Inviting Captivity (Human Pets of Talin #8)

Chapter 1

Myrum

“Did you hear me?”

It took so much strength for Myrum to simply walk on board the ship that he honestly hadn’t heard a single word the crewmember had said. Having her repeat the words wasn’t going to help. It was unlikely he’d be able to retain anything.

Panic was pushing him hard to turn around and run. Ships were traps where you watched everyone else die and then you got to suffer and wait for death. Everything in his body wanted him to turn around and run.

“Cargo bay,” he said. It was difficult to get those two words out, but he managed.

The other Talin made an aggravated sound. “Yes, I know you’re staying in our cargo bay. I already said that.”

He grunted in answer, and that only seemed to irritate the crewmember further.

“I don’t know why you’re acting so aloof. You’re no one of consequence,” she grumbled. “You’re only here because Captain Yiforum owed Commandant Holian a favor. This isn’t a personal transport; we have cargo to deliver and picking you up almost put us behind schedule.”

When he tried to sound a rumble of agreement, nothing came out. His chestbox felt frozen along with his voice.

The crew member continued talking in an aggravated tone. “We aren’t going to cater to your needs. You have to go to the galley for your meals and share the communal cleansing units. Don’t expect any special treatment."

Who cared about meals or cleansing units? If he didn’t get into a larger space soon, he wasn’t going to be responsible for his actions.

“Cargo bay now.” It was so hard to speak, the words caused him physical pain. He wished he could use the silent tapping language of the Norka like he did back on Kalor with Lena and Tarquin.

Better yet, he wished he was back on Kalor, sleeping in Lena and Tarquin’s garden and being able to see the brilliant open sky every time he opened his eyes.

Ruby, the jeweled lizard, would be snuggled under his chin or on the pillow next to his head, and the constant sounds of a forest alive with creatures would be filling his earholes.

Instead he was boarding another metal box about to go flinging through space again.

The crewmember made a last aggravated sound and turned on her heels. “This way.”

She probably thought walking away quickly would bother him, but it didn’t. Being forced to hurry after her while carrying several large bags and his bedroll helped fight back the impending panic by giving him something else to focus on.

The ship was built for hauling, not passenger comfort, so the corridors were narrow.

He was forced to walk sideways several times to keep his bags from getting caught on things.

He kept his gaze on the back of the crewmember’s head.

Looking at the walls around him would only make them close in on him.

Finally they passed through a large set of double doors into the bay of the ship. It was half full of cargo, but the massive space felt big enough to let him breathe.

It was only when he stopped walking that he realized his legs were shaky and he was breathing unevenly.

The crewmember sounded a questioning rattle at the same time she took a big step back. “Are you unwell?”

If he said yes, would they kick him off or simply leave him alone during the trip?

He went with honesty. “Only in my mind.”

As he expected, the crewmember backed away even further.

She’d probably be less concerned if he’d said he had a highly contagious illness.

Admitting to having any kind of mental health problem wasn’t simply unusual, it was unheard of.

Most Talins hid a disability because the judgment by others was always swift and harsh.

“The captain needs to know about this,” she said, then she turned and fled as if he was about to explode and splash crazy all over her.

If his chestbox didn’t still feel frozen, he would've rumbled in amusement. If the captain kicked him off, his secret mission would be a failure, but he couldn’t bring himself to be upset about it.

It was a long shot that he’d be able to do anything even if he was successful at making contact with the Ossiso who’d saved him.

The whole situation was a stack of wishful thinking waiting to tumble at the slightest nudge.

Looking around, he saw the spot they’d set up for him. There was a bare cot, a small table, and a light box to use when they shut down the large lights illuminating the bay. As if on cue, the entire giant room went dark. The black was absolute, without even a tiny relief of light anywhere.

The dark didn’t bother him because he already knew he was in a large space, not trapped in a tight emergency tube.

Moving carefully, he made his way the short distance until his leg brushed the end of the cot.

Feeling his way around the bed, he found the table and activated the lightbox, illuminating a small area around him.

When Nalia and Derani had picked him up on Kalor, they’d done their best to make him feel safe and secure in the cargo bay of their ship, Bountiful. The bed had been a ship-standard bunk, there’d been lightboxes that simulated firelight, and even a few potted plants.

They’d also taken turns visiting with him, unbothered by the way he’d sometimes freeze in place and get lost in his traumatic memories. Talin healers called it a memory episode; he called it torture.

Unlike his short time on the Bountiful, he would mostly be left alone on this ship.

He tossed his bags on the floor. Because the cot was bare, he busied himself unpacking his sleeping roll. It was the first time he’d used the bedding since leaving Kalor. Unrolling the bright red, high-grade sleeping mat and attached blankets was a familiar and welcoming activity.

It was only when the bedding was almost entirely unrolled that he found Ruby.

“No!” With a cry of distress, he scooped up the still, emaciated jeweled lizard and held her gently in both hands. “Please don’t be dead. Please, Ruby!”

One eye opened with painful slowness then closed again.

“You’re alive,” he whispered, relief rushing through him. It didn’t last long. He needed to get her food and water.

There was nothing to eat in the bay; he was going to need to get her to the galley.

Cradling her against his chest, he sprinted from the bay.

The ship vibrated slightly, telling him it had launched.

A few crew members moved through the corridors, purposely ignoring him.

It seemed information of his disability had already made it through the ship.

He didn’t care.

Ducking into the small galley, he rushed to the storage cabinet and used the display built into the door to access the list of available items. There wasn’t much diversity, but that was common on freighters like this. Meals were meant to be nutritious, not gourmet.

Nothing was fit for Ruby. She was a bug eater, and the items on this list wouldn’t give her the sustenance she needed and might even give her weakened system a fatal dose of something she couldn’t tolerate.

He was about to rush to the control room and demand they turn around and redock when he saw a second supply cabinet. That list was more of the same until he got almost to the end.

A cry of relief came out of him when he saw carpolt pellets listed.

Noting the cubby the pellets were stored in, he almost tore the door off the cabinet to get it open.

Carpolt pellets were made of ground up bugs.

They were rarely consumed, but if a Talin was having issues growing their plates back after an injury, it was believed these pellets would help.

He knew from his time on Kalor that jeweled lizards didn’t drink water, they got everything they needed from the bugs they ate. That meant he needed to soak the pellets and then grind them into a bug paste.

Holding Ruby against his chest, he tore open the packet with his teeth and poured the contents into a pile on the counter. He separated a few of the pellets then carefully crushed them by rolling his knuckles over them. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling, but he ignored the discomfort.

It was hard with only one hand, but he was able to hold the bowl against the counter with his body to brush the pellet meal into it.

After adding a little water, he mixed it then added a little more until it seemed like a good consistency.

Taking the bowl to a nearby table, he sat down and scooped some of the mash up on a finger and pressed it to Ruby’s mouth.

She didn’t react.

He dropped the food back into the bowl and focused on extending the claw on one of his fingers a little bit. With that he scooped up some of the mash again, then pressed the small tip of his claw into her mouth, careful not to nick her.

When the bug meal was spread across her tongue, she revived slightly. Her eyes didn’t open again, but her mouth worked and she swallowed.

He did it again and again. One little scoop from the tip of his claw at a time, he fed her until she perked up enough to open her mouth for the food.

When she did that he was able to give her a bit more.

They kept that up until she closed her mouth and didn’t open it again.

He hoped it was her way of saying she was full.

He wiped his fingers off on his pants and cradled her against his neck, the warmest part of a Talin’s body.

“You must’ve accidentally gotten wrapped up in my things when I was packing on Kalor,” he said, feeling horribly guilty. He’d been so full of anxiety over leaving that he hadn’t even noticed.

“You were trapped in the tight darkness for so long,” he murmured.

“I know how that feels. It happened to me. Like you, I wasn’t discovered until I was close to death.

I had to lie there, barely able to move, and wait to see if I’d suffocate or die of dehydration first. That isn’t something anyone should suffer. ”

Thinking about that time of his life threatened to send him into another debilitating memory episode, so he forced his thoughts back to caring for Ruby.

She needed to eat as often as she wanted, and it was important he kept her warm.

It was unlikely there were any personal heating elements on this ship.

As the crewmember had made a point of telling him, this was a cargo ship, not a personal transport.

There would be no luxuries for him to purchase.

And he had no friends here to borrow from.

Using one finger, he gently petted her square head. “Don’t worry, Ruby. I’ll figure something out.” He pulled in a deep breath. “There’re two of us on this mission now, and all the better for it.”

Myrum spent the rest of the journey catering to Ruby. For the first three solars he rarely slept more than a few marks at a time. He was scared she’d pass away if he didn’t have his eyes on her.

No one seemed to notice or care that he’d taken all three packets of carpolt pellets from the galley. They only seemed relieved he stayed in the cargo bay and kept to himself.

To help Ruby stay warm and comfortable, he ripped a length of bedding and wore it as a scarf wrapped multiple times around his neck.

That allowed her to stay nestled next to the strip of bare skin at the base of his neck without the worry of falling.

As she gained strength she’d occasionally crawl out of the scarf to perch on his shoulder but would always find her way back into the folds of fabric.

He got used to her and talked to her often.

By the time they reached Polkor Station, she was looking much better. There were only a few more pellets left, making him determined to find more food for her or he wasn’t boarding the next ship on his schedule.

“It’s time for you to leave.” The same crewmember he first met was there to make sure he left. She jumped back with a hiss when Ruby stuck her head out from the top of the scarf. “What is that?”

Unimpressed with the crewmember, Ruby snuggled back down against his neck.

“My good friend, Ruby,” Myrum said, knowing it would make no sense to another Talin to call a small animal a friend.

“Leave quickly,” the crewmember said as she unsuccessfully stifled most of her grumble of disgust. “You know where the hatch is.”

Then she was gone. A rumble of amusement bubbled up from Myrum’s chestbox at the Talin’s overreaction. It felt good to find something funny.

Hefting his packed bedroll over one shoulder and his bags over the other, he left the bay and made his way off the ship and onto Polkor Station. It was a busy place. The dock was teeming with traffic mostly made up of Ossisos and Hulgs. He didn’t see another Talin anywhere.

No sooner did he step past the ship’s hatch than it slammed shut and warning lights went off to declare the ship’s intention to disembark.

“Thank you for your gift of time and skill,” he murmured to the closed hatch. “It was a lovely trip. I’ll make sure Holian knows how accommodating and welcoming you were. I left some crazy in the bay, try not to get it on yourself. It’s contagious!"

Done mocking the ship and amusing himself, he joined the slow-moving foot traffic to the security checkpoint that would lead deeper into the station.

If there was time after finding food for Ruby, he’d send a message to Holian.

The commandant would want to know he made it safely to Polkor, and Myrum didn’t trust the other ship to keep Holian informed.

Thinking about his mission made him think about surviving.

Before, he almost didn’t care if he made it back to Kalor.

When he’d agreed to this assignment, he’d seen it as a way to end his life without anyone knowing he’d done it on purpose.

He’d go out, meet with the Ossiso, do as Holian requested, then find a way to end it all.

He was tired of living as the broken version of himself.

Ruby changed things. She made him determined to see them both return home.