The corridors of the ship had begun to feel familiar to me, calming even. The soft purple glow of the plasma conduits softened the harsh shine of the overhead LEDs, almost allowing one to forget that the stuff inside measured somewhere in the thousands of degrees.

  As I walked, I felt the weight of the data stick against my leg. Whatever was on there was so secret, they couldn’t risk even Artie seeing it... and yet she trusted its delivery to me. Either she trusted me already, or the whole errand was just a test. Either way, it was probably best to just deliver it and move on.

  I had nearly reached the clinic when from around the next corner I heard the unmistakable footsteps of the captain echoing off the walls. I tried to turn around and hurry back the way I came, but in another moment, he saw me.

  “Ah, if it isn’t the man of the hour?” His tone was as sarcastic as ever.

  I slowly turned to face him, trying to smooth out the fakeness from my smile. “Good shift, captain,” I said politely.

  “Certainly has been for you! You know, I tried to thank the two good, hard working terrans who did the real work, but they insisted that the credit belongs to...” He looked down at me with disdain. “You.”

  I tried to avoid sounding too indignant as I explained. “I had to climb into the chassis in order to find the location of the damage, sir. Eric was too large, and Farim—”

  Harlyle held up a clean, soft hand. “Miss Khorami probably knew that putting one’s head inside a piece of heavy machinery is not only stupid, it’s actually a finable offense.” A smile slowly crept across his wrinkled face.

  My communicator chimed. Without looking, I could be certain that my debt was stacked a little higher. “That’s impressive, sir,” I said, trying not to let my pain show, though I could feel my tail betraying me. “I’ve always wondered, is that an augment?”

  Harlyle chuckled humorlessly. “What’s that in your pocket?” he demanded suddenly, gaze never leaving my face.

  “What do you mean, sir?” I asked innocently.

  “I mean what I said, boy. What’s in your pocket?” Flecks of spittle flew from his mouth as he spoke.

  I took a deep breath, and plunged my hand into my pocket. “Just this, sir,” I said. I pulled the metal file out with an easy smile.

  The captain nodded thoughtfully. “A stolen tool, huh?”

  A wave of nausea crashed into me. “Stolen?” I echoed weakly. “No sir, I’m just borrowing it. It was a spare, nobody was using it.”

  He tutted softly. “Theft of company property is a serious violation. You could have your contract voided for this.”

  “But Nova said...” I bit my lip.

  “What did Nova say?” the captain asked eagerly.

  “Nothing,” I mumbled.

  He snatched the tool from my hand, then poked the blunt tip into my chest. “Ten thousand credits, unless you tell me what Miss Beaulier said.”

  I had to fight to control my shaking. “She said... she didn’t see anything.”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Harlyle stroked his chin, mulling it over. “I can work with that,” he announced, then shoved past me to continue on his way.

  A second chime sounded from my comm, and I anxiously checked my account. He had gouged me a week’s pay, but I was still ahead of the debt.

  I was more worried about Nova. I didn’t think what I told him would be too incriminating, but the way he smiled made my skin crawl. It was like he was excited just to have an excuse to hurt someone.

  I wondered what might have happened had I handed over the data instead. I would have lost credit with Medina for sure, and probably Laurie too. Was that worth a week of pay, and having to get a new file?

  I rubbed my eyes wearily. What had started as a good day was rapidly deteriorating into a terrible one.

  In a breath I straightened, fixed my face, and resumed my march, albeit with a little less energy than before. The medical bay wasn’t far, and it’s door opened for me without my input. The interior was tidy, thanks entirely to my regular visits.

  Laurie was, as usual, staring at a sample on their counter. They raised a hand in greeting, but didn’t bother looking up. “Do you have it?” they demanded.

  “Do I have what?” I replied coyly.

  The doctor sighed frustratedly. “Do you have the... oh. Sometimes I forget that you’re a little wage slave.”

  “I take payment up front.” Hank’s final moments flashed through my mind’s eye like a hot knife. “I’d like a clue, please,” I said with a smile.

  “A clue?” Laurie echoed, finally turning to the pest in their clinic.

  I nodded affirmatively. “I know you’re not going to tell me what’s on the stick, so give me something to speculate off of. I could use the distraction.”

  They steepled their metal fingers, considering carefully. “I can offer you a piece of relevant knowledge.”

  “What kind of knowledge?” I asked.

  “Relevant,” they reasserted. “Are you familiar with the XL genemarker?”

  I slid the stick from my pocket. “I’m listening,” I encouraged.

  “Under Xenolife health and safety standards, all patients are to be augmented with the XL genetic marker after passing a certain threshold of augmentation, the formula for which is so complicated even I don’t bother memorizing it. Suffice to say, if someone looks like me, they’re marked.”

  I hoped I would never meet anyone else who looked like them. “So, Tau has the marker too? What about Harlyle? I’m certain he’s augmented somehow.”

  “Frontier officers are given neural implants. It’s not enough to be marked,” they explained. “If you want more, hand it over.”

  I begrudgingly passed them the data stick. “What exactly is the marker for?” I asked.

  Laurie tapped the stick against the side of their head. The apertures of their eyes closed, and they wobbled on their feet. In another moment, they dropped it to the floor, and hastily crushed it under their heel. “Where were we?” they asked dazedly.

  “XL. Why.” I folded my arms impatiently. “You know downloading data into neural hardware is really bad for you, right?”

  “So is wasting time,” Laurie said, straightening out their labcoat indignantly. “Property protection.”

  “Your patients are not your property,” I replied flatly.

  “No,” they agreed, “but the technology inside them is. Now, I’ve given you all the scraps you’re going to get for today. Run along.”

  I resisted the urge to slap their smug face. “You’d better find room in your budget soon, doctor, because you’re gonna run out of information to hold over me.”

  “Unlikely,” they replied confidently. “To alleviate your financial struggles, I suggest you refrain from crossing the captain. He doesn’t like you.”

  “No way,” I grumbled. “I’ll try that next time.” I took one last look at the broken data stick, and left them to their work.

  They hadn’t given me much to go on, but it was probably enough to ask Artie for clarification. I started towards my cabin, already typing a request to the AI on the way.

  By the time I reached my door, Artie had found me several documents from his archives, though it looked like mostly regulatory stuff. It seemed unlikely that a Federation AI would have data pertaining to Xenolife operations and technologies, but it would have been nice.

  I opened the door, still looking down at my communicator, and bumped headfirst into Tau’s concrete-solid chest. “Sorry!” I quickly said.

  His top was unzipped, the sleeves tied around his waist. His tank top was tight. “It’s cool,” he said, and my eyes snapped back to his face. “Still reading, huh?”

  “Yeah,” I said awkwardly. “You know how it is. Always a new mystery to solve around here.”

  “Sure,” he said unconfidently. “I was just about to come look for you, actually. Nova needs us in the rec room.”

  I winced. “I don’t think I’m ready for more poker.”

  Tau rolled his golden eyes, his pointed ear flicking irritably. “Just come on, okay? You’re gonna like it.”

  “Okay, fine. Let’s go,” I conceded, turning off my comm’s display.