His eyes shift to the upper-right corner for a moment, letting out a sharp exhale through his nostrils, creating the only noise in the silent atmosphere that surrounds them. His claws clench the armrests before focusing back at her with an empathetic expression. At least that’s what it looks like on your face, what it meant to the alien could’ve been wildly different. But it was almost surprising to hear his voice soften and be seemingly calmer in response. “I believe I understand your concerns in these matters. If you wish to return to the docking bay, I can let you go to your ship and document your inventory during my own procedures. I’ll have you know that you’re welcome to shares of my food, it provides many of the same nutrients that you require and shouldn’t be harmful for your digestive system or other bodily functions. But I implore that you wait until we land on a safe planet before sending out those probes. Because there’s a lot of complicated problems we’ll run into if you send them out now, and it will be wasted efforts. And I’m afraid if we spend too much time discussing this while remaining adrift in this zone, we’ll just be damning ourselves from finding our solution.”

It was a vague warning indeed, but one that felt calculated. A decision to choose those words weren’t made lightly or from lack of experience. Pathfinders didn’t reach such magnificent heights by failing to judge people’s intentions, and his worry about the probes seemed genuine enough. So she was presented with a conundrum that he waited for her agreement to head to her ship, so that he could quickly settle in a location where the rest could be determined later. But you’d likely need to wait to ask many pertinent queries, like how he knew what resources your body needs if he’d never heard of your species. It didn’t sound like a lie to mislead or blindly reassure. You could kind of get the vibe that he had a solid conviction in his plan and that doubting him wouldn’t be favored. So the question would be if she’d be better off challenging that assertion and questioning the exact reasoning behind his hesitations. Or agreeing and waiting for him to prove himself as a useful ally to stick around in this strange dimension you found yourself in...