“Stay safe,” Grotta called after her.
It wasn’t so much a warning as a reminder. Defiance Station was new, but it still had the same problems as every other platform and station out in the Drift. After a moment, she revised that thought. The station was plagued by the same issues that every place where sentient beings gathered dealt with. Especially when that location also offered intoxicants and entertainment in a vast variety of forms.
She tried to stay clear ofthoseparts of the station. Not that she was tempted to indulge in most things on offer. Her biggest struggle was resisting the tantalizing scents that came from the food carts. The few times she’d wandered into those areas, she always left with a rumbling stomach and cravings for treats she couldn’t afford. Paying for a safe place to sleep took up most of her pay, and what little scrip was left over went to buying the other necessities of life, like nutri-gruel and the pay-by-the-minute hot shower she took after every shift.
Being paid in scrip was a novelty for Tish. She’d been locked into a contractual indenture for almost fifteen years. The contract stated she had to be provided with the means to feedand house herself. In exchange, she worked six days a week. The corporations had nice, legal names for the arrangement, but thankfully, none of them held her contract. She’d made the deal with the owner of a small business, and they’d both agreed to call it what it was—servitude.
It hadn’t been terrible. Zendi had not exactly been kind, but she’d provided corporate vouchers that covered the basics. She’d given Tish a small room at the back of the workshop and let her turn it into a cramped but comfortable home. Their relationship had been decent enough that Tish had cried at the woman’s funeral.
Of course, if she’d known who would inherit the business, she’d have saved those tears for herself.
The second she started thinking about the past, Tish deliberately thought about something else. Why expend time and energy on something she couldn’t change?
Instead, she thought about what she’d do with the rest of her day. She rented space in a pod hotel only one level up from the docking rings. That meant she was close to work and didn’t have to enter the busier areas. As a bonus, the hotel’s customers were either crews on shore leave or techs like her who wanted to stay close to their source of income. The pods were new, clean, and relatively quiet. They were also cheaper than what was available on the entertainment levels.
First, she’d get out of her work clothes and toss them into the laundry. Her rent included one cleaning cycle a week, and today was the day. Once that was done, she would spend five glorious minutes enjoying a hot, soapy shower. It was one of the few things she had that feltnormal. Like her life hadn’t gone off course and left her lost in the void. She was nearly thirty-four years old. How was this her life?
Nope. Don’t go there.Tish scolded herself and went back to thoughts of hot water and fragrant steam.
She let herself get lost in the mental imagery. Probably more than she should have. If she’d been paying more attention, she would have put more distance between her and the group of human males clustered outside the entrance to their ship.
She angled away from them, but it was too late.
“Hey there, pretty girl,” one of them called out in a sing-song cadence that told her he was intoxicated.
Tish lowered her head, hunched her shoulders, and increased her speed. This passageway connected to the main station in less than a hundred meters. Another minute and she’d be at the mag-lifts, safe in the crowd that always seemed to loiter around the vertical transports.
“Hey!” the same guy called again, but this time she caught the edge in his tone. “I’m talkin’ to you.”
“Sorry, I’ve got an appointment I need to keep,” she mumbled as she passed by. Sometimes that was enough to stop things from getting stupid.
Today, it wasn’t.
“Bitch thinks she too good for ya, Karta,” another of the group shouted. He finished with an ugly laugh that made the hairs on her neck rise.
“Shut up, Ollie,” he called over his shoulder. Then he leered down at her. “Is dat true? You think you’re too good for me?”
Tish kept walking, but her hands curled into fists as her mind raced through various scenarios. She had to get away from this idiot, but she needed to do it in a way that didn’t attract Corp-Sec’s attention. Her identity documents were decent forgeries, but they wouldn’t hold up to real scrutiny.
A second ticked by and then another. Had he given up? The thought had barely formed before someone grabbed her shoulder with enough force to make her stumble.
She regained her balance quickly and then turned to face the man who wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Leave me thefraxxalone.”
“No need ta be rude. I just wanna talk,” the male named Karta slurred.
Tish glowered up at the tall, gangly male.
“I’m not interested,” she said flatly.
“I am.” He cupped a hand over his groin and leered at her.
Behind him, several of his friends moved to join the confrontation. She was out of time and out of options.
As she struck him in the face with the heel of her palm, one question lingered in the front of her mind.Why does this keep happening to me?
She felt the crunch as she made contact. His nose was broken.
