Page 2 of Freedom Mine
Two men still had Kayo pinned to the wall as they talked to him, trying to calm him. Kayo’s eyes found her and he stilled. She shivered from the sheer intensity of his stare and not from the fact that she belonged to him now. It made no sense.
“My name’s Garitt,” said the man leaning into the landglider. “I can help you escape Varkos, if you can get away from Kayo on your own. I can’t risk trespassing and getting caught on his property. He’s crazy, as you can see from the shape that handler’s in.”
Given her present position, tethered bent over and unable to twist her body, she could only see the handler’s blood-splattered pants. The handler hadn’t moved. A few curse words from medics drifted toward her. Had her new owner killed the man with his bare hands? What would he do to her the first time she didn’t please him or outright disobeyed?
“Don’t let Kayo see this,” Garitt said as he slipped something hard and cold under her thigh. “At least not until you need it. Go for the throat if you can, once he’s asleep. My property borders his, so you won’t have far to go when you escape.”
Escape? Was that possible? So far, she’d seen eye scanners and chip scanners at the port, at the Auction House, and even as she entered the pen with the other slaves. This planet looked relatively untouched by industrialization, but they were on the grid and had the latest technology, at least when it came to tracking slaves in the Althiran Empire.
“I have a string of eight wind turbines on my property, in two rows of four,” Garitt continued. She’d almost forgotten about him, her eyes still on her new owner as he shook hands with one of the men who’d pulled him off the handler. “You’ll see the turbines on your approach to Kayo’s. Good luck. You’ll need it. He’s a violent bastard.”
Kayo strode toward the landglider at a fast clip. Steely eyes locked onto Garitt. “Get away from my glider, Garitt,” he shouted.
“Just guarding it for you,” Garitt said. “You left it wide open. Anyone could have stolen anything out of the back, including your latest acquisition.” Garitt flashed her a weak smile. She wasn’t sure what to make of him, but clearly, his presence was enough to ensure her new owner stayed in a foul mood.
Kayo shoved Garitt aside. “Stay away from her. You touch anything that’s mine, and you’ll be sharing a hospital room with that handler.”
She’d been free once, seen as a person. Talked to as a person. She had mattered. Now she was property, anacquisition, piled inside and tethered to the floor of a landglider along with all the other purchases.
Her fear rose as Garitt strolled away, leaving her with her owner. Would he accuse her of trading sex for favors with the handler? She hadn’t been trying to escape, but he might not see it that way.
Kayo stepped into the rear of the glider and shut the door behind him. She remained locked to the floor, her head level with his crotch. Not much had changed.
He opened the top vent fully, allowing fresh air and sunlight to stream in. The cool air washed over her heated skin, but it wasn’t enough to calm her nerves. Nothing would be, as trussed and trapped as she was.
“Drekk,” Kayo cursed, his voice laced with a heaviness that she hadn’t expected. He bent down and opened the ring, releasing both the tethers to her hands and ankles at once. She straightened her posture, glad to sit up again.
He reached for her cheek and brushed the tears away with the pad of his thumb. When she tried to lower her eyes, he gripped her chin, demanding she meet his eyes. It went against everything she’d been taught and learned over the years.
“That won’t happen again. I promise,” he said. His voice held a softness, but she knew better than to be fooled by any sense of caring. Owners often started out nice, while they were still enamored with their new playthings. That’s what made learning their likes and dislikes early on so critical. The more she kept them happy, the less they’d hurt her.
“I’ve never had a problem with handlers moving a slave to my glider in the past,” Kayo said, a single finger gliding along her jaw before he wrenched his hand away. “I should have known it would be different with a woman.”
For a moment, she thought she saw a softening to his eyes, but then he removed the shock cuffs, and his face tensed as he bagged the cuffs and tossed the bag into a compartment along the wall.
“Come up front with me.” He squeezed through the narrow opening into the front compartment and slid into the pilot’s seat.
She rose, carefully gripping the object under her thigh. From the feel of it, it was a knife with a retractable blade, small, easy to hide. No one had ever given her a knife, or any means with which to protect herself. She’d smile right now, but Kayo could turn and see her. She tucked the knife into her dress pocket. She’d have to keep her hand there as much as possible to hide the slight bulge.
“Get up here already,” he shouted from the front.
Alli raced through the opening and slid into the second seat. The moment she snapped the harness shut, the glider lifted straight up. There were a few gliders in the air approaching or leaving the small town, but nothing like the congestion of the cities on Farren 3. At least from the front, she could learn the topography and find Garitt’s property.
“Damn thieves, the bunch of them,” Kayo said, still seething. “First they tacked on additional charges for a contraceptive you already have and then that piece of shit Barog assaulted you!”
Kayo’s hands gripped the yoke so hard his knuckles turned white. Only now did she notice the bruising on his right hand and the blood splatter on his sleeve. Alli sank back into her seat as much as possible and remained silent. Hopefully, he’d calm down soon, before he realized she was at the center of all his trouble.
He glanced her way, his eyes locking with hers. She froze, not sure if she should look away. Every owner had a different preference and she knew nothing about Kayo, except that he protected his property. He’d protect her from others, but no one would protect her from him. Suddenly, the weight of the knife in her pocket felt right even as she averted her eyes.
After a few minutes in the air, Alli glanced to her left. The farther they got from the town, the more her new owner relaxed. His jaw no longer clenched and he released a long-held breath. Regardless, she wouldn’t risk speaking without permission. Stay alert, keep her eyes down, and her mouth in check. That last part was the hardest.
Turbulence rocked the glider, and his hands flew over the nav panel, adjusting the craft’s speed and pitch. Alli peered out the window. She’d seen a lot of wind turbines from the moment they’d left town, but only in groups of two or three. Garitt said he had eight.
The glider dropped suddenly, ten feet in under a second, and then lifted just as fast, as if it had bounced between jet streams. That’s when she spotted two rows of four wind turbines each. Garitt’s property. As they flew over, she could make out a farmhouse, a series of stables, a few smaller buildings, and the familiar site of pylons outlining a slave owner’s property. Those were the same all over the Empire.
“Gets windy up here,” Kayo said as the glider descended.
Garitt spoke the truth. She wouldn’t have to go far to reach his place,onceshe escaped Kayo.Ifshe escaped Kayo. . ..
