Indentured (Book 2 of the Dana Halliday series)

KENNELS. MIDNIGHT OIL. THE WINGED.

Kez let us go after a mercifully brief amount of time. Wys escorted me out of the den and to the nearest lift. We were going to the lower levels.

"What now?" My head throbbed distantly under the drugs.

"We are transporting new Indentured and some prisoners. I'd like you to take a look at them, in case any need medical attention."

"What's the difference between Indentured and prisoners?"

"The prisoners have committed serious crimes. Crae Kez operates a penal facility at his compound on Tirza 50. Indentured are generally paying off a debt, or sometimes our particular government will offer minor criminals the option in lieu of imprisonment."

"Which was Cua?"

"The Pemlo'hban Champions are...muscle for hire, I think is the right phrase. Many species hire them for security, peacekeeping, that sort of thing. Cua failed to prevent the theft of a ship at one of Kez's other facilities, so she was Indentured to pay for the loss. She enjoyed combat for sport, though."

"Too bad for her." I crossed my arms and leaned on the wall, for a moment closing my eyes against my various aches and pains. "What's your title, Wys?"

"What do you mean?"

I gestured at her uniform. There were unfamiliar patches and insignia on the sleeves, collar, and belt. "In my head, I keep calling you 'captain,' and I was just wondering if that was anywhere close to correct."

"I don't know your military ranking systems. It's 'Kerr,' since you asked, although I'm done with the military." Wys plucked at a bit of black-and-gold braid on her left sleeve. There was a disdain to the motion, somehow, and a thin bitter edge to her tone. "This indicates that I'm retired, with honors."

My Earwig caught the rank-word and rendered it as "lieutenant," although that was probably just in a generic sense. Despite being set to American English, it said, "leff-tenant," in the British manner. I wondered what Adrian was doing right that second.

"Kez was the best you could do? You seem pretty competent."

"Thank you." She didn't acknowledge my question. "Kerr is a fairly high rank. I was first officer on a battleship."

"How old are you?"

Wys grinned. "Old enough to have served the maximum tour of duty allowed. Young enough to still be useful."

"Do you have a family?"

"Doesn't everyone? Do you?"

"Not much left that I'm close to."

"Me either."

We arrived at what I thought was the lowest level of the Det Ge Ler. Wys checked the gun at her hip. "Stay close to me."

"Can you fire a gun on a ship? Seems contraindicated."

"You can if you're as good as I am," Wys replied. "But obviously I won't use it unless I have to. Now, pay attention."

There were several rows of buttons by the door of the lift, all with unfamiliar symbols. Wys pressed four of them in sequence, and I cemented the pattern in my mind. "Is that Sturv writing?"

"Oploki. I'll allow you to come and go from the Earther suite as you wish, so long as you behave yourself. It's the same code to get back on the lift, and to open the door to the stairs if you need to leave quickly. Do not exit on any other floors."

The lift doors opened.

We stepped out into a large, barren room, like a cold, unfinished basement. I assumed it was for storage or cargo or whatnot, but it had been sectioned off into...well, being a vet, I elected to think of them as kennels rather than cells. Along the walls were eight concrete enclosures with steel doors. Each was about twelve by twelve feet, and each door had a window covered in heavy mesh.