[Danny]

okay, so maybe i am going to post, but only because i really want to...

CHAPTER 43

The cell was silent. The two Glukkons faced each other across the room, not speaking, as they had done since Grozit Sr. had been thrown into the cell. They had barely spoken a word since then, except for a few embarrassed greetings at first, which soon petered out.

Grozit Jr. had had enough. “So…”

His father looked up at him. “What?”

Groz licked his lips. “I bet you feel a bit stupid now, don’t you?”

Grozit sighed and lay down on his bunk. “Piss off.”

Groz sighed, and stood. He raised one handfoot before himself, and reached out to the doorway. The forcefield burned him, just as it had every time he tested it. Grozit sniggered.

“It’s not going to go away if you keep touching it, you know!”

Groz glared at him. “It’s not going to go away if you stop thinking about it, either!”

“No, but at least I can get some sleep.”

Groz said nothing, but sat back onto his bunk. Grozit turned over to face him. “When was the last time we were fed?”

Groz sighed. “Half an hour ago, dad.”

“I’m hungry again.”

Groz moaned and turned away. “Pig,” he said quietly.

“Heard that.”

“Good.”

There was another long silence, punctuated only by the constant hum of the forcefield.

“The sligs don’t follow him, you know.”

“Shut up, dad. You know that the sligs don’t matter any more. You put the drones into operation, remember?” He shot a glance at the silvery orb hovering on the other side of the forcefield, watching but not exactly seeing. He reached out one handfoot off the end of the bed and removed a wall panel, revealing the circuitry beneath. Grozit sat up, curious.

“What’re you doing?”

“Don’t look at it! Pretend it isn’t happening! Just act normal. The drones aren’t very observant, and this one’s just been programmed to watch us, I think, and zap us if we manage to leave the cell. It doesn’t seem that bothered by what we do inside, but I’m worried about cameras, so it’s best to be as discreet as I can.”

Grozit lay back down again. “So what are you doing?”

“I’m trying to deactivate the forcefield.”

“What good’ll that do if that tin can’ll zap us as soon as we set foot outside?”

Groz shot a stare at his father. “It’s a start.”

They lay there, Groz’s handfeet working furiously.

CHAPTER 44

All things considered, Snikkit was pleased with the way things had turned out. That fool Grozit hadn’t been hard to get rid of, and although he still had no idea what that… that thing was, it had left him alone so far since he took control, so he didn’t think he really had to worry about it. None of the junior executives seemed to mind Snikkit coming to power, as it meant a step up the promotion ladder for most of them, and of course the slaves really had no choice.

His mood was about to take a turn for the worse.

“Sir?”

A slig messenger [he’d allowed sligs to remain in certain jobs: those jobs that involved communicating with Snikkit. Of course, not in any post that required weapons…] was standing in the entrance to his office.

“What?”

The slig looked very nervous. This was a bad sign. “We’ve intercepted a message from the Labs, sir.”

“Who was it sent to?”

“Cartel Central, sir.”

That got Snikkit’s attention. “What? What about?” The Labs were, like the rest of the forest operation, meant to remain a secret from Cartel Central, so that their profits would remain tax-free. Of course, the Labs wouldn’t lose anything when Central took control away from Snikkit, but they must have some kind of profitable idea, or they’d have left things as they were.

“They say that they have captured a… a female slig, sir. A Fertile one.”

There was a pause. So that was their idea. They intended to sell the slig to the Cartel, for fear of breeding their own sligs. Of course, it was an idle threat; they couldn’t breed sligs unless they had a fertile male as well.

But what if they did? Maybe they’d been keeping one, waiting until they found a female. Or what if they could refertilise sligs or something, with some new technology? Maybe they could clone sligs so that they’d be fertile. This was certainly worth checking out; if they could, then some people back at Central would get very pissed off, and come down here to stomp around and try and intimidate the Vykkers.

And if they did that, they’d discover our logging operations…

He stood up. “Send a message to Central saying that I’ll investigate the claims, so there’s no need to send any inspectors or anything, and prepare a Flyer to take me down to the labs. Keep an eye on things while I’m gone, and call me if anything happens. Anything at all.”

“Aye sir.”