“Of course, I’m going to go back for her. We’re just in the middle of the fold already, so we might as well finish this delivery first,” I said back to him.

  “What if she doesn’t want to come back? What if the Dominion is willing to take her home?”

  “Since when has the Dominion been willing to actually do something for anyone just on request?” I asked back sarcastically.

  He gave a slight nod. “Good point. Still didn’t answer my first question, however.”

  “If she doesn’t want to come back,” the thought stabbed at me, twisting my gut. “I’ll do my best to change her mind, and if she still doesn’t, then I’ll let her go. I’ll still invite the women to return if they want but won’t stop the ones that want to go home, including her. We’ll have to sneak around the Dominion, but it won’t be the first time.”

  He smiled at me and headed to the door but stopped just in front of it. “About time you made a choice.”

  “Get out,” I snapped, then turned to stare at the map.

  Soon, we’d be done with this delivery.

  Soon, I’d get her back.

  Kalyn

  “Pass the cheese, will you?” Maris lifted a lazy hand.

  “We don’t know that this is cheese for sure,” Lynna cautioned as she passed Maris a block of black and gray marbled substance.

  “It tastes enough like cheese for me to call it cheese.” Maris tore off a piece of the block and popped it in her mouth.

  Light from the planet’s two suns streamed in through the massive glass windows that took up the far wall of our common area. Wispy curtains of gold, red, and purple fluttered with the gentle breeze. Our common room was stuffed with oversized pillows, plush lounges, and so much food that we’d yet to make a dent in it.

  If my mother could see this place, she’d die of jealousy.

  My worries about finding a Dominion official to help us seemed absurd now.

  Within moments of the Rogue Star leaving port, we were approached by two males with twin black bands tied over their brows.

  One was nearly eight feet tall and looked as if he were made of stone. The other was only a few inches taller than me, with skin the color of the inside of a lime. They spoke slowly, eyes fixed on our translators by our ears, and moved as if they were afraid to startle us.

  When the pair identified themselves as Dominion officials, I took the opportunity to tell them who we were and explain our situation.

  To my relief and confusion, they weren’t angry with us at all.

  In fact, they explained they’d been searching for us ever since they heard a ship from Dominion space had accidentally destroyed Persephone Station.

  Despite everything Dejar had warned us about, they were as eager to send us home as we were to leave.

  Something squeezed in my chest at the thought of him, then I shoved it aside. I’d made a decision. The right one for the people I was responsible for.

  And if the consequences made me hollow inside, well, I’d just have to live with it.

  However, the next authorized transport vessel couldn’t collect us until next week. They offered us their best accommodations, leading us to a giant villa that rivaled even the finest homes on Mars that was to be our temporary home.

  I wasn’t sure what the other women did but I marched into the first room I saw, collapsed on the bed, and slept for sixteen hours.

  When I awoke, clothing was laid out on the dresser for me. Blue silk pants that suited the warm climate of the planet and a matching sleeveless top. The chest of drawers in the room had been filled with similar pieces in a rainbow of colors. The clothing I arrived in and had stripped off as I collapse had been cleaned and folded neatly on the chair in the room.

  After wandering around for a little while, I found the common area. Most of the women were already there, enjoying the tableful of food. No one greeted me when I entered, though Lynna smiled. Maris focused intently on her imitation cheese. Everyone else became engrossed with one thing or another.

  “How did everyone sleep?” I asked.

  “Best night I’ve had in my life,” Shenna answered me only after a few moments of excruciating silence passed.

  “I’m glad to hear it,” I smiled.

  No one said anything else. I was tempted to take a few pieces of fruit, but my appetite had faded. I couldn’t keep standing there forever.

  “I’m going to locate the officials we met yesterday. I’d like more information on how we’re going to get home.” The other women brightened at the idea, some of them even gave me encouraging nods.

  “I’ll report back when I learn something useful.” I ducked out of the room, glad to be free of the tension.

  I didn’t have any idea of how to find those officials again. When I spoke to them yesterday, I’d noticed a design sewn into the material of their headbands, something like a miniature map of a cluster of solar systems enclosed in a thin circle.

  Maybe it represented Dominion space.

  Or was a random drawing.

  Hell, it could have been a religious order, or a sign about their mating cycle, or anything else in this weird, alien universe.

  But it was all I had to go on, so I looked for anyone wearing that same design.

  No luck.

  The villa was larger than I’d realized, filled with winding stairways and branching halls.

  I should’ve paid more attention when we were brought here yesterday, but I was so tired. As much as I liked the Rogue Star, I’d never once gotten a good night’s sleep. After the attack, I’d barely tried.

  I must’ve gone down too far. Before I realized it, there was no more natural light and the rooms felt several degrees colder. I shivered in my thin clothing.

  I was about to turn around try again when I heard voices.

  “How many are there?” a male asked.

  “Twenty-six,” another replied.

  “That’s an excellent sampling,” the first replied. “Not like the last group we were given.”

  “The last group barely withstood any of our tests,” the second said.

  “Perhaps humans will prove to be more resilient. They already survived the loss of their station,” the first said.

  “It’s too bad they didn’t show up sooner,” the second mused. “It’ll take time to prepare the facility once more.”

  “They started experimenting with those little furry things found on Xaltix Twelve,” the first commented.

  “I wonder how they differentiated the males and the females. They all look the same at first glance,” the second wondered.

  “You’re disgusting,” the first sniffed.

  “What? It’s a genuine question! Males are useless to them,” the second said defensively.

  I heard the shuffling of footfalls and a door open. Without looking back, I bolted up the stairs and didn’t stop until I reached the common area.

  “That was quick,” Aryn observed. She looked me over and gave me a quizzical look. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “We need to leave,” I rasped, out of breath from running up all of those stairs. Bizarrely, my brain focused on the fact that I hadn’t really exercising since before I left Mars.

  I should do something about that.

  But probably not now.

  “What are you talking about?” Maris demanded through a mouthful of something juicy. “This place is amazing!”

  “I don’t think they were being honest with us when they said they’d take us back to the Terran system,” I confessed.

  The women exchanged looks varying from uneasy to skeptical.

  “What makes you say that?” Lynna asked.

  “I was trying to find the front door. Instead, I ended up in a basement level. I heard people talking about experiments and how they only have use for females. They were talking about us specifically, too. They knew about Persephone Station,” I explained.

  “Are you sure?” Shenna asked.

  “Yes,” I insisted. “They were talking about some kind of facility. It sounded like this is something they’ve done before.”

  “Why would they put us up like royalty then?” Aryn asked.

  “Earn our trust? Get us to relax?” I suggested.

  “I think you’re paranoid because you want to be the one to save us.” Maris looked at me through narrowed eyes.

  “That’s not true!” I snapped. Pain pressed itself against my temples. Dammit. I usually only felt this kind of headache when I dealt with my mother.

  “If what you’re saying is true, how would we get out of here?” Lynna asked. “They know what we look like. It’s not like we don’t stand out.”

  “We can find a way to comm the Rogue Star,” I suggested. “Captain Dejar didn’t feel right about leaving us here. He warned us about the Dominion from the beginning, remember?”

  “Of course, he’d be wary of the Dominion. He’s a criminal! We aren’t,” Aryn exclaimed.

  I arched my brow.

  “Well, we aren’t criminals in this system,” she amended.

  “Explain what I heard then,” I challenged. “If you’re all so against listening to me, give me one reasonable alternative.”

  Another wave of pain crashed through my skull. At this point, I knew the only thing that would soothe it was lying down in the dark for a while.

  The women looked at each other, trying to come up with an alternate explanation. After a minute of silence, I let loose a sigh.

  “Don’t put yourselves in danger just because you’re angry with me,” I said. “I know you blame me for the deaths of the others. If you need someone to blame, go ahead and blame me. But don’t let anger and grief make you stupid.” I turned on my heel and strode out of the room. My head was throbbing.

  As soon as I entered my room, I closed the curtains. Someone had already been in to change the sheets and place a pitcher of cold water on the nightstand. I took a long gulp straight from the pitcher, ignoring the crystal cup.

  I needed a better argument if I was going to convince the others that I was right. I replayed the conversation over and over in my head, despite the pain. I closed my eyes, savoring the darkness. Within a few moments, I dozed off.

  I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when someone jostled me awake. I opened my eyes to find Maris, Aryn, Lynna, and Shenna gathered in my room.

  “If you’re here to insult me, please write them down and leave them on my dresser so I can read them in the morning,” I muttered.

  “We aren’t here to insult you,” Lynna assured me. “In fact, Maris has something she wants to say.”

  I turned my gaze to Maris. She looked uncomfortable.

  “Look,” she started. “The more I think about it, the more suspicious I am of everything about this place. It’s too easy.” Her lips twisted. “I know perfectly well nothing comes easy, and the others agree. If you think that escaping is the right thing to do, we’re willing to work with you.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.” I offered a smile, but she didn’t return it.

  Oh well. It was a start.

  Or the beginning of a start.

  “We still have some time before the transport vessel arrives. I say we take a day, maybe two, to gather supplies. Clothes, food, and so on. We’ll talk about the details tomorrow.”

  And then we’d be on our own.

  Dejar

  Even with folding, it had been three days before we were back at Outpost Nine.

  Three long days, and anything could have happened to the women.

  To Kalyn.

  With every delay I’d gotten more shorter, fighting back my growls at the crew.

  This was my own fault. I never should have agreed to let her go.

  And the delivery hadn’t sat well with me. They’d wanted to transfer the credits, back and forth through a series of accounts, until it finally arrived with us.

  Something about it felt wrong, too tricky, and we finally agreed to a smaller payout, as long as it was cold, hard, physical credits.

  “I don’t like it,” Kovor said one evening as he and I dined together.

  “Neither do I,” I assured him as I took a bite of Krranian fowl dipped in sauce. “That’s why we agreed to the smaller payout.”

  “That’s what I don’t like,” he said over a glass of Mentahsik milk. “The whole thing smelled badly from the beginning but taking a smaller payout…that reeks of bad business.”

  “I’m not disagreeing with you, Kovor. I’m really not. I just wasn’t comfortable with giving them more information than originally agreed to. That could have turned out worse.”

  He waved it off and changed the subject, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how wrong the entire job felt. Kovor, Aavat, and I had already agreed to never deal with those people again if we could help it.

  “Sir?”

  I looked up to see one of the crew, Docu I believe, since his twin, Nocu, was supposed to be on duty in the engine room, standing with his hands clasped behind his back. “Yes?”

  “Commander Aavat wanted me to tell you that we’re about to exit the fold, then we will be within sight of Outpost Nine, sir.”

  “Thank you, Docu,” I was pleased to see that I’d guessed correctly. “Let Aavat know that I will be there shortly.”

  “Affirmative, sir.” He saluted, turned on his heel, and left the mess hall. I turned back to Kovor to see him grinning.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Just him. He is far too serious to be part of whatever it is that we are. He and his brother should both be part of a real army.”

  I agreed with him, but since the twins didn’t seem to mind, it wasn’t my concern.

  Finishing off my own glass of milk, I asked our cook to make sure the rest of my food made its way to my quarters. No sense in angering Sars, not when he was responsible for what went into my stomach.

  I then made my way to the bridge, to see us finalizing docking procedures.

  Aavat looked back at me and acknowledged me with a lift of the chin. I returned the gesture with a nod and made my way to my chair. “Report.”

  “Nothing to it. We’re docking and waiting for word on which outpost official will be greeting us.”

  A quick blip from the ship AI told us we were being contacted.

  “This is Official Third Class Raud,” a bored, precise voice came through the comms.

  “I will meet you at docking to examine your papers.”

  He clicked off, not waiting for an answer.

  Aavat and I looked at one another, then headed down towards the hangar bay.

  “Any word on the women?” I asked on our way down.

  “Not like I can come right out and ask,” he shot me a look. “We’ll have to get some information on the ground. Unless you want us locked up immediately for contraband?”

  I knew it, just was anxious. What if they’d already left?

  What if…I gritted my teeth and focused on reality, not possibilities.

  “Ever dealt with this Raud character?”

  He scoffed. “Never heard of him. Not exactly surprising.”

  True, but a little information would have been nice.

  Only major officials were known, their faces and voices plastered all over the universal net to better further their political ambitions. It was rare to know who a lower-ranking official was.

  We arrived at the hangar bay just as we finished docking procedures. As Aavat opened the small door set into the main hangar door, Official Third Class Raud was already waiting for us.

  I had no idea what race he was, but his four spindly arms matched his four oversized eyes and his four tentacle-like legs.

  “I am Dominion Official Third Class Raud. May I have your reason for arrival?” Off the comm, his voice sounded almost bubbly. It was hard to keep the smile from my face. To laugh at a Dominion official was bad business.

  I dialed up my most innocent and professional voice. “We would like to refuel and recharge, perhaps purchase some additional supplies. Would we be permitted to do so?”

  He looked us up and down, then stepped back a few paces and did a visual inspection of the ship. He tapped something on his oversized folding tablet, nodded, then came back to us. “I see no reason to deny your request. You are permitted to refuel and to refresh. Would there be anything else that I could help you with?”

  I decided to take a chance. “Actually, there is. We heard a rumor that a group of women were dropped off here a few days ago. A friend might have been traveling with them. Would you happen to know where they have gone?”

  “And what women would you be speaking of? The women of Phaetus 8?” he asked with a slight tilt of his head.

  I shook my own head in response. “No, sir. The women that I speak of are Terran.” I remembered Kalyn’s insistence on her preferred word. “Human.”

  His face blanked. “I have no knowledge of any Terran women ever having come to Outpost Nine. Such an arrival would surely have made an impression on all Dominion officials on this outpost.” With that, he turned his back on us and walked away.

  “Well, that’s a load of…” Aavat started, but I interrupted him with a look.

  We walked back onto the ship and closed the door.

  “We both know he’s lying,” I said. “Not like we expected them to cooperate, or just hand the women back to us.”

  “So, what was the point of asking?”

  I tapped my fingers on the wall, thinking. “While the Dominion doesn’t want members of uncontacted species to know about the rest of us, there’s no reason to hide the presence of the humans now that they’re here.” I thought more. “But he did anyway. Which can’t mean anything good.”

  Aavat’s scowl answered for him. Time for a new plan.

  Aavat would stay aboard the ship, while Kovor and I each took a team onto the station under the premise that we were shopping.

  We would look for the women and try to get them back on board the Rogue Star.

  Most of the locals didn’t know who we were talking about, but finally we had a lead.

  A merchant pointed to a tall building in the far corner of the city.

  “They were taken there,” he waved. “Very nice. Very fancy. Dominion guests only.”

 

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