Sitting in her cabin, twiddling her thumbs, was driving her nuts. She had to get out of here.
She strode out of her cabin and down the hallway, intending to head to the mess where at least she could talk with one of the crew who wasn’t on shore leave.
She rounded the corner and slammed into someone running from the other direction.
“Oof!” She fell to her ass on the floor. She looked up. “You!”
A’Kar loomed over her, his hair disheveled and eyes wild. A groan came from farther down the hall, and Klath stumbled around the corner, one hand braced over his stomach. “Stop!”
Aletta scrambled backward on her hands like a scurrying crab, trying to get away from him, but apparently, A’Kar wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He grabbed her and dragged her behind him as he raced to get off the ship.
“Help!” Aletta shouted, but he swung her in front of him like a shield and clamped a hand over her mouth.
The smell of sweat and dead skin filled her nostrils, and she gagged, but kicked and punched him with all her might.He adjusted his hand to clamp over her mouth and nose, and suddenly, the smell was the least of her worries. She fought to drag air in from around his fingers, barely able to focus on what was happening over her need for oxygen.
All too quickly, he dashed from the ship, ducking behind a pile of crates that were being readied for loading onto the ship in the next bay. The hanger was full of craft of various sizes. If Aletta had thought The Honorable Lady was huge, then there were some absolutely gigantic ships here. And many much smaller as well. There were yellow markings on the gray floor in a strange script, scuffed and faded with use. Not that she was able to take much in. When he dumped her to the ground, she landed on her hands and knees, gasping for breath. Her vision swam, and she coughed, tears running down her face. She had no time to escape, as A'Kar dashed off, dragging her behind him by the wrist.
“Help! He’s kidnapping me!” She cried, trying to attract the passersby's attention, but no one paid any attention.
“Silly whore. They don’t have human languages in their translation chips. Nobody does.” A’Kar laughed, his lip splitting open again from where Gark had hit him in the face. Blood ran down his chin, making him look even more deranged than he was. “Scream all you want. Nobody will come.”
He was right. Nobody knew where she was. If it wasn’t for Klath seeing her being dragged away, then Gark might come back to The Lady and think she’d left on her own.
Her thoughts raced. She hoped Klath was all right. He’d been pale, and that stomach wound hadn’t looked good. And what of Gark? Would he get back in time to help? She craned her neck, scanning the crowd in case she saw him, but all she got for her trouble was a curse from A’Kar.
Aletta stumbled, her shoulder burning from A’Kar jerking her as he dragged her behind him.
The hangar was so busy they were soon lost in a mass of people moving back and forth. A machine roared past them, hovering off the ground and pulling a long train of floating pallets stacked high with boxes. A man with feline eyes and a striped tail that reminded Aletta of a tiger eyed her, but when his eyes fell to A’Kar’s arm with the tattoo, he turned away as if he hadn’t seen them.
A’Kar stopped suddenly, jerking her so hard she fell to the ground, grazing her hands on the rough surface.
“Where are you taking me?” she hissed.
He smirked. “To your precious sister.”
She froze, halfway to climbing to her feet. A’Kar looked at something on his wrist comm, then grabbed her arm painfully before striding off again. She stumbled after him. “What?”
“That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
He smiled down at her, the expression slimy and expectant. She shuddered as he stopped to one side of the walkway and faced her as all manner of beings pushed past them. He lifted one thick, stumpy finger and traced it down the side of her face. She turned her head away with a grimace.
“Think about how grateful you are to me, hmm? Soon you will show me exactly how much you want to see your sister again.”
Bile rose in her throat at the insinuation. He was disgusting, vile, gross. And she wouldn’t touch him if her life depended on it.
But what about Dylan’s life?
Is this what it came down to?
She gagged.
A’Kar smiled at her expression, revealing blackened, chipped, and yellowed teeth. His breath reeked of rotted food and decay.
Aletta bent over at the waist and vomited on his boots.
“You little bitch!” He yanked her upright, spittle flying from his lips. “Clean that up!”
