Rene, who through exhaustion and preoccupation with the challenges before them, had zoned out, snapped back into focus. Julia was already on her feet busying herself pulling open cupboards and looking for food. The soldier held up his hands in a placating gesture and Julia’s face froze in an expression that was hard to read. Fear of giving offense mixed with a desire to show her appreciation as well as an almost hysterical relief that her daughter, whom she must have imagined drowned, was alive. Rene knew that she needed to give them something, anything, to show her appreciation but he didn’t want her to waste food when they weren’t hungry and there might be lean times ahead where she and her family might go hungry.

“We’ve eaten ma’am,” he said deferentially, Julia’s face fell but he quickly added.

“Though if you have caffeine…”  The woman’s face brightened immediately and she seized a metal coffee pot from a rack and began to label a generous serving of black powder into the top of the unit before filling it with water from a nearby jug. Rene guess that the water systems were out along with the main power grid.

“Princess Solae has the best food on her ship!” Damaris piped up helpfully. Rene thought the girl was acting a little more childlike now that she was back with her mother, not that he begrudged her the chance to let her guard down and feel safe. It was an odd thing for him to see, his family had not been a warm one and the interactions he were seeing here were like watching a holodrama to him, so alien were they from his own experiences. 

“Are you really, you know, from the capital?” Julia asked as she began to pour cream into the coffee. It had a slight acrid odor to it, Rene presumed that it was from a gene splice, perhaps with a local fungus or coral, rather than Old Earth plants. He presumed by the capital she was referring to the planets main star port on the southern continent. 

“We are from off world actually,” Solae said judiciously, sticking, as agreed, as close to the truth as possible.

“Our ship is low on fuel,” Rene added, taking the proffered cup of coffee and passing it to Solae before receiving a second one for himself. He sipped at it, it was bitter and unsweetened but not unpleasant.

“We had to make an emergency landing,” he explained. Julia nodded along, though it was clear she had no real notion of just how risky making such a landing had been.

“We don’t get a lot of offworlders here,” Julia said, in what was evidently an understatement. From what little data had been available on the Bonaventure, coral that was collected in the hinterlands was transhipped to the capital before being stabilized with chemicals and put onto bulk transports which took the stuff to the higher technology worlds which handled the processing. That arrangement wasn’t necessarily the most efficient, but as it provided a convenient way of collecting local and Imperial taxes, and as it made the bureaucrats who handled the trade wealthy from salaries and kickbacks, it was the arrangement that was in place. Rene wondered if his father had ever looked closely at the various fiefs which were the basis of his own wealth.

“You are of course welcome to stay with us, we have a guest room,” Julia said with a gesture towards a small doorway. THrough the portal Rene could see a tidy room in which various half completed craft projects were laid out on a table and across a bed. Solae opened her mouth to reply when there was a sudden roar. Rene’s hand darted into the duffel bag and grabbed for his concealed pistol but Solae caught his wrist beneath the table, pinning him in place. A tall, rather heavy set man, dressed in a heavy duty rain coat which was filthy with mud, rushed into the house and scooped up Damaris in his arms, tears starting freely from his eyes.

“Papa! Papa!” Damaris was squealing as the man whirled her around, crushing her to him in a fierce hug. Julia’s eyes were wet with emotion too as she witnessed the reunion. The big man was shaking with emotion, hardly able to contain himself. Rene let go of the pistol and after a moment Solae released his hand, which he withdrew from the bag and placed on the table top. If either Julia or her husband had noticed the by play they gave no sign. Rene gave Solae an apologetic look. It was possible to be wound so tight that your only reaction to the unxpected was to fly to action. That was certainly what the Marine Corp taught, but it would hardly have made their interaction with the locals any smoother if he had pulled a gun on an emotional reunion.

“How.. how is this possible?” the man stammered, holding Damaris in his arms and turning grateful eyes on the two newcomers.