Slave (5 page)

“Why would you give him money when you wouldn’t even pay me what he was worth?” he demanded.

Again, when in doubt, tell the truth. “Because I felt sorry for him and I didn’t feel the least bit sorry for you—asshole! Besides, he had a nice cock.”
Oops, I
think I might have let the cat out of the bag with that one
.

“I would have paid you more before the auction began,”

I went on, “but, no! You wouldn’t listen to me, would you? Just had to be greedy, didn’t you?” You know, it’s really difficult to face someone down and sneer at them when you’re wearing a mask that covers most of your face. I found it to be a decided disadvantage. “Are you really wanting to get him back or are you just here to kill me or rob me because I pissed you off by being right about how the auction would go?”
I hoped I wasn’t giving him any ideas, but,

somehow, I doubted it. He’d had enough time to come up with plenty on his own, and considering what he’d done to his slave, I knew he’d have no qualms about doing some pretty nasty things to me. You know, I just hate people like that! I’ve never understood why some people are so damned mean! I suppose it might have been their upbringing, but some people are so awful that they had to have been born that way. I think Cylopeans were, because I’d never yet met one that was very friendly. Their reflexes aren’t very good, either, because we both saw the Zetithian at the same time, and the dumb-ass Cylopean was still pointing his pistol at me when his former slave lowered his head and launched himself at him—chains and all—with a deep-throated roar.

My
reflexes, on the other hand, were pretty good and I had my own weapon in the palm of my hand in less time than it takes to tell it. I knew I’d better do something pretty damn quick, because if that creep got hold of the wrong chain…well, let’s just say it could get messy! I got closer and kicked the pulse pistol out of the Cylopean’s hand as they wrestled in the dirt, noting that the Zetithian was attempting to wrap the chain that ran between his right hand and foot around the Cylopean’s neck, while the former slave master tried to grab the chain to the genital cuff. Muttering, “Oh, what the hell…,” I set my own pistol on a wide stun and shot them both.

“Whoa! Good shootin’, Tex!” I said as I holstered my weapon. As split-second decisions go, it was probably
one of my better ones, for not only did it stop the fight without killing anyone, but it also meant that I didn’t have to take any lip off of either of them. I struggled with the impulse to simply get back on my ship, close the damned hatch, and take off, but once again my softer side got the better of me. I dragged the Cylopean clear of the blast zone for my take-off, rolled my slave onto a blanket, retrieved the remote from where he’d dropped it—along with the credits I’d given him—and pulled him aboard. Then I closed the hatch, fired up the engines, and took off. I just hoped that my second decision was as good as the first, because if not, I was going to have an extremely unhappy little slave boy on my hands.

After getting clear of the solar system, I set the autopilot to fly while I consulted the star charts. Statzeel was only about five light-years away, but going there first was probably not the best idea, unless I just wanted to turn the Zetithian loose there. I needed somewhere to take him to if I didn’t decide he was worth the trouble, or at least find someone to get his restraints off if we couldn’t figure it out between the two of us. I hoped he would be a bit more cooperative and not too pissed to listen to reason when he woke up. On the other hand, the Cylopean had said that he’d been seen in the area around my ship. Could it be that he had been looking for me, and
not
his former master? But, why? Did he realize he needed my help, or what? Had he attacked the Cylopean because he was threatening me, or just on general principles? I hoped he’d at least be honest with me, but I also knew I couldn’t count on it.
I glanced up from my charts to see him lying there, still inert upon the floor. In my haste to depart, I had simply left him there, just inside the hatch, sprawled out on the blanket and fully exposed. He was certainly an interesting looking creature, with definite feline characteristics, for, in addition to the vertical pupils and rather pronounced and sharp canine teeth, I also noted that he had slightly pointed ears which I hadn’t been able to see before due to the mass of filthy, matted hair that covered them. His penis, of course, I had gotten a really good look at, and it was still quite impressive even in its flaccid state. I was pleased to note that he hadn’t ripped the ring out of it when he’d attacked his former master, either. He was still extremely dirty, however, and as such, didn’t exactly smell like a rose. Fortunately, he didn’t smell anything like the atmosphere of the planet we’d just left, for if he had, I’d have been sorely tempted to space him.

I picked up the remote and studied it, wishing that whoever had made it had seen fit to use pictographs instead of the local symbols to describe the function of each control. I toyed with the knobs on the top, thinking,
righty tighty, lefty loosey.
I wondered if that was as universal wherever this device had been manufactured as it was on Earth. I thought that perhaps the ship’s computer could decipher the symbols and I was scanning them into it when my new shipmate began to stir.

“Take it easy there, big guy,” I said as reassuringly as possible. “I’m trying to figure out how this thing works, and hopefully I’ll be able to get it off for you. Just curl up there and get some sleep if you like, this may take a
while.” Then it occurred to me that he might be hungry or need to pee or something. “Bathroom is around the corner, and the galley is over there,” I said with a wave of my hand. “I don’t know what you like to eat, but laying in supplies for you wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when we left.” I heard a low growl emanating from his direction. “Hey, I’m not gonna have to use this on you, am I?” I inquired with a wave of the remote.

Honestly, one more display of ingratitude on his part and I was going to seriously consider spacing him!

However, the fact that it was impossible to do such a thing on this particular ship without getting sucked out into space myself would have made it an idle threat.

Still, it might be worth mentioning at some point if he ever got completely out of control…. “And if you’re thinking about killing me, too, then let me remind you that I
am
piloting this ship, and unless you were once a pilot yourself, you might want to consider keeping me safe until I land you on solid ground somewhere.”

He growled again. “I was not going to kill you.”

“Well, I can’t even begin to tell you how pleased I am to hear that!” I said in a voice heavily laced with sarcasm. Of course, I had no idea whether or not sarcasm was a concept he was familiar with, but at the time, I simply didn’t give a damn. “So, if you weren’t plotting my demise, would you mind telling me just what the devil you were doing hiding underneath my ship?” I glanced over at his filthy, naked body and gave him a nasty little smile. “I mean aside from the fact that you aren’t exactly dressed for a tea party and it might be a trifle embarrassing for you to be seen out in public.”
My adorable little slave kitten rolled onto his hands and knees and pushed himself up off the floor. Head down, he advanced in my direction, glaring at me from beneath those flying black brows, his cat-like pupils glowing almost brightly enough to cast a shadow. Even not knowing him well, I would have to assume that he was a bit out of sorts, himself.

“You released me and gave me credits,” he said as though it were the nastiest thing anyone could have ever done to him. “You have placed me in your debt.” He bit out the words as though they tasted bad, and I think that perhaps in another circumstance he might have followed that statement up with a hiss. I was still holding the remote, however, so perhaps he felt it best to leave that part unsaid, though it seemed to be understood.

I sighed and shook my head. I had bought him, released him, and had given him enough money to keep himself in cat food for a good, long while, and he had the audacity to be hateful about it!

“Story of my whole fuckin’ life!” I said irritably.

“You do something nice for a guy, and he hates you for it! I should have pressed the fuckin’ star button and left you writhing in the street!” I felt an odd little pain in my chest when I said that. Must have been from eating that stew so fast, I decided. Yes, that was it. I was just having a bit of indigestion. I ate too fast, and I was mad. Okay, that explained it. “Go on, Cat,” I said, turning my back on him to stare into the computer screen once more, “go take a bath, or stuff your face, or take a piss—or, better yet, go fuck yourself. I don’t give a shit what you do.

Just go away.”
Unbelievably, I felt that same twinge in my heart again and my eyes grew damp with tears. I hadn’t shed a tear in so long the sensation was as alien to me as the feel of cool grass between my toes. What made it so unusual was that not only was I angry, but I was hurt, though it pained me even more to admit it, and I hadn’t thought I had enough feeling left in me to ever experience that again. It wasn’t the first time I’d felt that way, of course, but it had been many years, indeed, since I’d experienced that kind of pain. It reminded me of the way I’d felt the first time a man had singled me out for his attentions just so he could get closer to my beautiful, and otherwise unattainable, sister. Oh, yeah, just exactly like that….

I heard him take a step closer, his chains clinking together as he moved.

“I
said
, go away!” I warned through my tightly clenched teeth. I raised the remote and put my thumb on the star button. “Back off!”

I never looked up, but I heard him move away and when he was gone, I dropped my forehead into my hand as hot, unaccustomed tears coursed down my cheeks.

Damn, I thought miserably. I’m so unlikable, I can’t even get a stray cat to want to stay with me! I didn’t think it was asking too much of him to say thank you, either. You know, just a little, “Hey, by the way, Jack, thanks for buying me and letting me go.” Then again, perhaps it was. I mean, what did I know about him, really? Maybe his kind didn’t appreciate it when someone took pity on them. He’d been a soldier at one point, apparently—maybe it was a duty and honor sort of
thing. They all had their own little codes of behavior, and I suppose I could have unknowingly violated one of them when I set him free. It was also just possible that I hadn’t made my intentions entirely clear to him.

“Hey, Cat!” I called out as I wiped away my tears.

“Come back here!”

I heard the rattle of his restraints as he returned to the pilot’s console. He stopped about two meters away.

I didn’t look up. “My sister was kidnapped and I’ve been trying to find her for six years,” I said in a low voice. “Where she was taken, I cannot go alone, and I need your help. I will pay you for your services and when she is safe, I will pay you a substantial bonus and then our ways will part. You will be freed, for I have no use for a slave and consider slavery of any kind to be an affront to the dignity of all beings on all worlds. I will carve that in stone, if you like.”

“My last master promised me freedom after the battles were won,” he said flatly. “You see what comes of trusting someone who would purchase a slave.”

I spun my chair around to face him. “Well, isn’t that just ducky!” I spat out. “I’m sitting here trying to be sincere, and you’re comparing me to that asshole of a Cylopean! You are not—and I repeat, not!—scoring any brownie points here, Kittycat! I’m not the one who put your balls in a vice! I’m just the one sitting here trying to figure out how to get you loose from all that crap while you stand there and insult me!” I glared up at him with as much ire as he was directing back at me.

“Don’t you get it, you stupid feline? I’m one of the good guys!”
“You gave me no chance to agree to help you,” he said accusingly. “You left me behind.”

“What?” I demanded. “Is that why you’re acting so damned testy? You couldn’t have hollered after me? You had plenty of time to say something—I wasn’t walking that fast! You could have followed me, caught up with me, and offered to help. Really, you quiet, stoic types just get my goat! ‘You gave me no chance to agree to help you,’” I said, mimicking his tone. “You could have at least given me a fuckin’ thank you! I could have left you there without the remote and without any money, you know. Did you ever consider that? Huh? Answer me! Well, did you?”

To my surprise, he smiled. “You are like the women of my home world,” he said. “Fiery and very, very stubborn.”

“Ha! Look who’s talking about being stubborn! The pot’s calling the kettle black, if you ask me.” In response to his puzzled expression, I added, “Old Earth expression. You know, like, ‘it takes one to know one.’”

His nod was tentative. “You are very odd,” he observed.

“Is that a problem for you?”

“I believe I like odd.”

“Don’t you try to sweet-talk me, you big ol’

tomcat!” I warned. “All I want from you is a simple thank you and a promise that you won’t try to kill me while I’m sleeping!”

He smiled again. “Thank you and I promise not to kill you—whether you are awake or asleep.”

“Well now, that’s more like it!” I said, somewhat placated. “So, are you going to help me or not?”
“What would I be required to do?”

This is where things might get a little sticky. “Are you familiar with the customs of the planet Statzeel?”

He nodded. “Women are enslaved there.”

“Yeah, well, that’s where my sister is,” I declared,

“so that’s where I have to go. I need you to pose as my, um, master.”

He stared at me in frank disbelief. “You bought a slave so that you could pretend to be
his
slave?” he asked incredulously.

“That just about sums it up,” I replied. “Are you game?”

He hesitated a moment before asking: “Explain what you just said.”

“Yes, I bought a slave so that I could pretend to be his slave,” I said patiently. “Do you want to help me or not?” I hesitated a moment before adding, “Have I made myself perfectly clear?” I rolled my eyes as it became quite obvious that he was still in the dark about something. “Do you understand?” I enunciated each word deliberately and very distinctly, and then laughed to myself thinking of all the old movies I’d seen where the people who spoke only English thought that they could be understood by the native tribesmen if only they spoke very, very slo-o-ow-ly.