Justin Nesbit, soldier turned prospector, crash lands on a planet in a star system that doesn't exist on any map. He's taken prisoner by the natives, and finds himself thrust into a strange new culture, a strange new language ... and strange new feelings. From the start, Sajah, the alien leading the natives, is intensely interested in him.<br><br>Sajah is a big and strange alien, unlike anyone Justin has ever encountered in his life. Fumbling through cultural and language barriers, they become friends. But one crucial moment of misunderstanding changes Justin's entire situation and leads him down a path to a choice he never imagined in his wildest dreams.

Captive

After a few moments, Justin cursed his curiosity and trembled with fear, blood going cold.


He didn’t know enough of the words to guess at what Sajah said in its entirety, but one of them suspiciously sounded like ‘sacrifice.’ Justin had been from one end of the known galaxy to the other, had encountered thousands of cultures. If Sajah’s people were shamanistic, and sacrificesure as fuck pointed Justin in that direction, it could range from the simple planet worshipping kind to the cannibal types. Which one were these people? And just what kind of sacrifice was Sajah talking about?


Anuht’s deeper voice drew his attention back to the aliens outside, but nothing they were saying made any sense after that; almost like they were speaking a completely different language that Sajah wasn’t teaching him.


Chapter 6