by Leslie Chase
“I’ll be back for you, I swear it by the hungry stars,” I said. “In the meantime, look after Ssarl here.”
Shutting the communicator before the AI could reply, I turned to the sliven. He stared at me, blinking and trying to keep up.
“Here,” I said, pulling out the controller and passing it to him. “You’re free. I have no claim on you, but if you want to get off this station, you can take my ship.”
He nodded rapidly, and no wonder. Abandoned here he’d be a slave again by the end of the day. I threw him the agonizer and he snatched it out of the air, hissing gratefully.
“I’ll do my best to follow you, sir,” he said quickly, nodding frantically. “Good luck, and Seven Graces guide you.”
I didn’t waste time on a reply, clapping him on the shoulder and turning to run to the Avarice. The full pumps were already disengaged, and I could hear the whine of its drive warming up.
“You there,” I shouted to the officer watching the ramp. “How much for a berth?”
He looked up, green face slack and confused, and I had to repeat the question. After a moment he pulled out a data slate and checked. “Got a room for a thousand bezzik, takes you as far as Madris in the Silent Empire. We’re leaving right now, though. No time to fetch your luggage.”
I winced and nodded. An extortionate price, taking me to a planet I’d much rather avoid, but there wasn’t time to haggle. Pressing my thumb to the slate I authorized payment, and the officer smiled greedily. I wondered just how much of that fee he would pocket but that wasn’t my business.
The ramp swung up behind me, and I felt the decking shake as the Avarice lifted off. I was on my way into the Empire, and into the part of it I hated most. Great.
I’ll just have to deal with this quickly and quietly, I told myself. Before word can get out about my presence.
Why did the ship have to be going into Princess Tlaxanna’s corner of the Empire? The last thing I wanted was for her to find out that I was in her domain.
At least that fee bought me a comfortable berth. The officer brought me to a room that was nearly the size of Shadow Hunter. I shot the Shadow a quick message to let it and Ssarl know my destination and then settled in. My next trick would be to figure out where the verkesh would be keeping their new property.
A quick look at the computer terminal let me find out a little about the ship and its passengers. Not much, of course — no ship trading here would be indiscrete about its passengers. But the Dreams of Avarice did tell me which of its suites were booked, and that was something.
A nest of verkesh required space, and that meant the three linked suites booked in the lower passenger decks. It was the only area big enough. That would be where my mate was being held. It had to be.
Now all I needed was a plan. I couldn’t simply bust in there and kill my way through them — the crew would object, and without a ship of my own that was a problem I wasn’t prepared to deal with.
One problem at a time. First, I’d check that I was right about where Emma was, and then I’d figure out what to do about it.
9
Emma
The conditions in here stank. Literally. The aliens had what looked like perfectly comfortable rooms aboard this ship, and they’d turned them into a filthy pit.
Not that my captors seemed to notice or care as they dragged me inside and shoved me towards a chair.
“Sit, human, sit,” one of them said. I’d lost track of which was which, and the way the group of them scuttled around me made my skin crawl. Maybe it was unfair to judge them on their appearances, but they looked far too much like spiders for me to feel okay around them.
At least the chair was comfortable, more comfortable than anything else I’d sat on since I’d been dragged into space. Right now, I’d savor any small pleasure I could get
One of the aliens retrieved a piece of technology from their luggage, hurrying back to me with it. The thing looked like some kind of gross hybrid of a pistol and a syringe, and I really didn’t want to find out what it did. But fighting back seemed like a spectacularly bad idea, so I sat still, gripping the arms of the chair as the alien pressed its gadget to my forearm.
The needle bit into me and I yelped. Lights glowed on the surface of the device, floating around it and shimmering, forming into displays that hung in the air. I tried to see what they said, but I couldn’t make it out. The fact that most of the lights were red didn’t seem like a good sign though.
“Worthless!” The alien holding the device threw it down in disgust. “Gresh, you spent all our money on a worthless human. Not a trace of royal blood in her, nothing special.”
“She’s not an Imperial citizen, at least,” Gresh protested. “She’ll fetch something, yes, make us much money. Someone will want a human toy.”
The rest of them hissed, a strange and menacing sound as they scuttled around the room. “Not twenty thousand,” one said.
“Maybe two,” another clacked his beak, outraged. “We lose ninety percent on this deal. That was our money too, Gresh.”
“How do we get our money back?” a third said. “How you repay us for this?”
Gresh looked around, beak working, and even I could see the fear in his posture. Whatever authority he’d had that led to the rest of these creatures giving him their investment money was washing away, and he looked desperate.
Desperate and angry. Angry at me.
I tried to vanish into the depths of the chair, hoping to avoid notice. No chance of that, though. Gresh grabbed my chin, glaring and weighing me up.
“We lose money, yes,” he admitted, voice rising. “But we still have human. Fun toy, yes? Break it in, sell it for what we can get. Yes? Yes.”
“No!” I couldn’t help myself. Maybe I should have kept quiet, hoped that the others would overrule him. But I couldn’t stay silent when he was talking about me like that. I just couldn’t.
“You can’t do this—”
My words ended in an inarticulate yell of pain as he stabbed the controller’s button, and all around me the aliens laughed. They might not have forgiven Gresh, but my suffering distracted them from him and that was all he needed.
I struggled up from the seat, gasping for breath and trying to focus. His clawed finger brushed the button again and down I went in a heap, onto the filthy floor. And then they were all around me, grabbing and groping, hands pulling at my clothes.
I tried to twist away, desperately scrambling to my feet. That only seemed to amuse them, and for all that their limbs were thin, they were surprisingly strong. One caught my top in his claws and ripped, tearing it off me as I twisted back. Their horrible laughter followed me as I scrambled back, trying to cover myself.
“Get away,” I shouted, kicking out blindly. My booted foot connected hard with one of them, but another grabbed my leg and yanked me towards him.
I screamed, loud as I could, hoping that someone would hear. Would come and save me. It was a futile hope, here aboard a ship that trafficked in slaves. More likely, I’d draw an audience that would enjoy my suffering, but I had to try.
The aliens crowded around me, tearing the clothes from my body gleefully. Their sharp claws dug into my skin, scratching bloody marks into me, but they didn’t seem to care. Any concern for leaving me undamaged had fled now, as they pulled me this way and that, each wanting to be the first to take me.
Gathering my strength, I tried to grab hold of one, determined not to give in without a fight. My jeans ripped under their claws, and I kicked out again, forcing the alien back. Gresh urged the others on, waving the controller at me.
The threat was clear. I could stop fighting back, or I could be incapacitated with pain. Glaring at him, I dared him to do his worst. I was not going to make this easy for his gang of alien thugs.
His thumb touched the control lightly, sending a warning buzz of agony through me. I shuddered, trying to brace against the pain, but it was useless. If he hit that button, there was nothing I could do. Sadistic
glee sparkled in his four eyes.
Before he could press down, the door exploded inward behind him. Framed in the doorway stood the red-skinned alien from the auction, fists clenched and nostrils flaring as he advanced into the room.
My captors’ heads swiveled around to look at him, an agitated buzz rising from all of them. Before they could react, he grabbed one by the head and wrenched it around with a snapping noise. It dropped to the floor, convulsing.
“Let her go,” he roared at the rest. That seemed to break their paralysis, and they grabbed for their weapons, but compared to him it was like they were moving through treacle.
My savior’s fists, on the other hand, moved faster than I could follow. One connected with a crunch and another of the creatures dropped to the floor. I gasped, hands rising to my mouth, hoping against hope that he would save me from these monsters.
But there were so many of them. Too many, surely, even for him.
One, faster than the others, drew a pistol. The crimson giant caught his hand and pulled it aside in a smooth motion, and with a blinding crack of light, the gun fired into the torso of another of my tormentors.
The alien exploded in a shower of gore, and the rest of them shied back. That gave the newcomer room to move, and he did, charging into the middle of them, his hands flying out to pummel his enemies. I started to think he might win, despite the odds.
Another of the spider-aliens managed to grab up a pistol and I leaped forward, landing on his arm and driving it down to fire into the deck. The noise was deafening, the flash blinding, but I hung on for dear life.
If Red got shot, this was over. For me and him both. I knew I wouldn’t live through this if he didn’t rescue me.
The spider tore at me, trying to get free of my grip. The pistol fired again and again, each shot tearing a hole in the deck, but I wouldn’t let go. And then, finally, a red arm reached around me to grab the bug by the throat.
A powerful squeeze and a snapping noise, and the creature crumpled to the floor. Clawed hands let go of both me and the gun, letting me grab hold of the weapon. Staggering back, I looked at the man who’d come to my rescue.
The red skinned alien towered over me, his eyes as intense as they’d been at the auction. He was bare-chested, his torso covered in scars. Dozens of them, precisely carved into his skin, accentuating the look of his powerful physique.
His fingers were clawed and dripped with the spider-aliens’ ichor. His chest rose and fell as he sucked in air after the fight. I’d never seen a man so powerful, so frighteningly dangerous, or so sexy. My body tingled as I looked at him.
Struggling to fit my fingers around a handle made for alien hands, I raised the pistol to cover him.
Is he trying to rescue me or steal me? As much as I preferred the idea of being his to belonging to the bugs, I didn’t plan on being anyone’s slave. Until I knew what he wanted from me, I wasn’t going to trust anything.
A smile tugged at his lips, and he stepped back. I got the impression that if he’d wanted to, he’d have pulled the unfamiliar weapon from my hand before I could blink, but no. He let me keep it, let me have that bit of safety. Even if it was an illusion, I had to appreciate that.
“You are safe now, human,” he said, his voice low and careful. My finger trembled on what I thought was the trigger. With an alien weapon like this, who knew?
“Who are you? Why did you…” I shook my head, trying to indicate the bodies lying around us without taking my eyes or my aim off him.
“I couldn’t leave you in the hands of these verkesh,” he said. “You deserve better than that, and I will make sure you’re safe. My name is Athazar, and you can trust me.”
“Emma,” I told him. Something made me think he was telling the truth, but how could I believe it?
I’m being paranoid. He just fought six aliens to save me. I shook my head again. Sure, that was true, but did it mean anything? Or was I willing to let myself trust him because he was the hottest man I’d ever seen?
And where the hell did that thought come from? This isn’t the time to be staring, Emma!
“If you wish to threaten me with that weapon, Emma,” he said, breaking the long silence, “you should first press the blue switch down. Otherwise it will not fire.”
I glared, wondering if this was a trick. Waved the gun to the side for a moment and pulled the ‘trigger.’ Sure enough, nothing happened. Okay, maybe I could trust him.
Maybe.
“So what’s the plan?” I asked, struggling to get a finger to the switch he’d indicated. Athazar laughed, a surprisingly cheerful sound.
“I don’t have one. I heard you scream and couldn’t leave you here with them, so I came to rescue you.”
The gun made an ominous humming noise, vibrating in my hands. Was that a good sign? I couldn’t tell.
“Do you have a way out of here?” I asked, glancing around the room. It was a scene of carnage, strange alien blood and corpses strewn around like discarded clothing in a bachelor’s apartment. Cleaning this up and pretending it hadn’t happened wasn’t in the cards. “If you heard me, someone else must have noticed… this.”
Athazar shrugged, looking straight at me. “Let them come. If I have to fight my way through everyone aboard this ship to save you, I will.”
It should have sounded ridiculous, over the top. But the simple sincerity of his words, together with the bloody mess he’d made of my attackers, made me wonder. Could he actually do that? Take on a whole ship for me?
How the hell would I know? I shook my head again, letting the weight of the gun pull my arms down. I don’t even know who else is aboard this thing.
“Why?” I asked, taking my finger off the switch and feeling the pistol quiet in my grip. “Why did you do this? You don’t have anything to gain here.”
“I do,” he said, not moving. “Emma, the moment I saw you I knew I could not leave you a slave in the hands of these vermin, or anyone else for that matter. And that is all I desire.”
I frowned, not quite believing him. There had to be more to this, didn’t there? He must want something in return for his efforts. It was hard to think, so much had happened so quickly.
Before I could put together an answer, a new voice spoke from the shattered doorway.
“That’s sweet, darlings, but it’s not practical.” I spun, trying to bring up the weapon in my hands. It was awkward and bulky, and I stopped half-way, seeing the barrels of two guns pointed at me. It was hard to look past the deadly weapons to the alien warriors holding them, green-skinned warriors with hard faces and cold eyes.
Another two covered Athazar. He tensed but didn’t move, and even I could see that the distance was too great. If he tried anything they’d shoot him dead before he reached them.
My hesitation and distrust had cost us what little time we’d had to make our escape.
Behind the guards, the gold-skinned woman from the auction smiled at us. It was a cold smile, without the slightest trace of empathy. One that reminded me of a cat playing with a mouse.
“I wondered what all the fuss was about, and here we are. Whatever shall I do with you?” Her tone was all sweetness with a hard edge under it.
“Lady Olevena,” Athazar said, calm and friendly. “This is none of your concern. Just a dispute over the ownership of this human.”
I almost objected but bit my tongue. If I was going to end up owned by one of these two, I’d pick Athazar any time. I remembered the lady’s sadistic look at the auction, and I didn’t intend to find out what that meant for me if I could help it.
Athazar smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Nor did Olevena’s.
“Really? I think this looks like a multiple murder. And the captain and his men are on their way.”
“So we explain what happened together,” Athazar suggested. “These verkesh attacked me when I came to negotiate with them, I killed them in self-defense, and you saw it all. I’d be happy to compensate you for your trouble.”
&nbs
p; Olevena cocked her head to the side as though she was considering the issue. Something about her told me she’d already made up her mind. She looked at me, smile widening, and then shook her head.
“I think I can do better than any offer you can make me, Athazar,” she said. “Stun them.”
Before she’d finished giving the order, Athazar leaped. So fast I couldn’t follow, he blurred towards the gunmen, arm swinging and claws connecting with a guard’s face. Fast as he was, it wasn’t enough.
The guards fired as one, and darkness took me.
10
Athazar
My whole body ached, the light hurt my eyes even through closed lids, but I forced myself to stay still as I woke. My training helped me keep from giving myself away, and I wanted to know what my captors were saying before I let them know I was awake.
Whatever I might say about my former owner, Princess Tlaxanna’s training system had been effective. Brutal, yes, and cruel — but the skills she had drilled into me stuck.
“—don’t see why we’re even discussing this, Lady Olevena,” someone was saying. An angry voice, used to command. The captain of the ship, I guessed. “He murdered my passengers. That’s enough to condemn him to vacuum, and I see no reason to delay.”
“Really? But what of a trial?” Olevena’s cloying voice was like a cloud of too-sweet perfume. “I agree that he’s guilty, of course, but do you want it to be on your record that you spaced a passenger without a trial?”
“Fine, then. A trial. It’ll take all of ten minutes to find him guilty, and then he and the human can go out the airlock together.”
The captain sounded increasingly irritated, and I could empathize. He might be a bastard willing to haul slaves across the galaxy for profit, but in this he was being reasonable. I wondered why Olevena was arguing against him doing the obvious thing.
Careful not to draw attention, I tested my limbs. The stun blast was wearing off, though I still ached all over from it. The good news was that I could move my arms and legs.