Alex

“Aw shit! Here comes trouble,” I whispered to Aeva as the four Yalayans turned to face us. Aeva just froze as I tried to think of something to say that wouldn’t incite violence. Time for schoolyard tactics. “Pay no attention to them,” I said as I started to wheel myself past the aliens that seemed to be wielding kitchen knives. Aeva tried to follow me as I made my way into the room, but they were quickly blocked by the Yalayans that started to surround me. I involuntarily started to sweat, despite the cooling systems in the mech. Maybe they’re here to talk to me, I thought naively. This doesn’t have to turn bloody.

“Hey Terran, I’m talking to you!” came the word from one of the ones behind me as the ones in front of me blocked my path.

I took my hands off the wheels of my wheelchair and into the lap of the mech. There’s a knife in the leg of the mech, so I can defend myself even if the legs don’t work. “So, you’re going to stop a crippled man from getting some food? I thought the Yalayans had more honor than that,” I said. Hopefully they don’t take this as a challenge.

The one behind me scoffed as he made his way to my front, trading places with another one. “You honestly expect me to believe your lies Terran?” they asked. “Your kind have done nothing but lie and deceive the rest of the galaxy. And then you have the audacity to taunt and publicly shame us in front of the entire galaxy!”

I shook my head. “Man, if you think I was the one doing that, then you need to recheck your facts. I never lied to any of you about anything that I was allowed to talk about. Also, I know it might be hard for you to understand, but I’m not the same Terran that made that statement earlier. Also, I find it extremely ironic that you were already here thinking that you could intimidate me into submission, just like your species did this morning, and we all know how that went. So, tell me, are you feeling lucky, or are you going to let me have some lunch in peace?”

The praying mantis looking alien’s face turned into its species equivalent of a scowl, a scowl that was mirrored by all the others in the room as the grips around knives were tightened. I looked back at Aeva as a look of terror spread across their face. They started to move to get between me and the Yalayan at my back but was shoved back before they could intervene. “Stay out of this, wouldn’t want to damage that pretty crest of feathers, would we?”

Aeva looked between me and the Yalayan threatening her. “I’m sorry,” they mouthed to me as they slowly backed up. I understood why, since their feathers were a very important part of their culture and destroying it would be extremely taboo in their society.

Fuck it, we ball, I thought to myself as I grasped the handle of the knife hidden in the leg of the mech. I was more than ready to start swinging if they came at me. Although I would have to be extra careful because the battery was still exposed, and I would rather not have to fix it again.

The one in front of me started to make threatening steps towards me, so I drew my knife. Suddenly, a voice shouted, “Enough! I will not have my crew trying to dismember each other over some petty conflict not happening on my ship!” the voice bellowed.

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Everyone froze and turned to the source of the noise, which was the captain standing in the doorway of the mess hall. “But Captain, this lying Terran is a threat to the whole ship! You are scolding us from trying to remove a threat when it’s easy to remove?” asked one of the Yalayans.

The captain gave them a pointed look. “Argok, you and your species are one to talk. Before there was any definitive proof of any of the claims that people were throwing around the Galactic Web, your people already declared war on a species that you knew nothing about. And then when this species managed to capture the pride of your navy, you have the gall to try and attack one of your crewmates?” She flipped her tentacles around that showed her disgust. “When you signed onto this ship, you signed a legally binding contract that you would follow the commands of your captain, and that you would respect your fellow crewmembers regardless of species.” She paused for a moment to let her words sink in, tentacles still flipping in disgust. “This here alone is more than enough grounds to have you fired and dropped off at our next port of call which would be, in case you missed the announcement earlier today, the Strength Through Diplomacy. I’m sure that the Terrans would have a lot of creative ways to punish you for threatening one of its citizens.”

No one dared say a word, and you could hear a pin made for a human drop on the floor. It was some time before Argok finally spoke up. “We’re sorry, Ma’am, we weren’t thinking. It will never happen again.”

“It better not, otherwise I’ll make what the Terrans will do to you tame in comparison. Now get the hell out of my mess hall!” the captain shouted.

They all took one last look at me before they all put down their knives and slowly walked out of the room into the elevator.

I finally let go of the breath that I didn’t know I was holding as I wheeled myself in front of the captain. “I don’t think you could have come at a better time Ma’am; I don’t think I could have fought all of them off in the state that I’m in right now. Thank you for the save.”

She gave a dismissive gesture. “I would have done it for any of my crew, but don’t thank me yet,” She gave me a once over as she made her way to a table. “And besides, with how much trouble you’ve been getting into, I programed the monitoring system in the ship to tell me where you are, or at least where your ‘mech’ is.” While it wasn’t surprising that she had a tracker put on me, the way that she said mech seemed to rub me the wrong way for one reason or another. “Also, there are some things that we need to discuss, but that can be done after you get some food.”

I nodded and thanked her as both me and Aeva made our way over to the buffet style food trays. As I looked at the offerings, message after message filled my HUD that showed in one way or another that consuming most of the food here would probably kill me, whether it be from too much salt, cyanide, or some other poison. Keeping all this in mind, I chose to go with some fruit that my VI assured me was safe for my consumption. I sat down, picking up one of the knives that was dropped by one of my would-be killers and used it to cut up the fruit into manageable pieces for me to eat. And with that, I opened the hatch, and climbed down the mech onto the table where I sat cross-legged. Aeva, on the other hand, chose a large selection of meats that befit their raptor like physiology as she sat next to me.

“So, Captain, what’s this all about?” I asked as I took a bite from the fruit. Damn, this is good! It tastes just like a blue gummy bear! Score, those are my favorite! I eagerly took another bite.

The captain looked down at me with an unidentifiable emotion in her eyes. She gave a heavy sigh. “I don’t know how to break the news to you, so I’m just going to say it. You can’t be on the security team anymore.”