bear it with the good Lord’s help,” she’d said. “You’re smart. You’re strong. You’ve got to be your own person, Darcy. Whatever that means to you. Be that.”
Those words had always brought comfort. She evoked that again now, clutching it like a talisman against the fear of the unknown and the anger erupting at the mere thought of being sold. She was strong. She could bear this and she could find a way out.
She dragged herself into a sitting position. “So, neither one of you thought it was important to tell me that we’re all merchandise?”
“Are you joking?” Nembrotha sputtered wetly.
“Joking?” Darcy let loose a string of curses, most of which the implant didn’t bother to translate. She leaned forward and pointed at Nembrotha accusingly. “You thought it was so hilarious that I’m from such a backwards planet that I can’t even speak properly without a chip in my brain, and it never even occurred to you that I wouldn’t have a clue why I was here? Well, I just found out.”
Selpis said patiently, “Darcy, we had no way of knowing what you did and did not know. We hardly spoke before they took you away. We are not who you’re actually angry with. Direct that anger elsewhere, if you please.”
Darcy huffed like a locomotive, nostrils flaring, and rocked back onto her rump. She hated that kind of patient logic. It was the way her mother spoke to her.
Even worse—she hated that Selpis was right. She wasn’t mad at them, the hymenoptera, or even Hain. She was furious with herself for being so slow on the uptake when it was obvious what was going on here.
Nembrotha scooted a little closer to their border with Selpis’s cell. “The strong emotional reaction she is displaying could go a long way to mitigate her lack of physical robustness. If she is a member of the warrior species, strong emotional response could be a better asset than being physically imposing.”
The tip of Selpis’s tail swished and she turned her gaze on Darcy. “Are all humans this fiery?”
Darcy just stared at her. They didn’t understand. Maybe they didn’t have racial divisions on their worlds. They didn’t have the history that made this so disgusting on such a personal level. In another mood, she might have explained. She might have asked more questions about where they came from. But not now. She couldn’t. She just could not patiently explain racism to them. Wasn’t being held prisoner, the thought of being sold enough to evoke rage in them too?
“Who will they sell us to?” she choked out, trying to swallow some of the anger without it turning into tears.
Nembrotha faced her and spoke quietly. “We know little more than you. The vessel makes stops regularly. Customers and brokers come aboard and make selections. If an individual isn’t chosen in a timely manner, rumor has it that they’re offered at deep discount to a wholesaler, to free up the space for more-valuable cargo.”
People, sold wholesale? Her head was spinning. “That’s it? That’s how they make a living? They come to a planet, swoop in and steal people away—from their lives, their families, everything they know—and then just sell them to the highest bidder? What kind of…? This is the state of the universe? Aren’t there laws against this?”
Selpis looked pained. “Certainly there are. No civilized society condones slavery. But where there are laws, there are always those who live on the fringes, eager to benefit from breaking them. It’s likely some of us will be discovered and freed in our lifetimes. You hear of these things in the news reports from time to time.”
Just another statistic on the intergalactic nightly news. What a sickening thought. “What will happen to us?”
“The unlucky—” Nembrotha gurgled, a juicy, throat-clearing sound, and their stalks pointed briefly at a hulking brute of an orange-tinged woman scrunched up inside her red hexagon nearby, “—will be laborers, doing some kind of
Those words had always brought comfort. She evoked that again now, clutching it like a talisman against the fear of the unknown and the anger erupting at the mere thought of being sold. She was strong. She could bear this and she could find a way out.
She dragged herself into a sitting position. “So, neither one of you thought it was important to tell me that we’re all merchandise?”
“Are you joking?” Nembrotha sputtered wetly.
“Joking?” Darcy let loose a string of curses, most of which the implant didn’t bother to translate. She leaned forward and pointed at Nembrotha accusingly. “You thought it was so hilarious that I’m from such a backwards planet that I can’t even speak properly without a chip in my brain, and it never even occurred to you that I wouldn’t have a clue why I was here? Well, I just found out.”
Selpis said patiently, “Darcy, we had no way of knowing what you did and did not know. We hardly spoke before they took you away. We are not who you’re actually angry with. Direct that anger elsewhere, if you please.”
Darcy huffed like a locomotive, nostrils flaring, and rocked back onto her rump. She hated that kind of patient logic. It was the way her mother spoke to her.
Even worse—she hated that Selpis was right. She wasn’t mad at them, the hymenoptera, or even Hain. She was furious with herself for being so slow on the uptake when it was obvious what was going on here.
Nembrotha scooted a little closer to their border with Selpis’s cell. “The strong emotional reaction she is displaying could go a long way to mitigate her lack of physical robustness. If she is a member of the warrior species, strong emotional response could be a better asset than being physically imposing.”
The tip of Selpis’s tail swished and she turned her gaze on Darcy. “Are all humans this fiery?”
Darcy just stared at her. They didn’t understand. Maybe they didn’t have racial divisions on their worlds. They didn’t have the history that made this so disgusting on such a personal level. In another mood, she might have explained. She might have asked more questions about where they came from. But not now. She couldn’t. She just could not patiently explain racism to them. Wasn’t being held prisoner, the thought of being sold enough to evoke rage in them too?
“Who will they sell us to?” she choked out, trying to swallow some of the anger without it turning into tears.
Nembrotha faced her and spoke quietly. “We know little more than you. The vessel makes stops regularly. Customers and brokers come aboard and make selections. If an individual isn’t chosen in a timely manner, rumor has it that they’re offered at deep discount to a wholesaler, to free up the space for more-valuable cargo.”
People, sold wholesale? Her head was spinning. “That’s it? That’s how they make a living? They come to a planet, swoop in and steal people away—from their lives, their families, everything they know—and then just sell them to the highest bidder? What kind of…? This is the state of the universe? Aren’t there laws against this?”
Selpis looked pained. “Certainly there are. No civilized society condones slavery. But where there are laws, there are always those who live on the fringes, eager to benefit from breaking them. It’s likely some of us will be discovered and freed in our lifetimes. You hear of these things in the news reports from time to time.”
Just another statistic on the intergalactic nightly news. What a sickening thought. “What will happen to us?”
“The unlucky—” Nembrotha gurgled, a juicy, throat-clearing sound, and their stalks pointed briefly at a hulking brute of an orange-tinged woman scrunched up inside her red hexagon nearby, “—will be laborers, doing some kind of
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