He shrugged and turned toward the equipment. The tube came back up, bringing with it several more women, all of them confused and more than one who was weeping. He sighed and said, “I’m Talon. Anyone hurt?”
Clara checked herself and shook her head. Ariel had a shallow cut on one arm that had already stopped bleeding. Margie had a bruised cheek. The blonde woman who’d been fighting so hard earlier shrugged as if to say she was fine but didn’t speak. One of the other women had a large gash on her calf, and another had a slight scalp wound. He yelled for someone named Marik and another appeared, this one with brown hair and eyes.
Marik said, “Follow me, those of you that are hurt. I’ll get you fixed up.”
The others left. Ariel, Margie, Clara and the woman who’d joined them in the tube huddled together.
Talon said, “They’ll be done in a minute down there. You sure got the shit end of that stick, didn’t you?”
Clara’s lips vibrated with rage. “I’d say so. You wrecked our transport to our grooms and…”
Talon snorted. “That’s what they told you? Yeah, that is what they told you. Of course they did. You weren’t going to husbands; you were going to Narnlia.”
Clara blinked “I beg your pardon? That is not possible. That’s a pleasure planet.” And where all the women were slaves to the brothels or the singing saloons.
Talon grinned at her. “If it is not so, then why were you on a trajectory there?”
Her arms crossed. Her chin came up. “We weren’t.”
Talon pointed to a monitor. She and the other woman stared at it. A hard gasp lifted Clara’s breasts. It was true! They were nowhere near the star system they were supposed to be headed for.
Margie said, “There must be some kind of mistake.”
Talon nodded. “Happens all the time. The government down there on your planet’s in on it, of course. Pretending to be sending off brides, so the good people who follow them don’t protest too much when their women are shipped off.” His eyes lingered on Margie’s face. Margie glowered at him.
Ariel said, “So…now what? Is that where you are going to take us?
Talon said, “That’s up to Renall.”
Renall? The tube opened again. The piratical one stepped off. Talon said, “There you are. I was stuck explaining the hard facts to them, again. Why is that always my job?”
Renall said, “Because you are so good at it.” His eyes searched among them and singled Clara out. “The question now is what to do with them.”
Ariel wiped her face. Margie stared at the floor. The fourth wrapped her arms around herself and looked away. Clara stood her ground, not lifting her arms and definitely not lowering her gaze. She said, “Tell me, what made you salvage that ship?’
“It was carrying things we actually need. Water, supplies, and oreonium. We need that for credits in the system, and now we have you as well, which we don’t need.”
Her head came up a little higher. “How do you know you don’t need us?’
Renall chuckled. “You’re spirited.”
“I’m also lethal.” The words dropped into the space between them. “If you attempt to shove me off on that pleasure planet, you’ll lose a good chunk of your hands while you do it, or your life.”
Renall didn’t even blink. Maybe his kind couldn’t. His lips curved upward into a nasty smile though. “I see. I will keep that in mind.”
He turned away. The four women looked at each other. Ariel asked, “What are we supposed to do?”
Talon said, “Just be quiet.”
They drew back into a small corner. Renall and Talon spoke in muted voices, and in their language, which was beyond Clara’s limited abilities of outer planet speak. She whispered, to Ariel and Margie and the fourth woman, “Any of you know where they’re from or what they’re saying?”
The fourth woman nodded. Clara gawked at her. The woman was tall and stick-thin. Blue shadows lay under her eyes despite the long sleep. Her blonde hair had probably been lustrous at one time, but now it was dull and slightly stringy and in definite need of a wash. The woman smiled and whispered into Clara’s ear, “Move a little closer to the vac tubes.”
They did. The noise there was terrible, and Clara had the idea that the woman didn’t want Talon and Renall to hear what she was about to say.
Margie asked, “Who are you?”
The blonde gave her a tired smile. “Jessica Laud. I’m a former Capo.”
