Alfred had let the crew off for the day, mostly because he was running out of things for them to do and wanted to ration out the remaining tasks as best he could. There was no telling, after all, when the Ministry would get around to letting him leave the area once again. It was possible, now that it had been nearly a month, that they had just entirely forgotten about him. Maybe he ought to inquire — maybe they could leave next week, if the Ministry didn't actually need anything. Alfred would like to have his knife back, he supposed, but it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to write it off as a lost cause and get on his way without it. He'd lost things of much higher value on previous trips, and the knife didn't hold any sentimental value.

Anyway, he was just packing up for the day and heading off of his ship when he spotted an unfamiliar figure on the pier nearby. It was fairly uncommon to see anyone female in this section of the docks, since the ships here were mostly cargo-carriers and not passenger ships or cruise boats (which took care to keep their docks looking a little more presentable than the one immediately outside the Voyager). It was so surprising that he had to do a double take to make sure he didn't recognize her — though if a woman was coming here looking for him that would surely be a terrible sign.

He didn't recognize her, he decided, but by then he'd spent too long looking at her not to say something in passing. "You look lost," he observed.