“They were slavers?” Evelyn demanded, her good mood wiped away in an instant. “I should have killed them all. Slowly.”
“They weren’t slavers,” Fya corrected, shaking her head. “That implies that they went out and captured people. They were hired to transport the slaves someone purchased.”
“Close enough. I shouldn’t have let any of them live,” Evelyn said, dropping her bag, fuming as she considered what to do. “They aren’t nearby, are they? I can still fix that…”
“No. You promised to let them live if they were helpful and got out of the ship in time, and at least they hadn’t touched the ladies aboard,” Fya replied, crossing her arms and glaring at Evelyn. “You also killed all but eight of them, out of a crew of ninety-three, and took almost all their stuff. I don’t like slavery much more than you do, but I’m not helping you hunt them down.”
Evelyn examined the djinn suspiciously for a couple of seconds, not entirely trusting her. There was something about Fya’s expression that struck her as… wrong, somehow. It didn’t help that djinn had extremely odd views of what was appropriate, especially regarding slavery. Who else would consider being stuck in a lamp and forced to grant wishes to those who possessed the lamp for two thousand years was a fair wager on a bet? Fya may not like slavery, but that didn’t mean she went out of her way to stamp it out in her presence.
“Fine,” Evelyn said, folding her arms. “Then free them.”
“I don’t think that’s possible at the moment.” Fya said, shaking her head. “And even if you could, do you think that freeing them here would be a good idea?”
“I didn’t say to shove them down the ramp, did I?” Evelyn snapped. “Now, why are you telling me it isn’t possible?”
“Why don’t you come with me?” Fya asked, grinning widely, and Evelyn inhaled slowly, reminding herself that she really did like Fya most of the time. Throttling the djinn would be satisfying, but she’d regret it later. Probably. Besides, it wouldn’t be permanent.
“Fine,” Evelyn said shortly, following the djinn as she led the way off the bridge. She paused for a moment, then continued. “What else have you found?”
“Enough beer and other alcohol to marinate a couple of mastodons, a lot of mediocre gear that you’ll probably sell off to one of the other weapons dealers for maybe twenty thousand mythrite, a whole lot of personal effects that we’ll need to toss, a few of which might be worth a bit but probably aren’t worth trying to sort out from the rest, a half-written gay romance novel titled Hotter Than The Sun which I think is pretty good, but you chopped the writer in half so it’s a loss, and the cargo,” Fya replied, bouncing along the corridor enthusiastically. “Well, and the access codes to the captain’s personal accounts and his vault. There was a lot in those, I’m pretty sure he was keeping almost a third of their payments for himself, the greedy bastard. Just as well for us, though!”
Evelyn gave her a slightly exasperated look, then asked, “And what pray tell, was the cargo?”
“Oh, right! Forty custom Dolls, all of them high-quality models with their accompanying maintenance units and four diamond-grade skill ports each, all of them filled. There’s also the equipment for the distilling side of ten manufacturing lines for a variety of medical purposes, though looking at them I’m pretty sure they’re intended for drugs of the banned sort,” Fya explained, grinning. “Then there’re the ten slaves, of course. That pretty much covers the cargo, though now that the ship’s down a tank and ninety-odd crew members, there’s more space for that sort of thing.”
“Dolls. Of course they were carrying Dolls,” Evelyn muttered, shaking her head, but Dolls were a far more palatable cargo than the rest of what the ship was carrying. She just didn’t care for how they were usually used. She set the thought aside, instead focusing on the rest as she thought, then nodded. “In any case, it sounds like we can pack everything from the shop and our homes into the ship. Good.”
“We’re leaving?” Fya asked, slowing abruptly as she looked at Evelyn curiously. “I thought you liked it here!”
“Mm… mostly, yes, but then Barstil decided to try selling me out. It left a nasty taste in my mouth,” Evelyn said, grimacing as they turned another corner. “I think we can find better places to live. Maybe even aboard a ship, though I’d probably want to get a different one.”
“Ooh, that could be fun!” Fya said enthusiastically, focusing on the door ahead of them, which she keyed a code into, and stepped inside. “Anyway, here they are! Ladies, stand up and face us, please!”
The room they’d stepped into looked like a repurposed barracks to Evelyn, though with a larger living space than she would have expected. More importantly, there was a decent amount of furnishings, an autochef on one wall, and a bathing room, while rooms to the sides held bunk beds. At Fya’s request, ten women turned to face her, the ones who’d be sitting taking the time to stand.
Each woman was gorgeous. That was the first thing Evelyn noticed, aside from the neutral expressions on their faces. There were three that stood out more than the others, mostly because an angel and succubus were unusual, while aquana weren’t terribly common. The angel had a golden halo above her long blonde hair, had blue eyes and pale skin, while the succubus was dark-haired with nearly black eyes and short horns on her forehead. Each had feathered wings, though the succubus had raven black feathers that contrasted with the angel’s white. The aquana was also unusual, with delicate-looking features, and an oddly smooth skin that was colored like some of the bright fish Evelyn had seen; white, gold, and with accents of neon blue and orange, while her eyes were gold and her thick hair was neon blue with hints of green toward the edges.
The other seven were also distinct, and Evelyn instantly noticed the patterns of busty women with hourglass figures, some of which didn’t look entirely natural. There were a pair of identical human twins with curly red hair, a half-elf brunette, a blonde and brunette elf, a dark elf with obsidian skin and silver hair, and a celestine woman who looked almost more ethereal than the angel, which was ironic. All of them wore white shipsuits that left little of their bodies to the imagination, yet would protect them if the ship lost atmospheric pressure.
“Dear gods,” Evelyn said after a moment, reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose, annoyance surging through her. “Whoever bought them is like Lady Fenna.”
“Lady Fenna only liked men,” Fya countered.
“Yes, but she had just as wide of a variety,” Evelyn said, letting go of her nose as she grimaced. “Let me guess… the Dolls are in the same mold?”
“Yep! Not quite as striking, and none of them look like an angel or succubus, but they’re pretty much the same on the whole.” Fya confirmed. “The main difference is that most of them are combat-rated, and have modules for different skills. Not that we have the access codes to modify them, but that’s to be expected.”
Evelyn nodded, eying the women warily. They were still staring at her, which gave her an unfortunately clear idea of what had happened to them. Still, she needed to be certain.
“Let me guess. Whoever enslaved them installed control chips?” Evelyn asked, crossing her arms.
“Got it in one! They must’ve implanted most of them, too, since they’ve got at least tier four cerebral implants, and I’m pretty sure they’re locked out of most of the functions and under external control. Not that I can access them, with the encrypted lockouts in place,” Fya confirmed, grinning broadly. “Either way, I’ve always said that you could use a harem!”
“No,” Evelyn said flatly.
“Come on, please? I want to be a harem mistress!” Fya begged, looking at her pleadingly.
“I said no. I’m not going to build a harem of slaves!” Evelyn exclaimed, gesturing at them. “Let alone women who’re stuck as passengers in their own bodies!”
“What if I asked them really nicely, once we got rid of that stuff?” Fya asked hopefully. “You wouldn’t have to sleep with them, either. That’s the prerogative of
having a harem.”
Evelyn inhaled slowly, counting to ten, then to twenty. Then she let her breath out, making certain she wasn’t about to explode at Fya. Only then did she reply.
“They can hear us, too, so let me make this perfectly clear,” Evelyn said calmly. “If they want to join the ‘harem’ you’re so incredibly enamored with, they may, but only, only if they want to. They’re not going to even be required to stay on the ship, for that matter. First, we need to find some way to remove the control chips and get access to their implants so they can revert the controls. Is that clear?”
“Yes!” Fya cheered, pumping her hands in the air. “I’m going to be a harem mistress!”
“You are annoying,” Evelyn told her crossly, turning to leave.
“You love me anyway!” Fya called after her, and Evelyn growled under her breath.
“Let them go back to whatever they were doing, I have a few people to call! And you need to start packing up your stuff and the shop!” Evelyn retorted.
Then she was out of the room, her headache back again. Why couldn’t this be simple?
Chapter 9
“You’re asking about those slaves? Sorry, I can’t help you,” Alaine replied, the dark elf suddenly looking a little wary in the hologram as she added, “It isn’t that I don’t want to, mind you, you’d be paying for it! It’s just that the purchaser hired an outside agent to implement the lockouts, and I’m not entirely sure who it was. We don’t remove the control chips, either. I could deactivate them if we had access to their implants, but that’s about it. On the other hand, I know of a couple of surgeons who can remove them safely, if you want their contact information.”
“Fine,” Evelyn said, drumming her fingers on her thigh restlessly. “Get me the information, then. As for the implants, who cracks them for you, when someone’s implants are already secure? I know you have someone who does it.”
“True, but… look, you didn’t get the contact info from me, is that clear? I don’t want to ruin my reputation with this client,” Alaine said, glancing to either side nervously. “You might be able to get away with it, but I’m far more vulnerable than you are, and other people who’ve offended them have gone missing. Seriously, you had battleship shield generators around your shop?”
“Had implies that they’re no longer there,” Evelyn replied calmly, tapping her fingers together as she thought, then nodded. “Very well, though. I won’t tell anyone where I got the hacker. Do you know if they can hack the access codes of Dolls?”
“Most likely, but it’s never come up. I’ve got the contact info for you,” Alaine replied, glancing downward, then asked, “Are you sure that you aren’t interested in any of my other merchandise? I’ve got a few that are hot commodities.”
“The only way I will be acquiring any of your merchandise is by coming in and taking it by force,” Evelyn replied calmly, looking the woman in the eyes. “I don’t like slavery. I hate the fact it’s so entrenched in so many societies. And I will not pay to free people from it. Be glad I’ve had my fill of bursting in through the front doors for the day.”
“I’ll… remember that. Good day, Evelyn,” Alaine said, swallowing visibly, then her hologram vanished.
Evelyn checked to ensure that she’d gotten the information she wanted, then frowned as she absorbed the contact information for the hacker. They didn’t take calls at all, only messages, while the nine doctors who could extract the chips were a different story. She ran a quick search on the doctors, and noted the ones who had less sketchy businesses, as well as the best ratings among those in the city. One of them looked like they’d quashed some negative reviews, so she struck the woman from the list and narrowed it down to two reasonably good doctors. Evelyn would probably have to look them up on the computer systems to properly absorb their details and make a decision, but her implants made a basic overview easy.
“Right, let’s get a message off to this hacker,” Evelyn muttered, leaning forward as she activated the ship’s command console. She wished it had more implant integration, but Daggerhound wasn’t even close to state of the art, and even most of the consoles were flat screens, rather than magically augmented or holographic.
Composing the message didn’t take long, and Evelyn gave it a once-over before sending the message off and starting to go over the doctors. Once she had them sorted out, she’d figure out where to dump the things from the captain’s cabin so she could properly fumigate it before bedtime.
Sure, bedtime would likely be near dawn, but she was used to that.
“Ah, Miss Tarth, there you are! Thank you for giving me the opportunity for this job!” Doctor Inda said, smiling so widely she was briefly afraid that his head would split in two.
Evelyn had just stepped into the medical bay, which was as serviceable and well-maintained as the rest of the ship, though now there was a large, complicated machine being set up in one of the surgery rooms. Doctor Inda was watching a couple of his assistants work through the window, his darker skin contrasting with the teal shirt and white lab coat he was wearing.
“I’d think that you’d be irritated at me asking you to do this aboard the ship,” Evelyn replied, her lips quirking slightly upward. “I certainly expected an argument.”
“Hah! No, you’re being far wiser than some of the people who’ve come to me for this sort of thing. I haven’t had many people come to remove control chips, mind you, but at least half of them have ended up in the exact same position the next week, or even within hours. At least you’re not going to be dragging groggy women through the streets,” Doctor Inda said, his smile fading slightly. “It’s really a shame when that happens, but there’s nothing I can do about it. Anyway, you also are paying five times my usual rate, so hiring an appropriately secure truck to get my equipment here and back is a minor expense in comparison.”
“Mm, true. I intend to give them the option of getting off here or on another world. If they get off here…” Evelyn let her voice trail off as she shook her head, continuing. “There’s no cure for a lack of common sense.”
“Agreed,” Doctor Inda said, laughing softly. “Now, then, you said you had ten subjects, correct? Do you have any preference for the order? I will say that the procedure will take approximately half an hour per subject to perform safely, or about eight hours for all of them including prep time for each.”
“Excellent. I intend to stay in the room the entire time, just to be safe. Don’t worry, I have no intention of interfering, it’s more that I fully expect for some of them to have panic attacks or something similar once they’re cognizant again, and I can work on the side,” Evelyn assured him, holding up her data pad and the attached holographic projector. “As for the order, whichever you’d like, save that I suggest doing the succubus last. I suspect she’ll be the most dangerous of them and I intend to watch her closely.”
“That’s appreciated. Considering that, I’ll likely do the work on the angel and demon last,” Doctor Inda told her, looking a touch relieved. “While I’ve had an incubus patient before, they can be… difficult. And dangerous. I’d rather not lose an assistant to her.”
“Oh, you won’t. I promise you that much. In fact… ah, they’re here,” Evelyn said, smiling and setting her data pad on a table as Fya led the ten women into the room, still with the neutral expressions on their faces. “This is Doctor Inda. He will be removing the control chips that are making it so none of you can act of your own volition. So long as you’re well-behaved, everything will go well. However, if any of you prove violent or choose to assault the doctor, his assistants, or anyone else that I’m aware of in any fashion, I will end you. This is mostly directed at our resident demon, but it goes for any of you who might be inclined to lash out once you can act of your own accord.”
Evelyn paused, examining them. She was a touch annoyed, since normally she’d be able to tell if someone took her threats the way they were intended, but with the control chips it was almost impossible to tell. She though
t she saw hope in the eyes of most of them, but it was difficult. Doctor Inda looked a touch disturbed, but he shrugged it off after a moment.
“Well, with that in mind… let’s start with you, young lady,” the man said, looking at one of the two human twins. “If you’ll come with me? Now, just to be sure you understand, this won’t hurt at all. You’ll fall asleep due to the somatic unit, we’ll extract the chip, then use healing magic to ensure you’re in perfect condition once you wake. You will notice a bit of disorientation after its removal, but that’s normal for when you regain control of your body, and it should fade after a few hours. Now, then…”
While he walked away, Evelyn paused, then spoke to the others. “Why don’t you take a seat and wait for your turns? He’ll get to each of you, but it could be a long day. He said that with preparation for each of you, it could take around eight hours.”
The women silently moved to sit, and Evelyn frowned. They didn’t even talk, which made her wonder if that had been prohibited by the programming. She really wished that the hacker had been willing to come by sooner, but he’d informed her that he was busy for another full day, so she had to wait until after Captain Eight-Fist showed up. That wasn’t too worrying, since the pirate’s response when she’d informed him of what had happened hadn’t been too angry. That was mostly because she’d found a replacement, she suspected.
“What do you want me to do?” Fya asked, looking around the room curiously.
“Clean up enough of the rooms so that each of them can have privacy if they want,” Evelyn replied, settling into the chair she’d chosen. “Start with the officer quarters. If you finish that, see about unhooking the tank docks, since the buyer for the surviving tank will be by later this evening. If they don’t want both docks, we’ll sell the other off to one of the scrapyards.”
“Right! What’re you planning to put into the spots where the docks are? That’s a large chunk of the maintenance bay,” Fya said, her eyes brightening with curiosity. It just figured that drudge work wasn’t enough to ruin her mood.
Chosen of Chaos (Eve of Destruction Book 1) Page 6
