out.”
“He’s going to have the same trouble we have,” Warden assures me. “And he can’t get to us here, so that’s one thing we have going for us. Be patient. We will find Ella.”
“What if she’s not for sale?”
“Everything is for sale. It’s just a matter of price.”
It’s then that I realize how few questions I’ve asked, and how many assumptions I have made. “I don’t have any money, Warden.”
“I know you don’t. But I do.”
I still can’t believe he is helping me. We met as jailer and prisoner. To some extent, we are still stuck in those roles. But in other ways, he has freed me and now he is giving me far more than I have earned.
“Are we going to buy her? Or steal her?”
Before he can answer, the murketeer is back with a big golden ticket.
“I have an invitation to the auction,” he says. “You will be seated in a private booth, from which you may see, but not speak to some of the other bidders. Upon completion of the auction, you will be taken to the purchase room if you have made a purchase. If you have not, you will be escorted back to your ship. Please understand, no hostility whatsoever is permitted. Breaking this rule will lead to immediate death.”
“Understood," Warden says. “We are actually looking for a specific item. Twenty year old female, likes the name Ella. Comes from the Patch colony, taken around ten years ago.”
I’m worried that he’s giving away too much, but there’s no time to waste. He has to say what he has to say, and I’m prepared to make my blades do that SCHWING thing if I have to.
“That is a popular lot today!” The murketeer beams.
Warden and I exchange looks. It is taking everything in my power for me to remain even remotely calm. Growls are escaping me every other second, making me sound like a rumbling wild thing. I see the murketeer glance at me, its ever present wide smile tightening with concern.
My baby is here. She’s alive, and she’s close by. My chest feels as though it is going to burst, and I can barely keep from crying. But I have to remain stoic. If I fuck this up now, I don't know how I will be able to survive the guilt.
“Someone has already asked for her?” Warden is calm where I cannot be.
“Yes. Rather forcefully, as it happens. She was not scheduled for the block, but we will be making an exception to accommodate healthy competition. She will be the last lot of the day.”
Before either of us can say anything, the murketeer keeps giving us the standard spiel, words tumbling out of his big mouth.
“We do the selling on the auction floor. You can buy a human pet of almost any age. If you decide to make additional purchases, be aware that males start at 10,000 credits. Females are 1,000,000,000 credits. Your credit status will be assessed prior to accessing the auction floor. If you need to make funds transfers, you can do so at any of the marked terminals. Now, if you’d like to come with me, I will show you to your booth.”
Warden gestures to me, and we follow the murketeer. We’re really doing this. We’re going to walk into a human auction house and we’re going to sit there while they sell people until my lost daughter is brought up for sale.
This feels wrong. Probably because it is. We should be helping all these humans. I try to tell myself that someone will come and help them, but experience has taught me you can wait a very long time before being rescued in this universe. You can wait forever.
“This is your booth,” the murketeer says, waggling his fingers toward a bubble with a set of seats and a table covered in food. I’m starving, but I’m also not hungry at all. I don’t know if I can even eat in this suit.
We have arrived late to the party. The auction is already in progress. Down below, there is a naked human man standing on the sales floor. He is wearing a collar around his neck, much like I am underneath this suit.
The murketeer auctioneer is giving his patter.
“Male humans make excellent pets. They are physically stronger than female humans by a factor of two or more, though they do have one less useable cavity. This human is twenty-five years old, and has an irascible temperament, but he will make an excellent