“I expected the door to open again as soon as they’d loaded all the other containers. I was waiting for it to happen, and for them to ice the little shit with me. When the container was moved I worried a little but convinced myself they were just shifting me to somewhere less conspicuous. When it settled down and the door still didn’t open I started to realise I was really in trouble.
“I started making plans for the other end, but the number of slaves being shifted meant I might never get the chance to get to freedom. I wondered if my beacon was faulty, or there just weren’t any agents around to pick it up. After a few hours I realised I was most likely going to have the honour of dying for the Empire. I always knew it was a possibility, but not like that. Not as just one more filthy slave, with no excitement and no danger worth the name.
“By the time you opened the door I’d given up any hope of being rescued. I thought you were on the level, that you were just some shady trader looking to get his hands on a woman. I decided it was better to fight outside of the transport than in it. I didn’t want to be shut in again, so I let your men drag me out. I was all ready to start tearing them apart when you gave the code words.”
“Just as well I did. Those men were fellow agents, remember, and they outnumbered you.”
She shrugged. “Maybe, but I could have handled them all. There are agents and then there are agents. Like me. And like you. I can see it in your eyes.”
Sovon just smiled slightly, neither confirming nor denying her suggestion. She smiled back, seeming to take his silence as confirmation.
“So what fate did I narrowly escape?” she asked, changing the subject abruptly.
“Cleaning up a station after a major radiation leak, from what I heard.”
For a moment her teeth clenched and she paled slightly. It was over almost before it began, but Sovon noted it.
“Nasty,” she replied nonchalantly. “If they’re throwing slaves at that sort of a problem it’s no wonder they were shifting so many. It’ll take tens of thousands of dead slaves before they bring it under control.”
“They can spare them. From what I heard, Solcant was getting pretty damn crowded. They were considering operating a cull to reduce the numbers. The radiation problem saves them some bullets.”
She knocked back the rest of her drink in one go. “Right, I’m going to get rid of this collar, then try to get some of the layers of dirt off.”
She stalked into the bathroom and pointedly closed the door. Sovon heard her moving the chair he kept in the bathroom, wedging it under the door handle, no doubt. He chuckled quietly at that, then settled down on his bed to wait for her to finish. She’d have far more questions once she was cleaned up, he was sure.
* * *
It was nearly an hour before Tia emerged from the bathroom. Sovon sat up on the bed, a smile quickly spreading as he took in the sight of her.
Tia had clearly scrubbed hard. There wasn’t a speck of dirt on her now. Sovon was sure it wouldn’t be enough. He had showered or bathed several times a day for the first couple of weeks after leaving deep cover.
Now she stood in the doorway wearing only a white towel wrapped around her body. Her dark hair was still wet and fell across her bare shoulders. The towel had been folded so it showed off almost all of her legs. Sovon found himself strongly attracted to her in that moment.
“Glad I’ve still got it,” she said with a sly smile.
“Definitely. Feeling better for the shower?”
“I am. And, surprisingly, I’m feeling damn horny.”
“I’d be happy to help out.”
“I’m sure you would. I’d better warn you that I’ve had enough of missionary style to last me a lifetime, and of having to keep it quiet because others were close enough to listen in. Not that an audience is bad in the right circumstances, but those were far from perfect.
“I need something completely different to that. I want to shout and yell. I want to get damn dirty. I hope you’re up for things getting twisted.”
“That won’t be a problem!” insisted Sovon, finding himself short of breath as he stood up.
“Good!” she replied, letting the towel drop to the floor.
They stalked towards each other, almost running. She grabbed him and sank her nails into the back of his neck, her teeth nipping at his cheek and lips.
This is going to be damn good, he thought to himself. He wasn’t disappointed.
Chapter 30
Ben sat crouched in a corner of the prisoner transport, hiding his tears from the others. The transport was small, much smaller than those he’d been on before, holding only seven other prisoners. Four of them were young, though still older than Ben’s eight years. The others were adults.
Ben wanted nothing to do with them. He wanted nothing other than to be reunited with his mother. He’d clung close to her throughout the chaos as guards rounded them up and drove them towards the prisoner transports. Many times the surging crowds of prisoners threatened to tear them apart, but somehow they held onto each other.
Finally they were herded towards a prisoner transport. Climbing the ramp, Ben relaxed a little. Wherever they were going, they’d be going together. That was all that really mattered to him. Then, as he reached the entrance, a guard reached out and pulled him away. Ben tried to resist, but he was too small. As he was dragged backwards he saw his mother shouting, trying to push her way after. He saw her struck over the head by a guard. He saw her disappear from view.
Then he was off the ramp and being pulled in a different direction. He could no longer see where his mother had fallen. Where he knew she had gotten up again. That she must have done. He couldn't consider any other possibility.
Soon after, Ben was thrown into a much smaller prisoner transport than he’d been on before. When the door slammed he had crawled into a corner and stayed there ever since. He flinched back as loud clangs came from the door. For a moment he was sure something had gone catastrophically wrong. Bright light flooded the transport. He tensed against the freezing touch of vacuum… but it didn’t come.
The door finished opening. Ben, blinking against the bright light, made out something large standing in the doorway. A few seconds later he realised it was a robot. He had only seen a few in his life, all used for jobs that prisoners simply couldn’t do, which normally involved very heavy lifting. The robots he had seen before were roughly finished and crudely maintained. This robot was as different to them as day to night. Its body was smoothly finished and clean, almost shiny.
“Please form a line and walk out of the transport,” came a very human sounding female voice. Ben realised with a start that it came from the robot.
The other prisoners quickly stood and formed a line. The situation was unusual but prisoners soon learnt those were the times to be most careful about obeying orders, and doing so quickly. Ben stayed where he was, staring in fascination at the robot.
“Kid! Kid! Get over here!” hissed one of the adult prisoners. The others were waving to catch his attention. Ben ignored them. The robot fascinated him. The way it looked and, as it turned towards him, the way it moved.
“Get over here, kid. Please!” The prisoner was pleading now. “You’re going to get us punished!”
“No. No punishments.”
The voice from the robot was different this time. Male. Young sounding. Older than Ben, but still young sounding.
“Kid… get over here now… for us… please…”
The prisoners clearly didn’t believe what the robot had said.
“I meant what I said,” the young male voice came from the robot again. “We are going to set you free. Let me prove it to you.”
The robot moved into the transport. Ben watched it, still enthralled, but the others shrank back towards the walls. The robot ignored them, crossing to Ben then crouching beside him. One large hand reached out towards Ben’s neck. Ben sat without moving, transfixed.
“Just hold still for a moment…” came the voice again.
The robot’s hand gently touched the collar around Ben’s neck. He felt a slight tingling then, without warning, the collar fell free and tumbled to the floor.
Ben sat frozen in place for several seconds, then slowly reached up to his neck. It felt strange to be able to touch his neck properly, and he felt lighter than he’d ever felt before. It almost felt as if his neck and shoulders would float away upwards.
“Thank you,” he managed to say in a small voice.
“You’re welcome,” came the reply from the robot. “Who’s next?” it asked, turning towards the others.
The adults were staring in disbelief, torn between amazement and terror at the punishment Ben had invited. One of the other children broke away from the group, though, walking towards the robot. She looked nervous but determined. Ben gave her a smile of encouragement, she managed a slight smile back.
Once again the robot reached out gently, and a few seconds later the collar fell free. Ben wondered if he’d looked as shocked as the girl did, or even more shocked as he’d had no idea what was about to happen. The girl rubbed at her neck in disbelief, tears showing in her eyes.
“We mean it,” the robot said. “We are going to free you. All of you. You’re on our ship, the Wanderer. We were asked to transport you and many other prisoners, but instead we are going to free all of you.”
“But why?” asked one of the adult slaves. “Why would you do this? Why would you care?”
“Because we used to be prisoners too. We were set free. Now we’re taking the chance to free you. Who’s next?”
This time it was one of the adults who moved forward, and after a few seconds the others followed in a group. One by one the robot removed their collars, freeing them from the threat of immediate punishment.
“Please follow me,” said the robot, or whoever was talking through it. “I’m afraid there won’t be much room for a short while. We are preparing the main section of the ship to house everyone we free. Until it’s ready you will still be crowded, but you will have food, drink and the chance to get clean.”
Ben followed immediately behind the robot, once again marvelling at how smoothly it moved. He glanced back and saw the others were following. Out of habit they’d formed themselves into a single line, the expected default for prisoners if they weren’t given any other instructions.
They didn’t go far, though they did pass several more prisoner transports, both large and small. A door in the wall was open, and through it Ben could see a room with comfy looking chairs. The robot stopped and gestured them through.
“Food and drink are available from the hatch at the side of the room. There’s an area with toilets and sinks through the arch at the end of the room. You’re the first, but others will join you soon.”
“Is this… are you… are you really going to free us?” asked one of the women prisoners, voice cracking.
“Yes. Please, go on through. We have a lot of people to release from the transports.”
Once again Ben led the way. He walked through and ran towards the hatch. Opening it he found food and drink already waiting. It was water and porridge. Those were staples of prisoner food, but this was something different. The water was crystal clear and, Ben found, pleasantly chilled. The porridge was light and fluffy, rather than heavy and stodgy, and it tasted amazing. In moments the others joined him, grabbing a mug and bowl each and digging in.
* * *
Jess smiled as he watched the newly freed prisoners tucking into the porridge. He’d already closed the door and the robot was heading towards another transport so the screen now showed a view from the Wanderer’s own sensors.
“I still can’t believe we’re giving them porridge,” Ali said. “With everything we could have the ship prepare for them.”
“I know, but it would have been too much. Really. They’ve got an awful lot to cope with as it is.”
“No more than you, Sal and… Matt had.”
Ali stumbled for a moment before mentioning Matt, aware of how sore a wound that was for Jess still.
“Maybe.” He shrugged. “But then we had an awful lot more to keep us busy, trying to understand the ship and make our escape. They’ll be sitting around doing nothing.”
“I suppose so…”
Jess didn’t think she sounded too convinced.
“First set of prisoners from my batch are freed and heading for their room,” Sal announced.
“Great,” Jess said. “Any problems?”
Sal had freed a larger group, fourteen had been squeezed into the transport the robot she controlled had opened.
“No, not once they got over their initial fear.”
“Great. That’s two transports down… and a lot to go.”
* * *
“That’s the last of them,” Jess said, letting out an exhausted sigh. “Now the Wanderer can start to absorb the prisoner transports and change that area to something more comfortable for everyone we freed.”
“And we can start leading them around all over again,” Ali replied with a groan.
“It won’t be so bad. At least they should have accepted they really are free now.”
“I’m surprised it went so smoothly,” Elizabeth said. “No trouble at all.”
“That’s their conditioning,” Sal replied sourly. “A lifetime of being told what to do, and having to do it immediately to avoid punishment. It’s convenient for us right now, but I don’t have to like it.”
“Not for them, though,” Jess said. “Not any longer. We… sorry…” he said around a huge yawn.
“How long till their new quarters will be complete?” Sal asked.
“About eight hours. Still well before we reach Daspal.”
“Well, then, you and Ali get some sleep. We need you to have a clear head when we reach Daspal. I can hold the fort here while you rest. All the prisoners are locked in, much as I hate having to do that to them, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”
Jess started to argue, but another huge yawn prevented him. Ali grabbed his arm and started pulling.
“Come on, you need to sleep. I do too. Let’s get to bed.”
Jess half expected a parting shot from Sal or Elizabeth, something about why Ali and he were desperate to get to bed, but none came. Glancing back he saw that Sal had the slightly glazed look which meant she was controlling one of the robots, while Elizabeth seemed lost deep in thought.
Ali tugged him again and he sped up, keeping pace with her.
“What’s the hurry?” he asked, stifling another yawn.
“You’re exhausted!” she replied. “You need to get a good sleep before we reach Daspal. And from the way you’re yawning, you’re in danger of falling asleep before I get to have any fun.”
“Oh…” Jess said, brain slowly kicking into gear. “Oh… oh right…”
Suddenly he didn’t feel anywhere near so tired. Laughing together, the two of them raced for their cabin, shot through the door and tumbled onto the bed pulling at each other’s clothes. All the stress and worry from their work to free the prisoners washed away from Jess in a wave of passion.
Part V
Chapter 31
“Two minutes to Daspal,” Jess told the others.
They were all in the flight deck, Jess in the captain’s seat, as usual. Ali and Sal sitting in the seats behind, Elizabeth in one of the seats behind them. Teeko was in his cabin, as he was most of the time now. Jess felt a spike of guilt for not checking on the alien, but there’d been no time to spare from settling their newly freed passengers.
While everything had gone smoothly as a whole, there had still been what felt like a thousand different less critical issues to deal with.
Medical care had been the first priority. Some of those freed were in poor health and had needed to be stabilised immediately. Then there had been the logistics of getting everyone moved into the larger quarters once they were ready.
Most difficult of all had been the efforts to reunite anyone who ha
d been separated from loved ones. They managed to match up a few, but it soon became clear many of those who were missing had gone to different ships.
Jess saw the mixture of amazement at being free and disappointment, or even despair, that loved ones were lost. It tore him apart inside every time. One in particular stuck with him. Ben, a young boy of nine or ten, who had lost his mother during the chaotic loading of the prisoner transports.
His story echoed Jess’s own experiences, opening up wounds which had never really healed in the first place. The look of pain on that young face when he was told his mother wasn’t aboard the Wanderer was going to haunt Jess for a long time.
Jess forced his attention back to the task at hand. A quick check confirmed that the Shadow Beam was still travelling through jump space near the Wanderer. In around ninety seconds they would both drop back into real space, and then the crunch would come. Jess would have to explain to their employers not just that the prisoners had been freed but also why.
Alarms suddenly flared across the displays in front of Jess. Matching alarms flared into his mind through his interface to the ship. Instinctively he reached for the ship, accelerating his thoughts, and tried to understand what was happening.
Something was wrong with jump space. Very wrong. The Wanderer was already floundering, struggling against an environment which had changed from the emptiness of vacuum to something almost sticky.
With that thought he realised it felt familiar. It was a tar pit! They’d encountered one once before. A device which rendered travel through jump space impossible, forcing all ships in the area back into real space.
Even as he realised what was going on the Wanderer crashed back into normal space. Fighting against the dizziness the abrupt transition had caused Jess focused on the area around them, trying to locate the source of the tar pit.
He spotted the Shadow Beam first. Like the Wanderer, it had been forced back into real space. Then he scanned further out… and ice settled into his stomach.
Wanderer's Odyssey - Books 1 to 3: The Epic Space Opera Series Begins Page 42