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good, because if Stella was on the
ship, there was a good chance he’d find her. And if not ? Ben tried not to think about
that.
    He stepped carefully around the other
prisoners as he searched, averting his eyes where possible,
ignoring what he saw when he couldn’t. Several of them were
bleeding, and some lay in their own vomit. The smell of human
excrement was thick in the air. He covered his nose and breathed
through his mouth.
    “ Stella?” he called out
again. “Stella, are you here?”
    “ Who are you looking for?”
a black-haired woman asked, sitting against the wall with her knees
tucked tightly against her chest. The light was dim, but she
appeared to be in her mid-thirties. From her accent, Ben guessed
she was from one of the Lagrange settlements at Kardunash
VII.
    “ I’m looking for my
sister,” said Ben. “She’s about half a head shorter than me with
brown hair down to her shoulders.” As he talked, he discretely
covered himself with his hands and averted his eyes so as not to
stare directly at her. She showed him the same courtesy.
    “ Which ship were you on?”
she asked.
    “ We were on a ferry shuttle
at Kardunash IV when the attack happened. A passing freighter took
us in—the Sierra Vista , I think.” As if it mattered. “Then the Hameji boarded us.
That’s all I remember.”
    “ I was on a small
freighter—the Winter
Aegis .” A tremor in her voice made him
glance at her face. Her cheeks were pale, her eyes wide—both signs
of shock.
    “ What’s your name?” Ben
asked, leaning against the wall.
    “ Ava,” she said, turning to
face him. “Yours?”
    “ Ben.”
    She nodded. “I’m looking for someone
too. My husband. Have you seen him?”
    “ What does he look
like?”
    “ He’s tall, short black
hair, in his early thirties—though I guess you can’t tell in this
light.”
    “ No,” said Ben. “I haven’t
seen anyone like that—not that it means anything.”
    “ I guess we’re on the same
starship then—literally and figuratively.” She laughed at her own joke, but
tears soon streaked her pale, frightened face. Ben felt an urge to
reach out and comfort her, but hesitated, worried that it would be
too unseemly of him.
    They both fell silent. Ava rose to her
feet, keeping her arms close to her chest and her legs pressed
tightly together. Ben looked the other way.
    “ The nudity is
psychological,” he told her. “They’re trying to make us feel weak
and powerless by stripping us down like this.” And doing a hell of a good job at it, too.
    Ava glanced at him and smiled weakly.
“Well, if that’s all it is…” her voice trailed off as she glanced
around the room. “I hope they haven’t hurt him.”
    Ben’s cheeks burned with
sudden anger. Even if Stella wasn’t on this ship, he could imagine
her in a stinking cargo hold much like this one, naked, alone, and
scared out of her mind. If they’ve done
anything to hurt her—
    A loud clang sounded from somewhere
beyond the walls, reverberating through the floor. Bright light
shone through a rapidly opening freight door to his left, stabbing
his eyes. He squinted and peered into the light, catching sight of
several figures marching into the room. Their footsteps sounded
heavy against the hard metal floor.
    Soldiers.
    As his eyes adjusted to the light, he
saw them haul the prisoners off one by one, starting on the far
side of the room. Awake or only half-conscious, it didn’t
matter—they took everyone without exception.
    “ Oh no,” Ava said, leaning
into him so that their bodies made contact. “Where are they taking
us?”
    “ I don’t know,” said Ben.
“I’ve heard, though—”
    “ What have you
heard?”
    He swallowed, remembering the frozen
bodies at Tajjur. “I’ve heard this is where they separate
us.”
    “ Why? What for? What are
they going to do?”
    “ I don’t know,” Ben lied.
He fought back his growing nausea.
    All too soon, the soldiers reached
them.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Stella