Page 92 of Commander’s Mate

Of course.

I looked at the workers.

Not captives.

Not automatically.

People.

“Ask them.”

Tivid translated.

The silence lasted too long.

Finally a woman spoke.

“If leave, debt family?”

The captain answered before anyone else.

“Transferred.”

Harper swore over comm.

The woman looked at me.

“If go, sister pays?”

I hated systems that could make cruelty look lawful.

“Not if we can prevent it.”

“Can?”

Truth.

“No guarantee.”

The woman looked down.

One man said, “I stay.”

Pyrr’s face changed.

He did not argue.

Good.

Another said, “I go.”

Then six.

Then twelve.

In the end, eighteen chose evacuation.

Eight stayed.