by Francis, Ron
“What is the meaning of this?” He growled, as he raised himself up to his full height and turned to face the interloper. He shaded his eyes from the midday sun to get a better look at the interloper.
“My apologies,” Jesse began. “I couldn’t help but notice you are having difficulty with your slave. She is really beautiful, though, and I didn’t want to see you hurt her.”
“What business is it of yours how I treat my slaves, stranger?” The man continued, looking as if he wanted to tear Jesse’s head off.
“None at all,” he continued with a smile. “It’s not my business, except I want to buy her from you.”
“What?” The man asked in shocked disbelief as the Qualoosh woman stood silently by. She hadn’t even attempted to tend her bruises or wipe the blood from her face yet. “Why would you want to purchase my slave?”
“Why? Look at her. I spend a lot of time in space and could use the um…companionship.”
“But you already have her,” The man cried as he pointed to Suzy. “How much companionship do you need?”
“What, her?” Jesse asked with a laugh. “That’s my sister. She wants her own companion. I have to tell you, your slave is beautiful, and I would pay a lot for her.”
“She’s not for sale.” The man growled as he grabbed her by the neck and began to walk away, harshly brushing the dust off her back and legs.
“Name your price,” he called after him.
The man turned and smiled. “Twenty-five thousand chrons,” he yelled as a joke, and the people around began to laugh.
“Done,” he smiled to the disbelief of everyone nearby. “How do we make this legal?”
“You give me the money,” the man began. “Then I give you the girl and her papers. Then you go to the government building and get her registered to you.”
“Sounds simple enough,” he agreed as he handed the man the money.
The man was smiling ear to ear as he handed the young woman over to him. “You paid double what this pathetic ‘loosh is worth.” The man laughed.
“I don't think I'm gonna mind,” he responded as he gently and carefully put his arm around the woman and began to walk away.
“Her name is Bessa, if you’re interested to know,” the man laughed. “Enjoy your purchase.”
“Believe me, I will,” he grinned as he began to walk to the government building with Suzy and Bessa. He noticed that Bessa looked really scared, and he tried to give her a reassuring smile. He realized she probably thought he was smiling for a different, less noble reason, so he stopped. Suzy found the exchange to be amusing. She had to hand it to him; he stopped the girl from being hurt and didn’t cause much of a scene. She knew she needed to get him off this planet, though, before he tried to buy everyone. His heart was just too big to even gather intel in a place like this. They walked into the government center and waited on a short line dedicated to transfer of slave ownership. When it was their turn to approach the bureaucrat behind the desk, a thought struck Jesse as funny. As corrupt as this place is, people still have to wait in lines.
“May I help you?” The bureaucrat asked in an unfriendly voice.
“Yes, you may,” Jesse replied cheerfully. “I just bought this slave and I would like to legally set her free now.” His smile and pleasant demeanor caught the man off guard even more than his request did.
“Let me get this straight: you purchased this ‘loosh,” the bureaucrat began, pointing to Bessa, and using the derogatory term for the Qualoosh people. “Now, you would like to free her?”
“Exactly, is it a long process?” He asked.
“No, all I need is to see her papers and proof of purchase, then I put the mark of freedom on her arm, you pay the fee and we’re done.” The bureaucrat responded. He was still a little confused as to why this man would want to free a slave he just purchased, and such a beautiful slave at that.
“Here are her papers,” he began. “The man didn’t give me anything else.”
“I need to see proof of purchase, Sir, or I cannot free her.”
Suzy stepped forward and put her visor on the table. “I recorded the exchange on my visor’s heads up display. Will that do?” She played the recording and the bureaucrat shook his head.
“Good enough,” He began as he looked at Jesse. “You overpaid for her, considerably. You must not be from around here.”
“Just arrived from the Lawless Sector, actually,” he admitted. He paid the fee and the bureaucrat put the mark on Bessa’s arm. She winced a little and Jesse felt bad for her. He noticed it was actually a permanent branding. They walked out of the government center and he began heading for the speeder with Suzy. He noticed that Bessa was following them and he turned to her and said. “You’re free now. You can go anywhere you want.”
“I would like to go with you, Sir,” she replied in a barely audible voice while looking at the ground. Now it was Jesse that was confused.
“Bessa,” he began gently. He looked her in the eyes and continued. “I would never own a slave. I just didn't want to see you get beat up. You're free to go anywhere you like.”
“I would like to go with you,” She repeated quietly.
Suzy interjected. “I think that’s a great idea. Bessa, my name is Suzy, and this is my friend Colonel Jesse Marcos.” Bessa looked puzzled, and Suzy caught it. “We’re not really brother and sister. We are very good friends, and we treat each other like brother and sister. Jesse just told the man that to keep him from asking more questions.” As they approached the speeder, she helped Bessa into the back seat and noticed how uncomfortable Bessa was with the gesture. She could already tell that it was going to take time for Bessa to understand her freedom. “Jess, let’s stop at that store over there. I would like to buy Bessa a few items of clothing before we head back to the ship.” She couldn’t wait to see Jesse try and explain how Endeavor had wound up with a new crew member.
Suzy and Bessa were about to enter the store when a rough-looking Pandaran approached them. “I’ll give you fifty chrons for an hour with your ‘loosh.” He announced more than asked.
Suzy had not yet encountered any Pandarans. He was humanoid, big and muscular. He had a dark green face, no hair on his head, and four horns, each one growing out of a corner of his scalp. The man was frightening, and Suzy could tell Bessa was afraid by the way she gripped her arm.
“I’m sorry, but my friend is not for sale. Now, if you’ll excuse me, we have some shopping to do.” Suzy reached for the door to the store, and as she did, the Pandaran blocked her path. He stared at her with an intimidating look, but she grabbed Bessa and brushed past him as store security was moving towards the door.
“I’ll be here when you finish,” The Pandaran called. “Security won’t care then because they’ll already have your chrons.”
Sure enough, when Suzy was exiting the store with Bessa, their Pandaran friend was still standing there. He just smiled a cruel smile that said he was going to get what he wanted. Suzy stood in front of Bessa as they tried to pass him. He just laughed and hit her hard across the face, knocking her out of his way. Jesse was pulling up to the front of the store and saw what happened. He was out of the speeder and yelling at the Pandaran before he could lay a finger on Bessa. The Pandaran turned and saw a very angry man heading quickly towards him.
“Mind your own business, human, or you may not live to see tomorrow.” He threatened.
Jesse didn’t even reply. He just kept coming towards the Pandaran. The Pandaran realized he must have known these women, so he squared up and took a swing at him. Jesse ducked the swing and came up with a roundhouse right to the Pandaran’s jaw. The Pandaran just laughed and took another swing at him. Jesse hit him in the face twice more, and it didn’t even slow him. The Pandaran looked amused as he tried to kick his human adversary. Jesse blocked the kick as he realized this might not be as easy a fight as he was hoping. He swept the Pandaran’s legs, and delivered a knife-edged chop to his opponent’s throat. That took the smi
le off the Pandarans face. He was slow to get up, but he had murder in his eyes.
By that time, Suzy had already gotten a visibly frightened Bessa into the speeder. She worriedly watched her friend throw himself in harm’s way for her. She was always yelling at him for this type of behavior, though now she was quite thankful for it. She noticed she was trembling as she held the steering rods of the speeder. She tried, but could not stop shaking; she had never been as frightened by a being as she was of this Pandaran.
The angry Pandaran charged Jesse and tackled him to the ground. He went with it and used his opponents own momentum to launch him a few meters into the wall of the store. Dust filled the air as the alien's body hit the ground with a thud. By this time, a crowd had gathered to watch the brawl. It had become obvious to Suzy by the reactions she saw that a human was not supposed to be able to win a fight with a Pandaran. Jesse was quickly on his feet. As his opponent charged him again, he unleashed a spinning sidekick to the side of the Pandaran’s head. The blow took the Pandaran off his feet, and he delivered a knee to his gut as he tried to rise. The crowd had grown larger now as more people stopped to watch. He noticed some police taking interest and decided this had to end quickly.
The Pandaran was back on his feet and Jesse hit him with a leaping knee to the face, followed by a quick but powerful strike to the knee. He got behind the Pandaran and began to choke him out. A head butt from the Pandaran ended that idea. The head butt would have missed had it not been for the Pandaran's horns, which left a gash in his shoulder. The Pandaran turned around and landed a savage right hook to his face, knocking him to the ground. He leapt to get on top of the human, but Jesse caught him with his legs and threw him back. He was back on his feet and took down the charging Pandaran with a leg sweep. The Pandaran’s face hit the ground hard and Jesse jumped on his back. He dislocated his adversary's shoulder with an arm bar. The Pandaran cried out in pain as another knee took consciousness from him. Jesse stood, clearly victorious over the wounded Pandaran as the police arrived.
After inquiring what happened, they found out it was the Pandaran that attacked Jesse’s friends. He had also thrown the first punch at Jesse. The police were reluctant to bring him in for questioning because he had endeared himself to the crowd by beating the Pandaran in a fair fight. He had found out that his opponent was a neighborhood thug that had been intimidating most of the people in the area. No one was upset to see him take a beating.
He hopped into the speeder and let Suzy drive. The fight had taken a lot out of him and he was in pain. His muscles were still painfully tensed as he tried to let the adrenaline of the fight melt away. He felt Bessa's hands begin rubbing his back and that was helping. He just smiled at her through his pain. Even with the bruises her master had left her, she was still a stunningly beautiful woman. He also noticed Suzy had quite a welt on her cheek as he looked at her.
“That was really brave of you to stick up to that guy, Suzy. Are you all right?” He asked with concern in his voice as he touched her face right below the bruise.
“You’re asking me?” She laughed. “He only slapped me. He went after you like a bull goes after red.” She eyed the gash in his shoulder dripping blood on his torn white shirt.
“How about you, Bessa, are you all right?” He asked.
Bessa just looked at him and spoke in her quiet voice. “No one has ever done anything like that for me before. He could have killed you. It would have been easier for you to give me to him. Why would either of you risk your life for me?” She really couldn’t understand what her new companions were thinking.
“Bessa,” he began gently. “I don’t believe someone has the right to take what doesn’t belong to them by force.” He smiled at her as he continued. “You are free now. If you wish to stay with us, I’m okay with that. No one has the right any longer to make you do something you don’t want to do because you’re free.” As Bessa contemplated his words, Suzy smiled at her friend’s willingness to defend his convictions.
______
When they reached Endeavor, they brought the speeder into the landing bay and closed the hatch. As long as the ship was cloaked, no one should be able to find them. Jesse was sure that after his fight, Garrinoras would somehow be alerted to his presence on Binwar. Josiah and Collin met Jesse in the landing bay to give him an engine update, the smell of grease and oil was in the air. They took one look at him, looked at Suzy and her Qualoosh friend, and knew there would be a good story behind this.
Suzy was the first to speak. “Gentlemen, this is Bessa. Jesse purchased her to save her from a terrible beating. He freed her, and then defended her and me from a very tough and frightening alien. I think he was called a Pandaran."
“He wasn’t that tough. If he hadn't gorged me with his horns, he would have never even landed a shot. His horns did go right through the shirt of my battle suit, though,” He looked at Collin and continued. “I fear we may have less time here than we had hoped. What is the status of the engines?”
Josiah looked away in frustration. Jesse’s big heart had most likely just gotten them into trouble. He knew Jesse had done the right thing. He would have done the same. So he replied, “It is going to take at least eight more hours before we can leave. We should probably all stay in the ship until then.” He noticed how close Bessa was standing to Jesse and thought it was probably because she didn't know anyone else yet. He figured she was probably a little frightened by this new situation she found herself in. Just then, Kimi walked in. She immediately noticed Jesse’s wounds, and he was happy to see a momentary look of concern in her eyes as he introduced his new friend.
“Hey, Kimi,” Jesse began. “This is Bessa. Suzy and I rescued her, and she is going to be staying with us for a while.” Kimi nodded but did not speak. She was still angry with Jesse and did not wish to express it publicly, even though she was fairly certain everyone on the ship knew about it. Collin had not spoken since Jesse had arrived with Bessa, and they could all tell that Collin was intrigued by their new guest. Jesse turned back to Suzy and said, “Suzy, why don’t you take Bessa up to her room and help her get settled in.”
“Okay, Jess, but first I want to get the portable scanner and check you out.” She began. “That gash looks pretty nasty, and I know he landed a pretty good shot to your head, too. I might need to put you in the recovery pod.”
“I don't know if I can right now, Suzy. With Endeavor stuck and Garrinoras likely to figure out our location, it’s all hands on deck. I’ll come by in a little while and you can stitch me up.”
“How did they keep you from running away?” Kimi asked, seemingly changing the subject. That was the first time she had spoken since she came into the room. Jesse found her question to be odd, but understood it when Bessa gave her answer.
“My master has a box. He can push a button to hurt me,” Bessa winced slightly as she spoke. Jesse knew he had pressed the button a lot. “If I try to run away,” she continued, “He can kill me. All slaves on Binwar can be hurt by their master’s box. Why?”
“A box,” Jesse repeated. “SAMMI, I need a full jamming field, now. Suzy, get Bessa to med-bay.” Suzy grabbed Bessa’s hand and quickly made her way to med-bay.
“Jamming field activated, Colonel,” SAMMI reported. “I must inform you, Endeavor can be tracked by the jamming signal if anyone is looking for it.”
“Suzy,” Jesse called over the ship speakers. "Hurry it up. We’re vulnerable while SAMMI is broadcasting the signal jammer.”
“Almost there,” she replied.
“Let’s get the engine done as soon as possible. Kimi, I’ll come relieve you on the bridge as soon as I’m stitched up. Great question by the way, you may have just saved Bessa’s life.” He smiled as he spoke to her, hoping to ease some of the Cassie-related tension.
He made it to the med-bay just in time to see Suzy removing a small device from Bessa’s neck. She looked really scared as Suzy was patching her up. Suzy just spoke to her in a soothing voice to keep her c
alm.
“No one will ever be able to hurt you with a box again, Bessa,” she gently told her. Even though Suzy had treated her wounds, she still had many of the bruises that her master had inflicted. In spite of that, she was lovely, and Jesse felt so bad for her about the life she had been forced to lead.
Bessa appeared to understand and nodded apprehensively.
When she was finished, she handed Jesse the device. He dropped it on the floor, took out his blaster and destroyed it. Suzy looked at Bessa with a big smile and said, “Now you’re really free. No one can hurt you anymore.” Bessa still wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, but she felt safe for the first time in her life. She held Suzy's embrace for a long time.
Jesse had SAMMI drop the jamming field as soon as the transmitter had been destroyed. He then holstered his blaster and walked over to Suzy to get his wound checked out. She helped him take his shirt off. “This is an ugly gash, Jess,” Suzy began. “We should really get you in the recovery pod.”
He smiled as he replied, “I wish I could, but with the ship exposed and people looking for us, I can’t risk it. Just close it up for me and give me a mild painkiller. I’ll be fine.”
Suzy began tending to Jesse’s wound. Bessa came up behind him and began rubbing his back again. Her touch startled him and caused him to flinch, which caused some pain. Suzy scowled at him as she continued her work, and he looked back at Bessa.
“Bessa, you don’t have to do that.” He remarked. She didn’t stop, so he said, “In fact, I would like it if you didn’t do that.”
She looked confused. “Does it not feel good, master?”
He sighed, “Bessa, I’m not your master. No one is. You are free now. I know it might take a while for you to get used to but I hope you understand.”
“You told my old master you were lonely in space and wanted companionship. Am I no longer desirable to you?”
