Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as Gloria entered hyperspace.

"Good job, everyone," Sheila said. "Good thing we had those detonator packs handy, eh Chief?"

"Ha, ha," the Chief replied, "Bite me."

"You know-"

"Yeah," the Chief said, cutting her off, "I'll take care of it."

"See that you do," Sheila replied. "She's had a pretty rough time and really didn't need you taking a shit all over her. We've shit on her enough for one lifetime as it is."

"I said I'd take care of it, Jesus," the Chief said as he turned away. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have a lot to do before she gets back."

The Chief started to stomp off.

"Hey, Chief?"

"Yeah?"

"Exactly how available are detailed instructions concerning the selection, assembly, and calibration of detonators for nuclear ordnance?"

"You noticed that too, huh?" the Chief replied, "It isn't, and instructions on how to 'slam-load' the packs isn't written down anywhere, except for where they say that you can get court-martialed for it."

"She did that?"

"Oh yeah," the Chief replied. "Gloria was really happy, too. Thought I did it. Wants all of them done that way, and I have no idea how."

"Hmm..." Sheila mused, "Bunny."

"Yeah, boss?"

"How well represented are the Plath as far as Federation military and intelligence concerned?"

"They aren't," Bunny replied. "Not a single one, and I've checked everything we grabbed."

"Run a full diagnostic and malware check," Sheila said calmly. "Double check all logs and cameras starting the second Sheloran came aboard. Anything she has touched other than herself gets scanned and another diagnostic."

"You got it, boss."

Sheila turned to The Chief.

"Let's go have a chat with our new friend."

***

Sheloran and Eno were sitting in the mess hall having a snack when Sheila and The Chief walked in.

"Really?" Sheloran giggled.

"Yup," Eno laughed. "There I was with my-"

He fell silent as he glared at The Chief.

"Um, Sheloran," The Chief said as he walked up, "Sorry I bit your head off. It was unprofessional and an all-around shitty thing to do."

"It's ok," Sheloran replied. "I appreciate the apology. Thanks."

"Especially since it turns out that you were right and I was wrong," The Chief continued, "The orange-red's were the right detonator controllers, and Gloria even wanted the mass proximity sensor heads. Me being an asshole was shitty, but I'm cool with that. Me being dead wrong and not listening to you was unforgivable and impacted the mission. It won't happen again."

"Um… ok..." Sheloran said, a bit overwhelmed.

"You do have to sort of see where The Chief was coming from, though," Sheila said as she fetched a beer from the fridge. "A civilian, and a foreigner to boot, just starts throwing together the detonator controller packages for nuclear weapons?"

"I'm sorry if I overstepped," Sheloran said sheepishly. "It was just that everyone was so busy, and I was just so happy that they let me help. I guess I got a little carried away."

"Maybe just a little," Sheila smiled. "So, tell me, how, exactly, did you know the exact det-pacs to assemble, and how exactly did you know how to slam-load them?"

"Um, I really don't know-" Sheloran started to say.

"I wasn't asking," Sheila said as her hand rested on her sidearm. "Tell me, right now, how a fucking bank teller knows classified details concerning our nuclear weapons program." she smiled as Jacob, Lorna, and Mike, all in combat armor and armed with combat shotguns, entered the room.

Sheloran's eyes widened.

Oh, poop...

***

Later that evening, Craxina snuggled in closer as she cuddled with Bryce.

"That was wonderful!" she purred as she gave his ear a little affectionate lick.

Bryce smiled and gently stroked her fur, sending little shivers of delight down Craxina's spine.

"Thanks for coming," he said, "you didn't have to, you know. I would have understood if you didn't, with all of your family and friends showing up and everything."

"I was going to cancel," she said, "but I started thinking about how lonely you were and how awful that feels. I couldn't enjoy myself knowing that you were here all alone."

"I'm a big boy," Bryce chuckled. "I would have been just fine. You should be with your people."

"They aren't going anywhere," Craxina said as she wrapped her little arms around him. "And they all have each other. They can do without me for a couple of hours, and you needed me. You needed this," she said as she started squeezing him tightly.

"What are you doing?" he laughed.

"Squeezing the sad out!" Craxina exclaimed as she buried her face into his chest and continued to hug.

"I'm not sad," Bryce smiled, "especially not now."

Craxina stopped hugging him and looked into his eyes.

"Bryce," she said, "I am surrounded by people who smile and laugh all the time. Some of them are actually happy, but a lot of them aren't. Deep down, they are very sad inside, just like you. I pretend not to notice, but I hate it, that sadness. I fucking hate it. It's my enemy, and I know my enemy."

"Do you now," Bryce smiled.

"There it is again!" Craxina growled and hugged him again. "I'm going to make it go away! You'll see."

Bryce sighed and stroked Craxina's fur.

I seriously doubt that, he thought to himself as he stared at the ceiling.

***

A few hours later, Bryce was still staring at the ceiling as Craxina snored softly into his armpit.

He looked over at her and smiled gently as he stroked her, causing her to make happy little snortles.

He got up.

"Murrph?"

"I just have to go to the bathroom," he said quietly as he picked up his phone. "I'll be right back."

He walked into the bathroom and locked the door.

Sitting on the toilet, he activated his neural implant's wireless function and connected to the phone.

A ghostly humanoid appeared, the image fed directly into his occipital lobe.

"Checking in," he said silently through the link.

"Transmission received," the image replied. "Unfortunately, you are four minutes too early for this to count as your official check-in."

"A pain in the ass as always, Tart," Bryce replied as he smiled. "Put me through to Pam."

"It is outside of Pam's working hours."

"She will want to talk to me. It's mission-related."

"Since it is mission-related, I am allowed to attempt to contact her," Tartarus replied. "I am generating the necessary forms now…."

Pam's face appeared.

"Enjoying the petting zoo?" she asked with a grin.

Bryce smiled pleasantly as he swallowed back a flash of anger that surprised him.

"Intensely," he replied smoothly, "but this is a dead-end. These people know absolutely nothing. As much as I am enjoying the freaky xeno sex, I'm wasting my time here. I should bail, and we should focus on electronic surveillance of her lawyer."

Pam raised an eyebrow.

"Unlike you to want to come in early," she said with a smirk, "is the freaky a little too freaky for your tastes?"

"Actually, the freaky is pretty damn good," he replied, knowing that Pam would keep him at it if she thought it was making him uncomfortable, "It's just that it's a complete waste of time. There are far more productive targets for me to be working than some star town whore."

"Sheloran's 'family' means more to her than anything," Pam replied. "When she resurfaces, they will be the first people she reaches out to."

"I disagree," Bryce said calmly. "The fact that they mean so much to her ensures that she will not get them further involved. I doubt they will ever see or hear from her again. Her lawyer, however, is another matter. She WILL contact him and soon. That's one thing that I have learned. This Baxlon fellow is at the heart of the whole operation, and Sheloran relies on him heavily."

"We have Baxlon covered," Pam said in a matter-of-fact tone, "the second she gets in contact with him, we will know. Stay on the whore. Get closer to her. They will be running into trouble soon, and when they do, Sheloran is very likely to reappear. She won't be able to stop herself."

"Trouble?" Bryce asked.

Pam's face twisted into a cruel grin.

"It's going to be nasty," she said as she laughed with delight. "The Harkeen lost some major face when this whole thing went viral, and they are NOT happy about it. They've gathered up their forces on this side of the blockade and are going to make an example out of the Freeport in general and Sheloran's people in particular. I've read the emails. Sheloran will come, trust me. That reminds me," Pam said calmly, "They have something special planned for Craxina. You might want to start working on a few spares, maybe that gerbil they ran a train on? She isn't one of the whores, so she will probably won't disappear."

"Disappear?"

"Yeah, they are going to grab the whores, 'teach them a lesson', and put them back to work, under somewhat less pleasant circumstances, of course. Keep them around as examples of what happens when you cross them, you know. Get close to whoever escapes."

"Of course," Bryce said with a cool smile.

Pam disappeared.

Bryce's eyebrow twitched slightly.

"Tartarus," he said over his neural link.

"Yes, Bryce?"

"Can I check in now?"

***

Craxina looked up at him with a sleepy smile as he returned to bed and snuggled up close to him.

He gently stroked her fur.

"Uh oh," she said as she clung to him. "Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze… squeeeeeeeezzzzzzzeeee..." she said as she hugged him tight.

Bryce stared at the ceiling as he wrapped his arm around her.