“Did you make him that way when you were torturing him?”
“We were not torturing him. We were paying him back.”
“For what?”
“For the deaths of our comrades. Psyons are dangerous. The one who calls you pet is the most dangerous of all. He is corrupt.”
“Oh?” I look around the table. I’m wondering if there will be ice cream. “Corrupt in what way?”
“Nothing you need to worry about. You are an animal, more or less. Humans have sentience, but only barely. Most of what you do is follow instincts, instructions given by your amygdala.”
“Whereas you consider every option to its fullest extent and then decide to steal a pet from an evil, corrupt Psyon who can manipulate space and time and will probably step out of your closet and stab you in the chest next time you change clothes.”
He chuckles. “We have technology to repel them. Psyons are not magic. They have a very specific kind of relationship with quantum mechanics. They are not so different from any other mechanics.”
“What will you do with me?”
“If you follow at my heels and do my bidding, nothing bad. Having you is the point. Hurting you would be pointless. And if you enjoyed my company, and liked being in my world, well…”
He gives a little shrug, and I know that he means that would twist the dagger in Freak’s heart all the more. To steal a pet, and then to claim it for his own would be the ultimate revenge.
I know then that he won’t lay a finger on me, probably.
“If you disobey me, I will punish you,” he says. “We have a cane here made of the skin of our species. It has an especially painful bite, and you will not enjoy it if it is applied to you. This is a warning. The first and last of its kind. I expect you to do as you are told.”
Guess I was wrong about that, then.
I don’t know how much braver I can be. When I traveled with my father, I was always kept safe. I saw many things, and I thought that coming to the stars, to stations, and to other places of their kind would be easy. I thought it would be like when I was younger, and we sold our wares and experienced the world at large.
Instead, I was almost drowned and then I was taken as a pet, and now a captive. I have found little kindness in these stars, and much in the way of twisted evil. I don’t know if Freak is good or not. I doubt it, somehow.
I doubt this creature is any better.
I want to find my father.
I have to escape.
* * *
Freak
I have tried to retrieve my pet, but every approach is met with fire power, and I cannot destroy enough ships. Their shielding is holding even with my various attempts to cycle around it. I have chased them as far as we could go, which is not far enough because they skip through space at faster than the speed of light at times, displaying even more mechanical prowess than I realized they had.
“How the fuck are they doing this?”
Fidas, Drak, and Aric all exchange looks. “They have repeaters, we think,” Drak says. “There are travel networks here that their ships can use and we cannot. Wormholes make themuntraceable. We should stop, Captain. We are deep in enemy space.”
They are right, but the notion of not following them all the way to the bitter end to reclaim my pet does not sit well with me. I cannot believe that she was taken so easily. Right behind my back, even as I thought I was defending her, I was losing her. The regret and guilt are terrible, and the memories of my captivity are coming back even stronger in her absence.
I notice now, for the first time, that my brothers are uncomfortable, and have been for some time. They have been making noises about supporting me, but I can tell that they would rather we stopped engaging this enemy so directly. Drak is the bravest of them to say what he has already said.
“It might be time to let her go,” Drak says. “It’s our job to monitor the universe. We have many missions to attend to beside the Datari Composite.”
“She is mine. My pet. My mate.”
There is a crackle as the communications come to life. They should not be able to function. The wires are still torn and askew, ripped through by my bloody clawed hands. There is only one entity capable of speaking through an unplugged set of speakers.
“Tasin, please report to the home realm with your crew.” Alara’s voice comes through. “It is a matter of urgency. I expect you immediately.”
