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Space Rats

Ch2.0: Strange Matters

By Kichigai Kitsune, 2017

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Disclaimer:

This story contains explicit scenes of an erotic and sexual nature featuring a male, non-human, anthropomorphic "furry" character that is under the chronological age of 18. It is an erotic tale. If such material offends you, or you are not of legal age to view this material, or it is otherwise illegal for you to view this material, do not continue. This warning is explicit, so do not complain to the author or the hosts of this document if you get in trouble for reading it, or you dislike this type of story, or if you are an irresponsible parent and can't control what your children read online. Or if they do read adult material, to view it harmlessly as fiction. All of that is your responsibility.

_ If you read beyond this disclaimer, it is your choice to do so, and it is implicit that you did so because you have full knowledge of the content contained within the pursuant document and made the choice to view it without any encouragement and thus agree to take full responsibility and to hold nobody but yourself responsible for any consequences that arise. If you don't agree to these conditions, cease reading this document now._

The author does not condone, recommend or encourage any illegal actions. This story is pure fiction and fantasy.

Note : all explicit NSFW scenes are bookended by [NSFW SCENE] tags. This can be used to skip (or to find again) these scenes.

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"Connie?"

Startled out of her reverie, the snow leopardess looked up from the blurry LCD display. It had long blurred into insensibility; blinking and shifting graphics, a meaningless dance of primary colors with no rhythm or discernible pattern. "Huh? Oh, hey, sorry..."

"Hey, there. I didn't mean to surprise you like that." A gleaming, toothy smile caught the light from the monitors, practically the only thing visible to her screenblind eyes in the dark. "How goes the sequencing? Almost done?"

"Almost." Returning the black feline's smile, she brushed her silvery headfur back into some semblance of order. She had no idea how long her unkempt bangs had been creeping in front of her face. "Thank you for this. I mean... This is incredible."

"I know. You're going to cause a stir when you get back to Terra. It's easy to deny reports of things you don't want to admit; not so easy when the data is right in your face."

"I think I'll get my share of death threats," the mottled leopardess murmured. "This is the greatest discovery in millennia, and you found it here on this frozen little snowball hundreds of millions of kilometers from the sun. Non-Terran life."

"Well, Enceladus has given us plenty of surprises. They used to call us the 'Opal of the Outer-system.' Samarkand alone has been the site of quite a few discoveries now."

"I can see why." The leopardess nodded at the screen. "So familiar, almost exactly like what we would've expected. Carbon based, similar chemical structure, but that's about where everything diverges. Unrelated to anything on Terra, living or extinct, that we've ever seen. It's unbelievable."

She shook her head clear and looked around the cramped, poorly lit laboratory. It took some time for her eyes to adjust to the murk after hours of staring at a bright screen. A familiar mess slowly came into focus.

Stacks of binders were sprawled against the side of whirring computer workstations, blinking lights barely visible from between the piles of dirty plates and empty food containers that had been steadily accumulating since she'd arrived.

Which had been... when? How long ago had she arrived here? What was it they called them here; the equivalent of a day back home? Cycles? Sleepless hours surrounded by nothing but pages upon pages of reports in infuriatingly tiny fonts, samples on microscope slides, barely comprehensible readouts and CG models on a half-dozen monitors.

It had been somehow both boring and fascinating, the tedious frustration of waiting so long for the analysis results so impatiently awaited. The biota found near the snowy moon's poles were comparatively simple by Terran standards, but were still beyond anything she or anyone else expected. Their biochemical makeup was strikingly similar to the life on Terra, complete with analogues of familiar RNA and cellular organelles, to the abounding eukaryotic life that dwelled at the bottom of Terra's oceans.

Sure it sounded strange to say it... but they'd found aliens. And they were almost exactly as they'd expected them to be. Sure, they weren't little and green with funnily shaped foreheads - more of a ruddy brown sludge, scooped up froma microbial mat at the deeper recesses of the Enceladean sea - but aliens nonetheless.

The discovery had hit the scientific community like a meteor out of nowhere. It ended entire schools of philosophical debate, and affirmed millennia of hypothesizing and theories. And even though she hadn't been the first to discover it, she _was_going to be the first to intensively catalogue and study this alien biochemistry. To detail and describe the most important discovery in her lifetime, if not much longer. Her name would be spoken by every future biologist with sheer reverence.

Pioneering an entire new frontier of science.

Others would dream of being given an opportunity like this - just as she had dreamed of it her entire life.

Well. Unless she screwed something up. But she certainly didn't intend to.

"Are you alright?" Her coworker chuckled. "You just trailed off on me there."

"I'm fine. Just overwhelmed. Hoo..."

"You've shut yourself in here for so long now. If you're not careful, you're going to go funny."

"Oh, as if it isn't too late already."

They both snorted, a token attempt at humor before the flickering screen captured their attention again.

Eventually, the black-furred feline broke the silence.

"Will you go home with the espatiers? They've been in orbit the last eight hours; I guess they'll come down for negotiations soon."

A sour smile crossed the leopardess' features. "No chance. I'm not walking away from this. They can finish whatever they're here to do and get lost, I'm staying."

"It'll be a long time before you'll find a fare back to Terra, especially with all that's going on."

"I know." She lidded her eyes, and thought for a moment. The tiny, icy moon had been gripped by fear and tension over the last few cycles. The negotiations with Terra had gone poorly. The undercurrent of fear and tension even in this small research hab was palpable. "But all of this... We're so close to answering some of the deepest questions of all, and everyone's telling me to just pack up and go home!" She growled her frustration.

"I know. Believe me, I do. But the things they're saying-"

"I know, but we've just discovered life here. Why would they throw all of that away just to start a war over helium trading? Or whatever this is all about, I lost track of it ages ago." The weary biologist straightened in her plastic chair, adopting a pose that would more befit a throne. "I'm sure this will blow over." Unthinkingly, her fingers brushed at the locket around her throat. The warm metal only stiffened her resolve. "My dad sacrificed a lot to getme sent here, the first Terran scientist to review the findings... I can't just turn around and walk away from the greatest discovery since analogue gravity."

She felt the older feline's eyes on her. Evaluating her. Keeping her counsel; as she usually did, the leopardess had discovered. Speaking only when she had wisdom to share, and only then with prompting.

As usual, it unsettled her. In a way that she hadn't experienced since childhood, let alone since she'd completed her formal education, Eileen always managed to make the leopardess wonder what she was doing wrong. What she was missing.

So, this time, she decided to ask.

"Hey, Eileen," she murmured. "If your son was in my position, what would you want him to do?"

There was another hiatus. A moment in time as the older feline considered her words. "As a scientist," she murmured, "I'd tell him to do whatever he thought was right. To learn as much as he could and contribute to our understanding of this cosmos. His ancestors moved out here because they believed the risks were worth it."

"... How about as a mother?"

"Well. That's different." A thin smile. "As a mother, I'd tell him to do whatever he could to come home to me again. And Connie, I _promise_you."

"Huh?" When she turned away from the screen, those green eyes were boring into hers. Shimmering like emeralds from the monitor's light.

"I promise you, no matter what you think, that's exactly what your parents are thinking right now. I don't know what's going to happen, now, nobody does. You're the one who has to make this choice. If it isn't too late already. People don't care for whimsies like discoveries and truths in times like this. Because if it comes to it, it's not a 'war' they want to start here.

"Nobody will be able to call it a 'war'."

---

Begin transmit... #4279204B69636869676169204B697473756E652C 20323031372C2068747470733A2F2F696E6B62756E6E792E6E65742F6B696368696761696B697473756E65

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*

"Are you sure you want that thing, Mika?"

I nodded. In my paw was a garment of smooth, stretchy synthetic fabric, draped over my unnecessary vacuum excursion helmet. Black with electric blue paneling, and wonderfully light. "Yeah."

"Those things always make me feel like I'm naked," Niklas complained, shaking his head. "It's your ass everyone'll see."

I shrugged. "I grew up wearing them." The one-piece bodysuit with short sleeves and knee-length legs reminded me of my favorite clothes as a little kit. Unrestrictive and comfortable. Unlike the body-squeezing, dirty orange excursion suit that still seemed to be throttling every centimeter of my body.

"You came from a weird hab, though."

"It was a research station, they're always weird," I told him, admitting a general truth I'd discovered since my time on Oberon. "It's the fashion here too, I saw a few people wearin' them. Why don't you buy one?"

Niklas held up his paws. "No, thanks." He touched his lime-green ex-suit. "It took me ten minutes to get into this stupid thing, I'm not trying on clothes."

The Terran jackal looked over at the garment in my paw. "It's like a wrestling singlet," he observed. "With sleeves."

I nodded again, curtly. The jackal, Weiss, had decided to accompany us on our little shopping trip. I was nervous around a Terran, especially since he said he was a former soldier, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that I still needed to talk to Dane about the two jerks who harassed the kid from the bar.

If they'd really been looking for this guy and Doctor Masden, then I didn't want to discuss it in front of them. Who knew what they were up to, or how they'd react.

Never trust a Terran.

Dane took the garment from me with his spare paw. "I like it," he said at last. "But I get the feeling this is some master plan to stop me pantsing you for being a little dick."

I looked up at him and grinned. "Mhm. It's got pockets, see? It's not like I can't work in it." I looked around. "Can we get it now? I want to change out of this thing. It's crushing my nuts."

"We still need to get you a few things, but sure. I want to see how it looks on you anyway." Dane tossed it back to me. "Come on, put it on and wear it out."

I had no disagreement there. I was looking forward to changing into something else, even if only for the short time we'd be on Titan, so I looked around the store to see if there was anywhere more private to change.

The store was a small section of a far larger, rectangular structure, the exterior constructed of plastics and stone. Some few minutes from the bar, we'd passed similar structures on the way, but this one was easily the gaudiest and largest, at hundreds of meters squared. Probably the biggest, most spacious building I'd ever seen that wasn't part of a launch-site.

I was used to open markets. The wide, bright corridors and gleaming linoleum flooring were welcome changes, if for no other reason than I didn't have to look up at the colony dome overhead.

I hadn't even seen anything like it before, as no colony I'd been to would never devote such a large single structure to multiple vendors. Walking behind the adults as we looked for a clothing vendor, I had noticed the main passage was lit by banks of ceiling-mounted fluorescent lights and flanked by dozens of independent stores and traders. All with colorful signs and unique storefronts.

A huge building enclosing so many different stores with their own sections. What a weird idea.

The clothing store itself, was dimly lit and cool, making me feel oddly sleepy and at ease once we walked through its narrow, doorless entrance. Along the walls and on stands through the store there were clothes set out on racks or on plastic figures in the vague shape of a fur's body - generic enough to approximate most races. Quiet music, beat-driven like the music at the bar, issued from hidden speakers.

I liked it. But I had absolutely no idea what the lyrics were. It was in that heavy, exotic language the kid from the bar had spoken.

We all made our way to the changing booths at the back of the cramped store. I swept aside a thick curtain and slipped into one of the cubicles. I almost pushed it back again, before realizing I'd need help to get out of my stupid ex-suit.

Great. I'd have to strip in front of the Terran. And I probably couldn't do it alone without making a huge scene.

"Help me out?" I struggled to undo the catch-zip at the back of my neck. "Or are you gonna watch me fight with this?"

"Kid, I was gonna just watch the show," snorted Niklas, folding his arms just outside.

Dane lightly whacked him on the shoulder. "We don't have time, come on." Stepping into the cubicle, he reached around my shoulders and undid the catch.

Together, we fought to get the cheap excursion suit off of my body. A real struggle, since it was designed to squeeze every part of its wearer, equalizing pressure and fluids throughout the body. Even my armpits and fingers were compressed. Even with the torso pulled down to my waist, it clung to my arms, refusing to relinquish its crushing grip on my paws. Tighter than an airlock seal.

Then again, that was basically what it was. The ex-suit took ages to put on. Taking it off wasn't much easier.

Eventually, it was down to my thighs, and only my hole-riddled 'white' briefs kept my junk covered. I sat down on the floor and let Dane tug the suit down to my thighs. We all laughed - except the Terran, who just looked baffled and uncomfortable.

"Come on!" chortled my 'assistant.' He planted his own aramid-clad foot-paw between my legs, somehow landing it right on my freshly un-squashed junk, and kept pulling.

"Ow, shit, no!" I howled, grabbing at his leg to stop him crushing anything important. It didn't really hurt, and I was still laughing as he jerked and tugged.

He shot me a playful grin, then ripped the excursion suit from my legs entirely. It lashed in the air behind him with, narrowly avoiding Niklas' nose, making the caracal reel backwards.

I curled up into a ball, pretending to be hurt. But Dane easily picked me up by my arm and set me on my feet again, like I was a toddler in the middle of a tantrum. "Sorry."

"Yeah, sure you are!"

"Drop the underwear. They have to go."

"I can get new ones, right?" I fingered my briefs' loose waist.

"You can. I thought that thing there would be good for underwear though."

"Then you really will be able to see my ass."

"And I'm resigned to that."

"You aren't the only one who'll see it, though!" I pointed out, easing the briefs down a few centimeters.

"I ain't sharing. C'mon, those are useless. We'll buy you some."

I nodded. "Dorian bought them awhile back, said I'd grow into them." I whipped them down my legs and stepped out of them without hesitation. It took me a few seconds to realize I'd exposed myself in front of the jackal, but I didn't really care.

Sharing a craft with two-dozen other males in confined spaces had made me care even less about this stuff than before.

"He overestimated how quick you'd grow." Dane took them and looked at them disdainfully. "I think he just bought whatever was cheapest at the nearest darkside colony. Same with that ex-suit."

It was then that I noticed the jackal was scowling in confusion, trying to avoid looking at my bare body. Looking awkwardly at the floor and walls.

Niklas noticed it too. "What's wrong, buddy?"

"Uh." The jackal shifted, uncomfortable. "Are they...? I mean-"

"Oh. Yeah, it's what you're thinking."

Dane slipped an arm over my bony shoulders and I bumped his leg with my naked backside for emphasis.

"Right." Weiss shifted.

"It's not uncommon out this way. Especially on crafts like ours, spending almost all our time in the black."

"I can see that." He shrugged, but it was clear he wanted to say something a little more than he did. That moment of hesitation.

That annoyed me.

"We have different attitudes to that stuff out here," Niklas told him. "We dropped all the hangups and customs that weren't practical, and our culture grew out of that. When you gotta grow a population, sex can't be a bad thing anymore. So long as you contribute to the survival of the colony, nobody cared about meaningless things like sexual orientation."

Weiss looked affronted. "We don't discriminate against sexual orientation on Terra. It's just... he's a freakin' kid. Does he even know what he's doing?"

Niklas nodded. "Mika might look young, but he's an adolescent, not a toddler. We have to start young here, including with our education, of all kinds. So, yeah, he knows."

The jackal thought for a second, then shook his head. "Whatever, I guess. It doesn't matter."

"Isn't like we're gonna get pregnant," I chimed in, deliberately pushing the matter. "No sex-infections or anything either. We wiped those out gigasecs ago. Didn't you?"

Weiss shook his head. "No, we don't mess with that gene-therapy shit the way you do out here."

Probably realizing I was planning to be abrasive, Niklas interjected. "Dane's right, we've got more stuff to do before we meet up with the others." He reached out and lightly hit the jackal's shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll get used to us out here."

The look the jackal shot him was neutral. But he took the opportunity to follow along as Niklas headed towards the vendor's point of sales at the front of the store. Probably deciding it wasn't worth arguing with us.

Dane looked at me with a smirk. "You're trying to piss him off, aren't you?"

"Piss _him_off?" I folded my arms in front of me, forgetting I was both nude and visible from the other side of the store. "You know what he's saying, right? It's really insulting."

"I've talked to enough Terrans about this stuff. You're right; he's thinking a lot more than what he's saying. He's probably boiling inside just seeing your bare ass, probably likes what he sees, too, and that just makes it worse. Inner system's full of repressed throwbacks that can't get that times change." Dane tossed the one-piece to me. "But stop antagonizing our passengers anyway. This shit doesn't matter."

"Is that an order?"

"No, but if you don't do it, I'll spank you."

I let out an exaggerated gasp. "Oh, would ya really?"

"Get dressed. We can talk about that later."

I nodded. Then my ears perked. "Wait! There's something I have to talk to you about."

"What's wrong?"

I peered out of the cubicle. Weiss and Niklas were chatting with the vendor, a middle aged cougar who seemed scarcely interested. Hopefully out of earshot.

"That boy from the bar," I said, "I found him being questioned by two dodgy lookin' guys."

Dane raised an eyebrow and took a knee. "Questioned?"

"Threatened him and everything. They were looking for the Terrans. Those guys."

His eyes narrowed. "Why didn't you tell Jin?"

"I don't know why they were looking for them. It could be anything, right?" I started slipping into my new garment, stepping one leg into it at a time. "What if they're criminals? Fugitives?"

"Shit. I suppose you're right." I was relieved to hear him agree. "I'll tell Jin when I can. Keep an eye open, but don't let them know you're watching."

"Yeah. They might be dangerous." I shoved one arm through a sleeve - it seemed like I'd made a good choice off the rack, this was gonna fit just fine with room to grow.

"Is this why you pissed him off, to get him away from us?"

I snorted. "No," I confessed. "I had no idea it'd get him to walk away. He makes me feel weird. I just wanted to tweak his whiskers."

"Yeah? You're pretty good at that."

*

Not long after that, we found ourselves back under the colony's dome. The streets were livelier all of a sudden, with growling vehicles pulling loads down the streets, groups of furs in rugged uniform or comfortable clothing trudged from place to place, and the colony itself seemed to hum with the sound of conversation.

I felt much better once out of the excursion suit, and was very happy with what Dane had bought me. It really was a lot like what I used to wear back home, but more importantly it was mobile and light. Just what I needed.

The soft, stretchy fabric covered me from halfway down my upper arms to just above my knees, leaving my legs exposed to the flowing air. Closed by a zip near my neck, clinging not uncomfortably to my fur the smooth-textured fabric outlined my body beneath it - a bit too well, since I hadn't any underwear now. I was glad to be out of the orange monstrosity that had squeezed me like a food-tube for the past dozen kilosecs.

The pockets were nice and deep,albeit not perfect for carrying heavy tools, and equipped with zips. Sure, it would be no substitute for my cargo pants, but I was glad to have something different, less encumbering to wear. Something with a hole for my tail! Yes!

My paws were also free of that crushing suit. The slip-on, gel-soled athletic shoes were slightly big for me, but I knew Dane had to worry about me outgrowing things still. They weren't so loose they'd fall off, and that was all that I cared about.

I had yet more clothes in a backpack slung over Dane's shoulder, which he also bought for me, with his own credits. I felt spoiled, like it was my natalis or something - the celebration of my birth. Maybe it was. I couldn't remember exactly when I was born. There had been an unusual amount of generosity and kindness from everyone, except for Dorian, of course.

"I think we'll have some more time before we blast off again," Dane said, walking alongside me. "I think I still got some budget for you."

"Don't need much more, I guess." I looked down at my new clothes, pleased.

Weiss turned slightly, as he and Niklas were taking the lead. "Why do you have a budget?" he inquired. "Can't you just buy more with your own credits?"

"Bad form." Dane put a paw on my shoulder. "It's not something we talk about much, but Captain Jin-Wei, well..."

"Owns me," I finished for him, shrugging. "Kind of, anyway. I'm only allowed things he wants to carry on-board."

"Owns?!"

"Sort of." I rubbed my head, scratching at my messy headfur. "I work for him until I'm older, and he's putting credits away in an account for me until then. But until then, I gotta do what he wants if I'm gonna live on his craft."

"'Owns' is a strong word." Niklas turned, walking backwards. I realized he'd decided he was the de facto ambassador between us and the Terran. Probably because he thought I'd cause a fight if he didn't. "Mika's nobody's slave. It's a sort of working-adoption arrangement."

"Doesn't work out that way all the time," I reminded him.

"I guess not. But that's how it's meant to be." Still walking backwards, Niklas gestured at the PDC strapped to his upper arm. "Do you want me to raise Jin on the local net to see if we'll meet somewhere, or head back to the bar?"

I thought of the hyperactive canid boy. The bar could still be being watched by the jerks who grabbed him. Then I glanced up at Dane - he seemed to be thinking the same thing, as our eyes met.

"Somewhere else. Besides, we need a place to relax." The dingo stretched, splitting his muzzle in a giant yawn. "Get some rest."

Niklas unhitched the machine by twisting it free from the mount. "Pretty sure he registered on the network when we got outta decon. I'll find him."

We continued on our way, with Niklas poking at his touchscreen device and Weiss looking uneasy. Likely mulling over the things he just learned about life out this far from the sun.

If it weren't for Jin, I would've starved, or been stuck with a monster for a captain. Because of what his people did. What right did he have to judge us now?

While Niklas tried to raise the captain, we walked on, and I took in the sights of the largest colony I'd ever visited. I finally managed to appraise the dome above our heads, and I realized it was vaster than I had thought - and the apexes of several other domes could be seen when the structures and bamboo trees were spaced out enough to permit a line of sight towards the horizon; the colony was multi-domed, each one likely the size of this one.

At a rough guess, I figured Senkyo was dozens of times larger than my home habitat. I made a note to ask for Niklas's PDC so I could read about this place. He was the only one who had one and let me borrow it.

After some time wandering aimlessly, taking in the moderately busy streets, Niklas had a destination for us. Thankfully, because I was finding it harder and harder to ignore the hazy, swirling sky above us...

*

We met up with Cap, Chief and Doctor Masden at a lodge not far from the decon entry we entered through. It was one of the larger structures in the area, yet was one of the few buildings constructed mostly of wood. Especially bamboo, of course.

Inside it was very homey, with plenty of plants - actual living plants - and soft, earth-colored carpets. It was a sort of sustainable, minimalist architecture and style that had been very popular on Enceladus too, and I supposed that was why we were all here.

We had two suites, adjacent to one another with two bedrooms each. Jin asked me to put everyone's gear away in their rooms, but since we barely had anything whatsoever it only took me a few moments.

I knew Weiss and Masden would stay near Cap and Chief, meaning I still wouldn't likely find time to tell either of them until we were back on-board the Oberon.

But Niklas was staying with Dane and I, so at least we could tell him. Probably.

"Right," Jin was saying when I crept back into his suite. "They changed the schedule on us. Next pod goin' up is in about eight hours, so we'll get some rest."

"That's more like it," Dane mumbled, resting his backside on the polished wooden table.

"Our passengers have somewhere to be, so we're not tarrying." Despite the curious looks, Jin continued on without explanation. "Get some rest. I'm arranging some things still on the local net, and we'll have time to do some more marketplace browsing after we've rested up. If we get off our asses in time, that is."

Dane nodded. "Sounds good. Thanks for paying for this, Jin."

"That's really it for now." Jin shrugged. He adjusted his heavy olive-drab jacket, clearly eager to take it off and relax. "I suggest you all get some sleep, clean up a bit."

We retreated to our respective suites. Niklas slept separately from Dane and I, closing his room so he could struggle with his excursion suit in private.

In our room, bedside lamps flickered and fluttered, artificial mimicry of a gentle flame. The bed was covered in thick, geometrically patterned blankets. Four pillows, each at least as large as my own body. My knees went weak - and it wasn't the gravity.

I hadn't slept in such a comfortable looking bed in so long.

To my disappointment, Dane managed to remove his suit easily, so I didn't get the chance to return the favor for his 'help' earlier. He tossed it and his helmet next to the backpack he'd bought me, leaving himself in just his tank-top and plain black boxer-briefs.

I looked at him appreciatively. Dane was easily the most muscular spacer I'd met, even though he ate the same as the rest of us. Like everybody had to be, he was lean, but he was probably a good ten kilos heavier than anyone else I'd seen on a craft. All of it was taut, wiry muscle.

Stripped to his underwear, and with such short fur, you could really see. Genetics, I guess.

I ran my eyes from his toes to his smirking face, taking in everything between - he knew what I was thinking.

"I don't know about you," he told me, collapsing dramatically on top of the bed, "but I'm definitely needing some shut-eye. Surface leave always takes it outta me."

I slipped my new footwear off my feet-paws and clambered onto the bed. Then I straddled him, throwing my leg over his chest.

"Seriously?" I asked, frowning. I felt my tail curl in the air behind me, displaying my annoyance.

Dane put his paws behind his head, relaxing under me as if I weighed nothing. "Well, can you think of anything else I need to do?"

"Yeah. Me."

[NSFW SCENE]

He grinned at me, running his eyes from my face to the small but unmistakable bump nestled between my legs. "That thing suits you," he said, pretending to ignore it and instead reaching out to stroke my leg. "Same color as your fur, too. The black parts anyway."

"Does it?"

"Yep." Suddenly, he rolled over. I swore as I toppled to the side, and in an instant Dane was on top of me, pinning me to the bed with his much greater mass. "But I'll have to compare it."

I laughed, wrapping my legs around his chest. "Compare it to what?"

"To how you look without it, of course." His paw started moving, roaming over my flank, from my backside to just beneath my armpits. Then back again, to squeeze and feel the muscles at the back of my leg.

"You've seen that before."

"Well, I need a reminder." That roaming paw took the zip near my neck, easing it downward. I lay still, letting him work it loose. He leaned in to sniff at the crook of my neck, and I let out a shaky breath. "You know... that guy's in the room on the other side of that wall."

"Yeah?"

Dane chuckled, propping himself up to his knees, right up against my backside and thighs. With a tug on the zip, he opened it at the chest, then lifted me up so he could start to pull it over my left shoulder. I helped, slipping that one arm free. "I wonder if he'll hear us."

"What're you gonna do?" I whispered. Cooperating as he started to tug the elastic garment over my other shoulder. In moments, he had me bare from the middle of my chest upward.

"I was thinking," he told me, settled back down onto me, "of goin' to town on that tail of yours." A fingers started to circle and brush over my nipple, expertly locating it under my fur. "Make you get a little noisy."

I exhaled shakily. "W-we'll get in trouble."

"Oh, he's not gonna say a damn thing." Slowly, the bodysuit was pulled further down my flank. Dane sat up, pulling it down, exposing the concave surface of my belly. He stopped, leaning in to lick at my belly-button, holding me around my ribs.

It really drove home how slight and small I was compared to him. His paws easily clamped around my side.

"Sh-shit." I squirmed, not trying to get free, just suddenly wound up. I had been teasing at first, but in moments Dane had me like a metal spring. It drove me crazy when he just handled me like that.

I was at his mercy, and he could make me feel whatever he wanted. For as long as he wanted. Safe in his arms, I could relax. Enjoy what I felt, knowing I was appreciated. Just lose myself and let him be in charge.

After some time, those paws went back to tugging on my bodysuit. When it cleared my upper legs, Dane's muzzle started to move down. I gave a shaky breath when he started sniffing and nuzzling at my equipment - my furless digit was already rigid, standing for inspection, I didn't even need to see it. I could feel it as Dane's hot muzzle moved and nudged it, pointing it one way then another. His breath tickled through my downy fur.

He kept doing that, teasing me as he shifted on the bed above me, working the garment down my legs. Clearly wanting me totally bare for him.

When my new black bodysuit found itself on the floor, he took me into his muzzle, settling down between my legs and letting both paws wander all over me. Stroking and massaging.

I gasped aloud, a paw flying to my own muzzle instinctively. I gently bit on my finger, scrunching my eyes shut as Dane slowly suckled and tasted, like my most sensitive part was just a sugary candy.

He wasn't kidding. He wanted me to make noise.

When he increased the pressure, pressing his tongue to the flesh of my dick - a fraction the size of his own - to ease my tight foreskin down, it made his intentions even clearer. The gliding of his soft tongue over my tip made me twitch and gasp, my breathing getting ragged and heavy.

He'd discovered how sensitive I was the very first time we did anything. Since then, he'd discovered many ways to make me react. Reducing me to a shivering wreck if he wanted to.

Eventually, he drew his muzzle upwards, and my dick slipped out with a wet pop. I groaned, glaring down my body at him, expressing my complaint.

But he just grinned. He knelt upright, so my eyes clicked downwards to spy the obvious tent in his underwear. I lifted my leg and rubbed at it with my footpaw, feeling the hot hardness on my sole.

He let me. Stroking along my skinny leg as I did.

After a few moments, he gripped my ankle, his paw easily encircling it, then reached for my other one. Tugging me down the bed, he folded me up, bringing my legs up toward my head, taking advantage of my flexibility. "Stay like that for me?"

I wrapped my arms around my legs to keep them there, nodding. A grin snuck onto my face - I knew I looked ridiculous.

"Bought this when you weren't looking." Dane stepped off the bed only to grab at my new backpack. He pulled something from the front compartment.

There was a moment's pause, then I felt something wet on my tail-hole just as he fell back on the mattress. A thick, cool liquid. I twisted slightly to try and see.

"Where did you get that?" I asked, my toes wriggling in anticipation. I should've known he'd have lubricant, since we never did anything 'back there' without it. We rarely got the chance.

"Snagged it in the markets..." I felt a tube press into my already slick backside, and the chill of the substance squirted directly inside.

It didn't take long for Dane's underwear to join the other clothes on the floor. He turned me over and positioned me on all fours, gripping my waist tight. Firm fingers holding me fast as he got in position with his knees outside mine.

I felt his own hairless member brush between my cheeks a few times. My tail lashed at the air excitedly; my own dick throbbed, maintaining its rigidity. I was dizzy with anticipation.

"You ready?" he whispered, pulling me close and leaning atop my back. His paws now roamed beneath me, stroking and squeezing at my chest and belly. Squeezing me into him.

I nodded so hard I thought my head would fall off. "Shit yeah," I breathed. My voice sounded higher than usual, or at least I thought it did.

He shifted over me, and I felt his fingers lingering around the space between my butt-cheeks, gently probing around the region. Brushing over a certain sensitive spot teasingly.

I shut my eyes. Mewling expectantly. Just enjoying the sensation. Trying to relax; I knew what was coming next.

But the instant those fingers pressed against the opening and started to wriggle and push their way into it, the lubricant helping them to part the muscular hole with extreme ease, I jolted sharply. "Haahh!"

Dane only pushed two fingers what seemed to be a knuckle or so. "Have to take this slow."

I nodded, putting my weight on my forearms and raising my backside. Feeling his erection bump against the back of my thigh. Breathing as Dane's slick fingers probed and rubbed. A relaxing, firm massage, only on the inside.

We almost never got to do this. Dane had to take it slow, and the lubricant was a complete necessity. But it felt amazing, all wet and smooth.

I felt my own erection throb and stiffen from what was almost entirely just anticipation. I fought the urge to grab and rub it myself.

Those fingers - each almost as thick as my own young cock - slipped even further. Moving easily as they spread the lubricant even deeper inside of me. I felt a twinge of pleasure as they pressed into 'that spot', giving another involuntary moan.

"Let's hear some more of that." Dane whispered in my ear, still holding me close as he worked. "Let 'em know. Let 'em know what they're missing out on."

I just moaned. Focused on what I felt.

Being quiet was never my plan, anyway. I was never any good at that.

He held me by my skinny backside as he straightened up. My tail curled around his neck instinctually. Something warm and rigid press against my downy-furred scrotum from below. I had a good idea what it could be.

"Ready?"

"Yeah..." I huffed, raising my backside higher.

Dane gripped my cheeks and pulled them apart with his thumbs. Firm but gentle. Exposing his target, and I felt that rigid thing touched to the spot between my balls and my tailhole.

I gripped the sheet tightly in preparation.

The soft, slick rod shifted upwards and I felt it start to push into me, effortlessly pushing through my muscular ring. I gasped loudly and tensed.

It didn't hurt, not really. It never really did when we used the lubricant. Dane was big, however, and there was a sharp feeling of stretching and fullness that never seemed to go away. Perhaps because we didn't do this much.

I winced as he shifted closer, pushing his far bigger penis deeper into me, holding me in place by my hips. That sensation of fullness grew, and I felt my own dick twitch as he penetrated past my prostate again - that tiny pleasure button inside of me.

"You think you can take all of it?"

"Y-yes." I curled my toes. "Maybe. I dunno."

He pressed in further, gently. Testing how far he could go. He almost got all of it in, I could feel the heat from his thighs, before he got as far as I could take it. I gasped and twitched, and he stopped instantly.

Then started to rock back and forth, his member gliding up and down inside me. Just slowly moving his hips. I shivered involuntarily each time it went over my prostate, tingles of pleasure radiating from it to the base of my rock-hard dick.

I lost track of how long he kept going at that pace. With every passing second, I felt myself get tenser and tenser.

He leaned forward, wrapping his arms around my body, easily enfolding me like a tiny black pillow. Sniffing at my neck ticklishly. "Turned on, huh?"

I nodded vigorously, fighting the urge to squirm.

"Such a sexy kitten," he mumbled, still rocking. "I'm gonna make you squirt - you know that, right?"

"Yeah..."

He posted an arm out to my side, his weight coming down on my back as I tried to stay kneeling in the same position. His other paw slipping back down to hold me under my stomach, holding me against him. Starting to rock faster.

I whimpered, feeling that familiar tingling in my groin that radiated throughout my whole body. Unable to fight it, I reached back with one paw, my head still braced on the mattress, and let my fingers close around my straining member. Squeezing at the few inches of quivering, sensitive flesh and moaning from the resultant sensation.

I only managed a few tugs before Dane's hand grabbed my wrist. He pulled my arm away, and then rearranged me, lifting me up and gathering both of my paws in his. Then he pushed me down again, this time with both my paws pinned in front of me, under just a single, much bigger one of his.

I moaned plaintively. Certain that even if I really wanted to, I couldn't get my paws back now.

"I said I was gonna do it," he grumbled, resuming his rhythmic movement as if nothing had happened. "You don't need those."

He gripped and squeezed my backside with his other paw, then ran it around and over my stomach, skirting my groin, as he continued. His motion precise and regular, like a machine. Each slow thrust had the same force, imparting that same burst of feeling each time it slipped over that spot.

"Oh shit." I squirmed weakly. My dick was aching for contact, for someone or something to just touch it. It felt hot as it strained in the air between my trembling legs.

But as Dane continued, it just become one point of feeling in a sea of sensation. My whole body was hot, flushed, and I panted desperately in time with his slow bucking.

The feeling of flesh sliding through flesh was incredible. The heat, the tingling sensation deep inside me. Radiating from there and sweeping through my entire body.

"Feels good?"

"Y-yeah."

His free paw ran over my belly and up to my chest, where he allowed his fingers to gently tweak and rub across my soft nipples. Another deep sniff at my slender neck. My entire body tightened, my ankles digging into the mattress as I pushed off the mattress into his weight.

"You're so cute, Mika." He whispered it, but it was loud nonetheless. "This firm, little ass..."

I couldn't reply. Unless another helplessly horny moan counted.

Underneath his much bigger body, I was pinned and helpless. Desperate for the release, for this built up energy to go somewhere wonderful, but totally reliant on him to do it.

I loved this. I loved letting everything go and letting Dane take charge. I wasn't responsible for anything; at least not in this sort of situation.

Sometimes, things were reversed. That was fun too. But not tonight; I could do with the break.

"Uhh, shit," I groaned, my frustration building. The pressure was building in and around my groin, and my little member was throbbing and jumping with every thrust that pushed into me. Impatient, I wasn't sure I would the wait to let the climax come by itself like this.

... But I knew it would. Eventually.

Dane shifted closer, then started bucking for real. Full stokes, with much more power. Each one faster and firmer than the last. Those pulses of tingling pressure coming faster along with them.

I shut my eyes and focused on those pulses. Tensing, trying to push myself over the edge. That peak I couldn't quite reach. Not like this.

I couldn't stop a high-pitched gasp with every thrust. I couldn't help getting louder each time he shoved his hips to my backside. "Ah! Ah! Ahh!"

"Let 'em hear you." Dane was panting now, but hadn't lost any strength. "Those fuckin' noises, kid."

I swore, my toes flaring in synch with his motion. "Uhhn!"

"You wanna cum, right?" he teased me, still rocking in and out of me at that moderate pace. I nodded vigorously. "But no hands for you. Guess you're screwed."

I groaned again.

"You need me to do something?"

Again I nodded.

"Say it. What'd make this feel even better?"

"Harder!" I breathed. "G-go faster."

"Yeah? What was that?"

"Harder!!"

The big paw on my hip changed its grip, cupping around my waist. Dane shifted closer again.

It was like someone had turned up a dial. Steadily, he started to buck harder and faster, rougher and firmer. Never forgetting I was smaller than him, stopping short of getting rough.

His erection, so much bigger than mine probably ever would get, glided back and forth in a smooth piston-like movement. The pressure inside of me now a constant rush, beginning to build on itself. I groaned as I felt that peculiar sensation only this kind of stimulation could bring...

The bed started to creak, punctuating each movement Dane made along with my own breathless gasping.

I felt a twinge of amusement, imagining the Terran in the next room with a pillow over his head. Grinding his teeth as he listened to, among other things, the groaning of the bed beneath us.

That tingling pressure deep within me was making my entire body shake and glow warm with feeling. It crawled up from the base of my rigid dick as it waggled in the air below my groin, pulsing in intensity with each thrust.

"Ahh-!" I whimpered. "D-Dane, I'mma..."

"Go on," he panted, actually _slowing_his motions. "Squirt for me, kid. C'mon, Mika... Shoot for me."

I moaned in frustration. My paws still pressed firmly into the soft mattress and held fast, I squirmed helplessly beneath him.

I shut my eyes and tensed up, trying to shift my body and focus on the feelings before they could slip away even a little. A groan escaped my muzzle and my tail lashed uselessly against Dane's bigger torso as I focused.

Eventually, I felt my eyes roll and the strength fled from my body. The pressure exploded like a punctured fuel-line, and my senses were blown away with it. The orgasm swept through me, like a burning fire racing out from that point deep inside of me, and though everything blurred into a haze I was sure I cried out loud enough for the entire building to hear.

When my senses regrouped, I was slumped under Dane, trembling. He was gently nuzzling the back of my neck. Even though it hadn't been touched, my dick felt sensitive and raw; I could feel that I'd-

"Oh stars beyond, that was incredible." Dane shifted. He released my right paw, his disappearing under my body... then I felt 'something' firmly grip and swipe over my penis's slightly wet tip. Just grazing the soft, pinkish flesh. Pinned as I was, I couldn't move away, I could only give a pathetic mewl as an intense bolt of what felt like electricity shot through it. "You're growing up, Mika..."

"D-Did I get the sheets?" I asked, dazed. My toes were still alternating between spreading and curling, am involuntary dance, and my entire body felt shaky in the afterglow. Dane casually fondled me down there, tweaking my sensitive member, making me shiver anew. "The m-mattress?"

"Yeah. It's a big target. And that's more than last time. Made a mess."

I snorted. "Yeah..." I mumbled, a wave of sleepiness crashing down on me. "Same for you, though."

"Sorry. Not my fault you're so damn hot."

"Pff. You're the one that's gotta clean it up..."

"Was worth it, love."

[NSFW SCENE: END]

*

We laid together for what seemed like hours. I wasn't sure. I was comfortable and tired, and being held by him as we relaxed, no worries, no watches coming to separate us... it was so peaceful and comfortable it was almost alien.

It was so long before Dane spoke to me, I was starting to fall asleep. "Still awake?"

"Sort of." I shifted, tangling his nearest leg with both of mine. "What?"

"Want to talk. That alright?"

That was odd. Normally we'd save the chatting for the hour or so we got before waking and working. "Yeah?" I tried to meet his eyes, but he was staring at the roof.

"Worried. Our passengers aren't normal fare."

I perked my ears. "Do you think he can hear us?"

"After the show we just put on, I don't think he wants to."

"Mnh." I smirked. "What an ass. But why're they not normal?"

"Two unrelated guys, travelling light. Not together, no way." Dane shifted himself closer to me and gently laid an arm across my chest. "Who goes to the ass-end of the system for a vacation?"

"I don't know." I yawned. "I just hope we get rid of them soon."

"Hm. We're gonna be stuck with them for a few megasecs. Uranus isn't a short trip. I think it's around nine or so astro units from that ringed fart-cloud out there. That's more distance in one trip than they've probably gone their entire lives."

"What's at Uranus anyway?" I pushed the blankets off my body. Feeling hot now, I exposed my nude body to the cool air.

"Some research stations, mostly orbital spin-stations. Few thousand people at best." He frowned. "A few isolated satellite colonies. Limited ammonia and helium-3 trade for industry, but pretty useless compared to us here or the Jovian sys. Mostly owned by outer-system corporations even after the Suppression."

"So nothing?"

"Pretty much. They mostly keep to themselves; they're developing colonies and rest-stops for miners heading out to the Kuiper. Definition of 'the middle of fuckin' nowhere.'"

"Wonder where they're goin'..."

"No clue. They said something about research, but there's something off about them. I'm not sure I want to know."

I grunted and pulled myself closer, draping a leg over his.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"You know."

I snorted. "I'm fine."

"Good." He nuzzled the top of my head. "I got a little carried away."

"Me too." I snorted. "Oh, give me a break. You aren't that big."

"Oh, sure. Big enough to get you off, kitten."

I smiled in the dark, squeezing him. "I'm fine. Seriously." I thought for a moment. "So we're just giving these guys a ride out to Uranus?"

"Yeah, but we're heading to Enceladus again first. Carrying some medical supplies, some fuels. Said they wanted to see something there too."

"Ugh. I'll just stay in orbit."

"It's not as bad it was, Mika."

"I still don't want to see that snowball ever again."

Dane's paw reached up and brushed my cheek. "I know. I don't like seeing it as it is now, either."

"...You don't talk about it much."

"Home? You don't like hearing about it much."

"I mean," I murmured, resting my head on his arm. Shifting my legs to feel the soft sheets on the soles of my feetpaws. "You don't talk about yourself much. Where you came from."

He thought for a moment, before he pulled me closer to him. Just holding me. "I know. Sorry."

"Hm. It's alright. Nobody's business in the black. I'm just... really happy you're here now." I shut my suddenly heavy eyes. "Should we worry about those two?"

"Just keep your eyes open. Whatever they're up to, it doesn't involve us. And I'm pretty sure Jin knows what's up, so maybe we're worrying over nothing."

"I guess." A yawn split my muzzle. "Well. I'm gonna catch some sleep. Sleep well, Dane."

"You too. Love ya, kitten."

I fell asleep with a smile on my muzzle.

Despite it all, this surface trip had been worth it.

*

I was roused in only a few short hours by Dane shaking me gently. I felt more rested than I had in ages aboard the Oberon. Dozily, I slipped out of the sheets and started to stretch, a habit of mine now, touching my toes and loosening my muscles, taking advantage of the freedom of nudity.

After enjoying the show, Dane invited me to use the shower with him - an honest, genuine shower, not the joke we had aboard - and I definitely agreed. We acted like idiots in the bathroom, washing each other's backs and wrestling in the thick steam.

Having fun without anyone judging. I felt like a silly kit again, if only for a few moments.

After helping one another back into our testicle-crushing excursion suits, we headed for Jin's room and found the others were already awake and waiting for us.

"Late night?" Niklas, slouched in a soft couch, enquired innocently as we slipped through the door.

"Slept pretty well, actually," I murmured, and we exchanged grins. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Weiss seated in a chair by the dining table, resolutely looking the other way from us.

Jin was already in his excursion suit - a sleek orange-and-white clearly intended to match his natural fur; a captain's privilege, I suppose - and he was reading something on his PDC. "We've still got time," he said absently. "You didn't break the bed in there, did you?"

"It's still in one piece." Dane snorted a laugh. "Are we ready to go?"

"Just about." The captain shook his head. "You're incorrigible, both of you." I spied a smirk on his face though.

Despite his reputation, Jin was a fun guy. There was a side to him that temporary crew who didn't stick with us for long never got to see. Every now and then he'd crack a joke, and I'd never seen him be really unreasonable. He always seemed to try and think about things from your perspective, he got us. It was just that he didn't tolerate stupidity.

"What's the plan, boss?" Niklas asked. He nodded across the room at the two Terrans seated at the dining table. "Are we taking our guests up dressed like that?"

"au'cu'i, na vajni," Jin said, shrugging. "We don't really have a choice. They have what they have. Let's face it, ex-suits don't matter much." He turned his PDC over, mostly showing it to Chief and Niklas. "Here's the rendezvous profile."

Niklas glanced at it, but clearly didn't care too much. "Yeah, I'm sure they've got it worked out. Sent it to Oberon? Yuki'll have to raise apo a few hundred kilometers."

"He's already done it. So we better not miss the launch window." Jin put the device in his pocket and zipped it closed. "I arranged for propellant and supplies while we were down here. We're the only big craft in orbit, so they've already taken care of it."

"Just tell the pod guys to avoid that ugly ass," mumbled Dane. "I don't feel like growing an extra head."

"This is their job, Dane." Jin shrugged. "Of course, everyone has bad days. Your wills are sorted out, right?"

I felt a chill. "Not funny."

Dane reached out and slapped my shoulder. "Don't worry, it's more dangerous to walk the streets here than it is to take a shuttle."

"Yeah. Still not funny."

Everyone chuckled. Except the Terrans, who just exchanged worried looks.

"Alright." Jin announced, hefting a backpack to his shoulder. "Get everything you need, finish up whatever business you have, and head over to the lift-off point. We're going up by chemical rocket at four-thirty, rendezvous at five-fifteen."

Chief spoke up from the back of the room. "Any new crew?"

"Some, a few have left us. I found us a life-support tech and a few general hands. Our passengers, of course." The captain tapped the PDC in his pocket. "I've sent you everything you need, you'll have to draw up the watches when you get the chance. We're transporting our passengers here, but we have medical crap and organs to get to Enceladus first. Light cargo but we're on a strict time limit. Don't miss the launch, because we're leaving without you."

Everyone murmured their agreement. I kept quiet. I'd be following Dane anyway, there was no way I'd miss the launch.

Several minutes later, we were once again walking down the compacted dirt streets of Senkyo colony, making our way towards the tunnel out to the launch site. It was myself, Dane, Niklas, and the two Terrans, with Jin and Chief having already gone ahead.

I stayed towards the back of the group, watching the Terrans closely as we walked the roadside paths. Leaving the soft, compacted dirt roads behind as we followed a more major transportation route to the launch site.

The older male, Masden, looked like most other travelers I'd seen. If a little older and more portly. Wearing a pair of beige pants and a warm jacket, some half-boots, the snow leopard looked dressed for casual travel. But his companion had changed into a thick, rugged pair of black cargo pants, secured with a thick belt, and a gray muscle-shirt. Displaying surprisingly thick, muscular arms, he looked like what he'd said he used to be: a soldier.

Everything about him felt 'off' to me. He wasn't a huge guy, I'd seen larger miners and surface workers, but he was lean and athletic looking, and still bigger than even Dane. Even when his tone was even or approaching what you could call friendly, he seemed to always be looking around. Alert for trouble.

The way he looked at everyone, everyone he saw, was like he was evaluating them. He wasn't staring them down; it was like he was figuring out whether or not he could take them on.

I'd seen that before, from rowdy and violent spacers who almost never stayed with us for more than a megasec or so. But this guy was calm, with cold, unreadable eyes, not even a hint of a scowl, and hadn't raised his voice above a conversational tone even once. I didn't get it.

But I didn't have to, I supposed.

Senkyo was the biggest habitat I'd ever seen. Niklas had told me it was the major colony of Titan, a population of over seventy-thousand. I was still blown away by the size of the dome over our heads, that vast glass and metal honeycomb structure that swept from horizon to horizon, and the density of the bamboo and carbon constructs. Occasionally, thickets of bamboo or the occasional thick trunked tree, towering over the buildings with their dark green leaves, broke up the monotony of what was otherwise a utilitarian, dirty, grimy colony.

Most surface habitats were neat and tidy, but the bigger they were, the harder it was to keep clean. The sun, faint as it was out here, was smothered by the dense atmosphere, and most of the light came from spotlights on poles at even distances along the streets, with some set into the overhead dome, pointing downwards to provide directed illumination.

It was eerie. I kept thinking I saw something move, or twitch, at the corner of my eyes, but it was only the shifting, overlapping layers of shadow and light.

Dozens of tall adults walked by us with purposeful strides, and vehicles trundled past like passive beasts in a mechanical zoo as they pulled their loads. I felt nervous here. I came from a quieter habitat, with an actual zoo, and bicycles instead of methane-powered ground-rollers.

When a multi-car roller, a train of motorized vehicles connected by thick cables, growled past along the crushed gravel thoroughfare, I shrank away to the opposite side of the footpath, with my ears pinned to the back of my head. Letting the red and gray boxes trundle by, trying not to breathe the black smoke spewing from beneath the lead vehicle.

As we made our way towards the launch site access-way, the busy Titanian habitat got busier and busier. There was so much happening, in every direction, while the sky roiled above the tenuous protection of the colony dome. So much noise.

I hated it.

I lagged behind the others, with my arms clutching my pack like a lost little boy. Ignoring them when they looked behind to check on me.

It was when we were only a few minutes from the tunnel to the launch site when my heart froze entirely.

We were now in some sort of industrial area, where the buildings were taller and constructed of compacted stone, with towering metal cranes and multi-ton storage silos that stretched towards the dome above. Full of silicates, probably, or whatever they mined around here.

Beneath one of the giant silos, no more than a hundred meters away across the roadway, the two thugs who had threatened the kit from the bar were talking to someone. Lounging on the silo's steel supports, as if they were typical workers on their break. I couldn't make the third one out, as the shadow from the silo fell over them.

I saw them look over as we approached, and I averted my eyes. Hoping they either wouldn't recognize me, or realize I'd seen them, I fixed my gaze straight forward...

But I saw Weiss glance directly at them. Staring at them. His usual evaluating stare.

My chest tightened. I hadn't described those guys to Dane, I was the only one who recognized them; I struggled to think how I could alert the others. Hopefully, the jerks wouldn't want to start trouble with all of us.

I knew Dane and Chief had some experience in fights, but I didn't want to see them have to prove it. Those guys looked scary.

And I would be less than useless, probably.

We continued on our way to the tunnel that'd lead us to the lift-off site. Keeping my eyes down, I kept worrying one of us would be punched or grabbed from behind by one of those guys. But as we approached the port tunnel, I realized they hadn't moved. So far as I could tell, we weren't being followed.

We eventually rounded the block of building, and I shuffled along, my ears pricked constantly. Worried I'd hear rushing paws behind us.

I let out an explosive breath when I saw the edge of the hab's dome, and the thick, fifteen-meter hexagonal door that led to the tunnel. The tunnel to the launch-site.

Dane turned and shot me a look. "It's alright," he murmured.

"What is?" The Terran doctor turned and looked at me curiously. "Are you alright, Mikael?"

I nodded. "I'm fine."

"Mikael doesn't like pod-rides," Jin helpfully supplied. "And neither does his helmet."

Niklas winked at me. "At least you haven't eaten anything recently."

For some reason, that made me aware of how painfully tight and empty my stomach felt. Not just because I'd eaten nothing since that burger over a cycle ago, but because I was so wound up I thought I'd snap.

"C-can we just get it over with?" I muttered as brusquely as I could manage. Painfully aware of how high my voice sounded compared to theirs.

The hexagonal door dilated as we approached, responding automatically to the auth-code cast by Jin's PDC, the thick metal plates receding into the formidable dome's structure.

As we entered, we were greeted by the port-officers - uniformed, lightly-armed guards whose job was just to prevent unauthorized access to the launch sites and pretend to check for smuggled items.

This small section, smaller than the cargo-bay of the Oberon, was like an airlock. A nearly bare, small cell that contained only a desk and some computers for the port-officers. The dull metal walls were adorned by red and yellow signs that warned of penalties for breaking import/export laws and some safety reminders.

Another hexagon, this time of dense plastic, blocked the way forward. Beyond it, there was nothing but pressurized air, plastic, and some lights. Already I felt lighter, as we approached the limit of the artificial gravity field.

"I.D. and launch information," one of the officers said to Jin, sounding exactly as interested as he looked. A feline like me, his uniform was at least clean. A rarity amongst these guys.

The hexagon sealed behind us - thankfully - as Jin offered his PDC to the officer. He reviewed it, crosschecking it with data on a small touchscreen tablet suspended around his neck by a lanyard.

"Don't you guys get nervous?" Dane asked, looking meaningfully at the ceiling. "Why aren't you doing this stuff inside the dome?"

The other officer, a disheveled coyote, I guessed, just shrugged. "Ain't been an accident in a long time. This section can seal, it's you guys that need to worry when you get past here. Pray there ain't a meteor strike."

"Thanks for that."

"No problem, pal." The coyote grinned. "Seriously though, atmosphere handles fallin' rocks, and we got sensors up the ass to detect leaks. You're fine."

The gruff Titanian accent didn't lend itself to humor, I realized.

"All clear," announced the first officer. "Go on through."

"Not gonna check for contra?" Dane smirked.

"Not unless you want to volunteer for a cavity search. Now, fuck off. Have a nice flight."

"Whoa, hey. You're the boss."

The officer took the lanyard off his neck. "Mean nothin' by it," he murmured, apologetically. "Fuckin' Terrans came through earlier, massive assholes. lo'i pinxe be lo pinca..."

"They're like that, aren't they?" I piped, deliberately looking right at the officer instead of my companions.

He looked my way and grunted. "Enceladean? Go on, guys, skies are clear. Flash your ass at those Terrans if you can for me."

A finger jabbed me in the side, hard, but I managed to stay perfectly still. And, with a hiss, the final hexagon dilated into its support structures.

The tunnel was a long plastic tube about eighteen meters in diameter leading away from the habitat to the launch-site, hermetically sealed to metal arches that retained its structure. Tiny, luminous diodes, like miniscule stars, were embedded in the plastic and the compacted soil on the ground to provide some slight illumination.

I noticed everyone was hanging back, letting the Terrans go first. I knew why. I stood by and watched as they obliviously marched on, bags slung over their shoulder

A few meters beyond the dilated hexagon the analog gravity dropped off abruptly, and the jackal cursed in astonishment, his walking gait launching him much further than he expected. He clawed pointlessly at the air around him for a few seconds before calming down.

Us spacers exchanged smirks and walked after them.

Titan's gravity beyond the habs was still substantial. I remembered from my tutoring that the rock was one of the largest in all the system, with a surface grav about a seventh of Terra's, almost as strong as Luna's. Even still, passing the threshold made my entire body feel strange and 'floaty', the abrupt change disorienting.

But fun.

Grinning, I hopped a step forward. Letting myself drift a few meters forward. "Hup!"

Niklas also bounded forward. "Much better," he mumbled. "I hate feeling like my ass is made of lead."

"Keeps you healthy." Jin hefted his suddenly much lighter pack. "Let's move, we have a tight rendezvous window."

The tunnel stretched for about a kilometer to the launch site. Like most sites out this way, there was no fancy laser launcher or sky-crane in orbit above to whisk a pod skyward; it was a simple, sealed facility, a concrete ring surrounding a concrete pad where our ride home sat waiting. Probably already being fueled and prepped.

Of course, not that we could see anything as we stepped through the final door. Windows were rare outside of colony domes, unnecessary weak-points in most structures. Even if they could be made out of transparent metals, remote cameras just made more sense most of the time.

As with the landing site we'd arrived at, the facility was sparsely decorated and minimally manned. A scant few signs, metal benches, and floor carpeted with a scratchy, navy-blue surface, but otherwise it was strictly utilitarian. As we walked the circuit, anti-clockwise from the entrance around to the launch-prep room where we'd head out to the launch rocket, we went through another security check and decon-room.

Niklas had to strip to go through decon, apparently some bamboo fungi got on his fur somehow. I was just glad that I didn't have to join him; I was seriously sick of putting on and taking off the stupid orange ex-suit.

Eventually, we were cleared to go through and we walked through the final corridor to launch-prep. And were greeted by the others who had come down to the surface with us, talking, fooling around, and, in some cases, sleeping on the metal benches or on the carpet itself.

Jin went around taking names and counting heads, and I followed Dane off as we found a quiet spot to sit. Niklas hung back with the Terrans, talking with the professor.

"How long we have to wait?" I grumbled to Dane as he leaned on the wall, dropping his bag beside him. I did likewise, but slid down until I was sitting on my backside. Under the relatively weak Titanian gravity, it took some time to reach the floor. "How long till we go up?"

"No idea, PDC's in my bag. Not long."

"This thing is crushing my tail. And other things." I sighed.

"I know the feeling. As in, my things don't feel much better." He yawned, then dropped to his haunches as well. "Why not catch some more sleep? It's always a pain in the ass after leave, always screws up your sleep schedule."

I slipped closer to him and rested on his flank. "I dunno. I can't sleep in these places."

"It's an acquired skill. Few more drops and launches and you'll be snoring through the roughest descents, guarantee it." A paw draped over my shoulder. "Well. Have you done your stretches?"

I nodded and kicked a leg out in front of me, dipping forward until my nose touched my knee. "Yep, you watched me do 'em. Want me to help you?"

"I can't be screwed. My flexibility is long gone." He snorted. "Well, tell you what. Why don't you go talk to the Terrans?"

I looked over at him from my bent-over position, cocking an ear incredulously. "Are you serious?"

"As serious as I get. They're suspicious; gotta keep an eye on them. People are more likely to screw up and let something slip to a kid." Dane gently pushed on my shoulder to help me stretch further, easing off when I winced. "Or they're totally fine and we're worried about nothing. Don't you want to find out?"

"Did you talk to Jin?"

He nodded. "He said to keep our eyes open, but not to do anything drastic. I think the Terrans are paying us a lot to just transport them and not ask questions. But I hate flying blind."

I swapped legs. "... You really want me to go talk to them?" I muttered sullenly, my ears flattening.

"It'll do you good. Tell you what, wait until we're getting on the pod and try to talk to them. They'll be freaking out as badly as you, so maybe they'll let something slip."

"Fine. If I throw up again, it's your fault."

"Lemme put it this way. You'd be helping the captain out. And if you don't, I'll show the new guys how ticklish you are."

That settled that.

We strapped into the launch vehicle in less than an hour. I made sure to work my way over to the Terrans, mostly eying the older professor. The jackal was too guarded to approach.

Much like the drop-pod, the cylindrical walls of the cramped cell were covered in metal rigs and restraint harnesses to hold us in place while the vehicle blasted off and soared through the thick atmosphere.

I let the Titanian stewards strap me into the station next to Masden. Biting my lip as the stranger slowly eliminated my movement one limb at a time.

"I hate this," I muttered, mostly to myself, as the adult walked off.

"I'm not enjoying it much either," Masden replied, his voice shaking.

I tilted my helmet-clad head as much as the straps would allow. "Is this one of the first times you've gone up?" I asked him. Glad he opened the conversation.

He nodded - again, as much as he could. As expected, he was still wearing his street clothes, denied even the protection of an ex-suit if anything went wrong. "There's something about sitting atop a metal tube filled with explosives that unsettles me just a little."

"It's always like that, though. Almost every craft can explode if something goes wrong."

"I suppose so. But it's easier to ignore on a bigger ship, isn't it?"

"Never been on a craft until you left Terra?" I twisted my wrist and grabbed a hold of one of the restraints. Squeezing it for a little comfort.

"That's correct." Masden took a deep breath. "I suppose you wouldn't understand. This is all very alien to me. Rockets and microgravity and things like that. Going from a habitable planet where I've lived my whole life to the void of space is deeply disquieting."

"I guess." I thought for a moment. "I don't like pod rides, but I like being on the Oberon. Like you said."

A piercing beep resounded throughout our compartment, and an artificial voice followed. "Launch in t-minus ninety-nine seconds."

I heard the Terran take a deep breath, and a sharp vibration rattled the entire craft as the refueling clamp was detached.

"We'll be fine," I told him, trying to sound calmer than I was. "It won't be as rough as taking off from Terra. I guess you've only ever lifted off from there."

I saw him nod, and he huffed, as if suppressing nausea. "Yes. And that's true, that makes sense. Much shallower gravity well. Now we just need to not explode."

"That's only happened three times in the last gigasecond. Six fatal accidents in total." I paused before wryly adding, "I remind myself before every launch."

"Is that so?" A chortle. "I'm glad I'm next to you this time. Don't be fooled by his demeanor: my travelling companion takes this worse than I do, which makes it rather difficult to stay calm myself. Thank you."

"No problem. Just ignore me if I puke then." I smirked.

It wasn't long after that the final countdown started. The rockets fired as the hypergolic fuels mixed and the craft shuddered its way skywards.

As we plunged again into the thick, orange atmosphere, I shut my eyes and concentrated on keeping my pulse - and stomach acids - down. Awaiting the peaceful weightlessness of orbit.

*

Once the engines wound down, signifying we'd hit our rendezvous trajectory, I let out an explosive breath. Looking around, I saw we were all in one piece, with several of the more seasoned spacers listening to music in their helmets or asleep, catching the sleep they could. Likely, many of them had spent most of their surface leave getting drunk in Titanian dives where the liquor was cheap, and had left themselves little time for rest before the launch.

I strained to reach the release button, a simple button on the harness frame that only became active once our acceleration dropped to a safe level. I really didn't want to spend the next half-hour or so like this.

I grunted when I felt the straps around my midsection and arms loosen, and eagerly pulled my wrists free. Letting myself slowly settle to the floor, weightless again, I stretched out my limbs. "Ugh."

Masden stirred. "Oh, we can move now?" He huffed again.

"Yeah, button near your right paw." I drifted to a small monitor on the other side of the cramped chamber. I tapped the screen and it flashed into life.

A menu appeared on the glass, and I pressed where it read, "Target View."

The mustard atmosphere of Titan below us appeared on the screen. Hazy layers sat above the main atmosphere, refracting and scattering the light from the distant sun, curving away to follow the surface of the moon.

A few taps of the screen, and the image zoomed in, focused on what first appeared to be a tiny spec barely visible through the moon's smoky upper mesosphere. Another tap applied the filters, and suddenly that dot resolved into the distinct, cylindrical shape of the Oberon.

"Is that it?" I heard Masden's voice behind me. "The Oberon?"

I turned to look at him, a little put off by his sudden closeness. "Mnh."

The shape of his body was very unusual to me. Rotund, yet average in height, it wasn't something I saw often. As small as I felt around most adults, his girth made me feel especially strange.At least he didn't tower over me like some did.

"Can you zoom in at all?"

I nodded. "Yeah." I tapped the screen twice, and the magnification increased significantly. Another tap brought up the filter-menu, and it didn't take me long to adjust for the atmospheric distortion.

All of a sudden, Oberon came into sharp, clear view on the screen. A long, whitish-gray cylinder, with occasional plates of boron nitride glinting bronze from the surface-light. It was mostly facing us, the radioactive rear of the pointed to the black, such that we'd be protected during docking. The perspective belying the craft's impressive length; her overall size indeterminable with nothing to compare it to.

Dish antennae and sensor prongs jutted from the gleaming hull, and the mass-sparing trusses that constituted most of her lower half, surrounding and supporting the fuel-tanks, were visible despite the angle. At this distance, they were ghostly spindles barely catching the light.

"How large is it?" Masden asked me.

"Overall?" I thought for a moment. "About three-forty meters."

"Bloody hell."

I smirked. "One of the biggest in the Saturnian sys. Fastest, too, unless we're dragging kilotons of crap around."

"What do you normally haul around?"

I shrugged. "Whatever we gotta. Usually aitch-three or chemical fuels, sometimes medical crap."

"For other moons?" He seemed genuinely curious.

"Yeah. Sometimes it goes to other contract freighters for transfer to inner systems. Slow haulers, sometimes, for longer trips."

"Oh. So... do you normally stay in the Saturn system?"

"We've gone to Uranus a few times. It's a long trip." I paused. "Why d'ya wanna go there? There's nothing out that far."

The Terran smirked. "I'm just transporting something myself."

I looked over at his acceleration-rig, and the briefcase he'd bound to it with a chain and lock. "Oh, the case you've got there?"

"Ah... yes. I can't really talk about it, it's a sensitive issue."

I gave him an exaggerated shrug. "Not our business. Spacers don't care about that stuff. That's for the paper-pushers and keyboard-tappers. Furs who make shit up to give themselves stuff to do."

"Oh. Well. I see."

I grinned. "It's okay," I teased, "that doesn't include professors and scientists and stuff."

After a moment, he returned my grin. "That's good at least. I wouldn't want to be compared to a bureaucrat."

"... To who, what?" I raised an eyebrow.

He smirked, reaching up to scratch at his exposed head. "Bureaucrats? Well. That would be the people who make shit up to give themselves something to do."

He spoke like one of my teachers - reserved and yet authoritative. But that only made the swear word seem even more out of place. My grin got a little bigger.

"I assume it's a nuclear salt-drive?" The professor nodded at the screen.

"Yeah. Rated for high-grade u-tetra. Like most interplanet transports."

"One of the fastest out this way, you said?"

I gave a curt nod, then frowned. "Yeah, one of the biggest drive assemblies floatin' around Saturn. Uh. Our max-rated nominal mass is eleven kay-tee, and we can go about half a gee with that. So, I guess about fifty or so meganewtons? Jin told me once, but I forgot."

"Kay-tee?"

"Kilotons."

"Oh. Over interplanetary time-scales?" The gray furred adult shuddered. "That's terrifying."

"No, we can't keep up that kinda burn for that long, that's when we're dragging a whole lot of mass and doing a hard burn. But that kinda power, that's why they put remote bombs in every salt-craft's reactor."

"Even that one?" He raised an eyebrow.

I smirked. "Sure, of course. Why wouldn't there be?"

There was a sharp beep, and I cocked my ears for the announcement to follow. "Uhh." The voice that issued from the speakers sounded barely interested, or even awake. "Docking in tee-minus twenty minutes. Secure your belongings and prepare for transfer." A distracted pause. "Uh. Thank you for travelling with ParaOrbit, Titan's premier orbital transfer shuttle."

"Doesn't inspire much confidence." Masden looked anxiously at the others; almost everyone was asleep, or listening to music, still suspended by their rigging. "Should we get back into those things?"

I waved my paw. "You can if you like. If they screw up the docking, it won't really help."

"Again. Not inspiring much confidence..."

*

The docking process went smoothly, the Terrans' anxiety notwithstanding. The shuttle-pod and Oberon rendezvoused and matched orbits, maneuvering carefully until the magnetic airlock brackets met and connected, effectively attaching the pod to the Oberon's larger structure. Becoming one object in space.

When the seal was confirmed, everyone shook themselves free, grabbed what gear they'd brought with them, and slowly floated through the portal to Oberon's airlock. It was all routine by now, even for someone like me, who preferred to stay aboard during orbit.

For a parting gesture, I welcomed the Terrans - well, the older professor at least, Weiss barely acknowledged me at all - onboard, and pointed out the yellow-painted grab-rails jutting out of the walls and ceilings at intervals, for getting around or stopping yourself when the craft wasn't under thrust.

I watched them flounder their way to the spinal ladder, disoriented and uncertain, but I had to get to the bunks and out of my uncomfortable excursion suit. So I quickly grabbed mine and Dane's gear and headed down. Hoping I could catch some rest before I was inevitably dragged back on watch. As I'd learned long ago, almost the moment you were back onboard and your gear was stowed, you were on duty. The crew who'd stayed aboard needed a break.

I ended up with even less time to myself than I expected. As I was slipping into my new bodysuit, a rhythmic banging made me flinch. When I pulled my weightless self around the privacy partition, catching and clinging to it to stop myself flying across the quarters, I realized Dorian was halfway down the spinal ladder and smacking the bulkhead with his fist. "Mikael! Wake up, your watch is in three minutes."

"I'm up!" I protested, slipping one sleeve over my shoulder as I floated in place. "What's the deal?"

"Help our passengers with their gear, make sure they're all set, then get them set up in here." He shook his head. "The less they're moving around, the better."

"Then what?"

"Find Chief or Jin, see what they need. And get those filters done." The fox started his way down the ladder. "I'll be doing inventory."

"Tsk. Fine."

"Filters ain't been touched in cycles." The fox shot me a look as he began to disappear down to the next level. "You and the next watch, get them done. Tell 'em. And the fans are gonna be your job next watch."

"I heard ya."

He chose not to respond, leaving me to get ready.

I made the decision to actually wear the slip-on footwear Dane had bought me. I had gotten so used to having nothing on my paws that I'd almost started to prefer it. Not having to worry so much about dropping a wrench on my paws would be a nice change but that came at the cost of losing the use of my toes to hold stuff. And I did that a lot.

When I was dressed for work I headed up to the bridge, where I assumed our guests were still probably talking with the captain.

I drifted over to the ladder and started upward. Eventually, over the chatter of the rest of the crew and the reactor's thrum, I could pick out Jin-Wei's accented voice and the quiet, reserved responses of the snow leopard professor.

When I eased myself through the bridge hatch at the top of the ladder, I found the bridge more cramped than usual. Jin was talking to not just the professor, but Chief and Niklas, while some cheetah guy I didn't recognize was working beneath Niklas' terminal.

"Mikael." Jin murmured when he saw me. "Is everything alright down below?"

"Yeah, sir. Far as I know." I floated over, stopping myself with the captain's chair. "Dorian told me to see if you needed anything up here before I help secure the cargo bay."

"Not here. Doctor?"

The snow leopard smiled at me. "My things are already secured. My companion is somewhere below." He paused. "I get the feeling that spacetravel makes him unwell or nervous."

"It makes everyone sick at first," I said casually. "It took me a megasec or somethin' before I didn't feel like dizzy crap."

"I found that out the hard way." The professor grinned. "But my partner seems to take it very badly. He's likely somewhere private, trying to cope. He might need something."

"Okay." I pushed off towards the ladder again. "I'll check life-support. It's the quietest place. Give me a yell if you need me."

I didn't really expect to be bothered. Anyone could make sure the passengers were comfortable. Not everyone could squeeze into the filter ducts.

I descended the entire length of the habitable portion of the craft, one rung at a time, as I'd been firmly ordered to ever since my first craft.

All the new spacers ask why we don't just pull ourselves all the way up or down the ladder when we're in microgravity, launching ourselves to where we had to go with minimal effort. But all it would take was for someone to try to climb up while we were shooting down - or vice versa - for a nasty accident to happen. No, even when we were at zero-gee we 'climbed' the ladders.

It was a lot of fun, sometimes, throwing yourself around in low-gravity. Especially at first, once you got over the sickness. But eventually you'd hit something and learn your lesson.

The first time I got whacked by five adult males in a row for it, I learned that lesson. They were pretty pissed off.

Life support was the lowest section of the habitat module, the small section of the Oberon that was actually pressurized with the exception of the narrow access-way that led below, to the reactor deck. Only the engineers would get anywhere near there, towards the real bowels of the craft, towards the shadow-shield. And only very rarely. Nobody went lower, towards the reactor or the actual engines. Doing so was a death sentence. The radiation from the engines and reactor were so deadly, the only way to open the hatch through the shield was from the bridge.

Life-support, the nominal base of the ship, was perfectly safe. It was the home of our algae farm and our heat controls. Due to the heat from the algae farms, and the fact it was mostly self-sustaining, nobody ever ventured down there. It wasn't even worth the privacy, usually.

I clanked down the ladder, deliberately making noise so I wouldn't take anyone by surprise. The life-support bulkhead hatch was closed over, but not secured, so I reached down and tugged it away from the ladder before descending into the stuffy, more dimly-lit depths.

I almost missed him. To the side of the algae tanks, leaning on the wall, the Terran was seemingly trying to avoid being seen. He was illuminated by the dull red glow from the lamps and a faint light from a PDC that he held down by his chest. He seemed to be staring at the touchscreen, his face an expressionless mask. Still wearing the thick, cargo pants and tight black shirt he'd been wearing from back on Titan.

"Hoy there," I called, floating down the floor and stopping myself with the CELS terminal. "Are you alright?"

Weiss looked over at me sharply. "Oh, uh, yeah." He quickly shut off his handheld's screen. "I'm fine. I just needed some privacy."

"Right." I scanned the room and the life-support terminal's readouts. Partly worried he had damaged something - or planned to. "Is everything okay?" I nodded at the device in his paws.

He put it away. "Was just looking at some images of my family, back home. We left in a hurry."

"We'll get you where ya gotta be quickly," I assured him, trying to at least act like I cared. "So you'll see them again soon." The look he shot me was strange, but I ignored it. "Uh. Captain Jin-Wei wanted me to see if you needed help getting settled in."

"I'm fine. I put everything in my bunk already. Not got much." He looked over at the heat lamps. "I still get sick on these crafts. The heat helps. Nobody mind if I stay down here?"

"It's fine. Just don't break nothing. Please." I looked pointedly at the clear tubular tanks on the wall. "We need those."

"I figured." Weiss slumped on the wall and heaved a sigh. "No doors or hatches in the living deck huh. Those fuckin' partitions are useless."

I shook my head. "Extra weight. You get used to it."

"Right, you don't care if everyone hears you getting fucked stupid by your boyfriend." He kept his voice even. I felt my neck prickle. "Ten years in service. You'd reckon I could keep my shit together better than this."

I thought very carefully before replying. "You were military, right?"

The jackal nodded. "Wasn't astro. Had nothing to do with that whole cluster-fuck out this way."

"What did you do?"

"Infantry. Served in the South American War. Don't expect you to know anything about that, or even where that is. Universe is too big to keep track of all the crazy, stupid shit that goes on." His eyes snapped up and met my own. I felt a little surprised - I had been avoiding really looking at him, and until then he hadn't really made eye contact either. But now, his eyes bored into mine like picks driven into ice. "It ain't like people on Terra even knew what went on this far out. They don't even know what goes on down the street from their home, or the next town over. Good people aren't responsible for the shit that happens on the other side of the system."

I blinked at him, nervous. "Uh. I guess. I mean, I know." I felt my tail curl against my leg as I stepped back. "I've got to get on station. Let me know if you need anything, I've, uh, I've got things to do."

He stared at me a moment. Thinking. "Right." He straightened. "Right. Yeah. Don't we all. If you can, tell your captain to get down here when he has a moment. I'll be down here."

"I'll pass it on." I kicked off toward the spinal ladder and made my way up again, making sure to close the hatch over again. I didn't close and seal it, but I closed it over, leaving it as I'd found it.

And I don't know why I did that. Maybe I just wanted to put something between myself and that guy.

[One Hour Later]

The filters on the bridge were almost always filthy. I was never sure why, since there was almost nobody on that tiny deck by comparison to the rest of them. I could only guess that it had something to do with the fact it was at the very top of the Oberon's hab-module, far from the environmental control systems, and it was a much smaller deck, scarcely eight or so meters squared with a ceiling only about half that high.

Naturally, the filters were by the three workstations, in the floor and wall, beside the metal frames that held the computer terminals and the adjustable seats. Making them a pain to get to.

I was under the unoccupied communications station, focused on scrubbing the wall-mounted grate with my microfiber cloth, while Niklas manned the flight-control and navigation station a few meters to my right. Captain Jin floated lazily in the space above the workstation on the other side of the deck, seemingly going over trajectory options Niklas had likely prepared for him. I wasn't paying much attention, until I caught a mumbled curse-word from Niklas, and I glanced over.

"Well, that isn't half suspicious." Niklas adjusted his headset's earpiece, tapping his chair with his opposite paw. "Jin. That craft at one-three-five, two-eight, four-two. About ten hours out from orbit. See it?"

Curious, I scooted out from under the comm. station to peer at his screen. But all I could see was a jumble of digits and symbols I couldn't make out.

Jin tapped at his workstation keyboard, bringing up the navigation display. The terminals were mostly networked, and limited control or information was available from virtually every one of them. Though if something really had to be done right, I always saw the adults move to the respective station to do it. But glancing at most sensor data, for one example, could be done from almost anywhere.

After a moment, Jin replied. "There. What about it?"

"It's not broadcasting any ident with its transponder." The caracal pointed at something on screen. "Not even military craft do that. They'll kill their broadcasts totally in war or whatever when they have to, but not this. These guys are letting people know they're there, they're just not saying who they are."

Jin-Wei rubbed his nose and floated over to inspect Niklas' screen. "No visual?"

"They're under impulse. All we can see is their drive flare. But..." The keyboard clacked a few times, and a spectral graphic flashed up on the screen. "Analysis of the emission lines. Looks a lot like a military salt-water drive, UTCS again. Either another Redfield or a Gallowglass, plutonium salted."

"So they don't want us to know which exact craft." Jin frowned. "But if they're still broadcasting anything at all, then they're playing nice with traffic controllers. Someone knows who they are."

"Yeah. They've been talking to Titan controllers." Another few keystrokes and what I recognized as the communications log sprung up. "Directly, though. Encrypted. I've been seeing them transmit for the past few cycles, never paid any attention."

"You wouldn't happen to have recorded their key-exchange?"

"Nah, that'd be illegal." A smirk. "But no, seriously, I don't think they exchanged, they probably already had them. Besides, cracking a military code would take who-knows how long to force even if we had the keys. Impossible-"

"Impossible if we didn't." I watched as the two of them stared at the logs; I had little idea what any of it meant, I just saw time-stamped gibberish. "What is going on?"

"I don't know, Jin, but that's two UTCS warbirds in our space, neither of them are supposed to be here, one acting like a creeper, and we've got two Terrans onboard being hunted by thugs, from what you told me earlier. Is it connected?"

"ki'ai mabla. I hope not. Let's say our goodbyes and get moving. Keep an eye on our secretive friend there."

"Right. They'll be in Titan orbit in a few minutes."

With a mental shrug, I got back on task. After all, whatever it was, there was nothing I could do about it. I went back to my diligent scrubbing, trying to collect as many particles of dirt and fur and dead skin as I could, while Jin disappeared below-deck to find Chief; I had three filters to do on this deck alone. I could maybe do some of the cargo bay's screens, and get the next shift to do the quarters and life support. But it would be up to me to crawl up inside and do the internal filters and fans.

I wasn't looking forward to that. Though I knew this crap was exactly why they wanted me on-board in the first place. Nobody else fit in there as well as I did.

But I had just finished the final screen, the one by the captain's station, when I heard a sudden gasp. "Oh, shit!" Niklas suddenly cried, pushing away from his station and hurling himself towards the ladder. "Jin! Get back up here!"

Startled, I looked up from my task. First at him, then at his screen.

This time, there was a craft displayed, visually. A long, gleaming object drifting silently through space. Its radiators were swept backwards along the craft's axis and angled edge-on to the front of the craft, as if they were wings for atmospheric flight or fletching on an arrow. Four of them, glowing a dull red.

Jin shot straight up the ladder and impacted the gunmetal grey ceiling bulkhead, rebounding down towards Niklas's station like a red-and-white missile. "What? What is it?"

The caracal took his seat again, pulling his keyboard closer. "Alright. The two UTCS crafts have been communicating the last twenty or so minutes, no idea what they've been saying, but then this happened." He reached out and urgently tapped the screen. "Our mystery craft there just pulled its radiators into combat config. Less surface area presented to incoming attacks."

"What's wrong?" Surprising me, Dane's head appeared at the top of the spinal ladder. He looked from Niklas to me, curious. I shot him a helpless shrug.

"I think something's about to hit the vents, cap." Niklas started typing. "Look. No markings, nothing, but it's definitely a Gallowglass frigate."

"Are they about to fight it out?"

The on-screen visual changed, displaying the UTCS craft I'd seen not long ago, as we first moved into orbit around Titan. It looked exactly the same, floating serenely above the moon's sickly yellow atmosphere.

"They haven't made a move. They're still talking." Niklas raised his paws. "This is bizarre."

I pulled myself closer to them, curious. "Are the Terrans we met at the bar on that craft?" I asked.

"The espatiers? I don't know if they're on it, but it's probably how they got here at least."

Jin scowled and leaned closer. "They're being arrested," he exclaimed. "That's what this is."

"If you say so." More quick typing, and a small data frame appeared in the bottom corner of the screen. The visual switched back to the aggressor. "Look. No scan-code on the hull. It's a Gallowglass, but absolutely no ident. Never seen this."

Bemused, Dane joined them, keeping a respectful distance. He beckoned me over and I obliged, smoothly launching myself into him and grabbing his waist; he held onto Jin's chair, so I didn't bowl him over.

I peered at the screen, trying to make sense of it. The mystery craft was oriented - as far as I could tell from the aspects at which we were viewing the two craft - pointing towards the Redfield, its radiators swept back. I noticed that the tapered tip of this craft bulged oddly at its end.

We watched the standoff for several minutes, in utter silence aside from Nik's occasional taps of the keyboard, switching visuals or bringing up different data displays. Trying himself to figure out what was going on.

I kept as quiet as I could, hoping nobody would tell me to get back to work, or send me off the bridge. I knew something would happen.

There was a beep from Nik's workstation, and he reacted instantly. Typing furiously. "They're transmitting, and it isn't encrypted!"

"Bring it up!" Dane blurted. "Come on!"

"Hold on, for fuck sake!"

A voice issued from the workstation's speaker. It was tinny and distant, but the tone was firm. "... is the former UTCS missile-craft Reykjavik. To a fur, every crew-member aboard rejects and condemns the crimes committed by our government upon the denizens of the outer system, and we denounce its continued abuse and exploitation of innocent lives for profiteering and political maneuvering. These are not the values on which we united our world and colonized our solar system."

All of us shared a look.

"We do not regret our actions or the decisions that led us to them. As free Terrans, we reject and recuse the excuses of our political figureheads and take pride in our defiance, in the name our ethics and beliefs. We know that we have done the right thing. We shall neither flee nor engage in combat. We have surrendered without condition."

Niklas frowned. "They're trying to jam the transmission, straight noise, but it's not going to work. Filtering it out easy."

"Your actions from here on," the tinny voice continued, "represent our home to its children, to the entire solar system, and it betrays them all. Your names will eventually be known. The truth will come out. The future will not look kindly upon our world. This is your legacy. You, and your children, will have to live with what you do today. Ask yourself, what justice is there in this? The choice is yours. We have made ours. Hic manebimus optime!"

Then, silence. A hiatus.

But one not long enough.

"Fuck-!" Niklas gripped his chair. "Temperature rising. They're charging capacitors. They're going to fire."

My skin prickled. "Dickless cowards!" I snarled. "They surrendered! Leave them alone!"

"Mika!" Jin hissed. "Calm down!"

I took several sharp breaths. I realized I was shaking.

Wordlessly, Niklas switched the visual. After a second, he shook his head. "They're not doing anything. They're not fighting back. This is insane." There was a beep. "They're transmitting again. What the fuck?" He listened on his headset. "They're singing. Terran anthem, I think."

"...Don't put it on speaker."

"No kidding."

"Are you recording?"

"Every moment. It's all we can do."

On-screen, I could see the bulging tip of the Gallowglass move. A panel retracted, exposing a hole or lens in the center of the craft's forward prominence. At this distance, it was hard to see what was going on, the resolution just wasn't high enough. Gas or plasma vented from the bottom of the craft in a rush, quickly dissipating into the black until it was invisible. "What're they doing?" I whispered. "A laser?"

"No." The view switched to the other Terran craft. Utterly still. Exactly as it had been those hours ago. Unresponsive. "Something scarier. Mika, you shouldn't..."

"I have to see."

Niklas twisted in his station and shot me a look. "No, kid, you don't. Jin-!"

I didn't take my eyes off the screen. The wait was short. In an instant, something seemed to punch through the Reykjavik, just below the center of its cylindrical hull. An invisible force drilled through the thick metal, goring the craft like it was made of wet paper, sending glittering sparks and spallation careening into the void. The other side of the craft blew outwards like a bursting valve, distorting the armored hull grotesquely, leaving it twisted and rent.

Niklas snatched the headset from his ear. I felt Dane's grip on me tighten.But other than that, I was suddenly numb.

We floated in silence for a moment.

I stared at the screen, watching the wreckage of the Terran craft spin, torqued by the momentum from the powerful weapon. A dancing metal corpse hanging tenuously above the dirty orange atmosphere.

"Nik," Jin said slowly. "We should move. Maybe take that alternative burn at apo."

The caracal didn't look up. "Yes, sir. If you want to spend that extra delta. I don't think they'll come for us. It's too late, the entire solar system will hear that."

"And we'll leak the visual and sensor data too. What's the range on that fucking thing?"

"I don't know. Xaser like that is bad news even at dozens of light-seconds. We're not out-running that thing, Jin."

Dane swore. "Xaser?! On a craft that size!?"

"Exactly. UTCS's new toy. Glad to see it put to good use."

I gently extricated myself from Dane's grasp and used him to turn myself around. My eyes were suddenly blurring with tears in the null-gravity.

Doctor Masden was behind me. Floating just above the spinal ladder to below. He was staring at the screen, muzzle hanging open. I had no idea when he'd got there; he hadn't made a sound throughout any of that.

Pushing off from the floor, I sent myself to the wall just behind him. Stopping myself with an outstretched arm. For a moment, I had no idea what I was going to do, or even really how I felt. All of I sudden, I was talking.

"Is this all you bastards are good at?" I muttered. "Killing?"

"Mika!"

I ignored that. "Even your own. No wonder we tried to leave you behind. Fuck Terra. Fuck it to the depths of the sun." I bent down to grab the ladder, and pulled myself down, away from the bridge.

Away from everyone.

"We shouldn't have let him see that," I heard Niklas say. But I didn't care.

I just didn't care.

*

Thankfully, Dorian had a task for me that didn't involve me being near the bridge. We had some cargo and supplies in the bay that needed to be stowed before we started off. So he sent me and a canine-guy I didn't know too well to deal with that.It was perfect for taking my mind off what I'd just seen, losing myself in the busywork.

We only had to deal with some smaller items, as the larger crates were already secured in the center of the bay, making the already limited space even more cramped.

So my coworker and I worked to secure what was left. Mostly small crates and cases that needed to be attached to shelves and retaining frames. We wouldn't need the ceiling mounted hoists or anything.

"Hey, kid," he called, holding up a small plastic crate. "Here. Tools, I think."

Nodding, I kicked off the floor to float a few feet towards the ceiling. "Toss it." I gripped the shelving with one paw, settling against it with my hips.

The guy threw the case at me from the floor, lazily floating backwards as a result. I caught it, bracing against the shelving so it didn't knock me across the bay.

Null-gravity took some getting used to. You could always tell when someone was new to it. Forgetting about the Second Law of Motion could mess up your day.

It was always funny when an inexperienced spacer forgets they can't stop themselves in mid-air, flailing uselessly before inevitably slamming into something. Or at least, I hadn't got sick of seeing it yet.

I slipped the crate into the shelf and quickly lashed it down.

Another came soaring my direction, and I strapped it down too, pulling the buckles tight and ratcheting them even tighter.

"That's just about it. I'll get the netting over this stuff over here."

"Great."

A beep sounded over the PA. "All hands," came Niklas' cheeky voice, trying to sound like a show host or something. "We'll be engaging engines in two minutes and accelerating to point-five gee. Ensure everything is strapped down and you're near the floor; contact the bridge if you can't, or you'll be doing an impressively accurate pancake impression. Next stop, the tiny, icy Enceladus. We'll be there in a few hours."

I thought about that as I drifted down to the floor again. We had to be in a hurry for Jin to decide on a brachi trajectory. A transfer with our secondary drive would take much less re-mass. And cost a lot less.

All for a couple passengers.

"I gotta go get my own stuff tied down," my workmate told me, pushing off the floor towards the ladder. "See you soon, kid."

"See you." I just stayed where I was. I'd grab onto the shelving when we started our burn, make sure nothing came loose and started crashing around.

I scratched at my stomach through the thin, cool material of my new bodysuit. It brought a little smile to my muzzle, and a twitch to my tail. It was nice having new clothing.

As expected, the rumble of the reactor increased in intensity, then was joined by the muffled roar of the salt-drive firing up - a powerful nuclear detonation occurring only a few hundred meters below us. Immediately, I felt my weight press down through my paws into the floor.

Moments later, I heard my name. "Mika?"

I turned to see Dane climbing down the ladder. Clad in his favorite jacket and cargo pants, his boots made dull clunks as he moved down the rungs.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

Dane shook his head as he walked over to me. "What for? We were all pissed off."

"I'm in trouble, right?"

"No way." He reached out and brushed my cheek. "Are you okay?"

I leaned on the shelving again, feeling them vibrate against my back. "I think so. I was just... They're dead. Those guys are dead now. And they didn't have to die."

"I know."

"Why didn't they fire back at least?" I scowled. "Why did they let the bastards kill them?"

Dane shrugged. "Because they wanted to be the good-guys." He slouched beside me on the shelving. "They would've killed one another if they did. No point."

"Why?"

"Well, there's no stopping a laser, and the other guys had enough nukes to wipe out a moon. Lose-lose situation."

"No, I mean, why not fight back anyway?" I huffed. "What's the point in dying? If they knew they'd get nuked for it, would they have fired that laser?"

"Making a stand, Mika. Not a fighting one, a moral one. They showed the entire system that they weren't the ones looking for a fight. They showed everyone that the other guys were the monsters. They died for their cause, whatever it was."

I slumped. Feeling the urge to tear up again.

I hated thinking about this. About death. About soldiers - espatiers, whatever you wanted to call them. It made me think of things, things I'd seen. Things I wanted to forget about, I didn't want to think they could happen again.

Those guys on that craft were dead. Gone. Years of life, so many thoughts and experiences, flashed to nothing in a second. And for what? What the fuck had that been about?

Not even Terrans deserved that.

"Are we safe?" I asked. Sniffing. "They're not coming for us?"

"No, no point. Everyone saw that. We just had front row seats." He pulled me closer to him, so I leaned against his waist.

"What's so special about that laser-craft anyway? Why were you so surprised?"

"I guessed you'd ask. It's technically not a laser. It's got far better range." He thought for a moment. "I've worked with x-ray lasers before, before I got a craft role. They're bastards. You can't focus anything at that wavelength using lenses, you have to just graze them off special surfaces to get them moving in the right direction. To make a weapon, it'd have to be huge. It's something you find on orbital stations, not on craft."

"But they've found a way to shrink it down?"

"Somehow. I was used to free-electron rigs but I seriously doubt that's what they're using, they're massive." Dane grumbled. "Niklas might know more about it, but I don't think anyone's gonna know how they managed it. Seems like something they'll want to keep secret. It has a crazy range in a vacuum, that's why it's so dangerous."

"Right." I sighed. "I'm okay. I was just pissed off."

"Yeah. We all are." He let me go and started towards the ladder. "When you're off, we got a card game planned in the mess. This'll be a short hop."

"Right, you guys need someone to shark, got it."

He winked at me. "Love ya, prickly kitten."

"Dick."

*

It was probably only a few minutes later when Doctor Masden found me in the cargo bay, scrubbing the film of the air filters with a filthy microfiber cloth. Mostly just killing time.

"Mikael?" the soft-spoken adult asked tentatively. "Can we talk for a moment?"

"Oh. Hey." I turned and leaned on the wall. "Uh, sorry about earlier."

The dumpy leopard shook his head. "Not at all."

I peered at him. "You been cryin'?"

"Perhaps." He returned my grin. It looked strangely at home on his features. "I don't think anyone can see something like that and remain unperturbed."

"Unper-what?"

"Composed. Not upset." He paused. "I had some questions about this ship, and Niklas told me to ask you. Apparently, you're the person to ask. As he's the pilot, either he's trying to patch things up between us or he has a perverted sense of humor."

"He has." I sighed silently. Niklas was our communication and navigation specialist, he knew far more about the craft than anyone except Jin-Wei and Chief. What a pain in the tail. But in the long run I figured I'd rather avoid animosity with someone I'd be stuck living with.

"Is that alright? If you can stand to be around me, that is."

"Go for it."

"Thank you. Well, first of all, I have a bit of a phobia. Ever since I was young, I was never a fan of the idea of burning to death." Masden shuffled. "What do we do if there's a fire aboard this ship?"

I gently tapped the thin half-meter square film of grating I had been trying to clean. "Fire? Ionizin' smoke detectors in the vents, thermals in each section." I shrugged. "I only know this because it's my job to keep things clean and working. We don't have a lot of flammable stuff on board, except for stuff that'll blow us to shit if it goes up anyway."

"That's what I'm afraid of. Does the ship have a fire suppression system? Or anything?"

"Craft," I corrected. "Spacecraft. Yeah, a halon and sonic system. Depends where the fire is."

"Oh, I see. I suppose that'll help me sleep easier. And, well, do you happen to have a surgeon on board? Or a sickbay?"

I perked one of my ears warily. "No. Are you sick?"

"No, it's just, if someone does get injured? I didn't see a doctor or anything. You don't have a medical bay? Or a surgeon?"

"No." I shrugged. "Some of us got some training, but we don't have any doctors." Anticipating his response, I continued. "We can't afford one. My last craft didn't have one either. Franchisers won't pay for that."

He blinked at me. "Is it really that bad out here?" It was almost like he didn't mean to say it out loud.

"We're a cargo hauler," I told him simply.

The doctor paused for a moment. "I see. This is all new to me. I hadn't left Terra at all until this little trip."

"We aren't a passenger craft. We haven't got any of that comfy stuff." I tilted my head at him. "So why ride with us anyway?"

"Well." I could tell he was deliberately keeping his expression neutral. He did too good of a job. "We wanted to travel without attracting too much attention."

"Okay." I reached out and tightened a retaining strap. "We don't tell anybody anything we don't have to. And Oberon's as fast as any liner, anyway."

"Yes, I was surprised to hear we'd get there so quickly. It must be interesting, practically living on a fast ship such as this." Masden raised his eyebrows. "I've never left my home world until now, I can't imagine what it's like seeing so many different planets, moons and space stations, how different a life it must be."

"I guess. But I've never been off-craft out of the Saturn system." I thought about it for a moment, idly scratching the front of my new bodysuit. "I heard you were going to Uranus next. Are we taking you?"

"That was the plan, yes."

Frowning, I thought about that. "It's far away, farther than the Jovian sys." I bit my lip, a habit of mine whenever I tried to focus. I'd been doing it since I was real little. "If I remember, we're about nine astros away. So, 'bout one-point-two-five to th' ten-nine. No way we have the delta to hard-burn the entire distance, but if we did about half a gee... uh, twice the square of the distance over acceleration..." I tried tapping at the crate to my side to keep the numbers straight, but quickly gave up and rounded them up. "I dunno, around one-twenty hours?"

Masden stared at me, blinking like I'd just slapped him or something. "Do you mean, that's how long it will take to get there?"

"I guess. Niklas can do that stuff much better than I can."

"I think you're underselling yourself, Mikael. The only time I would expect a boy of your age to do such a calculation in their head would be if they were serious academics, not one in your position. No offense. But forgive me, I recall the captain saying something closer to three hundred hours at half a gee, give or take?"

"You still using Terran time? We don't use that out here. Metric. Ten hours a cycle, hundred minutes, hundred secs. Or just secs once you get used to it."

"Well, that makes more sense. Here I am, the clueless Terran, billions of kilometers from home, and you're doing the math on how long it will take to go from one planet to the other in your head." He looked impressed.

I half-smiled. "It's just a guess. There's a bunch of tricks to it. I only know the average distances from school, and I dunno what kind of burn Niklas will plan. If Uranus is on the other side of the sun, it'll take a lot longer. I don't keep track of that stuff. We don't got the delta for even a half-gee burn that far, so I think Cap was shitting you a bit. Still faster than anyone else out here."

"Ah. Well, that's fine, as long as I get where I'm going. I get the impression you went to a good school."

"My parents were scientists, like you. They sent me to a good one. I wanted to be an astro, like Niklas. Won't happen now, I guess." I hadn't meant to sound wistful or accusing, so I tried to play it off with a shrug. It didn't work.

"I... I see." There was an awkward pause.

"So, uh. What kinda professor are you?" It wasn't much of a save, but it was something.

"I'm a particle physicist, a researcher at University of San Diego." He smiled at me again. "What fields were your parents in?"

That was interesting, I figured. "Well, my mom was a hydrologist," I told him. "Dad was a geologist. I wanted to be an astronomer or astrogator."

"Well." I could see him considering his words carefully. "Maybe you'll still have your chance."

"Yeah. Thanks. Maybe, I guess. I'd better get back to work." I paused. "Oh, uh. Sorry. Again."

"Ah. That's alright." The stout snow leopard stepped backwards, towards the ladder. "I can imagine how angry you must be," he murmured. "I really don't blame you."

With a curt nod, he turned and left me alone. I watched him climb the ladder to the crew quarters.

Then huffed a sigh of relief.

*

The piercing beep over the P.A. system announced the end of the watch. With Dorian occupied, I'd been killing time and doing the dull but necessary cleaning and maintenance of the air-filters.

In a few cycles, I'd probably have to crawl into the vents and clear out the secondary filters. Nobody else would fit as easily as me, so it was pretty much exclusively my job. But that less-than-appealing task could wait until Dorian or somebody made me do it. My knees were bare in these new clothes, I didn't want to crawl around greasy vents.

Yawning, I stood and decided to head for the bunks. Find who was taking over my watch and tell them that I hadn't done the filters in life support. Then I could finally get some private time, to just think about what was going on. I clambered towards the ladder and started upwards.

I heard a thump all the way above me, audible over the engines and reactor as it resounded down the spinal corridor. The sound of one of the bulkhead doors closing, shutting off a deck. Unusual, but not immediately alarming.

If I hadn't bothered to glance upwards in mild curiosity, I wouldn't have seen it. Over a hundred meters above me, I could just make it out. A tiny shape of dark olive, then some vivid orange and white. It took me a moment to recognize it. It took me more than that to process it.

Jin-Wei's head and arm, unmoving and limp. He was stuffed into the alcove just below the bridge's bulkhead - which was sealed, with the bulkhead hatch closed.

It was _never_closed.

"C-Captain?" I called, furrowing my brow. "Hey, Jin?" He didn't move. Feeling a dull panic settle into my stomach, I hauled myself up the ladder, my paws pounding each rung loudly. My body uncoordinated and clumsy. Suddenly, the entire ship seemed to lurch.

Then the engines cut. Utterly ceased. It caught me by surprise; my weight seemed to disappear, and I found myself rocketing up the ladder. I clutched at the rungs and looked upwards; Jin had barely moved, jostled by the sudden change in our momentum. I heard murmurs of confusion and irritation from my crewmates, down in the quarters deck I'd already passed.

"Hey, hey!" I called, my voice cracking as I kicked the spinal ladder to send ringing sounds reverberating down its length. "Crew down! Crew down! Jin's hurt!"

The murmurs got louder, but I heard someone crash into the ladder just below me. "What's going on?!" came Chief's gravelly voice.

Clawing at the rungs, I ignored him and made my way upwards, more pushing off the rungs than climbing it. Accelerating upwards as fast as my flailing limbs would let me.

After an insufferably long moment, I soared past him and smacked painfully into the sealed bulkhead hatch. Pushing off, I grabbed the captain's arm. "Jin!" I hissed, trying to shake him. Closer now, I could blood coming from his nose and mouth, matting his fur. Droplets floated just before his face, as more continued to issue forth. "C-Cap? Wh-what the fuck-?!"

There was a blur of gray and black, and suddenly Chief crashed into the bulkhead just as I did. "What's wrong?!"

"I just saw him like this!" I turned to look at him, helpless. Unsure whether to get out of the way or try to move Jin. I still held onto his limp arm as I floated there.

But Chief looked up at the bulkhead, and the sealed hatch. He froze for a second. Then reached out to pull on the release handle - it clanked, locked in place. Suddenly, he unleashed a blistering string of curses more foul than I'd ever heard. "Mika, don't move him!" he commanded, trying the hatch once more. Then hammering it with a fist. "Who the fuck is in there? Hey!"

There was no response from the control deck.

Chief, for the first time I had ever seen, looked stunned. Maybe even scared. But he snapped out of it almost instantly. He pulled himself around by the alcove's edge.

"Hijack! Hijack! All hands, wake the fuck up!" He bellowed down the craft's spine. Almost immediately, I heard other voices call back.

My vision seemed to narrow. I stared at the comatose red panda as he continued to bleed. Clinging to his limp arm. "Wh-what?"

"Everyone to the cargo bay, now!" I heard Chief roar as he kicked off in the direction of the ladder. "Count up everyone, we need to know who's in there! Mika! With me, down to life support, move!"

I didn't move. I just floated there, shaking. I knew I had to look stupid, like a stunned infant.

"Mika! I'll probably need you! Move it!"

I flinched, startled into action. I threshed around uselessly as if trying to swim in mid-air until my paw touched the wall and launched me towards the ladder as well.

I had never seen everyone try to navigate the spinal ladder at once. It reminded me how cramped even the Oberon was. How many of us lived here. How few of them I really knew. It could be any one of them up on the bridge now. Planning something.

But I had a sinking feeling that I knew exactly who was in there.

"Out of the way!" Chief growled over and over again, bouncing from the ladder to the walls and back again to expertly dodge the others rushing to the cargo bay in a panic. "Dane! Life-support, now!"

I tried my best to follow him; the others would make way for the Chief, they just thought I was getting in the way. I had never before thought the distance so far.

When we dropped to the life-support section Chief thrust himself across the room to the computer workstation by the algae tubes, his tail actually whipping me right in the face. He smacked into the wall with a thud but paid it no mind, immediately lunging for the keyboard. A second later, the emergency buzzer was activated, filling the ship's spine with a harrowing, monotone din.

"What's going on?!" I heard Dane clanking down the ladder, bewilderment in his tone. "The fuck is that buzzer about? Where's Jin?"

"Someone's sealed themselves in the bridge." Chief typed furiously, his gaze affixed the screen. "I'm trying to lock them out of life support systems. I don't know if the bastard plans to vent atmo or what he's doing but I won't give him the chance."

"If he has the override code we're fucked." Dane joined him at the monitor. "Shit, that's not all he can do, Chief. He could retract the aft radiators and we'll bake to death in no time at all."

"He doesn't have the code." It sounded like Chief was hoping more than stating. "He doesn't."

I floated in the space behind them, lost and aimless.

How many times was I going to have to watch and be so totally useless? How many times would I just sit there and be a... scared little boy?

"Fucking hell, what else can he do?" Chief snarled. "Engines are down for now, but he needs the reactor still. What's he doing? What else can he do?"

I felt a chill. "Th-the shield."

"What?!" snapped the wolf, not even looking at me. Then he froze. "He's right. He's right!"

The adults sprang back to the ladder, thumping off of the floor and flitting through the air at dangerous speed. Missing me by almost nothing.

"Are you serious? The fucking thing can be opened from the bridge?!"

"Yes! Mika, come on!"

...What use would I be?

I floated over to the ladder again, watching as Chief unlatched that final hatch. The one that led to the very bottom of the habitat module.

At the lowest section of the pressurized habitation module, the floor and walls were radiation shielded. The ladder didn't end at the shadow-shield floor; it ended at a corridor that extended downwards at an angle, sharply hooking twice downwards through an access truss towards the reactor and engines. Further reducing the radiation the crew was exposed to. The corridor was narrow and cramped, an adult couldn't stand and could barely squeeze through, as some of our fuel-tanks occupied the space behind the walls, against our outer hull.

It was not a place we needed to come often, only when limited maintenance needed to be done. We often wondered why it was even pressurized, a quirk of the craft's design. But now we flung ourselves desperately down the access corridor, its gunmetal gray walls lit by dull LEDs. Many of them were dead and dim.

"We'll have to disable it before he figures out what he can do!" Chief cried, hitting the far side of the dog-leg and springing off.

Our lives depended on a convex plate of tungsten lithium under the very bottom of the habitation deck, far below where we normally worked. It was just far too heavy to totally shield the entire reactor and engine bay, but the shield would cast a shadow of safety. If a crack opened in it, such as if an access hatch opened when it shouldn't, while the reactor was running hot...

I swallowed. Whoever it was, they wouldn't do that, would they? They'd kill every single one of us and turn the Oberon into a radioactive tomb, streaking irrecoverably through the black.

"Who the fuck puts a door in a radiation shield?!" Dane demanded. "Why would you ever need that?!"

"It's an access hatch, and yes it opens remotely!"

"Can we jam it? Jam it closed?"

"With fucking what?"

I held my breath as I floated to the end of the access corridor, into the Oberon's dark cellar. Crammed with whirring pump units and grumbling pipes, it was lit about as well as you'd expect for a place that was almost never supposed to be inhabited. Full of dark silhouettes of pipes, filters, and pumps.

Chief and Dane kicked over to the far wall immediately. "There." Chief nodded at the small hatch in the floor, beside which was a floor-mounted dosimeter. "It can be popped if the reactor's in shutdown, for repairs if you can't get at it from outside."

"So he has to shut us down?"

"It doesn't matter, it's still hot enough to bake us all. You'd need to wait weeks before you could go down there in a rad-suit, and you'd still better get out fast." Chief pulled out a driver from his hip pocket and started unfastening a wall panel. "The bridge's shielding is enough to protect it for some time. We're not so lucky here."

"And that's why it's remote-controlled," Dane muttered. "Let someone in for that one-way trip and close it behind them. Fucking hell, you'd think we'd have bolts on it or something."

"Do me a favor. Drag my ass outta here." The panel covering suddenly went soaring off to the other side of the chamber. I blinked when I saw Chief shove his ungloved paw into the exposed wires and brace himself.

Dane flinched. "What-?! Are you seriously-!"

Chief didn't wait for him to finish. With a sharp jerk and an angry cry, he tugged on a thick black cable.

The spark was blinding. There was a sharp detonation and a hair-raising hum. My vision returned just in time to see Chief collide with the opposite wall and go perfectly still.

*

We headed to the cargo bay. Dane carried the limp Chief most of the way, pushing him ahead of us when we could. Everyone was waiting for us as we climbed up, crowded around the secured crates and containers. A constant, worried murmuring filled the deck.

I felt heavy. Almost dizzy. Chief wasn't moving now either; his paw was visibly burned, exposed flesh was seared and raw.

"Okay, what the fuck happened?" Dane asked, setting Chief down just to side of the ladder. Not waiting for a response, he turned around and started checking the wolf's pulse. "Who's up there?"

Yuki, the second-engineer, drifted over. An arctic-fox, with brilliant white fur and dark eyes, he frequently worked directly under Chief or covered for Niklas, alternating between leading the engineer shift or standing in as an astro-navigator. I hadn't seen him since before we got to Titan's orbit, and he'd stayed aboard while we went surface-side.

"One thing at a time," the snowy furred engineer said. "Is Chief okay?"

"No." Dane shook his head. "Alive, but I can't say for how long."

I felt my chest tighten, and I let myself drift away. Towards the usual spot by the cargo gantry.

"Electrocuted. He ripped a secondary power cable out by the... fucking remote-access door to the reactor. Why is that even a thing?"

Yuki blanched. "A secondary?"

"Thank fuck for breakers, or he wasn't ever letting go. Heartbeat's weak and irregular." Dane rubbed his face. "How's Jin?"

"Alive too. But he's still not conscious. We've left him where he is, Djan and Dorian are looking after him until we're sure we can move him."

"That's not good."

"There's more." Yuki turned and pointed at the back of the cargo bay. "We found him in here, out cold behind the crane."

I followed his gesture. I was almost unsurprised to see Doctor Masden slouched on the aluminum floor, blood marking his facial fur as he pressed a cloth against his head.

"What happened to him?"

"He was choked out and dropped on his face. He's still disoriented - the bastard wasn't just trying to knock him out, he was trying to kill him. I think he didn't have time, so let go and decided to take the control deck instead."

"And beat the shit out of Jin, right."

"With a socket wrench, I think."

Dane stood. "It's that fucking Weiss guy, isn't it."

"Definitely."

I pinched my eyes shut.

Fucking hell. I knew there was something wrong with that guy. Why hadn't I said anything? Why didn't I tell anyone just how much he freaked me out?!

"Alright. We need to think. We have to get him the fuck out of there." Dane narrowed his eyes at the barely moving Masden. "I think we need some answers."

"Won't get much from him," Yuki told him. "But he's going nowhere. Hang on, I'll get my PDC and we'll think this through."

I withdrew between a gantry girder and a lashed-down crate, pulling myself down into the corner.

A few of the other guys looked at me, either curiously or critically, but I didn't meet their gaze. I felt so small and useless. Some of the other experienced crew joined Dane and Yuki, and they started to murmur amongst one another. Making decisions. Offering suggestions.

Stuff I wasn't any good at.

The cargo bay was densely crowded, but everyone fell silent as they tried to listen to the small group floating by the ladder. Quietly floating by the wall and ceiling, atop and between containers. But I deliberately ignored them. Everything felt unreal all of a sudden.

I lost track of time, but then I heard Dane curse loudly.

"Is that it?" I heard him ask, his arms crossed. "That's the only way in? The HVAC ducts?"

Yuki nodded. "Probably. If Chief locked him out of life support systems, then he can't close that vent. That's the point of the override codes: someone seizes the bridge, the chief engineer can stop him from isolating it from the rest of the crew compartment."

"Right. Even if he could vent the atmo, he'd space himself too unless he had a suit."

"Which he doesn't. They're all accounted for." Yuki snorted. "I guess we're lucky he never thought of that."

"He doesn't know anything about spacecraft." Dane frowned. "I still have no idea how this helps us. No way can we get through there without him hearing us coming."

I lidded my eyes and swore silently. The answer was right there, it was obvious. "I'll have to go. I'll go through the vents." I kept my tone steady.

Dane looked at me sharply. "Mika?"

"He'll probably kill me," I admitted, coming out of my hideaway. "But I can fit through."

He whispered back to me. "For fuck sake. You're not serious."

"You know the others are gonna say it anyway." I shrugged.

"Chief has a bow," offered Niklas. "It's not much, but it's a weapon. I know where he keeps it."

Dane thought about it. "Crossbow? Nobody has a gun?"

"Not that I know of. Worst case, he does."

"Oh, this is insane. This is fucking insane. I'm not sending him to fight this asshole."

"I don't think we have a choice, Dane. And he's right. Eventually, we'd have to admit this is our only option. Nobody else can fit."

There was a moment of uneasy silence. Dane pushed away from us for a bit, swearing under his breath. Trying to think of something else. Somehow, I knew he'd come up short. We didn't have the time. But still, minutes passed as he thought. Clutching at a gantry strut like he was trying to strangle it.

I avoided looking at anyone. Especially Dane. If I was going to die, I wanted to die with him, with the others. What could I do to a guy like Weiss? I only needed to look at what he'd done to Jin and Masden to see I had no chance.

But if I didn't try, we'd be dead anyway. If he found a way past our lockout, or just stalled enough, that'd be it. Eventually, the crew would make me try it anyway. Dane couldn't protect me from them all. I would have to try...

And pretending otherwise, wasting time, just made it worse.

Dane read my mind, it seemed. He came over to me, gripping my shoulders. "Mika. Look. It doesn't matter how big or strong this guy is. Nail him and he'll go down." He pulled me closer to him and lowered his voice. "Do you think you can do it?"

I shook my head. "No, but I'll try."

"You don't have to do this."

"Yeah I do." I smirked, blinking back the sudden tears in my eyes. "I guess you guys finally need me for something."

Dane suddenly pulled me into an embrace and kissed me right on the muzzle. I gasped, surprised, but after only a second I found myself kissing back. Soft chuckles and cheers filled the cargo bay, and I felt my ears glow with heat. But I just squeezed him harder.

"I always needed you," Dane breathed, breaking the kiss and nuzzling into my neck. "You're the only fuckin' thing I have on this damn junker, the best thing in my entire life. So you better get back to me, okay?"

I didn't want to let go. I wasn't used to this, this serious side of him. Hearing him say things like that so honestly.

It was the first time anyone had ever talked to me like that...

Maybe. Maybe this time I could do something aside from just watch as everything fell apart.

Maybe I could actually make a difference.

*

In mere moments, Yuki and Dane had the filter screen off one of the vents, and Niklas had fetched me the weapon.

I tried to take it in as it was handed to me. I'd never seen anything like it before. Its limbs stretched as wide as my torso, and there were three of them stacked atop one another, with the cords pulled taut somewhere within the crossbow's carbon-fiber body. Niklas had cocked and loaded them, and the three sharp metal points jutted out from the vertically arranged internal barrels. Broad, sharp blades with slight barbs; I tried not to think what it'd be like for them to pierce into somebody, to bite into their flesh and organs.

But that was what I had to do.

Niklas used a crate to pull himself down so he could hover at my eye level. Reaching out to grip my shoulder. "The triggers are just there in front of the stock, see it?" He pointed at a curved metal talon, protected by a thick ring. "Don't touch them until you're aimed and ready to let one fly. Pull it once, first one goes. Second time, the second one goes. Be careful, don't pull them by accident." I nodded. My muzzle had gone dry. "Use the stock, this part at the back, press it against your shoulder here and steady it while you aim at eye-height. If you line up this part at the back with this part of the front, you can see where it'll go, that's how you aim. When you fire, it's gonna kick forward a little. Not too much. The safety is that notch on the side, turn it off when you get near. Don't forget."

I nodded again. "I think I got it..."

"You gotta remember, buddy." Niklas squeezed my shoulder. "It takes training to use these things, and we don't have time for that. So you have to just remember all this, even if he's coming at you. Listen: bring the stock to your shoulder. Line up the sights. Fire one at a time."

"And if I miss, we're fucked. I know."

Niklas gave me a wry smile. His fist suddenly reached up and gently pushed on my chin playfully. "Yeah. Don't miss." He drifted to the side, letting Dane pull himself a little closer.

"Mika, listen," he said, his tone uncharacteristically serious. "We're going to make as much noise as we can against the bulkhead, try to distract him. Keep him on edge. Keep it quiet as you move up there, alright? Wait for us to start before you head past the first fan."

I hefted the awkward crossbow, careful to keep it pointing away from anyone. "I know." I glanced at the exposed ventilation shaft. "I don't think he'll hear me. That's not the part that worries me."

"Just try to hit him with as many of those as you can. Go for his chest, easiest to hit." His eyes seemed to water. "Mika... he won't go down right away. You'll have to survive until he does. If you can hit him and escape back into the vent, good. If you can get him from the vent once you open it, better. Don't take any risks."

"Maybe I'll be lucky."

One of the new guys we picked up on Tethys, a canine I hadn't even learned the name of, swore to himself as he floated by the crates. "Fucking hell," he growled, shaking his head. I felt my stomach drop, but Yuki, Dane and Niklas turned to stare at the guy. He recoiled. "I didn't mean it like that!" He waved his paw. "Just pissed I can't help."

"Mikael won't need help." Yuki grinned at me, tossing the filter to the side and letting it float across the bay. "Listen, Mika, you probably remember there's a fan about halfway up there. You know how to turn it off right?"

"Yeah."

"It's like what Dane said. Pick him off from the vent if you can. If you can't..." The white fox shook his head. "It's up to you. You can go in there and try to take a shot if you want. Nobody's going to force you to throw your life away."

"I got no choice," I mumbled.

"I know. But don't be stupid. If he gets his paws on you..." he trailed off. "Just don't take chances. He's a lot bigger than you are. I can't see any other way out of this. You have to shoot this asshole."

An image of Jin's bloody face flashed in my mind. "No problem there."

"Good luck, kitten. Be careful."

I nodded, then forced myself to get moving. I extended a leg and tapped myself towards the exposed HVAC vent. I gripped the edges of the opening and started to slowly pull myself inside - I didn't allow myself to look back at everyone else.

"Remember," I heard Niklas hiss at me from behind as I ducked my head into the dark hole. "Wait for us to make noise before you get close! Don't let him know you're there!"

"Got it," I said. My voice echoed flatly in the vent, and I gently pushed off the edge with my paw, slowly launching myself upward. Into the dark, gloomy space. Keeping the crossbow to my chest.

It had been a long time since I'd had to crawl into a duct. But I was still pretty familiar with it. The air-filtration system worked on several levels, with fine grates and fans eventually giving way to more delicate and complicated machines down at the life-support level that I wasn't allowed to work on. I didn't get how those worked, not really. But I knew the whirling fans and filter-screens of the upper levels well. I had to clean and replace them often. Few others could really fit, especially not with tools or cleaning gear.

With the bulky crossbow, I had even less room to move than usual. My arms could barely extend in front of me at all as I carefully pawed my way upwards, my arms barely able to move in front of me in the half-meter diameter tunnel.

It was a long ways. This duct ran up the length of Oberon, from life-support to the command-control room. I moved slowly and awkwardly, gently bumping into the sides and pawing myself upward. The only light was what little bled in through the occasional filter-screens.

I slowed myself down by touching the cool metal sides of the vent, and I came to a halt a few meters from a slowly spinning set of fan-blades. Making a thrumming noise as it beat against the stale air.

I let my feet-paws press against the duct, pushing me back into the other side. Anchoring myself there as I fumbled with the cross-bow.

... What was I doing? I was supposed to take a soldier by surprise and kill him with this thing I'd never seen before, let alone used.

I waited. Waited for the sound of my crewmates bashing and hitting the bridge bulkhead. As I did, I felt more and more numb and inert.

This was stupid. I'd have to twist off the bolts and remove the screen on a vent, without the Terran noticing. Then shoot him. If he did notice me, all he had to do was move out of my field of view, then I'd have to go in there to get a shot. Then he could get a hold of me. If I didn't get in there, he'd probably boil us all.

Or whatever he was trying to do.

Without thinking, I reached out and touched the duct wall in front of me. Just feeling it with my fingertips. I could barely even see it. But I could feel it. Greasy and gritty. Familiar.

I stared at the dark surface, reconciling the feel of it with what little I could see.

This was idiotic. I hadn't been in a fight since I was a little kid, getting into shoving matches at a tiny school back home on Enceladus. It never went well for me then, either. An actual life-and-death fight with someone was something I never even thought I'd get involved with. I'd watched, though, powerless to do anything. Watched uselessly as someone died.

I just watched. Useless. What the fuck could be different now? I wasn't stupid, I knew I was small, that's what I was on this craft for - I didn't weigh nothing. I could fit where others couldn't. That's all.

And I was supposed to fight a former soldier bigger than anybody else on the whole craft. Because I was the only one who could fit through an air-duct.

I was glad Niklas told me what irony was a few cycles ago. It was a really good word for what was happening now.

Slowly, I fumbled around and felt at the wall for the switch to turn off the fan, letting the crossbow float. When I found the oil smeared switch and pressed it down, the spinning metal blades started to slow.

As if on cue, I heard the sudden banging and yelling from somewhere near me on the craft - I was only a few dozen meters from the bridge. I couldn't hear what they were saying, probably yelling at Weiss to open up. It was time to move.

I swallowed. It hurt.

Cautiously, I fed the crossbow up through the still fan-blades, pulling myself up behind it, squirming my way between the dusty foils - even for me, it was a tight squeeze.

I looked up. I was pretty sure the next vent was for the command deck. The duct circled around the five meter cubed room, with two vents covered by the filter screens. I'd have to unbolt the screens from the inside, which I could do: the pass-through bolts could be removed from either side. I had a driver in my pocket.

I tried to visualize the bridge. There wasn't a lot of room in there, with the three workstations. The vents were close to the floor, dimly lit by the LEDs I had just replaced... except on the side I was going to approach first, I hadn't fixed those ones. Okay, he'd find it harder to see me there.

Pipes, wires, and a pair of handholds were on the ceiling, I could grab those to maneuver if I was stuck up there. He'd probably not be as good at moving in micro-grav as me.

All three vents were just under workstations - this first one was just by the navigation and comms. If I had to go into the deck itself, there wouldn't really be anywhere for either of us to hide. Him from the crossbow, me from his bare paws.

He could easily kill me with those.

I scampered up the vent. If I was fast, maybe I could remove the bolts and get a shot before he could hear me... but I had to be as silent as possible. An incredibly difficult task in the echoing metal passage. If one of the adults could've fit through here and past the fan, they'd never be able to do it quietly.

I arrested myself by gently touching the walls of the duct with my feet-paws just below the vent. Cautiously, I peered up through the filter - the light in the bridge stinging my eyes, forcing me to blink immediately.

But my vision quickly unblurred, and I could hear the relentlessly banging and muffled shouts of my crewmates more clearly as they pounded on the sealed hatch.

The Terran was unbothered. I could see him on the other side of the deck, floating just by Jin's workstation. Staring at the screen in what seemed to be cold frustration, jabbing at the keyboard with the awkwardness of someone who had little experience with one.

I released the crossbow again and took out my driver.

The tight synthetic fabric of my new clothes suddenly felt inadequate as I touched it. I wasn't even wearing my heavy work pants. Not that my clothes would provide any protection either way. I could be doing this naked for all it mattered.

Gently, I inserted the head of the driver into the bottommost bolt and started to unscrew it. Turning it to the right, remembering I was on the inside.

My paws were shaking. Numb and clumsy, reluctant to do what I wanted. I worked the bolt through and pushed it gently out of its housing. It gently moved away.

I had to hurry. He'd eventually notice floating bolts.

... He was so much bigger than me. I was a tiny kid compared to him, one mistake and that would be it. I hadn't felt so scared in a long time. It wasn't _just_my paws; my entire body was shaking.

I put the head of the driver to the groove of the next bolt and started turning.

But my trembling paws weren't able to hold still. The driver slipped out of the grove, stabbing into the aluminum wall and skittering right out of my fingers. Worse, I flinched and inhaled sharply.

The jackal jumped, snapping his gaze over to the duct. Ears suddenly perked.

"F-fuck!" I whispered to myself. My stomach tightened and I pushed myself down the duct again, grabbing the crossbow tight.

I heard a thud. Weiss had moved.

My pulse started to race, and I was suddenly gasping for breath. I retreated some more.

There was a concussive crash that echoed harshly down the vent. I winced again, and my ears flattened to my skull instinctively.

There was another. A boot connecting with with the filter screen. Then another, and I saw the filter dent and tear from one edge - he was going to knock it free and look down the duct.

... He was going to look down the duct!

I planted my paws on the opposite side of the duct again, bringing the unwieldy crossbow's stock to my shoulder. Leaning back as best I could, I aimed up the shaft. Lining up the frames Niklas had pointed out.

I shook like a loose fuel pipe. My breath shallow and rapid.

Another crash, and the filter tore free from its housing.

Moments later, the Terran's head was thrust into the duct. Peering down at me. Scowling into the darkness.

I pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

"Oh shit!" I whimpered, fumbling with my thumb for the safety switch. It clicked.

Weiss blinked, still unable to see. The banging and yelling continued.

I quickly pulled the trigger again. Just as I saw Weiss's beady eyes widen in surprise.

There was a jerk and a loud, dull thunk as the first bolt sprang loose. I blinked, surprised by the force of that sudden release. The projectile screaming up the shaft in what seemed like an instant.

Strangely, I heard him yell before my brain registered what my eyes saw. Weiss howled and threw himself backward, retreating the moment he recovered.

I blinked, astonished. I'd got him. I'd seen the steel bolt appear lodged in his shoulder as if by magic. The angry swearing and yelling, and a loud crash as he probably flew into the captain's station confirmed it.

But it felt like my blood ran cold. There was no way that would do the job. I'd hit him in the shoulder, probably done a lot of damage. But it wasn't going to stop him.

I had to get in there.

Hurrying, I scampered up the shaft, flailing my way up to the now open vent. Hoping he would be injured enough for me to get in there and shoot again - or maybe make him surrender.

I reached the vent, but Weiss wasn't visible. Not an idiot, he'd recovered and moved out of any line of fire from there. I tried to figure out where he was; most likely to the side of the vent, waiting for me to come through.

I had to do something. I could move around to another vent - no, shit! I'd dropped the driver, and couldn't see it anywhere in the darkness.

Sucking in a deep breath, I pulled my legs in and positioned myself just in front of the vent's opening. This was the only thing I could do. I had to move before he blocked the vents somehow.

I kicked off from the duct wall once, pushing myself through the vent slightly and into the bridge deck. But I was only aligning myself - with a sharp cry, I kicked back at the wall again with both feet, propelling myself across the room towards the opposite side!

I heard a grunt and a rush of air as Weiss grabbed at me from above. Missing my tail as I flew straight across the room to Jin's chair-frame.

I slammed into the metal rig painfully, headfirst, but immediately twisted in the air, using the chair to turn myself around and face the Terran. Thinking he would be off-balance from trying to grab me.

But I was wrong. I turned just in time to see him pitch Dorian's socket wrench at me with full force, a snarl on his face.

The metal bar hurtled past my head, missing only by a few centimeters to smash into the wall behind me with a loud clang, before ricocheting off in the null gravity. I screamed and flinched, my entire body tensing as the steel tool flew by my eyes.

I jerked the trigger and the second bolt tore out of its housing. It missed Weiss by an entire body length, also striking off the wall and dangerously rebounding around the cramped command deck until it speared into the sparse cushioning of Niklas' chair. Sinking deep with its razor-sharp head.

Weiss tumbled in the air, the torque of his throw sending him spinning into that same chair. I tried to steady myself to aim, but I was also struggling to arrest my own motion now - I only had one last shot, I couldn't miss!

He kicked off from the wall towards me suddenly, his limbs flailing disorderedly. My eyes widened as I saw the furious Terran soar towards me with his right paw in a fist.

Thinking quickly, I pushed away from the workstation. But Weiss's punch still connected, slamming right onto the side of my head.

The adult didn't understand how things work in null gravity - he hadn't braced before hitting me. It still hurt, and he sent me across the deck, but it was nowhere near as bad as it could've been. But it stunned me, my vision turning briefly white. The crossbow slipped from my paws and started to lazily float up to the ceiling.

I slammed up against the closed electrics panel on the far wall with a flat clunk, clutching at my eye - where a fierce, hot pain had instantly taken up residence. I tried to shake it off and refocus my vision.

Weiss was tumbling again, struggling to regain orientation.

There was only one thing I could do. I pushed off the panel towards my weapon. The only way I could hope to hurt the enraged adult.

I was so focused on reaching it, my ears full of my own panicked breathing that I didn't even hear his angry shout. Didn't see him kick off the floor.

He slammed into me, catching me just before I could reach my only hope, barreling me into the ceiling. One of the pipes running along it dug into my side, the unyielding metal jarring my spine. I felt his fingers dig into me like talons, vicious and unyielding, claws digging into my skin.

I cried out as he drove me into the metal again, winding me as we bounced off. With a low growl, he deliberately sought out my throat with his left paw. "Little shit!!" he spat at me, starting to squeeze my neck in a vice grip. "I'll fucking crush your throat!"

A strangled retch caught in my chest. I clutched hopelessly at his arm - his fingers almost completely encircled my neck, crushing it. I felt something in my throat give, and although I tried my hardest, I couldn't draw even the slightest breath.

His other paw, the one with the wounded shoulder, still reached out and snared my left wrist, which he used to pin down my other arm too, pushing them into my chest viciously. Taking away even my token resistance.

I stared at the Terran with wide, terrified eyes, gagging and choking almost inaudibly; he was gonna do it. Exactly what he said.

Eyes burning, he glared at me. His face a mask of cold fury. "I know you know what you're doing. You know how many you'll kill and you don't care. Fuck you, kid. Fuck you! Fuck all of you _C.O.A._scum!"

I had no idea what he was talking about. I could barely see or hear through the agony in my throat - I couldn't get any air at all, and my chest begun to ache. I croaked at him, trying to beg him to stop. Nothing came out at all.

We hung there, near the ceiling, lingering for seconds that seemed like painful hours, as he deliberately and methodically strangled me. His arm shaking with the effort.

I couldn't think. I was so scared. Incoherent, muted gurgling sounds were all I could make, and I made them entirely instinctively. Struggling hopelessly as he just held me in place.

But, all of a sudden, my eyes locked onto the bolt buried in his shoulder. The fur around the entry wound thickly matted with red, sticky blood. It must've just missed the bone. He could still use that arm, though I could feel it wasn't as strong as the other. But strong enough to easily control both of mine.

Desperately, I kicked at him with my legs. Aiming for his groin. I connected, so hard that it jarred my leg. He grunted, but just shook his head. His expression didn't even change.

That wouldn't work. He was just going to hold me here until -

Everything was going gray. But still, even through the pain and panic, something came to me. There was something he hadn't accounted for. Something he didn't know about some of us spacers.

We could be real good with our feet.

There was only one last chance now. I put one footpaw on his stomach and hefted my other one up to his chest level, on the outside of his arms.

With a sharp jerk, I twisted my body and kicked at the shaft of the bolt embedded in his shoulder. Instantly, Weiss gave a piercing howl, and I felt the strength seep from his grip. So I kicked again, using my shod paw to twist and push the embedded bolt into the wound.

Weiss trembled violently and let go. I braced on the ceiling and lashed out again with my foot, kicking with every bit of strength I still had.

With leverage, my blow had at least as much impact as his punch had earlier. He gasped as I drove my heel into his solar plexus, pushing him away and pushing myself back upwards.

I slapped the ceiling and sent myself towards the crossbow, frantically snatching it the moment it was within reach. I slowed myself by grasping at one of the ceiling halon fire-suppression nozzles and pulled myself around to look for him.

Weiss drifted helplessly, between the ceiling and the floor, looking around desperately for something to grab so he could have some control over himself. The force of my kick not enough to send his much more massive body to the floor quickly.

Coughing violently, I somehow brought the crossbow to my shoulder. He looked at me then, his eyes widening in unmistakable fear. I aimed right for the center of his chest, my own motion through space no problem.Steady.

"Wait!" he blurted.

I grit my teeth, then pulled the final trigger.

The bolt lurched forward as the third and last set of limbs sprang back into place. There was a sickening, wet sound.

Weiss stared at me in total shock.

... I had missed. Instead of hitting my target, the bolt had pierced the jackal's neck, the aluminum shaft jutting out from his throat. He reached up to touch it, feeling it with his fingers incredulously.

Blood floated in the air as tiny red droplets and spattered on the gunmetal aluminum below, shocked away from him by the force of the bolt's impact.

"Whhgrl!" Weiss gurgled at me, pawing feebly at his throat. Still more blood bubbled from his mouth, forming red, dew-like bubbles that popped and foamed into the air where they hung.

Still coughing painfully, I shut my eyes and focused on breathing. Letting myself float near the ceiling. I didn't want to see. I knew what was going to happen to him now.

Dane and the others resumed banging on the hatch, I could hear them asking what had happened and demanding to be let in.

Weiss kept making noises. Moans and whimpers. Panicked and pleading, flailing uselessly - I could hear his paws hit the metal floor as he floated helplessly towards the captain's chair. I just kept my eyes shut and shook my head at each sound he made. Trying to ignore them as they got weaker and less insistent.

But they remained scared. I could hear the fear in each wet, desperate gurgle. Even as they got quieter.

"I didn't wanna..." I whispered hoarsely. It hurt. "What the fuck. What the fuck. Why did you...?"

Something snapped, and I had to move. To get away from the bridge, away from the jackal. I kicked myself towards the hatch.

It was hard; the hatch's handwheel was tightened firmly. My paws shook like never before, lacking strength to turn the metal wheel, and I could barely see through the tears that suddenly blinded me. I wanted to just stop and cry. But I had to get out of there. I couldn't even stop to wipe my leaking nose.

The pain in my throat was almost unbearable. Each breath felt like the twist of a knife.

Eventually, the locking mechanism relented, and immediately the meter-wide hatch was pushed upward with a clank, almost smashing into my face. I felt a rush of relief just seeing Dane and Dorian waiting for me there.

My entire body relaxed, and I would've collapsed to the floor had the craft been under thrust.

There was a surge of furs yelling and shoving past me. I didn't even see who they were. I just floated there.

"Mika!" Dane practically snatched me out of the air, yanking me into his body. "Oh fuck, are you okay?!"

I just clung to him. "Sh-shaky." My voice was a painful rasp.

"No kidding. Shit, Mika, you did it! You did it! It's over, you got him!"

I couldn't think what to say.

He carried me down the ladder, then drifting down to the living quarters. Constantly murmuring in my ear; I could barely hear it.

Everything seemed so sharp and harsh. My eyes stung, the lighting was too bright, sounds hurt, and every motion, every sensation made me painfully tense. I just buried my head in Dane's neck and tried to ignore it all. It didn't make any sense, everything was a rush of detail and adrenaline.

I felt so small. I just wanted to be held. By anyone I could trust.

I just wished it was over with.

I just wished it all hadn't happened in the first place.

... What was going on?!

*

TEASER

Space Rats

Ch3: Charms And Memories

Slowly , I descended the spinal ladder to the cargo bay, I was surprised to see much of the crew was still in there. From my vantage point as I climbed down the ladder, I could see the Terran professor was by the loading crane, behind a few secured crates that would hide him for view if I wasn't higher up.

Backed into a corner by Dane, Niklas, Dorian and a few other crew, Masden was cringing in obvious fear. Bewildered, I stayed silent and quickly clambered down to hide amongst the crates and listen.

"... think about this!" I heard Masden insist as I pushed away from the wall. "Why would he choke me senseless like that if we were working together? If anything, he was trying to kill me!"

"Don't give a shit, Doctor." It was Dane. I barely recognized his voice; he sounded coldly furious. "You know something. You brought this asshole onto our craft. Risked all of our lives, and nearly got Mikael killed. You're lucky we're having this conversation."

I started to squeeze myself between the crates, seeking a better place to hide. With twenty people on the deck, I wasn't going to get too close unobserved.

... What was going on? What were they going to do to the guy?

"So don't play the idiot, Masden. Why were thugs looking for you on Titan? And why did your buddy almost brain our captain and try to kill us all?"

"What are you up to, doctor?" Niklas' voice added. "Please. Tell us everything you can. I don't want this to get nasty."

"I fucking do." Dorian now. I was used to hearing him pissed off, at least. "But tell us anyway."

I felt sick. I just wanted it all to be over.

"I cannot tell you, please, I really can't," Masden murmured. "But I cleared absolutely every detail and risk with your captain. I swear!"

"The guy your companion tried to batter to death?" Dane whistled sarcastically. "Not helping your case."

"I told your chief engineer as well!"

"You mean that other guy that can't corroborate you? Not helping your case."

"Please. You don't understand. You're all safer if you don't know what my purpose is. Your captain and chief engineer understood that." I heard a grumble of discontent. "Wait, please. I have no idea why Weiss did what he did. It had nothing whatsoever to do with me. Nothing."

"I don't buy that. You've already risked our lives and you're trying to tell us that we're fucking safer not knowing?"

Niklas tutted aloud. "Fucking hell. Look, we've been drifting out here for long enough. I have to get up top with Yuki and get us somewhere we can help Jin. We'll deal with this later, when everyone's safe."

"Right." Dane growled. "We've got supplies to deliver anyway. It looks like you're at least getting that far, Doctor."

"Thank you."

Dane ignored him. "Where are we heading, Nik? What hab?"

"Where the captain told us to go. We still have a job waiting for us there. Apparently." He paused. "We're gonna hit orbit in a few hours, then drop to Samarkand."

My chest tightened. I felt my ears droop like wilting bamboo.

"Shit. I'll have to take Mika to get checked up too."

"On that snowball, Samarkand is our best bet. Yuki and I have to go over a pork-chop, see what delta we can save after all this shit."

Dorian swore again. "Amani, Hayes, keep our Terran friend company."

"Nothing drastic, guys. Keep him from doing anything suspicious, we'll get answers when Chief or Jin can talk." Niklas's voice drifted closer. "Dane, come up on the bridge; see if we can figure out what that asshole was doing at Jin's station. He had a PDC too."

I pulled myself closer to the crate. My uneasy feeling suddenly a lot worse.

So I was going home.

... The one place I never wanted to see again.

spacerats2.0

SPECIAL THANKS

to all my Patrons, supporters, and proof-readers, especially, but not limited to these awesome people:

Oliver, Paupe, Simon Tesla, Cam Selic, Otterbotanical, Eldwen, Tivmic, Tumelo!

Thank you so much for your patience and support. You've made a huge difference.

If you'd like to contribute and support me as I make this stuff, hit me up on Patreon.com at: https://www.patreon.com/kichigaikitsune

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