Rene considered the problem, idly stroking Solae with the hand on his uninjured right side. Occasionally the surgical unit prodded him as its tiny filaments continued their repair work with unflagging mechanical zeal. In theory the nerve blockers should stop him from feeling it, but like anything there was always a few kinks when humans were involved. It took him a moment to pull his mind back from a vision of a Kalderi Panarch presiding over a sumptuous and exotic wedding. Many nobles were content to live in luxury and indulge their own pleasures, or to play at the games of intrigue as a way of keeping score in their own convoluted game, but Rene couldn’t deny that the lure of adventure and exotic experience was a tempting one. Even if they couldn’t convince the Kalderi to help, it would be a safe respite from where they could make plans without worrying that Tan’s forces would find them.

“I suppose it is too much to hope for that Thorne has any Syshin commandos we could take off her hands,” he mused. What they could really use was an engineer, Rene had pulled maintenance detail on enough armored vehicles to be able to affect simple repairs, but he had only been able to keep the Bonaventure flying because nothing had gone badly wrong and because Mia’s powerful, if idiosyncratic, programing allowed her to guide him in more advanced tasks. Unfortunately prejudice like that which Ten had demonstrated kept Syshin out of the kind of institutions that would allow them to develop those skills. Prejudice and a combination of poverty and a lack of social integration at any rate. 

“I think the fighting pits are a logical place to start, it sort of presupposes men and women in peak condition, though they might take some convincing. That might be something of an understatement, sentient beings that had been forced to fight for the amusement of humans might be less than enthusiastic about fighting for other humans, but Rene was confident that Solae would be able to win them over.

“I think the fighting pits are you best bet,” Rosaria informed them a half hour later as the sat in the gardens that seemed to intersperse Ten’s dwelling. The girl had a pistol in a hip holster, though Rene had instructed Ten not to give the girl any ammunition until he had time to give her instruction. Rosaria had not been pleased about the decision but had been somewhat mollified when Rene let her keep the unloaded gun. The last thing he needed was an untrained teenage accidentally succeeding where the Dukes assassins had failed after all. 

“How well guarded are these pits?” Rene asked. Rosaria shrugged.

“Pretty heavily guarded, they don’t give the Syshin projectile weapons, but there are enough of them that if the guards didn’t have machine guns they might riot,” she explained.

“Do any of them escape?” Solae asked. Rosaria shook her head.

“Every now and again one makes a run for it, but they always get recaptured, Alayla pays a bounty for any Syshin trying to board a ship, quite a big one I understand.” Rene nodded his head, he had imagined that the slaves were kept in line by some kind of deterrent, perhaps implanted explosives, or tracking collars, he hadn’t really considered the notion that there was just no where for the aliens to go.

“How many Syshin are there in the pits?” Rene asked, he was laying in his bed but he had prevailed upon Criesta to attach a holographic console so he could make notes and at least feel like he was of some use.

“There are three major pits, two sort of public ones, and a third one they keep out of sight,” Rosaria explained.

“Why out of sight?”

Rosaria grimaced slightly before explaining.

“They do special fights, fights to the death, fights against exotic beasts that might cause a panic if the good people of Zatis knew they were on the planet,” Rosaria explaned, looking down at her manicure rather than meeting the eyes of either of the nobles.

“Stars above,” Rene cursed, glancing sideways to see the look of cold rage on Solae’s face. Alayla was wise to keep that out of the public eye, even on Zatis that might well attract Imperial attention.

“How many in each pit?” Rene asked, his own voice crisp and harder than he had intended to make it. Rosaria flinched slightly, even though there was no real reason for her to do so, she was just as much a victim here as the Syshin in her own way.

“It depends on the rock hoppers,” the girl explained, the voices tumbling out of her mouth in an effort to reach a less uncomfortable topic of conversation. Rene cocked an eyebrow.

“Rock hoppers?” Rene asked, “like mining ships?” Rosaria nodded. Rock hoppers were small craft used for mining asteroids for metals and, in some cases, water ice. It was dirty and dangerous work and in big systems the process was automated. Zatis was too small for that level of industrialization, though the refined metal could be exported to other more rural worlds at a handsome profit.

“You mean to tell me that Thorne uses Syshin for asteroid mining?” he asked incredulously.

“That is perfect, they might not exactly be trained spacers, but that is probably as much experience as most tramp freighter crew this far from the core worlds have,” he exclaimed sitting up in his excitement before Solae put a slender hand on his chest and pushed him gently but firmly back into his repose.

“They usually have a human pilot and an overseer, she keeps them in the ships for a few months and then brings them back to the fighting pits so they don’t lose too much muscle and bone mass,” Rosaria explained. Rene didn’t know what the girl would make of herself, but she was remarkably observant. 

“She keeps them in zero-G?” Rene asked grimly. Rosaria nodded again.

Protracted exposure to zero-g was dangerous to creatures that had evolved in gravity. Muscle and bone density quickly plummeted and blood clots and other issues grew more common without gravity to aid the body in draining. After a few months without gravity a man could hardly stand in a full G, to be then thrown back into a fighting pit must have been particularly horrific.  

“That still leaves us with the problem of getting to them,” Rene said considering the problem. Solae might be able to buy the slaves as she suggested, but it was dangerous to expose her to anyone related to Thorne, and Ten suddenly developing an interest would look just as suspicious. 

“Alayla sells the services of some of the fighters to… paying clients,” Rosaria said in a guarded tone.

“What do you mean?”

“There are ladies of wealth who will pay for a champion to pleasure her, some men also, but fewer.  Women find warriors appealing I suppose,” Rosaria said, cutting a glance between the two aristocrats.

“There are few guards on these ‘special visits’ usually just one or two.”