Before:

     The living area Niki found herself in seemed to consist of three sections: one for eating, one for cleansing and "excretions", one for rest and recovery.

     Niki went to the sleeping area first. She wanted to see if she needed to stake out a sleep space to claim for her own.

     She didn't. It looked as if, at any particular time, only a third of the beds were in use. 

     Niki sat on an empty bed to center and collect herself...

     and that's when she saw her first human.

     He sat on another bed on the other side of the dormitory.

     She figured he weighed a good six hundred pounds.

     No flab. Nothing but muscle.

     Skin color gray as stone. He cut his hair close to the scalp. Fur coated the rest of him.

     But, damn it, he was human. Niki felt 99% sure of that. (The fur threw her a little.)

     He wore something around his middle and nothing else.

     He sat alone like that's the way he liked it.

     Niki made her way over to sit on the empty bed next to his.

     "This bed taken?" she asked. "This is my first day here, and no one's told me a damned thing."

​     The man made no acknowledgment that she'd spoken but continued to stare out into empty space.

     So that's how it's going to be, Niki thought. Shit. Fine. One day, something's going to go easy for me, and I'm going to die from shock.

CONTINUE