A tight ring of people had formed around the two fighters.Arin thought she even saw some miners discreetly exchanging bets. She rolled her eyes. Without proper order and structure, the situation had rapidly descended into a regular shitfight.
On Fortuna Tau, they’d had rules, routines, and consequences. Space mining attracted a rough crowd, but they were kept in line by the fact that if they didn’t cooperate, they would lose their jobs.
Now, they had nothing to lose.
Arin squeezed through the crowd, using the weight of her pack and the mean appearance of her rocket launcher to force people to step aside. She reached the edge of the ring and dropped her pack. She rested the launcher on the floor beside the pack and removed her link-band, stashing it in one of the pack’s outer pockets. It was just in case she had to hit someone. If she broke it, it would be her third one this year, exhausting her military allocation. The damn things were expensive to buy.
People respectfully stepped away from her stuff, giving her a bit of room. To her relief, there were no Xargek; this was just a common brawl, albeit a bit one-sided.
Arin drew her bolt-pistol from inside her flight jacket and dashed into the makeshift ring. The big man called Grogan was chasing the slender woman around, trying to grab her with his huge arms, but the woman was too fast. Arin saw an opening and rushed at Grogan, intercepting him as he lunged. “Stop,” she said coldly, pointing the gun at his head.
“What the…?” Grogan growled. He blinked, stopping dead in his tracks. “Stay out of this, lady.”
“What’s the meaning of this, Grogan?”
“None of your business, peacekeeper.” His pupils were dilated, and a network of fine red blood vessels crossed his sclera. He had the look of a long-termSpikeuser. “You’re only acting tough because you’ve got that thing in your hand. Wait until you run out of bolt-charge, beautiful. You won’t be able to do shit.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Arin had had enough. It had been a long day, and she’d really had enough. She stashed her gun and strode forward, catching Grogan by surprise. As she got close, she rushed at him, crouching down and grabbing one of his thick legs. Using all her strength, she lifted his leg and pushed him backwards, executing a neat single-leg takedown. Grogan cried out in alarm as he lost his balance and toppled to the ground, landing heavily on his back.
“Oof!” The air left his lungs in a sudden whoosh as Arin brought her elbow down onto his torso in a savage blow, making him curl up into a ball. While he writhed in pain, she used her advantage to restrain him in a vicious shoulder lock.
“What was that again, citizen?” Arin squeezed, and Grogan cried out in pain. “Can’t do shit, huh? I don’t need a gun to deal with your sort. I’ll ask you again. What’s going on here?”
The crowd had erupted into jeers and catcalls. Arin ignored them.
Grogan’s face had turned red. He wheezed and spluttered. “Th- the bitch stole my space-sausage!” he blurted, pointing his chin towards the woman, who was standing warily at the edge of the ring.
“That’s bullshit,” she retorted. “He blames me for everything that goes wrong. I saw it fall off the grill and into a grease gutter. His fat ass knocked it off the grill, and he didn’t even realize.”
Arin twisted Grogan’s arm. “I don’t care whether she stole your space-sausage or not. We’re not going to turn into animals over a piece of artificial meat.”
“B-but…”
As Arin twisted harder, releasing some of her pent-up frustration, she noticed that the raucous cries from the crowd had died down. Everything had gone quiet. The heavy rasp of Grogan’s breathing suddenly seemed very loud, and she could hear her own pulse thudding in her ears.
An eerie stillness swept across the floor, and slowly, people began to back away, fear etched onto their faces.
A shadow fell across Arin, causing her to look up. Her jaw dropped. “When didyouget here?”
Cheerful darkness crouched down beside her in the form of a Kordolian named Rykal. Grogan went stiff in her arms, not daring to move.
Rykal glanced up towards the ceiling. “There’s quite the network of walkways up there.”
“You jumped down from there?” Arin could barely make out the metal walkways dangling overhead. They were so far up in the ceiling of the giant hold that they were almost invisible in the shadows. It had to be at least a fifty-foot drop from up there.
“Better to avoid the crowds, don’t you think?” Rykal smiled, his fangs gleaming.
Sighing, Arin released her hold on Grogan. “If I hear of any more fighting, I’ll lock you in one of the lower cargo holds. Now get the fuck out of here,” she hissed, stepping up off him. He rose unsteadily to his feet and did exactly that, hastily scampering off to whatever bolt-hole he’d emerged from.
In the space of barely a few minutes, all of the humans had disappeared.
Rykal was a dark, sleek cat amongst wayward pigeons. He stood, once again invading Arin’s personal space. He had a knack for getting just a littletooclose for comfort.
“Formidable,” he remarked, studying her with a lazy half-lidded gaze. There was a note of approval in his voice. “It’s good to have you back.”
He was so close that Arin could see the tiny flecks of brown threading through his brilliant irises. He was so close she could smell him. He reminded her of the early morning in winter, when icicles hung from branches like perfectly formed shards of glass.
He was so close she could feel his presence; dark and deadly yet somehow reassuring, like a guardian devil.
