Free Dark Deeds (Class 5 Series Book 2) by Michelle Diener

anyone for a long time.
    “Doctor Jasa says you know Rose McKenzie.” He shifted, putting his feet apart and his hands behind his back, as if he was questioning her in an official capacity.
    She frowned. “I know of her. We've never met.”
    “You sure about that?” He was watching her so closely, she began to lose the warm glow she'd had for him. It was like he was trying to trip her up.
    “I'm pretty sure I'd remember.” She leaned back on the bed. “She was abducted a month before I was, so unless she was on the same ship as me, and saw me while I was under sedation . . .” Fee tried to work out what that would mean if it were true, and how it could be so important to Vakeri.
    “And you remember nothing about your abduction, nothing about where you were kept?”
    Fee narrowed her eyes. “No. It isn't a big secret. If I knew something, I promise, I'd tell you. I want the bastards to pay for snatching me, so believe me, I wouldn't hesitate to point the finger, if I had any idea who to point it at.”
    “So why are you so sure Tak wasn't the one who took you?”
    Fee hugged her knees. “Because I came briefly awake a few times, and the place where I was was light, all clear glass, and there were animals around me. I can't really remember clearly, it was like a waking dream, but I thought I saw . . .” She didn't know the Grih word for parrot, so she shook her head and tried again. “I thought I saw birds from my planet, but just for a moment or two, and then I went back under. It happened about three or four times, and then I woke in a cell on Tak's ship. The smell was different, the light was different, the material my cell was made of was different, even the sound of the engine was different.”
    She thought back to those first few days when she'd slowly shaken off the stupor of sedation, when she'd walked the confines of her cell and realized there was no escape, and then had to come to grips with the fact that her guards were not human, and that she didn't understand them, or know where she was.
    It was the darkest time of her life.
    The handheld that had been left in her cell with her had five languages on it, and she had learned the language of her captors first, and because she'd heard the guards speak of them, she'd learned Grihan next.
    Bukari had been her latest foray, but she hadn't gotten far.
    “Probably, if I'd understood Garmman when I first woke up, I'd have heard more useful gossip about how I got there from my guards. By the time I could understand them, they'd moved on to new topics, but I did hear enough to work out I'd been handed over quietly, and most of the crew hadn't even known there was an exchange.”
    Vakeri gave a slow nod. “That tallies with what Rial and Favri have got from the crew. They woke up one day and you were in the cell.”
    “What about Tak, Hury and Lon Sang? If anyone knows, it's them.”
    Vakeri's lips twisted in disgust. “Yes. But they aren't talking.”
    She would have thought Hury and Lon Sang would talk, even if Tak remained stubborn. Her surprise must have shown.
    “They're afraid. They know the Tecran will try to silence anyone who can testify they stole another woman from Earth, as well as Rose McKenzie. The Tecran defense has been it was a once-off error in judgment, but that'll be harder to sell if it comes out there is a second abductee. Their position on the United Council is so precarious, this revelation may be what pushes them out.”
    Fee flinched. “What might they do to the walking, talking proof of their abduction?”
    Vakeri eyed her with what looked like respect. “Nothing good. You're in danger from them, which is why I've got Pila and Carmain watching you. Jasa said she told you there are a few Grihan officers who seem to be working for the Tecran. It's probable none are on my ship, but just in case, you have protection. And when we get to Larga Ways, you'll have to stay on the Illium .”
    “What is Larga Ways?”
    “It's a small