Pam-Ann (28 page)

Pam was not completely surprised
until the blonde flung herself into her arms, sobbing wretchedly.
The torment in her breasts flared but,
despite
Persephone’s cruelty
, it seemed natural to hold her while
she wept. Questions overflowed her mind, yet now her initial shock
was wearing off she felt strangely calm, as if her practised
control had returned when she needed it most. There were far too
many uncertainties to get excited. Persephone loosened her grip and
clasped Pam’s hands in her own.

“It….” She sniffled. “It was
great to begin with. I had to drive Rafael away, unfortunately. He
was too close to the real Persephone. He could never have guessed
what had happened but after a few days he had already noticed the
difference. I had
to push him away, even though I
liked him. It wasn’t too hard to bear. I’ve always liked girls as
much as men. I don’t think he minded very much either. He never
seemed to pay much attention to any girl in particular. Not until
you came along, anyway.”

Rafael’s attention and what it
might mean was a subject Pam had no wish to think about.

Persephone sniffed again and
wiped her eyes, smudging her mascara. “I had it all for a while.
Then I started to change.” Her tears brimmed once more. “Oh, it’s
awful! Do you know why I spend so much time flying?”

Pam nodded. “If you’re a
passenger you can’t
stow away and get yourself
enslaved.”

Persephone’s
hands tightened on hers. “It’s the only time I’m not afraid. I’ve
tried to fight it but it only gets stronger. I’m That Kind and
pretty soon I
will
get myself enslaved and that will be the end of
everything. Can you imagine the richest woman in the world making
herself a slave girl? I couldn’t live with that. I’ve got to get
away.”

Pam’s situation was too similar
for her not to be unsympathetic, but it was hard to ignore the pain
and cruelty she had endured. She pried herself loose, got up and
poured brandy into two glasses.

“Alcohol is forbidden for
slaves,” Persephone said, as Pam handed her a drink.

“I know.” Sitting on the floor
facing her, she took a long swallow from her glass. “You do realise
the black… thing might not even be there, don’t you?”

“Or maybe it will.” The blonde
straightened her back and sipped brandy. “It’s a chance I didn’t
have before I met you. It has to be worth taking.”

A thrill of excitement made Pam
shiver. It
was
worth taking. Any risk was worth it if it
meant she might escape this mad world. Certain Persephone had
already thought of all the other things that could go wrong, she
did not bring them up. Her breasts could not take another bout of
the blonde’s crying.

“What’s your real name?” she
asked.

The blonde gave a weak smile.
“Kathy Martin. Not quite as grand as Persephone
Peake but neither was I, just an ordinary person with an
ordinary job. I copied all the other
rich bitches I met with
their ‘darling this’ and ‘darling that’. They’re so shallow they
never noticed any change in the girl they thought they knew.”

“But the cruelty came
naturally,” Pam said, not hiding her bitterness.

Persephone, or Kathy, did not
have the decency to blush. She shrugged. “I suppose it
did
. I’ve always liked hurting people, but I never
had a chance to really do it, physically I mean, until I came here.
The real Persephone inherited all of her money. When I suddenly had
all that wealth and power it was hard not to take advantage of
it.”

“Abuse it you
mean. You let it go to your head,” Pam said, not trying to hide her
bitterness. “All power corrupts. Absolute power
corrupts absolutely,” she added, recalling having read the
words somewhere back in her own world.

Persephone
pouted. “I could be worse.
I won’t have you punished for
trying to choke me to death.”

“Don’t expect me to thank you,”
Pam said, wincing at the throb in her breasts and sex.
She thought of all that Persephone had put her through. “Why
do they even let women have female slaves if the laws against
Sapphism are so strict?”

“There aren’t any male slaves,
and even the men don’t expect a Freewoman to bathe and dress
herself,” Persephone replied. She seemed to be returning to her
usual self as she downed her brandy and lit a cigarette, but Pam
had seen beneath the façade. She would never feel intimidated by
her again, and if the blonde did ever try to punish her she might
not release her grip the next time. A thought struck her.

“I guess the original Persephone
must have taken your place in the real world.” From the moment she
had arrived, Pam had instinctively known that Ann had also taken
her place on the airplane, though she had never had any time to
wonder about the would-be slave girl’s fate. Captain Todd must have
been pretty surprised.

“I hope she hasn’t screwed up my
life, now that I need it back,” Persephone said, as selfish as
always.

Pam let it pass. “Have you any
idea how this place got so mixed up?” she asked.

“I tried to work it out when I
first came here,” Persephone said. “I don’t remember much of our
own history, but I think things weren’t much different up to the
French Revolution. I seem to remember there being a long war around
that time.”

“The Napoleonic Wars,” Pam said,
dredging up her own sketchy recollections. “It was a series of wars
that lasted more than twenty years.”

“Well, no one here has ever
heard of Napoleon. I guess he died or was killed, or was never
born. And the revolution was over in a few years. The Austrians and
British invaded France and, when they started winning, the
revolutionaries went wild and slaughtered all the royals and
aristocrats.” She rubbed her throat, looked at her cigarette and
stubbed it out. “When the Austrians captured Paris they behaved the
same with the revolutionaries, except they made slaves of the
women. Pretty soon it spread to the part of France they occupied
and then to the British part. They split the country up between
them. Now some of it is in the British Empire and the rest in the
Austrian.”

“But Tania and Milly aren’t
French, or the other girls.”

“Of course not. The slave thing
spread everywhere when the supply from France ran out. The whole
world is run on slavery and steam. Nothing would work without
them.”

“And no one ever tries to change
it?”

“There’ve been a few women but
they all soon end up as slaves themselves. Everyone is conservative
here. They don’t like change. But at least there haven’t been any
big wars since the French one.”

“No wars? For nearly two hundred
years?” It was the only thing there that Pam would admit impressed
her. Something more significant struck her. “You haven’t told
Traske about the blackness, have you?”

“God, no! If he knew he wouldn’t
go anywhere near it. It’s a legend among the airmen and they’re all
a little afraid of it. A few claim to have seen it but the
companies play it down in case it’s bad for business.”

Pam knew one who was not afraid.
“Rafael has seen it, and so has his father.” When had he stopped
being Drake in her mind and become Rafael?

“I know, but you mustn’t say
anything to him. He can’t be bribed like Traske and he takes his
duty seriously. He’d probably try to stop us.”

“Maybe not this time,” Pam said.
Perhaps she ought to tell him, for his father’s sake if nothing
else. Keeping it secret seemed somehow dishonest, as if she was
betraying his trust. She scoffed at her foolishness. She owed him
nothing. “I guess it’s safest to keep quiet,” Pam heard herself
say. “But he’s bound to realise the ship’s off course sooner or
later.”

“Traske will wait until the last
possible moment and pick a time when he’s off duty. Even Rafael
needs to sleep, and he has you on his mind. You have to do what you
can to keep him focused on that and not our plan.”

Pam swallowed. “Our plan?”

“You want to get back as much as
I do, don’t you?” The blonde gave her feline smile. “And I don’t
think you’ll find it a hardship to fuck Rafael to help us do
it.”

To Pam’s embarrassment
Persephone was right on both counts, which was why her smarting sex
managed a tickle when she remembered Rafael’s cock thrusting into
it.

“Okay, I’ll do what I can,” she
said.

“You’ve already done the most
important thing by telling me where to look. Now we’ve got a real
chance of getting out of here.”

“You really believe that?” It
seemed to Pam the odds were still heavily against them.

“Yes.”
The
blonde’s
eyes glistened
with unshed
tears
. “I have to. The alternative is too horrible to think
about.
I’m the richest woman in the world. I don’t
want to give up all that money, or the power either, but I can’t be
just another slave girl!
” She clasped Pam’s shoulder. “We
will
get away. All that black thing has to do is show up and
we’ll be there ready for it, side by side, and before we know it
we’ll be back where we belong.”

Pam flinched. “Ow! Watch my
tits, for heaven’s sake.”

Persephone gave her some of her
own salve. It was not the smart and throb of her breasts that kept
Pam awake when she returned to the slave quarters. Since the first
moment she had arrived she had wanted nothing but to escape this
dreadful place. She was never likely to have a better chance. So
why did the prospect of having her desperate hope fulfilled cause
her far more doubt than it did excitement?

* * * * *

Daisy’s face was grim and
streaked with tears when she returned to her place beside Pam at
the saloon’s bar.

“God, Miss Peake’s in a real
mood this trip! My tits are on fire.” She looked up from examining
the vivid red blaze of welts on her big breasts to glance at the
wall clock. “Thank heaven the shift’s nearly over and I’ll be able
to get some cream on them soon.”

“I’ve got the good stuff,” Pam
told her. “I’ll share it when we’re back in quarters.” Persephone
seemed determined to make the most of the time she had left. She
had used another girl after Pam had left her the night before, and
had already had Daisy that day, though it was not yet
mid-afternoon. The American girl’s belly fluttered. Her sleep had
been restless, interrupted by the thought that had crept into her
head every time she had tried to relax. She ought to tell Rafael
about Persephone’s intentions. He was looking for the blackness
too, to restore his father’s reputation and self-respect. He had a
right to know and to see the truth of its existence first hand. But
for that they only needed to get close to it. What if his duty to
passengers and crew stopped them from getting close enough for her
to be transported home? Trust her, he had said, but he was a man,
and a man too much like Rick. She could not do it.

“Report to the First
Lieutenant’s office,” the white-jacketed steward behind the bar
told Pam when the relief shift arrived. With a regretful smile at
Daisy she set off through the crew corridors, acutely aware of the
tightening of the tips of her buzzing breasts and a tingle between
her swollen sex lips. Pam hesitated at the door with her hand
raised to knock. Was it only a week since she had first stood
there? She had had so many incredible experiences in so short a
time. She had known pain and pleasure, cruelty and kindness, and
been racked by so many of the emotions she had thought were buried
deep enough to never surface again. Pam swallowed hard and
knocked.

Rafael stood looking out of the
window. He turned and his smile started her belly melting.

“We’re making good time,” he
said, eyeing the dark-red marks on her breasts. “Flying to London’s
always quicker. The prevailing winds are with us. You won’t have to
put up with Persephone for quite so long as on your last trip. I
didn’t expect caning her would make any difference.” He moved
around the desk and sat on its edge.

Pam straightened her back and
winced as her breasts jiggled. “Yes, Sir.”

“No need to be so formal,”
Rafael said. “Come closer.” He drew her between his knees the
moment she came within reach. He bowed his head and softly kissed
her lips and then the swells of each breast above her erect
nipples. She shivered. He smiled and smoothed his thumbs over the
hollows of her belly near her hips. “I can’t stop them using you on
the voyage, sweetheart, but Persephone’s not the only one with
influence at head office. I’m going to see this trip is your last.
You’re going to be my slave girl in future... mine and no one
else’s.

Pam’s gut lurched as his smile
broadened to a grin. “No!” She backed away until her bruised bottom
met the wall. “Oh God, no!”

Chapter Thirteen

“I don’t want to be a slave,”
Pam said. “Not yours or anybody’s. I told you what my world is
like. How could you think…?”

“We’re not in your world. We’re
in mine.” Rafael’s grin had vanished. He rose to his feet. “I’ve
never owned a slave before. I’ve never met one I wanted, not the
way…. I thought you…. That is, I hoped….” The line of his jaw
hardened and he looked at her with that expression that always sent
a thrill of fear coursing through her and made her heart beat
faster. He pointed to the floor at his feet. “Get back here.”

Feeling hollow inside, Pam
obeyed. She had made a stupid mistake. All she need have done was
pretend she was pleased
by what he had
said.
In a few hours or days it might not have mattered. But
his words
had shocked her so much she had
spoken without thinking. Her gut churned. That was untrue. His
words had not shocked her. What had, was her reaction to them. She
had
been pleased by what he had said. God, what had happened
to her?