I look up at her and say, “I want out before that happens to me. Before I become like you.” I regret the words as soon as I say them. I can hear Sister Agnes in my head,You’re a wicked girl, Eve.But still, I don’t apologize for my honesty.
“Then play by their rules and serve out your sentence. You’ll still be young. Only thirty years old. That’s nothing in the galaxy. With galactic medicine, you can live for centuries. I’m going to live for centuries, you know. And when Commander Gai dies, Rafe and Lorian will inherit me with this house.”
I’m stunned by her coldness about her fate.
Centuries as a pet.
Here.
I shake my head. I can’t comment without being a terrible person. So I say, “But I can still get back to Earth. I have about a month left before it’s been five hundred and thirty-five days.”
She shakes her head. “Even if you could get on a ship and get home, it’s doubtful the Alliance Force, the Imperial men who guard Earth, would allow you to repatriate. You’re a galactic criminal, Eve.”
“How would they know what I’ve done here?”
“Because they have galactic communications and guard Earth like it’s Imperial territory.” She sighs. “I know you don’t believe me, but you should. You don’t think this is what every new human in chains talks about? Take my advice, serve out your sentence and then see where things take you. In my experience, things are hardly what they seem on this side of the galaxy. And really, it’s not that bad; we’re together.”
I realize then she doesn’t want me to leave. At least not yet, and something comes over me, a desire to remain with her as well. As odd as it is to say, Autumn is my first real friend, besides Lira. But Autumn is human, and that alone makes her different. That, and we have formed a kind-of trauma bond now. But my suffering pales to what she has been through. “I’ll see if I can control myself from trying to escape.”
“If you do, then the punishments will become addictive, and I will promise to bring you back here after each time.”
“And if I succeed in escaping, do you want me to come back for you?”
She doesn’t answer me for a long time, but then says, “No. I resigned myself to Gai and him to me. I’ve been here for over thirty years, and I’ve become accustomed to life here. But when you leave, and you will, one way or another, just promise me that you’ll be strong. No weeping over these alien men and their strange decisions. Their love doesn’t have to define you. Don’t let any of us caged humans down by doing that.”
I hold eye contact with her and understand what real freedom is for the first time. It’s not about the collar around my neck or the personwho keeps me locked in this palace; it’s about how I allow others to make me feel and think.
And this is why the pain is addictive: because it brings clarity to this situation. I can’t pretend any of this is okay when I’m in pain. I hate it all.
I fall asleep thinking about escaping and whether I’ll ever see Rafe and Lorian again. And if I do, what will I say?
72
IGC SESSION OF SENTIENCE REVIEW, RAFE
Zira’s handovertly brushes mine as we arrive at IGC HQ—but it’s all political theater for the cameras. We have spent nights drafting the language of Clause 47-E together, arguing about every detail that might save or damn Eve and other humans that will follow in her footsteps. Caught in legal limbo, neither entirely free nor owned. Now we stand as husband and wife, publicly standing on opposite sides of this law. A law that would free the woman neither Lorian nor I can publicly claim as an equal, not yet.
As we enter, the chamber is teeming with restrained power: a thousand suspended platforms circling the center dais, banners of the ruling Imperial Houses projected in shimmering rings of light.
I take my place at the podium’s core with the holographic crest of the Ascendant Alliance spinning overhead, while Zira disappears upstairs to where the real power sits.
Once everyone is in their place, I’m given permission to speak.
I bow and begin. “I do not come before the Intergalactic Court today to argue sentiment. I come to argue for consistency. The Court has already recognized humanity as sentient. That recognition was passedby a vote. It is now precedent. Yet the legal architecture beneath that declaration was left intact. Property law was not repealed. Enforcement mechanisms were not harmonized. The result is not balance, but a contradiction enforced by violence.”
A murmur of female voices moves through the chamber.
I continue, “This session is not a trial. It is a vote. The petitions before you were submitted three months ago under Filing Protocol Theta. You have reviewed them. You have delayed them. Today, you must decide whether the Court governs law or merely announces ideals it refuses to enforce.
“Under current statute,” I say, my voice amplified across the tiers, “a human who completes service under contract remains classified aspropertyunder seventeen laws. Yet, these same humans are taxed, trained, and punished ascitizens.That contradiction weakens the IGC’s credibility and invites rebellion. Today it’s Terra Ka, but what about tomorrow? Who might use this loophole to their advantage, like the Warlord Kamos or the Octopod Syndicate? These problems will only grow as more systems acknowledge human sentience. The law must catch up with that reality.”
I gesture, and the holo behind me changes.
The proposed sanctions are narrow by design.
“First. Any human who completes a voluntary service contract shall be reclassified as non-transferable under all commercial codes. No exceptions. No retroactive loopholes. Ownership cannot resume after labor has ended.
“Second. Any institution operating under an IGC charter that continues to profit from post-contract human sales will lose its charter protections. No fines. No warnings. Revocation.
