Maiga heard a sound above her, someone boarding the ship. A moment later Wixa's voice called out.

"Maiga? You there?"

"Cargo hold."

Wixa appeared at the hatch and started climbing down the ladder.

"Could I hell find this berth?" She said. "Oh well, I know where it is now. Good idea to get a permanent one. I'm sick of waiting for a berth before we can land." She stepped off the ladder.

"It's six months," Maiga said, turning from securing crates. "Not actually..." She trailed off, then spoke again. "Um, Wixa, just one question. Why is your hair blue?"

Wixa stared at her. "It's blue?" She grabbed a bit of it and pulled it as far over her face as she could, going cross eyed as she did, the ends of it barely in her vision. "What the hell?" She wailed. "When did this happen?"

I'm not going for it, Maiga thought. She folded her arms and raised her eyebrows. A moment later Wixa grinned.

"You like it?"

"Oh, I'm in love with it," Maiga said. "I fully intend to have mine dyed the same colour the moment we come back." She turned back to finish securing the cargo. "Are you in disguise or something?"

"Nah, I just wanted to hang on a bit longer in the hairdresser's yesterday." Wixa grabbed a snapper and started checking the manifest. "A couple of the junior officers from the Trebuchet were in there. So, I thought I'd do a bit of ear wigging."

"Oh the Trebuchet is back is it?" Maiga asked, voice casual, just as if she didn't have an alert set up in her computer terminal to let her know when the Trebuchet's shuttle docked at the station.

The Trebuchet had been away almost two weeks this time. Now it had come back just as Maiga left. At least this trip would be short. And Chervaz would let her know what had been going on when she got back.

Maiga frowned then. That still didn't quite explain something.

"But why blue?"

Wixa smiled. "Why not?"

Well that was what counted as an explanation from Wixa. "So, did you hear anything interesting from the officers?"

"Only about the relative sexiness of various male officers and crewmen and who they think is sleeping with who."

Had that been worth a crazy dye job? Wixa didn't go on, so Maiga assumed the who was sleeping with who hadn't included Bara's name. Wixa would have been sure to report on that, blue haired queen of gossip that she was.

A knock came from above, someone banging on the hatch.

"Now what?" Maiga said. "I'll check it out."

She climbed up and opened the hatch to find Chervaz standing there. He looked flushed, as if he'd been running.

"Oh, I'm glad I caught you before you left."

"Something wrong?" She gestured for him to come aboard and he climbed in.

"No, ah, you left this in my quarters." With a sheepish smile he handed her a blue hair band she'd been wearing when she went round last night. She'd overslept this morning and left in a hurry, not wanting to delay their schedule. "I, erm, thought you might need it."

Maiga took the hair band and put it in her pocket. "Yes, the trip would have been a disaster without that."

He smiled, recognising her teasing. "Well, since the stakes were so high then I think I should get a reward."

"Oh really?" But she moved into his arms and they kissed, his arms around her waist, her hands resting on his upper arms. When they broke, she ran a hand down the side of his face, then through his thick black hair. He moved his arms up, enclosing her in an embrace that made her feel secure as a child in her mother's arms.

She just stood there for a moment, resting her head on his broad chest, and enjoying the warmth of his body, the solidity of him. He's a rock in the sun. They hadn't spent every night together, since that first night two weeks ago. But there had been enough nights for her to start to really know him. And to start thinking about where she went from here.

He didn't make her body sing, the way Ilyan had, she had to admit that. But he had shown himself a gentle and patient lover. She liked him. She cared for him. But still, this felt like a relationship that would take time to develop. Did love have to be a clap of thunder? Or could it be gentle misty rain? The type you barely noticed at first, but that slowly and surely soaked right through to your skin and drenched you in it.

She'd paid six months in advance on the berth. A good length of time to give him too. Time enough to see where this might go.

"I have to go," she said, though not moving away, just looking up into his face.

"It's only a short trip this time?"

"Yes, thirty six hours each way. Maybe half a day actually unloading, making deals and loading up again. Four days maximum."

"Maiga," Wixa called up from below, a tone of regret in her voice. "Sorry, but, ah, we need to make a move or we'll lose the take off slot we booked."

As Maiga and Chervaz stepped apart Wixa appeared from the hatch into the cargo hold.

"Sorry," she said again. "Hi, Vaz, lookin' sexy as always. Maiga. I'll get the pre-flight started." She went into the cockpit. Chervaz turned from watching her.

"And - um - why exactly is her hair blue?"

Maiga smiled and moved close to him again for one last kiss goodbye.

"Why not?"

~o~

"Captain, I don't think I can allow what you are proposing."

Station security chief Neex looked at Bara across the circular desk he sat in the centre of. All around him, his consoles showed reports and video feeds of areas of the station and outside it.

She frowned, but didn't know if he even understood the expression. The Klaff had rather expressionless faces compared to humans. Their eyes showed no emotion. But their smooth, delicate looking skin changed colour easily, subtle shades of blue demonstrating their moods. Right now his showed pale and cool, not agitated at all.

"Chief," she said, "I don't intend to step on you toes in any way." He didn't have toes and just looked puzzled at the metaphor. "I mean, encroach on your jurisdiction. But the fact is crime is rising in the human sector."

"There are more of you on the station. More people means more crime. In percentage terms the rise is negligible."

"Still," she went on, trying to ignore any inconvenient facts. "More crime is happening and the humans feel more worried about crime than they did before. Perception is important isn't it? The humans feel more at threat. And they will blame Station Security for that."

"We have increased security patrols in areas with larger populations than before," Neex said. Did she detect a little darker blue now, her implied criticism bothering him?

"And all I want to do it help those patrols. Supplement them. If it helps people to feel safer, if it reduces crime..."

"I can't allow unauthorised, unaccountable personnel to..."

Definitely darker blue now. Bara raised a hand. "Of course not! Nobody would be trying to do the job of your people. What I propose is a watch patrol. If they were to come across any criminal activity they would report to station security at once. Your people would be the ones making arrests, and of course, taking the credit in the end for the crime reduction."

"Well of course, that would be different."

"And I'd be very careful who I selected from the volunteers. I would put former military police officers in charge. They understand all about rules and limits on their powers. They already know how to do the job."

"Now there I agree with you, Captain. In fact would I like to recruit such people. The management and the owners prefer station security to be all Klaff, but I think it could be very useful to recruit from all the major species that have a permanent presence on the station."

"You're obviously very forward looking." A little buttering up wouldn't go amiss.

"And you humans, you understand regulations and chain of command. I think many of your people would make ideal security officers." His skin flushed again, but it seemed more with excitement and interest.

"Chief, if you allow this scheme to go ahead, and it's successful wouldn't that go a long way towards showing your managers that recruiting other species to your force is a good idea?"

"Yes, that's true."

"Then it seems we have a mutual interest in the success of the patrol."

"Yes..." His skin grew pale again. If any expression did show on his face is was a hint of suspicion. "What exactly is your interest though? You are not a permanent resident here. In fact I have certain reports about the activity of your ship that, if they were in my jurisdiction, I'd have to ask you some harsh questions about."

Bara nodded. "I understand your concern, Chief. The fact is, things are hard for humans at the moment. Many of the people here on the station have only casual work or no work at all. And I may not live here, but one thing about humans, we stick together and look out for each other. So to help those who seek sanctuary here is my duty."

Was he buying it? The Klaff had a reputation for being sentimental and loving a good sob story. But this one was a policeman. They soon had the sentiment knocked out of them.

"If you are concerned then of course I will take no part in the everyday running of the patrol. In fact that's my intention anyway. I will find good officers to take charge. You'll have the final say about those appointments, of course. Then I'll leave them to get on with it, in constant liaison with yourself."

He was buying it, he kept making a little gesture with his head that she liked to think was a nod. Why wouldn't he go for it? If it worked, it helped his job. If it failed, he just broke up the patrol and went back to the status quo. Come on, Neex. You have nothing to lose.

"Very well, Captain. I approve. Now, let us share a beverage and work out the details."

~o~

"No."

"Oh come on. We'd get two in easily. And we could sell them for anything we liked back on Hollow Jimmy."

"No live animals."

"I admit it would be a tricky journey," Wixa said, as they secured crates for the return trip. "And possibly quite stinky. But think of it. Fresh milk. Fresh cream, fresh cheese!"

"Wixa, we are not buying those cows and that's final!"

Wixa sighed. "Okay, okay. But you're turning your back on a bargain." They climbed the ladder to the top deck. "You know I've not had a decent espresso macchiato in months."

"And yet somehow you manage to struggle on with your life."

"Just about." The two of them went into the cockpit and started the pre-flight checks. Outside a ruby red sky cast a pink glow over the huge marketplace and the buildings around it that spread out across a plain.

The airfield covered a huge area, filled with ships of various sizes. More buzzed around the sky above, taking off, or landing. With no air traffic control here, they'd have to rely on the sensors to make sure nothing else strayed too close to them.

"And you know," Wixa went on, not giving up on the cows yet. "Jasini says Cloud turns her nose up at anything but fresh cream."

"So much tragedy in life. How do I stand to see it continue?"

"I can't imagine. Secured for take off here."

"Okay. Strap in."

The Friss lifted off. As it rose, a small rainbow coloured ball rolled off the top of the console. Maiga heard it bouncing around, as she urged the ship up, into the red sky.

"Oops." Wixa said. "Forgot that was there. Sorry."

"I suppose it's a gift for your cat."

They were pressed back in their chairs as the ship reached escape velocity.

"Actually no. It's for Mrs Kymin's little boy. He should be able to drive his parents especially crazy bouncing that thing around their quarters."

The ship burst through into darkness as it left the planet's atmosphere. The force fields to generate an artificial gravity field kicked in and the ball bounced again. Maiga put out her left hand and caught it as it bounced up between their seats.

"Nice catch." Wixa un-strapped her seatbelt. "I'll get some food started."

"Okay."

She left the cockpit, leaving the door open, while Maiga started laying in the course back to Hollow Jimmy. She set the sensors at their maximum gain, the communications too. Nothing would sneak up on them. Then she dimmed the lights and watched the stars. After a while she picked up the ball and tossed it from hand to hand a few times.

Mrs Kymin's little boy. Maiga tried to picture him, but couldn't recall which one he was. Still she imagined him bouncing this ball around his family's home. Imagined him laughing, them being annoyed sometimes, but... What? Indulging him? Happy to see him playing? She found it hard to picture the dynamic of a family.

So strange to think that child, and the others on the station, didn't have their future already set. They would not be in the military. They would become anything they wanted to be. And they'd stay with their parents until they were ready to go an become whatever they became.

"Just made some sandwiches," Wixa said, coming back in, with a tray of food and drink. "Sit in here, eh? Nice view."

Maiga nodded, put the ball down on the console.

"I wonder what it's like," Maiga said, as she picked up a sandwich and coffee. "To raise a child. To stay with a man and raise a child together."

"I like my independence too much," Wixa said.

Maiga liked hers too. Yet Wixa had stayed with her child for his short life. How long would she have stayed if Tam had lived longer? Closing her eyes, Maiga tried to remember the few short years with her mother. So little remained now. Four years, or nearer three and a half. Only vague memories of her face, that she felt sure came more from pictures than the real thing.

"How long did your mother stay with you?" Maiga asked. And almost regretted it. It felt like more of an intrusion than asking her about her child. Some people got sensitive about it, she knew.

"She didn't. Well, long enough too wean me and then she was history."

"Oh. I'm... sorry."

"She never existed to me, I suppose. Maybe that was easier than losing her when I'd got older." She laughed. "I remember I used to imagine that she was some kind of highly trained specialist, the only one who could do some top secret job for High Command. But she was probably just a bitch who wanted the maximum baby bonus."

"Maybe," Maiga said. "Or maybe she thought it would be too painful to leave you later? Better to get it done straight away."

A few women had told her that. Despite the conditioning to make them think it quite normal to give your child up to the military, nothing could condition away the pain.

However normal they were brought up to think it was, to give your child to High Command at no later than age five, that didn't stop it hurting. The military had been full of women, probably men too, with broken hearts. With voids in their lives where the children they'd left behind belonged. High Command had committed many crimes, but Maiga began to wonder if this might be their worst.

"What's that?" Wixa leaned forward, looking at the communications console. Maiga pushed away hard thoughts about High Command and bent over the console too.

"A signal, right on the edge of our range. Repeating. Hang on, computer is analysing."

"Look at the probable origin point," Wixa said, putting down her coffee cup now. "That's un-chartered space."

"Getting the analysis. It's human."

"Someone's way off course."

"It's a distress call." Maiga started working on the console. "Changing course."

"Wait a second," Wixa protested. "That's a long way off. It will take us over a day to get there, at top speed."

"Then we'd better get moving."

"We do have customers waiting for our cargo."

"It's a distress call," Maiga said. There really wasn't anything else to say.

"I know, and we can report it when we get back. Someone can come check it out. Someone other than us."

Maiga glared at her. "And why not us?"

"Because we're a couple of women in a small unarmed ship," Wixa pointed out. "And, by the way, pirates have been known to lure people with false distress calls."

"Regulations demand that all distress calls be checked out."

"Regulations?" Wixa raised her eyebrows.

Okay, well, that was a good point. They weren't under any legal obligation to investigate, not any more. But what about a moral one? The obligation, the rule was old, going back to the days ships were on the sea, not in space.

You had to respond to a distress call, whatever that did to your own schedule. Lives trumped cargo. And there was another thing, and for a moment she thought she sounded like Bara when she said it.

"They're humans. It's our duty."