Page 3 of Temple

“Asteroid impact. I was removed from the surface in the first transport.”

“Ah, so they had not properly classified your species.”

“I would not know. I didn’t have access to a terminal once I arrived here.”

“How long have you been here?”

“I have been here three and a half years.” She smiled. “This is my first time making it to the competition.”

“You farmed on your world?”

“No, but my father and many generations did. When I was asked my interests, it was natural to reach back into my own genes.”

He smiled. “What do you look forward to most?”

“Getting back to the equipment and making it do what I want it to. I am not Hmrain. I can’t just order everyone to do my bidding.”

He chuckled. “It is a perk.”

She smiled, and to her surprise, she enjoyed talking with Thoreval for the rest of the night.

Sage headed back to her quarters alone. She walked through the alleys and could see her building when a rush of feet caught her attention, and she was caught from behind with an arm around her neck. The grip lifted her, and she squeaked and clawed at the arm, but a hypo hissed, and the night got fuzzy and disappeared.

Her mouth was dry, and she pushed herself to a sitting position. The soft throbbing under her could only mean one thing. She was on a spacecraft.

The room she was in was tiny. She was still wearing her work suit and smelled. Based on pungency, she had been out for over a day.

Sage got up on weak legs and found the lav with the gel shower. Better than nothing. She found a clothing refreshing unit and stripped off, putting her underwear and the suit in the unit. At least it was a guestroom. Prisons didn’t let you do in-room laundry.

“Why the hell am I in space again? I hate space,” she muttered and walked into the shower, slicking up with gel and then triggering the solar flash that got into all her crevices with her arms out and feet wide.

When she vacuumed off the powder left behind by this particular gel, she walked out and checked the timer on the clothing refresher. Ten more minutes.

Sage sat on the bed and looked around. Nothing. There was nothing in the room that would tell her why she was there. She would wait until she was dressed before she tried to figure out if she was a prisoner or just a guest who hadn’t booked travel.

She got up when the timer announced her clothing was ready and put on her underwear and clean suit. She slipped into the socks and boots then turned to the door and tried to open it.

It took some fiddling, but the door hissed open, and she stepped out into an empty hall.

She turned toward the more distant juncture in the halls and looked back to memorize the room number. Sixty-nine.Heh.

She kept one hand on the wall and occasionally stopped to lean.

It was on one of her leanings that someone walked the hall at the end of her path. It was a male who was green and scaled. He rushed toward her and lifted her, walking calmly in the same direction she was headed.

“You should not have woken.”

She snorted. “I am contrary that way.”

He carried her into Medical and set her down on a bed. “Doc. She woke up.”

A man made of rough skin and horns approached and examined her. “Hm. How long until we are at the Temple?”

“Two days.”

He nodded and said, “We didn’t put in food for you, miss. Out you go.”

Another hypo was jabbed into her thigh, and she thrashed around for a moment before it put her under.Fuck.

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