The Price of Pleasure

Chapter Six

There were butterflies all around her.

Calla lay in a field of green grass, warm and content. The sky above her was filled with bright, yellow sunlight, and in the distance she could hear the tinkling of a stream.

Birds were singing and the butterflies seemed to dance in time to their song. Then birdsong gave way to the soft hum of the ship. Something delicate touched her–a butterfly? No, a finger traced her spine sensuously, and a voice spoke in her ear...

“Wake up, sleepy,” the voice said. It was Seth whispering to her, his voice cool and dark. Calla stretched, enjoying the feel of his fingers running across her body. “Wake up, Devora. We’ll be arriving soon.”

Realizing the field was only a dream, Calla opened her eyes reluctantly. Seth was right, it was time to wake up. But her dream had been so pleasant–were planets really as beautiful as she imagined? Perhaps she would find out some day, she thought with a smile.

“What are you smiling about?” Seth asked huskily. He was lying beside her, running his hand up and down her back.

“I was having a lovely dream,” Calla whispered, turning her face toward his.

“Mmmmm?” Seth replied, dropping little kisses along her shoulder.

“I was in a field, on a planet, and there were birds and butterflies all around,” she explained. “In fact, when you first touched me, I thought you were a butterfly.”

Seth gave her an indignant look.

“I was a butterfly?” he asked. “I don’t think so.”

“Oh, but you were,” Calla replied, grinning at him wickedly. “Your fingers felt just like butterflies. Or at least they felt like I imagine butterflies would feel. I don’t know that I’ve ever actually seen one in real life.”

“I have,” Seth said with amusement. “And I assure you, nothing about me could ever be mistaken for a butterfly. They’re small, weak things. If you even touch their wings, they can’t fly any more. I’d say you’re more like a butterfly than I am,” he added thoughtfully, eyeing her delicate bone structure in the cabin’s dim light.

“Oh, really?” Calla replied with spirit. “I think you might be surprised by how strong I can be.”

“I doubt it,” Seth said, a grin playing around the corners of his mouth.

“Is that a challenge?” Calla asked.

“Maybe,” Seth replied. “What are you suggesting?”

“Well, perhaps we should have a contest,” she said. “A contest of strength and weakness…Winner takes all!”

Seth looked at her askance.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” he asked. “I hate to sound too confident, but I’m pretty sure I can beat you in a contest of strength.”

“Not that kind of strength,” Calla replied smartly. “I was thinking more about strength of will.”

Seth cocked an eyebrow at her questioningly.

“And just how do you propose this contest of wills should take place?”

“Well,” Calla said with a giggle. “I was thinking that maybe we could take turns tempting each other. Whoever gives in to temptation first wins.”

“And you think you’ll win this little game of temptation?” Seth asked, laughing back at her. “I’ll have you know I’m a Saurellian warrior, not some sex-starved boy.

You’ll be begging me for release by the time I’m done.”

“Will I?” Calla asked archly. “We’ll just have to see. I’ll start. Sit back on the bed and watch.”

Seth followed her instructions, leaning back against the head-board. He had a smug look on his face, and for a moment Calla questioned whether her challenge had been a good idea. He had been acting so cocky she hadn’t been able to resist, though. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and looked him in the eyes.

While he was fully clothed, she had been sleeping in the nude which proved a distinct disadvantage. It would be nice to start with a strip-tease, but that wouldn’t be possible. She’d have to bring out the heavy artillery right away...

“Computer, turn the lights up by 50 percent,” she said softly. “And soft music, something classical.”

Gazing at him with all the longing she felt in his presence, she slowly lifted her hands and ran them loosely, through her hair. The curly locks fell around her body, partially obscuring her breasts. Then she stretched in slow pleasure, allowing herself to revel in the sensation of every muscle pulling and relaxing. Seth continued to watch her with amusement, although she detected a slight tightening of his features...

Turning away from him, Calla faced the mirror on the bedroom wall. He was clearly visible in it, just as her reflection was visible to him. Perfect, she thought. Reaching both hands up to her breasts, she started to massage them slowly, paying special attention to the stiffening peaks. She knew how much he loved the sight of her breasts, loved the feeling of those tight nubs against his chest. Now he could see them in the mirror, but just barely. Her hair provided a protective veil, and she shivered as a strand of hair grazed her nipple.

In the background, Seth shifted, raising one knee. Calla fought to hide her smile, then leaned her head back and shook out her hair. The reflection of her aroused breasts was now fully visible to him. She stretched once again, both arms over her head. Her breasts quivered at the movement. Still stretching, she leaned to one side and then the other, before allowing her body to drape forward from the waist. Resting both hands flat on the floor, she spread her legs slightly. The movement opened them to Seth’s gaze, and she thought she heard his breath catch. She could feel his gaze on her exposed cunt.

“I find that stretching is important before any physical exertion,” she said. “What do you think?”

“You’re right,” Seth said in a strained voice. “Stretching is important.”

“I’m so glad we can agree,” she replied. Then she moved one hand from its position on the floor and ran it up the inside of her leg experimentally. “That feels good,” she whispered. “Does it look good, too?”

Seth didn’t answer, so she ran the other hand up her leg, allowing her fingers to drift delicately over her flesh. A tingle of sensation followed each finger, and little trails of sparkling desire ran through her. Moisture gathered between her legs.

“This feels so good, I could just do it forever,” she finally said. “But I think you probably need more of a show than that.”

Seth watched with gritted teeth as Devora stood up, turning to face him. He was rock-hard in the flimsy jumpsuit he wore, although he had raised one knee to hide the evidence. Despite his confident words, he wanted her so badly that it took every ounce of strength to keep from grabbing her and rolling her body under his. Just the thought of thrusting into her hot, wet flesh made his cock leap, and he bit down a moan. Against his will, one hand drifted between his legs, grasping his hard length. It was exquisite, but nowhere near as good as Devora’s flesh would feel.

She smiled broadly at him, then gently rested a finger on her mouth. Her lips were closed, but the finger pressed against them and after a second disappeared into the warm, wet opening. She drew it out again slowly, then opened her mouth and ran her tongue around the finger.

The night before she had done the same thing to his cock, licking and sucking at it like it was candy until he’d exploded like a rocket. His fingers squeezed his hard length restlessly in memory. Nothing was as hot as Devora’s mouth, unless it was her cunt...

She seemed to read his mind, because her other hand dropped to the moist spot between her legs. One finger rubbed gently against her clit, and she shivered.

Continuing to suck her finger, she pulled it deeply into her mouth, then allowed her cheeks to hollow with the suction as she slowly pulled it out again. All the while she worked her clit, shivering as the delicate skin swelled under her fingers, gazing deeply into his eyes.

His pulse pounded in his ears, and he could feel blood rushing to his face. He felt hot, and he knew he had to have her.

She suddenly dropped her hands and smiled at him.

“So, how are you feeling, Seth?” she asked sweetly, innocence written all over her face. “Feel like doing anything? Or are you too much of a warrior to give in to your desire? I’m willing to be a gracious winner.”

“Fuck,” Seth said, dropping his head back against the wall. She had him by the balls.

His cock was poised to go off in his pants like a boy’s, yet she stood before him with laughter in her eyes. It was time for payback.

“Sit down, it’s my turn,” he said darkly, rolling to his feet.

Calla forced her expression to remain nonchalant, and sat down on the bed. It had taken every ounce of self control to keep herself from jumping on him, yet she’d be damned if she would let him win that easily. If he had any idea how hungry she was for his touch...

Seth stood before her, one hand wrapped around the long, hard bulge at his groin.

He was heavily aroused, yet he massaged himself almost absently.

If she hadn’t seen the glint of desire in his eyes, she would never have guessed how much he wanted her. His eyes, though, were hard with a need that couldn’t be denied.

He grasped the zipper of his coverall, pulling it down slowly to his waist.

The beauty of his dark chest, sprinkled with hair, made her breath catch. He was the most magnificent man she’d ever seen. A twist of desire caught her off-guard, and she moaned. She watched his face light up in triumph, and she scowled in response. He was so sure of himself, it wasn’t fair, she thought to herself.

He shrugged one shoulder out of the suit, exposing his muscular arm and shoulder.

Those arms had held her so many times, imprisoning her as he pleasured her, cradling her as she returned the favor. She felt so safe when they held her close, like nothing could ever hurt her. She caught herself leaning toward him, ready to accept his embrace.

He raised one finger and twitched it in reproof.

“Ready to give in so soon, Devora?” he asked in a silky voice. “I know I’ll win, but I thought you’d last a little longer than this...”

Calla scowled at him, disgusted at her own weakness. It was time to fight fire with fire, she decided. Scooting down the bed, she stretched out comfortably, head propped up on a pillow so she could continue to watch him easily. Then she started massaging her clit with one hand, legs spread wide open.

“Oh, I’m not ready to give in,” she said huskily. “I’m just settling in to enjoy the show.”

She noted with satisfaction that the sight made him gulp, but he quickly shrugged off his suit, exposing the proud jut of his cock. Then it was her turn to gulp.

He was long and hard, and the smooth, helmet-like head flushed red with arousal.

One hand continued to stroke slowly up and down, and he flinched slightly as he grazed the sensitive notch on the under-side.

Calla closed her eyes, it was too much.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Seth said huskily. “You watch me every second, just like I had to watch you.”

Calla forced her eyes open, and another shock of arousal struck her at the sight of him standing there, a drop of pearly moisture hanging on the end of his proud length.

Her body convulsed in response and her fingers moved more frantically between her legs, the familiar pressure building.

“Ah...” Seth said, continuing his own long, slow strokes. His face was tight and his breathing harsh, but every movement was tightly controlled. “If you come, first, that means I win. Are you ready to give up?”

Calla shook her head furiously, but her hand refused to stop moving. Seth moved closer to the bed, standing over her as he worked his own sensitive flesh. The veins on his neck stood out with tension.

“When I do this,” Seth whispered. “I’m thinking about what it would be like to thrust into you. I’m thinking about how hot and tight you are, about shooting into you and exploding over and over until neither of us can move. That’s what I want to do to you right now.”

“I’m thinking about it, too,” Calla said, mesmerized. She couldn’t quite remember why they weren’t already doing that... What was she trying to prove anyway?

Seth seemed to read her thoughts, because his eyes lit with triumph.

“Tell me to come to you, Devora,” he said. His soft, smooth request wove through her consciousness, and he watched with anticipation as she twisted in desire. “Tell me you want me inside of you. Tell me there aren’t any others who can fill you like I do.”

“Oh, Seth,” she moaned. “Oh, Goddess, I’m so close.”

“That’s good enough for me,” Seth muttered. He fell on her like a man starved, his mouth crushing against hers. One strong arm was braced above her head, and the other worked its way underneath her body. Then he was pulling her to him and thrusting into her flesh.

The shock of contact swept through her, and she came in a burst of pleasure so intense she screamed against his mouth.

As Devora convulsed around his taut flesh, Seth surged forward in search of his own pleasure. The feel of her tight body gloving his was like hot silk, and every stroke brought him closer to the ecstasy he knew was waiting for him. Then he pressed home one last time and orgasm ripped through him. He cried out, then collapsed against her.

She held him tightly, wrapping his body with her arms and legs.

After a minute, she asked him quietly, “So, who won the contest?”

Seth laughed, amazed at the feeling of contentment and joy that filled him.

“I think we both won,” he said finally, kissing her soft, swollen lips gently. “Or at the very least, we both got the prize.”

Later that day, as she was preparing their evening meal, Calla reflected on how much her life had changed since she’d joined Seth. Four months had passed since they’d left the mining station. They were the best months of Calla’s life, so pleasant that she felt guilty at times. Jess’ survival was hanging in the balance and what was she doing?

Falling in love. And it was love–she had resigned herself to it by now.

Travelling with Seth from outpost to outpost might have seemed tedious to a more experienced woman, but to Calla each day was a new adventure. They’d visited twelve groups of miners so far, their homes ranging from one-man operations to a corporate mine employing more than 100 managers and a thousand slaves.

The corporate outpost had been the hardest stop for Calla, both logistically and emotionally. Each time they arrived at a station, she anxiously scanned the faces of those around her, seeking Jess. Several times she’d shown his picture to groups of slaves, always careful to keep her activities a secret from Seth. So far he suspected nothing, but she couldn’t afford to take anything for granted.

The corporate mine had been too large for her to question the slaves; even if she’d had the time to talk to all of them, the security was too tight. She’d taken another route instead, cozying up to the personnel manager while Seth was taking a tour. She’d created a cover story, telling the manager that the slave, Jess, had been sold by accident.

According to her story, Mistress Jenner had regretted selling him within days of his departure. Devora, as Mistress Jenner’s friend, had agreed to keep an eye out for the young man during her tour of the asteroid field. She would, of course, offer generous compensation for Jess’ return.

The manager had looked through his books, scanning the transactions to see if he had any workers who fit Jess’ description. He even had a series of holos of each “unit,”

as he called the slaves. Calla scanned the most recent purchases carefully, but none looked like Jess.

“I didn’t think we’d have the unit you’re looking for,” he told her after she’d examined the last of the holos. “We buy most of our units in lots, so unless it’d been resold to a wholesaler, odds are we wouldn’t see it. I think you’ll have better luck checking with smaller operations.”

His callous attitude toward the men who lived and died under his care horrified Calla, but she was careful to keep a casual smile on her face. The last thing she wanted to do was arouse suspicion by betraying her emotions. You’re a free woman now, she reminded herself. The fate of slaves is unimportant to you.

But the faces of the captive men, filled with fear and trepidation, haunted her. Most of them would be dead within a year, none would ever leave the asteroid belt. Death, Calla thought sadly, would be merciful for these men.

And now Jess was one of them.

Seth gently guided the sleek ship toward the remote asteroid, eyes scanning its surface for a place to land. He’d heard from some miners at his last stop that there was an encampment here, although no mining claim had ever been registered. They’d warned him not to go there because the miners were crazy. According to Seth’s sources, they’d spent too much time in the middle of nowhere; they were paranoid. Once they’d even fired on one of the harmless peddlers who worked the asteroid fields, carrying supplies and trading among the camps and stations.

To Seth’s mind, it sounded like they might be exactly who he was searching for.

Intelligence reports indicated that a group of extremists was hoarding weapons in preparation for some kind of holy war against the Saurellians. The whole thing sounded ridiculous to him, but his source insisted that the threat was real. The whole purpose of his mission was to find these people, and return to his superiors with a report on how to control the threat they represented to the Saurellian occupation.

As he approached the asteroid, however, he felt a twinge of unease. He didn’t like the idea of bringing Devora to a potentially dangerous place. Having a willing woman with him seemed like a good idea when they’d left Discovery station, but now he was less sure of his decision. He had long since realized she was the best thing that had ever happened to him; he was happier with her than he’d been since he was a child. He didn’t understand why, but even the thought of her in danger was enough bring cold sweat to his skin.

He didn’t have any other option, though. He’d seen the way men’s eyes followed her at their stops so far. Women were hard to come by in the mining fields; he had little doubt that if he dropped her off at even the most civilized of posts she wouldn’t be safe.

He’d allowed her to move about freely at their previous destinations, but this time he was going to have to keep her on a short leash. Otherwise he could lose her, and that simply wasn’t an option.

“Are we almost there?” Devora called up to him from the base of the ladder. “Do you mind if I come up? I’d like to watch as we approach.”

“That’s fine,” he said lightly. “Make sure you stow everything first. I don’t know what the gravity will be like on this thing, so we could get bumped around a bit until the ship compensates for it.”

She still always asked permission to come up into the cockpit, although he’d long since stopped worrying about her moving or damaging anything. She was a puzzle, Seth mused. Half the time she was a self-confident seductress; the rest of the time she was almost pathetically eager to please. She took care not to intrude on his space and was constantly doing little things to make him more comfortable. Most of the pleasure workers he’d known in his life were prima donnas. They might do almost anything to bring physical pleasure to their clients, but they wouldn’t dream of cleaning. At times he had to force Devora to stop working. It was strange… it wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy being cared for, but she did more than her fair share. It wasn’t right, and it wasn’t part of their contract.

The thought of that damned contract made him wince. He didn’t like the idea that Devora was only with him for his money. Not that she didn’t enjoy his company. He could tell she genuinely liked being with him, and not just because they had great sex.

They’d spent countless hours studying the holo-maps together, discussing politics and swapping stories. She had remarkably little understanding of the war between the Empire and the Federation, but she was eager to learn. In the evenings they would play card games and even read books to each other. One night they got drunk on bakrah and chased each other around the ship like wild children. Seth had never spent time doing such mundane things with a woman, yet he was never bored. Sometimes they didn’t even have sex. His friends wouldn’t believe him if he told them that, he realized with amusement.

“All right, everything is stowed,” Devora yelled from below, then he could hear her climbing the ladder. She sat down beside him, looking eagerly out the window. “So, who are we visiting here? Is it another corporate mine, or something smaller?”

“I don’t really know what we’re going to find here,” he replied after a brief pause.

They were getting closer, and he could see what might have been a habitation bubble on the surface, but it was hard to tell. “This one isn’t actually on the charts, and there’s no official claim filed. I think they might be members of a survivalist group.”

His words sent a shiver through Calla. What kind of survivalist group, she wondered. Were they Pilgrims, like Jenner? If so, this stop might lead her to Jess. But she’d have to watch her step. She had met hundreds of Pilgrims at the hostel–they came for meetings once or twice a year, although she’d never learned what they were meeting about. They were extremely private, and didn’t even allow the slaves in to serve them food.

“What kind of survivalists?” she asked, trying not to sound too interested in his answer.

“Well, I’m not sure,” he said after a second. They were getting closer to the asteroid, and his maneuvering was becoming more complicated as several smaller asteroids brushed by their path. “I think they might be part of a group called the “Pilgrims of the Apocalypse,’ ever heard of them?”

“Um, no,” Calla replied, nervously crossing her fingers. She was so tired of lying to Seth. If only she could be sure he’d understand, she would tell him the truth. If it was just her life at stake, she probably would have. She had Jess to worry about, however.

“I guess it’s kind of a strange group,” he said. “I don’t know too much about them, because we’ve never had them in the Federation before now. That’s partly why I decided to take this trip. I’m curious about them.”

“Oh,” she said, unsure of how to answer. She was surprised he hadn’t realized Jenner was a Pilgrim after staying at the hostel for so long, but after a bit of reflection she realized it wasn’t really that strange. Jenner hadn’t held any meetings while the Saurellians were in residence, and there hadn’t been any other guests. In fact, there was no reason to think he would know Jenner was a Pilgrim. The old bitch certainly hadn’t gone out of her way to advertise the fact to the Saurellians, which was strange in and of itself. Usually if they had a guest who wasn’t a Pilgrim, Jenner would corner them to try and discuss religion.

“So, I take it they aren’t very friendly?” she asked finally.

“That’s their reputation,” he replied. “We know they’re opposed to the government, and the Saurellian government in particular, but we don’t know why. I’m not going to tell them that I was provisional commander of the system until recently, and I want you to stick close to me the whole time. I just don’t feel entirely comfortable about this visit.

Maybe it would be better if you stayed on the ship,” he added, looking over at her with concern.

That wouldn’t work, Calla thought in panic. She had to do something, or she’d never find Jess.

“That’s not fair,” she said in a pouty voice. She didn’t want to overdo it, but she had to convince him to let her leave the ship. If he didn’t want her leaving, she had no doubt that he’d find a way to keep her on board. “I’ve been trapped on this ship every bit as long as you have. I have every right to see some new people, even if they are some kind of strange Pilgrim.” She glanced at him under her eyelashes, trying to see his reaction to this new ploy. He looked somewhat startled.

“I didn’t realize you were feeling trapped,” he said after a brief pause.

“Well I am,” she said, tossing her hair a bit for effect. “I mean, I’m enjoying the trip, but I’ve been looking forward to each stop. I like meeting new people and going new places.”

“I’m just not comfortable with you leaving the ship here,” he said. “It may not be safe.”

“You know,” she said, adding a bit of pique to her tone. “I’ve traveled all over the Empire and managed to take care of myself. We have these ‘Pilgrims’ there, you know.”

“Would those be the travels with your former clients?” he asked tightly.

“Yes,” Calla said breezily. “And I’ve always managed to take care of myself. I want to go down on that asteroid. It’s ridiculous of you to tell me I shouldn’t.”

Seth stared at the asteroid looming ahead of them, a muscle in his jaw twitching.

Calla suddenly realized she might have spread it on a little too thick.

“I mean—“ she started to say, but he cut her off.

“I think you made your meaning clear,” he said tersely. “You’re tired of being trapped with me on this ship, and you’re perfectly capable of taking care of yourself.

Quite clear.”

“That’s not what I meant at all,” she said. She could feel the intimacy they’d built between them slipping away. This wasn’t what she’d been trying to do. A panicky feeling came over her.

“Don’t worry, I won’t make you stay here on the ship,” he said, not bothering to look at her. “But I want you to keep close to me out there. Now why don’t you go down to the main room and strap yourself in. Like I said, this could be a bumpy landing, and I don’t want to have to worry about you getting injured.”

“I’d rather stay up here with you,” she replied in a small voice. She’d hurt him, and she didn’t know how to fix it.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he answered. “I need to focus on this landing, and it will be easier if you’re not around.”

“I see,” she said quietly. “Seth, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I know you’re just trying to protect me.”

Seth finally turned to look at her, the asteroid momentarily forgotten. His expression was one of incredulity.

“Hurt me?” he said. “Don’t be ridiculous. I think you’re forgetting what we have here. I’m a Saurellian warrior, and I’ve hired you–a pleasure worker–to give me physical release on this trip. Nothing more. A woman like you could never hurt me.”

The cruel words hit Calla in the pit of her stomach. Abruptly, reality sank in. She was a slave on the run. She’d allowed herself to develop feelings for this man, but slaves couldn’t afford to have feelings. It was a weakness and it had to be covered up before someone took advantage of it.

Pasting a bright smile on her face, Calla replied smoothly, “Oh, don’t worry Seth. I know exactly what we have here.” Then she turned away from him and walked carefully to the ladder. She’d be damned if she’d let him know how much his words had hurt her.

The landing on the asteroid was every bit as rough as Seth predicted. Usually he was able to program the computer to adjust the gravity stabilizers, but he simply didn’t have enough information on this place. No one had answered his com hails, but at least they hadn’t attacked him. That was something.

He put the ship down on a flat area about a quarter mile from the habitation dome.

Another ship was already parked to one side of the field, a decrepit-looking junker that should have been scrapped decades ago.

He and Devora donned their pressure suits without speaking. He was still angry, although he wasn’t quite sure why. Pushing his feelings down, he tried to focus instead on the task at hand.

As they finished, the computer chirped a warning. Someone was approaching the ship.

Seth and Devora stepped into the airlock, closing the door tightly behind them. With a whooshing sound, the ship started pumping air out of the small chamber. As Seth waited for the cycle to complete, he watched the figure coming toward them. By his size, Seth figured he was male. He was carrying a gun, although it wasn’t held in a threatening position. Not the most promising of situations, but at he least hadn’t come out shooting.

The light above the door flashed, and the outer portal slid open. Bouncing slightly from the low gravity, Seth made his way down the landing ladder. Normally he would turn to assist Devora, but this time he stayed focused on the man, keeping a hand on his blaster. He had a bad feeling about this stop; he should have made Devora stay on the ship despite her protestations and pouting.

They walked toward the man, Seth trying to raise him on the com. As they got closer, the man tapped the side of his helmet with one hand, indicating his radio wasn’t working. He gestured to them to follow, and started walking back toward the habitation bubble.

The bubble itself looked every bit as old and unsteady as the decrepit ship on the landing field. Even after the airlock was fully cycled and the light turned green, Seth took care to check the instruments on his own suit before removing his helmet. He didn’t want to take any chances. A stench, like rotting cheese, hit him as he pulled off the helmet. The inhabitants of the bubble didn’t clean themselves very often, he realized.

Devora must have come to the same conclusion, because she gasped as the odor hit her.

“It’s a might close in here,” the miner said in profound understatement. He had pulled off his helmet before either of them, but had kept busy fiddling with the airlock controls while they removed their own helmets. Now he turned to face them, and Seth fought to control his reaction.

The man was filthy. Black mining dust covered his face, hands and neck. He had the look of someone who’d been dirty for so long that the dirt was under the skin. His hair was lank and greasy, hanging from his balding head in stringy locks. Devora gasped in shock beside him.

“I’m Calvin,” the man said, exposing rotten teeth. “This is my rock. I’ll expect you’ll be wantin’ to trade before you leave.”

That hadn’t been Seth’s plan, but Calvin didn’t strike him as the kind of man who would make time for casual visitors.

“We might have something to trade,” he said lightly. “We’ll have to see.”

Calvin grunted, then opened the airlock portal into the main bubble. The mechanism scraped from its coating of grime. Calvin strode into the room ahead of them, and Seth saw a woman and two children waiting for them silently. They were thin, pale and dirty, like Calvin.

“This is my wife, Sarai,” he said. “And this is my son, Able.” He didn’t bother to introduce the girl.

They were the most pathetic people he’d ever seen. Sarai stood silently, not meeting his eyes. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, but it was hard to tell under all the dirt.

He was gradually getting used to the smell, although every once in a while he had to fight off the urge to gag. Looking the woman up and down, he realized that she had made some attempt to straighten herself. Her oily hair had been freshly combed, as had that of the little girl. The little boy was the spitting image of his father, right down to his rotten teeth. All three seemed to be standing as far from Calvin as they possibly could.

“I would imagine your woman will want to help mine fix some food,” Calvin said after a minute, giving his wife a pointed glare. She glanced furtively at Devora, smiling shyly, and then gestured toward the other side of the bubble. There seemed to be just the one room, serving as living area, kitchen and bedroom.

Devora gave the woman a sweet smile in return, and the two made their way across the room with the little girl trailing after them. Seth noticed with some disgust that Devora had to pick her way carefully to avoid piles of debris littering the floor.

“Now that we’ve got rid of them, I think we should talk business,” Calvin said. He gestured Seth to a small, round table. “Have a seat. Able! Clear off a seat for the man.”

Able leapt into action, scuttling around his father to pull out a chair. Whipping a piece of torn fabric out of his pocket, the grubby child made an effort to wipe off some of the grime before Seth sat down.

“Damn woman don’t do jack shit around here,” Calvin grumbled as he pulled out his own chair. “I don’t know why the hell I don’t push her outta the airlock. Oh shut up, Able, I’m just funnin’,” he said as the boy snuffled in protest.

“Damn kid’s got no sense of humor,” Calvin said, spitting on the floor for emphasis.

“Now go get us some bakrah. I don’t believe in beatin’ around the bush, so let’s have this out.”

Seth cocked an eyebrow at Calvin questioningly. He had no idea what the man was talking about.

“I’m assuming you’re here to trade, and that’s a good thing,” Calvin said bluntly. “I don’t hold with traders, we’re Pilgrims here and we usually take care of our own. But something’s gone wrong up at Bethesda base and I ain’t seen no one for a coupla months. Radio’s been out for two weeks now. I’m wonderin’ if you got news for me.”

“What kind of news are you looking for?” Seth asked cautiously.

“News ‘bout them damn Sarlins what took over the sector, o’ course,” Calvin said, spitting again. Able, who was approaching with two grimy cups on a tray, ducked to miss the wad of dirty phlegm. The boy slid between them to set the tray on the table.

Calvin swatted at him, and he jumped back just as quickly. Apparently he’d had practice avoiding his father’s fists, Seth thought with distaste.

“Do you mean the Saurellians?” Seth asked, trying to lead Calvin on.

“That’s what I said,” Calvin replied, eyeing Seth suspiciously. “Them’s what been fightin’ the emperor. I’m thinkin’ they may’ve took out Bethesda.”

“I don’t know about Bethesda,” Seth said, choosing his words carefully. “I’m relatively new to this trade route. But I haven’t heard about the Saurellians coming out in this sector. Are you sure it’s them?”

“Course it’s them, who else would it be?” Calvin said. He grabbed one of the cups from the tray and handed it to Seth. “Have some bakrah. Make it myself.”

Seth took the cup and sniffed at the contents. The fumes alone were enough to singe the tiny hairs in his nose, but he took a sip to be polite. At least it drowned out some of Calvin’s smell, and the alcohol would probably be enough to kill whatever microorganisms were living in the cup. It was a comforting thought. The bakrah burned down his throat, and it took all he had in him not to cough. Calvin drank from his own cup deeply, then peered around the room myopically for Able.

“Bring the damn bottle, ya little shit!” he bellowed. “Now, back to business. I don’t usually trade with your kind, but to be honest we’re running a little short of supplies here. I usually gets all I need from Bethesda, but like I said, I ain’t seen ‘em for a while.

Now, what’s the news?”

“Well, the Saurellians are occupying the main access station, and have entered peace talks with the Empire,” Seth said, unsure of where to begin.

“Bastards!” Calvin exclaimed with feeling, taking another deep swig. “I can’t believe we have them bastards in charge of us. It ain’t right.”

“Have you ever met a Saurellian?” Seth asked, too intrigued by the man’s attitude to resist. Calvin looked at him in horror.

“Hell, no,” he said. “I don’t take my family where we might run into those things.

What kind of man would expose his children to that?”

“Those things?” Seth asked quietly. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Damn, you don’t know much, do you,” Calvin said in disgust. “Them Sarelins ain’t no more human than a goat or a slave. They’re monsters, that’s what. That’s why we ain’t gonna tolerate them in our sector!”

“We?” Seth asked, but Calvin just glared at him suspiciously.

“I don’t see no reason to talk ‘bout this no more,” he said after a long pause. “You wanna trade or not? I ain’t got all day, I got things to do.”

As far as Seth could tell, it had been a very long time since Calvin had “done”

anything. “What kinds of things do you need?” he asked.

“Well, we’re low on filters for the oxygen generator, and I ain’t got much in the way of food packs,” Calvin said, becoming suddenly fascinated with his bakrah. “We also need some parts for the radio. And some water.”

Seth listened as Calvin’s list continued, growing more horrified by the minute. The family had virtually nothing left–it sounded like their air would only hold out for a matter of weeks. He would have to evacuate them from the asteroid. Otherwise they would probably die.

“Well, I have a few of those things, but not all,” he said when Calvin finally stopped grunting out his requests. “I saw your ship out there–any chance you could make a supply run?”

Calvin turned to stare at the wall, not speaking for several minutes.

“My ship don’t work.”

“I see,” Seth said. With a sigh, he realized there was no way out of this one; even if he could justify leaving Calvin to die, he couldn’t leave Sarai and the children. “Well, here’s the thing. I can give you a few supplies, but not enough to last you for any length of time. From what I’ve heard, you scared off most of the traders a while back. That pretty much only leaves us with one option. I can take you and your family to a base nearby, where you’ll be safe.”

“We ain’t leavin’ our rock!” Calvin said indignantly. He glared at Seth with hostile, beady eyes. “You just want us to leave so you can jack our claim–I know your type, I know what you’re like.”

Impatience, tempered with disgust, welled up in Seth. It would be so easy to leave the man to die on his stupid rock. It might even be a service to the Federation, he mused.

One less armed lunatic to deal with.

“Papa, dinner is ready,” a small, frail voice broke through his thoughts. It was the little girl. She was like a skinny blond ghost, with pale, hollow cheeks and enormous eyes. Dressed in a dingy little dress that was clearly too small for her, she looked like she might collapse at any moment.

“Mali, you’re a stupid little bitch–never interrupt me when I’m talkin’ business!”

Calvin snarled, rising as if to hit the girl. Seth reached out one hand and caught his arm, pinning it against the table.

“Don’t,” he said, his voice cold and hard. Calvin glared at him, then lowered himself back in his chair. The look he shot his daughter, however, promised retribution. Seth silently swore; even if he had enough supplies for the family he couldn’t leave them behind. Calvin would kill them.

“Calvin, I speak as a friend,” Seth said, choosing his words carefully. “You and your family will die here if you don’t come with me. You’ve shot at other traders. Your base station isn’t responding. For love of the Goddess, man, look at your children! They’re starving.”

“I don’t believe in no charity,” Calvin said harshly, glaring at him.

“You offered to trade,” Seth said soothingly. “It doesn’t have to be charity. Why don’t you make me an offer? I’m sure we can work out something fair.”

“Let’s eat while I think about this,” Calvin finally replied. “Sarai, bring the food over.”

His wife and daughter came forward at the command, carrying plates covered with a dark, gruel-like substance. Seth noticed how careful they were to stay out of Calvin’s reach. Devora hovered in the background, watching anxiously. Their eyes met briefly, and Seth could see the pain and compassion in her face. He knew she wouldn’t object to taking the family along with them.

“I know it ain’t great, but it’s food,” Calvin said. Then he started shoving spoonfuls of the dark, watery substance into his mouth. Trying not to grimace, Seth took a spoonful and ate it cautiously. It wasn’t as bad as it looked–it reminded him of the basic survival rations every Saurellian warrior carried during battle - nutritious, and thankfully tasteless, powder that could be eaten with or without water.

As Seth ate, he noticed that neither Sarai nor Devora and the children were eating with them.

“Where’s their food?” he asked, gesturing to the others with his spoon. He was sure Devora wouldn’t mind missing out on her serving of the disgusting paste, but he was concerned about the children. They watched every spoonful with hungry eyes.

“They eat too damn much already,” Calvin said. “The Book tells us that a woman and children exist to serve their master. They’ll eat what’s left over, and be grateful for it.”

Seth all but choked. The little girl, Mali, was so pale he could see the faint line of a blood vessel in her forehead. The child needed food.

“Calvin, we both know you need to come with us,” Seth said, losing his patience.

Calvin started to protest, but Seth held up his hand before the man could speak. “Let’s not argue about this. Now, what do you have to trade? I haven’t seen much sign of mining activity, and this doesn’t look like an ore-producing outfit. What do you do here?”

“Papa is a guard for the Movement,” Able said proudly into the silence. He puffed out his chest slightly, and looked to his father for approval. Calvin glared at the boy, whose chest instantly collapsed. A wave of fear came over his face. “I-I-I’m s-s-s-sorry, Papa,” he whispered, wincing under his father’s gaze. “I didn’t realize I wasn’t s’posed to tell. Honest!”

“That’s all right, boy,” Calvin smoothly. Able blinked at him in confusion, but Sarai’s face blanched in terror. Calvin turned back to Seth, his expression crafty.

“What he means is I sometimes work guarding ore shipments for the miners at Bethesda,” he said. “But like I said, they ain’t been by for a while. I gots some raw materials, though. Jansenite, about fifteen kilos of it. Should bring in a pretty penny with the right buyers, if you catch my meaning...”

Seth caught his breath. Jansenite was rare, one of the most powerfully explosive elements known. What the hell was Calvin doing with Jansenite? He was almost afraid to know the answer.

“That’s a pretty specialized commodity,” Seth said slowly. “Mind if I ask how you happened to come across it?”

“Now that ain’t none of your business,” Calvin said, taking another long pull of his bakrah. Seth estimated the man had drunk almost half the bottle in the short time they’d been talking. “Do you want it or not? If you take us outta here, we’ll split the profits, fifty-fifty.”

Seth nodded slowly, calculating the best way to transport the volatile material. As if reading his mind, Calvin said, “It’s in block form, sealed in boxes in a viscous polymer.

Shouldn’t give us no problems.”

Seth wondered if Calvin had any idea how ridiculously inadequate such packing was for Jansenite. Probably not–the man was a fool. The Jansenite had to belong to someone else. That person was probably the cause of the rumors. If he could get enough information out of Calvin, he’d be able to make his report to the High Council.

“We’ve got a deal,” Seth said, setting down his spoon. “Devora, you help Sarai pack things up. Calvin and I will see to loading the Jansenite.”

Calvin grinned darkly at him in response.

Watch your back, Seth told himself, because this guy is going to be trouble.

Chapter 7

“Seth?” Calla called cautiously, looking up into the cockpit. She hadn’t had a chance to talk to him since that morning, when they’d said such hurtful things to each other. The enormity of the family’s situation had overwhelmed her; she’d been working non-stop to help Sarai and her children get clean and settled in.

Calvin had been more difficult. He refused to wash, although, fortunately, the ship’s air filters were powerful enough to counteract the worst of the odor. As long as she stayed away from him it wasn’t that bad.

“Seth, can I come up?” she asked.

After a moment’s hesitation, he replied. “Yes.”

Calla pulled herself up next to him, settling in the co-pilot’s seat. He was studying a star chart intensely, punching numbers into the navigation panel by hand. She widened her eyes in surprise. Usually the computer took care of that.

“I have to do this because where we’re going isn’t mapped,” he said in response to her quizzical look. “Calvin wants to go to Bethesda station. He’s worried about his people there. That’s where we’re going to sell the Jansenite and drop the family off.”

“Seth, do you think Sarai and the children will be safe with him?”

Seth glanced over at her briefly, eyes shuttered. She could tell he hadn’t forgotten their conversation that morning. He had cut himself off from her.

“What a man does with his family is his own business,” Seth said tightly. “I won’t let him hurt her on this ship, but I’m not going to stand between them.”

Calla stared at him, aghast. She’d thought he’d have more compassion than that.

“I can’t believe you don’t want to help them,” she finally whispered. “I really think we have to do something about their situation.”

Seth swiveled his chair to face her, his face dark.

“I think you need to be quiet and remember your place here,” he said finally. “You are here to take care of my needs. Calvin and I have a business arrangement. Don’t try to interfere in things you don’t understand. I need you to just have some faith that I know what I’m doing.”

“I think I understand perfectly,” Calla said in a small voice.

“Good,” Seth said, his voice harsh. He stared at his charts a little more. “Come here.”

“Why?” Calla asked cautiously. She didn’t like the look on his face.

“Why?” he replied in a smooth voice. “Because I said so. Because I hired you to serve me whenever I want, and I want you now.”

“But Calvin and Sarai are right downstairs,” she whispered. “Besides, I don’t want to right now.”

Seth glared at her.

“You work for me, remember?” he snarled. “You signed the contract, I’m paying you good money to be here. Come over here and service me.”

Miserably, Calla did as he said. He was correct, she signed the contract and had no right to complain. It hurt, though. She hadn’t thought Seth was the kind of man to force a woman.

“On your knees,” Seth said tightly. Resigned, Calla dropped before him. Seth leaned back in his chair, watching her coldly. She reached over to the front of his pants, which strained from his erection. It sprang free, and he sighed heavily as she wrapped one hand around him. She started moving it up and down, and his shivered under her touch.

After a several minutes he spoke.

“Use your mouth.”

It wasn’t anything she hadn’t done for him a hundred times, Calla told herself. This is no different. But it was. Those other times she’d wanted to pleasure him, and knew he would pleasure her in return. This wasn’t her Seth, the Seth who had been so kind and loving. Had she hurt him even more that morning than she realized, or had she simply built him up in her mind? Maybe her Seth had never existed, she thought sadly.

Closing her eyes, Calla wrapped her lips around his hard length. She would do as she was told; she would earn her money.

Seth stared down at Devora’s head, bobbing back and forth in his lap. The feeling of her lips on his cock was exquisite. Just the sight of her was enough to make him hard, ready to go any time, any place. Her touch was beyond description and he couldn’t imagine getting tired of her. But that was an illusion, he reminded himself coldly. He had to push down any sympathy and tenderness her felt for her.

She was a paid companion; she had no loyalty to him. He was a Saurellian, genetically incapable of forming a long-term bond with a woman outside his own race.

He’d started thinking of them as partners, imagining they were on a mission together.

Hell, she didn’t even know they were on a mission. He wanted to tell her that he was only using Calvin, that he’d protect Sarai and the children, but the stakes were too high for such revelations. Unless he could trust her absolutely, he couldn’t risk the security of the Saurellian occupation by telling her everything. It would be criminally irresponsible, and despite their closeness he had only known her a few months. There were lives at stake, for love of the Goddess!

She continued to work on him, lips and hands moving smoothly together. The sensations were building through his body, but he could tell that when he came it would be no more than physical release. He’d come to expect more from their love-making, he thought sadly.

A snuffling sound caught his attention, and with shock he realized she was crying.

Remorse hit him like a punch to the stomach.

“Devora, you can stop,” he said quietly. Her head stopped moving, then she slowly pulled away from him. Her hair covered her face, hiding her expression, but the quivering of her shoulders and the sound of her sniffing back tears touched him more than anything she could have said. She looked defeated. Hating himself for what he had made her do, Seth pulled her gently onto his lap, cradling her against his chest. She turned to him like a lost child, wrapping her arms around his neck and sobbing quietly into his shoulder.

“Shhhhhhh,” he said, trying to comfort her. “I’m so sorry, Devora. I don’t know why I did that to you. I’m so sorry.” His words, far from comforting her, seemed to open the floodgate. She started sobbing against him, crying as if her heart was breaking. Her pain stabbed through him. He couldn’t stand it. “Please stop. I’m so sorry,” he whispered again.

She cried for almost five minutes, then fell silent except for the occasional hiccup.

Seth turned her to face him, gently tilting her face up toward his. He brushed her hair out of his eyes, gazing at her steadily.

“Devora, sweet, I can’t explain to you what’s going on here,” he said. “There’s more than meets the eye, but you’re just going to have to trust me.”

“Like you trust me?” she said darkly. Seth didn’t respond, unable to meet her gaze.

Finally she spoke again.

“Well, I guess that settles things,” she said softly. “You don’t trust me, but I’m supposed to trust you.”

“Devora, it’s not like that,” Seth said. “I have responsibilities. This is about more than just you and me… Please try to understand.”

“Oh, I understand,” she whispered. She dropped her head back down against his chest, cuddling against his warmth. He held her, brushing her hair occasionally with his hand. Eventually she fell asleep. Seth continued to cuddle her body against his, staring out at the stars and realizing that while he had had sex with countless women, Devora was the first he’d ever made love to.

Things weren’t going as he’d planned at all.

Calla awoke slowly. Something was tickling her face. Something soft flitted from her forehead and across her cheeks before settling against her mouth. Seth was kissing her, she realized. She was still tucked in his arms, up in the cockpit.

His lips moved against hers, nipping lightly at her mouth. She stirred a little, eyes closed, then tilted her head up to give him better access. His mouth touched her more firmly, enticing her to open her lips. When she did, his tongue tentatively touched hers.

“Mmmmmmm,” she moaned, encouraging him. It felt so good to be held in his arms tenderly. So different from what had happened earlier. She reached her hands up behind his head and neck, pulling his head down against hers more firmly. His cock, pressed against her hip, twitched in response.

Seth responded to her encouragement eagerly, arms pulling her tightly to him. His mouth slanted open against her, and his tongue thrust harder into her mouth. Calla clung to his large frame, her legs moving against each other restlessly. She could feel her cunt growing hot and moist.

Sensing her need, Seth reached one hand down to the sensitive area between her legs, rubbing her clit through her clothing. Calla squirmed against him, rubbing his cock and thrusting her own tongue back at his. She gave another little moan, and Seth stopped kissing her, resting his forehead against hers.

“We’ll need to be quiet if we don’t want Calvin and Sarai to hear us,” he whispered.

Calla stilled instantly. She’d completely forgotten their Pilgrim guests.

“Maybe we shouldn’t-“ she tried to say, but Seth silenced her by taking her mouth again. This time he was rougher, his tongue claiming her mouth and thrusting purposefully. Sliding lower in his chair, he shifted her weight so that she was fully facing him, and thrust one knee up between her legs to steady her. Calla, unable to control her movements, ground her clit against his thigh. One of his hands rested on her butt, pulling her hard against his leg. The other was glued to the back of her head, holding her tightly to his mouth. It took both of her hands to steady herself, using his shoulders for support.

Seth’s tongue ravaged her mouth, his fingers digging tightly into her ass. Calla rubbed herself against him wantonly, pressing harder against his leg. It was almost enough, but not quite. She wanted his cock thrust into her.

Seth had other ideas. Reaching both hands down around her butt, he suddenly rose out of the seat, carrying her with him. Calla gasped as the movement pressed his erection between her legs, rubbing deliciously. She squirmed against him, anxious to feel more. Still holding her, he swiveled toward the main control panel, balancing her against the edge. He reached around her to press a button, and a flat security panel slid over the controls, locking them out of reach and protecting them from their activity.

Seth pressed Calla down against the panel, bracing her with his body. The position kept their sexes in close contact. Standing tall above her, Seth started slowly to grind his body against her.

She gasped with pleasure as his hard cock slid slowly back and forth against her clit.

The friction was exquisite, almost painful in its intensity.

Leaning down over her, Seth took first one and then both of her arms and pinned them gently over her head with one strong hand. He kissed her softly on the lips, and then started unzipping the front of the light jumpsuit she wore. His lips followed the motion of the zipper, kissing her bare flesh until he was just below her breasts. Then, nosing aside the fabric of the suit, his lips found her nipple. He licked around the small, pink nub in a circle, and Calla strained toward him. In answer, his mouth closed around her peak, sucking gently.

The pull of his mouth sent a quiver through Calla’s body that ran from her breast down between her legs, and she pressed herself against him urgently. His rock-hard cock responded, pressing up against the fabric of her suit. She whimpered, begging him to give her relief, but Seth just continued to suck slowly.

After a minute, he moved to the other breast, sucking, kissing, and running his tongue around the sensitive center.

Calla wanted more, and she tried to free her hands to pull him to her. His grasp was like a band of iron around her wrists, though, and she couldn’t move. In desperation, she thrust her hips against his violently and for one second the hard length of his manhood was poised at the entrance to her cunt. Only the thin fabric separated them.

It was too much for Seth, and his hips plunged against hers involuntarily, driving a small bit of the suit fabric that held them apart up into her moist opening before he regained control. Seth paused, gasping for air. She had taken him off guard with that thrust, and he’d almost been lost. He wanted to stay in control

“For that,” he whispered seductively, “I’m going to have to punish you.”

She quivered at his words. She had no idea what he meant, but she didn’t doubt her punishment would be delicious.

Standing up straight, he abruptly released her hands. She grasped as his shoulders for support as he pulled her off the panel. Using quick, efficient movements, he stripped off her jumpsuit, gesturing for her to step out of the pant-legs. She did so, anticipation at his next move filled the air.

He had her hop back up on the flat surface, and then–using her own soft fabric belt–tied her by the wrists to a loop at the top, normally used to secured things in zero gravity. He paused to survey her, running his eyes over her exposed body.

Calla realized she was utterly helpless against whatever he might choose to do to her. It scared her, but it was also exciting to lie before him naked and open to his touch.

What if the others heard them? A thrill raced through her–it seemed so wrong to be doing this within hearing of Sarai and Calvin. But it was thrilling, too...

Seth smiled at her darkly, then knelt between her legs. Gently lifting them over his shoulders, he blew softly on her exposed clit.

Calla shuddered, and bit her lip to keep from making any noise. A hysterical giggle almost burst out at the thought of Calvin and Sarai would think if they came to investigate any noises.

Seth gently pulled apart the lips on either side of her sensitive nub, then slowly and deliberately touched the very tip with his tongue. He felt Calla jump slightly in response. Flicking his tongue back and forth against her a few times, he then sucked her clit into his mouth. When Calla’s hips heaved in response, he pulled back from her with a chuckle.

“You’re not going to get it that easy,” he whispered.

Taking one large finger, he gently thrust into her, massaging her from within. After a second, he thrust in a second finger and lowered his head to her clit again. Moving with excruciating slowness, he started building her into a frenzy of pleasure, only to back off each time before she came.

Calla twisted and turned against her restraints, desperate to pull him against her.

She knew from experience that his own arousal must be fierce. If she could press herself against him, he’d finish things.

But Seth only laughed at her efforts, and the small vibration the noise made against her clit was almost unbearable. He continued to work her from within with one hand, while his mouth remained glued to her clit. His other hand, which he had used to hold down her stomach, now shifted. He dipped another finger inside her wet cunt, and slowly moved that hand from her wetness around her body. He massaged her ass gently, then slid his hand around to the crevice between her cheeks.

Calla paused in her squirming, unsure of what he planned to do next.

Seth intensified his efforts, sucking her entire clit into his mouth and working it viciously with his tongue. Her gasp was audible, and he felt her orgasm starting to build again. A still wet finger pressed against her nether opening, even as his hand and mouth continued to stimulate her front.

The unfamiliar feeling caused her to jerk her hips up slightly, right into Seth’s mouth. Her breath whooshed out in a gasp as her hips fell back down on his finger, and the tip of it slipped effortlessly inside her previously untouched rear entrance.

It burned slightly, but the pain was exquisite. He wiggled his finger slightly and she moaned. Then he stopped working her clit.

“Tell me what you want,” he whispered harshly, staring up across her heaving chest with dark eyes.

“I want you to fuck me,” she managed to gasp out. He wiggled his finger again; she moaned in response.

“Who do you want?”

“You,” she said. “I want you, Seth. Please.”

He laughed triumphantly, then attacked her swollen clit with renewed vigor.

Calla gasped against the sensation, more stimulated than she’d ever been before. It was almost unbearable. Her body was tensing, preparing for her release, and she strained against the belt holding her down.

Seth sucked her fully into his mouth, and pushed almost viciously into her cunt with his fingers.

Gasping for air, Calla felt every bit of energy in her body building, and then Seth abruptly thrust the rest of his finger up her ass. The feeling pushed her over the edge and she exploded, every muscle in her body rock hard from the strain.

Seth stood up slowly, watching as Devora came back to herself. Her body was glorious in its arousal. Her small, freckled breasts heaved with every breath, and her nipples were tight and hard from his sucking. He noticed that her breasts had flushed red from the slight scratch of his beard, and one was slightly bruised. He liked the looks of his marks on her; she was his. He silently acknowledged that he could never let her go. For some reason, this small woman was his life mate, or as close as he would ever experience. He didn’t understand how or why he needed her so much, and he didn’t care. All he knew was that he would be keeping her by his side as long as he could hold her.

Seth watched as Devora opened her eyes and stared up at him, a small, satisfied smile playing around the corners of her lips. Deliberately meeting her gaze, he reached down and slowly pulled his own shirt off, exposing his bare chest to her view. Her eyes followed him appreciatively. He stretched in front of her, deliberately giving her a long, slow view of his rippling chest muscles. Then he dropped his hands down to his pants, where his cock still stood out from his body, surrounded by his open pants. He cupped its solid length and squeezed slightly, allowing his head to tilt back in pleasure at the sensation. A small bead of sweat started making its way across his forehead.

Opening his pants further, he allowed his full sacs to spring free. His swollen cock was flushed red with arousal, the head nearly purple. A small bead of moisture welled up at the tip. Reaching down with one hand, Seth grasped his own length and started to stroke it up and down while staring directly into her eyes.

“Do you know how much I want you, Devora?” he asked with dark intensity. “Do you have any idea how much I want to fuck you right now?”

The woman splayed in front of him shook her head, mesmerized.

“Did you know that the week I waited for you back at Discovery station I had to do this every day?” he continued, deliberately moving his hand over his cock head, then rubbing his fluid down his length. “Every night I thought about you, dreamed about you, and I did this a hundred times. I couldn’t wait to fuck you.”

Calla’s eyes widened at his revelation.

“Do you want me now? Do you want this?” he asked, smoothly caressing his own flesh. “Now that you’ve had your pleasure, do you want to give me pleasure?”

“Yes,” she whispered quietly.

“Not just because I’m paying for it?”

“No, I’d want you no matter what,” she said. And a surge of triumph washed through him. She wasn’t lying, no one could fake the look on her face. She was truly his.

When this mission was over, he’d take her away somewhere and never let her out again.

He’d spend the rest of his life making love to her… there would be no children, of course, but they’d make due. It was more than he’d ever dreamed he’d find.

Smiling at his thoughts, Seth stepped forward between her legs, leaned over, and untied her hands. Devora raised her arms and wrapped them tightly around his neck.

Their mouths met fiercely, his tongue thrusting in and claiming her. He lifted her body, fitting the tip of his cock against her moist lips, and plunged into her in one smooth motion. Devora gasped against his mouth.

Seth rose, then carried her back to the pilot’s chair and sat down heavily. Devora, still astride him, started moving quickly, and his body tensed at the hot, tight fit of her.

She squeezed him, milking him with her inner muscles. She threw her head back, breasts bouncing in time to her motions, and Seth groaned.

Abruptly she stopped moving, and with a wicked smile placed one finger across his lips. Shhhhhh,” she said in mocking imitation of his own words earlier. “We don’t want to wake up Calvin and Sarai.”

Seth glared at her as she laughed softly. Grasping her waist with both hands, Seth lifted her and plunged her back down on his length. Devora took the hint, and started riding him again. The pleasure built in him, then–when it seemed like he could take no more–his hips jerked spasmodically and he came, grinding himself against his small woman. She kissed him deeply as he sat back, massaging him with her inner muscles as his erection started to fade.

“Thank you,” he said after a minute, grasping her head in both hands. He kissed her again, then she responded.

“Thank you,” she whispered back, dropping a kiss on his nose. “I have to say, that wasn’t half bad.”

She burst out laughing at the look indignant look Seth gave her.

“All right,” she said, still giggling. “It was pretty damn good. So, do you think they heard us?”

“Probably,” he said. “Do you care?”

“No,” she replied, sobering. “I don’t really care at all. Being with you is too good to worry about things like that.” After a brief pause, she looked over at the star maps he’d pushed aside earlier. “You said we’re going to Bethesda base. Where is that?”

“It’s further into the belt,” he replied. “We’re about a third of the way around the belt from the main station’s orbit. Bethesda is actually just about as far from Discovery station as you can get and still be in the asteroid belt. It’s actually on the opposite side of the sun. Calvin won’t tell me exactly where, he says he’ll help guide us in when the time comes.”

“And you actually trust this man?”

“I know what I’m doing,” he said with finality, not really answering her question.

He wished he could explain what was going on, but it wasn’t worth the potential risk.

He would explain everything to her later. Too much was at stake to take to tell her right now, he thought morbidly. He didn’t think she would deliberately betray him, but it would be so easy to say the wrong thing to Sarai or one of the children…

“I guess we keep coming back to the issue of me trusting you without you trusting me,” she said, gazing into his eyes searchingly. “Of course, I’m just your employee. I need to remember that, right?”

“You’re more than that to me,” he replied. “I’d think you would have realized that by now. Haven’t I treated you well? I know I was an ass earlier, but I haven’t forced you to do anything.”

“No, you haven’t,” she replied with a sigh. “I can’t fault you for that. We should probably get some sleep. I have a feeling that as long as Calvin’s on board, things aren’t going to be very restful. You will protect Sarai and the children, won’t you?”

“I said he wouldn’t harm them on my ship, and I meant it,” he said. “But don’t provoke him. I need this man to finish my business deal. It’s very important.”

“I guess I never thought of you as a dealer in explosives.”

“Well, there’s a lot you don’t know about me,” Seth gritted out, wishing she’d just drop the subject. He wanted to go to bed and hold her warm body close to his through the night. He didn’t want her analyzing his actions. He was well aware how bad he must look to her right now.

“I’m realizing that,” she said quietly. “Let’s go to bed.”

Chapter 8

It would take them a little over a week to reached Bethesda base, but by the fourth day Calla was ready to strangle Calvin with her bare hands. He complained constantly, berating Sarai and glaring at Calla. He’d discovered she and Seth weren’t married shortly after he’d arrived, and made it clear he didn’t approve. He was just like Jenner, Calla thought. A hypocrite, through and through. He had no problem beating and starving his own wife, but he condemned her as a loose woman. It was sickening.

Equally sickening was Seth’s refusal to do something about the man. Every night they would drink bakrah and talk for hours, laughing and making crude jokes. He had even asked Calvin to explain his religion further, and seemed fascinated by the teachings of the “Celestial Pilgrim” who had founded the sect. Yet he was tender with Calla, and somehow managed to deflect Calvin whenever it seemed like he might hit his wife or children. His behavior was truly puzzling, she thought.

They had developed a new routine. Each day, she and Sarai would rise and prepare the morning meal for the men. Seth and Calvin would eat, then retire to the cockpit to discuss their “business” and look at maps of the mining belt. She and Sarai would clean up, then play quietly with the children.

The first day or two, Sarai, Mali and Able seemed afraid of Calla. She tried to find some vids for them in the ship’s digital library, but Calvin had burst into an angry diatribe the first time she turned one on. He didn’t want his children and wife

“corrupted” by the outside world.

Instead she started reading to them during the day. Calvin didn’t seem to notice as long as they were quiet, and every time he came down from the cockpit she would stop, hiding the book behind her pantsuit. First she read them nursery rhymes and myths of past civilizations. Then they moved on to tales of the Emperor’s harem and stories written by a woman who had grown up in an early space colony. The children sat in fascinated silence, eyes widening at her tales. Sarai would busy herself with small tasks, but Calla knew she listened, too.

One evening, as they prepared dinner for the men, Calla asked her how she had come to be with Calvin.

“My father arranged it,” Sarai said shyly, not meeting Calla’s eyes. Now that she was clean, with her light blond hair held back in a thick braid, she looked rather pretty and very young. She had tendency to blush, adding color to her pale face. “We were married when I was fourteen.”

“Did you grow up in the asteroid belt?”

“Yes, I was born here,” she said. “My parents lived at Bethesda base. They’re dead now, though. Their transport decompressed and they were killed. It was after Able was born.”

“I’m so sorry,” Calla murmured. Perhaps there were some advantages to never having had parents. At least she only had Jess to lose … and Seth, of course. But he hadn’t ever really been hers in the first place, she thought morbidly.

“It’s all right,” Sarai said, flashing her a quick smile. “It’s been a long time. I think it was kind of a blessing for mama, anyway. My little sister was with them. She was supposed to marry a man who was not… kind. Sometimes I almost think she was lucky to go the way she did, quickly and without pain before she got married.”

“You aren’t happy with Calvin, are you?” Calla said, her heart melting at Sarai’s story. “Have you ever considered leaving him?”

Sarai stopped working, and Calla realized she was trying to control her emotions.

“I could never leave him,” she said finally, her smile faded. “I used to think about it, but there is no way. This is the first time I’ve been off the rock since we got married, you know. The children have never left before now. There’s no way I could get away from him. I don’t have any money, I don’t have anywhere to go and I’ve only ever been to Bethesda base and the rock. There’s no place for someone like me out there, and I have my children to think about.”

Calla cast a glance over toward the children. They sat at the table, drawing pictures with an unnatural quiet. Both had been eating heartily, but were still painfully thin.

Mali’s skin looked like white parchment stretched across her pale face. Able was delicate too, although he seemed tougher than his sister. Calla had noticed how protective he was of the little girl. Just like Jess was with me, she thought longing.

“What if you could leave?” she asked Sarai finally. “What would you do then?”

“Then I would leave,” the woman replied in a faint voice. “I would leave and take my children somewhere else. He’s already started talking to some of his friends about Mali. They’re going to marry her off, and I’ll never see her again… It will be another six or seven years before they do it, but I think about it all the time.”

“Maybe you’ll have a chance someday,” Calla said after a long pause.

“I doubt it,” Sarai answered. She looked at Calla with haunted eyes. “He’ll kill me before he lets me go, and no one will stand in his way. I’ve come to accept that.”

Turning away from Calla abruptly, Sarai walked across the room to the fresher.

Calla moved over to the table and sat down next to Mali. The little girl had drawn a picture of four people standing together, holding hands. Two adults and two children.

Mali looked up at her and smiled, the expression transforming her small, thin face.

“This is mama and me and Able and you,” she said. “We’re going to the palace to visit the emperor’s harem. When we get there, we’re going to have roast baka bird and eat candy all day long!”

“Don’t be silly,” Able said, looking at her scornfully. “We’re not going there. We’re going to Bethesda base, and then we’ll head back to the Rock. That’s what daddy says.”

“I want to go to the palace,” Mali said. “I hate the Rock, I don’t want to go back there.”

“It’s not about what we want,” Able said. “Isn’t that right, Devora? We gotta do what the men say. That’s the way things work.”

“Yes,” Calla said softly, her heart aching for them. “Unfortunately, that’s the way things seem to work.”

Seth kept a close eye on Calvin as they approached Bethesda base, just as carefully as he’d watched the man all week. He wouldn’t put it past the man to attack him when they landed. He’d been eyeing the ship since they’d first arrived at his camp. Seth had done everything in his power to convince the crazed fool that he was sympathetic to the Pilgrim cause, but there was no way to know if he’d fallen for it or not. Seth wanted to get as much information as possible out of him before his cover was blown. Calvin was his key to finding the rest of the Pilgrims.

“It don’t look right,” Calvin said as they got closer, pointing toward the asteroid’s surface. “I told you them Sarelins took ‘em out. See that?”

Seth did see. On the surface was a small cluster of habitation domes. Two of the three had been blown open. The third appeared to be intact, but there were no signs of life. No activity, no moving vehicles, no lights. The landing field was completely empty of ships. Seth cautiously double-checked to make sure their shields were at their highest setting; he wanted to take as many precautions as possible before landing.

Calvin worked the radio, trying a variety of frequencies and codes. There was no response. By the time they’d landed, the man’s expression had grown ugly. Making his way down out of the cockpit, Seth thought through his options carefully. He hadn’t been able to detect any signs of life using his scanning equipment, but there were ways to fool a scanner. It would be best to leave the women on board. He would set the autopilot to take the ship back to the main base, so that if something happened to him, Devora, Sarai and the children would escape. He’d have to keep an even closer watch over Calvin. He seemed so unsettled by what had happened at Bethesda that Seth believed he might snap.

“We’re going to try and figure out what happened here,” Seth said as soon as he was off the ladder and in the main room. The women and children watched him anxiously, Devora’s eyes full of questions.

“What did you see?” she asked quickly.

“Two of the domes have been blown open,” Seth replied, moving quickly toward the airlock. “The third seems to be intact, but we don’t know if there are any survivors.

We’ll be back soon. If anything happens, or anyone approaches the ship, you can call us on the com. I’ll leave the feed open so you can hear us.”

“But don’t call us with your stupid women’s crap,” Calvin muttered as he entered the room. He paused to give them a harsh glare. “We’ve got more important things to do.”

Quickly pulling on their pressure suits Seth and Calvin went through the airlock He had strapped his blaster onto the side of his hip. The slow cycle seemed to take forever as Seth peered out the small porthole toward the base. Something just seemed wrong.

When the light flicked green, he and Calvin stepped through the door and descended to the surface. There were still no signs of life. Seth motioned his companion toward the still-intact dome, and they started lumbering their way across the uneven surface. It was as if someone had gone so far as to try and destroy any hope of repairing the base by attacking the rock itself. All around them, the landing field was pitted with craters.

As they came closer, there were more signs of violence. A pressure suit glove, spent energy blaster casings and scorch marks littered the surface. The main entrance to the dome was directly ahead of them, but Seth noticed a large, blackened pile off to the left.

Telling Calvin to wait for him through the com patch in his suit, Seth moved closer to investigate. It looked as if some had used a proton gun to try and destroy whatever it was in the pile. Kicking aside some of the debris with his foot, Seth made a discovery that sent him stumbling back.

A sooty skull grinned up at him.

In horror, Seth realized he was probably staring at the remains of those who once lived on the base. Who had done this?

“Calvin, come here,” he said. “I think we’ve found your friends. At least some of them.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Calvin muttered, walking toward him slowly and heavily. The man was not in good shape, and lumbering around the surface left him breathing unpleasantly loud into the com unit. “Holy shit. They slaughtered ‘em.”

They both stood staring at the mound. Most of it had been burned so fiercely that nothing but ash remained, but here and there a bit of bone was visible. Seth felt sick to his stomach.

“Drop your weapons and turn around slowly, hands where I can see you,” said an unfamiliar voice through the com unit. “Otherwise I’ll kill you. I don’t have a damn thing to lose, so don’t push me.”

Seth dropped his gun, then raised his arms slowly. Calvin hesitated, then did the same. Seth hadn’t actually trusted him with a charged weapon, but Calvin didn’t know that and neither did their captor. Slowly, the two men swiveled to face the man who had come up behind them.

He was dressed in pressure suit that had definitely seen better days. It was scorched from blaster fire, and had been patched in several places.

“Who are you?” the man asked, seeming anxious. “What group are you with?”

Seth wondered if he was the only survivor.

“I’m a trader, just passing through,” he said. “This is my colleague, Calvin.”

“I’m a Pilgrim, and this is our base,” Calvin said brashly. “Who are you? What happened here?” Seth could have strangled him for being so rude to their captor. The last thing they wanted to do was piss the man off, but Calvin was about as stupid as they came. If he wasn’t lucky, he was going to get himself killed before too long. Hell, sometimes Seth was tempted to do the killing.

“Me?” the man asked. He chuckled to himself a bit wildly, and Seth wondered if the man was unbalanced. Being stuck alone in a burned out base for a month or two might do that to a man, he figured. “I’m the new owner of Bethesda base. It’s my territory now, and you guys are trespassing.”

“What the hell-“ Calvin started to bellow, but Seth backhanded him across the chest in disgust. He fell to the ground gasping.

“My friend didn’t mean to be rude,” Seth said quietly, trying to engage their captor.

“Perhaps we can come to some kind of arrangement? We aren’t interested in causing any trouble.”

“An arrangement?” the man laughed. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. I think we’re past making arrangements.” Without warning he fired his blaster. The shot took Seth off guard, then the ground next to him sported a new blast mark. He’d missed. With sudden insight, Seth realized the man didn’t have much experience with a gun. There might still be some hope for the situation.

Calvin was still on the ground trying to catch his breath, oblivious to the drama taking place above him. Suddenly, he rolled over and vomited in his suit. The movement startled the man with the gun, and Seth leapt toward him. The man never saw it coming. One minute he was watching Calvin gasping and the next he was on his back, pinned down by Seth’s bulk. Seth wrenched the gun out of his hands and held it against his neck.

“Now, let’s get some answers,” he said coldly. “What the hell happened here?”

“I told you, I’ve got nothing to lose,” the man giggled. “Go ahead, shoot me. Then at least it would be over.”

“It’s not going to be that easy,” Seth said. “I need information, and you’re going to give it to me. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. The hard way will be extremely painful, and it could take a very long time. Now, who are you?”

“I’m Bragan,” the man said after a minute. No longer giggling, he seemed to have grown suddenly morose. “I’m the doctor here.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Seth said. “What happened?”

“The slaves revolted,” the man said. “They found a way to remove their implants and they revolted. The Pilgrims fought back and they died. Poor Pilgrims, they got a taste of their own medicine…”

Seth sat back on his haunches, keeping the gun trained on Bragan. All the fight seemed to have drained out of him, and he simply laid there in his pressure suit.

“Are there any other survivors left beside you?” Seth finally asked.

“Oh, no, I’m the only one,” Bragan said. “It’s really quite amusing when you think about it.” He started giggling softly to himself again.

“What’s amusing about it?” Seth asked, feeling nauseous. The poor man was out of his mind, but he was the only witness they had.

“That I had to stay behind, of course,” Bragan said. His giggles grew louder, punctuated by snorts of escaping air. Then he started laughing out loud, uncontrollably.

The sound was magnified as it passed through the com system, adding strength to the man’s cackles.

“Why is that amusing?” Seth said. Bragan was laughing so hard now he could hardly speak.

“W-w-why, b-b-b-because,” Bragan sputtered out between fits of dark mirth. “I’m the o-o-one who took out the implants, of course. I’m the surgeon. But when all the slaves were free, there was no one left to take out my implant and I had to s-s-s-stay…”

The man continued to lay on the ground, giggling at his little joke while Seth stared in horrified fascination. Bragan had helped his fellow slaves revolt, only to find himself trapped on the asteroid base. After a few seconds, the quality of his noise changed, and Seth realized he was sobbing. Bragan cried for a few minutes more, then lay still.

“They said they’d come back for me,” he finally whispered. “But you got here first.

It’s all over, now.”

Calvin, who Seth had all but forgotten about, chose that moment to launch himself at Bragan’s prone figure.

“Who did it?” Calvin screamed. “Who did this? Which slaves? Where did they go?

I’ll kill the bastards!” He grasped Bragan’s pressure suit and began banging his head against the ground.

“Jess…” the man gasped under his onslaught, pawing feebly at Calvin. “It was Jess and Logan. They were the leaders.”

“Calvin, get control of yourself,” Seth said with disgust, then wrenched the braggart off Bragan’s prone body. “He can’t give us any information if he’s dead. Come on. Let’s get him back to the ship.”

“Oh, no you don’t!” Bragan shouted hysterically. He started crawling frantically through the dust toward the dome. “I can’t go on a ship. I can leave the base. My implant will go off! I can’t go … I can’t … please don’t make me go, please!”

“Get on your feet,” Seth said. “We’re not going to leave the base yet. I’m just going to lock you up on my ship so we can explore.” Bragan didn’t seem to hear him. The man just kept scrabbling away from them, whimpering and crying.

“We should just kill him,” Calvin muttered, casting a resentful look at Seth. Seth glared back, not bothering to answer. He continued to coax Bragan, who ignored him.

Finally, seeing no other, Seth came up behind the gibbering man and hit him on the head with the blunt end of his blaster. Hoping he hadn’t caused any permanent harm, he boosted his limp body up and threw it over his shoulder. Then he headed back to the ship, Calvin following him and muttering angrily.

Calla watched the man anxiously. Seth had bound and gagged him, tying him securely to one of the bulkheads in the main room. She and Sarai listened to the entire exchange between the men and Bragan on the com before they brought him in, and at the sound of Jess’ name her heart had all but stopped beating. This man, still unconscious, might have information for her. She needed to find a way to get it out of him. Seth and Calvin had left to go exploring again. It would be at least an hour before they came back.

It might be her only chance.

“Children, why don’t you go into the bedroom,” Calla said, smiling at them as if having a bound and bloodied man in the main living quarters was a normal thing.

“Your mother and I are going to take care of this man and make him feel better.”

Sarai looked at her anxiously, concerned that she was disobeying Seth. They were supposed to ignore the man, to not speak or come close to him. Seth had given them a gun, and told them to shoot to kill if Bragan did anything threatening.

“I know what I’m doing,” Calla said, looking reassuringly toward Sarai. The two of them had developed a strange, secret bond over the past week. Hopefully she would be willing to play along, Calla thought. “Just trust me.”

After a second, Sarai nodded her head. “Yes, I’ll trust you Devora. What should we do?”

Calla was startled at Sarai’s quick acquiescence, then realized she shouldn’t be. Sarai always did as she was told… sometimes Calla wondered if the woman had a mind of her own at all.

“Bring me some warm water,” Calla said, moving quickly toward the man. “I’ll wash his face, and maybe that will wake him up. If he isn’t seriously injured, that is,”

she muttered under her breath. You couldn’t tell with a head wound. Sarai brought the water and a soft cloth. Calla handed her the gun, telling her to sit just out of the man’s reach. “Shoot him if he tries anything, you understand?” Calla said. “And if he grabs me somehow, shoot anyway. It’s very important to protect the children. Can you do that?”

“Protect the children,” Sarai echoed back to her, lifting the weapon experimentally.

She turned the blaster over in her hands several times, and a strange little smile came across her face. “Yes, I can do that.”

“Good,” Calla said, then knelt down beside the man. Dipping her cloth in the water, she brought it to his face, wiping gently at the blood. The worst of it was in his hair, but with one little washcloth she wasn’t going to be able to get him truly clean. This would be to revive him, make him comfortable. Then maybe he’d tell her about Jess.

He didn’t show any signs of life, and after several minutes she started to get worried. Then he made a small, moaning noise and his eyelids fluttered open. He looked up at her in confusion.

“Don’t worry, we aren’t going to hurt you,” she said, trying to smile in a reassuring manner as she removed his gag. “I was just cleaning you up, trying to make you a feel a little better. How are you doing?”

“My head hurts,” he whispered. “Where am I?”

“On our ship,” Calla replied. “Seth and Calvin brought you here so they could explore.”

“A ship?” he started struggling against his restraints. “I can’t go anywhere on a ship.

I still have my slave implant. I’ll die if I leave the asteroid’s electrical field.”

Calla laid a calming hand on him.

“We’re not going anywhere right now,” she said quickly, keeping her voice low and soothing. “You’re just here as a precaution. There’s no plan to take off any time soon, so you don’t have to worry about that right now.” The man peered up at her, trying to judge whether she was speaking the truth. Something in her expression must have reassured him, because he stopped struggling.

“I’m very thirsty,” he said softly. “Would you be willing to give me something to drink?”

“Of course,” Calla said. “I’ll be right back.”

She brought him a glass of water, and tilted it against his lips so he could drink.

After a few seconds, she pulled it away, but he reached for more.

“It’s so good,” he said finally, licking his lips. “I can’t remember the last time I had fresh water like that. Years, maybe. You look like someone I’ve seen before.”

“How long have you been here?” Calla asked quietly, even as she searched her mind, trying to remember if she’d seen him before. Had he ever come through the hostel?

“Five years,” Bragan replied. “Five long years. It’s been hell.”

“I’ve never met a slave who was a doctor before,” Calla said, attempting to draw him out. “Were you born into slavery?”

“No, I wasn’t,” he replied. His eyes darted nervously around the room. “Are you sure we aren’t going anywhere?”

“Very sure,” Calla replied. “I’m curious about how you came to be here, though.”

“I was enslaved for breaking the law,” he said. Calla caught her breath–she’d never heard of such a thing. Usually criminals were executed. Bragan must have sensed her confusion, because he gave a harsh laugh. “My crime was I sometimes removed slave implants illegally. Runaways, that kind of thing. When they caught me, I guess they figured the punishment would fit the crime.”

Unable to stop herself, Calla, nervously reached around to feel the back of her neck, to the spot where her implant had been. There was no scar; her surgeon had been good.

Bragan watched her closely, then gave a sympathetic smile.

“I guess you know what that feels like,” he whispered. “Does anyone know?”

Calla glanced back at Sarai. The woman was watching them closely, although she doubted she’d been able to hear Bragan’s comment. “No,” Calla whispered back. “Only the one who did it, and he’s far away from here. Are you going to tell?”

“No,” Bragan said. “I’ve learned something from my time here. Slaves have to help each other. It’s the only way any of us will ever survive. Why are you here?”

“I’m here because I’m looking for someone,” Calla said. “I need some information from you.”

“What kind of information?” Bragan asked, grinning wryly. “I’m don’t really have much to offer at this point, I have to admit.”

“I need to know about the revolt,” Calla replied. It was her moment of truth. “You mentioned the leader was named Jess. Can you describe him to me?”

“Why do you want to know?” Bragan asked suspiciously. Calla took a deep breath.

It was time to tell the truth; she had to know for sure.

“Because I think he may be my brother,” Calla replied. Bragan’s face froze.

“What’s your name?” he demanded in a harsh whisper.

“I go by Devora,” she replied, twisting the cloth in her hands. It was so hard to talk about her old life. “But I used to be called Calla.”

Bragan looked stunned. He just stared at her for a moment, then broke into a smile.

“That’s why you look familiar. Jess had a hologram of the two of you together that he showed me. He kept it on a string around his neck.”

Calla’s breath caught in her throat. Jess had been here, so close.

“Where is he now? What happened?” she asked desperately.

“He’s gone,” Bragan said. Strong emotion flickered across his face. “He was going back for you. How did you get here?”

“I escaped,” she said, tears building in her eyes. “I escaped and came to rescue Jess.

I guess he had the same idea. Can you tell me how it happened?”

“I will, but you can’t give the information to those men,” Bragan said. A cough took him by surprise, and his body doubled over, spasming, for a minute. When it finally stopped, Calla gave him another drink of water. “Sorry about that, asthma,” he muttered. “I got it from living here in all this dust… You’ll have to be patient with me.

I’ve been here a long time, and after the others left I started hallucinating a lot. It’s hard for me to tell what’s real anymore.”

“I give you my word, I’m real and I won’t tell anyone,” Calla said, closing her eyes briefly. It would be one more lie to Seth, but she’d gone too far to stop now. Remember, she told herself firmly, Seth is a pleasant interlude, but Jess is your family. Don’t forget your priorities.

“Jess hadn’t been here that long,” Bragan told her. “But he was angry. Angrier than a lot of men who’ve been here for a year or more. He and another man, Logan, started talking. It wasn’t too long after that they came to see me. They knew I’d been a doctor, and they wanted to know if I could remove their implants.”

Bragan stopped speaking, apparently lost in thought.

“Bragan, do you need some more water?” Calla asked him after a moment. He looked at her, startled.

“Sorry, I forgot where I was,” he said softly. “You know, I warned them it was dangerous, even with the right equipment and anesthetic. There was a good chance they’d die. They were willing to take the risk, though, and I was willing to do it for them. I had gotten to the point where I didn’t really care if I lived or died, but I really liked the thought of Jess and Logan taking out some of those damn Pilgrims. Cruelest human beings I’ve ever met.”

“I know,” Calla said. “Jess and I belonged to one.”

“Well, these ones were worse,” he said. “They liked to use the energy whips on the slaves, and sometimes they’d get drunk and decide to go hunting. Then they’d pick someone, give him a pressure suit and sent him out without any food and water. They’d stalk him and kill him like he was nothing.”

“Slaves aren’t human to Pilgrims,” Calla murmured darkly.

“No, we aren’t,” Bragan agreed. He paused to collect his thoughts, a far-away look coming into his eyes. “I did Jess and Logan, and they both lived. But that wasn’t good enough for them. They wanted to escape, but they wanted the others to escape with them. And they wanted to destroy the base before they left. They didn’t want any of the miners to be able to ever hurt another slave again.

“So they started organizing. Ultimately all the men agreed, they were willing to risk death to escape. It’s not like they had any hope here, after all,” he said. His tone had become strangely smooth, almost sing-song as his story progressed. “So one by one, I took out their implants. Some of them died–quite a few actually–but they disposed of the bodies in the mine. Made ‘em look like accidents. It wasn’t hard to fool the Pilgrim bastards. They never did give us enough credit for our intelligence.

“The ironic thing is that in the end, there was nobody to take out my implant.

They’re wrapped around the spinal nerves, you know, so you can’t just cut them out.

They offered to try, but I didn’t see any point to it. So they decided they would escape, then come back with a doctor to free me if they could find one. I told them it was foolish, but they wouldn’t listen. Of course, they haven’t come back yet, either. I figured I’d wait until I couldn’t take it any more, then kill myself. I don’t know what I expected to happen.” He paused, licking his lips. “Can I have another sip of water?”

“Of course,” Calla said quickly, raising the cup to his lips.

“So they planned and waited,” he continued. “One day, a bunch of the miners left to go to another base, some kind of meeting. When they’d gone, Jess and the others overpowered the men watching us. There were only two of them, and about fifty of us.

They were so smug–they thought they could kill us with a touch of a button. You should have seen the looks on their faces when they realized the implants weren’t working! It was beautiful to see, although I wasn’t very close. I had to stay away, you know, because my implant was still active.

“When they realized their emergency activation wands weren’t going to work, that’s when they got scared. Then they started screaming, and one of them actually got down on his knees and begged for his life. This was the same guy who, just a week before, had killed a slave for walking too slow. Bastard.

“They killed him, of course, and they killed the other guard too,” Bragan got a hard look in his eyes. “I still think they let them die too quick, but Jess and Logan were pretty clear from the start. They’d kill the Pilgrims, but they weren’t going to torture them. Said they wanted to be better than them or something, I don’t know. Anyway, once the guards were dead it was easy to take over the base. There were hardly any men left; they took all of them out and shot them.”

“What about the women?” Calla whispered, a sinking feeling in her stomach. Seth had described the charnel pile he’d found to her. “What about the children?”

“They herded them all together in one of the transport ships. Sent them off toward the main base on a slow route, I guess. Told them to tell everyone what happened, and that Pilgrims better not sleep soundly anymore,” he added with a vicious smile. The gleam in his eyes was almost feral. Calla was glad he was still tied up, because at that moment he scared her. She could see the madness in his eyes. “We didn’t want to hurt them. Most of them were as much victims as we were, although some were real bitches.

And there was one…well, anyway,” he said, looking away from her. Calla sensed he was hiding something from her.

“What happened?” she pressed. “I want to know.”

“You’re not going to like it,” Bragan said, still not meeting her eyes.

“Tell me,” Calla said with quiet confidence. “I’ve survived a lot myself. I can handle it.”

“Well, Jess was always watching her,” he finally said. “He talked about her all the time, and when we finally took over the base, he took her.”

“What do you mean, her?’ Calla whispered. “Who was she? What did he do to her.”

“She was the station leader’s daughter, and what the hell do you think he did to her?

Use your imagination,” Bragan snapped. “He said she was his, that she wasn’t going with the others. He was keeping her. For himself.”

Calla felt sick to her stomach. The Jess she knew would never hurt a helpless young woman, but she could see the truth in Bragan’s eyes. She pushed it out of her mind, it was too much to think about. Jess was gone– free! A part of her felt like singing with joy for him, the other like crying for him and the woman he’d taken prisoner. The Jess of her youth was gone beyond her reach, she realized with sorrow. She would never find him now. “Tell me the rest.”

“Well, once they got rid of the women and children, they set a trap for the men.

When those buggers returned, they ambushed them and killed them. All of them,” he said with dark satisfaction. “I helped them do it, too. I’ve lasted a long time here because I’m a doctor and they needed me. The others weren’t so fortunate. I’ve seen a lot of young men die on this rock. Killing those Pilgrim bastards was justice. I’d like to do it again,” he muttered, dark pleasure lighting his face.

“When they got done, they had a council and decided to go their separate ways.

Logan was taking a bunch of them with him, and I guess Jess was going to meet up with them later. He took that girl and went off to find you. There was another group who wanted to go hunt down more of the Pilgrims and rescue their slaves. They were the ones who were coming back for me with a doctor… I was going to go with them, to remove implants,” he said. “I guess that’s not going to happen now.”

“I guess not,” Calla whispered. “I don’t know what to tell you. Even if I had a way to get you out of here, I can’t do anything about the implant.”

The two sat in silence for a while. Sarai watched over them, still holding the gun.

Finally, the woman spoke, startling both of them.

“You aren’t very good at keeping your voices down,” she said. “I heard what you said. I had no idea you were a slave, Devora. Or should I call you Calla?”

“Devora,” Calla said tightly. She squeezed her eyes closed, willing her situation to change. She didn’t think Sarai would intentionally harm her, but the woman was weak.

Eventually Calvin would find out, and then she’d be caught.

“Devora,” Sarai spoke softly, reassuringly. “I know what it’s like to be afraid. I’ve been afraid my whole life, but I’ve come to realize something.” She set the gun down carefully on the table, then came across the room to sit with them on the floor.

“I’ve realized that I don’t like living in fear, and I don’t want my children to live in fear any more, either,” she continued. “Until now, I never saw how I could change that. I see now, though.”

“What do you see?” Calla asked dully. Jess was gone. They’d each found a chance at freedom in their own way, but they had no way to find each other. It was a big quadrant.

“I see that we don’t have to stay here,” Sarai replied. She looked more animated than Calla had ever seen her. “Those slaves revolted, and they left. We could have our own little revolt.”

“You want to kill Seth and Calvin?” Calla asked, horrified.

“No, of course not,” Sarai said. “But we could leave them here. I listen to all of you talk; I know this ship is capable of flying without a pilot. All we have to do is leave.

Once we’re gone we could send help for Seth and Calvin. But by the time they’re rescued we’ll be long gone. Don’t you see? This could be our only chance. We’ll sell the ship and make new lives for ourselves!”

“I can’t do that to Seth,” Calla said. “He doesn’t deserve to be treated that way.”

“I don’t deserve to be treated this way, either,” Sarai replied fervently. “Neither do my children. Seth hasn’t done anything to help us.”

“Think about what she’s saying, Missy,” Bragan added, watching her closely. “I don’t know this Seth very well, but I do know that life isn’t easy for a slave on the run. If he ever finds out, he could return you to your master for a reward, or even take you himself. You don’t have any rights, you know.”

Calla could see their logic, but leaving Seth seemed so wrong. She loved him. Of course, he didn’t love her, she reminded herself. When their contract was up, she might never see him again. She’d have enough money to get herself set up somewhere, but that wouldn’t help Sarai and her children. Just the thought of leaving them with Calvin made her blood run cold.

“I’ll have to think about it,” she said finally. “What about you, Bragan? What would happen to you if we did it?”

“You can just leave me here,” he said earnestly. “It won’t change anything. I’m stuck on this rock no matter what. While you’re thinking, though, I would really appreciate something to eat.”

“Of course,” Sarai said, startled into giving a out a little laugh. She sounded happy, Calla realized. She’d never heard Sarai sound happy before. “I’ll get you something.”

Calla sat thinking as Sarai fed the man. Maybe she should take the ship. If she did, they could go somewhere and sell it. They’d get enough to start over, and if they went far enough away, Seth would never find them. Calla had no doubt his anger would be terrible. If she did do it, she didn’t want to take any chances he’d find her… A whirring noise from the airlock caught her attention. The men were back. Sarai leapt away from Bragan, busying herself in the kitchen area.

“Think about it,” Bragan softly, his eyes locking with hers. Then the airlock door opened, and Seth and Calvin walked were there. Seth’s gaze flew to his prisoner, noting the gag had been removed.

“I told you not to talk to him,” Seth said angrily to Calla. “He’s dangerous.”

Chapter 9

Devora stared up at him with guilt written all over her lovely face. Why was she talking to Bragan? Sarai was scuttling around like a mad woman, refusing to look at any of them. The children were nowhere to be seen. Something was definitely going on, Seth thought.

“Why were you talking to him?” He repeated his question.

“Um,” Devora said, casting her eyes about. Then she gestured toward a small bowl of water and a rag. “I was worried about him. He wasn’t moving, so I decided to clean off his face and make sure he was all right. When he woke up he wanted some water.

We–I mean, I–gave him a drink and some food. That’s all.”

No one said anything, and silence fell over the room. Calvin glared at her, then muttered, “Stupid women,” before turning to pull off his suit. A new stench–that of vomit–followed him. Seth tensed at Calvin’s tone; he had long since realized the man was a fool as well as a menace, but he learned a great deal about the Pilgrims from him.

In fact, he was pretty sure Calvin thought Seth was considering joining the cult. It was probably the only reason the man hadn’t turned on him yet, Seth reasoned.

As for Devora, he would keep a close eye on her. She seemed to be up to something, but he had no idea what interest she would have in Bragan. Maybe she was just trying to help the man; he did look pathetic slumped there on the floor.

“Well, don’t talk to him any more,” Seth finally said. “I’ll make sure he’s fed from now on.”

“What are you planning to do with him?” Devora asked bluntly.

“We’ll kill the bastard,” Calvin blustered. “He’s a murderer, he deserves to die.”

“Not so fast,” Seth broke in quickly. “Bragan, if you give us the information we’re looking for we may spare you.”

Bragan’s eyes grew wild at Seth’s words. He tensed his entire body, then spat at Seth like a snake.

“I’ll take that as a sign you don’t want to talk right now,” Seth said, sighing. His mission had grown far more complex than he’d ever anticipated. He’d come to the belt to collect information on a dangerous cult. Now he had a family to rescue, not to mention a band of revolutionary slaves running around. Not that he blamed them for fighting back; the working conditions in the belt were unbearable. Quietly he admitted some admiration for the men who’d risked their lives to fight back. He would have done the same in their situation. It created complications for the occupation and peace process, however. The Saurellians couldn’t afford to look weak right now.

“Calvin, let’s eat and we’ll talk about tomorrow,” he said finally.

“Woman, bring me my food,” Calvin bellowed and Sarai jumped. “And bakrah!”

He missed eating with Devora, Seth thought as he sat with Calvin that night. The man was telling him the Celestial Pilgrim’s theories on racial purity. Seth listened with one ear, keying a small pocket recorder to preserve everything the man said for the Saurellian intelligence analysts. Calvin’s theories were so delusional and violent that they made him feel ill at times; it was hard to stay focused. Devora and Sarai eventually took small plates of food in to the children. Seth wished deeply that he could go with them. The evening, like every evening with Calvin, crept by with agonizing slowness.

After an eternity, the disgusting man belched heavily and lumbered off to the bedroom.

Devora and Sarai cleaned up his mess, then Sarai retired.

“Can I feed Bragan some dinner?” Devora asked quietly once the three of them were alone in the room..

“I’ll do it,” Seth said gruffly, wishing he hadn’t come down on her so hard earlier.

She still refused to look at him. There’d been something different about her for days now, and he suspected it had something to do with the way he was making friends with Calvin. She didn’t trust him and she hated Calvin. For the thousandth time, he wished he could explain everything to her. But each time he almost broke down, he reminded himself that she was a former imperial citizen who hadn’t expressed any allegiance to the confederation. It was an unnecessary risk, one he had no right to take.

Once this was all over, he knew their life together would be hard. She might not want to live in Saurellian space. She would expect regular compensation, and he would have to keep a close eye on her. He’d have to be particularly careful around other men.

She was a pleasure worker, she wasn’t used to long-term fidelity. She would learn with time, though. He could make her happy; his family was both wealthy and of high social standing. He just needed to finish his mission and they’d be able to start over...

Dropping to one knee, Seth offered Bragan a bite of the hearty stew they’d had for dinner. Bragan took it and chewed it furiously. After several mouthfuls without incident, Seth let his attention wander. His gaze came to rest on Devora, who was sitting at the table studying some star charts. It seemed like such a long time since they’d looked at the charts together; she loved to learn about the geography of the quadrant and navigation, but since Calvin had been on board they hadn’t done anything together.

She was so beautiful just sitting there that it made his heart ache to watch her.

His reverie was broken by a warm splat against his face. Stifling a roar of surprise and anger, he slapped one hand to his cheek, pulling it away to see what hit him. Bragan was giggling at him. With disgust, Seth realized the man had spit chewed-up stew at him. He glared at the man, raising a hand to cuff him for his insolence. Then the absurdity of the situation hit him, and he dropped his arm slowly. He replaced the gag in Bragan’s mouth…

“That’s it for tonight, Bragan,” he said, forcing himself to ignore the incident. The man was clearly crazy. He rose to his feet, washed the mess off of his face and went to join Devora at the table. She didn’t look at him directly, but he could see her shoulders shuddering with suppressed laughter. “I’m glad I could do something to entertain you.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “The look on your face was priceless.” She sobered after a minute, then asked him, “So what did you find today?”

“Well, it looks like things got pretty bloody,” Seth said, relaxing back in his chair. It felt good to sit and talk with her. It had been too long. “I did a scan of the bodies we found, and none of them were women or children. I don’t know what happened to them, though, so we have to assume they’re hostages.”

“Bragan said they sent them to the Discovery station,” Devora broke in quietly. Seth looked at her penetratingly, and Bragan gave a grunt of protest from his corner. “Bragan, he needs to know this,” she told the prisoner. “You don’t want them to think the slaves are more dangerous than they are, do you?”

“So you don’t think they’re dangerous?” Seth asked casually. Devora’s words surprised him; he’d thought she would have been more frightened by the idea of a slave revolt.

“Well, they were being held under terrible conditions,” she replied, looking away from him. “If you were a slave, wouldn’t you try to get away?”

“Maybe,” Seth said. “But I can’t approve of they way they slaughtered these men.”

Devora’s eyes flashed in anger. He didn’t understand why she cared so much.

“If they were just slaughtering people, why did they spare the women and children?

It sounds to me like the men got what they deserved. You’ve heard Calvin talk–he doesn’t even think of the slaves as human. I know why they did what they did.”

“You know why they did what they did? What does that mean, exactly? It’s not like you’ve ever been a slave,” Seth said, one eyebrow raised. Devora looked away.

“I guess I meant I can imagine what it would be like,” she said finally. Bragan gave a harsh bark of laughter from behind his gag as he sat tied in the corner, and Devora glared at him. “I’m tired of this. I want to go to sleep.”

“Fine,” Seth said mildly, promising himself he’d start this conversation with Devora again someday. He’d never seen her so flustered; she was definitely hiding something.

She stood up abruptly and went into the fresher. With a sigh, Seth turned off the lights and made his way over to the pallet they’d been sleeping on ever since Calvin and his family had joined them. The ship was too small for so many people, Seth thought darkly. With Bragan in the room with them, he and Devora couldn’t even have sex. He missed their times together.

After a few minutes she came out of the fresher and joined him in the darkness. He reached over and pulled her small body close to his, nestling his front against her back.

She stiffened, then relaxed into his larger frame. Dropping his face down into her hair, he inhaled deeply. She smelled clean and fresh, and he hardened instantly. Her tight little butt wiggled involuntarily against his erection, and he felt his cock twitch in response.

Bragan snorted loudly from across the room, and Seth stiffened.

It was going to be a long night.

When Seth awoke the next morning, Devora was already up and ready. Bragan had been grunting during the night and making himself generally annoying; neither of them had gotten much sleep. Calvin strutted out into the room a few minutes later. Sarai came out even more quietly than usual, her long hair hanging in her face. Both children were equally subdued, staying as far away from their father as possible.

He must have hurt her last night, Seth realized. He was going to have to do something about Calvin today, he decided. The man’s value wasn’t worth tolerating his behavior any longer. He needed Calvin to help him move some of the barricades left over from revolt, but tonight the Pilgrim would join Bragan in captivity. Perhaps he could convert one of the two cargo holds to serve as a make-shift prison cell, he mused.

Devora dropped his breakfast in front of him on the table with a thunk. She was angry with him, probably about Sarai’s condition. He sighed heavily, wishing it was just the two of them again.

After they’d eaten, he allowed Devora to feed Bragan, and escorted him to the fresher. Then he and Calvin donned their suits and made their way to the airlock.

“The hand blaster is still fully charged,” he reminded Devora as they left. “Don’t hesitate to shoot him if he gets out of hand. We’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

“You shouldn’t leave them stupid bitches with a weapon,” Calvin muttered as soon as they started walking toward the ruined domes. “They’ll probably end up hurting themselves. And I don’t figure why you want to keep that murderin’ bastard alive. He ain’t got no more information for us. He don’t deserve to live.”

“It’s not up for discussion,” Seth coldly, and abruptly turned his radio down so he wouldn’t have to listen any more. The man really was a monster, he thought. It would be a pleasure locking him up. He had more than enough evidence to convict him for plotting against the occupation.

They reached the main bubble where Bragan had been living first, but that wasn’t Seth’s target today. He wanted to explore the second bubble, where the families had been. Calvin stumbled along beside him, muttering to himself. They didn’t have far to go, although the craters and debris made walking hard. The second dome’s entrance was still relatively intact, its airlock doors shut tightly. There was no power to open them, but it wasn’t a problem. They simply walked around, stepping through one of the many holes that had been blasted in the wall.

What they found inside was an eerily quiet war zone, a ghost colony. The interior rooms and corridors that remained were scarred with blaster fire and pocked with holes.

It was hard to tell what had happened, but as they moved through the various rooms it appeared the men had fought their way out room by room. Darkened blood spatters could be seen in several places. It had been an ugly fight.

Nearly two hours later, Seth made their first useful discovery. Just outside one of the apartments was a holo-camera, the kind used often used as a security device. It looked like it had once been trained on the apartment’s caved-in door, although it was now dangling from a single cord.

“It’s probably where Bose, the station leader, lived,” Calvin said as Seth examined the device. “He would’ve wanted a record of who came to see him, even when he wasn’t around.”

Gesturing for Calvin to boost him up, Seth managed to grab the recorder and pull it down from its precarious perch. He turned it over in his hands several times, searching for signs of what happened. As far as he could tell, it was fine except for a power source.

“It’s amazing it wasn’t more damaged during the attack,” he finally said. “I wonder if there’s anything on the recording. Let’s hook it into a power source and see. Turn around.”

Calvin turned, giving Seth access to the small power pack on the back of his suit. It took Seth a couple of tries before he managed to splice a connection between Calvin’s suit and the camera. Then it flickered into life. Seth started the playback mode, and a small holographic representation of the apartment entrance appeared in the air before them.

Apparently the camera had been set to slowly pan back and forth between the apartment door and the corridor, and for several minutes they watched shots of nothing happening. No one walked by; it had been a quiet day on the station. Calvin grew impatient, and made to pull the camera away from his suit, but Seth held up a hand to stall him. The picture before them was changing. There was a flash of movement, then the camera’s view slowly panned from the apartment entrance to the corridor, revealing a horrifying struggle for survival.

First there was simply a shot of empty corridor as it once appeared, unmarked by blaster fire. Then a group of filthy men–presumably the slaves–came creeping up into the camera’s vision. Several carried homemade weapons, while a few held blasters.

Their leader gestured them to stay back, and cautiously stuck his head around the corner at the far end of the corridor. A flash of blaster fire came back, and the men froze.

Then the leader stood and yelled something. Seth and Calvin had no idea what he was saying–the camera wasn’t sophisticated enough to record sound–but whatever it was put life into his men. As a group they charged around the corner. There was more blaster fire, then the camera’s angle started to change as it swept back toward the apartment entrance.

At first there was nothing, then an obviously terrified child came running up to the door, pounding on it for entrance. The door opened, and a young woman wearing a dark dress opened it quickly and pulled the child in. She glanced down the hall, then slammed the door shut. After a few seconds another woman, this one older and carrying an infant, came running up. She too was allowed into the apartment, then nothing.

The camera swept back to the corridor, where several men–different than those who had been there before–were setting up benches to form a makeshift barricade. They seemed to be Pilgrims. They shot down around the corner several times, with blaster fire answering them. After a few seconds of intense firing, one was hit and he went down.

Then a second was hit. The final man continued to shoot desperately until his blaster stopped responding. It must have run out of charge, Seth thought grimly. The slaves sensed his weakness and swarmed him in an instant, one of them slitting his throat savagely. The fight appeared to be over.

The camera slowly panned back to the door, which remained shut. Seth and Calvin watched, mesmerized, as one of the bloodied men came up to the door and hammered on it. The man was tall, his bare arms roped with muscles. It was the leader who had lead the charge around the corner earlier. He turned his head, said something to the men behind him, then hit the door with one fist. A weapon came into view, passed to the escaped slave from one of his companions, and he yelled again. Then he stood back, took careful aim and shot at the locking mechanism.

It held out for a minute or two, then exploded in a shower of sparks. The man shoved the door open and stalked into the apartment purposefully. Several men followed him, their mouths open in silent whoops and screeches of victory. After a second the child who had taken shelter in the apartment came running out, chased by two of them. The woman with the baby walked out next, surrounded by several more.

They quickly disappeared from the camera’s view. Then, to Seth’s frustration, the camera’s view swept out into the hallway again, maintaining its steady surveillance schedule, oblivious to the traumatic events it recorded.

Seth and Calvin stared at the empty hallway for a minute or two. Every once in a while someone would come running through–a child, a jubilant slave. One looked like Bragan, although he moved to quickly to tell for sure. There was still no sign of the man who had broken through the door however, or the other woman who had been hiding in the apartment. Finally the camera turned back to the apartment door. Seth sucked his breath in at what he saw next.

The young woman in the dark dress was struggling to escape the man who had blasted his way through the door. She was pressed up against the doorway, pinned by the weight of his large body. One of his hands was twisted into her hair, and he crushed her mouth against his in a brutal kiss. The woman was fighting him with all her might but he was too strong. With a sickening feel in the pit of his stomach, Seth wondered if they were about to witness a rape. It wouldn’t be the first time such a thing had happened in the heat of battle.

The woman flailed against her captor desperately, one hand catching against something tied around his neck. She pulled at it, trying to choke him. Seth held his breath, wondering what she could hope to accomplish; even if she subdued the man, there were fifty more just like him. He already knew how the story ended–the slaves had won. The poor girl didn’t have a chance.

The man lifted his head from hers to wrench whatever she had grasped out of her hand. They fought for possession of it, then it broke and something small and bright came off of it and flew out of the camera’s range. The man looked around for it, but apparently he couldn’t tell where it had gone. The woman, sensing his distraction, chose that moment to try and break free. She kicked him savagely in the groin, and he doubled over in agony. She jerked away from him but was pulled up short by her long hair. A chunk of it was tangled in what was left of the shattered door lock. She pulled at it frantically, but before she freed herself the man had recovered enough to realize his prey was escaping.

He grabbed her arms, savagely twisting them so she couldn’t move. Then he pulled out a homemade knife from his belt, a sharpened piece of metal with fabric wound tightly around one end. He brought it toward the woman’s head, and Seth caught his breath. The man raised the knife and slashed through the chunk of hair holding the woman to the door. She fell forward against him. Dropping the knife, he grasped the back of her head and crushed her mouth to his again.

Once again, the camera moved back to view the corridor. This time it was empty.

Then the man came into view, dragging the woman with him. He searched several minutes for whatever it was that had flown out of his grasp, but the woman struggled against him fiercely. He finally swung her up over his shoulder, her upper body flopping down against his back. She kicked out helplessly and he swatted her butt hard in response. The camera swung away from them as he strode around the corner, his cargo having given up her fight.

As the camera focused once again on the apartment door, a large hand came around in front of it. It grasped the camera, darkening the picture, then the recording ended.

Someone had ripped it away from its power source.

“It makes me sick to think of honest Pilgrim women being touched by scum like that,” Calvin growled into the silence that followed. “Even if we could get them back, they’re no good now. Once a woman’s tainted, she’s ruined for life. It’s a damn shame.”

Seth grunted in response. There was nothing to be said to Calvin’s statement, and the woman’s plight–frozen in time–haunted him. He turned around, surveying the corridor. Something had flown off the man’s necklace, and he wondered what it was.

Probably just some little keepsake, but it would be interesting to know. He appeared to be one of the leaders; any clues Seth could find to his identity would be helpful when he returned to Discovery station.

Simply looking around, Seth found nothing, so he keyed the suit’s scanner to help him. Moving slowly and deliberately, he covered every inch of the corridor, pausing to investigate every anomaly. Unfortunately there were quite a few, as each blaster burn and piece of debris registered separately on the scanner.

“What the hell are you doing that for?” Calvin asked, clearly disgusted. “We should get back to the ship and kill that bastard. Then we need to hunt the rest of ‘em down.

They’re killers, and there’s only one way to deal with killers.”

“Shut up, Calvin,” Seth muttered. The sensor chirped in his headset as it picked up something. It was crystalline in structure. Following the readings, Seth made his way across the corridor. The remains of the small barricade were still there, although they had been torn apart–perhaps the man had come back to find his pendant? Using the sensor as his guide, Seth narrowed in on a broken bench made of hollow plast-crete.

Cheap and easy to form, plast-crete was used in construction throughout the empire. In most cases it was brightly colored or shaped to resemble some other material. This was simply plain without ornamentation.

Using the sensor as his guide, Seth turned the plast-crete bench over. There was a rattle inside. After several tries, he realized he wasn’t going to be able to get it out by simply maneuvering the bench. Calvin, who had come up behind him to watch, spoke.

“Why don’t you just cut the damn thing open?” he asked. “That’s the best bet for getting’ it out.”

For once, Calvin was right. Removing a small laser-cutter from his tool belt, Seth carefully lined the tool up on the bench leg. Making his cut well above the place indicated by the sensor, Seth slowly made the cut. The leg came off easily.

He grasped the newly-freed leg and tilted it. A small, shiny object fell out into the open palm of his glove.

“What is it?” Calvin demanded.

“It’s a holographic pendant,” Seth said, turning the bauble over in his hands. “You know, the kind you can get taken in booths for a half a credit.”

“I ain’t never seen one of them booths,” Calvin admitted slowly. “We don’t hold with that kind of thing.”

“Have you ever been out of the asteroid belt?” Seth asked curiously.

“Nope, and I don’t wanna ever leave, either,” Calvin said harshly. “There ain’t nuthin’ for an honest Pilgrim out there. Me and my family plan to stay put on our rock.”

Seth sighed, wondering briefly what kind of man Calvin might have been if he’d grown up somewhere else, or had access to education. How did a person become so filled with hate?

“How does that thing work, anyway?” Calvin asked, trying not to look too curious.

“Watch,” Seth replied. Gripping the little disk between his thumb and forefinger, he held it up in the air. Then he took a small light from his pouch and aimed it at the disk.

“You shine the light through it, and the hologram will appear right in front of us.”

With a flick of his finger, he turned on the light. The beam hit the disk, and an image of two people took shape in front of them. One was the man who had lost the pendant, although he looked different in the hologram–younger, not as hard. Seth turned his attention to the woman with him, and his heart stopped.

It was Devora, smiling brightly. Her head was tucked snugly against the man’s neck, his arm holding her gently around the shoulders. Both seemed to filled with happiness.

Below, written clearly in the wavy, gimmicky font often used by public holo machines, was “Jess and Calla, Celebration of the Accession of his Imperial Majesty, Belpharian IV.”

The holo was less than two years old. It was as if he’d been kicked in the gut. She’d duped him, been lying to him all along. She was the slave, Calla, and she’d used him to escape and look for her husband, the one Jenner had sold.

Calvin cackled into the silence.

“Looks like there’s more going on here than I realized,” he said with evil glee.

Ignoring the man, Seth snapped off the light with tight, controlled movements. He placed the holo-disk into his pouch, then started toward the ship. It was time to ask

“Devora” a few questions.

Chapter 10

“Something’s wrong,” Sarai said quietly. She and Calla were sitting in the cockpit, watching the men approach across the barren landing field. “Look at how Calvin is walking, he’s almost bouncing. He’s happy about something.”

Calla followed Sarai’s pointing finger. Calvin was strutting like he’d discovered gold. Seth walked with strong, deliberate steps beside him. Whatever had Calvin going hadn’t excited him.

“I’ll call Seth on a private channel,” Calla said as the two women watched them approach. “Maybe he can tell us what’s going on.”

She toggled the com switch, then carefully entered the correct transmitter coordinates and hailed Seth as he had shown her. She and Sarai had listened in on Seth and Calvin when they’d first landed, but it had grown tedious after Bragan’s arrival.

Calvin talked enough while he was on the ship; both women treasured their breaks from his noise.

“Seth, do you read me?” she asked. “It’s Devora.”

Seth didn’t reply at first. Then, just as she decided to give it another try, his voice crackled over the speaker.

“Really?” he said tightly. “Because it sounds like Calla.”

The bottom dropped out of her stomach, and her hand wavered over the com switch. Sarai gasped, then reached across to cut off the transmission.

“He found out,” Calla whispered. She looked up at Sarai with a lost look. “How did he find out?”

“I have no idea,” Sarai said in a quavering voice. “But you’re in trouble. He’s angry, and when men get angry they get violent. We’ve got to do something, it may be our last chance.”

“Seth isn’t violent,” Calla said, but her heart sank as she said it. A vision of him slamming his fist through the wall at the hostel raced through her mind. He’d been in battle hundreds of times. He had enforced the occupation with cold calculation, sentencing more than one man to death. He was more than capable of violence…

“What am I going to do, Sarai?” Calla whispered, looking to the woman hopelessly.

“I’ll never be free now.”

Sarai’s face hardened.

“We should leave, like Bragan suggested,” she said after a brief pause. “We should just leave, and never come back. I don’t know how we’ll survive, but we will. I can work hard, and you know all about what it’s like outside the belt.”

Calla bit back a harsh laugh. “Sarai, all I know anything about is being a slave at a Discovery station hostel. Besides, we don’t have any money.”

“If we steal the ship we can sell it,” Sarai replied, somewhat shocked by her own audacity. “This is a valuable ship, and I’m sure we could get enough credits for it to start over somewhere. We could work together, and maybe the kids could go to school.

It would be like a dream come true for both of us, and you know it.”

“What about Calvin and Seth?” Calla asked. “We can’t just leave them here. They’ll die.”

A dark look came over Sarai’s face.

“I don’t care if Calvin dies,” she said bitterly. “I hope he does die. He’s an evil bastard, and I want better for me and the kids. And I don’t care about Seth, either. He hasn’t done a damn thing for us. You’re the only one who seems to care what Calvin does to me.”

It was true, Calla realized. Sarai tried to hide her bruises with her hair and clothing, but she had seen them. Calvin really was evil. But Seth …

“No, I don’t wish harm on Seth,” she said. “I don’t know why he hasn’t done anything about Calvin, but he doesn’t deserve to be left on this asteroid. He’s been good to me. And despite everything, I love him.”

“What’s love?” Sarai asked, gazing at her with haunted eyes. “I don’t see any promises from Seth. At least he was paying you to fuck him, but now he won’t have to. If you’re lucky he’ll keep you for a while. If not, he’ll sell you or turn you back in. That’s all Calvin is doing, too. We’re in the same situation, Calla, whether you like it or not.

We’re both slaves, and we both want to be free.”

“I still don’t like it,” Calla said stubbornly.

“Well, you better make up your mind quick, because they’re coming,” Sarai said.

“You may never get another chance like this one. I know I won’t, and neither will my children.”

Sarai was right, Calla thought. She had known from the start that her relationship with Seth could only be temporary. If she wanted to survive as an escaped slave, she had to be ruthless.

“We could send help for them, couldn’t we?” she said thoughtfully.

“Yes, we could,” Sarai said. “Although I don’t know who we’d send.”

“We could send a message to the Saurellian command on Discovery station,” Calla replied. “Seth is Saurellian.”

Sarai looked startled.

“I didn’t realize they’d look so much like regular people,” she said finally. “I’ve heard they’re monsters.”

“Well, I’m a former slave, and I’m perfectly human,” Calla said. “You Pilgrims have some messed up notions of humanity.”

“It’s hard to know what to believe when you’ve only ever known one way to live,”

Sarai said softly. “Do you understand why I want something different for my children? I don’t want Mali to grow up to be like me, and I certainly don’t want Able to become like Calvin.”

“I can see that,” Calla replied. She didn’t want to leave Seth behind, but it really was the best choice. Jess was beyond her reach now, but at least he was free. It was time to take care of herself, not to mention the children. Sarai was right–they deserved better than a lonely life on an asteroid. “All right, I’ll do it. But we have to leave them some supplies, and we have to send them help.”

“All right,” Sarai said. “What about Bragan?”

“We’ll let him out with the supplies,” Calla said. “I think we’re going to have to use the blaster to control the men. We can try locking them out, but Seth can manually override the doors from the outside. We’ll have to let them on board the ship, then hold them prisoner while we get supplies ready for them. Can you do that?”

“Oh, I can do it,” Sarai said. A fierce light had come into her eyes. For the first time in her life, she was in control and she liked it. “There’s no going back now. I’d rather be dead than back on that asteroid.”

“I’d rather be dead than become a slave again,” Calla replied. “Let’s do it.”

Seth was seething the entire trip back to the ship. Calvin bumped along beside him, chuckling at his situation.

“Women’ll do it every time,” he said with satisfaction. “You can’t trust them bitches.”

“Shut up,” Seth told the man tersely. Once they got back to the ship, Calvin was getting locked up in the cargo hold. Seth had had enough of the him.

When they reached the ship, Seth strode into the airlock and immediately started the cycle that would allow them to enter the ship. Calvin, scuttling along behind him, barely made it through the door before it slammed shut behind them.

“Watch it,” Calvin blustered, “Or I’ll give you something to watch.”

“Are you threatening me?” Seth asked coldly, turning to face the man. His face was black with anger, and Calvin flinched.

“Sorry, no harm meant,” the man muttered, flinching. Seth turned from him in disgust. The airlock finished its cycle and the green light flashed over the door. Seth punched the button to open it, and strode into the room. It was time to confront Calla.

She and Sarai were standing there waiting for them, their faces pale. The children were nowhere to be seen, and for the thousandth time in the past couple of days Seth wished the two of them were alone. Soon he would be rid of Calvin, and Sarai would be resettled. He had hoped he could build a future with Devora–Calla, he corrected himself–but that had been nothing more than a foolish dream. She wasn’t his life mate, and she wasn’t Saurellian. Even if she was, even if he could forgive her for lying to him, she had a husband. The mere thought of her and Jess looking so happy together in the hologram was almost more than he could bear.

“Calla, we need to talk privately,” he gritted out. Just saying her true name was almost too much–he wanted his Devora back. But there never had been a “Devora,” he told himself. All of it was a cold, calculated ploy. He couldn’t forget that.

“I’m so sorry, Seth,” Calla said quietly. She raised her hand slowly, and for the first time he realized she was holding a small blaster. He had never seen the gun before. She gazed steadily at him, her brown eyes unreadable. “But that won’t be possible. I need you to sit down quietly on the floor and place your hands behind your head. You, too, Calvin.”

Seth just stared blankly at her for a minute, confused by her words. Then Sarai spoke.

“Sit down,” she said tightly. She was holding a blaster, too, the one he had left with them to guard the escaped slave. Bragan laughed from his place in the corner, then spoke.

“They’re going to escape,” the man said in a high-pitched voice. “They’re going to escape and you’re going to die!”

Seth looked at Calla in confusion, unable to believe the man’s words. Would she really kill him? She blinked rapidly, eyes filling with tears. Her hand remained steady, however. The cold barrel was aimed directly at his heart.

“You’re not going to get hurt as long as you do what you’re told,” Calla said quietly. “I don’t want to do this, but I don’t have a choice. Sarai and I need to get away, and we need your ship to do it. If you do what we say, we’ll leave you here with enough supplies to last until help arrives. We’ll send word to the Saurellian command that you’re here. You’ll be fine.”

Seth peered into her eyes, looking for some sign of softness. All he saw was determination, though. His soft little Devora had become hard, unrecognizable.

“We’d better do what they say,” he told Calvin, then started sinking toward the floor. Calvin had a different idea.

“Put down that blaster right now you stupid bitch,” he growled, and started moving toward Sarai. Seth could see the woman was terrified of him, but she held her ground.

Calla’s eyes darted between the two men, and her hand wavered.

“Calvin, I’m not going to live like this any more,” Sarai said softly. Her face was pale and her lips trembled. Her grip on the blaster, however, remained firm. “You have to sit down over there or I’m going to shoot you.”

“You aren’t strong enough to shoot me,” Calvin said. “Now shut up and put the damn gun down.”

“I can’t do that,” Sarai said. Calvin gave a snort of disgust and launched himself at her. Calla shrieked as the large man came flying toward them, but Sarai didn’t even flinch. She simply took aim and pulled the trigger on the blaster, sending a bolt of energy right into Calvin’s chest. A look of surprised shock came over his face, and he stumbled to the ground before slumping over. Then he was still.

“I think you killed him,” Calla whispered in horror. “I think he’s dead.”

“I had to do it,” Sarai replied. Tears were running down her face, but she still held the blaster steady. “I had to do it for me and for the children. I couldn’t let him take us back.”

“I can see that,” Calla replied. She paused to catch her breath, unsure of what to do next.

“Watch out!” Bragan shouted, and both women looked up. Seth had taken advantage of their distraction to start raising himself from the floor. Calla fumbled for her weapon, panicked.

“Get back down there,” Sarai snarled, catching all of them off guard with her ferocity. “You stay on the floor or I’ll shoot you, too.”

Calla felt sick to her stomach–she hated this violence, and Sarai seemed to have become another person entirely. The woman’s expression was feral, and Calla had no doubt she’d be ready and willing to kill Seth if he tried anything. The thought of Seth dying made her breath catch; she had to do something to protect him.

“All right,” she said, trying to bring everyone’s tension level down a notch. Her own gun was lowered–she knew she’d never be able to harm Seth. Sarai might, though. It was up to her to get them all out of this alive. “Sarai, we just need to get some supplies together. Seth, we’ll be leaving you and Bragan with enough food and water to last until someone gets here to rescue you. Who do you want us to call?”

Seth glared at her coldly for several minutes, refusing to answer. She’d never seen him so angry.

“Well, just think about it,” Calla finally said. “Sarai, you keep your blaster on him.

I’ll get his things together.”

Walking quickly through to the sleeping room, she grabbed a carryall from the storage closet. Mali and Able were watching her with wide eyes. Suddenly realizing their father had just died, Calla paused in her motions.

“You need to stay in here no matter what you hear, all right?” she said. “You’re being very good children, and your mother and I will explain everything to you as soon as we’re done. Are you going to be okay in here?”

“Yes,” Able said, putting a protective arm around Mali. “Did something bad happen to papa?”

Calla hesitated, then decided to tell them the truth.

“Yes, something did happen to your papa,” she said slowly. “There was an accident, and he’s dead.”

Mali snuffled softly against Able’s shoulder, and the little boy’s face paled.

“I’ll take care of Mali,” he said, steeling his shoulders. “You take care of mama.”

“You’re being very brave,” Calla said, tears welling up in her eyes. “I know your mama will be proud of you.”

Able rubbed Mali’s head with one small hand, comforting the little girl. His eyes followed Calla’s movements as she started stuffing the bag with clothing and blankets.

“Are you making Seth leave?” he finally asked.

“Yes, I am,” Calla said.

“Maybe he wants his pictures,” Able said after a minute. “Those kids look really happy. If I was him, I’d want them pictures.”

The boy was right, Calla thought. She should pack Seth’s pictures for him. She walked quickly around the room, pulling Seth’s pictures off the wall as she went. When she had them all, she wrapped them carefully in a small plastic sheet and tucked them in the side of the carryall. Then, wondering if she was crazy, she tucked the small blaster into the pocket with the pictures. He wouldn’t find it right away, she told herself, but he might need it to survive. Able’s eyes widened as he watched, but the boy said nothing.

“I’m leaving now, so you keep taking care of your sister,” she told Able, then she swung the sack over her shoulder and carried it out into the main room.

Seth was still sitting there, staring sullenly at Sarai. The slight woman continued to hold the blaster on him steadily. Her face was still pale, but the look on her face was determined. Bragan remained in his corner, standing. He was still tied, but they had loosened the bindings to make him more comfortable.

“How are you doing, Sarai?” Calla asked cautiously. The woman was so tense she looked as if she might break into a thousand pieces at any minute. Her husband’s lifeless body still lay on the floor between her and Seth.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Just keep moving, because I want to get this over with.”

“All right,” Calla said. “I’m going to get the food and water packs now.”

It took her about twenty minutes to build a little pyramid of supplies sufficient to feed and water Seth and Bragan for several weeks. Help should arrive long before then, she kept telling herself. Seth would be just fine.

Once all the supplies were ready, she walked over and let Bragan out of his bonds.

The man grabbed her suddenly, causing her to gasp in shock. Sarai’s voice came anxiously from across the room, “What’s wrong?”

Bragan gave Calla a smacking kiss on her cheek, then let her go.

“Nothing to worry about,” he said. “I just wanted to wish her luck. Now what do you need me to do?”

“I want you to drag Calvin’s body and the supplies into the airlock,” Sarai said.

“My pleasure,” he said, grinning broadly. Then he spoke to the angry man across the room in his sing-song way, “Oh, Seth, we’ll become great friends in our time together. You’ll see, you’ll see.”

The tone of his voice alarmed Calla–would Seth be safe with Bragan? The man was definitely unhinged. She made a snap decision to cuff Bragan before allowing him off the ship. Seth deserved that much at the very least. She glanced over at him quickly, afraid to meet his eyes. He sat there, hands above his head, staring at her steadily. There was a promise of retribution in his eyes.

It only took Bragan a short while to load all the supplies, but Calvin’s body was too much for him to handle by himself.

“Seth, help him,” Calla said. Seth stood slowly and deliberately, flexing his arms as he rose. His hands were clenched into fists tight with anger. Calla shivered, backing up a couple of steps.

“I won’t hesitate to shoot,” Sarai said. “I’ve already done it once, I’ll do it again. I have nothing to lose, so don’t tempt me.”

Seth believed her, because he turned to grasp Calvin’s body under the armpits.

Bragan took the feet, then together they lifted the man and carried him out into the airlock. The Seth spoke for the first time.

“Leave the Jansenite here,” he said. “It’s too dangerous to take with you.”

Calla was startled, and she looked to Sarai, unsure what to do.

“He’s right,” Sarai said. “Calvin always handled it very carefully. He could use it to blow up this ship, though. Do you think he’d rather die than let us escape? It would be a suicidal move.”

Seth merely glared at them, but Calla spoke.

“I don’t think he’ll do that,” she said, hoping desperately that she was right.

“Remember, Seth, the children are completely innocent. They don’t deserve to die, no matter what you think of us.”

“I give you my word I won’t use the Jansenite against you,” Seth finally said. “But it’s very important that you leave it behind. I don’t want it out there on the open market.”

“I thought you were going to sell it,” Calla said, startled.

“I thought you were going to trust that I knew what I was doing,” Seth replied pointedly.

“Just get the damn Jansenite,” Sarai said, confused by their exchange. “No, have Bragan do it. I don’t want to let you out of my sight.”

“I’ll get it,” Calla said, breaking in quickly before things got out of hand. “I’ll bring it out here, then Seth and Bragan can take it off the ship.”

“Be careful,” Seth said, trying not to look at her. “If you drop it, we’re all dead.”

Calla carefully dragged the boxes out into the main room, then Seth and Bragan placed them in the airlock. Sarai’s gun never wavered.

When they had finished, Sarai gestured toward the pressure suits hanging in the airlock bay. Seth was still wearing his, but Bragan needed one. Seth pulled on his helmet, then he and Bragan quickly checked each other’s suits.

“Bragan, come over here,” Calla said. Sarai looked at her in surprise, but gestured with the gun that the man was to follow her instructions. “Hold your hands out in front of you.”

Calla quickly clasped a pair of restraints around the man’s wrists. She had been concerned he’d make a fuss, but he simply cocked one eyebrow at her.

“Afraid I’m going to hurt your lover?” he asked with a smirk. “Don’t worry about it.

I don’t hold it against you.”

“Just go out into the airlock,” she said, unable to meet his eyes. Then she tossed the restraint key to Seth, who caught it in one gloved hand. “You, too. Into the airlock.”

Seth turned and stalked into the airlock, then turned back to face her.

“I won’t forget this,” he said coldly. “You’d better start running, because Goddess help you if I catch you.”

“We’ll send someone for you,” Sarai said tightly. “You have all you need to make it until they arrive. Once the airlock cycles, we’ll give you twenty minutes to get everything out and get away from the ship. Then we’re leaving.”

“I’m sorry, Seth,” Calla said. “I don’t have a choice. I won’t go back to slavery.”

“Your husband has a new girlfriend,” Seth said with disgust. “You might want to think twice about trying to join him.”

His words sent pain shooting through her.

“He’s not my husband,” she said. “I just said that to get rid of you at the hostel.

You’ve got to go now.”

Seth’s eyes widened, but before he could say anything Calla punched the button that shut the airlock. The door swung closed, and the light went red as the ship started pumping out air.

Twenty minutes later, Seth had unloaded the supplies and was standing with Bragan at a safe distance. Sarai checked to make sure the children were strapped into their chairs, then joined Calla in the cockpit. Seth had left the autopilot set to take them back to Discovery station. Together, they pressed the key to initiate their takeoff sequence, then braced themselves as the ship lifted away from the asteroid. Calla forced herself to watch Seth’s still figure for as long as he was visible from the ship’s window, then turned to Sarai.

“I guess it’s time to start working on re-programming the auto-pilot,” she said. “The last place I want to go it Discovery station. I have the codes and manuals in my hand-held computer.”

“When will we send the rescue message?” Sarai asked quietly.

“I think we should clear the asteroid field first,” Calla replied after a brief pause.

“We’ll send the message before we make the leap to light speed.”

Chapter 11

“Fifty thousand credits. That’s my final offer,” Karinvass said, eyeing the two women standing before him. Their ship was worth at least 150,000 credits, but they obviously didn’t have any idea what they were doing. Clearly, they’d never been out of their home systems. Every time they saw an alien, their eyes widened. As he watched, the little one–the one with the brown hair and freckles–bit her lip, and looked at her friend for guidance. If he wasn’t careful, he might lose the sale…

“Here now, I don’t have all day,” he said roughly. It was always better to keep the upper hand in a negotiation like this. He didn’t want them to feel bullied, but he also didn’t want to give them too much time to think. They were ripe for the taking, and he wanted that ship.

“Either you like the deal or you don’t. I have other customers to help,” he added, despite the fact that they were his only prospects at the moment. It wasn’t often that he had the chance to acquire a ship like theirs, especially for such a price. It was stolen, of course, but that wouldn’t matter if he moved it quickly enough. There were plenty of customers who’d be interested in buying a prize like that one.

“All right,” the freckled one said, looking panicked at the thought of him losing interest. Karinvass gave her a broad smile, then held out his hand to shake on the deal.

She looked at him, confused at the gesture, and for a moment he almost felt sorry for her.

She really was green. These two were going to be eaten alive if they weren’t careful.

“I’ll be right back with your credits,” he said, and they smiled at him nervously.

Shaking his head in bemusement, he turned and went into his back room. Once the door was locked, he activated a small control panel on the floor. A tile moved noiselessly across the floor, revealing his safe. As he counted out the thousand-credit chits, he briefly considered short-changing them. He’d bet they’d never seen a credit chit worth so much–it would be easy to pawn off some counterfeits.

Then an uncharacteristic wave of compassion came over him. He was already making a fortune off of them, he reminded himself. They were on the run, any fool could see that. Besides, if he let them go now, he could always make more money later if someone came looking for them. He smiled again at the thought, then closed up the safe and walked back out into his shop.

“Here are your credits,” he said, counting the money out carefully before them.

“Fifty thousand, just like I promised.”

Their eyes widened, and the quiet one–she was taller–gave him a smile so lovely it took his breath away. She really was quite pretty, he realized. Maybe he could… Then he laughed to himself. He was getting too greedy, now. He’d already taken enough from these two little birds. Better to let them go.

“Here are the access codes,” the little one said, pressing a piece of paper into his hands.

“I’ll find you if they don’t work,” Karinvass said, although he wasn’t concerned. He was sure it had never occurred to them to double-cross him. They were too innocent.

They left the store quickly, turning out into the main corridor and out of Karinvass’

sight. Calindra station wasn’t really that large of an outpost, he reflected, if you knew the right people. If he changed his mind and wanted to find them again, he would be able to.

Deciding he had worked enough for one day, Karinvass left the store–locking it carefully, as always–and headed across the wide corridor. The station’s open gallery rose four stories above him, stretching as far as the eye could see. Either side of the gallery was lined with shops. Up two levels was his favorite drinking house, where the bakrah was cheap and the women were friendly. It was time to celebrate his newfound wealth, he thought with satisfaction. It had been a most profitable morning.

“Calla, I don’t trust that man,” Sarai said, looking at her friend anxiously. They were walking quickly along the wide boulevard that was the station’s center of commerce.

Earlier that day, Sarai had watched all the activity around them with wide eyes, but now all she could think about was escape. “I think he knew we weren’t the real owners of the ship.”

“I think you may be right,” Calla replied. She clutched their bag of precious credits closer. People seemed to be watching them; they weren’t safe, she could feel it. “But we’ll be gone as soon as we find a transit. We just need to figure out where we want to go.”

“And what we’re going to do when we get there,” Sarai said faintly, her expression troubled. “Calla, I don’t know how to do anything. How am I going to support my children?”

“Sarai, we’ve been over this before,” Calla said, trying to stay patient. “If we can just find the right place, we’ll open a hostel. I know all about hostels, I’ve worked in one all my life. We’re going to be fine.”

“I’m sorry, Calla,” Sarai said. “I know, I’ve got to trust you.”

“That’s all right,” Calla said, flashing her a quick smile. She and Sarai had grown close in the two weeks since their escape from Bethesda base. A wave of sadness came over her, the same feeling she got every time she thought of the day she had left Seth behind on the asteroid. She missed him so much. Suppressing a sigh, she said, “Here we are–I think the hostel is down that corridor.”

Together they turned into the quiet corridor. In contrast to the busy boulevard, this area of the station was more residential. There were blocks of apartments, small food shops and even a book and vid store. Their hostel was nestled in the middle, a little gem of hospitality. A kind-looking pleasure worker at the space port had directed them there the night before. Not only was it quiet, it was inexpensive, which was important. They couldn’t afford to waste the few credits Calla had from Jess’ stash, or those from the sale of the ship, either.

When they walked through the door, a chime rang but no one was at the front desk.

Calla could hear voices, though. Able and Mali were in the back, talking with someone animatedly and laughing. She looked over at Sarai, whose face had grown cold. They had told the children not to open the door for anyone, and now Able and Mali were out of the room completely.

Moving quickly through the small lobby and living area, Calla and Sarai walked into the kitchen. Mistress Bannings, the hostel’s owner, and her daughter, Erika, were sitting at a table with the children. Erika’s children were there, too, and the entire group seemed to be playing some kind of board game. Erika looked up and smiled.

“I hope you don’t mind that we invited the children into the kitchen to play,” she said brightly. “We don’t usually get guests with children, and my girls were so excited to meet them.”

Calla’s heart melted at the sight, but Sarai’s lips were tight. Erika shot a concerned look to her mother for support.

“Now, Sarai,” Mistress Bannings said kindly. Her gentle face was covered in wrinkles, most of them from laughing. She looked every inch a beloved grandmother; Mali and Able had been utterly charmed by her from the start. “Don’t worry. The children were perfectly safe, and I knew they must be hungry. Speaking of which, neither of you have had anything to eat yet today. Would you like something?”

Mistress Bannings so obviously meant well that Sarai couldn’t stay mad. She sighed, then said, “Yes, that would be very nice. Thank you.”

Erika immediately jumped up and started fixing them some food, while Mistress Bannings gestured for Calla and Sarai to join her at the table.

“Why don’t you girls take Able and Mali into your room to play,” she told her grandchildren. They jumped up, and all four ran off together laughing. “The girls will keep them occupied while we talk. You have lovely children, Sarai.”

“Thank you,” Sarai replied, unable to keep herself from smiling at the compliment.

Erika brought them plates of food, then joined them at the table.

“Mother and I wanted to talk to you,” she said, glancing at Mistress Bannings.

“We’re worried about you.”

Calla’s head snapped up, and she looked at the women suspiciously.

“Now, don’t get all defensive with me, young one,” Mistress Bannings said, her face kind and understanding. “We’re on your side. Both of us know what it’s like to be a woman alone in the world. I’m concerned about you.”

“Why would you be concerned?” Calla asked, trying to evaluate their motives. Both Mistress Bannings and Erika met her eyes with calm, friendly expressions. They seemed to be genuine…

“I can tell you’re running from something,” the elderly woman said after a moment.

“Or someone. And I can tell that you don’t know where you’re running to.”

Sarai opened her mouth to protest, but Mistress Bannings just smiled and raised a hand to silence her.

“I don’t want or need to know the reasons,” she said. “If I don’t know, I can’t tell anyone. But I would like to offer to help you, if there’s any way that I can. I know you sold your ship this morning–“

Calla looked up at her, startled. “How could you possibly know that?” she asked.

“This station is smaller than it looks,” Erika said with a smile. “One of my friends works in a tavern not far from Karinvass’ shop. He was in there, buying rounds for the entire house not ten minutes after you left. She called to tell me all about it before you got home. If you had let us know you were trying to sell it, we probably could have sent you to a more reputable trader.”

Calla and Sarai exchanged startled looks. This wasn’t what they had expected.

“What we’re trying to tell you,” Mistress Bannings said quietly, “Is that if you’re hiding from someone, you’re not doing a very good job. We can help you. Now tell us what you plan to do with yourselves.”

Calla looked to Sarai for guidance, but the young mother simply shrugged her shoulders. Then Calla decided to take a chance and trust her instincts. Mistress Bannings and her daughter seemed like good people, and they really did need the help.

“Let’s just say we’re trying to rebuild our lives,” Calla said slowly. “We’re looking to move somewhere far away, and start a business.”

“What kind of business?” asked the elderly woman.

“I’d like to open a hostel,” Calla replied. “I have some experience in running one.”

Mistress Bannings nodded her approval of the idea.

“Running a hostel is a good trade for a woman on her own,” she said. “Do you have enough money to buy a hostel?”

“I think I might,” Calla said slowly.

“Good,” Mistress Bannings replied. “Now, how about location? Do you know where you want to go?”

“No,” Calla said slowly. “We haven’t decided yet.”

Erika and her mother exchanged knowing looks.

“My aunt, Lilith, has a hostel on Hector Prime,” Erika said after a brief pause. “It’s a lovely planet, an ecological preserve and wildlife sanctuary. There’s a great need for hostels, because so many students go there to study each year. The population is constantly changing, and it’s quite far from here. It might be a nice place for two women to build a new life for themselves.”

“Is it in Saurellian space?” Calla asked quickly.

“It’s actually in a neutral zone,” Mistress Bannings replied, one eyebrow raised questioningly at Calla. “It’s not really of any value to the either the Saurellians or the empire. Neither side has taken the time or interest to garrison it. It’s under the political control of one of the trans-system universities, which has branches on both sides of the conflict. I doubt you’d run into any Saurellians there, if that’s a concern.”

“We need to talk about this privately,” Calla said. “I don’t know if that’s the right place for us or not.”

“Think about it,” Erika said. “You can learn more about the planet from the terminal in your room. It’s called Hector Prime. If you’re interested, let me know. We can help you arrange to travel in an inconspicuous way, and I know that Aunt Lilith would be willing to help you get settled when you arrive.”

“Thank you,” Calla said. “We’ll let you know.”

She and Sarai exchanged small talk with the women until they finished their food, then went up to the room.

“What do you think?” Sarai asked as soon as they were alone.

“I don’t think they mean us any harm,” Calla said slowly. “And I don’t feel like we have that many options. I can’t believe they heard about the ship so quickly. If they know all about it, who else will? I don’t think we’re safe here.”

“I agree,” Sarai said. “I don’t see how we can afford to stay here much longer, and I have no idea where to go if we don’t take their advice.”

“Let’s do it, then” Calla replied, closing her eyes. An image of Seth’s face came into her mind, and she ruthlessly pushed it away. “There’s no reason to stay here any longer than we have to. Let’s go tell Mistress Bannings that we’ll take her up on her offer.”

Chapter 12

“Do you want a food pack?” Bragan asked Seth, holding up one of the small plastic pouches. “This is the last sweetened one.”

Seth looked over at Bragan with amusement. The man seemed like such a child at times, although Seth knew he had survived terrible things. Despite his suffering, Bragan still took joy from something as silly as a sweetened food pack.

He had gotten to know Bragan pretty well over the past three weeks, and no longer worried that the former slave would turn against him. They were actually doing pretty well for themselves, although it was tedious to sit and wait for rescue in the small, portable pressure bubble Calla had left for them. Of course, they were grateful for the bubble, part of the ship’s emergency survival kit–otherwise they would have been forced to live in their pressure suits, not a pleasant prospect.

“Are you sure you’re a doctor?” Seth asked Bragan. “I thought those sweet packs were supposed to be unhealthy.”

Bragan swallowed his food, then grinned at him. “No, getting trapped on asteroids with no hope of rescue is unhealthy. Sweetened food packs are the least of our worries.”

He cackled quietly at his own joke, then took another bite.

“You’re right about that,” Seth said, his mood darkening. Calla had promised she’d send for help, but in reality Seth knew she might not have. There certainly hadn’t been any sign of rescue so far. If he and Bragan died alone in the ruins of Bethesda base, no one could ever learn how the women had betrayed them. Of course, if Calla and Sarai had wanted the men dead, they could have killed them weeks ago. It was hard to know what Calla’s motivations were, Seth realized. For all he knew, she in love with Jess, and the two of them had coordinated the whole thing. The thought filled him with anger, and he scowled into the silence.

“Snap out of it,” Bragan said. He took another bite of his food, them wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “I’m tired of your moping. Either we’ll get out of this or we won’t, but pouting won’t make it any better.”

“I am not pouting,” Seth said coldly, glaring at the doctor.

“Really?” Bragan replied. “I wouldn’t bet on that. She did what she had to do, you know. I told her to do it. An escaped slave can’t afford to have feelings for a man like you. If she’d been smart, she would have killed us. She loved you too much for that, though.”

Seth turned away, unwilling to let Bragan see how much his words hurt. If Calla had loved him, she wouldn’t have left him to die.

“It was her only choice,” Bragan continued. The man was perceptive as hell, something that didn’t always endear him to Seth. “She had to save the children. She had no idea that you were planning to lock Calvin up. It takes a strong woman to give up the man she loves to save a child.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Seth said, gritting his teeth in frustration. Thinking about Calla made him crazy. He wanted to strangle her. He wanted to roll on top of her and thrust into her again and again. He dreamt of them having a child together, something that was biologically impossible. At times he thought he might lose his mind.

Abruptly standing, Seth stalked across the small open area to their sleeping mats, inflatable cots from the same survival kit that had contained the pressure-bubble. For the thousandth time, Seth thanked the Goddess for leading him to outfit his ship with the highest quality survival equipment available. At least he and Bragan were relatively comfortable in their exile.

“I’m going to take a nap,” he said shortly, lying down on the mat. Turning away from Bragan, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep. He knew he would dream of Calla, something he both anticipated and dreaded. Her silken thighs, her sparkling laugh, even her freckles… She was always with him in some way. Trying to reign in his anticipation, Seth closed his eyes. The dreams were all he had left.

“Seth, wake up,” Bragan whispered in the darkness. Seth was alert instantly, his warrior instincts honed from a thousand battles. “There’s something going on at the landing field. That little motion alarm thing you set up is blinking.”

A burst of adrenaline shot through Seth’s body–were they about to be rescued? A list of all those it could be raced through his mind: Pilgrims, Saurellians, the escaped slaves … Perhaps even an innocent trader, as he had pretended to be. Each possibility carried its own risks.

“We need to get into our suits, then head for our hiding place,” Bragan whispered, furiously shoving supplies in a little bag. “Do you have your blaster?”

Seth did. He’d found it in his carryall, right next to the photos of his niece and nephews. Its presence was just another piece of the complex puzzle that was Calla. In the dark times, when he wondered whether she had ever cared for him at all, he looked at it. At least she hadn’t wanted him to die, had given him something to defend himself with. That was something.

When they were both dressed and ready, the two men checked each other’s suits, then quickly made their way through the bubble’s tiny air lock. It was manually operated, and Seth chafed at the delay. It took ten full minutes for each of them to pass through, time that their new guests might use to discover them.

“Here’s the plan,” Seth said tersely once they were both free. “I’ll go down and scout. You go into the mine and guard and hide the food. I’ll call you when things are clear, otherwise stay out of site. No matter what happens, we can’t let them get the Jansenite. If I’m captured, I’ll key my headpiece twice, so they won’t know you’re out here.”

“If I’m going to stay with the Jansenite, you should leave me the blaster,” Bragan said. “You know that, don’t you?”

“I’ll need the blaster,” Seth gritted out. He didn’t say what they were both thinking–that he didn’t trust Bragan with a weapon.

“I can use the blaster to detonate the Jansenite if things go wrong,” Bragan reminded him. “We both agreed that as a last resort, that’s what needed to be done. We can’t let the Pilgrims get their hands on it. Neither of our lives is worth saving if they use that stuff against our people.”

Seth knew the man was right, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to give up his weapon. Bragan sighed in frustration

“Well, if you won’t give me the blaster, that’s fine,” Bragan finally said. “But then you’ll have to stay with the Jansenite.”

“You have no idea how to scout without getting caught,” Seth gritted out.

“Well, one way or another, you’ve got to trust me if we’re going to get through this,”

Bragan said heatedly. “Believe me, if I wanted the damn blaster I could have taken it a thousand times over the past few weeks. Hell, we both know those restraints Calla put on me weren’t worth anything. She didn’t even know how to fasten them all the way, but I didn’t jump you when I had the chance. Face it, Seth, we’re in this together. Let me do my part.”

Wordlessly, Seth handed the blaster to Bragan, biting back a sharp reply. They both knew he was right. Without each other, they didn’t stand a chance. It hurt to give up his only weapon, though. He felt naked without it.

Bragan, muttering something about “fool’s pride,” started moving quickly toward the abandoned mine shaft where the explosives were hidden. Seth turned toward the ridge that lay between them and the landing field.

When they’d first found themselves trapped on the abandoned asteroid, they had considered setting their camp up in the ruins of the station. But locating the bubble on the other side of the ridge had given them several advantages. They were hidden from view, and there was a place to hide the Jansenite. Additionally, the rock formations were such that it seemed unlikely any intruders would be able to detect them with a standard sensor sweep. That alone had made hauling all their equipment across the ridge worthwhile.

Within minutes, Seth had reached the top of the ridge. Crawling on his belly, he raised his view-scope to his eyes and looked out over the landing field. There were four ships there, all of which looked ancient. Either the escaped slaves or the Pilgrims, he decided. The Saurellians would have better equipment. He keyed his comset four times, the signal he and Bragan had worked out ahead of time. Seth hoped the doctor would remember what it meant; a steady diet of nutritious food and companionship had done wonders for the man’s mental health, but he still had a tendency to forget things.

Turning his attention back to the landing field, Seth saw a large group of the men had gone over to the remains of the funeral pyre. They were gesturing angrily. Others made their way through the ruins.

Were they Pilgrims or escaped slaves? Seth wondered. Hard to tell, although he hoped they were escaped slaves. They, at least, would be friendly to Bragan. The two of them had agreed that if the slaves came back, Bragan would go with them without telling them about Seth or the Jansenite. If the Saurellians came, they could both be rescued. They had yet to come up with a successful plan of action to deal with the Pilgrims.

Seth watched for another forty minutes, still unable to tell who the men were. But then about ten of them started digging a large hole near the pyre. Another man started sorting through the burned remains, making a series of complicated, ritualistic gestures over them. They were burying their dead, Seth realized; the men had to be Pilgrims. He had seen enough.

Scooting back until he was well below the crest of the ridge, Seth walked quickly down the hill toward Bragan’s hiding place. They needed to get their camp packed up, and they needed to figure out a plan of action.

Bragan jumped out of the shadows as Seth approached, blaster ready to fire. For a moment, Seth froze. Was the man going to double-cross him after all? But Bragan lowered the weapon as soon as he recognized Seth.

“It’s the Pilgrims,” Seth said, and Bragan’s face fell.

“Let’s get the camp packed up, and then we’ll try to figure out what to do next,”

Bragan said quietly.

The survival bubble was designed to be portable, but it still took them nearly an hour to deflate and move it. They wasted precious air in doing so, but it needed to be done. From now on they would live in their suits. The bubble, even hidden among the rock formations, was too visible. When all was ready, the two men went into the mineshaft. Sitting next to each other, they eyed the boxes of Jansenite.

“It’s amazing that something so small could do so much damage,” Bragan said into the silence, gesturing toward the explosives.

“There’s enough here to destroy this entire asteroid, and quite a few around it,” Seth replied. “Hell, this is more than enough to destroy Discovery station. I wonder what they were planning to do with it.”

“Overthrow the Saurellian occupation,” Bragan said. “We both know how they feel about you guys. One of their core teachings is that ‘humans shall not be governed by non-humans.’ Words of the Celestial Pilgrim himself, if I remember correctly.”

Seth grunted in response, then they both sat in silence.

“I don’t see too many options here,” Seth said. “Not good options, anyway. If we really want to stop them, perhaps the best thing would be to detonate the Jansenite. At least that way they couldn’t use it against anyone.”

“There’s another option,” Bragan said quietly. “You could steal one of their ships.

That way you could contact your people and warn them about how dangerous these Pilgrims really are.”

“You can’t leave the asteroid, your implant won’t let you,” Seth said harshly. “And I’m not going to leave without you.”

“You sure as hell can leave without me,” Bragan said, his voice firm with conviction.

“You can steal a ship and go for help. I’ll stay hidden. You can come rescue me once you’ve found help. It’s our best hope.”

“That could take weeks,” Seth replied. “Do you really think you can last that long?

They’ll find you sooner or later, we both know it.”

“If they find me, I’ll blow the Jansenite,” Bragan said. “I’ve been living on borrowed time for years now. At least this way I’ll get to choose when and how I die. Very few people are that fortunate. I kind of like the idea of taking some of those bastards with me...”

“I don’t like it,” Seth replied. “Saurellians don’t leave each other behind. We’re brothers, we live together and we die together.”

“Well I’m not a Saurellian,” Bragan said harshly. “I’m an escaped slave, and I’m going to die on this rock. I’ve known that for five years. Do you know I’m not even a man any more? They castrated me for looking at one of their women. Give me this, Seth.

Give me the chance to fight back, like a man. I don’t want you to stay with me.

“I want you to warn your people,” he continued. Seth could see the man’s face was twisted with emotion, despite the helmets they both wore. “Don’t fool yourself, Seth, it’s not out of any love for you. I don’t want these bastards to ever buy another slave. I don’t want them to ever hurt another woman. You saw what Calvin did to Sarai. There are thousands of women out there just like her. Take this chance to escape, to save them. It isn’t about leaving a comrade behind, it’s about saving people’s lives. If you refuse to do that out of some misguided sense of honor, you’re as much a criminal as they are. And an idiot, to boot,” Bragan added, disgust in his voice.

Bragan was right, Seth realized. Leaving him behind went against everything he believed in, but saving his people was more important. In fact, saving his people was really all he had to live for. It wasn’t as if there was anything waiting for him if he survived. Calla was gone. From the time he’d realized he would never have a life partner, Seth had lived only to fight. It was time to continue that battle.

“All right, I’ll do it,” Seth said. “But I want you to wait until the last possible moment to detonate the Jansenite. I’ll do everything in my power to rescue you.”

“I know you will,” Bragan said quietly. “Seth, I want you to make me a promise.”

“What?”

“I want you to try and understand why Calla did what she did,” the man said, staring fixedly at the Jansenite. “I think the two of you should give each other another chance.”

“It’s impossible,” Seth said tightly. “Even if I found her, she isn’t my life mate. Our relationship could never grow into anything real or permanent.”

“At least answer this,” Bragan replied. “Do you hate her for what she did to you?”

“No,” Seth said softly after several minutes of silence. “No, I don’t hate her at all.”

“Remember that,” Bragan whispered. “We don’t all get a chance to be happy in this life. Don’t be afraid to take whatever joy you can find, regardless of whether or not you understand it.”

“We need to get ready,” Seth said tightly, refusing to look at the man he’d once thought crazy. “If I’m going to steal a ship, I should do it as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the more likely it is they’ll find us.”

Bragan just laughed, which confused Seth.

“I’ll pack you some supplies,” the doctor finally said. “You’ll need them to get back to your people.”

Darkness came over the asteroid suddenly. Seth, his carryall strapped to his back, crept silently toward the waiting ships. They were all in poor condition, but the smallest one looked slightly better than the others, and had the added advantage of being parked on the edge of the field. Seth was willing to bet it was faster, too. Realizing that his life might depend on his ability to outrun any pursuers, he decided it would be his target.

He had been watching the Pilgrims for hours, ever since he and Bragan had parted ways. Bragan had packed enough food and water to last Seth a week, more than enough time to make his way to a friendly station, assuming he made it off the asteroid at all.

Making his way carefully, Seth moved quickly. The darkness would only last a few hours, as the asteroid’s cycle of day and night was extremely short. Fortunately, the Pilgrims had been working long enough to warrant taking a break. Most of them were probably asleep.

Seth skirted the landing field until his target ship was directly before him. No one seemed to be around. The Pilgrims had set guards in front of the two larger ships, but apparently this one wasn’t considered important enough. Using a small tool from his suit’s all-purpose set, Seth quickly removed the service access panel by the ship’s door.

Positioning himself so his body was between the panel and the other ships, Seth shined a tiny light on the controls. The ship was locked, of course, but he could override a simple palm-activated locking device like this one easily enough. As long as no one caught him in the act, that was; anyone seeing his light would know something was up.

Fortunately, none of the Pilgrims seemed to be paying attention to the smallest of their ships. Connecting two of the circuits manually, Seth shorted out the locking system and the hatch slid open. He was relatively certain the ship was empty–no one had entered it the entire time he’d been watching. Moving quickly, he climbed though the opening and closed it behind him. The ship was so small there was only the cockpit and one small hold for cargo. Seth checked the hold, confirming he was alone, then settled himself in the pilot’s seat.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he realized the controls were standard; he’d piloted a thousand other shuttles just like this one. He saw that whoever had piloted the ship had left it on standby. At least he would not have to wait for the engines to come online from a cold start. He wouldn’t have time for a pre-flight check, either, so hopefully everything was still operational. Whoever owned the ship should be shot, he thought wryly, because it clearly hadn’t been properly serviced in years. Whispering a prayer to the Goddess, he strapped himself in and toggled the starter.

The ship came to life with a whine and he slammed the control rudder forward. He was airborne before he could even check to see how much fuel she had. The roar of the engine would alert the Pilgrims; they would be after him within minutes. Not pausing to pull up a navigation chart, Seth pushed the tiny ship to its maximum speed. Dodging debris, he zigzagged sharply through the cloud of asteroids surrounding Bethesda.

It took every bit of his skill as a pilot to control the tiny ship as it careened through the field of debris. Seth dodged rocks ranging in size from pebbles to small moons as he sped away from the Pilgrim base, barely breathing for the first ten minutes of his flight.

He was positive they must be after him by now, but the little ship’s sensors weren’t sophisticated enough to check for pursuit at full speed. Instead, Seth focused on putting as much distance between himself and the Pilgrims as he could. Once he was safely away, he’d send for help.

Five hours later he was still racing, although his hands trembled from the strain of piloting the ship. He needed to find a place to land, a place where he could hide and rest up. There was no way they would be able to find him now, he reasoned. Not unless he did something truly stupid to attract their attention. Slowing his speed, Seth guided his small ship toward a large asteroid. It seemed to have some good-sized overhanging rock formations; perfect for hiding a ship of like this from both sight and sensors. After several minutes of careful navigation, Seth managed to land the ship just under the lip of a massive crater. Forcing himself to release his grip on the controls, he sat back in his chair and massaged his hands. He was exhausted; it was time to get some sleep. He also needed to eat.

Grabbing the carryall, he dug out a food pack. Ripping off the end, he sucked the ration tube’s contents down without bothering to identify the contents. Then he reached for a fluid bulb. As he pulled the bulb out of the bag, a small piece of paper came with it. He read it quickly, his blood running cold as he realized what Bragan had intended to do from the moment the Pilgrims had landed...

Seth–I am including this note because I want you to understand why I’ve chosen to do what I’m going to do. I am not going to wait for you to return. There is too much danger that the Pilgrims will find me. It’s better to kill them now and destroy the Jansenite while I still can. I will wait until you’ve had enough time to get away, but then I plan to detonate it and destroy this place. If I have not waited long enough, then I am sorry. You have become a friend to me and I wish you no harm. I consider myself fortunate to die on my own terms, for something I believe in. It is enough.

Bragan

When would it happen? Seth wondered desperately. Why was Bragan doing this?

Realizing there was nothing he could do for the man, Seth checked his instruments and ran a few quick mental calculations. He should be all right in his hiding place, he realized, but he wasn’t as far as he’d like to be. When that Jansenite blew, it would destroy everything within a thousand square miles.

Seth started powering up the ship again; he needed to get further away. But before he could do more than initiate the procedure, and alarm trilled a sharp warning.

Something big had happened, there had been a sharp wave of radiation. Slapping his hand against the control panel, he activated an emergency beacon. He didn’t have time to do anything else before a shock wave blasted the asteroid. His last thought before he lost consciousness was to wonder whether the ship’s landing tethers would hold. Then blackness swept over him as his was slammed by the explosion’s impact. Seth sank into the darkness.

“I think he’s waking up,” a voice said. Where was he? Seth wondered. What the hell had happened?

“Seth, can you hear me?” It was Jax’s voice. Memory rushed back to Seth–he had been in a ship, trying to escape from the Pilgrims… and then Bragan had blown up the Jansenite. It was a miracle he was still alive, Seth realized. Barely alive, though. His entire body ached, a thousand small pains making themselves known.

“Jax?” he whispered, trying to open his eyes. He couldn’t see anything. “Jax, is that you? How did you get here? Why can’t I see anything?”

“Don’t worry, you’ve got bandages over your eyes,” Jax said, excited relief in his voice. “Don’t worry, your eyes are fine. You got radiation burns, though, and they had to do surgery. You’ll need to keep your eyes covered for a few weeks, give them time to heal. Someone blew up half the quadrant using Jansenite. Who the hell would do such a thing?”

“Bragan,” Seth whispered. “He did it. He blew it up to keep the Pilgrims from getting it.”

“Can you give me any more information than that?” Jax asked. “I got a message a few weeks ago from some woman saying you were trapped. She included some coordinates, and told me to bring a surgeon. Weirdest thing I’ve ever seen, but that’s how we found you so quickly. Otherwise you would have died.”

“That was Calla,” Seth said. “Can I have some water?”

“Um, let me ask” Jax said. “Can he have some water?”

“Of course,” said another voice. “Let me help him with it.”

Seth felt a straw touch his lips, and he sucked the water down greedily. His throat felt like sand paper. “Don’t drink too much at once,” the voice said.

“I’ve got to tell you what happened,” Seth said finally. He tried to raise a hand, to grasp Jax, but he couldn’t move. “We’ve got a problem. There’s this group called the Pilgrims. They’re planning an attack against us.”

“I know,” Jax said. Seth felt his friend’s hand touch his own lightly through the bandages. Jax suddenly sounded very tired. “They’ve already moved against us. You’ve been out for nearly two weeks, Seth. They attacked several days ago.”

“What?” Seth whispered. “I don’t understand.”

“When we found you, you were hardly alive,” Jax said, his voice filled with strain.

“We put you into stasis immediately. You never would have survived, otherwise. We took you directly to the station hospital, and you’ve been in and out of surgery and regeneration chambers ever since.”

“What about the attack? What brought it on?”

“As far as we can tell, they decided that the explosion was some kind of sign from their leader,” Jax said.

“The Celestial Pilgrim?” Seth asked.

“I don’t know what they call him,” Jax said harshly. “He’s been dead for a thousand years, but the bastards still think he’s talking to them. They attacked from small bases throughout the asteroid field. There were even some of them living on Discovery station. In fact, that old bitch, Jennings, was one of them. They killed nearly a hundred people before we managed to stop them. She escaped, by the way.”

“I was trying to let you know how dangerous they are,” Seth whispered, sorrow washing over him. How many of his friends were dead? “I’m sorry I didn’t get here in time to warn you.”

“We can still use whatever information you have,” Jax said with feeling. “There are thousands of them still out there. Hunting them all down will take months.”

“It’s time for Commander Seth to go back to the regeneration chamber,” the other voice said. “Commander, I’m going to give you some medication to make you sleep now.”

“Take care, Seth,” Jax said quietly. “They say you’ll be ready for regular duty in about a month, but I’ll get some of the intelligence specialists in to speak with you the next time you wake up. We need to know everything that happened, everything you’ve learned about them...”

Jax kept talking, but Seth could no longer understand what he was saying. He tried to ask him to speak louder, but the darkness was too much. It was time to sleep again.

Seth let unconsciousness wash over him. To do anything else would have been too exhausting.