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I take the board that Akiyra hands me and follow her and Fynn. I am still reeling from the changes that are taking place in our lives. Free! I haven’t even thought of what that might mean.
When we had been summoned to the government building, I had thought we would be brought to task for killing the two men, though I am not sure what they could have done to us, our lives already didn’t belong to us. Instead, it all fell on Akiyra and she was left paying a life debt to us.
Before I know it, we reach the space station. Akiyra stops at the hover station and we hand our boards in. “Akiyra, I know this was sprung on you and I really appreciate—”
She spins around and her finger is suddenly on my lips.
“No! There is nothing to thank. I would hope that anyone who could make the choice I did would, as the choice you two did. You didn’t defend me thinking you would get something out of it, you did what was right. As did I.” She turns back to lead us toward her ship.
“Thank you!” I reply quietly.
She nods, stopping at an older ship. “Here she is! She might look old, but everything on the inside is upgraded.” Turning she punched a code into the panel, then placed her hand on the control panel. Slowly the door opened. “Welcome to my home sweet home”
I had never been on a spaceship before, so I had nothing to compare it to. The first floor was a large open space with a few pallets of goods. Akiyra tapped a few buttons and the door shut behind us.
“Let’s go up to the living space. We can talk comfortably and Tiri can help us figure out a few things.” She leads us up a set of stairs and into a large room. On one long side, there is a window. Perpendicular to that is a small kitchen and opposite the kitchen is a seating area and large screen. A row of doors presumably leads to bedrooms.
Akiyra takes a seat on the large couch and looks over to us. “Don’t worry about the money. My bank accounts are more than fine. What we need to figure out is what you two will do now.”
Sitting on the couch, I can’t stop looking around the room, trying to find something that says who this woman really is. How can she just nonchalantly spend Zoni only knows how much to free us?
“What do you mean, what will happen to us now?” Fynn asks her.
“Will you stay here on Xistrosie? If so what will you do, where will you live?” She asks, head tilted.
I look at her in shock, I hadn’t thought about that. We could leave the planet now if we wanted. “I don’t want to work for Umbri anymore and that will leave us homeless.”
Fynn is quick to agree with me, “Xistrosie is a land for the rich, if you are not rich, you will quickly find yourself indebted to someone.”
“So you will leave?” Akiyra cocks her head to the side as she asks us what we want to do.
A voice clears its throat, then starts speaking, causing me to whip my head around. “Actually, Akiyra, they must leave with you. According to Xistrosie law, when you purchase their debt, they will, in essence, belong to you. You will become responsible for them.”
“What?!” Akiyra jumps to her feet. “Tiri, you mean to tell me that I am essentially buying them? How barbaric is this planet?”
“Um, who is Tiri? I am still trying to figure this whole spaceship thing out. For all the technology that is available, most of Xistrosie still live a few centuries back,” I say, still looking for the person the voice belongs to.
“Tiri is my onboard AI. He is responsible for much of the ships running and has a bit of an obnoxious personality.” Akiyra waves around the room. “Tiri, meet Fynn and Tobis.”
“Fynn, Tobis,” Tiri says in an upper-crust snobbish tone that has my toes curling in disgust. Too bad he is all chips and wires. What I wouldn’t do to punch that smug tone out of his voice.
“Hi, Tiri,” Fynn says.
“Fynn, born in 3032 to Makia and Olia Rannius on Xistrosie. Parents assumed deceased. Street urchin until caught for stealing. Sold to Umbri Sicumbus for 20,000 bits. Current debt is 85,000 bits.” Tiri spits out, his voice smug.
“Thanks, Tiri for airing my laundry for me,” Fynn says, a scowl on his face.
“You’re welcome. Can I get you anything else?” The smug bastard says with a pep in his voice.
“Thank you, Tiri. I think you have done enough. How about you bring up the laws for Xistrosie so we can figure out our next step.” Akiyra says, a smile on her face. “I’m sorry guys. This is the first time Tiri has had to share me with anyone. As you can imagine, space doesn’t allow for many visitors.”
I glare at the ceiling, or Tiri, then smile at Akiyra. “So, we have to leave with you? I hate to put you out.”