Chapter 23
"Hey, get her up. We're here."
The sounds of orders being relayed between the skiffs grew louder in Zarabeth's ears as her mind was brought back into full consciousness. Exhaustion had pulled her into unwilling sleep as they flew toward Rhitan's surface, the distance considerably more time consuming to tackle with how much smaller the boats' power outputs were than the Aberdeen's.
Rough hands shook the girl completely awake, their hold on her good arm gentle yet firm as she was given mere moments to collect herself before she was half urged half tossed off the side of the boat and into the waiting arms of another smuggler down below. The alien man knew without prompting to put Zara down as quickly as he'd caught her, not giving the girl enough time to throw some icy remark his way.
Without the use of her hands, the girl threw her head to the side a few times in her attempt to get her unruly hair out of her face, the approaching presence of Ewen catching her peripheral vision as she straightened up to face him, subtle defiance clearly shining in her eyes as she stood there without a word.
"Sleep well, lass? That's nice. If you slow us down or decide to just up and stop moving at any time, I will tear that arm of yours back open. Understand?"
Zarabeth could only swallow hard as her look remained emotionless, knowing that his act of re-bandaging her arm had been the only sentiment of the like she could expect to be shown.
"Good. Now let's get a move on boys. They'll be waiting for us."
The pack of unkempt men followed behind their leader, those set to guard over Zara and William positioned somewhere in the middle of everything. Ewen wasn't about to give either of them any chance of escape. Not again.
The mass of the company waxed and waned in size as they passed through the endlessly changing atmosphere of the slums they suddenly found themselves entering. Houses precariously constructed as though stacked together under the guidance of a toddler loomed on either side of Zarabeth's gaze, her instinct only of shrinking back as though one was destined to come toppling down atop them at any time.
Their pace was steady but still too rushed for Zarabeth to keep up with, her breathing quickly becoming a laborious task as her heart pounded painfully in her throat. The grip holding fast to her arm only tightened as if the sheer force of the man's hand would be enough to keep dragging her along at the same speed as the others.
She mostly feared for her legs, her knees already weak from fatigue, but just sore in general from the treatment her body had been forced to endure over the course of the days preceding. She had to keep moving. Nothing but more pain awaited her if she were to be caught falling behind the others.
"Ma'am please."
Zara instinctively stiffened at the feeling of her guard's breath hot against her ear. At least the majority of the brigands had the good sense to treat her with some semblance of respect.
"We have to hurry. McCoy won't like it one bit if ever he looks back here."
She didn't trust herself to answer, her every breath a luxury she could not needlessly waste as she simply nodded in reply, wanting him to know that she did fully understand, though her own ability to take action upon that knowledge was unlikely.
The fear that had been gradually welling inside Zarabeth came to its peak as her feet barely caught her from tumbling to the rough pavement beneath, her vision blurred and strained with her growing panic as she found herself tasting metal.
"Oh no..."
Barely managing to utter her fearful words, Zarabeth's throat felt so tight as though threatening to shut itself off completely. There was no stopping it.
Without a second thought, Zara halted completely, tearing her arm from the man's hand before taking the few frantic steps she needed to get into an alleyway. She made it perfectly clear that escape was not her intention when she dropped to her knees, the taste of bile filling her mouth as she unwillingly let herself be sick then and there.
Zarabeth blocked out the angry voices behind her as the procession came to a hurried stop, Ewen's voice shrilly calling above the rest as he forced himself through the mass of bodies filling the tight space of the makeshift road.
Relief was the only thing worth feeling at the moment, short lived though she knew it would be, she did feel better now, the girl giving a few short coughs to completely rid herself of as much of the horrid taste as she could manage.
"Ewen wait a minute. She's sick alright? We can't keep pushing her like this."
Looking over her shoulder, her eyes still cloudy and dazed, Zarabeth flinched upon seeing the smuggler catch her guard hard in the jaw, the man left sprawled against the paving stones without a hand to help him up as all eyes shifted to where Zara knelt, her body still trembling terribly.
Ewen's footfall was too loud in her ears the closer he came, the girl instinctively trying to squirm away from his hold yet knowing full well that she couldn't escape his violent hands as they yanked her back to her feet.
There was no strength left in her legs, the only thing stopping her from joining her guard on the ground being her captor's meaty grip as it surrounded both of her arms. All of what was left of Zara's strength was suddenly rerouted to keep from crying out at how much pressure he was placing on her injured arm.
Even the scent of her own breath was far sweeter than the intoxicated rotting stench of the smugglers lengthy sigh, his words seemingly calm, but the piercing look in his eyes proved otherwise.
"Mrs. Hawkins...Not feeling well? How unfortunate for you. A real knack for timing, you've got. Why don't you just try escaping again while you're at it? Or-Or better yet, here's my knife. Choose carefully where you stick it."
His last words were emphasized with Zara's sharp cry as she was thrown back to the uneven ground, the girl's pained groan muffled as she bit down hard on her lip with her effort to roll off of her bad arm.
She knew better than to say anything, forcing herself to keep her heated remarks and blunt insults to herself for fear of what it would mean to continue stoking Ewen's ever-burning temper.
"Mark me girl, I keep you alive for insurance sake only. You're a blockade for if ever your cowardly husband or his goons show up to spoil it. Anything past that, you're dead to me. So go ahead! Puke your guts out for all I care! Just keep that little heart of yours beating till we close this deal! Am I clear, darlin'?"
Dropping her eyes away from his, Zarabeth nodded once in reply, gritting her teeth to keep from saying even a word as she moved her head in an attempt to wipe her mouth on her shoulder, already feeling dirty as it was without that to add to it.
"What're you all gaping at? Get back in order! You, Fenkley, get your sorry rear off the ground before I decide to knock you out cold this time. I don't care if she's ready or not! Throw her over your shoulder if you have to! Just move it!"
The man who had been guarding her before gently helped Zarabeth back to her feet, the girl whispering her apology upon seeing the already forming bruise encircling his swelling eye.
"Ah, don't worry none over me, ma'am. He's done worse on far less than this. We're all quick healers."
Cringing at the presence of his hand on her throbbing arm as her attempt to walk on her own nearly brought her to the ground once more, Zara was thankful for his help none the less. "You spoke up for me. Why?" She was genuinely stumped by his behavior toward her. The other men had been falsely chivalrous at best, all in the attempts to get her guard down she'd guessed. But this one, Fenkley, he was the only one to treat her with what she saw as genuine concern.
The human man smiled in what appeared to be near embarrassment, moving the hand that supported her back enough to ruffle his somewhat blond hair back into shape. "You're a victim ma'am. No matter what the others may try to say, we're no murderers, at least, most of us aren't. A few have their stories, but we don't exactly follow Ewen for the luxury of it." Looking up at the recognition of Ewen's attention from a ways in front of them, the man made his way back into the thick of the throng before continuing. "I've a wife and two wee girls to think on. Smuggling's a fair amount of money as far as trades go on Inyang. It's only until I can have enough to get them all away, maybe off to some mining planet or trade port. I'm just sorry it's all come to this. It was meant to be an easy job."
Zara looked over the crowd of heads to see the brigand leader spewing curse after threat at one of the alien men, the guilty party on the ground scrambling to retrieve the guns and clips that had torn through the bag he'd been carrying. She felt safe enough to say what was on her mind, knowing how Ewen would be too busy for the next moments to get wind of anything she were to tell her captor now.
"Fenkley, was it? I want you to promise me something. It may not happen, but if my husband's crew or Rhitan's officers catch up to us, which I still can only hope they do, I want you to run. Yes, run. Abandon these men who probably care no more for you than you do of them and see your daughters again. There will be no escape if you stay and fight."
"You're wasting your breath, Mrs. Hawkins. McCoy has ensured that there will be no rescue for you, hopeful though you may try to be. But, if it will get that pitiful look out of your eyes, yes that look, then I promise. I'll do my best to get home. I always do."
"What are their names?"
"Chrissy and Andromeda. You got any children, ma'am?"
Zara shook her head with a small laugh despite their situation. "No, not yet. Jim and I have only been married a year."
"I'm truly sorry for that. We should learn to only kidnap unmarried miserable girls I suppose."
"Yes...I suppose you should."
"Will you promise me something, Mrs. Hawkins? I'll keep quiet about it if you do."
Nodding her silent consent, Zara did her best not to squirm away as his face drew close to hers again, the man's voice lowered so as to only be heard by her, even with the general cover of Ewen's ranting.
"If this whole thing goes south, I'll set you free to sneak off with me. No, not like that. Sorry. No, all I'm saying is that we both want to see our families again. We can help each other. I'll untie you and let you off if you don't squeal about me to the higher-ups. Are we agreed?"
"Readily so. I don't expect to get a chance, but if there is, I'm counting on you."
"Same here, ma'am."