"So, this is your eating place?"

Against all of Brian's expectations, Killerie proved to be a remarkably good guest, following him where he asked her to and asking questions frequently. After Captain Goodest had left, she had politely requested to be taken on a tour, and Brian had obliged. They had already visited the lower decks, but Killerie was more interested in what they ate.

The cafeteria was impressive, with a high ceiling and modernistic architecture. The round tables placed in a hexagonal pattern around the room could seat up to ten people comfortably and twice that if they were willing to squeeze. With a clean white aesthetic and a long service bar, it was hands-down the favorite place of most crew members, right after the game room. Oh, the game room. Brian nearly sighed at the thought, but he didn't want to offend the somewhat terrifying creature at his side.

Prodding one of the benches, Killerie glanced back at him. "What kind of food do you eat?"

Brian smiled accommodatingly. "Er, as an engineer, I really thought you'd be more interested in the engines, or perhaps our gravity generators. They're the best there is, if you want to take a look."

Killerie shook her head. "We do not have or need engines or gravity generators, though I am curious as to how they work. For the sake of being the S.S. Bestmonster's representative, I must ask once again, what kind of food do you eat." Her voice dipped into a significantly more dangerous range as she said it, and a chill ran up Brian's spine. Killerie had acted enough like a person that he'd almost forgotten he was talking with an alien, one with potentially disastrous intent.

Coughing to hide his brief surprise, Brian gestured to the bar at the far end. "Well, we mostly serve high-nutrition slurry, but for the sake of taste we also have a variety of other foods. Have you ever heard of a hamburger?"

Her antennae twitched. "I have heard of them, yes. I have not had one for myself."

With a smile, Brian threaded between the tables for the long bar, Killerie close behind. Her sinuous, armored body drew more than a few curious stares from other crew members, but Brahms had alerted them to her presence a few minutes ago, so they weren't exceptionally worried.

A piece of information she'd mentioned a few seconds ago caught up to him, and Brian asked casually, "So, your ship is called the S.S. Bestmonster? I can guess at the name, but what does the prefix stand for?"

Killerie frowned at him, her mandibles clacking. "Prefix? What does - you mean the S.S.?" When he nodded, ducking under a Kerak's wide-spreading horns, she explained, "It is simple. It stands for spaceship."

He'd been hoping for some more details regarding where her species was from, but at least he learned they weren't too creative with their names. Approaching the bar, he looked down at her coiling form. "How did you get your name?"

She glanced at him. "We sheddings do not ordinarily have names, but research indicated that they give a strengthened sense of individuality and camaraderie, so we elected to give each other names. Mine was given to me by Goodest."

Flagging down a cook, he asked, "And who gave him his name?"

"We all did. It was agreed that he was the goodest shedding, and so he was given the name Goodest to reflect that state."

While ordering the hamburger, Brian's mind was racing. Killerie's way of speaking was confusing - she spoke with almost childish simplicity in one breath and talked about camaraderie and companionship in the next. It was as if a genius was living in the body of a toddler. It was disconcerting to say the least.

One of the cooks slid the burger on a plate in front of them, raising an eyebrow at Killerie. One of her antennae waved gently, a faint blue light emanating from its tip, and the burger lifted into the air from some unknown force.

If Brian's mind had been racing before, now it was full-on spacefolding. The shedding had bloody telekinesis!? Was it a common trait, or was it exclusive to Killerie? Was it genetic, or was it a mental thing? Was it anything like the psionics the U.G.C. possessed as a special task group? Or was it the sort of thing where it appeared to be telekinesis but was actually some type of nanotechnology? She had said she was an engineer, but he couldn't see any visible battery! Was her species that far advanced? She'd said they didn't need gravity generators or engines, though. He had so many questions!

The burger slowly floated through the air and into Killerie's waiting mouth, and she chewed for a long moment, unaware of Brian's near-bursting desire to give questions. Eyes looking thoughtfully up at the airbrushed ceiling, she swallowed and said at great length, "Not bad. Could use more rat, but the proportions are all right."

Brian's brain stalled. "Wh-what?"

She indicated the bar with one of her antennae. "The burger. There are faint traces of rat in it, but for the most part consists of cow, pig, and some dog. I thought you said there were no rats on your ship?"

Brian's mouth opened and closed several times uselessly, his stomach churning uneasily. "Uhhh... I wasn't made aware that the food had - I'm sorry, are you absolutely sure the burger had rat in it?"

She nodded serenely. "Rat is one of the foods sheddings have eaten the most of, and we know how to eat it properly. I would recognize the taste of rat through the most rank sewage you can produce. Our family is generous, but I must admit we are rather short on food at the moment."

He waved it away, one hand anxiously rubbing his navel. "Oh, no, that's fine." What she'd said caught up with him, and he hurried, "I mean, I really appreciate the gesture, but-" Something came up his throat, and he placed a fist over his mouth. "Excuse me," he managed before sprinting for the nearby bathrooms.

He barely made it past the two startled extraterrestrials at the urinals before he threw a stall door open and stuffed his head into the bowl, hurling last night's dinner into it. There wasn't much of it left, but he heaved for a good minute anyway.

Wiping his mouth, he stood and shakily walked to the sinks, where both of the occupants were staring at him, concerned. "Y'all right there, bud?"

Brian nodded, ripping a napkin from the dispenser and rubbing at the corner of his mouth. "Don't eat the burgers," he said bleakly, before heading back to his guest.

Straightening his pajamas, he walked towards Killerie with a forced smile, to find her chatting amiably with the crew. She said something, and they roared raucously at it. Clutching his stomach faintly, he swallowed hard and walked closer, getting into earshot.

"...ate them whole. They never knew what hit them."

One of the crew members, a tall Kazik with a narrow skull and a thick purple carapace, gargled, "Didsh they desherve it?"

Killerie nodded adamantly, a faint hiss creeping into her voice. "Of course they deserved it. They deliberately injured the Bestmonster and greatly hurt the Secondbest."

Brian's ears perked up. It was the first time he'd heard mention of the latter deity - he'd definitely have to ask more bluntly later about the sheddings' religion. Until then...

He walked as casually as he could through the group, and Killerie saw him easily. "Ah, Brian. Did you solve your issue?"

Brian opened his mouth to answer, but the lights suddenly flashed red, and the crew tensed. Brahms' voice came through mesh speakers in the ceiling, a tone of urgency in his voice. "All crew members to their battle stations. Those not trained for interspatial combat report to your nearest blackbox and hold tight. Brian Jennings, get you and your guest up here, now!"

The small group scattered, the bulkier members heading off to a wide hallway with a glowing white light strip running across the side, and the others ran for a green stripe.

Looking around with mild curiosity, Killerie asked, "What's going on?"

Brian strode next to her and tried to grab onto her for effect, but immediately realized that there really wasn't anything he could easily grab. Her carapace was thick and tough and looked as though it would resist friction. Her clawed legs were technically an option, but he wasn't sure he wanted to get cut. Who knew here she'd been walking? In all seriousness he couldn't really touch her antennae either - that just felt personal.

Coughing, he settled for patting her on the head, regretting it instantly as he realized how awkward it felt. She stared at him strangely, two eyes lifting slightly in an unmistakable eyebrow-raise. How in the world did she do that without eyebrows? And who did she learn it from?

It took him a moment to notice she was waiting for him to explain, and he did so in a hurry. "Uh, sorry about this, but we've got to get up to the bridge right now - there's an emergency!"

Killerie frowned. "Can they do it later?"

Brian froze, his mouth open. "Wh-what?"

Indicating him with an antenna, she asked again, "Can they do it later? The emergency."

He blinked. "Uh, no."

Sighing, she began scuttling towards the hovervator. "Fine. I suppose we can do it now."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Brahms had his hands placed solidly on the handrails in front of him, his knuckles white from his grip as Brian hurried towards him. "Captain? What is it?"

Without looking away, Brahms pointed at the region of space in front of them. Brian squinted, trying to make out the shapes. There was the shedding's strange looking organic ship, floating menacingly in the distance. He frowned. "What am I supposed to be looking at?"

Pointing, Brahms said levelly, "It's not about what is there. It's about what isn't."

Brian almost asked what that meant, at least until Killerie said bluntly, "There is another ship. It is blocking the stars from being seen."

Brian squinted again. She wasn't lying - there was a distinct bit of space where the stars were blocked out by a large black shape, otherwise indistinguishable from the void of space. "Wh-how did you see that?"

Killerie hissed quietly. "Their cloaks are terrible. Our invisibility is much better."

There were a lot of questions Brian wanted to ask about that, but Brahms got there first. "Those are pirates, Killerie. I don't suppose they're here for you?"

The shedding shrugged. "We have not been many places yet. Also, your ship looks very expensive. If they are pirates, they will not attack ours."

It was a good point, unfortunately.

Brian frowned, concerned. "What should we do, Captain?"

Brahms put a finger to his chin. "Ordinarily, I'd open fire immediately, but I'm worried your crew might think we were trying to attack them, ma'am." Brian had to give it to the man, it was impressive how he'd managed to call the vicious-looking shedding 'ma'am'.

Killerie's antennae twitched. "Out of curiosity, are they humans?"

Looking closely at the silhouette of the enemy ship, Brian shook his head. "No, definitely not. There are a lot of holes on that thing, there's no way they'd be able to keep a sustainable air source on board without jumping through some serious hoops."

He looked down and flinched. The shedding looked excited, which worried him. A lot. "In that case, why not allow us to take care of it?"

Brahm's eyes narrowed. "Explain."

Killerie's face split in a malicious grin. "When we left our planet, we were told to avoid eating humans whenever possible. We were not told to not eat other species."

The information sank in heavily, and the air got a little thicker from the tension. Brahms was staring at her with an unreadable expression, and Brian was outright horrified. "You mean you'd-"

"Granted."

His head whipped to face Brahms so fast he got a crick in his neck. "What?"

Brahms turned his level gaze on him. "It's important that we see what kind of firepower they're capable of. This is a rather sure-fire way to do so."

Killerie didn't look too upset at the blatant statement. "Excellent. Then it is settled." She started waving her antennae, casting them around in small circles. "Please wait a moment. I am requesting to be - ah, there we are." She grinned once more as space began folding around her. "I will enjoy this."

The moment she was gone, Brian stared at Brahms. "You're really okay with this?"

Brahms' expression was one of stone. "They are pirates, Brian. They would be perfectly fine with murdering every man, woman, and creature on board if it meant they could sell this ship. Whatever those monsters do to them, they likely deserve it. Have you thought about what they may have done before encountering us?"

He was silent, allowing Brian to think about it, then continued. "I know it's hard to believe, but this really is the best course of action. We'll see what these things can really do when they're in a fight."

Brian sighed, pulling a half-hearted salute. "Yes, sir."