Page 81 of Freedom Mine
“This is my slave. Tieg, the one who escaped. Check the tracking records.”
More clicks on the datapad. “Yes, I see a slave of that name did escape your property last night. But I’m still taking the female. All evidence must be processed.”
“I’ll speak with her first,” Kayo said, not asking permission. He had some rights still, as her legal owner. Barhan nodded to his men to allow Kayo through.
Kayo pulled Alli out of earshot of Barhan and his men. He could feel her trembling beneath his hand. He wanted to hold her close, to let her know he wouldn’t give up until he found a way to help her, but he couldn’t let Barhan know he cared for her, other than her being his property.
“Where’s the knife Garitt gave you?” he asked.
“I swear, I didn’t kill anyone, with that knife or any other.”
“I believe you, but I have to know what happened to the knife you had with you here, the one you kept under your pillow.”
“I had it in my pocket when Tieg kidnapped me.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Garitt took it from me. The First Lead will kill me, Kayo!”
“Even if you had killed Tieg, slave-on-slave murders aren’t punishable by death.” ‘Usually’ he wanted to add, but he didn’t want to terrify her any more than she already was.
“Enough,” Barhan said.
As Barhan’s men led Alli toward the landglider, she looked over her shoulder at Kayo. If only he’d taken that knife from her the night he’d found it, then Garitt wouldn’t have had her knife.
“First Lead,” Kayo said. “She didn’t kill Tieg. I did.”
“You?” Barhan laughed, then suddenly stopped. “I realize this female slave is worth a lot of money, Variz, but her fingerprints are on the weapon.”
“As are mine, First Lead. Check for yourself, I should know since I killed him. And what is more likely, that a mere woman had the strength to overpower a man of that size and kill him, or that I, a former soldier, killed him?”
Barhan took out his scanner and Kayo placed his palm on the device. When the beep sounded, Barhan compared the fingerprints. After only a minute, he motioned his men to release Alli. The corporal removed the cuffs and shoved her toward Jace and Ranth.
“You freely confess to killing this man?” Barhan showed Kayo the picture of Tieg once more.
“Yes, I killed him. But it is within my rights as his owner to punish him how I see fit.”
“If he were your slave, then you would be within your rights.”
“What do you meanif?” Kayo asked as the two guards flanked him, with their blasters raised and pointed at his head.
“This man was a freeman by the name of Griz Aldor. I scanned his chip myself.”
“That’s Tieg. My slave. You just checked the records showing he was on Garitt’s property last night. Check again. You’ll see he’s still there... or wherever this body is now.”
“Yes, the slave registered by the name Tieg was indeed on Garitt’s property. He’s currently roughly twenty miles from here, near Vonith Falls. Likely using the river to get as far from you as he can. I’ll send my men to capture him.” Barhan motioned to his guard behind Kayo.
The guard pulled Kayo’s hands behind him and snapped the energy cuffs in place. “Kayo Variz, you are hereby charged with murder the murder of citizen Griz Aldor.”
* * *
ALLI
The guards shoved Kayo forward. Kayo’s bad leg caused him to stumble. One of the guards slammed the butt of his blaster into Kayo’s ribs, warning him to keep moving.
“Not possible,” Jace mumbled beside her. “Kayo never paid to free Tieg. I’d know.”
“I have records to prove the man was my slave, First Lead,” Kayo said as he tried to rise but couldn’t with his bad leg. The guard yanked him to his feet. “Check the registries. I bought him eight months ago and I never paid for his freedom. If someone else did, then they didn’t get my retina scan to finalize the status change.”
Barhan flicked a hand toward one of the guards and the man shoved a gag in Kayo’s mouth.
“He was a slave!” Alli yelled as she tried to push her way past Jace.
