Page 11 of Escape Velocity

“I do jobs that skirt the edges of legality—and sometimes cross the line. That wasn’t the life I had planned. Once I was going to be a pilot in the federation fleet. I was in training when a bunch of guys in my squad got caught in a smuggling scheme. I wasn’t in on it, but because they were in my group, the authorities lumped me in with them. We were all kicked out of the service together.”

“You had no way to make a good living.”

He dragged in a breath and released it with a hiss. “Luckily, I had already learned to pilot a ship, and a group of investors saw me as an opportunity. They staked me to a junker craft and hired me to haul freight. I didn’t see a bright future in working for them, and as I got to understand the business better, I started having side deals going. I made enough to buy them out and then enough to buy this ship at an auction.”

“Okay. I guess I understand that you had a better life planned.”

“I fell into this one, and it works okay. Maybe I was lucky. I might not have enjoyed getting bogged down in regulations.”

She stopped eating when there was still food in the bowl.

“You’re full?”

“I’m feeling weird.”

“Like how?”

“Nothing I ever felt before. I could be getting sick.”

“I hope not. But you’ve had a lot of stress today. Maybe you should try to sleep.”

“Okay.”

He took her to the tiny guest cabin, smaller than his own, then showed her the shared head facilities. After demonstrating how to flush the toilet, he said, “There’s water to wash your hands and face. But to clean your body, I have a cleansing unit.” He gestured toward a transparent enclosure. “It will do the job in a couple of minutes.”

“Okay.”

In the guest cabin, the bunk was about the size of his, but the floor space was almost nonexistent.

“Sleep in your clothes,” he said, not wanting to take a chance on coming across her naked again.

“My sandals, too?”

“You can take them off.”

She kicked off the leather sandals she was wearing and eased onto the bunk. “So soft,” she murmured.

“Get some rest.”

The light had dimmed when she lay down. “If you sit up, you’ll have light again.”

“Okay.”

“I’m going to close the door. You can open it with this handhold.” He grasped the finger niche and demonstrated.

“Okay.”

He eased the door closed, then headed back to the control room. Before he proceeded to Danalon, he wanted some answers from Rafe. Did his friend know what he was buying? And, if so, what was he planning to do with a slave?

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“Amber.” She said the syllables aloud, testing them, listening to the sound. She had to remember that’s who she was now.

She dragged in a deep breath and let it out, willing herself to be calm, but she simply couldn’t stop her heart from thumping inside her chest.

She had let Max Cassidy pick her name because she had no idea of what would sound pleasing to the ears of an offworlder. It was a good choice—short and clean.

“I’m a new person,” she whispered into the darkness, pleased with that realization, then found that tears were leaking from her eyes. She dashed them away with the sleeve of her borrowed shirt, unwilling to break down now that she had come so far.

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