Hubstitute Creatures, by Christopher L. Bennett

[Analog]

★★★☆☆ Mixed

(Space Opera; The Hub Gates) David and Natasha disguise themselves as aliens in order to chase a thief to a world where humans aren’t welcome, but their disguises prove to be a bit too effective. (14,225 words; Time: 47m)

Recommended By: 👍STomaino+1 (Q&A)

This story doesn’t stand alone. You’ll need to read the rest of the Hub Gates stories first.

...And He Built a Crooked Hub, by Christopher L. Bennett

[Analog]

★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

(Space Opera Humor; The Hub Gates) David lives in one cube of a run-down tesseract apartment. Occasionally the interface drops visitors into the wrong cube, but today it’s a real mess. (12,440 words; Time: 41m)

This will be a much better read if you start this series from the beginning.

Hubpoint Of No Return, by Christopher L. Bennett

[Analog]

★★★★☆ Fun characters in a cool setting, with tension, but lots of laughs

(Space Opera Humor; The Hub Gates) David gets kidnapped by aliens who stole the cyborg fish he bought with money he saved from his job as an interstellar telemarketer. He may yet get his chance to show an Earthman can crack the secrets of the Hub though. (12,530 words; Time: 41m)

I read this story without the benefit of reading the first three, and I still enjoyed it thoroughly. So much that I bought "Hub Space: Tales From the Greater Galaxy," which collects the first three stories. They're also fun, but there's no need to read any of them first.