"That's the 10th time you people have said I'm smuggling something and it's just not true." Doug was beginning to wonder if someone somehow sedated him during his journey and put something inside him.

"Show the scans please" said the officer to seemingly empty air. After a brief pause a hologram flashed into being. At first Doug was confused until he realized his middle was slightly brighter. He squinted through his foggy brain and further realized it was his stomach.

"I was told that snack I ate was simply condensed flavored vegetable matter. If there was something harmful in it I had no idea!" Doug immediately started thinking about everything he ate and drank while on board the last ship. "Wait, you aren't one of those species harmed by water, are you?"

"We are not" answered the officer. "Stop evading the question. How do we remove it?"

"Remove what" exclaimed Doug exasperated. "I haven't eaten or drank anything since leaving home that could even be remotely harmful!"

The officer sighed. He fiddled with a control and the hologram changed to a stomach. "This container inside you has an insanely large volume of acidic fluid that could kill everyone on this station if aerosolized."

It finally struck Doug what was happening here. The realization served to calm his nerves some and he chuckled.

"Do you find that amusing?" The officer pounded the floor in anger.

"No, sorry, I just figured out what is going on. That is a naturally occurring organ in almost all creatures on my home planet. We ingest solids, then that organ secretes an acid to dissolve it so the nutrients can be absorbed by our cells. It would be impossible to remove it without causing my death."

The officer froze aghast. There was a moment of total stillness and silence.

"That has got to be the singular most inventive thing a smuggler has ever come up with to try to get out of being apprehended." The officer stated with an amazed tone.

"I swear to you it's no lie. Go look up the species Human in your data-net link." Doug now knew he just needed to educate these beings then he'd be on his way.

After being left alone for an uncomfortably long period of time the door swung open and the increased gravity shut off.

"We apologize for the confusion and time" said the same officer. "We had to come up with a whole new classification for your species. We appreciate that you didn't just get up and walk away now that we know that high gravity restraint was useless against you."

"Hey, don't worry about it" replied Doug magnanimously. "Just get me on my way, and I'll be happy." Doug was already happily thinking of the sleep he was about to get on the next ship.

The security officers quickly turned off the gravity to the scanner so that the human floated helplessly in the center of the spherical room. The clear protective barrier on one side showed that one officer was still there. A flash of movement at one end of the window was the other officer rushing out of the control booth.

"What is going on" demanded Doug loudly. "Did the gravity plating malfunction? How long am I going to be stuck in here? I have an appointment!" While he couldn't do much more than flail about, his stomach was reminding him that last in flight snack was a long time ago and that weightlessness does not sit well with humans.

He heard a clicking sound as the officer moved what Doug assumed was a microphone closer. "Do not struggle, you are not going to be able to sneak your contraband through this gate. We have caught you and you will be detained for questioning once backup arrives suitably attired." The translator the officer was using was top notch, Doug had to give them that. His own mark 6 was now 4 generations old and he had been putting off upgrading until prices came back down.

"What" he exclaimed. "I have no contraband! I barely even have any luggage! What am I supposed to be smuggling?"

The speaker clicked again and this time Doug say the officer push a control before speaking. "You and I both know the hazardous material you have had implanted. You must be desperate for income to have subjected yourself to the dangers of smuggling so much acid. Just remain calm so we do not have to risk breaking the vessel inside you trying to subdue you."

Doug was feeling the mental fatigue of the hours and light-years between home and the here and now. He understood they thought he was smuggling some hazardous substance, but for the life of him could not figure out what. He was used to random security sweeps due to him being a heavy-worlder, but after a brief frisk and scan for weapons he was usually on his way.

"Seriously" he said tiredly, "what are you talking about? I have never had surgery to add or remove anything to my body. I even still have my appendix for crying-"

The exit and entrance doors to the scanner opened simultaneously, startling his already frazzled nerves. He saw light all around him and couldn't figure out what was happening. The officers that came in and surrounded him were all obviously under the effect of the gravity plating, but he was still floating helplessly. He soon realized this species must have figured out localized anti-gravity fields or something.

He felt all 4 of his extremities being grabbed all at once and he glided toward the floor. Once he gently made contact he felt gravity resume and for the first time since leaving home he estimated it may even be Earth standard.

"You are being subjected to incredibly high gravity so that you are unable to resist. If you somehow eject the vessel containing the acidic fluids it will not even make it past your own body. I suggest you willingly surrender so we do not have to risk your life trying to determine how to sedate you." Doug could not see which officer surrounding him spoke, but there was an air of authority to the voice that screamed 'in charge.'

"I surrender! Whatever it takes to clear this up and get back on my way, I have an appointment!" Doug was getting a little worried now. There are so many species that what can render one unconscious is generally lethal to others. He only had one life, and he didn't want it to end playing Russian roulette.

"That is well" said the same officer, "we will now bind you and then remove you to a containment area so this scanner can be returned to use. We have a quota to keep after all."

After a brief and somewhat embarrassingly invasive search he was bound. They used their Doug decided he was going to call it a gravity field gravity field to float him into a room. On the way in Doug noted the door frame sat in the middle of a very thick wall. He noted that there were several different materials layered in the wall.

"Is this going to take long" Doug asked, "cause this weightlessness is starting to make me nauseous."

"What is nauseous?"

"Very uncomfortable sensation that can cause humans to regurgitate our stomach contents" answered Doug. He hoped his translator had words for those concepts.

"Turn off the field" ordered the officer with the in charge attitude. "We will have to use increased gravity to restrain you in place then."

"That's fine, just no more zero gravity please" complained Doug. "I'm already jet lagged enough as it is I don't need to add being sick to it."

"Now then" stated the officer once Doug was suitably heavy. "Our scans detected the highly acidic fluid you have had put inside your torso. If you tell us how to remove it safely we can remove the high gravity and other restraints."