Indentured (Book 2 of the Dana Halliday series)

KEZ'S RESORT. RAV. PAUCITY OF PRONOUNS.

The Tonai incident was the last bit of excitement on the way to Tirza 50. I had no way of knowing exactly how long it took to get there, but my internal clock suggested it was less than a week. I was braced for some other attack, hopefully Adrian coming after me with all the ships the Earth Colonies possessed, but no such luck.

At last, there was something other than blackness outside the window in the Earther suite when I woke up. It was the star at the center of Tirza 50's system, and soon we were approaching the fourth planet, a gas giant named Naiccora.

Tirza 50 is one of the moons of Naiccora. It's far enough from its Jupiter-like primary not to be Chernobyled, large enough to hold a breathable atmosphere, and with enough amenities to support critters as advanced as primitive reptiles. It's a watery planet, like Earth if all the polar ice melted, with a few big continents. There is one major metropolis, Tadscas, on the largest continent of Ipola, and a plethora of smaller communities scattered across the planet's dry land.

I recognized the shape of Ipola as the Det Ge Ler entered parking orbit. Liti and I, as well as the prisoners and other Indentured, were taken down on a shuttlecraft, one of many that cruised away from the ship like bees from a hive. The Fenn girl sat next to me and refused to look out the windows, antennae pressed to her head in anxiety.

I wasn't crazy about it either. The last time I'd visited Tirza 50, it had been via a crash-landing into the ocean, in a shuttle smaller than this one. However, I didn't want to show fear, so I did look out the window. Solid blue streaked with white clouds resolved into the calm seas I remembered from the escape hatch of Novernyi's Mirra.

Richard Fischer kept tossing little obnoxious taunts my way from his seat two rows behind me, until Dross the pirate started yelling at him to shut up. I think it was mostly to annoy the guards, as though we were on a school bus. There was no chance anyone was going to take over the craft, as we were all shackled to our seats.

I glanced over my shoulder and gave Perineb a reassuring smile. The Bruttar woman looked nearly as miserable as Liti, but she tried to smile back. I had eventually taken her to the Earther suite so she could soak in the tub, and she seemed to be feeling better. In front of us, Hul and Tem were silent and gray, Tem shuddering at every little bump of turbulence as we descended.

On the other side of the aisle, Phim perched with her wings wrapped about her like a cloak, staring in frank amazement out her window as we approached Ipola. Behind her, Mr. Strong-and-Silent radiated indifference.

It was close to nightfall down below, and I watched with something like gratitude as the sun slipped behind the globe. It was an unexpected relief to see some markers of time passing.

I had less pleasant feelings as we flew over Tadscas and then kept going. I had spent barely any time there, but it was impossible to mistake: an enormous sprawl of civilization that was nominally Tirzen but had a significant population of most known species. We were low enough to see landmarks: the shipyards, an enormous river—the River Luss—that was five miles across, an Earth-style cathedral, the city-like medical center where they'd taken Natalya and Novi, miles upon miles of houses, shacks, and shanties as we approached the edge of the megalopolis.

"Well, it would've been too easy if we'd landed there," I sighed. 

Liti murmured something under her breath, then began to sing very softly. She knew better than to annoy the guards.

I actually recognized the prayer song, although she sang it a bit differently than Flynt. All Fenn can sing, as it's built into their language, but Liti's voice was thinner than his, a sweet pop singer's voice as compared to a virtuoso. She was still pleasant to my ear, and I rested my head against the cold window, letting the prayer soothe me.