The Draycon ship emerged from its energy shell in a swirl of golden light, approaching Gergonia. Empress Drevina stood at the back of the bridge and watched the planet on the main screen swell. The unpleasant, barely habitable world was technically a large moon orbiting a gas giant with huge ice rings. Not quite large enough to become a sun, the gas giant gave off an eerie red light that the rings reflected in a multi-coloured display, unfortunately not visible from Gergonia’s surface due to the cloud cover. The planet’s sulphur-rich atmosphere was breathable, but unpleasant. Gergonia’s distant red giant sun gave off plenty of heat, but little light, which barely reached the surface through the thick yellow fog that enveloped the planet, making it a twilight world. Dwarfish natives inhabited it, adapted to the dimness and acidic atmosphere. They lived on a yellow fungus that thrived in the sulphur-rich soil.
The people of Gergonia rarely ventured outside, living in sealed dwellings with filters to eradicate the stench, the buildings joined by an underground system of travel. Entertainment of the worst kind flourished; gambling, whorehouses, drug dens, pain parlours and the buying and selling of stolen property. The clientele was made up entirely of crooks, petty tyrants and wealthy psychopaths. No one asked questions on Gergonia, and merchandise sold there rarely surfaced on law-abiding worlds. The residents who ran the markets and pleasure houses originated on some of the most obscure planets, had arrived on Gergonia by unpleasant means, and cared nothing for anyone else’s misfortune. That was the reason Drevina had chosen to sell the human girl here, where she would vanish without a trace, and, in all likelihood, be dead within a few days.
The Draycon ship docked amongst the assortment of converted freighters, battered explorers, old fighters bought from defeated dictators and a smattering of modern ships. Drevina exited the bridge, heading to her cabin to prepare for her visit to the Gergonian slave market.
Slave Empire - Prophecy Page 32
