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"Don't worry, Luph is fine," Zoe assured me. "She doesn't like going out anyway."

I took her word for it, and together, we walked through the exit onto the docking station, where the sights erased all thoughts of Luph.

It was like walking through a giant tube, a very high-tech tube with gleaming lights and exotic people/aliens.

Hatches stood open or closed at regular intervals, giving me an impression of how many ships were docked at this part of the station. I had caught a glimpse of the station from the bridge and thought it was huge, but being on it, massive didn't even come close to describing it.

From the outside, it looked like a giant Christmas ornament, the oblong kind, with severalarmssticking out. Each arm was surrounded by circular tubes against one of which we had docked. It was weird because when I had looked at the station, some of the rings were vertical, but walkinginside one of them now, it didn't feel like walking upside down.

So many aliens moved about, it was dizzying. Some were walking like us. Others were riding a fancy version of an electro-scooter that hovered above the ground.

We walked for about five minutes before we reached a cylindric tube thing that reminded me of one of those pipes you see at the drive-through at a bank that lets you send boxes between the teller window and your car. Only this was much larger, and there were people inside.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"It's perfectly safe," Nova assured me. "You just step in."

"But where and how do I get off?"

"Tell itshopping district," Thrax said, sidling up next to me.

Without hesitation, Nova stepped forward into what looked like a vacuum and whooshed out of sight. Zaarek followed, and then Zoe and Raasla. Vraax had stayed back at the ship with Nock, Noodar, and Luph.

"Come, just hold on to me." Thrax wrapped me into his arms. I slung my legs around him and pressed my face into his chest as he stepped off into the tube.

I couldn't help it. I squealed. It felt as if we were falling faster and faster, reminding me of when he jumped out of the spaceship with me. My throat dropped into my stomach, and then we were catapulted around a bend. I looked up and around, but here, the tubes were just a metal orange, and I couldn't fight the feeling of being inside a long slide.

Suddenly, we stopped. I felt a push, like from a strong breath, moving us forward, and we stood in front of an unbelievable space.

"Fun, right?" Nova grinned at me.

"It takes some getting used to," I allowed with a weak smile.

It really hadn't been that bad, I decided as I peeled myself off Thrax and looked around. This place was simply out of thisworld. Shimmering glass, chrome, and gold were everywhere inside the dome-shaped area we had entered.

A large fountain spewed water or liquid into the air in all the colors of the rainbow. People were sitting next to it, eating, talking, and laughing. It looked like a giant mall. A giant, very alien mall, visited by very alien-looking people.

Some I recognized as Pandraxians, and I balled my hands into fists when I noticed a few Cryons. But those were all the species I recognized within the myriad of alienness.

"All right, you ready for some shopping?" Zoe clapped her hands excitedly.

I looked at Thrax, who said, "Go ahead. I have some credits?—"

"It's all on me." Nova held up her comm.

"I couldn't." I shook my head.

Zoe grinned. "Don't worry. Nova didn't have to exactly work hard for this, and it's for divine justice."

Lost, I stared from Zoe to Nova, who both chuckled. "Nova hacked into the Ohrur system and rewired large amounts of credits into untraceable, fake accounts. So whatever we're spending here, it's on the Ohrurs."

My face lit up, and Thrax laughed in relief. "I like that idea!"

The stores were nothing like those on Earth, and yet they were very similar. Most of them had the same layout, three walls filled with rectangular cubicles, each one offering a ware.

"Oh, I like this." Nova rushed forward to one of the cubicles. A black, very tight-looking pantsuit was on display. "Look, pockets," Nova exclaimed, putting her hands in them and wiggling. "And holsters." She held up a stretch of fabric that, indeed, looked like it had been made to hold a blaster.

"How do you try it on?" I asked curiously.