The Captain's Cargo

Zara Knox

About

I stowed away on the star freighter Odyssey to escape a dead-end life on a desolate mining colony. I was discovered within hours by the ship's captain, a scarred, cybernetically enhanced warlord, and his two intimidating first mates. The penalty for stowaways is death or indentured servitude. They offer me a third option. Their species is dying, their fertility rates decimated by a genetic plague. They are on a desperate mission to find compatible females to continue their line. My genetic profile, they inform me, is a perfect match. I can become their "cargo"—a willing broodmare for all three of them—and in return, live a life of luxury and protection. It's not a choice, not really. But as they begin my initiation into their "pod," I find a pleasure so overwhelming it feels a lot like freedom.