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Narmuna and Lexarit spoke at once.

“No, she wouldn't have done that.”

“She has no reason to run away.”

Even though both men were quick to assure me, I couldn't help the fear growing inside me like an unrelenting, thorned weed.

What if she didn’t feel for me what I felt for her?

“You know how humans can make friends with everyone,” Lexarit said. “She was probably eager to tell one of her Massoc friends that she was fine. She wouldn't want anyone to worry about her.”

“That's true,” I agreed, feeling a little better. Perhaps she hadn't been running from me, but to someone else. This station had been her home for solars; she probably felt perfectly safe here and didn't think she needed us to keep her that way.

There was a loud conversation in the next room. We were in one of only two cells in the small brig they had on the station. They’d brought us in through a front administrative area, down a short hallway, and then shoved us into this cage.

We couldn't see the front area, but there were no doors so we heard everything. So far we'd heard a lot of conversation. Right now they were talking about transporting us to a station with a fully staffed justice service.

It would be so much worse if we were transferred away from our Opal and our ship.

More horrible scenarios filled my head.

Before I could work myself up into a panic, there was a commotion in the front area. Narmuna and Lexarit stood up and joined me at the front of the cell, curious about what was going on.

Then I heard Opal's voice. Relief hit me so hard that, for a moment, my legs felt weak.

“She's here,” Lexarit said. “Thank the ancestors.”

His relief made me think he hadn't been as confident as he pretended.

We all went quiet to listen. Opal kept repeating that it was all a misunderstanding, but the Massoc continued to insist that we couldn’t simply be released.

A Massoc walked down the hall, but there was no sign of Opal yet, and I couldn't hear her talking any longer.

“I'm going to allow Soul Opal to come back here,” the Massoc said. “If you threaten her in any way, I will increase the charges to include intimidation and implied threat of violence.”

“We understand,” Narmuna said before I could snarl at the Massoc.

The Massoc eyed us for a moment, then turned and left. When he walked back, Opal was at his side. Instead of leaving, he leaned against a wall, watching us.

Opal rushed to the bars but stopped when the Massoc made a warning sound. “Remember our agreement, Soul Opal,” he said.

“Right, sorry, Soul Eegruf,” she said, stopping several arms’ lengths away from the front of the cell. There was still an argument going on in the front area, but I ignored it. Opal had all my attention.

“I'm so sorry about this,” Opal said, hugging her arms around herself. “This is my fault. I shouldn't have run off before making everyone understand that you guys didn't do anything wrong.”

“Do they not believe you?” Narmuna asked. I couldn't think of words while she was so close, but I couldn’t touch her.

“It's complicated,” she said. “They think I've been so traumatized that I'm not thinking straight. I have to take a bunch of tests to prove I'm not being manipulated."

“Then they'll release us?” Lexarit asked.

“Yes, after you pay a hefty fine,” a new voice said. We all looked past Opal to see a heavily pregnant human walk into our area.

We all sounded rattles of surprise, but our noises stopped when the Massoc banged the wall.

“Stop that!” he snapped.

The new human came to a stop next to Opal and put her arm around Opal's shoulder.