Page 82 of Seven Oars
The silence in the Cargo Hold was painfully heavy.
“Can humans and Rix have babies?” Fawn asked.
Gro smacked her on the head to a chorus of outraged outcries from the women.
Sassa shot Fawn a raw look before disappearing again beneath her covers.
The women dispersed.
Later, Alyesha went into the shower stall and didn’t come out for a long time. When she emerged, she busied herself brushing her hair and massaging her face, humming softly under her breath.
No one spoke, but the quiet time they were given was cherished.
They knew the reprieve wouldn’t last.
*****
It wasn’t Tutti who barged into the Cargo Hold this time. It was Esseh.
He kicked Gro and her mattress out of his way and stopped in the middle of the room, surveying it with a sweep of his flat, white-less eyes. The dim lights made lumps out of his puckered facial scars.
“Where’s the female?” he said to Rosamma. He meant Sassa.
Rosamma looked helplessly at Gro, then at the others. Her tongue refused to form words. Esseh would find Sassa eventually, but she simply refused to help him.
So, apparently, did the others.
Silence reigned in the Cargo Hold. Every scrape of theoaragainst some invisible part of the ship rang like a bell tolling in the absolute stillness. It stretched for five seconds. Ten.
Then Alyesha pointed at the corner.
In two strides, Esseh was there, yanking the covers off. He hauled Sassa to her feet.
She screamed, breaking the silence, and fought him like a wildcat, hurling insults.
In his spot by the wall, Phex briefly closed his eyes, his third eyelid popping out and in.
“Damn,” he said succinctly, startling Rosamma.
He never cursed. This place was getting to him.
Driven by a bad feeling, Rosamma sidled up to him.
“Quick! Give me your hand.”
“Rosamma,” he said, but she heardRisana.Poor man, he still couldn’t pronounce her name.
She caught his hand and held it briefly, her fingers sliding up to his wrist where the skin was more supple. His callused palm would’ve worked too, but he never took her hand, and she was careful not to cross their boundary.
Pretending his wrist was an injection site, she“injected” him with a strong burst of energy.
In another second, he was on his feet, blocking Esseh’s exit.
“You can’t have her,” he said in a clipped tone.
Esseh bared his teeth.“And who are you, slave?”
“I’m a defender. Not that you know what it means.”
