“I give you my word I won’t use the Jansenite against you,” Seth finally said. “But it’s very important that you leave it behind. I don’t want it out there on the open market.”
“I thought you were going to sell it,” Calla said, startled.
“I thought you were going to trust that I knew what I was doing,” Seth replied pointedly.
“Just get the damn Jansenite,” Sarai said, confused by their exchange. “No, have Bragan do it. I don’t want to let you out of my sight.”
“I’ll get it,” Calla said, breaking in quickly before things got out of hand. “I’ll bring it out here, then Seth and Bragan can take it off the ship.”
“Be careful,” Seth said, trying not to look at her. “If you drop it, we’re all dead.”
Calla carefully dragged the boxes out into the main room, then Seth and Bragan placed them in the airlock. Sarai’s gun never wavered.
When they had finished, Sarai gestured toward the pressure suits hanging in the airlock bay. Seth was still wearing his, but Bragan needed one. Seth pulled on his helmet, then he and Bragan quickly checked each other’s suits.
“Bragan, come over here,” Calla said. Sarai looked at her in surprise, but gestured with the gun that the man was to follow her instructions. “Hold your hands out in front of you.”
Calla quickly clasped a pair of restraints around the man’s wrists. She had been concerned he’d make a fuss, but he simply cocked one eyebrow at her.
“Afraid I’m going to hurt your lover?” he asked with a smirk. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t hold it against you.”
“Just go out into the airlock,” she said, unable to meet his eyes. Then she tossed the restraint key to Seth, who caught it in one gloved hand. “You, too. Into the airlock.”
Seth turned and stalked into the airlock, then turned back to face her.
“I won’t forget this,” he said coldly. “You’d better start running, because Goddess help you if I catch you.”
“We’ll send someone for you,” Sarai said tightly. “You have all you need to make it until they arrive.
Once the airlock cycles, we’ll give you twenty minutes to get everything out and get away from the ship.
Then we’re leaving.”
“I’m sorry, Seth,” Calla said. “I don’t have a choice. I won’t go back to slavery.”
“Your husband has a new girlfriend,” Seth said with disgust. “You might want to think twice about trying to join him.”
His words sent pain shooting through her.
“He’s not my husband,” she said. “I just said that to get rid of you at the hostel. You’ve got to go now.”
Seth’s eyes widened, but before he could say anything Calla punched the button that shut the airlock.
The door swung closed, and the light went red as the ship started pumping out air.
Twenty minutes later, Seth had unloaded the supplies and was standing with Bragan at a safe distance.
Sarai checked to make sure the children were strapped into their chairs, then joined Calla in the cockpit.
Seth had left the autopilot set to take them back to Discovery station. Together, they pressed the key to initiate their takeoff sequence, then braced themselves as the ship lifted away from the asteroid. Calla forced herself to watch Seth’s still figure for as long as he was visible from the ship’s window, then turned to Sarai.
“I guess it’s time to start working on re-programming the auto-pilot,” she said. “The last place I want to go it Discovery station. I have the codes and manuals in my hand-held computer.”
“When will we send the rescue message?” Sarai asked quietly.
“I think we should clear the asteroid field first,” Calla replied after a brief pause. “We’ll send the message before we make the leap to light speed.”
Chapter 11
“Fifty thousand credits. That’s my final offer,” Karinvass said, eyeing the two women standing before him. Their ship was worth at least 150,000 credits, but they obviously didn’t have any idea what they were doing. Clearly, they’d never been out of their home systems. Every time they saw an alien, their eyes widened. As he watched, the little one–the one with the brown hair and freckles–bit her lip, and looked at her friend for guidance. If he wasn’t careful, he might lose the sale…
“Here now, I don’t have all day,” he said roughly. It was always better to keep the upper hand in a negotiation like this. He didn’t want them to feel bullied, but he also didn’t want to give them too much time to think. They were ripe for the taking, and he wanted that ship.
“Either you like the deal or you don’t. I have other customers to help,” he added, despite the fact that they were his only prospects at the moment. It wasn’t often that he had the chance to acquire a ship like theirs, especially for such a price. It was stolen, of course, but that wouldn’t matter if he moved it quickly enough. There were plenty of customers who’d be interested in buying a prize like that one.
“All right,” the freckled one said, looking panicked at the thought of him losing interest. Karinvass gave her a broad smile, then held out his hand to shake on the deal. She looked at him, confused at the gesture, and for a moment he almost felt sorry for her. She really was green. These two were going to be eaten alive if they weren’t careful.
“I’ll be right back with your credits,” he said, and they smiled at him nervously. Shaking his head in bemusement, he turned and went into his back room. Once the door was locked, he activated a small control panel on the floor. A tile moved noiselessly across the floor, revealing his safe. As he counted out the thousand-credit chits, he briefly considered short-changing them. He’d bet they’d never seen a credit chit worth so much–it would be easy to pawn off some counterfeits.
Then an uncharacteristic wave of compassion came over him. He was already making a fortune off of them, he reminded himself. They were on the run, any fool could see that. Besides, if he let them go now, he could always make more money later if someone came looking for them. He smiled again at the thought, then closed up the safe and walked back out into his shop.
“Here are your credits,” he said, counting the money out carefully before them. “Fifty thousand, just like I promised.”
Their eyes widened, and the quiet one–she was taller–gave him a smile so lovely it took his breath away.