by Leslie Chase
The bad news was that my arms were cuffed. That would make escape tricky, but I wouldn’t let it stop me. Not if the alternative was being dumped into space.
And worse, Emma being there alongside me. While I hoped that we’d be together for the rest of our lives, I intended that to be more than a few minutes.
“I have a better notion,” Olevena said as I tried to think of a way out. “One that can profit us all.”
“Go on,” the captain said cautiously. I didn’t think that he trusted her any more than I did.
“The human has value as a slave,” Olevena continued. “And so does this Athazar. Spacing them would be a waste when we could sell them and split the profit. I have the contacts to make a quick, quiet sale to Orbellium Arena on Madris. All you have to do is let me.”
The arena? For me that wasn’t the worst fate I could imagine, but for Emma… She wouldn’t last long there. I almost gave myself away with a sigh of relief when the captain tutted skeptically.
“While getting a reputation for selling my passengers into slavery? No thank you, madam. I would lose far more than I’d make, in the long run.”
“Ordinarily, I’d agree,” Olevena said. “But this is a special case. First, he’s committed a capital crime. No one can deny that he deserves death, so why not be clement and give him a lesser punishment?”
“And second?” the captain asked, doubtfully. I pulled against the cuffs, carefully testing them. No good. Whoever had secured me knew what they were doing.
Not a huge surprise on a slave ship. Disappointing though.
“Second, look at his neck. This is an escaped Imperial slave, captain, you can see where his agonizer has been removed. Returning him to slavery is only justice.”
I opened my eyes and looked up at the pair of them, putting on my best smile. Escaping from these chains wasn’t possible, so I might as well be involved in the discussion of my fate.
“Or you could free us both, and be well rewarded for your troubles,” I suggested, looking at the captain and trying to take his measure.
He was a slight man of a species I didn’t recognize. Scaled skin, sunken eyes, a forest of spines sticking out from the back of his head. He looked old, spindly, and I thought a stiff breeze might knock him over.
But it wouldn’t do to underestimate him. A captain of a ship like this had to be used to dealing with dangerous people. If he wasn’t up to facing them down personally, he must have other ways to keep control.
“You’re awake. Good,” he said. It seemed honest, too, and I could understand that. I wouldn’t want to be stuck in a conversation with Olevena either. “If you have anything to say in your defense, I will listen. But I will not entertain a bribe — my business rests on my reputation. If I let you get away with killing my passengers, no one would be willing to fly with me.”
I couldn’t fault his logic, which was a pity since that was the only good opening I had. Looking around the room, I tried to think.
It wasn’t easy to see another way out. Escape seemed unlikely. I was fastened to a bed by heavy shackles, and in the next bed over, Emma was locked down the same way. She was still unconscious — without training, the stunners would keep her out for a lot longer.
But she was alive, and apparently unharmed beyond the few scratches the verkesh had left on her. That lifted a weight from my shoulders. All I wanted to do was go to her, hold her, protect her.
No chance that my captors would allow that, though. I had to deal with them first.
I turned my head back to the captain and tried a friendly smile. There was no need to antagonize them, that could wait until I had the freedom to fight back.
“I wish I could argue with your position, but I can’t,” I admitted. “The human doesn’t have anything to do with the killings, though. That was all me. Your reputation won’t suffer if you set her free.”
The captain’s head spines bristled, and I wished I knew how to interpret that.
“What are you proposing?” he asked eventually.
“Take her to friends of mine and we’ll pay you well for making the delivery,” I said. “Plus, I won’t resist your justice, for whatever that’s worth.”
Let him sell me into slavery again. I freed myself once, I can do it again. That ignored the fact that it had taken me years to free myself the first time, years of cruelty and suffering. Even then, I hadn’t escaped alone. Still, this time I knew the tricks.
If he decided to space me instead, well, I’d have to figure out that when the time came.
Olevena’s laugh was sweet and entirely fake as she put a hand on the captain’s shoulder. He looked uncomfortable at her touch but didn’t pull away.
“Captain,” she said. “I am sure that you can get a better deal through me. The human’s probably the more valuable of the two, anyway.”
She was wrong, though I couldn’t tell her why. Tlaxanna would doubtless pay well to get me back, but there was no way that I would tell them that — if I never saw the princess again, it would be too soon.
Gritting my teeth, I tried not to glare. Hostility would get me nothing, not while they had no reason to fear me. The captain frowned, undecided, looking from her to me.
“Where would you have me deliver her?” he asked.
Crap. That’s not easy. I hadn’t thought this far ahead, and I didn’t have many contacts of my own. Most of the people I knew weren’t the kind I could trust.
There was only one option, and even as I started to speak, I had a bad feeling about it. “Take her to the Ikarna temple.”
The captain snorted and Olevena’s carefully cultivated laugh rang in the small room. “No deal. I won’t work with those fanatics.”
By fanatics, he meant people who were philosophically opposed to slavery. “I could have suggested the Anti-Slavery Patrol,” I said with a forced smile.
“And I’d have laughed in your face,” the captain said. “No deal.”
Turning to Olevena, he nodded. “Let’s work out the details.”
“Hey, what about my trial?” I asked.
“You confessed, and that’s enough for me.” Without another word, he turned and led Lady Olevena out of the room. I lay back and cursed the ceiling.
I lost track of time waiting for Emma to wake up. Once our captors were out of the room, I tested the bonds more thoroughly. Even my full strength could do nothing against the chains fastening me to the bed.
The metal was stronger than bone: I’d break my arm before I broke the chains.
Usually I carried tools that would help me unlock them, but the crew of the Dreams of Avarice were experienced enough to expect something like that. I’d been stripped completely, left with no tricks up my sleeves.
Slaves didn’t need dignity, after all.
The only good news was that we were likely to live. If it were just me, I’d die before going back into slavery — but with Emma’s fate in my hands, I had to survive at least long enough to see her safe.
She stirred beside me, groaning and wincing as she woke. Tried to bring a hand to her head only to be brought up short by the chain around her wrist.
“Where the hell am I?” she demanded, pulling uselessly against the chains. If I couldn’t get free of them, she had no chance.
“In the slave hold of the Avarice,” I told her. “Be calm. I will get you out of this yet.”
“Fat lot of good you’ve done so far,” she retorted. Then she glanced down at herself, squeaked, and tried unsuccessfully to cover herself up. “Why am I naked?”
I stifled a laugh at that, knowing she wouldn’t appreciate it. “To make sure you don’t have any tricks hidden away to help you escape. It’s not unusual for slaves who’ve already made one attempt to get away.”
She turned her head to look at me and I saw her cheeks heat as she took in the fact that I was as naked as she was. I grinned at the expression on her face. Half curious, half shocked.
After a moment of staring, she managed to look away and turn
her eyes to the ceiling. “So that’s it? We’re both going to be sold into slavery?”
“Looks like it,” I admitted. Maybe the captain would listen to my proposal, but I doubted it. Olevena’s counter-offer would be too tempting, and no one who dealt in slaves would want to go near the Ikarna temple.
That meant being sold to the arena. There were worse fates, but that was pretty bad, especially for Emma. A human wouldn’t fare well there, especially not a human female with no combat training.
“I will get you out of this,” I promised. “Do not worry Emma, you will be fine.”
She managed a half-hearted laugh. “Sure. Great. You’re going to kill whoever buys me next, then? After that, when someone else gets me, you’ll kill them too?”
I growled but I couldn’t argue. So far that was a pretty accurate summary of my rescue attempt. “I’ll think of something. And you have to admit, things are better now than before I burst in.”
“I’m chained to a bed and going to be sold!” Her outburst was filled with helpless anger, a feeling I understood all too well. After a moment she calmed herself, took a deep breath, and spoke again.
“That was unfair, sorry. You’re right, things may not be good now but they’re better than when those… those things were attacking me.”
I could see the trembling rage filling her, and I wished more than anything that I could take her in my arms and comfort her. Protect her. Hold her.
My chains rattled as I pulled on them. They hadn’t gotten any looser though. I would have to comfort her in other ways.
“You must have many questions,” I said. “Better to ask them than to brood on the future.”
Her jaw worked soundlessly and for a moment I thought she would ignore me. Then she sighed and spoke. “How can I understand you, anyway?”
“You’ve had a translator implant fitted,” I explained. “There are too many languages in the galaxy for anyone to learn them all, so we all wear them. It connects to your nervous system and gives you the meaning of any language you see or hear.”
I paused for a moment, wondering whether to continue. But she needed to know the danger she was in. “They put in a slave implant too, attached an agonizer to your nervous system. That isn’t legal, but where we’re going, no one really cares about that.”
She swallowed and looked around at me. There was hope in her eyes. “So, if the implant’s removed, the agonizer won’t work?”
“Yes. But that would require a full medical facility, and time.” I remembered my own relief at having my slave implant removed after my escape. The scar on my neck itched again, and I knew that it had been replaced.
Once again, I was a prisoner of my own nervous system. I swore that whoever held my controls wouldn’t live long — as soon as I found a way to get Emma and myself away safely, they were dead.
“What can we do?” Emma asked, and I focused on her. Better to help my mate than to think about my revenge.
“I will get it out of you,” I promised again. “Until then, remember it’s there. Whoever has the controller can punish you with a touch of a button as long as you’re in range. And if you wander too far, that will trigger it too.”
“How far?” She sounded frightened, and I didn’t blame her, but I couldn’t give her a real answer.
“That’s up to whoever’s setting the controls. But it can’t be very far, not beyond a thousand paces or so. If they want to let you roam further than that, they’ll have to switch off that function.”
Which was how I’d had enough freedom to escape. A slave-soldier needed to be able to maneuver, and Tlaxanna had other inducements to keep us under control when we were away from her watchful eyes. Ones that had proven easier to overcome.
Unfortunately, arena gladiators wouldn’t have to go far from their owners. Escape was looking harder the more I thought about it.
11
Emma
The rest of the trip was an uncomfortable hell. We were only unchained for short periods, long enough to look after our physical needs and no more. And the guards only let one of us up at a time.
There was no way to tell how much time had passed. The lights were always on, there were no clocks, and the meals were always the same gray gruel. I guessed about three days passed before we arrived wherever we were going, though I spent most of that time asleep or trying to sleep. Athazar tried to talk to me a few more times, but there was nothing that I could think of to say. Or perhaps I was too upset to speak.
Despite his reassurances, I couldn’t believe that I had anything left to look forward to. He’d tried to rescue me, and he’d failed. Now we were both in the shit together, and I just wanted to cry myself to sleep.
When something finally changed, I barely noticed at first. The ship shuddered and the lighting changed, brightened. The doors to our shared cell opened, and guards entered.
One of them had a bandaged face, and I realized he had to be the guard Athazar had struck. His angry glare at Athazar confirmed it.
“Get up,” the guard snapped at us. The cuffs opened automatically and fell from our wrists. The small amount of time I’d been allowed to stand over the last few days hadn’t given me enough exercise and every muscle ached as I pulled myself to my feet.
Athazar, on the other hand, bounced up as though he was ready to do battle. Maybe he was, but the guards were wary. If he started something, the most he’d do was kill some of the guards before the rest took him down.
To my relief, he didn’t try. He was the only person so far who’d even tried to help me escape, and I didn’t want to lose him now.
“Get dressed,” the injured guard said, throwing each of us our clothes and a pair of cuffs. At least my clothes had been washed. “And please try something stupid. This time I won’t go easy on you.”
Athazar’s grin was almost hungry, and I could see that he wanted to show the guard what he could do. But he restrained himself, getting dressed quickly. I did too, reluctantly closing the cuffs around my wrists with a click.
“Where are you taking us?” I asked, and the guard grinned back at me.
It wasn’t a friendly smile at all.
“You’ll see soon enough, human. Let’s get going.”
With a jerk of his head he indicated the door, then stepped aside to let us past. Athazar led the way, stalking down the corridors of the Dreams of Avarice to the exit.
Golden sunlight streamed in. At least we weren’t on some frozen iceball like last time. Despite everything I’d been through, I was excited to actually see an alien planet.
Assuming I saw more than a slave market, of course. That wasn’t a given.
Olevena was waiting at the ramp, another couple of guards by her side and a bright smile on her golden face. Beside her stood a tall alien in a robe, fat and heavyset, a dubious look on his face as he looked down at the two of us.
His robe was fancy, even I could see that. White fur at the collar, gold trim, a fancy pattern: it looked ostentatious, the kind of thing someone wore to show off his wealth. And the look in his eyes as he examined us — like we were investments he was considering, and not people. It made me shiver.
I didn’t like this man, I realized as soon as I looked at him.
“Here come the champions to be,” Olevena said, clapping her hands and smiling. “An excellent investment for your arena.”
The fat alien grunted and shook his head reluctantly. “I’m not convinced, but you offer a good price. He, at least, looks like a killer.”
For a moment I worried that he would only buy Athazar, leaving me in the hands of Olevena. Whatever fate waited for us here I doubted it would be pleasant, but being separated from the only person who’d made any effort to help me was worse.
“The sale is for a set,” Olevena said, and I relaxed marginally. The fat man shook his head once more, then gestured to the heavens.
“Fine. I’ll take them. Remember this generosity the next time you have warriors to sell, my friend,” he said. Olevena
laughed and passed him a pair of controllers. A shiver of fear ran through me at the sight of them and I remembered the pain they could cause.
But he didn’t feel the need to test them, thank god. Or the need to say anything at all to us. The guards pushed us forward, past the two slavers and down the ramp. Despite everything, I felt excitement welling up inside me, my pulse speeding up as I took my first step onto a real alien planet.
A warm sea breeze washed over me as I looked around. Above me the sky was a strange purple color, and the sun shone the wrong shade. The Avarice was parked beside several other ships on a small island surrounded by a glittering blue sea. On my right, it extended off to the horizon, and on my left, I could see a city on the far side of a bay.
There was no way I could mistake it for an Earth city. For a start, the buildings were too strange. Weird, twisted spires of black stone linked with bridges and topped with crackling balls of energy. As I watched, sparks flashed from one building to another, a beautiful but terrifying display.
I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to live there, lightning constantly flashing overhead. From a distance, though, it was impressive to watch.
“Move, slave,” one of the guards said, shoving me hard. I nearly fell on the gravel, catching myself at the last moment and walking in the direction he indicated.
Ahead of us was a bridge of the same black stone, leading to another island. One that was entirely covered with one huge building, a gigantic low cylinder. It reminded me of a sports stadium more than anything else, and the outside was surrounded with statues.
Men and women, all fit and athletic, all holding weapons. I swallowed, wondering how long I’d last in an arena. Not long.
The roar of a crowd inside the stadium was loud, almost a physical thing. They were chanting something. A name, perhaps? It was hard to tell, but whatever it was certainly had them excited.
I looked aside at Athazar. He was gazing up at the statues with a grim expression on his scarred face as the chanting washed over us.