“If a new species enters a foreign environment, it either fails to adapt, or runs rampant unchecked. There are only very few cases in which the newcomer fits in without problems.”

***Pirate Base, Virtil Station***

***Antioch***

“It’s huge!”

“Is that important?”

“Ahem. Yes? The bigger, the better.”

“You don’t have to say it like that. It’s just a pirate base,” I mumble. What’s so good about a big space station on an asteroid? It looks worse than my ship. Silith never acted that impressed when she saw the Chimera. Now, she is sticking to the display screens like a little child.

Seriously, the whole thing is rather unimpressive to me. Anyone can hollow out an asteroid and build a station inside it. Worse, the station was clearly built without a plan. They simply added stuff as they needed it. I would even say the thing is in danger of falling apart at any moment.

“Could you move aside and sit down in the co-pilot’s chair? I can’t see if you smother your face against the screen.” I lean forward and pull her away from the console with all the instruments, causing her to fall into the chair next to mine.

She huffs and crosses her arms in front of her chest, but stays seated. “I don’t get why the bridge can’t be closer to the hull. We could have a nice and big window instead of a large screen.”

I glance at her. “First, having the vital part of the ship that exposed is just asking to die. What happens if some micrometeorite punches through the window and hits us? Secondly, that screen is almost as good as a real window, and it has magnification. Most of the time, things in space are so far away that you can’t even see them with the naked eye. So, why should we place the cockpit close to the hull?”

“I understand, but don’t you understand how romantic it would be to have a real observation platform? We could sit there and look at the stars.” Silith wriggles in her chair, showing that she really likes her idea.

I just raise both eyebrows. “Why would I want to expose myself to cosmic radiation?”

She presses her lips together. “I already told you that radiation isn’t a problem for us. The nanotech is constantly repairing the damage.”

“Even if it causes just a bad sunburn, I won't do it willingly. If we really rebuilt the ship, we can think about a way for you to watch the stars, but not without proper protections.” I return my attention to the controls, where a green light indicates that we are being hailed. “They are calling us. Are you ready for your act?”

“Oh, now it’s my act?” she asks and pulls the hood over her head, then adding the breathing mask to further obscure her face.

Both of us changed our skin-colour to violet and covered our whole bodies in heavy robes, leaving only the faces exposed. We also constructed a mixture between a helmet and a wig to make it look like our heads are longer than they actually are. The whole charade is supposed to give others the impression that we are Uhrr, a humanoid species which is spread all over known space. The Uhrr are supposed to be morally flexible, which makes it believable that we are simply two individuals on the wrong side of the law.

Our facial features don’t quite fit the Uhrr, but between the wigs and the hoods, we hope that we simply seem like one of the countless sub-races which are a part of the species. There are also the breathing masks which are supposed to make it harder to identify our features.

“It was your idea.” I activate the connection, and the face of a Vendevellan appears on the screen.

He doesn’t waste any time. “Purpose?”

Silith’s demeanour changes completely, and somehow she manages to get that slight slur into her voice which is a trademark of the Uhrr’s vocal apparatus. “Getting rid of some goods, making some purchases. We don’t want to stay for longer than necessary. Two or three days at the most.”

“Each docking port costs rent. You are going to pay in goods. Two tons of processed heavy water, or its equivalent in other materials,” the Vendevellan replies matter of factly.

We don’t have that stuff. Though, we must have more than enough to pay the bills. I quickly try to think of something among all the stuff which I gathered from the two transporters and the pirate ships.

My companion waves her hand dismissively, making sure that the gesture shows up in the camera. “That’s thievery! One ton!”

The answer comes without hesitation. “We don’t know your ship, so you are going to pay insurance.”

“This station was recommended to us, so we know what to expect. If you give us a port in an unsavoury part of the station, I will come for you and kill you myself. Assuming that we pay the price, we want a port with security, so that we don’t get molested while entering and leaving the ship! If you ask extra, there is no deal!”

I hold my breath an am very still while the Vendevellan studies us through the screen. It takes several moments before he answers. “Port five-fourteen. It has direct access to the station’s trading section. So, you won’t have to walk through the lower levels.” He waits for a moment. When Silith doesn’t object, he continues, “The coordinates and a map of the station are attached to this communication.”

Silith nods and reaches for the controls, cutting off the connection.

I let out my breath and turn to face her. “How did you know what to say?”

She shrugs. “The pirate database. I searched through their communications and studied their interactions with the station’s port-control. They visited just three times, but it was enough to know what’s expected.”

“Phew, I didn’t think of that. I expected our plan to fail before we even reach the station. Maybe some sort of identification process, or that they recognize the pieces of the pirate ship.” I lean back in my chair.

Silith just tilts her head, which looks really funny beneath the robe. “Really? Identification? They are pirates, outlaws, not some sort of local government. Why should they care who docks at their port as long as they get the money?”

I wet my lips, trying to think of a reply. To my annoyance I don’t find one. “I guess that you are right.”

It takes me half an hour to go through the docking procedure. The problem isn't the incoming ships, but the shuttles which belong to the station. Many people on the pirate base seem to show off their wealth by entertaining their own little taxi-enterprise.

After a few almost-collisions with those little traffic hazards, the Chimera finally attaches itself to one of the station’s airlocks. Silith and I are already waiting there when the first hatch opens, floating in zero gravity.

“The bots are set to protect the ship. Are you sure that we shouldn’t take a few of them with us?” I check the plasma gun one last time and hide the weapon beneath my robe. Silith is armed with the same one, but I have a few more items up my sleeve. Before I accepted the risk of entering a hellhole like this pirate base, I armed myself with every weapon I could handle. If they searched me, it would result in a sizeable pile of guns and knives.

Even though I don't have the slightest idea how to use most of the equipment, I have the hope that my superior speed and strength will counteract the weakness.

“It would raise too many questions. While I don’t think that bodyguard-bots fall under the A.I. restrictions, or that any of these outlaws would give a shit, I hope that we can do this low profile. Go in, make the acquisitions, and go out without any memorable fuss.” She tilts her head and turns to face me. “Before we go in there, would you consider to establish a connection with me. I know that it requires a great deal of trust, but it would be reassuring to have a safe way to communicate.”

“A connection?” I ask and raise an eyebrow. “I am not sure that I know what you mean.”

“I thought about it while I was working with the network. The nanotech inside us allows us to connect relatively effortlessly to any computer network.” She blushes as if she is making a proposal. “What’s stopping us from establishing a direct connection with each other?”

I bite my lower lip. “There is no obvious reason, aside from the fact that we essentially give each other a back-door into our minds. Who knows what someone with advanced hacking skills is capable of? For all we know, our minds, our personalities, are nothing more than very sophisticated computer programs.” I look at her, trying to decide if one month is enough to judge a person.

Pulling down the corners of my mouth, I remember that I am clearly not good at understanding people. I knew Ouluk for my whole life, but it still wasn’t enough to realize that he would cast me aside the first opportune moment. If I go by that, I shouldn’t trust anyone ever again. At least Silith is the same as me in that regard. We are in the same boat. “I trust you. I just have no idea how to go about it.”

“Maybe we should make up our own protocol so that nobody can listen in. You also like math, right?” She reaches out and offers me her hand, where a silvery patch indicates the possibility of a direct connection.

I take her delicate hand, sheltering it within my own. My hands are much larger than her slender ones. On my palm is a very similar connection pad which grew during the last month since I picked my new skills.

The connection is established and I become aware of another presence. It’s very similar to the connection which I have with my Nano-Workers. When I concentrate, I realize that it is Silith. We stand there, somehow allowing our instincts to create a unique communication-algorithm. The protocol includes a complex handshake of math and thoughts.

It’s a beautiful way to communicate, and I realize that this may be the true language of our people. Who needs to vocalize his thoughts when we can simply think to communicate our desires?

‘It works!’ Silith smiles and starts jumping in joy.

‘Indeed.’ I also smile. Somehow, I dread the thought of letting go of her hand, maybe losing this new intimacy between the two of us. It feels like our relationship just made another step towards an intimate bond. We continue testing the connection with a little idle chit-chat. Sending complex data turns out to be a pain in the ass, but we adjust our protocol to include subconscious data transmissions.

In the end, I reluctantly let go of her hand and realize that we stood there just for a few seconds, yet, it felt like hours.

Silith sighs and pats her side, making sure that her own plasma gun is within easy reach. “Let’s do this!”

I nod and step with her into the airlock. The station's gravity field pulls us down to the floor. After closing the hatch behind us, we step out onto the other side where we are greeted by a furry creature with a long nose and sharp canines. It’s humanoid, but its limbs are all backwards.

The thing rattles something before an amulet around its neck proclaims in the intergalactic language, “Welcome to Virtil Station. At least the part which is reserved for mid-sized oxygen breathers. Do you have the payment?”

Silith steps forward and takes over. She reveals a small notepad, trying to give the impression that she can’t quote our whole cargo list from memory. The two of them start haggling while I survey the area. We are in a wide hallway which seems to run along the entire asteroid.

There are several large blast-doors which are supposedly designed to compartmentalize the various docking stations. The wall towards the inside of the asteroid is transparent and allows a nice view of the hollow insides of the station.

It’s a maze of twisting gangways and compartments. A city without ground or skyline which is twisting in on itself, various structures almost trying to eat one another. I shudder at the pure, unplanned chaos without any sense of effectiveness or design. There is enough space for over ten thousand people here, though I assume that the actual population numbers are far higher.

I return my attention to Silith, glad that she is the one who has to deal with the thing. I test out the ground, noticing that this station somehow has gravity without a spinning ring or cylinder. That's one technology we definitely have to get.

Finally, they agree on a price and Silith returns into the ship to instruct two repair-drones to unload the cargo. While she is gone, I have a silent staring contest with the clerk. When the alien looks away upon Silith’s return with the goods, I count it as my win. The clerk leaves without further ado after two of the station's bots took the goods away.

Then we are free to explore this new environment.