Kingdom of Cages(131)
Teal stood in the gloom, uncertain what to do. Then she heard the scuff of footsteps coming through the doorway. A moment later, a patch of shadow turned into a square man with dark, almond-shaped eyes and pale skin and apple cheeks. He looked her up and down, as if checking for flaws.
“You buying or selling?” he asked. His voice was soft, almost gentle. Maybe this wouldn’t be so hard.
Don’t let him snow you. Teal cleared her throat. “Selling.”
Again, his sharp eyes swept up and down Teal’s body. “You don’t look half old enough. Who owns you?”
“Nobody,” answered Teal immediately.
The man chuckled and laid his hand on the makeshift counter. “Sorry, girl, but on Pandora, somebody owns every one of us.”
“No,” Teal snapped. “The ones who think they own me are liars. I’m on my own.”
“I see.” He nodded once, thoughtfully. “On your own and from Off-shoot.” Teal touched her tattoo self-consciously. “What would you have to sell me?”
Teal swallowed. Say it. It’s no big deal. Just say it. “Eggs.”
He cocked his head. “Well, they’d be fresh.” His eyes glittered. “But forgive me if I don’t believe that no one would care if your young body got violated. Who’s your family?”
“My dad’s in the Authority,” said Teal. “I’m trying to get back to him. My mom’s dead.”
“Look.” He laid his other hand on the counter and leaned forward. “If you want to conduct any trade, I am, at the very least, going to have to have your name.”
Teal licked her lips. She tried to think of some way to argue, but the man had already straightened up and was looking back toward the interior door with a sour expression on his face. If she didn’t give him an answer, he would leave, and she didn’t know where else to go. “Teal Trust.”
“Trust?” His head whipped around and his eyebrows inched up toward his hairline. “As in Chena and Helice Trust?”
“So?” Teal shrugged.
“Nothing.” His fingers drummed on the counter. “What you have is valuable, but also dangerous. You’re asking me to risk getting the attention of a Pharmakeus. They do not like my kind.”
Teal shrugged again. “You don’t want what I’ve got, I’ll just go somewhere else.”
“Normally, I’d tell you to do that,” he said matter-of-factly. “But there is someone on their way here who will pay me very well for what you’ve got. Good timing.” His smile seemed genuinely approving. “But for the risk and bother, I’d need at least a hundred.”
Again, Teal shrugged. “If that’s what you’ll take.”
The eyes narrowed. “What would you want in return?”
“I want to get back to Athena Station, and I’m going to need money to keep me going once I’m there.”
He pursed his pudgy mouth. “Risky and expensive. I’d have to alter your chip. Make you look nineteen so you’re legal to travel on your own. Are you worth it?” His eyes flickered back and forth, weighing the risks against the gain. At last he straightened up. “Two hundred and you go back to the station.”
Teal felt a small thrill inside her, a combination of fear and elation. She’d done it. She should have done this years ago. “Okay.”
The man looked bemused. “Okay, then. We’d better get started right away.” He stepped aside and gestured through the darkened doorway. Teal screwed a holding plate over her nerves and walked through ahead of him.
The door led to a set of unlit stairs heading down into the earth. Teal steadied herself with one hand on the earthen wall and walked slowly down. She tried to tell herself to be calm, but she flinched at every little breeze that touched her skin.
At the bottom of the stairs waited one cool room lit by a single battery-powered light. Assorted crates and baskets lined the walls. The place smelled of dust, damp, and stale spices. Teal couldn’t see any other doors.
“Now what?” she asked, trying to sound like she didn’t really care. She’d been expecting a lab, or something like it, a monitor bed at the very least.
“Now”—the man opened a basket and rifled through its contents, which seemed to be dried beans—“you go to sleep. When you wake up, it’ll be all over.”
“What?” The word burst out of Teal.
The man lifted a small box made from different-colored slats of wood from the beans. The slats turned out to be movable. He slid them in a couple of different directions, Teal couldn’t quite see how, but the box opened and he pulled out a drug patch.