Schast, Petra, and Granodi sat clustered in front of a monitor. Through the screen they watched a small humanoid toss and turn in his sleep on a blanket in a nearly empty room. They were engrossed.


    “I still can’t believe that little one gave you so much trouble,” Petra murmured.


    “I think Schast never would have caught him if he didn’t start fainting from the difference in atmosphere” replied Granodi.


    “Stop teasing me.” Schast huffed, crossing his four arms. “I doubt either of you could’ve caught him either, he punched his way straight out of the med scanner! He was fast, and seemed to know what in the lab was expensive. I can’t believe he realized he could threaten me over Gran’s confocal microscope.”


    “He was scared,” said Petra, gazing at him sternly. “You ran straight at him. I would’ve done the same.”


    “But he’s so small and cute! Just because you don’t like me, Petra, doesn’t mean he dislikes me too.” As if to prove a point, Schast hugged Granodi, wrapping all four arms around his shoulders and putting his chin on his head. Granodi kept staring at the display, taking notes.


    “Can’t we keep him?” Schast whined, staring at the other two with the biggest, wettest eyes he could muster. His pink hair and eyes seemed to shine a bit.


    Petra sighed. “We have to keep him. Even while unconscious, he’s radiating mana at a rate similar to that of a warp drive. We needed a new mana source anyways.” She turned away from the camera footage and walked in front of the neighboring display, which had the health scan data.


    The scanned data was rough to interpret. Besides the scan identifying the skin and skeleton, almost everything else appeared fragmented. Petra stared at it in frustration. The mana source seemed to be the entirety of his skin and hair, rather than a single point. They couldn’t remove it even if they wanted to, let alone the danger of doing so.


    “I think there’s a nigh impenetrable barrier sitting just beneath the first layer of skin, which was interfering with the scan,” said Granodi. “It’s probably an adaptation to survive in space. The internal body is protected from temperature and pressure fluctuations, but the barrier still allows sensory information to flow in and heat to flow out. I’d bet he can control it carefully when he’s awake.”


    Granodi picked up a very small vial of blood they had managed to obtain from this little alien after he passed out the second time. They had to use a rather thick needle to pierce the barrier. Granodi was almost certain the same size needle wouldn’t work if the little alien had been awake and watching. It probably would’ve snapped like a twig.


    “Are the bloodwork results in yet?” Petra asked.


    “Not yet, but the blood doesn’t have its own magic. You won’t get any useful information, I’m afraid.”


    Petra clicked her tongue and returned to quantifying the mana signature. The room the little alien was in absorbed mana through the walls, and returned it to the ship’s storage. Despite the valuable data it provided, the flow of mana wasn’t stable, as it rose and fell every few seconds.


    She looked back and forth between the two screens, before deciding the variation in mana was due to his breathing. As if the source of mana was breathing too. Inhale, the mana flow decreased. Exhale, it rose like a torrent. She told this observation to Granodi.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Their situation started 3 weeks ago. About 4 months into their expedition, their warp drive had fizzled out. Something that was theoretically improbable happened, and it stank of malicious intent. While the alien’s team wasn’t particularly well known, they had a few important members and more than a few enemies. Such was the fate of working with royalty.


    They had enough mana reserves to last a while, but not enough to warp back home. It seemed like a carefully calculated plan to have the 1 year expedition end with no contact, and the crew assumed dead or missing.


    How they managed to implement the sabotage, as well as the who and why were for the captain to deal with. Petra was only in charge of managing all magitech on the ship, so it was her duty to find a way to keep everyone alive and gain enough mana for a warp. And she had been the one to identify a signal in space that had the same signal markings as a functional warp drive: regular mana pulses diffusing through space.


    Everyone assumed they had found the remains from a wrecked spaceship by chance, and with a bit of luck the warp drive was still functional. When the tractor beam pulled in an unconscious alien animal, that was a shock. When the small health scanner barely read, it was more of a shock.


    While they were trying to study the alien and set up a habitable environment for the little one, Schast had gone to the laboratory to check on him once he woke up. That was a mistake, as the rest of the crew got to watch a very entertaining chase sequence when the little alien suddenly busted out of the scanner, which was no easy feat, and started sprinting around the room.


    “Petra, Gran, come look! He woke up!” The two stopped their calculations and turned back to the security monitor, joining Schast once again.


    The little one sat up, glanced around, and then flopped over on his side, curling up. It looked cute to the three of them. After a few minutes, Granodi muttered “I think his tail and ears are growing bigger,” to which a small argument started over Gran’s mental health. Schast was arguing he spent too much time in the lab.


    A few minutes later, the little one stood up, pulled off the mask, and started exploring the room. He beelined straight to the food and stood staring at the dishes in confusion.


    “It’s not our fault we don’t know what you eat, the scanner didn’t work” murmured Schast in a slight baby voice.


    “Oh no, he’s completely enamored,” said Granodi with a slight smile on his tired face. His gray eyes returned to the screen. The little one was devouring the fruit with frightening speed.


    “He must’ve been hungry…” said Schast, watching him finish eating the fruit and start eating their dining hall soda bread.


    “He’s definitely eaten over his body weight. Where is it all going?” asked Granodi, ignoring Schast’s smitten mutterings. Petra, appearing bored, looked back at the mana readings before answering Gran’s question with a start.


    “The mana readings are increasing. He’s releasing more mana than before.”


    “So are you suggesting he eats food not for sustenance but to forcefully convert it to mana?”


    “I don’t know, that doesn’t seem feasible, it would take more energy than it spends, right?”


    The two professionals continued their discussion, ignoring Schast who remained glued to the screen, barely blinking.


    After a few minutes, Schast jumped up with a yelp and ran out of the room. The other two stopped and turned to the monitor, seeing the little one mostly naked in the large bowl of water, completely submerged, barely moving.


    Gran sighed. “What is he worried about this time? Does he think the little one is drowning? Why would he think that? He’s been floating in space for who knows how long without breathing. No way he can drown, he’s just holding his breath.”


    “You figured out what he’s thinking, you go stop him,” said Petra. Gran sighed and left the room, walking down the long hallway after Schast.


    Petra looked back at the little alien lazily scrubbing himself clean in the water bowl. “I guess I should make some new clothes… and grab some soap.”