Slave World (21 page)

“Then why not just leave? Why not just take Donna, and get the hell out of here?” I shivered, looking at the bruises covering my arms, and the fading welts on my breasts. God, I don’t even remember how I got them.
Is that a bite mark?
“If he… abused her in the past, then why-”

Nathan shook his head, giving me a sorrowful smile. “This is Donna’s home. She feels safe here regardless of the relationship with Michael. I think she may have feelings for Cirus too; that’s the impression I get anyway. She doesn’t mess around with the other slaves like Michael does, but I know her and Cirus spend time together occasionally.”

So I was right. Why in the hell would she want to sleep with that asshole anyway?
Something wasn’t adding up here; if she and Cirus had some sort of relationship going on, then why give him permission to fuck all the other ponies whenever he liked? That didn’t sound like normal behavior for two people in love, at least to me anyway.

“She won’t ever leave, at least not of her own free will, which means I’m staying as well. I still have the ability to keep that asshole, Michael, in line whether he thinks so or not.”

I looked long and deep into Nathan’s pained eyes, understanding all too well what kept him here now: love and selfless duty, born from delusional guilt. I wanted to reach out and hold him, to comfort him in some way. It’s a hard thing to live with guilt for so many years; I know because I feel it every day of my life for what I put my mom and sister through years ago.
And now I have the guilt of unfaithfulness to deal with as well.
The Master had taken a piece of my soul last night that could never be returned. I’d betrayed Nathan, whether it was voluntary or not, but the worst thing was, that I knew I’d enjoyed it, begged for it, because of that goddamn remote.

The whole comment about Cirus and Donna left me concerned, partially for Donna, but more so for Nathan. He cared for her so deeply that I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if something happened to her, and I’d kept quiet about it. I told Nathan what I knew, and was greeted with complete surprise.

“No, she would never give him permission to do that. Donna doesn’t even know about the breeding schedule the ponies have.
I
didn’t know about Cirus’ visits to the other pony girls at night.”

I was content to let Nathan think in silence for some time, closing my eyes and relaxing as my body regained some semblance of normality again. I was so tired and strung out from last night that all I wanted to do was fall asleep in his arms. Actually I did nod off at some point.

“Something isn’t right here. I have no idea why Cirus would be screwing around, fucking everything in sight when they aren’t together. He shouldn’t be doing that anyway, there’s to be no sexual contact between ponies outside of the schedule. He knows that, the guards know that, those are the rules.” Nathan was on to something, and none of it made sense to either one of us, apparently.

“I’m going to check into this, Margo, I’m going to check into a lot of things as a matter of fact. I’m also going to have a little talk with Michael about last night. You’re his slave and I can’t stop him from taking his liberties with you, but as the stable Overseer I can raise hell about the condition you came back in without raising suspicion.”

I reached for his hand, pleading. “Nathan, please… I don’t want to see you get in trouble. I…I can learn to live with what Michael does to me, it…he means nothing to me.” His fingers wrapped gently around mine.

“I need to find a way to get you out of here. He can do anything he wants to you because of that remote, and you’ll only beg for more, even if it kills you. That’s far too much power for him to have over anyone, slave or not, especially you, and it needs to stop.” I hung my head ashamed; I felt so polluted after last night.

“I’m sorry, Nathan, I didn’t want to…I would never have…”

“I know that, Margo, you don’t need to apologize to me.” His voice was soft and understanding; it only made me feel worse.

“I’m not leaving, Nathan, not without you.”

“But after last night? I can’t stop him from-”

“I know that and I don’t care. I love you, Nathan.” There, I’d finally said it out loud and it felt wonderful, like an immeasurable weight had been lifted off my chest. “I love you, Nathan Burke, and won’t leave you here alone.”

The blood all but drained from his face, lips wordlessly moving. He licked them, nervous and unsure. “No woman has ever said that to me, not one that really meant it anyway. I’ve never been good when it comes to things like this, dealing with women, but from the first moment I saw you, and you were assigned to my care…I think maybe I’ve always loved you, in a way.”

I reared from the whirlpool, throwing my arms about his neck. I didn’t care what happened to me anymore, because Nathan loved me, and that was all that mattered. He slowly drew away, cupping my upturned face, stroking my cheeks with a kiss to my nose.

“I’ll figure something out, I always do. I have to go, but I want you to rest today; I’ll pass the word along. Relax and get some sleep. I need to find out what the hell’s going on around here, okay?” I smiled and nodded. “And don’t sweat the small stuff; I’m just going to have a friendly talk with Michael, that’s all.”

“Just play it cool and don’t do anything rash, okay?”

Nathan smiled, leaning back in astonishment. “Who me? Cool, is my middle name. I’ll be good, promise.”

I gave him a playful scowl. “Yeah, right.”

Nathan went to the medical cabinet, returning with a small chunk of pliable urethane. “When I turn the jammer off I want you to stash it. Wrap it in this. We don’t do cavity searches, but the rooms are searched on a regular basis.”

“What?”

“Put it in your butt; the goo will keep it dry and clean. Don’t use it any more than you have to, because a break in surveillance might arouse suspicion if it happens to frequently.”

“Okay, Nathan.”
Well, this is a surprise.

He started wrapping it in the thick, slippery material, before switching it off and handing it to me, wordlessly leaving the room. I finished covering the jammer out of sight, below the lip of the whirlpool, and then effortlessly pushed it into my rectum. I mouthed a silent ‘Ow’ while I did so; I was still pretty sore down there. Guess the nanites haven’t made it that far yet.

I lay back in the whirlpool, head resting against the lip, dozing off with a smile in the warm, soothing water. I couldn’t stop thinking of Nathan, and all the wonderful things I wanted to do with him the next time we were alone together. Maybe everything would work out for us in the end. Marines didn’t like to lose, and he would approach this problem like any other mission; failure was not an option, with victory being the only viable and expected outcome.

***

It was late morning when Burke stormed into Rupert’s office like a whirlwind, a venerable bull in a china shop. He barely took notice of the old man that jumped up from behind the multiple holographic displays, filled with graphs and charts that floated in the air around him.

“Nathan? What do you think you’re doing?” Burke ignored him, heading straight for the door to Michael’s office. “Mr. Savota is in a very important meeting at the moment, and can’t be disturbed.”

“Don’t give me that shit, I know exactly what kind of a ‘meeting’ he’s in,” Burke mumbled softly, punching in the security code that allowed him facility wide access throughout the entire ranch. The red access light blinked rapidly, before turning solid again.
Son of a bitch…
“Open the door Rupert, now. I know you have the command override for it.”

Rupert took a hesitant step back, fortitude waning. “I can’t do that, Nathan. What gives you the right to come in here and-”

Burke crossed the distance between them with uncanny speed; it was less time than it took to draw in a single breath. Rupert was jerked forward like a stumbling rag-doll, positioned in front of the keypad by hands more powerful than he could have ever imagined.

“I’ll tell you what gives me the right, I can,” Nathan growled dangerously in his ear. “Force, power, intimidation… That seems to be the law of the land around here anymore, and the only things you and Michael understand.” Nathan fumbled at his waist, unlatching his stun baton.

Rupert’s eyes grew wide in terror, reflected back from the mirrored tint of emotionless sunglasses, as the tip of the stunner was forced into his hesitant mouth. “Do you have any idea what will happen, if I activate this right now?” The warm trail of urine pooling on the floor at Rupert’s feet gave Burke his answer.

“Living in fear,” Nathan whispered almost kindly, “is a terrible thing to experience, isn’t it? Maybe you’ll stop to consider this in the future where the slaves are concerned. Now open the door before I do something we’ll both regret.” Rupert’s fingers groped blindly for the controls, trembling, as the stunner gradually left his mouth.
And that’s how Marines play it cool, Margo.

Burke slipped inside as soon as the door began to open. He quickly scanned the room, looking for any possible threats, but found only what he had expected to; one of the house slaves was sprawled across Michael’s desk with her legs perched on his shoulders. She barely took notice of Burke from behind her glassy eyes, split lip and broken nose.

Michael jumped like a startled snake, puffing with sweat covered cheeks. “I said I didn’t want to…Nathan? Get out of my office this instant, Rupert!”

“I’m sorry, sir, he forced me to open the door,” Rupert stuttered in the background, still visible shaken.

Michael’s wild gaze came to rest on the stunner gripped in Burke’s white knuckled hand. He backed away from the young girl, nearly tripping over a small footstool. “Rupert, call security!”

“Belay that order, Mr. Todd,” Nathan snarled with more authority than Michael could ever muster. “We’re just going to have a little talk is all.” He clipped the stunner back on his belt, helping the dazed and bloody girl off Michael’s desk, looking for some sort of intelligent recognition behind her dazed expression.
She’s stoned out of her mind.

“Can you hear me? Hey!” Burke snapped his fingers until her jerking eyes met his. “Go to the infirmary, do you understand?”

“Who do you think you are giving orders to my-”

“Shut up, Michael.” Burke’s menacing tone was more than adequate to accomplish its purpose. “Come on, girl, on your feet.” He supported her sagging, stumbling weight, guiding her towards the door. “Rupert, I trust you’ll see that she gets the medical attention necessary?”

“Yes, of course,” he replied woodenly.

“And one more thing, if this door opens before I’m finished speaking with Michael…” Burke left the rest unsaid, giving Rupert one last hard stare, before closing and locking the door behind him.

“Nathan, what’s the meaning of this? You can’t just barge into my office any time you like. And who do you think you are, threatening one of my employees like that?” Michael was still trying to portray an image of controlled calm, where he was still in command of the situation. Burke knew better, they both did.

“Sit down, Michael. Do you remember the last time we had a little talk like this?” Michael slowly gravitated to the chair behind his desk, face growing pale.

“I haven’t done anything to Donna, I swear! I haven’t laid a hand on her since-”

“I’m not here to talk about Donna this time; I want to talk to you about the way you’re treating the slaves, Margo in particular.”

“The new pony?” he asked honestly surprised, and a little relieved.

“I can’t have her, or any of them for that matter, coming back to the stable in the condition I saw this morning. As their Overseer, I’m responsible for the health and wellbeing of all my ponies, and what you did to one of them last night was unacceptable.”

A thin smile began to cross Michael’s face, once more on familiar ground. “Nathan, I think you’re forgetting a few things. First off, the ponies aren’t yours they’re mine. They’re my property, my slaves, every single one of them, and I can do with them as I see fit. Secondly, you work for me. If you have a problem with that, then I suggest you seek employment elsewhere.”

Michael reached for the ivory cigar box on his desk, running the thick, eight-inch Leidary under his nose with an appreciative sniff. “You grew up here, Nathan,” Michael continued with an off-handed smirk. “You of all people should understand this. We all have a station in life, and theirs has been decided by the outcome of destiny. For someone that owned slaves in the past, your squeamish behavior actually surprises me.”

Burke slammed his fist on the desk like a thunderclap. The clear protective covering splintered like glass and a massive crack opened along the entire length of the wood top. Michael jumped back in shock, shaken from his fragile position of power.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Michael? They’re human beings, for god’s sake!”

“Do you have any idea how much that desk cost,” Michael sputtered. “How painstakingly difficult it was to have it hand crafted and imported all the way from earth?”

Burke shook his head in disbelief. “You care more about that damn desk than the people whose lives rest in your hands, don’t you?”

“Yes I do, Nathan, because they’re disposable pieces of property and nothing more. Now get out of my office, before I forget why I let you stay on
my
ranch in the first place!” Michael would probably never know how close he was to dying right now.

“That may be true,” Nathan breathed like the hand of death itself. “They may belong to you, but let me make one thing crystal clear.” The chill in the air sent a racking shiver up and down Michael’s spine. “If you ever hurt Margo like that again I’ll come for you, and there’s nothing you, or anyone else on this sick fucking planet can do to stop me.”