Prisoners of the Baroque (Brother 5)

During a spontaneous dark sky trip to the Atacama Desert, four Australian astrophysicists are abducted. Amos, Lise, Eduardo and Flin, along with thousands of others are transported to a space station four and half light years from Earth. There, a cargo ship, named the Baroque will carry over fifty thousand souls, kidnapped from remote areas of Earth, to an auction at Midline.
Humans have become a coveted item in the universe and sold for exorbitant amounts to the highest bidder. Amos guides his professors to help those who cannot help themselves, manipulate the guards, and speculate on a future that does not include a mining camp or an alien quack's laboratory.
This is a short story and an extended excerpt from Dancing Above the Moon, available in 2018.

Ardyce's love for books was born to replace friends. Growing up in the southwest her parents moved from town to town. The local library supplied her with endless relationships, some she holds near and dear today. The Old Man and the Sea stays by her bedside, although their love affair is relatively new. When an auto accident as a teenager kept her immobile for three months, the doctor's banishment to the living room couch began her obsession with movies and television. (BTW, next to smart phones, streaming is the best invention of modern times.) The first science fiction movie she can remember viewing is The Day the Earth Stood Still. She found the movie poster in Canne, of all places, in 2006 and insisted on carrying it on the plane on her return flight home. Artie lives in Phoenix with her husband, three kids, and a menagerie of four legged family members. She is known for a wicked, sometimes inappropriate, sense of humor. Her kids do not think she is funny at all.