Itxaro had never had her mind read before, but she expected... More, somehow.

There was no sensation of another consciousness probing her mind, simply an intrusive thought that came to Itxaro in her own internal monologue. Hell, it was even in Spanish. But the subtlety also scared her. She had no way of knowing how deep he was delving into her memory, no idea what he was doing to her, and ultimately, Itxaro had no means of defense against him. She realized she was totally at this S'tor's mercy, so it was best to play along. Itxaro really hoped he wasn't reading into her political predictions of a few hours ago, otherwise things might turn south very quickly. She shifted her weight from one foot to another uneasily.

Gar'Tan went through the introductions of all the aliens present; she'd known their names before, but not the titles each carried. [i]Seeker of the Order of Sages. Castigator for the Order of Magisters.[/i] Itxaro didn't know exactly what they meant, but they certainly sounded lofty. Even though she wasn't speaking directly to them, the engineer felt like she knew them better now. A barrier had been broken.

[color=fff200]"I'm Dr. Itxaro Ibarra. It's so nice to finally speak with you all,"[/color] Itxaro began excitedly in Spanish. [color=fff200]"I'm sorry about our first meeting. We were a little afraid, and we've been through a lot to get here. Plus, you're all, ehm... Much larger than us."[/color] 

Mercifully, Vigdis arrived, giving Itxaro some measure of reassurance. Her mind was still buzzing frantically, halfway between panic and exhilaration, but she managed to blurt out a few words to the engineer, switching to English. [color=fff200]"Vigdis, this is our new friend Gar'Tan. He can read minds. He's reading my mind right now, and probably yours."[/color] A shiver ran through her body. [color=fff200]"We're going to speak out loud, and he's going to, ehhh, translate for us?"[/color] Itxaro looked to Gar'Tan for confirmation.

A voice came over her comms. Ezra. Itxaro wanted to scream a litany of obscenities at him, but she managed an overly sweet, [color=fff200]"We're fine Ezra, just speaking with a new arrival. They're very polite."[/color] She'd been fiddling with a loose cigarette in her pocket, and now she was grinding it into powder. 

Gar'Tan communicated a message from Kerchek, offering medical assistance. Itxaro wondered just how helpful an alien would be during surgery on human organs, but then she recalled that many, if not all, of these natives had some form of magic. So there was that. [color=fff200]"Thank you, Kerchek, for your generous offer. I'll speak to our ship's doctor to see what you can do to help."[/color] It was a textbook example of kicking the can down the road, but she thought it was an oratory masterstroke for someone teetering on the edge of hyperventilating. 

[color=fff200]"I guess we'd better get on the same wavelength. Right, Vigdis?"[/color] She turned to her fellow engineer and gave a slight smile, her mouth tight.

With that, Itxaro launched into a bit of a nervous tirade. 

[color=fff200]"I don't know how much got through with my little light show before, so I'll just run through it again,"[/color] she started, blowing a strand of white hair from her face. [color=fff200]"We're called humans. We come from a planet we call Earth. We're the only sentient species on our planet, and for a long time we thought we were the only ones anywhere. Guess you guys don't have that question, right?"[/color] She laughed nervously. [color=fff200]"Anyways, so yeah, um, then these aliens showed up, they're called the Yenge. They taught us how to fly to different planets that are very far away. I was pretty close to figuring that out anyways though." [/color]

Itxaro paused and took a breath. She was rambling, and had to catch herself. Speaking to a lecture hall of 20-something university students didn't set her nerves off, but there was something just [i]slightly[/i] unnerving about her current crowd. She let Gar'Tan translate, then continued. That the S'tor's translations might be flawed didn't even enter the equation for her. 

[color=fff200]"We built this ship to leave our planet and explore. We call it the Jotunheim. I don't know what that means either. Problem is, we were attacked by other humans who wanted the ship, those [i]puntas[/i] fucked us up good, and then we crashed here. On Kanth-Aremek. Now, we're just trying to get home."[/color] The words all spilled out in one quick stream, and Itxaro inhaled deeply. She paused, thinking of what to say next. What [i]she[/i] wanted to know differed greatly from the rest of the crew, and she knew it, so Itxaro tried to ask something pertinent. She still wanted to know if there was a socialist utopia somewhere on Kanth-Aremek, but figured it could wait for another time.

[color=fff200]"So! Now we want to ask you some things. Mind if I take notes?"[/color] Itxaro produced her datapad, ready to type any answers that Gar'Tan sent through the ether into her brain. Her anxiety was now being edged out by curiosity, and she felt her body relaxing ever so slightly. [color=fff200]"First order of business is... And Vigdis, feel free to chime in, Silbermine and his friends. What's the deal there? I'm guessing you don't trust them, and you think we shouldn't either. It seems like everything is resolved though, right? Also, how far is this city, Lenkik, and who runs it? I'd like to see it, I think." [/color]

She directed her questions to the group, but was particularly interested in Shirik and Nellara's response, who had both seemed ready to come to blows with the Glenn. J'eon, too, had been standoffish during the encounter. She thought the second question was innocent enough, but hoped it would provide them with some pertinent political background. 

[color=fff200]"Oh, and Shirik, don't think just because Gar'Tan is here that you're off the hook. I still want to learn your language,"[/color] Itxaro said something approaching a real smile this time, not the strained rictus from before.