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Chapter 3: Rattle and Sway.

A dull THRRRRUUUUUUUM and the bass washes over me. A thunder rumbling in the air, rattling the bones beneath my skin. The bar smells like a bathroom, but the booze is cheap and, hell, I don't hate the music. But as my glass vibrates its way across the bar in front of me, I'm finding that tonight,  both of those things are struggling to shake the demons off. Vance's words hover over me like a storm cloud, threatening any second to rain down on the neat little life I've made here.

Someone's been killing aliens. 

'Whats up grumpy guss?' Abby's words enter my skull, sent through a small vibrating chip in my shoulder and interpreted by my brain as words. Sounds weird I know, but it sure is useful when you can't hear the words... or you don't want someone else too. 

I turn around, spotting Abby after a few seconds. She's dancing with a blond girl. A cute blond girl. I turn my head slightly to the left for a better view. 'EYES OFF.' I wince slightly at the frequency of the vibration.

'Your Grandads a Psyco... you know that right?'

'He's just worried.'

'And your not?' The music slowed down, a slow thumping beat. Abby and the girl dance slower, closer. I look away.

'Not tonight.'

I finish my drink, wincing as the alcohol digs its claws into my throat. Time to leave.

Something brushes my elbow and I jump, turning quickly to look over my shoulder. A woman with curled black and blond hair laughs and takes a step back, smiling at me with a set of perfect white teeth. Kelly. An odd falling sensation takes over in my chest. She waves, still laughing slightly. I wave back a little dumbstruck. 

It's still too loud to talk, so Kelly points at her wrist. I hold out my arm and she passes hers over the top. A small vibration tells me we're linked. 'Hey stranger.' She even vibes seductively. 

'Hey,' I reply. 'How are things?'

'Things are good,' comes the reply. Kelly approaches the bar and is served immediately. She is so attractive, I swear to the Pink Mountain God the barman scurries over so damn fast he almost throws her drink at her. 'Want anything?'

'No thanks.'

Kelly raises an eyebrow at me. I don't need a viber to understand that expression. 'You sure?' She steps a little closer, lifts my chin with one magnificently smooth finger. 'You look like shit.'

Gee, well thanks. I frown and Kelly puts her whole hand on the side of my face, evidently reading some of what I had been thinking in my expression. 'You're all beat up.'

I wince as a gentle thumb runs over one of the deeper cuts. Mainly healed, the skins still sensitive enough to sting beneath her hand. 'What the hell happened?'

A message comes from Abby. 'Seriously?'

'I tripped. It's fine.' I reply to Kelly, ignoring Abby. 

Kelly is not stupid, she knows who I am, what I do. Kelly arches an eyebrow sceptically and narrows her eyes. She jabs one of the cuts. 'Ow!' I swat her hand away and frown at her, a small trickle of blood dripping down my cheek. 

Kelly rolls her eyes. 'Moron. Every time the cuts get deeper... baby whats wrong with welding for a living?'

Kelly just called me baby.

'WHT R U DOING?' Another message from Abby. 

'Welding never kept the lights on. Besides,' I wink at Kelly 'who doesn't love a dangerous man?'

Kelly laughs. 'That's cute, you think you're dangerous. Baby some of the men on this station...' Kelly stops abruptly. Her eyes flick over my face. 

One of her friends appears at her elbow. Her viber must have been paired to Kelly's because she immediately joins the conversation. 'Kells there... Oh, hey.' The woman breaks off and acknowledges me smiling slightly. 

'Hi,' I half smile back.

'Kells he's here.' The woman's trying to be discrete. It's working, vibers give nothing away. Vibrations, after all, don't have a wide range of intonations. But Kelly's body stiffens. 

'I've got to go,' she says abruptly. She smiles. 'It was great seeing you again.'

'Yea you too.' Something's off, and it makes me uneasy. 'Do you want...'

'I'll be fine,' Kelly says quickly, touching my arm to soften the abruptness of the words. 'Get that face looked at. I'd hate to see it start falling apart.'

Not a chance, I think as I watch her go. I hate doctors. 

Anyway, time to go.

As I walk out I can smell something wholly intoxicating, like the sweetest perfume mixed with something more earthy. A woman stalks by; flowers are intertwined with her dark brown hair and burst in cascades of white and gold. Her skin is flawlessly pale and her eyes are as depthless as Titans Oceans. 

She's easily the most attractive thing I've ever seen, and I can tell I'm not alone in that judgement. Not a man or woman in the place isn't looking at her. 

She's mixed race - half alien. Wacky I know, but hey you can't tell me you're honestly that surprised that the next thing humans did after trying to have a war with the multitude of sentient life we found out here was try and sleep with them are you? 

She passes by me, and I soon snap out of my daze as the hormoans thick in the air dissipate behind their host. If I was any judge I'd say she was half Siren. They have a longer, fancier name. But most people out on the Frontier simply call them what they are, and they are Sirens. Intoxicating, deadly... and occasionally a preditor.

I continue out of the club, leaving the pounding bass behind me with relief. Peace at last.