The evening, like every evening with Calvin, crept by with agonizing slowness. After an eternity, the disgusting man belched heavily and lumbered off to the bedroom. Devora and Sarai cleaned up his mess, then Sarai retired.
“Can I feed Bragan some dinner?” Devora asked quietly once the three of them were alone in the room..
“I’ll do it,” Seth said gruffly, wishing he hadn’t come down on her so hard earlier. She still refused to look at him. There’d been something different about her for days now, and he suspected it had something to do with the way he was making friends with Calvin. She didn’t trust him and she hated Calvin. For the thousandth time, he wished he could explain everything to her. But each time he almost broke down, he reminded himself that she was a former imperial citizen who hadn’t expressed any allegiance to the confederation. It was an unnecessary risk, one he had no right to take.
Once this was all over, he knew their life together would be hard. She might not want to live in Saurellian space. She would expect regular compensation, and he would have to keep a close eye on her. He’d have to be particularly careful around other men. She was a pleasure worker, she wasn’t used to long-term fidelity. She would learn with time, though. He could make her happy; his family was both wealthy and of high social standing. He just needed to finish his mission and they’d be able to start over...
Dropping to one knee, Seth offered Bragan a bite of the hearty stew they’d had for dinner. Bragan took it and chewed it furiously. After several mouthfuls without incident, Seth let his attention wander. His gaze came to rest on Devora, who was sitting at the table studying some star charts. It seemed like such a long time since they’d looked at the charts together; she loved to learn about the geography of the quadrant and navigation, but since Calvin had been on board they hadn’t done anything together. She was so beautiful just sitting there that it made his heart ache to watch her.
His reverie was broken by a warm splat against his face. Stifling a roar of surprise and anger, he slapped one hand to his cheek, pulling it away to see what hit him. Bragan was giggling at him. With disgust, Seth realized the man had spit chewed-up stew at him. He glared at the man, raising a hand to cuff him for his insolence. Then the absurdity of the situation hit him, and he dropped his arm slowly. He replaced the gag in Bragan’s mouth…
“That’s it for tonight, Bragan,” he said, forcing himself to ignore the incident. The man was clearly crazy.
He rose to his feet, washed the mess off of his face and went to join Devora at the table. She didn’t look at him directly, but he could see her shoulders shuddering with suppressed laughter. “I’m glad I could do something to entertain you.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “The look on your face was priceless.” She sobered after a minute, then asked him, “So what did you find today?”
“Well, it looks like things got pretty bloody,” Seth said, relaxing back in his chair. It felt good to sit and talk with her. It had been too long. “I did a scan of the bodies we found, and none of them were women or children. I don’t know what happened to them, though, so we have to assume they’re hostages.”
“Bragan said they sent them to the Discovery station,” Devora broke in quietly. Seth looked at her penetratingly, and Bragan gave a grunt of protest from his corner. “Bragan, he needs to know this,” she told the prisoner. “You don’t want them to think the slaves are more dangerous than they are, do you?”
“So you don’t think they’re dangerous?” Seth asked casually. Devora’s words surprised him; he’d thought she would have been more frightened by the idea of a slave revolt.
“Well, they were being held under terrible conditions,” she replied, looking away from him. “If you were a slave, wouldn’t you try to get away?”
“Maybe,” Seth said. “But I can’t approve of they way they slaughtered these men.”
Devora’s eyes flashed in anger. He didn’t understand why she cared so much.
“If they were just slaughtering people, why did they spare the women and children? It sounds to me like the men got what they deserved. You’ve heard Calvin talk–he doesn’t even think of the slaves as human.
I know why they did what they did.”
“You know why they did what they did? What does that mean, exactly? It’s not like you’ve ever been a slave,” Seth said, one eyebrow raised. Devora looked away.
“I guess I meant I can imagine what it would be like,” she said finally. Bragan gave a harsh bark of laughter from behind his gag as he sat tied in the corner, and Devora glared at him. “I’m tired of this. I want to go to sleep.”
“Fine,” Seth said mildly, promising himself he’d start this conversation with Devora again someday. He’d never seen her so flustered; she was definitely hiding something. She stood up abruptly and went into the fresher. With a sigh, Seth turned off the lights and made his way over to the pallet they’d been sleeping on ever since Calvin and his family had joined them. The ship was too small for so many people, Seth thought darkly. With Bragan in the room with them, he and Devora couldn’t even have sex. He missed their times together.
After a few minutes she came out of the fresher and joined him in the darkness. He reached over and pulled her small body close to his, nestling his front against her back. She stiffened, then relaxed into his larger frame. Dropping his face down into her hair, he inhaled deeply. She smelled clean and fresh, and he hardened instantly. Her tight little butt wiggled involuntarily against his erection, and he felt his c**k twitch in response. Bragan snorted loudly from across the room, and Seth stiffened.
It was going to be a long night.
When Seth awoke the next morning, Devora was already up and ready. Bragan had been grunting during the night and making himself generally annoying; neither of them had gotten much sleep. Calvin strutted out into the room a few minutes later. Sarai came out even more quietly than usual, her long hair hanging in her face. Both children were equally subdued, staying as far away from their father as possible.
He must have hurt her last night, Seth realized. He was going to have to do something about Calvin today, he decided. The man’s value wasn’t worth tolerating his behavior any longer. He needed Calvin to help him move some of the barricades left over from revolt, but tonight the Pilgrim would join Bragan in captivity. Perhaps he could convert one of the two cargo holds to serve as a make-shift prison cell, he mused. Devora dropped his breakfast in front of him on the table with a thunk. She was angry with him, probably about Sarai’s condition. He sighed heavily, wishing it was just the two of them again.