8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Nala

I don’t feel guilty. I don’t. I really don’t feel fucking guilty about stealing from Faelin. He’s a mercenary. God only knows where he got the money in the first place. He probably murdered someone for it. Or killed a puppy. Or killed someone, then slaughtered a hundred puppies before setting fire to an orphanage. Dammit!

I clutch the bag containing the stash box tightly as I walk down the station’s corridors. I’ve checked and indeed, there’s a shit-ton of money inside. It might just be enough to get Ellen and me out of here. It might not. I will have to see about that later. Now, I have to hurry because I’m running late.

According to station time, it’s early morning, but the ever-present lighting in the hallways never dims. The number of pedestrians shuffling to and fro never slows either. It’s like an all day buffet in this place. One mob leaves just in time to be replaced by another, sometimes rowdier lot.

Farpoint Gateway is a bustling port where ships of all sizes, makes and models dock in the hangar bays, droids shuffle cargo to and fro and people rush around on their way to do business or just have fun in one of the station’s many establishments. It’s a constant hive of activity, which serves me well as it provides a never-ending stream of new customers, eager to experience something exotic—and pay for it handsomely.

One would think that in such a busy hub, blending in with the crowd and catching a ride on board one of the many leaving ships would be easy, but I know better. Drayth has spies everywhere.

Last time someone spotted me talking to a freighter captain, he sent his men to my room. They took away Ellen’s bed. Just the bed, nothing else, but I got the message.

I rush down familiar streets, then nod at the male guarding the back entrance to Drayth’s residence. All of the guards know me well enough to let me pass without question.

I head down a flight of stairs and raise my hand to knock on the door in front of me. Not even five seconds later, it swooshes open. “MAMA!” A black and orange blur wearing a pink dress barrels into me, knocking all of the air out of my lungs. “I missed you!”

My eyes tear up at the sight of my beautiful little girl. I quickly blink the tears away. I can’t cry in front of her. “I’ve missed you too, little chipmunk.” I tickle Ellen’s ribs, my heart melting at her happy squeals.

“You’re late,” Mu scowls at me, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“I know, I’m sorry. It was a long night, but it was worth it.”

Mu shrugs, indifferent as usual. “Whatever. Conference room on the second floor. There was a party last night. It has to be cleaned up before lunch.”

I internalize my groan. Drayth’s parties tend to be huge and messy. It will take me hours to clean it all up, and I’m already exhausted after the night spent with Faelin. I lost count of how many times we had sex. At one point, I nodded off and woke up to his tongue between my legs. Another time, I was the one to wake him with my mouth around his cock. Don’t blame me. He has a great cock.

The fact that the night was amazing only made this morning so much harder. I know what I did was wrong, but as I tighten my arms around the most precious little angel in the entire universe, I no longer regret stealing from Faelin. He’ll get over it, eventually.

In the meantime, I’ll have to lie low, in case he comes after me, wanting his money back. Fortunately, I know this station like the back of my hand and I have plenty of experience at avoiding people I don’t want to see.

I yawn, only realizing that I’m still in Mu’s room when Ellen tugs on my hand. “Oh. Right.” I rub at the bridge of my nose. “Second floor conference room, got it. I’ll get it done. Thanks, Mu.”

She merely grunts.

Ellen keeps chatting as we head up to the second floor. “... on her wall, but she didn’t like it. Everything is so gray, I wanted to make it pretty.”

“What?” My brain is too sluggish today to keep up. “Ellen? You drew on Mu’s wall?”

Ellen pouts, puffing out her tiny bottom lip. “She made me clean it up. She’s no fun.”

“Ellen…” I groan, imagining how difficult it will be for me to get Mu to babysit my overly creative daughter again. Then I open the conference room door and groan anew.

“Yuck! What a mess!” Ellen exclaims, her tail flicking from side to side as she observes the room. She darts over to pick up a crinkly wrapper. “This goes in the bin, right Mama?”

I smile, but it’s a weak one at best. “Yes, chipmunk, very good. But please, don’t touch anything else, alright?” I quickly scoop up two other wrappers. Ellen no doubt thinks they’re from ration bars, but I know better.

O is the most common drug in this sector and is sold in pressed bars that look like candy, all the way down to the colorful wrappers. Ellen getting her hands on one and unknowingly eating it is one of my greatest fears. But as bad as that might be, sadly, it’s not my worst fear for her.

The conference room resembles a pigsty. Ellen insists on helping me with the fervor of a bored four-year-old, so I have her wipe the table and chairs down while I scrub what I assume are dried cum stains off the sofa.

Why the fuck can’t Drayth’s goons hold their stupid sex parties somewhere else? Cleaning up their jizz isn’t even my job. It’s Mu’s, but I take on her responsibilities in exchange for her babysitting services. Even with me offering to clean up after these disgusting parties, it took a lot of time to convince her to babysit.

Ellen is correct about one thing—Mu isn’t fun. It’s not her fault, though. Mu is a Genixarian, a race commonly known for their lack of emotion. Mu isn’t a kind and caring babysitter, nor is she an eager one, but she took pity on me when she didn’t have to. I don’t know what I would do without her.

Thank god we’re done with the cleaning in good time because just as I pick up the cleaning supplies, Drayth’s scowling assistant enters, her sharp beak snapping, “This room better be ready.”

“It is,” I agree, reaching for Ellen’s hand. “We’re just leaving.”

“Good.” She snaps her beak again. “Remove yourselves then.”

Bitch. I swallow back my angry retort and lead Ellen out of the room. My little girl looks like she wants to say something very rude, but I shush her. We don’t need to make any more enemies in this place.

Back in our tiny bedroom, I finally heave out a relieved sigh. I made it through another day. Now I get to choose between spending some time with Ellen or catching a few hours of sleep before heading out again this evening. It’s not a choice at all.

I settle on Ellen’s little bed, patting the spot beside me. “So, what did you do all afternoon yesterday? Beside drawing on Mu’s walls?”

Ellen twirls, the skirt of her pink flowy dress billowing around her. The color should look ridiculous. The black and pale orange stripes covering her skin should logically war with the Barbie pink color of her dress. But all I see is beauty and perfection.

Just thinking the word “perfection” has me cringing at the thought of Faelin calling me his perfection. Well, I’m sure he’s chosen a few different names for me now.

“I got a new doll! Do you want to see it?” Ellen beams, blissfully unaware of my inner turmoil.

“Of course,” I agree, masking my concern with fake excitement. I buy her things whenever I can spare a few galactic units, but I haven’t gotten her anything recently. I can’t picture Mu buying a gift for Ellen either, and I don’t have any other friends in the residence.

Ellen pulls a beautiful plastic doll out of her backpack. The doll is a Syndoran female, striped black and orange, her colors a little more vibrant than those of my daughter. Ellen is half human, so she has mostly human facial features, unlike the doll which has the typical Syndoran flat nose and fangs protruding from her mouth. It’s a beautiful toy and just by looking at it, I can see that it was expensive.

I turn it in my hands to examine it, pretending to admire the doll’s leather outfit. “She’s great! Where did you get her, chipmunk? Did Aunt Mu give it to you?” I ask, praying for her to say yes, even though I know Mu would never buy anything for Ellen.

Ellen shakes her head. Her wild black curls, courtesy of my African heritage, bounce around her face. “Not from Mu. It’s from Uncle Krell.”

Blood freezes in my veins as I force out a smile. “Uncle Krell?” I choke out, praying to every god I can think of that Ellen doesn’t hear the rising panic in my voice “Who’s Uncle Krell?”

“Master Drayth’s friend,” Ellen replies, smoothing down the doll’s long hair. “He came to play with me yesterday. He has stripes, like me, but his are darker.”

A full-blooded Syndoran, then. They were usually nice and respectful, but there are always rotten apples. Like Ellen’s father. “He played with you? What did you play?” My voice trembles and I close my eyes to stop the tears from escaping. If Ellen says they were playing “doctor”, I’ll strangle Drayth with my bare hands.

“We played on Master Drayth’s console,” Ellen replies, bouncing on the bed in excitement. “He has so many games!”

So Drayth brought her to his rooms. And “Uncle” Krell is what? A prospective buyer?

I’m glad I’m not holding the doll anymore, because my fists clench so hard I’d break the stupid thing. “I’m glad you had fun, chipmunk,” I manage to say, the words like acid on my tongue. “What did you talk about with Uncle Krell? Was he just visiting Master Drayth?”

Her words shatter my hopes. “No, he said he came to see me. He’s my friend! And he said that next time, he’ll bring me a hovercraft for my doll! The one you always said was too expensive, Mama,” she chides.

“It is, chipmunk.” The dolls are expensive already, but the miniature accessories can make a dent even in the fattest credit accounts. “Uncle Krell must really like you.” The fucking pedophile.

“He said I was pretty.” Ellen preens. “Even though my face and hair are like yours and not like his. Or hers,” she adds, pointing at the doll’s smooth black waves. “He liked my dress, too, and asked what else I like to wear.”

“That’s great,” I push through gritted teeth, my smile more of a grimace at this point. I want to punch something. Someone. “Oh, I just remembered I must speak to Mu about something. Why don’t you play here for a bit until I get back?”

Ellen hugs the doll, grinning. “Yes, Mama.”

I storm over to Mu’s room and bring my fist down on the door. She opens it, glaring at me. “What?”

“Why didn’t you tell me that Drayth took Ellen to his rooms yesterday?!” I don’t ask why did Mu allow him to take Ellen. She’s as trapped here as I am.

Mu shrugs, her gray face giving out the same level of emotion as the bare gray walls of her room. “The child was going to tell you. There’s nothing you can do about it, anyway.”

“Nothing I can do about it?! We’ll see about that!”

“You always knew this was coming, Nala. Children are too valuable on the black market, even hybrid ones. You can birth another offspring, can you not?”

I punch the wall to avoid punching Mu’s face. It’s not her fault she doesn’t understand. I don’t think she can.

The Genixarians don’t have families and they don’t understand the bond between a parent and child. They’re created in labs, grown in artificial wombs, and raised by their government to suppress whatever individuality they might possess. Mu has never had an emotional attachment to anyone, so she can’t possibly understand why I’d risk everything for Ellen.

“I don’t want another child,” I say as calmly as I can manage, which isn’t much. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let Drayth sell my daughter to some fucking pedophile,” I spit out as I storm out of Mu’s room.

I still have nightmares about the day Ellen was born. How Drayth’s goons wrenched her out of my arms and carried her away. How I screamed and crawled after them, pain searing through my abdomen, blood coating my thighs. How they just kept walking away.

The only thing that saved me was that my little girl didn’t want to live without me, either. Her vitals plummeted and within hours, she was on the brink of death. That was when Drayth reluctantly admitted that taking a minute old newborn from her mother wasn’t the best idea and allowed me to keep Ellen with me. How gracious of that fucker, right? God, I hate him so much.

He forbade Ellen from ever leaving his residence, hence keeping me here on an invisible leash. Alone, I could escape the station if I tried really hard, but leaving my daughter behind? The bastard knows I’d never do that.

As Ellen grew, he watched her with greedy eyes. I knew he never gave up on the idea of selling her, but I hoped I’d have more time to plan my escape.

Any lingering guilt for stealing from Faelin has definitely disappeared only to be replaced by gratitude. I’m glad I met him and beyond grateful he was carrying all of that money. Without it, I’d have no hope in hell of getting Ellen out of here.

Faelin might be a nice guy. Hell, he’s more than nice. He’s amazing. Even the mere memory of him makes me smile. But Ellen comes first. Always. I’d steal from Faelin a thousand times over if it meant that Ellen won’t be bought by some sick, perverted fucking alien.

It’s time I put this money to use and get the hell out of here. I think I can pay for passage off the station for both of us, but the main problem is getting Ellen out of Drayth’s residence. Both entrances are heavily guarded and while the guards know to let me through, they have strict orders to keep Ellen inside at all costs.

I’ll figure something out. I have to. I refuse to consider the alternative.