Sam’s head hurt. It hurt more than he had ever felt before, and that was saying a lot. Hell, it hurt more than that time he got blackout drunk with that chick he once knew. He gingerly opened his eyes, expecting to see the roof of his bedroom above him, but instead saw steel grey bulkheads. He groaned quietly as he sat up and looked around himself, confused. He appeared to be laying on a medical bed of some kind, and judging by the similar beds in the room, he assumed it was an infirmary. He heard what appeared to be quite the heated argument happening in the hallway outside the room, but was wholly unable to make out what was going on.

Just when he was debating getting up to see what was going on, the door opened and in walked two people. The first was Feo, wearing a black and silver jacket, and her normal pants underneath; the other was a small rabbit-like creature, brown furred with white speckles, and wearing a similar attire, but with blue instead of silver. As he stared, he noticed that her ears were quite a bit longer than he expected, and were hanging at least half way down her back.

“Ah, good, you’re awake,” Feo began, walking over to him, “Don’t be alarmed, after the attack I managed to slip back here with you unconscious. Now that they know that you were helping me, I’m afraid they may go after you too, though for an entirely different reason…”

She sighed quietly and pulled up a chair next to the bed, “One of the highest laws among all intergalactic races,” she began, “Is to never, ever, interfere with a pre-spacefaring species. Since you have yet to develop the technology to leave your solar system, we still class you Terrans as that. But since you know, now, that there are other civilisations out there, even if no-one would believe you, I worry that they would still come after you in an attempt to keep everything contained.”

The soft sound of a throat being cleared made them both turn around in surprise and look at the small rabbit, who had her arms crossed and was tapping her foot impatiently. “Right, sorry Riani,” Feo said sheepishly, before handing Sam what looked like a small earpiece, “Here, this is a translator, it’ll let you understand everyone, and vice versa. Now, I need to go for a bit, when you’re on your feet, come find me, okay?”. At that, Feo stood up and turned tail, striding past the rabbit who shot her a bemused look as she left the room.

Sam tucked the small device into his ear and heard it beep once it was seated properly. “Good, about time you’re able to hear us!” came a soft, slightly annoyed voice almost as soon as he had dropped his hands. He glanced up at the rabbit who had grabbed some kind of medical scanner and was approaching him again, “S-sorry…” he stammered, “I guess this is all still really new to me…”

She raised the device and passed it over his head, quite strongly reminding him of those tricorders from Star Trek. He chuckled softly to himself as he waited for the rabbit to speak again, but when it seemed like she wouldn’t be forthcoming, he decided that maybe he should take matters into his own hands. “So, how’s the prognosis, doc?” he asked jokingly, trying to think of anything to diffuse the uneasy silence that had taken hold.

She pulled away the device and tucked it into a pocket in her jacket, before grabbing a small pen-shaped object from nearby, “Not good, I’m afraid,” she replied, the barest hint of mirth in her voice, “I’m afraid it’s terminal.”. At his startled glance, she rolled her eyes, “I’m kidding, dear. We’re a good several thousand years ahead of you, at least in medical technology, there’s not much we can’t deal with. As it stands, you’ve got a minor concussion. Normally, there’d be some medication we could give you that would help deal with it quicker, but since you’re a Terran, there’s no idea how you would react to it. I’m afraid it’s the old ‘wait and let it heal by itself’ treatment for you. And, at least, from the medical documents we downloaded, you should be fine!”

She paused for a moment, consulting the holographic display next to the bed, “I have to say, other than the Prev, not many other species could almost literally walk off a head injury the way you Terrans apparently can, it’s quite impressive!”

Sam raised an eyebrow in confusion, he had no idea what a Prev was, but he gave up and just smiled at her, “Thanks, you’ve been a real help, Doctor…?”

She chuckled softly, “Riani. Doctor Riani Aliamo, at your service!” she replied, sitting next to him by the bed, “I’m sure you’ve got about a hundred questions, huh? Ol’ Feo never does a good job of explaining things. Can’t really blame her for that though, given how long she’s been around… She forgets that not everyone has her capacity for memory.”

Sam nodded a little, “Yeah… I guess first and foremost, who, or what, is she?”

Riani shrugged a little, “All I really know is that she’s old… Like, really old… I don’t know dates, so don’t bother asking. I was never the one to look after her, Raalic, our Chief Engineer, handled that. But I know that she’s a remnant from the great Machine Wars centuries ago. She was an Aeterian soldier, but more than that, I’m not really at liberty to say. You could ask her yourself, but there’s no guarantee she’ll tell you, and if she does, it may not be the whole truth…”

Sam nodded again thoughtfully and was quiet for a moment, before looking at the rabbit, “What about you?” he asked, “And what is this place?”

“Well, I’m an Ilfemyoo. Our home planet is on the other side of the galaxy from here. And I’ve been working with Feo for… Gosh, I don’t know how long now, close to ten of your years, I guess. As for where we are, we’re currently in the medical bay of the Gladius, not too far from where Feo carried you from, now that I think about it…”

Sam fell quiet for a moment, before Riani jumped off the bed, “Well, I don’t really see much reason to keep you here any longer, you’re free to go. I think Feo said she was gunna be in Engineering if you wanted to chase her up,”

Sam did the same, only now noticing just how short the rabbit was compared to him. He looked at the door, before back at Riani, “Err, how do I get there from here?” he asked.

She flashed him a smile, “Turn left, take the elevator at the end of the hall down to the Engineering Deck, then right in front of you. You can’t miss it!” she replied.

He nodded and proceeded to walk toward the door, a little surprised that it opened the instant he got close. He stepped out into the corridor and looked either direction. It was the same steel grey as the medical bay, and was at a height that was relatively comfortable to walk at, even if the ceiling was a tad low. White strip lights glowed along the corners of the corridor at regular intervals, ensuring that everything was adequately lit. He blinked a few times, still not entirely sure this wasn’t a dream, and started walking to the left.

Sam passed several doors before he got to the elevator Riani told him about, still not having seen another soul aboard this strange vessel. There didn’t seem to be any call button, but just as he was contemplating going back and asking for help, the doors opened. He stepped in and, as before, looked for a button to press. Without warning, the elevator started descending rapidly, before sliding to a smooth stop. The doors opened, revealing a slightly startled, white furred feline. He quickly stepped out, allowing the feline to get in. She turned around and spoke, likely to the elevator more than to him, “Command deck.”

At that, the doors closed, leaving Sam alone again. He turned around and spotted the door Riani mentioned and hurried over. As before, it opened automatically a scant moment before he arrived, revealing a room far larger than he had been expecting. Immediately in front of him, but on either side of the walkway, were banks of terminals with glowing, holographic projections attended to by many different people. Directly in front of him, several metres away, was a thick cylindrical wall with several small windows set into it at regular points. Around each of them were a number of glowing yellow holograms which seemed to be measuring whatever was inside the chamber. In front of the one closest to him, Feo was standing, gazing inwards.

As Sam glanced around, a realisation struck him: there were far more races inhabiting the galaxy than he expected. He saw what he assumed to be a feline-like race, and a canine one too. He saw one that was covered in thick armour plates, while another was a lithe lizard, and another that was reptilian, maybe, but looked unlike anything he had ever seen. As if sensing his confusion, Feo turned around and spotted him, “Riani released you already?” she asked, surprised, as Sam hurried over to join her by the window.

Sam shrugged nonchalantly, “It was only a concussion. She apparently wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to use your drugs on me, since I’m so different from you or something.”

Feo raised an eyebrow, “Just a concussion? Most races would be incapacitated by one for several days, and would face permanent damage… But you’re fine?”

Sam shrugged again, “I mean, a bit of a headache, sure, but I’ll be fine. How long was I out?”

“About three hours. Damn, your species is resilient!” she remarked, impressed.

They were quiet for a moment, before Sam glanced past Feo and into the window, “What’s in there?” he asked, curious.

Feo sighed quietly, “Well, it used to be our drive core, but we had to dump it when we were attacked. So right now, it’s a vacuum…”

Sam tilted his head, “So, how does it work? Your interstellar drive, I mean. Is it a faster than light thing? Or maybe space folding?” he asked eagerly.

Before Feo could reply, a loud, gruff voice from behind Sam did that for her, “Sah this is the Terran yeh picked up, eh Feo?” it said, startling him.

He spun around to address the newcomer, but was surprised when he didn’t see anyone, at least until he glanced down. The closest thing that Sam could compare Raalic to was a cross between a Schnauzer and a Golden Retriever, but if the ears were shorter and if it walked on its hind legs, and it took everything Sam had to not coo at him at how adorable he looked. Especially since he only really came up to his hip.

“He seems reasonably intelligent, at least,” Raalic commented, “And ter answer yer question, it varies from race ter race, and often ship ter ship. The Gladius uses dark matter ter help punch the ship into a region we call The Verge. Here, the laws ah physics as everyone usually understands them are different, and we’re able to go significantly faster and across a shorter distance before being able ter pop back in. But a lot ah larger ships are able ter generate artificial wormholes thanks ter the sheer size ah their power cores, and can travel quite a lot faster. A lot like yer space folding theory, ah guess…”

Sam nodded, from what he understood that seemed to make sense. Feo beside him nodded, “Sam, this is Raalic. He’s the one responsible for keeping this ship running, and at the end of the day, is also responsible for patching me up if I get damaged.”

At that, Raalic poked Feo in the thigh, “On that. Yer not invincible, ye know. If that blaster had hit just ah little bit more ter the left, yeh wouldn’t be here ter talk about it!” he admonished, frowning at her sternly.

“Yeah, well, there was only so much I could do, you know? I had to take a risk, and it paid off,” she replied, with the air of someone who had gone through a similar conversation many, many times before, “And before you say it, yes, I know that I won’t always be so lucky. But what’s happened is done, there’s no sense arguing about it anymore.”

Raalic sighed, “Yer right, ah know… Ah just worry about yeh. Yeh far too reckless, and ah just know it’s gunna come back ter bite yeh…” he replied, a hint of sadness able to be heard in his voice. At least, Sam thought it was sadness.

Feo patted him lightly on the shoulder, “I’ll be fine, okay?” she said quietly, smiling slightly at him, before turning to the entrance and beckoning Sam to follow her.

“I should probably give you the grand tour, huh?” she asked as they left Engineering, “If you’re gunna be a part of the crew, it would help. And since you don’t have a neural lace, it’s the easiest way to familiarise yourself with the ship.”

Sam nodded, making a mental note to inquire about these neural laces at some other point, and set off after her.