Emma drove the dark highway, holding back her tears as she drove away from her cheating boyfriend. All that she owned was packed in the car that had now started rattling and suddenly came to a stop as the engine failed! She supposed that lucky star she had just wished on wasn’t so lucky for her after all. And, of course, there was no cell phone service out here either. She looked up at the stars again, but one she thought was a shooting star was moving oddly – probably a plane, or with her current luck, maybe a UFO? As the object got closer, her car actually lifted up off the ground. When she finally looked around, she saw strange shapes in the shadows and passed out.
Athazar, a former slave now working with the Patrol to stop the slave raiders, tracked them to an icy comet. As soon as he could verify that was their base, he would call in a Patrol cruiser. His ship’s AI computer tried vainly to convince him to stay back, they were not equipped for battle. But it knew he wouldn’t listen. He was driven to get his revenge on the slave owners who ruined his life and primarily revenge against the cruel Princess Tlaxanna. In a bold move, when another ship suddenly appeared right in front of them from hyperspace, Athazar attached his ship to theirs in the brief moments before their sensors came back online. With Athazar’s ship attached to the hull, the other ship moved into the comet base.
Emma woke up in inky blackness with everything hurting. She was in a small 6-foot metal box. When she started to shout, someone else told her to be quiet or their captors would be alerted. She had to get free, so she kicked repeatedly at the hinged door at the end and amazingly forced it open. She climbed the cages to get out of sight of the two creatures that came looking for her. When they didn’t find her, they sent a drone which used something like a Taser on her. She was locked by chains to the others and marched out of the ship to be sold.
Athazar made his way to the auction area, looking to make contacts and locate the wealthy or Imperial patrons he was hoping to take his vengeance upon. As he watched, the human he had seen from behind earlier was led out. He was stunned with her beauty and fought his strange urge to cover her with his cloak to warm her. She would be sought after as a slave, many wanting her to suffer -- and she was aware of that as well as she observed their cold, predatory, and angry eyes staring at her -- planning to use her as their way of getting back at the cruel Empire who hurt them since this human was not an Imperial citizen and had no protection. When a spider-like alien tried to touch her inappropriately, her anger caused her to punch it in the throat. That action caused started a bidding war – if the spider thing bought her, it would torture her severely in retaliation. Before it struck her with a blistering hot whip, as was its right due to the insult, the huge red alien that had been staring at her grabbed the whip, explaining the verkesh could hurt her IF he won the bid without damaging the merchandise if another won.
Athazar had his AI calculate all his ready cash and missiles he could offer to win the auction, but the verkesh’s hatred of both of them made it offer an outrageous bid to win the human. Using a controller to cause her pain and force her compliance, it demanded she follow behind. Athazar stood no chance in a fight with being so outnumbered. Would he come up with a plan to save her? Would she be able to escape what was about to happen to her?
I thoroughly enjoyed the humor in this book, especially between Athazar and his ship’s AI. I was also impressed with Emma and the way she recognized her situation and dealt with it rather than just giving up all hope. The story line was solid and well-paced, the tension keeping the reader avidly reading on. Don’t miss this one – it was very well written and pulls the reader right into the action!