When I got back to Vulka, I immediately laid everything out. Why Helga had called me to the control room, who Nate was, why he was here, how I was feeling about the sudden change. He listened quietly, and graciously let me finish my rambling, confused explanation.

Once I finished, after ten minutes of backtracking and stuttering, Vulka raised a hand to the bottom of his faceplate and rubbed it like a chin, thinking. I was sitting at our workbench, but Vulka was casually pacing on the other side.

“So what I am understanding,” he said, “is that I now have competition for Casey’s Best Friend.”

“Vulkaaa!” I whined, failing to hide my small amusement. “This is serious! I can’t go back, but I can’t let him go back either, they’re going to kill him or brainwash him or worse!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Vulka said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Little joke to lighten mood. We can figure this out. Surely it won’t be hard to convince him to stay?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “He seems really convinced that he can get me to come back.”

“This ‘Blessed Lawsek’ has strong hold on him,” Vulka mused.

“They have a strong hold on everyone in Ulthea,” I said, miserably. “Cooperation is the strongest pillar that holds up our society, whether it’s voluntary or forced. The Department of Cooperation makes sure of that.”

Vulka wrapped his long arms around himself idly. They each made two full rotations before stopping. “I’m surprised Helga allowed Nathan to report back.”

“Oh, Blessed’s sake, Helga…” I said, burying my head in my hands. “I didn’t tell you what happened with her.”

“With reaction like that, it must be good,” Vulka joked.

“I yelled at her,” I said. “I actually yelled at her for a whole minute.”

Vulka made a quiet static hiss. “Oh dear,” he said.

“I even asked what her problem was!” I wailed, smacking my head on the workbench. “She just kept needling Nate, I couldn’t stop myself…”

Vulka very gently lifted my head from the bench with both hands. “Helga knows better than to fire good worker over something like that. I don’t know what her ‘problem’ could be, but it wouldn’t be surprising to hear she’s had run-ins with Ulthean soldiers. She could still warm up to this Nate of yours.”

“But what do I do?” I asked. “She looked really pissed.”

“Do?” Vulka repeated. “Do nothing. You could go and apologize, but if she was that mad and didn’t fire you right there, then you may have been right. She will come to you, I’m sure.”

Somehow, I found a way to frown harder. Leaning back in my chair and crossing my arms, I said, “I don’t like this. It feels like there’s an asteroid on an intercept with my head.”

“That’s just wrench Listher will throw at us for not keeping to our posted time table,” Vulka said. “Come, working will take your mind off things.”

Vulka had set the repair schedule while I was away. With the rest of our shift, we removed the damaged armor plating and any components that our earlier diagnostics flagged. For a little while, it almost felt like I was back home. Working with my hands, nothing mattering but the job that was in front of me. It was almost meditative. Almost. Of course, I couldn’t help where my thoughts ran. In between consideration of what tools to use and what steps came next, my mind would interject with my little worries. Helga was mad at me. Nate was in trouble. I couldn’t get ten minutes of relaxing work. 

Vulka could tell, I was sure. I was moody and silent most of the time we were working, only speaking when spoken to, or giving token chuckles to his jokes. Anxiety about hurting his feelings just added to my moodiness. My thoughts simply wouldn’t let up. By the time we finished for the day, I felt incredibly worn down.

“Could I meet this mysterious Nate?” Vulka asked.

We were gathering our things and preparing to lock up for the day. I stopped in the middle of organizing our tool chest, unsure of how to answer him. Helga had a good reason for assigning guards that couldn’t be identified, but she seemed okay to let Fizzet and Whirrel be seen.

“I think that would be okay,” I said slowly, carefully placing my cutting torch in its case. “He’s probably going to be here for a little while. We could eat dinner together? If you don’t mind me having to translate what you say.”

“Ah yes,” Vulka said, waggling a finger. “I’m sure singular language was also done in the noble pursuit of ‘cooperation’.”

I snorted and shook my head. “Just keep that talk away from Nate. I’d like to try to ease him in to the idea that Ulthea might not be all that great. The shocks that I got weren’t too pleasant.”

“Shock is necessary!” Vulka exclaimed. He shut his tool chest and locked it decisively. “Drip feed is slow enough to allow doubt to overwhelm.”

“Shock for me was nearly dying,” I said, locking my own chest. “Twice. I’d rather not go that far.”

“You never know,” Vulka said. “Let’s not count it out just yet.”

I punched him in the arm, laughing.

Nervous as I was on the walk to Nate’s dock, I was also excited. Vulka had been a good friend to me these past months. With luck, the two would get along. I also hoped that I was right about easing Nate into understanding about Ulthea. It might take a while, but it would be worth it to keep him safe.

Arriving at Nate’s dock, we found his security detail waiting outside, standing to either side of the door. 

“Are we allowed to visit?” I asked.

The guard on the left nodded. “We’ll just follow you in.”

“Such special treatment!” Vulka said. “One for each of us!”

“Just standard procedure,” the other guard said, opening the door. “We still don’t know how dangerous he is.”

“He’s–” I started, then gave up. With a sigh, I stepped into the dock, Vulka right behind me.

We were about halfway to Nate’s ship when the side airlock opened. Nate was standing there, now wearing more comfortable looking clothes. A dark grey military jacket, displaying his name and rank, over a white tee, along with black tactical pants. He waved, calling us over. I waved back, but Vulka put both his arms up and wiggled them exuberantly. 

“Hellooooo friend Nathan! Welcome to Brock Station!” he shouted.

Nate just about jumped out of his skin when the loud burst of static emanated from Vulka’s suit. From where we were, I could tell he looked about ready to shut the door and run, my presence being the only thing keeping him where he was. I grabbed one of Vulka’s arms and pulled them down.

“He can’t understand you!” I reminded Vulka. “Cool it with the yelling!”

“Is that what that was?” Nate called, voice weak.

“Excuse me for having manners,” Vulka said.

“He was just welcoming you to Brock Station,” I sighed. “This is Vulka. Vulka, Nate.”

Nate stepped out of the airlock and gingerly shook Vulka’s noodly hand. “Nice to meet you, I hope.”

“Torque wrench,” Vulka babbled. “Positive electrons go up!”

I smacked the side of Vulka’s helmet, making him burst out in laughter. “Can you quit it?” I growled. “It’s not his fault he can’t understand you.”

“Okay! Okay, I’ll stop,” Vulka said. I didn’t believe it for a second.

“What’s going on?” Nate asked, starting to look put out.

“My friend,” I started, putting emphasis on the second word, “though I’m starting to reconsider, is messing with you. He’s just saying gibberish. Vulka, please don’t make me regret this.”

“I said I’ll stop!” Vulka repeated, though there was still a hint of mischief in his tone.

“He says he’ll stop,” I translated, glaring as hard as I could.

“Um, thanks?” Nate said, uncertain. “Case, I get that I’m not very welcome here, but you’re not trying to get rid of me too, are you?”

“Oops,” said Vulka.

“What? No!” I said, grabbing his arm. “I wouldn’t be asking you to stay if I wanted you to leave.”

“I’m sorry,” Vulka said. “I get excited. Language barrier makes jokes easier to misinterpret.”

“He said he’s sorry,” I said, “and that he gets excited. The language barrier makes jokes easier to misinterpret. I promise, he’s been a really good friend to me.”

“Oh, well, thank you,” Nate said, still sounding uncertain. “Vulka, you can understand me, right? The inter… whatever?”

Vulka gave him a simple thumbs up in confirmation. I nodded.

“Thank you for being Casey’s friend,” Nate said. “Coming here has been so overwhelming for me, I can’t imagine how it must have been for her.”

The compliment seemed to bolster Vulka, causing him to puff out his chest. “Well!” he said. “Perhaps we will become good friends ourselves!”

I translated to Nate, who looked just as pleased as Vulka, then changed my grip on Nate’s arm, wrapping my own arms around it. “Do you want to come eat dinner with us? We were gonna head to the canteen, if that’s allowed.”

One of the guards nodded. “I think Sir Urthstripe said something like, ‘let him try some real food for once in his life’.”

Vulka made some approximation of a snort, but I kept my composure. Nate looked at me. “What did they say?”

“They said it’s fine!” I replied quickly. “The food here is a bit different, but you get used to it.”

Nate thought for a second, then nodded. “Might as well try something new,” he said.

Vulka tossed another thumbs up, which Nate returned. The three of us – or, five, including the guards – made our way to the door. To my relief, Nate was finally starting to look comfortable. It could be my arms around his, or maybe just finding someone else friendly to talk to, even if it was through an interpreter. When the door opened, however, I felt him tense up again. Looking up, I saw Helga standing there, her expression serious. The guards threw crisp salutes, which she returned. Then her eyes turned to me.

“Casey, I need to talk to you,” she said. “Everyone else can wait in the hall.”

I tightened my grip on Nate’s arm. This is what I had been dreading all day. Everyone filed out of the dock, except for Nate and I. Helga sighed.

“This isn’t an ‘I’m mad at you’ conversation, Casey,” she said. “It’s just private.”

Reluctantly, I let Nate go. He left with an apologetic look, and Helga stepped in, closing the door behind her.

“Alright,” Helga began. “Let me just lead with an apology. I was being way too aggressive with your friend. Even if he is some double agent bent on blowing up my station, I’m not gonna win any allies by being a prick.”

“He’s not–” I started, but Helga held up a hand, and I shut up again. It would probably be easier to hear her out than to constantly fight every point, and I was tired.

“I’ve told you about my own Ulthean soldier friend,” she continued. “Just had too many rough memories surface, seeing your buddy show up on that screen earlier. So, I’m sorry. I’m not removing his detail, but I’ll try to be less angry about him all the time.”

I hesitated before I spoke. An apology was the last thing I expected from her, so it took a second to get my thoughts in order. All my planned speeches went right out the airlock, so I just took a breath and said, “Thank you. I’m sorry for yelling.”

Helga snorted, but this time as a cut off laugh. “I deserved it, but maybe come to my office next time you want to yell at me,” she said. “Doesn’t look great in front of the troops. I was really more surprised that you had it in you.”

“It… takes a lot,” I said, a little embarrassed. “Getting mad like that, I can’t do it for myself.”

“Hmm,” Helga said, rubbing her chin. “So I’ve noticed. Either way, I have one more thing for you.”

She produced a palm-sized device, with a small screen that covered half of one of the sides. There were a few buttons under the screen that said ‘ACTIVE’ ‘PASSIVE’ and ‘POWER’. I took it when offered, turning it over in my hands. The other side was featureless, save for a little white logo of ten interlocking circles.

“Some people call it an ‘Outer-Lingua’,” Helga said. “They’re rare, so I’m gonna want it back, but a run of these was produced during the introduction of the Intra-Lingua. Of course, most people were wary about putting previously unknown tech into their heads, so this was a way to sort of trial it. I was thinking Nate could use it.”

“You mean my buddy?” I joked.

“Watch it, ‘Case’,” Helga shot back, eyes twinkling. “But yes, I figured if you were really going to try to convince him to stay, being able to talk to my little crew might help.”

This was such a departure from what I had expected that I felt my eye well with tears. I took a deep breath and smiled. “Thank you, again. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it a lot.”

Helga smiled back. “Yeah, yeah,” she said. “Go on and eat, just keep an eye on him.”

I nodded and hurried for the door. Just before I opened it, at the edge of hearing, I heard Helga mutter under her breath.

“Please don’t be another Jack…”