down to the cargo bay!”

“Uh, right,” I said. “Sorry about that.”

“What were you thinking about?” Fizzet asked. “Something we should know?”

“Oh, nothing important,” I said. “Just thinking of another friend.”

“Well, let’s get going, then,” Fizzet replied, shepherding me out of the AI core. “I don’t think anyone likes being on this ship.”

In the end, we didn’t find anything. There were a few hidden compartments throughout the Hope that I remembered being on the Benevolence, but they were all empty. No secret soldiers, no hidden bombs, not even a cache of weapons. When we stepped out of the Hope to report our findings, I saw that we had been joined by two more station guards, this time without name tags and with full face masks. They flanked Nate, who was standing awkwardly next to Helga. Nathan gave a little wave when he saw me, and I waved back.

“So?” Helga asked, looking at Fizzet and Whirrel. 

“It’s clean,” Officer Whirrel said. “Like it just came off the assembly line.”

Helga harrumphed. “Fine. Thats one good boy point for our Mr. Brooks. Let’s see if it keeps up.”

“Can I talk to him now?” I asked, upset at how adversarial Helga was being. “I’d really appreciate some more context about what’s going on before we treat my friend like a mass murderer.”

“He’s an Ulthean soldier,” Helga shot back. “It’s more likely than not.”

“Actually, I’ve only ever been a station guard,” Nate offered timidly. “I haven’t even shot at anything more than a practice target.”

“Yeah?” Helga said, whirling around to face him. “Were they shaped like running civilians?”

“That’s enough!” I shouted, taking a step towards Helga. Everyone turned to me in surprise. My face felt hot, and I could feel myself trembling with a mixture of anger and fear. Blessed help me, I was yelling at my boss. She could take any number of things away from me for this, but I was fed up. “I know what the Ulthean Navy has done to this galaxy, but you can’t pin all that on one person! He didn’t even choose to join, that’s just what the aptitude tests gave him! What’s your problem?!”

Helga and I glared at each other. I wasn’t used to being truly mad at anyone, ever. It was exhausting. When she spoke again, her voice was quiet. She gestured to the two new guards. “They have their orders. Do what you want. Fizzet, Whirrel, with me.”

With that, she turned and left, the other two in tow. I watched her go with my mouth hanging dumbly open. That was it? No response? I would have been arrested immediately for that in Ulthea. It felt like my brain was vibrating.

I looked at Nate, who shrugged. “She said they had to escort me everywhere and not to talk to me. I can’t really understand what they’re saying, though.”

“Can I still talk to him?” I asked the guard on Nate’s left. My voice felt weak.

“Yes, Ma’am,” she responded. “We can’t leave his side, though. This is for your safety and his, as well as the safety of the station.”

I took a deep breath, and let it out, trying to relax my nerves. “Okay. Okay.”

“Wait, you can understand them?” Nate asked.

“Yes,” I said, feeling numb. “Long story.”

Nate stepped up and pulled me into a hug. I didn’t move, but I pressed my head into his chest plate. “It’s alright, Casey,” he said. “Thanks for standing up for me, but you didn’t have to.”

I gripped the cloth on the sides of his armored suit tightly. “It wasn’t fair. I did have to,” I said.

“What about your job?” he asked. “She said you work for her.”

“Don’t care,” I said. At this point I was too frazzled to think, but Nate felt real, grounding.

“You wanted to talk, right?” he asked. “Is there somewhere you’d like to go?”

“My dock,” I said, then took another shaky breath. “Next to this one.”

“Okay,” Nate said, guiding me towards the dock entry. “Let’s go. Then you can ask those five million questions you’ve got.”

I snorted, weakly. “Five million and one.”