Page 4 of Escape Velocity

“They are the worst of the worst. You got the better of them, and they will hate you for it.”

When the pressure in the air lock had equalized with the ship’s interior, the far door opened, and they stepped into a short companionway. Now that she was inside the Golden Fleece, he wasn’t sure what to do with her. But he was sure her advice about getting the hell out of Naxion space was sound.

He saw her looking around wide-eyed, then press her hand to a metal wall and run her fingers along the surface.

“So smooth.”

Her reaction told him something about the technology on Naxion, but there was no time to explain what to expect in the Confederation of Planets as he led the way to the cramped control room and took the pilot’s chair. As he scanned the view screens, he saw a fireball blossom on the surface not far from where he’d set down the shuttle.

“Fek,” he muttered as he powered up the engines. “Better sit down,” he advised, gesturing toward the copilot’s seat.

He no longer needed the screen to see the energy beam looming in the blackness, hurtling toward them from the planet’s surface.

There was no time to set a course. All he could do was fire the thrusters, jerking the ship out of orbit. As the Golden Fleece leaped from its previous position, the energy ball shot past, so close that he could make out the wavering colors in the fire trail. He spotted another on the way, but he was already heading outside the planetary system. When he knew they were out of range, he let out the breath he was holding and set a course toward Danalon, although he still wasn’t sure what he would do when he got there.

Turning toward his passenger, he saw she was clutching the arms of her chair.

“We are really away from Naxion?” she whispered.

“Yes.”

“And you are not going to take me back?”

He heard the quaver in her voice as she asked the question.

“Of course not,” he answered, still trying to rearrange his thinking. He’d come down here expecting to pick up a clandestine package, and instead he’d rescued a woman from slavery. But what did Rafe want with her? He could think of several possibilities, and he didn’t much like any of them. This woman would be an undoc on Danalon, which meant she had no legal rights.

“How did you learn the standard language?” he asked.

“I told you, I belonged to an upper-class family. I had extensive training in many skills. I can play the harp, sing the classic songs of my people, do fine embroidery.” She paused and laughed. “I embroidered pillowcases for my wedding chest—until it was clear I would have no wedding.” She started again, speaking very fast. “Which makes my training for overseeing household accounts or running an estate of no use.” On the last words, her voice broke, and he could see her struggling for control. She drew herself up straighter. “My education was of no importance once I failed to develop. I saw the sadness in my mother’s eyes. She would have hidden me. But nothing takes place on my planet without the permission of a man. My father couldn’t stand the sight of me. He sold me to a traveling slaver.”

He felt his throat constrict as he tried to imagine how her life had suddenly morphed from luxury to misery. “Were you abused?”

Her head jerked toward him. “I was beaten if I did not do my work.”

“What was your work?”

“Cleaning stables. And worse. You’re lucky they gave me a bath before they took me to the meeting place.”

He winced. “I meant, were you abused sexually?”

“No. What man would want me? It would be like bedding a field beast.” She dragged in a breath and let it out. “And slaves are given drugs to deaden their . . .” She waggled one hand. “Their appetites.”

“Oh.” The implications of that slammed him in the gut, but he tried to keep his face impassive.

“When did you have your last dose?”

“The others got it five or six suns ago. I did not.”

Oh yeah? And why was that? He held onto that question, even as he cursed Rafe. Did the bastard understand the consequences of withholding the drug? Or was that the payoff for this whole exercise?

“What is going to happen to me now?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I said I’d deliver you to the friend who paid for you.”

“And you do not know what he wants with me?”

“He didn’t tell me,” he hedged. Did Rafe want her for himself? Probably he had another transaction in mind. And what was Max going to do about it? Not turn her over to someone who was planning to take advantage of her. But that left him up slat creek.

---