by John Norman
"Do you think he likes me?" she asked.
"Perhaps he might find you of some slave interest," I said, "as might, incidentally, a great many men."
She smiled, shyly, pleased.
"Do you like him?" I asked.
"Of course not!" she cried. "Did you not see how he kept me on my knees before him?"
"Such a position is common for a slave before a free man," I said.
"But I am not a slave!" she said.
"He did not know that," I said.
"Surely one could tell!" she said.
"Not at all," I said.
I saw that this intelligence much pleased her.
"You think then that I could be taken for a slave?"
"Of course," I said, "and you were."
"Yes," she said.
"And you would make a lovely slave," I said.
"Do you think so?" she asked, eagerly.
"Yes," I said.
"Do you think I would bring a good price?"
"Of course," I said.
"And men might desire me?"
"Certainly," I said, "very much so. Even excruciatingly so."
I saw that this much pleased her.
"How dreadful!" she exclaimed.
"Not at all," I said.
"And did you not see how he demeaned me," she said suddenly, angrily, "how he walked about me, regarding me, examining me, inspecting me, as though I might be a slave!"
"He took you for a slave," I said.
"I?"
"Of course," I said.
"And he ordered me to him, that my collar might be read!"
"He probably wanted to know your name," I said.
"Do you think so?" she said, eagerly.
"Certainly," I said.
"He read your collar first!" she said.
"Certainly," I said. "I was the leash holder. But I think it is clear that his interest was in you, not in me. Indeed, I suspect he read my collar to learn more of you, for example, you would be the slave Tuta who was in the keeping of the state slave, Janice, and so on."
"Oh!" she said, excitedly. "But did you not see," she then said, angrily, "how he forced me to hold my lips, pursed, simply by his will, and I must keep my eyes closed, and wait, and wait, and then how he took me in his arms and kissed me, and how he kissed me!"
"Slaves may be kissed in such a fashion," I told her. Certainly her lips, although those of a free woman, had been as lengthily and patiently raped as those of a common slave in a master's possessive greed for her.
I doubted that free women were ever so kissed, unless perhaps they were but moments from the collar, such a kiss serving then as a token of the bondage that awaited them.
"I hate him," she said. "The beast, the arrogant brute, I hate him!"
"You hate him?" I asked.
"Yes!" she said. "Yes!"
"If you were actually a slave," I said, "it would not matter whether or not you hated him, or he you. You would serve with perfection in any case, as the slave you would then be."
"I suppose so," she said.
"Definitely," I said. "And if he was not pleased he would doubtless use the whip on you, and well."
"Do you think so?" she asked.
"Yes," I said. "Such men do not let women make fools of them."
"Janice," she said.
"Yes?" I said.
"Why did you ask me so silly a question, as to whether or not I might like him?"
"It was just a thought," I said.
"An absurd thought!" she said.
"Of course," I said.
"But why did you ask?"
"Just little things," I said.
"Such as?" she asked, testily.
"The way you spread your knees before him," I said.
"I did not!" she cried.
"Oh, yes, you did," I said. "It is one thing for me to kneel before a man thusly, for I am a pleasure slave. I may be punished if I do not do so. We are trained to kneel thus, brazenly and joyfully before men. But you needed not do so."
"I did not!" she said.
"Yes, you did," I said. "And as time went on, and particularly when he looked upon you, you spread them even more."
"Truly?" she asked.
"Yes," I said.
She put the tips of the fingers of her right hand before her mouth.
"But such things," I said, "might occur inadvertently, or without one's being aware of them, or without really paying them much attention, or one might forget about them promptly afterwards, as things that could not have happened."
She pressed her finger tips against her lips, as though fearing that she might speak.
"Did you know what you were doing?" I asked.
"I don't know," she said.
"Perhaps you were frightened?" I suggested.
"Yes," she said. "I was frightened."
"Such behaviors in a female can be consequent upon trepidation," I said.
"Undoubtedly," she said.
"Rather like the prone slave's timid lifting of her derrière, facing away from the master, at his feet, hoping thereby to distract him, perhaps from punitive intentions, with thoughts of pleasure.
"Oh!" she said.
"To divert wrath, to placate him, such things," I said.
"Undoubtedly," she whispered.
"But often such behaviors, the spreading of the knees, and such, are merely a way of presenting oneself, of offering oneself, of inviting attention, of begging for it."
"But I am a free woman!" she said.
"Even so, you are a female," I said.
"I have never thought of myself, so radically," she said.
"Perhaps you should, sometime," I said.
"There is a saying," she said. "It is that there are two sorts of female slaves, those who are collared, and those who are not yet collared."
"An interesting saying," I said.
"Do you think it is true?" she asked.
"I would not know," I said.
"What do you think?" she asked.
"It is true for me," I said. "I have always been a female slave, but it was not until I was brought to this world that I was collared."
"It is so easy for you," she said. "You know what you are."
"I must go now," I said.
"Ask the pit master if we may go again to the surface!" she begged.
"I will," I said.
"Janice!"
"Yes?"
"Surely my disguise as a slave might be more effective," she said, lightly, "if you were to instruct me, somewhat, in how a slave behaves, in the sort of things she is expected to know, and such."
"Perhaps you are right," I said. Certainly I might improve her deference procedures and her way of kneeling.
"Teach me the seven kisses."
I regarded her, startled.
"You are a free woman," I said.
"Please!" she begged.
"Perhaps," I said.
"And teach me to use my lips!" she said.
"There are many ways to use the lips," I said. "But you must understand, too, that there are many ways to use the hands, the feet, the hair, and so on, indeed, in a sense, the slave is taught, in many ways, to use her entire body."
"Teach me!" she begged.
"I do not think the pit master would approve," I said. "Surely you would not wish me to ask him?"
"Of course not," she said, horrified.
"I did not think so," I said.
"It could be our secret," she said.
"It is better that you remain ignorant of these things," I said. "You are a free woman."
"Please, Janice," she said.
"It is knowledge more appropriate to slaves," I said.
"Please, please," she begged.
"I will think about it," I said.
"And surely," she said, "I ought to quaff slave wine!"
"It is terrible stuff," I said.
"But it might be dangerous on the surface," she said. "There might be ruffians."
"I think," I sai
d, "rather, I will have you locked in an iron belt, the heaviest and most uncomfortable that may be procured."
"No," she said, "slave wine, slave wine!"
"You may be right," I said. "It would not do at all if some fellow on the surface, taking you for a mere slave, and insensitive to the civilities involved, should simply throw you to the stones and put you to his pleasure."
"Janice," she said.
"Yes?" I said.
"I knew what I was doing," she said.
"I thought so," I said.
"I know what I am," she whispered.
"Oh?" I asked.
"Yes," she whispered.
"Hurry, veil yourself," I said. "I hear the approach of the guard!"
15
"It is for this reason that you have been brought here," said the pit master.
I had followed him, to the lowest passages in the pits, and to what surely must have been one of the dankest corridors in that dismal place. There was damp straw on the floor of the corridor. Sometimes an urt, a small rodent, not like the large urts in the pool, scurried past. Water, here and there, dripped from the ceiling of the corridor. I could stand upright in the corridor, but most of the men of this world, I conjectured, could not have done so. The head of the pit master, for all his bulk, he like a bent-over bear, was lower even than my own. In such a place, in such a corridor, I think he, with his terrible strength, and almost like a four-footed animal, would have proved a terrible foe to almost any man, even those of this world. In this place there was a smell of dampness and stench. I was afraid to have come here. The pit master carried a tiny lamp. It cast long, strange shadows about. Fina, who usually accompanied him in the pits, had been left in our quarters, chained to her ring.
The pit master handed me the tiny lamp and, with five keys taken from his belt, undid the five locks on the iron door. He swung the door open and took back the lamp.
He motioned that I should follow him within.
Frightened, I crept within.
The ceiling within the cell was higher than that in the corridor. Within it a man, say, an interrogator, a guard, might stand upright.
"There," said the pit master, lifting the lamp.
I gasped.
Lying at the back wall of the cell was a crumpled heap. It rose slowly to all fours, blinking against the light. I was not sure it was human at first glance. Then I saw it was a man. It was an extremely large man. He was disheveled. His hair was matted and wild. He was heavily bearded. He wore rags. On each of his limbs, and on his neck, there was a heavy chain, each of these fastened to a different heavy ring in the wall behind him.
"This is to be your charge," he said. "You will add him to your other duties."
"Yes, Master," I said.
"You were purchased for this," he said, "even before he came into our keeping."
I nodded.
"But we did not expect to receive him as he is," said the pit master.
I did not understand this.
"He was betrayed into our hands," said the pit master, I thought with a note of regret.
"Ten sleen," said the pit master, "have been given his scent."
I was startled to hear this.
That is a terrible thing. The sleen is the tenacious, six-legged carnivore I had seen before, on the ledge, and on the surface of the tower. My own scent had been "taken" by two sleen, on the second day I had been in the pits. One is held down, naked, and the sleen, first one, and then the other, are ordered forward. They thrust their huge, cold snouts about one's body, learning one's scent. While they do this one's name is repeated, so that they will associate the name, which may then figure in a signal, with the scent. A hunt-and-kill order may then be issued, and the sleen will track down and tear to pieces the object of its hunt. The manner in which this operates, for my instruction, had been demonstrated. A gigantic haunch of meat was "named" and its scent given to the two sleen. It was then placed with other such slabs of meat. The signal given the two sleen rushed upon it and tore it to pieces, ignoring the other meat, to which they had not been given access. They are disciplined beasts. I had then crouched down naked, in my collar, at one wall. "You understand what may be done?" called the pit master. "Yes, Master!" I had cried. "Shall I give them the signal for you?" he asked. "Please, no, Master!" I had wept. "Do you wish to be set loose in the mountains, or in the city?" he asked. "No, Master!" I had wept, hysterically. "I want only to obey, and be pleasing!" He had then, with a word, sent the sleen back to their pens. I had later inquired of Fina if she, and the other girls, had been accorded this terrifying honor. "No," she had said. "That sort of thing is very seldom done." I had then understood, that, for some reason, I must, indeed, be special. "But do not think," Fina had said, "that our chances of escape are any better than yours." "No," I said. There was the collar, the brand, the garmenture, the close-knit nature of the society, such things. There was no escape for any of us, when we were slaves on this world. But it is one thing to realize the impossibility of escape and quite another to realize that one may be pursued by a merciless creature over whom one has no influence or control whatsoever. Such things do not care, for example, whether or not one has learned one's lesson, whether or not one is contrite, whether or not one is beautiful, and so on.
"Ten?" I said.
"Yes," he said.
That would be every sleen in the pit master's sleen pens.
"Who is he?" I asked.
"Curiosity is not becoming in a kajira," he said.
"Forgive me, Master," I said.
"He is '41,'" he said. "The prisoners in this corridor are referred to only by numbers."
"Yes, Master," I said.
"We are to meet someone here," said the pit master. "I think they are coming."
The prisoner had now changed his position. He was sitting there now, by the wall, cross-legged. His back was very straight. He seemed to stare into space.
I could hear movement in the passageway, outside.
I knelt.
Three men entered the cell. The first was the fellow who had occupied the great chair on the surface of the tower, to whom I had been presented several days ago. The other two I did not know. They were warriors. One carried a torch. After recognizing their leader, whom I took to be an important person in this city, I kept my eyes straight ahead. As a slave, one must be wary of appearing presumptuous.
"Bring the torch closer," said the leader.
He looked carefully at the prisoner.
"Yes," said the leader. "It seems as reported."
The prisoner did not speak. He continued to gaze, seemingly unseeingly, into space.
"What is your name?" inquired the leader.
"I do not know," said the prisoner, slowly.
"It was the fall, from tarnback," said one of the warriors.
"From tarnback?" asked the prisoner, puzzled.
"No," said the leader. "You slipped, on rocks."
"We took him on the side of a mountain," said one of the warriors. "He slipped down, for several yards, a hundred or more. Then we got the ropes on him."
"Your name is '41'," said the leader.
"My name is '41'," said the prisoner, dully.
"Yes," said the leader.
"What is your caste?" asked the leader.
"I do not know," said the prisoner.
"You are in the garments of the Peasants," said the leader.
"I am of the Peasants," said the prisoner.
"Yes," said the leader. Then he straightened up, but continued to look down at the figure before him. "His own mother would not know him," he said.
"No," said one of the warriors.
"Is the girl proving satisfactory," asked the leader of the pit master.
"Yes," he said.
"Slave!" snapped the leader.
"Yes, Master!" I said, quickly.
"You have been told you will have duties here?"
"Yes, Master," I said.
"For most practical purposes you will be t
he only one to attend upon this prisoner," he said. "For most practical purposes you will be the only person he will know or see here."
"Yes, Master," I said.
"To be sure," he said, "there will be guards about."
"Yes, Master," I said.
"You understand the nature of this matter, the confidentiality of it, the privacy of this keeping, the isolation which is imperative?" the leader asked the pit master.
"Yes," said the pit master.
I understood very little, if anything, of what was occurring. I was, however, familiar with the normalities of the depths, and recognized that an unusual degree of caution, and certainly special measures, were being taken in connection with this prisoner. I gathered that he was of the Peasants as he, apparently, wore the rags of such garments. Too, he had acknowledged himself of that caste, as I had just heard. On the other hand, it seemed clear that he was no ordinary peasant. He must have some unusual importance or value. Possibly he possessed valuable information, information of great interest to these men. But, if he had such information, he did not seem to be aware of it. He did not, as far as I could tell, even know his own name. Indeed, I was not even certain that he had known his own caste for a moment, a matter apparently of considerable importance to most on this world. But then he had been reminded of it, it seemed, and had apparently recalled it. Why, I asked myself, would such a man be kept here, in this low corridor, in a five-lock cell, with five chains on his body? He was an extremely large man. He was doubtless very strong. Then I was afraid. Perhaps he was also extremely dangerous. Perhaps that was why, at least in part, he was the object of these special measures, these precautions. But he seemed gentle. It was almost as though he did not understand where he was, or the chains on him. There must be, I thought, something wrong with him. Perhaps he was simple. But he had had, I recalled, a fall.
"We named you 'Janice', as I recall," said the leader to me.
"Yes, Master," I said.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Janice, Master," I said.
"Look up, Janice," he said.
I looked up.
"You are prettier than I had remembered," he said.
"Thank you, Master," I said.
"She is in a tunic," observed the leader to the pit master.
The pit master looked up.
"You show unusual consideration for pit slaves," said the leader.
"Sometimes, perhaps," said the pit master.