I wouldn’t say I like this thought. It’s an evil thought, and I shouldn’t be thinking it, but now I can’t get it out of my head. By the evening, it’s festered, and I can’t think about anything else. But thankfully, the Commander is so preoccupied with other things he doesn’t notice I’m upset, or he thinks it has something to do with yesterday and is ignoring it.

* * *

The next morning, he keeps me in his quarters after he’s dressed.

“The other commander has issued a formal complaint with me on behalf of his Water woman. It’s a direct response to my wanting to punish want of his crew for trying to rape you. Unfortunately, the video footage of your attack is unavailable, so it is your word against his. I, of course, have my officer’s word as well, but again, it is his word against your attacker’s, but it is strong that the other crew member told my officer he was going to have sex with you, implying it would be against your will.”

“What happens now?” I ask. I don’t know much about Silver laws. I only know the cultural norms of gift-giving and family organization. However, I don’t have high hopes, as it’s an incredibly patriarchal society.

“He wants me to pay for your attack. It’s a matter of exchanging goods.”

“I will pay. I attacked her,” I reply.

“No,” he says. “Unfortunately, they have tricked us both. When I bought your necklace, I conceded by law that you were property. I was thinking with my emotions, and I acted too quickly. Now the other commander wants you as his property, and that’s the exchange of goods he wants.”

“That’s insane,” I say. I don’t tell the Commander I already had the same thoughts about the necklace and now his admission of being too emotional about it to make the correct decision makes me feel better. “You won’t trade me?”

“I told you before I would never, and no matter what the law says or whatever I have implied legally, you are not a piece of property to me.”

“I understand,” I say. “But what happens now?”

“First, I will offer him money instead of you. After a few tries, he will take it.” My Commander sighs, “Then, I will come down on him and his crew harshly with the fleet’s laws regarding sex outside of marriage, and he will be forced to marry or make his Water woman a volunteer again. Many crew members will not be happy with this arrangement, as they assumed they would have a longer grace period, so he will have more to think about than you.”

“Do I need to do anything?”

“Keep going to your self-defense lessons, remember you have a gun and do not follow anyone you have not already vetted through your years on this ship,” he says.

“Had I just let it go, this would have never happened,” I say.

“If not this, then something else would have happened to lead to this same situation. The other commander realizes your worth and wants to take you for himself, and he used the other Water woman to get to you.”