Starcutter - 2. Chapter 2

Gabriel stayed as long as he could off the Starcutter. He didn't want to go back right now, but he knew he would be left behind. While it might not be so bad for him, he had to worry about the Cana now. Damn you! he thought. Why dump this in my lap? Yes, I'm lonely, but now I have to take care of someone who would rather die. He shook his head and motioned to the two youngsters he had hired to port his items around. Gabe was not only given an allowance as an apprentice was lawfully given, he earned money by helping out the ship's cook. It wasn't much extra, just a few dozen credits, but it was his and his father could not touch it or stop it because the cook paid him out of pocket.

“The Captain is not a stingy man, boy, and he'll give you your pay, but I seen you got some skill and I always need help feeding this lot. You help, I pay. Got it?” Gabe had nodded, not knowing truly what to make of this being. It was...not there. He had never met an entire species that existed outside of normal space. It was like a ghost except could become solid when it chose. Not for very long, which was why he had helpers in the kitchens, but Gabe loved cooking. It reminded him of home.

The lads he hired had been given ten credits apiece, a small sum to him but something they needed as one credit could feed a person for one day if needed. When they got to the Starcutter, he heard them gasp. “Weren't expecting this ship, were you?” Gabe asked with a slight smile.

“No, sir,” said one with a whisper.

“You can leave the stuff here, I'll have it loaded. Or you can make five more credits each and bring it aboard.” He grinned over his shoulder. They were spooked. “How many people can say they were aboard the Starcutter and lived to tell the tale?” Their eyes got huge and the followed him up the ramp.

The ship was older than some on the outside, but the inside was always being fitted with new tech. He knew better than to lead them into a secure area, but his room was just off the hangar for the short range landing craft. The boys made no noise at all except when one of the roughnecks glowered at them. One even stopped them in the corridor. “You know you ain't allowed to bring people.” He was the second mate and a nastier person Gabe had never met. And worse was his stench. Stale beer, sweat and gear oil.

“Then I will have them march right off and carry the things in myself, making the Captain's departure late.” Without waiting for another word he walked past the man and to his quarters. “Thank you for your help. Here are the extra credits.” He handed over the small disks and the boys grinned. “Now, hurry before he decides to use you to clean the smell off him.” The boys ran off the ship quickly. He knew they would be telling the tale of being on the most notorious ship.

“Just cause yer the Captain's git don't mean I have to listen to your mouth.” He grabbed Gabe by the collar but stopped when he felt something cold pressed against his throat. Gabe held a knife there and the look on his face, bored and dispassionate, told the man he would feel nothing if he were to kill him. He was lowered to the ground with care.

“Thank you for the reminder about no guests. I will remember and plan accordingly.” Gabe slipped the knife into the hidden sheath up his sleeve. The second mate glared but left. Scum, he thought, and opened his door to bring in the goods. He stopped when he saw the Cana was chained to the back wall. “I see you tried to escape.”

“Go jump out an airlock,” Gabe laughed and brought things in.

“I would, but then you would have to die very slowly here alone. No one would care if you lived or died after I was gone.” With everything in, he set out a few things. They were small packets of food. He had done some research and found out Cana were mostly vegetarians except for some insects they ate when they could find them.

“Are you going to torture me?” the Cana spat. Literally. The glob fell short and was rather pathetic, showing Gabe that his new “property” was dehydrated as well as underfed. Gabe could see his ribs and the knees and elbows were knobby.

“Nope.” Gabe locked the door with his hand print. “I am going to get those chains off you and you can eat.” He saw the hybrid's eyes narrow. “I will say right now that if you attack me I will hit you back. Eye for an eye. Sound fair?” He got no response. “What is your name?”

“Whatever Master wishes it to be,” he replied with so much hatred.

“Is that a family name?” Gabe opened up the packets of seedcakes, the seed a staple in the Cana diet. When he looked back over this shoulder he saw anger and hunger in those deep purple eyes. When was the last time he ate, Gabe asked himself. “Listen. You don't want to be here and I didn't want to buy a slave. I hate slavery. But you're here and we're all each other has.”

“You got the first part right.” There was a lot of understandable emotion behind those eyes.

“So, here is the way it is going to be. Legally I am your owner. I hate it. For your safety, and the safety of this crew, you're going to spend a lot of time in here. If you try to escape, I can't stop them from killing you slowly, plucking the rest of your feathers, and then cooking your carcass.”

Those eyes got bigger and the pupils went to pinpoints. His chest rose and fell quickly. “Are you threatening me? Trying to scare me?”

“No.” Gabe's tone made the Cana blink rapidly. “I'm trying to save your life. This is the Starcutter. I'm sure you've heard of it.” There was a pause and a brief nod. “The Captain would think nothing of it to turn you over to the crew for sport if you became a problem. He's pragmatic. Not cold, but determined. This is his domain and anything that does not fit is removed. If I was late he would have left me there for a month until he comes back in to resupply and would have thought nothing of it. You? You're a slave. Get it through your mind right now. You are nothing to them. Less than nothing, you're useless. Too thin, too weak to work, and I doubt you want to sing for your supper.” He noticed the Cana was paying very close attention. “So I'm asking you. Keep your head down, stay in here, and I will take off the chains. Out there...you would be raped, beaten, used, and then killed...in a month or so.”

“You couldn't stop them?” he asked in the most pitiful tone ever. It was not faked either. He was now truly terrified.

“No. I can't go against the Captain no matter who I am to him.” There was curiosity in the eyes now. “I'm his son. Think about that. I'm a liability. A weakness. A target. He would think nothing of leaving me behind were I captured.” Gabe knew it was true, which was the hardest thing to admit. The two men in his life who were fathers didn't want him around. “The crew thinks even less of me and if I didn't put a knife to a throat or two I would get no respect around here. So what are you to them?”

The Cana let his head fall as he slid to the floor. He knew it was over. This was his cage. This one small room. It was hard to think he had only this place. “I'll...I'll stay in here.”

Gabe came over with the key to the chains which had been hanging by the door on a hook. “Good. Let me see your hands.” He knelt, giving the slave more than ample opportunity to attack him, but despite his earlier bravado he cowered. With care Gabe unlocked the chains binding him to the wall. “There. Now, may I have you name?” Gabe stood and held his hand out to help the Cana up. He ignored it and stood on his own, his pride bending only so far.

“I am a slave. My name is the whim of my master.” Gabe shook his head and sat at the table to begin sorting his parcels.

“What did your parents name you? And are you going to stand there? Come eat.” Warily the Cana came and took a small portion of one of the cakes and retreated to the other side of the room. “It's all yours. You may sit at the table if you wish.” All he got was a wide eyed stare. “Let me guess. Never got to sit at the table.” He shook his head and nibbled on the cake that was only a few inches square. “Well, you have my permission.”

“I will stay here...master.”

With a nod, he said “You can call me Gabriel. I don't expect you to call me master. Ever. And is that all you're going to eat? Is that you can eat? I bought quite a bit for you.” Gabe pulled out some cloth and started to sort it, along with some other things.

Again the Cana blinked rapidly. “You said it was mine. I must make that last the day.”

Gabe paused with a databook in his hands and sat back. “This is lunch,” he said of the seedcakes, water, and a few of the insects they liked. At least he hoped they were as liked as the books said. They were pretty pricey.

“All that...is my lunch?” His tone was shocked and his eyes full of wonder. Then they narrowed in suspicion. “You're teasing me.”

“Nope. That is lunch. I bought enough for two large meals and a smaller one, although I read that you eat throughout the day. Call it five small meals. Six weeks worth.” Gabe was seeing a pattern here. His “property” had never been treated like this and didn't trust it. “I even have some vintle grubs. Not many, they're expensive, but I bought twenty.” When Gabe held one up, the fat, pale yellow five inch long still writhing, the Cana made some sort of noise. It was part coo and part desire. Yes, he wanted them.

“Now I know you're teasing me.” His tone was back to acid as he ate the food he had. Gabe stood and walked over, the bird-boy curling in on himself to protect his food. Gabe simply put the grub on the floor next to him and went back to his chair.

“I couldn't get to it fast enough to tease you.” The Cana looked at it like it was the most wondrous treasure and quickly grabbed it to bite its grubby head off. There was a squishing sound that made Gabe a bit squeamish, but he watched the insect get devoured. Gabe finished unpacking his purchases, ignoring the being until he had taken the water back to his spot. Cana never drank until the last part of their meal. He can't eat all that much, Gabe thought. With his avian metabolism he must have been malnourished for a long time. “I'm going to leave your lunch out. Eat as much as you like of it. The washroom is through that door and the bed room through that one. If you're tired, there is a second bed in there with the mattress rolled up. That's yours. Some rules to follow. Bathe before you sleep.” The Cana nodded, his feathery hair looking in need of a bath or ten. “I'll see about getting you a footlocker for your things...”

“Things?”

“Yeah. I bought enough material to have a few outfits made. Now, I don't know much about your species past what I read, but I know you're not fully mature yet.” Those eyes narrowed again. “You don't have you wings yet.” He saw such pain flash across those eyes before it was shoved down. Gabe's eyes closed and he whispered, “They removed them, didn't they.”

“No flying for this bird,” he replied. His voice was hollow and lifeless.

“I'm sorry. I won't bring it up again.” They had cut off his wings. He would never fly. “Um...how old are you?”

“In your years I am twenty.” Well past the age of maturity for Cana who reached puberty at the human age of eleven and were fully grown at thirteen.

Gabe nodded. “Well, you'll have clothing to wear when they are made. Later today I'll bring over the ship's uniform supplier. She can get you something fitting.” The smallest of nods said he acknowledged it. “I have my duties to attend to.” Gabe stood and went to the door. “Did you need anything before I go?”

“No,” he replied. Gabe nodded and unlocked the door. As he opened it, he heard a small sound.

“What was that?” he asked over his shoulder.

“Ryle. My mother named me Ryle.”