Slowly, Princess Aurelia awoke to find herself staring at
an unfamiliar ceiling. She recognized the sterile smell and soft lighting,
however: she was in a hospital. She found herself wondering whether it was as
advanced or well-equipped as the ones on her home planet. Then it occurred to
her that the people of this race would not be familiar with her people's
biology. Any medical treatments they might attempt could potentially have
disastrous results. On the other hand, she was, at least, alive.
She wasn't sure what exactly had happened. Upon entering
the planet's atmosphere, something had sheared on her ship's right wing, causing
it to slowly disintegrate, and in turn sending the ship hurtling out of
control. It had been a miracle that she'd been able to steer it away from the
launch pad, and the masses of Vodi gathered there, or else things would have
ended in catastrophe, both for this planet and for her own.
As she lay there, reflecting on this, a Vodi nurse pulled
back the curtain surrounding her bed, presumably to check on her. Upon
realizing the princess was awake, she jerked back with a squeal. "It's
awake!" she exclaimed.
"Stay back!" said a voice from behind the
nurse. "Men! With me."
The nurse rolled back out of the cubicle, and in rolled
three Vodi males. At the front of them was General Pereira, a stern look on his
face. The other two men carried primitive-looking projectile weapons, probably
magazine-based. So, she was to be treated as a threat, then. Perhaps
understandable: she had, after all, very nearly killed a lot of people.
The curtain was drawn back around the cubicle, shielding
the four of them from view. General Pereira moved around to Aurelia's bedside,
examining her curiously. Finally, he spoke. "Can you understand," he
said slowly, "what I am saying to you?"
Aurelia nodded. "Yes. I have a translation
device."
"I see," said the general, his spherical body
rocking back and forth in what may have been this species' version of a nod.
"So… do you realize the trouble you caused today? The damage you caused?
The damage you so nearly
caused?"
"Yes," said Aurelia, closing her eyes
shamefully. "I am so dreadfully sorry. I came to this planet as a
representative of my people, and I have made a terrible first impression upon
you."
"You can say that again," said General Pereira
fiercely. "Today was to be the most glorious day in our race's history,
and then you arrived and ruined everything."
"I am so very sorry," said Princess Aurelia.
"If there's any way I can make it up to you-"
"You can start by telling us who, or rather, what you are," said General Pereira.
"Where did you come from? Why did you come here? What do you want from
us?"
As the barrage of questions came forth, Aurelia began to
realize something that only made her feel even worse. This planet had never received an
extraterrestrial visitor before. She was the first person from any other planet
to ever make contact here. And she had made a complete and utter mess of it. I'm such an idiot, she thought. Well, the only thing I can do now is try and
salvage things. Perhaps I can still get what I came here for.
"My name is Princess Aurelia Celarius Corsis,"
she began. "I am a Zetan, from the planet Zeta-4, several star systems
away. I have come here to beg for your assistance. My people are dying of a
terrible disease, and although our best scientists have formulated a cure, it
requires materials that cannot be found on our world, the first of which is
located here. I know you and your people must hate me after what happened
today, but please… this is all I will
ask of you. Once I have what I need, I will leave you and your people in peace."
"That might be rather difficult," said General
Pereira, after a moment's pause.
"What do you-" It was at this point that
Aurelia remembered just how violently she had crashed, not to mention that the
entire wing of her craft had been shorn off even before that. Her craft was
heavily damaged at best, and irreparable at worst. And if it was irreparable,
then she could never leave. She could never go back. Her people would think she
had died, or abandoned them, and the vicious plague would never be cured.
It was too much for Aurelia to take. Shutting her eyes,
she turned away and began to sob quietly into the pillow. Crying was not
becoming of a princess, but Aurelia was too distraught to care what was
expected of her at that moment. She was also too distraught to remember that
Zetan bodily fluids were rather acidic, an evolutionary adaptation designed to
kill anything that might try and eat them. As her tears dripped onto the
pillow, they began to dissolve it, the soft down hissing as it was eaten away
by the caustic fluid.
"What's she doing?" asked one of the guards,
puzzled. "Is it some kind of attack?" He started to raise his weapon,
but General Pereira put his hand on the barrel and forced it back down again.
"I don't think so," said General Pereira.
"I've served in the army for 30 years and I've never seen anyone look that
sad while attacking. This must simply be a trait of her species." Pereira
moved closer to Aurelia's bedside, his expression suddenly more compassionate.
"While your actions today were almost
unforgivable," he said to her, "I can sympathize with your plight. We
Vodi have faced many threats to our own existence, and yet we persevere.
However, I am not the one in charge of making the decision over whether we
should help you. I shall tell the Emperor of our land what you have told me,
and he will tell the other Emperors, and together they will decide how to
proceed. They are compassionate men, and they may well decide to help you.
However, the fact remains that your… craft, or whatever it is… was heavily
damaged in the crash. Our finest engineers are studying it presently, but its
technology appears to be far beyond our understanding. Even if we can somehow
figure out how to repair it, you will be stranded here until it is fixed."
He hesitated, then added, "I'm sorry."
Aurelia wiped her eyes, looking back at the general.
"It's okay," she said. "Thank you. You are an excellent
ambassador for your people."
"Thank you," said General Pereira. "You
will most likely be discharged from the hospital soon, as your biology is so
foreign to us that we have no idea how to treat you, or whether you even need
treatment. Your external injuries, however, have been patched up…. with some
difficulty, I might add, though I cannot fault you for the biology of your
people."
Aurelia nodded. It probably wasn't worth asking just how
much chaos her acidic blood had caused, so she decided to ask a different
question. "What will become of me then? Once I have been discharged, I
mean."
"For the time being, you will remain confined to the
military facility in which you currently reside," said General Pereira.
"Once we've confirmed that you pose no threat to our planet, you'll be
transferred elsewhere, at the Emperors' discretion."
Aurelia had a sudden thought. "Where is my
ship?" she asked.
"Its wreckage has been brought here to be
analyzed," said General Pereira. "As I said before, though, its
technology is beyond anything we have ever seen before." General Pereira
seemed to then be struck by the same thought as Aurelia. "But then… you
most likely understand it, don't you? Since it's your ship and all."
"I do," said Princess Aurelia, "for the
most part. I lack the technical skill to fix it myself, but perhaps I can
assist your engineers in understanding its inner workings. If it can be
repaired, then I can leave once I have obtained the materials I seek, and as a token
of my gratitude - and my heartfelt apologies - you may keep any of the
technology you may discover in the process of repairing it. It is the least I
could do to make up for everything."
General Pereira seemed most intrigued by this idea, as
all generals would when presented with the prospect of advanced technology. "Very
well then," he said. "I will relay everything you have told me to the
Emperor, and if all goes as planned, he will agree to this deal. I have just
one last question, however. Exactly what material is it that you require from
us?"
"I do not know exactly," said Aurelia, shaking
her head. "All I know is its chemical composition. Once I'm allowed back
to my ship, I can retrieve the formula from its hard drive for you."
"Alright then," said General Pereira.
"That will be all for now. I shall leave you in peace, Princess of
Zeta-4." The general motioned to his two bodyguards, and the three of them
left the cubicle, leaving Princess Aurelia alone with her thoughts.
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