"Looks like you went through a rough wormhole," The blue-skinned Azodii doctor shined a laser into my eyes. "I'm not surprised you had a bad jump. It's never a good idea to transverse galaxies and hop a dimensional plane at the same time."

"Yeah, we don't really understand the whole wormhole-travel thing," Henry sat across from me in the Medical Bay. "We just kinda do what the Slatt High Council tells us, in terms of transportation. But this is all good stuff to know, thank you Doctor -"

"My name is Sylk. I am the Royal Medical Advisor." Sylk flipped a switch on the electric blanket that was wrapped around my twitching and shivering shoulders. The blanket glowed red and radiated heat.

"Your friend is also mildly hypothermic," Sylk said to Henry, before turning to me and speaking to me like a child. "Just warm up for ten or fifteen minutes, then you'll be good as new."

"Ah, see Marsh? Only mild hypothermia, no big deal. On Azodii, hypothermia is like a papercut."

Warmth from the blanket started to seep into my body, I was still cold but less lightheaded. "Thank you, Doctor Sylk," my teeth chattered.

I realized that Sylk was the first Azodii that I had the chance to get a good look at. He was a bit shorter than me, maybe five feet, slightly plump with a fat face. Aside from his blue skin and, I noticed, a sixth finger on each hand, Sylk resembled a human: two eyes, two arms, two legs.

"I'll be right down the hall if you need anything." Sylk walked out of the room and closed the door.

"Glad you finally made it, Marsh," Henry pulled his chair in front of me. "Here," he reached forward and tapped something on the side of my oxygenator mask. A soft squeak, and then a flexible tube poked straight into my mouth. "So you can drink your Tchugg," Henry pointed to the bottom of the mask, where the other end of the tube poked out of a hole in the device.

I lowered the straw mechanism into the stone mug of Tchugg. There was a soft nose like a motor, and some the liquid sucked up into my mouth.

"Isn't that something?" Henry laughed. "It sucks food or drink up automatically, like a vacuum cleaner. Any size, too! I had something that looked like steak earlier, and it totally worked. Just sucked up pieces through the straw."

The Tchugg was warm and rich, not sweet, with a roasted taste like a burnt potato. But mostly it was warm; I was still so cold that I would have knowingly drank poison if it was served hot.

"Did you bring the contracts?" Henry asked. "Lord Farkvold said he would give them to you –"

My eyes bore a hole through Henry's head, I slurped the bottom of the cup of Tchugg loudly until every drop was vacuumed into my mouth.

"Do you need a few minutes?" Henry asked. "I get it. It's been a long day for you."

The death-glare I gave Henry seemed to genuinely startle him. Maybe it was because I had just nearly died, and I'm sure I looked like it.

"Ah, here's your luggage in the corner!" Henry was right, someone had brought my gym bag and case into the room. "I'll just grab the contracts from your briefcase, I can look them over. Are they in your briefcase?"

"I was nearly killed out there," I said. "I almost froze to death –"

"Well, come on, let's not exaggerate -"

"- On a distant ice-planet," I continued. "Millions of miles from my home."

"I don't think it was really all that dire –"

"Jesus, Henry! Whose side are you on?"

"Our client's, Marsh," Henry opened my briefcase and looked at me, puzzled. "I'm on our client's side. I'm here on behalf of the Slatt Territories."

I sighed, and realized I had stopped shivering. "You're right," I was starting to feel the tips of my fingers and toes again, the numbness replaced by stinging sensation. "We're here to do a job. Farkvold attached his terms to the first contract, we can go through each paragraph together –"

"Hey Marsh -"

"Yeah?"

"Listen," Henry's voice was sincere, or as close to sincere as Henry is capable. "When I got here, we flew into a jet cruiser bay. I wasn't outside in the storm like that, like you were. I didn't realize it was that fucking cold –"

"It's fine," I said. "Let's just get to work."

"But you know... for the record, I did warn you on the phone about the cold -"

"Moving on," I waved a cold and swollen hand. "Why don't you tell me –"

"Humans!" The door burst open and a stump-like Azodii woman entered the room. For a moment I thought the woman had antlers, then I realized it was part of an elaborate headdress that she was wearing. It added a foot to her height, and scraped against the door frame as she stomped inside.

"Oh, Lady Denebola!" Henry closed the portfolios and jumped to his feet. His sincerity instantly faded, which was a relief, and it was replaced by his familiar lawyerly persona. "How kind of you to come by! My, you look lovely."

"I heard there was a human in the Medical Bay" Lady Denebola ignored me completely and rushed to Henry's side, antlers and lightweight jewelry bouncing as she jiggled across the room. "Are you okay, Mr. Todd?"

"Yes, yes I'm fine. My partner here had a uh, rough entry." Henry took the Azodii woman gently by the arm and turned her toward me. "May I present Mr. Evander Marshall of Earth. Marsh, this is Lady Azodii-Denebola of the royal family. She is niece to King Azodii-Bal."

Lady Denebola extended a six-fingered hand, adorned with a silver bracelet of uneven metal balls. My hand was still a swollen claw, but I did my best approximation of a handshake.

"Pleasure to meet you, Lady Azodii-Denebola," I said, my hand shaking involuntarily. "Sorry about the trembling. It seems I have a mild touch of hypothermia."

"Oh my goodness!" blue hands went to her mouth. "What a terrible reception we've afforded you, Mr. Marshall. I do apologize."

"It's really okay. I think the Transport Agents back at the Slatt Council Territory may have placed me out a little bit too far. But thank you -"

"Oh! You're out of Tchugg -" Lady Denebola threw open the Medical Bay door and yelled, in a voice an octave lower: "CAN WE GET SOME MORE TCHUGG IN HERE FOR THE HUMAN? NOW, PLEASE!"

"Thank you," I said. "But I'm really okay –"

Three Azodii rushed into the room with an emergency-room level of urgency, each carrying a steaming pitcher of hot Tchugg. My mug was refilled and pressed back into my hand, then just as quickly as they had appeared the Tchugg pourers vanished.

"There," Lady Denebola exhaled. "That's better. Oh, I hope we're not off to a bad start, Mr. Marshall! You are, after all, our guests of honor."

Henry answered before I was able to. "Not to worry, Marsh will be just fine. I keep our offices back on Earth freezing cold, so he's used to it." Henry and Denebola burst out laughing.

I slurped my Tchugg.