Tatehan decided to go to the spaceship. At least to think before he made his decision. Maybe ask the Spaceship's AI for advice. And even if he made his choice here, he wouldn't just embark on another quest immediately.
Not after how many days (almost two months) he'd spent away from the spaceship. The Spaceship probably thought he'd died while facing the mauler.
Sure, the AI was likely fine waiting for a few days, maybe a week at max, but after that? It had every right to be worried.
Even when Tatehan was unconscious, if not for his strong will and resilience to stay alive, and the Partial Regeneration doing its work rapidly, he would have died in that situation. Or worse, slipped into the unknown.
He went through the river bed first. He had to pass through all the regions he'd crossed before to arrive back at the spaceship.
