"Last chance, girl," the minotaur rumbled.

In the corner of her eye, Kolya noticed two of the shonari, a male and a female, exchange a glance and clop toward her. She shifted her hotdog from her right hand to her left as she turned back to the goons, and took another bite. As their eyes tracked the movement, she picked her first target -- the human wielding a baseball bat. She smirked as she stepped closer to him.

"Whatever scarred your face up must've caused brain damage," the guy with a long chain clenched in his fists said with a guttural laugh. "Did you not hear anything we've said?"

"Oh, I heard it. I just don't take any of it seriously."

"Maybe you will when we tear up the pretty side of your face," another human snapped.

Keep it up with the comments about my face, wankshaft. Keep at it and see what happens. Kolya sidled closer to the guy with the bat.

At the same time, the two shonari stepped up behind the minotaur and turned to Kolya.

"Are these guys giving you any trouble?" The male's voice was deep and had an eerie reverberating effect, which only intensified the unsettling vibe his species gave off.

"They're trying to." Kolya shrugged and took a step to the baseball bat guy's left, moving as if to walk past him.

The minotaur spun around and pushed the shonari away. "Mind your own business!"

The knife-wielding human lunged forward and clamped his hand onto Kolya's left arm. "We didn't say you could leave!"

Kolya snapped forward and slammed her forehead into his nose. Bone crunched and he dropped the knife and collapsed with a howl, pressing his hands against his face and rolling on the floor. Kolya turned and whipped the edge of her hand into the baseball bat guy's throat. He gagged, dropped the bat, brought his hands up to his neck, and staggered backward. He bumped into the female shonari and she rolled her eyes and casually slammed his head into the wall, knocking him out cold.

Kolya grabbed the bat, swung it around, and swept the panther's legs out from under him. He landed flat on his back with a grunt, and Kolya crashed the bat straight down into his face. He let out a sharp cry and flopped over, unconscious.

The minotaur leaped at her, but the two shonari tackled him to the floor. Kolya grinned, turned to face the four remaining humans, rested the bat on her shoulder, and took another bite of her hotdog. One of the humans dropped his knife and ran down the corridor. The other three turned to gape at his receding backside.

The third shonari rushed forward to join the fight. Kolya handed her hotdog to him and caught a glimpse of his bewildered expression as she gripped the bat with both hands and marched over to the nearest of her attackers.

"Uh." The shonari glanced at the other two, who were still struggling with the minotaur.

"Hey," one of the other humans bellowed at his fleeing cohort. "Get back here!"

Kolya raised the bat into position, drew in a deep breath, and blurted, "Have you seen my baseball?"

"What?" The man spun toward her and she swung for the fences. The end of the bat connected with his jaw. The resultant sickening crunch was followed by a long, warbling shriek as he spun around and toppled over.

Back at the elevator, one of the onlooking humans burst out laughing.

Kolya risked a glance over her shoulder and found the female shonari clamping her arm around the minotaur's neck and bearing down until he stopped moving. She released him and he sprawled face-down.

Kolya turned back to the third shonari and took her hotdog back. "Thanks."

"Uh … sure. Happy to help."

She grinned and turned back to the last two thugs in time to catch one of them yanking a pistol from under his vest. She whipped her arm out, spinning the bat through the air to slam into his face. He stumbled backward and dropped the gun.

Kolya rushed forward, scooped up the knife from the floor, and whipped it out to the guy's belly. She poked him with the tip, not quite breaking his skin, and he froze. His breathing turned shallow and sweat beaded up on his forehead. He backed up until he bumped into the wall, and she stepped forward to keep the knife against him. Kolya held his gaze, took another bite of her hotdog, and chewed slowly while the shonari planted themselves between her and the last goon.

"Walk away," she finally said to the guy she held at knifepoint. She pushed a little harder and the tip barely pierced his skin, prompting a whimper out of him. "Now. Or I'll turn your innards into outards."

He slid slowly along the wall, trembling, keeping his hands raised until he'd gotten out of her reach. He turned, bolted, and immediately tripped over the guy with the broken nose. He faceplanted, picked himself up, and scrambled around the corner and out of sight.

The shonari female took a step toward the last man and he flinched. "Leave, bitch." Her voice was deep but still feminine and had the same slightly unnerving reverb.

Staring wide-eyed at her, he backed away slowly, turned, and launched into a sprint.

One of the males picked up the dropped gun, unloaded it, and shook his head. The other male gathered up the rest of the weapons.

"Let's get someone from Security down here."

Kolya picked up the baseball bat, finished her hotdog, and grinned. "Now I don't have to buy a souvenir. Nice."

The human at the elevator continued laughing and leaned on the wall to brace himself upright.

Kolya chuckled, smiled at the three shonari, and headed for the elevator. "Thanks for your help."

"Any time." The female smiled back.

The laughing guy finally regained control of himself as she stopped at the elevator and tapped the button on the panel. He took a few gasping breaths and grinned at her.

"I think I'm in love!"

Huh. Okay. The doors parted and she stepped inside.

The guy darted in before the doors closed, stood beside her, and continued smiling. "Name's Donovan McCallister."

She tapped the button for the hangar level and gave him a quick look-over. His skin was a bit on the pasty side like he'd never spent much time in the sun, but other than that …

He's gorgeous! She took a few deep breaths. He had a supermodel's face and body, and his brilliant smile seemed genuine.

Can't be, though. He wouldn't really be interested in ol' Scarface, here. He's probably up to something.

Still, finding out what he wanted might be a fun ride. Just another new thing to explore. She smiled at him.

"Kolya Mason."

"Pleased to meet you." He leaned against the wall. "You live here or …?"

"Just passing through."

"Ah. On the way to where?"

"Anywhere." She chuckled at his arched eyebrow. "I'm more about the journey than the destination. Got myself a job working on a small ship heading out into alien space. When they get there, I'll do a little exploring and see where I end up going from there."

"Interesting way to live." He laughed. "You're way too young for a midlife crisis."

She snickered. "Yeah, I just wanted to see what's out there. Life's too short to stay home and never have any adventures." She turned to give him a good look at her scars. "Had a close call a few years ago. Survived something that should've killed me, so I decided to make the most of life."

"Ouch. I bet that's a hell of a story, if you don't mind talking about it."

"Maybe eventually, if you stick around long enough."

He aimed that glowing smile at her again. "I just might."

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Kolya raised her eyebrow again, shrugged mentally, and walked onto the hangar floor.

Hmm.