“Who are you?” Guy demanded, looking at the elf-like alien he had just stumbled on while trying to escape with Harmony.

“Who are you?” She shot back defensively, picking off a piece of thread from her ear.

The crate she had been hiding in had been full of various circuit wires. These seemed to come in a variety of gauges, lengths, and colors. As for their purpose, Guy couldn’t guess. On top of that, these wires were all loose rather than being in a spool. Guy had seen things like this from shady chop shops. It told Guy that these had been stripped from a ship at some point. If what he had heard about this please was true, then these might have come from a ship that was stolen and then turned into parts.

Guy frowned before pointing back. “That’s our ship.”

“Then why are you sneaking?” She asked innocently.

“We’re just leaving for a bit.” Guy shook his head. “Why do I need to explain anything to you? What are you doing?”

“Me?” She asked, seeming amused. “I’m trying to get on the ship.”

“A stowaway?” Guy blinked.

Well, she technically wasn’t a stowaway, because they hadn’t left port yet, but if that was her aim…

“This place is lame; I’m trying to get off it.” She spoke in a seemingly unconcerned manner.

“You’re trying to get on the wrong ship, lady?”

“Hmm? Why’s that?” She asked curiously.

“Let’s just say that this ship isn’t very welcoming of stowaways.”

Harmony didn’t say anything, but she glanced at Guy. He winced. Yeah, technically he was a stowaway, wasn’t he? Well, how welcoming could he say they were. Half of the girls wanted to stick something in him, and that’s when they didn’t want him to stick something in them. Just because he could have hot alien sex didn’t mean that Guy was oblivious to the dangers of such an environment. It wasn’t a place for some innocent little elf girl.

“Eeeeh… I’m pretty tough.” She looked over the crate toward the doors as if she was considering just racing toward it now.

Guy looked her up and down and then sighed. “You look like a good girl. You don’t want to get involved in it. Trust me.”

The girl looked back at him, a mischievous smirk appearing on her face. “What about you two? Were you prisoners on the ship?”

“No!” I coughed, shooting Harmony a side-glance.

Fortunately, she had enough sense to keep her mouth shut and let me do all of the talking.

“No?” The girl didn’t seem convinced.

“We’re not prisoners. It’s just… we’re going sight-seeing, and the others said this station might be dangerous. Then again, seeing that it’s populated by a girl like you, I’m wondering if its reputation was overblown.”

“The Dresdon Station? Yeah, this place can get pretty dangerous. My dad doesn’t let me get into any trouble though. I can’t have any fun while I’m here.” Once again, her voice took on a petulant tone to it.

“Well, if you’re looking for a life of adventure, pick another ship.” Guy gave it one last chance as he was starting to find this girl a bit annoying and brattish.

He wasn’t clear on her age. She had a face that was hard to age. She could be anywhere from sixteen to twenty-five. Then again, since she was an alien, that wasn’t a standard Guy could use. Based on her personality, Guy would have pegged her at sixteen like Trinity. However, where Trinity was compassionate, gentle, and with a body that was very adult in all of the right ways, this girl just instantly grated on Guy’s nerves.

Her chest wasn’t particularly large, and her body had a skinny look to it like someone who had missed several meals. She was too skinny if Guy was being honest. Although her face was extremely beautiful, if it came to a woman with a great body and an okay face, or a great face and an okay body, Guy would pick the body every time. You just turned her and bent her over and you didn’t need to see her face. Even a bag would suffice if necessary.

You didn’t need to deal with her face, but that body was ultimately what you had to work with. Even Harmony next to him, although she wasn’t large in many areas, had a seductively slim and flexible body. It was the kind of body you wanted to bend into different positions and see how you could fuck her. With this girl, there was even that kind of pleasure! At least, that was what Guy was thinking as he stared at this girl.

“Ah! They are one of your crew. I’ll just ask her!” The girl perked up as she looked over the crates.

Guy’s eyes followed her, locking onto Vienna. She started to stand up, planning to walk right up to them and ask. Who knew? Vienna might even give her permission. If she said something like Guy had assaulted her, then Vienna would only be too happy to let her on board just to spite Guy. Realizing that she was calling his bluff, Guy only had a split second to think.

“Fuck it!” He reached out and grabbed the girl, putting his hand over her mouth.

“Mm!”

That was the only sound she could get out before Guy dragged her back behind the crates. He didn’t stop there though. He shoved her to the ground and then began to bind her using the wire from the box she had come from. She struggled a bit, but she was smaller than him, and he found it quite easy to overpower her. Harmony didn’t help. She just watched passively as he hogtied the girl. After getting her legs and arms tied up, he stuffed a piece of cloth in her mouth and tied it for good measure.

When he finished, he grabbed the girl and Harmony and then moved back deeper into the crates. His instincts had proven right, as a moment later a head poked behind the crates. Vienna had heard at least a bit of the commotion and come to check. Thankfully, she hadn’t suspected anything too nefarious and had taken her time. If she had seen Guy there with Harmony, there definitely would have been hell to pay. Although he had never promised anyone he wouldn’t free Harmony, since when had Vienna ever cared about him having committed a crime before she tried to make him pay for it. He was better off getting Harmony as far from this dock as possible.

The struggling girl he had tied up had finally stopped fighting her restraints and had instead settled on shooting him with an angry glower. He ignored her disparaging looks and kept watch on the girls. When he found the opportunity, he snuck out of the docking bay and continued to the other portions of the station. As he left the docks, he began to realize just how large this station was. Just like the bug world he had visited before, various elevator-like transports would carry someone either vertically or horizontally for miles.

The only difference was that these elevators ran outside of the corridors, and Guy couldn’t see where they went. Instead, he’d need to depend on a map of the facility place on the wall. Guy couldn’t walk up to it, because he still had the elf girl tied up. There were people on the platforms getting on and off of the transports, which were also traveling at regular intervals. He couldn’t exactly walk up to them with a tied-up girl. This place might be rough, but someone was going to ask some questions if they saw such a thing.

“I guess we part from here.” Guy declared.

Harmony jerked and then turned to look at Guy suspiciously. “You’re leaving me?”

“I said I’d get you off the ship.” Guy explained. “You’re off the shop now. Take the elevator anywhere, and then get lost in the crowds. We’ll be gone in 48 hours. At that point, you can do whatever you want. I’ve done the extent of what I said I would do.”

The girl Guy tied up had perked up as he talked about sending Harmony on her way. She was listening to their conversation with enough interest that Guy was already regretting not plugging her ears.

“What are you going to do, nya?” Harmony asked after a brief moment of silence.

“First, I’m going to find something to do with this girl.” Guy made a fist, thumping the girl on the head and causing her to glare at him. “Then, I’m going to go back to the ship.”

“You’re going to continue to travel with them? If they find out you betrayed them, they’ll kill you.”

“They might kill me anyway.” Guy shrugged. “The second your ship struck mine and we crashed, I committed to the idea that I’d never see Earth again. The farther we travel, the more certain I become that this will be the case. For me, I’m just going to enjoy things for a while longer. If I travel with you, I have a feeling that things will get serious and a bit boring, so I’d rather continue with them. Besides, I already explained that your alliance wouldn’t accept me anyway.”

At the time, Guy had been acting on impulse. However, he did reflect on things, and he had a feeling that killing all of those bugs was a crime that the alliance wouldn’t forget. He wouldn’t be surprised if, at this point, his face was up on a wanted poster somewhere just like all of the girls. It was best for Harmony if she distanced herself from him.

As for the girls finding out he freed Harmony, that was an if. He had snuck her off the ship, and these girls who had already forgotten the other woman was even there shouldn’t get too worked up over her disappearance. They’d probably just think someone killed her while they were bored, or dumped her body after she starved to death.

The only kink in Guy’s plan was the unfortunate appearance of the elf girl, who had seen them leave the ship. If the ship could finish their business and leave the dock before she could alarm anyone, then that would be fine. However, she had already heard too much, and there was no way he’d be letting her board the ship now. She had the look of someone who would stir up trouble just for the sake of it. He had a good read on girls who were more trouble than they were worth.

“Nya. I… apologize.” Harmony lowered her head.

Guy raised his hands, feeling caught off guard by her sudden shift in behavior. “What? Apology? What did you do? If anything, I’m the one who got you captured a second time. It was in my own self-interests, but I did deceive you a little.”

When they escaped the first instance, Guy had led her back into the hands of the prisoners. Of course, at the time, Guy was hungry and still trying to get a feel for the environment. It wasn’t like prisoners lived on some kind of code. Just as they had forgotten she was in a cell, they could forget she was a soldier. Her talk of contacting the alliance was worrying though, and at the time he wasn’t willing to sell them out.

 Now that they were on the space station, she wouldn’t be able to sell out their ship. At least, he was hoping what he had heard about this place and its disconnection with the alliance was true. Everything was riding on that. Harmony looked up at him at that moment, and he got a feeling that even if she could, she wouldn’t sell him out, at least not by choice.

“I was convinced you were just going to trick me again, so I have been waiting for the moment in which you betrayed me. I didn’t expect you to be… so earnest.” Harmony finally broke her eyes from his. “I do wish you would come with me.”

Guy gave a helpless smile. “It’s not meant to be.”

She nodded, although it seemed like she was partially nodding to herself. Then, she took a breath, stood up, and began walking out from behind our hiding area as if it was the most natural thing. She was a trained soldier, after all, so she was able to keep cool in these situations. Guy watched as she walked up to the map, decided on an area, and then found a transport. He wasn’t willing to leave until he confirmed she was gone. The girl that Guy had tied up had started to grow bored as he remained in hiding, even kicking him with her foot.

Feeling annoyed, he grabbed the girl in his arm, turned her over, and then spanked her butt. Her eyes went wide as he handled her in such a way, but she did quiet down. Guy started to remember that in this world, he was allegedly a lot stronger than most aliens. He probably was like some monstrous brute that could do what he wanted with weaker species. Well, he wasn’t going to bet his life on his combat prowess. He had already done that once, and the result was his death.

He meant what he had said. He planned to live whatever was left of his life to its fullest. He didn’t want to die. However, he also didn’t want to conform to the standards of some stuffy galactic alliance as well.

When he was finally satisfied that Harmony was gone and out of his life, he took a deep breath. “No going back now.”

He grabbed the girl while still watching for any spies, he made his way into a secluded storage room that looked to be abandoned. Once the two of them were in a room together, Guy finally pulled the gag from her mouth. She worked her mouth for a moment before shooting him a glare.

“What are you planning to do with me?” she demanded.

“I’m going to stuff you into a crate and send you to the other side of the station,” Guy responded honestly.

The girl blinked. “Eh? That’s it?”

Guy cocked his head. “That’s it what? What did you think was going to happen?”

Her face turned red. “Well, I mean, you could have… I mean… I’m a tied-up woman all by myself…”

Guy rolled his eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself. I don’t even see you that way. You’re more like a little sister or something.”

“L-little sister?”

From the moment she had fallen out of the crate to me tying her up and then dragging her halfway around the docks, she had been fairly cool and collected, but something about calling her a little sister had caused her some severe mental damage. Her body shook like she couldn’t believe it. Guy had meant little sister in the sense that she was annoying. He hadn’t meant to imply he had any familial affection for her. How could he? He just met her. She might be pretty, and that might be enough for Guy to bang a girl, but he’d need more than that if he was going to treat a girl like family.

“Are you still going to try to get on my ship?” Guy asked her, trying to maintain a serious expression.

The girl recovered with a shake and then looked right up at Guy. “Yes.”

Guy let out an irritated noise. “You were supposed to say no.”

“It’d be a lie.”

“Then, you were supposed to lie.”

“Would you let me go if I said no, even knowing it’s a lie?”

Guy thought about it for a second. “Yes.”

She made a face. “Why?”

Guy shrugged. “Because I can’t help it if you lie. If you say yes, that means I have to deal with the situation.”

“And that means you’re going to stuff me in a crate and leave me there.” She finished Guy’s words. “You know, it could be that no one finds me and I end up dying.”

Guy remembered what happened to Harmony and shook his head. “I’ll pay someone or give them a note to open after we leave explaining the situation.”

“They could just take the money and leave me to die anyway.”

“Who would be so heartless?”

She raised an eyebrow as if to remind Guy that this was a supposedly gang-run space station. He let out a cough awkwardly.

“It’ll all work out, probably,” Guy responded awkwardly. “If you would just promise you won’t try to board the ship or talk to any of the girls, this won’t be a problem.”

“I won’t!” She declared defiantly.

Guy clenched his fist irritated in her direction, but ultimately, he wasn’t the kind of guy who would hit a woman. He glanced at the nearby crates. Most of them were full, and the things they were filled with were rusty and unhygienic scraps stripped from ships. This was the junk that had so little value they were willing to leave it in an unlocked and unguarded storage room, after all. After checking a few crates, Guy concluded that this would work.

With an irritated sigh, he glanced at the belligerent woman. “What’s your name, anyway?”

“My name?” She blinked. “You can call me Xara.”

“Okay, Xara.” Guy kneeled next to her and started undoing her restraints. “My name is Guy.”

She looked at him suspiciously as he untied her feet and then started to unbind her wrists. “What are you doing?”

“You want off this station, right? Then, I will get you off this station. We’ll get you on some other ship. You can be blasting off in the opposite direction by the time my ship leaves port.”

That was ultimately the best solution Guy could come up with. He couldn’t leave this girl alone now to stir up trouble, and he couldn’t abandon her and risk her getting hurt, so he’d help her flee the station on a ship that wasn’t his. As he explained his plan, Xara didn’t struggle. Instead, she simply looked at him innocently, a small smirk on her face as if she was enjoying herself. Guy hoped he didn’t regret this.