Chapter 15CamilaBerus

Chapter 15

Camila

The shop was very similar to the ones Uctarr had taken her to in the early days, when he'd been excited to have acquired one of those new human slaves. In the Dominion, if you were rich enough to own multiple slaves, it was common to pick one or two of your favorites and parade them around to flaunt your wealth.

Some merchants used them to model their own wares, but Uctarr dealt in tools and weapons, so he'd relied on places like this to make her look the height of fashion whenever they had guests over. At least he did before he got tired of her and relegated her to the kitchens and the laundry.

It was one of the only places that sold clothing and footwear that fit humans. Unlike Talleans, she didn't have eight sharp claws at the tips of her toes that required open-toed, or rather open-clawed, boots and shoes. As for the clothes, Tallean females were usually lean and almost model-like in build. She was thinner now than when she'd first been taken from Earth and had lost many of her curves, and might be able to fit into their clothes now, but someone like Roxy, who had knockers worth writing home about, would bust right out.

They walked into the shop as owner and slave, with Berus holding her leash. Cami kept her eyes downcast and acted the part perfectly. It was second nature to her now, and not that bad at all since she knew this was all pretend.

An older, portly female with garish makeup met them inside the shop. She was one of the curviest Tallean women Cami had ever seen who eschewed the norm of slim and svelte. The shopkeeper cooed and fussed over Cami, exclaiming that such a quality, well-trained slave needed to be better dressed.

When Berus asked for shoes and clothing suitable for the wilderness, the shopkeeper looked ready to faint.

"Sir! Look at her delicate bone structure and her soft, thin skin! She's not trained to carry your gear on a hunting trip. She's clearly for the bedroom, or at least in a nice home. You can't bring her out into the wilds. She'll hurt herself and it'll bring down her future market value."

Cami pressed her lips into a thin line, trying her best not to giggle at the shopkeeper's flustered reaction.

"If you need a place to watch her for the duration of your trip, I know a good one. They take good care of their charges, and I know the owner personally. If you give them my name, you can get a discount."

Ah, so that was it. She probably got a kickback for any business she sent there.

"I'm not taking her to the jungles of Vosthea. I am merely visiting friends in a small settlement but a short walk from the stations. Do you have the items I need or not?" Berus was firm.

The female sighed dramatically. "I'll see what I can find."

They ended up leaving the shop with clothes emblazoned with the name of a well-known brand on Earth, the one with the Patagonian Mountain range as their logo. Cami also wore brand-new sneaker-style hiking shoes and a cute raincoat more appropriate for a child because, according to the shopkeeper, the wet season was upon them.

Camila was amused that these things had made it all the way out here to what some residents of the Dominion called the ass end of space.

Berus also somewhat sheepishly bought her a more delicate collar and leash. "It's so that we don't need to borrow Roxy's again," he'd explained when they got back into the transport.

Camila refrained from reminding him that they were dropping her off at Reka 5 after this. Instead, she let him put it on her.

He grinned like a fool the whole time. As someone who had grown up poor in the inner planets, Cami thought it must be fun for him to pretend, even for a day, that he was some well-to-do male with a favorite pet. Since this was all make-believe, it was kind of fun for her too. The new collar was much lighter and almost looked like jewelry, so she didn't mind wearing it one bit.

Berus surprised her with one more stop before they started heading back. This time, they had to walk a short distance through the streets to their destination.

Camila was used to the sleek white and gray buildings that made up most of the inner planets' larger cities. Uctarr had been wealthy enough to own his own building, but even it had been white and gray, clean and high-tech in appearance, just like everything else in the neighborhood.

There were poor neighborhoods too. Slums. She'd seen images of the tightly packed hovels, cubic homes piled one on top of another like alien sardines. Uctarr had told her never to stray near them when she had to make the trip to the market to pick up supplies for the household.

The New Rhean streets they were wandering through weren't like either of those. The buildings here had a rugged quality to them, with exposed industrial elements. It wasn't because of shoddy workmanship; it was almost as if the builders were deliberately showing off the metal beams as part of the design. This was further highlighted by how well-kept everything was.

But even as she was noticing that, Berus turned, leading her down a narrower street, grungier and less well-kept. As he led her into an alleyway and down a flight of darkened stairs, Cami clutched at his arm fearfully. Where the hell was he taking her?

The door was unmarked and stained with rust and… oh …was that blood? Berus tapped on it with a sharp toe claw in a distinct rhythm. Okay, now she was seriously starting to worry.

"Um, Berus?" She tried to read his shadowed face.

He gave her shoulder a squeeze, and before he could say anything, the door opened.

Berus

Berus was about to pound on the door when it opened, and Vasek greeted him. Vasek was a trained medic who had specialized knowledge in the field of technical body mods. He took whatever job was available, mods or not, and had a strict confidentiality clause with anybody he worked on.

He preferred to stay neutral in conflicts, and anyone who tried to force him to pick a side found themselves on the hunt for a new medic the next time they needed help patching themselves up.

Vasek chose to run his business discreetly, never staying put for any length of time. He was usually based out of Vosthea, but whenever things got dicey there, he came here to wait out any life-threatening danger. It had been pure luck that he was currently hiding out on New Rhea.

Berus never understood why the medic chose to operate under such dubious circumstances, especially since Kean's personal medic, Ulkin, had offered him a job in Kean's compound more than once. Regardless, he was one of the few people Berus knew who could alter the information on the chip currently in Cami's leg without Uctarr's code.

Vasek grabbed Berus's forearm in a formal greeting. "Berus, my friend. You are not bleeding to death this time. That is good." Then he noticed Cami. "Why hello… Who's this?"

Cami, who had been watching the interaction with interest, dropped her gaze immediately, falling right back into her role.

"There's no need for the act," Berus said. "Cami, this is Vasek. Vasek, Cami. She is my…" Berus almost called her his female but stopped himself just in time. She was no such thing. "We are dropping her at—"

The other male held up a hand, interrupting him. "It's best if I don't know."

Right. That was how Vasek operated. The less he knew about the people he worked on the better.

Vasek welcomed them into his temporary home and clinic. Berus had messaged him earlier while at the medical depot to ask for his current location, hoping he was indeed on New Rhea,so Vasek had been expecting him. But Berus hadn't mentioned Cami, or the reason why they were here.

"Tell me, my friend, what do you need me to do?"

"There is an information chip in Cami's leg. I wish to have the information on it changed."

"Why not remove it completely?" Vasek asked Cami directly.

"I prefer to keep it," she answered. "If found, I would like to be returned to a friendly face."

"Fair enough." He guided her to a chair that dwarfed her petite frame. "Let's see what we are working with." He scanned her leg, and the chip information popped up on his screen.

Vasek tried his best to keep his face neutral, but Berus saw his expression shift ever so slightly.

"You wouldn't happen to know where a large shipment of Dominion weapons disappeared to, would you?" Again, Vasek asked Cami, not Berus.

"No idea," Cami lied.

Vasek chuckled, giving her leg a pat. Berus reined in his jealousy.

"No tracking on this chip, just identification. Says there's a decent sum for your return."

Cami rolled her eyes so quickly that Berus would've missed it if he hadn't been staring so intently at her. "Uctarr won't honor that. He's lost interest in me. He's got a whole harem of Earth women now."

"I see. Well, this should be easy enough," Vasek said. "Who does she belong to now?"

"Me," Berus said firmly. He turned his comm unit's screen to face Vasek. "Here is my ID code and information. Keep the note listing the sum for her return on the chip. And add another one to contact the New Horizon for my whereabouts. Here's the ship's info."

Berus ventured a glance over at Cami, worried she'd be upset, but she was smiling. Warmth settled in his chest. Berus knew this was just temporary, and she wasn't really his, but for now, it was fun to pretend.

"I don't know how you mercs keep convincing Earth females to live on your ship," Vasek grumbled as he worked.

Berus didn't correct him. Let the male believe Cami was staying with him.

"At least on a ship, there's a home base," Berus said.

"Hey, I have a home base too," Vasek said defensively.

Berus snorted. "Yeah? How many?"

"As many as I need." Vasek slapped his hand lightly on the table. "All right, that's done. According to the information here, she's all yours."

"If you took Ulkin up on his offer to work as a medic in Kean's stronghold, you'd have your choice of females," said Berus, transferring the credits.

"I do not need a female. And I do not take Ulkin's offer because that would entail choosing a side. I work on anyone who needs it on Vosthea. Some of my clients don't like Kean much, and he doesn't like them much back. But I can't leave them to bleed out."

"How do they survive when you're not on the planet? Like right now?"

"It doesn't happen often anymore. Only really dumb idiots try to murder the person who's going to sew their finger back on next week. This was the first time in years. The Dominion sent someone to get me to give up information about a male I treated."

That was not smart on the Dominion's part. Mainly because Vasek rarely knew any details, but also because the last two people who tried to get any had died gruesome deaths. That was the benefit of having saved so many lives: many scary people owed him a life debt if he needed a favor.

"Rumor has it, it's safe for me to head back to Vosthea now. So that's where I'll be if you need me for anything else."

And that was their cue to get moving.

"Thank you for making this pitstop," Cami said as they exited the darkened alleyway toward their transport.

"You are not upset I put my name on the chip?"

"Not at all. Unless you plan on keeping me forever on the Revenge . But even that is much better than being sent back to the Dominion."

Berus wanted her to stay with him on the Revenge , but by choice. "I promised to help you get to Reka 5. I keep my promises." He opened the transport door for her.

"Thank you. So. Do we head out to the wilderness now, Master?" Cami asked with a playful grin when they were inside and alone again.

Berus closed his eyes and blew out a breath. "You are playing with fire, little one."

She just laughed, threw her arms around his neck, and smothered him with kisses.