-Enslaved-by-an-Officer[ Sold 8] by McLeod-Anitra-Lynn Page A

hated to be the one to tell him the horrible truth, but that was part of his duty. “I am sorry. But that’s simply not possible.”
“What do you mean? I am alive. I can go back and pick up right where I left off with Mac and the Broncos. It’s a crazy story—oh, that’s what you meant before about being circumspect. Humans don’t know about all of you out here, so when I go back I can’t tell anyone. Got ya.”
“No, that’s—who are Mac and the Broncos?” Was it worse than Honor thought? What if Carver still loved someone there and simply wanted to add Acerith into their relationship? There were beings who didn’t pair off but tended to align in groups of three or four. Honor had a terrible vision of Carver in the middle of dozens of groping hands all seeking to please him.
“Mac was—is my roommate. We…”
“Are you in love with him?”
“No. I mean, I think I could have. Maybe I will when I go back. It just happened really fast and—Mac’s not the main reason I want to go back. The Broncos are.”
“And who are they?”
“A football team. They offered me a chance to play pro ball. That’s why I have to go back. Don’t you see? It’s a dream come true. I get to play football for a living. Not many men get that chance.”
Honor was convinced that Carver was far more interested in returning to Earth for his career rather than for a person. He found that a curious combination of good and bad.
“Why do I get this terrible feeling that you’ve got more horrible news for me?”
“Because I do. And I’m sorry. But I have no other choice. You simply can’t go back to Earth.”
Carver’s happy, easygoing demeanor faded quickly. His smile turned to a frown, and he leaned forward. “Why?”
“You were pulled out of the time space continuum right at the moment of your death. To put you back on Earth might cause a distortion.”
“You mean everyone thinks I’m dead?”
“Yes.”
“But I’m not.”
“No. But you can’t go back and pick up your life as if nothing happened. You were supposed to die that day. That an unscrupulous slave trader gave you a second chance is both a blessing and a curse.”
“How did I die?”
Honor was actually ready for this question. All the Earthlings wanted to know the manner of their death. He’d thought it was unbelievably morbid, but Tyler had said it was simply monkey curiosity. To him, as a Krase warrior, the only thing that would matter about his death would be that it was honorable. To die in battle would be the best death he could wish for. His kind did not believe in an ever after or any kind of god, so what they did here was all they had. Humans had many varied ways of looking at the great beyond, but every single one of them wanted to know the exact way they’d died.
“Honor?”
“Sorry.” He shook his head. “Once I knew your name I was able to delve through the news reports. You were well known. And well liked. There was a lot said about you. All of it good.”
Carver smiled rather wanly. “I guess it’s kind of like going to my own funeral without actually being in the casket.”
It took a moment for Honor’s translator to put all of that into context. His kind was not buried but incinerated. They had no reverence for a dead body as some cultures did. “You were killed in an explosion.”
“The last thing I remember is going for a run then waking up on that stage.”
“You were near a house that had been rigged to explode.”
“Why?”
“Apparently, the people who lived there were trying to collect on some kind of insurance policy. They altered gas appliances so that while they were away, the house would burn. But they miscalculated. The explosion destroyed their home and several homes next to it.”
“How many people died?”
“Twelve.”
“Jesus.” Carver shook his head. “All so some asshole could collect insurance rather than work?”
Honor nodded. He understood Carver’s fury. The perpetrators were well away from the danger,