Chapter Twenty-two

 

Sarden

 

“Master? Master, please wake!”

Al’s voice sounded as worried as I had ever heard it. “What? What is it?” I muttered, forcing myself to open my eyes. I’d laid awake in my bunk most of the night, sleepless with grief. Every time I closed my eyes I saw my little sister’s body, saw the blood that had leaked from her eyes and nose and mouth, saw the look of agony on her face proving she had died in pain and alone. Because I wasn’t there for her. Because I didn’t save her in time or keep her from getting taken in the first place.

So when Al came twittering around my head, I hadn’t been asleep for more than an hour—maybe less.

“What is it?” I asked again, hoisting myself up on one elbow in my hover-bed.

“It’s Lady Zoe—I think something may be wrong with her,” Al said, sounding anxious. “She’s completely non-responsive.”

“What?” Sleep deprived or not, that got my attention. I jumped out of bed. “Where is she?”

“In her room. I went to wake her and ask if she would like me to use one of the food options she had input earlier into the food synthesizer for her first meal, but she didn’t answer me.”

“Are you sure she’s not just asleep?” I asked, running out of my room and heading for hers even as I spoke.

“She doesn’t appear asleep, Master—her eyes are open. But…I can detect no signs of respiration or pulse.”

“What?” This was getting worse and worse. Zoe had seemed so quiet and depressed the night before. Could it be that she had done something to harm herself? Please, Goddess of Mercy, I prayed as I ran into her room. I lost Sellah—don’t let me lose Zoe too. Please!

I got to her hoverbed and saw she was just lying there, as Al had said.

“Zoe? Zoe?” My voice cracked on her name. Her blue eyes were blank and sightless, staring straight at the flat metal ceiling. Her chest wasn’t rising or falling either. She seemed…gone.

No! I couldn’t let myself think like that. I had to help her—had to try and bring her back. But how?

I stood there, afraid to move, afraid to touch anything—frozen to the spot. And then I felt something—a light, tingling and scratching sensation running up one bare arm. Looking down, I saw it was two of Zoe’s pet nib-nibs. They were chattering to me urgently, almost as though they were trying to tell me something.

But that was ridiculous. I pushed the crazy thought aside and concentrated on the matter at hand.

“Zoe?” I said again. “Zoe, please—I lost Sellah—I can’t fucking lose you too. Please!” Desperate for any response, I reached out to shake her by the shoulders.

Her skin felt cold to the touch, as though she had been gone for hours and no colors crossed my vision. She was gone and she had taken every bit of beauty with her. I felt the tide of grief rising in me again—grief and disbelief and horror. No, I couldn’t do this—I couldn’t survive another loss!

“Zoe,” I begged, the words coming out harsh and uneven as the tide of grief threatened to overwhelm me. “Please don’t do this to me—don’t be gone forever. I need you. I love you.”

The moment the words broke from my lips, I knew they were true. True and too late for me to do anything about them. I didn’t just care for her…it wasn’t just a connection I felt between us—Zoe was the one female in the galaxy I wanted as my own. The one I wanted to spend my life with.

And now she was gone.

“Zoe!” I shook her again. “Zoe, please. You can’t fucking go. You can’t—”

And then she crumbled to dust beneath my hands.

I looked down in disbelief, staring at the muddy pile of dirt which was all that was left of the woman I loved. How could this be? What in the Frozen Hells of Anor…And then a memory formed in my brain.

Tazaxx, forming from the slick, brown puddle of mud into a male, complete with arms and legs and features. I hadn’t known he was capable of doing that before this visit to his compound. Though I had met him face-to-face on several occasions, he had always taken the appearance of a Majoran male with light brown skin and brown eyes. I had been startled when I saw him form a new shape in the molting room but hell, what did I know about Gords? Now I began to think…

If Tazaxx could form himself into one shape and animate it, why not another? Why not Zoe?

I looked at the pile of muddy dirt again.

“He has her,” I said hoarsely. “Gods, Tazaxx has Zoe. And he fucking fooled me into flying halfway across the galaxy from where he’s holding her!”

At my words, the two nib-nibs sat up on my shoulder and chattered loudly in my ear.

“Are you quite certain, Master?” Al asked, still sounding as worried as an Artificial Lifeform can. He had really taken a liking to Zoe while she was aboard the ship. We all had. She had stolen my heart and in return, I had let her get stolen. For the second time. What a Goddess-damned idiot I had been!

“It must have happened when I went in with Tazaxx to sign the damn contract for Teeny,” I snarled. “I let her get taken again! What the fuck is wrong with me?” I picked up a handful of the dirt and threw it. It landed against the wall with a splat and slid down, leaving a muddy brown smear which did nothing to relieve my feelings.

“Master, what shall I do?” Al asked anxiously.

“Set a course back for Giedi Prime,” I snapped. “And contact Grav—tell him I need his help sooner than expected. We have to go back—we have to get Zoe before…”

“Before what?” Al was still hovering anxiously in front of me, his eye-light blinking nervously.

I started to say, before it’s too late, but the words wouldn’t leave my lips. What if it was already too late? What if Tazaxx already had Zoe locked away in one of those fucking cages? Or worse, what if he had decided to sell her at the auction? That was probably more likely—he would know I wouldn’t stop until I rescued her. By auctioning her off, he could get her off his hands and keep the massive amount of credit she would no doubt bring. Then whoever bought her would have to deal with me and he would be in the clear.

Except you won’t be, you bastard, I swore to myself. As soon as I get Zoe back I’m going to find you and make you wish you never crawled out of that fucking mud in the first place. You’re going to pay and pay and pay until there’s nothing left of you.

But before I settled with Tazaxx, I had to find Zoe and the auction, and I had no idea where it was being held. Still, how far from Giedi Prime could it be?

I’ll find it, I thought. I have to. And once I got Zoe back, I never intended to let her go again.

If only I could reach her in time.

 

* * * * *

 

Zoe

 

“So this is how it ends,” I muttered to Sellah. “Sold off at an interstellar auction like some kind of freaking object d’ art at a Christie’s auction.”

“I’m afraid so.” She squeezed my hand and I squeezed back gratefully. At least I had one friend here—well, two if you counted Drogon, but he was still hiding quietly at the back of my hair.

I had been afraid he would be discovered when Tazaxx finally turned me over to the Master of the Auction, who was a large, hairy, Big Foot-looking guy. Big Foot had looked me over and listened as Tazaxx explained about my special “gifts,” then he called for the strongest inhibitor collar possible. He and his assistant—a creature with four arms and compound eyes—had locked it around my throat, thus inhibiting my powers, whatever they were.

Honestly, I still didn’t really understand them myself. So far as I could see, I was mostly just able to unlock things that were keyed to other people. That skill might have been useful if I was a James Bond type spy or a cat burglar instead of a paralegal. But other than getting me into trouble again and again, I couldn’t see that my new “powers” had helped me much at all in my time away from Earth.

Drogon had chattered quietly and scrambled to another place in my hair while they put on the collar but luckily neither Big Foot or his Fly Guy assistant noticed the tiny nib-nib. I was glad I still had him for company—especially since Sellah and I were about to be parted. I couldn’t imagine that one buyer would take us both, though I wished it could be so. I had only known Sarden’s little sister for one night, but already I considered her a friend.

Since there was nothing to do but talk, she had told me about her life and I had given her some tidbits on mine as well. She was fascinated to know what life on a closed planet was like and amazed to find out the Earth was so isolated we had no idea that other races existed, especially compatible races also started by the Ancient Ones as they seeded the galaxy.

I, in turn, was fascinated to know what it was like to be queen of an entire planet. But Sellah’s description was disappointing.

“I never wanted to be the Ria,” she told me as we sat in the corner of the cold, nasty cell in Tazaxx’s awful house and waited to be moved to the auction site. “I’ve always loved learning—I wanted to go off planet to the University of Lynex Tau and get a higher degree.”

“Why didn’t you?” I asked.

She sighed. “I felt I had a duty to Eloim. Sarden felt it too—I wanted him to rule with me but he didn’t think the people would allow a half-breed Rae to sit on the double throne and wear the Star of Wisdom.”

“Star of Wisdom? What’s that?” I asked.

“The crown that is genetically keyed to the Rae of Eloim. Only the rightful ruler may wear it on his head and only he may remove it once it is on. If an imposter or one who is wrong for the throne attempts to put it on, the Star of Wisdom will fly from his brow and refuse his touch.” She sighed. “It is the same with the Star of Compassion—the crown of the Ria. When the pirates captured me, they forced me to take it off at blaster-point. I don’t know what happened to it. Perhaps they sold it.”

“So…do these crowns have some kind of advanced computer programs in them or something?” I asked, mystified. “Because it sounds like something out of a fantasy show or something.”

“It is no fantasy,” Sellah said seriously. “There is a being—a long-lived creature, wise beyond measure and old beyond years—that inhabits the stars. Half in the Star of Wisdom and half in the Star of Compassion. It knows always the rightful heirs to the throne of Eloim.”

“And that’s always someone from your family—your genetic line?” I asked, fascinated.

Sellah shook her head. “Only in recent generations. But if the Star of either crown finds the current ruler unfit, it will fly from his or her head and find the worthy one. There are tales of it doing just that during a coronation. Once the Star of Wisdom left the head of a blooded prince and found the head of a muck worker instead.”

“A muck worker?” I stifled a laugh. “If that’s what I think it is, I bet that was quite a scene.”

“The Stars of Wisdom and Compassion are never wrong,” Sellah said. “Which is why I can’t understand why The Star of Wisdom didn’t fly off Hurxx’s head the moment he put it on.”

“Your cousin, right? The one who was supposed to rule with you but instead…”

“Sold me into slavery. Yes.” Sellah sighed, her golden eyes sad. “He should have picked another Ria if he didn’t truly want me. But I think he thought the people wouldn’t support him without my lineage to back him up.”

“You’ll get back to Eloim somehow,” I told her, trying to stay positive. “And when you do, you can expose that bastard Hurxx and tell everyone what he did.”

“From your mouth to the Goddess of Mercy’s ear,” she said, sighing again. “Maybe we will both be bought by males of wisdom and compassion who will listen to our pleas.”

I certainly hoped so but now, looking out from the backstage area of the auction to the crowds milling in front of the raised stage, I didn’t know. There were quite a lot of humanoid aliens—the ones who came from the twelve races seeded by the Ancient Ones, I guessed. But there were plenty of non-human looking creatures as well.

I saw one in the front row that looked like a giant praying mantis. He was wearing a very respectable looking outfit kind of like a gray suit but he also had extremely sharp looking mandibles. I really hoped he didn’t buy me.

There was another guy with a face like a bull with huge, long horns. All I could think of when I looked at him was all the videos I’d ever seen about the Running of the Bulls in Spain and how people get gored there every year. I didn’t want him to buy me either.

In fact, looking over the crowd, I didn’t see anyone I would be happy to go home with. I didn’t even see anyone I would feel safe going home with. If these guys were on Tinder, I would have been swiping left so fast my fingers bled.

Then I saw an older looking alien with smooth brown skin. He had the same golden cat eyes as Sellah and Sarden.

“Hey.” I nudged her with one elbow. “Look at that—is that another Eloim?”

“What? Where?” She scanned the crowd eagerly and her eyes lit up when she saw who I was talking about. “Goddess be praised! That’s Tellum Vas’kie. He was one of my father’s oldest friends and advisors.”

“You think he’s here for you?” I asked.

“I don’t know but I hope so. If anyone would see through Hurxx’s plans and come looking for me besides Sarden, it would be Uncle Tellum.” She looked at me, hope shining in her eyes. “If he wins me at auction, I’ll ask him to bid on you too, Zoe. Then we can go find Sarden and go back to Eloim to expose Hurxx together!”

“Oh my God, that would be so good.” I felt weak in the knees with relief. “Do you think he can afford both of us?”

“I hope so. It depends on how high the bidding goes,” Sellah said cautiously. “I heard the Master of the Auction talking and I’m afraid you’re expected to draw quite a price. Maybe the most they’ve ever seen at this auction.”

I groaned. “Seriously?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “Why? Is it surprising to you that you’re considered the most valuable female here?”

I thought of how my life had gone up until this point. In high school I couldn’t make the freaking cheerleading squad because I wasn’t one of the popular girls. Also, I didn’t get into my first choice college because my grades weren’t quite up to par, didn’t get to date yummy Ken Forthright in my sociology class because he sat beside a blonde named Krissy who was gorgeous and had legs up to her ears—I couldn’t compete with that. Not to mention I didn’t get the job I wanted so badly at Marston and Hinks, the really nice law firm downtown where they don’t throw staplers at your head because my résumé wasn’t up to snuff.

All my life I had been not quite good enough…second best…below par…just kind of average. And now I was suddenly the perfect 10 that everyone desired—exactly what I’d always wanted to be.

Was this the worst time and place to have my dreams come true or what?

“Zoe?” Sellah asked and I realized I had never answered her question.

“Uh, yes,” I said. “Yes, it surprises me.”

“Well—” Sellah started but the booming voice of Big Foot, the Master of the Auction interrupted her.

“For our first bid of the evening, let’s begin with a beautiful and royal recent acquisition of Master Tazaxx. Rightful heir to the Eloim throne, Ria Sellah de’Lagorn!”

“Looks like you’re up,” I whispered to Sellah. “Uh, good luck.”

“To you too, Zoe. I promise, I’ll try to get Uncle Tellum to buy you if he buys me.”

We had time for a brief hug and then she was pulled away to stand in the center of the metal stage and be gawked at by all the buyers.

“As you can see, gentle-beings, she’s a very fine specimen,” Big Foot declared. “Let’s start the bidding at sixty thousand credits, shall we?”

“Sixty,” a guy in the back who had a long, horse-like nose but human eyes said.

“Sixxxxty-five,” hissed the praying mantis in the front row.

And just like that, the bidding was off and running. It got as high as a hundred thousand credits before Sellah was won—thankfully by the older, portly Eloim she had called Uncle Tellum. I saw him press his hand to the pay pad so that it lit up green and then the guards led her out to stand by him in the crowd.

They started talking at once and I saw her gesturing to the stage, where I was mostly hidden behind a curtain. My heart started beating faster, hope filling me. Maybe he really would buy me too! Maybe all this could be over and we could go home before we knew it.

Only where was home? As much as I missed Charlotte and Leah, I didn’t think of Earth when I thought that word, “home” anymore. I thought of Sarden’s ship and Al and my floating silver beanbag bed and the food synthesizer making weird and inedible things. And most of all I thought of Sarden himself and how much I missed him. Would I ever see him again? Would I ever get to tell him how I was beginning to feel for him? And would he return my feelings…or just want to send me back to Earth?

I had no answers for any of the questions and before I could think some up, it was my turn on the auction block. Or stage—the auction stage, I guess.

The Master of the Auction pulled me from the backstage area to stand front and center before the crowd. I felt my cheeks get hot but I lifted my chin. Even if I was being sold, I wasn’t going to cry and whine about it—they might be able to buy my body but they couldn’t buy my dignity.

Or so I told myself. Although if someone had told me I could get my freedom by crying and begging, I totally would have done it. I’m not too proud to recognize reality. Nobody did, however, so I just had to stand there looking brave and noble, or at least trying to.

Pretend you’re a heroine in a romance novel, I told myself. And the hero is on his way to rescue you.

Only my hero was halfway across the galaxy, probably still believed that damn animated pile of mud Tazaxx had used to fool him was me. I was terribly afraid I wasn’t going to get my Happily Ever After ending. Once I was sold, it was more likely to be a Sadly Ever After. Maybe even a Shortly Ever After. What if I got bought by some kind of a killer? An alien serial killer? What if—?

“Now this is our prize offering here today,” the Master of the Auction said, breaking my morbid train of thought. “A female from a closed world. Seeded by the Ancient Ones and then locked against all outside interference until very, very recently. She is rare beyond belief—a Pure One!”

There was a hushed murmur as the auction goers murmured among themselves, most of them looking at me like I was a prime cut of steak and they had the A1 sauce all ready to go.

The Master of the Auction waited for a moment for the murmuring to calm down and then continued.

“Not only is she a rare Pure One from a closed planet, please note the inhibitor collar she wears. She is also a La-ti-zal—blessed by the Ancient Ones with gifts too powerful to be set free. Gentle-beings, you will simply not find a female like this anywhere else in the galaxy—nay, in the whole universe. This is a one of a kind offering. Now what am I bid?”

“One hundred thousand credits,” someone shouted and I realized dismally that my starting price was Sellah’s ending price. We were going all the way to the top with this—I only hoped her old friend would be willing to try and keep up.

He did try for a while—until the bidding got up past nine hundred thousand credits. But when someone bid a million, I saw Uncle Tellum shake his head regretfully. Sellah had tears in her eyes as she looked at me.

I felt like crying myself, but I refused to. I kept my head high and stared out at the crowd, trying not to see who was winning. But I couldn’t help hearing the bids.

“Two million creditsss,” the praying mantis in the gray suit hissed.

“Five million,” shouted the bull-headed guy. What did they call that in Greek mythology? A man with a bull’s head? Oh right—a minotaur. I was being bid on by a minotaur, or something that looked like one. Could my life get any more surreal?

I didn’t see how.

Then someone stood up in the back of the crowd—a man I hadn’t seen before. He was wearing a mask made of some kind of pink rubbery stuff that made his face a complete blank. It had slits for the eyes and mouth but other than that, everything was just smooth and pink and bland. For some reason, I found it completely terrifying.

“Fifty million credits,” he said loudly in a voice that was muffled but somehow horribly familiar.

I felt a shiver creep down my spine. Who was this guy? I couldn’t tell much about him because of the mask but he was tall and thin and he wore a long, black cape. The only other person I knew who wore a cape like that was…

“No,” I whispered, looking at Sellah appealingly. “Oh, no.”

She must have seen the panic in my face because her golden eyes overflowed at last, the tears running down her smooth brown cheeks.

“Zoe…” She mouthed my name just as the Master of the Auction said,

“Sold! To the gentle-being in the back for fifty million credits.”