Chapter 37: Sheloran Gets a Shock, Baxlon has a Conniption, and the Harkeen Return

Sheloran sat at a small table engrossed in On the Shoulders of Giants, From Oppenheimer to Kvx’Laa as The Chief paced the small room, clutching an assault stunner.

“Just keep behind me,” The Chief said. “I’ll keep you safe.”

“Mmm-hmm...”

“This isn’t your fault! It’s mine!” The Chief exclaimed. “I’m the one that installed those packages!”

“Sure...”

“When she shows up, just let me do the talking.”

Sheloran just sighed in annoyance, never looking up from her e-book.

Wow, they sure are taking the long way around, a small voice whispered deep inside her.

Unlike us, they had no guidance, another thought interjected. They have to fumble around in the dark.

“Hey!” The Chief exclaimed as he stood right in front of her. “Pay attention! This is serious! When Gloria gets mad, she can-”

“She isn’t mad,” Sheloran replied in a dreamy voice as she continued to rapidly page through the e-book on her tablet.

“Oh, she is! She has to be!”

“She isn’t mad, Chief,” Sheloran sighed, slightly annoyed, as she zoomed in on a diagram of the Castle Bravo device. “It says so right at the top of the page...”

“What?”

“What?” Sheloran asked blearily, her eyes easing into focus.

She sighed an exasperated sigh.

“What are we talking about?” she asked.

“Gloria!” The Chief exclaimed. “They are pulling her ship, or what’s left of it, into the Tiger now! Oh, she’s going to want blood for this!”

Sheloran let out a faint bubbly hiss from her gills. He was disturbing her reading over this?

“Chief,” she grumbled as she turned her attention back to her book, “you need to take a deep breath and relax. She isn’t going to do anything to anyone.”

“You don’t know that!”

“You are part of her crew. She isn’t going to do what she does to one of you.”

“Oh yeah,” The Chief snorted, throwing droplets of saliva straight up. “Ask Red about that.”

“Who?”

“A guy who used to run with us… used to.”

“That was different, and you know it,” Sheloran muttered in a distant voice as she started rapidly flipping through pages again. “Huh, so that’s why you use uranium projectiles so much… I had always wondered about that. Why don’t you just turn it all into-”

“Hey!” The Chief shouted. “Focus!”

Sheloran glared up at him with unfocused eyes. The combination of the annoyed glare and the eyes that were clearly not looking at him caused The Chief to shudder.

“Gloria is not angry,” Sheloran said in that strange trance-like voice, “not yet. Almost getting blown apart during a combat sortee might be a huge thing for you, but for her, it’s...”

She looked at the tablet.

“Friday, so put the stunner away. If you don’t, she will wind up shooting you in the genitalia with it after you actually do manage to make her angry.”

Sheloran proceeded to look back down at her book and did not comment further.

After a few moments, The Chief stopped trying to talk to her anymore and crouched behind a table with his stunner leveled at the hatch.

***

“Gloria,” Sheila sighed in a pained voice as she pinched the bridge of her nose, “did you have to do that?”

“Yes,” Gloria replied as she set the stunner down on a nearby table, “Yes, I did.”

Eno glared at Gloria as he held his med-scanner over the unconscious chief’s nether regions.

“That is an assault stunner, Gloria!” Eno said in an exasperated tone. “You are lucky he was wearing arc-flash rated clothing!”

“Isn’t it more like he’s lucky he was wearing it?” Gloria snickered.

“This isn’t funny!” Eno snapped.

“It is, just a little bit,” Gloria laughed playfully. “Did you see his eyes? HA!”

“I told him to put that stunner away,” Sheloran muttered from behind her tablet, “but what do I know?”

“She did!” Bunny proclaimed. “She fucking called it right down to his tap-root!… And I have to agree with Gloria on this one. It is a little bit funny. I’ve never seen eyestalks do that before!”

“This is fucking assault, Sheila!” Eno growled as he pulled out a neural stabilizer, “Completely unprovoked!”

“Eno, just… just...” Sheila said as she closed her eyes (it was kinda provoked… sorta...). “Is The Chief going to be ok?”

“Yeah,” Eno said, looking down at his scanner. “The arc-flash gear prevented any burns, so all we have is a significant amount of disruption in a rather sensitive area-”

Gloria snorted.

“Gloria…” Sheila said with the “Gloria, you are really on thin ice.” tone of voice (which was an achievement because it wasn’t a little funny. It was freaking hilarious. Did you see his eyestalks?)

“He will be fine,” Eno said as he glared at the gorgeous blonde psychopath, “some neural stabilizers, general pain killers, and some bed rest, and he will recover fully.”

“I still have some diapers in my quarters if you need them,” Gloria smirked.

“Bitch...” Eno said quietly as he picked up The Chief and carried his unconscious form from the room.

“Finally,” Sheloran muttered as she stared at a diagram of an tactical suborbital anti-ship missile used by the Chinese during WWIII, which was the munition that Independence War-era Republic missiles were based upon.

Gloria grinned and snatched the tablet from her hands.

“Buh… wha?” Sheloran stammered as she reeled from the dissonant shock of being slammed back into reality.

She looked at Gloria with horrified eyes.

“You...” she stammered in an alert, perfectly normal (and horrified) tone, “You shot him!”

“Only a little,” Gloria laughed happily. “Now, let’s talk about… missiles!”

***

Uhrrbet unsteadily stepped out of a cab and limped into the parking lot of The Drop of Oil.

“Uhrrbet!” Littlefoot cried as she rushed up. “Hey! Tell Craxi that Uhrrbet’s here!” she yelled into the air as she reached the garthra.

“Hi… Littlefoot?” Uhrrbet said, not exactly sure of her name.

“How are you doing?” Littlefoot asked, her big eyes full of concern.

“How do you think?” Uhrrbet winced. “But, I’ve been released from the hospital. It’s… amazing… what they can do even for us xenos. They say that there will be no permanent damage, but I gotta go back for some more surgery once I heal up a little.”

“Those assholes,” Littlefoot snarled as she put her hand on the .22 revolver hidden in a pocket in her dress. “At least they got what was coming to them.”

Uhrrbet just sighed. All Sheloran did was murder the ones that were here. There were plenty more of them, and it was only a matter of time before they came back, worse than ever.

“Can I get you something?” Littlefoot asked, “Coffee, maybe some tea? How are you and your kid doing for food? Do you need some money? Business has been great since that commercial went viral.”

“No, I still have some of what Sheloran lent me, and I don’t want to get any deeper in the hole,” Uhrrbet replied.

“Oh, don’t be silly,” Littlefoot replied. “We gotta look after each other, you know, especially since Shel-”

“Uhrrbet!!!” Craxina yelled as she came tearing across the lot, clinging to her brother’s back.

“Aaaa!” Uhrrbet shrieked and staggered backwards. She would have fallen if Littlefoot hadn’t caught her.

“Ohmygod!” Craxina cried as she vaulted off her brother’s shoulders and landed in front of the stunned garthra. “Are you ok?”

“Yes… I’m fine...” Uhrrbet said, not taking her eyes off of the thing Craxina was riding.

“Littlefoot, get Uhrrbet some tea. What kind of tea do you like?”

“Just some green tea will be fine,” Uhrrbet stammered, still staring at Craxina’s brother.

“Oh, where are my manners?” Craxina said brightly, “Uhrrbet, this is Grwwlf, my baby brother!”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Grwwlf said cheerfully. “Do you work with my sister?”

“That’s your brother?!?”

“Yeah!” Craxina laughed as she jumped up and hung off of his neck as she kissed the side of his maw. “This is my widdle baby bwother. Isn’t he the cutest thing!”

“You’ve apparently never met a male before, huh?” her brother smiled.

Uhrrbet backed away nervously.

“Oh, sorry!” Grwwlf said, closing his mouth. “I forget that our smiles can be unsettling. It was a friendly expression, I promise. I also promise that I have never eaten a sapient creature in my life.”

“No… I should be the one apologizing,” Uhrrbet said nervously. “It was rude of me to… um...”

“Act like the big bad Grwwlf was about to eat you?” Craxina laughed. “He doesn’t bite… unless you want him to, eh? Eh?” she laughed, elbowing a very discomfited Uhrrbet. “Oh, shit...” Craxina said as she realized that a sexual joke involving Uhrrbet was NOT cool, “um… sorry… I mean… I...”

“It’s ok,” Uhrrbet said with a tired little smile as two cabs pulled up and some humans got out and wandered into the brightly colored chaos that was the parking lot.

“Hey, Littlefoot,” Craxina said, “go and get those guys taken care of for me, will you?”

“Sure thing, boss!” Littlefoot exclaimed and waddled off, waving her arm in welcome.

“Come on, let’s get you someplace you can sit down,” Craxina said. “You can ride Grwwlf.”

“No, I’m not going to stay long,” Uhrrbet said, “I just wanted to come by and thank you for everything you and Sheloran did for my son and me while I was in the hospital. It really made things nicer.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Craxina said. “I just wanted to make sure you were taken care of, you know? It was because of us that-”

“No, it wouldn’t have happened at all if I hadn’t asked for help,” Uhrrbet said, looking down. “If I hadn’t gotten you and Sheloran involved-”

Craxina grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Hey!” she squeak-snarled, “Never say that! Never think that! That’s what those assholes want you to think. You came to us, sure, but Sheloran decided to help you. It was her call… just like um… everything else… was her decision. None of this was your fault! None of it! I don’t think that, and I know Sheloran doesn’t… not that I’ve been able to talk to her, but I know her, and the only people she blamed were the ones she… um… well, you know.”

Uhrrbet just looked down at the ground. Craxina wrapped her arms around her, giving her a huge hug.

“It isn’t your fault, ok?” Craxina said softly in her ear. “Now, how are you for money? Business is going crazy-nuts, so I can probably pass the hat around.”

“I’m doing ok,” Uhrrbet said quietly. “I gave most of what Sheloran lent me to the Harkeen, but I still have a little saved back and-”

“Bullshit,” Craxina said gently. “I know for a fact you hadn’t eaten when you walked in here that day. I can float you another loan. It won’t be-”

“No,” Uhrrbet said firmly. “No more debts! That’s what…”

She looked down and slumped sadly.

“That’s what got me into this, what got all of you in this...”

“I know!” Craxina said. “You wanted to make clothes, right?”

Uhrrbet looked up.

“Sell them here!” Craxina exclaimed, throwing all of her arms wide. “I’ll float you a loan to get you started, and you can pay me back when you sell something!”

“But Sheloran said that it was against the law?”

“Law, schmaw!” Craxina said dismissively. “I got a lawyer for that bullshit. You want to sell clothes? Sell clothes! You can set up a little tent right here and sell stuff! Hang on.”

Craxina turned her back to Uhrrbet and pulled out her phone.

“Hi, Maureen,” she said into the phone, “It’s me. Tell the fish I wanna talk to him. It’s about Uhrrbet... Uhrrbet! She’s one of Sheloran’s people, and she wants to sell stuff here…”

Uhrrbet and Grwwlf looked at each other awkwardly.

“So...” Uhrrbet said, “You are Craxina’s brother?”

“Yeah,” he replied, taking care not to smile, “There is a little size difference between the males and females of our species. They call it sexual dimorphism.”

“Yes, I’m familiar with the term,” Uhrrbet replied, “I’ve just never seen it to such an extent in a sentient species before.”

“Oh, it happens,” he replied. “There are several species with even a greater difference between males and females in the Empire. In fact, there is one species, the Vkg, where only the females are sapient. The males just live in little sacs in their torso.”

“Really?”

“Yep,” Grwwlf replied, “They are freaky. Nice people, though. I went to college with one. She didn’t have any males on her at the time. She was waiting until she had her career going before she reproduced.”

“And the females of your species are Craxina’s size?”

“Yep, Craxina is about average size as far as a Careel goes,” he replied.

Uhrrbet couldn’t help herself. She tried to discreetly peek underneath Grwwlf. He didn’t appear to be wearing any cloth-

Oh… My...

She looked at it and then back at Craxina…

Then at it…

Then at Craxina…

Then at it…

A quiet chuckle made her look up, right into the grinning visage of a massive eight-legged wolf-weasel.

“Sorry!” Uhrrbet said, the tip of her nose flushing a bright purple as she covered her face in embarrassment.

“Nothing to apologize for! If I had a hang-up about such things, I would be wearing pants,” Grwwlf laughed, “Not that we have those...”

“Ok!” Craxina exclaimed happily as she turned to face them, “It’s all set! You can sell clothes here, no problem!”

“Really?!?” Uhrrbet exclaimed, completely overjoyed.

“Yep!” Craxina replied. “See, the problem was that Sheloran was going to be paying you by the piece and then selling your stuff for you. That’s ‘piece work,’ and there is a whole lot of bullshit to deal with if you want to go that route, but if I just give you a stall here and you sell your own shit, then you are running your own business, and there is absolutely no problem! You can start as soon as you are ready. Just figure out what you need to get started, and I’ll issue you a loan to get your fabrics and thread and sewing machine and all that shit!”

“You’ll do that?” she gasped, “for me? Even after everything I cause-”

She fell silent as Craxina reached out and held her snout closed with her little paws.

“You didn’t cause anything, Uhrrbet,” Craxina said firmly. “We’re starting to clear off the old building, and when we do, we’ll have lots of space, so let anyone else who wants to start selling stuff know that they can rent a table here. After that ad, we are getting a whole lot of traffic, not just people wanting to fuck but people who just want to see what is going on and meet some fun and weird xenos. I bet they would love to buy genuine hand-made xeno stuff! And speaking of those non-paying tourists, while you are putting the word out, we need about six people who just want to make coffee because it’s tying up a bunch of us who could be making a lot more than what’s in that tip jar if you know what I mean.”

“I will!” Uhrrbet exclaimed happily. “Oh, thank you! Thank you!”

“Eh,” Craxina shrugged. “It will give the tourists something to do and hopefully buy.”

Uhrrbet looked up at the glowing display that now stood over the barely controlled chaos in the parking lot.

“If you get the chance,” she said, “tell her thank you.”

You are reading story Tales From the Terran Republic at novel35.com

Craxina looked up and smiled.

“Pretty neat, huh?”

“It’s amazing,” Uhrrbet said, still looking upward. “How did you manage to get that approved?”

“Like I said,” Craxina smiled, “I got a lawyer.”

***

Sheloran let out a long squeak of horror as she stared at the holo-screen.

“We got fox-girls!” a barely clothed Craxina shouted as she gestured at Halvana, “We got Cat-bois!” she exclaimed as she gestured at Jaklaaa, “You have a thing for upholstery?” Craxina yelled as the camera panned over to a squat furry white “ottoman” with bows in its fur, “We got you covered! And look!” she said as she parted the fur on the top of the creature revealing a blurred orifice.

“Um, we are going to have to blur that,” a bemused off-camera voice said.

“Why?”

“Because you want this on the main streams.”

“But it looks just like a human vagina! They need to see.”

“Yeah!” the ottoman exclaimed. “Show ‘em my pussy!”

“We really can’t, not if you want this-”

“Well, fine!” Craxina replied in a huff, “Then tell them, doesn’t it look just like a vagina?”

“Yep,” the off-camera voice replied, “That’s a vagina...”

“Don’t believe him?” Craxina enthused, “Then come down here and look for yourself!”

“Oh Prophet, no...” Sheloran moaned in wide-eyed horror as the crew all snickered and laughed as Craxina continued as if she was in a used-spaceship lot.

“...Or maybe you’ve been a bad boy and need a spanking!”

The scene cut to a leather-clad Juona who cracked four whips simultaneously.

“And she can give you a prostate massage from the other side!!!” Craxina cheered as the Juona flexed a tentacle suggestively.

“And that’s not all… we got...”

“She was supposed to go home...” Sheloran muttered, clutching her head, “Why didn’t she go home… WHY DIDN’T YOU GO HOME?!?” she yelled at the screen as Craxina continued on her tour.

“I said that I didn’t think there was a ‘payoff’ for breaking out the Plath,” Greg quietly said to Sheila as she clutched her sides, “I was wrong,” he said as he grinned from ear to ear.

“Eeeeeeee...” Sheloran squeaked as she watched.

“Right here at Sheloran’s Drop of Oil!” Craxina loudly proclaimed.

“No!” Sheloran yelled, “Not Sheloran’s anything! Guys! This isn’t what my business was like! I swear!”

“… Or maybe you want to ‘catch them all’...” Craxina yelled as the camera cut to Littlefoot and a pack of other small xenos, one of whom cheerfully yelled, “Pika-Pika!”

Sheloran just sat there in shock as Craxina just kept going.

“…Maybe you were one of those kids who was into ‘that cartoon’ a bit too much when you were growing up?...”

The camera cut to an above-ground pool and a tail flicked up, a very shrimp-like tail.

“That’s right!” Craxina yelled triumphantly, “We got mermaids!!!”

“When did we get mermaids?” Sheloran asked in complete bewilderment.

“You want to take a dip?” Craxina said suggestively as she climbed the ladder to the pool and beckoned the camera to follow, “Go ahead, the water’s...”

Craxina’s tail suddenly puffed out like a bottle brush.

“Fine!” she said nervously, suddenly pushing the cameraman back. “It’s fine… Perfectly fine!”

She looked back and yelled, “I told you to clean that up! We’re filming a commercial!”

Craxina turned to the camera.

“Don’t put that in… You guys have cures for most diseases, right?”

The crew burst into laughter as Sheloran covered her eyes and moaned.

“We even have humans if you are into that sort of thing,” Craxina proclaimed.

“Humans?” Sheloran asked in shock. “When...”

“And we are fully independent! Fuck the union! Fuck the Harkeen! Nobody stops this party! Anyone who wants to sell their ass or get some tail is welcome! But, be an idiot and...”

There was a cut scene to the Juon with the whips.

“Independent?!?… What?!?” Sheloran squealed, “When did that happen?!?”

“So come on down to Sheloran’s Drop of Oil! They might have burned down the building...”

The camera cut to a wild collection of tents, buses, and RV’s.

“But we are still fucking! We are located just off of the Free Port commerce zone exit 3. Just...”

Craxina pushed a button, and a fifty-foot tall hologram of Sheloran, in her prettiest dress and holding a cup of coffee, suddenly appeared.

“Just look for the smiling Plath!”

“Noooooooooooo!” Sheloran squealed in absolute horror as the bridge erupted into hysterics. An idol! A fifty-foot tall holographic graven image! Prophet no!

The camera cut to many more scantily clad xenos than Sheloran had ever hosted, who all yelled in unison…

“We love you, Sheloran! Free Sheloran! Free Sheloran! Free Sheloran!”

They were suddenly joined by many others who took up the chant, a good portion of the neighborhood from the looks of it.

Even Sam was there.

But Sheloran didn’t see that. Her face was buried in her hands as she rocked slowly back and forth as the torture ended.

“H-how many people saw that?” she asked in a tiny voice.

“All of them,” Bunny laughed. “You’re as viral as that swimming pool! Over a billion views Republic wide and counting. I hope they monetized that stream properly.”

Sheloran started hyperventilating, making flatulent noises out of her gill slits.

“It looks like a lot of people are rooting for you,” Jessie said over a speaker. “That’s good, right?… Sheila, can I please come out?”

“Are you done?”

“There is just so much of it!” Jessie wailed. “It’s going to take forever.”

“It will at the rate you’re completing modules,” Sheila replied.

“Bitch,” Jessie muttered over a hot mic.

“Um...” Sheloran said in a small voice, “Can I… Can I make a call?”

“Sure,” Sheila grinned, “As long as we get to listen in.”

***

“Sheloran!” Baxlon said happily as his image appeared on a holo-screen. “I’ve been trying to get in touch… with… SHEL-”

“BAXLON!” Sheloran shouted. “What the POOP is going on down there?!?”

“Sheloran,” Baxlon said as he took a deep, steadying gulp of water, “where are you?”

“Never mind that,” Sheloran snapped, “I just saw the commercial! Who the POOP allowed that to happen!”

“Oh, I think I am going to mind that,” Baxlon replied, “In fact, I’m going to mind it quite a lot! Are you on a spaceship?!?”

“Yes, I’m on a spaceship, so what?” Sheloran yelled, “Why is there a giant… me standing over a flushing orgy in the Free Port like a Prophet-blessed Godzilla?!?”

“Sheloran...” Baxlon said as he started to bump his nose repeatedly against the side of his bowl, “when I said ‘just be yourself,’ I did not mean BREAK OUT OF FUCKING TARTARUS!!! What the FUCK were you thinking?!?”

“Oh, I was just sitting around and got bored. You know how it pooping is!” Sheloran snapped, “What the POOP is going on with MY business?!? Are they insane?”

“Are THEY insane?!?” Baxlon yelled. “What the FUCK, Sheloran? Do you have ANY idea how much TROUBLE you are in right now? I… I don’t know how to fix this!”

“Well, you can start by ‘fixing’ that... that nonsense going on down there!” Sheloran yelled. “Scum! Baxlon, I trusted you to look after things!”

“And I trusted you to… NOT BREAK OUT OF THE MOST SECURE FACILITY IN THE GALAXY!!!”

“Well, it’s disappointment all around then!” Sheloran shouted. “Shut it down. Now!”

“And you need to turn yourself in right away!” Baxlon yelled, “Before this gets any more out of hand… wait…”

He closed his eyes.

“This is you I’m talking to. It’s already out of hand,” he said, realizing exactly how long Tartarus had been giving him the run-around, “How long have you been out?”

“A couple of days,” Sheloran replied, “I’ve meant to call you, but it’s been kind of crazy and-”

“I need to know details,” Baxlon said, struggling to regain his composure, “How the hell did you get out, whose ship is that, and I am dreading this part, what, exactly, does ‘kind of crazy’ mean?”

“You first,” Sheloran replied, taking a deep breath, “What the poop is going on down there and why the Hell are you letting it happen?”

Sheila reached for the bowl of popcorn that was being passed around as she looked on in pure delight.

It was really nice just being able to watch one of these screaming shit-shows for once.

***

Officer Perkins shrugged into her cuirass, carefully double-checking it, and then reached for a heavy duster made of multiple layers of ballistic, ablative, and kinetic dampening cloth under a brigandine style arrangement of titanium alloy plates.

It still crinkled a little when it moved. She had never worn it on patrol before, only for inspections and formal occasions.

The Republic Riot Duster was a relic of an earlier time but still issued to every Republic peace officer, and for a good reason.

That “antique” could stop a fucking grenade. Layered over the standard police armor, it made an officer better protected than anyone outside of power armor.

She then reached into her locker and pulled out an engraved black case embellished with the words, “From Gramma”. She opened it to reveal a long flanged mace with a blunt rounded coppery-bronze central spike protruding from the end.

She slid it into a ring mounted in her riot duster.

Finally, she pulled out a helmet, not the normal transparent-faced one, a solid black helmet made out of titanium alloy with an attached cowl.

She put it on, the cowl resting on her shoulders, bearing the weight. She switched it on, and the inside was illuminated with 360 degree camera views and sensor overlays.

“Testing,” she said as her voice was transmitted clearly through the attached speakers capable of over one hundred and fifty decibels.

She looked in the mirror attached to her locker door and snickered. She quickly activated the helmet cam, snapped a pic, and texted it to her great-grandmother, one of “Nakamura’s Peacekeepers” the first Republic lawmen.

The reply was immediate, a brief “Get ‘em! :D”.

She chuckled as she pulled off the riot helm and hung it on another attached hook.

She felt someone looking at her and turned.

She winced.

It was Xee. He was looking around the locker room in confusion. Nominally male, he was given a locker next to hers since “it didn’t matter” with him being such a different species.

Nobody minded.

“Um, hey… Xee...” Officer Perkins said as she cringed slightly.

She wasn’t looking forward to this.

“What is going on?” Officer Xeenan asked as he looked around the usually boisterous locker room, now gravely silent.

“Um… Xee,” Perkins said, putting her hand on his shoulder, “Um, tonight, you are going to be working in the data center. We need an audit of the outstanding cases and warrants.”

“Isn’t that normally handled by an AI?” Officer Xeenan asked, his stomachs heavy with dread. He was getting benched, just like back in the Federation. It was even the data center again!

“Yeah,” Perkins said, forcing a little smile, “But here in the Republic, we like to do an audit every now and then with a living, breathing person. Blindly trusting automation can cause all sorts of problems.”

“I… I thought we were getting along well...” Officer Xeenan said, his antennae drooping, “that you liked having me as a partner.”

“We are!” Officer Perkins exclaimed, “And I do!” she added. “It’s just an audit, just for the next couple of shifts, tops.”

“TAC’s in the house!” a burly woman shouted as she burst into the locker room clad in Tactical Suppression power assault armor. “I have to drop some perps off at the station! Where’s the shitter?”

“Aww, she thinks she’s potty-trained!” someone yelled to general laughter. (Tactical suppression heavy armor had waste storage and venting capability as well as contained water and concentrated food rations so they could stay in position for several days if need be.)

“What’s going on?” Officer Xeenan asked in alarm. “And why am I being relegated to the data center?”

“Ok,” Officer Perkins sighed, “Xee… Our official designation is ‘Peace Officer’, right?”

“Right...” Officer Xeenan said dubiously.

“And our mission is to maintain order and to protect the peace and safety of Republic citizens, residents, and guests, correct?”

“Where are you going with this?” Officer Xeenan asked apprehensively as he watched Officer Petow pull out an “under-over”, a double-barreled weapon consisting of a riot-stunner and a fifty caliber carbine, and slide it into a rifle-holster slung across the back of her riot duster.

“Sometimes…” Officer Perkins said, searching for the right words. “Sometimes you have to choose.”

“Choose?” Officer Xeenan asked, starting to feel nauseous.

“Sometimes, you have to choose between maintaining order and protecting the peace and safety of Republic citizens, residents, and guests. Sometimes… sometimes you just have to let something play out and then clean up the mess after. Tonight is one of those times.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that you’re still my partner,” Perkins said with a little smile, “But tonight, you are sitting your ass in the data center reviewing outstanding cases.”

“What is going on?!?” Officer Xeenan shrieked.

“Something that shoulda happened years ago,” Officer Nguyen snarled as she put on her black riot helm.

“The Harkeen are coming, in force, for The Drop of Oil’s girls and that Careel running the show,” Officer Perkins said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“And you are going to meet them in the streets?” Officer Xeenan gasped. “Let me stand with you, partner! I won’t falter, regardless of what must be done!”

“No, Xee,” Officer Perkins replied, “we aren’t. We are going to position ourselves in every tenement and every hotel in the Free Port, and TAC’s gonna set up a perimeter around the whole neighborhood, and we are going to let this stupid bullshit play out.”

“You are just going to abandon those prostitutes to the Harkeen?” Officer Xeenan asked in horrified outrage.

“No,” Officer Perkins replied with a grim smirk, “We are abandoning the Harkeen. They aren’t Republic citizens. They aren’t residents, and they most certainly are NOT guests...”

She put on her riot helm, and the narrow visor glowed red as the helmet was activated.

“Fuck them.”

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