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was going to give him anything for it. Lot of bother for nothing, in Marl’s opinion. Why not just space ’em? That’s what he’d have done.
    He pantomimed being thirsty, needing a drink, and the big kid pointed at a bottle of water inside the makeshift jail.
    Marl noted that the kid was not about to come right up to the net and seemed to be trying to hold his breath. That was understandable. To his surprise, Marl found he had been doing the same thing ever since he came to. He definitely was not looking or smelling his best, but that was Khorii’s fault. Going off like that without making sure he had water or power. Bloody inconsiderate alien cow.
    Or mare or nanny goat, judging from her more exotic attributes. Those didn’t interest him at the moment, though he was sure she was nearby.
    He pantomimed bathing to the kid next. The obliging oaf said something in his local gibberish over the com and got an answer in the same language. A short time later another big kid showed up with a bundle of clothes and some soap. Behind him was another carrying a huge hose. The first kid slipped the soap through the mesh with a flip so it landed where Marl could reach it. Then, without waiting for him to undress, the guard hosed him down with such a powerful blast it knocked him on his ass.
    Marl swore again, and the kid aimed the blast at his head, nearly drowning him. Inhumane treatment of a prisoner that was. Definitely have to report the kid, though that was a laugh. Nobody to report anybody to left anymore. That was what Khorii and her gang didn’t get. They were on their own now. They made the rules. One of these days he would make the rules; and then this giant jerk had better watch out. Marl Fidd never had been one for reporting people so much as repaying them, with interest, for any injury, insult, or other failure to recognize that he was definitely a power to reckon with.
    The kid didn’t get it for sure. He calmly waited until Marl undressed and soaped up, then hosed him again with definite glee.
    The water shut off, and Marl stood there shivering as the puddle drained away into the deck’s recycling system. While his buddy watched, the big kid unbolted the edge of the net and pulled it aside far enough for him to give the bundle to Marl.
    Once Marl’s hands were full, the kid immediately left again and re-bolted the net. This made a dandy brig, okay. Have to remember this arrangement when he took over the ship next time. Good holding pen for extra crew members he might need later.
    The bundle was wrapped in a towel, which Marl used with one hand while keeping the clothing dry under his other arm. They could have at least put a bunk in here.
    He opened the clothing bundle and another bottle of water and three nutrient bars fell to the deck. After the rich food he’d prepared for himself on the mansion’s gas range, this was a bit of a comedown. However, his head ached, and his stomach still roiled from the wine of the night before. He’d gone through the best years in the kitchen’s supply within the first couple of months. He had been down to the cooking sherry and was appalled that the mansion’s chef had been gypping his employers by using such inferior swill.
    The clothes were not a bad fit, standard shipboard gear for most crewmen, and as soon as Marl was dressed again he fastidiously dried off a patch of deck close to the bulkhead and sat down to pull on the soft slippers thoughtfully included in his care package. Must be the doing of one of the females, he thought. Women fancied him, though ones like Jaya and Bates pretended to be disinterested or even repulsed. Just being coy, he reckoned. Sooner or later, one way or another, they’d all come around.
    The big kid and his buddy sat down— they had cartons to sit on and one between them on which they began playing cards. He went over to the net to kibitz, for want of anything better to do, but all their remarks were in Spandard, and they ignored his.
    He