mutant came closer and rubbed the front of his pants. “I say we have her and just take her so we don’t break anything. They’ll pay if she’s not broken.”

She shivered in revulsion. “They don’t pay if you rape me. They will deem me an unfit employee because of mental instability.” She didn’t have to lie about that. “I’m a sales representative who has to travel deep space often. I won’t be able to do that anymore if I’m attacked. They won’t mentally clear me for those missions. I’ll be useless to Firmaline and they won’t pay for my return. They always scan their employees before payment. If you’ve ever dealt with them for ransom then you know this.”

“Captain,” a voice rasped from speakers. “The jumper is searching for us. It has entered the asteroid field.”

Two-tone spun away. “Don’t touch her. Watch her. We’re going to take down the shuttle.”

The pirates were going to attack the Rally . Fear for Flint’s safety hit Mira. He’d said the Rally was heavily armored so she prayed it was. If the pirates attacked the Rally though Flint might have to blow up the ship she was in. Her eyes traveled the cargo area, thinking it wouldn’t be a loss. It was a floating garbage tank as far as she could see and smell. The men on board were all radiation mutants who had turned to attacking space shuttles for profit and they were ra**sts too. She’d die but she’d rather do that than suffer their brutality.

The ship vibrated as the engines came on. A high-pitched sound emitted when the engines shuddered.

Fear hit her. The ship was in really bad shape. She heard metal groan, wondering what that meant, knowing for sure that it couldn’t be anything good. Seconds later men started yelling.

“What is going on?” the man who was guarding her yelled out.

Another mutant ran into the cargo area from the direction from which the others had disappeared. He ran for the far corner. “They have weapons,” the man shouted as he ran. “We’ve been damaged. I’m sealing my ass in the tank so when the hull ruptures I’m not sucked out.”

“Fuck,” the man behind her rasped. He ran for that corner too, leaving Mira strapped over the wooden crate.

The engines died slowly. They didn’t just shut off. They groaned and shook. At least the high-pitched sound died with the engines. A painful jolt ran up Mira’s legs from her feet on the floor. Something had hit the ship hard enough to cause the metal to send shock waves through the floorboards. She yanked her feet up so she lay on top of the crate. A hard push sent her body sliding a foot on the crate but her tied hands kept her from flying off it to roll away. The gravity was still on but a scream tore from her as the ship started to tilt badly. The stabilizers had been damaged.

Mira saw the deck lift up on one side. Unsecured boxes started to slide toward the now-lower section of floor, slamming into the metal walls. She rolled off the crate and slammed into the floor painfully since she couldn’t stop the fall when the ship tilted more. Her bound wrists kept her from sliding down the slanted floor into the wall. She stared at the large table-sized crate and was relieved that it was tied to the deck. It wasn’t going to slide toward her and crush her.

Something slid loudly on the tilted floor. Mira looked up, another scream tearing from her when she saw a large barrel rolling toward her. She screamed again and used her feet to brace on the deck to turn her body to roll, barely getting out of the way before it passed her. It smashed into something below. The deck was now at a good forty-five-degree angle. She prayed the ship wouldn’t roll all the way over.

Something dripped on her cheek. She looked up as blood drops hit her again. The ties they’d used on her wrists were digging deeper into her flesh. Her weight was supported by those ties, causing blood to run down both arms now that she was putting more pressure on them. She was grateful that her hands were numb because she feared the bindings were going to sever her hands from her wrists as her weight stressed them. Hot tears poured down Mira’s face. She never should have left the Star . She was going to die horribly.

An explosion rocked