Page 10 of Saving the Space Pirate

Chapter Three

Ruby

I got up, swaying a little. That had been strong stuff. Not as strong as the martinis I’d drunk on a Friday night after a long week at work though. That seemed like a lifetime ago. Another world.

But everything was going well after a shaky start. At one point, I suspected Killian and his uncle might come to blows, but now they appeared amicable enough. It would be nice to stop moving for a while, spend some time with Killian. Forget about the outside world.

I just wished there was more food.

Hey, call me shallow, but I like food.

I winced as I took a step. My poor feet could have done with some of that fast-healing cream, but somehow I doubted they had any here. I tried not to show it as I moved closer to Killian. I didn’t want to be a whiner.

But Joe, the lovely man, must have seen something. He spoke to the guy who’d gotten the bag for Killian. He disappeared, then came back a minute later with some material and rope.

“Sit down,” Joe said, pointing to the seat I’d just vacated. “We don’t have any spare boots, but this will do for now. Until we get something better.” He wrapped a piece of soft leather around one foot, tying it around my ankle as a makeshift shoe, and then repeated the process with my other foot.

“Thank you.” I wriggled my toes, then stood up. While it still hurt, I could walk okay.

“Let’s go then.”

Joe led the way out of the cavern and into a tunnel. Not the one we’d come down, though; this one was at right angles and narrower, so we had to walk in single file, with a low ceiling that was no problem to me, but Kill had to duck his head. I followed close behind him.

Up ahead, a low hum drifted on the warm air, growing louder as we walked, until it was a constant clamor assaulting my ears. And the air grew heavy with a thick, almost greasy stench that threatened to clog my nostrils. Finally, Joe held up his hand and we stopped. He beckoned us forward to where the tunnel widened enough for us to stand side by side. We were on a ledge above a wide-open space, a huge drop below us which didn’t seem to faze the men, but I edged closer to Kill and slipped my hand in his. He looked at me, and I didn’t quite understand his expression. Then I peered down into the space below. For a minute, nothing made sense. I was gazing at total chaos. Then slowly, my brain made order from that chaos. Smoke hung heavy on the air, and the floor crawled with people. Not even people—children, who moved constantly, shoveling, scraping, dragging equipment, harnessed like mules. They wore rags and shackles around their ankles. It was so horrendous that for a moment I couldn’t speak.

“The shackles are new,” Killian said.

“Since a few of us escaped, they made them mandatory for all ages.”

“Nice to see you’re making things better.”

Joe ignored the comment. “This is the smelting room,” he said. “Most of the children start here when they’re four or so.”

I swallowed. “Did you start here?” I asked Killian.

He nodded. “As soon as I was big enough to pick up a shovel. I remember I was excited. It meant extra rations, and I was always hungry.”

I squeezed his hand. “I bet you were such a cute little boy.”

“He was a monster,” Joe said. “Always getting into trouble, getting a whipping.”

Kill ignored the comment. “Anyway, the excitement lasted all of about five minutes.” He nodded down to the floor below. “Welcome to hell. That first day, I cried. But never again.”

My eyes pricked for him.

“This is the reality of slavery,” Joe said. “Children born to it, who’ll die to it, never knowing anything different. Unless we do something to change things.”

I had nothing to say. My mouth was dry and my heart ached.

He turned away and we followed him in silence. On the walk back, my indignation grew, swelling like a live thing inside me, threatening to burst out like some sort of alien offspring. Consuming me.

By the time we reached the cave, I was about to explode. “We have to do something.”

Killian turned to me, and amusement flashed in his one good eye. “About what?”

“About those poor children. We have to save them.”

“They’re not your responsibility. Your job was to get Yolanda Pendleton back to her father. So this can never happen on Earth.”

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