Page 40 of Retribution
Keep you all to myself.
Part of her liked his possessiveness, but another part of her riled against it, the part of her that wanted the freedom to forge her own life. If it wasn’t for Michael and the horrible Kall judge and even Zamek, she would still be on Earth, settling into her new job at the Interstellar Intelligence Agency.
But it all went back to the war. Her life had begun to unravel during the war, after Amos died and Michael’s grief turned to anger, and when Aunt Colleen refused to evacuate and later perished in a Kall attack. She supposed she couldn’t blame one person for her current predicament.
Sighing, she watched as an airship zipped across the sky, moving beyond the mountains and out of sight. A crowd was gathered in the square of the town, and she squinted, trying to get a better look. When she couldn’t make out what was going on, she peered at the control panel and figured out a way to magnify that portion of the viewscreen.
What she saw horrified her.
A crowd surrounded a platform that contained dozens of poor, shackled souls—most of them human, but some were Kall or from other worlds.
Slaves. They’re being sold as slaves.
It’s an auction day.
A shiver rinsed down her spine.
During the two years she’d spent on planet Kall, she had purposely avoided the slave auctions, knowing such a sight would break her heart. The cruelty of the Kall astounded her sometimes.
Layla watched in horror as a short human woman was pushed onto the slave block. She was naked, just as all the slaves were.
Tears burned in Layla’s eyes and she knew she ought to turn away from the viewscreen, but she couldn’t seem to stop watching the scene unfold.
Multiple Kall males in the crowd lifted their moneybags, presumably offering bids. A skinny Kall male stood near the slave block, shouting until his face turned purple as he pointed from bidder to bidder. The auctioneer, no doubt.
Eventually, the human woman was led off the slave block by a huge Kall male who emerged from the crowd. Her new master, and judging by the dark gleam in his eyes, he wouldn’t be a particularly kind master either. A few tears escaped to roll down Layla’s cheeks. This was horrible.
She witnessed auction after auction, watching men and women being sold off in the square of Sumlin District. Her throat burned and her tears kept coming.
A noise behind her startled her, and she spun around at the sound of a throat being cleared.
General Zamek stood before her, wearing his Kall uniform, a sword hanging from his weapons’ belt, as well as a few knives. No ax this time. She supposed that was only reserved for battles. Or executions. She shivered at the memory of him looming over her on the white tarp.
He shot a brief glance at the viewscreen and his face softened.
“You shouldn’t be watching this, human,” he said, heading for the control panel. He pressed a button and the viewscreen went back to normal, showing a landscape view of the valley and mountains.
“It’s so terribly cruel,” she said, wiping at her tears.
“It’s not as cruel as you think,” he replied in an infuriatingly unapologetic tone.
She spun on him. “How can you say that?”
“Only those convicted of grave crimes in a Kall court are sold at auction. It’s better than being sentenced to death, and not all masters are cruel. Some masters treat their slaves as well as they treat their servants.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
“Somemasters,” she said, “but not all.”
“Layla,” he said, grasping her upper arms, “I have purposely delayed leaving my warship because I didn’t wish for you to see the auction. Had I realized you knew how to manipulate the viewscreen, I would have locked it down.” He sighed. “I will need to take you to the slave office in Sumlin before we venture to my home. You must be registered as a slave and fitted with a tracker.”
Her heart broke. She’d known this day would come, but her heart still broke. She realized General Zamek didn’t have many options when it came to her, but surely there had to be a way to get around officially registering her as a slave.
“How-how did we get here so fast? I thought we had about two more weeks of travel?” Her stomach clenched. She’d really been counting on those two weeks. She felt as though she’d been tossed into freezing cold water without warning, and no shore in sight.
“One of the Verrsuans we rescued—Amorrga—told us about a new artificial wormhole the Corrtass recently installed along the border between sectors 39 and 40. We were able to barter for passage through the wormhole, thus shortening our travels considerably.”
“Well, isn’t that convenient. I am sure you’re eager to get that tracker in my arm and chain me to your bed.”
He released one of her arms and pinched the bridge of his nose, a gesture that looked very human, and gave her an exasperated look. “You needn’t be so dramatic, Layla.” His eyes darkened. “But if you like being chained up, that can easily be arranged. Now, come. You must get dressed.”
