Page 46 of Under Control

“So I took matters into my own hands. I enlisted the assistance of Ms. Anja Nilsen, who was more than happy to help in exchange for a favor. The favor which was this one single container. Just one! And everything would have been over with. But now—well.”

He saw the disgust in her face, warring with anger. Sadly, he couldn’t find it in himself to care. She was one of the few people whose good opinion mattered to him, professionally if not anywhere else, and at that moment Tracht simply wished she would go away.

“This could happen again,” Espinosa said, barely contained anger evident. “You would do it again, wouldn’t you? For him.”

Would he? Tracht thought about it. He hoped that it would never come to that again, simply because he had no desire to repeat the previous day’s experiences. But the first part—the deal with the Nilsens, breaking the law—yes, he would repeat them in a heartbeat if it meant not losing Alex. “I suppose so. Is it a crime to care about… to love somebody?”

The word didn’t fit right. He didn’t like it, but it was a word that Espinosa would understand. People regularly did things for love; Tracht was just one of many who had succumbed to emotions.

Unfortunately, Espinosa’s expression hardened. “What happened to Parsons?”

The shift in topic was unexpected. “Excuse me?”

“Parsons. Two years ago, you locked him up, and you said that he’d been caught conspiring to commit corporate espionage. You ordered me not to visit him because of legal considerations. But you had Dr. Singh visit him. He’d been injured, you said, in an altercation with Alex.

“Well, I’ve seen how Alex handles things. And I heard what the two of you wanted to do to Iglesias. So tell me. What really happened to Parsons?”

If he hadn’t been drugged up, he never would have slipped up like that in front of her. Yet another thing to thank Iglesias for. Tracht rubbed his temple—the headache was coming back in full force—and considered carefully what he could say. “Mr. Parsons attempted to enlist Alex’s help in corporate espionage. Alex reported this to me, and I had Parsons locked up in solitary so as to mitigate the potential damage. However, Alex went in to visit Parsons alone, and the result was… not very pretty. Dr. Singh spent considerable effort getting Mr. Parsons fully healed again.” Tracht looked Espinosa in the eye. “Do you find fault in my conduct?”

“No. I find fault in the fact that you’re lying to me,” Espinosa snarled. “I can’t trust you anymore! I’ve always—I’ve always admired you for your integrity. You had a reputation for being harsh, but everybody suggested you were fair as an employer, and that you paid well. No uncompensated overtime, no insistence that every hour we’re docked be spent on board. And then I started working here, and I thought—I thought—well, here was a man who knew what he was doing. You didn’t compromise on your morals, ever.” She paused for a beat, then added, with clear disgust, “Until Alex.”

In truth, Tracht was stunned. Not because of her condemnation, but rather because of how wrong she’d gotten everything. He’d tried, of course, to maintain a facade of professional ethicalness and moral standing, but to think that even after all these years, she hadn’t suspected that it was all an act. Tracht almost laughed; would have laughed, if not for the headache and the fact that he knew the situation was too dire to anger Espinosa further.

“What would you have me do then?” Tracht said with a sneer. “I should leave Alex behind, simply on your say-so?”

She straightened her shoulders and hardened her expression. “No. You should leave Alex behind, because otherwise, I won’t give you the data chip I took from Iglesias’s underling. I’ve had a look. Smuggling supply networks spanning from here to every major space station in the system.”

“How very generous of you, Ms. Espinosa. I suppose I should ask why you haven’t handed it over to the authorities yet.” Anger pulsed behind his eyes, and maybe it was a good thing that he still felt so weak because he began imagining all the ways he could overpower her. Strip her down, tie her to the bed posts and beat her bloody. Maybe he could call Alex back, and Alex would be more than happy to—

No. No, that was out of the question. Espinosa wouldn’t keep quiet. She wouldn’t be afraid of repercussions. She had enough connections and reputation in the ports that she could cause problems, even if Tracht eventually managed to silence her.

“You’re still in trouble with the Nilsens, aren’t you? I thought this might provide leverage. But I’m not sure you deserve it.”

And here, Tracht finally saw the chink in her armor, the small flaw he could use to turn the tables on her. He smiled darkly at her. “So, my options are to bend to your will—to give up the one person who I’ve come to care for—or be condemned to probable death. That is quite the blackmail scheme you’ve set up.”

She hesitated, clearly uneasy with the word blackmail, but then nodded. “It should be an easy choice to make, sir.”

Tracht inclined his head, instantly regretting the motion when his head throbbed. “What will happen to Alex after that?”

“He’ll be sent back to the debt leasing center and find a new bond-holder. As has happened to all the previous bondservants whose contracts you’ve canceled.”

“In other circumstances, you would be right. But Alex has that mark against him—he tried to run in that first week, if you recall. The station would never allow his debt, reduced though it is by now, to be put back on the open market. And he’s too much of a liability for Atalanta, let alone Cadmus, to take on themselves. No, he would most certainly be sent to the Nilsens for them to collect their payment directly from his body.” He leaned forward. “So, Ms. Espinosa, what do you think the Nilsens will do to Alex? Will they make him wear one of those collars? Or simply beat and rape him every day?”

She blanched and stumbled a step back. “No. They wouldn’t—there’s a contract. They’d have to maintain it.”

“It is very naive of you to assume they wouldn’t find loopholes. And if they have him constantly medicated, his bondcollar wouldn’t register any issues even if they were to, I don’t know, split his tongue in half, or remove a finger or toe. Castrate him? I doubt the station would care about Alex either way.”

He watched her expression closely, noting the slight parting of her lips and the furrow in her brow. The very clear hesitation as she attempted to say something but changed her mind. Espinosa was happy to be rid of Alex, but not to condemn him to torture.

A few minutes passed in silence as Espinosa gathered her thoughts, and Tracht wondered what he would do if she decided to go through with her threat. The unease left him very off-kilter; he hated this feeling of not being in control, of his fate being bound to the whims of others.

Finally, she let out a frustrated sound. “I can’t—I don’t even know if I believe you, but how can you say that so casually? I thought you said you cared about him! You didn’t even beg for me to change my mind. Just this manipulative bullshit!”

“Would begging have worked?” Tracht asked. “I admit, I’m categorically averse to begging. It never even crossed my mind.”

“No! I don’t know.” Espinosa dropped the data chip onto the coffee table. “Whatever. I’m done here.”

“Done?”

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