There are so many reasons why I shouldn't have chosen to settle on Knowhere.

It's a hub of criminal and black market activity. It's dangerous, dirty, and survives off the kinds of activities that disgust me. To cap all that off, there's a crazy guy who "collects" things – and would probably take me for his collection if he knew about me.

And those are exactly the reasons why I chose to make my hiding place there.

If you were going to settle somewhere, would you chose to settle somewhere safe, where you're not in danger crossing the street, or would you chose somewhere where you could be killed over a handful of coins?

Anyone who was hunting me would probably have some idea about my personality and know I'd never settle there. Hence, settling there was a good way to hide. If dangerous.

The first days were hard – I rarely strayed out of the tiny home I'd managed to find, not even to find something to eat. But I couldn't stay there forever.

I was pushing my way through a crowd of aliens when I heard someone yell.

No one paid attention, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw three boys and a girl much smaller than them, who lay on the ground and they were kicking.

I shoved someone out of the way and made my way across the street in a second.

"Hey," I said. "What do you think you're doing?"

The boys stopped and stared. Apparently, no one had dared to call them out on it before. "We're taking her money."

"No, you're not."

"And you're going to stop us?" said the biggest boy. He might have been my age, and almost certainly wasn't human – the pointed ears and green skin kind of gave it away. "As if any girl could. Especially one in your state."

I grabbed his ear and pulled him away, kicking out his instep.

The other two moved to attack and met with similar difficulties.

They all decided that there was probably more where that had come from and darted off.

I helped the girl to her feet. She was, as it turns out, a beggar and an orphan, trying to make enough money to stay alive. Her name was Narissa.

Through Narissa, I managed to recruit many of the younger children to help me. They would run errands for me and keep an eye out for certain people – all for a reasonable fee. That and I often gave them money in the street when they asked for it.

I think they thought of me as some kind of guardian. If I was told about them being harassed by other, older children, I dealt with the problem and ensured it didn't happen any more. A lot of them seemed to genuinely like me.

The adults I ran into didn't seem to know what they were supposed to think of me. The only other women in that place were… not nice women, shall I say. For one reason or another. I kept out of sight as much as possible.

One night, I was just getting ready for bed when someone knocked on the door.

I opened the door. It was Narissa.

"Miss Ivy? That woman you wanted to know about is here," she said. "The blue one."

Now? "Thank you, Narissa."

I filled a bag with stuff – some clothes, food, and yarn and needles for knitting, the baby shoes I was working on.

I threw it over my shoulder.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

I declined to answer, instead zipping my bag shut.

There was an explosion. The door blew off its hinges.

I spun around, my knife flying through the air.

It struck the person standing in the doorway.

Nebula pulled it out and threw it on the ground. "You're quick."

"And you're breaking and entering." I set down the bag – it wouldn't be worth my life if I had to make a quick getaway. "Leave. I don't want trouble."

Nebula lunged across the room.

I had anticipated this move and sidestepped, running toward the door.

She caught me around the throat with her arm, squeezing.

I flipped her over my shoulder. She hit the ground hard.

I drove my heel into her face. Brutal? Yes, but necessary. I put my other foot on her neck and applied pressure.

"Let's just make something clear. You threaten me, you threaten my baby. And I don't think you want to do that."

The next moment, I was lying on my back on the floor, Nebula's arm pressing down on my throat. Apparently, she did want to do that.

A scream from the doorway caused Nebula to spin around. The pressure on my throat lessened.

I threw her off me.

"RUN!" I yelled to Narissa, who stood frozen in the doorway.

Narissa grabbed my knife from where it lay on the ground. She threw it at Nebula.

She missed, but I appreciated the thought. The knife landed near me on the floor. I grabbed it and started stabbing at my opponent.

I didn't really want to fight like this, out of practice and several months pregnant. But if anyone thought I was going to be an easy target, they had another thing coming to them.

Nebula seemed to be shaking off the stab wounds as I continued to strike at her. She pummeled me with her fists.

I threw Nebula off and ran.

She didn't follow me.

I ran out.

Someone ran up beside me. "Miss Ivy?"

"Narissa, I told you to run. Go, now!"

"Miss Ivy, there's someone here looking for you."

"Who is it this time?"

"A raccoon and a tree. The tree gave me a flower!"

I almost stopped short. "Run. Get as far away from here as you can. And don't come back again. I won't be here. Goodbye."

I took off in a different direction, down a street full of aliens. Let Rocket Raccoon and Groot deal with Nebula when they got there. One less problem for me. I'd been aware that there were people in this part of the galaxy looking for me, but had kept a low profile and a network of children who kept an eye out for me to make sure that I'd never meet any of them.

I stepped into a small space between two buildings and started tapping buttons on my "watch". The watch served to translate alien languages and teleport me where I wanted to go. It also tells time, yes. It was a gift from a friend named the Doctor.

The thing started sparking and died. No power.

I resisted the urge to curse. I was stuck on this planet with bounty hunters after me and no way off. Just great.