“Be sure to take the long route!”

“Sure, ok.” Bethany pulled her backpack over her shoulder. She closed the door behind her, grimacing as the wave of heat hit her. She glared at their car, wishing she could somehow shame it into starting up. Sighing, Bethany resigned herself to the long walk to town. She went over the list of things they needed in her head.

She got to the fork in the path and paused. Her mom always reminded her to take the long way, and she always did. After all, her mom was right – the shorter route may be more convenient, but it was also more dangerous. There were rumors of slavers who frequented that route, always disappearing when a patrol came by, but always at the ready to snare unwary travelers.

Bethany hesitated, knowing she should go right, the safe way. But it was so hot, and it was such a long walk. She was sure she’d be fine and headed left at the fork.

If she made good time, she could be home before her father returned from work. Lost in her thoughts, Bethany walked at a measured pace; this was hardly the first time their car had broken down, so she was well used to walking.

A sound made her glance up, frowning. Deciding it had been nothing, Bethany turned her eyes back to the path, but quickened her pace just the same.

Without warning, a huge ship rose from behind a small hill in front of her. Bethany screamed and leaped back, her eyes frantically searching the ship’s sides for a sign of some official seal, showing who it belonged to. There was none.

Two men wearing masks leaped out and came straight for her. Bethany didn’t stop to ask questions, she simply turned and ran.

The sound of a gun firing preceded a sharp pain in her leg, and she collapsed as her whole left calf went numb. The slavers loomed over her, waving their stun guns threateningly.

“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.” It was the only warning she would get.

“Please – please just let me go. I won’t tell anyone I saw you, I swear.”

The man laughed harshly. “Always the same. Come on. You’re young enough, we’ll get a good price for you.”

The other squinted at her. “She may be young, but she’s old enough for marriage; what you say?”

The first slaver eyed Bethany. “Perfect.” His eyes glinted with pleasure that made Bethany’s blood run cold.

They grabbed her and shoved her roughly into the belly of their ship. Bethany screamed and kicked, but they simply laughed and slammed the cargo hold door behind her.

Hands reached for Bethany and she jerked away.

“It’s ok.” Bethany couldn’t see who the voice belonged to in the darkness of the cargo hold, but she could hear breathing. She knew she wasn’t the only one here. “Come on, sit in the corner here and hold onto one of these pipes. You’ll get bruised black and blue when we take off otherwise. There aren’t any seats back here.”

Bethany obeyed the voice, letting the hands guide her until she was sitting, clutching at a pipe for dear life.

Bethany trembled. “What’s happening?”

“What’s happening is we’ve been taken by slavers.”

Bethany groaned. She’d known before she’d asked, but was hoping to be proven wrong. “Slaving is illegal, they can’t do this.”

Another voice cautioned her from the darkness. “Quiet, these guys aren’t exactly slow to anger.”

“How long have you been here?” Bethany dropped her voice to a whisper.

“Just over a week. They’ve been flying around, trying to get a good haul for the auction tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Bethany’s voice rose in panic. “We’re being – being sold – tomorrow?”

No one replied, confirming Bethany’s worst fears.

She clutched tighter to the pipe as they took off, barely managing to stop herself being thrown against the hard metal wall of the ship.

The ride seemed to go on forever. Finally, the ship landed, the door opened, and a silhouette gestured impatiently.

“Let’s go, bathroom, make it fast.”

The woman next to Bethany rose immediately. “Come on, if you don’t go now, you won’t get another chance until tomorrow.”

Bethany got up and followed, blinking in the sudden light. She was followed by a woman around her age, another slightly older, and three just younger than her mother.

She stumbled as the slavers directed them to a truly disgusting little bathroom. Bethany believed that she wouldn’t get another chance and forced herself to do what was necessary.

They were shepherded back into the ship and the door was closed again.

“Where do we sleep?” Bethany sounded fearful.

“Right here. These guys don’t have a base, they work from the ship. It helps them avoid detection, I think.” She put a hand on Bethany’s arm. “Don’t worry dear, you’re young. I’m sure someone will take you as a bride.”

The other woman whimpered. “You say that like it’s a good thing?”

“Better than taken as a pleasure object, as they call us. Those who won’t make bride are used and thrown away.”

Bethany sputtered uncharacteristically. “But – but – I didn’t apply to be a bride, not for anyone. The Marital News is supposed to be a service that connects willing brides and grooms…”

“It’s supposed to be. If these guys are caught, they’ll no doubt be executed, but some buyers don’t care. Some don’t even know.”

The younger woman sounded breathlessly terrified. “We’re going to be eaten alive. Do you know what Evions do to their brides? They suck the life out of them – some say they even suck out the soul. Imagine, being without your soul. I’d rather die.”

Bethany had to agree there. Her stomach dropped as she wondered who would buy her. What would her parents think when she never came home? She should have listened to her mother -- why hadn’t she just taken the longer route?

Bethany’s urgency was apparent. “We need to escape. If our options are death or having our souls stolen, we can’t just sit here.”

“If we try that, we’ll be killed for sure. At least if we’re alive, we have a chance to be chosen as brides -- not so if we’re dead. I don’t want to die.”

A few of the others murmured their agreement. Bethany wished she could see their expressions. The two women said nothing. Well, Bethany wasn’t going to sit and do nothing. She wasn’t going to let herself get sold into slavery, not without a fight.

She started working on the pipe right next to her, twisting and pulling, trying to loosen it.

One by one, she heard her companions lie down on the hard floor and their breathing evened out as they fell asleep.

Though her eyelids were drooping, Bethany forced herself to stay awake and keep working on the pipe. Her fingers were aching by the time it started to loosen, but she kept going.

By morning, Bethany’s fingers felt like they’d been ripped to shreds. The skin was tender and wet to the touch, but without light she couldn’t see what damage had been done. She quietly got up and felt her way around to the door and stood there, waiting.

It seemed to take hours, but finally the door grated open. Bethany winced as the light hit her eyes.

“Bathroom,” a voice grunted.

Bethany didn’t wait, but swung wildly at the slaver with her pipe. She hit him on the cheek and he screamed as she heard bone crunch. Bethany darted outside.

They seemed to be in an old abandoned lot, with nothing for miles in any direction. Adrenaline was pumping her onwards; Bethany ran faster than she’d ever run in her life. She leaped to the side at the sound of a stun gun firing, and an old tire next to her exploded. They weren’t being so careful with their settings anymore. Getting hit now may result in more than just a numb leg.

Bethany’s vision tunneled down to her goal: an old, broken down pod. It didn’t look like it had flown in years, but if she could just lock herself in long enough to get a signal out to the authorities, she’d be saved.

One of the slavers appeared right in front of her out of nowhere. Bethany realized to her horror that she’d been running right in the direction of the filthy little bathroom -- and right toward one of her captors.

He grabbed his gun, not even taking the time to draw it, and slammed it into Bethany’s face.

She didn’t hear bone splinter, but judging by the pain, it may as well have. Her vision went white and she crumpled like an empty sack.

A hand reached down and pulled her up by her hair. “Now that wasn’t very nice of you, is it? You can just go without food before you’re sold, then, see how smart you think you are on an empty stomach.”

Bethany tried to struggle, but it sent flames of pain through her face, so she stopped. She couldn’t stop the stinging tears. This had been her best chance, and she had failed. She was to be sold. Once she was in the hands of her new master, and there was little chance of ever escaping.

The slavers dragged Bethany back to the others, who were lined up with their hands bound. The man who’d caught her glared at Bethany. “That cheek will bring your price down, you little bitch.”

Another slaver slapped him on the back of the head. “Idiot! If you’d just hit her somewhere else, we wouldn’t have this problem. Could we just kill her?”

Bethany’s breath caught and the world tilted.

“Nah, we’ll still get a decent sum for her. Now, eat up, we don’t want you collapsing on the auction stand.”

The others were given some meager rations. Bethany was handed a cup of water, but nothing to eat. When one of the women tried to sneak her a bit of bread, the slavers kicked her brutally in the ribs. After that, no one tried anything.

The women were shooting Bethany looks that were a mixture of fear and sympathy. She wondered if her escape plan was as well considered as she’d thought. Who would take her as a bride now? The thought of having her soul sucked out was horrifying, but she realized that she didn’t want to die either, to be used and cast aside like a broken toy.

Cursing her stupidity, Bethany followed the others meekly back into the ship, her cheek still throbbing.

To her surprise, one of the slavers accompanied them. “I’ve got something to show you all.”

He shoved a screen under Bethany’s nose. “Since you’re so keen to leave, you first.”

Bethany looked down at the screen and gasped. She could see her parents sitting down at their dining room table, a police officer across from them. Clearly, they were reporting her disappearance. Her heart ached for them.

“We know where they are. One word and they’re dead. You understand me? And not quickly neither. As far as everyone else is concerned, you came willingly. Got it?”

Bethany nodded, terrified.

One by one, the slaver went along the row with the screen in hand. Gasps like hers told Bethany that she wasn’t the only one with a family in danger.

She felt numb as the ship took off, taking her to the auction. She couldn’t believe that it was just a day ago that she’d been walking to town to get some cloth and bread.

When the ship landed, the slavers growled at them to straighten themselves up. The women quickly tried to pat their hair down and straighten their clothes. Bethany didn’t bother. What was the point?

She was dragged out and lined up with about twenty other miserable looking people. There was a crowd growing in front of the stage. Bethany scanned it, confirming her fear that most of them were Evions. Slavery was a banned but well known pursuit across the galaxy, and in general, people didn’t want to take their own as slaves. Evions usually took humans as slaves. Humans, in turn, took Evions as slaves.

One by one, the women were dragged forward, and people started shouting out bids. Bethany watched as the younger woman who’d been with them sold for ten gold pieces to an Evion who held a hand out respectfully for her to follow. With the ugly mark on her face, Bethany doubted she’d be getting such a civilized buyer.

When Bethany was dragged up, there were a few chuckles as the crowd caught sight of her face. There were a couple of low bids, all by men who Bethany would rather have thrown herself out of a ship than gone home with.

“Two gold pieces,” called a voice. No one seemed to want to pay more than that for the damaged slave. Grumbling, the slavers handed her over and took the gold pieces.

“Come along.” The Evion spoke in a businesslike manner, grabbing the rope her hands were tied by and leading her away.

He wasn’t rough, but that didn’t reassure Bethany much. He led her a short distance to what she assumed was his ship. Unlike the slaver ship, this had a seal on it; he was from Telion. Telion didn’t abide by the slave trade, but then, neither did Earth, and that hadn’t prevented her from being sold.

He pushed her into a seat and quickly untied her wrists. “I am Untri.” He buckled in next to her. “I am taking you to your new master. I trust you have been told what will happen if you in any way disclose that you did not leave your home planet willingly?”

Bethany nodded, too terrified to speak. What was he going to do to her? More to the point, what was her new master going to do to her?

The ship shuddered as it left the atmosphere and entered hyperspace. Once they were riding smoothly, Untri got up and unfastened her seatbelt.

“There’s a bathroom and some clothes back there.” He gestured to the rear of the ship. “Go get yourself changed and cleaned up. Klowix expects the best for his harem.”

Harem? Bethany swayed as visions of everything he might do to her swam before her eyes. She staggered to the back of the ship, trying to control her breathing.

She didn’t know much about what was happening, but she knew that her life would never again be the same.