“Tomorrow?”
“Orex’s ship is fast.Really fast.”
“Okay.”
She walked with the two officers, and they carefully boosted her up and into the other vessel.Hands pulled her up, and she knew the feeling of those hands.Hmrain had a certain texture according to their consorts.Marta had bragged about it.
Zelda looked at the Hmrain who picked her up and walked off with her while her side started weeping whatever the hell was in her.
“Hello, Zelda.I am Orex.”
“We have met.The day Marta volunteered.”
“You did not speak that day.”
“If she wanted to bite off more than she could chew, more power to her.She lasted longer than I thought.”
“She’s been removed from the contract and is being re-educated.Schooling has been made available to her.”
“Good.She was dumb as a box of rocks.”Zelda laughed at her own turn of phrase.
“You seem in remarkably good spirits.”
“It’s the pain.I hit the threshold, and now, it is just funny.”She looked up at him, and his charcoal and black skin and markings, midnight blue hair and black eyes.
He walked into the medical bay and said, “You will have to remove your clothing for the unit.The...clothing you have on is sticking in your wounds.”
She nodded.“Okay.Put me down, please, Overseer.”
He set her on her feet.She swayed and then peeled out of the coveralls that she was wearing, and her lips tensed as she pulled them away from her ribs.
Orex gasped as he saw the claw marks that started at her ribs and went down to mid-thigh.
The tech said, “Please step this way, Lady.”
“Now that is the sign of good training.Sees a potential consort oozing puss and still calls her lady.Well done, sir.”
The tech smiled slightly and helped ease her into the pod.The settings were right, and she fell asleep as the first thing that hit was painkillers.