“She’s no lady,” my aggressor says with a sneer. “She’s a volunteer. She’s a prostitute. She came looking for sex and then played hard to get.”

My Commander’s officer doesn’t lower his gun. “Get away from us.”

“Oh, so I see you have something for her too. Well, we can both take turns. I’m not too proud to share a volunteer.”

“I am going to give you until the count of … oh, fuck it, never mind,” he says and fires his gun. The noise was so loud I duck. When I look up, I see my aggressor running in the opposite direction.

“Did you shoot him?” I ask.

“Only his pride,” the eloquent officer answers.

“I’m so glad you found me.”

“The Commander was concerned when you were gone so long. It is not like you. How did you get here?”

“I used bad judgment,” I admit. “The other Water woman said she had something of mine from the farm.”

He holsters his gun. “Are you okay? Did I get here in time?”

“Yes,” I reply as he escorts me back to the officers’ lounge. I can hear the loud conversation from the dining room, and before we walk in, the officer stops me.

“Wait,” he says, taking in my appearance. “You need to put your hair down to hide these bruises. Also, when you enter the kitchen, wash as much blood off yourself as possible. The Commander will deal with this but say nothing until you are alone with him. If he asks about your hair, I will say you lost your hair clip. I cannot stress enough. Say nothing until you are alone. We need this deal to go through, understand?”

“I understand,” I reply.

He pats me on the head and then joins the other officers at the dining room table. I notice, out of the corner of my eye, my Commander watching me walk in and then my rescuer whispering in my Commander’s ear. I feel embarrassed to have been tricked so easily. I walk into the kitchen, and I see the other human woman.

She feigns ignorance, “Oh, there you are. I wondered where you went to.”

“You led me around the ship and then left me,” I say, stopping short of saying anything more that could impinge on the negotiations in the next room—barely remembering my promise not to make an issue out of this until later.

“I’m sure you made some new friends. Some close friends, right? How did that feel? Like that bubble gum, what’s it called, you remember the commercial, ‘double your pleasure.’”

I can’t help myself; I lunge at her. What surprises me is that no one on her ship stops me, and I’m able to punch her a few times before one of the other servants from my ship pulls me off her. I survey my work; her face has some bruises and a bloody lip, but nothing is broken except maybe her pride.

“Now we are even,” I say as I’m led away. I’m taken to a bathroom and the other servant, a middle-aged male who serves the first officer, sits me down. I notice he leaves the door open for propriety.