Stellarforged (SciFi Emperor) - Ch5

Note: The series got a proper name.

EDIT: I stupidly forgot to mention that the end of Chapter 4 got a small rewrite. Ethan now comes to visit Lati alone. Otherwise, Ch4 is unchanged. Sorry for any confusion.

Ethan raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you send me a message?” Then he frowned. “Now I wonder if you do owe me money. You didn’t take out any gambling debts in my name, did you?”

“Oi, what sort of techscrub do you think I am?” Aklati slammed her drink down, and the dark oily substance within it sloshed about with the viscosity of olive oil. “I’m pretty sure I paid you back…”

Her red eye glazed over, while her orange one focused on the far side of the bar. She’d sat with a good view of the entrance and most of the room. The sort of place someone sat if they worried about another walking in with a gun. Funny that she hadn’t been paying attention.

Ethan glanced back and saw Kiels do the same. His other bodyguard slinked past the bar, around the corner, and into the dank rooms around the back. He’d never been in them before, but knew there were was a back entrance of some description.

When he glanced back at Aklati, her shoulders were hunched. She glowered at Kiels.

“You got new muscle in Sol? Hire one of the clones keeping your species in a gilded cage?” Aklati asked, bitterness oozing from every word.

Kiels snorted. “I’m no clone.” She jabbed her thumb at the bar. “I’ll be close. Don’t reach for your weapon, Yinil. Or even think of using any of those nasty little toys in your arms.”

The wolf took a few steps over to the bar to give them a semblance of privacy. With how small it was, it was impossible not to eavesdrop on every conversation in the place. Ethan would have to keep things low key.

After pulling out a stool with his foot, he sat down opposite Aklati. She attempted to scowl at him, but it mostly looked like a pout.

“Not quite,” he said. “Look closer.”

A whir emanated from her orange eye as it fixed itself on Kiels. A faint targeting reticle zoomed in within the red sclera of the mechanical optic, while Aklati’s other eye danced across the rest of the bar.

Abruptly, her glass shattered and she burst out into a series of curses his module didn’t translate. She stood up, towering over him at nearly seven feet while brushing at the oil on her tank top and arm.

“It’s going down my <fucking> tits,” she muttered, pulling at the front of her top. Her lack of a bra made itself apparent. “This stuff is a bitch to clean off. Urgh.”

“Your arm need some tuning, Lati?” the bartender called out with a grin. “That glass is going on your tab.”

Aklati made a crude gesture at the bartender as she re-attached her other arm. A small brush popped out of it and began whirring as she used it to clean away the oil she’d spilled on herself.

Ethan watched in silence. This wasn’t the first time she’d done something like this.

Glancing over at the bar, he met Kiels’s eye. She winked at him before turning to say something to the bartender that he didn’t catch. Given the bartender starting pouring new drinks, he guessed it was related.

“What’s with the waterworks?” he asked the dragon.

She shot him a dirty look over the joke, now running the brush over her metal abs. “Ha. Ha. Cute. When did you go Union? Didn’t they blow your planet up?”

“It appeared to still be in one piece and not a floating pile of rocks in space, so no, they didn’t,” he said drily. “And I’m not working for the Union, Lati. Look closer.”

“I did. The badges and uniforms can be faked, but the records can’t be. A pupper still active in the military, but with everything still classified? Whole body and nerve enhancements? Girl has had more of her body replaced than I have, and I’m a Priestess-damned Yinil. That screams special forces. If she’s wearing a Union badge, she’s with an Executor.”

Ethan stared at Aklati. Where the hell did this knowledge come from?

She scoffed at his expression. The whir of a drone interrupted them, and a flying tray of drinks hovered above the table. It remained there, unable to land thanks to Aklati’s wings.

Before he could touch them, Aklati swept her wings to the ground with much less care than he recalled her giving them.

Then again, he also recalled her wings being nearly twice the size. Also with huge exhausts these wings lacked. He frowned at them, before the drone drew his attention with its beeping. A digital display blinked on both sides. It wanted a tip.

Or, more accurately, the bartender wanted a tip. Aklati grimaced, which told Ethan a lot. He shot Kiels a glance and she gave him the Taer equivalent of a thumbs up. So he tapped in a fairly normal credit tip.

“This round is on me,” he said, figuring Kiels would charge it back to Sai, who would handle it.

“Thanks,” Aklati muttered as she took her oily beverage of choice.

Kiels had bought him one of the thick beers the Taer preferred. Except this wasn’t watered down and was the size of his head. By human standards, it was as strong as wine. Thank fuck he could hold his liquor, but he’d stick to the one stein.

“When did you learn so much about the military?” he asked. “I know you served. It’s why I was shocked when you took a job with me when I got my first ship. A Yinil veteran working with a green human privateer was nuts.”

“Because I am a veteran. Sixteen cycles, most of it in active warfare.” She grimaced at Kiels. “And I wouldn’t call it conscription. We’ve had civil service even before the Republics reached for the stars and started expanding. I did my first tour as an engineer, then got extended because of the border conflict with the Taer Empire. Switched to the marines. Got my wings there.” Her expression darkened and she took a long swig.

“Huh. So I take it you’ve met Taer special forces, then.”

“A few of them, yeah. The Shatter Shields nearly took out a battlecruiser I served on when they slammed into it with one of their insane breaching frigates. I helped take out a Maelstrom company when we captured a foldgate.”

“What about the Void Hounds?” he asked.

“I’ve been near them, but never fought them.” Both of Aklati’s eyes shot toward Kiels now. “Ironic, given they’re the closest match to what I did. The Maelstrom are infantry. Shatter Shields are borderline suicidal shock troops—amped up clones, really. But the Void Hounds are the special forces of the Taer’s marines.”

Kiels half-turned and raised her beer to Aklati. Her half-smile held some menace.

The dragon raised her drink and scowled in return. She then leaned over and glared at Ethan.

“Ethan, what the fuck is going on?” she hissed.

“I have something big going on,” he said. “I want you in on it, but can’t talk about it here. It’s long-term and will pay well. It just comes with a catch.”

She bit her lip. “I want to say yes, but…” Her orange eye focused on the entrance to the bar.

“We can talk more about it. You don’t have to…” he said, trailing off as he realized Aklati was looking past him again.

The loud thunk of Kiels’s stein caused him to turn around.

Five armed humanoid women strode into the bar, all dressed up in what amounted to showy fashion on Dominio. Flared collars as high the height of their heads, plentiful cleavage, bodysuits cut open to reveal their navels, and plenty of frills and ruffles dangling. Bulky handguns hung from their waists, but three of them carried full-sized firearms. Two small railguns and what Ethan guessed to be a shotgun taser.

Only one of the women came from a major humanoid race, and she was a Faecrim. Likely a Union guard who got sick of licking Vaelix feet. The others varied. A cheetah, an insect-like woman who might be a praying mantis, and two mousegirls.

Every Yinil in the bar reached for their weapons without a hint of subtlety. Even the bartender openly pulled out a large handgun with two barrels. Unlike everyone else, she needed to worry about the security forces that would show up once heavy weapons were detected by the firearm sensors.

The newcomers strode directly for Ethan. The Faecrim led the group, while the mantis carried the taser, and the mousegirls the undersized railguns.

“Coorlim, you’ve been away from the station for too long,” the horsegirl said, attempting to loom over him.

Her intimidation would work better if she wasn’t exactly five feet tall. He barely even needed to look up while sitting, especially as the seats were made for the massive Yinil.

“Friends of yours?” Ethan glanced back at Aklati, who bared her teeth at the obvious criminals.

“Unfortunately.” Aklati downed her drink in one go and stood up. She’d grabbed her railgun at some point, and the gangsters gripped their weapons tightly.

The Faecrim leader tried to keep her cool, despite the hand on her pistol. She flicked her long teal bangs. “You have a significant debt to Sir Garima, Yinil. I’m here to offer you an opportunity to make it go away.”

“I’ve heard the offer before—” the dragon tried to say.

Ignoring her, the Faecrim smiled at Ethan. “I believe you know Sir Garima, Coorlim?”

Ethan nodded.

Men were rare in the galaxy. Successful men, especially. But that only applied to the humanoid races. Plenty of non-humanoids existed. The vastly more powerful humanoid races largely ignored them, as there wasn’t much to gain. Non-humanoids showed no psychic potential, and therefore no ability to build their own interstellar empires, and lacked the cross-breeding potential through DNA manipulation that was viable among the humanoid races.

Garima proved an exception. A hulking mantis-like being, he ran a casino in the inferior strata and maintained strong criminal connections. Money talked in the galaxy. He kept his power because he made a lot of it, and shared it with those capable of keeping him alive in an unfriendly galaxy.

“I’m not currently taking work,” Ethan said. “If it’s important to Lati then—”

The Faecrim’s smile vanished. “I’m not here to make a proposal to you, Coorlim. Sir Garima will meet with you at his leisure, and that happens to be right now. There’s business to be conducted, and you happen to have the resources to aid him.”

Sai’s earlier warning went off in Ethan’s mind. Had Garima found out about his newfound position and wealth? If the criminal side of Dominio made a move on Ethan, he’d need more than a couple of Hounds to stay safe.

Nodding, Ethan stood and stepped to the side so Aklati still had vision of the group.

“I see,” he said. “Then—”

He slammed his prosthetic leg into the Faecrim’s shin. A shriek escaped her and she collapsed, hand sliding off her pistol.

“<Fucking> moron,” a mousegirl screamed, raising her railgun.

“Don’t kill him!” The cheetah’s arm blurred and slapped the mouse’s gun away, and it slid across the floor.

The bulky shotgun taser shot up, and the massive barrel stared Ethan in the face for an eerily long moment. His hand ripped at the pistol Sai had given him, drawing it too slowly.

A booming gunshot went off, and the taser fell away. The mantis holding it collapsed to the ground, a hole blown clean through her chitin-encased head.

Kiels stood at the bar, calmly pointing her handgun at the group. A shimmering personal forcefield hummed, shielding her.

All hell broke loose. The Yinil patrons dashed for the exits, while the bartender ducked under the counter. A fist slammed into Ethan’s chest, emptying his lungs as the Faecrim leaped halfway across the bar to escape him.

Thrums echoed off the metal walls of the tiny establishment as the remaining gangsters activated their own forcefields. The cheetah lacked one and fell to the ground, scrabbling at the mantis’s clothes. A quick gunshot from Kiels ended her as the wolfgirl turned, beer in her other hand, to draw a bead on the remaining gangsters. Her shots bounced off their shields.

“Garima will hear of this!” the Faecrim shouted.

Her legs tensed, and Ethan got a glimpse of the glow of cybernetics in her midriff. He was damn lucky her calf had been organic.

The three remaining gangsters stood near the entrance, side-by-side. Both mousegirls, but only one with a railgun, and the Faecrim. All had personal shields.

Aklati kicked the table forward, and it flew past him. A railgun shot bounced off its metal surface and the railgun-toting mousegirl cursed.

A much larger boom took her head off, blasting right through her underpowered shield. The bloody mist that had been her head got caught in flickering remnants of the forcefield for a few moments, congealing in the odd way it sometimes did in firefights.

Aklati’s heavy railgun glowed a vivid blue and let out a loud hiss as it released the heat generated by its coils. Rather than fire again, she reached for the pistol at her waist, arm moving in a blur.

“Down!” Ethan snapped and yanked the dragon by the waist.

Multiple rounds slammed into the air where they’d stood. Dents appeared in the thick metal of the table. If it had been any thinner, they’d both be dead, he guessed.

The remaining mousegirl fired at them, but she wasn’t the source of the damage. Someone outside the bar was firing inside. More gunshots came from the rear. Taking advantage of the chaos, the Faecrim turned and ran.

Kiels fired after her, but her gun failed to penetrate the forcefield.

Realizing this, the mousegirl grinned and shot across the bar in the blink of an eye. A curse escaped Kiels. She dropped the beer. Both aliens moved with the speed of the cybernetically enhanced.

The next couple of seconds moved almost in slow-motion. Ethan, still crouched behind the table, raised his pistol. Kiels tried to throw herself at the mousegirl, who slammed her foot on top of the table and pointed her own gun over the top of it.

Without a shield, he’d be dead if he took a bullet. Aklati’s arms whirred and tried to shove him aside.

Both pistols went off. Aklati swore, and he heard a bullet ricochet off metal.

He was sent rolling, only to slam into a wall. Pain seared his chest. For a moment, he worried the mousegirl had shot him.

Then he realized he’d slammed a rib into a jutting piece of metal in the wall and cut himself. Nothing serious.

Couldn’t say the same about the mousegirl. She lay over the table, dripping blood on the floor from a small hole in her chest. Kiels placed her pistol against the mousegirl’s head, close enough that the shield couldn’t stop it, and blew a hole in her head to be sure.

Aklati stood, her eyes looking in different directions. She fired blindly through the entrance with her heavy railgun, and a familiar scream sounded in the distance.

“Got the bitch,” Aklati muttered. “Can’t get her company, though.”

“I’d say you should get a weapon that won’t overheat, but you’re the one who can shoot through walls and shields, so I’ll keep my mouth shut,” Kiels said.

The wolfgirl dashed over to Ethan, who grimaced at the disaster in the bar. He’d been in firefights before, but usually not ones this bad. Especially not when almost everyone had a personal shield. The entire exchange took seconds, rather than minutes.

“Just a scratch,” Kiels said as she checked him over, sighing with relief. “I’d <fucking> kill myself if I lost you to these small fries.”

“Garima is a casino boss,” Ethan said as he walked over to Aklati. “Where did he get a bunch of thugs with personal shields? And why the fuck is he willing to piss off station security by using railguns to get this job done? What do you owe him?”

The bartender rose back above the counter. “Maybe work those problems out in your own time. Security will be here in minutes. I don’t think you want the paperwork”

He winced. “Shit. Sorry—”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m covered. If Garima and his friends don’t pay up, the privateers will shake them down. Now get.”

Kiels nodded at him, while Aklati grabbed her wings. Ethan helped re-attached them to speed things up, and noticed they definitely weren’t her usual ones.

When they got out front, the other Void Hound was waiting for them. She kept her pistol out.

“Trouble out back?” Ethan asked, recalling the gunshots earlier.

“They had a few goons protecting the rear exit,” the Hound said. “Couldn’t catch the runners, though.”

“Worry about them later. I’ve told Sai to clear up security for us,” Kiels said.

“Uh, yeah, I was going to ask how we’re going to get past security checkpoints,” Aklati asked as they rushed through the dingy streets of the stratum. “They’ll have us pinned as part of the firefight by the time we reach one.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ethan said.

Although he did wonder about that. The one time he’d gotten in a firefight in the station, he’d gotten held for questioning for an hour. That was considered fast, even if he was defending himself. He suspected it was a benefit of being male.

Union security teams rushed past them, mostly comprised of Faecrim. None paid them any attention, despite Aklati’s illegal railgun.

When they reached the security checkpoint at the nearest elevator, which would get them out of the inferior strata faster, Kiels took them through the dedicated line for Union staff. Aklati shot him a nasty look as security waved them through without a second glance.

“They didn’t even make me scan my gun,” she hissed at him. “What the fuck is going on?”

He ignored her. “Kiels, do we have somewhere secure we can go to talk? I need to talk with Lati, and learn what the fuck that was about. And I suspect Sai will be annoyed.”

“We have an apartment complex that has secure rooms,” Kiels said. “I’m half expecting you to say to go elsewhere, as Sai wants you to go there so she can grump at you.”

He nearly agreed with Kiels, but didn’t see another option. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he simply waved agreement.

“Ethan!” Aklati whined.

“I told you this is big,” he said. “You’ve heard of the Folimai Rim, right?”

“Uh, you mean the Folimai Black Hole of Bureaucracy?” She grinned uncertainly at him, still fiddling with her railgun. “Obviously. That border conflict was near it.”

“The job involves it. That’s the catch.”

She stared at him, and her expression became uncertain. “Oh. Uhhhh…”

“Also, what the hell happened to your wings? I know these aren’t your normal ones.” He poked the mechanical wings stretched out from her back.

Her wings receded, the metal flexing inward and the metal “feathers” sliding into slots as Aklati closed them. She looked away with reddening cheeks.

“I was gonna tell you before they interrupted,” she mumbled.

He sighed. “Aren’t your wings important to you? Expensive, too. I don’t see many Yinil with jumpjet wings, let alone ones as large as your old ones.”

“Jumpjets?” Kiels’ eyebrows shot up, along with her wolf ears and tail. As did the ears and tail of the other Taer bodyguard. “You weren’t just a marine, but a Paladin.”

Like a lot of terms used by aliens, Ethan was pretty sure they didn’t use anything close to the word “Paladin,” given it had historical meaning to humanity. Most likely his translation module used it because Kiels had used a word for “religious knight.” He’d heard something similar in the past for a Yinil unit called the Empyrean Templars.

“Maybe.” Aklati scowled and looked away. “I quit the military for a reason. But I kept the wings they gave me. They’re…” Her fists clenched tight enough to cause her fingers to scrape against the metal of her palms. “Important, yeah. Expensive as hell.”

Ethan frowned. He glanced at Kiels, who shrugged.

“I don’t buy our gear, and this is specialist stuff,” the wolfgirl said. “If she’s a Paladin—and I don’t doubt her, given her skills—her wings are effectively irreplaceable. <Secret squirrel> Yinil tech. I think they use miniaturized ion engines powered by the same fusion batteries that keep their obscene amount of cybernetics running. Can’t even imagine the finesse and skill required to control one.”

“We’re born with wings,” Aklati said, sounding distant as she stared at nothing. “But there’s nowhere to fly with them anymore. So they rip them out and install cybernetics when we’re young, so we get used to controlling them instead. Do you think about how you control your tail, or your arms?”

Ethan recoiled, but the wolfgirls merely nodded.

Kiels shot him a half-smile. “They do the same to us when we join the military, you know. I lost my eyes, ears, and tail when I signed up. Almost every Taer you’ve met outside the Empire has served or started as a clone, and they have the same story. My eyes are cybernetic, while my ears and tail have enhancements in them. Ceramic cartilage, electronic devices, silicon nerves—that sort of shit.”

“I guess the wireless chip everyone has in their head pales in comparison.” He shook his head.

“It does. You should get one installed on the way to the Rim.” Her gaze was serious, even as she looked down at him with different eyes than before. Almost as if she respected him. “I expected the dragon to hold her own, but you impressed me. I’ve never met a male who can fight. Even if you did rely on the Vaelix’s needle gun, it takes balls to actually fight when you have two vets who will do it for you.”

“I’m used to a life where I have to make my own way,” he said.

“Maybe.” She nodded, then frowned at the dragon. “It’s not my place to make judgment calls, but I think you need to sort your shit out before I trust you with him.”

Aklati hissed and thrust her chest out, before almost immediately deflating.

Ethan nearly reached out to comfort her, but held back. “Lati?”

“Garima screwed me out of my wings while you were in Sol,” the dragon explained, refusing to meet his gaze. “I used them as a collateral to get the cash to enter a big Tryze tournament in his casino. He’s always been good for it, but something’s changed. A couple of rounds in, he disqualified me for some bullshit reason, confiscated my entry money, and kept my wings.”

Ethan and both Hounds narrowed their eyes.

“The job,” Ethan said. “The one he wanted me for. This was always about that, I’m guessing.”

“Didn’t know you were in demand,” Kiels said.

“Neither did I. I’m guessing it’s more that nobody would notice me if I went missing.” Ironically, he suspected Garima wanted him for the same reason Sai picked him for her scheme.

“Yeah, that’s basically it,” Aklati said. “Garima’s absorbed a gang that runs another casino, and he’s getting ideas. The job was to collect a sealed container from a courier that dropped out of foldspace near the Vaelix/Taer border. Given the job’s still available, I’m guessing whatever’s out there is illegal as hell.”

“And probably killed the crew of the courier,” Ethan observed. “Sounds like precursor shit. Or AI. Bad news.”

“The border is weeks away, even with a good Pathbuilder,” Kiels pointed out.

“I don’t plan on taking the job,” he said.

“But… My wings…” Aklati’s eyes widened.

“If you hear me out, we can all be happy, Lati,” he said.

Kiels didn’t react. Reading the opinion either Hound held of Aklati proved difficult.

“Before we arrive, know that anything I tell you can’t be shared with anyone else,” Ethan said. “I trust you, because you’ve shown you deserve it.” He glanced at her cybernetic belly, and she almost instinctively covered it with her hands. “But if you can’t abide by that—”

“I can keep a secret,” she snapped.

“This is a big secret.” Kiels pointed a finger gun at Aklati and pretended to blow her away.

“Oh. That sort of secret.” The dragon shrugged. “Guess you hit gold in Sol if you finally have a job worth threatening me over. That’s serious privateer behavior there.”

“Thanks,” he said drily.

“Which of these puppers have you fucked, by the way? They’re hot, so I’m assuming—”

He cut her off before Kiels could take her up on this line of conversation. “Let’s stay focused. Tell me what else you’ve been up to while I’ve been away.”

The grins on the faces of the Taer told him they would have been more than happy to have engaged in the topic. Avoiding it on the long train trip to their destination took more effort than he preferred.

The complex Kiels spoke of lay in a middle stratum, close to the Union’s military facilities on the station. They’d taken a train to find Aklati and took another back. Between the size of Dominio and its verticality, the automated train shuttles were a necessity. Transit was free outside of busy periods and the trains flew through special tunnels at terrifying speeds. Just like with Earth’s space elevator, psionics limited the G-forces experienced by the passengers.

There wasn’t much to look at when they arrived at their destination. A non-descript security door led to a small lobby occupied by a pair of Faecrim soldiers.

Inside stood an entire apartment complex, complete with a fake outdoor courtyard, simulated skybox, and close to thirty apartments across three levels. Ten per level. Some of the Void Hounds had set up a shooting range in the courtyard. They smoked an odd purple cigarette while chatting and shooting.

Ethan had tried the purple shit once, back when some had been smuggled onto Earth. It was called roke or loke or something. Taking it was like mixing Viagra, a mild sedative, and LSD.

Apparently, most aliens got significantly milder effects. It actually came from the world of a non-humanoid race in Taer territory, where it was apparently burned in sauna-like rooms in large quantities. Not even the Taer possessed the fortitude to survive that level of exposure.

“Oi, knock that shit off,” Kiels snapped at the relaxing Taer. She made a cutting gesture, while another of the Hounds mimed throwing a cigarette to the ground. “We’re taking shifts and have security work to do. The lieutenant will rip your tails out of your asses if she catches you.”

The other Hounds panicked, cursing as they shot to attention while crushing the drugs. Aklati gulped as she soaked in the complex.

Kiels led them to a meeting room on the first floor. Despite the size of the complex, the room appeared almost boring. Various chairs and lounges in odd architecture styles, plus a large table. The Hounds didn’t go inside, but he saw Heafi, Sai, and Yany waiting inside.

A now-familiar fuzziness washed over Ethan’s mind as he stepped inside. Heafi practically teleported to his side with a glass of water. Her horse tail swished behind her rapidly as she pressed a hand against the scratch on his chest.

“You’re hurt,” she gasped.

“Given everyone else is leaking their brains all over a bar, I think I’m doing fine,” he said.

Sai scowled at him as she sashayed over. The floral scent of her perfume tickled his nose as her tail flicked close to his nose when she passed him, and he realized she’d showered and changed. Her new outfit was no less revealing than her usual preferences and featured a long slit from neck to crotch in the fabric. The top of her purple panties peeked out the top.

“So, this is your preference for a military aid?” she asked, eyes scanning Aklati. “Hmm. Not the worst decision, I suppose. Sixteen cycles of experience, mostly active. Special forces. Officer material. Experienced on cruisers through to a battleship, if a small one.” Her eyes narrowed. “Although she’s missing something important.”

Aklati gawped at the fox. “A Vaelix! Ethan, you said you’re not—”

“Working for the Union, yes.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose while swallowing water to reduce his headache. “You said an executor was involved. Here she is. Sailiferia of the Sixteenth Era, meet Aklati… I forget your surname, if you have one.”

“Yinil use the name of the planet, station, or ship they’re born on,” Heafi said helpfully. “Aklati was born on the Kirriae, so her name is Aklati Kirriae.”

“Thanks,” Aklati drawled.

“Ethan, how, exactly, has the Yinil elite you’ve chosen lost her irreplaceable wings? The ones that even I, as a Union executor, would struggle to get my hands on?” Sai asked him.

“The same reason a crime boss shot up the bar to get me to work for him,” he said.

The fox’s eyes narrowed and her tail lowered. She glanced at Yany, who nodded.

“The report from the Void Hounds indicates criminal interest in making Ethan acquire a likely illegal product for them,” Yany said.

Aklati glowered at the women for ignoring her, then stalked over to the fridge. She scowled at the contents. “Where’s the alcohol?”

“It can be acquired if you prove useful,” Sai said.

“A choice I make, Ethan reminded her.

“Yes, yes. But I’d like to remind you that a Yinil with her experience and… lack of assets is easily replaced.” The fox folded an arm below her breasts with a smirk, even though they were roughly the same size as Aklati’s. “There are no shortage of engineers and soldiers.”

“This is about trust.”

The fox huffed and returned to the far side of the room, where she’d lurked when he first walked in.

Shooting him an odd look, Aklati cracked open the alien equivalent to a soda. They used different ingredients, but carbonated beverages that were mostly a bunch of chemicals, flavorings, and sweeteners turned out to be a universal thing.

“So, who’s in charge here?” she asked. “Because I find it hard to believe you’re making an imprint of this furball on your bed tonight, Ethan. No offense.”

“It’s complicated,” he said.

Before Aklati could say some witty rejoinder, he raised a hand to stop her. “Pass me a coke and—”

She tossed him a drink before walking across the room and leaning against the back of a chair. He’d learned long ago coke translated to the alien equivalent to soda, or whatever the word was for their most popular variant. This one tasted like spicy molasses.

“The short version is that I’m the new administrator of the Folimai Rim,” he said. “I’m gathering some help and—”

“Fucking bullshit,” Aklati spat. “The Vaelix have been sitting on the Rim nearly as long as the Yinil have been exploring the stars. I was this tall when they cut it off.” She held her hand up at roughly knee height. “What’s really going on?”

Heafi narrowed her eyes. “Ethan has truly been appointed the next Sovereign Administrator of the Folimai Assocation. I am his Steward, and responsible for escorting him back to the Rim as soon as possible. If it weren’t for his support, I can’t imagine why we’d be wasting time on you.”

“Because Lati is good at shooting things and knows her way around ships,” Ethan said. “More than that, I trust that she won’t shoot me.”

Sai crossed her arms and remained silent, as if unwilling to participate.

Slowly, the dragon began to realize this wasn’t a joke. Her incredulous expression gave way to wide eyes and a slack jaw. Then she grinned and shot across the room. Her metal hands slammed into his shoulders hard enough to leave a bruise.

“<I’m going to lay eggs,> you’re not pulling my tail,” Aklati said, voice so high-pitched she was nearly squealing. “You’re rich! And powerful! And those puppers are your bitches! Fuck me.” She paused, then reddened. Her blush stood out thanks to her dark skin. “Maybe don’t take that too literally.”

“He’s not sharing the money with you,” Sai said.

The dragon whirled on her, then thought better of arguing with the fox, shrugged, and turned back. “So, uh, what’s the job? You own planets. Plural. And your own platoon of hot Taer special forces. They can stop you from getting shot plenty good.”

“The Rim’s a raging wildfire thanks to fifty cycles of neglect and being cut off by the Union,” Ethan said. “I own it, but I need to enforce my property rights, so to speak. Clear out squatters, remind people they owe me rent, establish security. That sort of thing. All the old women who would run the place for me are either dead or untrustworthy. So I need people I can trust.”

Aklati pointed at herself with wide eyes. When he nodded, she bit her lip.

“Okay, um, I like the vibe, but…” She scratched the back of her head with a metal hand. “I take jobs with you because there’s no bullshit, Ethan. The galaxy sucks. Us Yinil get treated like shit by everyone else, and we bite back just as hard. You’re just some privateer from a lesser race…” She winced. “Sorry.”

“I am long used to that,” he said. “But if you only wanted that, you’d have fucked off long ago. I don’t pay the best. Plus, it sounds like you did want my help. Even Garima knew it.”

She opened her mouth, then closed it. Her shoulders hunched and she blushed again. “Fine. Maybe we do trust each other. A little. I figured you’d be the only guy who’d help me get back on my feet, or maybe even get my wings back.”

“On the topic of those wings, where are they?” Sai pressed.

Ethan cut in before Aklati could say something foolish. “In the hands of the casino boss who tried to take me out. To me, the issue is simple. Lati, are you interested in coming out to the Rim with me? This isn’t really a job. Heafi lives in the Rim. Sai… is basically the Union official overseeing the transfer, which got a lot more complicated. I don’t need an escort. I need the equivalent of a military right-hand. You know the navy. You know guns, and engineering. But it’s a long-term thing. Cycles. Tens of cycles.”

“A lifetime, I’m betting.” Aklati placed one hand on her hip and the other on his head. She grinned at him. “I bailed on the military because they wanted to use me up and leave me nothing. You’ve offered me jobs and money even when I’m at my worst. I’d be stupid to fly away from this, just so I can mope around Dominio and struggle to pay for booze and rent. Get my wings back and you’ll have me for as long as they have power.”

“I hope you have a spare charging cable,” Sai said bitterly.

“Then if you know where Garima is keeping your wings, we’ll help you get them back,” Ethan said. “After that, we’re off to the Rim.”

- - - - -

Commentary: I'm kind of a mess in terms of writing right now, so I'm working on this while I get my bearings. I still want to get back to Mob 5 and finish it ASAP, though.

Otherwise, the response to this was vastly more positive than I expected. I wasn't sure what to expect, especially for a series with such heavy worldbuilding as you get in a scifi series. I guess we'll see if I can keep that momentum.

Hope you enjoy Lati's intro.