Fleeing in Badly-dubbed Terror (June 1, evening)

[Princess Ciela]

Ciela packed lightly: just one small bag holding a couple of outfits and the one picture of herself with Kai that she had. She lightly touched the freckled face in the picture with her fingertips.

"Oh, Kai, why did you have to enter that stupid competition?" she asked the image.

She didn't really blame Kai, though. She blamed her parents for carrying on that old, barbaric tradition and herself for not preventing Kai's execution somehow. She could have refused to let the race happen. She could have protested the results. She could have told her parents that they were in love, and maybe Kai's life would have been spared at the last minute. Or she and Kai could have done what she was about to do right now; they could have run away. Yes, her family would come looking. She knew that. But she was a master of escaping and evading her guards. It wouldn't have been easy, but as long as they kept moving they would have been all right. . . wouldn't they?

With a sigh, she tucked the little blue plush bird Kai had won her at the fair into her bag and closed it. It was too late to do anything to help her lover now. What Ciela was about to do, she did only for herself. Slinging the bag over her shoulder, she slipped out of the palace as quickly and quietly as she could. She wasn't even sure where she was going to end up; she just wanted to go.

By the time she was running low on fuel in the ship she had "borrowed" to make her escape, she found herself somewhere in the vicinity of Neptune. Not far enough away for her liking, but she had no other choice than to set down there, at least long enough to refuel or find some other mode of transportation.

[Princess Nanshe]

Nanshe was so far from home, but it was empowering. She was so far, in fact, that she was approaching Neso- the farthest inhabited moon in Neptunian territory. It was a tiny moon with an equally tiny population, the latter making sense due to its harsh environment. The orbit was so peculiar that its weather was tumultuous, and even now she could see the powerful bursts of lightning from a thick cloud cover. This visit would be thrilling.

With her personal Skate-class cruiser nearing entry, her attendants were reciting every required warning to assure the crew’s safety. Even though she’d heard it a million times before, it filled her with excitement. To her it was a friendly reminder that she was visiting another new place, or perhaps visiting again to see things she hadn’t seen before.

The cruiser itself was shaped like a smooth, wide diamond, and it was astonishingly flat when viewed from the front. Its strange dimensions made it difficult to tell if it was approaching or leaving, especially because it was impossible to tell if it had any windows from a distance. This was due to the pale, iridescent silver of the outer body also being used to coat the windows, which in turn shielded the crew and passengers from harmful cosmic radiation. As it descended nearer Neso, its flat bottom faced the moon’s surface.

Nanshe sat far back in the cabin, dressed in a vivid cobalt cowl-necked, full-body robe, which had a glossy fish-scale pattern viewable only when the light hit it a certain way. Iridescent black fish scale shoulder pads stuck out from the folds of her neckline, and a simple string of pearls sat at the base of her neck. Her face gems were irregular sizes and darker than normal, in midnight blue, cobalt, and smoky grey. A mottled russet-and-cream cone shell hair clip sat further back on her head, and hooked ivory earrings suspended oblong silver fish scales behind and in front of her earlobes. Her lips bore a vivid cobalt gloss with a slight transparency, tinting it with the natural pink of her lips. She was dressed relatively simply for this visit, all things considered.

While she tried to restrain her anticipation and not think about how fab she was, she noticed another craft nearing the moon. She knew Neso only had two spacefaring crafts, which were both mass-transit Rorqual-class ships. This one didn’t look like a Neptunian model at all. What was going on?

“Do you see?” Nanshe leapt from her seat and hurried to the front, pointing her finger. “Right there.”

“We do, your majesty.” One of the pilots briefly looked to her. “Our scanners picked it up some time ago. Were it immediately hostile, we would know by now.”

Another attendant gently grasped Nanshe’s shoulder. “Princess, please return to your seat. We are entering Neso soon. It is dangerous for you to remain standing.”

Nanshe gently slid one foot forward, bracing her stance. She wasn’t going to let someone pull her back so soon. Nanshe narrowed her eyes, speaking like she expected the distant visitor to respond. “Just who are you?”

“Trust us.” Another of the pilots paused from turning levers and pressing buttons. “We are watching it as closely as you are.”

[Princess Ciela]

The ship's sensors picked up the other craft before Ciela saw it with her own eyes through the windshield. It was a bit bigger than the "moon hopper" she flew (which, she knew, was why she would have to set down so soon, because the tiny craft was never meant for interplanetary travel. She cursed the fact she hadn't been able to make off with anything bigger.) and seemed to have a fairly flat profile. Ship aficionado that she was, Ciela could tell it was Neptunian (no big surprise there, considering she was entering Neptunian space) and of a rare type, but that was all she could get from it with the primitive sensors in her quaint little spacecraft. Still, she gave a little whistle, impressed to run up on such a rare sight.

"'Moon Hopper' Puck. . . uh, 1524 to unidentified Skate," she called, "what's a beauty like you doing flying this far out?" Of course, they could ask the very same of her. Clearing her throat a little, she added, "I'm running on empty over here. I don't suppose I could bother you for a few energy cells? Just enough to get me to Pluto?"

[Princess Nanshe]

It sounded like the reply came from a teenage girl. What was she doing piloting her own craft? And what, exactly, did Pluto have to offer her? Maybe it was some kind of foolish joyride? Oh, so many questions.

Those questions surprised Nanshe the most, though. Were she able to grow less reliant on her attendants, perhaps she could have a craft of her own- provided she fluttered her eyelashes enough at her dads to convince them, that is. Youthful fantasizing aside, her thick lips tightened into an eager smile.

“Classified.” Such was the curt reply the foremost pilot returned. Why should royal goofing off affairs be her concern? “And as for your request, we have already begun our landing.”

Maybe the girl in the Moon Hopper didn’t know otherwise, but it would be very difficult for a Skate like theirs to pull out of the moon’s gravity at that point. It wasn’t impossible, but it wouldn’t be worth it just for some hitchhiker to make their way through Neptunian territory and into to the far reaches of the solar system.

“If you wish to do this transaction, please make your descent as well.”

[Princess Ciela]

Ciela was a bit surprised when the pilot of the other ship replied so abruptly that their reason for being out that far was classified. Although, to be fair, she wouldn't have explained who she was and what she was doing out, either, if asked. Then they said they had already begun their descent and that if she wanted the fuel cells she would have to land as well, and she cursed under her breath. Would they know who she was if they saw her? What if they found out the ship was stolen? Surely they would call the police if they knew, and then not only would Ciela's escape be foiled, but she would have disgraced her family as well! She would probably be put under such tight guard that she would never be able to sneak away again, and in her mind, that was not a good thing in the least. But what choice did she have? If she didn't stop and refuel she'd never make it to Pluto or beyond. What was even out there beyond Pluto, and how would she ever find out in this tiny ship? She'd probably have to take a bigger ship of some sort to have any hope of making it. Would she find anything like that on this moon, or on Pluto? She wasn't sure, and not for the first time, she found herself questioning whether this was in fact a good idea.

"All right," she said to the Skate, "I'm going in."

Then she called down to the spaceport on the moon to request permission to land. This would probably be the most traffic this rinkadink moon had in one day like, ever, Ciela thought with a smirk as she started her descent.

To be honest, deep water kind of creeped her out, and a shudder ran through her as she went in for the underwater landing. The water was quickly pumped out of the landing bay and she tried to look as calm and confident as possible on exiting the vehicle. She removed her space helmet and ran a hand through her shaggy light brown hair. Aside from the helmet she'd found lying on the seat, she didn't look at all prepared to go into space; rather than a space suit, she was wearing a navy blue tank top and matching capri pants, (shocking and scandalous!) both with a deep red racing stripe, and a pair of sandals that laced up around her lower calves with red ribbons. Despite her impressive height, her age was made obvious by her voice and the youthful appearance of her face. She wondered whether the pilots of the other ship would even take her seriously; the voice that had replied on the comm was older and much more abrupt. Maybe military? But why would the military be flying a ship like that? Whose ship was this, anyway?

[Princess Nanshe]

Ciela had better prepare for rain, because Neso had plenty of it. Thankfully Neptunian ships were usually outfitted with countermeasures for passing through tumultuous storm clouds. As well, Nanshe’s robe was made of a more water-resistant material than normal for that very reason. Could the same be said for the other party? Who knew?

A quartet of royal guards were the first to exit the craft in a square formation, wearing armor that was unmistakably Neptunian. Pale silver-teal headdresses colored like Mirek’s hair sat atop their heads, curved in the back like ramshorn shells, with billowing veils issuing from beneath the exposed face all the way below the chest. Ocean blue domes were positioned over the ears, with long, fin-like ocean-blue ornaments dangling from them, while similarly-colored metal rims were spaced horizontally every so often on the curved surface of the helmet. Large, domed pauldrons colored like black pearls covered the shoulders, while a viridian-bordered silver-teal tabard hung from these and the veil of the helmet, emblazoned with the Neptune emblem on both sides of the open front. Underneath, one could see the lightweight, flexible iridescent armor underneath, with vivid ocean blue bands around the joints. They wielded long tridents in the hand facing outward, for symmetry’s sake.

Behind them were Nanshe’s attendants, clad in similar garb. The headwear remained the same, but there was a conspicuous lack of armor. Instead, silver-teal robes billowed from under the tabard- similarly to the princess’ garb, strategically-placed slits would allow them to extend their arms if needed. Those two mainly stuck to the stairs leading to the craft’s entrance, flanking the young princess.

Catching a whiff of damp air upon exiting the craft, Nanshe raised the back end of its cowl and covered her head like a hood. Like the attendants before her, her billowing outerwear was upswept by the strong winds- she felt like it made her look like a blue blob flopping around in the distance. As usual, she was resigned to the back while her guards spoke for her. Damn if she wasn’t curious, though.

The guards were cautious at the young visitor, but not quite on edge. If they were supposed to know her identity on site, every one of them overlooked it.

“State your business. Royal property does not easily leave our possession.” The foremost guard to the visitor’s right spoke first. Even for something as simple as fuel cells, they still needed to keep strict track of it. Blame that one on the Royal Pains, AKA the king and king consort.

[Princess Ciela]

Ciela knew she was in trouble the moment she saw the four armed guards step out of the slender ship. This was obviously someone important. If she had known that, she might not have stopped them to ask for help. And still the ship's inhabitants kept on coming. There were people clad similarly to the guards except in robes-- some sort of priests or royal somebodies? She wished she had paid a little more attention during her lessons, so maybe she would have some better idea what was going on. The last person to emerge from the ship was pretty much completely concealed by some sort of hooded garment, and it was hard to know whom or even what gender that person was, aside from probably being the someone important to whom the ship belonged. Truthfully it just looked like some big blue blob had some out, like some kind of squid or jellyfish. Well, she had heard the stories that the Neptunians were all merpeople. . . She stifled a laugh at the thought of fish people and squid people living on the Neptunian moons. These people may have been strangely dressed (to her, she amended, probably not to their own people) but they did seem to be bipeds like her own kind. They weren't nearly as strange as what the stories she'd heard as a child had claimed.

When they called the fuel cells royal property, Ciela was only a little surprised. Did that mean the blue blob person back there was of the Neptunian royal family? She tried to go over in her mind what she had learned about them. Weren't there two kings ruling there currently? Something about that tiny blob person didn't read "king" to her, but who knew what lurked underneath?

In the meantime, she went over the possible stories she could tell them in her mind. It seemed like they didn't recognise her as the Uranian princess, at least not so far. Should she come out and tell them that's who she was, or would they just send her back to her family? Maybe she should try to tell them she was just some random girl off on a joyride? But then, why would they give her any fuel if they felt she was just a nobody off on some frivolous little trip? Complicating things was the dampness of the moon she had landed on, the fact she wasn't wearing a lot, and that what she did have on wasn't even remotely waterproof. She was already damp and shivering, with her shaggy brown hair quickly becoming plastered to her head.

So, understandably, she was looking pretty pathetic as she requested, "Please. . . asylum."

[Princess Nanshe]

Well, things just got a little bit more serious. Now the guards and attendants, while exchanging concerned looks, had to determine how to safely go about handling this young woman. One false step could place their dear princess in danger.

One of the guards moved behind the young brunette and grabbed her by the shoulders. There was no outward indication of dangerous items on her person, but just to be sure one of the attendants approached waved a device that looked like a magnifying lens without the glass up and down the young lady’s front. It was a scanner for hazardous materials, which yielded no results.

That in mind, the young woman was brought into the ship and directly to a containment cell down a long, mirrored hallway- a sacred feature to the Neptunians, who viewed such highly reflective surfaces as revealing to the inner person. Fitting for one placed into contemplative captivity. The domed room was sealed with a transparent energy-shield door.

“Your wait will be brief.” There was little explanation, but the guard made it clear the young lady had no reason to worry for the time being. Similarly, there was no clear indication that the girl’s craft was similarly scanned and locked away in the cargo bay.

Nanshe was flitting around in the background the entire time, and even when it was all through, she peered around the corner of the hallway, nearer to where she should have sat. Her curiosity was too strong to let this one go.

The guards and attendants, after making sure the princess was seated and the captive was stowed away, powered up the ship again. With liftoff procedures completed, the next step was diving precautions. Indeed, they were heading underwater. The ship’s design meant water pressure would pose little problem for the hull, even if those inside felt a familiar atmospheric change. It was everyday life for them, causing them to ignore how it may affect their visitor.

Veering through blue depths and rocky pillars, the ship approached what looked like a glowing, milky blue pearl on a rocky outcropping. The young brunette was no doubt flooded with unfamiliar sights, since the upper rim of her room displayed the front view from the ship- a feature they purposely left on, as their passenger was anything but hostile. The only problem was, the routine nature of this journey meant the crew didn’t explain much about what she would be seeing.

[Princess Ciela]

Perhaps if they had known who she was, the guards wouldn't have treated her the way they did, but Ciela didn't stop them to tell them. She quietly accepted the search and allowed herself to be led down a long, curiously mirrored hallway. It was a good thing they were leading her along, since the mirrors made it hard to know what was what. She tried not to look at them as she passed, but it was pretty much unavoidable when they were so plentiful. She looked like a drowned rat.

The guards put her into a small room that was similarly mirrored, and put up a force field to close it off. One of them told her that her wait would be brief, though he didn't tell her what she would be waiting for.

"I-I don't care much what happens to the ship, but my bag. . . it's got the only things that really matter to me inside," she told them before they could leave. "Can you make sure it's safe?"

If she wasn't being arrested for anything, they should be willing to grant her that one simple request, right?

Meanwhile, the blue blob person kept peering at her from the other end of the hallway, only now the blob had taken down the hood and was more obviously a girl. The Neptunian princess? Was there a Neptunian princess? Of course there was a Neptunian princess. All the planets had princesses, didn't they? There would be no Sailor Senshi to guard the planets without them. Suddenly Ciela felt a little guilty that, if she succeeded at running away, she would be leaving her world without its senshi. However, that assumed she was going to be able to successfully run away without being either sent home or tracked down by the guards who were surely looking for her by now. She wondered whether these Neptunians would really give her asylum on their world or not. So far they didn't even know why she was seeking asylum, and she went over in her mind the things she might say. She could say the people who killed her love were after her, which wouldn't be an outright lie, just not the entire truth. How much detail would they ask for, anyway? But when she saw that the blue blob was the princess, her immediate thought was that the Neptunian princess could be the key to everything, if she could just get the girl's attention. So the next time she caught the girl peeking around the corner, she gave a small smile and wave.

Then the ship took off. . . and dove in deep. Ciela felt the pressure change and, on a screen overhead, she could actually see the water with its unfamiliar creatures swimming through, the pillars of rock they had to go between, a giant, glowing round thing on an outcropping towards which they seemed to be headed. She'd never seen anything like it, at least not in real life.

[Princess Nanshe]

Nanshe was fascinated by their new passenger, but remained her usual quiet self. However, her usual quiet self was often overtaken by her curious self- something especially clear in this case. With her repeated gaze down the hallway to the holding cell, eventually she drew the attention of the other young girl. Perhaps she regretted looking over so much, as she quickly darted away when she was met with a friendly wave. Nanshe was soon red in the face, and her attendants didn’t dare ask why.

With her shyness overtaking her, her eyes were drawn instead to the knapsack their passenger was carrying with her. Nanshe overheard that the contents were important, so she was tempted to look inside.

Being that it was unsecured, Nanshe was soon obliged. The trek under the tumultuous waves was met with some turbulence, or at least enough to shuffle around everything unsecured- including the bag. Everything towards the surface of the sack tumbled out, and Nanshe’s eyes widened as a little stuffed blue bird rolled in front of her. One of her attendants departed from her seat to retrieve the bag, but Nanshe had already stowed the bird away in her robe just for a better look at it later. She didn’t have to tell her attendants everything, did she?

With the ship stabilizing, they entered the glowing pearl-like structure. It was a docking station for travelers, mainly those leaving Neptunian space. Inside were a number of strange Neptunian ships built to endure undersea pressure as well as space travel, including one of Neso’s massive Rorqual cruisers meant to safely carry hundreds if not thousands of passengers. No doubt it added more to the strange and wondrous sites their passenger was seeing.

With them docking among the common folks’ ships, all aboard the royal ship disembarked their seats. Nanshe stayed in the background like always, while the attendant who grabbed the brunette’s bag was the first to fetch their visitor at her cell. “We’ve landed. Please be ready for a few questions, as well.”

[Princess Ciela]

Ciela was disappointed when, rather than coming over to engage her, the Neptunian princess ran off when she offered her little wave.

"Hey," she called out, but when the other girl didn't look back she cursed under her breath.

How was she supposed to make her plea to the other young princess if she couldn't even get the girl to talk to her?

A quick, sudden jolt of turbulence nearly knocked her off balance, but Ciela recovered quickly enough and when next she looked up at the screen above they were entering a round, glowing, pearl-like structure. She was enough of a spaceship aficionado to know what some of the sportier ones were, but the large transports weren't her style-- it would be like being a fan of city buses-- so she was much less familiar with those.

Some of the guards and attendants came to get her once they'd landed, and she saw that one of them was carrying her bag. It was all she could do not to reach for it, but she was sure if she did they would take her down right then and there. As it was, they told her she should be ready to answer some (probably very invasive) questions. The gears of her mind were already turning, trying to figure out what they might ask and how she should answer to try to get the outcome she wanted.

"A-all right," she said meekly. "And if it's not too much to ask, could I get something dry to wear? Or at least something to dry myself off with?"

[Princess Nanshe]

It was a good thing the young girl asked to change clothes (or some reasonable alternative thereof), because the attendants were about to demand she do that very thing before they questioned her. Interrogation was always made a little easier when you could make your victim think part of the process was their idea.

“Of course.” One of the guards handed the girl a bodysuit made up of glossy scales. It was iridescent like every other weird Neptunian thing, shifting between warm and cool tones on a silver backdrop depending on the light. When worn, it would cover all but her head, hands, and feet. Its other functions remained to be seen, but the young lady would probably just assume it was a regular garment. “Put this on.”

With her hood now lowered, Nanshe stood back with an attendant and watched the whole thing transpire. She was uncomfortable being so unsure where she fit in with regards to the situation. What did her staff usually do with unexpected visitors? Would she need to henshin and save the day? Perhaps that was wishful thinking, but it would still be really cool.

“Once you’ve changed, you may have your things back.” Another of the guards added to the instructions. Soon, she moved to the captive’s side to usher her to the nearest dressing area. She afforded some flexibility for the girl, letting her choose where to go- so long as she didn’t run away.

[Princess Ciela]

When she asked for something dry to wear, Ciela hadn't considered what kind of strange garment the Neptunians might offer. The fact the guard offered her something iridescent, shifting between greens, blues, purples, golds, and silvers, much like the clothes they, themselves wore, shouldn't have surprised her. But she might have thought such exotic things were reserved for royalty and the like, not random space hitchhikers. Then again, they wouldn't have been expecting random space hitchhikers, and may well have just had to grab whatever they had handy. She allowed herself to be led to a more private area in which to change.

The garment covered more skin than she was used to having covered, but at least it didn't make her look like a blob the way the Neptunian princess' outfit had. That had to count for something, right? Unfortunately, they didn't seem to have provided a towel with which she could dry her hair. Fortunately, it had dried enough on its own that, while still quite damp, it was no longer dripping wet. Ciela ran her fingers through, just pushing the whole mess back out of her face for now, unless and until she would have the chance to properly dry and comb it.

Disregarding the fact she had nothing to put her own wet clothes into, she immediately directed her attention towards the bag she had brought along.

"May I have my things back now? I know it doesn't seem like much in there, but it's very important to me."

Or maybe they wanted to question her first?

[Princess Nanshe]

The young lady’s belongings had already been searched and determined safe, so it was no trouble for the attendant to give the bag back to her- minus one item, that being the bird safely in Nanshe’s possession.

Two of the guards flanked the visitor and directed her towards a nearby platform to go up a level. The platform was a simple disk with space for five or six people that weren’t the size of this mun’s average characters, and when engaged it would rise up without any mechanical support. Assuming this young woman didn’t hail from some backwoods asteroid, it probably wasn’t unfamiliar technology to her.

The first group to step aboard the lift wasn’t the pair escorting their guest, but rather Nanshe and her attendants, as well as one of the guards. Nanshe watched intently as they ascended high above the shiny chrome floors and deep cerulean walls. The dome-like ceiling of the spaceship dock (which was also the center of the next level) acted much like a one-way mirror, so she was able to see who was following even if they couldn’t see her in return.

With their own ascent to the higher level, the guards remained vague and quiet. The young lady between them had a clear view of their weapons, which was hopefully enough to limit the need for restraints. Even if she were to try bolting away, she was already subject to their plan B.

Nanshe was accustomed to the strange garb of those crossing paths with them, though their visitor would no doubt be somewhat awestruck. Bodysuits and shapeless robes much like the one Nanshe wore were common, with cool colors and patterns reminiscent of sea life. Accessories followed such a theme too, resembling fins, shells, corals, and such. Bioluminescence was commonly mimicked, since everyone thought it was neat. Both genders often wore lipstick in blue, green, violet, or anything in between, along with glittery gems adhering to the skin. Though Neso was small, they still adopted fashions like those closer to the capital.

The ceiling rose high above them, transparent to show off the sea creatures on the other side. It was nothing impressive in itself, since Neso was fairly sparse even with local wildlife- even most of the fish people ate were farmed introduced species. It was dark outside too, hinting that the station itself was the only source of life as far as the eye could see. Should one look closely, though, they might see a few puny kelp strands growing on the cliffs and some spotty sea slugs eating plankton.

The true marvel was the churning sea above, which was illuminated by fierce lightning. Should she be tempted, the guards would no doubt allow the young visitor to take a longer gaze upwards. The walls themselves wouldn’t immediately feel like glass, but rather like a strong gravitational pull preventing someone from touching the glass- another failsafe to make sure the bubble remained pressurized.

“We’ve arrived.” One of the attendants nodded to the young lady. Walking through an arched doorway brought them to a secluded arm of the building, so entered between two rectangular pillars. There, the young lady would be ushered to an empty boomerang-shaped table, with her seat at the inner crook of the curving shape. That way, guards and attendants could surround her.

One of the guards clicked a button on some personal device, darkening the glassy walls of the room. That way, it was less distracting for the young lady to see back into the main hall or even outside, as desolate as the scenery was.

Nanshe took a seat in a comfy armchair in the corner, one of the attendants by her side. The other staff members looked the visitor up and down. The other attendant, taking a kinder mien than the guards, withdrew a small box from her robe. Opening it revealed what appeared to be a pile of solid bubbles. It was a sort of bribe to get the girl to speak, whether or not she realized she was supposed to eat the strange baubles.

Gazing from the box of treats to their guest, one of the guards rested her interlaced hands on the table. “We’d like to know your name, before we continue.”

[Princess Ciela]

Ciela accepted her things back with a mumbled thanks and held the bag close to her body as if in fear it would be taken away again. She wanted to look inside to make sure everything was still there, but this didn't seem to be quite the time for that, as the guards immediately whisked her away and took her up a level on a levitating silver disk big enough for just the guards and herself. The princess had already gone up on the previous lift, along with her advisors.

It wasn't the technology of this world that Ciela was gawking around at, but all the strange architecture, fashion, and sea life. It was all so different than she was used to back home. No doubt they weren't used to strangers like her, either, but being dressed as she was currently, she didn't seem to attract too much attention.

They passed through an arched doorway into a room with an oddly-shaped table in it, and the guards announced that they had arrived. With a push of a button, the room darkened, which was nothing amazing in and of itself, but the darkness coupled with being in a strange place was a little unsettling. Someone took a small box from the folds of her robe and showed Ciela a bunch of bubbles contained inside.

"Yeah, um, those are very nice. . . bubbles. . . you have there," she said with a self-conscious chuckle.

She had no idea she was even meant to touch the bubble collection, much less eat them.

They asked her name right away, of course, and she had been thinking about what she would say when they asked, but somehow they still managed to catch her off-guard.

"Ci-" she began automatically, but quickly changed it to, "Cynthia. . . from Titania. I ran off after. . . after the one I loved was killed, but in such a small ship I couldn't get far enough away. I'm worried they'll come looking for me and-and-and maybe kill me too, if you can't help me."

Well, it was mostly true, anyway.