John brought the ship into the station without incident, then went below decks to meet the women in the galley. They went silent when he stepped in; whatever they were talking about was not for his ears, apparently.

  "We have arrived." He said, breaking the ice. "Listen, I know what I said sounds far-fetched, but-" He started, but Katrina interrupted him.

  "John, stop. You have said some things tonight that are beyond far-fetched; they sound downright insane. If we didn't need to depart tomorrow for a patrol, I would take you to the First Ring to get your head checked out in an A-Css Auto-Doc. As it stands, I would like to ground you until I return in a few days, but I am counting on you and your ship's ability on this patrol. You have put me in a precarious position with this revetion of yours." Katrina said to him.

  "Well, let's go now, then. I have no issues going for an examination. Doctor Estra said something simir about going to the First Ring." He replied.

  "Wait. Does she know too?"

  "Not everything, just that I was hiding my identity and that I don't have memory loss. She did want me to get the rest of my body fixed up in the higher quality Auto-Doc."

  "Well, as much as I would like to, it will take a few days even for me to get approval to bring a refugee into the station's interior." She said, sighing deeply. "John, I am going to stick my neck out for you. The crew will be arriving at 0800 tomorrow, be ready to embark them then. The pilots will join you in space this time. When we return, you and I will be making a trip to the doctor. Just no more talk of Gods or traveling through space and time, okay?"

  "Fine. Just please heed my warning about the impending attack."

  "I am. I am leaving here to have a discussion with a few nobles about preparing for a mass evacuation drill. If you are wrong, then no harm, no foul; we will have just practiced in case the worst does happen in the future. If you are correct, then everything will be in pce to evacuate people from the station on short notice. Though I honestly hope you are wrong, John. A renewed Javarian invasion will mean nothing but death and destruction in this sector."

  "I hope I am wrong as well, but if I didn't say anything and we were attacked, I don't think I could have forgiven myself for not trying to warn you."

  "I understand. Alright, I will talk to you tomorrow. Evelin will be in command of the INP crew onboard your ship for this patrol, so you can go to her for anything you need. Have a good night, John." She said, then left the galley.

  "John, we will be off as well," Chris said once Katrina left. "I'm sorry, but we cannot accept a position on yer ship at this time. Not until ya have that medical exam at the very least."

  "Speak fer yerself, Chris. I believe him." Tanya said, rounding on her sister.

  "Tanya! You and Ash need to visit the hospital first, then make yer decision. I don't trust that he hasn't imprinted on ya, clouding yer mind." Chris replied.

  "Imprinted? What does that mean?" John asked. Did they mention something like that to him before? He couldn't remember.

  "It's nothing. Oh, can ya permit Ash to heal her butt now? She hasn't recovered from yer... ministrations from the other day." Chris asked him.

  "Seriously? I thought she would fix herself up immediately. Yes, of course, go to the Auto-Doc. In fact, I can heal you right now if you want." He said, confused at what was happening.

  Did she take my words to heart or something?

  "Ahh, please do." She said, sounding nervous.

  John pced his hand on her shoulder and cast a healing spell. She shuddered as the magic washed through her body, letting out a small moan. She covered her mouth immediately, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

  "Thank you, Captain," Ash whispered, looking extremely uncomfortable being in his presence right now.

  He stepped back, giving her space. "Well, you are free to use the Auto-Doc on board to deal with whatever this imprinting thing is."

  "No, I think we will depart and head over to the hospital. John, please understand that I don't hate you, but this whole situation has spiraled out of control. If we were just regur people, it might have been different, but we are not. Since ya arrived, ya have become close with several high-ranking nobles, which could mean ya are trying to infiltrate our society through us. Until we can be positive of yer origins and intentions, please keep yer distance from us. Come, Tanya, Ash. We are leaving." Chris said, taking the hands of the other two women, and left the room. Tanya gave him one st gnce before her sister dragged her away.

  John just watched them leave, cursing to himself. He believed he did the right thing in telling them the truth; he just wished he thought it through a bit better. He sighed, then looked over at Niki. She looked uncomfortable as well.

  "Niki, I am going to bed. Feel free to use your cabin tonight instead if you want." He said and left the room before she could respond. He just wanted this day to be over.

  Niki watched her Master leave the room, the older man looking absolutely miserable. She had no idea if what he said was true, but she didn't care. He didn't abandon her to her fate, so she wouldn't abandon him in his time of need. "Wait, Master! I am coming too!" She called out after him, making her decision. She would support this man who saved her, no matter what happens.

  Later That Night - Dwarves Apartment

  They had returned from the hospital a few minutes ago, Tanya and Ash both getting checked out and the imprinting removed. Chris was pacing in front of the other two, both of whom were sitting down on the couch beside each other. The pair of them looked annoyed, as she had been lecturing them for the st hour about falling into the clutches of a man that easily.

  "Enough, Chris. I have had enough of this lecturing. You are not our mother." Tanya said, getting annoyed with her sister's badgering. The Auto-Doc didn't change her opinion on John, showing that he hadn't imprinted on her yet. She genuinely liked the man and wanted to believe his story.

  Ash was a different matter. She was mortified because of her behavior from the other day, and couldn't believe she was getting off to being spanked and told what to do. She wanted to stay away from John, not wanting to be put in that situation again.

  So she says anyway... I wonder how much of that is an act?

  Tanya wasn't sure what she would do going forward. She liked John a lot, but she loved Chris and Ash. She didn't want to alienate her sister and friend just to chase after some guy.

  "Oh shit. With everything that happened today, I forgot that Greg has gambled away all our stuff." Tanya said suddenly.

  "What of it? What does that have to do with John?" Chris said. She hadn't forgotten, but she was unable to do anything about that yet. At worst, they would have to charter a flight home.

  "I was going to sell some things to John to keep safe for us. If this station is going to be attacked, we should really consider seeing if he will take even more of our stuff before things get bad." She said, beginning to make a list of things that would be hard to repce.

  "Are you crazy? We should be staying away from him, not asking him to hold onto our belongings." Chris replied. She was looking at Tanya like she had two heads.

  "I am going to go. I need to sleep. It has been a difficult day." Ash said abruptly, standing up from the couch.

  "Fine. But we need to talk about this tomorrow."

  "Why? Katrina will deal with John in a few days. In the meantime, he won't even be on the station. Anyway, I need to take a job tomorrow, I have been sitting on my ass for too long this week. Have a good night." Ash said, then left the apartment.

  Chris watched the Elf leave, then rounded on her sister. Tanya was doing something on her Link, ignoring her. "What are you doing?"

  "Making a list of things I want to save. You felt it just like I did, Chris. He believes that within five days, we will be attacked. Even if we don't use him to help us, we should be prepared to depart."

  Chris wanted to argue with her, but she was correct. The conviction she felt within John was real. He thought they were in danger of being invaded, and risked it all to tell them the truth. A truth she didn't want to accept.

  Damn it! First, Greg repsed; now we are listening to a crazy person. Maybe it is time we went back home; clearly, we cannot be trusted on our own yet.

  Still, she sat down next to her sister, and the pair of them made a list of things they wanted to save from the station.

  It is just being pragmatic, right?

  The Next DayThe people of Parrax Three woke up as usual, most ready to go about their day as they usually did. That is, until they checked their Links and watched the news feeds. There was to be a massive evacuation drill on board the station. The reporters were ciming this was in response to an increase in Javarian activity recently, along with previous evacuations in different systems going poorly.

  While a few dissenting voices were ciming it was a huge waste of time and money, for the most part, the residents of Parrax knew they were in a dangerous area of space and followed the directions of the government willingly.

  John woke up early, cuddling Niki tightly. They actually talked long into the night, Niki wanting to know more about his experiences in those other worlds. She giggled when he told her the story of setting Bazaan on fire by accident, and was shocked to hear about him getting shot by someone who didn't like him for the colour of his skin and things his ancestors did. She eventually passed out in his arms, and he fell asleep shortly after, a weight seemingly coming off his shoulders.

  He got dressed and made them breakfast as per normal when his Link started to buzz. He checked it, and there was a message from the Dockmaster, saying he had several deliveries ready to be accepted. He assumed it was stuff for the INP, so he accepted it all and made his way back to his cabin.

  The two of them had their meal and chatted about today's job while waiting for the INP crew to arrive.

  "So, are we going to be in a battle today?" Niki asked, sounding a bit nervous.

  "It is possible. According to Katrina, we are just going out on a patrol, but anything could happen." He said, then took her hands in his. "Don't worry too much. This is a powerful ship, and if it gets dangerous, I will get us out safely."

  "I know. I am not worried about that; I am worried that I will mess up. I don't want anyone to get hurt because I make a mistake." Niki said.

  He squeezed her hands and chuckled lightly. "You will do fine. Just monitor the radio and sensors. Let me know if we have incoming contacts. I can handle the rest. That said, if we do get into a fight and you want to try to use those jammers, I wouldn't be against that. " He said with a ugh, trying to put her at ease.

  "If you're sure, then okay. Let's do this!" She said, trying to put some enthusiasm in her voice. He could tell she was still nervous, but was willing to try this for his sake. It made him happy.

  His Link buzzed then, announcing the arrival of the INP crew. He kissed the top of her head, then stood up. "Let's go. Shadow me for now and watch what I do."

  "Yes, Master." She said, standing up beside him.

  "It is Captain right now. Come." He commanded, and the pair of them left his cabin.

  John met Sergeant Baker and her team at the hatch and brought them on board as before, leaving part of her team at the mess decks. The rest of them made their way down to the cargo bay to inspect the equipment again, the pair of them making small talk about the impending patrol. Patrols were fairly standard for them; their team had not been told to expect anything different on this trip.

  When they arrived in the cargo bay, John was confused about what was in front of him. There were crates and pallets of the INP equipment as he expected, but there were other crates that did not have INP beling on them, along with a rge, bck fighter. A fighter he saw in Chris's shop.

  The hell? Did Tanya send me her project ship? And what is the rest of this stuff? I need to message her ter.

  He ignored the extra stuff for now and began his inspection, once again being as detailed as he could. This time, it wasn't in annoyance but for training Niki and himself on what these things were. They both asked questions about almost everything the INP had brought on board.

  They also brought on board a rge amount of extra ammunition this time. Katrina appeared to be using his vessel to store ammo for the whole fleet, not just the embarked fighters. He wished they had time to talk about this, but apparently, his revetion had prevented that discussion from happening. He would have to remember to talk with her ter about using his ship as an ammo depot.

  Finally, they finished up, John using the nearby control panel to secure everything with automated straps. They made their way back up to the galley, leaving the sergeant and her crew to their own devices, then moved up to the cockpit.

  They had thirty minutes before the fleet was scheduled to unch, so he pulled out his Link, about to send Tanya a message, when it began to buzz again. He answered it before he could see who it was, and was surprised when a hologram of Tanya materialized in front of him, wearing a flight suit and appearing to be in her cockpit.

  "Good Morning, Captain. Permission to dock?" She said with a big smile on her face.