In Enemy Territory - Shannon West Page 0,33
which one he should approach. He turned to Setin, only to find him halfway across the yard, striding confidently toward the slaver group and the man he’d claimed to recognize.
By the time Rasc arrived beside him, Setin was in deep conversation with the burly man, who looked vaguely Farlian from his clothing, though it was hard to tell. The Farlian nodded when he saw Rasc and said something to Setin in that language. The men sitting around him laughed, but it didn’t seem mean spirited, and Setin grinned over at Rasc.
“This is Egam. He recognized you from Laltana and said he’d wondered how long it would take to see you here. And he wanted to know if Prince Tibiel was coming too.”
“No,” Rasc replied directly to Egam with a shrug. “He went crying to his big brother, so they sent him home to his mama.”
Egam snickered and motioned for Rasc to come join them. Once he sat down at the table, Egam leaned across Setin and said, in only fair Earthan with a heavy accent, “I always like humans.”
“Yeah, but from what I’ve seen, some of you slavers like humans maybe a little too much.”
Egam’s eyes darkened for just a moment and then he burst out laughing. “True. Very true, I think. I like you,” he said, clapping Rasc on the back.
They were silent for a while, just sitting companionably, with Egam watching his scouts. He leaned over at one point and murmured, “Maybe forty knives now in yard.”
Rasc looked over at him in surprise. “What? How?”
He shrugged. “Hidden up tulas.” He looked over at Rasc and grinned again. “How you say? My Earthan not good. Up rectums.”
“Holy shit.”
A little tussle broke out across the yard, near the Nilanium faction. Sure enough, knives seemed to come out of nowhere until one of the guards ran up and fired directly into the little knot of inmates struggling on the ground, with seemingly no regard for who or what they hit. All of the inmates cried out and fell down deathly still after that, and a hush descended over the yard. The guard spoke into a small communicator device, and as they watched, more hooded figures came out of the buildings and dragged away the limp bodies of the ones who had been fighting.
“Fuck,” Rasc said softly. “It’s not hard to see how they keep order in here. Did they just kill those guys?”
“Maybe few of them. Some only knocked out. But guards no particular where they aim. A direct shot to head kill you, but they no care.” He nodded over toward the guards backed up against the fence. “Fucking guards—all assholes. They real problem. Nobody like them, and they like nobody.”
Rasc spent the rest of their time in the yard just quietly observing. Another horn sounded after they’d been in the yard for perhaps an hour, if he was using Earthan time, and they were ushered back inside. Egam sidled up next to Rasc as they were waiting to go in. “Only way to survive here is have friends. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“I send you message tonight.”
Rasc turned to question him, but the guards were moving the crowd along, pushing and yelling at them in their high-pitched, androgynous voices. He followed the crowd back to his cell block and went inside, waiting for Setin. He arrived a few minutes later, and the cells were closed with a loud clang.
“Fuck, that was intense.”
“Yes,” Setin replied, nodding. “Your first real prison?”
“It is. Outside of the brig once while I was in the Army, and then that little stint on Laltana, this is it.”
“Mine too. I’ve heard of this colony here, but I don’t know all that much about this part of the planet, even though I used to live here.”
“Where did you live? In one of the cities?”
“Yeah, in Firagmo, where the space port is.”
It had been one of the things that had drawn Setin to Rasc—the knowledge that he, too, had lived on Gatifrey at one time. They’d talked a little about it when they first met, and apparently Setin took it as a bonding experience because the next thing Rasc knew, he had acquired a near constant companion. It helped that Setin wasn’t too annoying, so Rasc let him stay close by. Someone to watch his back came in handy at times. Besides, he’d been a good friend—Rasc’s only friend for a long time.
“Any sign of the Tygerians?” Rasc asked softly that evening as they were waiting for their meal to be shoved