Two weeks after the crash, Percy took Stella aside: “I need to talk to you!”

Judging from the harshness in his voice Stella knew that trouble was arising: “What’s wrong?”

“Did you really ask Auriga to shut our responder off?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Why? How could you?!”

“We sent the signal four times and there was no response. There’s no one near. We need the electricity to supply ourselves and the signal’s not lost. It will orbit until it’s picked up.”

“Then shut off the human responder, too!” Percy shook with anger.

Stella tried to reason with him: “No. It doesn’t drain as much energy and it’s another way to get help.”

“You’re going to get us all killed! They will kill us if they find us!”

“We’re not living in the fifties anymore, they won’t hurt us!”

“You’re over credulous! Just because you’ve encountered a few Sims who didn’t want to see you dead doesn’t mean they are all like this!”

Stella scoffed: “You’re seeing the flaw in your argumentation there? Just because you were told that some Sims kill aliens doesn’t mean they all do!”

“Up until recently we still flew rescue missions for hybrids in danger, remember?”

“The last mission was 15 years ago to put that into perspective and they’ve been on the decrease since the 1980′s! Shutting off our responder was a rational decision that had to be made in order to preserve our energy. The signal is still out there and just needs to be picked up. Ask Eri if you don’t trust me. He’s our communication officer, he ought to know this.”

“Ah, please. Eri would approve of anything you say. Don’t you think I know what’s up with you two?”

“Then ask the PTs. My point is: anyone qualified to answer you this question will assure you that this was the right decision.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about this, Captain.”, Percy whispered through his gritted teeth. “Let’s just hope I live long enough to tell you you’re wrong.”

Stella turned to leave: “And Percy: my private life is none of your business. I don’t say something about you and Andromeda either.”

Would it have been possible to turn red for Percy he probably would have. As things were, he was left behind angry and humiliated, staring at the wall brooding. This surely backfired.