Page 74 of Aurelian Prisoner

…but breathing in the air filled with her scent?

That’s paradise.

As Allie stands there, I prepare the procedure. As I work at the controls, I ask her:

"If you want us to be able to find your sister, I need more information. Where was she taken?"

Allie doesn't answer me at first. Then, without being told to, she hops into the medical chair.

"She was taken three years ago. We were doing work for a mining outfit. Their AI was malfunctioning – so, in the meantime, it was cheaper to hire a couple of orphans than get it repaired. We were in the middle of a haul when we were intercepted by space-pirates.”

Even on the outskirts of Aurelian-controlled territory, space-pirates were a growing threat. I felt my hands ball into fists at the mention of those vultures.

Allie stammers: “I... I made a mistake. I should have stayed with her, on the ship. Instead... I’d wanted to make some extra coin – so, I’d gone with the mining crew to the asteroid side, so I could join their mission.”

Tears welled in Allie’s eyes.

“Gods! She’d begged me to stay – almost as if she knew something was going to go wrong. She... "

Allie's voice cracks with grief. I look away. Witnessing a show of emotions is highly shameful in Aurelian culture. I won't add to her discomfort.

But my mind races.

Space-pirates. The plague of the open universe. They operate wherever Aurelian rule doesn’t fully reach.

Why can't humanity understand that they‘re safer under Aurelian rule? Why do more and more planets choose independence, rather than accept our protection?

"Did you see the men who took her? The pirates?"

Allie shakes her head.

"No. They hit the ship, and they hit it hard. It was venting oxygen. Half the crew was killed, and the other half taken. The pirates apparently didn't think it was worth their while to follow the rest of the crew onto the asteroid, where we were mining – not after an asteroid storm had just stopped.” She sniffs. “I almost wish they had. Then I’d have been captured too, just like Lilac. Then, I’d have at least shared her fate.”

Allie takes a ragged breath.

“Instead, the space-pirates left the mining crew on that asteroid. They left us to die."

"But you didn’t die,” I breath slowly. “What happened next?"

Allie looks away. "We got saved. It was just luck. Another mining mission stumbled across us and picked us up. They took our entire haul, too – as the cost of saving us.”

Vultures.

I didn’t telepath that thought, but Allie nods as if she could read my thoughts.

“They took our entire haul – but at least they saved our lives. The second I got planet-side, I started searching for my sister. I hoped that the space-pirates were doing what most of their kind do – you know how that works."

I know exactly how it works.

Space-pirates hit a civilian ship. They take as many prisoners as possible. Then, they send out a ransom notice. The prisoners whose families and relatives can afford it get sold back. If any of the captives don’t have family and friends with sufficient money, the space-pirates sell them as slaves. It’s a cruel business. They only bother with the ransom because it’s generally worth more to sell the captives back to their family. If it wasn’t for the promise of a little extra coin, they’d probably all get sold directly to the slavers.

“What happened after that?”

Allie gives me a sad smile. “I should have fucking known. But, hell, even if Ididknow, I’d still have tried.” Her eyes widen. “The ransoms the pirates were demanding were exorbitant – far more than normal, which was already beyond anything a homeless orphan like me could have paid.”

She shivers.

“Even worse? We had just one month to pay up before they promised to sell the prisoners to slavers. Everybody who cared about anybody who’d been taken got desperate.”