Page 30 of Slavic

“Thatis, it.Anythingwe had, we put in the safe before landing onNavale.Iknew there were pirates there and wasn’t going to take the chance of openly carrying any credits on me.Thefew things we purchased have already been used as we were only going to be on the ship for another rising.”

“Yourhome world is a few rotations away, and there are no other space stations or habitable planets in this direction.Yournavigation is off.”

“Thehyperdrive cuts the distance in half.”

“Thisship is equipped with a hyperdrive system?”

“Isn’tyours?”

“No, but it will be now that you have been so helpful.Ishould send a thank you to your sire.”Hittingthe comm on my wristIask, “Bikardid you hear that?”

“Everyword.Falonis on his way over now to lighten their ship of a few devices.Thefuel transfer is almost done and because these younglings are going to be traveling a few more rotations than planned,Ihave pumped all our garbage into their cargo hold.Thatshould tide them over quite comfortably until they arrive home.”

“Howgracious of you, brother.Letme know whenFalonhas retrieved the equipment, andIwill sendMurgulto the cargo bay to loot the crates in that area.Untilthen,Iwill be at the helm with our most amicable hosts.”Murgulleaves and heads to the cargo bay the moment we return.

TheinstantIrelease the young male, he goes to stand in front of the others.Thefemale is still blubbering off to the side.Shehas a few jewels embedded in her skin, something that is common for their females.Andeven though it’s tempting, she smells so badIwould not dream of getting close enough to retrieve them.Instead,Iaddress the youngling that is trying his best to be brave.

“Youngling, who is yourSire?Ifyour family owns this star cruiser, there is no way you are a commoner.”

Hehesitates to reveal his family name, and the moment he doesIsee red. “GovernorRamboreis mySire,Rukuhks.”BeforeIdo somethingIregret,Iturn and walk off. “Pleaserelay my condolences when you return and tell him thatSlavicand his brothers appreciate the bounty we pilfered from his ship.”

Thehelm’s door shuts behind me, “Bikar, unhook us and get everyone back on board, my stomach cannot take any more of this smell.”

“MurgulandFalonhave just returned.Simplywaiting on you, big brother.”

Afterwelding the outer hulls airlock on thePyrkyneship closed,Ihit the locks to reengage our flight path on theZenith.Theyounglings’ predicament of having to explain to their sire what just happened is oneIdo not envy.ThoughImay detest the male, his younglings are not to blame for the system’s control over him.Icould have taken out my revenge on his spawn, but my life giver would leave her grave merely to remind me of what a disappointmentIhave become.Iwill not tarnish my life giver’s memory by destroying an innocent.Nomatter the amount of hatredIhold for their creator.

Normallyafter a raid,Iam in a great mood, but the mention of their sire’s name has done nothing but throw my failure in my face.Iwalk into the sanitizer, grateful to have the funk of that species off my skin only to be greeted by a small, red maned, pissed off female.

“Youguys are nothing but a bunch of fucking thieves!”

Chapter Twenty

RUBY

Someonegently strokingmy cheek has me opening my eyes only to close them again because of the bright light.

“Zenith, lights to fifty percent.”

“Acknowledged.”

“Youshould be able to open your eyes now,Ruby.”

Blinkinga few times,IfindKallensitting beside me on the bed. “Howis your head feeling?”

“LikeI’vebeen on a weeklong drunk.Whatthe hell did they do to me?”

“Theygave you a translator.Normallythese are implanted at birth with little to no side effects.Ido not think anyone anticipated the amount of pain they were going to cause you all.Icould hear the screams of the others all the way inRuarc’srooms.”

“Others?”

“Yes, they rescued three other human females from one of the cages in the back of theVelgriddixship when they found us.”

“Damn,I’msuch a selfish bitch.Iwas so wrapped up in myself andRowan,Ididn’t even think about the other girls in there.”

“Donot judge yourself too harshly, we all handle things differently.”

“Arethe other girls alright?”

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