Trafficked!

This is the cautionary tale of Rashad Stevens. He finds himself in a troubled Cairo during the infamous protests aimed at rallying what was left of the European and Mediterranean nations against their alien conquerors. Turbulent times. Despair is catching; poverty is killing.

Rashad and his Egyptian friend Hany are undecided: should they invest what little they have in a huge alien-run scheme to green the Sahara? Or trust their lives and their savings into the hands of the people smugglers and escape off-world to get work? So many others seem to be leaving. Perhaps this is Rashad's only chance to save the life of his mother. Perhaps Hany will finally be able to provide for his family. Or maybe their journey into the stinking underbelly of the overpowering, overlapping alien civilizations among the stars will turn out to be a greased slide into nightmare.

If you're desperate, you might hand over the keys of your life to a stranger and he might help you out, or he might take up residence, dumping you in the cold, many miles from home. But what if the strangers are not at all human? Is there any chance that they can comprehend your humanity and treat you with even a shred of dignity? When you realise that you've been trafficked, sold as a wage slave, lost, 913 light-years from home, what would you be willing to go through in order to get home again?