Chapter 34
Amina
Her ploy to get Nalia and Jinna away from the Talins couldn’t have gone better. She was content to let Nalia explain every small detail until they were on the opposite end of the ship.
“The new doors mean we can let other ships dock with us,” Nalia said, pointing to the far end of the massive cargo bay. Her ship was easily twice the size of Steady and impressively well outfitted.
“That makes it possible to do ship-to-ship transfer,” Amina said. “That’s a nice improvement."
Helmen gave the door a jealous look. “I wish we had that on our ship.”
“You could have them installed with the bonus,” Amina said. “I saw the number, it should be enough. After the vote, you could have it done on Ifourus Station.”
“Nope, that bonus is going to be our wedding gift to you and Myrum,” Helmen said. “I talked it out with the crew and we all agreed.”
“No!” Amina said, shocked out of her intentions by this news. “You guys can’t do that. I didn’t get a vote. We always vote, and we always agree to use extra income on the ship. It’s our livelihood and safety.”
“Not for you,” Helmen said. “Not any longer.”
Amina felt a little hurt. “Is this punishment because I’m not going to work on Steady any longer?”
“I’m not sure I understand how giving someone money could be considered punishment,” Jinna said with lifted eyebrows.
“We live as a single, but thrive as a whole,” Amina said, quoting a common Ugarian saying.
“That’s a nice sentiment," Nalia said.
“I still don’t understand how that makes the gift a punishment," Jinna pressed. Amina might’ve been more upset with her question if her tone and expression weren’t genuinely curious.
Helmen made a comforting sound and stepped close to Amina. “This doesn’t mean you can’t come back. Maybe you'll get tired of being planetside in a few years and you’ll want to travel again. There will always be a place on Steady for you.”
Amina blinked hard. She refused to cry in front of these strangers. “There better be.”
She meant the words to come out teasing and lighthearted, but her throat was tight and her voice sounded a little wobbly. Thankfully no one pointed it out.
“Take the wealth, set up a nice house on Ineeko, spend some quality time with Myrum,” Helmen instructed. “When you’re ready, you both can come back to work with us. I’ve been thinking I’d like to do local runs for a while, so we’ll be dropping by Ineeko more often.”
“I like the sound of that,” Amina said.
“Where is Ineeko?” Jinna asked.
Helmen explained the basic layout of the Ilgorian Federation and Ineeko’s location within it.
She gave Amina the time she needed to get her emotions back under control.
She wasn’t being abandoned. Helmen wasn’t leaving her behind, only giving her the break she needed.
Even though she was the one who’d first indicated she wanted to stay on Ineeko for a while, she’d still needed this reassurance.
Nalia asked Helmen a question, and they began walking again as her captain answered it. Jinna moved slower because she was fiddling with a small information square. Amina looked over to see what she was doing and saw a writing system she was unfamiliar with.
“It’s Talin glyphs,” Jinna said without looking up. “If you can read Hoquin, these aren’t too hard to learn.”
“I don’t know either,” Amina said. “I was raised using Universal.”
“Same,” Jinna said. “But I love written languages, so it wasn’t hard to learn Hoquin when I was working on a station in their space and then Talin glyphs.”
“You weren’t born a slave?” Amina asked.
“I wasn’t born in the Talin Empire,” Jinna said, tapping her information square one last time and tucking it away in a hidden pocket inside her wrap dress.
“I got drunk one day on the station where I was working, and the next thing I knew, I was being sold to a Talin.”
“I can get you out of here,” Amina said, speaking quietly in case there were any vid captures hidden in the hallway. “Can you and Nalia sneak off the ship? If you can make it onto the docks, then it’ll be easy.”
“There’s no need for that,” Jinna said. “I’m right where I want to be.”
Amina couldn’t understand that. “As a slave?”
“I’m not a slave,” Jinna said. By now Helmen, Gis, and Nalia had noticed the two of them had fallen behind. They doubled back.
“Yes, I know they call you pets, but you’re wearing a collar,” Amina said. “That makes you a slave.”
“Oh, you don’t know?” Nalia asked, looking amused.
“Know what?” Amina said.
“We’re free,” Jinna said. “I’m Holian’s scent-bonded partner. Derani is scent-bonded to Nalia. They couldn’t live without us.”
Amina’s temper sparked. “Is that why it’s okay to force a collar on you? I bet they even have locators in them.”
“They do have trackers,” Jinna said, reaching up to press her thumbs to her collar. It popped open, and she pulled it off to present to Amina. “But the trackers are for our safety. If we’re ever stolen, it makes us easier to find.”
Amina’s anger evaporated, replaced by excitement. “That will make it so much easier to get you out of here.” She looked at Nalia. “I have some tools on me, will you let me see if I can deactivate the locator in your collar?”
Nalia did the same move as Jinna and unlatched her collar and pulled it off. “Honestly, I’ve gotten so used to wearing this that I forget it’s there.”
“I see that you’ve already figured out how to get those off,” Amina said with approval. “If you let me help, you’ll never have to put them on again.”
“We could adopt you and get you Ilgorian citizenship, like the Ossisos and Myrum,” Helmen said.
Gis gave an encouraging sound. “You can trust Amina. She’d never betray you.”
“We aren’t pets or slaves,” Nalia said, sounding a little exasperated. “We’re partners. The collars are part of our costume.”
Amina remembered Myrum saying the humans on Kalor were free, but she’d assumed it meant they didn’t have to work. It never occurred to her that they were considered equals to the Talins around them.
When Amina didn’t respond right away, Nalia put her collar back on so both hands were free. She unclipped her Ident and tapped it until a holo appeared in the air over it.
“This is my ship too,” she said, showing a diagram of Bountiful. She tapped on the holo and the lights in the hall went out. They were only illuminated by the Ident. She tapped again and turned the lights back on.
“I can control the whole ship from here, although it’s awkward and I wouldn’t want to do it if we had to perform some difficult maneuvers," she continued. “The crew knows, and I’m in command too. They look to me as often as Derani when there is a question.”
“If you’re mad at Holian because he sent Myrum to Lorse, then you should be angry with me too,” Jinna said.
“I’m the one who suggested it in the first place.
I was going over Ossiso power structure and noticed that Lorse and Jishorn had the same family name.
It didn’t take much research to find the connection. ”
“You work with Holian?” Helmen asked.
“I’m the one who you were messaging with during our negotiations," Jinna said. “You drive a hard bargain, but your ship has a good reputation and was my top choice to get Myrum to Lorse and away again.”
“Did you know I worked on the ship?” Amina asked.
“No,” Jinna said. “I assumed it was entirely an Ugarian crew.”
Nalia tapped her Ident. The holo disappeared, and she clipped it back to her belt. “It's wonderful that you and Myrum bonded. I don’t know if I believe in the Living Universe theory, but you two finding each other makes me want to.”
Jinna clasped her hands in front of her. “I’d like to make a counteroffer. You and Myrum can return with us to Kalor. You’d both be safe and cared for. You would never need to worry about wealth again, and your life would be as busy and full as you wanted.”
Before Amina could respond, Helmen and Gis got between her and Jinna.
“Don’t threaten her,” Helmen growled.
Jinna wasn’t intimidated. Very similar to Holian, she was calm and cool no matter what was going on around her. Amina could see why they made a good match.
“I’m not threatening anyone,” Jinna said. “I’m extending the same offer Amina made to me.”
Amina gently pushed Helmen and Gis apart to stand between them. “I don’t know how you live in a place where you have no rights.”
Nalia let out an indelicate snort. “As if we have all that many rights anywhere. Unless you were lucky enough to have gotten into the Ilgorian Federation like you, humans everywhere have to live with less respect and the constant threat of being enslaved.”
“I should know,” Jinna said.
“There are some limitations to our rights within the federation,” Amina admitted.
“What?” Helmen asked, startled by this information.
Amina nodded. “It’s true. Humans aren’t allowed to colonize any planet by themselves. We’re only allowed to move there after another species in the federation has already established an infrastructure."
“I didn’t know that,” Helmen said.
“No one trusts humans absolutely," Amina said with a little shrug. “But the federation is the best place to be human, even with that rule. We are full citizens with rights.”
“And we aren’t,” Nalia said. “But I don’t care. My life is so much better with Derani. Even if we didn’t have this ship, I wouldn’t care.”
“I understand,” Amina said. She couldn’t think of many situations where she’d give up Myrum. “But listen, if you guys come across a human who doesn’t want to be a pet, send them to us.”
Nalia gave her a brilliant smile. “That’s good. Right now we take them to Kalor, but I’m sure some would rather be with you.”
Jinna gave her an approving nod. “It’ll be good to have a safe place outside the empire to send humans.”
Amina didn’t expect that she’d be making friends with these women and also be content for them to return to the Talin Empire, but life was strange.
“I think I’m ready to rejoin the Talins,” Amina said. “Do you think they're still in the galley?”
“I’m sure,” Jinna said. “Holian would want to give you all the time alone with us that you needed to feel confident that we’re right where we want to be.”
“Mission accomplished,” Amina murmured.