Page 32 of Ulfar

A deep, low thud echoes just beyond the doors. I freeze, unable to tear my eyes away.

Thud. The shields flicker, trying their best to withstand the assault.

Thud. Another flicker, and this time they blink out for an instant before coming back online.

Thud! The loudest yet. The shields fizzle and fade with an explosion of electricity. Sparks shower from the door like a firework.

With an awful, ear-rending screech, the door tears open, revealing the intruders at last.

Masked, armored men storm into the hold, guns drawn. I can barely hear their commands over the clamor of panicked passengers and wailing klaxons. A horrible thought crosses my mind—maybe I should have stayed in that cramped container.

What if they’re here for me?

The flashlights attached to their guns flare back and forth, blinding me when they zero in on my location. I try to hide behind a pile of boxes, but it’s too late.

“Over here!” one of the soldiers calls into a headset. I back up, try to turn and run, but it’s a dead end. They’ve got me cornered, and more soldiers are closing in fast.

With my night vision ruined by the glare of their flashlights, I can’t tell what’s happening in the rest of the cargo bay. I hear screams. Shouting. A crash, then...gunshots.

Silence.

Steel-toed combat boots stomp toward my location and a gloved hand shoots out, grabbing me by the shoulder, hard. I lose my balance and topple backward, but it doesn’t matter. The mysterious assailant yanks me upright, clapping thick metal cuffs on my wrist before I can react.

“Get your hands off of me!” I scream, trying to aim a good kick between the man’s legs. He came prepared for that too, using his own foot to hit the back of my knees. I crumple before him, cuffed and in pain, watching with horrified eyes as the men haul trunk-loads of expensive exports away. They don’t seem to be taking anyone else prisoner, though, from what I can see with my limited vision.

Just me.

“Be good and follow along nicely, or I’ll have to knock you out.” He brandishes a vicious-looking syringe at me, and the sight of the glowing green liquid sends enough extra adrenaline down my spine to force me to my feet.

I try to be careful and watch where I step, but it’s not easy to keep my balance with the cuffs they’ve put on me. There are ankle cuffs too, just far enough apart for me to take awkward, shuffling steps forward. That, and a thick metal chain connects the wrist cuffs to a lead held by the soldier, ensuring I’m not going to go anywhere.

And where would I even go? This is a star shuttle in the midst of outer space. We’re a captive audience inside this metal shell. I’d never make it to an escape pod in time, especially in this condition, and it’s not like I can just leave out the door and make a run for it. Exposed to the lightless vacuum of space, I’d be dead in mere moments.

So I shuffle along, follow my cruel captors, and pray for the safety of my baby. For both our sakes.

As the airlock hisses closed and we’re boarding the other ship, I hear a chilling command from a highly decorated man who looks to be their leader.

“The others? No, don’t need ‘em. Leave none alive.”

My mouth drops open and I crane my head back to the ship, even as they shove me into a seat and the Syndicate vessel starts moving.

“No!” I yell against the empty blackness. I pound at the windows, but this time no alien in shining armor is going to come to my aid. The engines accelerate, the guards standing stoic and motionless while watching my every move. My wrists and ankles bound together, a chain attached to a nearby post like I’m some sort of dog. And maybe that’s all I am to them.

A piece of meat to be bought and sold. A bargaining chip. My hand goes to my stomach, where my baby has started to grow.

Nothing but a breeding vessel to give them more slaves.

I watch the Starbound, dark and derelict, as it grows smaller and smaller in the viewport.

“Do it,” one of the guards says with a nod, and there’s an ominous clicking sound. An explosion rocks the plundered shuttle, and with a sickening horror I see a crowd of tiny dots rushing out of the back end of the ship.

Oh my god. Those werepeople. They opened the airlock and jettisoned everyone left on the ship!

I can’t keep quiet anymore. “How could you?!” I scream, stumbling to my feet and lunging for one of the guards. The chain stops me from going anywhere. “They were innocent!”

“They could have informed the authorities. Now calm down and go back to your assigned seat. You don’t want me to get the warden, do you?”

I’m past the point of caring. Only the distant hope of my child’s life keeps me from throwing it away completely. “You already got what you wanted, didn’t you?” There are angry tears in my eyes, pain throbbing through my heart as I think of all the lives lost. They did nothing wrong. They were simply on the wrong shuttle at the wrong time...and it was all my fault. “You took me, I went with you and was good like you said!”

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