by Stacy Jones
Laughing in delight, she shot past Rellik and was the first to arrive back at the crash sight.
She’d already landed, disembarked, and found a door to the spaceship by the time the rest of her men arrived.
Tirox, Kix, and Rellik all gave her matching glowers of censure but, surprisingly, Thrasin sent her a small, admiring smile. She returned it… before she realized she’d made a stupid mistake. Her smile faded as her eyes flicked to the spot next to the ship they’d emerged from, then back to her dragon.
Sonofabitch.
She’d been so focused on having enough room to transport the survivors back when she should’ve realized that, if they were all at the crash site, Thrasin would be the only one capable of getting Skaa and the others out. She was either going to have to ask him to transform or send someone back.
He made the decision for her.
Closing his eyes, he began the change.
It was over faster that time and, to her immense relief, didn’t seem anywhere near as painful. In less than five minutes, a massive, iridescent, purplish-black scaled dragon was standing where Thrasin had been just moments ago.
He gave a hard shake then opened his eyes to stare down at her. If she wasn’t mistaken, he looked rather pleased with himself.
As he passed her, headed for the gap they’d used earlier, he gave her a gentle bump with his snout and blew out a warm breath that sent her hair flying, surprising a gasp out of her.
A deep, amused rumble vibrated his chest when she grumbled and reached up to claw the tangled locks off her face. Craning her head around, she eyed him curiously as he disappeared into the gap.
Something had changed in him in the short time since she’d found him in that cave to now. He was still quiet and carried himself like someone was going to attack him at any given moment, but he’d lost a lot of the feral edginess from before.
She had an idea of who might’ve prompted that change.
Glancing at Kix, she caught his eye and sent him a wave of gratitude and pride. He returned it with a warm smile and a wink.
Focusing back on the spaceship, she put her hands on her hips. “Alright, who knows how to open this thing?”
Kix, unsurprisingly, was the one to figure it out, earning himself a kiss and a gentle smack on his spray-paint covered ass.
Motioning everyone to the side when the huge, cargo doors began sliding open, she drew her gun and waited.
Like someone had suddenly turned on the sound the moment the doors parted, inarticulate screams, animal roars, wails, and shouting in too many languages to count flooded outward.
Rellik started to run inside, but she stopped him, shaking her head and pushing him back behind her.
She understood the knee-jerk reaction to rush forward, wanting to help whomever was making those horrible, gut-wrenching screams, but that was a good way to get yourself killed, if someone was waiting in there, ready to kill them the moment they showed themselves.
There was only one reason she could think of that that many people would be yelling for help and, yet, not a single one had come out stumbling through the doors: they were locked up.
It’s either a slave ship or some kind of prisoner transport. Should’ve expected that. Why the fuck else would it be on this godforsaken planet?
Sliding her back along the exterior until she was next to the opening, she crouched down then quickly peeked inside, scanning what she could see of the space in the span of a heartbeat.
She didn’t see anyone lying in wait, but what she did see had her gritting her teeth and swallowing hard.
Even having an idea of what she would find inside didn’t prepare her. There were so many…
Assess, accept, act. Make sure there are no threats, then worry about the hundreds of people locked in cages.
Glancing at her men, she motioned for Tirox to go left, Kix and Rellik to go right, and signaled that she would take the center.
Before they could argue, she stood and rounded the corner, gun up and ready to fire, knowing they’d follow.
Aria blocked out the people screaming at her, pounding on the glass walls of their cages, and the myriad of alien animals roaring and howling.
She moved methodically, creeping through the seemingly endless rows of enclosures, completely focused on ensuring there were no bad guys hiding in there.
When she reached the back wall of the hold, she paused next to a door and yelled out, “Clear!”
Waiting, she listened for her men to call back, unsure if they’d heard her over the cacophony.
Her shoulders tightened with worry when they didn’t respond immediately, but then she heard Tirox’s voice bellowing, “Clear!”
Kix was next, followed by Rellik.
One by one, they joined her by the door.
“We have to—” Rellik started, staring at the masses of imprisoned beings she hadn’t let herself look at, but she cut him off.
“We have to clear the ship.”
He jerked his head around, the look on his handsome face somewhere between outraged and appalled.
She gave him calm eyes in return, but quickly explained. “There could be enemies in there waiting to ambush us or set the ship to self-destruct. It does no good to free those people if they die in a fiery explosion right afterward. Besides, we don’t know if they’re victims. They could be violent criminals.”
Understanding dawned and he grimaced. “My apologies, sarasha. I… I just,”
“I know.” Reaching out, she set a hand on his arm for just a moment before turning back to the door. “Kix?”
The door opened to an elevator, recognizable even though it was oblong-shaped instead of a box. Unlike the arena, there was a single button on the inner wall instead of a control pad, telling her there was likely only one other level. Or maybe you pressed it multiple times to go to different levels.
Only one way to find out.
Once everyone was inside, she pressed the button once, then motioned for them to crouch down. There was no space on either side of the door for them to conceal themselves from anyone who might be waiting when they arrived, so the next best thing was to duck down. People automatically aimed at chest height. Staying low meant they’d have to readjust their aim which gave Aria the split second she’d need to shoot them first.
No more than a handful of seconds passed before the door opened to show what was obviously a flight deck. After a quick scan, she got to her feet and inched out, checking both sides before aiming back at the bodies littering the floor.
She counted seven fish-looking beings dressed in shiny, silver bodysuits that covered everything from their flipper-like feet to their weirdly long necks. They appeared dead, their bodies twisted into unnatural poses and covered in what she assumed was blood, but she signalled her men to check while she kept her gun up just in case.
“Lifeless,” Tirox announced after he’d checked the last.
Blowing out a breath, she relaxed. “It looks like they all died on impact. Kix, make sure this thing isn’t going to explode on us, please. And see if you can figure out if it’s still operable. And how to fly it, if it is.”
He gave her a wry look. “Should I also discover if it can solve the Ghulliar Theorem?”
Smirking, she shrugged. “If you’d like.”
He huffed and grumbled under his breath.
Serious again, she said, “I’d like to take it back to the arena, if possible. You never know when you might find yourself in need of a spaceship. This may end up saving our asses if we find this planet inhospitable after we liberate all the slaves.”
“I will do as you ask, my treasure. Yet, I cannot offer guarantees.”
“Just do what you can, babe. That’s all I ask. Tirox, Rellik, let’s return to the hold and—”
“I might need Rellik, aessa. He has proved to be quite knowledgeable about the technology here. His help might speed the process of discovery,” Kix interrupted.
Glancing at him, she saw something in hi
s expression that told her he wanted Rellik to stay for more than just helping him figure out the ship. Trusting his judgement, even if she didn’t understand it, she nodded. She and Tirox could handle questioning the people in the hold.
“Be careful,” she ordered, going up on tiptoe to kiss him.
“Always, aessa. You, as well.” He slid his fingers over the bridge of her nose before raising his gaze to look at Tirox behind her. “Try to ensure she does not besot another, hmm?”
“I have been trying!” Tirox grumbled while Aria sputtered.
“I haven’t besot anyone!”
All three men turned to give her incredulous looks.
Rolling her eyes, she left, pulling a chuckling Tirox along with her.
Chapter 45
Back in the cargo bay, Aria scanned the hold while quietly directing Tirox, “We need to do another walk through. Those with injuries take precedence. I don’t know if they have translators, but try to reassure them as you go. Tell them we’re not slavers and they’re safe, but question them, if possible. We need to figure out if they’re dangerous.”
He nodded and started to leave just as she peered up and spotted a small, square hole in the top of the closest cage. A quick glance told her they all had them.
“Red, wait.”
Turning to him, she walked around and dug in the duffel bag strapped to his back. She pulled out two fistfuls of rings, handing one to him and keeping the other for herself.
“We can toss these in through those holes up there.”
“Wise and beautiful,” he purred, bending to give her hair a quick nuzzle before heading down the row next to hers. Just before he disappeared, he called back, “No teeth flashing!”
Aria snorted and headed toward the nearest enclosure. Inside were two quadruped… things. They were definitely alien and animals, if she wasn’t mistaken. They were fluffy as hell and colored a beautiful teal, with big, black eyes that watched her warily. She couldn’t tell if they were injured under all that fluff, but they didn’t appear too distressed, so she left them and crossed the isle to the next box.
A couple rows and at least fifty cages later, she hadn’t found a single being who understood her, and half the inhabitants were definitely animals. For those with visible wounds, she’d done what she could to calm them down, speaking in a soft voice, then demonstrating how to use the healing ring before throwing it in.
It was when she started down her third row that something made her heart skip a beat.
“Help! Please help us!”
Oh, no. That’s a human.
Aria sprinted for the voice then skidded to a stop about halfway down the aisle and turned in a slow circle, lips parted in horror.
Humans—human women, to be more precise—filled the cages around her. Some were confined three or four to a cell, some were locked in with aliens. All were freaking out.
Raising her hands, she yelled out, “Everybody, calm down!”
“Get us out of here!” a brunette woman in a sparkly, black dress screamed, pounding her fists on the walls of her cell.
“I’m working on that. But, right now, I need to know who’s injured.”
A dozen yells of me, him, and her immediately rang out.
“Alright, pay attention!” She set her remaining handful of rings on the floor, keeping one with which to demonstrate. “Expand it like this, set it on the ground, then step inside. It’s safe and will heal you. If you’re severely injured, let it do a couple passes before handing it off to the next person. If you’re with someone who’s injured and cannot heal themselves, pass it over their bodies as best as you can. Everyone understand?”
Calmer murmurers answered her, and she nodded. People had a hard time freaking out if they were forced to stop and pay attention.
After throwing them in, she made sure they were using them properly, then braced herself for the screams to come.
“I need to check on the other people down here.” She raised a hand to the outraged expressions more than a few women gave her and made eye contact with the three who were enclosed with alien men. “Does everyone feel safe with their cellmates? I can climb up there and stun them, if needed.”
A woman who didn’t look to be more than twenty-five, and was even smaller than Aria, flicked a guarded look at the women around her but smiled shakily. “They’re nice. They wouldn’t hurt me.”
A snort from a neighboring cell preceded a mutter, “No, but they might hump you.”
A bright blush colored the young woman’s face and her gaze fell to the ground. Seeing her distress, the massive males in her cell growled threateningly.
Cutting her eyes to the smartass, Aria clipped, “Hey! I get that you’re scared, but that doesn’t mean you get to be an asshole, got it?”
“Who died and made you Queen Bee?”
Smiling coldly, she said, “The Overlord who more than likely purchased you to be his new slaves when I shot him in the head a few hours ago. So unless you want to take your chances on this planet and hope some other Overlord or pleasure lounge master doesn’t find you, be fucking nice.”
Smartass gaped at her like she thought Aria was kidding then swallowed visibly and recoiled when she realized she most definitely was not. “Jesus, fine! I was only teasing anyway.”
“Mmhm. How about the rest of you with cellmates? Everyone good?”
“Mines a little… growly, but he’s been nice enough, I guess,” muttered the woman locked in with a guy that looked to be the same species as the winged guy in the dungeon, the one Rellik called A’nu.
“These two are fine. They know I’ll punch them in the throat if they get handsy,” said a pale blonde woman in the next cell, gesturing behind her to the males standing stiffly at her back.
“Good. If anything changes, whistle. Screams just get lost in the noise.”
With that, she turned and finished checking the remaining occupants of the cells.
When they’d finished their rounds, Aria and Tirox rode the elevator back up to the flight deck to check in on Kix and Rellik’s progress.
“You found your people,” Tirox remarked suddenly.
“I did, unfortunately.” Sighing, she rubbed her forehead. “I’d really hoped Braxton and I were the only humans here. Finding those women in the hold means the fish people upstairs thought they’d be able to sell them, which means they’re in demand. That’s a problem.” When he didn’t respond, she looked up at him. Something about his expression had her stomach clenching. “Tell me you didn’t find your people here, too.”
He gazed back down at her, the corners of his lips turned down and his golden eyes swirling rapidly. “I did.”
“Oh, hell. Are they okay?”
“Two live. The last… his wounds were too severe. The magic could not save him.”
“Oh god, baby, I’m so sorry,” she breathed.
Turning, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug, lying her head against his upper stomach. He returned her embrace before lifting her off her feet and clutching her to his chest.
He set her back down when the door slid open, but took the hand she offered, holding it tightly.
“Any progress? And have you figured out how to open the cells down there? There weren’t any latches, and I didn’t find a console anyw—”
“Aria. We know what caused the crash,” Kix interrupted.
“Okay. What was it?” she asked warily.
He and Rellik exchanged a glance before looking back at her. “They were attacked by pirates en route.”
“Wait. Space pirates?” That such a thing existed didn’t really surprise her. It was just saying it aloud that had her fighting off a chuckle.
“Ah, yes. That is not the point of interest, my treasure.”
“Sorry. Continue.”
“It is what they were doing while they were attacked that you will want to know.”
“Babe, just lay it out, will you?”
“We were able to find the encrypted voyage logs t
hey kept hidden in case they were stopped for an inspection scan. Just prior to the attack, they were… discarding beings on an undeveloped world, something they had done many times before. The logs also contain the beings’ files. Aessa, two were females of your people. The other two were males of a species I do not recognize.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? Why the hell would they discard people after going through the effort of abducting them to begin with?”
“They were considered defective. They had genetic conditions that might pass to offspring should they have been purchased by someone with intentions to breed. They attempted to… fix both without success.”
“Why couldn’t they have planned to sell them to arenas as gladiators?”
“One was considered entirely unfit. The other showed considerable aggression yet did not show any aptitude for combat.”
“What the fuck were they doing? Just abducting as many people as possible and sorting through them later?”
“I believe that is exactly so.”
Glaring at the bodies they’d piled up in the corner, Aria sneered, “I hope you died in pain, you bastards.”
Forcing herself to draw in a deep breath and calm down, she asked, “What about the ship itself?”
Rellik answered, “They were able to patch the hull breach, but it tore loose for some reason upon entry into the planet’s atmosphere. Inferior technology, perhaps. Most of their tech appears to have been cobbled together from many different sources. I am not surprised to find such badly integrated mods failed them.”
He cast an unimpressed look back at the console and flicked a loose wire with his finger, shaking his head as though personally offended by the state of it.
“Can it be repaired?”
Looking back at her, Rellik bobbled his head side to side dubiously. “Perhaps, with time, if Zhrovni has repair modules But, the repairs will have to happen here. It has enough power for me to dislodge it from the ground, but not enough to fly.”