The People Traders by Keith Hoare

Then she felt the man withdrawing, leaving her body to relax. Another shouted it was his turn but she could hear Garrett's voice above all of them.
    "Assam gave two condoms, you all had a chance to buy one and this man won, so that's it for the night." Then, turning to look at Karen still being held face down on the table, he pushed the men away and told her to follow him.
    Karen didn't need asking twice, she stood unsteadily, her legs weak, and her entire body still shaking from the abuse. Gathering her clothes as quickly as she could and not delaying even to replace her pants, she ran out of the room after Garrett.
    "Thank you for stopping them,” she gasped, as she caught him up."
    He turned and scowled at her. "Forget thanks! As far as I'm concerned I'd have left you to the crew, but Assam's word's law round here and I do as he demands. Think yourself lucky, Karen, if I'd had my way you'd have followed Barry over the side."
    They arrived at the hold and Karen held her hand out and touched his arm. "All the same, thank you. I didn't ask for any of this, you know; you can't blame me for trying to get home. What happened to me in there is my future; would you want it if you were me?"
    He looked at her for a moment, Karen thought she saw some pity in his eyes after all his big talk, but he said nothing and urged her down the ladders.
    Once in the hold, he called down to her. "You won't be working in the kitchen tomorrow. I'll collect you late in the afternoon. Someone will bring you food in the morning. Tonight, for your own safety the hold will be locked. The crew has a taste for it now and there is a lot of drinking going on tonight. Unfortunately you were a bit of a hit; some might decide to pay you a late call if I don't take these precautions."
    She said nothing and Garrett slammed the door shut and slid the lock, then it was all quiet. Karen sat on the bed, surprised she wasn't breaking down in tears. She'd been raped but couldn't get worked up over it. It was as if she'd accepted this possibility since coming on the ship and knew she couldn't do anything about it. At first, the beating and the knowledge that her mum and dad would know what she'd been getting up to, had devastated her. But her determination to still go home and face the music, after the deal she'd made with Barry, had given her real confidence that rescue was an actual possibility and the nightmare would soon be over.
    The reality of the last hour had knocked that out of her. Now she could only feel hatred for Assam and all the others who'd sat back and allowed this to happen. She wanted to kill them, to see them beg for their lives. But Karen was also a realist, aware that these thoughts were just a way of letting off pent-up frustration at not being able to retaliate, and of having to accept and do whatever was demanded of her. More importantly, until she was rescued, if she ever was, would tonight be the pattern of nights to come, where she'd be forced to perform a dance before being raped again and again?
    Why wasn't Garrett coming for her until the afternoon? Was she really leaving, or was Assam's talk of her leaving the ship a lie? The more she pondered, the more she was convinced he'd not finished her punishment, because of Barry, and from now on intended to offer her up to more of the crew, as he'd promised, if she'd stepped out of line, before killing her. Karen shuddered at the thought, before tears began to run down her face. The next moment she was sobbing her heart out, finally beginning to realise, either way, just what the future really held for her.

CHAPTER 8
     
     
    Karen blinked in the strong sun as she came on deck. After only being below decks, she'd not realised they were somewhere much hotter and warmer than England. Her fears that Assam still had an intention of further punishment, when Garrett came to collect her in the afternoon, didn't materialise. She'd been waiting in jeans and jumper which she usually wore when working in