This ongoing sci-fi series will contain non-consensual elements.
***
I awoke from a deep and well needed sleep. The shuttle was drifting alone in space. It was surrounded by the wreckage from the Night Wind. I started to think about my next steps, and began checking the supplies I had.
There was a small container that had emergency supplies. A little food and water, and some other survival equipment. Happily I found something to wear. It was a body glove that covered my entire body. The thin, but warm material clung tightly around my curves.
As I ate a quick meal form the meager supplies, I checked the star charts. I was in deep space, and with the shuttle's puny engines it was going to take a while for me to get anywhere. I had to decide my destination first. There were only two options, go back and check with Hella, to see if I could reconnect with Dex, or go straight to Hogarth, and try to get the brain scans. They were in opposite directions. After a bit of soul-searching, I decided it was going to be Hogarth. Dex could help, but I always seemed to put people in danger. In fact I blamed myself for what had happened to Delphine and Juno. If we hadn't gone to the breeder farm they would still be alive.
I knew the location of Hogarth, but the shuttle wouldn't make it without needing to be refueled. I didn't think I even had the food to make such a long journey. There were a few civilized planets on the way, I just had to hope that they were friendly, and I could somehow barter for supplies.
I set the course on the auto pilot, and began to organize my things. Physically I was fine but my mind needed a rest, and time to come to terms with all that had happened. Everything had gone so fast, from my ordeal at the breeder farm, and then having to watch my friends die. I hadn't had time to rest, and the toll it took on me was almost too much. I was glad I got to see Delphine one last time, which was more than I could say for Juno. The upcoming solitude was going to be a time for me to reflect and recharge.
Seven days passed with my only company being the hum of the engines. The food ran out a day later. Thankfully there was a water recycling system, so I wouldn't go without fluids.
I slept mostly through my bouts of hunger, and I drank as much as possible. My body was getting weaker though, and it wasn't long before I started to drift in and out of consciousness. If only I had resupplied from the bulk carrier, I thought to myself.
It had been almost a week without food when finally the scanner started to beep rapidly. I had reached my destination. It was a large barren planet, and still far out from any heavy populated systems. I hoped it was a crewed outpost.
As the auto pilot brought the shuttle into the atmosphere, I had to hope I ran into someone merciful. If they were pirates, I would be easy pickings, and I felt dread at that thought.
The small ship landed with a whoosh. From the cockpit, it looked like a mining complex.
I stepped out into the night air. My legs felt like jelly, but I was glad to be breathing air that wasn't heavily recycled. A strange man approached, he looked confused, but then smiled. He was wearing dirty overalls and his face was covered in grime. As I was about to explain my plight, a wave of dizziness hit me, and I collapsed into his arms.
**********
The taste of water on my lips brought me around.
"You're awake," a voice said.
It took me a few seconds to get a bearing on my surroundings. I was in a dirty run down office. There was a portly man in front of me with a paper cup. He looked to be in his fifties, and he was wearing a shabby shirt and tie. There was a few day's growth of stubble on his jowly chin too. The type of man that had spent all his life behind a desk.
"Where am I?" I asked.
He told me I was at a mining station, and that I had given everyone quite the shock, as it was unusual to get visitors out this far. I explained that my ship had been attacked by pirates, and I was the only survivor.
"We have a medic, I think he should check you out," he said, and perched on the desk next to me.
I shook my head, and told him I hadn't eaten in a week. He lent over the desk, and took out a couple of chocolate bars from the draw.
"You are very thin," he said, as I devoured them. It was true, the body glove I was wearing was skin tight, and I looked like I had lost a lot of weight.
"I'd offer you something fresh, but those supplies ran out months ago." He talked quickly and nervously.
I asked him about the operation here, and he told me they were mining for copper, and that it was a slave workforce. Most of the facility was underground. He kept to the surface, and processed departing ore shipments. I remembered Orton's factory, and how that workforce had been freed by Delphine.
"Sorry, where are my manners, I haven't even asked your name, we don't get many women visitors," he said. I told him I was named Cara, and he said his name was Erdman
"I need to be resupplied, fueled and food if that's okay," I asked, with a weak smile.
He nodded. "We can sort that out, the rations aren't great, but they will keep you going." He picked up a comms device off his desk, and ordered someone to sort it out. "We will have you ready to go in no time," he said. Then suggested that if I wanted, I could stay a few days to regain some strength. I politely declined, saying I needed to get back to my home planet as soon as possible. I could see the disappointment in his eyes, even if my company would have only been platonic, I'm sure it would have given him a pleasant break from his work.
"At least take a shower," he suggested, and pointed off to a tiny room on the far wall. Looking at the sweat stains under his armpits, I couldn't imagine it got much use.
"I'd like to get going as soon as possible," I repeated, with a smile.
"What am I thinking," he said, placing his hand on his brow. "We have to fill out a report, especially if it's about pirate activity. Company policy."
As he searched a filling cabinet, I got my story straight in my head. I shouldn't be worried, I knew that I wasn't on the slave registry. As far as anyone was concerned I was a free citizen that had broken no laws. He returned and perched himself back on the desk.
"Just standard stuff," he said, and I smiled back confidently. "The name of your ship?"