The first thing that Tika noticed when she entered the room was a panoramic view of Velrakaris on the slanted ceiling over their head.

It was nighttime already, the artificial sunlight had dimmed considerably, and yet Velrakaris looked even more breathtaking somewhat. Colorful lights glowed like tiny stars, illuminating each towering structures. It reminded Tika of the night view of Palangka Raya City, but it still retained its alienness somewhat. 

The sky was adorned with the view of the Milky Way, billions of stars glimmering over their head despite the light pollution that was surely present. Once again, Tika found it was hard to believe that they were inside a ship. She wondered how the whole thing worked — and she wondered if she would learn about it during the exchange program. It was an exciting thought, and she couldn’t wait to learn about everything.

The second thing that Tika noted was a ring-shaped pond filled with crystal clear water. It dominated the room, and in the middle of it, a platform where a set of comfortable-looking sofa and low coffee table were arranged neatly. There, their luggage sat. A simple bridge connected the door to the platform.

Tika could see small colorful fishes darting between the aquatic plants that decorated the pond’s edge. Gurgling waterfalls flowed from the left and right sides of the room, and between those waterfalls were doors that connected the room to lavish bedrooms. The bridge branched and connected the center of the room to those doors, allowing the group to check the rooms.

“Wow”, Tika breathed in complete awe. 

In there, another pond too dominated the room, and a circular canopy bed stood on the platform in the middle of the pond. Sheer curtain that draped from the canopy floated weightlessly despite the lack of wind. The bed itself looked so comfortable, with plush looking pillows arranged neatly on the top of it. 

On one side of the wall was a tall window with the view of Velrakaris displayed on it. The view flickered slightly, as if it was a projection.

“You may use the remote to activate or deactivate the window”, Varka said. “And replicator unit is available in each room. Please allow me to show you how to use it.”

Varka walked to a machine set into the wall and pressed a couple of buttons there. A few seconds later, the machine rang and Varka took something from inside of it.

A shirt. That machine made a shirt.

“Cool!” Indah shouted in excitement as she quickly approached Varka. “How does it work?”

“The particles collected by the replicator unit was arranged to form whatever you wish for”, Varka answered. “In this case, a shirt.”

“That means you can make anything you want?” Indah asked again.

“For sure, if you know the buttons sequence required for each object”, Varka answered. “They can be anything from food and drink, to various tools you may need during your stay aboard the Mothership.”

Oh, Tika thought as she saw the expression on Indah’s face. Oh no.

“No”, Professor Ratri said all of a sudden.

“But, Mom!” Indah cried out.

“What if you can’t put it back together?” Professor Ratri asked.

“Um”, Varka said, interrupting their conversation. They looked unsure, somewhat. “What do you intend to do, if I may ask?”

“Nothing!” Professor Ratri answered quickly, just as Indah shouting, “I want to take it apart!”

“Oh”, Varka laughed, amused. “Of course you are allowed to take it apart. I myself do it often when I was little.”

Indah turned to Varka, her eyes wide and looking entirely like she was going to kiss them. Professor Ratri sighed in defeat.

After a quick debate, Bayu took the room next to Indah’s, claiming that he didn’t want to have his sleep disturbed by whatever experiment his sister would do to the poor replicator unit in her room. Professor Arga and Professor Ratri also took their shared room, leaving two empty rooms for Tika and Commander Jonathan.

Instead of retiring into his own room, Commander Jonathan chose to sit on one of the sofas and loosen the tie he was wearing. Seeing her superior officer relaxing, Tika too chose to sit across to him and took off the high-heeled shoes she wore. She was somewhat tempted to dip her toes into the pond, but managed to refrain herself.

She was in the middle of stretching her toes, when a Lorian dressed in plain clothes entered the room. She carried a trolley filled to the brim with foreign-looking food and drink for all of them, before bowing out of the room without a word. Varka then arranged the food and drink on the coffee table.

“Tomorrow we have a long day. But tonight, please rest up and enjoy the consumables”, Varka said once they were done, clasping their hands together. “The consumables have been designed to fulfill your dietary needs. Please let us know if we need to improve them somewhat.”

Tika eyed the food and drinks available. Colorful drinks lined the table, along with plates containing oddly-shaped food. One of the plates was filled with light green cubes, with yellowish cream decorating its topside.

Seeing actual alien food before her tickled at Tika’s curiosity, and she dared herself to pick one of them. Popping the cube into her mouth, an incredibly sour taste immediately exploded inside, making her flap her hand and cringe.

“It’s not good?” Varka asked. They sounded worried.

“Too sour”, Tika answered, before struggling to swallow.

“Please try this one, then”, Varka offered a plate filled with sky blue balls covered in purple powders. Tika eyed it cautiously, expecting it to taste horrible, before she braced herself and took a bite of it.

This time, it tasted like her favorite vanilla cake.

“This one’s good”, Tika told Varka, smiling as she ate the rest of it.

“Fascinating”, Varka said. “Do humans prefer sweet food over sour food?”

“I think so”, Tika replied, before taking another piece of the blue cake. “I mean, it’s an evolutionary thing. Sour stuff tend to be poisonous or otherwise dangerous to our health, so we tend to avoid it.”

“I know someone who prefers sour stuff over sweet stuff”, Commander Jonathan said all of a sudden.

“Who?” Tika asked curiously.

“Me”, Commander Jonathan replied, plucking one of the light green cube and popped it into his mouth whole. Tika’s eyes widened, but the Commander was chewing at it like it was nothing.

“Not bad”, the Commander said not long after. Then, he took one of the glasses filled with glittering pink liquid, sniffing it briefly, before taking a sip of it.

“How’s the drink?” Tika asked, curious.

“Like a carbonated drink”, answered the Commander. Tika nodded, before taking a glass of her own and drank it. Just like the Commander said, the pink drink did taste like some kind of a carbonated drink.

So odd, she thought. It was hard for her to describe, but these space food and drinks tasted so familiar even though their shape was odd. Not to mention what Varka said about the food and drinks had been designed to fulfill human’s dietary needs…

“If I may ask… where did you know about human’s dietary needs?” Tika asked.

Varka tensed up. Their face was hard.

“Uh”, they hummed, hesitation clear on their face. “Because your dietary needs are similar to mine?”

“What do you mean?” Tika asked again, confused.

“You may have noticed that I am unlike the other Anur Arta, physically speaking”, Varka answered, and they were right. Tika had wondered about that too, actually.

“You are not an Anur Arta, then?” Commander Jonathan asked.

“It’s— I mean, I am”, Varka said, hesitating for a bit, before continuing. “But I’m also a human.”

“Wait— how is that possible?” Tika asked.

“I’m half Anur Arta and half human.”, Varka answered, their voice tight.

“Half-human?” Tika repeated. “But— you said, we are the first humans you’ve met? I remember you saying that during the first contact.”

“Please forgive my lie”, they said with a heavy sigh. “You are not the first human the citizens of Velrakis have encountered before.”

“How come? Have you abducted any human before?” Commander Jonathan asked with a low growl. He straightened up his posture and his shoulders were tense. He looked like he was ready to fight Varka.

“It’s not like that”, Varka shook their head. “A few years ago, my father rescued a human vessel that was stranded on one of the moons of the sixth planet of your star system. They were still alive, but barely. In the end, only one of them survived.”

Tika took a deep breath. The moon of the sixth planet — the sixth planet was Saturn, and one of its moons… Could it be connected to the Titan Mission thirty years ago? No one knew what happened to their crew, after the UESA controls lost all communications with them. They all had been presumed dead, two years after that.

“Who?” Commander Jonathan asked with a strangled voice. “Who survived?”

“My mother”, Varka answered almost too quietly. “Indira Candrakirana.”

“Dira…” Commander Jonathan whispered, before glaring at Varka once again. “Why didn’t you return her back to Earth? Did you hold her against her will or something?”

“That was— It wasn’t like that! My father’s intention was to return her back to Earth as we make first contact with the humanity”, Varka returned. “But the Mothership was in no condition to return. A foreign enemy attacked us, and we had to lead them away from your star system.”

“Where is Dira now? Does she still live here? Can we see her?” Commander Jonathan asked.

“You can’t…” Varka answered, shaking their head once again.

“Why?” Commander Jonathan growled.

“Because… she died. A few years ago”, Varka answered.

“What?!” Tika and Commander Jonathan cried out nearly at the same time.

“Please, it was not something I enjoy to talk about”, Varka said, their voice sad as they broke eye contact. “It was a huge deal, the Emperor’s wife perished, and no one knew what happened. I was still a young child—”

“You’re the Emperor’s child?” Tika asked, half in disbelief.

Varka looked absolutely distressed as they put their face in their hands. It seemed that they hadn’t intended to say that, and Tika would take a pity on them if she wasn’t still trying to process everything.

“Wait”, Tika raised her hand. “You said you’re a half-human. Why did you hide it from us?”

“Would you believe it? I don’t look like any normal human, after all, and we have no proof that we’ve had first contact with the human race”, Varka said blithely.

“Don’t you have any picture, recording, or something?” Tika asked.

Varka opened their mouth, then closed it again. They took a deep breath, before saying, “We never thought to show our private recording.”

Tika blinked. It was hard for her to believe that these advanced beings did not think about such a simple thing, but she said nothing.

“Dira’s child… God, it’s hard to believe”, Commander Jonathan muttered to himself and rubbed his face with his hand. “And we’re scheduled to meet the Emperor tomorrow. Dira’s husband. Shit!”

“Please say nothing about mother in front of my father. He was… is still mourning for her”, Varka pleaded. “Even I cannot talk about her without him breaking down. Only Avamar can lift his spirits lately.”

“We promise”, Tika said. “I’m sorry for your loss, Varka.”

“It happened”, Varka said calmly, before excusing himself and leaving the room.

“I thought I’m over her”, Commander Jonathan said, his head bowing deeply. The grief was clear on his face. Tika was at a loss about what to say, and for a brief moment, she wondered what kind of relationship he had with Indira.

The Commander then left into one of the bedrooms, leaving Tika to the company of the fishes swimming in the pond and her own thoughts dancing in her mind.