The treble notes of a bosun's whistle echoed through the hallway, reverberating in the shocked silence. A neutral female voice broadcast over the speakers in unaccented English. "Confirmed, command transfer to ranking officer aboard. Command authorization given to Major Anja Tam."

The priest's mouth worked soundlessly as he backed away, but the head officer stalked towards the two women in a fit of rage. "How dare you!" he bellowed, gesticulating incoherently. "What was that voice, what did it say? What lies have you told to the Guardians?"

"How dare I?", hissed Anja through a rictus grin, her eyes sparkling. "You think your guardians will come to strike me down? Who do you think you're talking to, bug?"

The officer stuttered as Anja stepped towards him, but Jesri slid in between them with her hands raised. "Okay, hi everyone! Let's just call this one a draw for today." She fixed Anja with a look. "We have places to be."

Anja stepped back with a shrug, the fire dying away. "No fun," she pouted, "but you have a point." She gave the officer a smile that stopped a million miles away from her eyes, then spoke in a raised voice: "Release security barrier!"

The haze of light surrounding the two dropped. The assembled crowd murmured in shock while Anja brushed stray strands of hair back under her hood, static snapping from the dispelled field. "Honestly," she muttered, "I had forgotten how much of a pain this was. Shall we?" The two stepped away from the stunned Kita, the crowd parting to permit them passage.

"Stop right there," howled the officer from behind them. "You will not escape punishment for this outrage!" Jesri sighed, and looked over to find Anja working on the beginnings of a smile. "Let me," said Jesri wearily. "You'll just get all worked up again."

Pivoting to face the head officer, Jesri blurred into motion before he could so much as shift his weight to react. She crossed the distance between them in two steps. Her leg kicked out, the ball of her foot crunching wetly through the joint of his foreleg and driving down to the floor. Jesri caught him mid-fall and held his screaming face up next to hers by the scruff of his neck. His breath stank as he hyperventilated, keening softly. "Listen, shitstain," she spat, "right now I'm the only thing keeping that one over there from hate-fucking your corpse into thin paste." She dropped him to the floor in a heap, wiping her hand on his jacket. "Stop us again. See what happens."

She strolled away from the quivering Kita towards Anja, who was clapping her hands in mock applause. "Station Indomitable," she said, "Captain Jesri Tam, TNMC Three Five Seven Two Sierra Four. Officer authorization, please."

"Confirmed," replied the station, "Jesri Tam has been registered."

"Remove all currently allocated guest authorizations. Grant level five guest authorization and VIP protected status to-" She paused, casting her gaze around the crowd of onlookers. She pointed directly at one of the Uen fruit vendors, who shrank away from her in terror. "-that Uen." She winked at it, then clapped her hand on Anja's shoulder. "Come on, let's go."

The two walked back towards Jesri's docking slip, the crowd making no attempt to follow them. Anja shook her head. "That poor Uen," she cooed, "that was a mean trick to play."

Jesri laughed. "Nah, they'll pay him so much to reallocate the access that he'll forget pissing himself on the decking."

Anja quirked an eyebrow. "Won't they just strongarm it out of him?" A bright flash of light came from behind them, followed by a strangled Kitan scream. "Oh, right," she mused. "VIP protected status."

They rounded the bulkhead separating slip 49 from the main docking ring and stopped short. Jesri's hands twitched, and her good mood from minutes ago vanished. "What the fuck," she seethed, "did those Kita bastards do to my ship?!"

Anja looked at the scattered hull plating and the dismounted primary engines, then over towards the reactor stack leaning precariously against the docking clamps. "Enhanced customs inspection?", she proffered innocently, earning herself a murderous look in response. Jesri growled softly, then stalked towards her ship. "I'm going to grab some things," she shouted back. "Secure another ship!"

"Ugh," moped Anja unhappily, scanning nearby berths for an alternative. Indomitable's docking bays had certainly seen more dignified days. Sweeping, precise arcs of metal formed the individual slips, marred by crumbling dark stalactites deposited by millenia of drive plumes washing over the bay. Most of the ships docked here were blundering scows docked two or three to a slip, as even the largest ones sat laughably miniscule against the military-scale bays. A few were refitted civilian pleasure ships, patched up with a haphazard mix of parts that looked questionably spaceworthy and decorated with garish colors.

Her gaze swept over to a small freighter docked two berths down from Jesri's wrecked craft. It was a mess, like all the others, but there was a certain care evident in the patchwork that the others lacked. The drives were recessed and enclosed, the trim understated and professional, and its extensively patched hull nevertheless was clean of any accretions or corrosion. She spotted a lone Htt ambling past the ship and gave it an energetic wave of her hand. It waved back hesitantly, and she strode over to meet it with a friendly smile.

Jesri stalked out of her ruined ship with thunderclouds trailing after her, having supplemented her light pack with a larger duffel-style bag. She spotted Anja standing farther down the docks, talking quietly with a Htt. She stood up as Jesri approached, waving cheerily. "Sister!", she shouted, "This one has agreed to offer us use of his ship!" Jesri looked at the glossy black insectoid alien, who was shaking like a leaf.

"Uh-huh," she said dryly. "I'm sure he's just thrilled to be of service." She dropped down to the Htt's aggregate eye level, smiling. Several of its eyes swiveled to track her face, but others remained fixed on Anja. "Hi, I'm Captain Jesri Tam of the Terran Naval Marines," she said smoothly, as if soothing a spooked horse. "Despite what my companion may or may not have said, letting us use your ship is voluntary and you will be compensated appropriately if you accept, both for time lost and any damage incurred."

The Htt stammered, its mandibles clattering together. "No, m-ma'am, happy to have you aboard!"

Jesri sighed. "Well," she said, "I'm not going to try to talk you out of it. What's your name, Captain?"

"Qktk," it rattled.

"Kikt-", she coughed, her throat catching on the staccato consonants. "No, damn, that's difficult without mandibles," Jesri muttered. "Does 'Kick' work for short?" She received a brief nod, which she returned. "Great! Let’s get moving." The trio moved down the slip and up the ship ramp, entering the somewhat cramped confines of the ship. Unlike the endless, lofty hallways of the transit hub, the ship was a dense knot of rust-red corridors and gantries, the ceiling barely tall enough for the two to walk upright. Hot, dry air pulsed from the environmental systems, and the bass rumble of an idling reactor stack permeated every surface.

Anja strolled down the corridor and quickly vanished from sight towards the aft of the ship. Rolling her eyes, Jesri turned back to Qktk. "We'll need to make best time spinward, more or less. Who runs the port in Harsi these days?"

Qktk shook his head apologetically. "We’ve never docked there, so I'm not sure."

Jesri shrugged. "Well, I'm sure we'll manage. How soon-" She stopped, hearing a noise from the back. "Kick, did you have any other crew?"

"Yes ma'am," Qktk replied with a nod. "My artificer, Rhuar." He stiffened in alarm as a high-pitched squeal came from the aft corridors. "Will your companion-"

Jesri was already moving towards the rear. "Your crewman will be fine," she said. "Probably."

The two followed the muffled noises towards the main cargo hold of the ship, where Anja sat on the grated decking happily stroking the fur of a very irritated-looking dog with one hand. Her legs and free hand twined around her captive in a painless, efficient submission hold. The dog was covered in short black fur, lustrous where it wasn't caked with dust or grease. A silver metal exoskeleton ran down his spine, wrapping around his torso and down each of his four legs. At his throat, a small vocalizer crackled when it saw Qktk.

"Captain Qktk," he buzzed, pronouncing the name precisely. "What the fuck?"

The Htt gave a clattering sigh. "Ma'am, could you please..." He motioned towards Anja, who had begun scratching under the dog's chin.

Jesri sighed. Life had been so simple this morning. "Anja, come on."

Anja frowned, but released the dog. He scrambled away, straightening up and glaring at her, his fur rising along either side of his exoskeleton.

"Rhuar, this is Anja and Jesri," Qktk said. "They've requested use of our vessel for an important errand."

Rhuar shook himself and tossed his head to the side. "And you said yes? Respectfully, Captain-" he trailed off and stared at Jesri as she removed her hood, then looked back at Anja as she did the same. His ears went flat back to his head. "Holy fuck,” he said, “you two are human."

Qktk’s eyes darted in several directions at once, bouncing between Anja, Jesri and Rhuar. “Don’t be silly,” he squeaked nervously. “Madam Jesri said they were Terran, not human. Terran Naval Marines.”

“Terran Naval-” Rhuar’s ears twitched rapidly and he rocked back onto his hindquarters. “Captain Qktk, it’s been great. Have fun on your trip! I’m getting off here.” The dog trotted over to a pile of gear against the bulkhead, cleverly hidden manipulators extending from his exoskeleton at the shoulders and forearms. Donning a toolbelt and satchel, he shot one last look at a speechless Qktk before shaking his head and rushing through the door.

Jesri sighed. “Great.” She turned towards Qktk, spreading her hands apologetically. “Of course we’ll provide extra compensation-”

A startled yelp from outside cut her off, followed by the staccato clap of automatic weapons fire ablating the hull. Both women had produced sidearms from the folds of their clothing and were flanking the entry when the ship hatch slammed shut with a massive clang. A second later, a dark blur came tearing in through the cargo hold from aforeships. Qktk shrieked in panic as a speeding dog collided with him, sending him to the floor in a tangle of legs.

“Captain!” yelled Rhuar, his vocalizer blaring panic. “There’s an armed group of Kita outside the ship! Why-” He stopped as he looked back at Jesri and Anja, still bracketing the door. “Oh, right. Oh, we are super fucked.”

Jesri slipped over and hauled Qktk to his feet. “I hate to rush, but we should probably be leaving now.” The hail of fire intensified and Rhuar howled mournfully, shaking his head. “We can’t!”, he wailed. “The docking clamps are still engaged, we’d rip the ship in half if we tried to leave.”

Jesri’s sidearm disappeared into the folds of her cloak as she grabbed a spare piece of plating from a bin. She braced it against her forearm, then nodded and turned to Anja. “Okay,” she muttered rapidly, “if you cover me I can get outside the ship and release the clamps. This scrap won’t hold up for long, but it should give me enough cover to-”

Anja shook her head and touched two fingers behind her ear. The ship rattled as the clamps disengaged along its length. Jesri’s eyebrows shot up, and she dropped the scrap she was holding. “Your embedded comm is still working? Why were you using the voice interface earlier?”

Anja shrugged. “It was funny.” The barrage of fire stopped suddenly, and the two shared a look. “That’s probably not good.”

Rhuar pulled up an external feed, which resolved to show several Kita wrestling a mounted gun into place. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck,” he whined, a high-pitched noise rising in his throat. “Oh, we are super double fucked.” Qktk seemed to have gone catatonic, his mandibles twitching spasmodically.

Jesri studied the gun as a burly Kita slammed a power conduit into the base. “Yeah, Anja, we should probably do something about that.”

Anja nodded, craning her neck to look at the feed. “The riot control system, do you think, or… Oh, wait, we’re in the dock.” She giggled and cocked her head.

“Hey, wait!”, yelled Jesri, her eyes widening. “We’re-”

The retention fields stretching across the outer dock snapped off, exposing the clear starfield beyond. So massive were the docking slips that it took a second or two before any change was felt at the near end. A sudden rush of air picked up debris, cargo, Kita and one large mounted gun, tossing the lot in a maelstrom down the length of the docks. The unfortunate Kita were left floating, helpless in a strangely calm spray of glittering debris and rapidly sublimating ice crystals.

None of the occupants of the freighter witnessed any of this, as they too were ejected unceremoniously from the docks in a tumble. Every unsecured object in the cargo bay was slammed against the fore bulkhead, then again to the floor as the ship detected the gravity drop and engaged its own generators.

Anja winced as she picked herself up from where the sudden acceleration had slammed her against the bulkhead. Jesri, Rhuar and Qktk were lying in a heap several meters away. She limped over, favoring her left leg. “Sister, are you ok?”

Jesri was sprawled facedown on the decking. “Hey, wait,” she said in a muffled monotone. “We’re not clamped in anymore, so venting the docks is a bad idea.” She flopped over onto her back. “So glad we have these chats. I’m good.”

Rhuar spat static and profanity from beneath Qktk’s tangle of legs. “I’m so happy to hear the fuckin mythical super soldier is feeling well. I’m fine too.” He winced, stretching his back. “Captain, you alive?”

“Kkkhh,” drooled the dazed Htt. His eyes stared aimlessly across the cargo bay, pointing in a dozen different directions. His chitin was cracked and oozing a clear fluid across the top of his head.

Anja bent down, her brow furrowing. “Artificer, does the ship have a medbay?”

“Yeah,” grunted the dog, shaking his head dazedly. “Fore, then port. Green placard.”

Anja nodded, then scooped up Qktk in her arms. “Come on, squished bug,” she cooed.

Rhuar watched them go, then turned to where Jesri was picking herself up off the floor. “So, uh,” he said sidelong, “am I going to see him again?”

Jesri laughed. “Oh, don’t worry about him. Anja may be a bit scattered these days, but she’s still a professional when it counts.”

The dog snorted. “A professional what? Don’t feed me some bullshit about the Terran Marines. I don’t know which viz drama you two fell out of, but there haven’t been Terrans or a Terra for a long-ass time.”

Jesri gave him a sober look. “I can’t deny it. There aren’t many of us left, and those of us that are… Well, not all of us are still Marines.” She stood up, stretching her back. “I stopped being one a long time ago. But we could only walk away because we knew there would always be someone to welcome us home. Earth still lives as long as Anja does.” She sighed. “At least, that’s what I like to think.”

Rhuar was at a loss for words, so he simply sat with Jesri and watched the display for a long minute. Twinkling debris and twisted metal spun lazily in the void, the vast expanse of the transit station consuming half the sky in a bulk of blackened, radiation-scored paneling.

Jesri cracked her neck noisily, then turned to Rhuar. “We should probably leave before they find a ship with a gun on it,” she said. “Kick’s out of commission, do you need my help to fly this thing?”

Rhuar laughed, which was a strange affair of natural chuffing noises with tones from his vocalizer overlaid. “Lady, I don’t let the captain anywhere near the controls. Where are we going?”

“Harsi,” she said.

Rhuar’s ears drooped. “Oh, fuckin great. We’re all going to die.”