[D]

  Waiting just outside the eating establishment they had been in, he watched as another Canirean got closer.

  The young ‘asker’ that had been pointed in their direction.

  “What did you see? Are we running?”

  Thank the stars that Christy was smart. She never took long to reorient to a plan.

  “Maybe. Young Canirean, there. She was pointed at us. Can you think of any good reasons?”

  There were a few, but he wanted confirmation on his thought process.

  “Yes. Possibly that ship we wanted. Like you said, people remember me and my ‘asking’.”

  That’s what he was afraid of. The best way to get them alone was to bring them in on what they had been looking for. The only way to know if anything was legitimate was to take the risk. He could only hope that things didn’t add up before they got somewhere they couldn’t run away.

  They didn’t have the time to discuss it though.

  “The dock people said you are good at talking. I want to make a contract.”

  That… was an odd start. The fact he barely even got a glance made him feel slightly better, as it was clear she either didn’t know he was involved or wasn’t told why she was here. It didn’t bode well that she nearly ignored him completely. That was unnatural.

  Canireans were some of the best fighters in the galaxy. Their agility and hardened nails made them natural at close quarters, which was most of boarding combat. No one wanted to use weapons that might breach the hull, so under-powered laser guns and melee combat were the norm. Lasers were for support, causing painful and disabling hits, but a very lucky hit or a very good shot could kill.

  Melee was dominated by only a few races. They either needed thick shells or natural advantages with weapons to stand a chance. Canireans had a little of both. Their fur was thick enough to defend glancing or shallow blows and their agility let them out maneuver an opponent. Their nails let them compensate if they lost a weapon as well. The only good way to take down a skilled Canirean was to have a lot of friends.

  Or illegal weapons, but those were equally deadly to everyone.

  The only place they had the top slot taken away was planetary warfare. Which pretty much every combat race decided wasn’t even fair. Humans were only labeled as the best because they shot themselves from orbit in metal cans and dropped mechs on fortified positions. The only time they were even useful was to occupy a valuable target. It was such a narrow usefulness, most just considered it a fluke and played along. Everything else could use orbital cannons and large-scale planetary weapons.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Damn humans.”

  His grumbling must have been louder than intended as both the girls looked at him.

  “Um, what humans?”

  “Don’t mind him dear, you were saying you wanted to resupply a ship?”

  He tuned back in to what was happening. His thoughts had been distracted because the girl hadn’t challenged him. A battle race like theirs had instincts that were hard to control. The fact she didn’t try to assert herself or secede the ground to him meant he had been dismissed as a threat.

  It set his fur on edge and made him pay far more attention to their surroundings.

  The girl was clearly not his match. Even a quick glance could see that he had a few inches on her and that completely ignored the muscle difference. No, the only way to ignore the challenge instinct was to be mentally broken or to find an alpha.

  Both meant problems.

  Mentally broken Canireans didn’t operate on their own. They simply lacked the will. It was a death sentence for a soldier, but he had seen it happen in slaves before. It always set his teeth on edge and made him want to beat whoever did it into paste, but they couldn’t afford that here.

  It was hard to tell if that was the case here, as he didn’t see a handler or owner watching her from anywhere. That could be overcome with a comm nub, but they would still need to be able to see to make the girl react convincingly. It was why he stayed where he was. It would be harder to find the observer if they were moving.

  He didn’t even consider the second option. There were no races that he knew of that could force a Canirean to submit. The only way it had happened in the past was a Canirean pulling off impossible feats and convincing the others around them that they couldn’t compare. Pretty much only possible in a war, as nothing else roused the instincts enough to push such a change. Even then, the submission had to be total. If the Canirean that was submitting had doubts or didn’t want to, it just wouldn’t work.

  The thought of what a younger girl would need to go through for that to happen was even worse than breaking her will.

  He hadn’t found the observer before the girls came to an agreement though. As the young one started back down the street, he held back a little to allow for a whispered conversation.

  “I heard parts, ships and cargo. I couldn’t find an observer, though there was some odd movement on the edge of the crowd. Feelings?”

  “Odd. This whole thing is odd. She was looking for someone to help negotiate contracts. She didn’t know for what and didn’t know what they needed. I don’t like this, but our enemies are not this sloppy. It must be a small ship to not have a face, once we see it we can make a better decision.”

  He completely agreed. This whole thing stank like a trap, but it was so obviously a trap that avoiding it might be the trap. He wouldn’t put it past their pursuers to have a multi-layered scheme like that.

  It was hard to convince himself of that when the girl led them into the industrial docking section for the massive cargo haulers, rather than the individual docks. Not that this area could really be called a dock, almost more a wide-open section with clamps for docking tunnels. Ships that big moved cargo in space so they didn’t have to deal with gravity. It definitely wasn’t a spot for small ships.

  When the girl started looking around as if lost, he felt the small hairs on his neck stand up. He immediately grabbed Christy and whirled around, ready to run.

  It was too late though.

  He pushed Christy behind him, but all it would do was give her a few seconds to watch him die.

  ‘I thought it was just an underworld family! Who did I offend that would deploy a War-beast on a populated station!?!’