But the problem was she had no proof and who would believe her without proof? And she knew the moment she blurted out accusations without concrete evidence, her freedom would be gone, and she’d be on lockdown. So, she’d remained quiet and planned her escape.
Hector was the only person on the planet she’d confided in. He’d believed her instantly and he was the reason she was now running away.
They continued to walk past the crowds and Hector guided her to a waiting vehicle. They both ducked into the backseat and Hector tapped on the window partition. The divider slid down and her brother handed the man in front a currency stick. The vehicle immediately lumbered to life and they zipped forward and merged into traffic. Darcy blew out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and sank into the seat. She kept her hood low over her face because just one person recognizing her would be disastrous.
Hector glanced over. “We’re going to SDS,” he said.
She bit her lip, willing the tears back. “Okay,” she breathed. And then she swallowed past the lump in her throat. Of course, they were going to the recently opened Singapore Docking Station, or SDS as everyone called it. This was where all the small to medium-sized spaceships landed in order to be processed by customs and immigration. If she needed off-planet immediately this would be the only way. It was just more difficult to accept the idea that she was leaving New Earth forever than she’d originally thought.
“I’ve been coming here for over a week now, watching all the incoming ships and noting which ones are scheduled to leave in our time frame. I finally got lucky and found one that is perfect to take you off-planet,” Hector said. “I’m taking you there right now. As far as I can tell, this personal flyer has only one occupant, a Xylan male. Since he’s alone I’m assuming he’s unmated, although if I’m wrong and he’s mated but happens to be alone, this won’t matter. The itinerary he submitted says he’s leaving by the end of this diurnal. When you’re in deep space and this male eventually discovers you in his ship, there will be no danger of abuse and he won’t rape you because Xylan can only physically mate with their claimed bride. Also, because you’re a Xylan ally, I believe he will treat you reasonably well. As long as you’re polite and no bother, he’ll most likely get over his initial anger at finding a stowaway. He’ll probably ignore you until he can drop you off at his next stop. I consider this your best bet.”
“Are you sure there isn’t another way?” she blurted out. “Can’t I just go home? Can’t we just hide me in—”
“Don’t be stupid,” Hector gritted, “of course you can’t go home. We’ve been over this again and again. You can never go home, that’s the first place they’ll look.”
She blinked away her tears. “Well, you don’t have to be mean about it. I feel terrible for putting you in this position. I didn’t want you to have to do any of this. I’m worried you’ll get in trouble for helping me.”
Hector clenched his jaw and rubbed at his temples. “Sorry Darce, it’s the stress. I just want you safe. And don’t worry, I can take care of myself and Mom and Dad too. But, you can’t stay on New Earth because Gurpreet and his father will find you, there’s nowhere to hide. And part of me is still mad that you snuck into the back of the cart and went to Tulare, then got yourself pulled into line for presentation to Gurpreet Singh. What were you thinking? I had everything planned out. My sister was going to be safely married to my best friend. If you were married, Gurpreet couldn’t have you, even if he’d seen you, he wouldn’t have wanted you because he wants to boast about taking a virgin. But you kept cancelling the wedding that would’ve made you safe.”
“I’m sorry. I guess I never really understood before what the big deal was.” She gestured down at herself. “I never understood why you were trying to hide me.”
He shook his head and glanced out the window, then he looked back at her. “Well, now you know,” he finally answered. “I don’t understand everyone’s obsession either. To me you’re just my annoying sister, but because of that stupid contest you—”
“Oh gods,” she cut him off, a sob escaping from her lips, “I’m leaving and never coming back. I’m going to miss Mom and Dad, and…”
He grabbed her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. “We’re going to miss you too Darce…everyone misses you already. Mom cries every day. Dad offers prayers for your safety to the multigod altar every sunrise and sunset. But we are all in agreement that this is the best way. We want you safe, even if that safety means you have to leave and start your life over off-planet.”
“Off-planet,” she whispered.
Hector exhaled. “I know, but you’ll never have peace here. This is the only way.”
She reached out and took his other hand and stared at him intently. “Hector, he has other women under his control. He beats women who are pregnant with his child. You have to work to save them too, not just me.”
He sucked in a huge breath. “I’ll try.”
“You have to do more than try. I overheard two maids whispering about how Gurpreet had beaten and killed one of the women he keeps there in the east wing. The maids are scared of him. It’s not right that I’m getting away, but those other women and their children are stuck there being beaten daily, terrified for their lives. Why do I get to leave but they can’t? What makes me so special?”
His features softened and he let go of her hand to cup her face with a rough palm. “It’s the fact that you don’t think you’re special; that’s what makes you special,” he replied. “If only you hadn’t postponed your first wedding.”
More tears threatened to spill from her eyes. “And if only I hadn’t hidden in that cart, determined to check out the Tulare Ag Expo.”
“Yeah, if only.” Hector let go of her hand and reached into his pocket and placed a currency bar on her open palm. “Here, keep this with you. When you arrive at a place where you mean to settle use this to get yourself established. Get in touch with me as soon as you find a secure line, so I know you’re safe.”
“Okay. I will. And Hector, I’ll find proof of his abuse, and I’ll get it to you.”
“You do that. But first, we need to get you safely off-planet.”
The vehicle finally arrived at their destination. Hector helped her out and then he skillfully handed off a bribe to the guards at the entrance of Singapore’s immense, brand-new universal docking station. She couldn’t believe something this advanced had actually been built on her notoriously primitive home planet. It was crowded with humans and also a variety of other species Darcy normally never saw in real life. She did her best to not gawk at the never-before-seen diversity.
They were allowed inside the immense hanger, and she strode alongside Hector with her chin held high, both of them acting like they belonged there. The SDS held dozens of ships all lined up in their own designated sections.
At the end of the fourth row, Hector stopped behind a stack of crates and pointed at a black and grey personal flier with an open ramp. “When I was here earlier, the Xylan warrior who owns this ship was coming and going, trying to fix his engine, but he’s still scheduled to depart today.” He turned and met her gaze. “Now is the time for you to get onboard, Darce. He’s not here. No one is attending this ship. You need to get on board right now and find a good hiding spot. Wait to reveal yourself until you’re in deep space and it’s too late for him to turn around.”
She bit her lip and nodded, forcing the tears back. She slipped her arms around Hector’s waist one last time for a quick hug. He patted her back and kissed the top of her head…and then she turned back toward the ramp.
They waited until the right moment, when there seemed to be no one looking.
“Go,” Hector ordered, pushing her forward.
And she ran for the ship, her robe sweeping around her legs. She clambered up the ramp and into the cargo bay and paused, her heart racing, her breaths short and erratic. Holy gods. Whew. She looked both ways, scared to death. They’d assumed the owner of the ship wa
s in the SDS depot, purchasing supplies, but, you never knew…
She quietly swept down one tight hall, then another. Yep, the place was totally quiet.
Darcy stopped for a moment and placed her hands on her hips. What was she supposed to do? Where should she hide? The cargo bay normally would’ve been a good place but that was where the ramp opened onto. The owner could return any second and… Darn it. She glanced around. What were the rules for trying to sneak onto someone’s ship?
There were three doors along the hallway. She randomly placed her palm on the panel of the door next to her. And it easily slid open. Wow, this place was totally open to her, this guy was lucky she wasn’t here to rob him or do damage, lucky for him all she wanted was a ride off-planet. Well, a meal, a restroom and a soft bed sounded great too.
The door opened to reveal a darkened room with enough light shining from the hallway to expose a bunk on the wall. Hmm, must be the quarters of the owner? Or maybe it was a spare bedroom? If the owner of the ship returned and was busy in the engine compartment, or on the bridge fixing his ship, then he wouldn’t be back to his room until later. Maybe not until he’d assured himself that his ship was running smoothly and correctly, and he’d disembarked from SDS and had left orbit. He’d probably only come back here when he was in open space and could set the ship to auto pilot. Or maybe this wasn’t his actual room and a spare? That would be even better.
She stepped inside and inhaled, deciding this was the room where she’d hide…er, wait, until the owner returned. The door slid closed behind her and now the space was pitch black and yet it still didn’t scare her or feel creepy in any way. She put her hands out and stepped to the left until she felt the edge of the bunk.
Darcy sat down heavily on the bunk and suddenly felt so, so tired. After all that fretting, all the running and hiding, it was like hurry up and wait.
A few minutes ticked by.
What was Hector doing? Had he left? How was everyone reacting at the Palace and at the temple? They had to know by now that she was gone…
She glanced longingly at the soft bedding.
Oh, what the hell, might as well…and she lay on the bunk, exhausted. She kicked off the high heels that had been killing her feet and rested. Actually, it was nice to finally be alone and quiet. And she didn’t feel as terrified of this unknown ship as she’d thought.
This room smelled so good. That was some terrific air freshener, and it seemed to be concentrated here, in the bedding. She picked up a pillow and inhaled, then she put it down and placed her head there and immediately fell asleep.
3
Daxon of Seven was pissed.
He stormed back toward his personal flyer, carrying the parts he needed to fix his ship. “I cannot fucking believe this,” he muttered.
Other beings quickly darted out of his way as he progressed through this rudimentary human docking station. He’d arrived on New Earth to start his new job and complete his first mission only to discover the moment he arrived that the Bounty for his target, THX450, had been cancelled. He was told this happened occasionally and he’d still receive base pay for time lost. But, he would’ve made triple that amount for the actual Bounty. And also, a cancelled Bounty didn’t count towards upgrading his position on the Leaderboards.
And to top it off, his ship had broken down while on New Earth, the shithole of the four sectors, and now he had to spend more time among humans than he’d planned. He’d implanted their human-speak into his brain because he’d needed to converse with the docking agent and purchase replacement parts from the human engineers. Now he could speak and understand their bizarre language and he suspected in this new job this would only be the first of many languages he’d need to implant.
He reached the end of the fourth row and stomped up the open ramp of his ship and onto the cargo bay. He clenched his jaw and dropped his new parts onto the deck, then he yanked open the panel in the engine compartment and got back to work. This repair was taking forever because he didn’t know a damn thing about fixing engines, and his rough claws were not made for this type of precision work. He wasn’t a mechanic, he was a miner, dammit.
He paused to watch three different instructional videos on how to replace the type-two processor for the energy flow system (or whatever the hell it was called), and finally felt he was getting somewhere.
His life had turned into a series of unfortunate events, today being no exception.
First, he’d been betrayed by his devious cousin and removed from his position as head of the miners’ union.
Second, he’d been fired from his job on the Illibrium mines and banished from Timbor.
Third, the only legal job he could find afterwards that would accept a miner with a checkered past, that paid sufficiently, and fit his skill set was as a Bounty Hunter.
A Bounty Hunter… He shook his head.
And now, on day one of his new career, he was having trouble starting and then fixing his own damn ship. Why couldn’t things just work?
“Incoming message from Joyzal of Seventeen,” the ship’s computer intoned pleasantly.
Daxon grunted. “Accept. Display holo vid here, in my present location.”
And then the vid popped up, showing the familiar face of Joyzal, his friend and mentor. Daxon grunted his acknowledgement and leaned forward to monitor the diagnostic he was running. Shit, this would take hours. Was he even doing this right?
“I heard you’re having some trouble,” Joyzal remarked.
Daxon used a laser tool to cut at the wiring he needed to remove. “You could say that.”
“The first mission is always the hardest. It gets easier after this.”
Daxon exhaled, allowing his shoulders to loosen. “This is good to hear.”
“One day we’ll drink ale together at the tavern in the Bounty Hunter Station and I’ll tell you the long, traumatic story of my first mission. To summarize, my ship broke down and my target slipped away from me. I screwed that entire mission up five different ways.”
Daxon glanced up, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Your ship broke down?”
“Yeah, newbies always get the crappiest ships. As you work your way up the Leaderboard you’ll have opportunities to trade up for better models. You’ll see. Meanwhile, this experience will put more silver on your ridges.”
Daxon chuckled. Silver? He always enjoyed a good joke at the expense of royal pigment assholes. Daxon and Joyzal were both half-color Margols and shared a common mistrust of those ancient night elitists.
After Daxon had been kicked out of his position on the Illibrium mines and forced to leave his home on Timbor…he’d reached out to the Xylan Margol Network and befriended Joyzal of Seventeen. The warrior had encouraged him to take the Bounty Hunter test and gain his Hunter license. Joyzal had felt this new career would be a good fit due to Daxon’s brusque manner, ferocious size and mighty fists. Daxon agreed, mainly because the only alternative was becoming a Gladiator on Chronos, which meant a lifetime filled with entertaining rich royal pigment fucks, and that wasn’t going to happen.
“With that high score you got at your testing, I assume you’ll get the hang of this quickly and soon you’ll be challenging me for the number one position on the Leaderboards.”
Daxon sat up. “By this time next planetary rotation I will be number one,” he vowed.
“That’s a bold statement,” Joyzal answered with a wide, toothy smile.
“Want to bet on it?” Daxon challenged. There was nothing he loved more than a good bet.
“Yes! I accept your bet. If you’ve reached number one within twelve moon cycles from now, I’ll pay for a round of ale at the tavern for us and everyone in the premises, if you lose you pay.”
“Challenge accepted.”
“I’m delighted to have another Xylan Margol Hunter in our midst. Someone who I can compete with. Welcome, Daxon. All will be well.” And then the vid blinked closed.
Daxon returned to his work with renewed v
igor. Hours flew by and finally he pulled himself out of the engine compartment, the hum of the newly reestablished power transformer a satisfying sound.
It felt good to keep busy, but…he still felt the lingering tug toward the Illibrium and his prior life on the mines.
His father had been a miner, and his father before him, and his father before that. Xylan Margol were the best miners in the four sectors and entrusted with the excavation and retrieval of the all-important Illibrium crystal. The moment Illibrium was discovered to be the best power source in the four sectors, it was in ridiculously high demand, but it was also volatile and extremely difficult to remove and small amounts were taken at a time. Mining for Illibrium was dangerous work, but mining had been his entire life and that of everyone he knew. He still had trouble wrapping his brain around the fact that he was no longer a miner, but instead a Bounty Hunter.
He dumped his tools into a bin in the cargo bay then went back to the bridge to pilot the ship out of the dock. After he left orbit he charted a course for the Bounty Hunter Station.
“Computer, transfer the ship to auto pilot.”
“Affirmed.”
And finally, he dragged himself back to his quarters, exhausted. Daxon slammed his claw against the panel, the door slid open and he stepped inside, ready to eat and sleep.
Except there was an odd, shadowy formation on his bunk.
He shook his head and clenched his claws at the eternal fires—a stowaway?
Godsdammit, this stowaway was boldly sleeping on his bunk. Did he need to tranq this being and place it in lockdown stasis? His claw went to his blaster and a growl of annoyance rumbled in his chest.
Wait, why had the ship’s computer and the high-level Bounty Hunter security system allowed this being onboard?
Daxon's Hostage (Alien Bounty Hunters Book 6) Page 2