Paul sat on his bed, rubbing his worn unshaved face. He could feel the bags under his eyes. If he ever let his fingers touch his stomach he could feel his ribs poking out. Yet he barely ever did that anymore. It reminded him too much of the past. He had never been able to forget that night on Rigel II. He should have known that was Es had transformed and was not some conjured beat from his own imagination. With a sigh, Paul flopped backwards onto his bed, cradling his head on his arms. Since then, he had been stripped of his ranking as part of the First Contact and became a normal member of the Rigus crew. As an added punishment given by Acting Captain Kearn, though Paul was compelled to call him something much different than that at the moment, had starved him in the Rigus' brig for a week or two. Kearn had still been withholding meals from Ragem and had declared that this 'Es' creature was the danger plaguing the Fringes. He blamed Ragem for her disappearance. The telltale around Ragem's waist was a constant reminder of Kearn's opinion of him.
But that was not what was on Paul's mind at the moment. The only thing he could think of now was Es and how he had hurt her and scared her away. His friend away. He could only imagine how his shocked and horrified face must have appeared to her when Paul saw her in that horse-like form. And he was supposed to be part of the First Contact Team. Well not anymore. It was likely that Paul would never see Es again, yet he couldn't stop hoping that she would see her Lanivarian form behind him on a Fringe planet.
Or had he seen her? The recent boarding of a Ket on board the Rigus had definitely drawn a lot of attention to its crew. Madame Ket had been constantly busy ever since setting foot onboard. Paul himself had already seen her yet he was more disturbed than relaxed at what he experienced.
Nimal-Ket, he thought, was possibly something more than she seemed. A simple statement was all that triggered this thought, "Perhaps I should have asked under what terms you were accepting it". Es, his dear friend had said that to him before she had left the Rigus on Rigel II. Paul had been constantly questioning himself about why she had left him, yet maybe this Ket was her in a different costume. After so long without seeing Es or talking to her, Paul had started to doubt that she even actually existed outside of his dreams. But his was a ray of hope that he couldn't give up. The prospect of finally being reunited with his good friend made him spit out the first thing, and only thing, that came to his mind now a days. Her name….Es. The Ket's defensive reaction could only be understandable, yet Paul had begun to doubt himself. What a fool he had made of himself in front of a simple Ket. All of his dreaming and hoping was making him think things that weren't really happening. It couldn't be healthy. But there was something about this Nimal-Ket Paul could not shake as being closely familiar. The way she talked, the way she acted…
All Paul wanted was Es back. And who wouldn't want their best friend?