Not the Man She Thought (15 page)

She wasn’t so sure of that when a man stepped out of the
shadows to block her path a few minutes later. Deciding it would be best to
ignore him, she lowered her head and made as if to sidestep him, but he cut her
off. Swallowing hard, she lifted her head to look at him. In the dim light of
the street lantern, she couldn’t see the man very well, but she saw enough to
make her afraid of him.

Heart hammering in her chest, she tried to step around him
again, but again, he stepped in front of her. Laken nervously took a step back.
There was no way she was going to be able to get around him. Eyeing him warily,
she took another cautious step back, then turned to run. The man must have
expected her to do just that because he was on her before she could take more
than two steps. Grabbing her arm, he flung her back against the wall of a
building and trapped her there with his body.

“Now, where you goin’ in such a hurry?”

His voice was raspy, his breath hot and sour smelling. Laken
drew in a breath to scream, but he clamped a hand roughly over her mouth.
Leaning in close, he brushed his lips against her cheek.

“Pretty girl like you walking down an alley like this in the
middle of the night means you can only be looking for one of two things. Sex or
drugs. And I’m just the man who can give you both.”

Laken struggled against him, but the man only forced her
back against the stone wall again and pushed up her short skirt. She let out a
muffled scream as his free hand found her bare leg.

Just then, she heard a loud wailing coming from the end of
the alley. The man holding her tensed and lifted his head, indecision on his
face. Then his grip loosened and he let her go. Whirling, he raced down the
alley in the opposite direction.

Laken sagged against the wall, relief coursing through her
as she saw two men in uniform running toward her.

“Thank you...” she began, only to stop in mid-sentence when
she saw that they had their weapons pointed at her.

“Stop where you are!” one of them ordered. “You’re under
arrest.”

Laken stared at them in confusion. “Me? That man just tried
to attack me. He’s the one you should be arresting.”

But the officers didn’t even look in the direction the man
had gone. Instead, one of them kept his gun aimed at her, while the other took
a pair of handcuffs off his belt. She eyed him warily as he moved toward her.

“You can’t arrest me. I haven’t done anything.”

The man with the handcuffs continued to approach her.
“According to our computers, you are not properly coded to be outside of your
present domicile. Additionally, this is a restricted area that you would never
have authority to be in. Those are two felony counts. In accordance with
Section N of Codified Yerel Law, you will be taken to the Detention Center for
punishment.”

Her eyes widened. Properly coded? Detention Center?
Punishment? What was he talking about?

“Wait, you can’t...” she protested, but the officer was
already securing her hands behind her back. “You can’t do this to me. I’m not a
slave. I was kidnapped and brought here against my will.”

Neither officer paid any attention to her. The one who had
handcuffed her dragged her to the security transport while his partner took out
his com out and reported that they had picked up a runaway.

Laken felt tears start in her eyes and she blinked them away
as they shoved her into the back of the transport and locked the door. She had
to stay calm. She would simply prove to them who she was. But how was she going
to do that? She had no ident-card. Even if Rade hadn’t taken it from her purse
that first night on his ship, Enak certainly would have. Besides, she didn’t
think anyone here would really care who she was. As Pammay had said, this was a
slave planet. Everyone had been brought here against their will.

After a short trip, with several other stops in which more
people were thrown into the vehicle with her, the transport came to a stop
outside a huge, gray building. The security officer immediately dragged her and
the others out of the transport and took them inside. The interior of the
building was just as plain, with white walls and institutional-looking
furniture. As the officers led them down a brightly-lit hallway, Laken felt her
eyes burn with fresh tears. Dammit, why hadn’t she just stayed on Rade’s ship
where she was safe?

Coming to a stop in front of a room, the officers opened the
double doors, then herded her and the other prisoners inside. A black-robed man
sat behind a huge desk at the front of the room. Armed guards stood to either
side of him, eyeing the prisoners as if they were animals in a slaughterhouse.

Laken turned to the security officer who had handcuffed her
earlier. “You’re making a mistake. I’m not a runaway slave. I’m the daughter of
a Federation merchant…”

The man turned hard eyes on her. “One more word out of you
and you will be beaten. Is that understood?”

Laken opened her mouth to protest, but then closed it again
as the man’s brows drew together. Something told her that he would make good on
his threat if she disobeyed his order.

“Next!”

She jumped, startled by the gruff-sounding voice. Craning
her neck to see around the man ahead of her, she watched as the other security
officer dragged one of the prisoners forward to stand before the black-robed
man.

“I found him in Sector 2A,” the officer said, referring to
the handcuffed slave. “Improper code.”

The man seated at the desk regarded the slave impassively
for a moment, then look at the handful of people sitting before him. “Do any of
you lay claim to this slave?”

  
No one
answered.

  
Laken
held her breath, waiting to see if the magistrate would ask the slave if he had
anything to say in his own defense. Seeing the way things were run there,
though, she wasn’t surprised when he didn’t.

“Then in accordance with Section N, subparagraph 2.a, you
will be punished for your crime in the manner prescribed and marked as a
runaway for everyone to see. Let us hope you learn from this and change your
unlawful ways.” The magistrate nodded to the officer. “Take him away.”

Laken watched as the security officer dragged the protesting
slave across the room to where two more officers stood. The man who had been
escorting the slave forced him to his knees and held him there while one of the
others grasped the man’s hair and forced his head back. The third officer came
around to stand in front of the slave. He held a metal rod in his hand with
some sort of symbol on the end that glowed orange with the flick of a switch.
She stared at in confusion, wondering what they were going to do to the slave,
only to gasp in horror as the officer pressed the heated metal to the slave’s
cheek.

The slave didn’t cry out, or even flinch. Instead, he
clenched his jaw and glared up at the officers with hate in his eyes as the
brand seared his skin.

When it was over, and the security officer dragged the man
out the side door.

“Next!” the black-robed man called.

Laken stared down at the floor, her stomach churning as they
dragged another slave forward. So, this was what Pammay had meant when she’d
said that what would happen to them if they escaped from Enak would be worse
than what he would do.

Unlike the first slave, the second one screamed when they
branded him. This time, Laken didn’t watch.

“Next!”

One by one, the officers dragged each slave forward to stand
before the man in the black robes. Some of the slaves were stoic like the first
one had been, while others screamed and fought with everything in them. But it
did no good. They all got branded.

“Next!”

The security officer beside Laken grabbed her arm gave it a
sharp tug, jerking her forward so fast she almost fell.

“I found her in an alley in Sector B5,” the officer said.
“In addition to being in an off-limits area, she had no permission code.”

Laken swallowed hard and lifted her head to look at the man
behind the desk. If she tried to tell him she wasn’t a slave, her words would
only fall on deaf ears. So, she said the first thing that came to mind. “It’s
not my fault,” she said, ignoring the officer beside her as he tried to shush
her. “M-my master asked me to run an errand for him. I-I am new and didn’t know
I needed a permission code. I just wanted to serve him quickly, so I went
without question.”

She felt sick just saying the words, She only hoped they
sounded obsequious enough.

The man regarded her shrewdly. “Who is your master, slave?
If he corroborates your story and tells us you were running an errand for him,
then I will certainly take that into account.”

Laken hesitated. Enak would never back up her story. On the
contrary, he would probably take great pleasure in seeing her get branded.

“Slave?” the man prompted when she didn’t answer.

She chewed on her lower lip, wondering if she should make up
a name.

“You try my patience, slave!” the black-robed man said. “In
accordance with Section N, subparagraph 2.a, you will be punished for your
crime in the manner prescribed and marked as a runaway for everyone to see. Let
us hope you will learn from this and change your unlawful ways. Take her away.”

Laken’s heart pounded as the officer dragged her across the
room to where the man with the branding iron stood.

  
“No!”
she cried. “You can’t do this to me! I’m not a runaway!”

Tears ran down her cheeks as the guard pushed her to her
knees and held her there. A hand grabbed her by the hair and cruelly yanked her
head back as the man with the branding iron approached her.

Laken tried to turn her face away, but the man’s grip in her
hair was too tight and she could do nothing but stare in horror at the glowing
metal coming toward her cheek.

“Stop!”

Laken caught her breath, too afraid to even hope, but there
was no mistaking Rade Karsten’s commanding voice.

* * * * *

Rade’s gut clenched. Seeing Laken on her knees, a glowing
branding iron inches from her beautiful face, made him want to pull his weapon
and start shooting right then, the plan he’d come up with be damned. But he
held himself in check, praying what Pammay had told him to do would actually
work. She had briefed him on the ride over to the Detention Center, and while
he had tried to listen to what she’d told him concerning slave-ownership laws
and the punishment awaiting Laken, he’d barely heard a word of it. All he could
think about was getting to Laken before they branded her. The black-robed man
at the desk frowned. “What is the meaning of this?”

“This girl is my slave,” Rade explained. “I demand that she
be released immediately.”

Rade tensed as he waited for the man’s reply. They were
getting Laken out of there one way or another. Keir, Vance, Jorn and Finn were
just outside the door, ready to start shooting if Rade gave the word. He hoped
it didn’t come to that. More than half the people in the place were armed
officers. If someone started shooting, it was going to get messy real quick.

The man seated at the desk scowled. “Sir, we don’t have time
to keep up with your slaves for you. That is your responsibility. Before I
release her, I’ll have to see proof of ownership, and since your property has
violated several laws, you will have to pay a fine as well.”

“Of course,” Rade said. “I completely understand.”

Stepping forward, he handed the man the ownership papers
Pammay had said he’d. Getting them from Enak hadn’t been easy. The man had
refused to hand them over no matter how much Rade threatened him. Luckily,
Pammay had come through again, though, leading him to the desk where Enak kept
his important papers. If it hadn’t have been for her, Rade and his men would
probably be storming the Detention Center now. But she had pointed out that
Laken belonged to whomever held the piece of paper, and having it would make
things much easier. He hoped she was right because the man behind the desk was
giving them an enormous amount of attention.

Finally, he folded the documents and handed them back to
Rade. He then rattled off a fine in an amount that stunned Rade.

After counting the money, the man seated at the desk nodded
at the officer holding Laken. “Release her.” He looked at Rade. “She said she
was running an errand for you. Is that true?”

Rade watched as the man holding Laken lifted her to her feet
and unlocked the handcuffs. “Yes. She ran off before I even realized she’d
left. Apparently, she gets these wild ideas in her head and acts without
thinking of the consequences. If she would just do as she was told, she
wouldn’t get herself into so much trouble. I’ve been trying to teach her the
errors of her ways, but she’s a slow learner.”

The man grunted. “Perhaps she needs a more forceful lesson.
She’s obviously needs a firm hand.”

Rade slanted her a pointed look. “I couldn’t agree more. I
plan on correcting her as soon as I get her back where she should be.”