Page 49

“Thank you,” she whispered and closed her eyes as if waiting for him to fire.

“Worthless,” he said with disgust.

Tolly moved close to us. “If you discharge that weapon in the bay, you could cause a chain reaction and kill us all.”

“You lie. You're liars and thieves!” the Vicpor said. He looked at the crowd of Marpers. “I'll leave if you give me that one human. The other one can stay.”

The Marper in charge looked at several Marpers next to her and talked quietly. She finally looked up.

“We accept this.”

Suddenly multiple Marpers grabbed each Talin, dragging them away from us. The Talins tried to fight, but they were overwhelmed by having four Marpers holding onto a limb each.

The Vicpor lifted the weapon and rested it against his shoulder as he walked down the ramp. The Talins were struggling against the Marpers and making all kinds of loud rattles but couldn't get loose.

I stood up and put myself between the Vicpor and Sloane. It was hard to stay upright when I couldn't put any weight on my injured ankle, but I managed not to fall to my knees.

“Don't do this,” I begged. “She won’t survive the trip. You'll end up with a dead body to dispose of. Leave her with me.”

He hesitated. “Is she sick?”

“Yes,” I said without hesitation. “She's very sick.”

For a moment I thought this was going to work, but he moved closer. “I’ll put her in a hibernation tube. She’ll survive long enough to be sold.”

“No!” I yelled. With nothing else to do, I turned and dropped down next to Sloane. I grabbed hold of her, hugging her tightly. “You can't have me, and I won't let go of her.”

For the first time, Sloane's eyes were fully open, focused, and terrified.

“No hibernation tube,” she whispered. “Don't let them do that!”

I knew why she was scared. Hibernation tubes weren’t designed for smaller species, and I'd heard some horror stories from humans put in them. They lived in a half-sleep and suffered through constant full-body pain from the medications used. That wasn't the worst part.

The medication also caused endless, unrelenting nightmares.

“Tell them Mieshorum is your keeper. He’s the orange one,” I said. “Stand up and yell it out. Do it now!”

I let go and fell back on my butt. Sloane stood up, her entire body shaking from the effort. Her clothes hung off her thin frame and her body looked ready to collapse at any moment.

She pointed to Mieshorum and spoke. “He is my keeper.”

Her voice wasn't very loud, but it was so quiet around us that we all heard her. Even the Talins had quieted.

“You heard her,” the controller said, sounding immensely relieved. “She doesn't belong to you. Go into your ship, leave, and never come back here again.”

“No, she's mine,” he said, stepping closer.

The Talins broke out in loud roars and rattling again.

Sloane shrank back as I grabbed hold of his leg and tried to climb up the Vicpor’s body. I thought maybe I'd get hold of the gun while he tried to drag Sloane away. If I could get the weapon I was sure the Marpers would directly intercede, or at least let go of the Talins.

I steeled myself for the Vicpor to hit me as I pulled myself onto his back with only the strength in my arms.

“What is going on here?” a familiar voice roared, making everyone go silent. I let go of the Vicpor and looked over to see Pelrow pushing through the crowd. “I was told all movement has halted here. Why is no one working?”

Before the controller could speak up, I yelled at the top of my lungs.

“Pelrow!”