I, Space Orc: Volume 2 by Will Crudge

Author:Will Crudge [Crudge, Will]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-12-20T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Charlie McNulty felt the shipping container being clasped onto by something big and metal. He knew the container had to have been out in a vacuum because he couldn't hear the sounds of machinery or the safety alarms from the loading equipment. But as a longshoreman, he recognized the sequence of metallic sounds that denoted the clasping claws of a freight crane. Then the floor rocked, and he stumbled. Only the ropes kept him from falling in his weakened state. The refuse from his bucket that served as a toilet was spilled over in the process, and Charlie was along for the ride.

Charlie didn't know what this meant, but he hoped it was a crane delivering him to an atmospheric portion of the freight yard so he could be liberated. However, his hopes were dashed when the familiar whine of a drone loader took over the task of moving the container. Drone loaders were used to load ships with interior holds to reduce the risk of damaging the vessel. And now Charlie knew something wasn't right.

After several minutes of maneuvering and clanging around, the container was firmly planted on a hard surface, and the sounds of someone fastening bracing clamps could be heard. But what disturbed him the most was the alien voices he heard shouting something he didn't understand. Then, a distinctly human voice rang out, but the words were difficult to discern.

His greatest fear was coming true, and Charlie knew he was being sold to slavers. A licensed heavy equipment operator would bring a premium in a slave market, he knew, and so he lamented his life choices.

Then the door flung open, and two Dracos walked into the container with a human dressed in black and boasting a tattoo around his right eye. His right eye was clearly cybernetic, and Charlie knew a military veteran when he saw one. Military service members in all branches could give up a human eye for an augmented one to use as a backup when operating without a set of powered armor. Snipers, scouts, and special operators were the usual takers, and very few civilians opted for the procedure. Charlie only knew a little beyond the dusty landscape of Luna, but he knew a mercenary when he saw one.

"He's a master crane operator, and he's licensed to handle all standard loading equipment. He should come in handy in your uranium mines," the human said.

Charlie wanted to protest, but his throat was dry and scratchy. One of the aliens offered a water bottle, and Charlie grabbed it with his clasped hands and desperately downed the soothing, cool water.

"He had better be worth what we paid you for him, human!" the other alien snapped. Charlie swallowed his last gulp of water and released the breath he'd been holding in.

"Fuck all of you," Charlie said with a rough voice.

"He has fought; I'll give him that," the human said with a sly smile. "But you can work him more than twelve human hours at a time before needing rest.

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