The Price of Freedom (Saurellian Federation 2)

She was going to live, too. Until that moment, she hadn't quite realized just how much she wanted to.

"Water," he whispered again. She laughed, and pulled herself together.

"Of course," she said. "I'll be right back with water for you."

She turned and hurried out to the main room. He would have to drink water out of the sink. Foul stuff, compared to the filtered drinking water they drank in the main compound. She'd always assumed the slaves got filtered water, too, but if that was the case, she didn't know where it came from. All she'd been able to find was water straight from the recycler, the kind she only used to clean at home…

None of that mattered. He was alive.

But he wouldn't be for long if she didn't get some fluids into him. He must be terribly dehydrated. Not to mention hungry. With that thought, she realized she was already running late with breakfast for the slaves.

And if she were late, they would be late to start their work for the day. Perhaps more likely, they might end up having to work without food. That was no good.

Moving quickly, she brought him the water. He leaned up feebly on one arm, but wasn't able to take the cup himself.

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to help you with this in a few minutes," she said. "Otherwise no one will get their food. I'll be back soon."

With that, she darted back out of the room and headed toward the entrance.

She had to get going with those carts.

* * * * *

He had made a tactical error, Jess thought. He'd wanted her to help him drink the water. It would maintain the fiction that he was still desperately ill. More importantly, she would be forced to touch him.

He wanted her to touch him very much…

He had listened to her, watched her movements as much as possible, all day yesterday. Her smell hung in the air around him. Her skin was pale, very white. It looked creamy and clean. He wanted to know if it tasted as good as he thought it might.

He liked her voice, too. It was soft, and she liked to sing little songs as she cleaned. They sounded sad to him, and he wondered what her life was like. Was her husband good to her? A wave of resentment washed over him. He didn't want to think about her husband..If she had one, it was likely he'd be killed during their escape attempt. For a brief moment he hoped he might be the one to kill him. Hardly the way to win her affections, he thought wryly.

He could hear her coming back. First there was the screech of the outer door opening, and then there was the rattling noise the food cart made as she pushed it. A moment of silence, and the door screeched again. She would make the same trip three times, bring enough food for a hundred men. And the guards wouldn't lift a finger to help her—they never helped the women.

Finally she came for the third time. This time, there were others with her. They joked and laughed among themselves. Noises in the outer room grew louder, and Jess realized the night shift—the blasters—must be passing through, finished with their work. Blasting had ended quite a while back, though. Why had it taken them so long to come up from the mine? He had no idea if this was the normal schedule; the slaves were never allowed out until after the blasters were gone, and the entire complex was locked tight.

The noise died down, and then a new noise began. The main door to the slave barracks was opened, and suddenly the bustle of a hundred men preparing themselves for a day of work flooded the air. The barracks were fully sound-proofed, he realized. Interesting…

The door opened suddenly. He barely managed to drop his head in time, and for one minute he thought she'd caught him sitting up.

"You're safe, it's just me," Bragan said. "I've come to check on you. She's very excited that you're awake, you know…and concerned," he added with a laugh. "She wanted to make sure that I helped you with any 'personal' needs you might have before I leave for the mine."

Jess looked at him, startled. Then a sly grin stole across his face.

"I hadn't thought about that," he said slowly. "This is going to be even better than I thought," he said quietly. Bragan gave him a stern look.

"She's a sweet little thing," he said. "I have to admit, I like her. I don't want you hurting her…"

"I don't plan on hurting her," Jess said. "But remember, she's one of them. And they're the reason we're here. Don't be getting too soft on her just because she's a woman. If we're going to escape this place, people are going to get hurt. Some of them may be women, you know."

"I know," Bragan said. "And I understand what you're saying. I want to get out of here, too. But we're a long way from any kind of successful escape attempt. And remember, you're the only one who doesn't have an implant. We still need to figure out how we're going to be dealing with those, too…Logan wants me to do the surgery. I can't do anything without some kind of pain killer, and she insists she can't get any."

"I have great faith in your abilities, Bragan," Jess said. "You managed to get it out of me without killing me. I'm sure you'll be able to do the same for the others when the time comes."

"And suppose we pull this all off," Bragan said. "What am I supposed to do? There's no one to remove my implant."

Jess stared hard at him.

"We'll find a way to get you out too," he said. Then he grinned. "Look on the bright side. We probably won't survive the escape attempt. Don't borrow trouble, Bragan."

The doctor snorted, then looked to the door.

"I need to get going," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good, all things considered," Jess said. "My head still aches, and I don't have all my strength yet.

But I'm doing considerably better than you'd think"

"Well, try and pretend you're in terrible pain today. I want her to be worried about you, so worried that she'll risk stealing those pain meds," Bragan said. "Before I go, do you want me to help you with your

'personal needs'?" he asked, grinning. Jess glared at him in response.

"I'm fine, thanks," he said. "I'll take care of myself."

"Just don't let her catch you doing it."

"I know what I'm doing," he replied. "You let me and Logan worry about the escape. You think about the best way to remove the implants."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Bragan replied, his tone turning serious. "Otherwise we're all going to die here."

"We're going to die here anyway," Jess said quietly. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather die fighting."