Sitting on her couch was a different pace for the dock chief. Her hair still unbraided and stretched herself out along the length of the couch.  Hands folded behind Ashala's head. She closed her eyes and thought of the dress. It had felt so light and natural. She caught herself purring about it. It was odd for her to do that without a reason. When would she be able to actually have a reason to wear it again. Ashala shrugged. It was alright, she would at least have something to wear if she needed to. That was the whole point of getting it, wasn't it? A comm came though to her terminal.

Abhijat: New transfer, doc hand, level 5 rating. Great I already have a level 5 and Jimmy is at least useful. As Ashala looked at his picture she heard herself, "Purrr, Purrr." Shaking her head, "No." He was Altenian but, well, maybe. This guy was grade "A" trouble maker with no respect for team work or authority. His list of reprimands took up three pages, most of them were trivial. The serious ones were obviously trumped up. Ashala could see he made enemies at his last place. Rough necks would get him on track. First thing that she needed to get rid of was the level 5 rating. He had a front loader license and a heavy lifter rating of 3. This made him at least a level 3 worker. She kept his room a level 5 and only upgraded his dock level on her sheet. (Paper work errors happen all the time.) Searching the data base Ashala used her clearance to check his history in more detail. "Purr, Purr." This was why she liked working with terrans. She turned off the comm and rested again thinking of the earlier part of the day. 

The clothes, Ashala never thought about what terrans wore under their clothes. She just assumed one layer was enough for them. The under layer she had seen was so small Ashala wondered why they would bother to wear them at all. Ashala thought of Kim and Ann. Did they really wear such items? She doubted it. Bomshell was another matter. That terran was well, she just liked tight clothing. The thought of her wearing those items in addition to the clothes Becky usually wore seemed plausible. Ashala shook her head and dismissed the line of thought. She stood up from the couch and walked into the bathroom to braid her hair. Ashala looking into the mirror and began to drift back to her first days training with terrans.
 
Terrans were similar in so many ways to a lot of other races. At the same time they had some major differences. It was a rumor that Ashala researched about terran history. She found out some interesting things such as, at one point terrans worshiped cats. Ashala thought that must be the reason some of them have what she called a fur fetish. The terrans were so different in thought and appearance. Even on the docs there were hard workers, lazy workers, and workers that could do it all like Kim. With her T-5 rating she was accelerated in the docks to her position. She learned about logistics and the form after form that followed every container, ever single shipment. Through this process she ran into fur loving terrans, and terrans that disliked her be cause she had fur. She was glad for her ancestry during these times. She was also harassed in other ways. The ball of yarn in the locker, the new guy pulling her tail after being told it was an aphrodisiac, and collars at her work station. She never quit. Ashala met them off work with the collar or yarn and wait. She would fake purr and draw them in. The next day they called in sick. A few of these sick days caused the objects and snickers to stopped. The workers became more productive and did as they were told, when they were told. The fights she fought forced the Altenian keep a constant watch on the attitudes of those around her. 

Terrans came and went. When it was time to take the lead she was transferred. Dock six was hers and a lot of people left. Ashala replaced them and began to form the rough necks. Kim had stayed after her retirement and taught her all about self reliance. She found the tranfers and workers no one wanted worked out the best. They had an edge like her. Her crew worked independently of regulations and true team work. The Rough necks still got it done. Ashala learned that it was the constant supervision and over the shoulder leadership that drove these types to be counter productive. If she just stayed clear of them they would return with a question but for the most part each one knew there job and what was expected. In training the instructor told Ashala about the illusion of freedom. How giving some workers the freedom to get a job done their way was just as productive. The job required workers to accomplish a task. How that task is completed should never be dictated. This is moving crates not navigation through asteroids. The toughest part was not destroying the loaders in the process or killing someone through carelessness. 

Ashala's hair was now in one long braid. The dock chief used the official comm channel to alert Abhijat to report for assignmet tomorrow. She hoped that him seeing an Altenian would encourage him to show. Not that it mattered she sent a private comm to Ann to make the alarm in his room go off an hour early and stay on. She returned to the living room, sitting on the couch, and finished her food order thinking of tomorrow.