FSE

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A day came and went. Trixi stepped on stage playing her songs as the crew rolled in. Most of them were interested in drinking and watching the large flatscreen. As she played, she kept her eyes out for Richard who was strangely absent that evening. On her break, she approached the bar.

“Bakes, has Richard come by yet?” Trixi asked.

“Not yet, he might be busy with sssomething. The VIPsss are around.”

“Oh okay. Thank you.” She shrugged it off as a coincidence, he is a busy man after all. She already spent so much time with him last night. Her walk was still funny from that intense workout session. But her overactive imagination started to get the best of her. Making her believe in a feminine story that he was upset with her for the sexy prank. She always told herself to not believe in those simple fantasies she saw in dramas. But she couldn’t help herself as the reserved HoS always hid his annoyances to avoid any confrontation.

Just as she returned to the stage thoughts were broken by the crowd’s ‘oh’s and ‘ah’s. The curious vulpes wandered over to see the boisterous men blocking the screen. Every patron in the bar was tuned into whatever was on the screen.

“Oh man, that was a great move.” One man remarked.

“I didn’t know so much energy could pass through the windows.” A more concerned felinid commented, “I think I’ll close my blast shields in my room.”

“what’s playing?” Trixi asked the backs of the crowd.

A technician was standing on his tiptoes to view the screen before he stopped and addressed Trixi. “We’re watching the security footage from the attack. The captain gave an all-clear to the battle report, so now we get to see what happened.”

“Really?!” She exclaimed with a wagging tail. “I wanna see!”

She slipped through the crowd to the front, an easy enough feat. The wall-mounted screen to see multiple shots of hallways and external shots of the hull. Nothing particularly interesting was currently shown. Then a body in red armor floated away with several smoldering spots of melted metal punched through.

“That guy got fucked up.” An astute observer reported.

“Switch it to arrivals,” a yellow jumpsuit-garbed man demanded, “I worked hard patching all those holes. Practically gouged the station in half.”

The remote flicked through to view arrivals and fast-forwarded to the point where the defenders were in position. Trixi smiled through her painted face as she saw Richard in his padded jacket. As events unfolded through the screen, she felt pumped up and cheered on by the crowd, “Hit em’ hit em’ till they’re horizontal!” The lasers flew in the air in a standoff with the dreaded death drone. Orders were shouted left and right. Trixi was proud of her man’s bravery in throwing himself at the drone to keep it from attacking. Things then turned for the worse.

Her fur stood on end as the drone swiped Richard off. The vulpes folded her ears at seeing the horrifying power that sent Richard skipping across the counter like a discarded glass bottle. When the robot went down the crowd cheered, unaware of the toll Richard took to make that a reality. The modulated speaker in Richard’s helmet was chilling as he ordered a retreat. His words were slurred from pain. The crowd tensed up as the drone beeped. When the beeping finished the screen was filled with a disconnection error message.

A horrifying memory flicked through Trixi. The sight of Richard’s bloody face. Her brain made every attempt to block it. She swallowed and squared herself up to continue watching.

The holder of the controller flipped the camera views to where the captain was blasting through a large opening in the A.I.’s chamber. Automatic turrets lit up the screen in brilliant reds. Sparks of molten armor showered down from the enemies that dared to return fire. It was like a movie where the protagonist was gunning down enemies one at a time. Trixi was no longer having fun. The sounds of shouting were too real. She was there already, and the horrible smell of blood returned.

“Let me have a look!” The felinid yelled out taking the remote. “I want to see how the mess hall blew up.”

He clicked through the bookmarked scenes. The camera was contrasted up to pick up the dark room. The bomb sat dead center, counting down. Another armored mercenary defiantly defended the weapon as Richard attacked. Sparks from their energy weapons fell to the gunmetal floors. She tilted her head slightly. Her sharp eyes picked up on the strange movements Richard performed. The drugs that poured into him gave him an uncanny flexibility. They looked painful, flexing in a way that only looked natural to a felinid. After a station rattling shake cracked the lens of the camera, the armored man was pinned. The crowd was silent. Trixi’s eyes widened.

The fight was over with a guttural crunch. Like a can of soda filled with watermelon. She felt lightheaded and turned away. Then she lurched forward and vomited.

The mime waved through the crowd and carried her away. The felinid cycled the footage to an empty scene as other patrons gave him nasty looks for making the clown sick.

After everything was cleaned Trixi sat at the counter feeling cold, alone, and judged. She folded her arms defensively as everyone glanced worried looks her direction.

“Need anything?” Bakes asked pressing his arms to the counter trying to lower himself to her stature.

“I should be fine.” She swallowed, tasting bile. “Maybe a glass of water would help… The video just reminded me of that day. I thought I got over it.”

Jacques petted her head and offered his other hand open. An invitation to talk it out.

“I should be fine. My stomach is just turning sideways.”

Jacques covered his mouth and hugged the little vulpes squeezing her tightly.

“Come on, it’s not that serious. I’ve been working through my issues little by little.” She groaned and twisted, “Now can you please stop squeezing me, my stomach still hasn’t settled.”

“You should go to medical,” Bakes suggested.

“Maybe, do you have everything under control, Jacques?”

The mime nodded and shooed the fox away smiling wide. He reminded her again that he was always available. Trixi hopped from the bar stool and squeaked on her way to medbay.

She had no real interest in seeking medical help. But maybe a pill or two would get her back to her normally bubbly self. With that happy thought, she approached the counter with audible squeaking shoes, “I got a tummy ache. Can I get something to make it feel better?”

The woman let out an exasperated sigh. “I’m so close to reassignment planet side. Can it wait so I never see you again?”

The vulpes had stars in her eyes hearing the good news, “Oh! Where are you headed? Should I plan a going away party?”

“For the love of God, no! I want my Earth trip to be as peaceful as possible and without disgusting fur on any of my belongings.”

Trixi’s smile of joy turned to a smug half grin. “That’s a shame. I thought you were wanting to celebrate before becoming the ugly one again.” She honked her horn and snickered. Honk! Then her stomach turned, and she gagged. “Ooooagh…”

The nurse clinched her teeth trying not to show pleasure in the vulpes’ pain. “Whatever, I’ll message Dr. Manit.”

Trixi collected herself and held her stomach with her gloved paws. “Good. Thank you…” She parked her butt in a chair in the empty lobby.

Allison walked into the lobby at her normal aggravated pace. Her sagging wrinkled eyes were blazing with anger as she proceeded to yell at the receptionist, “Does the lobby look like a zoo to you? I told you I’m busy.”

“Could’ve fooled me. I see a harpy and a crow.” Trixi said to herself holding off on laughing at her joke this time around.

The young woman defended herself pointing at the alien, “She’s here to see Dr. Manit Ma’am.”

“Humph.” Allison tapped her foot on the sterile silver floors turning her attention to Trixi in a manner that seemed like she was ready to strike the vulpes. “What do you want foxkin? Dr. Manit is occupied and with all those security stooges getting in the way is taking more of his time. Pack of useless dogs.”

The way Allison spoke about Trixi’s friends made her want to snap her jaw. Then her sharp nose picked up something. The smell of blood on the woman’s seemingly washed hands. She hesitated and covered her snout. There was no mistaking the stench. The vulpes gagged.

“She has stomach pain.” The receptionist answered, “Should I contact Dr. Manit or just let her deal with it?”

“Neither. I’ll go fetch some medication for the foxkin. Some Olazapine will do.”

“Thank you,” Trixi said holding her stomach as if it was the only way of keeping it together.

After an hour passed Allison produced a pill bottle. “Here you go, just take two each day for a week. That should be enough to take care of you.”

Trixi nodded, keeping her paw over her snout. All she wanted to do was crawl back into bed and be surrounded by Richard’s scent. But before she made it to their quarters, she stopped by the breakroom to grab a glass of water. Roma sat alone, drinking some coffee.

“Hey, Trixi! You missed the celebration. Everyone got to see you beat the bad guys.”

“I didn’t feel like staying. My stomach was turning from the violence.”

“Oh… Are you okay?”

“It’s fine, I got some tummy pills.” She took two of the pills and drank some water. The water did a wonderful job alone. It cooled her very core. She checked her PDA only to find zero messages. “Is Richard busy? I haven’t seen him all day.”

“He was having a conversation with Quincy again. The two of them have a lot in common.”

“That guy’s friends creep me out…”

“No kidding, I already had to pull the fat guy out of the kitchen. He was drooling on the floor at the sight of Wilma. Or maybe it was the deep-fried butter steak.”

“Eehch. Looks like I should find him and prank him.”

“Be my guest,” Roma handwaved dismissively, “Space lube his shoes and bolt open the SM for all I care.”

“Hehe.” She clutched her stomach again. “I think I’ll just stick with bananas or ask the chef to make more pies. Richard told me never to go into engineering anymore. Something about radiation will kill me or something. Anyway, I’ll be in Richard’s quarters. Let him know I’m not feeling well, okay?”

“I’ll let the boss know. Good night.” Roma frowned watching Trixi leave.

_____

On the other side of the station, Richard looked over the AI’s core. The walls were repaired, and the station was now officially back to 100% operation. The brooding visitor rubbed his fingers across the welds on the interior plates. The bead was as seamless as a medical weld.

“Things are looking quite well Richard,” Quincy said impressed.

“Glad to hear that. Is there any word on reinforcements for the defense of the stations?”

“We’re looking into it still, the attack seemed out of the blue. Most of the corporate leaders in the syndicate are in complete disarray trying to find out who supplied the mercenaries. But rest assured that if there is another attack the ERT will support our stations no matter how unlikely.”

“Finally, some good news. Having to use technicians and scientists as a defense force was costly.”

The door hissed open behind the two men and the captain stepped into the hall. “Central command finished their analysis of the footage and I green-lit the release. I believe this is cause for celebration wouldn’t you say, Richard?”

“I could use a drink. Might help with my headache. I keep hearing rumblings from our other guests. The only thing I hate more than self-righteous asshats are ones with connections.”

“I warned command to only send me,” Quincy stated coldly, “But they wanted a good cover. I apologize on their behalf.”

“It’d be a wasted breath,” The captain said taking a more serious tone. “Richard here has them under careful eye so they get too handsy-”

Quincy chuckled deeply, “I give you my word that if they try anything that disrupts operations in this station, I will personally toss their severed head out the airlock. They may have connections with the barons of earth, but those fat cats would likely not wish to make powerful enemies.”

“Well said,” Martinez chuckled. A smile crept back from the serious matters, “So how about a toast to a job well done?!”

They departed the chamber in better spirits. Unaware that the crew had already delved deeply into the footage. The commotion at the bar stopped as the three entered. Richard was offered a round of drinks as he answered the crew’s never-ending questions. His lips were quite loose by the bottom of the 6th bottle of dwarven ale. In his drunken stupor, he watched the video himself. He took the footage personally. A homage to how he got his ass kicked by a bunch of cowards in power armor. He didn’t remember the events that lead to the fight in the cafeteria. The drugs blocked everything in a dark haze. An interesting side effect to limit PTSD. Fortunately, he only took one stab of the fluid.

What interested him the most was what Trixi did while he ran around the station. He cycled to the bookmarked scene just after she escaped the clutches of the mercenary. Her bushy tail disappeared into the vents. He could almost feel the fox’s heart race in his own chest.

“Trixi did quite well, considering she had no real weapon,” Quincy said impressed with the alien’s actions. He polished off his margarita. “The clever clown saved quite a few lives as a distraction.”

“I’m glad she made it out alive.”

“Where’s the clown anyway!?” Martinez yelled out drinking his manly dorf, face rosy from the stiff drink. “She would love this attention and admiration!”

Bakes was quietly serving drinks until the captain snapped his focus mentioning Trixi. “She left to sssettle her ssstomach. Not feeling well.”

“I should probably go then,” Richard said, setting his glass down.

Martinez jiggled happily. “All right, have a goodnight! Tell Trixi that she did a hell of a job out there!”

The captain’s voice echoed in Richard’s foggy head as he made his way to security. He ruminated on the battle and how he could have done things better. He arrived in his quarters to see Trixi’s orange snout buried in his pillow. Her light snores were muffled as he stripped and curled around her. Wasn’t the first time she did that, always reminding him his scent brought her comfort. The pillow held the strongest trace. He managed to get under the covers before the station’s chilly air got to him. A warm plush body greeted him. She was in a deep sleep, but a gentle smile spread across her muzzle as he embraced her.

When the alarm woke them Trixi moaned out in pain, gagging again. The taste never left her mouth. “My stomach still feels like it’s turning,” she grumbled.

Richard groggily turned on his side to leave the bed. Once upright, he processed Trixi’s complaints. “Still? Didn’t you see the doctor?”

“I did. I got pills. But now my insides just feel worse.”

After that one playful night, he wondered if maybe it was his fault. “Did I hurt you?”

Trixi rolled over to reassure him. “No. No. It was from the video feed. I felt sick watching it all,” She paused for a moment and rested her paw on his chest. “I could smell the blood again. It felt like it did after the fighting ended.”

He felt slightly better about not causing her physical pain, but only slightly. He still blamed himself for the reason she decided to fight. “Go ahead and rest. I’ll get breakfast.”

“Can you hand me some more pills, I feel like I’m gonna vomit again.”

Richard gave her the medication and dressed for his morning routine.

A plate of breakfast waited for him as he exercised. Pressing metal and a cold shower worked better than the disgusting discount coffee he’d been drinking while he was recovering. He let out a deep sigh of satisfaction and wiped himself off. He gave Trixi a soft kiss on the forehead before turning out the lights to let her rest.

His rounds had the normal idiots running around again. Silently giddy, he caught someone trying to break into the female locker room while they were showering. A stern talk was all he needed, and some bandages for the young man’s hands as he crossed the wires frying himself. Richard then helped himself with a laugh at the assistant’s expense. The man’s face was so red it could ignite plasma. Richard then ordered the idiot to use the holodeck privileges if he wanted to express himself. The whole ordeal was nostalgic. Grey-suited kids, tell them to move a box of rocks and they will pick each rock up one by one.

On his break, he noticed that the breakroom was bustling with activity. The men just got off their shift from medical and patrols. “How are things going around the station?” Richard asked no one in particular.

“Better than normal,” said a helmeted officer, “I got a date with that engineering chick. Who knew all it took to get women’s attention was to put your life on the line and save everyone from annihilation?”

Richard chuckled, “I hope for the best. And how about our VIPs are they staying out of trouble?”

“Eh, not really. Got some complaints but it’s nothing we haven’t heard already from our crew. The CMO seems to let them get a free pass in her department.”

“It’s probably best to not hit that bee’s nest,” Richard said rolling his eyes. “If she had a complaint, she will most likely bitch to us about it. I already got hounded about our extra duties in her department.”

“How much longer are they on board?” Another helmeted officer asked.

“Just one more day. I have a meeting tomorrow and then they will be out of our hair.” Richard ran a hand through his hair wistfully. “The fat one has been pissing me off the most. Lately, he’s been stalking me a little too much. Questioning every little thing I do. I hope I’m not that annoying.” They shake their heads, it’s not like he could tell if they were serious or not, he hasn’t monitored his behavior in quite some time. Richard shrugged, “I’d appreciate it if you guys did let me know I’m overbearing. Life is too short to hate every aspect of your life.”

They joked around about made-up nonsense. Paperwork and tool clean-up are the biggest complaints. Jokers the lot of them. Richard pulled his hand up to quiet them.

“As you all were then. I’m going to patrol the under hab doing some pest control.”

He pulled a laser from the armory and made his way toward the uninhabited maintenance level below the living quarters. It was quite a nasty atmosphere. Condensation from the hot water pipes left the air warm and wet. It felt like a sauna. The large draining pipes left behind a heavy fog. Bacteria and slimes loved to grow and reproduce in the dank environment as well as the rats. These pests feed on the trash that leaked from waste tube seals and chew on precious wire bundles for nesting materials.

A red laser flashed in the darkness and another rat squeaked and died. Richard’s night vision beamed like beacons following the trail of the target. He hunched over avoiding getting seared by the hot water pipes as he continued through the maintenance tunnel. A few more rats were zapped when Roma joined up with him.

“Exterminating some rodents?” Roma asked limboing under a pipe.

“That’s the plan. Someone’s got to keep the population down now and again. Theodin loved this task, but well…”

Roma remained silent as Richard zapped another rodent and then smirked trying to bring the conversation to a more pleasant location, “He never did pay me back my 20 bucks.” Richard tilted his head to hear the story. Their late friend was quite the jokester. “…An old bet I won. Not only did he not pay me, but he sent me a letter acknowledging that he owed the money. With the note he gave me a bar of soap with a bite taken out of it.” They shared a laugh and other humorous stories they experienced. Fond memories and company in the dark tunnels were always welcomed.

Richard neared the completion of the rounds, “I’m not sure if it’s Nanotrasen that turns us into lunatics or if lunatics are just drawn to a life in space.”

“A little of both probably.” Roma leaned on a bulkhead. “You’d have to be crazy to deal with all of this.” Waving his arms dismissively at the environment he suddenly popped off the bulkhead remembering something. “Oh right, Trixi asked about you the other night. She sounded worried about something she did.”

“It’s nothing,” Richard shrugged chuckling warmly. “She just played a prank on me. I think she caught something.”

“Hope she gets better.”

“How about you and Welds?” Richard grinned wide under his mask interested in how their xeno relationship was going.

“It’s great,” Roma said honestly, “We stopped sneaking around as much. Even sitting together during movie night.”

“Ah, young love.” Richard snickered poking more fun at the warden.

“Heh, I think I’m going to propose to her. I want to make things official.”

“That’s wonderful! Is it going to be on your homeworld?”

“I’m planning it on Bakes’ homeworld. Protoa doesn’t allow cross-species marriages and my family is too estranged to bring anything like that up. All we have are each other.”

“I’m here for you,” Richard patted him on the shoulder comforting the younger man, “Hope Trixi and I get an invite.”

“Are you going to remarry?”

“Yes, once we get off this blasted station. I mean, I knew her for years, but we never really had any interactions beyond crewmates. After all the shit we went through, she stayed by my side. I’m going to devote the rest of my life to that little vulpes.” Richard popped another rat in the head. “I’ll sell my home on Raia and move to another world where we can start our new life.”

“Hell, you should move to Hou. We could be neighbors.”

“Doesn’t sound too bad. Maybe Trixi’s sister could move as well. Her homeworld isn’t exactly keen on humans either.”

Roma was smiling stupidly thinking about his future. Hope filled his heart, a quite infectious warmth that spread to Richard. “I can’t wait,” He said beaming, “Real gravity and fresh air. I should just go ahead and ask Welds immediately before I spoil the idea.”

“Want me to come with you?” Richard asked with a voice full of smugness to it, “Wingman.”

Roma laughed, “Nah. I don’t want her pressured and the population of rats quadrupled down here.”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t be a stranger.” He waved goodbye so he could continue zapping a dozen more rodents. The rats were happily chomping away at the electrical wires. Just another extra duty that gave him some practice for precision shots. Once he was satisfied with the number of kills, he returned to check on his vulpes.

He was shocked to see his office was untouched. The chair had not moved, nor Trixi’s computer. It was unlike her to not fiddle with things while he was away. He entered his quarters to see the star-lit window on the opposite wall. Everything was suspended in darkness. “Are you doing all right?” Richard asked concerned. He hung up his equipment and took off his uniform. Trixi was as he left her in the morning.

Her voice was weak he almost couldn’t hear her, “I’m still feeling bad. I couldn’t keep any food down.” She shuddered a little and hugged his pillow with her whole body. “My stomach is twisty.” Her fur was matted from tossing and turning all day and she still had makeup smeared on her muzzle. He comforted her by running his fingers through her fur. Eventually, he picked up a brush and stroked her back with it. She crooned and nuzzled the pillow deeper.

“Do you need water or anything?”

“Please don’t go. I can’t sleep without you…”

He stayed by her side, grooming her fluffy tail and back. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths with every stroke. He frowned looking at the poor vulpes. This continued throughout the night until light snores could be heard.

Trixi’s health got worse the following day. As she took more medication, Richard winced. She said it was like drinking spikes as she swallowed the water. When she attempted to eat breakfast, it came back out.

“I’m… Sorry…” She whimpered while Richard cleaned up the mess.

“No, don’t. Just go back to sleep. I want you to get better.”

After cleaning he dressed for his shift. His concern grew with every passing hour. When he passed by the medbay he wondered if he should march to Dr. Manit and ask if there was something else he could do. But regulations would get in the way. The doctor would be hard-pressed to discuss private medical matters.

Beep beep beep.

His PDA beeped reminding him of the damn meeting. He had completely forgotten the thing from all the compounding oppressive matters he needed to attend to. He rushed over as quickly as he could to the bridge. At the door, he straightened his back and rolled his shoulders and exhaling any sibilance of stress out to make himself look attentive. The captain greeted him.

“Glad you could make it Richard,” Martinez said brushing his beard. The smell alone gave away that the captain had already partaken of his whisky.

“Already partying?”

“Just substituting the pre-meeting cigar,” the captain’s voice was a whisper, “Those Earth types are always so pushy when it comes to those kinds of substances.”

“Could’ve fooled me.” Richard looked over and saw the two pains in the asses speaking to each other in the meeting room. The other heads were already sitting in their respective seats. Patins had a smug smile on his face as he adjusted his ass in Richard’s usual spot. The security head just rolled his eyes at the petty gesture. His only regret was not joining the captain earlier to partake in the whiskey before the waste of time started. Quincy was the last one to take his seat. His demeanor was as stoic and hard to read as ever. He had his face buried into his PDA not breaking his gaze from what he was reading. An occasional finger flicked up to read more.

“Bout time,” Patins mumbled. “I have a very important dishcovery I wanted everyone to shee.”

“I’m sure it will be riveting,” Quincy replied already bored.

Richard’s eyes were already starting to glaze over from the talking. Something about the room just drained any attention he had. His eyes inadvertently landed on the individual opposite of him, Allison.

“And just want are you staring at?” She barked.

He shook his head and shrugged, pointing his eyes toward Patins. He was mumbling about how great things looked and that the CMO’s employees were the most well-behaved out of all the sections. Richard wondered what she had her poor girls do to get such high remarks. Just another slimy thing that slipped out of his fingers for not jumping on the opportunity to kill her.

Patins’ beady little eyes turned to Richard. “And ash for you. Your shitcurity team Is the mosht lazy pack of men I have ever had the displeashure of knowing. A Thoushand bananash shcattered around would be an improvement than your men.” His accent seemed to be getting worse and Richard just nodded along. Being lectured by this creature was bad enough. At least he only had to deal with him for approximately however long this conversation went. “… And now I’m shtarting to figure out why. You’ve been shlacking!” He pointed an accusing finger at the security head. Richard just raised an eyebrow, tempted to snap the finger like a discount beef stick. “All your time conshorting with that dishgusting foxkin!”

Richard was taken aback by the strange accusation. He took a courtesy glance over to the rest of the department heads and the captain.

The captain had the most confused look under his bushy beard. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Everything!” Patins’ face jiggled as he shook a finger angrily at the captain. “You of all people should know the crimesh your shecurity head committed! A.I. pull up footage I bookmarked.”

The A.I. pinged and projected a scene on the wall. It was the bar several days ago. Trixi was conversing with Bakes and the mime. The bar was closed, and Bakes was cleaning up. Richard quickly recognized when this was and started hiding his face from the humiliation. Everyone watched as the happy vulpes sat on his lap and kissed him passionately in the bar.

The room was silent for what seemed like an eternity until the captain bellowed out in joyous laughter, “HAH! That’s adorable! I have never seen you like that Richard, you ol’ romantic!”

All the talks Richard did of public displays of affection and now his little moment was broadcasted to the rest of his peers. He continued to hide the unscarred portion of his face. The department heads were a mix of confusion as to why they were being shown such activities. Allison was the only one smiling. Like she caught an injured mouse in her claws.

Ali spoke up in defense of the HoS, “What’s the problem? It’s not fraternization. She doesn’t work for him.”

“Move onto the next scene A.I.,” The screen faded to a scene from inside the holodeck. The naked Richard was making out with the bright-furred vulpes as their bodies gyrated locked in passion. Everyone was transfixed by the careful caresses.

“A.I. cut the projection!” The captain ordered, “We’ve seen enough!” His knuckles were pressed to the wooden table.

The engineering director and the lead researcher were in complete shock. The aged scientist whispered a thought aloud, “Is she okay?” Quincy had glanced up only to return to his screen.

Richard sank into the chair with his head in his palms mortified. The atmosphere was broken when the chief engineer coughed, “Captain, remind me to disconnect the cameras from the holodeck, some things are best left in private.” The men shared the motion and then looked back up at Patins who was now standing alone looking like the bad guy.

“What!?” Patins shouted, “You’re just going to allow this to continue!?”

Ali nervously answered trying not to offend Richard, “What our security chief does in his private time is his own business. He broke no laws.”

The captain glared at Patins, “A.I. delete our guest’s bookmarks and get security to come and escort them to their quarters.” The A.I. pinged an affirming tone.

Neil stepped up and joined his comrade who was left out to dry airing the security head’s personal time, “Belay that order AI, have the warden come to arrest the former security head.”

“For what?!” the captain cried out.

“Crimes against humanity of course.” He was stern in his resolution as if he was planning for this outcome. “A man in a position of power in the inner sphere is forbidden to fornicate with xenos. Circa 2280, earth emplaced these laws to prevent unhealthy relationships that would promote a net loss of human breeding. As a leader, you should have already known this.”

Martinez was drawn back into thought. “Those backwater laws only apply to governors, and even then, they aren’t enforced.”

“They are,” Neil said straightening himself trying to look imposing with his twiglike frame. “The latest scandal with the Mars diplomat resulted in him being removed from power. As for Nanotrasen, the department heads are also held to the same standard as the governing bodies. They are, after all, acting ambassadors on behalf of humanity.”

Roma entered the room and froze trying to gather the temperature. “What’s this about an arrest?”

“You’re late,” Patins stammered, “Arresht your former bossh.”

The captain launched himself at the fat ball, grabbing him by the scruff of his tailored collar. He picked him off the ground and slammed him into the wall. “Central command will hear of this! You will not come in here and harass the only individual that saved this station from being shattered to space dust!”

“Sir,” Allison softly interrupted, “Inner sphere law overwrites CentCom. We aren’t in lawless space where degenerate behavior is tolerated.” A smug smile spread across her lips and her auburn eyes sparkled with joy. Richard clinched his fist at the aura she let out. In his hatred, he imagined what her head would look like if it was cleaved in two by a hellfire laser.

The captain fumed and set the scared little man down. “Everyone out! Right now!”

Ali and the other department heads left, leaving Richard standing next to the captain. The two of them appeared ready to strike down their guests. Quincy cradled his hands together observing the situation. Roma backed up his boss, still unsure as to why he was called in but was ready to back him up at a moment’s notice.

“Richard, you can go,” Martinez ordered calming the venom in his voice, “This is a terrible joke. I’d sooner be court marshaled than let these idiots have their way.”

“Absholutely not!” Patins shouted. He then pointed at Richard aggressively, “Warden arresht that man. I’ll make sure UEG is notified!”

Roma had a look of disgust on his face. He glanced over at his boss then burst out laughing, “Are you serious? What crimes did he commit?”

He explained the small list of crimes and reiterated the importance for the laws. Roma pursed his lips trying not to laugh his ass off. The idea they would enforce such archaic laws on this station was ludicrous.

Quincy diffused the situation with his deep voice, “Let me handle this, you three can go.”

“No,” Patins countered, “We’re in charge of this matter. We’re-”

Quincy slammed down on the table nearly breaking the innocent furniture as he picked himself out of the chair. “And?”

Patins suddenly became mouselike at the outburst. “W-well… w-we musht keep law and order in the shystem.”

“You already humiliated him. In fact, I’m surprised he didn’t just kill you for sharing that private matter. So why don’t you just count yourself lucky and maybe you’ll make it back home to your 5-bedroom suite in New-New York.” The second threat of violence finally got him to shut up. Tensions in the room unwound allowing the three to leave. Quincy dealt with the malcontents.

“Well, that was retarded,” Roma said shaking off the whole ordeal.

Martinez patted Richard on the shoulder, “I’m sorry Richard, I should have watched that blasted moron more closely. I didn’t think he was snooping into your private matters.”

“What’s the punishment for that crime anyway?” Roma asked.

“I have no idea,” Richard said honestly, his face still red from the embarrassment. “Sounds like one of those pollical baton laws the government loves to keep around.”

The two defeated men left the meeting room. They avoided eye contact as they slinked off the bridge. Quincy sighed, exasperated by the situation. “You shouldn’t hear from them again. The audacity to think they could pull something off on behest of the CMO was perhaps the stupidest plan I’ve seen to date.”

The three looked at each other. Martinez shook his head in disbelief, “She put them up to this?”

“An axe to grind. But that will have to wait, I read some troubling news. Richard, go check on your vulpes. I need to go speak with Dr. Manit.” Before they got a chance to ask what was going on Quincy darted away.

Richard got goosebumps. Fear ran through his heart as the worry returned in a drowning torrent. In a flash, he ran in the opposite direction toward security. Martinez motioned to Roma, pointing him toward security, “I’ll head to medical to see what’s going on, you check security.”

Richard was panicking. The door to his office was left open. There was a puddle of vomit on his desk that had pooled out onto the floor. He entered his room to see it had been vacated. The blankets were a mess on the floor. He tossed the blankets around to see if she was hiding or playing a horrible prank. His artificial hearing picked up his heavy heartbeats. Before he could even turn around, Roma barged into the office.

“Phil said she was taken to medical! She had a seizer!”

____

Richard rushed toward medbay. Knocking over anyone in his path. The A.I. failed to locate the vulpes. A chilling horror that left Richard to assume the worse. He knew Allison was involved and found that she was in the middle of the investigation.

He loomed over the receptionist’s little desk. Anger swelled inside, he quickly swallowed it to ask the ghost white woman a question, “Where is she?”

She let out a small, “Who?”

“Where’s Trixi?”

She was now surrounded by Roma and three other security guards. The terrified woman started to shuffle through her desk to find the data on patients. “I. I. Don’t really.” She thumbed the button to speak to the CMO, “Where’s the clown? There’s a lot of people looking for her.”

Richard grew tired of the games. He slammed the desk and shoved his men out of his way to get to the door. He took a few steps inside, “Search everywhere, I don’t care if you melt the bolts off the doors. I want to know where she was taken. And, if you find the CMO arrest her immediately. Now!”

They had their orders and followed them without question. The search began. Nurses stopped at the sight and slid their backs to the wall. A few mentioned they saw Allison alone with Trixi in the surgery room. Richard headed there first while everyone else split up.

The blast shields were slammed shut at the windows and doors. The surgical room was locked up tight. Richard’s active imagination was let loose at what could be happening on the other side. “A.I., who’s in the surgery room?”

The command registered to the voice speaker near the corner of the wall and the ceiling, “Attempting to access.” The A.I. sent out an error sound. “The camera is non-functioning. I will contact engineering for repairs immediately.”

“Dammit! Open the door to surgery, law two!”

It chimed an affirmative note. Then nothing. The A.I.’s camera fixed itself on the location to investigate. It pinged an affirmative note one more time to Richard, but the door remained sealed. “I apologize, I am unable to interact with the door. I will contact engineering for repairs immediately.”

Upon hearing that Richard turned his gun to the door. Starting with the control box on the door. The panel sparked and hissed at the energy bolt. He then blasted the four corners of the door, punching into the hydraulics. Hot dark-red fluid poured out over the door’s frame. The metal plates groaned as the pressure released. A small crack relaxed between the two halves of the door. Just large enough for him to get his hands inside.

He grunted and pulled the door open putting all his effort into the motion. He let out a primal growl as the door finally gave way shooting more boiling hot fluid out.

The room was vacant.

Operating tools were scattered around and an empty operating table taunted Richard. He looked around for clues. Despite the cluttered mess of a room, there were no signs of Trixi. Not a single orange hair.

Two officers ran inside to investigate the noise.

“Search the place!”

They turned the place upside down. The only things they noticed were several missing tools from the medical rack and a gurney. Richard swallowed trying to keep his mind focused. Thoughts of torture or worse bounded back to him. He was reminded of the picture he had seen of Allison happily standing over a bisected lizardman.

Roma spoke over his earpiece bringing him back to reality, “A surgeon claimed to have seen the CMO walk toward the maintenance tunnels on the xeno level.”

“On my way!” He ran toward the lift to intercept. The speed of the elevator gave enough time for the other officers to catch their breath.

“What did the CMO do to Trixi?” One officer asked.

“No idea, but she went to medical and then her heath got worse. When you find the CMO, stun her and arrest her. Be as rough as you want.”

“Yes sir!” They tensed up ready for action.

Quincy awaited the group when the doors opened. “Richard, I hope you don’t mind that I sent some of your men to search the tunnels.” His face was as cool as it has always been. Flat with only a slight sign of aggravation on his forehead wrinkles.

“Good. Any idea what her end game is? She’s practically a fugitive on this station. A cornered rat.”

“We’re in the dark. She located one of the bugs in her communication lines.”

“Shit.” Richard motioned to his guards, “Turn the walls inside out!” They marched away guns activating. The capacitors charged and the coils emitted a bright blue light as they entered the maintenance halls. The doors hissed closed leaving Quincy and Richard. “Why wasn’t I told of this already?”

“I wish I knew. There’s a delay as the information is sent to HQ and then relayed back to me. I would have a synthesized remedy ready immediately.” Quincy handed Richard a syringe of chemicals. “Dr. Manit created a vulpes liver stimulate. Just inject her anywhere and it will help her process the toxins she ingested. But we need to keep our cool and locate Allison, there is no telling what she’s willing to do. I needn’t remind you we still need to keep her past hidden.”

“No promises.”

“I’m serious Richard. If we can’t keep this from getting out, I will be forced to call in the ERT. We can’t afford another race war in the stars.”

Richard sighed knowing how heavy the consequences were. However, if he could just kill her, they could label her as a traitor to Nanotrasen and toss any evidence of her existence out the nearest airlock. An easy solution that should have been done ages ago. He joined his team in the maintenance tunnels. The tunnels were tight and energy weapon blue light rounded every corner. The security channel in his ear was abuzz with ‘all-clears’ and ‘nothing spotted’. All they found were cluttered storage rooms and abandoned offices.

Richard stepped past a ladder heading back down and touched the radio on his hip. “I’m headed to the first level. I want squad one to follow suit. The rest keep an eye up here.”

He descended the ladder to an equally dark cramped hallway. The rooms were cleared one by one when he saw a sliver of light from a misaligned old door. When the door opened, he squinted at the harsh bright room. He blinked the pain away to find the stasis operating room. The pods that once held him and his men lined the walls. He wondered why the room was powered in the first place. No surgeries were conducted that required this level of care.

Then he saw Trixi inside one of the pods at the other end of the room. He darted straight for her and immediately checked the vitals on the machine. She was conscious, closing her eyes tightly. An unfortunate side effect for conscious patients. All light that entered the chamber condensed to pure white blinding light as time stopped for the patient. A sensation he was deeply familiar with from various operations.

He powered down the pod and lifted the lid. Trixi grimaced and hugged her tail to her naked body. Relief passed through him when she let out a gargle of pain. He tore open the package for the hypodermic needle and injected her in her abdomen.

“You’re going to be okay,” He whispered while stroking her furry face. She started to relax. Her eyes fluttered open. Richard reached to radio his men when he felt a sting behind his leg. He swatted at the annoying bee-like pest and felt a small syringe fall away from his body. He spun around to see Allison had a dart gun aimed at him from the cover of another pod.

Reacting, he drew his laser pistol hitting her in the shoulder with a bright blue bolt. Electricity scattered through her body causing her to miss the next shot. The air-powered dart plinked off another pod.

Richard gritted his teeth, “You’re fucking dead bitch!”

“Traitor!” Allison slammed the emergency button on the wall sealing the room with emergency blast doors. “I worked too hard to keep humanity from falling to these aliens! You of all people should understand that!”

Richard dashed around the pod to get a better shot, but she already scrambled to a new position. She fired a dart at him stinging him in the arm through his heavy coat. “They know what you’re doing, you aren’t coming out of this alive!” As he shouted, he ripped the needle out of his arm.

“I doubt that. You weren’t the first and won’t be the last. Just be another traitor to humanity.”

Another bolt of energy cracked the air. The hit caused her to grip the weapon tighter. The drug was flowing through him, his vision was shaken. He missed a follow-up shot. The cocky bitch smiled and approached him carelessly holding the dart gun aloft. He swept his leg high to kick the weapon and disarm her. The move caused him to slip to the floor as if he stepped on a banana peel.

“Predictable,” Allison said with cold calculation. “The big strong man comes to save the girl. A bit cliché.” Richard lost feeling in his extremities, squeezing his hand on the gun he fired another shot. “Gah!” She stumbled a few steps back in agony. The pained grunt shifted to laughter as she gripped the side of a pod shaking off the electrical attack, “Ahahaha, losing your edge a little too soon.”

He made one more attempt to hit her, but his hand wasn’t moving. He sat there motionless eyeing her through a thick fog that saturated his vision.

“Your pupils are already dilating,” she diagnosed him quickly. “I’d say you got a few minutes till you suffer from cardiac arrest.” She laughed harder and approached fearlessly. The pistol was pulled from his weak hand and carelessly tossed it across the room. “Honestly, I thought you would have cared more for the foxkin. Staying bedside as she withered away to nothing. Unfortunately, she stuck around longer than I anticipated.” Allison pressed a finger to her chin to come up with an excuse, “There wasn’t much research on their animal anatomy. Worked for me in the end. The naïve alien made for a lovely trap.”

“You think you’re going to get away with this?” Richard asked, a smug smile spread across his face. He might have been screwed but he knew the narcissistic bitch would talk forever if given the chance. He just needed to buy some time.

“Powerful connections can get you anything. Countless humans on earth want to wipe the alien menace out. Give elbow room to the rest of us for generations.”

“Who are you working for?”

“You know damn well who. Luckily, I found the bugs before you got too much information.”

Richard grew agitated at the pitiful job the internal investigation team did. “I didn’t plant the bugs. I personally wanted to execute you. Maybe feed your body to the lizardmen.”

Allison stared daggers at the helpless man, “Everything linked through your security network.”

“Now look who’s clueless. CentCom sent an agent to find out who kept you alive.”

She paced around trailing the dart gun on her temple trying to place who the individual was. It didn’t take long for her to piece together the puzzle. “That stupid man. Dammit.”

“Realize how fucked you are now?”

She composed herself and a wicked look smeared on her face. “No matter, we’re still in the inner sphere. The agents are dumb enough to get me to earth for my trial. Once there, I’ll get pardoned and continue my research.” She fired a dart into his neck. The pain was sudden and then vanished as the drug flowed. “I really should have doubled the dosages of these darts. And don’t worry about your little fuckpet. I’ll make sure her hide is turned into a bath rug. You should see the lovely things I made from the lizardkin.”

Richard looked past the woman to the pod Trixi was in. Vacant. He prayed that she got to safety. His eyes returned to Allison. He made a final attempt to attack her with his numb limb. A futile effort as she stepped back to avoid the daft strike.

“Save your energy for breathing. You’ll soon find that difficult.” She kicked him to his back, unable to feel the pain or even grunt from the impact. “If only you weren’t a disgusting animal fucker. We might have cooperated more. You did after all save my life among those on the station.” She leaned over him to make sure he heard the final part. “A majority of the syndicate didn’t want me to continue my research either.”

Richard cliched his teeth. If he could shoot lasers from his eyes, he would have punched a hole through her head to the depths of space. He regretted ever listening to Quincy and his plans to draw things out.

Banging broke Richard’s silent rage. Laser fire hammered the emergency bulkheads on both entrances to the room. “Great, like a dumb dog you bring the rest of your pack.” She dusted herself off and straightened her hair and uniform. “Now, to get my story out there. You did after all stop me from saving your pet from you. Your corpse will be convicted for every crime imaginable. I doubt anyone would defend a violent animal rapist.” She let out another crazed laugh pointing the dart gun at him for a final time.

A shrill screech came from behind. Trixi dove onto the woman’s back and bit as hard as her teeth could go into her exposed neck. Her strength wasn’t fully returned to her, she couldn’t break the skin, but it did the job and caused Allison to miss the shot. The dart shattered when it contacted the floor.

“Gah!” Allison cried out, “Get off me you rabid animal!” She arched back and flung the vulpes off.

Trixi landed on her paws ready to defend herself, mouth open baring white canines. Her fur was puffed, and she openly flexed her claws.

Allison shook her head in disbelief. “How are you fucking alive, disgusting creature?!”

Trixi leaped at the woman ferociously tearing at her. The speed of the attack took the vile woman by surprise. The dart gun fell as she tried to fight off the vulpes who kicked and scratched at her. “You did it!” she barked harshly, “Everything was your fault!”

Through scratches and bites, Allison grabbed Trixi’s wrist. She threw the light girl to the floor. Trixi bounced and slid on the silvered tiles. She was panting scrambling to get back up. In her desperate grasp, she managed to pick up the pistol. Before she could turn to face her attacker, Allison was on her again.

“Pwah!” A foot struck her side sending Trixi away like a ball. As she slid to a stop she was holding her stomach in agony.

“Don’t get back up foxkin,” Allison said looming over the alien. “You’ll ruin your valuable coat. Practically the only thing your species is good for.” Trixi’s eyes were moist. Horrible threats she heard before. She looked around for anything to use. The gun was lost in the tussle, and she was naked. She did her best to growl at her, but it was just a terrified weak shriek. The old woman laughed at the pathetic show. Her wrinkles seemed less deep as she smiled, “Hahaha! Finally, you got me to laugh.”

Allison readied herself to kick the defiance out of Trixi. A pointed polished dress shoe stuck her in the stomach. “Aaah!” Trixi screamed as her back hit the wall.

Richard saw Allison get ready to pick up the broken vulpes. Trixi cried out desperately in her tongue. Adrenaline pumped his body overwhelming whatever sedative he was full of. He willed himself on shaky legs and his vision tunneled to a pinpoint. He saw a blurry figure. Hatred tensed him up like a ball. His heartbeat pounded inside his head. He couldn’t hear the drums of laser fire from the outside. He reached out and just grabbed whatever he could of the shadow that threatened him and his vulpes.

He dropped forward with a single step and pulled her down to the metal with his weight. There he proceeded to smash her face into the metal tiles. Again, and again. He didn’t stop. He couldn’t feel anything or see anything. He just pounded like an angry gorilla. Foam dripped from the side of his mouth as he panted through his clenched teeth. He only relaxed his grip when an orange fuzzy paw stroked his cheek.

In a soft worried voice, Trixi spoke, “She’s dead, she’s dead…”

His balloon hands were coated in slick red fluid. The guards busted down the doors. What happened next was a blur. He was surrounded by doctors who placed him in the stasis chamber. The world around him turned to a blinding white light as he passed out.

Trixi tasted the bile in the back of her throat. She was bruised and beaten. It hurt her to move. She stood still with an unblinking gaze at Richard who was being poked and prodded. Two armored men snapped her out of her stupor. One covered her in a blanket while the other scooped her to take her to security.

She was placed in the brig. The small glass cell was something she was familiar with. Some pranks crossed the line now and again. She was on the verge of tears. Roma tapped on the glass trying to fake a smile to her to keep her hopes up. He stayed by her side to keep her some friendly company. He told her It was only temporary until the heads figure out what happened. He gave her a long prison shirt to give her some decency and any amenities she asked for. She was incredibly thankful for him.

Not even an hour passed when less friendly visitors came by. Outside her glass cell, arguments were shouted about what was to happen next. The remaining department heads listened as the VIPs wanted her executed immediately while the captain ordered that she be released.

In between deliberations, everyone interrogated the vulpes simultaneously. Thankfully Quincy interrupted the men before she completely broke down. The dark man knelt to the vulpes on the other side of the glass and placed a finger over his lips to make sure she keeps quiet about everything she saw.

“Is Richard going to be okay?” Trixi’s voice was wavering, begging for comfort.

He nodded. Quincy’s eyes were intelligent. The same as Richard’s. Someone who saw way too much in their life. She knew Richard trusted him. She closed her muzzle, causing him to smile from the opposite side of the reinforced glass. The gesture filled her with some relief.

“Leave her alone.” He ordered, “Richard will give you all the information you need. She didn’t do anything.”

“You can’t be serious.” Neil protested. “She assisted in the assassination of a department head.”

“I made myself clear, your services are no longer required. Understand?”

“But-” Thwack! A punch in the gut ended the conversation with him walking out of the security wing groaning. The strike left Patins to waddle away silently avoiding the next potential blow.

“Trixi is a bystander. Everyone who isn’t involved, leave immediately.”

Roma and Martinez remained as everyone departed. Ali gave Trixi a weak goodbye as he departed, unsure if he would see her again. Once the room was cleared Quincy took in a relaxing breath.

“That could have gone better. I’m sorry to have you go through that Trixi. You’re free to explain what you saw.”

She did her best recollecting. She told them of everything she saw when she regained her senses from the chamber. By the end, she felt claustrophobic and exposed. Like she was on exhibit at a zoo. She ended with what was said between Richard and Allison.

The captain opened the cell door and knelt to hug her. “I should have done a better job. I’m glad you’re all right listened carefully, his lips pursed when he came to a revelation, “That explains the attack.”

“What?” Martinez shot up after shuffling Trixi out of the small room. “They sent nuke ops to kill a single target?”

“I have no proof...” Quincy paused for a moment, “But, I believe the syndicate sent them instead of an assassin to prevent any knowledge of the war criminal. They aren’t exactly known for keeping secrets, especially if the secrets are valuable.”

“Damn them!” Martinez clinched his fist, “What information did she send to her Earth contacts anyway?”

“The data we intercepted was on alien biology. Anatomy, gastronomy. She was studying the livers of the members on the station dating back to the first year she arrived. It was only after the attack she got sloppy. Leading to dead crewmembers.”

Martinez squinted trying to remember the profile he read before, “That’s the research she worked on before she joined Nanotrasen.”

“She never stopped. We poured over the records and noticed discrepancies with the sick time usage. The lizardmen had a higher frequency than any other station on record. Normally it’s humans. The chemicals being manufactured were also too varied for blue space research.”

“Did Richard know about all of this?” Trixi asked sheepishly.

Quincy was stone-faced. “Yes.” She opened her muzzle for another question but was cut off, “It was for the safety of the station. We needed to know more. Alison was involved with the deaths of a lot of lizardmen in the past. I ordered him to stand down.”

Martinez had a guilty look on his face. He patted her on the head. Trixi pulled back not wanting to be comforted.

Roma tried his hand to reassure her with an excuse, “Central command was worried if her existence became known it would cause another war. That’s why we had to keep everything secret.”

The vulpes tried to chew on his words but she let out an exhausted yawn from the ordeal. She threw her paws up and shook her head. She hated everything about it.

“You should rest in Richard’s quarters,” Roma suggested, “Richard will be back on his feet. He can talk to you more about it.”

“Thank you.” She left the men who wished her well. They continued their political talks and the potential struggles of power that will follow up this victory. Richard would have enjoyed participating.

___

Back in medical Neil and Patins went to pester Richard. They pushed past the doctors and nurses to one of the operating tables. Richard was shirtless with several IVs attached to his arms, liver, and kidneys. Each one assisting in counteracting the sedatives. His body felt like a cloud stuffed in a rubber bubble. He couldn’t even hear the arguments that were happening at the entrance of the room. Dr. Plano tried to block the two intruders.

Patins sent him to the counter with a shove, clattering the sensitive instruments to the floor. Richard squinted at the two blurry figures while they spouted off the continued list of crimes. Something about how they would do everything in their power to make sure Trixi and him were punished.

He understood two words in that string of garbled nonsense, ‘Trixi and punished’. He reacted reasonably. Sending his balloon-like fist into the face of the fuzzy figure.

Security officers ran in quickly to pick up the fat man. There was some silent cheering from onlookers as he was taken away, blood trailing down his nose. Neil cowered as Richard held his fist aloft. The noise left the room allowing Dr. Plano to get back to work. It took hours for Richard to regain his senses. His limbs were still numb, but he could at least walk and talk again. He pulled out the IVs and stood like a drunkard.

There wasn’t any time to relax or recover. He dressed in his black jumpsuit as soon as he got out of medbay. He waited patiently at his desk until Quincy took a seat across from him. Richard gave his small briefing and statements of what happened, punctuating it with a vicious glare.

“I know what you’re feeling Richard,” Quincy said.

His sides pained him. He wanted to chew out the individual that was supposed to be taking control of the situation. Allison not only found out but could have tipped off everyone else she was working with. “Anger. Betrayal second. Even after all this, we’re just going to bury the evidence anyway. It would have been better to just kill her as soon as possible without having to put Trixi or anyone through this.”

“I know our methods seem-.”

Richard cut him off with his thoughts, “Ridiculous? Pointless?”

Quincy waited a minute before continuing. “Thanks to your reserved actions we were able to locate the CentCom agent that worked with the UEG baron that funded the research. My reports say that the manager passed away in the breakroom from a peanut allergy. Shameful stuff.” Richard took little pleasure in the fact they caught the rat. All a rat will do is chew up wires and shit in the insulation. “I admit that my team and I were too interested in getting dirt on whom she had contacts with. Instead of cleaning what was in front of us, we opted to watch the sewage travel down to see where it led. Watching the consequences of that was eye-opening.”

“And? Is the governor going to be punished?” There was sarcasm in Richard’s voice. He knew damn well it wasn’t going to lead anywhere. Another secret to be used for blackmail for policies that benefit Nanotrasen.

“Politicians,” Quincy smirked. “They may have personal feelings about something until it will affect their bottom line. I know this will hurt our standing with you, but-”

“I Don’t want any part of this anymore,” Richard said truthfully. He closed his eyes and saw the fuzzy image of Trixi cowering and curling away letting out a terrified scream. He never wanted to hear that again, “As soon as I can write again, I’m signing my retirement.”

Quincy nodded slowly, frowning that there was nothing left he could do, “I completely understand. I regret not referring to your better judgment. I’ll make sure my men back home know this, maybe they will get something from this experience.” He looked up at the camera in the office as if to stare into the eyes of the people that worked for him.

“We’re both old enough to have mountains of regrets and close calls. My time is coming. I don’t have unlimited second chances.”

“I won’t stand in your way.” Quincy gathered his belongings and packed up the reports in a briefcase. “I already stopped the two earthlings from pushing paperwork to impede any retirement plans.” He chuckled to himself, “Broken ankles are quite common for overweight individuals.”

Richard wore a smug smile. “Wasn’t surprised. Bureaucrats, what else can you do with them? I’m sure the next person they piss off will be their last.”

“I made notes to my department that without you or Trixi, Allison would have escaped.”

Richard nodded, glad to be finished with the ordeal. Some other ideas were crossing his mind. The length of time this continued without anyone else in the department noticing. “Were there any other members in medical that were involved?”

“Not on this station. We tapped everything. We were quite sure Dr. Manit was involved, but he just kept cursing to his wife about the constant flow of extra duties and overtime the CMO pressed on him. He was baffled by the pains the lizardmen were going through.”

“Explains the constant rotation we had with xenobiologists. Was always wondering why the department couldn’t keep any members.” Richard turned on himself. He should have pressed the issues as early as possible.

Quincy made his way toward the exit. “Don’t worry about it. You won and deserve a comfortable retirement. Have fun becoming a ghost on an alien world.” There was a slight playfulness in his candor.

“Better to be a ghost than ripped to shreds working yourself to the bone.”

Once the door hissed shut the room was deafening. Richard returned to his quarters. The last plague that tormented his sleep was finally extinguished. He only wanted to relax and submit for his retirement. The corporate life had drained any resolve on sticking around. But that would have to wait. His furball of a girlfriend was curled on his bed waiting for him.

Trixi asked eyes reflecting like headlights through the darkness. “Are you feeling better?” Her voice was like a song that kissed his ears. He felt like he could take on the universe.

“Yes. Everything is finished.”

“Good. I’m tired of fighting.”

He sat on the bed and kicked off his boots. Numb fingers tried to unbutton his jumpsuit. Trixi slid next to him and helped him out. Being mindful of the bandages she unfastened his belt and pulled his undershirt from his torso.

“I overheard you and Quincy,” Trixi’s pointed ears tickled his neck as she leaned over. “Where are you going to go when you quit?”

“Raia, I have to finish up business there.”

She pressed her furry body to his bare back. Pads ran across his chest. “Am I allowed to come?”

“Don’t you want to go back to your homeworld first?”

“Not yet. I want you to come with me.”

“That sounds like a dream.” Richard smiled and reached back to pet his vixen’s head. “I’ll gather the paperwork first thing in the morning. We’ll go over it together and end our employment with Nanotrasen.”

Her tail swayed happily, “I can’t wait. Soon we’ll be cuddling breathing real air.”

“A nice retirement plan. Sitting on the deck of an alien world drinking the local alcohol.”

“Next to fuzzy little me.” She snuggled deeper into his back resting her head in the crook of his neck.