FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Bruised and beaten, sounds returned to her waking body. Respirators and labored breathing filled the hospital room. Trixi’s eyes stirred under her eyelids. Heartbeat monitors beeped as the vulpes awoke. She let out a groan of pain as she sat up from the bed. She examined her injuries and found her body had been stripped naked. The vulpes moved on to her surroundings, she was on the xeno level in the small hospital wing.

All the beds to the left and right were occupied with lizardmen. Some were breathing through tubes and others were completely bandaged. Trixi’s mind raced on the last moments before she lost consciousness. She remembered the battle, but everything beyond seeing an armored man in red gave her a pounding headache.

She hopped out of bed and nearly sprained her ankle falling to the floor. She clutched her ankle and gasped from the pain that shot up from her injured leg. She proceeded to limp away from the bed to ask one of the lizardmen what had happened. None of the lizardmen responded to her, out cold from their injuries. She couldn't even recognize them due to the medical cream and bandages applied to the burns on their faces. Growing restless she tried to leave the room, but the door beeped at her defiantly, she couldn’t leave without an ID.

She checked over her injuries once more, her fur was singed in some places. The smell of burnt fur confirmed this. Her paw pushed in on several bruised portions of her body that were hidden under her coat. Her tail ached in spots like it had bent too far in a few places. She swayed it around to make sure nothing was broken. Other than her ankle pain, everything seemed to be in place.

The door opened to the room, “Good, you're awake. How are you feeling?”

Dr. Manit was the only xenobiologist on the station, oversaw the medical wellbeing of the aliens. He always took time with his patients and had excellent bedside manners. Trixi greeted him with a smile, “What’s up, doc?” The doctor stepped inside and removed the medical chart from her bed and looked it over without responding. Trixi went on to answer his question, "Nothing's broken, but my memory is a little fuzzy, I don't remember how I got here."

Dr. Manit looked around quickly and started to check charts on the lizardmen’s beds, “That should return to you after you rest a bit..." He moved on to peel open the eyelids of a lizard and shined a light into it. "I'm sorry for this Trixi, but you need to leave. I need to get your bed ready for another alien that just finished his operation.”

Trixi’s smile faded. Blurry events unfolded in her mind of the day prior. The doctor didn’t face her, his voice grew frantic and worried as he looked through his notes. He scanned one of the injured lizardmen with his hand analyzer, “Please Trixi, go rest in your quarters, there are spare coveralls in the locker outside.”

The tone of his voice disturbed the vulpes, but she didn’t want to pry and keep him from doing his important work. She exited the room without protest to the sterile hallway. Her orange fluff not only protected herself from the cold station air but covered her shame quite nicely. It didn’t take long for her to find the locker she was told about. However, finding something that would fit her small stature was another story. She ended up having to roll the sleeves and pant legs up quite a bit to make the woman’s small fit her.

Once dressed she walked toward the lift that would take her to the reception lobby. The spacious steel hallway had a single wounded lizardman limping by, leaning heavily on a crutch. His ankle was bandaged to his clipped splayed talons. Trixi approached him, “Are you doing alright?” The lizardman huffed in draconic, the harsh words stung the air with anger. Trixi recoiled, her furry tail puffing up.

The lizardman looked down just now noticing the vulpes and immediately apologized, “Sssorry about that…" He paused and closed his eyes to remember. "Trixi… I’m not happy right now. I’m not familiar with thisss area and don’t know how to leave.” Trixi nodded and pointed where she was headed and led the lizardman toward the lifts. He noticed her limp and spoke as they entered, “How did you get injured?”

Trixi traced his eyes down to her ankle. She closed her eyes and remembered the towering, armored man that grabbed her ankle. “I was grabbed by an enemy.” The smell of copper filled her nostrils. She was reminded of the carnage of the remains. She gagged feeling sick to her stomach. The lizardman stared back with worry. A shudder passed through her body as the feeling left her, “How about you?”

The lizardman shrugged, dipping his body as he leaned on the crutch, “Grenade. I'm fine.” His scaled face frowned. “At leassst we’re alive.” Trixi was swimming with questions. Before she asked, the lift stopped. The two of them heard a mass of commotion. They both saw doctors and nurses running around frantically back and forth intertwining in and out of rooms. Trixi and the lizardman walked toward reception, the staff gave them a wide birth as they both limped by.

The receptionist was filling out paperwork, ignoring the two aliens that entered the area. Trixi exhausted from her short journey said, “I’d like my belongings back.” The blonde-haired woman behind the counter didn’t answer back. It was always a battle to get something she needed from the medical department. “Please can I have my belongings back?” She rose her voice and put both her paws on the counter.

The woman sighed and moved on to another paper. The lizardman approached the counter and growled, “Give usss our belongingsss now! We already risssked our livesss to sssave you!” The woman stuttered leaning back in her chair.

“N-names, I-I’ll go find it.”

The lizardman sighed with fatigue, “Rivets.” Trixi was about to say her name when the woman dashed away through the door behind reception. When she returned, she held two containers with their names written on them. Trixi took the container and lifted the lid, all that was inside was her PDA. Rivets was also perplexed, “Where isss the ressst?”

“Don’t know, I just work reception,” she added a snarky attitude to her voice.

Those clothes were expensive and carried something she needed to return. The hat she stuffed into her pocket, she wanted to give it back to Richard. Trixi did her best to bare her teeth, “Where did our stuff go? Were they thrown out?” The woman paid no attention to the vulpes' demands and looked up at the lizardman who stood with the fox.

The receptionist collected herself and held her head high. A phony smile spread on her face, “They were thrown out. Too unsanitary for this department, both fur and scale have no place for the medical department." She tilted her head and added, "Take it up with the CMO, her orders.” The lizardman exhaled and left with his PDA. The sound of his crutch and scraping talons repeated with each step.

Trixi remained, she thought about what she should do next. She waited and waited in the middle of the lobby, lost in thought.

The blonde woman grew agitated and yelled at her, “Leave foxkin, you're blocking the path!” Trixi wandered away silently, heading back to services. Her muzzle faced the floor defeated. She passed by several technicians carrying new shiny metal panels floor panels. She stepped to the side to give them enough room for the meter-by-meter floor panels so they could make their way to supply the technicians making repairs.

Her leg screamed at her to lay down. She passed the hallway that led to security, there were two more technicians replacing floor and wall panels. The old gun metal plates had been torn to pieces from an explosion. The Hull of the station was exposed as they removed the twisted shrapnel.

Pushing her hands into her head she tried desperately to remember what happened. The horrid vision just filled her senses again. Her tongue flexed out as she dry-heaved. She sighed and pushed the thoughts out of her mind, she needed to rest.

Once she arrived at the services wing her mouth agape. What tore through the security hallway was nothing compared to what happened to the services hallway and cafeteria. Three men were hard at work fixing the damaged piping in the kitchen while the hallway was out of service. She pressed her paw to the red emergency door and jumped back, fur on end. She smelled copper. Fear took hold. She was paralyzed.

There was a break in the work that was being conducted. The welder and grinder stopped leaving silence in their absence. One of the engineers peeked over the edge and looked at Trixi through the blown-out window of the cafeteria, "Careful where you step missy, there's broken glass everywhere." She snapped out of her trance and looked down as he announced the warning. Her claws were surrounded by shattered glass. She carefully tiptoed toward the portal.

"Do you know what happened? How bad are things on the station?" Her voice was weak, but desperation was carried in the vulpes' questions. The man just scratched his head under the hard hat confused by the query.

"You don't remember? You were there, in fact, we rescued you right through that hallway." He leaned forward and pointed to the red blast door. "You two were exposed to vacuum for a few seconds before the A.I. sealed the emergency shutters. Thankfully the HoS broke the nuclear bomb before he left. The last invader tried desperately to fix it before the rest of security finished him off. Once we got the all-clear I pried the door open so we could take you two to medical."

Her head tilted at the thought, "Two?"

The man was taken aback for a second. "Geeze the blast must have done some serious damage, you were in the Hos' arms huddled in a ball against the explosion." Trixi's eyes started to water. She squeezed her head trying to remember. She remembered Richard in the hallway after he dropped his hat, his face cut, and bleeding.

"You look pretty rough. Are you sure you're okay? I wouldn't worry about the Hos too much he was taken to medical; nothing can be done now." His comforting tone didn't alleviate her stress. She needed to know if Richard was still alive, she fled back to the medical wing without a word.

Pain shot up from the bottom of her injured leg as she ran back, she gasped nearly falling to her face. A voice echoed through security's hallway at her.

"Please stop!" The young man's young voice shouted. Trixi trembled through the pain of her leg, she stared at him with tears staining her cheeks. She desperately wanted to return to medical to see Richard. The man skidded to a halt, "You were in the xeno level of the hospital, right? How's Welds doing?" Trixi's ankle gave out from under her, and she fell on her side to the steel floor. There was a trail of blood dripping from the bottom of her dark pad.

"Let me help you." He examined the injury and pulled out a small fragment of glass. He then pulled out some bandages from his pant leg and started to wrap the foot, "It's a minor cut but let's get you back to medical just to make sure." He gingerly wrapped her delicate paw to staunch the bleeding. He sighed when it was finished and asked the fox again, "Did you see welds?"

She looked up at the worried man her vision blurry from tears, "I don't know. I don't know…" She sucked in air through her clenched jaw.

He gently helped her to her upright. Her arm was held lightly as she hopped with her good leg. He tried to converse with her to get her mind off the pain. "No one is allowing me inside." She looked up at him tears of pain and anguish mixing on her orange fur coat. Frowning he apologized, "I'm sorry. I'm just worried. I have been busy with clean-up and reports. With the boss incapacitated and…"

Her ears perked, "Is Richard still alive?"

He muttered out weakly, "I don't know. The nurses won't tell me anything." Trixi's tail went limp, her heart ached. She wiped away her tears and looked up at the security guard again. He was Roma, wearing wrinkled red security coveralls. His face was disheveled from days of not sleeping. She remembered seeing him at the bar alone for the past few weeks once everyone left. He was always the last to leave for some reason.

"Roma, how many…" She couldn't finish the sentence; she didn't want to know.

"Eight so far." He swallowed after saying that, hoping there wouldn't be more that succumb to injuries.

Her stomach turned. Dying crewmates was something that happened on far-away stations. Stories to be told amongst peers. Everyone shared stories with her, even Richard. She wiped her eyes wishing to wake up in the bed again and pretend none of this happened.

The two arrived at the medical department, the receptionist was still filling out papers. Roma approached her, helping the hobbled fox to the counter. "Excuse me, I would like to take Trixi to the xeno level please." He was courteous, despite the bullshit run around they gave him earlier in the day.

The woman looked up and then saw the orange furball, "You were already released, why are you wasting our time?"

Trixi felt shame, she didn't even get through the cafeteria before she was injured again.

"She got a cut on her foot from the broken glass strewn around the station. I just want to make sure it's bandaged properly before she gets to her room." Roma smiled to be as pleasant as possible.

Unmoved the receptionist gave a disgruntled sigh and placed the paperwork down to answer him, "Sorry sir, only medical professionals are allowed through the department, we are already patching up the rest of security and we can't afford to have you contaminate the area with her fur."

"It's okay, I think my paw will heal with what you did-"

Roma's façade faded he furrowed his brows and slammed the desk with his free hand, "I don't fucking care what you have to say! I have been cordial all damn day with you! As acting head of security, I'll have you thrown in the brig for malpractice!" He clenched his fist around Trixi's arm. She yipped in pain which caused him to loosen his grip immediately. "Sorry, Trixi…"

The woman was stunned by this behavior, "Fine, just follow the blue line to the lift." She fiddled with the papers to get to the control panel to unlock the door.

Roma didn't speak as they passed through the medical department. When they were on the lift he apologized again, "I'm sorry about that, is your arm alright?" Trixi nodded her head and leaned against the back of the elevator. "Good, I have just been worried about welds. She and I-"

Trixi already put two and two together and interrupted him, "I understand. I wish I could tell you; I was shuffled out as soon as I opened my eyes." Once the door opened, he helped her out into the sterile hallway. The silence was deafening. A floor below was filled with the clatter of tools and footsteps, but the xeno level felt like it had been abandoned. Trixi pointed down the hall, "That's where the injured are, I think Dr. Manit is performing surgery."

They entered the room, and the vixen found a vacant seat to sit down on. Roma sprinted off to one of the beds. Welds was on the far end of the room, a breathing apparatus strapped to her muzzle pumping in oxygen. Trixi watched as he looked her over and hugged her sleeping form. Trixi was never told of their relationship; she prided herself on detecting these things. She would've congratulated them if conditions were different. Roma then moved to the charts at the bed and flipped through them with a perplexed look on his face. "Is something wrong?"

Roma didn't answer and marched out of the room leaving the injured vulpes. She hated that she was back where she started; she wanted to find Richard and make sure he is alive, with her own eyes. As she waited her exhaustion started to pass her grief. She shook herself awake, refusing to rest until she knows.

An hour passed till Roma returned, he carried a medkit with him, "Dr. Manit is busy patching up another, I will just do some basic first aid for you. He is the only one up here doing anything for the aliens."

The old bandage was unraveled around the cut on the paw and examined closely with the bright medical lights. He pulled two small pebbles of glass out of the wound. Trixi clinched her jaw tightly from the pain. After a few seconds, he sprayed it down with antibiotics and re-wrapped it with a fresh bandage. "I may not be a nurse, but I can at least do something... I'm going to stick around and yell at some of the others to help Dr. Manit. He's going to need it." A crutch that had been broken in half was presented to her, "Here you go."

"Thank you." She said with a pitiful tone in her voice. "I hope everything will be okay." Roma remained silent, he started checking on the other lizardmen lying in the beds. She got up and placed the crutch under her arm and shambled back toward the lift.

When she arrived on the main level again, she searched around the rooms to find where they were keeping Richard. Her wanderings were interrupted by an attentive nurse. The brunette's voice was stern as she approached the vulpes. "Get out of here, you aren't allowed to be in this part of medical."

Trixi looked up at the nurse and then flicked her tail at the woman dismissively and limped into the room labeled 'stasis unit'. The nurse followed her orange puffy tail reiterating what she had already said. The fox just shambled along looking at the humans in the stasis beds. There were eight beds in total laid out in the room. Vitals were paused in these devices as a glass shield separated them from the outside world.

She recognized them; they were the humans from security. She searched the room with a quickened step down the line as the woman grabbed her shoulder. Trixi shrugged her off and arrived at the last bed. Her muzzle hung open and fresh tears started to stain her fuzzy face.

She moved along the glass shielded bed, eyes wide at Richard. She swallowed trying to keep herself together. He had been stripped naked; his hands were blistered white and black with burns. The sheet he laid on had been stained red from surgeries. There were also bullet holes across his chest and scar tissue of older injuries. His face was black and blue from blunt trauma and his right ear had been cut open. The most gruesome wound caused her to reflexively turn away. The man's jaw had been partially removed, leaving behind a bloody smear of gore. Tendrils of flesh hung in stasis where it was dissected away from his face. White bone protruded from where the mandible had been severed.

The woman grabbed the fox again, "You need to leave now, or we will both be in trouble." There was a tinge of concern in the nurse's voice.

Trixi wiped away her eyes and sniffed, "Is Richard going to make it?"

With pursed lips, watching the little vixen in this state caused her own heart to ache. She stepped away to read through a chart at the foot of the stasis bed, "He's stabilized; however, we are waiting on new limbs to be manufactured for him, and some bionics, others are in line as well."

Trixi sniffed again wiping her nose on her sleeve. She took a final look at Richard's face, worry frozen on his beaten face. All the fox wanted to do was stay by his side until he got better. The nurse patted the fox on the head, "I know you care for him." She stopped and looked back at the door and then back at Trixi, "I'll let you stay for a few minutes…"

Trixi dried her eyes, grateful he was alive and being treated. "Thank you…"

The nurse comforted the crying vulpes with a few more head pats and back rubs before she led her out of the room. Trixi exhaled, her body ached from exhaustion. Now that she got information about Richard, she could try and rest.

Back in the cafeteria she carefully navigated through the hallway covered in glass shards and torn shrapnel. She clattered up the staircase to the bar. The wooden stairs seemed to go on forever, and her arm was getting sore from carrying her weight.

A dozen people were drinking and talking inside the saloon. They stopped and turned toward the diminutive orange figure, they frowned at the sorry sight. One of the patrons muttered out, "Now I feel even worse than the clown is injured."

Her mood worsened from the comment. Just her existence was enough to cause grief. She limped toward the bar when Bakes ran to her side and helped her, "Trixi, I'm ssso glad you are alive, we were worried sssick about you. There were ssso many explosionsss." A quick examination of her leg caused him to slam his tail angrily at the floor. "Damn thossse lazy sssobs, leaving you to sssave their sssorry!" He continued his insults in draconic while staring down the other crewmates in the bar and then cursed himself out for his failure to take the gun away from the little fox.

Trixi smiled weakly at Bakes, "Please, it's fine. I'm fine. I just need to sleep…"

The lizard shut his maw and picked her up by the shoulders, "I'll take you to your room."

Trixi struggled, but he already scooped her up and pushed through storage to the hallway in the back. With a push of the button, her door hissed open, and the familiar scent wafted through the air. The lizard wasted no time, years of dealing with drunks taught him the proper way of putting crewmates where they belong. He pulled the covers over her and tucked her in.

Trixi yawned, "What no bedtime story?"

A smile crawled over the lizard's muzzle; grateful she survived the horrible attack. A pillow was slipped under her head and she quickly fell unconscious.

___________

Trixi stayed off her leg for two days, her job required it to be fully healed. This proved quite difficult due to the reoccurring nightmares interrupting her rest. Visions of the death at the door still plagued her. She would awaken in the middle of the night thinking the station was still under attack. These panic attacks cost her many lost hours of rest, huddled in the cold dark room. Every attempt to recall what happened before she blacked out caused the visions to worsen.

An attempt was given to call her sister, who was unaware that the attack happened. But Kalia was busy with 4 kids and moving to a new larger house thanks to the winnings Trixi gave. She gave up and curled up in the darkness trying to sleep.

Desperate for answers the following day she asked other crewmates what happened, but everyone was either busy with repairs or taking care of other business. Bakes told his side of the story in the cafeteria; he kept the crew from panicking as the battle happened. The lizard then hugged her, thanking her for saving their lives from the operative that came up the stairs. She didn't feel like a hero though.

When her leg became bearable to walk on, she decided to stop by the head of personnel to see if he knew anything.

Trixi waited patiently by the bridge's door. An engineer exited which gave her the opportunity. She hopped inside the dim control room. The HoP sat in his chair with a hand on the radio at his belt talking to other engineers. He cycled the nob to another frequency and spoke to security. Sweat poured from his brow and his uniform was soaked from perspiration. She waited patiently for him to finish speaking so she could ask her questions.

The man finished and sighed with relief. Trixi looked around to make sure no one would interrupt her conversation, but something was missing, "Where's the captain?"

Ali swiveled in the chair startled by Trixi. He wiped his brow and looked around, "Trixi?" Hovering his hand over his radio call button before he muttered to himself, "Nevermind…" Trixi stared at him with wide eyes. "He's in surgery now, He'll be out shortly."

"Did he get injured from the enemy too?!"

Her words were carved at the HoP. It's no surprise to him, she liked the captain, everyone did. "No, the big guy just had a new heart put in. With his lifestyle and with recent events, he pushed his old one too far." He stood up and paced around the room a bit, "Always did warn him it would catch up." Trixi sighed, relieved to hear that he was okay. "Is that all you're here for?"

"I also wanted to ask about Richard. Is there any word on how well he is doing?"

The man just stared at her, his eyes fixed on her worried expression, "No. The head of security won't be out for another week or so. But, they are confident he will make a full recovery. However…" He pressed his hand under his chin to look for the right words.

Trixi stepped forward illuminating her orange fur in the screen's light, "What is wrong?" She pointed her face out the bridge's window to the rest of the station. Men could be seen working on the outside of the hull, replacing damaged plates above arrivals. Her ear tilted to her boss waiting for an answer. He opened his mouth.

"I really shouldn't be talking about medical matters to anyone but…" Trixi turned to look at the man as he spoke. "We need a specialist to come to the station for his operation. He will need to be released so he can heal the rest of his injuries before surgery. I called the acting head of security to take care of him while he is recovering."

"That's good. Finally, some good news. Or any news." She sighed with relief and smiled warmly.

Ali didn't return the gesture. He just looked down in despair, "It is good news. Nanotrasen won't need to replace both security positions from the attack." Her head tilted from the statement. "We lost a lot of good men in the attack. I know you're good friends with many of them. I'm going to give more time off to grieve."

There was a change in the air. Trixi retreated a step. She didn't know who died in the attack, everyone was far too busy. Clinging on to hope in her heart that everyone close to her was just recovering in medbay. Trixi put a paw over her muzzle and clenched her eyes tightly, she braced herself as she asked the question, "W-w-who…?"

Ali recited this list over and over again, he made sure he remembered who gave their lives to protect the station and those aboard. He hesitated to tell her. Another glance at the vulpes. She was tensed up and defensive with ears laid back. She looked like she was prepared to be beaten by him. He swallowed…

The names poured forth, and he finished the list with the warden's name, Jack Sinclair. Trixi was completely broken and collapsed to the floor. Her voice was muffled as she buried her snout in her sleeve for several minutes until the fox was completely exhausted. Her chest ached. Ali knelt and helped her up with a hug. Her arms wrapped tightly to his coveralls. Tears moistened his uniform.

Ali pulled away and rubbed his sore knees. He sighed and held the button on the belt and spoke into the communication device, "Thank you, I'll let her know." Trixi rubbed her eyes as he explained, "I just got word that the captain has recovered from surgery. He said he wanted to see you." Trixi's eyes were swollen and bloodshot, she wiped her nose on her sleeves and left for medical immediately.

Her mind raced, thinking about the good times she had with Jack and the others. Serving years alongside them on the station, they were her family. She would play pranks on them, and they would come to the bar and have a laugh with her about it. It was her job, and she loved them. If they were feeling particularly down a day, she would sneak them extra rations of alcohol and they would share their stories with her. She blew her nose on her other sleeve as she entered the medical department.

"Disgusting." The receptionist exclaimed.

Trixi ignored her and walked to the door to the main hallway entrance and waited for it to be opened for her. The woman let out a huff, "I told you, you aren't allowed inside." Trixi closed her eyes, to hide that she had been crying and lifted her muzzle to the receptionist. The receptionist stood up and approached the fox, "You better get out of here before-" The door hissed open and the CMO stepped aside to let Trixi in.

The CMO followed Trixi closely as she traveled through the halls. The older woman opened the patient's door and then left to go do business elsewhere. Trixi brushed the fur on her face and stepped into the sparsely furnished sterile room.

"What happened to you? You look like you were just beaten by a monkey and lost." The captain's voice bellowed out. His skin was pale under the paper hospital gown, there was also an IV attached to the back of his hand. The head of the bed was tilted up so that the captain could get a good look at who was coming into the room. Thin hospital bedding was neatly folded over around his waist.

Trixi smelled the chemicals in the air. Her nose twitched and a weak smile spread on her muzzle, "Sorry sir. I must look a mess. I don't have any of my make-up on and I don't even have a clown uniform anymore." She brushed her fur some more to make sure it wasn't sticking out in places.

The boisterous captain smiled brightly, "Nonsense, you helped save the station! You should be proud of yourself. You, the security team, and everyone else that helped. The blasted lot just sat around terrified like cowards. Bah!" His arm flailed at his remark.

This piqued Trixi's interest, she was too stricken with grief to ask the HoP. She rushed to the side of his bed, "You know what happened?"

The captain brushed his beard and repeated, "Know what happened? Of course, I know! I was reviewing all the security footage from the whole nasty affair." He pointed to a tablet on a nearby table. "I had to submit the information to those worthless paper pushers in central command, added a lot of profanity to my report after they denied my previous requests." He grabbed her shoulder, a bright smile on his face, and shook her a bit, "You were a quick-thinking hotshot. Richard should have handed you a real gun!"

Trixi backed up shocked by the compliment, she remembered the man that wanted to take her alive, "Right, I remember that. What happened after? All I remember is the… door… slam…" She pressed her temples again trying to forget that horrible scene.

"Oh?" The round man was puzzled by the reaction. It struck him a second later and his smile faded. "This was your first attack; I'm sorry… I should have been a little more respectful." He sighed and picked up the tablet, the light flickered on his aged face. "I'm used to be around people that have been in the company a long time. They are completely desensitized to these things."

Trixi frowned at the reality. She squeaked as she asked him another question that has been bothering her, "Does it get better? I have been going through a lot with what happened. I've been losing sleep."

The captain sighed and pushed the button on the tablet. His beard looked greyer than normal, "A little, just have to take it one day at a time. Not many people retire from this career. We usually work until someone, or something takes us away from our job." Trixi nodded, she was reminded of that same lesson when she trained to become a clown. Her very job was to distract people from the cruelty of space. She rubbed her eyes again. He handed her the tablet, "You asked about what happened, this is what the A.I. picked up. You did quite well for your first time."

The tablet was paused on a video of the recorded events the A.I. took. The camera focused on the invader and Richard having a standoff. With a push of the screen, she watched the events unfold, confused at where she fit in the situation until a distant figure popped out of a wall vent. With bated breath she watched as the A.I. panned to her entering the scene, laser rifle ready. A strange alien feeling took her as she watched herself kill the intruder with a well-placed shot. "Why don't I remember any of this?"

The captain stared at her, his voice rough, "It's not over."

She continued the footage. There was a happy little dance she made over the corpse. The curious fox furrowed her brows as she watched the gestures Richard made. Blood poured from his mask as he flailed. Her breath was taken away as she watched herself get scooped up and tucked inside his trench coat. There was a flash, then the screen went black. Trixi stopped the video and slowly looked up at the captain.

He gently took the pad away from her, "All nuclear operatives have syndicate bombs injected into them, they detonate when they die... Nutjob mercs."

Sparks flooded her vision, she felt like she was about to blackout, "Richard tried to warn me. But I didn’t listen."

The captain let out his warm laugh, which caused the bed to shake, "The man injected himself with space marine battle stimulates after he got shot in the mouth, the robust motherfucker then went on to crack a skull and disable the nuke saving everyone. Giving clear Instructions was something he couldn't do."

The joy the large man got from recanting the tale spread to her. She pulled up a chair next to the captain to listen to him talk about the rest of the battle.

"I am half tempted to release the footage so that everyone sees how hard security and you worked to keep this station from falling to pieces. The lizardmen fought as one, they blasted through the glass just to keep the A.I. from being blown to smithereens from the outside. And when those crazy motherfuckers managed to cut a hole into the hull, yours truly fried them into space dust."

The captain's laughter made her feel a little better. She also saw that color returned to his skin as he swayed around emoting as he described the gun battle.

"You should have seen it. Richard had his units lined up behind the emergency blast shields. The A.I. was monitoring the scene outside. The nukies didn't even stand a chance. The enemies got all nice and cozy trying to set up C4 on the A.I.'s wing. Then BAM! The A.I. opened the blast shields overlooking the wing and the firing squad cut them to ribbons through the glass." He laughed harder, "A survivor tried to shoot back, but they were using ballistic weapons. Didn't even make it through the first layer of reinforced glass before his corpse vanished into the darkness."

Trixi joined in the laughter, "How many were there total that attacked?"

"Oh, there had to be twenty in total. Most of them died swarming the A.I.'s wing trying to cut out our eyes to the rest of the station. Richard and I have been through a few of these events, we know what they're after. Shame the ol' ticker couldn't take the excitement and I had to be rushed to the hospital."

Trixi patted his hand with her paw with a smile on her face, "I'm sure your heart just wanted to give the enemies a fighting chance. Twenty against you and our security, that's just not fair." The words landed with their intended effect and the captain beamed. His cheeks flushed with his normal rosy color.

She stayed with him for a few hours as he waved his arms about the fight. She nodded along and gasped where appropriate, a perfect audience member. Her position after all is to spread happiness, and the captain loved telling his stories.

"After you and Richard were taken out of the fight Jack had to take charge. Atmospherics had a massive hole in it. He safely evacuated the crew before they were exposed to a vacuum. Then they stood facing each other, three hard suited terrorists vs him." The captain paused for a second to look through the tablet again. "They had no more ammunition; they wasted it shooting through the hull trying to get at the technician's fixing the cuts they were making. Not the brightest fucking bulbs, but what do you expect from people who munch crayons."

His voice became more stoic holding his own emotions in check, "So, Jack took out one without a problem, 3 shots through the eyes with his laser pistol. However, the uncaring bastards grabbed the body and chucked it at the oxygen pumps for the station. If it had blown up, it would have killed half the station through asphyxiation." He stared down at the vulpes and frowned, "…Then Jack jumped out after them. He grabbed the body and charged the two other men. Killing all of them in the blast."

The orange fluffy tail drooped around the chair. Renewed tears broke through as she started to cry. The captain pressed his hand to her paw. "Please don't. Security's job is to protect everyone no matter the cost. He would be happy knowing that you and many others are alive." Trixi tried to stay positive, but her vision was blurry. Then the old captain lifted her muzzle with a gentle finger, "He wouldn't want to see you cry. Richard wouldn't want to see that either, they worked hard to keep this station safe and everyone inside alive. They succeeded, so celebrate their victory, for Jack. The numbers were stacked against us, and they still pulled through."

Trixi dried her eyes, "Thank you, sir. I will." She smiled, then a yawn escaped the vulpes muzzle. The captain was quite exhausted himself and gave a sympathetic yawn in return. She stood up from the chair and said her goodbyes with a hug.

He whispered, "I'll be out of here in no time, the new heart is tickin' better than ever, like a whole new man." His hand ruffled the top of her head and she left him so that he may rest.

___________

Trixi took a detour and visited the chaplain. The funeral services have already been performed and the remains have been sent to relatives. She wasn't a very religious woman, but she wanted to honor their memories. The captain's words sank in deep as she sat silently on the pew. The religious room was decorated with every religious iconography that humans have. The large 50-person room made the vixen feel even smaller.

The chaplain sat with her holding his thick bible, his head bowed in silence. They both knew it was more for her to grief than the ceremony.

Trixi gave a soft smile, she pulled out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes, "Thank you for allowing me, father. I know I don't spend a lot of time here."

"It's always a treat to have aliens in the house of God. He did build the cosmos. Room for everyone."

Another thing that not only confused Trixi but every non-human. The vast variations of religions in human culture. Seemed to be a new religion every decade, or changes to a previously established religion. She gave up trying to understand it. Just another one of those weird human things. She hugged and thanked the chaplain, then left for the bar to get a glass of water to replace what she lost in her tears.

Trixi's orange fluffy tail swayed over a barstool, she lapped at a cool glass of water, digesting the scene from the tablet she viewed and the stories the captain told. Something ate at her, wondering why she couldn't remember any of it. She wasn't hit on the head or battered against steel. A creeping thought entered her mind that it may be her fault Richard ended up in stasis while she was rescued from certain death.

The thought faded to the back of her mind as Bakes wandered over and refreshed her glass, "How are you doing? Your eyesss have been bloodshot for a while." Trixi looked up, eyes half-lidded. The lizard suggested, "I have sssome sssleep medication that should help if you would like sssome."

A small pill was placed on the counter. Trixi pushed it away, "I'll be fine. I'll get past this." Bakes sighed with a heavy hiss. She understood her friend's attempt to help, but something deeper was wrong. "How is the rest of the crew, they seem to be more mellow than their usual rowdy selves."

The bartender pressed both hands on the counter and sagged his weight down, "Everyone wasss traumatized. This ssstation, inssside the human's inner sssphere. They want nothing to do with the political climate of corporate warfare. Many of them have never ssseen combat or even heard a gunshot. They hail from planetsss that banned weaponry."

Guilt spread across her face. She believed she was the only one the battle affected. A glance around the room revealed the usual faces, just gaunter than their usual drunken selves. The lizard looked at her realizing he said something to make her feel worse, "Hold on. Let me get you something." He vanished to the back before she even acknowledged he left.

When he returned, he brought a small glass of korta nectar with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, there were several blueberries on top. Trixi's eyes lit up, "This looks so good." She sniffed the concoction, the flavors wafted over her like a river. "It smells amazing as well." Her nose was practically touching the vanilla scoop before she flicked her tongue out to eat a blueberry. The taste melted into her mouth. "This is too much… How long have you had these ingredients?"

Bakes admitted with a smug smile on his face, "I wasss going to give it to you on your birthday, but I think you need it now more than ever."

She savored the treat, lapping up the handmade vanilla ice cream, she could even taste a bit of the husk of the vanilla bean he used. The best part was the blueberries and the nutty flavor of the nectar combined with a nut berry juice that mixed with the cream to a delicious concoction that no species would hate.

A bright smile spread on her muzzle. "Thank you so much. I haven't had anything this good… ever."

The lizard blushed with embarrassment, his scales turned a deeper shade of blue, "it'sss nothing little Trixi. You sssaved our livesss, it wasss the leassst I could do." The lizard stepped to the side and to another patron who asked him for a drink. Trixi watched the glass, the remaining ice cream melting into the juice. Drops of condensation slid down the side. She should be proud of herself, but there was something broken inside. A feeling she couldn't grasp. Her concentration was broken when the saloon door slammed open.

Two women were arguing with each other. "Please stop. We need to get some sleep." One nurse said to the other.

The other woman with wavy blond hair yelled out as she stomped toward the bar, "No, I'm getting a drink!"

They seemed as exhausted as the rest of the crew. The two of them sat a few seats away from Trixi. "My friend and I would like a beer please, we had a long day. So keep them coming so I don't have to talk to you lizard." Trixi sighed watching Bakes fill two glasses for the young women.

There was a long silence as they drank until a technician walked up and asked the two women a question. "Hello, I wanted to know how William is doing? No one has contact-" This was a huge mistake. The blond woman threw the glass at his head.

"I'm sick of the constant questions! We don't have to answer any of your damn questions! We have been slaving away to help them out! It takes forever to grow new limbs and organs; I had my arms elbow-deep in protein solution because the feeder got clogged again!"

The man stepped back apologetically. "S-sorry."

Trixi felt both sides had a point, everyone had been working nonstop after the attack. One patching up people the other patching up the station. She found herself not able to step in and interfere as she normally would have. Her glass of nectar crème called out to her, and she lapped the rest of it up while the nurses and techs argued some more in the background. Bakes sidestepped the conversation as well and replaced the glass the woman threw.

The other woman stood up ignoring her friend and stepped toward Trixi. "I saw the captain's data tablet with the security footage." The vulpes' ears perked up and then she swiveled to face the young woman. "You fought them next to the HoS, you probably feel pretty good about winning." There was a faint smile on the lady's face as she congratulated Trixi.

Trixi deflated sitting away from the empty glass, "I don't feel great. I feel miserable. I can't sleep. Barely eating and my fur is becoming brittle, I don't know what's wrong with me." She pressed her forehead to the countertop.

Bakes approached the two of them, "What happened over here?" Concern was in his voice, thinking that the woman harassed Trixi.

"I was just talking to her about the attack and how great she was."

Bakes stepped aside relieved.

Trixi looked up at the nurse, her eyes opened with surprise, "You're the nurse from the stasis chambers!" The brunette acknowledged the statement with a nod. Trixi apologized for her attitude, "I'm sorry, I haven't been feeling well, I couldn't recognize your voice. I-" She stopped herself from asking the same question, she didn't want to start an argument like the engineer.

The stool next to the fox was taken by the nurse, she shifted elegantly to face the vixen. Pain shot across the human's face. She slipped off her shoes and rotated her ankles off the floor, "He's well. The surgeons are about to finish installing his new jaw and teeth. The bionics have been installed. Just need to do preliminary tests to calibrate them." She sipped on the new mug that was placed on the table. Bakes and Trixi relaxed a little after hearing the news.

Bakes flicked his tongue and exhaled deeply, "I am grateful for your hard work. I wish there wasss sssomething more I could do." He poured another beer for the young woman who wasn't finished with her first one. She declined to take it. Bakes pulled the glass back but it was stolen by the other woman who took the seat on the other side of Trixi.

"I'll take that please and thank you."

The kind nurse smiled and tried to cheer Trixi up. "You did a lot more than you think, the captain talked everyone's ears off every time one of us was near him. However, I know the captain sometimes embellishes stories, I wanted to see it for myself. So, I watched everything one night." The woman paused to recall, "We were a minute from death before he saved us. Then I saw how he risked his life for you. I could tell how much the HoS cared for you, and seeing your reaction when you looked at him, you care for him too."

The other woman laughed. "Talk anymore about that and the foxkin's fur will burst into flames."

Trixi touched her cheek and it felt like it was on fire. Being exposed like this was unusual for the poor fox. No make-up to hide under, just her orange and steely white fur. Bakes hissed out a snicker himself and refreshed her a glass of water. She happily lapped it up to distract herself.

The two women started to talk loudly over her head. Their conversation drifted from topic to topic that it made the vulpes' head spin. She smiled at Bakes who waited patiently on them and the occasional patron that would ask for a drink. He offered her the pill again and she decided that it might be nice, so she drank it.

Trixi felt the pill taking effect. Her head bobbed as she tried to stay awake. She waved goodbye to her friends and went off to have at least one night of nightmareless sleep.

___________

After a night of rest, she felt a little better. Richard was going to be awakened in medical and she wanted things to be perfect. After showing and brushing her fur coat she made another attempt at giving her sister a call. No one picked up. They were still very busy with the move. She sighed and played around with her blue space rings. A simple twist of the ring around her upper arm pulled away from her body. She held her arm like a sword and used it to dust the high points of her small room. Quite handy.

After cleaning she stared at her vanity mirror. Make-up kits untouched for a week. She thought about getting dressed up for work but her new outfit was still on order. A sad exhale escaped her snout, the station needed some laughs.

Dressing her lithe body in light blue civilian coveralls was suitable enough. She cupped her flat chest missing her prop bra that mimicked her bike horn. A unique gimmick she enjoyed deploying that caused Richard to blush furiously. The door hissed open, and she was ready to wander the station. Little claws tapped the metal with each step. She needed to get back on the scene to feel like her usual self.

She knocked on the mime's door as she passed by. He too has been working nonstop after the attack. A felinid exited the room and the mime stepped out wiping his brow of invisible sweat. Trixi waved at the mime with a half-smile. Jacques frowned and spoke silent words to the poor thing.

Trixi understood, the mime was booked solid from all the patients. She nodded and continued heading down the hall, but not before the mime picked her up and gave her a big hug to help her feel better. Trixi hugged him back. The smell of expensive perfume hit her and made her eyes water.

The repairs to the station have been steady, 90% of the station was opened. No more glass or red emergency doors. Unfortunately, visions still plagued her. Every time she stepped under an emergency door her nostrils flared with an unpleasant copper scent. The fleeting feeling caused her fur to puff up.

She circled the station a few times, looking for something to get her mojo back. Her first stop was to cargo to check to see if her proper uniform arrived. Inside the cargo department, the men were all sitting on boxes and steel crates smoking cigarettes and marijuana. The smell overwhelmed the large warehouse space.

Doug the quartermaster conversed with two lizardman cargo techs while smoking a blunt himself. Their grey coveralls and beige vests had pockets filled with more cigarettes and marijuana. Doug saw the little orange fox enter the area, "Hello Trixi! How are you doing?" The whites of his eyes were completely pink.

She shily waved back as the room turned toward her. The feeling of being stared at without her makeup in the large environment caused stage fright, an unrehearsed play where she was forced out naked. She crossed her arms, making herself seem as small as possible, and approached the quartermaster, "Hi, I just wanted to know if my package arrived…"

Doug shook his head, "Sorry man, it's delayed. Gonna be here for another week at least." He shrugged and blew out smoke up and away from the small woman. Trixi deflated and her arms dropped to her side. The man knelt and whispered, "I had one of my men dig through the refuse though. I think he may have found something for ya." Pointed ears peaked at the notion.

"W-what did he find?" A frantic look took hold as she scanned the men seeing if any of them were holding something. She thought the hat had been destroyed with her old uniform. If she managed to get that back it would be perfect for when she visits Richard today. The quartermaster smiled and opened a crate that was leaning against the wall.

A pile of shiny baubles and other burned things was stuffed inside the metal container. Fire damage was evident and overpowered the smell of nicotine and THC. "Now, most of what was tossed was unrecognizable, but we searched for loot that might be valued. Odds and ends. However, I heard a certain HoS has his eyes set on a little orange critter, so I thought I'd secretly pass something to you for him."

Trixi didn't hear the rest of what he said after he said, 'Richard had his eyes for her'. Her fur felt like it was on fire from embarrassment. She cupped her muzzle and wanted to bury her head away. Doug chuckled at the sight, "I didn't know your fur could turn that red." Trixi huffed and turned her nose up at the man. Doug laughed some more and then pulled out a silver handle. Trixi opened one eye and tilted her head curiously at what he revealed.

"I'm not allowed to have this, one of the nukies left it on the conveyor belt to disposals." He snapped his fingers and two men run off to blow smoke at the A.I.s cameras at the side of the room. Once the wires were cut, they gave a thumbs up. "Heh, I trained them to do that so we could get some more secret stuff." He pushed the button on the handle and the laser sword hissed open. Red light eerily reflected off his person. The power was cut off, the blade retreated to the handle.

"The HoS has been dyin' for one of these, and I owe him a favor. The rest were destroyed when the nukies 'sploded. Thought I'd misplace it to the clown, who would slip it into his hand. I think this would make things even-steven." Trixi was handed the silver gadget. She nearly dropped it when the quartermaster released his grip from the unexpected weight of the device. "Woah, careful their bud. I don't want anyone to find out about this, the proper procedure for this illegal good is to destroy it. That'd be a waste."

She quickly pocketed the hilt and smiled. "Did you find any more belongings? Like my old clown suit? The nurses tossed it into the garbage." Doug looked confused, well… more confused. He shrugged and stepped to the side of the locker giving her free reign to look for herself.

She searched but found nothing. She exited the slight tire fire-smelling locker and sighed. "Well thank you anyway."

Doug scratched his head for a second, "What's so special about the clothes anyway? You're getting a new pair and a free vacation."

Trixi frowned while staring up at the quartermaster, "It's not the clothes I'm worried about, Richard lost his hat, I wanted to return it to him when I visited him in medical. Though I'm sure it got ground up into dust by now." The defeated fox sagged her shoulders.

Doug nodded along and then snapped his fingers, "Yo Rikki! Help this little lady out okay! I want to see if you can help her find her old clown suit!" Rikki sprung up and ran toward the quartermaster and saluted. The man had to of been 18 years old at most.

"Sir, yes sir."

He proceeded out the back door and opened the lock with his PDA. He waited patiently beside the dark opening. Doug pointed at him with two fingers "Just follow him and he will dig for you." Trixi exited the room into the darkness. The shut behind her and she was swallowed by the void.

The only light source was from the stars outside of the reinforced glass. It illuminated the catwalk they stepped on and thin glass panels overlooked the single-story drop. Trixi's eyes adjusted quite well to the darkness her slitted pupils dilating to soak in the light. The cargo tech slipped on a pair of night-vision goggles and donned a pair of steel boots and sturdy thick gloves.

His young voice echoed in the room, "So I'm going to go down there, you just make sure no one activates the switch over there, don’t wanna get sucked into the crusher." Trixi never met Rikki, which made sense because he wasn't old enough to drink. Questions have arisen in her mind about the boy, first one was how he faired from the action that happened. But before she could even ask him, he descended a ladder down to the refuse.

"Do you want me to help?!"

The voice bellowed back up, "No! you will cut yourself on this sharp stuff!" He expertly climbed the trash pile and explained, "I've been doing this for years, before I even started working here." The thoughts of a young boy climbing piles of trash worried the vulpes. He should be in school or learning something productive, not climbing twisted shrapnel and broken pipes.

The spry young man jumped over a broken floor tile, he dug through and picked up a small indiscernible fragment before descending the little hill, "So, what day did they toss your belongings, it will help me locate your stuff!" Her eyes danced over the massive pile, the top of it had nearly reached the catwalk. There were also several conveyor belts on the far end that led to vicious-looking spiked rollers.

She made her best guess, "The day we got attacked! Before they started reconstruction!"

"That was some messed up stuff, wasn't it?! Don't tell the quartermaster this, but I swear he shat himself when the first bomb exploded in arrivals!" He traversed over more scrap and fragmented glass like an expert ice skater doing their routine. Trixi shook her head at his strange positive attitude.

"Are you used to fighting?!" She sat on the edge of the ladder looking down at the young man work. Her paws dangled back and forth over the side.

The boy peaked up at her his eyes glowing through the night vision goggles, "Yeah! I was born on Erewhon, outer rim world! Used to be a farming world around 70 years ago until a war tore everything to shreds! A lot of pirates and criminals pass through these days! Father always said that his grandfather had a hoard of sheep muchin' on grass! Now our land is a massive scrapyard, selling broken weapons and fixing ships!"

Trixi felt sorry for the kid, though the history lesson was quite welcoming. Compared to the humans the vulpes' time in space was a mere blink of an eye, only 20 years of having FTL technology, while the humans were already killing themselves and inciting rebellions. Richard, Bakes, and Jack all had their histories they shared from across the universe. So many varied worlds that would take years to reach even with FTL.

"I think I found something!" He pulled out a lumpy orange medical bag. "Let me open it up first, don't want to pull out dirty needles!" He grabbed a broken piece of glass and tore the bag open. He reached inside and pulled out a large shoe. "This yours?!"

She squinted. The red leather had been burned and stripped of all color, "I think that is mine!" The kid cheered at himself for finding it so fast and scaled the mountain of trash back to the ladder.

Trixi grabbed the bag so he could get up to the catwalk, "Thank you for helping me find my belongings."

Rikki took the bag back, "Sorry miss. I don't want you to get stabbed by a needle or somethin'." The orange plastic bag was gently stretched open. He stuck his glove inside slowly started to pull belongings out. First her burnt shoe. "Do you want to keep this?" She shook her head, and the boy tossed the shoe over the catwalk, it squeaked as it collided with the trash heap.

The boy pulled another shoe, this one wasn't as burned. The shoe joined the other one as it landed with a squeak. As he reached into the bag again there was a honk of a bike horn. Honk! Trixi giggled as Rikki pulled out the prop bra. The boy's face was flushed with embarrassment. One of the boobs has been completely dented in from the fight. She laughed more at his reaction then said, "You can go ahead and toss that too. No one wants to walk around with a floppy boob."

The bra joined the trash heap with a honk. Honk! Grabbing another article of clothing he pulled out a polka-dotted shirt. Trixi inspected it to see if it was still useful. There were several tears across the chest and there were black marks from a fire on the back. A deep sigh escaped her as it was tossed into the trash heap.

"You must have been in some battle to end up with all that damage. How'd you even survive?"

"I was saved by the Ric… I mean the head of security." The boy nodded his head reaching in again. He pulled out her red baggy pants. More black burns were marring the costume, Trixi quickly grabbed it, "I hope it's still inside." She shuffled through the pockets, a screwdriver and a banana peel fell out of the pocket and a handful of confetti fell out of the other pocket. She checked again and again. she collapsed to her knees on the catwalk. "It's not here."

The young man dug into the bag again, "Is this what you're looking for?" He pulled out the security beret.

Trixi bounced up to her feet again and hugged him, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" her tail flicked restlessly. Rikki had no idea what to do, he held up the bag up and away in case it had sharp objects inside it. She released him and held the hat close to her snout sniffing it, her tail flicked and vibrated. There were trace amounts of Richard's scent, but it had mostly been replaced with her own.

Rikki smiled happy to see his work is appreciated and reached into the bag, there was only one item left and when he pulled it out his face went crimson. He turned away holding the object away trying to be as considerate as possible. It was a pair of frilly pink panties. Trixi's face also shot red with embarrassment. She took the item out of his hand and shoved it into her pocket. He apologized, "Sorry about that Ma'am"

Trixi covered her face, "It's not your fault." There was a long silence as he took the gear off. She held the hat tightly in her claws, "Thank you for this. It belongs to the HoS, and I wanted to bring it back to him. I hope to see him today."

"It was no big deal, the quartermaster has me dig through the trash once a week. Plus helping a woman out is always a pleasure." Trixi curtsied graciously. "Well, I hope the HoS fully recovers. He did save all our lives from what I gather."

Trixi closed her eyes tightly from the pain of the adjustment. Doug walked over and patted Rikki on the back, "Did you find it?" Trixi smiled and held up the hat. "Ah, the HoS' hat. Glad you got it back. Good job Rikki!"

"Thank you so much, Rikki." She gave him another hug which caused him to flush red again. A few of the cargo techs started to laugh at the scene. She broke off and furrowed her brows at the teasing men, they casually returned to their work silently.

Doug laughed, "Just remember to give the HoS the thing." Trixi nodded patting the pocket the silver hilt was held. "And make sure you give him a very good time on his off time, he deserves everything for keeping us from being vaporized into space dust." Trixi blushed through her fur and the cargo techs she leered at started to snicker quietly. Doug yelled out at them, "Move that freight!"

Hat in hand she left the cargo bay. She exhaled gratefully to have it back in her possession. On her way to the medbay, Roma stopped her. The man looked even more exhausted. He stank like a space hobo that ran a marathon. She covered her nose. He spoke quickly to her, "I need your help, Trixi."

Trixi backed up a step and nodded. The frantic man explained, "HoS is completely out of it, he was told to stay in medical but he refuses to be placed there, he's supposed to heal so he could get his surgery done and now the doctors are afraid he'll injure himself permanently, I am in charge of taking care of him by the captain's orders, but I need to look after Welds and the rest of the injured crew. Can you please look after the boss?"

He stopped talking only to take in a heavy breath of air. Trixi held up a hand, a trick Richard did to everyone, "Please calm down. First, you need sleep. You look worse than me after I woke up from an explosion." She covered her nose again, "And you need to shower. Also, what did you say about Richard?"

Roma gave her another step of distance, "Sorry, he's in the chapel. Can you please talk sense to him? He needs to be in bed resting."

Her eyes widened, "I'll be right there, promise me you will also get some rest as well."

Roma nodded and slumped away down the hall toward security. Trixi sprinted toward the chapel. Heart pounded in her chest as she turned the corners. The double doors to the church hissed open and she charged forward.

Richard was sitting in a wheelchair with his head in his hands, the chaplain stood next to him stoically. Trixi called out, "Richard!"

He turned to face the orange ball of joy as she barreled down the aisle. She skidded to a stop as he wheeled himself to face her. There was a scar running down the middle of his chin, his eyes were swollen holding back tears. His right ear was torn with scar tissue running down the side of his face, there was a silver glimmer inside the ear canal. Bandages trussed up from his fingertips to his wrists. He spoke up with a gritty pain that would be comparable to chain-smoking pure black tar cigars, "I'd stand up, but I can't move."

Trixi threw herself at him and clung round his neck tightly. Tears streamed down the side of her muzzle, "I'm so happy you're alive…" Richard returned the hug, he wrapped it around her slim figure and stroked her back softly. She inhaled and rubbed the side of her muzzle into his neck.

The chaplain smiled at the sweet scene and left them so they could catch up.

They embraced for a minute before Richard set her down. "I need to get back to work, the station's a mess." Trixi examined him and finally noticed the wheelchair.

Her maw was agape, "Are you okay?!"

"The explosion damaged my spine. A specialist surgeon is supposed to come here to install cybernetic equipment. So, I am a house plant until that time comes…" The man looked defeated, his face was pale from the drugs and surgery. Trixi put a paw on his lap.

"You need to rest. Please, let me take care of you… You mean everything to me." The vixen's tears threatened to drown him.

His throat bobbed as he swallowed. He wiped his eyes, "Can you take me to my quarters… I'm going to lie down."