2. Chapter 2

Even long after we've left the food stall, my heart is still racing. The captain is walking ahead of us while we carry the bowls of fishballs. I've never tried these, but they smell so amazing that I want to steal one for myself before we reach our ship again.

It has been a while since I've been on a space station, so everything is new again. It is always great to be somewhere with more than uzains around. It gets boring when all I talk to is my own kind.

More importantly, the human female in the stall makes my heart race. I don't know why, but I want her. I want to talk to her. Obviously, not the way Captain sneered and threatened her.

But how will I get a chance when I'm supposed to be following my team around?

I hope Vrek is here. Maybe he can help me with that. Since he got Serena, he has to have learned how to talk to a human. I talked to Serena too, but just a bit.

Hopefully, they are doing well on their spaceship. Now I don't fly with them and have since swapped to another fleet.

Captain stops in the middle of the road and we stop, almost bumping into each other. He says, "Zil, what do you say? Do you think that human was disrespecting us? And somehow, the ugly golden scale male dared to interrupt and point a gun at me."

"Well... I don't like the golden scale one. But the human female... Maybe it is worth it to pay instead of catching attention. We can always use more neutral space stations that won't mind letting us stay."

Captain grunts. "Somehow, you are the good-tempered one. I still think we should punish the human."

Oh... What does that entail?

My heartbeat races some more. If we are to punish the female, does that mean the Captain wants to grab her and put her on our spaceship?

I ask, "What do you want as a punishment?"

"Hmm... We'll take her to the ship and... We will figure that out."

My stomach twitches. I want the female. Maybe this is what's called the bond. Vrek said he felt that almost the moment he saw Serena, even though he didn't have a word for that and didn't completely understand it, either.

I clear my throat. "What are we going to do, though? There's no reason for us to keep a female on the spaceship. It is a uzain battleship."

"Yes and no. if I want to, I'm going to do that."

I shrug. I suppose this captain is even more quick-tempered than the one on Vrek's ship. Maybe that's the reason the base camp wants me on this ship, too. "Don't ruin it. We don't want to cause trouble."

Captain lifts an eyebrow at me, and I fight to stand my ground. I'm the coach of this ship; technically, the second in command. But, practically, I'm here to advise Captain, so he should listen to me. He knows why I'm here, and I don't care whether he likes the arrangement.

Every uzain thinks they can lead a ship on the first try, but that's usually not the case.

The other uzains look at us, seemingly trying to decide on something. We are uzains, we don't do voting. But we are uzains, the captain says it and it is the rule.

Eventually, Captain shrugs. "Okay, if that's what you think." He continues to the plaza with tables and benches. Some beings are there resting, and some are enjoying food from the various places in the space station. "Here, let's enjoy the food. If it isn't good, I'm going to..." He pauses for an awkward moment before he clears his throat. "Before the others see these."

I suppose that makes sense. I would love to try out these fishballs. They smell so good. In the thin metal disposable bowls, the fishballs are in brown sauce. The human gave us thin sticks, which I suppose are the correct utensils for these. I suppose she prefers these over forks.

There is an empty table for us, so there's no need to kick others out of their table, which is good for us. We should behave in a space station; it is easier for the captain when there's no need to draw unwanted attention.

We put the bowls on the table after we were seated. Captain tries a fishball as I pick up a stick for mine. These are chewy ones. There is a layer of oil floating on the brown spicy sauce. I like them.

I'm eating, but something seemingly tickles my back. While the others are busy with food, I turn around.

Something moves in the background, but it moves away too quickly for me to identify it. I scowl at that. Are those Empire's minions?

Since that action with Vrek, it has been a while since we attacked the Empire's facilities. But I suppose the Empire will never let us go if they have a chance to kill us.

But...

Maybe it is the male who interrupted us. If I remember correctly, that's a nekrozzro. Maybe that male thinks that he has strong enough horns to fight us. But there were five of us while he was alone. Maybe counting the guy whose body is made of rock. There were two of them, but do they think they stand a chance?

Not that I'll ever fight those mineral-based beings. Those don't get hurt easily, if at all. It will be like attacking a wall, and that's not an off description.

Maybe they are the ones peeking at us, trying to make sure we won't cause trouble. But they are just other visitors to this space station, like us. They aren't in the guards' uniform. Maybe just a nosy one. There are a lot of those beings around, every one of them thinking they are superior or something.

But somehow, it feels like I've seen that nekrozzro before. Is that because every nekrozzro looks similar at a glance?

I stab another fishball, dipping it fully in the sauce before putting it into my mouth. There seems to be something in the sauce, maybe onion, or tender pieces of meat, which are probably the ingredients for the sauce. We ordered more than our headcount, but the fishballs disappear quicker than I want.

My heart skips a beat when I think of Vrek and Serena again. If I capture the woman at the stall, will she make me fishballs? Serena eventually agreed to make us doughnuts, but every human is different.

I shake my head and try to get that thought out of my head. I'm the one telling Captain to give up trying to capture that woman. I'm not going to end up doing it myself.

What happened with Vrek and Serena should be an exception, not the norm. It isn't like uzains are the ones hunting down other beings and taking them to our ships after all. We don't do that.