Vengeance and Betrayal

[Dab]

Izanami stumbled as she was pushed into the darkly lit room. As she regained her footing she heard the metal door behind her slide shut. She blinked, trying to see further into the room. It took a few moments for them to adjust from the bright light outside to the cave-like darkness of the barracks.

She jumped in surprise when a pile of clothing was thrust into her arms, and a rough hand grabbed her and propelled her further into the room. She tried to turn around and see who the person was, but before she could, she received another shove, this time accompanied by a man's voice. "Stop standing about or I'll have you whipped! Back wall. And no talking. You've got four hours."

She slowly started across the room, trying to spot the far wall in the dim light. Eventually she spotted a small red light illuminating a row of bunks, stacked two high. She walked towards a bed that seemed unoccupied and laid the bundle on it. It looked to be a thickly-padded shirt and leggings, along with a pair of shoes made from a hard material she couldn't identify. Stuffed inside the shoes was a pair of gloves made of the same stuffy material as the clothing. All of it was in a gaudy purple color. Probably chosen for its visibility against the orange background of the Cardamine fields.

She lowered the clothes to the floor and slid them under her bed. "Don't do that."

Izanami looked up. The softly-spoken words came from the bed next to hers where an ordinary-looking woman, was laying, propped up on her elbow and looking at her. "What?" Her voice seemed unnaturally loud in the silent room.

"I said don't do that. Don't leave your clothes under there. Someone will take them while you're asleep. New clothes are a bit of a luxury here. If you want to have them in the morning, you'll sleep with them under you, or wear them." The woman flicked a hand towards her own outfit, which was identical to the ones Izanami had been given, though the fabric near the wrists was torn in several places.

She silently obeyed and brought the bundle back up to her bed, pushing it up against the wall, then sat down. She found the blanket thick and heavy, if a bit rough. At least I won't freeze..

"So, what's your name?" It was the woman again.

Izanami didn't bother looking over. "Izanami."

"Izanami hmm? Sounds Kusarian. Naval Forces?"

"Civilian..." She answered meekly. Here she was, sitting in the slave barracks of a Malta Cardamine plantation, talking to another slave. Her father and fiance dead, their liner destroyed. If Cardamine grass was as lethal as rumors said it was, she might as well just throw herself into a clump of the stuff and let it cut her to pieces. It'd be faster. There was nothing left for her to live for except pain.

"Sorry to hear that.. You don't deserve this." The woman let out a small chuckle, and Izanami thought she heard real humor in it. This woman must be really screwed up if she could have humor in a place like this.

"I'm not so fortunate. Or perhaps more fortunate, depending on how you look at it. I was a petty thief in Liberty. Got caught, sent to Hunstville. Greedy bastards there were selling low-profile convicts to slavers, probably still are. I was one of the lucky few.. Let me tell you, if they took a few lessons from these Outcasts, Liberty's criminal problems would be over. Nothing makes you want to go back to being a lawful drone like spending a year in a field of grass that tries to gut you."

"Yeah, thanks for the tip..." Why the hell did this person think she cared why she was here? Izanami carefully lifted her left leg, still wrapped in the medical tape the droid had used, and laid it on the bed, followed by the rest of her body. Exhausted by the events of the day, she fell to sleep in moments.

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