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Colossus is the home world of the Aurelian Empire – and, as such, it’s a planetfilledwith Aurelians. The species first came from here, millions of years ago, and I fear my sister is going to have a nervous breakdown the moment we leave this cell.

I might not be too far behind. It’s hard to focus my thoughts while I’m being torn between two widely different realities. Because of this stupid helmet on my head, I can’t even sense the Bond anymore. It’s like something was ripped out of me, and I’m back to feeling alone.

Alone? I don’t think I even knew what loneliness was before all this. You can’t feel any more alone than to have three other beings inside your mind…

…and then have them stolen away.

I feel alone, even with my little sister held tightly in my arms.

At least she’s stopped crying. It’s like she finally ran out of tears.

As the vessel shakes and vibrates, suggesting we’re coming in to land, I press down on the comms-link.

“I need you to find a human to escort us to a hospital,” I tell the Law Enforcement officers piloting this vessel. “My sister needs to be treated by human doctors.”

“We can get a human to bring you off the ship,” one of the officers explains, “but there’s no hospital on Colossus like that.” He pauses. “We’ll arrange for a specialist of your species – but this is Colossus. You’re going to come into contact with Aurelians whether you want to or not. I suggest you tell your sister to close her eyes.”

Lilac whimpers. I don’t know if she understands his words or not.

Finally, the Reaver touches down. We’re allowed to leave unaccompanied, and at the bottom of the steel exit ramp is a human male in his thirties. He’s wearing the insignia of the Human Federation, and he reaches out to shake my hand.

“Hello. My name’s Charles. I know about everything that’s happened to you.”

I give him a weak smile. “I’m Allie. This is my little sister, Lilac. She can’t be around Aurelians. She’s terrified of them –beyondterrified.”

He nods. “I get it. We know all about the abuse that triad subjected you to. Did they also hurt Lilac? If so, we need her testimony for the trial.”

The trial?

“What trial?”

He smiles, which I assume is his attempt to reassure me.

“I’m a representative of the Human Federation. I’ve been working on cases of abuse within Au…” He pauses mid-word, realizing it might set Lilac off. “…withinharems. I’m well-suited to the relevant laws.” Charles’ eyes narrow. “What that triad did to you is a grave crime. I’ll be pushing for the death penalty.”

Horror hits me. “No! No, you don’t understand!”

Demonstrating that lack of understanding, Charles misreads my panic.

“It’s okay, Allie! Everything is going to be okay. There’s a medical ship docked in the bay next to this Reaver. It’s got all the facilities needed to take care of your sister –andan all-human crew. You’re not going to find that anywhere else on Colossus.”

I hate the idea of being separated from my sister, but she needs a mental break. So do I.

I nod, and Charles snaps his fingers. A moment later, a woman in a stern suit steps forward, her heels clicking across the steel landing pad.

“Lilac, you can go with her,” Charles said soothingly to my sister. “She’s safe.”

Lilac looks up at me with hose big, trusting eyes of hers. I nod, and my sister reluctantly follows the woman towards one of the landing bay doors.

“Now,” Charles turns to me, and his voice grows more serious. “You and I need to have a discussion. You’reBondedto this triad, correct?”

I nod. “Yes – but it’s not what you think.”

He smiles. “Actually, that’s all the evidence we need. No further testimony will be needed – nothing other than the color of those Aurelian’s eyes. On Old-Earth they used to talk about catching thieves ‘red-handed.’ In the case of Daccia and his triad, it’s caught diamond, brown or green-eyed.” Charles actually looks quite smug. “This is going to be a slam-dunk case. Let’s go to my office and discuss it further.”

I shake my head. “I need to go to a medical bay and get this helmet off, first. It was put on me by that scumbag back on Salcus – and then Ineedto see my triad.”

It’s killing me that the three warriors are no longer in my mind. I’d got so used to feeling them there – each one a living, breathing consciousness within my own. Now they’re gone, it makes my own mind feel so lonely.