3. Claire

CHAPTER 3

CLAIRE

S hit shit shit !

A dozen vessels are headed our way. I knock my brother out of the seat and ping them for their id. Please let it be the Federation? Maybe they're on some type of secret mission, and we just happened to pass them by. A coincidence. That's a thing that could happen!

Or perhaps it's a traveling circus! That would be okay too! I'd invite them in, we can have a chat. Sure, they usually don't travel in such large fleets, but there's a first time for anything, right?

The ping comes back.

SHIP ID: CLAN GROMNYR

My blood runs cold. It can't be. It just can't.

Gromnyr is the most feared orc raider in the entire universe. Even among the savage and ruthless orcs he stands out as the undisputed number one.

The prize on his tusked, green head is well over a million credits, but no one has even thought about trying to collect.

We are so, so, so screwed.

"What is it?" Liam asks. "Claire? Yo? What's up? You're freaking me out, sis."

I stare at the screen as my brain just freezes up. This is it. This is how my story ends.

Dad, Liam and Eric will be cut to bits, cooked, and served for dinner. And that's if the orcs are feeling generous! If not, they will have to watch what happens to me first.

I will be at the mercy of an entire clan. The things orcs do to human women… I've read the stories, and they make your blood run cold and your stomach turn into a tight knot.

My body is not made for that kind of punishment.

I very briefly consider manually overriding our engine to make our ship explode into a fiery ball. Death will be near instant and relatively painless. It's probably better than what the orcs will do to us…

But then I think about what mom would do. Mom wouldn't give up. She would find a way. There's always a way. A defense. A play.

I just need to find it.

Come on, Claire. Think .

"Call dad," I tell Liam, my voice trembling. "We have company."

Dad, Eric, Liam and I are all squeezed together into the tiny upper deck. They are staring at the screens as I show them what's coming for us.

"Can we go faster?" Eric says. "Out run them?"

"No," I say. "We're already going at our maximum speed. We could de-couple our load, but?—"

Father shakes his head. "Losing our payday is not an option. We'd be broke without it."

"And we'll be dead if the orcs catch us," I say.

"Dead sounds worse than broke," Liam says.

"Not an option," father repeats.

"Even if we dump our load, they will still catch up to us. Speed is kinda their whole thing, being pirates and all. So it wouldn't work."

"What about weapons?" Eric offers. "Can we fight back?"

I would laugh if I could.

"You can certainly try , Eric," I say. "Good luck piercing their shields with that rickety, rusty gun we have."

"It'll only piss them off," father says.

To my surprise, dad is unusually calm. While the slightest thing sets off his bad temper — overcooked chicken, undercooked chicken, someone changing the ship's thermostat — the reality of being raided by a vicious orc crew doesn't seem to tick him off.

"We only have one option," he says.

"Self-destruct?" I suggest. "Yeah, I thought about that, too. I've already coded in the instructions, just say the word and it's done."

"What? No, silly girl. We negotiate."

I look at my father like he's just lost his marbles.

"Negotiate? With orc pirates? What's there to negotiate? We are sitting ducks! We have no leverage!"

"Uh, yeah, dad, I agree with Claire," Liam says. "This looks pretty grim."

Meanwhile Eric is silent, his face pale.

Our father is resolute. "This is why I'm the captain, children. We negotiate. Don't worry, it's fine. I know what I'm doing. Hail them, Claire."

The orc shuttle docks with our ship. My heart is racing at a million miles and Eric and Liam are sweating bullets, but father seems completely relaxed.

He won't tell us his plan, and I don't like it. I've thought through every scenario, and I can't imagine a single one where we all walk away with our bodies intact. What's he planning?

I can hear the heavy footsteps of the orcs as they approach. Every loud thud makes my heart skip.

The metal door hisses open.

My breath falters and my stomach flutters when I see him.

Gromnyr himself.

The infamous orc pirate king. He's incredibly tall, his large frame taking up the entire door frame. His green face is covered by large tusks, a thick beard, and countless scars.

An axe hangs from his leather pants. His impressive, muscular, deep-green chest is completely bare, and intricate tattoos cover most of his thick skin.

He's so powerful and confident he doesn't even need to wear armor.

The infamous orc pirate's deep red eyes instantly settle on me and my body explodes with heat. My heart races as I flush all over, and I want to do nothing more than to run away, except my legs have turned to lead.

No man has ever looked at me like that.

"I want to make a deal," my father says.

The orc pirate king laughs. His voice is deep and rough, and it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"A deal?" He growls. "You have a lot of nerve, human. Most of your pathetic kind simply abandon their cargo at the first sight of my fleet, but you stuck around. Tell me why I shouldn't cut you down right now. Better make it a good reason, too."

"Because I'll blow us all to bits if you do."

My father opens his palm to show a small, hand-held device. The orc's upper lip twitches as his hand moves to the handle of his axe.

"Not another move," my father says calmly. "Or we're all gone. I've got explosives wired all-throughout the ship, and my fingers are twitchy."

"What if I don't believe you, human?"

"Want to find out?"

I am shocked. I have no idea if my father is telling the truth or not. Is he simply gambling? He did seem awfully calm earlier. This must have been his play all along!

Gromnyr has a look of begrudging respect on that mean, green face of his. "Well played, human. Very well. You wanted to make a deal. What's the deal?"

My father looks at me.

Gromnyr follows his line of sight. The mean smirk on his face spreads. My heart flutters as the orc pirate king nods.

"I accept your offering, human," Gromnyr growls.

Wait, what is happening?

The room is silent for a moment. All I hear is the faint, rumbling of our ship's engine, and the blood rushing to my ears. Liam and Eric seem to be confused as I am, as their bugged-out eyes dart across the room.

Father, however, seems to know exactly what he's doing. He refuses to look at me.

"D-dad?" I say, my voice trembling. "What's happening?"

Gromnyr takes a step towards me. I back away, stumbling into a table, half-expecting Liam or Eric to jump in to save me… but they're both frozen in place.

"You belong to me now, girl," Gromnyr says.

"Like hell I do!"

I reach behind me for the nearest thing to fling at the stupid orc's tusked face. I grab an empty coffee cup and throw it at the pirate king. It simply thuds harmlessly into his chest, falls on the ground, and shatters.

"Feisty," he says.

The orc closes in on me. My back is against the wall as I try to look for a way out, but there's no escape. There's just this giant green wall of muscle in front of me. His musk is so strong, so overpowering that it makes my knees tremble.

I'm close enough to see the patches of silver in his thick beard and the deep lines of the scars running across his green face.

Gromnyr inhales deeply.

"A virgin," he says. "Yes, you will do nicely."

The orc grabs my wrist. His grip is like a vice, powerful and unyielding. I try to break free, but it's impossible.

"Liam! Eric?! Do something!" I stammer, my voice skipping in panic.

"Yeah, uh, dad," Liam says, finally finding his voice. "We can't sell Claire."

"Yeah, dad," Eric agrees as he crosses his arms. "Who else is going to make dinner?"

"Or clean the waste disposal unit?" Liam says, nodding.

"Yeah! Or do the laundry!?"

I simply cannot believe what I'm hearing. Is that what I am to my brothers? Their freaking maid ?! I bust my ass each and every single day to keep his ship running smoothly, and this is my thanks?!

"You two will finally start pulling your weight around here," father says curtly. "Or you can join Claire as an orc-prisoner, if you prefer."

That shuts both of my brothers right up. "No, that's okay," both of them stammer. "This is fine."

The realization on their faces that the free-ride is now over is a very, very small consolation prize for me at this moment.

"Dad!" I shout as I turn my face away from Gromnyr's. "What the hell?!"

"Don't make this more difficult than it has to be, Claire," my father says. "You are making yourself useful for this family, as is your duty. Be proud of that."

Unbelievable. All this time I've just been a bargaining chip to him. An asset. A get-out-of-orc-jail-free-card!

The orc pirate grabs my waist and lifts me up effortlessly. His grip is strong and powerful, and even as I try to resist him, it's beyond hopeless.

I'm Gromnyr's property now.