Found (19 page)

“An injustice has indeed been done.” The
Judge’s branches and twig-like fingers burned even brighter.
“
Grieza
worms are a delicacy prized the universe over and
are worth more than whatever garments were given. Unless Blix the
Spider can produce the cubes and prove that they are defective, the
Scourge’s female shall be returned to him.
At Once.”

“Very well. Very well.” The third Blix backed
away, rubbing his hands together nervously. “Send her out,” he
called. “Send out the true female—no more clones.”

Again Lauren felt a huge rush of relief. At
last she was going to be free to go back to Xairn! But the hands
holding her in a vise-like grip didn’t relax. Instead, Blix number
one tightened his grip and laughed nastily in her ear.

“Come now, my dear. You didn’t think I’d give
up as easily as all that, did you?”

And then someone was shouting, “Here I am!
I’m coming, Xairn.”

Lauren nearly fainted when she saw yet
another look-alike come running up. She pushed her way past the
seed clones and threw herself into his arms, sobbing much as Lauren
wanted to sob herself.

“Lauren?” He looked down at her uncertainly
and released the second Blix, which promptly merged with the third
one.

“Oh God, it was awful!” the new pseudo Lauren
gasped. “He grabbed me and held me and I was so afraid I’d never
get back to you. Oh Xairn!” She stood on tiptoes and wrapped her
arms around his neck, clutching him tightly.

“She’s quite good, isn’t she?” Blix muttered
into Lauren’s ear. “I know you’re wondering why she’s so different
from the others—it’s because she’s a true clone, not a seed clone.
I hate to tell you, my dear, what it cost me to bribe Slk’s stupid
servant to get me one of your fingers so I would have enough raw
material to grow her, but it was well worth it, as you can tell.
Besides…” He squeezed her tighter. “You can pay me back during your
first year of work.”

Lauren had gone rigid with shock at seeing
the new clone but now her knees felt like rubber. She was sure if
Blix hadn’t been holding her so ruthlessly she would have
collapsed.
My God, she looks and acts just like me! He’ll never
know the difference. He’ll leave me here and won’t find out until
too late that she isn’t real. But if she’s such an exact copy, why
do they need me at all?

“Because the original is always better than a
copy, especially for making other copies, my dear,” Blix said,
answering her thought. “And because I’m able to charge so much more
for a night with an original splice whore. Their reactions are so
much more… satisfying and unique.”

Tears sprang to Lauren’s eyes. Was this how
her life was going to end? A hundred thousand light years from
home, trapped into prostitution on a planet no one on Earth had
even heard of?

“Indeed, this is to be your fate, my dear,”
Blix purred in her ear. “But don’t worry, I won’t give you over to
the customers before I put you through your paces myself. I always
like to make sure my girls are well trained.” The hand holding her
throat slipped down to cup her left breast and squeezed it roughly.
Lauren gave a muffled gasp and tried to kick him but it was like
kicking a brick wall. “Don’t struggle so, my darling Lauren,” Blix
murmured. “You should be enjoying your last sight of your Scourge
paramour. He’s about to leave with that pretty little clone and no
one will ever be the wiser. Even your own mother won’t be able to
tell the difference between her and the original when he gets her
back to your home planet.”

Despair washed over her like a cold wave and
Lauren knew he was right. Even now Xairn was holding the clone
close, his face buried in her hair as he comforted her.
Me, that
should be me that he’s holding!
she thought desperately. But
there was nothing she could do but watch. Nothing she could do
but—

“Get away!” Suddenly Xairn pushed the clone
to one side. “You’re not her either. Where is she?
Where is
Lauren?”

Behind her, Lauren felt Blix stiffen. “How in
the seven hells—?”

“I know she’s near.” Xairn was moving in a
circle, his head high in the air as if searching for some scent
only he could smell. After a moment he seemed to catch it. He
pushed the clones out of the way and headed toward to the empty
stall where Blix was holding her.

Blix began dragging her backwards, deeper
into the shadows but Lauren fishtailed her body desperately,
fighting with renewed desperation. His hand on her mouth slipped
and she was able to clamp down on his fingers. To her disgust, they
came off in her mouth, wiggling like worms.

Lauren spat them out and screamed, “Xairn!
Here—I’m
here!”

“Lauren!” He rounded the corner of the empty
stall where Blix had been concealing her just out of sight. “Let
her go!” he roared, his eyes flashing red-on-black. “Or I’ll rip
you into so many fucking pieces you’ll never be able to reassemble
yourself!”

At last Blix released her and Lauren stumbled
forward into Xairn’s arms. He snatched her up, holding her by the
waist and buried his face in her hair. Lauren felt his broad chest
expand like a bellows as he inhaled, breathing her in just as he
had when he held the clone.

When he pulled back there was a look of
relief on his face. “It’s really you this time,” he murmured,
looking into her eyes.

“Yes. Yes, it’s me.” Lauren didn’t want to be
a cliché or repeat everything the clone had just done but she
couldn’t help tearing up just the same. She sniffed and blinked,
trying not to let her voice shake too much. “How…how did you know?
Blix said even my own mother wouldn’t have been able to tell me
apart from that…that thing.”

“She probably wouldn’t.” Xairn changed his
grip on her so that he was cradling her protectively close to his
chest like a baby. “She doesn’t have my sense of smell.”

“What?” She frowned. “We smell
different?”

“The clone smelled like you in your
pre-altered state,” Xairn explained. “You smelled different this
morning after the DNA alteration had completely taken effect.”

From the shadows of the empty stall, Blix
cursed. “That stupid Bleek! To think what I paid and he gave me a
pre-altered finger!”

Xairn glared at the thought thief. “You took
her finger? You harmed my Lauren?”

“I thought it was a dream,” Lauren confessed.
“The weird stork-looking servant gave me a brownie to eat and it
must have had some kind of drug in it. I passed out but before I
did he…he cut off my little finger. But when I woke up, it was
still there so I thought it must have been a nightmare.”

“He regenerated it, of course,” Blix said.
Casually, he reached down for his severed fingers, the digits
Lauren had bitten off, and reattached them one by one.

It’s like he’s made of Play dough,
Lauren thought with a shiver.

Blix eyed her coolly. “No, my dear—plasma.
But you’ll have years to find out all the particulars about me,
never fear.”

“What are you talking about?” Xairn demanded.
“Lauren is leaving with me. But before I go, I’m going to rip you
to fucking shreds.” He started to move forward menacingly but Blix
sidestepped him.

“Oh, I don’t think so.” Reaching into a
pocket of his purple cape, he withdrew something. “Pardon me, your
Eminence,” he said, nodding to the Judge of the Market who had come
to stand in the entrance of the empty stall. “But I seem to have
those defective food cubes after all. See here?”

“Let me examine them.” The Quinlow held out
one burning hand.

Gingerly, Blix dropped several blackened
cubes into the Judge’s branch-like palm, being very careful not to
touch the pale blue flames. “They’re rotted—see, your Eminence?
They can have no possible value at all.”

After a moment, the Judge nodded. “Blix is
correct—these cubes are defective.”

Xairn set Lauren down and pushed her behind
him. “I can’t believe we are even having this conversation. The
Spider has just admitted to bribing one of Slk’s servants to maim
my female in order to grow a clone to fool me. His crimes should be
punished!”

“I was only trying to get what was rightfully
mine without a fuss,” Blix protested. “In fact, your Eminence, I
propose an amicable solution. Since the true clone and the original
are exactly the same, let Xairn have the clone and I will keep this
female.” He pointed at Lauren who shrank back against Xairn.

“What do you mean, just the same? We’re
not
just the same!” she protested.

“I’m afraid you are,” Slk said. Taking the
true clone by the hand, he led her forward. “I have been speaking
to this female—Blix had even given her your memories. For all
intents and purposes, she
is
you.” He turned to Xairn. “I
cannot tell you how I regret this. I will punish the servant Blix
bribed in the sternest possible fashion.”

“Death is too good for him,” Xairn snarled.
“This female is the only one I want.” He put an arm around Lauren
and pulling her protectively close. “I brought her here and I have
sworn to see her safely home which I still intend to do.”

Suddenly the Judge, who had been standing
silent and thoughtful, spoke in his creaking, sonorous voice. “Blix
makes a valid point. As the cubes are defective, it should be his
right to take the female into his possession. Xairn the Scourge may
have the true clone to do with as he pleases.”

“What?” Lauren felt like hear heart was going
to stop. “Surely you can’t be serious.”

“Do you dare to doubt my judgment?” The
Quinlow strode forward, its arms outstretched, the blue flames
crackling like deadly lightning between its fingers.

Lauren bit her lip. Somehow she knew that if
it touched her with those hands, that if even one twig-like finger
brushed her cheek, the results would be horribly painful, and quite
possibly fatal.

“We are not doubting, your Eminence.” Xairn’s
voice was low with barely controlled fury and his grip on Lauren’s
shoulders tightened until it was almost painful but he didn’t
display any outward signs of anger. “But I regret to say that I
cannot comply with your ruling. This female, and no other, is
bonded to me. So I cannot let her go.”

The Quinlow’s mouth yawned wide in fury and
Lauren saw that it was burning inside as well. She could feel the
flames against her skin—not hot but cold. So cold it made her lungs
ache to inhale the air around it. “You dare defy me? Death is the
penalty, as you well know, insolent Scourge.”

“Of that I am aware,” Xairn said evenly. “And
if a life is needed to satisfy, then you may take mine. But not
until I am guaranteed that my female, Lauren, will be treated with
respect and kept safe from the Spider.”

“No,” Lauren protested. “Xairn, you
can’t!”

He gave her a brief glance. “I will be glad
to die if it ensures your safety.”

“I will care for your female as I would my
own progeny,” Slk said, his three eyes blinking. “Blix shall never
have her. The clone either.” He turned a disapproving look on the
thought thief. “I claim her—for the material that made her was
harvested illegally under my own roof. You shall have neither of
them.”

“Slk makes a telling point and his claim is
valid.” To Lauren’s immense relief, the Judge of the Market drew
back, its bark-like face creased into a frown. “Slk has decided to
assert his rights. It seems that defective food cubes or no, you
cannot have either female, Blix. One is bonded to another male—I
cannot break a life bond. And the other was grown illegally.” It
turned its attention to Lauren. “You must, however, return the
slippers.”

“They’re in our ship, your…your Eminence,”
she managed to say. “I’ll be more than happy to return them.”

Blix arched one pale blond eyebrow at them.
“A moment, your Eminence. Of course I am pleased to comply with
your rulings, but are we certain the Scourge is telling the truth?
He claims to be bonded to this female but I see none of the Scourge
marks of possession on her.”

Lauren felt herself freeze inside. Oh God,
the marks of possession. What had Xairn said they were? A collar
and a brand? Not to mention the various piercings. And she had none
of them.

“I only bonded her last night,” Xairn said,
frowning. “I have not had time for such things. She wears my scent
on her skin—that is enough for the time being.”

“A brand, at the very least, is necessary to
prove possession.” Blix crossed his arms over his chest. “A collar
and piercings may be removed but a brand is permanent. If the
female does not display your brand then I contend she is not bonded
to you.” He looked at the Quinlow. “Your ruling, your
Eminence?”

The Judge frowned at Xairn. “Blix speaks the
truth—your female will need to be branded in order for your claim
to be validated.” It held up one long twig-like finger, tipped with
blue flame. “If you wish, I can brand her for you myself. But she
must be marked before I can allow the two of you to leave.”

“I think that is an
excellent
idea,
your Eminence.” Blix nodded.

“You sadistic bastard.” Xairn glared at him.
“You just want to see her pain.”

Blix shrugged and gave him a nasty grin. “Why
not? If I can’t have your sweet Lauren, I might as well get some
fun out of your farewell.”

Lauren’s heart, which had already been
racing, began to beat so fast she thought she might faint. God, she
didn’t want the tree thing to touch her, to burn her! But if it was
the only way they could get out of here alive, what choice did she
have?

“All right,” she whispered, having trouble
making the words come out. “If…if you have to.” She started to step
forward but Xairn pushed her back.

“With respect, your Eminence,” he grated.
“That is not how things are done among Lauren’s people. I have said
that I was bonded to her but not that I owned her. In point of
fact, it is Lauren who owns
me.”