by Dixon, Ruby
"What?" This time, Straik speaks up. "We're not taking four human slaves back on my ship. Slavery is utterly repugnant and I won't have it."
"Uh, you have a ship full of clones already, buddy," Kaspar points out.
I lean over. "He freed them."
Kaspar frowns. "Oh."
Straik gets out from behind his desk and begins pacing. "This looks bad enough as it is. I can't show up on Homeworld with a long-missing ship piloted by human slaves. It will be a blemish my family name will never recover from."
And that means he'll never get into their good graces ever again.
Oh boy. I am about to make his day so much worse. I lean forward, rubbing my hands together. "Is now a good time to tell you guys what the cargo is?"
"It's silks, right?" Straik leans forward on his desk, his hands splayed atop it. There's a desperate look on his face. "Tell me that it's silks."
"Wrong," I tell him gleefully. "It's more keffing humans. A shit ton more. A hundred and thirty-two more."
Straik's bellow of anger echoes down the halls.
19
JADE
I wake up in a strange, soft bed, with a hangover and no idea how I got here. Oh fuck. This is karma, coming back to kick my ass.
Alarmed, I sit bolt upright, my eyes wide as I look around. The large room is totally unfamiliar to me. I'm in space, clearly, but I don't know this ship. I don't know why I'm in a double bed in a very messy room, or why the sheets smell like a masculine sort of soap. I sniff the blankets, curious. What's the last thing I remember? I try to recall. My mouth tastes like something sweet. I squint at the bright lights around me, pushing my hair back out of my face. All around me on the floor and the bed are wrappers to protein bars, the kind we have in our ship.
For a dreadful moment, I worry someone's eaten all of our supplies and we'll starve to death on the edge of space.
But then I remember…the man. The one with the allergic reaction and bright blue skin and the silly, roguish smile. Adiron. I sigh, because something tells me this is his place. I swing my legs over the side of the bed—
—and immediately tumble to the floor, woozy with a hangover. My stomach churns and I lie still for a long moment amidst the wrappers and dirty clothes, waiting for my queasiness to pass. He got me drunk, I realize. Just sat there and smiled and gave me some sort of juice cocktail that knocked me on my ass. With a groan, I vaguely remember other things, too. Like trying to unbutton his shirt, and trying to lick his neck, and grabbing his dick.
Not a good look, Jade, I tell myself. Not a good look at all.
Slowly, I ease back off the floor and rub my eyes. There's a familiar-looking indention in the wall, and I move to it and slap at buttons on the wall panel until it activates. A door folds back, revealing a small lavatory with a shower, a bath tub, sink and toilet. The sink is cluttered with various things—does this man not know how to put ANYTHING back in its place?—but the tub and shower are clean, at least. I eye them wistfully. We've been very conscious of our water supply back on the Star and we've been sparing with bathing as a result. I'm tempted to get in and use up all his water, but with my luck, he'd show up while I'm buck-ass naked and offer to scrub me down.
So, yeah, no.
I rinse my mouth out with a few handfuls of water from the sink and splash my face. At least I'm still dressed. That's a plus. I eye my slave girl outfit and it looks as intact as ever. I touch the crotch of my panties and it's dry, so thank god for that. I knot the oversized borrowed shirt—his shirt, which I'm still wearing—at my waist and then return to the main quarters.
No sooner do I sit down on the bed than my captor, Adiron, saunters in. He grins at me, looking thoroughly pleased. "Jade. You're awake."
"You're no longer swollen," I return as a greeting. I should scream at him, demand to know where the others are, but he's in a good mood and I need to play into that.
"Yeah, Kaspar said my ugliness was making him lose his appetite, so I got a few histamine shots from med-bay. I'm back to being only somewhat dashingly handsome." He mock-rubs his jaw, preening. "Do you like?"
"Am I going to get thrown into the brig if I say no?"
He shoots a finger-gun at me. "I'll change your mind. Give me time." Whistling, he kicks aside a pile of laundry on the floor and heads toward the bathroom I just came out of. The door tries to automatically shut behind him, but a discarded tunic gets in the way and the thing doesn't close. I watch in consternation as he strips off his pants and climbs into the shower, naked. This is…super awkward.
This is also a good time to escape.
I tiptoe toward the door as he steps under the spray, making as little noise as possible. The door doesn't open when I approach, but when I tap the panel, it opens. I peer out…
…and see three of the soldiers at the end of a long, bare hall.
Okay, so much for that. I glance back toward the bathroom and consider my options. I can make a break for it, but I won't get far. I can try to find the others—again, won't get far. Or I can stay here with Adiron and try to get some information out of him. Maybe he's got a gun lying around somewhere in this mess. With that thought in my mind, I pick up a pair of pants and squeeze the material, looking for something that might be left in a pocket somewhere. "So, uh," I call out. "Why am I in your room?"
"You fell asleep," he calls out from the shower. "I thought you might be more comfortable in a bed." Adiron laughs. "You're a terrible drunk, by the way."
"You shouldn't have gotten me drunk," I retort. "That is an absolute dick move."
"Yeah, I know." He doesn't sound all that concerned. "It worked, though."
I tiptoe toward the bathroom door, imagining all sorts of horrible things. What exactly did I say when I was three sheets to the wind? I try to remember but all that goes through my mind is that I cuddled on the man's lap. Ugh. "What worked? What did you do? And where are my friends?"
The shower shuts off, and a moment later, a big, naked alien comes sauntering out of the bathroom, the tiniest of towels over his groin. I let out a yelp of alarm, backing up to the wall and flattening myself against it. Adiron moves right past me, bends over, and starts digging through some of the laundry on the floor. "Gimme a sec. I figure we can have a better conversation if I'm not in the shower."
I stare in horror at his perfect ass. I mean, he's the enemy. He should not be built like a marble statue. I should not be noticing round, juicy buns underneath his tail. That is so wrong on so many levels. "Find some damn pants!"
"That's what I'm doing," Adiron says easily. He picks up a piece of clothing, sniffs it, and then tosses it down again. Then he finally moves toward a wall panel opposite me, touches it, and a closet unfolds from the wall. He yanks out a long piece of clothing, swipes his teeny tiny towel over his chest, and begins to dress.
I close my eyes so I don't see more than any captive should. I don't want to get used to his nudity. I don't want him to think it's okay to change in front of me. I'm not going to be casual about his sexuality, because that's a slippery slope. With this guy, it might start with just buns, but it cannot end up with me in his bed. So I keep my eyes squeezed shut and wait. "Tell me when you're decent."
"I'm never decent," he jokes. "But I have trou on now, if that's what you're asking."
I open one eye cautiously, just in time to see him adjust his clothed junk. He slides his arms into the top part of what must be a uniform or a jumper, and then runs a hand along the auto-fastener, fitting the fabric to his body. With a grin, Adiron regards me. "You're skittish."
"You would be too, if you were in my place."
"That's fair." He tilts his head, wet hair dripping in front of his eyes. "And your friends are fine. They're with the others. We've decided that you're our guests now."
Wait, what? "Hold on a moment. What are you talking about?"
Adiron turns and picks up a boot, then looks around the floor, obviously searching for its mate. "You told me that you guys were left behind by the cr
ew of the ship. That you're low on food supplies and air filters. Your ship is also heading toward an ice field the size of a small galaxy, and if you get caught up in it, you're never going to be found again. So you're going to stay with us. You're our guests."
"I-I don't want to be your guest." Especially if it means waking up in his bed. I can only imagine what being a “guest” means. I'm sure they'll be nice at first, and then it'll turn into us needing to “earn” our keep somehow. That we're using up precious food, water, and oxygen, and we'll need to pay them back somehow. We'll be powerless and at the mercy of aliens once more. Not that we aren't in that situation already, but this is against my will. If I run headlong into danger, then I'm just as responsible for whatever happens to me. "I want to go back to the Buoyant Star. Take me and my friends there."
"No, you don't," he says, kicking aside a pile of laundry. "Have you seen my boot?"
"Yes, I do."
"Where?" He looks up at me.
I clench my jaw. "I want to go back to MY ship," I enunciate.
"Oh." He pauses. "No, you don't."
"Yes, I do."
"No, you don't."
"Yes, I do."
"No, you don't."
I resist the urge to pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration. "Are we really doing this?"
"You wanna do something else?" He gives me an utterly roguish smile.
"You mean like push you off a bridge?" I retort.
Adiron laughs as if I've said the funniest thing ever. He shakes his head, grinning at me. "You wouldn't do that. Not when I'm about to take you back to your friends."
I pause at that. "Are you really?"
"Of course. You're not a prisoner." He digs out his boot with a look of triumph. "Let me finish putting these on and I'll show you around."
20
JADE
As we walk through the ship, Adiron talks. And talks. And talks. If he's trying to keep anything secret, he's doing a poor job of it, because he fills me in on everything that's been going on while I was asleep. I'm not surprised to learn that Ruth and Alice didn't break, and that Helen did. She's never been apart from us, and I'm guessing she panicked. Adiron says she cried the entire time and his brother feels guilty, and all I can think is that I'm glad. I hope he feels guilty as shit for bullying her.
I also learn I didn't blab as much as I thought, but I did talk about the human cargo—the others waiting in the huge bay of stasis pods. Adiron says that Straik freaked out and wants to see the “cargo” for himself, but he can't get access. Someone's changed something in the Buoyant Star's computer systems and it won't allow him in. That's a surprise to me, because we've been able to come and go as we please…but in a way, it makes sense. The Star thinks we're cargo, too.
So this “Lord Straik” and the brothers need us to get their hands on the other humans. That buys at least one of us some safety, possibly all of us if we play our cards right. I tuck this away mentally. I need to talk to the others so we can come up with a plan, make sure we're all on the same page. I don't want these corsairs killing three of us in order to force the fourth one to act. Unfortunately, I also think this means we can't tell Helen anything. She's too innocent and she'd share our plans in a heartbeat if someone even looked our way threateningly.
Meanwhile, Adiron just keeps talking. I'm only half listening—I need the information he's spilling, but I also need to figure out a plan, and my head throbs and I'm also trying to simultaneously map out our surroundings in my mind. It's a lot to take in. "Mathiras is my oldest brother," he's saying as we turn down another hall. "I guess if we have a leader, it's him, though Kaspar and I don't listen to him all that well." He shoots me another cocky grin. "Kaspar's my other brother. I'm the youngest and the most charming."
I absently snort at that, noticing that a couple of the dark-uniformed troops are heading down the hall in our direction. I stiffen, holding my breath, but they only stroll past us, shooting me a curious glance. Whew. I exhale and then glance over at Adiron. He's got a thoughtful look on his face that's edging toward a frown. "What's wrong?" I ask.
"They were looking at your legs. I don't like that." The frown deepens as he studies my clothing. I'm still in my slave girl rags, with his shirt covering me. It's not like I've been offered a change of clothing.
I cross my arms over my chest, a little worried. "Am I in danger from them?" A horrible thought occurs to me—I've been dealing with Adiron but…what if he and his brothers aren't interested in claiming us for themselves and hand us over to the crew? What if we have to service all twenty-odd alien men on this ship? That's a nightmare.
"From a'ani? No. Not at all." Adiron continues to look thoughtful. "I just didn't like it. We should get you some clothes."
"Is that what they're called? A'ani? Is that what Helen is?"
"No, she's a qura'aki," Adiron points out. He turns and steers me down a different hall, apparently changing his mind. "She is a clone of an old race that no longer exists. Every now and then, a female clone turns up on the pleasure markets and is sold for an obscene number of credits. A'ani are another cloned race, but they are quite common." At my blank look, he adds, "They are marked with the red-hued skin so all may know they are cloned."
"Lovely," I say in a flat voice. Skin color bullshit, even in space. And poor, poor Helen. "So Helen is someone's pleasure doll."
"Unfortunately, yes." He doesn't look pleased at the thought, which makes me feel a little better. He leans in close to me. "This universe is not kind to humans, I'm afraid. Or qura'aki. But don't worry. You have me."
"That somehow doesn't make me feel much better."
"It will. Give me time to win your trust." He shoots me another cheerful smile and then gestures at another door. "Here. I bet we can find a uniform of some kind for you to wear. I just need to do some digging." Adiron tugs me in after him, and when I see the messy clothes on the floor, I think for a moment that this entire ship is full of slobs.
Then I realize we're back in his room. I cross my arms again, my brows going up. "I'm not wearing your dirty clothes."
"I know. But there's not exactly a clothing boutique around here. You'll have to wear our castoffs until we get better for you." He pulls open his closet again and considers.
"I have clothes back on the Star," I offer, my voice sweet. If I can get us back to my ship, that's half the battle. I just need the upper hand in some way.
Adiron glances over at me, a smirk on his face. "Nice try, but no."
I breathe out a long sigh. "So you're no better than anyone else we've run into. You're just using us."
He actually looks wounded at my accusation. "Not at all. You're safe with us. My sister, Zoey—she's human, too. We saved her from a slave ship when she was little more than a tiny runt." He has the softest smile on his face, and it's clear that he adores his sister. "She's on another ship with her mate right now, but if she were here she'd smack me as hard as she could and tell me to take care of you guys." He pulls out a jumper that looks suspiciously like his. "Here. Try this one on."
I take it from him, cautious. "You have a human sister?"
"Yeah. She's pretty much an irritating little shit. She's also the greatest." His look gets a tiny bit wistful. "I miss her now that she's off and mated, but she's happy so I guess I can't be selfish."
I wonder if this is true. "So…we're like sisters to you? Us humans?"
Adiron leans against the wall, giving me a heavy-lidded look. "Oh, make no mistake, Jade. I'm sure your friends are nice and all, but as for you? I am not interested in you in a brotherly way. At all." His smile is slow and confident. "But I'm pretty sure you guessed that already."
21
ADIRON
Jade is quiet as I dig through my clothes, looking for a uniform of some kind small enough for her. I don't have one of course, so at this point I'm just going to settle for one that's clean. The clones are far more human-sized and I'm sure Dopekh or one of the others would loan me something, but…the t
hought of Jade wearing another male's clothing eats at my gut. I want her to wear mine.
Kef me, I'm already getting wildly possessive and I've only known the female a few hours. I can't imagine how bad I'll have it in a week from now. Even when I was infatuated with Shaalyn, I was never this bad.
I find my favorite work uniform, a single-piece jumper that has seen me through a lot. I smell it to make sure that it's clean even though it's hanging up, and then I hold it out to her. "You can wear this."
She crosses her arms under her magnificent chest, and it takes everything I have not to drop my gaze. "If I do, will you take me to my friends?"
"Of course."
Jade gives me a look as if she doesn't quite believe me and then heads into the bathroom to change. I hear a bit of rustling and then the sound of a panel being plucked out of its place. I grin to myself. No doubt she's raiding my toiletries, looking for something she can use as a weapon. All she's going to find is some personal deodorizer and plas-film that came with the room, since this isn't our ship but Straik's. My old lavatory had a compartment with blasters and knives, because you never know when you'll need a weapon, but I don't have that here. I lean close to the door and offer, "If you're looking for something to use as a weapon, you're better off looking under my mattress. There's nothing in there."
She comes out a moment later, glaring at me. The jumpsuit is bunched up at her ankles and her hands are buried in material, the crotch of the outfit somewhere around her knees. Instead of it being sexy, she looks…ridiculous. I snicker.
Jade runs her fingers through her wild hair, pushing it back, and ignores my laughter. "Got a belt, you giant?"
I turn to the closet and dig around, looking for a spare. I hear her movements—humans really are loud in everything they do—and I know she's heading for the mattress, looking for a blaster. She can take it if it makes her feel less worried. I'm not afraid of her shooting me. It'd probably just make me fall more head over heels for her.
