Page 24

I gulp. It’s an ancient punishment – preceding even the invention of airlocks, which maintain the atmosphere or pressure from one environment to the other.

The term comes from a time before we took to the stars, when captains sailed the open seas of Old-Earth upon massive wooden vessels powered by the wind and sail.

Back then, a man or woman would be executed by ‘walking the plank’ – forced overboard, into the sea, to die by exposure… if sharks didn’t get them first.

You could perhaps last days out there – at best – before you succumbed to thirst, and started drinking the same salt water you drifted in, destroying your insides and only making yourself thirstier and thirstier...

In comparison, death by air lock is a merciful fate. It’s at least faster to die in the dead of space than the emptiness of an ocean – although it’s gory if you don’t know what to do. Should you ever find yourself expelled from an airlock – and Gods I hope you don’t – you have to breathe out and expelallthe oxygen from your lungs the moment you plunge into the vacuum of space.

If you don’t? That same vacuum literallypullsthe air out for you – and not through your mouth. Your lungs expand and rupture like huge, bloody balloons. I don’t even want tothinkabout what that must feel like.

But my fate will not be so gruesome – because I know enough science to avoid it. If Captain Aelon makes good on his threat and throws me from the airlock, I’ll huff out all the air from my lungs and clamp my eyes and jaw shut – so no liquid is exposed to the ice-inducing coldness of space. Like that, I’ll last fifteen shivering seconds before I pass out.

Then, lights out. The end.

“Youwishfor the airlock.”

Captain Aelon’s mocking tone snaps me from my thoughts. I open my eyes and find him staring down at me imperiously.

“You’resoeager to throw yourself away for your worthless crew,” Aelon speaks so slowly it’s as if he’s running his tongue over each syllable before he utters it.

He knows I’m listening in rapt attention – because each word might be the last I ever hear. I’m completely at his mercy, and by the very laws that I’ve begged him to abide by, Iwillbe executed by my choice.

Eventually, Aelon growls: “I don’t think so, Tasha. Your crew misbehaved. You are responsible for their disobedience – but not their lives. I think a merespankingis in order.”

My jaw drops.

Chris snickers, and my cheeks turn bright red at the sound of his mirth. That dumb bastard was the reason I’m in this mess, and he has the fucking audacity tolaughabout it?

To be honest, that’s the worst part – hearing his laugh. I’d rather take the kiss of the lash than suffer this – the shame of losing respect in front of my crew.

“Youcan’tdo this!”

I take a defiant step forward, hands on my hips…

…but the grin on Aelon’s face tells me he feels he most certainlycando this – and that he fully intends to.

Even more humiliating? The two Aurelians guards are now leering at me, too – and I know they’re imagining me over Aelon’s lap, being disciplined by his huge hand.

But that’s when the Captain’s smile softens for a second. In a more contrite tone of voice, he grudgingly admits:

“You’re right, Tasha – Ican’tdo this… At least, not without your agreement. So, what’ll it be,CaptainTasha? Twenty lashes for each of your crewmembers?” His slate-grey eyes flash. “Or a spanking for you?”

My hands ball into fists. I can’t believe this!

Of course, I know he’s testing me. I remember what Captain Aelon told me in his private chambers just minutes earlier. This damned Aurelian thinks he knows mesowell...

He thinks I’d never willingly let my crew see me weak – so he’s confronting me with a choice that’s really no choice at all. Aelon wants to know which I value more – my pride, or my crew.

He wants to know if I’m willing to humiliate myself in front of the very men whose respect I was willing to fight for. He knows that I’ll lose either way – either they’ll hate me for letting them take the lashes they’ve been sentenced to, or they’ll lose all respect for me when they see their tough, capable captain being manhandled and spanked like a naughty little girl.

But pride lives deep inside us, and it isn’t as easy to crush as Aelon might think.

I take a deep breath and stand up to my full height.

“I’m their captain. I’ll bear their punishment.”

I turn and look at my men – my face defiant as I meet each of their eyes in turn, before finally locking my gaze with Chris. I want him to look into my eyes as I say this – to know that I’m sacrificing something much more precious to me than anything I’d lose beneath the crack of a lash.