Page 102 of Freedom Mine
Chapter Twenty-Two
KAYO
Time was always the first concept to be warped while in the cage. Scratching marks into the metal floor with each sunrise never lasted long. A beating here and there might cause him to sleep more, lose a day or so, but it was his mind wandering that was the worst. It screwed with him more than the drugs in the food. He’d seen Garitt the first day when he’d been delivered and thrown into the cage. After that, no one entered the small structure except a young woman who slid his meals into the slot at the bottom of the cage once a day.
He tried talking to her, but she never spoke. Not a word. Garitt was a vicious bastard, and he could only imagine what he’d done to the girl. He hoped Garitt hadn’t cut out her tongue. More than likely she was too afraid to speak.
Kayo had seen enough of Garitt’s handiwork over the years to scare even the bravest of souls. Slaves chained to trees, left for the hoonta hounds and vermin to feast on. Others encased in cement and left on the bottom of ravines plagued by flash floods. The man thrived on others’ suffering. Kayo was glad that Alli and his men had been spared. No one could touch them, as long as Jace stayed alive and didn’t transfer the property to anyone.
* * *
ALLI
Alli returned to the house and wandered from room to room as she brainstormed. She’d already read all the books on Varko’s property laws in the office. That had helped her find about the request for an examination of Tieg’s chip, but nothing else seemed to apply to Kayo’s situation. Unless she’d missed something. She stood in the door of the office, looking at the mess of papers and photos still on the floor. Kayo had been reminiscing with her the night before he’d been taken away. He’d known what was coming. She’d drawn him to the bedroom, fully intending to help him clean up and organize the mess the next day. After they’d taken him, she hadn’t been able to enter the room. The memory of how tenderly he’d held her after she’d taken his cock in her mouth struck her every time she approached the office.
If she was going to find an answer in the old books Mac had kept, she needed to ignore those raw emotions and get started. She spent an hour organizing the papers on the floor and filing them away. They were records of all the slaves Mac and then Kayo had bought and freed over the years. Over sixty during Mac’s lifetime, twenty for Kayo. She’d never realized how many lives they’d both impacted. And there would be eleven more to add to Kayo’s tally soon enough. She hoped he knew how proud she was of him.
She slipped the pictures back into the small wooden box, except for the one in the glass frame. That had always sat atop the desk, in the far corner. She pulled ‘The Althiran Empire Code of Slaves’, ‘Varkos Property Transfer Law’,and ‘Slave Ownership’from the shelf. The last title made her cringe as much as the first time she’d opened it. It was mostly a how-to of ownership, but there were a few passages in there that spoke about freeing slaves so it was worth a second look.
* * *
“Blue! You in there?”
Alli woke up with a start. The corner of one book was digging into her face. One glance around told her she wasn’t in the tent by the lake, Kayo sitting behind her talking in between nibbling on her ear. She wished whoever was calling her would shut up so she could lose herself in the dream, to have Kayo with her once more.
“Where are you, Blue?”
That sounded like Jace, and he sounded excited. He’d found a way to get Kayo back! It had to be! She jumped up so fast, she knocked the picture frame off the desk. The crash and sound of glass shattering seemed to sum up how useless pouring through all those books had been. How long had she been reading? Three, four days maybe?
Glass crunched beneath her boots as she bent to pick up the photo. She’d worry about the glass later.
“Blue?” Now it was Liet shouting for her.
The photo still in hand, Alli raced outside. Jace was standing there with a scanner at the base of Runner’s neck. The beep sounded, and he showed the display to Runner. FREE appeared in bright green letters. Runner grabbed her and did a little dance. He was fast on his feet, pulling her in a circle, and it was all she could do to keep from tripping herself or him!
It was a bittersweet moment when she realized today was the day Jace was heading to the Department of Property and Slave Transfers to pay for freedom status for as many of the men as he could afford. That meant the excitement she’d heard in his voice had nothing to do with Kayo. It only took one look at Runner, now dancing by himself, to put a smile on her face. She had to keep thoughts of Kayo out of her head, for the moment, so she could celebrate the men’s freedom. They deserved it.
Kayo would want her to celebrate. He’d told her once how he always held a party when a man earned his freedom status. There’d be one heck of a party tonight, given the number of smiles in the yard. Runner was seventh on the list. Masher, Diggs, Liet, and Ranth were all grinning from ear to ear. Jace had bought freedom status for all of them. The vein of pozite had been huge, but she had never imagined it would cover so many.
“Did Eight and Bawson get their freedom and leave?” she asked. She would have liked to say goodbye to them, even though she wasn’t on the best terms with Bawson.
“Gone, though they said they might be back,” Jace said. “I thought I’d keep Mac’s tradition. Give each man a few parchas, enough to leave Varkos on a freighter. I told them they’re free to stay on to work for more money.
Jace smiled. “It never gets old saying they’re free.” She hadn’t seen him smile since the day he introduced himself.
“Your turn, Sweetness,” Masher said.
“What?” she said stunned as Jace raised the scanner to her neck.
“What about Pabi, Becks, and Orsac? They’re before me on the list.”
“Freedom status paid and confirmed.” He held the scanner up. “Got their green light and left with Eight and Bawson.”
Ally turned and lifted her hair, her entire body on edge, nervous, and anxious. She’d gone from dreaming about this moment to giving up hope. Then Kayo had returned her ability to hope and dream again, and here it was, becoming a reality.
The beep made her jump slightly. Jace showed her the scanner. FREE. In bright green letters. She threw her arms around Jace, and then each man in turn. “All of us?”
“I didn’t want to say anything before since I wasn’t sure, but there was more than enough pozite there. Everything is paid off. I can even start up again, fulfilling Mac’s mission.”
