Page 54 of Seven Oars
Anske’s face was slowly filling with color.“When was the last time you knew what day it really was? Or what month? It doesn’t matter.” Her hands clutched the food tighter.
Gro and Eze flanked Anske from both sides, and they meant business.
Anske quickly saw she was outnumbered. A pleading look she shot at Alyesha’s gained her no support.
“You want me to starve!” she exclaimed dramatically.
“No, we want you to follow the rules. Otherwise, we’ll all starve.”
Flustered, Anske tried to put the supplies back but kept shoving them into the wrong spot. Stuff fell and rolled.
“It’s a stupid system! I can never remember it. I just want to eat, okay?” She was genuinely distraught.
Silently, Rosamma picked up the fallen cans and returned them to their proper place. She selected one can and one pouch from the current shelf and handed them to Anske, who grabbed them and stomped to her pad. She ate in silence, with her back to the room.
The Cargo Hold fell quiet.
Rosamma felt tired and despondent. It was so cold in here. Her skin was covered in large goose bumps that wouldn’t subside.
She fingered the dozen alloy bracelets on her wrists. Uncle Zaron had commissioned them for her after some alien quack claimed the metals had healing qualities. Zaron had paid dearly for them.The bracelets couldn’t stop her energy from escaping, but they did capture it a tiny bit, slowing its inexorable leak.
Mostly, the bracelets just annoyed her, and right now, the cold metal on her wrists deepened the chill in her bones.
Rosamma rose to see if anything was left for her to put on.
Unlike the food, the pirates had appropriated most of women’s things, of which there were few to begin with. What remained in a small pile on the Cargo Hold’s floor included several discarded bras, crushed cosmetics, a sunhat, and a picture of Fawn in denim overalls.
She eyed the offerings with frustration, then returned to her thin pallet she’d fashioned from smelly rags. Luckily, she was the proud owner of an old thermal blanket that Gro had found and saved for her.
She tossed and turned under the blanket, unable to get comfortable. Her lower belly felt heavy.
She groaned. Her period had arrived. And in these conditions!
Rosamma looked around at the other women.
“Sassa!” she called quietly, dragging herself closer.
Explaining the situation, Rosamma asked about the supplies.
Sassa gave her a blank look.“Why didn’t you get the shots?”
“What shots?”
“To stop your period and provide birth control.”
Sassa puzzled over Rosamma like she was a mindless creature living under a rock. Which would be such a correct assessment.
“Your brother’s girlfriend, Paloma, signed us all up through the Shadush’s public clinic,” Sassa said.“We got two shots for free, and the effects last a year. It was part of our prep plan.”
The heat of embarrassment suffused Rosamma’s face.“I guess I missed that part.”
“Oh, no.” Sassa pulled at her lower lip.“I don’t have any personal care items, Rosamma. I’m sorry.”
Rubbing her arms to generate friction, Rosamma lay down again. Her back felt every hard line of the mesh floor through her thin pad. The thermal blanket, a short, crinkly square, had holes from old age. She wrapped it around herself tightly, missing the soft wool of her lost shawl. Missing so much more than her shawl.
The pirates’muffled laughter filtered through the door, jarring her senses. But the sound of the big machine whirring and straining under the Cargo Hold was oddly soothing. So powerful and constant. She listened to its measured revs.
Chapter 9
