The gods had delivered Ree to me, an alien from a far-off world. I took her as my mate, and, after a few firm lessons in obedience, she accepted me as her master.
But the little human had come to mean much more to me than a hot slit to shove my cock in whenever it got hard. In the time we’d spent together, she’d become a true mate. In our crude little hut we shared the joys and sorrows of day to day life, laughed together, spoke of our dreams, confessed our darkest secrets to each other. She was smart and brave, with a code of honor as strong as any Rylan warrior, and a warm, caring heart. The gods had chosen well for me.
My people knew fucking served more purposes than just relieving an ache in the balls or making a baby. From the wise elders in my tribe, I learned it wasn’t always about establishing dominance over the female. It was a way to celebrate, to provide comfort, to cope with stress, to bond.
Last night, we’d bonded. She gave me her trust, opened her heart to me, and I gave her my love. It was both my duty and my honor to protect my mate.
She was in danger here. I’d get her out of Zibaru—if it cost me my life.
* * *
“The Federation cargoship keeps a regular schedule, arriving with supplies and leaving loaded with rare minerals from the mines,” Eldon said. “There’s only a small crew on board, since most of the operation is run by androids. They can be reprogrammed and so can the ship’s destination.”
Thomas nodded. “It’s an easy hack. That’s one of the jobs I did for the Cause.”
“Too bad you couldn’t hack the ship that brought you here,” Brynn remarked. He and a handful of the other rebels had crowded into our hut again, going over possible escape plans.
“Fuck you,” Thomas replied casually.
It reminded me of the ribbing Rhazi and I gave each other every chance we could. Even after all the time that had passed, a fresh wave of grief poured over me, as though I’d just suffered his loss. My mother, my sister, and her young—how were they faring now that he and I were both gone? If they had come to harm while I wasn’t there to care for them, I vowed I’d make the Federation pay.
“He couldn’t hack it for the same reason none of us have ever been able to hijack the cargo ship and escape. Starn controls us with those damn chips. As long as he has a handful of guards with wands, he knows he can squelch any escape attempt at the first sign of rebellion.”
I pulled out my knife. “Then we’ll cut them out.” I tossed it to Eldon. “You can start with mine,” I said.
“It’s not that easy, brother. The chips are attached to the nerves running through our spinal cords. They’re automatically activated to deliver unending shocks to the wearer if anyone tries to remove them. Plenty of prisoners have tried. The lucky ones died instantly. The others—well, they begged for death.”
“We need someone with advanced medical skills,” Ree said. “Someone who can surgically remove the chips without triggering the automatic shock response. I was never fitted with one, probably because I’m female. Starn never expected me to survive here.”
“Even if there was a prisoner with those skills, it would take days, maybe weeks, for him to operate on all the rebels without getting caught doing it,” Brynn replied. “I doubt if Starn will wait that long for his revenge. We need to get off this rock as soon as possible.”
“We don’t need to remove the chips from everyone before we escape,” I pointed out. “Only from as many as we need to take out the guards and seize their wands. Then the rest of the rebels can storm the ship without being shocked. If we strike as soon as it arrives, we’ll have all the food and water we need still on board and plenty of room to carry the other rebels in the empty cargo bays where the minerals would have been loaded.”
“Now all we need is a skilled surgeon,” Thomas pointed out. He looked around the room. “Any volunteers?”
“I think I may know someone who can do the job,” Ree said. “Eldon, one of your tasks is to clean Rigo’s lab. Can you pull him aside and talk to him without being seen?”
“Talk to Rigo? Begging your pardon, miss, but I’d have to be as crazy as he is even to try. That giant might slice me into pieces on a whim.”
Ree pulled the gold locket she always wore out from under her gray cloak. “Give him this,” she said, slipping it off and handing it to Eldon. “Tell him it’s from me and I need his help. Tell him I know his mama would have wanted him to help me.”
I knew the locket held a picture of her mother. It was her most treasured possession, the only thing she had left of her past life. “Ree, are you sure you want to give that up?”
“When Rigo looked at the picture of my mother, he said she looked like his mama. I saw the expression in his eyes. It triggered a fleeting memory in him—touched the sanity, the spark of humanity that’s still deep inside his soul. He was a boy once, long before Starn fried his brain and turned him into a beast. A gentle, kind lad who loved his mother.”
“A gentle, kind lad who grew up to become a serial killer, from what I hear,” Brynn declared.
“I’m not sure he ever killed anyone,” Ree replied. “He said something to me about the pretty ladies being dead already when he cut them up. It made me wonder if he was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. He wouldn’t be the first innocent person shipped off to Zibaru. Don’t get me wrong,” she added. “I believe he was mentally impaired before Starn got hold of him and fried his brain with constant shocks. From what Rigo said, it sounded like he might have been a necrophiliac. If someone discovered him in the act and interrogated him, he could have confessed to murder as well, out of shame and confusion.”
The other men had expressions of disgust on their faces. “What’s a necro—feel-act?” I asked Thomas in a low voice. I wasn’t about to embarrass myself in front of my mate by displaying my lack of education.
“Somebody who gets off fucking dead women,” he muttered back.
I shook my head. And they called beings frommyworld uncivilized.
* * *
“Thank you, Rigo. Iknow your mama would be proud.”