Heavily armed guards stood sentry along the perimeter. If Drizzix’s men had seemed imposing, this lot was downright terrifying.
Drizzix pointed to the central table where a lone intake worker sat. She was lithe with pale-green skin and violet hair. Gills lined her neck, but she was obviously able to breathe air as easily as water. She was clearly not a Mondarian, but rather some other species working for them in the halls of power.
She continued working a moment while Drizzix and his captives stood quietly in front of her. Finally, she looked up with an almost bored gaze.
“Yes?”
“I was instructed to bring these prisoners here.”
“Oh? That is highly unusual for one of your rank.”
“Yes, well, the female is unmarked. She has no Infala. Show her.”
His men pulled the clothing from their prisoners, treating them as poorly as the Raxxians had as they pointed out the damaged runes on Bodok’s body. But what really stood out was the utter lack of them on Maureen’s.
At this the woman’s eyes widened a fraction and her posture stiffened almost imperceptibly. She wasverygood at masking her emotions.
“No Infala?” she said. “Thatisinteresting.” She gestured at the prisoners and the guards removed their gags. “Names and planets of origin?”
“I am called Bodok,” the cobalt-blue man said. “I am a Pokri, but I hail from Palumbal.”
“Palumbal? That is a long way from here.”
“I was captured by Raxxians,” he said.
She nodded, and a faint look that almost passed for sympathy briefly crossed her face. “Well, that would explain the scarring.
“Please, we crashed down not far away. Two of our party survived and rest on the banks of the swamp a day’s trek from here.”
The woman shrugged. “I’ll redirect a flyer to investigate your story. Now, what about you?” she addressed Maureen.
“Uh, I’m Maureen. I’m a human, from the planet Earth.”
“Hooman? How strange. And Earp? Never heard of it.”
“No, it’sEarth. We’re not a part of the—”
“Doesn’t matter. I do not care. You have violated Dotharian law. As a result, you will be tended by the Magistrate’s Skrizzit. There is a great expense to this service, and you will work in servitude until you pay off your debt.”
“But I—”
“As for you,” the woman cut her off, turning her attention to Bodok. “You knowingly harbored a violator of the most core of Dotharian laws. You are sentenced to a ten year term of hard labor.”
Maureen’s eyes went wide. “Wait! That wasn’t a trial! You can’t just be judge and jury!”
“Perhaps not wherever it is you are from. But here, I assure you I can,” she said with a look of pure contempt. “And I just have. Take them!”
The guards pulled the two in different directions, each steered toward an opposite doorway leading into the bowels of the building. Bodok struggled against their firm grips, turning to Maureen.
“I will find you!” he called out, then fell silent as he was gagged once more and dragged away, leaving Maureen wondering if he ever would.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
Maureen found herself led through the ornate and utterly alien-looking core of the remarkable building. An impromptu tour that under any other circumstances would have been the experience of a lifetime.
In this case, however, while still a one-of-a-kind experience, it was an entirely unpleasant one. While she might have been up for a little bondage play back home if the mood was right and her partner was trustworthy, this was certainly not her idea of the fun kind of restraints.
The one bright side was that while Bodok had been gagged once more as he was hauled away, at least her guards—only a pair of them in her case, as the larger number had escorted the muscular alien to meet his fate—had not felt it necessary to gag her once more.
