Tessi

TESSI

A towering wall of flesh reared up in front of me as I dodged through the crowded station Promenade, his vaguely insectoid body supporting itself on four legs, two manipulative limbs thrusting out from his chest.

Multifaceted eyes stared down at me like ice-cold jewels as it clacked its mandibles together in irritation.

"Excuse me," I said, moving around him and pulling my poncho a bit tighter over my shoulders.

The alien didn't attempt to stop me.

After all, I was just another human woman on the massively sprawling Thodos III deep space station. Nothing special.

That's always how I tried to present myself as I made my way through the crowd. The nail that stuck out, got hit.

Every human here knew that.

Sometimes you didn't even need to stick out.

The glitzy shopping sector had everything one might want, from restaurants to clothiers to computer hardware shops. I checked the station chronometer, a holographic display hovering high above the Promenade and its three levels.

"Shit," I hissed through clenched teeth. I was running late.

Again.

If I didn't get there in time, the Mondian who owned my contract would be furious. While he probably wouldn't kill me or harm me for that matter—it would be a waste of his money to do so—I would find myself doing shit jobs when I wasn't on stage.

Since I had no intention of cleaning the lavatories with a brush held in my mouth again, I tried moving faster, but it was hopeless. A teeming mass of sentient beings blocked the lanes, both human and alien forms in the mix.

I would never make it to the club on time, not with this milling throng of people in the way. A darkened alleyway drew my eyes, really just a space between two shops that allowed for a coolant pipe to run along. But here on Thodos, every space was used.

If I stayed on the main thoroughfare, I would arrive safely, but late. If, on the other hand, I took the back alleys of the space station, I would make it on time…assuming of course, I made it at all.

Fuck it.

I stepped into the alleyway, only going a few feet when the lights of the Promenade faded behind me. Someone up ahead in the alleyway coughed wetly, probably a deathstick addict. I pulled my poncho a bit tighter and tried to keep as much to the side of the alley as possible.

I passed by a trash incinerator unit, multiple pairs of red eyes peering out from under the rectangular box-like device. Moknars, scavenger rodents with a propensity for attacking things much larger than a human when disturbed, looking for scraps of food spilled and dropped by careless users of the incinerator.

Thankfully, they left me alone.

I made it through the alley and found myself in a low-ceilinged, dark passage. Sinister gazes passed over me as I traveled through. A human-sized shape stirred in the darkness. A furry face with a long snout and beady black eyes peered intently at me from the shadows.

My belly tightened up in knots as I heard the creature fall in behind me. It was an Ewani, a rat-like humanoid alien who never met a race they didn't want to exploit. Slavers, thieves, and charlatans; they were among the least politically powerful groups on the station, and yet they seemed ubiquitous if you went even a little off the main path.

This one likely didn't have good intentions for me.

I rounded a corner and saw the last passage I had to walk before making it to Club Pulsar. I sped up to a half run, and the footsteps behind me sped up, too.

A new shape broke apart from the deeper shadows ahead and blocked my passage. Another Ewani, half its face melted and hairless from some kind of injury, hissed at me.

"That's far enough, preciousss," he said, buck teeth protruding almost comically from his ruined face. "You have to pay the toll if you wantssss to passs through."

"I don't have any money," I said, trying to move aside. The Ewani moved to block my path. I took a step back and turned around, only to find the original rat man standing behind me.

"We don't wantsss your moneys…" the rat hissed. His hand darted out and grabbed the fold of my poncho, lifting it away. I yelped, pulling away from him as my miniscule club clothing was revealed by his rude gesture.

"Don't fucking touch me," I said, reaching behind me and gripping the handle of the knife strapped to the small of my back. I whipped it out of its sheath and waved it menacingly in front of me. "I'll cut your whiskers off."

The Ewani's eyes narrowed, and they approached me far more craftily than they had before. I cursed silently. Why couldn't they be overconfident and just walk into my knife like they did on the triVid?

One of them spun in a tight circle, his tail lashing out with a whip crack. I screamed as a blazing pain tore across the back of my hand. The knife pinged down the metal deck plating and I decided to yield to the better part of valor and make a run for it.

No such luck.

A furry hand closed on my wrist. I lashed out with my free hand, my feet, my knees, clubbing the Ewani with vehemence, but it didn't do a thing to free my wrist.

The other Ewani came from behind, its furry arm snaking around my throat and pulling tight. The choke hold squeezed off the flow of blood to my brain, making my vision dim at the edges.

Nightmarish despair rolled through me in a wave. I was going down, and most likely, I would never get up again. After the Ewani had their ‘fun,' there probably wouldn't be enough of me left to bury.

"Disgusting."

A voice cut through the din. Deep and cold as outer space, and filled to the brim with revulsion. The arm around my throat loosened slightly, enough that I reclaimed my fading consciousness.

I looked toward the voice, and found a tall silhouette with glowing red eyes standing there. From the pointed ears and the eyes, I knew what it was.

Vinduthi.

If you'd grown up watching old vids from Earth, you might be tempted to think of a vampire.

That would be a mistake.

The Vinduthi were very real.

They were very much alive.

And very, very much feared.

It wasn't just for their considerable physical prowess, either.

They were known to control at least a third of the organized crime on Thodos III. People who crossed them tended not to live very long.

The Ewani were either too worked up, or too stupid to realize the danger they were in.

"You go away, sssscum," hissed the Ewani in front of me, his fingers holding the drawstring on my halter top. "Or waitssss your turnsss."

The Ewani yanked the cord and my breasts came bursting out of my top. I renewed my struggles, digging the point of my elbow into the ribs of the Ewani holding me. A wet, crackling sound ripped through the air and the first Ewani screamed.

"Your filthy hands do not deserve to touch such perfection."

I looked up from my struggles to find the Ewani staring at the bloody stump of its wrist. The silhouetted Vinduthi casually tossed the severed appendage to the side, where it jumped and spasmed of its own accord as if it had not gotten the message it was no longer attached.

The Ewani grappling with me threw me to the ground, pulling an energy pistol from its dirty waistband.

"Now yous diesss," it hissed, pointing the gun at the Vinduthi.

The silhouette disappeared. I blinked, not even having seen my rescuer move. A second later, I heard a choking sound, and looked up to see him holding the rat man by its throat. The Ewani's legs kicked in the air as its eyes bulged out.

"As if I would allow myself to be done in by the likes of you," the Vinduthi hissed.

Now that he stood in a pool of radiance cast by an overhead lighting panel, I got my first good look at him.

My heart caught in my throat. I'd never seen one this close before, and I found him darkly beautiful.

The strong muscles around his jaws and his prominently pointed canines did nothing to detract from his handsomeness. In fact, they even enhanced it a little, giving him an almost bestial quality belied by his fine silken vest and pants.

A row of small horns ran back from each temple, drawing my eye to the marks on his cheek.

One bare arm glowed with the same purple designs, much like Terran tattoos, but were not. They were natural markings, highlighting the play of muscles in his arm as he squeezed tighter. The rat man struggled frantically for a few more seconds, and then hung limply, its tongue thrust out to the side of its fanged mouth.

The Vinduthi tossed the Ewani's body aside like it was some filth he had accidentally touched. Then his terrible, compelling eyes fell on little old me.

"Are you all right?" he asked and incredibly, offered his hand.

I almost took it, but then I remembered two things.

One, my status on the station was so low, the Vinduthi could kill me just as easily as the Ewani.

Two, I was running later than ever and my boss would be furious.

"Thank you," I stammered, scrambling backwards and to my feet. The Vinduthi gave me a puzzled frown as I turned to flee.

I had never run so hard in my entire life. I didn't stop running until I was back under the bright lights of the station's ‘safe' zones.

And even then, when I thought of those purple markings and the flashing, hungry eyes, I shivered.