Page 1 of Freedom Mine
Chapter One
ALLI
Alli shifted, unable to control her nervous energy. The man arguing with the slaver pointed at her. She shrank back, only to bump into one of the male slaves behind her. He grabbed her bottom again, reminding her that no place was safe. She lurched forward, not quite out of his reach. The shock cuffs cemented to the floor only gave so much room, but it was enough for the moment as the mounting argument at the front of the auction house drew everyone’s attention.
“Do you think I’m stupid?” the man with the deep brown eyes said as he slammed his palm down against the desk, causing the slaver’s datapad to jump. Rage poured off of him like sweat off a slave, giving him an unpredictable air. He had to be at least late twenties, maybe early thirties though clearly younger than the men who’d been ogling her outside when she’d been on display. The slight shadow of his stubble gave him a more ominous look, or maybe it was how he glowered at the man.
Without even knowing what they argued about, she found herself cheering for him. Anything that thwarted a slaver’s plans was fine by her.
She’d seen many strong, young, handsome men over the years, though none that had ever held any appeal, especially since she’d never had a choice. The smart thing to do in this situation, in any situation, was to avert her eyes, before drawing unwanted attention, but Alli couldn’t help herself. There was something different about this man that she couldn’t quite put her finger on, and it intrigued her. Why was he here and pointing at her?
From the size of his biceps, he was used to hard work. He wore a basic pair of trousers and a plain blue shirt woven from a coarse fiber, nothing like the expensive flowing silks her past owners favored. Whoever he was, the man was no owner.
He glanced her way, making eye contact for the first time. Her eyes trailed over his powerful arms to the hint of well-formed muscles pressing against his shirt, a shirt that hugged his form nicely, tapering at the waist, as if pointing lower. She couldn’t look there, not with his eyes on her.
She let her eyes travel back to his face which had grown darker, if that was possible. There was a hunger there, one she’d seen too many times. She should lower her eyes, but he wasn’t one of the rich Althirans who bought, sold, and used slaves as if they were farm animals, or in her case, a toy to be played with. He wasn’t here for her, though a part of her wished he was. Why did he keep staring at her? Given his build and clothing, he could almost be mistaken for a slave, but he walked around with an air that no slave dare have.
What she’d thought was desire quickly transformed into a scowl, and it made her step back, as much as her tether would allow. She’d done nothing to warrant that anger now directed at her. Then again, she’d waited too long to lower her eyes. She corrected her error. This was not the place to cause trouble.
“You’re charging extra for a contraceptive implant that’s she’s likely had for months,” he said as he leaned forward, towering over the slaver who sat there swinging a small ball on a rope despite how angry the man became. The slaver didn’t need to worry, not with a blaster at his side.
“Settle down, Kayo. If you don’t want her, I’ll find someone else willing to pay the price. It’s as simple as that.”
Please say no, please say no, she prayed, over and over in her head. She didn’t want the man, Kayo, to buy her. There was a darkness to him, an anger that would be directed at her the first time she stepped out of line. Eventually, she would step out of line with him as she’d done with each owner, as sure as the sun rose and set each day.
Kayo glanced her way and she couldn’t help the slight pang of regret. Before she’d known he was haggling to buy her, she’d thought him handsome with his scruffy beard and deep brown eyes. But he was just another owner, one she’d already angered somehow. She’d been foolish to think that this stranger would somehow rescue her from this pitiful existence. She could count on no one except herself.
“Fine,” Kayo said, his mouth tight.
His eyes remained on her as the slaver said, “Sold.”
Alli closed her eyes, listening to the familiar tap on a datapad as the slaver recorded the sale and transferred her chip’s code to the local grid. He’d bought her and there was nothing she could do about it, other than find a way to please him and stay alive. With all her might, she held back the tears. She needed to gather her wits, to learn as much about her new owner as fast as she could. The more she learned, the greater her odds of avoiding a beating or worse.
With a slight click, the ring on the floor retracted, releasing her tether. The burly handler, the tall red-headed guy who’d been overly grabby on her arrival, yanked on the tether hard, sending her a warning to behave as he pulled her behind him.
“Take off her cuffs,” Kayo said as the handler led her past him.
“You know the rules, Kayo,” the slaver said, motioning the handler to continue. “She stays bound until payment’s cleared and she’s in your landglider.”
She couldn’t hear what her new owner mumbled under his breath as the handler led her outside into the bright sun. Tilting her face to the sun felt so good, reminding her of home. This planet wasn’t a desert planet like Medrio, but it wasn’t an ice planet either. Trees and mountains filled the distant landscape, with a fresh scent that told of a world not yet spoiled by industry. Probably a farm planet, with maybe a few ranches as well. Poorly constructed stores of wood, brick, and stone lined the dirt road that wound haphazardly in all directions with no sense of design in mind. This had to be one of the frontier towns she’d read about. Would being on a frontier planet make escape easier or harder?
“Sit there,” the handler said as he shoved her into the back of a landglider. There were supplies stacked high on one side, all tethered to rings on the floor. He pushed her into a sitting position on one of the crates and leered at her. She lowered her eyes. His type liked power and pain and resisting only resulted in wounds that took weeks to heal.
Instead of tethering only her leg cuffs to the ring in the floor, the bastard tethered her wrist cuffs too, forcing her to bend over, leaving her face level with his crotch. She pulled on the cuffs as he closed the back to the landglider, throwing them into near darkness until he opened the vent above, allowing a sliver of sunlight to pour in.
“Please, no,” she said, unable to keep the tears from falling as he unzipped his pants and freed himself.
“Use any teeth and I’ll cut you. Now, open up.”
She clamped her jaw shut until he yanked her hair back so violently that she screamed.
Light flooded the back of the glider. Her new owner, Kayo, grabbed the handler and slammed him into the dirt. Fist after fist landed in the handler’s face, sending blood in all directions. Gasps and shouts filled the air as people watched Kayo pummel the handler. Two nearby men grabbed Kayo and shoved him up against a wall.
Women and men alike pointed to her, their faces filled with disgust. They blamed her. Alli turned her eyes from the crowd though she’d done nothing wrong. If she could hold her head high, she would, but the tethers left her prone. Finding dignity or maintaining it often had to be done from within, which was hard at times. This was one of those times.
“The first chance you get, you better cut him and run,” a man whispered to her from outside the glider. His blond hair swept across his long forehead in a way that reminded her of Fersith, her second owner. Unlike Fersith, this man had powerful arms and a trim body with mud on his pants and boots. A man who worked, again unlike Fersith. Yet it was odd how he stood there, leaning into the landglider so casually, so unconcerned with the fact that a man had just been beaten and was still laying on the ground bleeding only a few feet away.
“Kayo’s violent, and you won’t last long with him,” the man said.
