Page 91 of Commander’s Mate
I almost smiled.
Now it had a throat.
“Open the worker compartments.”
“No.”
Pyrr moved one step.
The captain reconsidered.
“Commander, this cargo—”
“They are not cargo.”
“Under law—”
“Open the doors.”
He did.
Twenty-six people came out.
Thin.
Tired.
Five species.
One child.
I looked at the captain.
“Child labor is legal here?”
“She travels with mother.”
“Then why is she in the labor manifest?”
He stopped talking.
Good.
Harper’s voice came through secure comm from Dreadnought One.
“Zared?”
“We have twenty-six protected persons.”
“Protected how?”
“Debt labor.”
A pause.
“Do they want rescue?”
That stopped me.
