Total pages in book: 175
Estimated words: 166095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 830(@200wpm)___ 664(@250wpm)___ 554(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 166095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 830(@200wpm)___ 664(@250wpm)___ 554(@300wpm)
This day cannot come quickly enough.
I belt my tunic and slip on a pair of shoes, then head down the hall and knock at Simone’s door.
She opens up, her expression tense. “Have we arrived?”
“Yup. Bethiah and Jamef are talking with the port authorities and declaring cargo, so I wanted to change and come and get you. We can go down soon. Are you ready to be planetside again?” I grin at her. “The weather is sunny and beautiful.”
Simone grimaces. “Do I sound like an idiot if I say I’m nervous?”
“Not at all.”
“Oh good, because I’m really fucking nervous.” She presses her hands to her cheeks. “I’m flop-sweating.” She retreats a few steps and heads back to her bunk, picking up her satchel. Her room is packed and her bed made. She’s been preparing for this moment.
I feel a little twinge of guilt that I’m not anxious. Bethiah and Jamef aren’t leaving me here. “You know, if you want to stay, you’re welcome to. We’re heading back to Jerrok’s to stay for a bit longer after this.”
But Simone sits on the edge of the bed and picks up her pack, hugging it to her chest. “No, I’m just in the way. The best thing for me is to come here, if it really is a human refuge, and get my life back on a track. The power balance amongst the aliens is a little too skewed in their favor and I’ll never be an equal. I don’t want to be anyone’s burden, and if I stay, I’ll feel like a burden. Or worse, a pet.”
Ouch. I try not to flinch at that.
She notices my expression and immediately grows contrite. “Oh, I didn’t mean you, Dora. Your situation is totally different. Bethiah loves you. Jamef loves you. You have a place with them. They’ll always look out for you. Me, I’ve got to look out for myself. And there’s nowhere that’s particularly safe for humans except this place. I won’t be able to have a profession or even be my own person outside of Risda. And without an alien spouse to stick up for me, I’m kinda fucked. So this is absolutely the right choice. I’m just…terrified of change.”
“That I totally understand,” I tell her, moving to her side. I sit on the bed next to her and offer my hand, and she clasps her sweaty palm against mine. “But if this isn’t the right place for you, you know you can always reach out to us, right? We’d come and get you. And I was told the guy that owns this planet has a human wife and he absolutely dotes on her. So he’s going to make sure everyone treats humans fairly.”
“I hope so.” She holds my hand tightly and then gestures at her pack. “You want your stuff back? It’s all your stuff anyhow. I didn’t have anything of my own.”
“Not at all. You keep it.” I nudge her arm because she looks so nervous she’s going to vomit. “Bethiah says she has friends here that have kids. Maybe we can introduce you and you can have a couple of buddies on planet.”
“You mean other than Rhonda?” Her smile turns wry.
Oh god. No wonder she’s nervous. We’re about to drop her on a foreign planet with Rhonda of all people. “Other than Rhonda, yes.”
Because Rhonda is not happy about the whole Risda situation in the slightest. Or the fact that we stole her shit to pay Zakoar. Or that we’ve kept her in the brig for weeks now. Basically she’s a whole mess of feelings, all of them angry ones.
It’s just…that’s what you get when you try shady stuff against your ex-girlfriend, and that ex-girlfriend happens to be Bethiah. I don’t even feel bad about the situation, because she tried to blackmail Bethiah and hid listening devices all over the damn ship.
“Should we go get Rhonda?” Simone asks me. “At this point it doesn’t matter if she’s locked up or not. She’s got nowhere to go.”
I’m not entirely sure that Rhonda isn’t above some sort of sabotage, but Simone is right. This was a one-way ticket for Rhonda, and she can complain all she wants, but she’s not leaving this planet. At least, not with us. “Maybe we should. Ugh.”
Simone goes with me when I approach Rhonda’s cell. She carries her pack with her, as if afraid to let it out of her sight, but at least she doesn’t look quite so nervous. I pause outside of the prisoner hold as Rhonda immediately starts hammering on the door, no doubt having heard the door open on the far end.
“Should we get weapons, you think?” I ask Simone.
“Against poor Rhonda? No.” Simone shakes her head, her gaze fixed on the door. “She’s just trying to watch out for herself. She doesn’t want to actually hurt anyone. She gets by with her beauty and her helplessness. I feel bad for her, because those two things aren’t going to get her very far on this planet, if what you told me is true. She’s going to hate it here.”