by James McEwan
“Don’t move I don’t want to damage you,” Thad said.
“Don’t miss I don’t wish to be damaged either,” Eve replied back.
“I don’t miss,” Thad reminded her as he pointed the field at the ground just in front of her. He fired the weapon and the mud looked like it was boiling, but what was really happing was ground was being bombarded the high frequency energy that was vibrating so the atoms so quickly that it broke down the bonds and the atoms separated, causing a square chuck of mud to disappear.
Eve giggled, “Oh that tickles in all the right places.” Thad blushed and was thankful it was dark and she didn’t see it.
As soon as it was clear enough Eve slowly pushed one leg out of the mud into the newly dug hole and then the other. She was now free and climbed out of the hole.
Rod had come too and was feeling a little drugged, but ready to carry on, “I’m good to go guys.”
Thad had to give it to him he never quit. “Can you walk?” Thad asked.
Rod stood up and the Flex-a-cast stiffened took most of his weight, “yeah I think.” He tried to take a step and it wasn’t the leg that caused the problem it was the effects of the pain killer. He had no balance and he couldn’t stop himself from going over. Both Thad and Eve stood and watched as he fell face first into the mud as if he were a board falling over. Thad was forced to suppress his laughter.
Rod picked himself up once more, “I might need a little help.”
Eve was the perfect size to act like a human crutch, “Here let me,” she said as she slipped under his arm and helped him walk.
“We don’t have much darkness left. The sun will be up soon and we have a long walk ahead of us. Let’s move,” Thad said as he began to lead them through the darkness towards the settlement that was a few miles in the distance.
Chapter 9
The twins were allowed to get a few hours of sleep before Lex woke them. They were fed breakfast, which neither of them ate much as they had eaten just a few hours before. They were dressed in the slave attire that was the norm for slaves that were pretty. They learned that only the pretty slaves, both male and female, were not allowed to wear much clothing. It was the first time in their lives they wished they were plain looking for those slaves got to wear full clothing. The clothing situation did have an upside as Ralnai tended to choose planets with high heat and humidity. So at least they didn’t have a lot of clothing to stick to their already sweating bodies.
They were moved to another location further outside the city and, by the look of it, was a private estate. It had several large buildings with high gates. There was also a high wall that stretched as far as they could see into the dense jungle. On the other side of the gates everything was well kept by a small army of slave ground keepers that were already out cutting, trimming, mowing and watering the large lawn. All over the grounds there were ponds and pools of water. There was also a slow moving stream that wound its way through the property.
In some of the pools of water were smaller and younger Ralnai that seemed to be playing. Neither of the twins had ever thought about the Ralnai and them having young, let alone how they were treated. They didn’t see any Ralnai that they could identify as females, not that they were sure they could tell the difference between male and female Ralnai anyway. What they didn’t know is that the Ralnai were an all-male dominated species where the females were less developed than males. Since females tended to be much larger and more aggressive than the males, they were kept separate from the males. They used to be kept all together mostly on one world for breeding, but after the second Star War, that planet had been destroyed by the Starguard in an effort to wipe out the Ralnai once and for all. That destruction succeeded in ending the war, but the Ralnai still lived and now females were kept in breeding pins on every Ralnai world.
Because of the aggressive nature of the females it was often extremely dangerous to breed with a female. More often than not, it would result in death or serious injury to the male. Many a Ralnai had lost body parts in the process. Ralnai were lucky if they only had to breed with a female once in their lives. Every Ralnai male, when he comes of age to fight, must prove himself by breeding and surviving. The only other time they would breed is if they failed in battle or showed fear in the face of their enemies, or committed crimes against their clan.
They were led into a large round room that looked like something out of one of Thad’s old movies. It had a warm pool of water with a fountain in the middle and round the room were benches and columns of white marble that were draped in white sear fabric. There were colorful pillows everywhere and on those pillows were women. Lots of beautiful women. The women were talking and laughing. Most of them were not wearing a slave collars, but had the tattoo markings of the Tor Kor Clan. Ralnai names are not like human. Their clan name was the first and last with their middle name being what they called each other.
There were a few women who must have been new because they were wearing slave collars and not laughing. Nor did they look like they were having a good time. Lex led them into the room as Cotton Paw walked alongside her. They noticed that Lex was not the only woman there with a pet. There were a few birds and a couple of cats, even a small dog. It seemed that the Ralnai allowed their pets to keep pets.
“Welcome to the harem,” Freya said flippantly.
“Yep, that is exactly what this place is. Tor Tran-kor’s harem for his slaves, he keeps his best stock here and breeds them as he sees fit,” Lex said.
“Have you?” Fiona asked Lex.
“Nope not yet, but I have seen a couple of guys and a few gals here I wouldn’t mind,” she winked at the twins.
“I see,” Freya replied.
“So do you have a plan yet?” Fiona whispered to Lex.
“Working on it,” she smiled as one of the slave guards looked at them. “Trust me.”
As daylight broke across the sky Thad, Eve and Rod had made it to the settlement. The heat and humidity was already starting to climb. Rod was sweating profusely and was looking a little green around the gills. Eve would have carried him the whole way but he refused and wanted to walk to prove himself. That slowed them down. At first Thad was upset that Rod was slowing them down, but he softened his position after seeing how hard Rod was trying.
After reaching the edge of town Thad decided even though Rod was trying he was going to be a liability and he chose to go to the slave market alone. He left Eve to care for Rod until the time came for extraction. Rod was wiped out from the long walk and didn’t protest. Eve, however, was not pleased that she had to stay and play wet nurse.
Thad left the two and made his way through the town towards the slave market. It wasn’t hard to find since it was being held at the town’s market. A series of streets lined with every kind of merchant you could think of. The market streets were like spokes on a wheel ending at a large round center where the slave market had been set up. Thad passed booth after booth of humans, Nektons, Ayln Rue, and many other races. Every one of them trying to sell him something, mostly it was junk that no one needed. Among the venders was the black market arms dealers and one of them was an Eli.
Thad was not surprised as many Eli in this area of space operate as pirates or arms dealers. Thad figured if anyone would know who to talk to about the twins he was the one. The Eli was big, even for an Eli. He was broad shouldered with arms as thick as branches and legs like tree trunks. His long golden hair was pulled back into a pony tail with several small braids that framed his face. He also had long golden beard, which was uncommon but not unseen. It was also braided in several places.
He was sitting on a stool with a young dark haired human slave girl on his lap. He laughing as she was entertaining him. When Thad approached he pushed the girl away and stood up, “Off you now las I have customer.”
He sized Thad up and stuck out his hand, “Welcome to Lars’s Arms, Ammo, and Supplies. If you got the cash Lars has got the goods. Lars will sell you just about anything, but Lars
doesn’t rent pigs.”
“Rent pigs?” Thad asked confused.
“You would be surprised just how many times Lars gets asked that,” Lars’s said.
“You’re right I would be surprised. Anyway I take it you are Lars?” Thad said as he took Lars hand and shook it.
“In flesh, Lars Belfin, owner and operator, now what can Lars do for you?” He paused and then picked up an Eli blast rifle, “Looking for something to put fear into your enemies? Than this baby will do it. The Eli blast rifle…”
Thad cut him off before he could get any deeper into the sales pitch, “No thanks, I am just looking for a little information.”
Lars sat down the weapon, “Ah, Lars’ favorite commodity. Cost Lars nothing and is one hundred percent profit. What do you wish to know my friend?”
Thad produced a holodisk that flashed a holo of the twins, “Have you seen these women come through the slave market yet?” Lars looked at the holo for a few seconds, and then stood silent. Thad, having dealt with people like this all of his adult life, knew what that meant. Thad pulled out a roll of Ralnai credit notes and started peeling off bills. After he had placed a sizeable stack into Lars’ hand, Lars spoke.
“No, Lars hasn’t, but Lars can tell you who would know and how to find him,” he took the cash and folded it up and tucked into his shirt. Then he walked over to his sales desk and scribbled something on a piece of paper and folded in half. He returned to Thad and handed him the paper, “Here this is what you are looking for.”
Thad took the paper and looked at the name and address, “Thanks.”
“Pleasure doing business, and remember Lars for all your weapon needs, just not pigs,” Lars said as Thad left his booth.
Thad was far too trained and disciplined to show any emotion on the outside. However, on the inside he couldn’t help getting little excited. This was the closest he had been to his wives in two months. As he walked away he was too distracted with thoughts of finding the twins to notice Lars making a com call.
The twins spent the morning listening to the stories of the other women who were there. Most were second or third generation slaves. The only slaves that wore the collars like the twins were all captures like them. Most of them were not happy about becoming a sex slave. There were a couple of girls that came from really bad situations and this was a step up for them. They couldn’t wait to get the collars off and get their mark.
When lunch time came they were taken into a dining hall and they were treated to a buffet style meal. There was every kind of fruits, veggies, and meats a human could eat. Standing in line to get some food Fiona commented, “I guess if one is to be enslaved, it is good to be enslaved by the king.” Freya agreed as she filled her plate.
In the meantime Rod had fallen asleep as Eve stood watch. She had found a machine shop that was old and disused. It was dirty and almost all of the windows had been broken or completely removed. It was not the Hilton, or for that matter even a cheap motel, but it would do to keep them out of sight for now.
Rod started snoring softly as Eve stood next to one of the only windows that overlooked the street. It also happened to be one of the only windows that was still intact. It was too dirty to see out so she rubbed a small patch clean. She peered out the window and said, “Ah shit.”
Outside the building was a full squad of Ralnai milling about with more marching down the street toward them. She hoped they were just on some kind of march and not looking for them. But her hopes were dashed as she watched the Ralnai searching each building. She dropped back down to the lower level and made her way quickly over to Rod. “Rod,” she poked him. He grunted, but didn’t wake. This time she shook his arm, “Damn it, Rod wake up!”
“Mommy,” Rod said as he started to wake. Eve shook him again this time hard enough to shake free the cob webs from his mind. “What, what?” Rod said as he sat up finally fully awake.
“We might be in a little bit of trouble,” she said as she pulled out her DDSD and started to render a couple of laser rifles. Normally Thad and crew liked cone rifles for a many different reasons, but here now, Eve wanted a weapon that didn’t have a mussel flash. She wanted to stay hidden as long as possible. She also rendered up a bunch of proximity mines. She handed Rod a rifle, “Stay here and don’t shoot me when I come back.”
“Like I would,” he replied as she ran off to set the mines. Being an artificial being in a robotic body she could move faster than a human and she did. In a blur she mined all of the points of entry before returning to Rod. He looked at her as she ran back to him, “Damn that was fast.”
“Stay quiet and let’s hope they pass us by,” she said. Eve tried to contact Thad and let him know of their situation, but all the radio frequencies were being jammed. She knew that something was wrong and that this was no training exercise.
Her fears were confirmed the second a team of Ralnai tried to enter the building. The two mines she had set on both sides of the door exploded in a violent flash of light and heat. The two unlucky Ralnai that had gone first were now lying on the floor in a twisted mess of flesh, blood, and bone. Before the smoke had cleared two metal cylinders flew through the door. They bounced a few times before rolling to a stop near the machine that Rod was hiding behind.
They exploded within a second of each other. The room filled with a bright white light and a massive bang. Stun grenades. Rod found himself disoriented, blinded, and his ears were ringing like a bell choir was playing a concert in his head. While Eve’s sensors were over loaded and she was forced to shut them down and reboot them. By the time her sensors were back online it was too late to do anything.
The Ralnai stormed the building in force. Rod screamed in pain as he was thrown to the ground and a Ralnai soldier leaned on his broken leg as he was placing him in restraints. Eve could have killed at least a half a dozen of them, maybe more, but she knew that even she couldn’t take them all. Besides they were taking them alive which meant somebody wanted them that way. So she allowed herself to be thrown to the floor hard and placed in restraints herself.
They picked Rod up and set him on his feet. He was barely able to stand let alone walk. A Ralnai pushed the barrel of his disrupter rifle into Rod’s back and commanded him to walk. Rod hobbled for a few steps before having to stop from the pain. The Ralnai didn’t seem to care and pushed him again.
Eve couldn’t let this happened to Rod. She broke free of the Ralnai who was holding her arm. She walked up to the other Ralnai solider, “Can’t you see that he is injured and can’t walk you big dumb lizard!”
The Ralnai care much for Eve’s words let alone her tone. He swung a clawed fist at her. A normal human would have been on their back spitting out teeth, but not Eve. She ducked this blow easily and she kicked the Ralnai with enough force to send him over backward.
The other Ralnai seemed to get a big kick out of it, because they started laughing and pointing at their comrade. He, however, didn’t think it was funny and once he got back on his feet he hissed and growled. “I accept!” the translator box that was hung around his neck barked.
“Accept what?” Eve asked not sure of what he meant.
A larger Ralnai with blood strips on his armor which identified him as their officer said, “You have challenged him to single unarmed combat, and by our traditions it must be met or he will be disgraced and have to face the breeding pits.”
Eve actually smiled, “Well we wouldn’t want that for the big dumb lizard, now would we?”
The officer nodded and her restraints were removed. The Ralnai stomped and scratched the ground with its feet. He threw his head back in howled and growled, followed by some rather impressive chest beating. He was going through a Ralnai dominance display that they all did before signal combat. Eve on the other hand just stood there looking bored. She he even held out her hand and checked her nails. This lack of display on her part seemed to enrage the Ralnai even more.
He charged at her while she was still looking at her nails. She
never looked up just stepped sideways at the last second as the lumbering beast ran past her, and then with inhuman speed she got behind him and ran up onto his tail. Eve jumped and landed with her legs wrapped around its neck. She grabbed his snout and, with her arms, held it shut. She weighed far more than she looked and with the tugging motion that Eve was putting on him, he could no longer stand. The two slammed to the ground. Eve never let go she just keep increasing the presser on the Ralnai’s neck until it passed out from lack of blood to its brain.
Eve could have easily killed the Ralnai and in retrospect he probably would have preferred it. However, she thought given their predicament that it was better to live him alive. After a few seconds of writhing on the ground trying to peel Eve off of his neck, the Ralnai stopped moving. Eve released the presser and made sure he was still breathing before letting go.
She stood, brushed the dust from her body suit and then turned the rest of the Ralnai, “Any of you boys fancy a go?” No one spoke, “No?” She said as she took a step forward. They all took a step back. “Good, now if we are going to be your prisoners then you will treat us with respect and one of you will carry Rod or find a litter to put him on, got it?” She barked out the last part of her question.
The Ralnai Officer stepped forward, waved, and nodded at a Ralnai near the door, who left the building in a hurry. Then the officer spoke, “You should have killed him. You do him a great dishonor leaving him beaten and alive on the battlefield.”
“Good, maybe it will teach him to be a little kinder to the captives,” Eve said with hands on hips.
“So be it,” he replied.
Two other Ralnai picked up the unconscious one and dragged him from the building, his next stop the breeding pits. A field stretcher was brought in for Rod. He lay down and was carried out. Eve looked at the officer, “Now that’s better.”
