Free Too Close to the Sun (The Sun 1) by Robin T. Popp Page B

front.
    “Terran,” she answered.
    “Ship?”
    “ Icarus .”
    Angel recognized the virtual keyboard as the man typed something in the air, but it took her a second to find the small, cube-like computer sitting on the table before him. It was too small to have a screen and then she realized the man was wearing virtual glasses where the computer screen appeared as an image in the lenses only the wearer could see. After a moment, he nodded.
    "All right. Here's your card.” He handed her a thin palm-sized digital tablet. “To bid on a donor, press the side button once and enter the collar number on the screen.” He pressed the button to demonstrate. “Once the number registers, it will turn from red to blue. At that point, enter your bid amount.
    “Each bidding session is fifteen tocks. Within that time, you may change your bid amount as often as you like. When the number turns back to red, bidding is over and you'll be prevented from entering additional bids. If your last bid turns out to be the high bid, you'll get a notification on your tablet. It should appear within five tocks after close of the session.
    “No notification means better luck next time. You may bid on as many donors as you wish until the auction is over, at which time you will report back here to verify and pay for your purchase. Once payment is confirmed, you may take your donor with you or leave instructions for specific programming and pick it up later. Once you have taken possession of your purchase, there can be no returns. Any questions?”
    “How soon until the auction begins?”
    “About forty tocks,” he said.
    In Terran standard, that was about twenty minutes, so Angel decided to find a place to sit. She selected a spot in the second row, slightly apart from the other buyers where she wouldn't be overheard talking to Romanof. “Are you still picking up a signal?”
    “Yes, just a couple of meters from here.”
    She felt a rush of excitement. "Your body must be backstage. I could sneak back there now and--"
    "No.” Romanof cut her off. "Securing my body through the auction is the safest way to retrieve it without raising alarms. I don't want to be forced to leave before I've had a chance to conduct a proper reconnaissance."
    Angel didn't like the thought of remaining on the planet any longer than absolutely necessary. The Harvesters were one big creep fest, from the Harvesters’ trade in bodies to their desolate, bleak planet and faceless, hooded white robes.
    "You'd think a race that deals in body parts wouldn't have such a hang up on cleanliness,” Angel commented, noticing the abundance of decontamination booths all over the place.
    Romanof remained quiet.
    "We'll get your body back," she assured him, knowing that must be uppermost in his thoughts just now.
    "I know."
    The left stage door opened, drawing her attention. She watched a cloaked figure appear, leading the first donor forward. It was an alien form that Angel had never seen before and resembled a large, blue blob with elongated arms, or legs, she couldn’t tell which.
    "Auction's starting," she told Romanof. "First specimen is on stage."
    "The signal hasn't moved, so that's not my body."
    "Yeah, I figured," she muttered, watching as the blue blob oozed across the stage and disappeared through the back while another "blob-being" was led out.
    “How are they able to walk?” she asked a few minutes later after watching several donors ambulate onto stage and then off again.
    “Each donor is wearing a control device in close proximity to their brain. For the humanoids, it will appear as a collar around the neck.”
    That gave Angel something new to worry about. “How will I remove yours? I didn’t bring any special equipment.”
    “You won’t need it,” Romanof replied. “The collars come off easily.”
    Then why hasn’t a donor pulled one off and tried to escape? Then it hit her. With their life essence removed, these donors were a case of light’s on but no