Chapter 5 - The Exchange
Jack stood on a street corner watching a multitude of various aliens, most of which he'd never seen before, walk past while Hank, thirty yards up ahead, ordered some sort of food from a street vendor. They'd been canvassing this street for the last hour and Jack wondered why they hadn't moved in yet.
Hank walked up to him taking a bite of what appeared to be some large breaded meat wrap. Steam rolled out of the end Hank had eaten from.
"You have to try this, Jack," Hank said taking another bite.
Jack took a smell and nearly vomited. "What the hell is it?"
"A derlaval ulsdin."
"That really helps me," Jack replied with a frown.
"Well," Hank said, looking at his lunch. "It's meat from a Xalbuan derlaval, a large grazing animal, and there're vegetables from..."
"Did you find where the comm badge signal is coming from?" Jack asked, cutting him off.
Hank took another bite. "Yeah, there's a guy at a small place down the street who I think has it."
Jack exhaled. He'd hoped they'd found where Mei-Wan was, not someone who had her comm badge. "You think he knows where she is?"
Hank shrugged his shoulders as he finished his food. "We won't know until we talk to him, but we follow him first."
Jack looked down at the pavement, his mind racing with what he'd do to this person.
"And Jack," Hank said. "I'll talk to him."
The hell you will, Jack thought. He'll answer to me.
Hank turned slowly to look down the street. His eyes darted back to Jack. "There he goes."
Hank moved through the crowd with Jack not far behind.
"Which one?" Jack asked.
"The dark orange skinned creature with the white hair," Hank said.
Jack quickly picked their target out of the mass of other aliens. "He's going into that shop," Jack said.
"Damn," Hank whispered. "He probably made us." He took a deep breath. "Okay, you follow him into the shop. I'm going through the one next door and out the back."
Jack increased his pace. He intended to get his hands on this individual before Hank made it to him.
Jack entered the shop where a small dark green being with long fingers looked up at Jack with two red eyes on the end of three inch stalks.
"Bop a luhd pei?" the creature said as Jack rushed past. "Glumu omu pei zeafz?
Jack didn't bother to find out what he was saying. The orange skinned being had already made his way out the back.
"Vlak Luor!" the proprietor shouted as Jack left through the rear door.
Jack exited into a fenced in area and a moment later felt something hard hit the side of his head, sending him to the ground.
"Glok re pei gofk!" he heard shouted somewhere above him just before he felt a foot kick him in the side.
The foot moved to kick him again, but Jack fought through the pain just in time to catch it and twisted hard causing the person attached to it to tumble.
Jack gave a kick of his own making the person on the pavement next to him howl loudly.
"I guess you don't think that feels good," Jack said as he got to his feet.
He saw the orange skinned alien holding what appeared to be his gut as he moaned in pain.
Jack pulled out his weapon and hauled the creature to its feet.
"Hold it, Jack!" Hank Evans shouted as he came around a corner.
"I'm not gong to kill him," Jack said as he pushed the alien against a wall.
Hank had his scanner out checking again for the comm badge. The device squealed and Hank shut it off. He reached into a pocket on the creature's shirt and searched through it for a moment.
"Bingo," Hank said as he pulled out a golden Starfleet comm badge.
"Where is she?!" Jack demanded as he shoved the alien hard into the wall.
"Glok?!" the being cried out.
Hank adjusted the scanner and they could hear the creature's speech translated.
"I didn't steal it!" the alien's voice said through the scanner.
Jack pointed his weapon up to the creature's head. "Tell me where the woman who had this is or I'll blast a hole through your damn head!"
The orange alien looked at Jack a moment, then smiled. "How much is she worth to you?"
"Tell me now!" Jack screamed.
"I can get her if you have enough," the creature's translated voice said.
Hank shook his head. "He doesn't know anything."
The alien turned to Hank. "I can take you to her!"
"He knows where she is!" Jack shouted.
"No he doesn't," Hank insisted. He pulled his own weapon out and pointed it between the creature's two dark blue eyes. "Where did you get this?" he asked holding the badge up.
The alien hesitated, turning his head back and forth from Hank to Jack.
"Okay," he replied. "I won it."
"Where?" Hank demanded.
"At... at Mok Tijin's."
"What's that?" Jack asked.
"It's a small casino," Hank answered, putting his weapon away. He turned back to the alien. "Who'd you win it from?"
"A Levalum who was there," the alien said. "I didn't get his name."
"Let him go, Jack."
"He said he knew where she was!" Jack yelled, his weapon still pointed at the creature.
"Because he thought he could make some money from you."
"But he tells you the truth?" Jack asked, frustrated as hell.
Hank turned back to the orange skinned being. "Yes, because he knew I'd kill him if I didn't get it."
"How do you know he didn't think the same of me?"
The alien laughed. "I could tell you wouldn't kill me," came the translation.
Jack stepped away, letting him go.
"I want it back!" the creature said.
Hank pointed his gun at the obnoxious being. "Leave now."
The alien ran off quickly.
Jack leaned against the wall of the shop and put his weapon away. "I have killed before," he whispered.
"But he could tell you weren't going to kill this time," Hank explained. "That's a skill most of the creatures around here develop. There's a lot of survival value in it."
"But you were going to kill him?"
"If he'd have said another word his carcass would be smoking on the pavement in front of you right now," Hank said as he put his own weapon away.
Suddenly, the orange skinned creature came back around the corner. Now, he had ten others with him.
"Damn," Hank said as he looked about the alley for a way out.
"We're trapped," Jack told him, pulling his weapon out again. "Now what?"
Hank watched the group of angry aliens approaching them. He reached into his pocket. "Use the displacement device."
"What?!" Jack responded more than a little worried.
"Meet back at that street vendor," Hank said as a flash of light signaled his disappearance.
Jack saw the aliens hesitate only a moment, then resume their march, faster than before. He closed his eyes as he activated the small device.
The next moment, Jack found himself standing in front of a shop of some kind. Within a few seconds, he knew which one. The dark green shop owner came out and threw a small box at Jack.
"Vlak Luor!" the owner shouted, his eye stalks flailing wildly.
Jack didn't know what "Vlak Luor" meant, but he was certain there was no point discussing it with the angry alien. He beat a path quickly down the street in search of Hank.
A minute later Jack found Hank Evans staring hungrily at more of the street vendor's dubious culinary offerings.
"Where to now?" Jack asked, out of breath.
"Now we go to the Exchange."
***
Thirty minutes later Hank led Jack around a corner into a raging river of people all moving toward a large open area ahead. Jack looked up and saw the largest and tallest building on the planet. Nearly five miles in diameter and a mile high, the Exchange stood as a mountain in a sea of movement. However, the movement wasn't the anarchy Jack had seen on the other streets of this world. It was intense and directed. The thousands upon thousands of beings from hundreds of worlds that Jack walked among knew where they were going and why.
It was the "why" of it that astounded Jack the most. These weren't ruffians, thieves, or barbarians; at least not in the usual sense those titles are applied to someone. Accountants, managers, and bureaucrats formed the mass of sentience he followed Hank Evans through, along with analysts, financial planners, and brokers of commodities. They formed a whole larger than the sum of its parts. They were the engine upon which Levalum society truly ran.
As they approached the entrance Jack watched the absolute order of regimented behavior and straight lines enforced by armed sentries who stood watch while people waited to enter. Hank pulled out some form of ID and flashed it to the guardian of their gate and a moment later they were waved through.
Once inside, it was still crowded, but Jack at least felt like he had some room to breathe. The guards inside were even more conspicuous, displaying their large rifles to all who passed by. Their armor alone told Jack these were not people he wanted to mess with.
Hank motioned Jack toward a set of doors and they entered an elevator twenty feet wide and twenty feet deep. Jack figured it for some sort of freight lift Hank had bought access to, but as soon as they stepped into it, a stampede of aliens more varied than the Federation Council filled the confined space with them.
A minute later they exited onto level fifty-seven of the Exchange and contrary to his expectations, Jack saw, not a dark and dirty marketplace, but a slick, bright, and pleasing array of displays, music, and ads that promised everything from a cure to whatever ailed you, to the satiation of desires you never knew you had or could think to survive once fulfilled.
This wasn't a group of barbaric maniacs bartering with threats, but a highly sophisticated combination of stock markets, commodity exchanges, and trade agreements transpiring with the apparent levity of a sideshow. Whole worlds worth of resources were exchanged in moments right before Jack's eyes. The Levalum Clans didn't need military power to rule, they had something far stronger and pervasive--- the best glue one could hope for in any social order--- enlightened self interest powered and supported by a well honed economic empire.
The other thing Jack quickly noticed was that unlike the rest of Antenora, this place was clean. Hell, forget clean, immaculate was more like it, but even that was an understatement. Jack figured he could probably eat off the finely carpeted floor except for the maintenance people who came by with some sort of vacuum every thirty seconds and seemed to be even more plentiful than the ever present guards.
The floors weren't the only things that were clean. For the first time on this world that he had been nursing a real hatred for, his nostrils weren't being assaulted by every foul odor in the Universe. Here the air wasn't just fresh, but reminded him of the warm fragrances from his mother's garden after a thunderstorm on a lazy summer afternoon.
They walked down a two mile long aisle past several large booths where various items and services stood on display for any who passed by. Hank stopped at one and spoke to a humanoid male with blue skin wearing an elaborate suit of a rainbow of colors. Behind the blue man, three women from different worlds wore collars made of a dark metal around their necks, waists, and upper arms. They expressed about as much excitement as you might expect from models showing the latest in cleaning supplies.
"Well, well, well," the blue male said with a smile. "Hank Evans, come back to make his fortunes among the working class again."
Hank grinned and gave the man a big bear hug. "Kolastis, how you been?"
"Business is okay," he said. "But not as good as it used to be. Nobody wants my units since those Domobeifk bastards rolled theirs out last year." He grinned and leaned toward Hank. "You mind going down to their display and setting it on fire for me?"
Hank looked at him. "You gonna keep the patrols busy while I do?"
Kolastis laughed. "That's your problem--- you're too practical. Live on the edge for a change."
"I've lived on the edge so much I've damn near fallen off both ways," Hank remarked.
Kolastis turned an eye toward Jack. "You interested in my stock?"
Hank started to speak, but Jack jumped in. "What do you sell?"
Kolastis' green eyes perked up and he motioned one of the women over. She wore a tight fitting jumpsuit that covered all the right areas or the wrong ones depending on what you were interested in.
"Only the finest enhancement and security devices known throughout the Levalum sectors and beyond," Kolastis said with a wide smile as he touched a stud on the metal collar around the woman's neck.
"What does it do?" Jack asked.
Hank jumped in. "I think we can pass on this, Jack."
But Kolastis had moved too quickly. He lifted the woman's head away from the rest of her body and offered it to Jack.
"What the hell?!" Jack yelled as he nearly fell backward trying to get away.
Kolastis seemed dismayed, but regained his composure. He tilted the woman's smiling face toward Jack. "See, she's still conscious," the blue alien said.
Hank sighed. "She's okay, Jack."
"But..." that was the only word Jack could get out as he saw what he considered a horror. He looked past Kolastis at a section of the metal collar which remained attached to the woman's neck. Her body stood with her arms crossed.
Kolastis turned to Hank. "What's the matter with your friend, Evans?"
Hank walked up to Jack. "It's called a dismemberment unit, but it doesn't really remove any part of the body. Her head's still connected to her neck."
Jack pointed as the woman's face grinned at him and widened her eyes.
"Pei gofk ke kmp bu eik?" she said to Jack who was beyond amazed.
"She can talk?" Jack asked, less troubled now.
"It forms a sort of field effect between the two halves of the collar to let them separate in normal space while remaining connected in subspace," Hank explained.
Jack took a step toward the woman's head that Kolastis cradled in his arm. "Can she move her body?"
"Yeah, but it takes a bit of coordination," Hank said.
Kolastis spoke to the head, "Zacu hakha rofjec."
Behind him the woman's body started a sensuous dance intended to illicit specific responses from males.
Jack smiled after a moment. "Incredible," he said. "How far can the body and the head be apart?"
Hank frowned. "Only about a hundred meters or so."
"What happens beyond that?"
"Decapitation," Hank said dryly.
Jack's smile faded. "I take it they're for entertainment of some sort?"
Hank smirked. "You could say that."
"Among other things," Kolastis said. "You use my products and your property will never wander off."
Jack gave Hank a worried expression. "Slavery?"
Hank only shrugged his shoulders and turned to Kolastis. "Who's got the best merchandise these days?"
The blue alien placed the woman's head back on her neck, adjusted the collar, and the faint hum Jack had just noticed faded away. She walked back to join the others who were talking in hushed words and pointing occasionally at Jack.
"Probably Cherufe," Kolastis said. "You know him?"
Hank shook his head. "I've heard of him. I thought he got into trouble with the Naitr'm a while back."
Kolastis smiled. "He did, but somehow he managed to escape a year or so ago. He's rather touchy about the whole thing."
Hank nodded and turned to Jack. "I think we'll go see what he's got."
"Don't forget to come back here if you do buy anything from Cherufe," Kolastis said as they walked away.
Once they were out of earshot of Kolastis, Hank pulled Jack aside near a booth advertising a mind-altering substance guaranteed to reveal the secrets of the Universe to the user. The banner promised to help the buyer set up a sales network to maximize profits.
"Jack, maybe you should wait here," Hank said.
"Why?" Jack asked, frowning.
"Because if you screw this up we may lose a chance to find Mei."
"You think she's on this world, don't you?"
"It's possible she either is or was here," Hank said.
"Then I'm not going to miss the chance to get her back."
Hank drew Jack nearer. "Look, if we find her in here, we may not get her back--- at least not yet," Hank told him.
Jack's eyes went wide. "The hell I won't get her back!"
"Lower your damn voice," Hank said as quietly as he could.
Jack spoke just above a whisper. "All right."
"If she's here, there's no way with a hundred men we'd ever get her out alive," Hank said. "You've seen the guards?"
"Yeah," Jack said.
"The clans get a cut of every transaction that takes place in here," Hank told him. "In return, they provide the troops to enforce the rules. Everyone's interests are protected, providing an environment where business can be conducted."
Jack listened and tried to relax.
"You may not like it," Hank said. "But it works. If someone's property is stolen, then those nice gentlemen with the big guns will blast a hole through the thief's skull," Hank told him.
Jack's eyes widened. "You think Mei is here as someone's property? As a…" Jack couldn't use the word in his mind.
"Not by her own choice," Hank said. "But if she is here, if whoever took her and Jeremiah decided to sell her to someone, then she is nothing more than property in the eyes of everyone else. You try to take her, you'll be shot as a thief and she'll be handed back to her owner."
Jack closed his eyes, now wishing he wouldn't find Mei-Wan or Jeremiah on this godforsaken planet. Part of him felt if they were here, they'd probably be better off dead.
No! his mind recoiled. Whatever state they were in--- whatever their legal status on this hellhole--- he wanted them back, alive.
"Okay," Jack finally told Hank. "We'll look, but I'll follow your lead."
Hank watched Jack's expression, not to see if he was lying, but to see if Jack appeared able to keep his word.
Hank gave Jack a last glance and walked down the aisle. "Come on."
Jack followed Hank to a large area where a tall man with dark purple skin and dull orange hair stood in front of a group of ten scantly clad females of various species. Hank's walk slowed and he started looking the women over.
"Hello, I'm Cherufe," the purple figure said with a growing smile. "These creatures are just samples of my stock. If there's a specific species you're interested I'm sure I can accommodate you."
Jack did his best not to react while Hank continued his browsing. Instead he looked about Cherufe's showroom. Unlike the other booths they had seen, this one was at least three times larger and with more colorful displays. What they said, Jack didn't know because they were written in the alien language that seemed to be everywhere. However, he was sure they made promises meant to insure a sale.
"These your best or what?" Hank asked.
Cherufe retained his smile, but didn't appear pleased that his merchandise was being questioned. "Let's say they're a representative sample."
Hank grinned. "I take it the quality merchandise is reserved for your best customers."
"Something like that," Cherufe replied. He paused a moment. "Have we met before?"
"No, I don't think so," Hank said.
"You do seem familiar."
"Hank Evans."
Cherufe's smile became more genuine. "I heard you were dead."
"Actually," Hank said with a grin. "The last two years I've been worse than dead."
Cherufe chuckled as Hank continued looking the women over.
"I've been in a place where they have his notion that everyone can live together in peace and work out their problems by talking," Hank said, giving Jack a glance.
"So you've been in a mental institution?" Cherufe asked with a chuckle.
"Pretty close."
Hank walked behind the women.
"I hear you owe Trulfulsa and Galfalda a lot of money," Cherufe said.
"I'm still alive aren't I?" Hank responded.
Cherufe laughed. "Knowing Trulfulsa, that says a lot," he said, now clearly relaxed around Hank. "Whatever you want, I'll take off fifteen percent."
"You're too kind," Hank said, acting appropriately surprised.
"Anything for a friend of Trulfulsa."
Hank walked back up to him. "I'm setting up a new club on Ulos. I'm thinking seven to ten women to start out."
Jack hoped this was just a part Hank was playing and that he wasn't doing some extra business on the side while they were here.
"Ulos, huh?" Cherufe asked. "Mostly Kel-j'na and independents come through there."
"Independents with more money than sense," Hank said with a grin.
Cherufe nodded.
"I tried to make it here for the auction, but got held up," Hank remarked, watching the women closely.
"There was a lot of good stock this time," Cherufe said. "Who's he?" he asked pointing to Jack.
"New guy," Hank said, still watching the women. "I'm training him."
Cherufe looked Jack over giving him the feeling of being sized up like a side of beef. "He's a bit uh..."
"Yeah, I know," Hank said. "He'll get past it. He's got great potential."
Jack forced a smile trying to avoid reacting out of character for the game Hank was playing.
Hank walked up to one of the women, a bright eyed, mostly human looking female, with large plumes of bright red hair. "This one looks fairly new."
"You've got a good eye, Evans," Cherufe said, smiling.
"Any chance I could..." Hank began.
"In the back," Cherufe answered and pointed. "I don't expect anyone to buy without sampling the merchandise."
Hank smiled and led the woman toward a door.
What the hell is he doing? Jack thought as he watched Hank disappear into the back with the shapely young woman. This is insane!
"Would you like to try one of the others?" Cherufe asked Jack in complete seriousness.
Jack barely kept his first reaction from coming to the surface. He'd been with women who sold their services a few times when he was younger, but the thought of a woman being enslaved to do such a thing made him sick, especially since they might find Mei-Wan in the same situation.
He did his best to smile, but knew he was probably less than successful.
"No," he finally got out. "I, uh... we had a wild night and I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to get a good sense of their… performance."
"Oh," Cherufe said. A moment later he brightened up. "I could give you something for that. No charge."
"Mr. Evans always tells me to never judge the merchandise under the influence of chemicals," Jack said, hoping the lie worked.
"Good policy."
***
Twenty minutes later, Hank pulled his pants up and sat back down on a small bed in the ten by ten room he shared with the woman with bright red hair. She took a deep breath and slipped her own clothing back on.
"How'd I do?" she asked him.
"Just fine, red," Hank answered as he reached for his shirt.
"My name is Zarthia," she told him.
He turned toward her. "Cherufe bought you in the auction a few days ago, right?"
"Five days ago," she said.
Hank pulled out a small display device and touched a couple of its controls. "Tell me," he said handing the device to her. "Did you see this woman at the auction?"
Zarthia looked down at the image of Mei-Wan McCall displayed on the small screen. She stared at it for a lot longer than Hank would have expected. For Jack's sake, he hoped this would turn out to be a dead end.
"No," she finally said. "I've never seen her before."
"You're certain?"
"I would have remembered her," Zarthia said. "Her eyes are quite attractive." She glanced at Hank. "She your daughter?"
"No. She's the wife of the man with me."
Zarthia handed Hank back the display. "I'm sorry."
"Me too," Hank replied, now fully clothed again.
"So, that's the only reason you came here?" she asked. "You're not going to buy me, are you?"
A minute later, Hank and Zarthia walked back toward Cherufe. Jack turned to Hank trying to get some sense as to what he was doing and why.
"How did you like her?" Cherufe asked.
"Exceptional," Hank stated as he handed the tall purple alien a card unit. "I'll take her."
Jack used every bit of internal strength he had to keep his jaw from dropping, but he had promised Hank not to react and so he didn't. But he knew he couldn't hold back for very long.
Cherufe took Hank's card unit and slid another device under it. "Could I interest you in any of the others?"
"No," Hank said. "I think I'm going to take my time and do this right."
"Trulfulsa always said you were smarter than you looked."
Hank chuckled.
"I should have more merchandise in a few days," Cherufe said. "Come back and I'm sure I can make it very much worth your while."
"I'll be certain to return," Hank said with a nod.
"Here's her registration and your certificate of ownership," Cherufe told Hank as he handed him two small metal cards.
"Thanks."
A moment later, Hank, Jack, and Zarthia left.
***
"Are you out of your damn mind?!" Jack yelled as the three of them walked out of the Exchange onto the still crowded street. Jack had contained himself as long as he could.
"Jack…"
He wasn't interested in listening. "Does she know anything about my father or Mei?"
Hand exhaled. "No."
"Then why the hell did you buy her?" Jack marched several steps away. "I thought you might sink pretty low, Evans, but buying slaves?! What the hell do you plan on doing with her?"
"Jack, we'll talk about this later," Hank replied as thunder rumbled through the air and a fine mist of rain began to fall.
"We'll talk about it now!" Jack demanded, heading back to Hank.
Zarthia moved between them. "Get back!" she told Jack.
"You're defending him?!"
"He's my owner."
Jack stomped off into the spattering rain.
"Jack where are you going?" Hank asked as he and Zarthia stood, getting wet.
Jack spun about. "You're a Starfleet officer! Buying and selling sentient lifeforms is so against regulations and what we stand for..."
"Please spare me the Starfleet mantra, Jack," Hank said. "In case you haven't looked around, we're nowhere near Federation territory."
Jack walked back toward him. "That shouldn't make a difference!" he yelled, water dripping off his hair into his face.
"The rest of the Galaxy doesn't use Federation ethics as its moral compass," Hank said, the rain now pouring down. "Where the hell did your IDIC concept run off to? Aren't you supposed to respect all cultures?"
"You think this is funny?" Jack barked. "You just bought this woman. She is your property!"
"Which makes her my business and not yours."
As all three of them were getting soaked, Jack stood, incredulous at what he'd just heard. "What the hell happened to you out here?" Jack asked him. "You're not the same man I used to know."
"Me?" Hank threw back, shaking his head. "You've got no room to ask anyone about their life. At least I can sleep at night. What about you?"
Jack's jaw tightened. "I don't buy and sell people, Evans."
"I don't have to answer to you or anyone else about how I do things," Hank whispered, staring at Jack.
"I'm your commanding officer, Evans! You most certainly will answer to me!" Jack shouted.
Hank took a breath into his lungs and less than a second later pinned Jack against the nearest wall. "I have had about enough of your mouth, boy," Hank said softly--- too softly. "I came here to help you, and all I've gotten is a lot of back talk about my lifestyle this, my ethics and morality that. That's over with."
Jack could tell Hank wasn't making a request.
"I asked you before we started if you could put away your Starfleet mindset," Hank pointed out. "Since you have a problem doing that, you can go stay on the Gladys and I'll do this on my own. You got me, kid?"
Jack eyes widened. He pushed Hank away from him. "Stop calling me that!" he bellowed through the falling rain. "I'm not some ensign straight out of the Academy anymore! I'm forty-three years old, a starship captain, and your superior officer, damn it!"
Hank watched Jack, then slowly nodded. "Then start acting like it," he said quietly.
Jack was about to continue, but Hank's words caught him off guard.
Hank allowed him several seconds to calm down. "I have informed the captain what is required for this mission to succeed. You consented to follow my lead," Hank reminded him. "Respectfully, can you accept that, and finally move on... sir?"
Jack looked at Zarthia, wanting to argue that buying slaves wasn't what he had agreed to, but Hank had warned him, and given him the opportunity to stay behind.
"Yes," Jack forced reluctantly out of his throat.
Hank took several steps back and turned to Zarthia.
"Here," Hank said, handing her a small card. "This is a credit voucher. You can get transport off world."
She looked at him confused.
He took out her registration and the certificate of ownership. Hank ran another small card across both, then handed the new one to her. "This is a copy of your registration. Anyone asks, you tell them I have you out doing work for me."
"I don't understand," Zarthia whispered.
He held up her documentation. "As long as I own you, no one else can legally buy you," he said with a grin. "For all intents and purposes, you’re free. Go have a good life."
She smiled wide, at first not believing it. "Thank you." She kissed him. "Thank you." She walked away quickly through the now heavy rain.
Jack walked up to Hank. "Why didn't you..."
Hank spun about to face Jack. "Because I didn't want to do this here! I didn't want to risk the wrong people seeing me free her. They have laws against buying slaves just to set them free, you stupid bastard," he explained, frowning.
The rain came down in sheets, drenching them both.
"I bought her to start a business relationship with Cherufe," Hank stated. "If we discover Mei is a slave, he could prove very useful getting her back."
"All you had to do was tell me that," Jack said.
"All you had to do was trust me," Hank told him.
Several claps of thunder reverberated through the air around them.
"It's late," Hank said. "We need to find a place to stay."
