"I'm not an Earthling, or Terran, or whatever Earth people are called, so I won't be much use there. But if you want a friend here in the Nexus...I'll do my best to be one for you. It's just that..." Ben swallows hard. "I wasn't the best of people where I came from. It's not a happy story, so I'll leave it at that. But I'd like to make something better of myself now."

Ben's never sure how to bring up the fact that he was an infamous space tyrant and warlord. It's not something that usually comes up in polite conversation, especially since he's not proud of it at all. He doesn't want to frighten people, especially strangers.

"Sol system. The galaxy I came from doesn't have a system by that name, though I can't imagine we've found every planet there. My homeworld was Chandrila."