A few minutes later, they roll in a transparent cube—and I recognize the man inside.
“Call Bully!” shouts Constantin, now just as much a prisoner as the rest of us. “This is a mistake! I’m friends with Do-yun and Anatoli! We have a deal with Bully himself. Just check with him!”
Unbothered, Hank and Tommy place his cage in the hold and lock it down for transport.
“Come on! Are you deaf? Can you understand me? Say something!”
Franly turns to his men.
“All right, let’s go. Head to the cockpit, I’ll meet you there.”
“Oh, so you do understand me!” Constantin exclaims. “I want to speak to Bully!”
“Okay, buddy, let’s clear things up since you seem a little confused,” Franly says, crouching in front of his cage. “See all these crates? Of course you do—you drove one of the two convoys that brought them here. Since I’m feeling generous, I’ll fill you in on what’s happened lately. Your regent, Do-yun? We don’t need him anymore. You stirred up your little rebellion and told your settlers the rules had changed, that they’d better keep a low profile. Great. Do-yun had too little market value to bother keeping around, and he was more trouble than he was worth. He’s dead, I’m afraid.”
“What? You killed Do-yun?!” Constantin’s voice rises to a shriek.
“What’s so shocking? Didn’t you realize we’re criminals? You think we trust some Humans we barely met? No. We go forefficiency and simplicity. Do-yun’s out of the picture. And you? You’re going to be sold just like the people you were planning to hand over. Same with everyone who followed you. As for the peaceful colonists… they’ll go too, eventually. Just not yet. They’re not a threat—for now. Funny, isn’t it? To end up suffering the fate you planned for others?”
“But… we had a deal!” whines the man who helped set Prax up—well, at least the first time.
“You ever heard the saying ‘promises only bind those foolish enough to believe them’?” Franly chuckles.
“What about Anatoli? He’s my partner!”
“Oh—you didn’t hear? He’s dead. Executed by one of the prisoners he was transporting.”
“Dead? Nooo… Anatoli, my love…” Constantin sobs uncontrollably.
I can’t help noting, somewhat grimly, that even bastards have hearts, apparently. I don’t feel sorrow for him—just pity. He and Anatoli made a deal with these monsters to buy themselves some privileges, and they’re going to choke on the consequences.
“If it’s any comfort,” Franly adds, “he probably got the better end of the deal. Think about that while I lift off. We’ve got a meeting in Cydonia with the top trafficker in this whole quadrant of the galaxy!”
We’re back in opaque mode, no view of the outside world and no sound either. Strangely enough, I feel almost relieved to be sharing this cube with Salome. I can’t see anything, but the closeness of her body against mine is oddly comforting. I don’t have much time to dwell on it, though, because a few dozen minutes later, we feel a faint jolt that I interpret as a landing.
“Do you think we’re going to die?” Salome whispers.
What am I supposed to say to her—me, with a broken heart, still wondering how I’ll ever live without my beautifulSadjim? She heard the same thing I did: we’re going to be sold for someone’s twisted pleasure, while some of our companions—less attractive ones—will be executed and eaten. Is there anything we can do about it? Apparently not. So why worry?
The cages turn transparent again, and the sound returns. The access ramp lowers, letting in the outside light. Bully is barking orders left and right.
“I want the prettiest females front and center—one Human per cage so they’re easy to see. General Nivek is coming to inspect our cargo. He won’t want any males! I promised him my best specimens in exchange for another transport ship.”
“What about the Human that was with Prax? Weren’t you keeping her for yourself?”
“That was mostly to ruin Prax’s final moments. I don’t care more about her than the others—especially if I can make a profit off her.”
So I might escape Bully’s unpleasant attention after all. But this General Nivek might be even worse.
“And if General Nivek picks her, well, that’s the ultimate bonus—he likes females, but especially enjoys killing them while he rapes them. Their skin’s so delicate, so easy to tear! Put her in an empty cage. If there isn’t one, make room by moving a male.”
“Got it, boss!” Hank replies.
What did I tell you? I’m going to be sold to a monster.
A shuffle of cages and placements follows. In the end, I end up front and center, with Salome in the cage next to mine.
From where I am—right at the edge of the ramp—I catch a glimpse of the outside. I recognize the snow-covered peaks of Cydonia. I think we’re at the first site Prax and I found, the one where my Sadjim located a transport vehicle.
