"So you’re going to sell them?" I jerked my chin toward the ship.
Khuf clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Moddekdum has already been paid."
My muscles coiled.Not yet.Wait and play it smart. "Can I see what else you have?"
Khuf’s eyes gleamed. "Ah, of course! Looking for a warm body for the journey? Did you test the ones on your ship?"
My skin crawled. I balled my fist, fighting the urge to introduce it to his ugly mug. And I wouldn't stop there.
"Until recently, I was under orders for a rescue mission," I stated flatly.
"Pity. I'm telling you, those females…" he trailed off into deep laughter.Laugh it off.It'll be your last, I promised myself. I didn't have orders to save more humans. Moddekdum had nullified those orders, but the Ohrurs be damned, I wouldn't stand by and watch this pitiful species being auctioned off by the likes of a Pronex. My hand coiled over the handle of my blaster as we approached a hangar not too far from my ship. Two guards stood by the gates, cradling blasters to their chests. When the doors opened, I noticed a handful more guards and the stench of too many bodies cramped together. Straight ahead of me, my eyes fell on an array of cubes stacked on top of each other, blacked out. They were supposed to keep the stench contained, but some must have been leaking.
"You want to see all of them or just the humans?" Khuf asked.
Frygg!Well, you started this, my mind admonished. "All of them."
He opened his comm, and the black film over the cubes lifted, exposing the insides of twenty of them. My stomach turned. Those cages were meant to keep five people at the most, but what was inside at least doubled that number. Two hundred more refugees, my mind calculated. My ship was already at capacity. Unfortunately, seeing those poor creatures crammed into the cubes tugged at my deeply ingrained protective instincts. Not all of them were humans; I noticed a few Pandraxians, Hettita, and even a couple of Moggadesh. Shit, I would rather fly my ship into a sun before I took a Moggadesh aboard it. They would have to stay here. The thought of them fighting with the Mmuhr’Rhong was slightly amusing.
"Which one do you want? Take your time." Khuf offered magnanimously.
"All of them," I answered him, tracking the guards as they made their way through the cages. Now and then, one of them hit his palm against the see-through wall, startling the pitiful inhabitants.
"All of them?" Khuf laughed, irking me because I had promised myself his last outburst had been his last.
"Space Guardian, you are amusing. Do you have that many credits?"
The Ohrurs were more than generous when it came to my spending. My credits were unlimited to buy whatever I needed, and the thought of using their money to purchase from Khuf was actually as tempting as spending a night with two Taysars—the most ethereal being the universe had to offer. But taking down Khuf would be a lot more satisfying.
"You misunderstand me. I'm not paying for them." I informed him.
He opened his mouth for more laughter, but I had endured more than I was willing to take. My only regret was that death came way too swiftly for him when my blaster fire hit. Before his body reached the floor, I eliminated three more of the guards patrolling. Two managed to find cover behind the cages, instantly firing at me.
I threw myself to the ground and rolled until I, too, was covered by a crate. From there, I returned fire. Alerted by the commotion, the two guards from outside stormed in. I had been expecting them. Two well-aimed shots terminated both.
My patience for this fight was running low as my mind threw useless information at me about what I would have to do next. Chase the Moggadesh off, bring the additional nearly two hundred refugees aboard my ship, make sure they get cleaned and fed, and… frygg. I would need to order some supplies. What was supposed to have been a quick trip to Astrionis had turned out longer than anticipated. I wasn't a complete asshole; all these refugees would need things. Clothes, blankets, pillows, comms, food besides the nutrition dispenser…
Yeah, I definitely didn't have the patience for a long, drawn-out fight with these Pronex.
I came out from my cover, blaster blazing, firing at the remaining two hostiles, forcing them to stay behind cover while I jumped on the first crate. It was soundproof, so I didn't hear any screams, not even muffled, but the terrified expressions of the occupants didn't leave much to the imagination. Same with the second crate.
The third brought me above my prey. One tried to scramble, and the other shot at me, but his angle was awkward, and he missed. I terminated him first, then jumped to another crate. The last remaining Pronex fired over his shoulder as he tried to get out of the hangar. He didn't make it.
I retrieved Khuf's fallen comm and deactivated the locks, keeping my blaster trained on the Moggadesh. I told them to scram.
"All you others, I have a ship waiting that will take you to Astrionis, where you will be safe. Or you can stay here. Your choice." Without waiting for an answer or giving the perplexed ex-prisoners a chance to reply, I marched out of the hangar, certain they would follow me. All the way to my ship, I cursed under my breath about the mess I had gotten myself into. I half hoped these new refugees wouldn't follow me, but they were all behind me when I opened my cargo bay.
ALICE
He's such an asshole!
Even for him, this latest stunt was a total dick move. We all knew we had landed on a planet. Why couldn't he just tell us if we had arrived at our destination? Was this Astrionis or not? If it was, I wanted to know. I was more than ready to pick up the pieces of my life and start over. Waiting on this ship was like being stuck in Limbo. I needed to know if I was going to Heaven or Hell. I hated this emotional back and forth, wondering if things would get better or worse. I was getting tired of being stuck on this ship with no idea what kind of life awaited me. And if that wasn't bad enough, he left without a word and locked us in like petulant children.
Clenching my jaw, I stalked toward the hatch. The controls sat there, mocking me, blinking in a dull rhythm that screamed,You are not authorized to leave.
Yeah? We'll see about that.
I crouched beside the panel and studied it. Unlike Earth tech, there were no obvious screws. The entire system was modular, almost organic in the way its components connected. Luckily for me, I’d been quietly collecting parts from the ship’s cleaning and repair drones. Xyrek might be a bastard, but his ship was a goldmine.
