“Jacob owes me big time for this,” Katherine muttered as she looked over the sorry-looking group huddled in a corner of the hangar.
She knew why Jacob had saddled her with this work, and while she had resisted, she didn’t do so for long. How could she? Blowing up some faceless alien, sure, but this was different. Besides, these people… yes, she was thinking of them as people, looked to have already gone through the wringer.
Even at a glance, she could tell they were malnourished. Their clothing, while threadbare, was well-maintained. It was their eyes that really caught her attention, however. They weren’t hard, but determined. She could respect that.
She walked forward to address the group, something she would have been vehemently opposed to had she been back on Earth. The thought of speaking in front of a crowd terrified her. The only time she got over that fear was when she was streaming or cosplaying. Taking on the persona of a fantasy character seemed to cure her of her stage fright.
She used that same technique now, thinking of the drone as just another cosplay, deciding to go with a warm yet authoritative tone as she addressed the large group.
The group quieted as she approached, eying her warily.
“I am,” she paused to think of a fitting title, “Commander Katherine, and I will be interviewing you individually. Those with children can keep them with one parent. I will be choosing the first person to be questioned, but by the time I return for the next, I expect you to have formed a queue. Am I clear?”
The group nodded, some less enthusiastically than others, but that was fine.
“Good,” she said after a moment, then she pointed to a mother holding her daughter tightly. “You first.”
Her pick wasn’t random; she had recognized the little girl from Jacob’s video.
The mother looked at her husband hesitantly, but the man nodded tightly, urging the woman to proceed.
The woman brought the girl with her reluctantly.
“Follow me,” Katherine said, then set out toward a nearby room.
It was almost comical how often the young woman looked back at her husband for reassurance. It made sense since the woman didn’t look much older than Katherine had been. Mid-20’s at most. It was hard to tell her daughter’s age, considering how thin and short she was, but probably no older than seven.
Katherine led the pair into the room, where a table and chairs had been arranged. “Take a seat.”
The woman took one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs without complaint, her daughter on her lap, while Katherine took the other.
She set a small tablet on the table. Unlike most of the tablets, this one was linked directly to the security office so that she could register these people remotely.
“Name?” Katherine asked.
“Irix,” the woman replied hesitantly.
“And your daughter?”
“Leti.”
The rest of the responses were equally short. It was clear the woman didn’t trust Katherine, which was fair. Katherine doubted she would trust her if the situation were reversed, especially if she had a kid in tow. Speaking of the kid, Leti turned out to be eight years old, while Irix was twenty-eight.
Katherine winced internally at that. Their malnutrition had really done a number on the girl, but they would fix that shortly.
Once the questions were done, Katherine led the pair to the nearby cafeteria. This one was different than the one closer to the command center, as there were stalls along the outside for food vendors to set up shop. She supposed it was more of a food court than a cafeteria. With all of those stalls currently empty, Katherine had arranged for food to be brought down while she was questioning the woman. The fare wasn’t anything special, but it would satisfy their nutritional needs.
“You may eat while you wait for the rest of your people, but I would caution you to do it slowly, considering your current condition. The Head of Station Services has agreed to provide a week of meals for free, but you and your people will need to find a way to pay going forward, or you will start running up a debt that will need to be paid back.”
Jacob had never agreed to any of that, but that would be his problem to deal with. If he didn’t want Katherine to do things her way, he should have given her more detailed instructions instead of hurrying off to avoid this mess.
“Can we wait for my husband?” the woman asked tentatively.
It was the first time the woman had voiced a question since she had plucked her from the group.
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“You can do whatever you want,” Katherine replied, before nodding toward the little girl, who was eying the food with wide eyes, “but I suggest you eat now.”
The woman looked down at the little girl, whom she still held tightly to her. She nodded in understanding. “Thank you,” she replied quietly, before turning her daughter toward the buffet.
Nobody would bother the pair. Katherine had placed a few of the combat drones to block off the empty food court, not that any of the few aliens aboard actually entered the space, but that would ensure that they had some peace while they adjusted.
It took Katherine far longer than she thought to process the entire group, and she had been forced to reevaluate her plan quite quickly when she realized how slow it was going. Food was brought to the group in the hangar only a few hours after she started. She was going to find rooms for the people she had processed already, but she was spread thin as it was with all the drones she was commanding. She knew she couldn’t handle any more connections because her head was already pounding. If she forced more, she would be knocked unconscious for hours, so the people were forced to sleep on the cold floor of the hangar and food court.
The fact that none of the eiraxins complained about the lack of bedding or accommodations didn’t make her feel any better; in fact, she felt like a complete failure. Her commander persona, however, was steadfast in her duties.
The last person Katherine interviewed was an older eiraxin woman, whose blond hair had streaks of grey in it.
“Thank you for this,” the woman said.
“And you are?” Katherine asked.
“Shae’va. These people are my responsibility.”
“Interesting name. Is that a regional thing on your planet? I don’t recall any of your people having similar names.”
The woman shook her head, giving a small smile.
“Shae is my name, va is an honorary title or achievement given to me for my accomplishments. It essentially means I am a respected expert on my home world. Some of the others have similar civic titles, but most won’t openly use them anymore. Hard to be proud of what you accomplished when you are hunted like animals.”
“Well, you’ll be safe here, so long as you follow the rules.”
The woman bowed her head slightly in acknowledgment. “May I ask you a question, Commander Katherine?”
“Sure.”
“What happened with Commander Zyn’vak and the rest of his people? If it wasn’t for them, we’d all be dead.”
That must have been the group Jacob arrested. Katherine disconnected from the combat drones in the hangar and sent them back to their normal patrols before connecting to the cameras in the cell block. Each cell held a single individual, but she had no clue which one was the commander.
“They are being held in confinement. As to what Jacob intends to do with them, I’m not sure. All I know is that they were forbidden from returning to this station.”
“I see. Thank you for telling me.”
Katherine finished registering Shae’va and led her to the rest of her people. Once everyone was together, she addressed them.
“You are now all registered on the station. I will be finding rooms for all of you shortly, but you are free to roam the public areas if you wish. If you cannot read the signs, do not fear; there are combat drones stationed at the restricted sections that will turn you away. You will be expected to follow station rules, which are available on any terminal. If not, you will be detained and then turned over to the local Bounty Association.”
That earned a round of murmurs from the crowd, before Katherine shushed them once more. Thankfully, Jacob hadn’t left her in the dark before going back to dealing with the humans aboard the Abyss Pearl.
“We’ve been assured that active bounties on eiraxin dissidents are currently on hold, so no bounty hunters will come here to snatch you up. That being said, if you break a law, we will happily wash our hands of you. So keep that in mind. Now, you can either wait here while I assign you rooms, or you can explore your new surroundings and come back when the line is shorter. Just note that there are other Astryx species aboard the station, as well as an Astryx military presence patrolling space nearby. They occasionally dock to refuel and resupply, but they are under the same restrictions as you. We are not part of the Astryx council, so we do not care about your history; we only care about your actions going forward.”
Jacob was probably going to be upset with how she handled this whole situation, but too bad. If he wanted it done a certain way, he should have done it himself.
***
“What do you think, Shae’va? Can these people be trusted?” Thyr’tek asked.
Shae glanced at the anxious man as they walked down the corridor to explore their new home. “Commander Katherine seems amicable enough, if a bit cold, but it isn’t like we have much of a choice. Commander Zyn’vak and his people scuttled the hauler, not that we would have survived a trip back, given what I overheard some of the ka saying.”
“And what if their—” he paused to look around, then lowered his voice even further. “—achievements are discovered?”
“So what if they are?” she asked. “They should be proud of their positions instead of hiding them, but I understand your concern. We can only hope that Commander Katherine and her leader, Jacob, are true to their words. If not, it really doesn’t matter what we do, does it?”
Thyr looked like he had bitten into a particularly sour gorgonut at her words, but she had long since stopped holding back to spare people’s feelings. Leading a small off-world colony had taught her that clarity of information could save lives, where sparing someone’s feelings could get them killed. The man would have to get used to her methods.
Her small group exited the corridor and entered a wider section that gently curved in both directions. It must have been one of the docking arms. She wasn’t an expert in old eiraxin, but she recognized one of the words on the sign pointing to the left.
“This way,” she said. “I want to go see this so-called commercial area.”
The ten people following her deferred to her judgment. It didn’t take them long to reach the intersection leading toward the commercial area.
Some of the people with her froze the moment they stepped inside. The Bounty Association was impossible to miss, located prominently inside the door.
“Hello,” a friendly voice said from behind her group.
Some jerked in surprise, but Shae’va turned calmly to face the tiyau woman who had approached from the opposite building.
“Hello,” Shae replied cautiously. “Is there something we can help you with?”
The unnamed woman beamed up at her. “Yes, and something I can help you with as well. My name is Sha’la. If you’re interested, follow me, and we can discuss specifics.”
Without waiting for a response, the woman turned away and sauntered back into her storefront.
Going by the signage, the woman dealt in power cores and other technologies. She could practically feel Thyr’s eyes widen at that.
“Shall we go see what she has to say?” Shae asked.
The group discussed it for a moment before nodding.