vents and listened to the hush of her breath as it echoed around her. Several pieces fell into place and answered the lingering questions of the previous weeks, since she’d been transferred to the Hollbrd. The gen ship was never meant to reach its destination. That was why there weren’t enough supplies and the passengers weren’t immediately put into stasis; it cost too much and took too long to revive them. If the owners of the ship wanted to use the settlers for something immediately, they wouldn’t want to wait for the thawing process.
EJ’s stomach turned over. The owners apparently needed a full ship and didn’t care who they packed onto it, including prisoners. Violent and subversive prisoners, the kind of residents that no society wanted. She rubbed her forehead. Who wanted poor farmers and dangerous prisoners? What possible use could that variety of settlers have?
And then what Nokx said about Earthers not being strong or dangerous or even very capable came screaming back to her, as well as the Slasu response: they all had a purpose, whether they knew it or not. It was true enough, what he said, even if it hurt her feelings. It wasn’t like Earthers were useless. They were just... unique in the skills they brought to certain situations. That uniqueness wasn’t always celebrated. Particularly if the Earthers were reluctant to assist whoever dragged them into a situation. What could the Slasu have meant about having a purpose but not knowing it? Who volunteered for a gen ship without knowing why they were on it and what they brought to the mission?
She smothered a groan and tried not to slap her forehead at her own shortsightedness. The Slasu. Of course. What better way to get a full load of slaves than to sponsor it themselves, lure poor settlers from all different races onto it, and fill the remaining berths with the sort of prisoners that any society would be grateful to get rid of? And no one would look for a missing gen ship or its passengers, since the whole purpose of a gen ship was to go far away and never return.
Which just made it clear she had to get off the damn ship and get back to... where? EJ remained where she was in the vent, staring at nothing and losing feeling in her limbs. Where would she go? The Sraibur was long gone and wouldn’t take on a Slasu slaving fleet on her account, and there wasn’t going to be any friendly ship close enough to pick up an emergency escape pod even if she avoided the Slasu raiders. And assuming she could even reach an escape pod and it wasn’t destroyed by the Slasu ships, she’d just end up dying slowly in space as the life support systems failed. Her vision blurred as she curled up in the vent. She was done. Finished. Trapped.
She’d end up on a Slasu slave ship, taken to one of the auctions in the outer galaxies. Sold for whatever they used humans for—entertainment, breeding, experimentation, whatever. Nothing good. Everything a thousand times worse than terra-forming. A knot tied up her throat. And no one was coming to save her. No one would even help. The other passengers wouldn’t understand the threat until it was too late, and the farmers weren’t in any position to resist. The prisoners, though... Maybe if she freed them, it would mean enough trouble for the Slasu that they gave up or delayed, or maybe got bogged down dealing with the chaos that friendly ships could appear. EJ could maybe signal Violet or Gemma with the little comms box they’d given her. The Sraibur could come back to get her or pick up an escape pod, and she’d work for her passage to a neutral port, just like she’d proposed. The other Earthers would help her, even if the Xaravians wouldn’t. She’d put money on Violet and Gemma winning that fight.
EJ took a deep breath and started to lower herself out of the vent so she could go to a different access door in the small room, as it would lead to the control room for the cells. She froze as the main door rattled and then creaked open, and a large shadow fell into the room. It groaned and flopped onto its back, and she stared down at it with growing horror.
Nokx. Nokx was still on the Hollbrd, and he was injured.
Chapter 34
Nokx
Three more guards appeared from nowhere to tackle Nokx