Page 4 of Mazorium Buys a Human

Instead of reclining on the bed, my human remained sitting up. She bent her knees and crossed her legs in front of her, keeping her child clutched to her chest. She watched everyone with wariness but when her eyes met mine, I swore I saw relief.

The med tech moved a piece of equipment closer to the bed. “If you leave your Ident numbers at the kiosk at the entrance, we will contact you when we have information on your pets’ health.”

“I’m staying,” I responded, stepping back to move out of the way.

I thought they might argue with me, but all they did was ignore me. They asked my human many questions, including her name.

“Mika,” she answered in a quiet voice. “My little girl’s name is Nadia.”

Mika and Nadia. They were good names. Short by Talin standards, but they sounded lyrical the way she said them. It was as if their names were little individual poems of joyous sound.

“Mika and Nadia,” I whispered. I didn’t make them sound as good as Mika had, but I still enjoyed speaking the names. “You’re both mine now. I’ll take good care of you both of you.”

Chapter 2

Mika

“If you’re mammalian, are you able to produce milk for your young?” the Doringomed tech asked me. The tall feathers at the top of her head were lying flat, which meant she was concentrating. “Or are you having issues?”

“I’m producing, but not enough,” I told her. I hadn’t gotten enough food for the last few days and my breasts seemed to be producing less.

Though it might not be the lack of food. Giving birth and then finding out two days later that you’d been sold as an asset of the station you worked on was probably reason enough to cause any woman’s milk to dry up.

“How long ago did you give birth to—”

“I’m a free person,” I whispered to the tech, interrupting her. My new owner was standing near the center of the med bay. He was distracted and tapping on his Identification Cube. If we were quiet, he shouldn’t be able to hear what I said. “The station Iworked on didn’t have the right to sell me. They didn’t own me. I’ve always been free.”

The tech’s head feathers fluffed slightly in sympathy. “I’m sorry, Mika, but that’s not something we can do anything about. All your paperwork is in order. According to station law and this quadrant’s requirements, you’re a registered slave.”

That was what everyone was saying—when they even bothered to talk to me. Most simply ignored me. I was human after all. I didn’t even have an inhabitable homeworld, let alone a government I could contact to advocate for me. I was a member of a species everyone liked to exploit because who could we go to for help?

That’s why I’d worked a job that barely paid enough to live on and then ended up being sold as part of the station’s property. The owners wouldn’t have dared do that with any other species!

Fuck my life. I hadn’t meant to get pregnant, and now, here I was with a newborn and both of us were slaves.

“If you ask me to do anything for you outside of addressing health concerns, I’m required to inform your owner,” the med tech warned me. “Please don’t make me do that. Your new owner is a Talin. No one crosses one of them! I’d suggest you be obedient.”

I sighed and tried not to lose hope. This was only a phase. I refused to remain a slave for long.

“I gave birth five days ago,” I said, answering the med tech’s earlier question. “The station’s medical team said Nadia was in good health and we were both doing well. But I haven’t been fed much over the last few days, and that might be why I can’t feed Nadia enough.”

“That's very possible,” the med tech agreed. She tapped a few things into the information square in her hands. “I’ve ordered you a large meal fit for a human to eat. I’m also having themcreate something as close to your milk as they can get. We’ll supplement the baby for now.”

Ordering food made me want to hug the med tech. “Thanks.”

The med tech didn’t respond, only tapped for a while longer while another med tech positioned an old scanner over the bed.

“Can you please place your child on the bed?” the other med tech asked. Judging by this Doringo’s smaller size, they were probably a male.

It was hard, but I set Nadia down. She wasn’t screaming anymore, but she was making small unhappy sounds that were breaking my heart. I might not have planned to get pregnant, but now I couldn’t imagine life without her.

“I’m done, you can pick her up again,” he said, pulling the scanner away and tucking it back against the wall.

The two med techs stood together and stared at the results of the scan. They chittered so rapidly my INT couldn’t translate fast enough. I only got a few words, but it seemed they were trying to figure out how long they could detain me here without upsetting my new owner.

It was sweet. They were trying to help me despite their strict laws.

My Talin owner looked up from his Ident and walked back to us. I could see why the med tech warned me to be obedient. He was large! Very large. Bigger than any of the Tiltimun or Doringo that made up the majority of people on the station. He was probably one of the biggest sapient species I’d ever seen.