“I’ve seen Brit.”
Cavas wanted to believe him. Most Parri were honorable. “When? Where? What do you know of him?”
The Parri hesitated. “You’re letting us all out? I didn’t do anything but visit. They grabbed me in the bar and brought me down here. Been here for a long time. Over a week. Maybe ten or eleven days. They do hate blue-skinned aliens here.”
“We’re letting everyone out but the green whatever he is. I’ll toss him a weapon as we go. He can free himself after we’re gone.”
“Lost in rage,” the Parri muttered. “They torture him when they get bored by shooting at him with electric sticks.”
The news sickened Cavas but didn’t surprise him. “Tell me about Brit.”
The male pressed his face against the bars. “His eyes are blue, and he’s got a scar on his neck. Left side.”
Excitement filled Cavas. It sounded like his youngest littermate. Brit was the name he used when on questionable planets, to avoid someone attempting to ransom him as a Vellar. Crath had gained his scar three years before when someone had tried to grab him for that very purpose. And Flax had a lot of Tryleskians living there who’d easily identify their wealthy family name.
“Tell me everything.”
“I met Brit the first night I was here, in another bar. He likes to drink and have a good time. Big on telling jokes and laughing. He also likes to fight.”
That sounded like Crath. “What else can you tell me? He went missing. Do you know anything about that?”
“Sure do. We were drinking when a large group of security came looking for him. I don’t know why. He seemed confused, too. I tried to help him get away, along with Kneello. They pulled out stunners and got all three of us. I woke up here.”
Cavas wanted to snarl. “They didn’t bring Brit here with you?”
“No. Kneello was. They took him away a few days ago. I heard one of the guards say it was to fight in the pits. He warned me that my turn would be coming soon.”
“The pits?”
The Parri gave a grim nod. “I didn’t believe it until they dragged Kneello out of here. Word is, they’re illegal fights. I’m not rich enough to see them, nor am I into blood sport. A Crippon told me anyone who pissed off the owner of the colony disappears and ends up having to fight—to the death.”
Cavas tried to remain calm. Trevis would want to keep Crath alive if he didn’t want to piss off Beltsen Vellar. It was probably why his younger littermate wasn’t in the holding cells under the bar with guards who tended to eat prisoners. “Thank you for the information.”
He moved to another cell. The enraged green alien he’d heard about snarled at him, pacing the cell. He was a big creature of a few alien races, by the look of him, and the damage to his body made Cavas flinch. The guards had done a number on him.
“We’re all getting out. Can you calm enough to talk to me?”
The green beast snarled and lunged. He hit the bars and reached through, trying to claw at him. Cavas leapt back, narrowly avoiding being hit.
“I guess that would be a no.”
The next cell stood empty, and all the lights were turned off in the last six cells. He almost returned to Dovis before hesitating, wanting to make certain they’d left no males behind. He removed his goggles and went to the next one, allowing his eyes to adjust to the dark. It stood empty. So did the next two.
The fourth one, though, had a small form on the floor.
“Wake,” he ordered. “Have you seen a Tryleskian named Brit?”
The form didn’t move. It was covered in a blanket, and the smell of unwashed male bodies was the only thing he could pick up. It made him regret breathing deeply.
“They brought her in sick a few days ago,” the Parri called out.
Her?
All the other prisoners had been male.
He used the bracelet he’d stolen off the dead guard and waved it at the door, unlocking it. The metal slid to the side. He stepped into the cell, prepared for an attack, but the form on the floor didn’t stir.
Cavas crouched and lifted the blanket slightly, shocked by what he saw.
She was human. Cathian and his crew had mated to a few of them, and he could easily identify them by their tiny curved ears and delicate facial features. She lie curled in a ball on her side, facing him.
He reached out and brushed back her light red hair. It was a curly, snarled mess. A large bruise showed on one cheek. Her breathing was slow and even.
“Female?”
She didn’t stir at all. He carefully pulled the blanket off her upper body. He saw more bruising on her pale arms and growled softly. Someone had beaten her. Her delicate-looking wrists had damaged skin from restraints. The cuts were inflamed, red and infected. The dress she wore had rips in the front at the top, exposing one rounded breast, but it was covered by material, a thin white cup.
He shifted his position, braced his knee against the floor, and carefully rolled her onto her back. It was easy to slide his arms under her and lift, blanket and all. She didn’t weigh much and wasn’t a big female.
He carried her out of the cell, her body limp in his arms.
Dovis approached him, looking furious. “That’s a human.”
“I know. Start opening the cells, except for the green alien. We’ll toss in the guard’s bracelet after the others flee. It should take him a minute or two to figure it out. Hopefully.” He lowered his voice. “They can fight their way out together and give us cover. Everyone up in the bar should be too busy with them to notice us.”
“We can’t go without her.” Dovis stared at the female’s face. “My Mari would want us to save another of her kind.”
“I wasn’t planning on leaving her. I wouldn’t be carrying her otherwise.”
Dovis gave him a brief nod and took the bracelet.
“Signal the others to get to the shuttle and fire up the engines. It might be a good idea to leave the surface immediately while they hunt for their escaped prisoners.”
Dovis nodded. “Can I shift?”
Cavas shook his head. “A Tryleskian traveling with one of your race is too memorable. We don’t want anyone to suspect what ship we’re on.”
Chapter Two
Jill woke to bright lights and the terrifying sight of a human-like robot standing over her. Her mouth opened, a scream ready to tear from her throat.
“It’s a medical android. He’s repairing your injuries and wiping out the last traces of infection from your cuts. Just hold still,” a deep voice stated.
She twisted her head and saw a tall, large male. He wasn’t human—but his race wasn’t unknown to her. She’d met an alien like him before. “Did the other one send you?”
He stepped closer. “Other one?”
“He was like you, only he had black hair. You look similar in the face.”
“What was his name?”
“He never said.”
He came even closer. “Tell me about him.”
“Where am I?” She glanced around again, leery of the robot, but he wasn’t hurting her.
“You’re safe on The Vorge. My name is Cavas. We found you unconscious inside a holding cell under a bar on the planet Flax. No one here is going to hurt you. Please tell me about the male. I believe it may have been my younger brother.”
She felt a tinge of sympathy for him. She didn’t have any family left alive, though she wished it. “Earth sold me. They claimed they’d passed a law that made being jobless illegal. I was put on a transport, kept in a cage, and ended up being sold to some rich alien who already had other slaves.”
“Human slaves?”
She shook her head. “They were various alien females. The man who bought me was on a business trip when I arrived at his house. The head slave, Cia, got me implanted with a translator, gave me a rundown on what was expected of me, and warned me to do everything I was told if I wanted to live. I was kept on a twenty-foot leash with a collar around my neck to make sure I couldn’t run away. I was there for a few weeks before he came back.” Revulsion made her shudder. “You should have seen him. He wasn’t anything like you.”