Page 50 of Taken to Heimo
“Centare, I do not. I have seen human corpses. Hundreds of them. It took my pirates some time to put together the pieces, but when we succeeded, we came up with a rather interesting theory… The humans found by the Eshmiri were still cocooned in stasis chambers. Most of these chambers were broken and those that weren’t stopped functioning tens of rotations ago. In our estimation, based on the amount of decay, almost a hundred.
“Why were they there? And why were sentient beings discarded alongside so much trash? It was almost as if they had beenintentionallydiscarded. It could not have been by beings in any of the known quadrants, because any being, from the Oosa to the Eshmiri would have found use for such soft, productive creatures. So, we reasoned, a human did the deed. But why would another human intentionally discard its own kind?”
He pauses and I know he’s asking me again and this time I actually have an answer. I wish I didn’t. Because the fact that it comes more easily to me than it would have a rotation ago — even a solar ago — makes me feel like I’ve lost something very important.
My faith in people.
“They were a burden.”
“They were a burden.” Rhorkanterannu smiles and it is a chilling thing. He takes measured steps towards me, heavy footsteps dampened by the carpets, but still capable of making me flinch every time. “Ontte, Svera, they were a burden.”
He reaches a hand down and I take it tentatively, let him help me up onto my feet. I dust off my shift as he walks away from me, pacing the space purposefully.
“Who were they a burden to, my little advisor? And where are they now? I know that they are in the grey zone between the Fourth and Fifth Quadrants. I know that they are somewhere in my own territory, but I have searched the skies for them and they do not seem to want to be found.”
His pacing brings him back to me and when he reaches me, he steps directly into my personal space, invading it, making me shiver involuntarily like my body is already programmed to know that he is a predator.
“Where are they?” He whispers.
“You’ll have to cut them out of my thoughts.”
I grit my teeth and flinch away from the pressure of his claws as they ever-so-gently scrape the side of my face, lingering over the faint scar I wear from our last interaction.
“Very brave, you are, little Svera, but you will give me the coordinates. You know what is at stake if you do not.”
“You’re a…bad male,” I whisper.
He grins. “Unlike your sweet, darling Mathilda, I never claimed otherwise. Content yourself with that while you consider my offer. You have until I decide to come back for you and, when I come, I won’t be alone. Thirty of my brothers will be with me and they’ve heard magical tales of human cunts. Whatever you decide, prepare yourself for it.”
He’s almost at the wall when the door appears before him. It seals itself shut after he leaves but, when I follow the path he took, no door appears for me.
I shiver, alone, and look around at the room. My eyes fall to the prayer mat and I shake a little as I spread it out in front of the window.
I pray, hoping Rhorkanterannu gives me time enough for this before the shekurr — he must know that there is no other option. I won’t doom an entire satellite of humans to this fate just to save my own hide.
I’ll perform shekurr.
And when I do, I’ll think of Krisxox.
I exhale shakily, and then I start to undress.
14
Krisxox
The dark bowels of the ship — wherever we are — are difficult to maneuver. We don’t travel in ducts, or in anything I can understand. There’s just a black substance that sort of…moves away from us when we crawl, like some weird nonexistent foam or a blanket.
I’m xoking Krisxox of Quadrant Four but…I don’t like this dark world, which occasionally — at the human’s command — spits us out into a variety of rooms, some containing weapons’ racks, others pirates’ private quarters, food preparation units and stockpiles on stockpiles of storage. She, on the other hand, maneuvers it easily, not having a problem with the confined spaces at all.
We find a room that has unguarded access to escape pods. She points to one, but I grab her wrist. “Svera,” I growl.
She rolls her eyes and begins speaking to me in Meero. Surprising.Not the first surprising thing about this female.“Yeah. We’ll get Svera then get our asses back here. I just wanted to know where they were.”
She starts crawling again and I grunt after her in Meero, “Why are you helping me?”
“Because Svera doesn’t deserve to be taken by that bastard or his thirty freaking friends.”
Rage. It comes out in my speech. “Move xoking faster.”
