AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Pausing again, listening, I still don’t hear or see anything suspicious. Perhaps whoever stashed the supplies here hasn’t been back yet? A glimmer of hope flutters in my chest and I dare to exit the hatchway. It sounds like my bare feet are obscenely loud as they plop onto the cold floor, but I know it’s just my imagination. Well, I hope it’s just my imagination.
A small dark corner between two smaller containers provides the perfect hiding spot from which to observe the stashed rations and the oddly hanging cloth. It doesn’t seem like anything has been moved since I was last here. Good.
I suck in a deep breath, ready to run over and grab the water, when my luck finally runs out.
The storage room door opens.
My throat constricts and it takes everything I have not to start wailing in terror. I inch back deeper into the dark corner, praying that whoever’s coming in won’t notice me.
The footsteps draw so near at one point that I’m sure they must be able to hear my heart pounding. They walk right past me though, not stopping as their boots clack along the hardened floor. It’s just one person. Not that it matters. I couldn’t fight off one person anymore than I could fight off five people, so it really makes no difference how many there are.
The footsteps don’t stop until they’ve reached the stash of supplies. There’s a long sigh and then the sound of creaking fabric.
I’m too curious not to look. As slowly and quietly as I can manage, I peek out from behind the container.
It’s the male from the airlock and this time, there’s no doubt he’s a human. I can’t see a collar, though, and it doesn’t seem like the crew have locked him in here like a prisoner. He must be working with them, then.
He’s lying down, comfortably nestled in the fabric cocoon, one of his feet dangling over the edge of the cloth. Every once in a while, he uses the exposed leg to push off a nearby surface so the cocoon swings. I was right, it must be some kind of a rudimentary rocking bed. If he came here to sleep, maybe I can just wait and—
My hopes are crushed before I even finish the thought. The human reaches absentmindedly for the food packets, sifting through them as if looking for something specific. Whatever it is, he doesn’t find it, because stupid me stole it.
The man frowns and jumps out of his rocking cocoon. He’s tall but not overly muscular like mercenaries tend to be. Like the rest of his kind, he doesn’t have any easily discernible features. No horns, no tail, no spikes or scales. Just flesh under soft, pinkish skin. It doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous, though.
He goes through the food packages again, methodically sorting them by their contents. He frowns at the result, then proceeds to peer into gaps between cargo containers, looking for his missing food. His frown grows deeper as he pulls out a datapad.
I don’t understand what he says. Like everyone else in the galaxy, I had translator nodes implanted as a child, but human languages aren’t part of the basic language package. There’s no reason for it.
The United Galactic Council still deems human civilization to be too primitive. As such, their planet is off limits. Of course, that doesn’t stop slavers from sneaking around the UGC blockade to kidnap humans. They make valuable slaves. Not nearly as valuable as Silithrae, but then again, no one is as valuable as a Silithrae.
A computerized voice from his datapad replies in the same language. Disgruntled, the human sets it aside, muttering something to himself.
Please, go away, I yell at him internally. Unfortunately, I don’t have any mind control skills so he doesn’t move. Instead, he looks around, fidgeting anxiously. “Hello?” he says eventually in oddly accented Omnispeak. “Is anyone here?”
He’s not looking in my direction, but he knows I’m here. Somehow, he senses me. It’s just a matter of time before I’m found and then I’ll be back to being someone’s property, beaten and abused.
In spite of my best efforts, a whimper escapes me. The human’s head whips in my direction, his gaze trying to penetrate the shadows I’m hiding in. He turns, lifting his foot to take a step toward me. That snaps me out of my daze and I bolt.
I don’t care about him seeing me anymore. The only thing I’m focused on right now is reaching the maintenance hatch. His legs are longer than mine. If he takes off at a run, he’ll beat me there. But he’s not running.
He calls out something I can’t hear over the furious drumming in my ears. I don’t stick around waiting for him to repeat it. I throw myself through the hatch head first, immediately slamming it shut behind me. Then I run, certain that if I stop, I’ll hear footsteps following me.
There’s nothing.
When I reach the tiny alcove I’ve been using as my hideout, I drop down onto my knees and squeeze myself between the pipes and cables. Crawling further into the alcove than ever before, I try to convince myself that no one can find me here but I know it’s a stupid lie. Now that they know I’m here, they can just search the ship from top to bottom until they find me. They can remotely seal all hatches and trap me in one place, corner me so I have nowhere to go.
Tears fall and this time, I don’t stop them.
Chapter 4
Nikolai
It’s been a wholeday since I saw the stowaway and I still haven’t told anyone about them. About her. At least I think that the figure I saw was female. She was wearing dirty, oversized coveralls, every inch of her body either wrapped in rags or covered in filth as if she’d intentionally rolled in it, but that singular, broken whimper I’d heard had sounded distinctly feminine. That sound is also the reason I haven’t told the crew about her.
They’re good people. Good aliens. In fact, they’re one of the most fair-minded people in the galaxy. The former Nova squad.An elite law enforcement team working for the United Galactic Council who found themselves on the opposite side of the law after disobeying an order to abandon two dozen innocent alien beings to their death.
The Nova squad had refused to follow that order, flying into a forbidden zone and rescuing everyone. I might be totally biased since I was one of those beings left to die but I still think they did the right thing. Even if their actions have now made them fugitives.
No longer bound by UGC orders or regulations, they could have done anything with their lives. Started their own security company, become elite mercenaries or even space pirates. Yet, they’ve chosen to continue their work and are set on eradicating slavery from the entire galaxy. A daunting task but if anyone has the skills to do it, it’s them.
