No Refuge (Known Universe) by Nicholas Annie

Author:Nicholas, Annie [Nicholas, Annie]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2014-04-09T04:00:00+00:00

6

I left the dock area as soon as Stoffin was out of sight, and headed for the market place. Like I’d said, there was only one sure way I could appease the Ko, get the station to let the ships undock and the human transport off in safety.

How long before the Ko demanded to do a ship-to-ship search and discovered the others? Many vending tables lay empty, and few shoppers wandered around the market area. That wouldn’t last long. Steeling my spine, I dropped my cloak and walked the aisles. Being caught by the Ko would be my sacrifice so Brody could live his dream and the other humans could escape. As long as I walked free, Brody’s ship to the human colony was trapped at the dock.

A tremor ran along my legs. All I wanted in return was a quick death. Jumping out an airlock would be the easiest, but no one would know I was dead and the Ko would keep tearing this station apart. I had to give myself up. They needed to see proof. Maybe a Ko could come from behind and snap my neck before I knew it, but I doubted I’d be that lucky. Most of the tents I passed appeared empty. The vendors must have closed shop early after my narrow escape.

Nobody wanted to deal with the Ko. Better to leave the area and let them search at will.

Someone snatched my hand.

I choked as my heart jumped into my throat, but didn’t fight the pull that drew me into a tent. I wouldn’t fight. The faster it was done, the better. I closed my eyes and let the probable flesh trader take me. Material rustled around us and I was set on the floor.

“What are you doing?” a female with a familar voice asked.

I opened my eyes and found the elder Jurranian female, who had offered me and Brody possible sanctuary on her ship before all this trouble. She loomed over me. Sitting up, I took in our surroundings. The tent was empty except for a few of her crew, all of them female but one. I scratched my head. “What?”

“Are you slow in the head, female?” a young male asked. “What are you doing out in public? The Ko and flesh traders are combing the area for you.”

“You think I’m dense? I know what’s hunting me. They’ve been doing it all my life. You should get away. They’ll kill all of you if they find you with me.” They’d probably jump to the conclusion these kind folk had been harboring me.

She knelt and touched my fake ears. “Who do you think makes these things?”

I blinked. “Jurranians? You knew we were human when we met on the dock.”

“Yes. Our people have a very fine sense of smell. Some of us know what humans smell like, though you are growing rarer every year.”

All this time I’d thought I’d been hiding in plain sight, yet the Jurranians had known. They had aided my people in hiding? Pretending ignorance so the Ko couldn’t retaliate was genius.

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