She let him see her shudder, and he laughed as he walked away, leaving her alone in the cell. On closer inspection, it was even worse than it had first appeared. The plastic mattress was covered with a horrific array of sticky substances, and a fine layer of dirt covered the walls and floor. With a sigh, she went to fetch a towel, first soaking it in water from the bathroom, then scrubbing down the mattress. If she was going to be raped, at least it would be on a clean mattress.
Three towels later, the mattress was no longer sticky, and she sat down gingerly on one edge. She strained her ears but could hear nothing other than the constant thrum of the mining equipment. But these had to be the cells where the other females were located and she finally gathered up her courage and approached the bars.
“Hello? Is anyone here?”
There was no response, but considering that her voice was barely above a whisper, perhaps that was to be expected. She cleared her throat and tried again. This time, her voice seemed to echo down the rocky corridor.
Instead of a verbal reply, she heard a wailing cry that made goosebumps prickle her skin. A distant female voice ordered the wailer to shut up, to no avail. A minute later, Piaam appeared, cracking his electric whip.
“Silence,” he ordered, glaring at her as he passed.
She couldn’t see what he did, but she heard the crack of the whip and heard a pained yelp. The wailing ceased.
Backing away from the bars, she retreated to the far side of the room, hoping that Ukhaan’s instructions would prevent the guard from meting out the same punishment to her.
Her hands clenched as she waited. The minutes seemed to drag on forever until the guard finally reappeared. He was refastening his belt, a satisfied smirk on his face.
“Some females learn quickly. I wonder if you will be one of them.”
He laughed and disappeared from view. She stared after him in open-mouthed horror before finally pushing herself away from the wall. She wasn’t going to take the chance on trying to communicate with the other females again, but she couldn’t just sit here and do nothing. The filthy towels she discarded earlier had already been replaced by clean ones, and after another look around at the dirty cell, she went to fetch one. At least cleaning would keep her occupied. But as she started scrubbing the cell walls, she prayed that Varga would come for her.
Chapter Eight
“Come. I have something to show you,” Ukhaan said brusquely.
Varga tried to hide his scowl as he followed the male. The visit to the smelting operation had been singularly unpleasant and brought back painful memories of his childhood. He was more than ready to be done with Ukhaan, with the mine, with the entire planet for that matter. He couldn’t wait until he had Joan alone on his ship.
He was thinking about her so intently that when he looked up and saw her, he wasn’t surprised at first. And then he realized that she was in a cell, covered only by a thin white slave gown.
“What have you done?” he growled.
Ukhaan gave a satisfied laugh. “I knew it. I knew you cared for the ugly little thing.” His voice hardened. “And unless you want her used by every miner in this place, you will agree to my terms. Now.”
Never!
Varga roared and dived for the bastard. The shock on Ukhaan’s face would have pleased him if he hadn’t been so intent on choking the life out of the male. He heard the distant hum of a blaster arming itself, and his skin automatically hardened. There was a brief flare of pain along his side and then a sudden roar of sound just as Ukhaan’s neck snapped.
“Varga!” Joan cried as he heard a sharp crack, and a cloud of dust and rocks cascaded towards them.
He darted for her cell, reaching through the bars and pulling her against him so he could shield her with his body. The roar continued, the air thickening as more dust swirled around them.
His stomach churned with familiar panic as it finally came to an end and he realized what had happened. The diverted blaster shot must have hit a weak area in the roof of the tunnel, and it had collapsed.
Both ends of the corridor were blocked. They were trapped.
“What are we going to do?” Joan’s eyes were wide with horror, but he could tell she was doing her best to keep her voice calm.
He reluctantly released her then bent over Ukhaan’s body, searching through his pockets until he found the keys to the cell. As soon as he unlocked it, Joan rushed into his arms, and he heaved a sigh of relief. The fierce barbarity of his attack had not traumatized her. But then again, this female of his was much stronger than the delicate bird he called her.
“Now we get out of here,” he said grimly. “Do you know anything about the layout of the mines?”
Somehow, he wasn’t surprised when she nodded. “I caught a few glimpses of the blueprints when Ukhaan was debating which direction to pursue next. And Rummel has told me about some of it as well.” She glanced around, carefully averting her eyes from Ukhaan’s body, and crouched down to sketch a quick map in the thick layer of dust.
“Ukhaan’s quarters and the rest of the mining corporation offices are here, on the cooler side of
