-Enslaved-by-an-Officer[ Sold 8]

by McLeod-Anitra-Lynn

  “They will also use that to find the humans.”

  “I don’t understand.” Honor knew the device was like a massive metaphorical net around the galaxy the Earth was a part of. Even with their advancing technology, they wouldn’t be aware of the shield. However, as soon as any spaceship penetrated the web, the Krase would know.

  “The humans will have to simply accept their fate wherever they may be.”

  It took a moment for the full ramifications of that to sink in. Rather than look for the humans, the Krase would only get involved if they attempted to return to Earth. “But they were illegally enslaved.”

  “And it is not our crime against them.” Cursed straightened, looking somehow personally affronted. “We only took on the task of finding and freeing them because they were sold on our soil. The Krase government has now tightened our slave trading policies, but we find that tracking all of them down is beyond our responsibilities.”

  “But all those Earthlings…they don’t know they are free.”

  Cursed glared.

  “They could be in danger.”

  “So are millions upon billions of other sentient species. I fail to see how those hapless few should command the resources of the Krase.” This time, Cursed turned on his heel and strode off, leaving Honor at his door with two guards.

  Without a word, Honor entered his rooms and allowed the door to be closed and locked from the outside. He sat down on the edge of his bed, getting a pleasing whiff of Carver. As good as the scent made him feel, nothing was going to make him feel better for long. The rest of the Earthlings were being abandoned, and he couldn’t help but think their cruel fate was his fault.

  Chapter 12

  Carver was just letting the idea that he might have singlehandedly destroyed Honor’s career sink in when Acerith lunged for him. They were sitting close with Acerith on his cot and Carver on another across the way when Acerith was suddenly on his knees between Carver’s parted legs. Acerith grasped Carver’s face with both hands and came so close Carver thought he was going to kiss him. His skin was oddly cool and slick, almost but not quite like a reptile’s would be. It wasn’t icky, only strangely alien and surprisingly intense.

  “There is a picture of another human in your mind.”

  “What?” Carver was so startled by his proximity and the major jump in the conversation he almost flinched back. He might have, but Acerith had such a fierce hold on him that if he moved he was going to snap his own neck. Hell, with that grip he’d be a fantastic ball player.

  Acerith drew a deep breath through his nose. He spoke much slower and with a far calmer edge to his voice, but it was still plenty clear he was agitated. “I caught a glimpse of a human in your mind. He’s flipping his hair off his face. Who is he?”

  “Oh, him.” Carver tried to disengage, but Acerith wouldn’t let go. Carver wanted to tell Acerith the truth about how he was abducted from Earth, but Honor had urged him to be cautious about who he told. So rather than tell Acerith that the man in question had died in the same explosion, Carver simply said, “He was auctioned off at the same time I was.”

  “He’s near.”

  “He is?” Carver wanted to look around, but Acerith wouldn’t let go. “Dude, you’re hurting me.”

  “I apologize.” Acerith let go of Carver’s head, but he didn’t move away. “We have to help him. He’s in great danger.”

  “You can feel where he is?”

  “I can.”

  Carver didn’t hesitate. He grasped Acerith’s hand and tried to take him to Honor, but they were both stopped at the exit of the shuttle bay by a massive warrior. As calmly as he could, Carver explained the situation, but the guard wasn’t listening.

  “My orders are to keep all the refugees in this area.”

  “Let me talk to your supervisor.”

  It took a moment for the word to translate, but when it did, the Krase warrior lifted one edge of his lip and snarled. The noise was faint but clear. “I have my orders.”

  “But this man knows where another one of the Earthlings is.”

  The warrior looked at Acerith as if he were bored out of his skull. It became abundantly clear he didn’t give a crap about anything other than following his orders. Spurred on by Acerith’s desperation, Carver tried to talk to the other Krase present, but they wouldn’t listen either. Worse, he couldn’t even leave the area by himself when he’d been able to do so before. How had everything changed so fast?

  “Let me talk to Honor. Or just call him down here.”

  The warrior pointedly ignored Carver by looking past him and unfocusing his gaze. It was a clear sign of dismissal, but Carver had never been willing to simply accept things as they came. He thought of a dozen ways he could attack the warrior before he could reach for one of his weapons. But that was a terrible idea. It wouldn’t do him or Honor any good to have both of them in trouble. There had to be another way to get out of here and get to someone in authority who could tell him what was going on.

  Carver backed away from the warrior, which actually snapped his attention to high alert. Grinning, Carver turned toward the area where the beds were arranged. Acerith was kneeling on the floor by his bunk with his head down. He looked like he was praying or maybe crying. Concerned, Carver moved over to his side and crouched down. As respectful as he wanted to be if he was praying, Carver also didn’t want to leave him if he was in pain.

  “We have to find a way to get to him.”

  “The human?”

  “Jeremy. His name is Jeremy. He has a child with him.”

  Carver felt panic infusing his body with adrenaline. He pushed the mounting dread away. A cool head and calm thought was going to get this situation resolved. But how? He sank down to his knees, adopting the pose that Acerith was in.

  “What are you doing?” Acerith asked.

  “I’m trying to think of a way out of this. What are you doing?”

  “I am communicating with Jeremy. I’m trying to get him somewhere safe.” Acerith looked over at Carver. “I need you to go as your nearness is disturbing my focus.”

  “Sorry.” Carver stood, and his loincloth slipped down. He grabbed it before he was exposed, but then he had a small nugget of an idea. It was crazy and probably wouldn’t work, but he had to do something. Ironically, it was the opposite of cool, calm, and collected thinking.

  “Where’s that red pen they gave us to mark our laundry?”

  “Over by the hygiene supplies.” Acerith spared him a quick glance. “Why?”

  “I’m going to do something to get us help. No matter what I say or do, just keep helping Jeremy.”

  Rather than wait for a response, Carver strode over to the hygiene area. He grabbed a few items as if he intended to clean up but his main focus was the red pen. Once he was out of sight, he used it to draw dots on the shaft of his cock. When he was done, it looked like his dick had either chicken pox or prickly heat. It wouldn’t hold up to close inspection, but that wasn’t his concern right now. He ditched the red pen and then let out a shriek that damn near shook the ship.

  With his loincloth in hand, Carver exited the bathing area completely nude and utterly focused on his prick.

  “What is the matter with you?” One of the Krase warriors moved close to him, but Carver held up his hand.

  “Don’t you dare come near me!” Carver infused his voice with every hysterical vibe he could summon. He had only been in one play in high school as the acting gene just wasn’t as strong in him as the sport-playing gene, but he could certainly pull off the wounded lover. “Your commander gave me some alien VD!”

  The guard frowned, clearly trying to translate what Carver had said.

  “Look at my dick!” Carver shook it for good measure. “I don’t know about yours, but mine shouldn’t have all these red dots all over it. Honor gave me some disease! I demand to speak to him right now!”

  Other Krase warriors crowded around but not too close. The only one who wasn’t budging was the on
e by the exit door. He was still at attention, but he was watching and looked curious.

  “Oh, God! It’s spreading!” Carver thought they’d all gotten enough of a look at him, so he wrapped the loincloth around his hips. “Where is he? I demand to see him and find out what he’s given me!”

  “Our orders are—”

  “I don’t give a fuck about your orders!” Carver yanked off his loincloth. “Do you see this?” He pointed to his cock. “Look at what he did to me!”

  While the Krase darted glances between Carver’s cock and each other, Carver noticed that Acerith was still in his kneeling position. The other refugees were observing the situation without getting involved. Carver needed to push the warriors into getting someone down here who could actually do something. He didn’t want to make false accusations against Honor, but it might be the only way he was going to get out of here.

  “You have media, right? News? Mass communication? Just imagine how it will play when I tell the universe that I was rescued only to be used by one of your officers and infected with a sexual disease.”

  That was what got a new and clearly superior officer down to the shuttle bay. He pointed at Carver and two Krase. After Carver put his loincloth back on, they escorted him out of the shuttle bay. The three of them followed the lead officer for a long distance that took Carver in pretty much the opposite direction of Honor’s rooms. He was disappointed, but at least he’d gotten out of the shuttle bay and captured the attention of a higher-up on the chain of command.

  Once they entered a well-appointed room, the two Krase officers stayed at the door while Carver and the officer went inside. As soon as the door closed, Carver was alone with the guy.

  “I am Cursed Joy.”

  Carver immediately wanted to comment on how interesting his name was but refrained. He was on a mission, and he wasn’t about to get sidetracked. “I’m—”

  “I know who you are.” Cursed sounded anything but pleased to meet him. “What is wrong with you?”

  “Nothing.”

  Cursed frowned. “I was told that Honor had infected you with some kind of genital illness.”

  “I lied. I needed to get out of there and get to someone who would tell me what was going on. But I also need help to save another Earthling.”

  “What other Earthling?” Cursed didn’t sound very interested, but that might just be standard for the species. All the Krase came off rather disinterested.

  As briefly and coherently as he could, Carver described the auction he had seen, and that he recognized one of the other men as having been near when the fatal explosion occurred. “The slave trader took two from that accident.” He went on to explain that Honor’s idea had been that having a name might help track the man down but then Acerith had seen the image in Carver’s mind. “He says he can feel him. He’s near, he’s with a child, and he’s in great danger.”

  “Acerith is the Venian?” Cursed didn’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation. He was pouring himself what looked like a complicated drink. For all Carver could tell, Cursed was acting as if he had all the time in the world. Carver realized he did. It was Jeremy who didn’t.

  “Yes. Acerith is from Ven. We can confirm his vision or whatever you want to call it because Acerith said his name is Jeremy. If we can look at the news report, we should be able to verify that was the man’s name.”

  “You mean the report that you and Honor already looked at?”

  “We didn’t look at it. Not yet. We were going to.”

  “I thought you said this was Honor’s idea?”

  “It was. But before we could look for news reports, we got…distracted.”

  “That is when he took advantage of you?”

  “No. He didn’t—Honor and I had a mutual encounter. Period. The hysterics down in the shuttle bay were to get your attention so I could ask for your help.”

  “So there’s nothing wrong with you?”

  “Look.” Carver took a step toward him, and Cursed bristled, causing him to step back. “I don’t know what’s going on, exactly, but Honor didn’t do anything wrong. He didn’t force me or enslave me or anything like that. He gave me this to wear because the pants I was given didn’t fit. That’s it. I don’t want him to be in trouble over me, okay?”

  Cursed simply looked at him.

  “Is Honor in trouble?”

  “His fate is no concern of yours.”

  “It is if he’s my…” Carver didn’t know what to call Honor. They’d shared something a lot deeper than just sex, but it wasn’t quite love. Not yet, but he knew that was going to happen. Love was like a train coming at him, and sooner rather than later it was going to plow right into him. “He’s my mate.”

  Cursed startled back.

  Carver wasn’t sure why, but what he’d said actually frightened him. But why? Was the word translated oddly in Krase? It was the word he and Honor had used when they’d been together in his room. Mate sounded a bit strange to him at first, probably because it made him think of Australians, but the more he thought about that particular term in connection with Honor, the more right the word seemed.

  Cursed was looking at him with an expression that was utterly unreadable. Carver thought there was a lot more going on here than met the eye.

  “I can’t help but notice that you have a three planet mark on your face just like Honor does.” Honor had explained to Carver what the marks meant. “Are you condemning him so that you can take over his mission?”

  Rather than answer, Cursed sipped his drink. Carver realized that he wasn’t going to give him any information about Honor so he pushed onward.

  “As concerned as I am about Honor, I’m also worried about this other human, and you should be, too.”

  “Why should I care about any of you?” Cursed polished off his drink and set the empty glass on the bar. “You humans are nothing but trouble. And finally, those who lead have recognized that we don’t owe you anything.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You subtly accuse me of trying to take Honor’s mission from him when the truth is I have single-handedly ended his assignment. No more will the Krase government spend our time and money rescuing the slaves of Earth.”

  “But I thought that since we were sold on your soil you—”

  “The auction house has been reprimanded. Slaves are now implanted with a non-removable tracking device. The slave trader who illegally captured and sold your kind has not been found—”

  “He’ll just do it again!” Carver felt too many things pressing on his attention, all of them time sensitive.

  “He simply cannot. Earth in now considered restricted airspace. If the protective barrier is breached, we will know, and we will deal with those who violate that directive.”

  “But there are still men out there falsely enslaved.”

  “If you are so concerned, you may fund a mission to save them.”

  Carver stood there, realizing that after he’d made peace with the life he’d lost on Earth and embraced a new life in space, he’d now lost that one, too. What absolutely infuriated him was that both of them were wrenched out of his hands before they ever got started. Worse, both losses were not his fault.

  “I took the demise of my life on Earth pretty well. Considering everything I had to let go of, I think I made peace without a lot of struggle because I realized there was nothing I could do about it.” Carver approached Cursed. “But I’m not letting go of the one I have here. Not without a fight.”

  Chapter 13

  Honor could hear nothing in his rooms, but he felt plenty. If he could, he would give his newfound emotions back. Feelings were not all good. Right now he was afraid for Carver, sad for himself, and terrified for the Earthlings scattered around the galaxy. Most had eventually met someone they had fallen in love with, but others, like Kyle Miller, had to be rescued from a vicious B’harian.

  It didn’t take long for Honor to calculate the odds that one out of four of the Earthlings w
ho were left in space was probably in danger or faced a life of extreme hardship. Considering the absolute injustice of their situation, he couldn’t bear to see the rest of them simply allowed to remain where they were. Regardless of what happened to him, the mission to hunt for the rest of the Earthlings had to continue.

  Since he had nothing but time to think, Honor considered all the ways he could make that happen. Just as Carver had discovered, losing one life didn’t mean everything was over. He could keep the mission alive even if he were executed as an example to others. Wisely, Honor had left that out of any discussion he’d had with Cursed, but he knew it was a distinct possibility. When his government wanted to send a message, there wasn’t anything as riveting as a public execution. As barbaric and backward as some enlightened societies might view the act, the point was that blatant cruelty reminded all Krase warriors that breaching the orders of those who lead was not a suitable choice.

  Noble Chaos had been slated for death for failing to bring in a wanted criminal alive. That Noble had dragged in Nythang’s dead body was immaterial. The Krase government wanted Nythang alive so they could kill him as an example to others. Noble had deprived them of that, so they were going to kill him to get that point across. But Kyle had spoken eloquently in Noble’s defense. When that failed to move the magistrate, Kyle had claimed he was the one who killed Nythang. Since no one knew exactly what happened but the three beings involved, one of whom was dead, the matter had been dropped. Noble had been punished by having his facial tattoo removed but then later earned it back.

  “I do not think I will be so lucky.” When Honor’s door slid open without any warning, he rose to attention but remained near his bed. Cursed entered with Carver right behind him. Honor was so happy to see him he smiled automatically, but one look at Cursed made his smile vanish.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Your mate tells me that he is committing a mutiny.”

  It was then that Honor realized Carver had a gun aimed at