[Moose]

  The jump between stars was always relaxing.

  Something he needed after the last couple weeks.

  He finally managed to find a station. It was probably the one Pup’s friends had gone to, seeing how she found them. Or some of them. He didn’t believe for a moment that a ship was managed long term by two people.

  Current circumstances aside.

  When they had gotten to the station, he had to pilot the ship concerningly close before something popped up to initiate the automatic docking. He had been very unhappy that it had taken that long to give them a docking solution. When Pup and Kitty had returned and said things were good to go, he had assumed that meant everything was ready. He had gotten very nervous when he thought he had to dock himself but had psyched himself up and got to work.

  The automative pop-up not only popped that courage, it told him that red tape was just as much of a pain in the future as he remembered it being.

  The cargo was easy enough to unload. Also some kind of automated pallet system from the look on the screen. Something both the ship and the station had, so likely a standardized thing. He still made himself stay on the bridge the whole time they were at the station though. It was a simple all nighter, nothing terrible.

  He wasn’t sure why Pup seemed to want to be on this ship though. He had sent her and Kitty into the station to find her friends and finalize the trade for the cargo he offloaded. He didn’t have any way to communicate what those were, so he wrote down the list the screen had and gave Pup the paper. She seemed more mature than Kitty, so she could probably use it as a reference to help.

  He planned to have Kitty interact with the station so she could gain some experience with other people. And maybe find some clothing. He had wrapped her in a bedsheet so she didn’t look like a wild woman wandering around naked and sent her with Pup.

  He figured that Pup would meet up with her friends and Kitty would learn a thing or two. She could also finalize the trade, which he figured would just need a signature or something like that, interact with a larger world and learn some civility. It was why he elected to stay on the ship.

  He didn’t exactly need that kind of experience and didn’t want to deprive them.

  Someone needed to watch the ship, it didn’t exactly have a lock after all.

  What he didn’t expect was for Kitty to haul in someone who was probably still injured. The poor guy had been dropped on the floor and then passed out. Clearly not all there. Confirmed when Kitty said he had a problem, though she didn’t elaborate.

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  It wasn’t his circus though. He gently took the dog-eared guy to a meeting room near the bridge and set him against the wall. He had neither the expertise nor knowledge to treat someone like that. Comparing him to Pup, it was clear he was a male as well. Or at least opposite of whatever Pup was. His lack of Xeno-anatomy knowledge stopped him from having any certainty, but he had to pick something.

  He was slightly larger, with much darker fur, nearly black, that was thick enough it looked like it had a lot of padding. His features were sharper as well, where Pup had more of a curve to her. Not that he would say she was ‘curvy’, she was too small for that. The difference was distinct with a direct comparison though. Poor thing had a notch in his ear and a crooked tail tip as well. He had clearly seen some shit.

  Whatever hit their ship must have been bad.

  Pup’s other friend was harder to place. They looked like a humanoid bluejay. Blue and white feathers with black stripes. Pokey beak and a tuft. Full on talons on the feet as well. Not much difference in size between the three of them. The bird person was also ‘curvy’ near their midsection. He wasn’t sure if that meant they were female and bird boobs weren’t a thing, or if all birds had thick thighs for some strange reason. With aliens he couldn’t say anything with confidence. It was very confusing for him.

  At least this one didn’t seem injured.

  He told Kitty to keep an eye on them as Pup and her friends caught up. She said the others thought it was dark, so he turned the lights up a little. At least that’s what he interpreted that as, since they had seemed a bit lost in the straight hallway. He would need to reprogram the lights to be automatic, just ‘turn on’ to a higher level and ‘turn off’ to the level he liked better. Only here on the main deck though.

  He didn’t want Pup and her buddies playing around on the ‘secret’ level.

  Which was more prophetic than he thought. He figured Pup would need a day or so to catch up and head off with her friends and Kitty could sign whatever needed signing with her help. They would then spit off and go their separate ways.

  That had been a mistake. Pup and her friends were more messed up than he thought. It was hard to get the full story, as it had to go through Kitty and she sometimes left things out, but it seemed Pup and her friends couldn’t pay the station and needed help to make up the difference. They wanted to use his ship as a cargo ship and do something with that cargo. That part just didn’t seem to be able to make it though the Kitty filter.

  He had told them that he was ok with it as long as they understood he wasn’t going to become an errand boy. If they could do what they were trying to do without making him go out of his way or causing problems, they were free to use the open cargo space.

  There were bunk rooms there on the main deck alongside a mess hall. So long as he locked the bridge and other important areas, they could come along. It wasn’t like he really had a destination in mind. They also brought on a lot of interesting bits and bobs he could look through. Maybe he could find something useful.

  Like pants, not that he figured he would get that lucky.

  They did bring on what he could only describe as glass tablets. Some kind of computer with a touch screen. Maybe he could convince them to teach Kitty and keep her company while they were on board. It would free up a lot of time he could use to figure the ship out.

  ‘I might actually get some peace and quiet for once!’