Page 52 of Mazorium Buys a Human

Mika wasn’t from a low-intelligence species, and that meant I was keeping a slave, not a pet. It was unconscionable.

And yet I didn’t take it off. The reason was simple: I was terrified. In the short time we’d been together I’d become reliant on having Mika in my life. It was selfish and dishonorable, but the thought of Mika leaving me caused a panic response.

I’d been spending much of my time coming up with offers that might entice Mika to stay after I took the collar off. I created list after list of things I could buy her. I outlined arguments in my head about all the advantages I could provide, including safety from exploitation by unscrupulous bosses.

I knew the best arguments should revolve around Nadia. If the two of them stayed, then the little girl would never know a day of hardship in her life.

It was a point I didn’t want to bring up. I knew Mika would sacrifice for her child. But I didn’t want her to stay with me out of a sense of obligation instead of her own inclination.

But what if I released Mika and she left me? Both of them could die, and it would be my fault because I didn’t use all my talking points to persuade her.

These were the thoughts that swirled through my head rotation after rotation with no right answer in sight.

“Uh, Maz, you just cracked the plate,” Mika said, pulling me out of my circling thoughts. I looked down to see I was only holding half a plate. The other half was on the ground along with the flatbread.

She bent down to pick the items up, but I was quick to sound a negative rattle. “Leave that. I’ll throw it all in the reconsitutor later.”

Stiffening, she straightened up and crossed her arms over her chest. I could tell she was upset.

“I’m sorry I ruined the meal you brought to me,” I said quickly, setting the bowl down on a nearby stack of flight-bots. “It was thoughtful of you.”

“What is going on?” she asked. I could tell by her tone she meant my strange actions, but I pretended to misunderstand.

“I’m finishing up the landing platform for the flight bots. After I’m done, they’ll be able to recharge all together instead of having to take turns on the ship’s ports.”

She stared at me in silence for a few micro-marks before replying.

“That’ll be helpful for your work.”

I hated the polite non-interest in her voice. My distance was killing all the curiosity and joy in her. She’d been full of questions the first two rotations we’d been here, but now she rarely bothered coming near me. In the last ten rotations we’d barely had any conversations.

My lack of action was ruining everything. We needed to have an honest and open conversation, even though it would be painful.

I let out a long breath, working on how to start.

“I know you’re not…you’re probably…we should….” I stopped talking when I realized all that was coming out of my mouth were jumbled words that made no sense.

At least she didn’t look frustrated any longer. Now she looked confused and worried.

“You're not making any sense. Does your head hurt? Is your vision fuzzy?”

Her concern was endearing. “I’m not feeling badly, but there’s something important I need to say. I don’t know how to begin.”

Her tentative smile made some of my fear lessen.

“Can you stop working for a while? We could sit in the area you set up next to the ship and have some tea.”

Her words made me sound an immediate rumble of agreement. “You go sit; I’ll get the tea.”

She nodded, and I sprinted off into the ship to prepare the tea. I felt both intensely excited and scared now that we were going to discuss our situation. Even if this didn’t go well, at least I’d have a resolution.

Once the tea was done, I hurried out of the ship and around to the area I’d enclosed with a fence for Mika and Nadia. I’d covered most of the ground with interlocking soft mats usually used to shield delicate instruments from vibrating ships. It made a nice, soft, but still walkable flooring for my humans.

I’d also brought one of the shell chairs out, as well as a low Leemron couch. She’d taken a seat on the couch, and when I approached she pointed to the spot next to her. I wanted to sit there but was worried if I was too close I wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to touch her.

I handed her a cup then sank down to sit on the ground in front of her. The couch was so low that she wasn’t sitting that much higher off the ground, but she still got to look down at me.

“What’s going on, Maz?” she asked, cupping her mug in both hands. “And don’t pretend like you don’t know what I mean.”