A Galaxy Unknown

by Thomas DePrima

  "If you're with the Raiders, why didn't you just stay with the Vordoth and surrender it?"

  "Simple. There's always some blasted fool who wants to make a fight of it, especially in situations where prisoners are never released. Some people figure they don't have anything left to lose by fighting to the death. I couldn't risk being hurt, or possibly killed, so after stunning the two crewmen who were with me, I just separated part of the cargo section and gently drifted away with the Dithulene-35 as the fighters approached, to await pickup by one of our tugs. I had already done everything that I could to make the takeover as easy as possible. I made sure that my first officer was a young, inexperienced, and extremely insecure lieutenant, and that none of the gunners that I appointed could expect to hit a small moon, much less a moving fighter. It should have been a simple takeover; so simple that I ordered just one squadron be used, and that they not carry missiles. I didn't want to risk their destroying the cargo. But— there was a fly in the ointment. I suspect that fly was you. The uniform you were wearing when they brought you in here had captain's bars on it. Tell me, at what point did you seize command?"

  "I didn't. Gloria requested that I take command. She didn't feel qualified because of the Raider threat."

  A grin appeared on Arneu's face and slowly spread until it widened to a smile. And then he laughed out loud, slapping his hand to his thigh. "Damn! I didn't think she had the brains to do that. I'd have bet a month's pay that her own insecurities would never have allowed her to promote you, a mere ensign, to captain." Arneu sighed at his lack of prospicience in the matter before continuing. "I suppose that you were responsible for shooting down my fighters?"

  "I got lucky."

  "With all six?"

  Jenetta just shrugged her shoulders.

  "What about our destroyer, Satan's Own, that was tailing the Vordoth and providing position updates?"

  "I got lucky."

  A serious expression replaced the grin that Arneu was wearing. "I don't think so. There's more than luck involved when an old freighter beats a modern warship. I think that I seriously underestimated you. I assume that you were also responsible for destroying Mara's Marauder."

  "Mara's what?"

  Arneu grinned. "Don't get shy now, Angel. I know it was you. One of our fighters radioed that they were under attack by a heavily armed Terran freighter with a configuration identical to that of the Vordoth. We know that the ship was still somewhere in that area at the time. I also know that no freighter captain would ever rush to the aid of a convoy under attack by my forces. Only a softheaded Spacc officer with delusions of grandeur would even seriously consider it. You were the only Spacc officer in command of a ship in that area. Ipso facto, it was you." Arneu took a deep breath and then released it slowly, as if he was trying to remain calm. "One minute, we had the situation under complete control and were about to finish off the Nordakians, and the next, one of our best battle cruisers is destroyed, and a top notch fighter group is wiped out. That damn fool of a cruiser captain was so confident that the Nordakian convoy presented no challenge, that he sent his two escort destroyers off to search for you when Satan's Own failed to report in. I'm sure that you were responsible for the attack that resulted in the destruction of my cruiser, but I know you didn't shoot down dozens of fighters by yourself."

  "I didn't," Jenetta said nonchalantly. "And I wasn't being shy; I just didn't know the name of the cruiser. As for shooting down your fighters, I merely saw to it that the right people got the intensive training they needed to become proficient gunners."

  "Ahh! I suspected as much. And where's the Vordoth now?"

  "On its way to Higgins, I imagine. That's the order that I issued to Gloria before I left."

  "Is that so? And just how did you expect to reach a base from here in that small tug?"

  "We stocked enough food aboard the tug for a month, and I'd planned to contact Space Command as soon as I got far enough away from this base. They'd come double quick, in force, when I reported that I'd discovered the location of a hidden Raider base filled with warships."

  Arneu shook his head. "You've given us more trouble than all the fools at Mars when we used a work barge to infiltrate the shipyard and steal the two recently completed battleships. The pictures that you took of them were outstanding, by the way. I'm thinking of having one enlarged so it can be mounted in my office. What do you think?"

  "A picture may be the only way you can look at them soon. Space Command will track you down and take them back. The Galactic Alliance will destroy you and your organization."

  "Spare me the jingoisms, Angel. The Spacc high command structure couldn't spot its own arse if they were naked in a hall of mirrors, so they'll never find this base in a million years. We're too well hidden, and they're not imaginative enough to look for a hollowed asteroid. Our next big mission will show them just how powerful we've become when we employ the firepower that they've enjoyed for so long."

  "Don't underestimate Space Command; I was able to find you."

  "Yes, you did, didn't you? How did you, by the way?"

  "I just asked myself where I'd cower between attacks on innocent and almost defenseless civilians if I was the lowest scum in the galaxy, and— here you are."

  Arneu chuckled and grinned malevolently. "I suspect that you just hid near the last battle site and followed our recovery operation ships back here when we cleaned up. We'll be more careful about that in the future. I could get the truth out of you in the psych lab, but that might damage you and you're much too valuable to allow that to happen."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Surely you've noticed your chest?"

  "I have," Jenetta said, not even trying to conceal the anger boiling up inside her, "and I'm no slave. Slavery isn't even legal in this part of the galaxy. As soon as I'm out of here, I'm having this damn tattoo removed."

  "It's not a tattoo, Angel. The pigmentation of the skin has been permanently altered, so— it's like a birthmark. The only way to eliminate it is to have all the skin permanently removed, which of course isn't much of a solution."

  "Then I'll have replacement skin grafted over it."

  Arneu shook his head and grinned. "That'd only be a very temporary solution. You see, you've been given two great gifts, Angel. Our research lab here has been making all kinds of wonderful breakthroughs in age prolongation and DNA manipulation."

  "Human DNA manipulation research has been outlawed for hundreds of years."

  Arneu laughed loudly. "You're priceless, Angel. Do you really think that we care anything about Earth illegalities out here? Just because the people there got upset over human cloning efforts back in the early 21st century, and pressed their lawmakers to pass one ridiculous feel-good law after another, doesn't mean that the research ever stopped. It just went underground; first to countries that would look the other way after payoffs to corrupt leaders who provided prisoners for research, then into space when private companies started moving among the stars. Mainly through my efforts, we have one of the best research labs in the galaxy right here on Raider-One. You see, I want to live forever."

  Jenetta's face reflected the shock she was feeling. "You're insane!"

  Arneu laughed again. "Am I? To want to live more than the hundred and thirty odd years that medical science provides these days for most people? If that's insanity, then go ahead and call me crazy."

  "Not crazy to want it, just crazy to expect it."

  "Really? Just because it hasn't been available until now?"

  "You know as well as I what would happen if everyone could live forever. The population would explode and the planets couldn't support them. Look what happened on Earth in the 20th century when major diseases were all but eradicated. The population grew faster than the ability to feed them, and millions starved annually in third world nations where charitable organizations moved in and vaccinated the population without first educating them about birth control. Once most of their children weren't dying before age five, th
e populations doubled every ten years. The wars and genocide on the African continent were the only things that kept it from going the way of India and the Middle East. Then, when nano-particulate medicine was approved for general use, and the average age of humans began to increase dramatically, moving into space became not just a dream but a necessity, so that we could disperse a burgeoning population."

  "I'm not suggesting that everyone be given immortality, just those that can afford to pay for it, or those that are worth preserving, such as yourself."

  "I'm flattered that you think I'm worth preserving."

  "Don't be. I only plan to preserve your body, not your mind. You've cost us a lot of money, Angel. The loss of two fully equipped warships and their personnel has put a huge hole in my annual budget. And that doesn't include the profit I expected from the thirty-six kilometers of cargo the Vordoth and the Nordakians were carrying. We have to recoup that somehow. So, your body is now the property of Resorts Intergalactic, and your slave number is officially registered with the twenty-three occupied star systems in that part of the galaxy where they respect the property rights of legitimate slave owners. You're going to make a lot of money for us over the next several hundred years."

  "Several hundred years?"

  "Oh, I guess I didn't finish telling you that part. You've been the recipient of our latest Age Prolongation and Recombinant Deoxyribonucleic Acid procedures."

  "Recombinant DNA? What are you talking about?"

  "Our brilliant doctors here at the base have developed a procedure that can totally rewrite a person's DNA."

  "That's impossible," Jenetta scoffed. "A person's unique DNA makeup is imprinted in every cell of their body."

  "True. But every cell in the human body eventually dies and is replaced. In fact, our bodies are constantly at work making new cells to replace the dead ones. Normally, new cell creation occurs through cellular mitosis so new cells have the same DNA as the old cells, but with our process, cells adopt the new encoding, and eventually your entire body is changed. It will take years, perhaps as many as ten, for the process to be complete. I don't pretend to understand it all. In fact, I begin to get a headache whenever the scientists become excited and get carried away with their detailed explanations of cells, glands, secretions, hormones, and all the rest. But I know it works. It takes a week of very painful injections to start the process rolling. The metabolous action of the body, and the uncontrollable muscle spasms, are enough to drive the patient mad, so you were kept unconscious for the whole time. That's why you have no memory of it."

  "You bastard! You've used me in one of your illegal experiments?"

  "Oh, no, Angel, you got the real deal; the proven formulas. You're actually the second recipient of the tested and proven cocktails my scientists have whipped up; I was the first. Of course, hundreds of test subjects have gone before us, most of whom died or were so horribly disfigured that they had to be euthanized. And once we got the processes locked down, I required all my researchers here to take it as well. Sort of like a reward— and a security measure at the same time."

  "You took it?"

  "Of course. Naturally, I was mainly interested in the Age Prolongation process. I told you that I want to live forever."

  "We're going to live forever?" Jenetta said sarcastically. "Right."

  "No, not forever, Angel; at least not yet. Nano-technology research has brought Terran physiology forward to a point where we can expect a life double that of twentieth century man, and estimates are that the technology will continue to carry mankind forward until we can one day expect a lifetime of perhaps two-hundred years. But that's not nearly long enough to suit me, and the only kind or research that will offer the human body longer life is, as you've said, illegal. So if we don't do it here, who will?

  "We really don't know how many additional years the present prolongation process will provide. You see, they can create computer models and run simulations all day, but the only real way to know for sure is to monitor the process in real time. Of course, that means that I'd have died of old age before they know for sure that it will extend life as predicted. We do know that the procedure changes the body so that it essentially stops visible aging. My researchers are still looking for a way to reverse the signs of middle age and restore youth, but so far, that's eluded them. However, the scientist in charge promises me that I'll live to at least 350 years, and the computer models predict that I'll have ten times that or more? I'm willing to settle for a life-span triple that of most people, if that's all I get, but who knows, even without improvement the formula might give us thousands of years of extended life."

  "You mean that I might live to be 3,500 years old?"

  "You received the procedure at a much younger age than me. Doctor Willetti tells me that the computer model predicts you'll live to be at least five-thousand-years-old."

  Jenetta smirked. "And live for four-thousand-eight-hundred-years as a wrinkled prune? I think I'd rather die when God intended."

  "No, not a prune, Angel. In fact, the doctors say that we won't show any sign of aging until the last few years, and then it will be incredibly rapid."

  Jenetta's face mirrored the shock that she was beginning to feel as she started to believe that Arneu was in complete earnest. "You're serious? You're saying that I'm going to have a greatly extended life? And that I'm always going to look like I'm twenty-one?"

  "Except for the last few years, yes." Arneu smiled. "Now you can see why you're so valuable to us. You'll be making money for us for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years. And people will be falling over themselves to be with you once the transformation is complete."

  "What transformation?"

  "I just told you, Angel. Pay attention. Your DNA is also being rewritten."

  "I heard that part. But why would people be falling over themselves to be with me? I don't labor under any delusion that I look like a goddess."

  "But you will!" Arneu's smile changed into an expression of delight that covered his entire face. "You're being transformed into exactly that, a goddess. You're attractive now, but as you've said, you aren't a goddess. However, by the time the changes are complete, you'll have grown another six inches, or maybe a little more, and your body will have men salivating when they just imagine touching it. In fact, your body will be nearly perfect, and your metabolism will be programmed to maintain it like that. In a few years, even your own mother may not recognize you.

  "As part of our reconfigurations, we'll have incredible healing powers. Our bodies will repair themselves ten times faster than ordinary humans, without requiring surgical nano-bots, and you'll be able to drink any ordinary man under the table and never even feel the effects. That's important at a resort, where liquor sells for a hundred times normal retail and part of your job is to get the customers to buy you drinks."

  Jenetta's anger, largely held in check until now, finally began to erupt as she said, "I won't do it! I'm not a slave, and I won't do it!"

  "You don't have any say in the matter, Angel. If you look down at your identification number, you'll see that the first two letters are ‘PS'. They stand for ‘Pleasure Slave.' For the past three days, you've been undergoing radical psychotherapy. You don't realize it yet, but much of what you'll need to know for your new profession is already implanted in your mind."

  The news that she was being brainwashed in preparation for becoming a whore was more than Jenetta could stand. She could restrain her temper no longer. "You bastard! You no good, lousy, murdering, pimp! You're a…"

  Her words turned to a scream as Arneu stepped behind her and viciously yanked her head back by pulling on her hair with his right hand. Ramming a gag into her mouth, he pulled the connecting band over her head so she couldn't push it out with her tongue. His now free hand reached quickly into his pocket and produced a controller that he used to solidify the band. Jenetta tried to scream a profanity but only a muffled gurgle broke the silence of the room.

  "There now, that's better, is
n't it?" he said calmly. "I haven't finished telling you about your new life, and you really should know better than to interrupt. Your therapy will take care of that, and you'll learn your proper place. The final step will be to wipe out all your old memories. You won't be able to read or write, but you'll know every trick ever learned about pleasuring men— and women."

  Jenetta glared at him as he strutted around her in the cell with his hands clasped behind his back.

  "You know, I toyed with the idea of trying to recruit you to our side when we captured you. As soon as I saw your altered uniform, I realized immediately that you were the one responsible for our two recent defeats. And it takes a lot of guts to enter an enemy camp in an unarmed space tug. So I called my doctors in to find out how we should proceed, but they said that they couldn't ensure your loyalty without destroying the very abilities that make you worth converting in the first place. It's a pity because we would have made a hell of a team, Angel. My work here should give me the boost I need to make it onto the Lower Council; then it's just a matter of time before I rise to the Upper Council; and then eventually to the Chairmanship of the company." Arneu laughed as he said, "If nothing else, I'll simply outlive all the other council members." Turning serious again, he added, "With you at my right arm, we would have ruled the galaxy for eons."

  Arneu stopped directly in front of Jenetta with his face just centimeters from hers as he stared down into her eyes. "A pity. It would have been so much more satisfying a life for you. Now, instead of wielding more power than you can imagine, you'll spend your days and nights getting hot and sweaty between the sheets with people that you probably wouldn't have given a second glance before." Arneu grinned again. "It's not going to be all bad, though. The doctors tell me that they'll be implanting thoughts in your mind to ensure you'll really enjoy yourself. It's important that you enjoy your life if you're to spend the rest of your days satisfying other people, with absolutely no conscious thought for yourself."