Chapter Twenty-Two

A hand on the butt of my laser pistol, I strolled down the gangplank and surveyed the labyrinth of thousands of floating shanties surrounding the spaceport.

Gliese hadn't changed. The same thick gray-black sludge floated on top of the once pristine water. The stench of waste warred with the suffocating smell of rotten fish.

Anchored to the walkway was a makeshift flatboat crammed with an assortment of vendors hawking their wares. The bustling marketplace sold everything from smoked fish to illegal drugs. The narrow pathway was jammed with shoppers.

A half-naked child rowed up in a dugout filled with bottles of brackish water. "Fresh water. For you only one dinar."

I gave him five dinars. "Buy food for your family."

"Thank you, my lady." He paddled away.

I was back and their reign of terror was ending.

"Ready?" Jedrick held out his hand.

"I am." I entwined my fingers with his.

"Wait for me," Ted hollered, slipped on the wet planking, and fell into the slimy water.

Jedrick exhaled a long breath and pulled him out.

"Him stink,"Esme whined.

I grinned. "That he does, but Ted is part of our family now."

This isn't the end, but the beginning.

Next up is book two –The Feral's Beast