Fen rushed around the corner of the alley and slammed her back against the wall, willing herself to be thinner. Station security ran past the alley, their boots clanging on the plates in the floor. Gulping air, Fen tried to slow her breathing. In the distance, she could still hear the shouts from the bar.

  The comm glued behind her ear buzzed. "Fen, what happened? There are security alerts lighting up the boards looking for you. It interrupted my scans.”

  Fen winced. She had hoped that she would have had a little longer to try and explain things. "Hey Ma-ren. Sorry; looks like things got out of hand at Stations End. I uh, might have gotten involved in a small... altercation."

  "You were in a bar fight? Fen, what the hell?" Ma-ren managed to sound exasperated even over the bone conduction comm even while speaking Levinen.

  Fen switched to Colonic. Hardly anyone here spoke the old language and it was easier to talk to Ma-ren in their shared native tongue. "They were shit talking K'laxi, Ma! I couldn't let that stand. 'Furball' this and 'Cats' that. It was making me so angry!" Fen balled up her fist at the memory, winced when her bruised knuckles complained, and straightened her hand again. "I threw a few punches, tossed a couple Bears, and chucked my chair. It was hardly a fight. Look, I ducked station security, but I need to get off the promenade. I'll keep to the alleys and the maintenance tunnels. It'll be fine. I'll be fine. See you in a bit."

  Before Ma-ren could reply, Fen touched the stud on her comm, silencing it. She carefully peered around the corner, and saw that security was still looking around. Fortunately they didn’t seem to have a lead on where she was hiding. She crept further down the alley until she was behind a restaurant. Even here on the station, the area behind restaurants were messy places. Odd smells, greasy floors and detritus scattered everywhere.

  Before she could move further, she heard more boots stomping as station security came around again. She could hear their brusque voices in the restaurant. Probably pestering the staff if they saw her. She could hear a voice, high pitched and young shout at them, and then nothing. With a whispered thanks, she promised herself she’d come back and spend money here next time she was in the promenade.

  Behind the restaurant, next to a greasy trash can was a maintenance tunnel. She tried the wheel, but it was stuck fast. "Uh Station? Can you open maintenance door-" she peered at the door and wiped some slimy dirt away, suppressing a shudder at touching something so gross, "-775-OPR-23?" Fen spoke as quietly as she thought she could get away with.

  "Fenchurch Whitehorse, you are not authorized to enter the maintenance tunnels." Station at least had the grace to reply in a low voice, matching hers.

  "I know Station, but I just need to use it as a shortcut to get home. You saw security, there's no way I'll get treated well if they catch me."

  "Fenchurch, I also know why they are chasing you. You tossed two Sefigans and threw a chair at a Gren. All three are in the medical ward."

  Fen stopped. She didn't think she had injured anyone. "How badly are they hurt?"

  "They will recover. The Sefigans are bruised and the Gren broke one of their legs. You know that you are stronger than both of them. We make it clear to humans when they come onboard."

  "I know Station, but you also know how they were bad mouthing K'laxi. They were calling them our pets!"

  "Regardless Fenchurch-"

  "Please, you know I prefer Fen."

  "Very well. Regardless Fen, you started a bar fight. Whatever your reasons, security wants to speak to you."

  Fen rolled her eyes. "Station you know very well that speaking is the last thing on their minds. They want to shock baton me until I'm a gibbering mess and then toss me into the drunk tank until Ma-ren bails me out and everyone has a good laugh. I'll probably get evicted for good measure."

  Station said nothing.

  "Station? Are you going to open the hatch, or am I going to get arrested, beaten, and humiliated? You know what I did. Does defending my wife warrant all that?"

  There was a click, and the hatch bounced off its seals.

  "Thanks Station, I owe you."

  "You do, Fen."

  The maintenance tunnels were designed for the Gren who built the station originally; taller on average than baseline humans. Fen was silently grateful that her grandparents didn’t escape to a Sefigan station. The furry bear-like sapients were much shorter than humans and built accordingly.

  The station’s original mission was to be a frontier station, on the border with Gren space and the rest of the galaxy. As such, it was large, with plenty of places for sapients of all stripes to live, work, and play. After a few minutes the maintenance tunnels ended with another wheeled door. This time, when Fen turned the wheel, it moved without complaint and slid open on well maintained hinges.

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  Right behind two security guards.

  Fen’s eyes widened and she clapped her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from yelping. They were facing the other way, and their body language indicated that they were bored. The two Gren slouched, and their reverse articulated legs bounced slightly as they stood there.

  Between their legs, Fen saw the lift entrance to the refugee zone. If she could get there, she would be safe. The Gren tended to avoid the refugees when they could. It wasn’t out of any kind of altruistic desire to see them care for themselves and maintain their own laws and traditions, they just didn’t care. So long as they stayed off Tam’itarr’s bad side, they were left alone.

  The irony was not lost on Fen that getting into a bar fight in one of Tam’itarr’s own bars was not the way to stay off his bad side.

  Off to the right, Fen saw Der’iel; a K’laxi that she knew peripherally. A friend of a friend of Ma’s. She was standing by the elevators, her tail swishing irritatedly as she waited for the lifts to arrive. She didn’t know her well enough to know if she’d keep her muzzle shut about Fen knocking over some guards, so the loud way was right out. She tried a different approach.

  “Sloppy.” She said loudly. “You two are entirely too sloppy.”

  The two Gren guards flinched and turned around. One reached for his sword, while the other put a clawed hand out to his arm. “Sloppy? Why are we sloppy, ape?”

  “You two are sloppy because I was able to get through the maintenance tunnels without anyone even noticing. I opened the door and stood here for nearly two minutes, and you still didn’t notice me. Tam’itarr will be… displeased.”

  Tam’itarr was the elder Gren gangster who ran Station 52589. Not officially, of course, but everyone knew that it was Tami’tarr’s place. Nobody did any kind of business without his mouthparts getting a taste. Fen had guessed that the guards were on the take, and was pleased to see she was correct.

  “Oh? And what do you know about Tam’itarr being displeased?” The one who had his had on the sword said. Fen noticed that he hadn’t taken his had off his sword, but he also wasn’t drawing it either.

  Fen turned her head to the side and lifted her reddish brown hair. There was a long, thin scar that ran from the base of her neck, down her shoulders and disappeared under her shirt. “Courtesy of our mutual benefactor.” She said. It was completely untrue. She got the scar when she was 12 and tried to dive under a table at a dead run.

  The second Gren’s mouthparts tucked themselves in, a fear response.

  “So, friends,” Fen said, without a trace of friendship, “Just what am I going to tell Tam’itarr when he asks for a report of how his guards were doing?”

  The two Gren shared a glance and the one without a sword nodded once. Sword took his had off his weapon and reached into his pocket and brought out a fistful off Stars, the local currency.

  “Here. Three hundred Stars. That’s the usual fine, right?”

  Three hundred Stars was more than what Fen saw in a month. Taking the money was extremely tempting, but the only thing worse than getting Tam’itarr interested in what you were doing was stealing from him. On the other hand, if she didn’t take the money, that would also be suspicious. Before she could dither any longer, she snatched the money and stuffed it into her pocket.

  “Looks to me like Tam’s guards are doing an excellent job keeping watch over the entrance to the refugee zone. Keep up the good work.” She said, and quickly stepped around them. Before they could react, she walked to the lift and stepped in with Der’iel. Fen locked eyes with the guards, and as the door slid shut, winked.

  “Ancestors who watch over us, that was ballsy, Fen.” Der’iel said as her ears twitched. “When I saw the door open behind them and I saw you, my fur stood straight out.”

  “It wasn’t much.” Fen demurred. “I know what kind of goons Tam’itarr hires. If they were on guard duty at the entrance to the refugee zone, then they probably had to follow a recording to remember to breathe in and out.” She reached into her pocket and took a few Stars out. “Here though, for keeping quiet.”

  “Oh Fen, you know I don’t-” she started, and then Fen stuffed the money into her bag. “Fine.” She sighed, but her ears pointed up, pleased.

  “We’re all in this together, Der. What am I going to do with three hundred Stars?” Fen grinned sheepishly.

  “Uh, take Ma-ren out? When was the last time you took her on a date?”

  “Okay okay.” Fen held her hands up in surrender. “I’ll take her out.” She remembered the restaurant from earlier. “In fact, I might know just the place.”

  “You had better, I’m going to follow up with her.” Der’iel grinned and her ears flicked playfully as she bounded out of the lift and turned towards her home.

  Fen turned and went the other way. As she approached the stairs to her building, she passed an old K'axi, gray around their muzzle, sitting on a folding chair, reading a pad.

  "Hey Da'reni. How's things?"

  They looked up from their pad and flicked an ear. "Causing trouble again Fen?"

  Fen crossed her arms defiantly. "They were shit talking K'laxi, Da'reni. I wasn't going to let that stand."

  Da'reni nodded slowly. "I get that Fen, and I appreciate it, but you also have to think about what kind of trouble this will bring down on all of us. The knock-on effects. We're not in the colony worlds. Humans and K'laxi are thin on the ground here. You could take anyone here in a fight one on one, but they're in charge. Security can come here and evict us and then what Fen? Spyglass barely made it here, and I know that you can't fix a starship no matter how good you think you are at fixing things.”

  Fen sighed. Da'reni was right, but that didn't make what she said feel good. "I know Da'reni, I know. But..." her shoulders slumped. "Okay. I'll try and be more careful."

  Da'reni looked down at her pad. "I know you will Fen."

  Fen's energy sapped, she walked slowly up the steps until she reached her apartment. Touching the locking stud, the door clicked and she pushed it in. Suddenly, her vision was obscured, and she felt warm fur on her face. Her arms shot up to catch Ma-ren after she jumped onto her. "Hey hon. I thought you might need a hug."

  Fen squeezed her wife gently and held her. "You always know just what I need, Ma." After a moment she set the K'laxi down. "I talked with Da'reni on the way in."

  "Oh? What did that old warhorse have to say?" Ma-reni's tail flicked playfully.

  "She warned me about causing trouble. We don't want to get evicted or worse, especially since Spyglass isn't in any condition to thrust away, let alone link anywhere."

  Ma-ren nodded. "She has a point. Still, you came to my rescue today and while it might cause trouble, that's part of the reason why I love you.

  Fen smiled. "I love you too Ma. You wanna go get dinner?" She flashed the Stars she extorted from the guards. “My treat!”

  Ma laughed, slightly horrified. “Where did you get that? After the trouble you just caused-” She shook her head. “Nope. I don’t want to know.” She showed Fen her bag. “Besides, I have to go to work.” She got up own her toes and kissed Fen. “You can take me out tomorrow.”