But considering what the alternative was, I didn’t see how I had much choice. I’d gotten myself into this mess and now I needed to get myself out of it. It’s not like I had anyone else to turn to.
I wanted to feel sorry for myself, but I pushed it aside. Now was not the time for a round of self pity. I had a mess to clean up.
I studied the ship, looking for any movement around the cargo hold. I didn’t know for certain that the Draax hadn’t returned to it. For all I knew, they could be in the ship, preparing it for take off.
Pick another ship, Ellis. This one is too dangerous.
Yeah, it really was. It had the symbol for Draax royalty etched into its shiny metal. Stealing gallberry juice was a serious crime, I could only imagine how many more years would be tacked on to a prison sentence if it was stolen from Draax royalty.
The icy wind brushed across my face, numbing my cheeks and making my eyes water. I blew on my hands to warm them, studying the open space between the shipping containers and the Draax ship.
It was further than I liked, but it looked like I’d gotten lucky and a shift change was happening. In another ten minutes or so, the bay would be much busier. I had to go now or –
A searing pain behind my left ear dropped me to my knees. I threw my arm over my mouth, muffling my groan of agony. The pain swelled, black roses bloomed at the edge of my vision, and everything went blurry. I curled up on my side, my hand pressed against the side of my head, bile rising in my throat, as I waited to either pass out or die.
Slowly, second by agonizing second, the pain diminished. My vision returned and, my stomach churning, I stared at the shipping containers next to my head. My heart was hammering in my chest, sweat slicked my entire body, and the urge to vomit was still powerful.
I swallowed down the bitter bile and slowly sat up, leaning back against the containers as I tried to slow my breathing.
Fuck, that was a bad one.
I rubbed gingerly behind my ear. I could feel the bulge of the translator just below the skin. I was pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to feel it at all. But that’s what happened when you had Draax translators implanted by a guy named Emilio who worked out of a one room apartment infested with cockroaches and mold growing on the walls.
I took a few more deep breaths. I’d had the ear and throat translators for almost two years, and they’d been instrumental in helping me score gallberry juice to sell on the black market. Sure, the Draax weren’t supposed to sell us the juice but there were plenty of them who did. They loved sex and with no female Draax left to bang, they were all over us human females. Myself, I didn’t understand the risk of going to prison for life just for a few rounds of hide the salami, but to be fair, I was more interested in not starving to death then getting my hump on.
But trying to pantomime a bargain with them for their magical healing juice got real old, real fast. So, I’d had the translators installed inside my skull and my throat. Being able to understand and talk to the Draax made it a hell of a lot easier to bargain with them.
Especially since they never wanted to bargain with me at first. With my hair hidden, my narrow hips, and the way I bound my small tits, I could pass for a boy and often did. I deliberately kept my tits hidden and dressed in baggy men’s clothing. It was safer on the streets if they thought you were a guy. But even if they didn’t mistake me for a boy, the Draax had no interest in bargaining for sex with my skinny ass. They liked the curvy girls who had tits for days. Luckily, I had a partner who the Draax drooled over.
I did the bargaining with my second-rate translators. Bailey did the fucking.
It was a good arrangement, mutually benefiting for both of us. I arranged to get the juice from the Draax, Bailey showed him the time of his life in the bedroom, I sold the juice on the black market, and me and Bailey split the profits.