From his reply, he'd taken her words as the more logical interpretation -- that there are people who would mean her harm, and that she hopes the train doesn't manage to draw them in.

He's not wrong in that. There's a chorus of people in that category she hopes not to see -- from Homeworld, from Earth, and from Vista City alike.

Does she want to clarify? Does it matter?

She can't imagine that it does for this person she's just met. Their conversation isn't far beyond what most people new to each other and new to an environment might have.

But. She still finds herself saying it, still soft, eyes shifting back up to his face: "I mean there are people I want to protect."