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the
launch in a pattern only known to the guidance system.
    “Two hundred drekas and closing,” said Kai as
the launch drew closer. “One-fifty… One hundred drekas.”
    “Slowing to ten drekas per second,” said
Tishla, her tone now nearly mechanical. “Slowing to five.”
    The thrusters beneath the craft now fired
almost steadily as those topside made short bursts to push the two
craft together. The cup on the underside touched the alien craft’s
surface and sealed itself against it, enclosing the docking
port.
    Without asking, Tishla grabbed a shock pistol
and a dagger. “Stay here.”
    Kai would never get used to his concubine
barking orders, but then, she had not agreed to be indentured to
have a life of servitude. When Tishla broke protocol, Kai’s people
knew to pay attention. So did Kai. “If the ship is empty…?”
    “That’s just it. We don’t know that it’s
empty beyond a bunch of alien roots in the hold. For all we know,
Marq was hired by a rival.” She pressed her lips thin. “Kill you,
and they can claim Essenar for themselves, for whatever bizarre
purpose they would want to.”
    “And you,” said Kai. “They could claim
you.”
    “Oh, no, Kai. They wouldn’t claim me. I’d be
executed for allowing you to walk into a trap.”
    They would, too. Part of the terms of
indenture, at least to High Borns, was to defend one’s master with
one’s own life. Failure was punishable by death.
    “And if they didn’t execute me,” she
continued, “I’d simply kill myself. I’m not a prize.”
    “You are to me.”
    She unstrapped from her seat and kissed him.
“That’s different. We agreed to this arrangement. Most indentureds
have no choice. It’s either servitude or a life of ignorance and
poverty. Now, my Master, allow your servant to check the ship.”
Tishla never could call Kai “Master” without an undercurrent of
sarcasm in her voice.
    “Yes, dear.”
     
    *****
     
    Marq’s ship came to life as Tishla slid
through the docking ring. Once again, Kai found himself monitoring
her from afar. He seemed to do that a lot since Marq had arrived on
Essenar. This time, he sent a mini-drone to follow her, allowing
him to both see and communicate with her.
    “ Kroy , it smells in here,” she said
once she cleared the alien ship’s airlock. “These Tianese smell
like wet bird.”
    “Why didn’t we smell Marq?” asked Kai.
    “ You didn’t smell him. Sire.” She
turned back to the drone long enough to flash Kai a playful grin.
“ I had to sit across the table from him.”
    “Sorry.”
    “Hey, that’s what I signed on for. Be your
companion, resident brain, and alien sniffer.”
    The corridors of Marq’s ship were narrower
than those of Kai’s people. They also had a more utilitarian look
to them, conduits and control surfaces along the wall. Not a single
item to indicate family affiliation. The drone picked up some
writing on the wall that the translator rendered as “Property of
Dasarius Interstellar.” Was Marq the property of Dasarius
Interstellar or the ship? Did his race even engage in that type of
servitude? Primates, as a whole, were all over the map on that
topic. Most space-faring races did little beyond contracts of
indenture or apprenticeships. Some, Kai knew, engaged in chattel
slavery, though not many. It was too lopsided an arrangement to be
of any use once a race mastered higher technology. Rumor had it the
Tianese did not even have a formal caste system, let alone any
system of servitude worth mentioning. Those apes, Kai mused, must
live in total chaos.
    Tishla stumbled and had to steady herself a
moment. “I’m all right. The air in here has more nitrogen than
we’re used to. I just need a moment to adjust.”
    And it smells like wet bird , Kai
thought. “Do you need a breather?”
    “No, papa,” she said, an edge creeping into
her voice. “And I didn’t forget my rain shoes, either.”
    She looked down at the glove on her left
hand, reading a map that