Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Three days later, we dock at a station. I haven’t said much about anything. I’m letting my mates think I’m giving my mission up. The station is pretty filthy and criminal in nature, because that’s the sort of place mercenaries dock to get jobs, and once again, there are humans for saving. Women who come from the wild parts of our world being traded to monstrous aliens who will ravage and punish them at best, and kill them at worst.
“Stay here,” Sharp says. “We are going to go and look for work.”
I thought they weren’t going to take on any more jobs, but I guess they’ve decided they’ll just cage me when they’re busy. They don’t say that outright, or at all, but I assume it’s true so I can justify what I’m going to do the moment they leave me alone.
I steal the ship.
I don’t think they know that I know how to do this, but I’ve been hanging around on the bridge for a reason. I paid attention when they were flying. I learned where the controls are, and what buttons to push.
I know it’s wrong to take a ship that isn’t yours and set a course for the third rock from the sun, but I want to sort things out from the beginning. Hanging around three aliens and bickering with them while thousands of humans are being sold is not useful to anyone. I’m actually doing the universe a favor by stealing this ship. I’ll go back to Earth, and I’ll confront the CEO of Zeal. I’ll let him know what’s going on, and I’ll threaten to expose him if he doesn’t agree to put an end to things. Or something. I’ll sort it out when I get there.
This time, it’s going to work.
CHAPTER 7
Iopen my eyes.
There’s a bird singing out the window. White curtains flutter in the wind. A kindly lady wearing a white coat and stethoscope is looking down at me with an air of gentle expectation. I can smell wet earth, and rain. I haven’t smelled either of those things for a very, very long time. They’re invigorating.
“You’re awake,” she says.
I smile, because she seems nice, and because I feel good. It feels like I’ve been asleep for a very long time. Like I’ve had the best nap ever. I’m so rested. This must be what people mean when they say women are supposed to get ten hours of sleep a night. I feel like I’ve slept a decade. Or a century. I feel like Sleeping Beauty. Are those tendrils coming in through the window? Are there thorns on them?
A fluttering bird dives through the open window and flies about the room, chirping in a way that seems to indicate an air of triumph.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?”
I look at the doctor. My lips part. It’s a simple question. I’ve been answering it for as long as I could speak.
To my surprise, there’s a blank where I used to be. My lips move, as if they’re going to form the word. But nothing comes out. I search my mind. It remains blank.
“I need your name,” she says. “You’re not in trouble.”
“Why would I be in trouble?”
“You’re not. You couldn’t be. Now tell me your name.”
I try again. I fail again. I feel my face crumple as the realization hits me.
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t worry,” she says. “You’ll discover your name here. You’re otherwise well enough, so I’m going to release you.”
“Release me where?”
“Just here,” she says. “This village is called New Eden. You’ll be able to find something to do here, and I believe there’s a few bed spaces in the communal house.”
“You’re not surprised I can’t remember anything? I don’t know where I am. I don’t know who I am?” My voice gets pitchy as I try my best to maintain composure. It’s not easy.
“We have a few patients in your condition,” she says. “I know it’s distressing at first, but once you settle in, after a few months to years, you won’t even think about this moment.”
I frown slightly.
“Here,” she says, reaching for a crinkly bag. “This is a starter kit. There’s some clothes, and a cookie or two. The commune house is across the clearing. It’s the biggest one. You won’t be able to miss it.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” I say. I feel a great deal of trepidation, naturally, but she has a reassuring way about her. She’s wearing a green dress beneath her white coat, and brown boots. Her hair is salt-and-pepper curls that run down her back. Just looking at her, I get the sense that everything will probably be fine.
I take my little starter kit, and I walk out into the middle of a forest.
Birds flit through the air, animals scamper in the undergrowth, and people are wandering around back and forth doing various tasks and things.