I had never seen Ka-lik’et in the middle of the night before. Generally, the colonists didn’t leave the colony after dark, not because there was a curfew but because everything we needed was inside our walls. I never expected it to look like this, though.

We were in the back of the city, behind the palace where a number of residences in neat lines were plunged into blackness on our right, and a multitude of the glowing crystal lights bathed the market walk in every color imaginable on our left. There was a striking amount of activity. While the homes of Ka-lik’et residences were silent and slumbering, the merchant booths were alive with vendors, shoppers, and a host of seedy-looking A’li-uud. I had never heard the chatter I heard now from my hut inside the colony, and I wondered if this was unusual activity or perhaps something that had developed after I had been relocated to the hospital in the north. Either way, I didn't have a good feeling.

Zuran’s plan of distraction for the guards was brilliant. They acted exactly as he expected. When the uhudu staggered into their line of sight, we heard the one nearest us talking to one another in A’li-uud from where we hid behind a small dune. As the uhudu grew nearer to them, they began calling out to the other pair of guards further down the wall. I couldn't understand anything they were saying, but Zuran had an expression of satisfaction, and I knew things were going as planned. After some discussion, the guards closest to us began walking toward the creature, but, when it began to run away, the guards at the other entry point joined in the chase.

“Now,” Zuran whispered.

With our hands joined and our feet pounding, we raced to the entrance. I wanted to look back, to make sure the guards didn't see us, but Zuran was pulling me so quickly that I knew I'd lose my balance if I tried. I didn't hear them shouting in protest anyway, which I figured they’d do if they noticed us. We reached the boundary, slipped through the opening, and flattened ourselves against the wall. We made it.

My relief lasted for only a moment. The second I laid eyes on the thin crowds of aliens gathered on the market walk, my heart sank. This felt more and more dangerous and less likely to be successful with every passing breath.

“Come,” said Zuran. “We have to blend in.”

We strode out of the shadows and turned onto the walk, nearly bumping into a cloaked A’li-uud holding something that looked like rotten cabbage. Though I didn't see any, I felt like all eyes were on us.

“I don't think we're going to blend in,” I whispered. “I'm the only human out here.”

“Just keep your head down and do not make eye contact with anyone,” Zuran instructed.

I dropped my gaze as he directed, but I still needed to see where I was going and, frankly, I was curious. This was the market unlike I had ever seen it. During the day, the booths looked cheerful and promising with an array of items probably displayed for perusal. The silks and multicolored lights were bright and gave one the sense of a great party. Now, however, everything looked ominous. The lights cast faces into deep shadows and gave everyone the appearance of being sneaky--which I supposed was fitting. Nothing was displayed on the tables for passersby to view, but hanging from the booth ceilings and shelved on displays behind the merchants were items that I’d never seen before. It was like everyone had something for sale, but it all was a secret, and the only people who were possible sellers were people who knew the products existed in the first place.

The palace didn't look cheerful now either. The walls of vivid color and the balconies strung with beautiful canopies did nothing to stop the illusion that this was no longer a palace of approachable grandeur, as it had become a frightful castle fit for a villain in this criminal night. It almost made sense now that Kharid had died there. Ka-lik’et had become less of a bustling marketplace for travelers worldwide and more of an alien Red Light district.

Blue-skinned female A’li-uud weaved through the crowd wearing revealing silks with their white hair either tied back in smooth ponytails at the tops of their heads or flowing seductively over their shoulders while males lecherously eyed them. Now and then, one of the males would reach out and snag a female before she could walk by, pull her to him, and they’d begin to talk. Then, they’d walk off together and disappear between the booths. Other females approached men, engaging them in brief conversation before going on their way or strolling off together.

“Are those hookers?” I muttered in shock to Zuran.

He followed my gaze to one of the women, and then looked back to me. “I do not know what a hooker is,” he said. “If you mean the women, they are laaka.”

“What are laaka?” I whispered. They looked like hookers to me.

“Pleasure-seekers,” he said quietly, pushing me off to the side gently to avoid being overheard by the nearest of the laaka. “They seek out males to entertain them, for a price.”

“You mean, men pay to do the entertaining?” I demanded.

“Yes.”

I was aghast at the notion. Prostitution on Albaterra was shocking enough, but this was like backwards prostitution. These weren’t hookers; these were like one-night sugar babies. “So, it’s sexual?” I clarified.

Zuran gave me a look, and I distinctly saw a mischievous flash in his eyes. “Sometimes.”

“Well, what about the rest of the time, then?” I pressed. I was becoming less stunned and more fascinated. As felonious as the atmosphere felt, it was intoxicating, perilously inviting. I was beginning to understand the rush of crime. To be considered fearless and intimidating, not to mention attractive in the most dangerous of ways, was alluring. Then again, I probably just looked like a scared little human to everyone I passed, so I was probably deluding myself into glamorizing it all.

“Most laaka will mule black market goods for a payoff,” Zuran was saying. We were almost past the palace now, growing nearer to the front of the city where the colony was. The crowd of traders was thinning by the meter. “And some will perform more insidious tasks if the price is high enough. But none will do anything they deem unexciting.”

“Because they’re pleasure-seekers,” I said obviously.

“Yes.” He smirked, and his hand left mine to curl around my waist and skim down toward my hip. Heat erupted between my legs. “Because they are pleasure-seekers.”

He halted before a booth suddenly, jarring me to a stop with him. The A’li-uud behind the table was very slender, almost femininely featured, with long fingers and thick lips. I couldn’t tell if he was male or female until he twisted to the side and saw a flat chest and a bulging pelvis. I averted my eyes at once and tried to focus my attention on the silky tent around him.

Zuran said something to him in A’li-uud. I couldn't understand it, but the merchant’s eyes immediately went to me. I held more tightly to Zuran. The vendor responded to him, also in A’li-uud, and Zuran turned to me.

“What's going on?” I asked.

“You are going to be a laaka,” he replied.