Bully’s arm tightens painfully across my chest, nearly knocking the wind out of me.
“You’re going to pay for that.” He nods at Franly. “Grab his weapon off the floor.”
I plead silently with Prax to run—but he doesn’t budge, his eyes locked on Bully, waiting. Hasn’t he realized Bully’s going to kill him right here, right now?
Franly obeys and waits for further orders.
“You see, Prax, I’m not that cruel. If I were, I’d shoot this Human you’re so attached to, right in front of your eyes. What do you think? Wouldn’t that be a fitting payback after you slaughtered most of my crew?”
“Hiding behind a woman. How brave of you,” Prax retorts. “Why don’t we settle this between the two of us—one-on-one?”
“You killed my men. They were distant cousins of mine,” Bully hisses.
“Hmm, you must have me confused with someone who gives a damn,” Prax replies with a defiant smirk.
He’s trying to provoke him, trying to make him angry enough to agree to a one-on-one fight. But the Penubian isn’t that easily manipulated… or maybe he is, just a little.
“We could go back and forth all day and get nowhere, you and I. So let’s cut to the chase. Franly here is going to shoot you and fix the unfortunate mistake of you surviving the last few times. I’ll give you that—you’re pretty good at not dying. But this time, I can promise you: you’re not walking away. And the best part? Your very last thought before you die will be knowing I’m going to have a little fun with your Human before she joins the rest of the slave shipment headed to market. Franly, do me a favor and kill this piece of scum.”
The Penubian fires at Prax, and he collapses instantly. He approaches the body cautiously, then fires again. And again. Once it’s clear there's no more danger, he tosses his weapon aside and starts kicking my Sadjim’s motionless body with brutal force.
Tears stream down my face. At some point, I realize Bully has removed the arm that was holding me against him. My knees give out, and I crumple where I stand. I’m on the floor now—numb, frozen in shock.
“What do we do with him?” Franly asks.
“Nothing! Finish loading the crates. I’m already behind schedule. Tommy, Hank, move it. Do we still have an empty cage for this one?”
“No, but one of the cells already on the ship only has a single Human female in it. We can stick them together if you want.”
“Perfect! Get her out of here and lock her up with her little friend so she’s out of my sight. You’ve got work to finish, and Ineed to meet up with our other men in Cydonia and rendezvous with our buyer!”
“What about Mank and Gund?” Franly asks.
“What about them? They’re dead. That’s not changing anytime soon. They’re of no use to us now. We’ve wasted enough time already. Load up everything of value and meet me in Cydonia. I’m leaving now to smooth things over with the buyer. But don’t drag your feet! I want two of you following with the lightcrafts!”
“Got it!”
I’m disgusted—but not really surprised—by Bully’s total lack of respect or empathy, even toward his so-called cousins.
A Penubian grabs me, hauls me to my feet, and drags me out of the hangar. I barely manage one last shattered look at Prax’s body before I’m pulled outside.
They drag me up a ramp into the largest ship. A cage dematerializes, and I’m shoved inside.
I stumble and almost fall on the curled-up figure already inside. Salome looks up at me with an expression full of pity. I get it. I really do. Three days after escaping, here I am again—back where I started. Locked up with her, ready to be shipped off to the slave market. And just like three days ago, I’ve lost Prax.
But this time… this time is different.
I saw his body with my own eyes. There won’t be a happy ending for us. Not this time. He’s really gone.
A thought flickers in my mind: how many times can a heart be torn in half before it loses its grip on reality?
The slavers carry the cages one by one into the ship’s cargo bay. Most are transparent now, and I can see they’re filled with colonists—very few animals among them.
“The second convoy just got here!” Franly announces. “Let’s load up and catch up with Bully.”
Second convoy? I glance out and spot a few more cages being brought in. There’s still space in the cargo hold. The Penubians haul in several opaque cubes and line them up next to the others.
“All right, one more and we’re done!” says the one I assume is Hank.
