My ship looked strange now I'd been off it for several days. It had been my home for so long, but it was clear that it had seen better days. Now I'd been away from it for a while, I noticed the wear and tear. Panels were scratched and warped where I'd had to remove them so many times. The floor was scuffed and dirty, feet having walked over it for years, dragging in all sorts from markets and planets the galaxy over.I slowly walked through the hallway to the main cockpit, trying to ignore the panels that Icaan had removed so he could get at the components underneath. Alarms blinked on the console, letting me know that the ship had been butchered, but there was nothing I could do. Some of the systems were on so it wasn't such a dead weight flying behind Icaan's ship, but otherwise her life, in at least my service, was probably over.After running my hand across the cons

 I sat in the kitchen, not sure where else to be as I tried to calm down. More than once I'd considered going to my own ship, but I currently didn't dare. I'd made Icaan angry and I didn't want to make it worse.This whole journey felt like it went from bad to worse. Not only was I a slave, but I'd been seduced by my captor rather than trying to get him to soften toward me and my ship had been used for parts while I'd looked on.I wanted to cry again, but I didn't let myself this time. There had to be some way through this mess that I didn't hate. The effort of trying to think through what I wanted and what was possible was almost too much, however."Figured you'd be in here," Icaan said a moment later, making me jump. "Look, I get why you did what you did. And it probably did save us from another run in with Kryan, but you need to run

 It took me some time to work out how to phrase my first question. Not only was I not sure what I wanted to ask, but I wasn't sure where to begin. Even though I'd thought about it while going to sleep it was as if none of it quite made sense in the light of day. All of it I could remember anyway."What's the market like?" I asked as I finished eating. "I mean, I know the general gist. Biggest market in the galaxy, and there's loads of areas. But... How busy is it? How many people are there to actually shop? Will I be sold on right away? Auctioned or price tagged? Is there some kind of shop for human slaves, or an area with cages?""Would you like to slow down so I can attempt to answer all those questions or do you want to make yourself more anxious by spouting all the elements you're afraid of?"I snapped my mouth shut at Icaan's admo

 The two ships were clearly coming after us, the radar showing the one to our left trying to cut across our front while the one behind was gaining ever so slightly.Both were warming guns so I set ours to do the same, and waited for the okay that the first plasma bolts were hot enough to do some damage or take a chunk out of the shield reserves."I'm going to try and avoid being hit more than I'm going to give you good moments to shoot, so bide your time and wait for good moments or make your own moments.""Okay," I replied to Icaan's suggestion. I'd flown like that in the past. It was a technique I was at least familiar with. Plasma wasn't cheap and I didn't like to waste it.Icaan turned the ship to the right, putting more distance between us and the lead attacker for a bit until they shot, he then

 I woke alone again, not entirely sure I wanted to be awake again yet. Yet another day was gone and I was another day closer to not being with Icaan on his ship. The last two days had passed amicably, the two of us continuing to get to know each other and make our way through space. And that left us with just two more before he was likely to sell me.Tomorrow evening. That was when he expected to arrive. It wasn't a happy thought, but I knew what I needed to do. Icaan couldn't be persuaded to keep me and I couldn't be accused of squandering what little time we were getting together. We'd spent more time chatting and fooling around in bed than we had anything else.His ship had held up, and mine was still being towed behind but we had one more dangerous section of space to get through before we reached the market. Icaan was pretty sure we'd get through it no problem, but