"I stole your case of blue grass."
He gestured to his home. "To feed your family. That blue grass will feed your people for a long time. Those who we fought were there because they wanted to steal from us to become richer. That I do not tolerate."
He popped the door fully off its track.
"Let me help you," the boy said.
"Hold this," he said and handed another part to the kid.
The kid almost dropped it.
"Watch out," Jedriek said.
"It's heavier than it looked," the kid replied.
"Most things in this galaxy are."
They remained quiet, mostly working to put the door back together. The rest of the family watched. Quietly, they observed. The little ones kept creeping closer, leaning around the corner to look at Jedriek.
Jedriek didn't say anything, but he found their curiosity amusing.
After a bit, the boy spoke again. "What's your name?"
"Jedriek. Yours?"
"Rine."
"I'm Princess Nini," the littlest girl said from the doorway.
Jedriek treated this little one like a proper princess, and he bowed. "Princess."
She giggled and ran inside.
They got the door put back on, and he did a few extra internal programming tweaks to better protect the family.
"That should keep you safe," Jedriek said. "The lock should work more securely now as well."
"Thank you," Rine replied. "Next time, don't chase me so hard. I almost ran into a couple of walls."
"That will be a couple standard months. I am likely to forget you by then." He winked and leaned over to Rine. "If you see me, follow me. I might lose a carton of supplies when I walk."
The boy blinked. Then nodded very fast.
Jedriek walked away.
* * *
Jedriek foundHarbin in another sector.
All the blue grass sold. Supplies being transported to their ship.
"It seems you got it done without me," Jedriek said.
"We lost a crate of blue grass."
"Happens," Jedriek said.
Harbin nodded. "It happens." He looked around the waiting area. "Were you still wanting to go up to the pleasure women's area? You had mentioned your Craving had been getting loud lately."
