[Several thousand years in the future]
Humanity had spread to 100 solar systems. We had also discovered several anomalies in spacetime where it would seem your ship was randomly transported to another spot.
As an escaping criminal, I was headed for one of those. (My crime? I had taken the local Governor of the system out of a business double. We made three no trump and won the rubber, but it didn't matter to the Governor. He ordered me sentenced to life imprisonment.) I had knocked two guards unconscious, stolen the spaceship and blasted out of the system before they could realize I was gone. I had three hundred police ships chasing me, but if I reached the anomaly, I knew they wouldn't pursue. If they went through they wouldn't be near me anyway - random transport means random. I had the thrusters on max. Five... four... three... two... one...
And that was that! Now to find a place to land this thing. I didn't have a whole lot of fuel left. I killed the thrusters and scanned the area. One planet looked habitable. I aimed for it. A quick atmospheric sample revealed the air was breathable. The planet didn't have much in the way of vegetation or water. I could only see a single body of water in the area, though it was large, about 500 miles or so in diameter. I came to a rough landing, more like a crash, about 50 meters from the lake. The ship wouldn't fly again, so I salvaged the rations and then set it on fire, just in case the police ships somehow found this place. They would assume I had died in the charred remains of the ship.
I walked over to the lake and filled my large jug with water, then found a small stand of vegetation on the lake's edge and constructed a simple lean-to. I hadn't seen any signs of life, but I figured there had to be some living creatures. Tired from my exertions, I made some leaves and grasses into a bed that would be softer than the dirt and rock, and I slept.
When I woke, the first thing that struck me was the heat. Literally. A pulse of hot air smashed into me. I shook myself awake and looked over towards the heat source.
A female humanoid was standing near me. She seemed to be where the heat was radiating from, and the parts of her skin I could see looked almost like magma.
"Hello," she said.
"Um, hi? How do you speak my language?"
"I mastered it from reading your mind while you slept. I am Lava Teen, though the name is outdated. I am 25 of your years old, which makes me three years younger than you."
"Nice to meet you, I guess. I'm Ben. Where am I?"
"This is Lake Solo. It is the only body of water on the planet. My species does not need water. Our capital city is about ten miles that way."
She pointed to indicate a direction.
"I came over to investigate the fire. We like fire, you see. I consumed some of the molten metal. Molten metal is a delicacy. We normally have to heat rocks."
I wondered how Lake Solo still existed.
"This is the coolest spot on the planet, and when we get rain, it is always directly over the center of the lake."
Lava Teen seemed to adjust something about her body, and she was no longer radiating heat. She extended her hand down and helped me to my feet. Her skin was noticeably warm, but not burning hot.
"Shall I take you to my quarters in the city?"
"You may not need water, but I do."
"Do not worry. I have water in my quarters. I do sometimes like to touch it. The feel of it on my skin is interesting. So I arranged for a piping system to run the water from Lake Solo. A few other of us also have a similar system, though most do not."
Lava Teen took my hand and started to lead me out of the lean-to. I broke away to gather my rations.
"Is that what you eat?"
"Yes..."
