Chapter 17 #2
“My empire has lost its way. I was raised to understand that slavery was anathema to Talin values, and yet they decided it doesn’t count with humans.
I know they call all of you pets, but it’s still slavery with a polite title.
You’re a sapient being who deserves the same respect as any other sapient species.
I’m leaving the cresh tomorrow. I can hide you until then.
I’m being sent to study under a prominent geologist, but I could smuggle you on the ship taking me to her.
When it docks at Donlet Station, I could get us on a different ship.
I’ve heard the Ilgorian Federation is safe.
We could go there.” He pulled in a deep breath.
“I could make sure you never wear a collar again.”
Han’s jaw dropped. This wasn’t even on her list of possibilities of things Malsum could’ve said.
“Sometimes the universe helps you out,” she murmured with a little shake of her head. This guy was about Tumoro’s age and just as foolishly wonderful!
“Does that mean you want me to help you?” he asked.
“In a way,” she said. “Just to clarify, if you helped me escape, what would happen to you?”
“I become a criminal and I can never return to the empire,” he said. “But that’s a small price to pay in exchange for a clean conscience. I wouldn’t be worthy to enter the Domicile of Souls when I die if I don’t do the correct thing while I’m alive.”
“Then I’m happy to tell you, this is a lie,” she said, pointing to her collar. Putting her fingers in the right place, it clicked, and she pulled it apart to show him she could take it off herself.
“What is going on?” Malsum asked.
“It’s complicated, but the thing I need right now is to get myself and these two,” she pointed over her shoulder at Rishmun and Lirsum, “to the port.”
Malsum was silent for a few seconds before sounding a rumble of agreement. “I can do that, but we’ll need to move fast. The midday market will be starting soon, and many individuals will be outside, especially around the port.”
Han looked at the kids. They were about half her size. “I can carry one of them if you can carry the other.”
“I’ll carry both,” Malsum said. “We need to go now!”
Turning, Han rushed back to the kids with Malsum right behind her. “We’re still leaving, but Malsum’s going to help us!”
Malsum sounded a rumble of agreement as he scooped them up and set off at a run. Taken by surprise, Han had to sprint to catch up.
Damn, this sucked! She was built for strength, not speed. Wheezing, she barely kept up with Malsum, and he was carrying over a hundred pounds of children.
Maybe she should add more cardio to her workouts?
Nah, because when was the next time she was going to be in this situation? Hopefully never!
Malsum led them on a zig-zag path to the port, sticking to narrow streets and back alleys. Wow, Talins had really clean back allies. Except for the occasional plant trying to grow through ground plating, they were without any trash or detritus that usually accumulated in places rarely frequented.
“We’re almost there,” Malsum said.
Han couldn’t talk; everything she had was going into keeping up with Malsum. If she could, she might have cussed at him a little for being able to speak as if he weren’t exerting himself at all.
They were doing great until they turned a corner and literally ran into three Talins. Han bounced off one of them and landed painfully on her ass. Malsum barreled through another one, but stopped when he realized Han wasn’t behind him.
Han scrambled to her feet, but was quickly grabbed by the Talin she’d hit. “What is a human doing here?”
“I heard someone arrived to visit their children at the cresh and they had a human,” one of the Talins getting to their feet said.
The third Talin pointed to where Malsum was standing. “But what about them?”
Malsum set the children down and tucked them behind him. “I’m escorting Human Han to her owner. These are his children. They wanted to see his ship.”
Han wanted to applaud Malsum's composure. It was always better to try to talk yourself out of a situation first.
Trying to pull free from the Talin holding her, Han made her voice high pitched and whiny. “Let go, I want my master!”
She didn’t expect to get free, but the movement allowed her to get her hands on some tools.
“You two should take the children back to the cresh; I’ll escort the human to the port,” the one holding her said, tightening his grip on her arm.
“Ouchie!” Han said, only half faking the pain. As if trying to pull her arm away again, she shifted around.
“No, this is my task,” Malsum objected, backing up and herding the children a little further away. Both kids were sounding angry rattles. If the situation wasn’t so serious, they’d be adorable.
“We could keep the human,” one of the men advancing on Malsum said. “We take the younglings back to the cresh, and Dorum takes her back to his domicile. We can all meet later.”
“I won’t let you do that,” Malsum said with an angry rattle.
“Even if you speak up, who is going to believe an adultette and a couple of children over three honorable adults?” the leaders scoffed.
“We’ll share the human, correct?” one of them asked.
“Or sell her,” the leader answered.
Han wasn’t really paying attention to what they were saying; she was busy getting herself in just the right spot. That meant she wasn’t prepared when Malsum attacked the leader. She heard a flurry of movements, grunts, rattles, and impacts.
She was worried for Malsum but had to concentrate on dealing with Dorum. With a flick of her thumb, she opened the neuro-disrupter and pressed it firmly against Dorum’s chest. The moment it had full contact, Dorum jerked, let out a gurgle, and dropped to the ground.
The neuro-disrupter’s effects didn’t last long, so she dropped it and moved to kneel next to his head. She slapped a medicated-mask over his nose slits and mouth and pressed. He came out of the neuro-disrupter quicker than she expected.
Thankfully the mask sealed and started releasing the sleeping agent just as Dorum reached up to push her off. There wasn’t any power behind his push, and she easily batted his hand away. She forced herself to remain with Dorum until his eyes fully closed and body relaxed.
She’d had a bounty manage to pull the mask off once. That incident taught you to make sure they were under before you moved your attention away.
Jumping to her feet, she turned to see one of the remaining Talins slap Lirsum to the ground. Rishmun jumped on the Talin’s back and tried to punch him in the earhole.
Malsum was engaged in combat with the other Talin. Despite being smaller, he was doing surprisingly well, although slowing down and starting to take more hits than he was delivering.
Digging into the hidden pocket on her wrap, she pulled out two cuffs then eyed the chaos around her.
Poor Rishmun went flying, landing further down the alley. By now Lirsum was back up and charged the Talin again. She grabbed hold of his leg and climbed up faster than Han thought possible.
The little girl made the perfect distraction, and Han was able to click one of the manacle-rings around the Talin’s ankle.
He let out a startled rattle as he grabbed hold of Lirsum and pulled her off him. Instead of letting her go, he held her in the air, her little legs dangling in the air. She snarled, blood dripping from her mouth.
Han looked at the Talin’s neck and realized Lirsum had managed to bite him in the narrow strip of exposed skin at the base of his neck.
Rishmun grabbed hold of Lirsum and added his weight to hers. This forced the Talin’s arm down so he let go of Lirsum.
“There is something wrong with these children!” he shouted. “They should be put down.”
“Han, run!” Rishmun yelled. “We’ll hold them off.”
It was only then that he remembered Han. Looking past her, he saw his companion lying motionless on the ground.
He turned to her. “What did you do to Dorum?” he roared and rushed her.
“Thank you,” she said, waiting till the last minute to pivot so he crashed into the Talin that Malsum was fighting.
In a perfect universe, only the two adults would’ve gone down, but unfortunately Malsum got tangled too.
The three of them went down in a crash of limbs and angry rattles.
Before they could separate, she clamped on the last manacle-ring.
The moment the second one closed, it activated and the two manacles pulled together.
Startled yells and rattles filled the air as one man's ankle was jerked to the other man’s wrist. Unfortunately the cuffs left too many limbs free, and Malsum was still in the mix.
Grabbing a foot she thought belonged to Malsum, she walked back and pulled him out of the fray. The two Talins tried to get up but got further tangled and fell back.
The kids hurried up, and the three of them helped Malsum to his feet. He was a little unsteady but was able to stand without help.
“We need to hurry. I can’t believe no one has come to investigate the noise already.” His voice was a little distorted, probably from the swelling around his mouth and jaw.
“You’re not wrong,” Han said, casting the loud, angry men a last glare before looking down at the kids. “Are you guys okay to run?”
“Yes,” they chorused, Lirsum’s bloody face as startling as the handful of adult quills Rishmun was clutching.
Han pulled Malsum’s arm over her shoulder. “Which way?”
“I don’t need help,” he said, but didn’t pull his arm away.
“Don’t make me get sassy with you, young man,” she snapped. “Which way?”
“Forward then right,” he said and leaned some of his weight against her.
They all moved together.
“We’ve got this,” she said. She really hoped that was true!