Page 6 of All or Nothing
Wait, what am I thinking, here?I could buy all five of these poor souls from these slavers and then set them free. But I wouldn’t be able to support them once I freed them; I’d be completely broke. I’d be on public care. I’d have toworkfor the fine things I’d grown accustomed to. I’d never had to work before, and had only recently moved out of my parent’s palatial estate to try and find my own way after they’d stopped supporting me. I was borderline helpless, with no practical skills, and would probably be dead without my credit reserves to smooth my way.
It would be beyond stupid to do this, no matter how good my intentions were. I mean, what if I was caught with them? The authorities would never believe I had purchased five females being sold as bed warmers out of the goodness of my heart.
But if I didn’t, what would happen to these five helpless beings? The yvrenii might be alright, but the others? Especially that tiny, soft-looking human—what would happen to her? What would happen to that smile she’d given so freely to her companion? I felt sick to my stomach thinking about what those two yvrenii males would have done to someone like her.
“I’ll take them,” I heard myself saying with horror. But with pride as well. I was being reckless, foolish, impulsive beyond sense—but I wasdoingsomething. And I realized in a flash that I didn’t think I’d ever been able to say that before. All my life, I’d gone along with what other people wanted for me and just forced myself to like it. I didn’t know what it said about me thatthiswas the situation in which I’d finally found my backbone, but oh well.
“Which one?” the red th'rak said, pulling a tablet from an unseen spot on his person.
“All of them,” I managed to reply, switching on my wristcom to initiate a transfer. It wasn’t real yet, what was happening. It felt like I was still stuck in the time several minutes ago when I was just watching this screen and thinking about what I could possibly do to help instead of doing this insane thing.
All three th'rakkans froze, regarding me, their postures wary and tense. “All…five? Are you certain? You have the credits?” the red one asked after a moment.
I nodded, flashing him the screen strapped to my wrist that was displaying my account balance.
It would be a tight squeeze, fitting five extra passengers on my little shuttle, especially when one of them was an yvrenii warrior. But I was committed now. If I backed out these three would probably kill me and try to steal the credits. They might even be planning on doing so anyhow.
But after a moment the red th'rak bobbed his head and pulled up a transfer screen on his tablet. I held out my wrist and authorized the credit transfer. A cold stone sank in my gut as I watched the display flicker, then stop at “128 credits”. I gulped. Thank the mercies of fate that I’d just refueled my ship and paid my rent before this. That 128 credits was going to have to last a very,verylong time.
But I was now the queasy, sweaty owner of five female slaves.
“We will pack your purchases and return shortly,” the red th'rakkan said, gesturing for the yellow one to follow him. I had no idea what that could entail, but the orange slaver left standing with me didn’t seem concerned—although I had to admit, th'rakkans were very hard to read. My orange companion disconnected the monitor and folded it up, tucking it into a pouch he produced seemingly from thin air.Where are these people storing all these things?Not one was wearing clothing, and with the translucence of their bodies, there wasn’t anywhere something could hide. Presumably.
I was starting to get extremely nervous and faint. I was horrified at what I’d done—both the fact that I’d spent that many credits, and even more so that I’d spent it on buyingslaves.Yes, I fully intended to release them and get them whatever help I could, but it still felt unspeakably, horrifically wrong, and I just wanted to be done with it already.
I justhadto come to Quellor today, I thought, my skin feeling slick and feverish.I just couldn’t wait one more day, huh?
After both the longest and shortest twenty minutes of my life, the other two th'rakkans returned with a large crate hovering between them. The yellow one keyed something into his wristcom, and the crate floated over to me, likely keyed to the ID chip I’d used for the transfer.
Vrakaash, can the police use that to track me? I should have encrypted that better. I…am stunningly stupid.
It was too late to fix it now. I waved meekly at the slavers and retreated, the crate looming behind me. I was certain that there was no way I’d make it all the way back to my ship with this. Surely such an obviously person-sized crate would get flagged. I’d be stopped, arrested, and thrown into the deepest darkest pit the nearest prison had to offer, my entire family’s name tarnished beyond saving.
I swallowed thickly, my mouth bone-dry and the bitter acidity of bile flirting with my tongue. Spots danced on the fringes of my vision, and it was all I could do to keep my legs moving and to keep my body upright. The death grip my tail had on my one leg was cutting off the circulation and hurting, but I couldn’t ease up for the life of me.
I didn’t notice anyone paying particular attention to me on the eternal walk back to my docking bay, but I felt eyes on me all the same. It was nightmarish, but with the crate and my newly depleted credits, I had no choice but to slog through every step.
By the time I stepped into the hangar housing my ship, I was soaked in sweat and feeling really, truly faint. I hurried on board, wedging the enormous crate into the tiny cargo bay, and summoned the AI to plot me home.
I strapped myself in, then knew no more.
CHAPTER FIVE
Into the (Sexy?) Unknown
JOSS
WHEN THEslavers had come into our cell, all the sass and bravado I’d been working up sparring with Uraka fled like it had never been there. My limbs immediately went weak and numb, my heart ratcheting up into my throat to choke me. Desperate for something to ground me, I’d locked my eyes with Uraka. If this was our chance, I had no doubt that Uraka would lead the charge. But she shook her head in a barely-perceptiblenoand stepped closer to me, her stance widening as she looked down her impressive nose at Cherry and Lemon.
When the two jellomen spoke, I found that I could understand them now; did that mean that I’d been fitted with some sort of translator? It would explain the head- and earache I’d had when I woke up, and the fact that I could understand all my cellmates.
“Why don’t you go grab the crate while I round them up,” Cherry said, translucent red fingers darting and flicking at something on his wrist.
Lemon nodded, turning and leaving us alone with Cherry.
My pulse started quickening again; surely with just the one, now was our time? I stared hard at Uraka, trying to will her to give me a sign, when a wave of dizziness started to sweep over me. What the hell? Was this nerves?
But I realized that Uraka was swaying as if she was also not feeling well, and when I looked around at my cell mates I saw they were all slumping forward, unconscious.
