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A very packed chapter, nearly 10,000 words long. I just didn't want this arc to be more than three chapters, so... enjoy!

Katel's investigation quickly heats up, vague suspicions turning suddenly into terrible revelations.

Prax’s stoic expression did not change. “Sir, you don’t understand. Your freedoms have been violated without cause, we can’t stand by in good conscience.”

---

Sella and Walf stepped off the airlock together, nodded to one another, and went separate ways.
Sella strolled along the promenade, smiling as she passed the S-Com Foundry, remembering the previous day. As she strolled along, trying her best to look non-suspicious, she admired the heavy architecture of the station. Its curving lines led the eye down to the strip lights that lined the floor, which was a gray carpet. In fact the walls were all blacks, grays and other muted colors. It gave the station a gloomy feel, but the neon from the various shops served to liven things up a little. She was lost in the lines of the walls and nearly bumped into a man. “Oh! Excuse me…”
The man was Human, and neither of them were wearing translators. Lucky, he responded in Atriean. “You’re good.”
She hesitated at his odd phrasing but quickly stepped out of the man’s way when she noticed he was a repairman. She turned and walked to a nearby food stand, distractedly ordering whatever the Human was serving (it took her a few tries to remember the English word for “please”) as she secretly watched the repairs. She took out her scanner and swept it in the airlock’s direction a couple times. It spat an error at her, as her sensitivity settings were too high and, as the device made sure to inform her, she would need to move closer for a successful scan. “Excuse me!”
She whirled, startled by the vendor. “Yes?”
He spoke in a deep voice, and after a moment Sella realized he was asking her if she wanted toppings. She shook her head, but reconsidered, pointing to the red bottle on the counter. He went back to preparing her food while she walked a short distance from the stall, leaning on the wall next to the warning tape. This time, the scan completed normally and she caught a glimpse of the data on screen. She could tell all she needed from this. “Hey!”
She jumped, thinking the shout came from one of the repairmen, but it was the vendor again. She accepted the food (a fried tube of meat in a piece of bread) and paid the man in credits. He seemed unused to handling the currency, but he did have a stash of credits in his register, as Sella heard the magnets clicking together when he dropped part of the bill in. He handed her back her change and she left.

Walf wasn’t having as much luck. He stopped to talk to a particularly unfriendly Atriean woman who seemed to be in a hurry, then spent the next hour walking the promenade and not finding anyone who looked even remotely talkative. That, in itself, did tell him something. Everyone seemed very reserved, which gave the station an unusually silent and unsettling air. This silence was dispelled when he heard shouting coming from nearby, just around the corner. He found a many-armed man (Walf was only partially sure it was a man) yelling at a Solar Federation officer. The second Walf rounded the corner, three of the man’s arms shot towards him. “That’s him! All furry and… or was he white?”
The Solar Federation officer was a Second Lieutenant, and looked rather bothered. He glanced at Walf, plainly showing his annoyance before beckoning. Walf’s mind was already working on how to deal with this. The officer was very dark skinned, and Walf mused to himself that, if the man had a muzzle and fur, he’d look a lot like Walf’s own father, who’s fur was a near match for this man’s skin. “Hello, Sargent Walf at your service.”
“Second Lieutenant Turner. This man claims an Atriean thief stole something of his… What was it, sir?”
“A Fisolite crystal! A nice little number I got at auction, but it’s been stolen! By one of your guys!”
Walf laughed. “Ha! A military officer stealing jewelry? Are you sure it wasn’t a civilian you saw?”
“No!”
“Can you recall their face?”
“Yes! One was brown, and uh… one was black. There were three of them!”
“What color was the third?”
“White? Or was it speckled…”
Lieutenant Turner leaned in. “He told me different five minutes ago. I think he’s having us on.”
Walf clasped one of the man’s hands, hoping he had correctly remembered which ones he was allowed to touch. Alien relations was one of his worst subjects in the academy. “I’ll talk to the crew, after all I am chief of security! If any of them have it, I’ll find it!”
This seemed to appease the man, who put on what looked like a grin. “Fine! Alright, good sirs, I’ll leave you to your business.”
He turned and sauntered back into his shop. The Lieutenant sighed with relief. “God, I thought he’d never be satisfied. I tried to explain that I was off duty, but he just wouldn’t stop talking! Thanks, Sargent!”
“Not a problem.” Walf said, glancing towards the door. “So, what makes you think he was lying?”
This seemed to take the man off guard somewhat. “Uh, I didn’t exactly say that…”
“You said he was having you on, yes?”
“Yeah, but he’s just an attention seeker, you know? He likes to talk.”
Walf nearly laughed at the man’s lack of insight. The Devorrite people had a notoriously shifting memory. They usually only produced accurate recollections of things after the memory had been given time to “settle.” That was one thing Walf remembered from the academy. In fact, this man probably was robbed, by someone disguised as an Atriean Military Officer. It could have happened that day, or a week ago, there was really no way to tell. He smiled. “How observant of you.”
“Oh! Well, I do pride myself on my vigilance, hehe…”
Walf decided he was an easy target. “Say, I’ve never had the pleasure of talking to one of your kind for very long, and never a man from the military. Care for a little cultural exchange? I’ll buy.”
The man was somewhat taken aback, but as Walf guessed, he was glad to have an audience. “Oh, sure… do you like coffee?”
“Ha! What a question to ask an Atriean! Come on, then, you can tell me a little about this station…”

Viks and Prax had already spent a few hours looking at information relating to Grober’s Station, and they hadn’t even gone back more than two years. Prax had soon realized that this station was one of the most thoroughly documented facility he’d ever seen. Not a single corner was cut, which in itself was suspicious. He sighed. “We’re not getting anywhere at this rate… okay, stop reviewing those and look for crime reports from the station. I’m going to call someone I know in the Solar Federation.”
As Prax set up the com link, Viks scratched his chin and gave Prax an odd look. “You know someone in the Solar Federation?”
“I don’t just know him, I served with him.”
A video feed appeared briefly, showing a bleary-eyed Human who appeared to be in bed, before being promptly disabled from the other end. It was, evidently, very late. “Prax… It’s nice to see you again, but it’s 2 AM. Don’t you guys sleep?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t check home time before calling…”
“Actually, we’re on Garterfield right now… listen, if I don’t move to my office I’m going to wake Jocica, and she’s got a briefing in the morning.”
“Right, I’ll uh, stop talking.”
They waited, the man on the other side muting the mic on whatever device he was using. After an awkward silence between Viks and Prax, the man reappeared. This time, he was wearing a shirt and sat at a desk. “Now, what’s so urgent? …oh, sorry, I didn’t notice you there…”
He cleared his throat, glancing at Viks. “My name is Barry, I’m the Solar Federation supervisor to grid S-7 of No Man’s Space.”
Prax cut in. “He’s also the first Human member of the Atriean Military.”
“Yeah, that too.”
Viks laughed. “Really? I’d love to hear that story someday. I’m Viks, Chief Viks.”
“Nice to meet you. Now… what’s so urgent?”
“We’re looking into a little something… I thought you could tell me if Grober’s Station has ever been under investigation for anything illicit?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s no issue. Grober’s Station… AKA C#-344. Oh, shit, I’ve been here. During the war, back when it was a refueling depot…”
“Really?”
“Yeah! Hey, The Black Thorn Stick is still there!”
“Stay on track please, Barry…”
“Yeah, just stalling. This thing is slow out here, you know… oh, there it is. Holy shit…”
“What?” Viks asked quickly, sensing the urgency in Barry’s voice.
“I don’t know what you guys are doing at that station, but you’d better be careful. It’s been under investigation twice for suspected involvement in Human trafficking! Oh man, no wonder they never got anywhere in that investigation, look how close the station is to the border…”
“The Admirals would lose their heads if they knew someone was trafficking through Atriean space…” Prax muttered to Viks.
“Here, listen to this excerpt: ‘There is evidence that, in the past few months, at least three ships carrying missing persons stopped at Grober’s station before sprinting through Atriean space, into blue territory. Commander Lee has been informed, though I would request this probe focus on her next time.’ Seems like there were never any more probes into this.”
“Until now.” Prax said.
“I wish you luck, Prax…”
“Barry?”
An arctic fox walked up behind him, both Prax and Viks catching a glimpse of her face before she stepped too close, and only her arm was visible. “Hi there… sorry, I’m on a call with some, uh, colleagues.”
She leaned over and grinned wearily at Prax. “Fleet Commander! It’s good to see you again! Goodnight.”
She ended the transmission. Prax shook his head. “Well, I suppose there’s no reason to bother them any further…”
“Sir, where they-” he caught himself, realizing he was asking an inappropriate question.
“Yes, they were, Viks. You’re dismissed, I think we have what we were looking for.”
“You don’t need any more help? I got nothing to do, since the station boys are fixing up the computer cores themselves.”
“No, Viks, I need to think about this. Take some time off, I’ll likely call you again this evening.”
“Aye, sir.”
He left with a backwards glance at Prax. Prax sat and thought. He was expecting something rather minor, but now he knew he had blown the lid off something huge. He was going to treat this very delicately, he thought, but not alone. He called a friend in the General’s office, and she picked up almost immediately. “Prax, it’s good to hear from you. I’m sorry to hear about your demotion… it’s totally unfair! You did what-”
“Grid Commander,” Prax said firmly, “I’m in a bit of a hurry… I’m calling on official business.”
The older woman straightened her uniform, her smile disappearing. “Very well, Captain.”
Grid Commander Dara was one of the General’s personal staff, responsible for coordinating fleet movements for most border traffic. Prax knew she’d wait to tell the General what Prax was up to until after it was resolved. “I need you to send some ships out this way. I’m currently docked on the Solar Federation side of the border, but I’ve come across evidence that blue ships have been… carrying Human cargo through our space, using the station as a stopping point.”
Dara looked, as any Atriean would, highly disturbed. “What?! I’d like to see this evidence, if you would be so kind.”
“We’re still collecting evidence, but…” Prax explained the situation, adding that he believed his first officer had come face-to-face with one of the captive Humans. “…You should contact Commander Barry; he can tell you a little more about the station.”
“Yes, I know Barry… I’ll act on this, Captain. As of now I’m officially opening an investigation into this.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Keep digging, but I don’t have to remind you…”
“Yes, I know. I’m not in Atriean space.”
She grinned. “Don’t worry, Prax, once we nail those bastards, I’ll put in a good word with the General. I’m sending two Sanyo cruisers to our side of the border. Luck of Denoka.”
She ended the transmission. Prax knew a hundred good words wouldn’t appease the General, but it would be the first step towards restoring his position, if a small one. He was about to leave when a transmission came through from the bridge. It was Ozzy. “Sir, a transmission for you…”
“Put it through.”
Of all the people Prax expected it to be, it was the least likely. Commander Lee, smiling with sickening sweetness, addressed him. “Captain Prax, welcome to Grober’s Station. I regret not contacting you sooner, but as you already know, we are quite occupied this week!”
Prax expected to be given pause to speak, but Lee was a fast talker, and quite to the point. “I’ve called to request you and your First Officer’s presence. It’s rare that we get distinguished guests from the Atriean Empire, after all!”
“Indeed. It will give me a chance to thank you in person; your station’s crew is doing a fine job on our ships.”
“Good to hear. Would this evening be convenient for you? At, say, 18:00 hours?”
It took a second or two for Prax to convert the Human clock to his own, then nodded. “Yes, that works. I’ll speak to my First Officer. I look forward to meeting you, Commander.”
“And I you.”
She cut the transmission, and Prax tented his paws on the computer desk.

Bregman was too excited to wait for “night,” so he set out almost half an hour after talking to Zia. The airlock had been mostly cleaned of soot, and now the station personal were working on the inner mechanism of the doors, which had been stuck open since the explosion. He sat on a bench nearby and watched. Or, at least, he pretended to watch. Really, he was using a concealed hand scanner to sweep the area for security devices. There was only one, a live-feed HD camera that pointed down the hall. It could see the airlock clearly enough, so a straight shot was off the table. This would be child’s play if Bregman had access to some of the more illicit devices he was used to working with, but this time he had only his wits to rely on.
Luckily, the problem of the repair crew seeing him solved itself after twenty minutes, the tired looking workers responding to a chime and heading off down the promenade. Bregman was sure a few of them were using the English word for “food.”
Now Bregman was faced with the camera problem. In a flash of insight, Bregman locked his scanner on the camera and set it on the bench slowly. He then tuned up the scanning beam’s intensity to the highest setting and the narrowest beam. It wouldn’t disable the camera, but it would cause the image the camera produced to stutter, and appear grainy. He set it for a ten second active scan phase and darted through the airlock in two. The first thing to hit him was the smell. It reeked of ammonia and iron, causing Bregman to curse his sensitive nose.
But, as Bregman began walking low through the hall, something came over him. His thoughts shifted into shorthand, and his trained eyes darted around through the darkness, picking out minute details in the walls. His feet and legs remembered abruptly how to move in complete silence, and his tail moved on its own accord, giving him the balance to move quickly. He smiled. He was in his element again.
He slipped around sensors, following the damage all over the walls to its source. It seemed the explosion had come from a chain reaction, initiated through the life support systems. It must have ruptured quite a few oxygen tanks on board…
A sound threw Bregman up against a wall, in a shadowy alcove. He pressed himself against the wall and thought thoughts of being a metal bulkhead. Silent, and not at all worthy of a glance from anyone. The flapping of little wings told Bregman it was time to hold his breath. “They’re taking their sweet time! I’m losing money by the second here!”
“Is our contact still there?”
“Yes, holding. Ugh, can you believe she’s charging us to stay here for two measly days? And eight hundred dubloos for three O2 canisters?”
“Total rip-off.”
“Yes! I’m never coming back to this station again.”
The two blue aliens passed without noticing, and Bregman couldn’t help but wonder what they were saying to each other in that incoherent, babbling language of theirs.
These thoughts were quickly diverted when he followed his nose to what he assumed to be the source of the smell. What he saw nearly caused him to lose his composure. He gagged. Three to each cell, a group of dejected Humans in various states of unconsciousness were penned in in the back of the room. Bregman almost dashed out of the room at the sight of all that reddish bare flesh, but he pushed through and approached the nearest cage.
One of the Humans noticed him, a young woman in tattered hiking gear. All told, she was the best dressed there. She croaked at him in Atriean. “Who… are you?”
“Lieutenant Bregman, but don’t tell the blues that. How the hell did you all end up in here? Are you prisoners?”
The woman looked confused. Her accent was thick, but Bregman understood her. “Don’t you know? We were… kidnapped… help us!”
The locks on the cage were too advanced for Bregman to crack bare-handed. “Um… give me a minute. And keep quiet.”
The woman nodded, but more people were noticing. As Bregman checked the next cage, a fuzzy arm shot out and grabbed him. There was an Atriean in there! “Hey! You’re a soldier! Help us! Please!”
“Shh! I’m trying, okay?!”
The man pressed his face against the bars. He had been partially shaved. “Hurry! I can’t stand another second in here!”
One of the Humans tackled him roughly. “Shut up! Do you want to bring the blues in here!?”
The chattering had increased, and Bregman knew he had to hurry. “Dammit! I can’t get these locks open…”
“Get him! In the barrel, over there!”
One of the Humans pointed shakily at a large blue barrel, large enough to hold a person. He cracked the lid open with some difficulty and saw the same Human that had bumped into Katel. “You! Uh…”
There was no way Bregman was going to lift the man out, and no way for the unconscious man to lift himself out, so Bregman tipped the barrel and dragged him out. The chatter increased, the Atriean man once again reaching through the bars. “You’re going to leave us?!”
Bregman hauled the man onto his back. He was forced to hold one of the man’s arms to keep him steady. He could feel the man’s bare flesh under his paw pad. It sent shivers up and down his arm. “Listen! I can’t get you all out right now, but with proof of what’s happening here, I can bring in my Captain. We’ll have you all out before the end of the day.”
“The blues will run if they catch you! We’ll all be killed!”
Bregman grinned, creeping towards the door with his load. “I’ve never been caught, not once in my life. See you all soon.”

It was an hour before Prax and Katel were to join Commander Lee for dinner, and all the people Prax recruited for the investigation had once again gathered in Prax’s office. He began without any superfluous language. “I have grave news. Mine and Viks’ investigation turned up something… apparently this station has been subject to multiple investigations by the Solar Federation… into possible connections to Human trafficking. There is little evidence, but apparently ships stop here sometimes, then fly through Atriean space into blue territory.”
Sella stood up instinctively, leaning towards Prax. “Human trafficking? Through our space?! Why wasn’t our government informed?!”
“Apparently our people didn’t find the evidence very compelling either and, since the station is outside our space, they did not act… now I’m faced with the possibility that Katel here came in contact with one of these slaves.”
Katel nodded and took over for Prax. “Which would mean there must be slaves on that blue ship. Only, we still don’t have the authority to do anything about it. Grid Commander Dara is taking steps, but it’s up to us to come up with convincing evidence. Sella, did you come up with anything?”
She glanced around nervously, obviously off-put by the now more serious nature of the investigation. “Um, w-well it was inconclusive. There was an explosion, but my scans indicate that it was caused by a life support malfunction, probably a couple O2 tanks that caught fire… but it could easily have been sabotage. All someone would have to do Is puncture one of the tanks and start a small fire… Oh!” she jumped, just remembering something. “I also found out that similar accidents might have happened in the past.”
“Or similar escape attempts.” Walf muttered.
Katel looked to Walf. “What did you find out, Walf?”
“Oh, nothing, sir. I walked around and found squat, save an intellectually challenged Human who talked about nothing but himself… though I did catch one tidbit of information. Apparently, there’s an inner circle among the Solar Federation staff here. There’s some officers who work much more closely to the Commander than the others. The guy I talked to says he hasn’t even seen the Commander in a week.”
Prax nodded, but wasn’t satisfied with any of it. “This is all circumstantial. I wish we had something con-”
There was a loud pounding on the door, then the sound of a chime. Bregman’s muffled voice came through the door. “Sir! Sir! I need to speak with you! Right now would be best!”
Prax nodded to Katel, and he let Bregman in. “Sir- Oh, hi guys…”
“Lieutenant, we’re in the middle of a meeting… what’s so urgent it can’t wait?”
“I, uh, think you’d better see for yourself.”

Prax and Katel stood next to Bregman, confused and disbelieving looks on their faces. Bregman stood next to them also, his expression one of tentative pride. His feelings shifted when Prax and Katel trained their eyes on him, however, destroying any hope that he might be praised for his work. “How the hell did he get here?!”
“Uh…”
The crowded operating theatre was not so much a theatre as it was a closet. There were only three chairs in the room, but Prax insisted everyone involved be present for whatever Bregman had. Walf and Sella watched as Dr. Piper inserted another nutrient tube into the Human’s arm. “Will he live?” Sella said to herself.
Anri had greeted Bregman as he dashed in with the man on his back, and so she was here as well. She looked distractedly at what Dr. Piper was doing. “I’m sure he will, Sella.”
“Bregman?”
The pilot had now realized that he was far, far in over his head. He had tried thinking up a few lies, and some were even good enough to allow him a few hours of freedom. But, as soon as the Human awoke, they’d all learn the truth. “Well, I liberated him.”
“You “liberated” him? As in, you broke into that freighter and took him?”
“Yes! Exactly! And, uh… there are more sir. About thirty, in cages. I-I saw an Atriean man!”
Prax seemed shocked and somewhat humbled at this information, but his eyes never lost their hardness. “Katel, it seems our situation has become much more serious. Post two armed guards at our ship’s airlocks, and two more are to stay with this man at all times. Katel, I want you to stay with him as well.”
“Yes, sir.”
“If he asks for asylum, contact me at once.”
“Of course.”
He turned again to Bregman. “Come with me.”
He silently led Bregman from the room.

When Bregman entered Prax’s office, he knew he’d never make it out alive. As soon as he was seated, Prax began a line of questioning. “Did anyone see you!?”
“No! No one saw me.”
“Not even a camera?! Surely an Atriean in a uniform carrying an emaciated Human is going to draw some attention!”
“I-I mean, I might have been caught on camera for a split second when I left… but the Amber’s airlock was close by, I just waited for a lull in the foot traffic and darted inside.”
Prax covered his face, and Bregman realized it was a gesture of relief. “Lieutenant, I’m finding a disturbing trend in your service to this ship. You’re insubordinate, far too independent for your own good and you have a severe lack of common sense!”
For a split second Prax considered that those words were perhaps the exact ones the General had used some months ago. “…You have a tendency to enter alien ships before being ordered to.”
“Sir, I-”
“You’ll have a chance to speak, Bregman.”
Prax stood and stalked to the window, letting a silence fall over the room. He watched the repair crew finally begin the process of replacing a section of the Amber’s hull as he pondered. “I know you were trying to be helpful, but this is the absolutely worst way to go about it. You trespassed on an alien ship on an alien spaceport and were lucky enough to find something terrible on board. If not for that fact I would have put you on a shuttle back to the Atriean Empire by now.”
He turned. “Pending an investigation, I am stripping you of your rank as Lieutenant and suspending your duties as Pilot of this ship. In this situation I’m duty bound to inform the station Commander and the Captain of the freighter of what you did… if it didn’t interfere with a rather sensitive investigation authorized by Grid Commander Dara.”
“Investigation? There was…”
Prax grinned. “Yes, an investigation into that man Katel bumped into. The man you rescued.”
That was perhaps the only acknowledgement of Bregman’s accomplishment he was going to get, and he took it gratefully. Prax continued. “Now, I’ll ask you once. Why?”
“Why? Isn’t it obvious, sir? I saw that man with my own eyes, I heard what he said. I knew there had to be something sinister going on.”
“You couldn’t have known what you would find in that ship. Looking at your past actions I find myself wondering why you’re so willing to throw yourself into danger with so little information?”
“I… That’s just how I am, sir. It’s something I’ve always taken pride in.”
“I’d try feeling a little shame about it, it’s landed you in some… deep shit, for lack of a better phrase.”
“Erm… yes, sir.”
“Well, Crewman, for now I’ll ask that you not leave this ship until further notice.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You can go.”
“Right…”
He hesitated. “I’m sorry.”
Prax broke into a toothy grin. “For what? We never would have made a breakthrough in this case if it weren’t for you.”
His face just as quickly became stony. “Don’t do it again.”
“Y-yes, sir.”
Once Prax was alone, he smiled to himself. His approaching meeting with Commander Lee was sure to be an interesting one. Prax glanced at the time. In fact, he had to be there in ten minutes.

Katel was anxious to speak to the Human, but Dr. Piper insisted on treating some nasty injuries on his back before waking him. Katel and Anri sat silently, watching the doctor lower a large apparatus down onto the Human’s bare back. Anri sighed. “You know, I’m starting to realize just how hard your job is.”
“Oh?” was all Katel could think to say in response.
““Galaxy’s Peacekeepers.” That’s what I’d always used to see on television, those recruitment ads. I always thought you guys were like the teachers that separate rowdy kids in school.”
Katel laughed. “Funny, I always saw the police in that light. The military men I knew… er, that is, my father and uncle… they always struck me as something more noble. Leave separating schoolchildren to the grid police, it was Atriean Military men and women that explored unknown space or fought evil foes.”
He chuckled again, but his laugh was notably less humorous. “Who knew I’d end up on an escort ship. I should have joined Special Forces.”
“Oh, you can’t mean that! This man here is victim to something I wouldn’t hesitate to call evil, and your people rescued him. That’s why my attitude has changed… in no small part thanks to you.”
Katel’s focus wasn’t on the man being treated anymore, but he still fixed his gaze on Dr. Piper. “I’m glad I’ve given my organization a good name.”
Anri glanced back at the man. “I also… realize how important it is… f-for your objectivity to stay intact.”
Katel was a man who took pride in his ability to remain unwavering in the face of any obstacle. Once, while stationed on an alien world during the war, he’d faced down the artillery fire from a dozen orbiting battlecruisers, and still took part in an infantry charge that ultimately secured the Empire’s control over the whole planet. He’d also watched his men, and his superiors, die before him while never once breaking from his battlefield persona. He did have a weakness, and he knew exactly what it was.
He found he couldn’t meet Anri’s eyes as he followed the words of duty and loyalty his father had hammered into his head. “I’m glad you understand.”
They didn’t say much more before Anri left. Katel was left with the sense that he had just made a terrible mistake. If it had been Prax that fell in love with Anri, Katel knew his friend wouldn’t have so many qualms.

The Solar Federation’s obsession with formality was widely known to members of the Atriean Military. They took procedure and military tradition very seriously, even if it ultimately wasted time. Still, Prax could see the appeal of indulging in the pageantry that came with the job. Atrieans did have their traditions and ceremonies, after all.
He couldn’t quite grasp why the Solar Federation insisted on throwing dinner parties every time an Atriean happened into their port, but he knew exactly why Commander Lee was so insistent on it.
He walked into the Commander’s private study and found himself outnumbered: there sat Lee, and next to her a man in a Second Officer’s uniform. He didn’t look like a guest at this dinner, more of a thrall really. Prax decided to take the first shot. “I apologize for my First Officer, Commander, he was too busy to join me. May I?”
Lee nodded and Prax sat at the empty table. “That’s quite alright, Captain. It was you I was hoping to speak with, anyway.”
“Oh? I suppose you’ve heard of my exploits at Eden.” Prax said, trying to conceal his bitterness.
To his surprise, Lee waved her hand. “Eden? Never heard of it. No, I wanted to congratulate you on the discovery of the Sunbeam. I understand you discovered something of a cult down there.” Lee chuckled, and Prax wondered how she could find anything about the Sunbeam funny.
“We… yes. I wouldn’t call them a cult, though.”
“No? They’ve been named as such by their own government!”
“I didn’t know that.”
“I suppose it makes sense the Solar Federation wouldn’t think to share that with you.”
She leaned forwards and whispered secretly. “They weren’t happy that you and your crew, aliens, were responsible for recovering an… errant colony.”
“They seemed pleased to me. But I suppose I must have caused some embarrassment in your higher ups, eh?”
That got a reaction out of Lee. She laughed heartily, and Prax was sure it was genuine. She seemed to take pleasure in every aspect of this meeting, and Prax found her attitude strangely infectious. “Yes, you did! I only wish I had seen the looks on their faces when a, ah, Atriean flew a ship they thought was completely destroyed out of that nebula!”
“In the split second before smiling at me, I was sure the official I spoke to was going to… how do you Humans say? Blow his top?”
Now both of them were laughing. The Second Officer looked between the two, obviously not expecting the dinner to take this direction. Prax waved his paw. “So, what are you serving for dinner?”
“Dinner? Does this look like a dinner table to you?”
Prax looked at the table. It absolutely did. “Yes, it does.”
Lee chuckled. “Well, no. This is my desk. Actually, I was planning on taking you on a tour of the station.”
This was apparently the Second Officer’s cue to stand. “Captain, if you-”
“Oh! Where are my manners!” Lee exclaimed, “Captain, meet my S.O, Laurence.”
Prax stood and gave him a polite bow. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise. Right this way…”
Lee stood as well. “Yes! As your host, Captain, I feel it’s my duty to make your stay here a memorable one. Come! I’m sure you’ve never seen a Terran-made powerplant before!”
Prax had, and it had been a very boring experience, but with Lee as his guide he was sure the tour would be very interesting. And dangerous. Prax never forgot that fact.

Hexiclagheritslam flapped lazily through the halls of his ship, carrying a box of food. He entered a room and set the box down, glancing at the far wall, where the sorry figures of all his captives sat. “Wake up!”
Something felt different today. The slaves were less excited to get food than they usually were, and a blue barrel… Hexiclagheritslam dropped the food box and landed, scuttling to the barrel and finding it open, and empty. “Damn!” he screeched, waddling to the nearest cage.
“You! Where’d that one go?!”
No one answered, only stared back at him with fiery eyes. “Tell me, or I’ll drop the temperature in this room to -20 C!”
“I’ll tell you!”
The fuzzy one muscled his way to the front of the pack, despite his cellmates attempts to restrain him. “He escaped again, of course!”
“Again?! How?! He was out cold; he couldn’t have had the strength to bust the lock from the inside!”
The man pointed to the wall. “You… you forgot to lock it.”
Sure enough, two cargo locks hung from the wall, unused. Hexiclagheritslam didn’t have time to vent his frustrations on the caged people, so he just left without another word. The Atriean shook the bars. “Rrg! I wish they’d hurry up and spring us already!”
One of the Humans scoffed. “Oh, please! You know as well as I do no one on that station cares about us, otherwise we wouldn’t have stopped here. That guy was prob-”
The Atriean grabbed the Human’s arms. “You sorely underestimate the sense of right my people have! That man, though feline, has the fire of Drifrasa in him! He won’t rest until all of us are free.”
This seemed to lift the group’s spirits, though even the Atriean himself knew it was wishful thinking.

Prax watched the core being lowered back into the station’s powerplant as a tired, droning engineer explained something Prax didn’t completely understand. He wasn’t well versed in nuclear theory, since his government didn’t consider nuclear power to be worth the risk. Most Atriean powerplants were Fisolite reactors, much smaller than this. Though, Prax was impressed by how much power the thing put out. The engineer was about to move on to another system when someone dashed down the catwalk and nearly tripped. “Commander! U-uh, urgent message for you…”
Lee glanced at Prax. “One moment, I won’t be long!”
The officer nearly pulled her along the catwalk, but she only commented once they were out of earshot of Prax. “Let go of me!”
“S-sorry! It’s, uh, the channel you told me about.”
“Ah. What’s the message?”
“To get in touch right away.”
“Right. Okay, you go back to work.”
“Yes, sir.”
The man ran off, while Lee stepped into an equipment locker and fished a communicator from her back pocket. “What do you want?”
A blue alien appeared on the small screen. “What do I want?!” came the robotic translation, “I want you to catch that Human! He got out again!”
“He what?! How?!”
“He broke out again, I just told you! Our airlock isn’t fixed yet, so he just danced right out!”
“Quiet! I’ll deal with this, you stay put. Don’t leave, you got that?”
“Uh, I’m so very sorry, but I’m cutting my losses. Screw you and your shitty security measures! I’ll be lucky to break even with all the fees I had to pay you!”
“How are you going to get your Human back if you’re gone?! Did you think about that!?”
“Keep him! Just don’t let him run around telling everyone where to find his friends! Oh, who am I kidding, he’s probably already gone and done that!”
“You want to leave?”
“Yes!”
“Give me an hour to get him back, an-”
“Thirty minutes! Then I’m leaving!”
The communicator cut, and Lee tossed it to the ground. She absolutely hated being held over a barrel, given she was usually the one holding people over barrels. She returned to where Prax was still bravely putting on the air of being interested in dry engineering jargon. She cut the engineer off. “Sorry to interrupt, but I have to leave. Laurence will continue your tour, and-”
“Actually, Commander, I have to leave as well. This has all been… enlightening, but there’s someone I have to talk to.”
She froze, a snarl forming on her lips. Prax walked right by her towards the door, whispering: “I’m a little disappointed, actually. It seems your reputation got ahead of you.”
He smiled to himself as he opened the door. She really wasn’t all that terrifying, now that he’d met her. She also seemed to be two steps behind him, just now discovering that the Human slave was missing from the blue ship. Prax wondered if he hadn’t yet seen the side of her that made all her staff so visibly nervous.
He smiled to himself as he walked to the Amber to check on the Human.

Lee grabbed Laurence by the collar and dragged him through the station to the command center. She thrust him into a chair and yelled at him as he gasped for air. “Find him! Get me feeds from the past two hours, do a sensor sweep, and get that officer up here!”
“Which one, ma’am?”
“The one you put out to watch the Exile!”
“John? He would have reported seeing the cargo, sir.”
Commander Lee pinched her nose and took a deep breath. “You’re right. Get his report anyway…”
She watched over Laurence’s shoulder as he brought up security feeds and put in a call to John. She watched as he sped the footage up, but indeed they saw nothing out of the ordinary. “Wait. Get the camera outside the other ship… the civilian one! That’s why John didn’t see anything! He must have…”
Sure enough, as they watched the sped-up footage, someone could be seen darting into the airlock. Lee dashed her hand on the desk, startling Laurence. “There! They’re carrying him?!”
“Sir, if they took him…”
Lee smiled. “We have every right to take him back.”

Minutes earlier, the Human had awoken. At first, he nearly punched Dr. Piper, but as soon as Katel charged into the operating room, he calmed down. “You! The… the military man! Oh, thank God, I thought the Commander took me!”
Dr. Piper looked shaken. “U-um, sir? Are you going to be a little more cooperative now?”
The Human glanced between the doctor and Katel. “He’s with us, don’t worry.”
“Right…”
“I just need to take a quick brain scan, then you’ll be all good. You’ll find your strength returning… I must say, you’re lucky to be alive, sir! We found you in an advanced state of malnourishment!”
Katel didn’t want to drag things out, so as Dr. Piper fixed a helmet-like device to the Human’s head, Katel questioned him. “What’s your name?”
The man possessed some of the most stunning green eyes Katel had ever seen. They almost seemed to sparkle, a distinctly alien feature. “My name is Fredrick Anton. I’m a laborer, or… well I was.”
He suddenly jerked up, which caused Dr. Piper to flinch. “I-I request political asylum! I believe the Humans on this station act for themselves, and those blues would love nothing more than to sell me off! You’ve got to help me! A-and my friends!”
Katel took the man’s hand and stood him up. “We’ll protect you, don’t worry. I just need you to talk to someone, then sign something, very quickly. We might not have much time…”
“What is it?”
“Paperwork. We need to get something in writing before-”
“First Officer, you aren’t planning on stealing my patient, are you? My scan isn’t complete!”
Katel pointed to a nearby screen. “We’ll use that.”
“Oh, very well… you’re looking healthy so far, Mr. Anton!”
“Thanks, doc.”
Katel frantically linked the screen to the Exile’s computer, and put in a call to Grid Commander Dara. As it was connecting, he took out his S-Com and called Prax. “Yeah, he’s awake.”

Ten minutes later, Commander Lee stormed down the promenade, three armed soldiers behind her. People parted like water to a ship’s bow, intimidated by the assault rifles that the soldiers held and the fiery disposition of the station Commander. Prax was just stepping out of the Amber’s airlock when she arrived. “Captain! You’ve violated station law! I’m here to arrest you!”
She didn’t immediately have him clapped in irons, instead she waited to see what he would say at this turn. To her chagrin, he smiled. “Ah, yes, I just found out about that myself. The officer responsible has been stripped of his rank.”
“You are the officer responsible! Men, arrest-”
With a motion of the paw, two armed and armored soldiers stepped from the airlock and flanked Prax. They held TR-44s, which were charged and ready to fire. Prax pressed his paws together. “Commander… my officer acted without my input. He did bring back what you might consider “stolen property,” but… well, that “property” indicated a want to be protected from you and your friends over there.” he said, cocking his head towards the nearby, still damaged airlock. “Which I was inclined to grant.”
“You-” Commander Lee thought it inappropriate to finish her sentence so instead she drew her gun on Prax, only to find that Prax had mirrored her action, and she was now staring down the muzzle of a beam pistol.
The air became more tense once the soldiers on both sides also raised their weapons, glancing at their superiors, waiting for the order. Prax honestly found himself at a loss for words; he never expected the Commander to be so brash in her actions. He began to sweat. “You… people think you can come aboard my station,” she hissed, “break into the ship of a guest, and get away with it?”
“Do you think you can keep Atriean slaves on this station and expect us to just let it go? Because, because it’s not our territory?”
Lee cursed internally. Her last trump cards were slipping away one by one, and she could feel the building humiliation of failure and, inevitably, destitution. She had explicitly instructed the blues to never bring Atriean cargo to her station for exactly this reason. Then again, was she really surprised they ignored her? “Atrieans? Slaves?” she said, her instincts acting faster than her brain. “I had no idea there were-”
“Oh, he didn’t tell you? The man you captured didn’t think to mention the dozens of slaves he was kept with? You didn’t think it the least bit suspicious that this man never logged his arrival on any ship?!”
The halls were now deserted, but people glanced around the corners of shops or through cracks in nearby doors to see if the standoff would turn into a firefight. Prax realized that it might, and soon. He slowly held up a paw. “Commander, it’s too late. He’s already spoken to the appropriate authorities, and I expect our two governments are already talking. But… we have a responsibility here.”
“What are you talking about? I suppose you’re going to tell me I have to turn myself in? For goodness’ sake? I’d rather you just pull the trigger.”
“I don’t want to kill you, Commander. It would make this far, far messier than it already is. They might try and start a war over it. I don’t want to arrest you, so just… step back, and we’ll do the same.”
“Start a war? Over me? I’m flattered that you think I’m that important, but-”
“Not over you, over the slaves! A dead Commander and a hold full of Atrieans at her station? I’m not sure about your government, but I know some more… radical elements of my military would try and spin it as a deliberate action sanctioned by the Solar Federation. Who knows? The Morals Council might agree.”
Lee’s arms were getting weaker. She doubted there were actually that many Atriean slaves on that ship, but just one would be enough. She knew a few men above her that would jump on a chance to paint Prax as an assassin and rush the Solar Federation into a war she believed they wouldn’t survive. War would surely send the economy into another slump, the terrible quality of life from the months of war with the Atriean Empire would return, and she’d miss it all. She’d miss the opportunity to inflate prices, to exploit desperate ship captains trying to eke out a living under wartime restrictions, not to mention the fleets of damaged ships with government money backing their repairs. However, if she put her gun down now, she might be able to weasel her way into a sentence she could serve in a few years. She was considering a career change anyway. “Fine.”
She lowered her gun, and the air seemed to relax. “Prax… I think you chose the wrong career. You should have run for office.”
She turned and brought her confused men with her. Before she got halfway down the corridor, the station began to shake. She wheeled around and stared at Prax. “What are you doing?!”
“Me?! Why would-”
“That damn blue! He must be trying to rip himself free of the docking clamps! I thought he’d at least want to yell at me before trying that…”
They had no time to react as a sickening wrenching sound rang through the halls. Emergency lights came up and the air felt somewhat breezy for a few moments as the violent shock tore a few holes in the damaged airlock. Prax was already dashing back to the Exile before force fields sealed it.

On the bridge, Ozzy had just figured out what was happening when Prax dashed from the elevator. “Sir! The-”
“I know! Lock accelerators and open a channel!”
Sella’s paws flew over her controls. “Locked!”
Galya wheeled around. “Sir, they’re not answering.”
“Transmit anyway!”
“Yes sir!” she said, aiming a broadband transmission in the general direction of the freighter, which was now beating a retreat back into Solar Federation space.
“Vessel! Hold your position or we will open fire!”
They responded by firing plasma charges at the ship, but the station’s shields absorbed the blasts. “Sounds like a clear response to me. Sella?”
“Sir, we can’t open fire inside the shield perimeter…”
“...You’re right.”
He smacked a large button on his chair. “Pilots! Prepare to launch, you’ve got two minutes!”
Jolan’s voice shot back. “Sir! We’re ready to launch now!”
“Yeah, we geared up the second we heard the shock!” Carril added.
Prax grinned. “Good! Ozzy?”
“Launching now, sir.”
“Galya, open a channel to the station!”
“Aye, channel open!”
“This is Grober’s Station…” a panicked man answered, “We’re a little busy-”
“I need you to release the docking clamps on our ship, the Exile!”
“Uh, no can do sir. Everything’s locked down until we can assess-”
“Oh, forget it! Galya, cut it! Get me Jolan!”

Jolan and Carril had dropped through the bay of the Exile and found themselves being pelted by debris almost immediately. “Dammit! Carril, shields!”
“Right!”
They plowed through the chunks of burned metal, powering their engines until the fighter’s frames began to vibrate violently. Jolan’s com crackled to life the moment they punched through the shield and streaked towards the escaping freighter. “Jolan, disable their thrusters and weapons. They’re using plasma charges, so be careful!”
“Plasma charges? Sir, they won’t be able to hit me with those!”
Prax was about to answer when Zia’s voice could be heard over the com. “Sir! I’m reading massive gravitational distortions from the freighter… they’re powering some kind of jump drive!”
“Jolan, I don’t need to tell you to be quick about this!”
“Yes sir! I can do it in two passes-”
“We can do it in one!”
“Carril, stay on my flank!”
“We split up! I’ll make a pass on their thruster assembly, then-”
They were rapidly approaching engagement range. “We don’t have time for this! You go for the weapons, I’ll go for the thrusters. With any luck, that’ll destabilize their drive.”
“...yes, sir.”

Prax listened to the exchange, and watched the two fighters swoop in on the helpless freighter as it launched rather slow-moving plasma charges at them. Jolan’s fighter twisted around the underbelly of the ship and blasted craters along a stretch of the hull, sending debris everywhere. Carril very nearly crashed into the protruding engine block, and landed a few precision shots on the underside. The thrusters belched smoke into space, looking very much like a plume of water rather than gas. Soon the com was lighting up. “Galya?”
“They’re hailing…”
“Don’t keep them waiting.”
“We surrender! Just don’t kill us!”
The grimy face of one of the blue aliens was pressed a little too close to whatever camera was looking at him. His spit landed on the lens as he babbled. “Call off your ships! Gah, you Atrieans and your weapons!”
“Very well. Here’s what’s going to happen now: you are going to hold your position and wait to receive a detachment of soldiers. In the meantime, one of my Pilots will hold position three feet from your cockpit with his weapons charged. Do you understand, Mr…?”
The blue man’s face seemed to light up slightly. “Mr. Hexiclagheritslam. Very well…”
He blocked the transmission. Zia sighed with relief. “Sir, their drive is powering down…”
“Good!”
“Um, sir?”
“Yes, Lieutenant?”
Zia glanced back at her console, then at Ozzy, who seemed just as confused. “He seemed almost amicable when you threatened him. I half expected him to try to buy his way out, or threaten you, maybe.”
“It’s just what I was taught. If you’re ever dealing with a blue, get their sex right. It makes them more cooperative.”
“And if you get it wrong…?”
“Don’t get it wrong, Zia.”
“Yes, sir.”

Prax, Katel and Viks met the incoming prisoners. They spat and threatened everyone but Prax, but went along with Walf to the holds without much trouble. The now free slaves were escorted aboard next. Prax shook each one of their hands and tried his best to answer their questions. “Can you take us home?”
“No, but there are some ships coming to pick you up. You’re welcome to stay with us until they arrive. But you should all see Dr. Piper first…”
Prax glanced at Katel as more of the skinny people piled into the bay. “Get them all some food!”
The group went silent, then began clamoring at the mention of food. Katel bellowed. “Alright! Everyone follow me! I’ll take you to see Dr. Piper, and we’ll have some rations brought up to you. Sound good?!”
“Yes!”
“Yes, thank you!”
“What do you think?!”
Prax gestured to Viks, who was more focused on a deep gash in the hull of one of the ships. Carril had had a close call with a plasma charge, it seemed. “Viks, arrange for some food to be brought to the Amber.”
“Alright sir, but I want to talk to you about the fighter-”
“Don’t worry, Viks, I’m going to have a word with Carril at some point.”
He relaxed slightly. “Thanks. I’ll get right on that.”
“Good!”
As Katel led the able-bodied up the ladder, Prax and a few Petty Officers supported the ones that couldn’t walk to the cargo lift. Prax himself escorted the lone Atriean man as he limped onto the lift and sat on a nearby box. “Ahh… it feels good to be with my kind again. I fear my shrekt’a is the size of a sand pea by now.”
Prax clasped the man’s shoulder. “Dr. Piper’s one of the most competent doctors I’ve ever known, he’ll fix you right up… though he is also the strangest doctor I’ve ever met. What is your name, sir?”
“I am Ras Hattac Tarm, humble Follower.”
“Humble?! If you’re a Ras, then I should be bowing to you!”
“Oh? Are you a Follower of Drifrasa?”
Prax almost laughed. “Me? No. I simply have great respect for your order.”
“Hmf. Well don’t address me as “Sir” or “Lord” or anything. I am not a successful Ras, after all! I ended up in a damn slave hold! Just like the canines of a millennia ago. I am ashamed!”
The last guess Prax would have made at the man’s identity was a religious leader, and yet this man fit the bill perfectly: modest, faithful, and very old. Prax felt he should bow anyway, despite the man’s insistence to the contrary. He dipped his head ever so slightly. “I’m glad we found you before anything terrible happened.”
“Indeed! Speaking of which, where is that man? Your officer? The one who got Frederick out?”
Prax was about to answer when he noticed most of the other people had stopped talking to listen. The lift stopped and Prax made sure everyone was safely off before answering. “Bregman. He is… busy.”
“We’d like to see him, please!”
The crowd began murmuring Bregman’s name, and Prax couldn’t help but smile. “Alright, I’ll talk to him. But right now, we need to get you to Dr. Piper…”

~~~

Two weeks later, while the fleet was refueling, Sella was sitting in her quarters reading the same line over and over again: “Previously under investigation for Human trafficking.”
No matter how many times she read it, she couldn’t figure out how she missed the little footnote. It was right there, on the bottom of the very same data pad Sella had shown Prax while telling him about Grober’s Station. There was a knock, and Sella suddenly remembered she had invited Galya over. She waltzed in. “Hey!~ I just finished downloading the new Coalmine album, we can- oh, hold on a minute!”
Sella avoided her gaze, but knew it was too late to hide her mood. “W-what?”
Galya plopped herself down next to her. “I know that face. What’s bugging ya?”
“It’s… it’s my fault! The whole mess at Grober’s station. Look!”
“Hm? Oh, that little footnote?”
“if I had known that, I never would have told Prax to take us there! Oh, why didn’t I just keep my mouth shut?”
Galya read the pad and hummed. “Well, I say it was a happy accident! Think of it this way: you’re the reason those captives were found! Maybe they’ll put you in the book Ras Tarm is writing. Oh, now wouldn’t that be-”
“That’s not my point, Galya! What if I miss something important again?”
“You can’t sit around waiting for your next mistake. Just do what I do: make sure your successes outweigh your failures, and then no one can complain when you screw up.”
Galya’s advice was always vague and somewhat naive… but it still made Sella smile. “Alright, I’ll stop moping…”
“Great! Come on, I got a live version, too. We can see Freid smash another one of his tsungi horns.”
“Okay.”

At that moment, Cutie was also thinking about Grober’s Station. She knew of the concept of Human trafficking before, Anri had told her about the practice in her early months, when she was still getting a grasp on the concept of right and wrong. However, she was struck with a deeper feeling the moment she met one of the unfortunate people. She was very grateful to be alive, but Cutie knew she had been a victim of torture from the marks on her skin. It sickened her. Why would anyone do that? For profit? For fun? It was causing something of a paradox in her systems, and if it kept up Cutie would be forced to just ignore the problem rather than accept an answer. Maybe Anri was right? Not everything can be quantified in a logical manner.
Her pondering was cut short when a few electrical impulses began to fire that shouldn’t have been firing, and she stepped from her alcove. “Hello?”
The feeling only grew, and she felt her secondary hard drive activate. “Who’s there?! Anri?! Anri is that you?!”
A man stood from behind something. It was Pilot Jolan. The feeling stopped, and Cutie regained her composure. “Ah, Pilot Jolan! What are you doing here, this late? Can I help you with something?”
He eyed her for a long time, then nodded. “Yes. Do you know where Anri is?”
“Most likely asleep, in her bed.”
“Right… I heard she kept a late schedule, so I thought…”
“Not this late.” Cutie said, coldly.
“Yes, it seems so… Well, goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Jolan.”
He left, and Cutie returned to her alcove. Yes, it was certain. He had tried to steal something from her memory banks.