Free Star Runners 2: Revelation Protocol by L E Thomas

buried them in this underground cavern to leave them for dead. But the green slop-carrying pirate continued bringing food, so Josh had nothing to do but wait.
    The gate to his cell shuttered and slid back slightly into the rock. A voice barked in another language. An order apparently, but he had no way to know for sure. Josh hesitated before moving towards the opening, his muscles wrenching with each movement. He poked his head through the door as a turtle would inch out of his shell, straining to see through the darkness. The smell of human waste and garbage hit him.
    A metal object hit his forehead.
    "Darak!"
    Callused hands rough as sandpaper clamped on his throat. He gasped for air, felt his lungs ignite like a match. His vision darkened. A metal object forced its way onto his skull, sharp fingers pressing into his neck and head. The razor-sharp edges of the metal split his skin, blood trickling down his forehead and cheeks. The salty taste of blood-tinged his lips and tongue. Another cylindrical object thrust into his ear. He cried out, but his voice drowned in a sea of shrieks.
    "When I tell you to rise," a familiar voice cooed in his bleeding ear, "you will do so."
    Josh nodded, not really understanding why or if anyone could see his response in the darkness. The mechanical fingers pressed into his skull, the grip tightening. Ignoring the pain, he risked a glance at his surroundings. Other prisoners lined the dark corridor. The crowded walkway stretched wide enough for two men to stand beside each other, but the ceiling seemed to be about six feet high. Every prisoner in the corridor was equipped with this strange metallic object. The silhouette looked almost spider-like. Guards in loose black fabric roamed the hall, keeping their rifles aimed low.
    This was it. This was the moment of his death. Delmar was right. The pirates had no need for them. He prayed for his parents never to know his fate, better they thought he drowned in the Pacific Ocean. But Kadyn, oh, how he wished he had said more to her during Austin’s games or during any of the times he stared at her without speaking. He would never know if any part of her felt the same way.
    A sound escaped the hallway like a vacuum.
    "You have been equipped with a translator to assist with today's duties," the voice said in his ear. "You should all be able to understand me. Raise your hand if you understand."
    A dozen yards to his front, a prisoner kept his hands down. A nearby guard kicked the prisoner's leg.
    "Raise your hand!" the guard yelled.
    When the prisoner did not comply, the guard pressed the rifle to the prisoner's head and pulled the trigger. The laser blast filled the tunnel with a red flash. The prisoner tumbled to the ground, twitched twice and fell still.
    "Now, the rest of you should know the device you wear is also for security. At my command, this device will crush your skull, effectively ending your service to me. Some of you here may already know me as Dax Rodon, but you shall only address me as sir or master.”
    Josh's blood boiled. He bit his bottom lip, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
    In all his months on Tarton’s Junction, the Tyral Pirates had been lurking in the shadows. The name of Dax Rodon lingered in the whispers of officers, caused the worried looks of the experienced Star Runners, and magnified the grumbles of mechanics working to repair the Tridents damaged during these hit-and-run raids. Dax Rodon had been leading them, growing bolder with each passing month.
    And now Josh was his prisoner.   
    "Today,” Rodon said, “you will empty an acquired freighter and then strip it. Half of you will be sold off or killed by the end of the day. The best workers will stay. Guards! Move our workers into the hangar."
    With an agonized murmur, the mass rose and charged forward. Josh felt hot breath on his neck from the man behind him. The guards packed the prisoners in tight like cattle. His body swayed on the uneven surface of the