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Chapter One

Riley sat in the dropshipheading for the surface of Arro. She was with another fifty Terrans who had been selected for their people skills. She was going to be a household servant.

Tessa sat next to her. “I am super nervous. Are you?”

“I am fine. I have been a maid before.”

“But... these are aliens,” Tessa hissed.

“Sugar beet, out here, we are the aliens. Get used to it. We were selected as a bulk purchase so that the wealthy here can be trendy. It’s all the rage to have a human.”

Tessa blinked. “Oh. Right.”

“Did you finish your etiquette and serving courses?”

“Mostly.”

“Oh, boy. How do you greet your bondholder?”

“Uh. Hiya?”

Riley had the immediate urge to give a crash course in service, but there wasn’t time. “Just remember, if it isn’t in the contract, you don’t have to do it, and if they give you a vague description of duties, you can ask them to be more precise. Don’t fall forservices as required.The bond house should nip those terms right away.”

“What if they don’t?”

“Ask the house representative to look over the points. Don’t care if they are busy. Wait for them. If your bondholder doesn’t want to wait for a contract, they are probably up to no good. Terrans are getting kidnapped into the sex trade, and it isn’t romantic, unless you like fucking tentacles.”

That seemed to get through Tessa’s bubble.

They rocked again, and the dropship jets fired and settled their vessel down. Riley unclasped her harness and got to her feet. Her bondholder was going to have to clothe her. In the meantime, it was the station suit until she got to the bond house.

Tessa said, “Wait for me.”

“Why? We aren’t going to the same place after the bondhouse. You are on your own, Tessa. Best get used to it.”

Riley inhaled the air through the open door and left the small pod where she and Tessa had been confined. She didn’t dare tell Tessa that it was because one pod could be pierced, and they wouldn’t lose the entire cargo. They were cargo.

There was a transport waiting, and a male with a tablet looked up. She bowed from the waist a slight ten degrees and said, “Riley Emmery, Terran, household service training.”

He smiled slightly. “Lovely bow, Riley. The bond auction is waiting on the arrival of this vessel.”

She nodded. “Shall I get on the transport?”

“Please. It looks like we will have to pry some of your people out.”

Riley walked calmly to the transport and sat on one of the benches. A slow trickle of humans left the shuttle, and the male with the clipboard checked them off.

By the time the last Terran was on the ship, the clipboard male was impatient. He hopped into the front of the transport, and it rose. They were being whisked toward a large building at the edge of the city. The bondhouse.

When they settled, the clipboard male said, “Males first. The handlers are waiting to bring you in.”

The men got up and walked to the loading area of the transport, stepping down and walking toward the handlers.

The male with the clipboard smiled at the remaining sixteen women. “We will wait until they clear the passageway and go to the males’ quarters before you go in. History has taught us that it is best to keep them at a distance.”

Riley waited, and when they were given permission, she was herded with the rest of them, walking into the building and down long halls to an area that had attendants who ushered them into radiant showers and then a knee-length smock before they led them one by one to a small office where a yellow male with silver eyes was there to do a final assessment.

Riley sat calmly and placed her hand in his. She felt lust boiling in her, and she breathed and exhaled to calm it.