Our first stop after leaving the Trag was one of the human settlements on Kcagcu in the Trag Universe. Tony parked our ship close to the settlement. I could tell it shocked and scared those who saw the starship appear. I guess, in a sense, Pash starships appeared as if they were teleported out of nowhere. The polarity drive of the Pash starships meant instant travel.

The settlement was a mixture of pirates, thieves and claim jumpers. They were the human and alien flotsam of life. The scum of life, who wanted to take by force, or by crook, something that didn’t belong to them.

Toni started to transport us into the busiest building there, when I stopped him. I didn’t have to imagine what dropping both of us into the middle of a bunch of pirates would cause to happen. We would appear, and everyone in there would draw their weapon, or dive for cover. We would be dead before I could say, ‘Excuse me’.

We appeared under the ship instead. There were a half dozen men and a couple Sag aliens standing there, with their weapons in hand. One of the men motioned toward Toni with his phaser. “Nice ship. What do you want?”

Most of the men were staring at me. I could feel their minds working on several possibilities. They were thinking I was one of the women who traveled with the pirates. I guess that was the perception I would give, since I was designed to look like a pleasure slave, courtesy of Trag DNA coding.

“We wish to talk to the one who is in charge.” Toni took a careful measure of the men and weapons.

I could feel Toni doing a mind search on these men, and the alien Sag that was with them. I knew with Toni’s strength and speed he could handle them if they decided to kill us for our ship and weapons.

“I’m in charge. What did you bring me?” The man over to our left took a step forward.

Toni shook his head. “I came to trade, and offer a word of warning.”

“What do you have to trade that would be useful to us?” The man stepped up closer.

I held out my hand and opened it. Hundreds of small, round, polished jewels radiated and cast off rainbows of color. “Are you interested in precious stones from the mines of Venus?”

A smile almost spread across his face before he looked skeptical. “Venus is government controlled. No way you could get stones from there. Could you?”

“We could and did.” Always show them the pretty things that dazzle the eye and they will take it.

He reached out his hand. “Let me see.”

I dropped all the jewels in his hand. “Are we trading?”

He wrapped the jewels up in his fist. “You just did. They are mine now,”

Toni nodded. “I figured as much. I guess there is no need of telling you about what else I have to trade?”

The man gave a faint hint of a smile. He opened his hand and dumped the jewels on the ground. “Depends. We have little use for trinkets and beads out here. If you have weapons or supplies, then we may be talking.”

Toni held out his hand and a slave collar appeared in it. “The latest from the Earth Alliance.”

Leaning up to take a closer look, the leader shook his head. “Looks the same as the old ones, but I could use a few. What makes this one better?”

“It has a muscle lock command. You can freeze the slave in position.” Toni opened it up and held it out.

The leader reached over and took it. He examined it before handing it back to Toni. “Give me a demonstration.”

As Toni looked around at the men gathered, and they started backing up. No one wanted to be under the subjugation of a slave collar.

The leader pointed at me. “Try it on your bitch. I want to make sure it doesn’t damage the merchandise.”

It wasn’t all fake when I shook my head with fear in my eyes. I started to back up from Toni. He was quick as he caught my arm and snapped the slave collar around my neck. “Stand still.”

My trembling wasn’t all fake neither as I stood still. “Yes Master.”

Their leader pointed at me. “That’s nothing new. Any slave collar will make them do as they are told.”

“Freeze, slave.” Toni nodded in my direction. “Have two of your men tip her over and pick her up. She’s as stiff as a statue. She can’t move from that position until I command her to move. Want your slave to stay in a certain position? Sure, the old slave collars would stop them if they moved, but only by knocking them down with punishment. I can leave her like that for days and she won’t be any the worse for it. It has to do with the muscles locked in position. They aren’t elastic.”

Toni was right, I couldn’t move if I wanted. The leader motioned for two men to pick me up. The sensation when they touched me was weird. It felt like my body had gone to sleep. I had almost no feeling. I was stiff, not flexible, as they pushed me over and picked me up by the head and heels.

“Looks good. Toss in the bitch and I’ll purchase the collar.” The leader was satisfied the new slave collars could lock a person up as solid as if they had been cast in stone.

The two men unceremoniously dumped me on the ground. Toni reached down and removed the slave collar. I managed to find my feet. Toni held up the collar. “This is what I’m trading. The woman stays with me. Are we dealing?”

“How much?” The leader was ready to try the collar on his slaves.

Squatting down, I picked up the stones the leader had dropped on the ground, as Toni begin the process of haggling for an agreeable price. All said and done, Toni sold the collar for two thousand Earth Alliance credits. Toni tossed in a handful of radiation sickness pills, after convincing the leader that Kcagcu had spectrum radiation, which would cause blindness if not prevented.

Toni beamed us back in the ship. We were gone. We were in deep space as I turned to look at Toni. “I don’t think that’s the way to trade. Let’s go home and decide on a more secure way to bargain with those pirates before someone gets hurt.”

“I get the feeling we don’t look enough like pirates to suit those people. We need someone who is one of them, or does business with slavers. We need someone who can trade with them without causing suspicion.” Toni looked over at me and shook his head. “Sorry about the slave collar. It was the only thing I could think of at the moment.”

Looking into his beautiful golden eyes, I managed a frown. “Remember, payback always comes.”

He stood up. “We are home. You mean sorry, and an apology, are not enough?”

“What do you think?” I was going to make him pay, and pay, and... “Come to the bedroom.”

Hours later, we made the jump to UF-2, after an idea came to me. When I was Captain of UF-2, a lot of different life forms passed my way. Now was the time to put that knowledge to good use. It had been many years since a Pash starship had parked in front of UF-2. And yes, we scared the absolute bejeebers out of everyone on that station when we appeared right in front of their noses from nowhere.

We docked in bay six, after receiving permission to land. I didn’t expect a hostile welcome, but we received one as Toni and I beamed off the ship.

The Captain was there, with a full detachment of armed personnel. “What’s your business here?”

I looked at his nametag. “Captain Deric, we are on an information quest. I am looking for a spacer who passed through here from time to time.”

“Who and why? What’s your authorization?” He was seriously studying Toni’s weapon before focusing his attention back on me.

“Could we make this a little more private? Captain, I have no idea why you are on a high alert, but my bodyguard and I are looking for information. I would like to use the station’s computer for a few minutes to see if the individual I am looking for is still alive.” I had a good idea the rumors of war with the Trag were already starting to spread across the galaxies.

Captain Deric was seriously studying me. “We don’t allow non-military access to our database.”

That brought a smile to my face. “I heard there was a policy change. Please Captain, if you check your records I’m sure you will find me there. I apologize for not wearing my uniform. I didn’t want to make this an official inspection.”

A look of doubt, and then shock, crossed Captain Deric’s face. I was exactly what all spaceport captains didn’t want to see, an official inspection of their station. I had a good idea I was still listed in the records as a captain, since I had never officially retired. I was betting my name was on the active list. It would be funny to log in and request back pay. That would bring me to the front of everyone’s focus. It would be a short lived joke, for sure. Very short lived.

“Uh... your name?” Captain Deric looked serious.

“Captain Brandy Winters.” I stepped away from Toni so he wouldn’t put his arm around me. I wanted this to look official to our Captain Deric. I was positive Deric was the eighth or nineth captain to rotate to UF-2 since my departure. If he looked over the names of the previous command, my name would be there in the list. If he had studied that list he would know, Brandy Winters, logged in as Bill Wickman, was retired in the middle of a Def-Com. He would also know I had never logged out, but a new replacement came in behind me, as soon as a Military Transport ship could arrive. Two and two added up to four in the log. Brandy Winters was a head hunter who had relieved Bill Wickman, who wasn't able to handle a Def Com. That meant I had military power and political muscle behind me.

Most of that was half true. As an ex Captain I knew how it would look to anyone reading the post logs of UF-2.

“But of course.” Captain Deric turned to the guard. “Henson, Brown, follow us, the rest of you stand down.”

Captain Deric motioned with his left hand. “Let’s keep this informal, shall we? Where would you like to go, Captain Winters?”

“Captain Deric, do you mind if I wander the station with my staff? I would kind of like to do this, as you said, unofficially. No reports, I’m only a visitor.” Smiling at Captain Deric, I motioned for Toni to follow me to the lift.

“Nothing official of course. Please look us over, Ms. Winters.” He dropped the formal title to keep it unofficial. He stood where he was, as Toni and I stepped on the lift.

In two minutes, Deric would be running my description through the grinder to see if everything matched. I was surprised he didn’t ask me for an eye scan, but then this was an ‘unofficial’ visit. He probably wanted to keep it as unofficial as possible. Toni and I stopped in engineering. We could access the Earth Alliance database from there, as well as from the control deck. It would be a lot more private in engineering. Only a couple of non commissioned officers were in engineering as Toni and I walked in.

I waved at them with my right hand. “Gentlemen, I’m only looking things over. Please don’t let us interrupt you.”

“Certainly. May I ask what it is you are looking for? If it’s the visitor’s lounge, it’s two decks up and at the other end of the station.” One of the men offered, as his partner nodded in agreement.

I took a good look at their nametags. “I’m not quite a visitor, Mr. Kander. If you need conformation, please comlink your captain and tell him, Captain Winters is in engineering.”

From the look on their faces, these men were old hands at unannounced inspections. “No, of course, go right ahead and look us over, Captain.”

“Thank you. I need to access your database for transient records.” I walked over to their computer station. “Access, Captain Winters.”

“Retinal scan confirmed. Access approved, Captain Winters.” The soft female voice of the computer answered.

I looked over at the two non-coms. “Gentlemen, I need a little privacy. Please take care of your duties.”

“Yes Sir, Ma’am, Sir.” The first one answered, as he urged his buddy to the other side of the room.

I went through a list of names and found whom I was looking for, but never stopped the list as I scrolled down the names. Finally I stopped the list on one of the officers who had been stationed on UF-2 and asked for a full report on Janna Veka

“We have to look this station over so it doesn’t look like we were here only for access to the computer.” I motioned for Toni to walk with me. It was like old times for both of us, as we wandered through several other sections of the station. I bet we really did look like an unofficial inspection team. The only thing that changes on an outpost are the names and faces. The station was an old friend, well worn over time.

We wandered the decks of UF-2, reminiscing about the things we had done. We talked about the lives lost and the lives saved. Of course, all the personnel had been rotated, but the station was the same. The one glaring difference between the current regulations, and the ones I had in effect when I was Captain, was the lack of side arms on everyone. Besides the security that met us in docking, Toni and I were the only ones carrying arms. The station personnel kept staring at us, wondering why we were armed. I couldn’t believe Captain Deric would order all arms locked up. God help this crew if they ever ran into some of the life forms I had seen when I was Captain. They would all be dead before anyone could get to a weapon. I also couldn’t stop thinking about the Trag. If Captin Deric was on alert because of the mounting tensions with the Trag, he should have issued side arms to all personnel. Captain Deric was obviously not battle hardened. I was praying he didn’t find experience fighting the Trag and, of course, the Pash.

Stopping in Control, I dropped a personal message into Captain Deric’s log. ‘All personnel should be issued side arms immediately. They should have those arms at hand at all times, even when off duty.’ After all, I was on an unofficial, ‘official’ inspection.’

I bet the crew thought I was crazy as I patted the console where the Captain normally sat. “She was a good post.”

Hours later we were back in the ship. “She’s on Lazarus in the Twins Galaxies.”

“That’s a penal colony.” Toni put the co-ordinates in the polarity drive.

“You got it.” I dropped a hologram card in the computer. “That will give us her location through the tracking device they have on that collar she’s wearing.”

Toni glanced in my direction. “We are there. There is a patrol ship sitting up there, to stop anyone from doing what you are fixing to try.”

“I know. We will have one minute and twenty-two seconds to get in, pick her up, and get lost, before they get a fix on us and blast us. Can you do it?”

“I can get you there. You will either be back on board with or without her in one minute and twenty two seconds.” He brought up the hologram of the planet Lazarus in front of his control panel. “I have her located. Tell me when you are ready.”

I took a deep breath. “Ready.”

Two seconds later, Toni had the ship parked a few feet away from our target. I beamed out to where I was standing beside her. We were lucky she wasn’t in a crowd of people, or alien life forms. It could have gotten messy.

“Jeeter, do you remember Captain Bill Wickman? I’m here to pick you up, without Earth Alliance approval.” I was looking at the frightened eyes of a woman who had just experienced seeing a starship and someone appear out of nowhere.

“I remember Bill. I can’t go with you though.” She pointed to her slave collar. “You move me off this planet without decoding this thing, and it will kill me.”

“Trust me, and don’t move.” I reached up over my back and pulled up a sword that wasn’t there a second ago. I took a swing. To her credit, Jeeter didn’t move, and twenty years of sword practice paid off. When the tip of the sword touched the slave collar, it disappeared. “Let’s go!”

Jeeter pointed to the bear creature standing beside her. “My friend goes too.”

“WE DON’T HAVE TIME!” I was counting seconds and it was getting thin.

She crossed her arms across her chest. “Not without my friend. Bill wouldn’t have left anyone.”

“ALL RIGHT, BUT GET HER FUR OUT OF THE WAY. IF MY SWORD TOUCHES HER FUR, SHE IS HISTORY.” I heard Toni give me a mental thought to get my butt moving.

Jeeter reached over to her friend’s neck and parted the fur away from the slave collar. I gave a prayer I didn’t miss and took a swipe. The collar disappeared. I slipped the sword over my back. It was gone again.

‘TONI, GET US ON BOARD, AND GET US OUT OF HERE!’ There was that familiar flash of light. The three of us were standing in the middle of the ship. I had learned over the years that the flash of light was only a mental vision, not a visible flash. When solid forms of energy, such as bodies, were changed into less solid energy and beamed from point A to point B, the mental picture inside that energy beam was a flash of light. To those not inside the transport beam, it was as if someone was there, and then they weren’t. There wasn’t any flash to those not inside the beam. I guess it was more on the idea of radio beam, rather than a flash of lightening. The bot had been right when he was explaining life to me. I would find that I would never know everything.

“Are we safe?” I glanced up at Toni, who was busy running his hands over the console.

“We’re home. Honey, you were slicing it pretty thin back there. You didn’t have a nano second to spare, and what’s with the extra guest?” He stood up as he was talking.

Glancing over at our furry guest, I shook my head. “Ask Jeeter. She said she wasn’t leaving without her friend.”

The bear and Jeeter looked around in bewilderment. Jeeter asked the question that was on both their minds. “Who the hell are you, and why aren’t we moving? That patrol ship should be blasting us.”

I laughed as I remembered my first trip in Toni’s starship. “Jeeter, that patrol ship is wondering where we came from, and where we went. I’m betting they are searching for a stealth ship. Right now you’re safe. Earth Alliance couldn’t find you if they sent the whole fleet out on a search. You’re a couple billion light years from where you were a few minutes ago.”

Shaking my head, I had my own questions to ask. “What in the world did you do to get tossed into a penal colony? Did they implant you with a tracer along with the slave collar? And what about your friend? What happened to Joni, your old running buddy?”

She looked sad. “I pissed off a couple captains on a few outposts. I wasn’t kicking back any bribes as I was running in and out of the unexplored zones. I hit pay dirt on an asteroid and was going to be rich with galinium ore. Bill Wickman would have let me keep it, since I found it and claimed mining rights. He was an alright guy.”

“Tossed a few trumped up charges on you, sent you to a penal colony, and kept the asteroid for their own?” I guessed the outcome if money was involved.

“Yeah, something like that, and yeah, they put that damn tracer in me. I’ll glow like a trader’s post when I get close to any Earth Alliance forces. Same with Bunny here. She was with me. Joni was killed in an accident as we were testing the asteroid for quantity of ore. I miss him.” Her eyes turned sad with the thought of her lost mate.

I always thought Jeeter was a cutie. She had big, doe shaped eyes. Right now, she didn’t look that great. Life on a penal colony isn’t the place to keep up personal hygiene. Her lineage was of the reptile family. Her skin was a soft, brownish green. She didn’t have a single hair on her body, but that was normal for her species. She wasn’t wearing any clothes either, but that also was normal for her species. They laid eggs, not babies.

Jeeter took a hard look at Toni. “He’s Pash. I met one a long time ago. Latonvicaka was the name. We have never met before. What’s your name, and why did you pick me up?”

“My mate was the one who suggested we pick you up. You may address me as Toni.” Toni sent me a mind thought. ‘The other is a Bundadee.’

Bunny nodded. “Yes, and we also use mind thought.”

“A changeling? Is this your normal form?” I was curious, as I had read in the station logs about Bundadees. I had never met one.

Jeeter held up her hand. “Wait a second. First things first. I want to know why we were rescued, and who the heck is asking the questions? You’re human.”

Bunny put her hand on Jeeter’s left shoulder. “You’re looking at Captain Bill Wickman.”

“You’re kidding! I heard of such things but…? Kind of kinky if you ask me. Each to his or her own.” Jeeter was shaking her head.

“It’s not what you think. It wasn’t my idea, but I’m glad it happened. I hated it at first. I would never go back if I could. Jeeter, we need your help. I want you to trade with the pirates and claim jumpers settling in the Trag galaxy. It will be dangerous and could get you killed. I didn’t pull you out to get you killed. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.” I backed up into Toni’s chest. He wrapped his arms around me.

Jeeter studied my eyes and then stared at Toni. “Give me the plan before I agree or disagree. I know of the Trag. They like to dissect animal life forms. In case you didn’t pay attention in your biology class, I’m animal, and so is Bunny.”

“It’s the Trag’s biology class that is going to help you and us. I think the Pash can wash the tracer out of your systems with a trip through what they call a Field Portal System. It is a lot like their transporter. It was modified to sample the subject and remove the things in question.” I knew I hadn’t explained it very well, but it was difficult to explain.

Bunny glanced over at Jeeter for a second. “Sounds interesting.”

Nodding, Jeeter never lost her focus on me. “Sounds painful to me. You’re telling me that thing works like a giant vacuum and sucks things out of the body?”

“I guess that’s one way of explaining it. I was told it feels like being dropped out in space, and then pressurized.”

“That’s impossible. Even a wash job through a transporter won’t remove the tracer. That shit was injected in us and it permeated every cell in our bodies. It screwed up Bunny something awful. She can’t alter her appearance. I’d kill those bastards that did this to us if I could. It’s not right!” Jeeter didn’t have much of a facial expression, but her voice carried hate in the message.

I nodded. “First things first. Let’s go into the house and get you ladies cleaned up. If you want clothes or cover, let one of the bots know what you prefer.” I knew Jeeter only wore clothes when she traded with humans. I had no idea if the Bundadee wore clothes or not? When we picked them up, the only thing they were wearing was a slave collar.

We were off the ship and in the house in a flash of light. Jeeter looked around, like any careful spacer would. She made sure she cataloged all the passages and doors in her mind before continuing. “Nice place. Who does it belong to?”

“The Pash don’t own anything in a strict sense. Toni and I occupy it, along with our two daughters. If you want to say it belongs to someone, then Toni was the one who built it.” I walked up beside her as I was talking.

I pointed down the hall. “You may wish to take a bath and put on body cover before we go to the lab and see if they can wash that tracer out of your system.”

“Sure.” Jeeter and Bunny headed off down the hall.

It wasn’t that long ago when I was given the same courtesy. It was funny how life seemed to always be revolving back to the same cycle.

Lavess and Toness popped in a few minutes later. Toni came in from the study. Our daughters caught him and gave him a hug and a kiss.

“Who are our guests?” Toness always was direct. A beautiful girl, she was filling out with soft curves as she matured. She was certainly going to have more of an hourglass figure than female Pash normally possessed.

“Your mother brought a couple Alliance prisoners home after she helped them escape.” Toni looked over at me with a gleam in his eye.

Lavess turned to look at me out of the side of her beautiful golden eyes. “Mom?”

“It’s not the way your father makes it sound. Jeeter is an old acquaintance. We desperately need her help. She didn’t belong in a penal colony.” I wrinkled up my lip and gave the best ‘grrrr’ I could manage at Toni. It was a Pash warning to watch your step.

“Did she growl at me, or was she mocking our language?” Toni tried to keep a straight face, but it wasn’t possible. His eyes were smiling.

“Mom, this is the way you do it. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR” Toness made the air and walls vibrate as she gave her warning.

I shook my head. It would be a physical impossibility for me to duplicate a lot of the Pash sounds. They pushed the air up past the diaphragm in their chest, making their whole body a sounding board, not just the vocal cords like humans did. “Thanks for the express lessons. Tell your father that was what I meant. Grrrr.”

The girls looked at one another and burst out laughing. Lavess was giggling as she tried to imitate me. “grrrr?” Jeeze mom, that ought to warn everyone they are treading dangerously.”

She wiped tears out of her eyes as she looked at Toni. “Dad, did you get mom’s message, or do you want her to repeat it?”

At that, both the girls haw hawed as they clung to one another and laughed.

“Critics, everyone is a critic.” I walked over to Toni and put my arms around his neck. “Mess with me and I’ll make you pay. When I say, grrr, you better watch your step.”

“Yes my love. Although it’s not visible, I am quaking inside with fear. My bones are rattling. I am barely, by the slimmest thread, able to stand.” He wrapped his arms around me as he looked into my eyes.

“That’s better. For showing proper fear, you shall be rewarded.” I stood up on my toes and gave him a passionate kiss.

Toni returned the kiss and then turned me around so my back was against his chest as I was facing the girls. They both had looks of shame on their faces.

“Ummmm, mom and dad are kissing again. I shall never live down the embarrassment my parents cause me.” Lavess brought the back of her right hand up against her forehead as she rolled her eyes up.

“Yes, it tis such a burden to go out and face the rest of the world when your own parents are acting so juvenile.” Toness hung her head in shame as she let out a deep sigh.

“What beautiful daughters.” Bunny walked into the room. She was dressed in tan slacks, blouse, and boots. She also was wearing a sidearm, knife, and had a needle gun up her sleeve. She stopped and was looking at the girls.

Lavess, Toness, this is Bunny. Bunny, these are our daughters.” I motioned toward the girls as I glowed with pride.

Lavess and Toness nodded and curtseyed.

“Welcome to our home. We are most honored by your visit.” Lavess gave the official Pash welcome.

“You are most kind. It is I who am honored. Bunny bowed her head toward the girls.

Jeeter walked in and stopped beside Bunny. She was similarly attired, except she was carrying a rifle over her shoulder. I knew I had made the right choice in Jeeter. She and Bunny looked more pirate then most pirates I ever met. They had experience dealing with the scum of all worlds. If the Portal Wash could remove the tracer the Earth Alliance had pumped into them, then the plan was coming together.

“Make me an offer I can’t refuse.” Jeeter always was direct.

She wanted to know why I needed her help. If the circumstances had been a little different, I could imagine she would have been a pirate. Thankfully, she never slipped into that kind of life. “We need you to make contact with all the pirates and slavers in the Trag universe. You will be trading with them. Tell me what they normally like to deal in and we will try and get it for you.”

“And?” Jeeter knew there was more. Pash didn’t trade with pirates and slavers. There was a reason for the request, and it wasn’t trade.

“Girls.” It was going to be difficult explaining why I wanted Jeeter to trade with the pirates. I didn’t know if I could do it in front of our daughters. I also knew there were no secrets between us. They knew who I was. There was also the fact that, even though our daughters were out of hearing range that didn’t mean they couldn’t listen in mentally.

“Go ahead, mom. We love you.” Lavess walked over and took my hand.

Bunny held up her hand as she looked back at Jeeter. She had read my emotions and my mind. “I’ll take it from here. The Pash want us to give the pirates something extra when we deal with them. It’s a small gift from the Trag. Like all gifts, it should be given without the pirates knowing they are receiving a gift.”

She turned her attention back toward me. “Sounds like fun. Count me in.”

“You are going to be dealing with murders and cutthroats. They are the scum of life. They will kill you, or worse, if they find out what you are doing. They might do it anyway for the fun of it. I ran into some of them a few days back. It wasn’t a pleasant experience.” I wanted Bunny to know she was putting her life on the line in more ways then one.

“Bunny speaks for both of us. I don’t know exactly what it is we are doing, but Bunny does. That’s good enough for me.” Jeeter put her left hand on Bunny’s shoulder.

“We are in too.” Toness glanced over at her sister.

“NO!” I was sure I didn’t want our daughters close to any slavers. Toness always was the one to speak up without thinking. She was too much like me.

Lavess looked at Toness and then back to me. I knew what was coming before she said anything. Lavess was the one who thought things through. Her logic was murder if one was on the wrong end of her speech. “You are willing to let Bunny and Jeeter put their lives on the line, yet we can not? Are we more special than Bunny or Jeeter? Are our lives worth more than theirs because we are daughters of the parents of the Pash Clan? A life is a life. One can not be more valuable than another because of species or place in hierarchy. If you are truly Pash in your heart and soul, you understand this.”

I couldn’t stop the tears from falling, as I backed into Toni’s arms for support. I had to swallow several times to get the cotton out of my throat. “I won’t forbid you from helping. I know you would go anyway. Not out of disrespect for me or your father, but because you are Pash.”

It was all I could say as I choked up. Our daughters were going in harms way because I had brought Jeeter and Bunny to our home.

Bunny stepped up in front of me and took my hand. “We won’t let anything happen to them. I promise they won’t be harmed. They can’t trade directly with the slavers. They would become slaves themselves. They are too beautiful and not experienced enough to handle slavers, even if they are telepathic. Jeeter and I will make sure they stay safe.”

“Toni?”

He pulled me in tighter as he held me without answering. His pain was evident. In true Pash form, he was willing to let our daughters do what they knew was right. Even if it cost them their lives.

FROM THE EDITOR: As I have said many times, Barbie and I value your comments and we thank you for them and the kudos. Please remember to comment? Thank all of you who have been following and enjoying this story.