Iona went to sleep between Gage and Leviticus on the bed. It turned out that all of them were so on edge that going to sleep independently had been impossible. They started out with Gage and Leviticus on the sofas in the lobby, when Iona came out and got on the couch with Gage. There wasn’t enough room for them on the couch, so they moved it to the bedroom, but it had been lonely and scary for Leviticus to be alone in the lobby. He had opted for the floor in the bedroom since Gage and Iona had left the door to the room wide open. Iona told him not to be an idiot and to get on the bed since she was sleeping on Gage’s chest and there was enough room for a gazelle on the bed next to her. Surely, he could sleep there if he didn’t move around too much.

Actually, Iona wasn’t feeling excellent as she lay between them. She tried to act like cuddling up to Gage was all she ever wanted, but her brain was like an ant farm. What was she going to do? She got up and went to the bathroom. Then she sat down at the computer and sent Harrison Fox a message saying that she’d be interested in particulars if he had a job for her. The message would not be instantaneously in his inbox as it had to go all the way to Callisto, but it would undoubtedly beat her to Callisto. She went to the bidder page in her portal, which she had been avoiding, and stared at the numbers.

Dante had offered less money for her than he had during the previous round of bidding. It was obvious that her going to visit him, in particular, had had the opposite effect of the one she was hoping for. He thought she was desperate, so he thought he could get her for less.

Sherman had made an offer for her as well, but it was much less than he had offered for Jessica. He was willing to give Iona a try, but he wasn’t willing to shell out as much as was needed to bring Iona up in the ranks by even one spot. If she took his offer, she would still be the ninth most valuable model in the Jovian region.

There was an offer from Olivine, as Gage had warned her. It was less than Sherman, but more than Dante. No one was rich enough to outbid Sherman even when he only threw chump change at her.

There were other bids from individuals that were for smaller amounts and another bid from Excalibur Helocarriers. Harrison Fox had not made that bid. It had been her boss from the last term. It was for the same amount of money as last time, which meant that if she took it, she would fall in the rankings to the twelfth spot.

She logged out and turned off the computer. Who decided what someone was worth anyway?

She got back into bed between Gage and Leviticus.

She was between them for a whole three minutes before she felt the barrel of a gun pointing between her eyebrows.

“You guys are really quiet,” Iona praised. “What do you want?”

She opened her eyes slowly and saw the room was filled with men so dark that they melted into the darkness of the room. Standing at the foot of the bed was Benediction. Iona would know him anywhere. What Gage said about him was a thousand percent right. Now that she had seen Gage, she couldn’t be fooled by their different skin and hair color. Their shapes matched.

Gage kicked at one of the men next to the bed and was immediately restrained by a collection of dark hands coming from everywhere. Within the next second, Leviticus was similarly restrained, even though he hadn’t made a move. Iona was left alone in the middle of the bed.

She brought her legs under her. “So, what’s cooking?” she said, trying to get them to answer just one question.

“Take her,” Benediction said. He sounded so exactly like Gage that Iona wouldn’t have believed it was Benediction who spoke if she hadn’t seen his mouth move and his white teeth flash.

Hands grabbed Iona on the bed from all directions and she was gagged and bound.

“Listen boys… brothers,” Benediction said to Gage and Leviticus while Iona’s face was ground into the carpet. “I have no gripe with either of you, but slave owners are not welcome here on Io. We’ve recently passed laws forbidding slavery in all forms. She’s an owner.”

“But she only owns me,” Gage brought up.

“I’m not interested in the details of how you came to be owned by her, Theology. Our king and cross are one on Io, meaning our religion is also our governance. All slave owners will be punished.”

“But I signed the contract!” Gage protested. “She’s not really a slave owner if it’s voluntary slavery.”

“Here on Io, we do not distinguish between the two. There is no such thing as consent.”

Gage hung his head. He knew exactly where Benediction was in his head when he made those laws and why he thought that was the right thing.

“You can’t sign away your rights on Io,” Benediction said proudly, his chest heaving with emotion. “Iona Stirling will be taken from this place to the sands of father Loki where she will be placed in the disturbance zone. She will be staked to the breastplate of the great volcano and if she lives for twenty-four hours there, she will be released and you will be proclaimed legally free, Theology. But you will be free whether she lives or dies!”

Gage struggled under the hands of Benediction's followers. “This is crazy. She’s a model herself. She bought me for three months to help her get a better contract or a husband.”

“Right now, she’s owned by no one,” Benediction reminded him sternly. “If you’d like to spit in her face before we take her, I’ll allow that.”

“I’m not going to spit on her. I love her!” Gage shouted.

Iona heard him and her heart swelled within her. As the feeling of the restraints tightening at her wrists and ankles, she didn’t think he would be able to save her. Considering how she was feeling, she wasn’t particularly concerned. It was fine. Everything was fine. That was her strength, calmness when the whole world went to hell.

Benediction paused. “Ah, foolish Theo,” he said in gentle tones. “You have softened. You weren’t like this the last time we met. Though my affection for you is nonexistent, I will still rid you of this viper. Take her!”

Stolen story; please report.

She was carried out to a helocarrier that was parked next to the Danger Zone. Iona saw that the front of Gage’s borrowed helocarrier was open and parts of the engine were in the sand. She was put in the very back seat of Benediction’s helocarrier, but she wasn’t blindfolded and she saw the hands that had grabbed her and the others split into people who were loaded up after her. She saw the pilot get in and Benediction come after him. Benediction really was every bit as handsome in person as he had been in the pictures she saw. She wished she were angry at him, but he was right. Any kind of slavery was wrong.

She sat quietly even when Leviticus was brought aboard with no restraints. Gage didn’t get on board after him even though there was space for him in the bus-like helocarrier. Leviticus kept his eyes forward and she only saw the back of his head.

Not that she cared what was going on. She heard what they were going to do to her and she had a lot of thoughts on the subject.

The helocarrier flew up in the air and Iona watched the yellow sand dunes under them as they returned to the Loki region. The volcano was huge in the distance. It was the largest volcano on Io and the sight of it was stuff for the tourist photo ops. She wished she cared about any of that as they sped toward the breastplate.

Once there, she was manhandled off the craft and dropped onto the sand. She didn’t even have time to right herself before her arms and legs were spread in an X shape and piles of metal equipment were unloaded from the helocarrier next to her.

She glanced up and saw three men surrounding Leviticus in the carrier with guns pointed to his head. One of them was motioning for him to stay silent with a finger to their lips.

“Take her hoodie off her,” Benediction said, standing over her.

Iona was used to having unfamiliar hands all over her and having her hoodie unzipped, taken off her limbs, and thrown aside was nothing new to her.

“Should we take off her shirt, her pants?” one of the followers asked as he licked his lips.

Benediction shook his head in the negative.

“Why? We usually leave them in their underwear?” the man growled.

“Not this one. I can’t have her tempting any of us with the abhorrent perfection of her body. She’s an expensive slut. Do you think she became one because she looks bad with her clothes off? She’ll destroy all of us with her sellable parts.” Benediction moved toward the piles of equipment and got his men to fasten bracelets and chains around her wrists.

Iona stayed still while they affixed them around her wrists and ankles.

Benediction placed the mechanical stakes in four points to circle her. “Iona, you have been so cooperative that I’ve decided to reward you by allowing you to choose whether you’d rather be ripped apart horizontally or vertically. They will remove your gag and let you state your preference.”

Her gag was removed. She looked up at Benediction with zero pleading in her eyes or voice. “I’ll go with horizontal.”

He scoffed. “You’re more likely to live through a vertical tearing. It doesn’t seem that way, but it’s because of the way we tie you.”

“Yeah, maybe, but I still want to go for the horizontal one.”

“Why?”

She smiled. “I’m not going to lie to you. I’m pretty into this.”

“You’re what?” the head of the church of Voynich gaped.

“This place you’re staking me to is pretty likely to move enough to pull me in half, isn’t it? This part of the ground goes this way? That part of the ground goes that way? I’m tied down and I get pulled apart? How often is there a shift in these plates that’s large enough to rip a person in half?”

“It changes throughout the year,” Benediction said slowly. “You’ve got a part of the year where your odds for living are about fifty-fifty.”

“I like this,” she said again.

“You’re not worried about dying?” he asked, his face screwed up in a frown. “Theology won’t be able to save you. His helocarrier was disabled and Leviticus is a coward.”

“I don’t want to be saved,” she said with a smile that was almost gushing. “I want to do this. Come on, stake me.”

The guys who had been holding her had slacked and were looking at her with wonder and surprise. Iona saw that they were no longer holding her down and she laid down, resting her head in the sand.

“Is this a trick?” one of the others asked.

“It’s not a trick!” Iona called joyfully. “This is perfect. I love this. Get started.”

“Wait,” Benediction said, putting a hand to his forehead like he was trying to understand it. “Did we pick up a girl with a death wish?”

“No. I just want a sign.”

“A sign?” Benediction repeated.

Iona felt the sand in her hair and against her skin. It was warmish and now that she had the filters in her nose and throat, she really only tasted the sand if she inhaled through her mouth heavily. “I have had questions about whether or not I can change. I don’t want to be a slave or an owner. I want to be free and this is the perfect place to test whether or not I deserve to be. That’s what I want. You’re religious boys, aren’t you? You believe that if I die, it’s because I’m a filthy person with no hope of redemption or change? But if I live, your god believes that I can have a different life, be a different person and overcome what made me a slave. Stake me down! I want your god to judge me.”

Benediction had a moment where he looked like he wasn’t sure if he believed Iona or not. After a moment of silence, he stood up straighter and shouted. “Get her staked!”

The men with them stood up and got to work immediately. Iona’s hands and feet were pulled back to the X position and each of the mechanical stakes was nailed into the ground through the brute strength of Benediction and his followers. Benediction himself did the one on her left foot and Iona felt it as the tall stake hit stone. He looked beautiful as he did it and the sight gave Iona the encouragement she needed.

When he was finished, his followers heaved themselves back onto the Helocarrier while Benediction dawdled. Lacing and unlacing his fingers he stammered, “Normally, I spit on the unrighteous slave owner at this point, so I’m going to, but I wanted to tell you that I hope you live. Not many people are willing to be punished for the sin of enslavement.”

“Spit away,” she said, remembering all the times she’d been spit on before. She could be spit on one more time, maybe endless times if she could be convinced that she wasn’t a mistake and her life meant something.

Benediction spat a spray of spit that fanned out around Iona’s middle. “See you in twenty-four hours,” he said, trying to sound tough, but failing.

He got back on board his helocarrier and Iona watched as it disappeared over a sand dune.

Iona tilted her head back and breathed in through her nose. She had to remember to breathe in through her nose. Hopefully, it wouldn’t get clogged by sand before things were settled one way or another.

Jupiter was full above her and Iona watched the lines of clouds swirling. This was her big chance. If she lived through this, she’d take whatever job Harrison offered her. She’d ask Gage if he wanted to join her on Callisto. Maybe there was a place he could get a job working for Excalibur Helocarriers. Maybe they could find some way to live together. She thought about what the fairy tale family was like in her mind and she knew she had once lost faith in that idea. She told herself she had to take things slowly. Start with the first thing… she had to live for twenty-four hours. That meant keeping her mouth shut and allowing herself to be completely entranced by Jupiter. The planet was full, instead of in the first quarter or the third quarter. It was something she had to feel within herself.

Full.

Watch for storms above her and all around her.

Full.