“Vox,” Gark said in a low voice. “We have to leave.”
Vox smiled, turning his head and nodding at one of the Alliance who pulled up a stool at the bar. Gark pulled Aletta closer to his side.
And then the bartender came out, a human woman following meekly behind him.
“That’s her,” Aletta said.
Vox slid the chip across the bar to the bartender, who quickly tucked it into a pocket. Vox held two more in his palm and raised an eyebrow. The bartender nodded, the movement of his chin barely perceptible.
“Woman!” The Taurean who had won the pile of chips bellowed across the room. “I have enough to buy you now. Come here!”
The human woman behind the bar paled, her eyes huge in her pale face. “No,” she whispered. “No. No. No. No.” She shook her head.
Vox growled, straightening from his slouch and taking on a warrior’s bearing.
“Who are they?” One of the black-clad Alliance asked.
Aletta tugged at the rope holding her hands, the knot undoing. “Do you remember me?” She asked the woman, who nodded.
“Yes. But how did you come back? None of them ever come back.” She shook her head as if in disbelief.
“Later. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Gark couldn’t agree more.
And then the lights went out.
“Quick, over the bar.” Vox’s voice reached him over the surprised shouts of the patrons.
Gark grabbed Aletta around the waist and slid over the bar, landing with a thump on the far side. A muffled squeal told him Vox had grabbed the other woman, and then they were following the bartender at a run.
He just hoped they were being led out and not into a trap.
Shouts followed them as they raced through a back room, into a dimly lit hallway, and through a solid door to enter a brightly lit, busy walkway.
The bartender held out his hand, Vox depositing the remaining credits and an extra. “For your silence.” The bartender nodded and disappeared back into the hallway.
Gark turned to see Aletta kneeling in front of the other woman, who had collapsed on the ground.
“It’s going to be ok. You never have to go back there again.”
The woman looked up, eyes wide, tears running down her face as she took shuddering breaths. “What do you want me for?”
Aletta shook her head. “Nothing. I just couldn’t leave you there.”
“But you don’t know me.”
Aletta smiled and held out her hand. “I don’t need to know you to want to help you.”
The other woman looked at her hand and then reached for it, Aletta pulling her to her feet.
“Let’s get you back to the ship.”
There was no time to talk after that. Aletta took the woman—whose name he learned was Lara—to visit Klath, while Gark readied the ship. Arik and Jarden had handed over their captives to Oren, and, using what Lara had told them and the flight log Jarden had pulled from the captured ship, they were able to work out which direction the other women had been taken. They didn’t yet know the final destination, but Oren had promised to contact them as soon as he’d finished interrogating the prisoners, just in case he learned something more.
Jarden plotted a course, and they left Irith’s Moons. Gark sat on the bridge for the first hour, then, realizing he would be better off getting some rest, headed back to the crew quarters.
He hadn’t seen Aletta since she’d headed off with Lara to help her settle into A’Kar’s old room, so he figured he could grab some clothes from his cupboard.
