Temperance starts closing the portal immediately. The exact process takes long enough that she soon realizes that Isra didn't make it, but she can't interrupt what she is doing.

From this end it's like a bizarre light distortion mushing and blurring everything leaving just a ball of white. Not light, but more like someone used an eraser to remove a perfect circle from the universe. This is the self-contained fraction of energy that Temperance salvaged so they could use it for a second portal.

On the other end: chaos, as space distorts to the point where every single cubic inch is a maze folded upon itself a thousand times. The effect is so strong that it plays with gravity all the way to the surface, making the water turbulent and causing a destructive tsunami that is followed by a second violent wave, and then a third...

Temperance slumps to the ground.

She looks at Sadde. "Pretty girl, take care of her."

"Yes, ma'am."

She turns to the locals and just doesn't have enough glee in her to enjoy saying, "Take me to your leader."

Temperance quietly says "I'm so sorry" without looking at Sadde.

The captain is taken to an office-looking room. There is a man with gray hair, but otherwise no other signs of aging. He is standing in front of his desk looking at her curiously. There are four tall men standing against the wall. They watch her with attentive eyes but otherwise neutral expressions, and she can identify traits of at least two different animals in each of them.

"I would deeply appreciate an explanation."

"I'm afraid there isn't a short one. Have you met a 'flayer yet?"

"Can't say I have had the pleasure," he says dryly, "nor I have had the pleasure of meeting you. Call me Lord." He inclines his head as if inviting her to introduce herself.

She smirks. "Call me Captain. The 'flayers are a type of artificial construct that achieved sapience a long time ago and possess incredibly strong mind magic. Their creators, conversely, had strong space magic, and we used it to create a portal to here when our delightful dystopic government somehow got past our defences and appeared on our doorstep."

"For what it's worth Lord is my name. And your story is delightfully interesting and to think that the other day I was wondering how long my boring peace would last." He says that in a friendly tone but then shifts to something way more serious. "How did you come by the information that my lovely sanctuary existed?"

"I believe we have met someone who came from here. He goes by Isra."

"Ah. Remarkable individual," Lord says, "we are all worried for his safety."

"It's a well-placed worry. He was fine until... just now. He's been captured."

Lord pauses for a moment. "It isn't a surprising outcome. There are reasons why I make this place so insular." He starts serving tea. "As much I would like to have hope for our Isra, I think we are best served discussing more immediate things. Moving forward, what are your goals? Tea?"

"No, thank you. My goals are making sure my people are safe and making sure they don't get their hands on this kind of magic."

Lord sips from his tea. "Well, what would be your tools to accomplish that?"

"The people themselves. Temperance's knowledge of space magic, and the 'flayers' knowledge of mind magic."

"What are the limits of them both? Presumably, the space magic is limited such that coming here was your best bet? Couldn't you have found another place?"

"We didn't have the time—Temperance had just figured out how to work it, but we had a spy on the inside. He'd been planning to catch us unawares but when he heard her shouting about her discovery down the hall he decided it was time to move and we had to think fast. Isra already had the coordinates, we knew it was out of the Federation's reach, we came."

"We are not out of reach enough. But my last reports on Isra's whereabouts indicate we have time to plan. Do you think this Temperance could replicate the trick? Twice if possible, but I wouldn't object to sharing a planet in principle."

"I'm sure she could, she has brought extra energy with her to do just that."

"Is that the ball of white light in my cargo bay? Good to know. Well, what do you think of this fair trade: we graciously host your people and in exchange we find a way for both of us to be out of the Federation's reach?"

"Sounds agreeable to me."

"Good, I hope this turns out to be a constructive relationship between our groups. Do you have anything immediate to discuss? I have someone that can deal with logistics with you."

"I do not, and that would be lovely, thank you."

"You're welcome. If you don't mind, I have... a lot to reflect upon."

And if it wasn't clear enough she was dismissed one of the bodyguards (some sort of cheetah-lizard hybrid) escorts her out and follows her into the hallway.