Blood of Denebria (Star Sojourner Book 4) Read Free Page B

thought.
    He clucked and his rounded shoulders shook.
Maintain your sense of humor, Terran. It will serve you well, and eventually serve Bountiful the Profuse well. With your high-quality protein, she will produce many more young.
    For your war machine?
I sent.
    For The Good!
He said something to a BEM who waited behind him, turned and stalked out of the room.
    We were taken to a small room, a food storage shed, I thought, abandoned and turned into a cell as the BEMs advanced into Denebrian territory.
    “Joe!” I grabbed his arm when the BEM guards closed and locked the door. My throat ached from tightness. “I've got to tell you something!”
    He put a finger to his lips to quiet me. “You're shaking like a leaf,” he said. “Sit down.” He walked into the bathroom. The BEMs must have added the closed bathroom with a sink, a toilet, and a shower. I couldn't help thinking that Bountiful the Profuse liked her meat clean.
    “Bugs.” Chancey mouthed the word. He turned and peered out the high, barred window.
    Huff sat down next to me on a blanket laid out on the stone floor. His thick warm fur was a comfort. I leaned against him and patted his shoulder. “You're always there for me, Huff.”
    “And looking before and after you. We are friends, Jules Terran.”
    “Yes.” But for how long more? I wondered. I shivered, not only from the cold, and zippered my jacket. The room held dampness in its wet, crumbling walls. I watched a diminutive native bug scurry across the floor and disappear into a crack in the stained cement wall. Too bad we couldn't leave as easily.
    Joe came out of the bathroom with his hands empty.
    “No translator, boss?” Chancey said.
    Joe shook his head. “Guess they weren't expecting Terrans. Do you see anything interesting out there?”
    “There's a couple of BEM military land vehicles,” Chancey told him. “They're parked next to an installation that could be an ammo dump.”
    “Joe!” I said.
    “OK, Jules. Now what is it?”
    “We're on the menu.” I studied his face for some reaction. There was no change in expression, but the lines around his mouth seemed to deepen as I watched.
    “I was afraid of that.” He sat down stiffly, his legs stretched out, his hands clasped in his lap. “During the Twelve-Year-War, the BEMs were known to drag away the bodies of dead enemies. There was a rumor.” He looked up. “A rumor that they ate the dead.”
    Chancey came and squatted beside us.
    “Christ and Buddha,” I said, “didn't they ever hear of mock meat? They can get all the prime cuts they want by just cloning an animal's choice parts without even hurting the animal. Why the hell would they –”
    “For them choice is the whole animal,” Joe said. “Eyes, brains, bones.”
    I attempted a laugh that came out a croak. “I feel like Hansel.” I tried to stop shaking, but I just shook worse as I stared at the locked iron door. “The BEM I linked with said they'd kill us quickly. I wonder when?”
    “Are you telling me they're cannibals?” Chancey asked.
    “Not exactly,” I said. “Cannibals eat their own kind.”
    Huff sat back on his haunches. “It is against the Laws of the Ten Gods to eat people. The civilized being should fear his own gods.”
    “I don't think they have any, Huff,” I said.
    Joe exhaled a breath and leaned back against the wall. “Don't think about it. Priority one is an escape plan.”
    “I'm all for
that,”
I said. “ASAP! You have any ideas?”
    “Can you isolate the guards' minds from the rest of the hive,” Joe asked, “and influence them without alerting the others?”
    “I can try. But to tell you the truth, they're like one mind. I think that's why their own lives mean nothing to them.” I bit my lip. “I think they believe they'll live on in the others.”
    The iron door clanged open. I jumped and caught my breath. Two BEMs entered with covered trays. Supper or killing weapons? I stood up.
    “Here's something you Terrans like,”