New Horizons: Chapter 8

“You want to come with us?” Lovath arched a patchy brow at me.

“Yeah. I’m good with a phaser, Kryn can attest.” Arms crossed, I waited for Lovath to turn me down, to say I was too much of a liability to go with them on a drop.

Instead, the traakian shrugged. “Sure.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Gray was about as affronted as I would have expected him to be, and he stormed off before Lovath could reply. Lovath just sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face; they’d been fighting on and off in the last three days before the drop.

They’d also been fucking if the hickeys all over both of them were any indication. So their tiff wasn’t exactly having the outcome I would have hoped, meaning that Kryn had been right. And Kryn was the last person I wanted to be right about anything.

I knew it was a bit hypocritical of me to have been so adamant against the whole smuggling shtick but then turn right around and want to join them on their mission, but…I kind of wanted to see what the whole thing entailed. Plus, the drop was happening on a space station and I was itching to see more of one of those. My time on Krida Q-5 after I’d first been abducted had been brief and humiliating.

“Zupanis Major Station is unregulated, right?” I asked as I followed the Kryn and Lovath down to the weapons room.

“Yes, so don’t go wandering off on your own. A legal chip deters many, but not all buyers.” Lovath handed me a phaser, then paused and frowned. “You may see a lot of enslaved exotics. Is that going to be a problem?”

Was it going to be a problem to see my fellow human being subjugated to aliens with no way out? Of course it was. “You expect me not to have an issue with seeing others of my own species owned like pets?” I snapped even as I equipped a holster and secured the phaser into it.

Kryn snorted. “Don’t fight, Derrick. Lovath says this because we are not in a position to rescue anyone. He’s asking if seeing a human with their owner is going to be a distraction from the drop.”

I frowned, trying to still be offended. Unfortunately, I understood. “No self-righteous rescue missions. I get it.” I wanted to rescue every human out here, but even I knew that was impractical. And if I was trying to get Lovath and his crew to trust me so I could ultimately get back to Earth, I didn’t need to be pulling any shenanigans.

As much as Gray had made it seem like everyone was leaving without him, Talisaar and Zenkara were staying on the ship. Not because they weren’t capable, but because Lovath said he didn’t want a crowd. The drop was meant to be subtle.

Kryn and I helped Lovath pile the metal crates of moon rocks onto an automated cart. The crates were labeled as some sort of cleaning product, and the powder was packed inside old discarded containers of the stuff to avoid scrutiny.

“We’re early on purpose.” Kryn explained as the cargo bay door extended down into a ramp. “Lovath agreed to drop and collect the credits alone, but that’s an easy way to get ambushed.”

“So we ambush first?” I could catch on easy enough. The area of Zupanis Major Station we’d entered was littered in cargo crates of all shapes and sizes, stacked to the ceiling in some places. Lovath guided our cart of crates through the winding maze of cargo until we reached a dark, quiet spot.

“We prepare for the possibility.” Kryn waved me back behind a low stack of crates where we’d be hidden from view if we kept low. A good vantage point to take someone by surprise if we had to start shooting.

Smart.

I watched for a while as Lovath fiddled around with some of the crates then finally settled and leaned back against the cart with his arms crossed. Not a moment later, the sound of footsteps reached my ears. Multiple sets of people. Weren’t both parties only meant to send one person?

I glanced at Kryn who simply shrugged. Nonchalance oozed from Lovath’s being as three figures approached. Another traakian, a nu’jaro, and someone else I couldn’t quite make out. As a human woman came into view, I sucked in a silent breath. They’d warned me I might see enslaved humans, but I wasn’t prepared for how it would feel to see one for the first time. There were other humans on Pretia, but they’d been free.

The dark-skinned woman had her hair shorn close to her head, likely to avoid upkeep on the owner’s part which made me grind my teeth. She was being dragged behind the brightly colored nu’jaro on a leash that bit into her neck so deep the edges of it were swollen and lined in red. A large welt decorated her left eye and her full lower lip was split. Most offensive of all was how they were parading her around completely naked.

It took conscious effort to tear my eyes away from the woman that reminded me in so visceral a way what could have happened to my own sister. To Michelle, who’d been abducted and for some reason found unsuitable. I was glad it was me up here and not her, and my heart clenched at the thought of Michelle in that poor woman’s place.

When I glanced over at Kryn he was regarding me carefully, both sets of eyes narrowed. He was waiting to see if this would crack me, if I’d been all bluster about being able to handle myself if I saw a human. Straightening my shoulders, I tried to harden my thoughts. We couldn’t save everyone, and saving someone wouldn’t actually help them if we compromised ourselves in the process.

Instead I ruled her out as a threat. Lovath was outnumbered by one, not my initial analysis of two. They approached with their holstered weapons out in the open, unlike how Lovath’s was skillfully hidden inside his clothing. For all appearances, Lovath wasn’t violating any of their predetermined agreements, and I had to admit it was intentional and clever.

“You Hisgah?” Cockiness edged into Lovath’s voice, his body language entirely loose and unconcerned. The attitude that irritated me on the ship served him well in this setting, where you were only as confident as you appeared to be.

The nu’jaro leading the human paused, then frowned. “No. Likon.”

Second test passed then. They’d shown up with extra people and guns, but they weren’t lying about who they were. Apparently Lovath liked to used the wrong name on purpose to throw the other party off guard and to confirm he was delivering to the right person.

“That’s right. Must’ve forgotten.” The traakian captain drawled, pushing off the cart and stalking closer.

Likon the nu’jaro flicked his wrist as if he was looking at a watch, and a red hologram with scrolling words and symbols flickered to life around his forearm. A jabber implant, like the one Gray had just gotten. “Transferring credits as discussed.” Likon jerked his head towards his traakian companion. “She’ll check you brought the right shtec.”

True to Likon’s word, the traakian woman at his side stepped past Lovath and popped open the lid of one of the crates. It revealed those containers of cleaning product, but the traakian woman ran a scanner over one container then peaked inside and seemed satisfied.

Lovath checked his own jabber for the credit transfer then, as if he didn’t have a care in the world, said, “This isn’t what we discussed, Likon.”

“Isn’t it?” Likon was flippant. “I believe it is. Weren’t you mistaken?” The next moment his traakian companion had a phaser to Lovath’s head.

“That’s the best threat you have? Just the two of you and an exotic pet?” Lovath snorted as Kryn, ever so slow, adjusted his own phaser to aim for the traakian woman from behind the crates. There was a word Lovath would say if he wanted us to come out, and he hadn’t worked it into conversation yet so we’d wait.

“Two is enough, no?” Likon cocked his head to the side, all arrogance.

“Depends on your perspective.” Lovath’s grin bared canines larger and sharper than a human’s, and Kryn and I took our cue—the word ‘perspective’—to slide out from behind the crates. As soon as Likon saw both of us emerge, that smug look on his face dropped. The leashed woman’s eyes rounded with shock, homing in on me, and her face devolved into a pleading gaze.

It was heartbreaking.

But I lifted my weapon, pointing it at the traakian with a phaser to Lovath’s temple. This close, her head would probably be pulverized if I shot. So would Lovath’s, though, and I didn’t think that would win me any favors with anybody. Kryn’s phaser was now aimed at Likon himself, and with one quick movement he pulled his human slave in front of himself like a shield.

“Clearly you have a soft spot for humans, Lovath.” Likon spat, jerking his head towards me. “If I die, she dies. And so do you.”

The woman’s eyes went wide, and a fine tremor taking over her entire body as Likon’s phaser pressed into her ear. If we were on Earth, I’d expect a human to cave into the demand, the risk of an innocent woman’s life—of Lovath’s own life—not worth it. But this was a much harsher galaxy than the world I knew.

“Should that be a deterrent? You’ll be dead before Lovath’s body hits the floor.” Kryn’s deep, menacing voice sent a shiver down my spine. “And so will your friend. We leave with all the credits you have and down only one man. You think we can’t find a new captain?”

It was callous in a way I hadn’t expected, and my eyes flicked to the captain himself. His body still held no tension, an easy expression on his face, all confidence. He knew Likon was outmaneuvered. Killing Lovath would be a death sentence only crew of the Event Horizon would walk away from, whether it be two of us or three of us.

One, long moment passed where no one spoke a word, then Likon’s arm slowly released from around his human’s waist. She scrambled away but only got as far as the end of her leash. “Tayga, stand down.” The traakian with a phaser to Lovath’s temple did as told, and stalked back to Likon’s side. With nothing to point at, I lowered my weapon as well, but Kryn kept his pointed at the nu’jaro.

“Now I believe we had an agreement?” Lovath spoke with ease, no hint of relief, as if the entire situation hadn’t happened at all. That was a skill. While outwardly calm, adrenaline was pumping through my veins, heart thudding in my chest at all the weapon wielding that had happened just moments prior. Keeping a cool head wasn’t as simple as I’d made it out to be in my head.

I was all too aware that one wrong move on my part could have ended in Lovath’s death. Then Gray would never forgive me, the Horizon would be out a captain, and I would be out a potential way home. And this still wasn’t even over yet.

Silent, Likon pulled up his jabber and made another credit transfer. Lovath checked, and he must have been satisfied because he sent the automated cart over to Likon and his crew. Likon bared serrated teeth at us, but said no more as they retreated back into the maze of cargo.

That human woman kept glancing at me with pleading eyes that had a knot forming in my throat. She was a similar age to my sister too, and my chest ached with the need to take her back with us. To protect her from all the things I should have protected Michelle from.

“Can’t we—”

“No.” Kryn hissed, voice a near whisper. “We start killing clients and taking their exotics, we become unreliable. Special circumstances only.”

So I watched her walk away with tears in her eyes, wondering if I’d already let space change me.