Even after hearing all the negative comments from friends about the passenger lines serving Borac’s jump station, Susa had still conducted her own research and discovered the passenger ship carriers servicing the galactic rim had indeed received negative reviews—unless one was looking for a certain kind of adult adventure. When she’d asked the Caradoc males for particulars on what kinds of adult adventure the reviews addressed, Iolyn had used some of the foulest Prime she’d ever heard him use, and Huw told her he’d personally drag her off such a ship. Wulf had merely given her a don’t-even-think-of-booking-on-a-passenger-line look.
“Susa,” Joen said in a low voice, “take this.” He slipped her a laser weapon crafted for a smaller hand. “Don’t let anyone know you have it. Carry it at all times when you leave your cabin and especially when you’re forced to disembark for any reason.”
She took the weapon and placed it in the waist pouch she wore. It fit nicely alongside the knife Lia had given her and the caustic spray Royce had handed her on the shuttle up from the planet’s surface.
Susa smiled at her three friends. “Thanks, Royce. I might be the best-weaponed female passenger this freighter has ever carried.”
Lia laughed and hugged her. “Better safe than sorry, my grandmother always said. Just keep your eyes and those nifty Prime empathic senses open. If a situation or person seems off, make sure you let Captain Vanni know. He’s responsible for you until Damon Martin hooks up with the freighter at its first stop in the P85 system.”
Susa wasn’t sure how she felt about Borac sending his partner to guard her. From what Susa had learned by listening to Mel and Nadia talk about Bria’s adoptive brother, Damon had wanted Bria for his wife and had been very disappointed when she discovered she was the gemate of Iolyn Caradoc. Since Bria and Iolyn were her friends, Susa planned on avoiding that sensitive topic. No use getting off on the wrong foot with Borac’s business partner.
On the brighter side, having Damon along for most of the trip would give her time to quiz him on how he’d met Borac and how the two of them had acquired the jump station, about Cissy and the children, and about life on a jump station.
“The Caradoc family and your cousin have made sure Vanni knows his obligations until Damon takes over protection duty. I’m sure the captain likes his balls attached,” Lia concluded with a smirk.
Royce snorted.
Joen muttered, “Lia, lubha, really?”
Lia eyed her gemat. “Yeah, really. Bria told me Iolyn, Wulf, and Huw all contacted the good captain and made the threat in words that, from what I understood, were even more explicitly descriptive.”
“Oh, wonderful,” Susa murmured. “Captain Vanni will hate me from day one of the trip.”
“No,” Royce said, “he’ll respect you … or else. Vanni understands you’re special, not only to the Caradocs, but also to Gold Squadron. Anyone who messes with you, messes with us all.”
Easily reading Royce’s sincerity, tears formed in Susa’s eyes. “Thanks. But I’m sure all will go well.”
“Ready to go, missy Susa?” Vanni, a native of the Obam solar system, had arrived to escort Susa on board. The tall, thin, orange-skinned male had a smile on his lips, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He must’ve overheard the last part of their conversation.
Vanni confirmed her guess when he turned to Royce and said in decent Galactic Standard, “Captain Nowicki, sir. I will take very much good care of missy Susa until we meet up with the honorable Damon at our first stop. Do not worry. Please tell Caradoc family so, yes?”
Royce clapped a hand on Vanni’s bony shoulder. “I’ll let them know. If you encounter any trouble along the way, contact the Alliance first, then any local authorities.”
“Yes, yes. This I understand from the good Captain Melina and her honorable gemat Captain Wulf.” Vanni’s head bobbed several times before turning away from Royce to Susa. “We go now, yes? Your luggage is in my cabin which is now yours. As Captain Wulf requested, you will be kept separate from the few passengers joining us this trip. We will review the rules for your safety over a meal once we leave Mu Arae space, yes?”
“That sounds perfect.” Susa gave the man a wide smile, and he beamed back at her. She sensed Vanni was a happy person. She prayed her presence on his ship wouldn’t upset his sunny outlook.
Turning, she hugged Royce, Joen, and Lia in turn. “I’ll miss you all. You made my first stay away from Cejuru Prime a wonderful experience. We’ll have to get together again once I return from my visit.”
“Yes, we will.” Lia held on for a bit longer. “You have all our com-codes. If you need anything or have a question, contact one of us.”
“Thank you. I will. And I plan to update you throughout my journey. Unless Captain Vanni puts me to work,” she grinned, “I’ll have a lot of time on my hands.”
“I’m sure Captain Vanni will want you to stay out of his crew’s way,” Royce said.
“Yes, yes.” Vanni’s head bobbed even harder. “Missy, please to stay out of the crew’s way. Men good crew but not always good men, understand?” His head stilled, and he looked her in the eye, his demeanor probably as sober as he ever got. “Rules in place for your protection. Will go over later, yes?”
Susa returned the captain’s earnest look. “Yes. I will abide by your rules and come to you if I have any problems at all. I don’t want to be any trouble.”
“Good, missy, that is good.” Vanni patted her arm. “Come. We go now.”
Susa matched the captain’s stride up the boarding ramp. At the top, she turned to get one last look at her friends. Royce glowered with his arms crossed on his chest. Joen frowned. Lia seemed solemn until she noticed Susa looking, then she put a smile on her face and waved.
She waved back and wondered why this trip suddenly felt like a mistake. She shook off her misgivings and listened as Vanni described the ship and what areas were off-limits to her.
One standard week later, Mason Freighter, Solar System P85 space dock
Abiding by the captain’s rules had kept Susa a prisoner in one small section of the huge freighter—the officers’ cabin-and-dining-area corridor, one level below the command deck.
Susa looked in the small mirror in the private bathroom attached to the captain’s cabin—or as she’d come to think of it, her cell—and frowned at the paleness of her skin and the dark shadows under her eyes. She hadn’t been sleeping well. While she had very little direct contact with the crew, the ship’s atmosphere was ripe with testosterone, curiosity, and lust.
Vanni’s crew and the few male passengers were aware of her presence. The captain had stressed the only thing keeping her safe was her isolation in the officers’ corridor and his personal threat of death if anyone other than approved personnel approached her.
The other reason for her lack of sleep was the physical environment itself. The recycled air smelled musty and dank, and she had a hard time taking full breaths as if the air was too thin.
It was a blessing she wasn’t claustrophobic, because the officers’ section on this deck—consisting of her quarters, the captain’s borrowed quarters adjacent to hers, several other officers’ cabins, the dining area, and the captain’s office—was smaller than her bedroom and great room, combined, in her house.
Susa shuddered as the gray walls seemed to close in on her.
Damon Martin’s arrival to share the cramped quarters would be both good and bad. Good, because she’d feel safer with someone who was one hundred percent on her side and answerable to her cousin. Bad, because he’d be sharing the captain’s cabin with her.
While Mason freighters could accommodate a few passengers, the quarters normally assigned to passengers were full up this trip as Vanni had explained in an apologetic tone. Damon had to share with Susa. He could sleep with the crew, but that would defeat his purpose of being there to protect her.
Susa would soon have to deal with the cohabiting issue. The freighter had reached its first stop—the P85 orbiting space dock w
here Damon would join the ship.
After a standard week of space travel that had felt more like a year, she’d finally be free of the four dingy walls of her cabin, even if only for a short while. She doubted the air on the space dock would be any fresher, but at least she could revel in more space and maybe a brisk walk while the freighter was decontaminated. Vanni had received permission to allow her and her guard back on board while the cargoes were loaded and unloaded.
There was no way Susa would get to venture beyond the dock. This particular stop was, according to Vanni, “…in no man’s land … the space dock no place for a female … missy stay with guard at all times.” She was tired of being restricted because of her sex. What good was it to finally be free to explore the galaxy outside of the Cejuru system and still be confined?
A knock on the cabin door startled her from her thoughts. Before answering, she checked that her knife and laser weapon were secured in the secret pockets she’d crafted under her tunic top. The caustic spray, cleverly disguised as a small perfume spray, was in the pouch around her waist. She’d promised her friends she’d carry the weapons everywhere, and she had. She’d also told no one she possessed them, not even Vanni.
Opening the door, she found Baxer, the lanky crew member who served as a steward for the officers’ quarters. His pale face wore his usual cheery smile; his multi-colored braids were askew, as always. What wasn’t usual was that he was armed with a laser pistol on his belt and a knife strapped to an outer thigh.
“Hello, Baxer. Are you my escort outside the ship?” She gave him a bright smile.
“Yes, miss.” Although Baxer seemed to be a mix of hominid species, including possibly some Terran, his unaccented Galactic Standard was flawless, telling her he’d been educated in an Alliance-member solar system. “I have orders to stay with you on the docks until decontamination is completed, then to escort you immediately back inside.”
Susa winced. The decontamination process only took about a half-standard-hour. Maybe if Damon arrived during the loading and unloading process, he’d take her for a longer walk.
“Thank you, Baxer. I’ll try to enjoy what little time we have off the ship. I’m looking forward to stretching my legs.”
“We can take a short walk, but stay close, miss. Freighter docks are unsafe.” He left “for women” unsaid. He gave her a smile, but this one was dimmer than the ones he normally gave her.
Susa expanded her empathic sense to read his emotions and found worry—or was it fear? It was hard to tell with Baxer. From the day she’d met the young steward, Susa’d had a difficult time reading him accurately. At times, his emotions disappeared, buried behind an impenetrable block, and, at other times, like today, they were readable, but mixed. She chalked up her inability to read him definitively to his multi-species make up.
Baxer led the way through the ship, out the main hatch through the short decontamination tunnel, and then down the ramp to the freight dock. The dock area was small compared to the Cejuru Prime and Tooh 2 orbiting docks, maybe ten mooring stations total. But it was busy and loud and … filthy. The walls and flooring were painted various shades of gray, splattered with orange-black rust in some areas and covered in dark greenish-black sludge-like grime in others. The crews of all species and races in their various jumpsuits and the cargo they loaded and unloaded provided the only brightness.
Large fans spaced along the dock created air currents filled with dust, detritus, and the metallic odor of the artificial environment.
Susa sneezed, and her eyes watered. So much for a breath of fresher air.
A cacophony of masculine shouts and curses in too many languages to count and the whines and beeps of robotic carts and auto-loaders assaulted her ears. Her head pounded with the thrum of the hectic rhythms of the dock. She’d be sure to ask for ear protectors at the next stop.
A disturbance at the far end of the dock created a stir among the workers. The noise level dropped precipitously until only the hum of the environmental systems, the dying whines of loading equipment, and the occasional cough or gasp from some of the dock workers and crew members could be heard.
Baxer grabbed her arm, halting her forward movement for a split-second.
“What’s wrong? Do we need to re-board?” she asked in a low, non-carrying tone.
Even as she spoke, a frisson of awareness shot through her, causing her flesh to crawl. Something bad was coming. The fear emanating from the men on the dock had her seeking a place to run, to hide.
“Silence,” Baxer gritted out as he now dragged her toward—not away—from whatever had scared the hardened men on the dock.
“Baxer …what…” Susa dug in her heels, but the man jerked her forward. She looked up and inhaled sharply as she spotted the men who walked toward them; they were loaded down with weapons. She was shocked to recognize them—they were the Dornians who’d stalked her on Tooh 2.
Frantically, she looked around for Vanni in the hope he’d returned from the dock office. “Baxer, we need to go the other way … get help.”
“Silence.” Still gripping her arm, his fingers digging cruelly into her skin, Baxer pointed his laser pistol at her. “Do not try to run. Do not call out—though none of these cowards would lift a finger to help you. The Dornians have been paid well to transport us to your new home and will kill anyone trying to stop them.”
“Baxer!” Susa pulled, but couldn’t dislodge him.
The skinny steward was far stronger than he looked.
None of her few self-defense skills would work in this situation. His laser pistol was active and pointed at her head. Her hindbrain screamed run, but she couldn’t flee or fight.
Icy chills rippled down her spine as dread overtook her. “Why are you doing this?”
“For family acceptance.” Baxer nodded, his braids flying wildly about his head. “But mostly for money. Much, much money.” He smirked. “Do not worry. You will live in luxury and only have to service one man sexually instead of whoring for many on Cejuru Prime.”
Letting out an angry breath, she gritted out, “I was not a whore.”
How many more times would she have to defend her reputation? Would she survive to discover the answer to the question? Anger mixed with frustration and pure panic.
Baxer huffed dismissively. “So you say.” His fingers bit even harder into her upper arm. “For now, you must do what I and these men say. If you obey us, you will be treated well during the journey.”
Susa looked at Baxer in derision and disbelief. “Treated well … by them? Are you insane? Their kind has been my people’s enemy for millennia.”
She struggled to maintain her sanity as the nightmare of the day she’d left Cejuru Prime during an Antarean attack took over her mind—She’d been running alongside her mother. She was scared. Her legs were so tired; her mother picked her up and continued running. They’d left everything behind, including her father. Explosions, fire, and chaos all around them. The rumor spread there’d only be one more ship taking off with evacuees. If they didn’t make that ship, they’d have to head for the caves in the coastal mountains. Suddenly, her mother stopped. Several large Antareans blocked them from the evacuation transport but hadn’t spotted them yet.
Susa’s mother shoved her under a pile of building debris. Her mother’s hands trembled as she’d piled loose rubble over Susa. “Stay here.” Her mother’s voice wobbled. “When you see me lead them away, run to the ship. Get on board. I will come when I can.”
Susa heard the lie. “No, Mama. Please. Don’t leave me.”
“Be brave.” Her mother kissed her cheek. “I love you.”
Susa waited for what seemed like forever and then followed her mother. She found one Antarean violating her mother even as the other Antarean hacked her to death.
Screaming, she charged the men. Just as she did, two Prime warriors came upon the scene, killed the Antareans, and carried her to the evacuation ship.
Pulling herself out of the past, Susa hissed a
s Death stalked closer. “Listen. To. Me.” Her tone and words, urgent. “They’re sex traffickers and killers. They will use and then sell me. Kill you.”
“Not these men.” Baxer angled his head at the trio who strode toward them. The dock workers fearfully parted for the menacing men. “They’re mercenaries. They don’t get paid unless they deliver you in the condition they found you.”
“How in the bak do you know that?” she asked. “Did you hire them?”
“No, my uncle did. He made it clear they’d suffer long and hard if you were damaged—after which, he’d kill them.” Baxer grinned.
Pseudo-reptilians as a species were hard to kill—if they were even caught in the first place. The nomadic Dornians, according to Lia, traveled in loyal family units. After pulling off a job, they routinely disappeared into the protective shelter of an armada of family ships.
Baxer might think his uncle was all powerful and had put the fear of the One in the three males approaching them, but Susa trusted Lia’s take on this species. She’d bet the Dornians had already figured out all the angles and would choose the ones benefitting them and their family group.
“Your uncle?” Susa’s brow wrinkled. “Who is he? How does he know me?”
“He saw you at the resort on Tooh 2. You refused his invitation. He was forced to leave the resort by the men who guarded you.”
“Your uncle is the ruler of the Umbraxi solar system?” Susa asked.
“Yes, His Supreme Majesty is my maternal uncle,” Baxer replied, pride mingled with reverence in his tone. “My uncle hired these three to discover your travel plans and to bring you to his palace on Umbraxi Auric. He sent me to gain a position on your transport, to protect you until we made this stop and met up with the mercenaries.”
Bak. She was disgusted, sick with disbelief. That one rejection had brought her to this point. Baxer’s uncle had definitely proven to be a very determined apayebo—and they tended to be the most dangerous kind.
But the Dornians were even more dangerous and a more pressing problem. She shuddered.
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