CHAPTER 1
Iswear to God Agan’s friends have some kind of tracker on Kita. It’s the only explanation for why they keep showing up.
“They don’t even come to Klkx.” Kita asks with an irritated breath. “Why is he here?”
Markoban pulls a chair over to join us without asking. “I thought Agan would be here already.”
“That’s strange,” Kita says, pulling up the check and paying. “Since neither he, nor you were invited, there’s no reason for him—or you—to be here.”
Markoban tips his head to the side, looking at her like he’s trying to find the joke in her words.
“This is where we were supposed to meet.” He glances at me like that “we” doesn’t include me. “Didn’t you get that message?”
“No, we didn’t. And honestly, I think we’re done here.” She looks at me. “What do you think?”
I couldn’t agree more. “I’ve already asked for a box.”
The requested container appears in front of me and I thank the Sovian woman who brought it as Kita leans closer to Markoban.
“Why do you put up with my brother?” she asks.
Markoban chokes instead of answering.
“He’s an absolute asshole to you.”
Coughing uncomfortably, he says, “That’s just how he is.”
“I know.” She takes the box from me—clearly, I wasn’t moving quickly enough. “I don’t understand why you haven’t figured out that it’s not a funny joke. That’s who he is.”
Even with Kita’s intervention, I close the box a moment too late.
Jesha and Pru and Agan come into the restaurant, their conversation too loud for the space and I look at Kita, cringing.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t you dare apologize to me.”
“Think we can make it out the back?" I ask.
She shakes her head and shares a scowl that I know isn’t meant for me, but I still feel guilty for some reason.
I don’t want to be around these people right now.
I just want to spend time with my best friend and then go to work.
Everytime I see Agan, I remember those ugly words.
The space station has started to feel too small. And of course he comes too close.
“What are you doing here?” Agan asks, the question seemingly directed at only me.
Before, his tone might have sounded like surprise. Now, all I hear is irritation.
“I was just leaving.”
“Good.” He laughs and looks at Jesha, saying something I don’t understand before, “I don’t have a spot for you.”
“A spot?” Kita asks, all vitriol. “A spot for what?”
Agan takes a second to turn to her and her tentacles go gray with anger.
“Did you forget the new bowls are opening today?” He barely looks at her before turning to Markoban. “My uncle got us into the party.”
“I had forgotten, because the bowls are boring. I already told our uncle that I wouldn’t be going.”
“More drinks for us.” He sits and Kita immediately stands, pulling me to my feet and nudging me toward the door.
“You’re really not coming?” Markoban calls after us, but Kita ignores him, so I do too.
When we’re out in the corridor, she pulls me close to her side and sighs so heavily, she shrinks by a couple inches.
“I wonder if I can get our uncle to send him home for a few months. Anything for a little peace.”
“You’re sure you don’t want to go?” I ask as she turns us toward the elevators.
“No, I wasn’t joking when I said the bowls are boring. And, unlike Agan, I’m not obsessed with our uncle’s position… he thinks that being the system administrator’s nephew somehow makes him important too.”
And if his friends are any clue, others agree.
There’s one thing I don’t know though… “What are the bowls?”
“Kind of like a bath, but big and semi-public. There are four of them that were already operating, and this new one is just because there have been more aquatic aliens coming through. It’s hyper-modern, probably expensive as hell, and will be full of assholes like Agan within a week.”
“So… is it like a swimming pool? Or like a spa?”
She asks me to describe both and says, “Spa, I guess. You can get fully naked if you reserve one for a private session. But most people don’t want to pay that much.”
I’ll have to ask Peach if anyone’s told her about them. She could convince her mate to take her.
“We tend to use them weekly,” Kita says, “Just so we don’t have to deal with the hassle or the individual water bill.”
“Wait… you do this weekly and I’ve never heard about it?”
She rolls her eyes and they shimmer like a galaxy shifting. “You don’t wax poetic about how often you shower.”
“But it doesn’t sound like it’s solely for hygiene.”
“Hygiene, socialization, mating, milestones and mischief.” She grimaces. “The last time I had to use one of the co-ed pools—is that the right term for mixed genders?”
“It is.”
“The last time I had to use one, because the femme-only one was full, a glirf snapped me with a towel. Apparently something a human had taught them.”
The other Opodean genders don’t have a translation in English and half the time I meet one they pick between the two I’ve been ingrained with. They think it’s funny and primitive.
“I have definitely been victim to that before and understand your irritation.”
She sighs. “This new one is a big deal. The station is one of the most accommodating to aliens like us. Add Phantom’s into that and I would not be surprised if they brought another few rings in to add levels for more housing.”
“That might be nice.”
She looks at me like I’ve offered her a frog to eat.
“It would give us more places to hide from Agan and his friends.”
She groans. “Sometimes, I think you’re too optimistic… but this time, you’d be right.”