Chapter 2

As I moved towards his ship I knew this was likely to be the last chance I had to do anything to get away, but I also knew there was little I could do. If I so much as moved a muscle he would lock my limbs together, and he had to only so much as think it.

Crossing the threshold of our ships and passing through the open airlock I left my hope behind me. It was bad enough that I'd been tricked, but the slaver market was notorious. I didn't want to be sold to anyone. A Frentin was a thousand times worse.

The ship I moved into had a darker decor than my own rust bucket, something I found so fitting that it almost made me laugh out loud. Despite my fear and dread I looked around and studied the ship. It might help me one day.

The airlock came out into a corridor, much the same as I'd just left on mine. We were on the side of his ship, and it didn't seem too much larger than mine. I could see a cockpit to my left, and a cargo hold to my right. Ahead was a small kitchen and dining area, and in the hallway between that and the cargo bay was a ladder.

"Up," he said, motioning towards it.

For a moment I considered refusing. Who knew what was up there, but he sighed and reached out to grab me. No doubt to try and carry me up.

Before he could, I took the few steps over to the ladder and reached for the rung. If I could get him to lower his guard and think I was extremely submissive and frightened maybe I could find an opportunity. I wasn't going to beat him on strength. His race had apparently been human once. Or mostly. But another alien race had taken humans and added the DNA of other species to make us stronger, live longer and all sorts of other traits they felt were desirable.

The end result had looked human but been anything but. And after even more time on other planets and spreading through the galaxy they had changed even more.

It meant a few things for sure, however. He was faster than I was, and stronger. I needed to find another way to get away. And that meant I had to outsmart him.

What could I do to get this Frentin to drop his guard and give me an opportunity? I had no idea for sure, but I had a feeling I was going to get some time alone to think about it.

Slowly climbing up the ladder, my head soon popped out into the floor of another corridor. This one was smaller than the last but it made me feel a little more hopeful. Maybe I wasn't about to be shoved into some tiny secret compartment somewhere and kept there for ten days.

My hope almost immediately diminished when he led me towards the front of the ship again and one of only two doors off. I'd glanced through the one behind, it was a small shower room and toilet, which meant the one ahead was probably the only bedroom.

And sharing a bedroom had bad implications, very bad implications. Was I going to experience the infamous Frentin desire ten days earlier than I first feared.

As he pushed me into the room from behind, I almost tripped over the lip of the doorway and went sprawling onto the floor. I then almost did the same on a thin rug that was clearly there more for decoration than actual taste or desire. It had a couple of threadbare patches and the pattern was slightly more brown and dirt stained than I imagined it was when new.

To the left was a bed that was barely big enough for one, let alone two, and on the right was a set of cupboards. An open section in the middle acting like a dresser. It was mostly empty, but I spotted a comb and what looked like earplugs in a small pot.

I stopped in the middle of the room and turned, knowing I was showing the fear I felt. What was he going to do to me?

Although I expected him to tell me to wait here, or push me onto the bed, or all manner of other things, he ignored me, reaching for the rug on the floor. I gulped and backed away from his hands anyway, but he lifted the rug, tapped a small panel underneath it in a strange pattern and put the rug back.

As he stood back up again the wall panel near the head of the bed slid down and revealed a small space. The smell of stale sweat and urine hit me as I took in the contents of the secret room.

It contained a small, thin mattress, barely big enough for a child and a scrap of cloth that was clearly meant to pass for a blanket. There was nothing else. And to make it worse, it was clearly in the nose of the ship and the back tapered down to a point, none of it having enough room to stand.

"Get inside," he said, confirming my fears.

"Please, don't make me," I asked, my voice coming out as small as I felt. "I.."

"You're going in there whether you like it or not," he replied. "It's easier on both of us if you cooperate."

"Please..." I trailed off as my hands instantly locked together and then my feet did. Before I could topple in any direction he grabbed me and bundled me into the tiny space.

I tried to struggle, unable to keep myself from panicking. I couldn't be kept in a space this small. I just couldn't.

"No, no, no. Please. Don't lock me up like this."

"Look," he said as he finished wrestling me down toward the mattress. "This is where you're going. Behave and I'll let you out now and then. But I've not got the space or the hiding places for you to be anywhere else."

"You can't-"

The guy raised his eyebrows as my voice cut out. I moved my mouth to say the rest of the sentence but no matter what I tried no words or sound was made.

My had voice cut out as he activated the bindings around my throat. It was the strangest sensation and it only added to my panic. Instantly I began screaming, feeling my body tense and try to fight, but nothing came out and all I could do was thrash.

"I'd say I'm sorry, but honestly, I'm not. Selling you gets me money, and I need the money. There's a good chance whoever buys you will treat you decently. And given how you were clearly barely getting by out in this area of space, will probably take better care of you than you can yourself. Either way, another ten days and you're not my problem."

With this last word he slammed his hand onto something and the door shifted back into place. Darkness descended on me taking away the last of my ability to cope. Again and again I screamed and thrashed, trying to get out until every inch of me hurt and I was so exhausted I could only sob and lie in the dark.

As the tiredness took over the fear receded enough for me to think a little. I had to find some way out of this situation, but with no idea how long I'd be kept in this tiny secret compartment and no idea how long it had already been I wasn't confident I was going to be able to stay rational.

And on top of all that there was yet another pressing issue. I needed to pee.