Page 70 of Commander’s Mate

A boy with oversized ears running behind my sister through the spring market.

“My mother’s cousin’s grandson.”

“Yes.”

“Age?”

“Fourteen standard cycles at capture.”

I stepped aside.

Tivid entered.

Harper slept in the adjoining room.

Not my bed.

Not yet.

She had fallen asleep sitting upright after we spoke again late in the evening, and I had convinced her to use my quarters because the conference shelter was crowded. I had taken the sitting room.

The arrangement had seemed reasonable.

Now I wondered whether any arrangement in my life would ever feel reasonable again.

Tivid placed the tablet on the table.

The record was ugly.

Sargus systems did not use names unless names increased price.

Taren had been labeled:

UATU MALE—JUVENILE—AGRICULTURAL / DOMESTIC POTENTIAL.

Transferred from Farseek.

Processed at a freight depot.

Moved again.

Then:

STATUS: NONCOMPLIANT. VALUE REDUCED.

My vision narrowed.

“Where?”

“Last confirmed sale was through an exchange tied to Breskaa.”

“Alive?”

“At that point.”

“And after?”

“No confirmed record.”