Lumme came for Dina about two hours after the light. There was no question his purpose as he came striding down the hall, his large body filling the space as his footsteps shook the ground. His eyes locked on her and he smiled as he headed around the table.

She cringed and pressed against the wall, as if it would make a difference.

It didn’t.

Lumme reached in and grabbed her shoulder. His thick fingers bore down into the joint, squeezing until the bones ground together. “Time to leave, slave.” His humming was deep and rumbling, it shook down his arm and into her body.

Her sphincter tightened in fear.

He yanked her away from the wall and into the main room. Unlike Naam, he didn’t release her at all as he half-dragged, half-carried her past the table and down the hall. There was no additional threats or speeches, just a cruel pressure tearing into her senses as he carried her down past the surgery and the rape room and into the hall.

It had been days since she saw the rest of the ship. There were more panels taken off the walls and signs of anything valuable being gutted. The corpse around the corner was gone, but she could smell the stench of blood and acid in the air.

As they passed rooms, she could see more signs of rape. Old blood had been cleaned up inexpertly, smears of crimson and brown stretching down the hallways where they dragged the corpses away. Many of the trails lead to the garbage slots where they would slide down to the recyclers and eventually into the incinerators. It was all automated.

She didn’t have time to feel sorrow for the women who had died. She could barely notice the hallways Lumme dragged her down. Her own bare feet slid on the floor, not quiet getting enough purchase to relieve the pain of being held up by her shoulder.

Lumme traversed the hallways with practice. He had no doubt traveled it more than once.

They were heading to the hanger. She saw navigation symbols on the intersections, neat little arrows pointing her to her doom.

That did little to help her growing fear. She didn’t know what was going to happen, but she knew it was going to be agony. She was made into a sex slave and there was only one fate left for her.

Gasping, Dina tried to get back up on her feet.

Lumme shook her violently, rattling her hard enough she bit her tongue. Blood flooded into her mouth, choking her. She gasped and pressed her tongue against the side of her mouth, up against the gum, and tried not to let terror consume her.

They came up to a large chamber. The sign indicated it was one of the stasis chambers. She shuddered as he dragged her through the door and into the room. The last time she was there, it was deathly still and suffocating. She was the only one free.

It had changed. Now there was a rolling belt mounted down the center of the open space. A line of chemical vats and auto-surgeries had been installed along the conveyor. Each one flashed as it was ready to perform its command.

When Lumme stopped, she realized they weren’t ready. They were operating. Mechanical tentacles and arms dove into the water as bodies thrashed inside. There were dozens of naked women pinned down in the liquid. They all screamed helplessly as they were cut open and automatically altered to handle the brutal, killing cocks of the aliens.

Bodies were piled up on the far side of the auto-surgeries. The ones who suffocated before they were tossed into the vat or ones who didn’t make it through the surgery. A pile of bodies, steaming and bleeding, rose in a high pile. The stench, sickly sweet and acidic, flooded through the room.

Humans in the glistening, liquid suits were hauling bodies into large platforms hovering off the ground. Judging from their sizes and their outfits, they were the gladiators and other males. Their lives wouldn’t be much better than the women, they may not die on some barbed cock but they were going to be worked or fought to death.

The sight of it sickened her. It wasn’t their fault they were caught en route. They didn’t deserve to be turned into a ship filled with slaves. None of them were getting out alive and it terrified her. It wasn’t a matter of how she did but how long.

Lumme glanced around and gave a nod. He turned to one of the other aliens supervising the proceeds. "Good?”

The supervisor tapped on his wrist computer. She watched him enter a four-digit code and the word for “disable”. One of the automated surgeries started to beep as it pulled its armature out of the boiling liquid. A moment later, the bottom heaved a writhing woman out of vat and into the pile of corpses. Her insides split open, spewing her entrails all over as she gurgled in the acidic air. The alien sighed and shook his head. "Efficiency is only thirty-two percent. We need to figure out how to crack open these shells under liquid.”

Lumme nodded. "Tell Naam and Harmmon start researching. Naam already has some ideas. Get going. I want to get to forty percent survival by the end of tomorrow.”

The supervisor nodded and typed in another command. This time, it was a longer code, eight digits, and a word for sound. He pressed his hand to his ear and stepped away. "Naam? This is….”

The rest of the alien’s words trailed off as Lumme turned and dragged Dina out.

She resisted but it was pointless. He was too strong.

"Time to see Kriim about selling this slave,” he muttered to himself.