Chapter 2

TWO

032

The ground trembled, and at first I thought it was another prisoner detonating an old explosive, but the sound hadn't come from the direction of the mines.

I took a sip of water and gazed up at the ceiling of my bunker. A few dust showers landed on my head, and I shook the particles out of my short hair. I listened for the sound of 005 and his goons who would surely arrive to investigate. That raised the hair on the back of my neck. I'd worked hard to conceal my bunker and if they found it, they'd raid all my supplies and likely beat the shit out of me just for the fun of it. My hand tightened around my water skin, and I growled. I could take 005 alone, but not his whole crew.

Keeping to myself was what kept me alive all these years, but sometimes a little active defense was necessary. After slipping my knives into my belt loops and slinging an empty sack on my back, I rubbed some dirt onto my face and chest to better blend into the ashy surface of Xal. My skin had darkened over time from the sun, but thanks to my human mother, I was still paler than most of the prisoners.

I ascended the ladder of my bunker and carefully rolled back the concealed trap door a few inches to reveal a pale stretch of sky marred only by a smoke trail. I frowned. "What the fuck?" We weren't due for supplies for a few days, so what had entered our atmosphere?

I almost retreated inside, but curiosity urged me on. Maybe I could find a few supplies from whatever had crashed and then get the fuck out before 005 showed up. I slipped out of my bunker and slid the disguised door shut. After kicking a bunch of ash over it so it didn't look disturbed, I turned and ran at a low crouch to hide behind the nearest rock.

Xal was a wasteland of a planet. Originally full of lush vegetation, it'd been laid to waste by active volcanoes that had covered the ground in a thick layer of gray-ish green ash. The volcanoes weren't active anymore and instead were merely craters carved into the ugly surface. Beneath the ash though, this planet still had something to give—old mines full of fraxis that were a powerful currency in the Gwordian galaxy. As life-sentence prisoners on Xal, we mined to fill a quota established by the Radian Incarceration Board. If we didn't meet that quota, we didn't get food. I'd been here in the early days, before any of us learned how to mine, and I knew what it was like for thousands of hardened criminals to go hungry. Those were the darkest of times. There weren't many of those first prisoners around for a reason.

I peered out over the ashy surface until a thin stream of smoke could be seen in the distance. Squinting, I spotted a silver orb buried in the ground, one side caved in from the collision. I let out a low whistle as I recognized an escape pod. They were designed to locate and land on the nearest planet, but Xal's atmospheric signal scrambled landing gear controls. I was surprised escaped pods still listed Xal as an option, but then maybe the engineers of these things didn't quite realize how lawless Xal had gotten.

There were no safe bases here. No guards. No authority. Just a planet of prisoners who fought tooth and nail over every scrap. Whatever was in that pod surely didn't survive the landing, but there might be something inside I could scavenge.

I listened for the sound of 005, but I didn't hear his low voice or the cackle of his gang. They'd be here soon, I was sure, but I was quick and could steal what I wanted before them even knowing I'd been here.

Inhaling deeply, I took off at a fast sprint toward the escape pod. When I approached, I slowed to a brisk jog before finally coming to a halt beside the pod, which was about the size of a small car, like pictures I'd seen from Earth. The front of the pod was covered in dark glass that made it impossible to see inside. Maybe its detachment from its mother vessel was a mistake and there was no one inside, which was a possibility.

The door latch had been damaged in the crash, and it took a whole lot of grunting and swearing while I braced my feet on the pod walls and tugged with all my strength before the door popped open. I fell onto the dirt with a curse before hopping to my feet and wiping off my hands.

Now it was time to scavenge. I took a step toward the pod just as one thin brown arm emerged from the opened hatch and slapped the outside of the pod.

Something coughed inside, and then the silver head of a Radian female emerged. She peered at me, all wide, pale blue eyes and bloodied nose. One triangle ear was bent. Suddenly her vettes flashed a distressing white, and she let out a terrified screech that immediately had me lunging at her and slapping my hand over her mouth.

Her chest heaved, and she struggled weakly as her throat worked. I realized that I'd covered both her mouth and her nose, as her face was tiny, and I separated my fingers just enough so she could suck in air through her nostrils.

"Do. Not. Scream," I growled at her. If she did, then 005 was the least of our problems. The entire fucking population of Xal would descend on us like a rushing tide of lava. "Or we're both dead."

I couldn't quite figure out why I was so concerned whether this Radian female lived or died. And by the looks of her, dressed in a flashy gown and adorned in jewelry featuring the very stones I mined with my blood and sweat, this one wasn't some minor Radian female. She was someone important just like the Radians responsible for sending me to this fucking planet.

I yanked my hand back in disgust as I crouched over her. She trembled from head to toe, but kept her full lips pressed together as she stared at me. Her vettes gave her away, still blanched a nearly translucent white in her terror. Good, she should be afraid of me.

Her hair was a mess, her dress torn, and a cut on her forehead pulsed thick blood. How she survived the crash was impressive.

"Is this—?" her voice was low and raspy and did something to my gut. "Is this Xal?" She spoke Radian, as I had. I was half-Radian after all.

I tapped the prisoner number tattooed onto my chest. "Where else you get these?"

She swallowed and nibbled her bottom lip. "Can you… take me to the guards? Please?" She fumbled with the rings adorning her fingers and tugged one off before trying to shove it into my hand. "I can pay you with this. With any of this." She gestured to her necklace. "If you help me, I'm sure my father will pay?—"

I let the ring fall to the ashy ground. "Jewelry isn't worth anything here, princess. We barter only in food and flesh."

She sucked in a sharp breath, and her eyes dropped to my chest. Her vettes colored a pale pink for just an instant before she jerked her gaze back to my face. Interesting.

"I—" she licked her lips as she stumbled to her feet. I rose with her, towering over her short form. "I don't have food and—" Her breathing sped up, and she looked seconds away from a panic attack.

Radian females were famously attractive, and I had to say that this one was one of the prettiest I'd ever seen. Frankly, Radian females were born to be fucked and bred. Wide hips, massive tits, and a pussy that milked cock.

Any other prisoner would have had her dress torn off already, but I wasn't any other prisoner. I didn't want anything to do with Radians. There were many times I wished I could cut my father's genes right out of my body. I was what they called a humian, and if I had run into this female any other place in this galaxy, she would have looked down her flat nose at me. I was below her, less than, and while I should have enjoyed the power I had over her in this moment, it mostly just made me sick.

Suddenly a loud whoop rent the air, and I recognized the sound immediately. 005 was on his way. He'd have his gang with him, and what they'd do to this Radian female would have her wishing she'd died in the crash.

I blew out a breath as her panicked gaze swung toward the sound. The ground shook with the pounding of footsteps. "Wh-what's that?" she whispered.

"The locals," I muttered. I pushed her aside and rooted around in the escape pod for any supplies I could scavenge. In my sack, I shoved some freeze-dried food, an extra blanket and a few changes of clothes. There were some other things I didn't have time to study, so I shoved them all in my bag. Glancing at the screen, I chewed on the inside of my cheek.

Now outside of the pod, the female was tying her dress between her legs. Her hands shook so badly that she could barely tie a knot. "What are you doing?" I asked her.

She glanced up, eyes nearly bulging with terror. "Getting ready to run."

I straightened and stared at her. I had expected her to stand frozen in terror. She looked like she just came from some sort of gala. When was the last time she ran? Radian females weren't made for defense or sport. They were made to be fucked and carry offspring.

Suddenly her hand lashed out, and then she backed up slowly, one of my knives in her hand. She swung it to me, before whirling around and brandishing it in the direction of the ever-increasing whoops.

She licked her lips and crouched as if preparing to fight, and I'd truly never seen anything so ludicrous in my life. First of all, 005 alone would have been able to knock the knife out of her hand, and second, he would only see it as a way to gain a weapon himself. One he'd use on her. I could only imagine what he'd do to her with it…

"Fuck," I spat at the ground. All I had to do was keep my head down and survive, but my stupid curiosity had led me to this dumbass female who had no idea what lay for her in a few moments. Still, she was going to fight. Run. Her survival instincts were strong.

And that was what made me turn and smash my fist through the screen on the escape pod. She let out a shriek and pointed the knife at me, but I ignored her as I reached my fingers into the pod's signal locator and ripped it out of its slot.

" What are you doing ?" she shouted. "You broke the pod."

"It was already broken, princess," I muttered. "This thing only goes one way, and that's down."

I grabbed her, and she stabbed at me ineffectually with the knife. I snatched it from her easily and slipped it back into my belt before dragging her away from the pod. "Hey!" She clawed at me with manicured hands while digging her heels into the ashy ground. "Let me go."

I peeled back my lips and snarled at her. "You have two choices. Stay here and meet the pack of violent prisoners about to crest that ridge. Or you can come with me." I shook her so hard her teeth clacked together. "So, who's it going to be? Them or me?"

Her vettes once again flashed a dull pink. Blue eyes glowing, silver hair blowing in the breeze and that ridiculous gown billowing around her legs, she swallowed and gave me a defiant little tilt of her chin. "You," she whispered.

I ignored the way that one word tightened my chest. We sprinted toward my bunker and had just ducked behind a nearby rock when 005 and his crew dotted the skyline as they crested the distant hill.