Page 19 of Accidentally Abducted
Someone came and brought me more food and water. Judging by how hungry I was, I could only guess that it'd been at least twenty-four hours, maybe more. How was time measured in this place? Mars days and hours? My head was still set to Earth-time.
I hated being helpless.
Would I live or die? That choice wasn’t mine anymore.
I had to future. No name. No idenity.
This was all thanks to Zeysor. I hated him as much as I was attracted to him - a frustrating mix of emotions.
What would happen to me?
All I could do was wait.
CHAPTER NINE
- ZEYSOR -
RAGE SURGED through my body.
I was not accustomed to feeling helpless. A Hunter was strong-willed and unbreakable. A Hunter would not fall for a human female. A Hunter would not have made such a stupid mistake and let his Commander down.
I slammed my fist against the ceiling of my sleeping pod. I was trapped, helpless, because of my own failure.
The slave ship would dock soon. If Lola went on that ship, I would never see her again. She'd die before Mars circled the sun. There was no way I could condemn her to this fate when it was because of me she was here in the first place.
I kneaded my knuckles into my forehead, wrestling with my training and my heart. I shouldn't care about her, but all I thought of was her. Lola. The human female who, dared I say, was fated just for me. How else could I explain how I felt?
The bed beneath me shook for a moment.
A vibration flowed through the space station, lurching ever-so-slightly. Someone was docking to the station, a large ship. It was not a regular starfighter that could land easily in the hanger. Judging by the tremors, whatever was docking to the station was nearly as big as the station itself.
The slave ship. A giant freighter of death.
My stomach twisted.
I couldn't stand another moment of this. I could not let Lola get on the slave ship. I could not let her pay for my mistake with her life.
I kicked open the door to my sleeping pod and ran.
***
The slave ship was a huge, shining beacon in the blackness of space. It was an older model that moved much slower than standard starfighters. It could be easily mistaken as an asteroid, if it weren't for its angular, inorganic shape.
The hangar entrance was converted to an airlock, allowing the freighter's employees to bring on supplies. Mars was the last stop until the moons of Jupiter, and the slave ship would not make it unless they had replenished their fuel. It didn't look fuel efficient either, not that I was an engineer or anything.
Employees pushed carts back and forth full of supplies: food, medicine, precious metals for trading.
I stood near the wall, watching them pass by. I needed to find out if they'd gotten Lola yet and if they did, where was she?
I gritted my teeth. I should have saved her before it got this far. Why was I such an idiot?
Then two employees walked by with a small cage on wheels. It looked barely big enough for a human adult to sit in. It was made of tightly woven metal, with only a few holes for air. That was her. I could feel her presence. I was certain.
Using the disorganization to my advantage, I fell in line with the slaver's employees. They were aliens of all walks of life, most looking ragged and worn down.
I held my breath until I was past the airlock and on the ship. I had to move quick and get out before it was too late.
The aliens with the cage were ahead of me.
