FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Trixi snored lightly at Richard's side. Her orange fur still had traces of white paint from the night before. The bar missed her as the women were getting a little more obnoxious each passing day. The vulpes just happened to be the only one that could knock them down a few pegs. Her ways of prodding under their skin always helped keep egos from being too inflated. Her snout pointed up and he couldn't help himself, he kissed her moist black noise. His actions caused her to wake up with a cute sneeze. "Oh, it's morning?" She said groggily from the stark awakening.

Richard sat on the edge of the bed. His movements were slow as he grabbed his crutches to get ready for his appointment. "Sorry about that, you can stay asleep. It's just the normal appointment." The bed bounced as he pushed himself up. She murmured something and then wrapped herself in the blanket taking up the warm divot he left in his absence. She inhaled his scent deeply before returning to sleep. Richard smiled at the cozy fox. He was glad that she returned to work. Not only for herself but the crew as well.

When Richard arrived at his appointment Dr. Plano frowned. He examined him up and down. "You better be more careful." There was annoyance in the doctor's voice.

"What do you mean?" Richard asked as he stripped his clothes off for his routine examination.

"Your ankle is sprained. Let me look at it." Richard was shocked he could determine that from just a few steps it took to sit down at an examination table. The doctor grabbed his foot and pulled it to his face to examine it closer. After a disappointing sigh, he released it. "Please stay off your foot for a few days. It's going to interfere with my observations." Dr. Plano started to put his equipment away, indicating the examination was finished or at least couldn't be concluded.

"Is that it, doc?"

"Yes. I can't get good data when you're limping like that, take a few days off your foot so I can get accurate readings."

Richard wasn't used to this level of treatment. He didn't think a small, sprained ankle would cause such a massive deviation in the readings. He brushed it off, it was a minor annoyance after all. As he dressed, he wondered how the day went for the good doctor.

"So how was the xeno level yesterday?"

Dr. Plano was shocked by the question. "You didn't hear?"

"No… What happened?"

"What do you mean!? No one told you?!" The doctor was quite perplexed.

Richard felt like it was a stab at himself, but he honestly had no idea what happened. "No one contacted me yesterday."

Dr. Plano inhaled deeply, ready to spill his guts out to the semi-nude HoS, "Yesterday was a catastrophe. The first annoyance was in medbay. Entire files were carried around for patients as they did the separate tests. Took me ages to figure out where your paperwork was located so I could catalog my data." Richard rolled his eyes. The nurses never got their shit together. Countless times they misplaced his records. One time he saw one of his men's files propping up a table leg. The doctor continued to vent, "And when I enter the xeno level. The reception was unmanned, I wandered around for a good 15 minutes till I saw someone."

"Where was Dr. Manit? I thought he was expecting you."

"I couldn't find him. The only thing I saw was a lizardman on a respirator. His eyes were crusted from an infection."

"They weren't treating the infections?"

"I was never told of an infection. The only thing the captain briefed me on was the five lizardmen in critical care that Dr. Manit needed assistance with. The atmosphere was too humid as well. They need a dryer air supply to heal properly." The news sank into Richard's stomach. He believed they were treated already and recovering. Richard's next step was to march up there and see what was going on for himself after Dr. Plano finished elaborating on the rest of the problems. "And then there was the medication. Half of which were expired or improperly stored. Which baffled me. The chemists could just make fresh batches ready at any time. So the first task I accomplished was rushing to renew everything for the patients. Then I finally ran into Dr. Manit. He was completely disheveled. I felt bad for him, honestly."

"Where was Roma?"

"He helped me carry some fresh anti-biotics… I applied the injections and he got atmospherics to adjust the air. By the time we got to the last lizardman, he had already passed. Roma left the room to contact you the captain arrived on deck. I'm surprised no one said a thing to you."

Richard was surprised himself. He never saw Roma, nor the rest of his crew that day. Something was wrong and he clenched his fist tightly as he came up with conclusions. Richard zipped up his uniform and walked out the door unaided. When he entered the lobby, the captain was already waiting for him.

Martinez spoke slowly, knowing exactly what was on the man's mind. The rage was written on Richard's face. "Don't."

Richard was shaking with anger, "Did she have anything to do with this?!" The captain was silent, which was all he needed. "Goddammit!"

"Calm down! You will get yourself and others killed; they already know what she did."

Richard refused to calm down and punched the steel plate on the wall next to the door. There was a sickening crunch as his hand impacted the metal. Dr. Plano rushed out holding Richard's crutches just in time to see the display of anger.

"What's going on?!"

The captain let out an exasperated sigh. "Fix his hand, doctor."

Richard turned toward the captain holding his mangled hand. Tears of pain and anguish welled up in the corners of his eyes, "Don't let it happen again. Please, Martinez!"

"I promise. Now get your hand fixed. The VIPs will be here in a few days. You're confined to your quarters until then."

"That's bullshit and you know it!"

"That's an order, got it!"

The captain left the waiting room to return to his business. Dr. Plano approached cautiously to get a closer look at the new injury Richard gave himself.

"What was all that about?" Dr. Plano didn't get an answer as he bandaged the hand.

Richard swallowed the pain. He never would have thought the woman would just willingly kill off helpless crewmates. He almost vomited at the thought. If it weren't for his damn injuries, he would have been there to stop that worthless cunt.

"That should do it. it's just a sprain, you shouldn't need a cast. But you have to let it rest."

Richard looked at his bound hand. The bandage was as tight as Trixi's wraps. He stroked the numb appendage. "Thanks, doc."

"Don't mention it. I have no idea what's going on here but try not to punch any more metal plates and stay off your feet."

Richard stopped in the security breakroom thinking about the crimes Allison committed. The numbing drugs wore off and his hand was pounding as he held an empty coffee mug. Usually, at this time Jack would have made a fresh brew to start his day. Instead, the air was stagnant and cold. Roma walked in seeing Richard idle the time away. The moment Richard brought his eyes up he learned what happened the other day. Roma swallowed and sat across the table.

"I'm sorry, I was ordered by the captain to not tell you."

Richard softened up. Roma wasn't to blame for all this. He worked hard to save the aliens. More than he could say for himself. "Who died?"

"Swims, I wasn't able to check the cause of death. The CMO claimed he took too much medication to try and get high." Roma grew frustrated and slammed the table causing the empty mug to tumble to the floor. "Fucking liar! I knew him!"

Richard picked up the mug and walked toward the coffee maker. He ejected the old coffee and started to make a fresh batch to keep himself calm. He had already broken one hand losing his temper, he wasn't going to lose another by having another outburst.

"What is going on Richard? Why did the captain order me to not tell you? What aren't you telling me?"

Richard drank the bitter coffee. It warmed his busted hand through the glazed ceramic mug. "It's best that you don't know. The captain and I have already discussed the matter thoroughly. He confined me to my quarters for the next few days. If you pry at it, you could be a target for what's to come next."

"You would have told Jack."

Richard nearly dropped the mug. "It's not that… It's that you’ll do what’s right, rush headlong and do the deed that I should have. But some factors are taking priority."

Roma calmed himself with steady breathing. "I'm not an idiot, it has something to do with Allison."

It had to of been obvious from the young man's point of view. He argued with her for hours to even get the aliens some reprieve. Richard watched the cameras in the room, "Larger than her. But if word gets out..." There wasn't a doubt that internal affairs were already looking at them at this moment. "If word gets out, we will all be killed by Nanotrasen."

Roma was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"I can't say in detail, but we need to do our jobs. Listen to the captain, he's the only one that will keep us and our loved ones alive." Richard's voice flagged with worry. He started to pace back and forth thinking about the lizardman that was killed. "How many lizardmen are left in medbay?"

"Four. Three are suffering from heavy lung damage. Their organs take a special protein which is time-consuming for the organ printer to craft. The silver lining, the new anti-biotic cocktail is now working at full effect."

Richard set the coffee down and nodded at the sliver of good news. "Keep them under guard. I don't want to see another be killed."

"The captain already ordered that. He told the CMO it was to monitor Dr. Manit."

Richard was relieved to hear that. The scent of coffee filled the air. It reminded him of how things used to be in the early morning. He never appreciated how his friend helped him focus on the important jobs. "Go to Welds, spend time with her. The captain already ordered me to drop what I was finding. He will keep us out of the crosshairs of what's to come. No more aliens should die." The order was simple, don't disobey the captain.

Roma sagged his shoulders. He looked like he had only been given more questions than answers. "I'm sorry… I'm not as good as Jack."

The levelheaded friend Richard had in his life was gone. His damaged hand was a testament to that. Jack would have come up with a solution that would have saved Swims and perhaps more. Richard wished he had a fraction of that resolve. "Neither am I."

Richard returned to his office. His cell for the next few days. It would've been maddening if it weren't for the fluffy orange clown in his quarters. At least he would be distracted somewhat by what's going on in the medical bay. But until she woke up, he stewed in his head while he sipped his coffee. After he contemplated what to do next, he decided to head back to bed.

The vulpes sat wearing one of his shirts. The oversized grey cloth draped over her body like a short dress. Her ears popped back when she noticed the new injury Richard acquired. She bit at him with harsh high-pitched words in her language. It was clear through the language barrier what she was saying. 'Why did you do this to yourself… I can't leave you alone for one second without you doing something stupid…' His tired eyes stared off into the distant stars through the window. He didn’t want to look her in the eyes feeling as bad as he did. Her tail drifted down when she saw his defeated stature. Richard didn't say a word and stripped-down, returning to bed. "Are you going to tell me what happened?" Her head tilted curiously. She followed him into the bed, pulling the covers over her body. Her fur was pressed to his skin. "You need to tell me so I can make it better."

He refused. She didn’t need to know the truth, it would only further the scope of who could be targeted. If word got out, Nanotrasen would send the only group of humans Richard truly feared, the emergency response team. Corporate assassins, cleanup crew, 'rescue' team, reinforcements, and death squad. Many more lives would be thrown away because of that woman and his own failures.

“Please tell me.”

Her concern fell on him like a velvet blanket. He inhaled her scent and caressed her back as he usually did. “It’s nothing. I just lost my temper at the appointment and punched a wall.”

She nuzzled his chin. “Really? That’s what happened? I'm never going to leave you alone for appointments again.” She finished off her beratement by pressing her nose to his. Her tongue flicked out playfully, kissing him.

“Well, you shouldn’t have to worry about that. The captain ordered me to remain in my quarters until the VIPs arrive.”

Trixi giggled, the idea of Richard being sent to his room for losing his temper amused the vulpes. “Looks like I'll have you all to myself till then, huh.”

Richard wasn’t laughing. He put on a forced smile to hide what happened. Adding lying to his fluffy girlfriend to the growing pile of secrets he’s forced to stomach. He continued to caress her back until his exhausted mind drifted back to sleep.

____

The following days Richard's mood rapidly degraded. He spent his confinement keeping tabs on personnel going to and from the med bay, constantly hovering over the computer. Trixi brought him his meals and kept him company. She tried her best to engage with the work-addicted head of security. But it was no use.

"I'm sorry Trixi. I can't leave or do anything right now. I need to make sure that everything is alright in medical."

The fox wasn't having any of it. He still hasn't elaborated on what was going on or what needed to be watched so carefully. She let out a huff through her flared nostrils. "Why won't you tell me anything, Richard?" He stared at her. Her fur was on end and her tail trashed behind her.

"It's top secret. I already told you."

She shook her head and crossed her arms. She was hoping to spend some more time with him. Now that he was forced to stay in the quarters, she would have unfettered access. But last night was rather cold for the vulpes. Her man left it early in the morning to stare at the same screen. She saw other officers in the breakroom while she collected food for Richard. They were in better spirits even though they were running in and out of med bay.

"Well, if you can't talk to me, then I'll go ask Roma. Maybe he can help." She spun around and left the room determined to make Richard feel better.

Richard sat there, tired. His busted hand pulsed as he held the PDA with a light grip. Secretly, he would be glad to speak with Roma if only to be reassured the situation wouldn't get worse. Then he reminded himself of internal affairs and the measures they would go through to keep secrets. He faced the monitoring window again.

Two blue dots of his security team sat with the recovering lizardmen while one sat at the reception desk and kept tabs on the doctors entering and exiting. If anything went wrong, the officers would know about it immediately and would be free to act on that alone, then the nightmare would be over. Richard shook his head at the thought, to lose another life pointlessly for revenge would be disgusting.

Trixi headed on over into the breakroom. She caught the younger security lead exactly where she last saw him. Her shining fur was a ray of sunshine in the gunmetal grey room. Roma and two other officers were snacking on donuts, the favored choice for all security officers. Trixi hand-delivered them earlier that morning, she delighted in their happy attitudes. Roma engaged with the vulpes.

“How’s the boss doing Trixi?”

Trixi wasn’t her usual enthusiastic self. Her tail was limp, and her pointed ears were back defensively. “All he's doing is checking the sensors in medbay. What happen?”

Roma leaned back in his chair, pursing his lips. It took him a minute to get a semblance of an answer out, “It’s nothing, he's been going through a lot. The quarters arrest hit him pretty hard.”

The first officer answered the orange critter, he had a beard with crumbs of powdered sugar in it, "He's probably upset still about the-" Thwack! Roma struck the man in the shin with a boot. "Ow!"

Roma gave him a death glare while the other guard read the room over before offering a suggestion, “Maybe you should surprise him with something. He’s probably in a rut from confinement. I know I’d be pretty upset if I spent weeks locked down only to be put back in the same spot.”

The others nodded along. Roma finished off the conversation by volunteering his services, “I'll speak with him if you’d like. Jack would usually offer advice in a time like this.”

“I'd appreciate it,” Trixi said with a wavering smile on her face. “I’ll go ahead and pick up some dinner for him while you talk things out.” Then she sprinted away with the clicks of her claws on the metal plates echoing behind her.

Roma stood up from the group and gave a reluctant sigh, “Well time to tell him we got everything under control. Again…”

“You know he blames himself for what happened,” the first officer added.

Roma acknowledged the statement with a nod. However, they were clueless about the depth of the situation that worried their boss.

The door to his boss’ pneumatic door hissed open and he stepped inside. “Roma, what’s going on? Is everything alright?” The exhausted Richard had deep circles under his eyes. No wonder Trixi needed help bringing him around, he looked like he lost a week’s worth of sleep in only a day. Roma wondered how often Jack would deal with this side of Richard.

“Everything's proceeding as expected. Except for you.” Roma stared his boss down. “Trixi told me that you needed help.”

Richard rubbed his bloodshot eyes. The computer light ignited the lower half of his face as he hunched over it. “I may have gone overboard.”

“I’ll say. Have you even left your desk at all?” Roma didn’t need an answer for that one. He was watching the biometrics of the security team. He mustered the courage to fill the shoes of the man he replaced. An advisor to the head of security and friend. “The captain ordered you to relax. This isn’t relaxing.” Richard gave a cautious stare back down at the monitor. “We already got word of the VIPs headed to the station tomorrow. Please, get some sleep before they show up.”

The light for the monitor was flicked off. The boss gave a disgruntled grumble. “I just hope this whole thing blows over quickly. I’m tired of waiting.”

Roma sat in the office chair across the desk. “What did she do that would have you this worried?” He'd hope to at least get a simple answer.

Richard leaned close, so close he was laying across the desk inches away from the man’s face. “Just promise me you will not engage in any capacity. If you do, we all could be killed.” There were beads of sweat on his forehead.

Roma was shaken to see his boss fearful. “I promise, just let me know. I won’t lay a finger on Allison.”

“Good. Because she is being targeted by internal affairs. They are already tapping the communications to this station and the security cameras. What has me so aggravated is she was killed again. A wasted life. That’s the reason I was put under arrest. I lost my temper and wanted to go after her while she was being observed.”

The realization came into focus. Roma let out a long, “Oh.”

“Exactly, so, please. Just make sure no more harm comes to the aliens. If she suspects a thing or if word gets out of her true identity, they will cleanse this station.”

Roma leaned back and placed a finger on his chin, “What happens if it does get leaked out?”

Richard let out a deep sigh and shrugged. “I don’t know, but the captain and Nanotrasen believe it could start another lizard-human war.”

Roma was well versed in the history of the first alien war humanity had. It forever stained the relationships humans had with other races. It took generations to barely heal those wounds. He thought about Welds and his other lizard friends. He wouldn’t want that to be damaged in any way. After the attack Allison argued with him to let the aliens die. If he was told this a few weeks ago, he may have pulled a gun on her right then and there. Maybe Richard was right withholding this…

"You didn't tell me about this because of my relationship with Welds. Right?"

Richard nodded. "I'm sorry, I know what I would have done if I were you. Now she's being observed to find out who else is hiding with her." He let out a pained sigh as he flicked the PDA away. "I just wish we could save everyone rather than let her run around free."

Richard watched Roma leave to perform his tasks. The air seemed colder now that he was left on his own. The constant barrage of negativity he buried himself in subsided.

Trixi entered the room and was delighted with the sudden change in attitude. She smiled and set the to-go box in front of him. "I'm glad Roma talked with you. I was at my wit's end. You really shouldn't work yourself that hard." He was well aware of that fact. He picked up the vulpes who was delighted to be scooped up. She was set back down on his lap where he opened the meal box. The two shared the overcooked rice and chicken that the assistant chef made for dinner.

_____

It was time. The arrival of the shuttlecraft with the representatives was in a few minutes. Richard stood ready in arrivals. The captain by his side. They were dressed in their fanciest uniforms. The head of security was forced to wear real black slacks instead of the worn black coveralls issued to him. The belt chaffed his waist uncomfortably and the dress shirt was uncomfortably tight. He regretted not having a tailor fix his older uniforms.

No other members of the station were there with them, Ali was now acting captain while the Martinez escorted the men around. They expected two individuals. The glass docks were pristine from repairs. The engineers did a fantastic job repairing the blown-out section of the station. Richard couldn’t even point out the location of where he impacted the wall when the drone threw him. The captain's belly jingled from all the medals pinned to his chest as he laughed.

“This shouldn’t take long. You can go back to your duties once the initial interview is concluded.”

The head of security was grateful for that. He gripped a wooden cane he was given by the doctor to help strengthen his walking. He no longer walked around slowly but his strides occasionally slipped. Stairs still caused a lot of problems.

There was a silver glint of light outside the vast blackness of space. If arrivals’ lights weren’t blindingly bright, they could see the shape of the arriving vessel. But for some reason, Nanotrasen decided they need to illuminate every corner of arrivals to make it welcoming to the new workers who would be stuck on the station for the next few years.

“How many are coming?” Richard asked as the silvery shuttle craft approached.

“Hmm… About two. Maybe.”

The answer wasn’t filling Richard with confidence. The last thing he wanted was a bunch of bureaucrats with cushy eight-figure-a-year jobs nosing around his business. They always seemed to think they knew best despite never doing the job they oversaw once. Richard clenched his teeth as the shuttle’s shape approached the station’s docking port.

The silver triangular ship had rounded windows in a line on the sides for the passengers to view the vast nothingness around them as they zipped through hyperspace. The shuttlecraft contacted the docking windows and the automated systems quickly activated. Two hallways extended out connecting the two structures and sealed shut around the bay doors. The doors hissed open mixing the atmospheres of the station and the spacecraft. Richard sighed standing at attention as he waited to see who would be exiting the spacecraft.

Three men slowly stepped onto the station. Their black uniforms had a vest with golden trim. On their shoulders was a golden Nanotrasen logo. One man was tall and lanky, and his hair was greased back. He looked like he would sell insurance for something else no one would ever need. The second individual was short and fat, with a terrible combover. He would have looked better if he just shaved his round head rather than try with the awful discount hair gel and five strands of hair. Reminded Richard of another fat man on the station that caused quite a bit of problems.

Then a third individual. He wore reflective aviators and an earpiece. He stuck out from the group of three. Tall, dark-skinned, and fit. His age looked in his mid-30s while the others looked to be over 50 from a lifetime of poor choices. He walked to the station with purpose while the other two were speaking to each other about whatever middle management types talk about.

The three made their way to the head of security and the captain. Martinez greeted them with a bow and welcomed them to the station. The bald man wore a crooked smile as he walked forward ahead of the other two, clearly, the one taking charge of the group. He spoke in a heavy accent from one of the inner human worlds, or it could have been a speech impediment. It was difficult for Richard to decern the two.

“Yesh, thank you for welcoming ush to your humble shtation. I’d have hoped to be greeted by women, I checked the roshter.” He dabbed the sweat from his large forehead and giggled like a school child. “Young pretty thingsh, yesh.”

The taller man bowed to the captain while the squat man composed himself. “I’m sorry sir, Patins is a bit distracted, long journey. My name is Neal, we’re from Nanotrasen headquarters on earth.”

Martinez and Richard then looked toward the out-of-place individual. He remained silent and just looked back and forth. He looked like he was doing his job of inspecting the station as he observed the glass hallways.

“And how about you sir, what’s your name?” The captain asked the tall dark man.

“Your engineering crew did a fine job Martinez. Some changes to Nanotrasen specs but they are all within limits.” He pulled off his sunglasses revealing dark brown eyes. “My name is Quinsy.” His voice was dominant and deep. Richard probably would get along well with this individual.

“Ah, so he doesh speak. Shpent the entire ride here and not a shingle word. He tagged along for the trip with us by Nanotrashen orders, I thought nothing of it. Let ush make our way to the cafeteria I’m shtarved over here. We can finish introductionsh out of the way there.” Patins took the lead down the hallway toward services.

Richard wasn’t too happy babysitting, but that’s the perk of having such a prestigious job title. After Patins hit on the chef by showboating about the money and position he held he stuffed his face. There wasn’t much talking as he chewed loudly. What conversation did occur was between the captain and Neal. They spoke briefly on the station’s productivity. Neal offered some sleazy advice about cooking the books to ek out higher numbers in areas to make Martinez look better. Turns out he was an insurance salesman before he got the position as quality assurance and climbed his way up. Quincy didn't eat, he just eyed the crew who ate in silence to avoid catching any ire from the bosses. Once they finished their meal Patins asked to be led around the station so they can get their initial assessment started.

The tour was quite benign the only individual that seemed to care for the station itself was Quinsy. He noticed the efficiency changes made to the hallways that are normally abandoned at most stations. The engineering team had quite a bit of creative liberty with designs throughout the many generations of operation. Richard admired the eye for detail the standoffish individual had. Which had him wonder if the man was the real leader of the group instead of the round oaf who just commented on how the women on the station should be wearing skirts instead of coveralls. When they stopped at medbay it was hard to ignore the bulging eyes Patins got when he saw the young blond woman at the counter.

“Greetingsh m’lady how are you doing thish fine evening.”

She grew uncomfortable. The similarities he had with the other crewmate were uncanny. Patins then got inside her personal bubble over the reception desk. “Uh… Can I help you, gentlemen?” Her eyes glanced over to the captain pleading for help as he was nearly smelling her hair from where she was sitting.

Richard reached up and grabbed the man’s shoulder yanking him back to the other side of the desk. This caused him to trash his shoulders out of the grip violently. “Unhand me!” he brushed his shoulder with his hand as if he was touched by a mere commoner. “Thank you, I’m merely inshpecting the fine crew of the shation. Your jobsh are on the line, don’t interrupt me.”

Richard glared at the ugly fat man. If it were any other crew member, he would have hit him with a stun baton rather than simply pull him away. He turned his attention to the captain who also looked rather annoyed with Patins’ behavior.

The CMO jumped through the double doors to the lobby smiling unusually wide at the VIPs. “Welcome to the station. I’m Allison, so glad of you to stop by, would you like a look around med bay. My staff would be more than happy to show you around.”

The captain held up a hand. “Sorry Allison, but we really are in a hurry. Once the tour is over, they can explore to their heart’s content.” She wasn’t thrilled he stopped her brown-nosing. A few protests were coming from Patins who wanted to head into med bay, but Neal stopped him.

"There is plenty of time for that later. Our little TDY vacation will start once the initial meeting is finished."

The rest of the tour proceeded without issue. Which pleased the head of security, all the walking around was draining. Then Patins tripped and fell in the hallway. His body collided with a loud thud. “What the hell!?”

There was a burst of familiar laughter from behind the group. Trixi wearing her clown outfit and painted face. She honked her bike horn to punctuate the physical comedy. Honk! The captain busted out laughing when he saw that the little vulpes clown tied the man’s shoelaces together. A surprising shock was on Richard's face, he didn't hear her shoes squeak upon them to do the deed.

“Pick me up you dolt!” the man cried out holding his hand toward Richard. He was obligated to pick his ass off the ground. After he caught his breath from the yell, he demanded his shoes be fixed. Which Richard also had to help him with. “You better arresh that alien, ashaulting a Nanotrashen offisher, is a grave offensh.”

Richard grumbled under his breath, “Clown pranks isn't assault.”

“What wash that?!”

Richard stood up to look down at the man. His patience had worn pretty thin, “I fixed your shoes, sir.”

“Ah good. Well, go arresh the alien now.”

Richard stared at him for a while longer then glanced at the other two representatives. Neal just checked his shoes to see if he also got pranked while Quincy covered his mouth hiding a smirk of satisfaction. The captain changed the subject knowing full well that Richard wouldn’t arrest Trixi. “He can deal with her later. We got much more important business to take care of.”

“Aw, so I won’t be cuffed and locked up?” There was a smug vulpine smile on her muzzle as she stared up at the group of humans. Her tail danced around pleased with herself.

Patins pointed at the fox. “You zip it. If I shee you again around the hall, I'll be walking off thish shtation with a fancy hat.”

Richard was about to lay into him until Quincy placed a hand over his chest shaking his head dismissively as if to say the round man wasn’t worth it. The action gave Richard pause. He was definitely not like the other two bozos.

Trixi however egged him on. “Why do you talk like that, do you have trouble with your throat?”

The man’s face was beet red with anger. “How dare you!” Trixi only responded with another honk of her bike horn. Honk! Her shoes squeaked as she ran away laughing to herself. The man huffed as he gave chase, only making it several steps before he realized she was long gone. “Damn alien employeesh. Should have never allowed them in our shpace.”

Martinez continued chuckling to himself some more. “It’s quite alright. Our aliens have done quite a lot for the station’s wellbeing. Even saved it from destruction as I noted in my reports.”

“Harumph, I take it they were quite exaggerated. Never met an alien I liked.” Patins said confidently while brushing himself off some more.

Neal added to the alien beratement, “Lazy, slothful, and rather dumb by human standards. I already got several into paying me to work for me. Making a nice mint on their backs.”

The captain was rapidly growing sick of their remarks. “Enough, this is my crew and my station. You two can discuss your mutual hatreds after the assessment.”

It wasn’t enough to shut them up as they went on and on about their crooked dealings and malicious treatment of alien crewmates. By the time they got to the meeting room, Richard was one swift kick from wearing one of them as a boot.

Patins sat at the captain’s chair when they arrived in the meeting room. Richard was about to take his seat across the table until Neal took the seat as it was pulled out from the table. Once everyone was seated, they began to talk about why they were sent to the station.

Neal went over the obvious, “As you are aware this station was attacked by Syndicate operatives…” Richard leaned back, ready for another long boring talk about stuff he already knows. “This however came to us as a shock. Nanotrasen and the Syndicate coalition have agreements with the planetary families of the core worlds. No nuclear attacks in the inner sphere. This attack violated many laws with the families.”

He went on to describe how the planetary constituents were tired of the constant corporate warfare and didn’t want nuclear weapons being set off right in their backyard. This history lesson was interesting. However, rules are always broken.

“That’s great and all, but what does that have to do with me?” Richard asked, annoyed that they came all this way to waste his time.

Neal answered, annoyed to be cut off from his historical speech. “Sorry about that Richard. Nanotrasen saw your performance during the attack. We're sent here to offer an opportunity to join the emergency response team as a death squad commander.”

Richard’s eyes boggled at the offer. It was quite a prestigious slot that would put him ahead of most members in Nanotrasen. On top of that, the pay increase was ridiculous, he would be able to afford a mansion on earth.

Quincy spoke on the matter, “It’s not an easy job. Trust me. But we are in desperate need of strong men who are quick thinkers. I saw the recordings of the attack; you were able to take out 4 heavily armored soldiers and a mech with cobbled together scrap and an energy pistol. Any other man would have perished, but you held on strong and saved many lives.”

Neal and Patins looked confused when he revealed this information. Patins asked with a raised brow, "Why are you here with ush, we weren't informed of a high ranking member would be joining ush."

Quincy gave a smug smile. "That's need-to-know information. But if you must know, I wanted to see the would-be commander for myself."

The captain applauded, “This is fantastic! I had no idea this is what the higher-ups were cooking up.”

The offer did tantalize Richard. But there were many problems with it. He was looking forward to ending his career with Nanotrasen soon. Dealing with shitheads and incompetent crewmates, he could only take so much.

Quincy saw the hesitation in Richard’s eyes. “There is no need to rush into this. You and I both know the dangers of the duty. In the meantime, we will be spending time on the station to get reports and data from the other crewmates.”

Richard smiled hiding his true feelings about such a massive decision haning overhead like an all-encompassing cloak. He won’t be getting a restful sleep anytime soon.

The meeting concluded with the captain boasting of Richard's past accomplishments. It wasn't ideal for the reserved head of security. When they finally left the bridge Patins received another gift from the clown. Whap! A crème pie hit him square in his face. The man screeched as Quincy and the captain laughed loudly, overshadowing Trixi’s horn. Honk!

“Get that damn alien now!” Patins’ voice was high-pitched leaping at the vulpes, but she effortlessly jumped away. Neal launched himself down the hallway chasing the clown as she flipped away. He soon hit the ground as he stepped onto a perfectly placed bar of soap.

Richard was quite happy as they both started to slide around on the ground from the pie coated the floor. He feigned a chase soon after, walking slowly with his cain. The clown slowed her speed to keep in his line of sight. He mouthed the words ‘Thank you’ to Trixi, who gave a simple wink back. He was finally separated from the two jackasses.