Another team of four worked farther down. She’d seen similar groupings when she’d wandered on her days off, always four or more together.
“What about radiation?”
“I’ve been told it’s only an issue in the lower decks, where people don’t go.” Dee shrugged.
Movement behind them made Nia turn. It was Elec, and a look of utter relief crossed his face when he saw them. He braced a hand against the bulkhead and inhaled a deep breath. “Don’t do that to me again.”
Frowning, Nia turned away. Dee wore the same look of confusion, then she shrugged and rolled her eyes. The comical expression made Nia snort. She focused on the helix in front of her.
The engine core hummed and spun, a strange thing to infuse her with new life, but now she’d begun to emerge from her haze, returning to it didn’t hold any appeal.
It became a routine. On Nia’s days off, Dee would find her and show her something new. Slowly, ever so slowly, Nia felt the fog around her body lift. A couple weeks later, she realized Elec wouldn’t tail her as long as she was with Dee. A tentative friendship bloomed between them.
And in those quiet moments when she and Dee would lay on the grass in the arboretum or stare at the crowd in the atrium, Nia would ask questions—the things the terminal in Mace’s quarters wouldn’t reveal to her.
It was one of those times, where they leaned over the railing of the red bridge in the arboretum to see who could spot the most fish, when Nia asked, “What can you tell me about the old laws?”
Dee straightened, her light pink sheath dress catching the light from above. “Oh.” Nia stood tall as well, meeting her eyes. “Well, let’s see, where to begin.” She stared at the stream, outlined eyes narrowed in thought. “Before modern law, most everything was based in instinct and aggression.”
“How long ago are we talking about?”
Dee tipped her head to the side. “Two hundred years? More? But the old laws weren’t abolished completely. They can be invoked in extreme circumstances like during wartimes and such. One I know about is the Mutiny Law. If a warrior feels their commanding officer is unfit for duty and they have the majority of the crew behind them, they can take leadership by killing the current CO.” Then she shrugged like it was no big deal.
There were laws in CORE society to gain the same results and no one got killed. “What about captives? This Take and Keep law the processor told me about?”
Dee’s brow puckered. “Well, that one’s a bit trickier. It had a couple different meanings. Any weapons, raw materials, or valuables seized in a raid were kept by the warrior who takes them. In modern law, all this pooled into the resources for the whole colony and shared. Makes more sense, really.”
Nia’s hands tightened on the railing. “And what of captives?”
“Well, even back then, it wasn’t like a warrior would keep ten captives in his quarters. There was still the common holding and labor distribution.”
“So why would a warrior keep a captive in his quarters, then?”
A rosy hue splashed Dee’s cheeks. “Um, I’m not sure I should get into this.”
“Spit it out.” Nia refused to be brushed aside.
Dee grimaced, closing her eyes. “A warrior would keep a captive when there was a low or unbalanced population count so he could procreate.” Dee said it all in a rush, keeping her eyes closed the entire time.
Nia couldn’t speak for a minute. “This was okay with everyone?” Her question came out a squeak. That had to be where all the sex slave stories she’d learned about came from—truth to the rumors but from a long time ago.
“I know you’re thinking really badly of us right now,” Dee said, meeting Nia’s eyes. “But seriously, this hasn’t been done in centuries. I mean, it’s barbaric. We’re not like that anymore.”
“So all this time I’ve been in Mace’s quarters, people thought—”
“No, I wouldn’t think that. I mean, it’s Mace we’re talking about. Yeah, it’s a bit shocking, because he’s so against people farming.”
The way she said it made Nia zero in on her again. “What aren’t you telling me? There’s something else, isn’t there?”
Dee caught her bottom lip between her teeth. “Um, I’m not sure how it applies now, I haven’t studied any laws of late, but in the old laws, if a warrior kept a captive, it sort of meant—itdidmean, I should say—they were legally bound together.”
Nia blinked. “Legally bound.”
“Yeah. You know—”
“Married?” The word came out in a shriek.
“Um, yeah, back then it did. I’m not really sure how it works these days.” Dee’s cheeks blazed pink.
