Page 14

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

K ara’s heart stopped as she realized what was inside the cage.

Not cargo. Not an animal. A small, humanoid child with lavender skin and large, frightened eyes stared back at them.

The girl—for she was clearly female despite her alien features—couldn’t have been more than five or six in human equivalent years.

“That’s a child,” she whispered, horror crawling up her spine.

Thraxar moved with terrifying speed. One moment he stood beside her; the next, he had Wren pinned against the wall, massive green hand wrapped around the trader’s throat.

“What is this?” His voice dropped to a dangerous rumble.

Wren’s limbs flailed in panic. “Just merchandise! Valuable, but essentially an animal?—”

“That’s a child,” she hissed, stepping closer to the cage. The girl cowered against the back wall, translucent frilled ears flattening against her head.

Rory sat cross-legged in front of the cage, seemingly unbothered by the violence unfolding behind him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bolt he’d collected during their repair work. With careful precision, he rolled it through the bars.

The lavender child stared at the bolt, then at Rory. After a moment’s hesitation, she picked it up and rolled it back.

“She’s not an animal,” Kara said, her voice shaking with fury. “She’s playing with my son.”

Rory rolled the bolt again. The girl caught it, a flicker of interest crossing her frightened face. She rolled it back.

“We can’t leave her here,” she said, turning to Thraxar. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “We can’t.”

His eyes met hers, hard and resolute. “We’re not going to.”

He tightened his grip on Wren’s throat. “How do I open this cage?”

“Electronic… lock,” Wren gasped, his color fading to a sickly gray. “Remote… in my… pocket.”

Thraxar released him just enough to search his clothing, extracting a small device. He tossed it to her and she caught it one-handed.

“Please,” Wren wheezed. “She’s worth a fortune?—”

Thraxar slammed him against the wall again. “Her value isn’t measured in credits.”

She examined the remote, finding a single button. She pressed it, and the front of the cage slid open with a soft hiss.

The lavender child scrambled backward, pressing herself against the far corner. Her ears changed color, darkening to a deep purple that seemed to indicate fear.

“It’s okay,” she said softly. “We’re not going to hurt you.”

The girl didn’t respond, just watched them with those enormous dark eyes.

Rory rolled the bolt again, this time right through the open door of the cage. The girl hesitated, then rolled it back, keeping her distance.

Thraxar delivered a precise blow to Wren’s temple, and the trader crumpled to the floor unconscious. “We need to move quickly. Others may come.”

She nodded, but her attention remained on the frightened child. “She won’t come out.”

Rory stood up suddenly, surprising them both. He took a step into the cage, then immediately stepped back out. He repeated the action—in, then out—three more times, his movements deliberate and clear. Then he sat down again and rolled the bolt to the girl.

“He’s showing her it’s safe,” she whispered, a lump forming in her throat.

Thraxar crouched down beside Rory, his big body somehow making itself smaller, less threatening. “You’re safe now, little one,” he said, his deep voice gentle. “No one will hurt you again.”

The girl’s ears shifted, lightening to a pale lavender. She looked at Rory, then at Thraxar, then at Kara. With painfully slow movements, she crawled forward and picked up the bolt. Instead of rolling it back, she clutched it tightly in her small fist and took a hesitant step out of the cage.

“That’s it,” she encouraged. “You’re doing great.”

The child took another step, then another, until she stood beside Rory. Her free hand reached out tentatively and touched one of his fingers.

“We need to return to the ship,” Thraxar said, rising to his full height but moving slowly to avoid startling the children. “Quickly, before someone discovers what happened here.”

“Agreed.” She glanced around the room, looking for anything else they might need.

“I suggest we carry them,” he said. “It will be faster.”

She gave him a doubtful look. “Rory doesn’t always like being touched. Especially when he’s stressed.”

To her surprise, Rory raised his arms toward Thraxar, a clear request to be picked up. Thraxar blinked, then carefully lifted him.

“I’ll take the girl as well,” he said, reaching toward her.

The lavender child shrank back, ears darkening again.

“Wait,” she said. She knelt down to the child’s level. “I think I should carry her. I can put the cloak over both of us. It’ll hide her better.”

He nodded. “Good thinking.”

Kara held out her arms to the girl. “Would you like me to carry you? We need to go somewhere safe.”

The child looked at Rory, who was settled comfortably in Thraxar’s arms, then back at Kara. After a moment’s consideration, she stepped forward and allowed Kara to pick her up.

“Thank you for trusting me,” she whispered, settling the small body against her chest. The child was surprisingly light, and her skin had an unusual silky texture. She pulled the cloak around them both, creating a protective cocoon.

“Let’s go,” Thraxar said, adjusting Rory in his arms. “Stay close to me.”

They slipped out through the bead curtain and moved swiftly through the shop. Wren remained unconscious on the floor behind them. She felt a momentary pang of concern—not for the trafficker, but for what might happen when he woke. Would he alert authorities? Come after them?

The market outside seemed unchanged, vendors still hawking their wares, buyers still haggling. No one paid them any special attention as Thraxar led them through the crowded pathways, his large body creating a natural buffer between them and the crowd.

Under the cloak, the lavender child trembled against her chest. She stroked the girl’s back soothingly, feeling the delicate ridges of her spine through the thin, dirty shift she wore.

“It’s okay,” she murmured. “We’re taking you somewhere safe.”

The child didn’t respond but gradually relaxed against her. Her ears, visible only to Kara inside the cloak, had shifted to a pearlescent white with hints of pink—a color she hadn’t seen before.

Ahead, Thraxar moved with purposeful strides, Rory secure in his arms. Her son looked completely at ease, one hand resting on Thraxar’s chest, the other tracing patterns on his arm. The sight of them together created a strange warmth in her chest.

They reached the docking bay without incident. Thraxar punched in the access code for his ship, and the ramp lowered smoothly. Only when they were inside, with the ramp raised and locked behind them, did Kara let herself breathe properly.

“We made it,” she said, pulling back the cloak to reveal the lavender child’s face.

Thraxar set Rory down gently. “I need to get us off-planet immediately. Wren may have friends.”

She nodded, lowering the girl to the floor as well. “Go. We’ll be fine here.”

He hesitated, looking at the children. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. The sooner we’re away from here, the better.”

He nodded and headed for the cockpit. She knelt between the two children, studying the alien girl more carefully now that they were safe.

She was painfully thin, her lavender skin dull except for the translucent ears that continued to shift colors. Her large black eyes, lacking visible pupils, were wary but curious. The dirty shift she wore hung off her small frame, revealing bruises on her arms and legs.

“My name is Kara,” she said, pointing to herself. “This is Rory.” She pointed to her son, who had already begun arranging small objects from his pocket in a line on the floor.

The girl watched, then pointed to herself and made a series of musical sounds.

“I don’t understand,” she said apologetically. “But we’ll figure it out.”

The ship hummed to life beneath them, and she felt the subtle shift as they lifted off. The girl’s ears darkened momentarily, then lightened again when she realized Kara wasn’t alarmed.

Rory pushed one of his treasures—a small, polished stone—toward the lavender child. She picked it up, examined it, then carefully placed it back in line with the others.

Rory hummed approvingly.

“You two are going to be friends, I think,” she said softly.

The ship accelerated, pushing them into hyperspace with a brief sensation of pressure. Moments later, Thraxar returned from the cockpit.

“We’re clear,” he said, his voice tight. “For now.”

She nodded, then gave him a worried look. “What do we do with her? We can’t just drop her at a Patrol station.”

He crouched down, studying the lavender child. “No. The Patrol would place her in a processing center. Those places are a little better than where we found her.”

“Then what?”

“We find her people.” Dark eyes met hers. “Just as I promised to help you find yours.”

The simple statement sent an unexpected wave of emotion through her. She hadn’t thought much about what would happen after they reached the Patrol station. About leaving Thraxar and his ship. About returning to… what, exactly? She had no home, no family beyond Rory.

“Her people might be difficult to locate,” she said, watching as the girl cautiously arranged a few of Rory’s treasures. “She doesn’t even speak our language.”

“I have translation software on the ship’s computer,” he said. “It might recognize her language.”

“That’s a start.” She reached out and gently touched the girl’s shoulder. “In the meantime, she needs food, clean clothes, and medical attention.”

The girl looked up at Kara’s touch, her ears shifting to that pearlescent pink-white again. She made a soft musical sound.

“I think she likes you,” Thraxar said, his voice softening.

“I like her too,” she admitted. She looked from the lavender child to Rory, who was contentedly arranging and rearranging his treasures, to Thraxar, whose expression held a complexity she couldn’t quite decipher.

Four strangers from different worlds, thrown together by circumstance. Yet somehow, in this moment, they felt like something else. Something that she hadn’t experienced in a very long time.

They felt like the beginning of a family.