*Inspired by an image of a dragon-like female.
Hugo, a human affairs assistant ends up trapped in a remote section of the space station with his female alien counterpart after a disaster. After a forced confession to her, who resembles a short wingless dragon, he receives a surprising answer.
*Also on the list of rewrites, and requests for sequels.
*****
'Hugo, need your help.'
I looked at the screen showing Sheila and smiled, happy to see her. 'Sure, meet for lunch since it's almost time to eat anyway?'
'Okay,' she said with a nod. 'see you soon.'
She closed the call and I told myself to relax, taking a deep breath. 'She's Kenta, no match for you.' I said.
I had come to like her a lot since the time she got stationed here. She was sent here to serve her grandfather who was a Kenta politician and oversaw Kenta affairs in this remote area of space. In my job of assisting human affairs here I often had contact with her regarding meetings and parties between VIPs from both sides.
The first time meeting her at a reception I expected to find her as strange as the rest since they were a species that resembled small, wingless dragons. They were human height but had longer necks and shorter bodies, curvy horns and pointy ears on their heads and a firm tail reaching down to the ground. Most had greyish skin colour but what had caught my attention were her almost golden coloured eyes. I stared at her for a while before I pulled my attention back to my work and she could notice me. I was glad I was kept busy there.
The Kenta were a reclusive species and we had little information about them but in time I got to know a little more about her and we occasionally shared a table or a walk when we needed to discuss arrangements. I also found I wanted to see her any chance I got and what that meant, but I had to face the reality of being different species. We could never be more than friends. I resigned myself to seeing her whenever the occasion came up but it always felt like the highlight of my day.
I looked at the work before me on my desk and set it aside. I knew I wouldn't be able to focus on it while I kept thinking of having lunch with her and decided to head slowly for the restaurant.
She had already arrived and had sat down at a small table with her food when I walked in. She smiled at me and gave me a quick wave which I returned. I picked my favourite stuffed loaf quickly and headed for her table.
'Hi.' she said.
'Did you wait long?' I asked when I sat down and saw her large salad was untouched.
She shook her head. 'I just got here.' she said.
She had put rings on her horns in the same colour as her eyes and wore a dress with blue and white gradient. I thought she looked very good.
'You look very nice.' I said, toning it down so I wouldn't sound like hitting on her. 'I haven't seen you with rings on your horns before.'
I'm not sure if I saw a faint blush when she said 'Thank you, these are a gift from my mother, which were a gift from my grandmother.'
'Enjoy.' I said as we started eating. 'So, what do you need me for?'
'Well,' she started after swallowing her first bite of her salad. 'There's a whole bunch of family coming over for a family meeting and feast. We don't have enough spare rooms to house them all and I was wondering if we could some of yours in the unused section.'
I thought about it and nodded. 'I can check, if you don't mind them being farther away from the main section.'
'That's okay. It's a family matter so they're not really sightseeing a lot during that time. They rather keep to themselves.'
I took my pad and went through some status lists for the section and hummed. 'I think it's possible. Looks like there's nothing blocking the quarters for use, but I'll have to take a quick inspection to make sure.'
'Can I come with you?' she asked with hopeful eyes. 'I'd like to see what they look like. You know, in case there's something I need to arrange for them.'
I tried to keep my smile under control. 'Want to go after finishing lunch? I've got the time.' I said and thought the rest of my work could screw itself if she could come with me.
She took her pad and checked her schedule, smiling . 'I've got nothing for the rest of the day.' she said and it made my heart beat harder to have her around in private. I guess I'd also be extra thorough on the inspection to last it longer.
***
'The section is running on standby power, so there's not much light at the moment.' I said when we arrived at the main entrance to the unused section. 'Only technicians come here now for routine inspection and maintenance.'
Sheila nodded and checked her flashlight. 'No problem. I just need a broad look to see if these quarters are suitable for my family.' She looked up at me with a little embarrassment in her eyes. 'Not that these quarters are bad, but my family can be critical sometimes.'
I chuckled and punched in the access code. 'I think I can understand.'
The dimly lit corridor opened up before us and we walked into dead silence. The emergency lights gave a dark blue hue to everything and it reminded me of old science fiction movies when this sort of thing was still fiction. We walked through it for a bit, shining our flashlights along the walls and floor.
'The living quarters are a bit further down, on this side there's storage and repair shops which are closed off.' I said.
'I don't think any of them is inclined to start working with tools.' she chuckled.
'Not the types to get down and dirty?'
She shook her head. 'The family's been into politics for far too long to have any clue on what to do with a hammer.'
'So, I can't ask you to have a look at the faucet in my kitchen which acts up sometimes?'
She laughed and stuck her tongue out to me. 'Not unless you want to have an indoor swimming pool.'
'I guess I won't then.' I said, thinking she looked adorable and the pool would be worth it.
When we passed the next main doors we arrived at the living quarters.
'There's a mess hall here which is available for use, if they want to eat all together.' I said and pulled up the inventory list on my pad.
We walked inside and she looked around at the simple furnitures in the room. It wasn't as big as the restaurant and only made to serve a part of the local quarters. There were small and large tables and she counted the number of seats.
'This will do nicely.' she said. 'More than enough to house meals for the whole family.'
'I'm glad.' I said and checked the kitchen. 'Everything seems in working order so there should be no problem here.'
She looked around it and brushed her tail against me. 'Sorry.' she said.
I smiled at her. 'No problem.' I said, thinking I'd like it if she held her tail against me all the time.
We walked out of the mess hall and she checked the room information I gave her on her pad. 'There are smaller and larger quarters here?'
I nodded. 'I'll show you.' I said and opened the nearest one which was made for single people.
Standard furniture like a comfortable couch and a couple of chairs were available in the living room, a large enough bed in the bedroom and all the necessities in a kitchen and bathroom. She looked around and nodded her approval.
'Let's check the other rooms.' I said and we took a quick look at the other rooms until we reached the larger ones.
'Wow.' she said. 'These are as large as my grandfather's.'
I smiled a little. 'These are larger because of the possible addition of kids was accounted for.'
It seemed she lingered at one of the side rooms which could be used as a children's bedroom, then walked out to the window taking a look at the stars outside.
'These will do for the ones bringing kids.'
I wanted to hold her in my arms as she gazed out into the distance. The look of a soul wanting to reach out and touch something far away made my heart squirm. Fuck, I loved her. Some people would call her ugly or an alien beast, but I only saw her eyes longing for something she couldn't have.
'Sheila..' I said softly, then heard a distant sharp crack.
She heard it too and looked at me. 'What was that?'
Before I could answer another metallic pang resonated through the hull.
'Sounds like it's coming from outside.' I said, getting worried.
'Is it dangerous!?' she asked, starting to panic now.
'I don't know.' I said, trying to get a hold of Station Control on my pad and checking status messages.
More sharp cracks could be heard in the distance and the collision alarm went off. A sharp cracking sound pulled our attention to the window. It had been hit and a crack was forming in the glass.
'We have to get out of here!' she said and grabbed my hand, pulling me into the corridor. 'Where do we go!?'
'Left!' I said as I slammed the controls to close the door. 'There should be a secure room there!'
We had ran for just a few seconds when a louder hit and sparks flying in front of us stopped us. The whistling sound that followed told me the hull had been breached and the automatic safety doors closed before and behind us.
'Where now!?' she asked as she backed into me, feeling the air pressure drop. 'We have to get out of here!'
I felt her trembling against my chest and racked my brain for a possible way out.
'Service tunnel!' I said as soon as it hit me.
I pulled her back with me into the niche we had just passed. I knelt down to remove the lower wall panel, tossed it aside and turned the locks of the hatch in front of me. I pulled it open and the push of air meant it hadn't been breached by an impact.
'Get in!' I said, pulling on her hand.
She hurried on her hands and knees inside the tunnel, ripping her dress in the act. I crawled inside behind her and shut the hatch quickly.
'Are we safe here?' she asked, sitting tight in a corner.
'The hatch will hold in case of a vacuum.' I said, taking a moment to breath deep in relief.
She turned on her flashlight and peered anxiously into both directions. 'Can we get to the main section from here?'
