a.k.a. Katana

Chapter Nine

"Are you Jundid? Walk with me. I have information about your boyfriend you'll want to hear." Kokin said in even tones. Jundid's dark eyes widened. "Lendon? What has he done now?" Jundid asked pushing his chunky fingers into his hair. Kokin turned and strode quickly outside the lobby without answering. Jundid followed.

Kokin walked toward the edge of the busy street and lit a cigarette. "When was the last time you saw him?" Kokin asked avoiding Jundid's gaze. "This morning when I left for work. Who are you?" Jundid demanded.

"You wanna know when I last saw him?" Kokin sneered, ignoring the question. Jundid tried to piece all the information together. Finally, he sighed and asked, "How much does he owe you?" Kokin ashed his cigarette and turned to the large soft mass of a man standing distraught beside him. "Katana." Kokin answered cooly. "What? The dark headed girl? I don't understand." Jundid answered shifting his weight from one foot to the other nervously.

Kokin assessed the look in Jundid's deep brown eyes. There was worry in them. He was stressed but genuinely confused. He was not part of the kidnapping.

"He took Katana. I saw them in a row boat with some other rather large men going to S'Pall Z'Bomi. Know anything about that?" Jundid's shoulders fell and he looked at the pavement for a moment before letting the information spill out of him.

"Lendon goes there often. Well, as often as he can. I've been, but it's not really what I'm into, yes?" Kokin nodded and Jundid continued, "It's not cheap. It costs five zells just to ride to the boat. There's a lot of partying, drugs, sex, alcohol. If they took Katana, it was only to work, not for sex. They don't take women for...that. Lendon probably owed them money and gave them Katana as payment." Jundid met Kokin's sharp, hazel glare, "I'm sorry, I liked Katana, she was a sweet girl. I'm truly sorry."

"You've been on the boat before?" Kokin inquired hoping to get some kind of information out of him that would give him some advantage. "Only twice, and at night. It's confusing and dark. Once the boat fills up, they sail farther out to sea. I have no idea where they go. You can't just walk onto the ship either. There's a screening process or you have to be invited."

Kokin took a long drag on his cigarette while he mulled over the few clues Jundid had provided. He threw the end of the cigarette on the ground, "Where might Lendon be now?" He asked. Jundid slapped his palm lightly but his eyes darted toward the hotel, "I don't know. I-I really am sorry about what happened but I don't see any way of getting her back. That place is full of those big guys with knives and who knows what else. I just don't know what more I can do to help you."

Kokin glared at him, the gold in his eyes flashing dangerously. He gritted his teeth, "Take me to Lendon."

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The work was difficult, physically as well as mentally. The alternative though was unpleasant to say the least. Jumping overboard and swimming to shore wasn't an option. It seems like it would be easy to swim a mile, but there were a lot of other factors to take into account. For one, Katana didn't know how far it really was, a mile was just a guess. But she also had to take into account the tides and currents, the waves and the fact that it was chilly enough on the deck to make her teeth chatter. Who knew how cold the water was.

So she put that thought aside. She told herself that she would try to think up escape plans when she knew more about the ship and the people. It would take time and careful planning.

Escape planning was the only mental activity that allowed her to keep a hold on her sanity. She took note of every nook and cranny, every tool, every conversation... Kindness was in short supply. Another group of workers fought her, held her down and stole her shoes last night. Very few people were actually friends with anyone. The hired hands kept everything professional and the Free Laborers (Katana couldn't admit to the word slave) fought each other for every scrap of resource like half-starved dogs.