Journeys of the Shepherd

Chapter 9: Discovered

The girl was hunched behind the crates, she looked terrified. Her face, hands and long dark hair were covered in dust. Luke was struck with pure astonishment, what the hell was this girl doing in the cargo hold of a Union freighter?

'Get up.' Luke said, aiming his revolver at her. She did as he said, and crawled out from between the metal crates. In the stinging brightness of the overhead lights, Luke got a better look at her. She had a slender build, almost to the point where you would think she was ill. Her skin and face were darkened by dust, but he could clearly see the scared and exhausted look in her eyes. The girl was shorter than him, and he guessed her to be no older than eightteen or nineteen years old. She was shorter than Luke, and he guessed her to be around sixteen or eighteen years old. She wasn't wearing any shoes, just a dirt stained tanktop and ripped jeans which looked more like rags. Luke had no idea where this girl came from, but her dirty clothing indicated to him that she had been on this ship for quite some time.

''Show me your hands. Don't try anything funny!'' Luke warned her, still not lowering his revolver. The girl looked tired and harmless, but he wasn't sure what to expect. For all he knew, she might be  hiding a gun or knife behind her back. She raised her hands as he said, and revealed she was unarmed. 

''Who are you?'' Luke asked, but she didn't answer. She continued to stare at him, and he noticed she was trembling.

''Luke, what the hell is taking you so long? We don't have all day!'' The voice of the captain resoned throughout the cargo hold. ''Luke, are you even listening? I asked you to check out -''

The captain stopped in his tracks, as he noticed the girl standing in the light.

A smile appeared on the captain's face. ''Hello there, miss.'' The girl gasped, and stumbled backwards.

''Easy there!'' The captain laughed, and turned to Luke. ''Luke, do you know this person?''

''No, sir.'' Luke shook his head, and shoved his gun back into its holster. ''Never seen her before.''

The captain frowned. ''Where the hell did she come from?''

''Damned if I know.'' Luke responded. ''She was hiding behind those crates.'' He said, and pointed out the stacks.

''Huh.'' The captain said, then he noticed the corpse laying on the floor. ''Did she-''

''No.'' Luke abruptly said. ''He ambushed me, I killed him.''

''Anyone else around here?'' The captain asked him, and looked around the hold.

''Don't think so, it's just her.'' Luke said. ''But what the hell are we gonna do?''

''I'll be honest with you, I am at a loss here, as you can understand.'' The captain said to him. ''But we can't leave her here, that's for certain.''

''Is that the plan? Just take her on the ship?'' Luke asked, he was skeptical. He wasn't keen on bringing this girl on the ship, since they had no idea where she came from.

''It's the only option.'' The captain said, and turned to the girl. ''We will leave this ship in a few hours. It will be abandoned, do you understand that? I'm giving you the choice to come with us.'' The captain said to her.

First she just looked at him, then she slowly nodded. ''Alright then. Follow this man.'' The captain said, and looked at Luke. The girl nodded again, and walked over to them with hesitation. 

''Where should I take her?'' Luke asked the captain. ''Bring her to that empty bunk.'' Luke nodded, he knew where it was. There was a bunk that was empty, after the owner got killed in a raid a few weeks ago. No one had taken his place, so the room wasn't used at moment. ''Come on.'' He said to the girl, and she followed him.