Slave World (8 page)

I floated in and out of consciousness, surrounded in the darkness of eternity. I hurt everywhere and welcomed the painless bliss of sleep whenever it found me. Apparition-like voices teased my dreams; who were they?
What’s happening?
One sounded oddly like my Father.
Daddy, is that you? No, it couldn’t be, he’s dead.

“She’s valuable, see that tattoo and bar code on her arm? All Fleet personnel that received the Wolverine II upgrade during the Seth’Kelain War were marked for later identification in the event they survived. I bet she still has a half million worth of implanted gear, even after they took out the combat related hardware.”

“No shit? Maybe we should chop her up for parts.”

“We could, but it would be nothing but junk for the most part; everything is tuned to her neural network. Trust me, she’s worth more in one piece; there aren’t many of her kind around any longer. The enhancement program was stopped after only one year and the casualty rate for the recipients was upward of 80%, from what I remember.”

“Bullshit, anyone can get jacked up like her. Strength, speed-”

“No, it’s more than that; we’re talking a total enhancement package like you wouldn’t believe. Look, here’s her service number, it can be verified.”

“I guess you would know, wouldn’t you?”

Darkness…

“I know I can rig something up, we removed the defense programming and anti-tamper shit before she was discharged. The Federation can’t have civilians running around with a tac-nuke inside them, can they?”

“You really think so?”

“Sure, no sweat man. I can-”

“She’s dangerous though.”

“Not after I’m finished with her, she won’t be.”

Darkness…

Bright lights assaulted me, forcing my eyes closed even though I was lying on my stomach. I couldn’t feel my body.

“There, all done. She should be good to go after this.”

“You better be sure, if we let her up and she gets loose again…?

“Just relax, Quin, I’m an expert, remember?”

“Nobody touches her, understand?”

“Sure thing, boss, not much of a looker anyway.”

“We make planet fall on Regilain in twenty hours. Kelly got the jump drive working again.”

Darkness…

My eyes cracked in a haze of blurry light and pain. I felt sluggish and disoriented. I tried to focus on something to get my bearings, but my brain didn’t seem to work right.
Wait, what am I doing in the med-bay?

“Get up,” Deep Voice barked impatiently. My body protested but I sat up regardless, flipping my feet off the edge of the auto doc. It felt like my brain was sloshing around inside my skull. I stumbled, dizzy, almost falling before I caught the wall, propping myself up on feeble knees.
What the hell’s going on?
Things just didn’t make sense; my internal clock said I’d been out for over twelve hours, but there was a discrepancy in it, a break in the time somehow.
Impossible, that wasn’t supposed to happen unless…?
I reached back, probing at the sensitive bald patch near the base of my skull.

“What’s your name?” I looked up at Deep Voice, wobbling numbly.
It was one of the voices from my dreams.

He was a bull of a black man with shimmering ebony skin blacker than night. A red glowing cyber-eye set beside a bright hazel one stared mercilessly back at me. The sleeves of his blue stasis suit had been ripped off exposing overly powerful tattooed arms that reminded me of two cobras poised to strike. Some of the tats moved with a life of their own just under his skin. One of them looked familiar, but I couldn’t place it in my foggy memory.

“Winters, Margo L. Cpt., United Planetary Federation, 34898212,” I mumbled automatically, giving only the information deemed appropriate under the rules of war.

What happened, am I a prisoner? Why am I naked?
I’m an officer and entitled to customary privileges.
I blinked, trying to clear my vision, demurely covering my nudity in a rare display of abashment.

“I demand you return my clothing under article 52 of intergalactic law pertaining to the treatment-”

“Shut up! See, Quin, I told you she was prior Fleet.” A tall, lanky white guy with glasses and long black hair pulled back in a ponytail spoke from beside Deep Voice.

Glasses? That’s odd; no one wore antiques like that any longer.
He held something in his hand, something small and nondescript. It looked like nothing more than a small computer pad. I couldn’t take my eyes off it though, or Glasses, as the first tickling of jumbled complacency and unnatural surrender began to snake its way through my bewildered mind.

There were six others in the cabin with the same smug expression as Glasses and Deep Voice, four men and two women. All of them were armed to the teeth with weapons looted from the cargo bay.

“Come here,” Deep Voice growled and I shuffled a little closer, lowering my head, cowed by the intimidating ferocity in his voice. My mind started to clear, remembering where I was, and what had happened.

The meteor’s…

The ship’s damaged; Mark’s gone…

I’d sent John to check on the cargo…they’d gotten free! This
is
the cargo I’d been hauling for Carlos. I recognized some of their tats now; they were members of Sesik Cartel, the most vile and degenerate group in the entire Outer Rim.
I
wouldn’t even work for these guys. They also happened to be blood enemies of the Mandolins.

“Where’s John?” I croaked weakly, still not looking up at him.

“Who?” Deep Voice sounded honestly surprised.

“John, my droid, where is he?”

“Isn’t that sweet, she’s worried about her droid,” Glasses chuckled, followed by the group as a whole. I shrank in size even further.

“Did you see the size of that
dong
he had?” A rough looking woman with bright purple hair, no less covered with artwork than the others, chimed in. “I’m impressed, girl, I’d be worried about him too, if that were
my
man.”

“Holly, you’re such a skank. You don’t give a shit
what
crawls between your legs, do you?” Another of the men interjected, half in disgust, half in disbelief.

“Yeah, well maybe if you could keep it up for longer than ten minutes,” Purple Hair snarled, pushing her way angrily towards her apparently inept lover, as the first signs of a scuffle began to break out. That’s what I hated about these Sesik goons; they were like a pack of rabid dogs, volatile and out of control more often than not. Worse yet, they were extremely violent, and dangerously unpredictable.

“Shut the fuck up, both of you! Everybody out, go find something to do. Out! Brian, bring that piece of crap droid in before you go.”

The room cleared except for Deep Voice and Glasses, while plans for my escape started to formulate. With the ship AI down, there was no way of locking the controls out other than doing it manually from the cockpit. If I could do that, at least I’d have some leverage again, maybe cut a deal with them? First, I would have to get by these two first. My eyes turned hard as stone, jaw clenched.
They have no idea who they’re fucking with.

“Hey, sunshine, say hello to your loverboy.”

I looked in the direction of the door, as Brian rolled something round and metal, noisily across the deck. It bounced off the bulkhead, coming to a stop several feet away from me. I saw red, mind frothing with rage as I gazed blankly down at John’s head. He may have only been a droid, but I loved him.

“Your boyfriend, was he? Figured as much. Guess that must really piss you off, huh?” Deep Voice asked, curiously taunting me, taking a step closer. Maybe if he’d seen the look in my eyes, he would have thought twice before doing that.

“You bastard,” I seethed. “You didn’t have to destroy him. He wasn’t dangerous; he didn’t even have basic self-defense protocols.”

“You’re right, I didn’t
have
to, but I wanted to. Question is, what are
you
going to do about it?”
I’ll show you what I can do…
I lunged for Quin; the mocking effigy of everything I’d grown to hate over the years, every leering face and every senseless act of violence that had taken someone away from me that I loved. I paid no mind to Glasses whatsoever, not even considering him a potential threat, for some odd reason.

As quickly as my attack began, it ended. My legs gave way from under me and I hit the deck, screaming in surprise-filled pain. My entire body shook with spasms, jerking uncontrollably under the most excruciating agony I’d ever experienced. I was on fire, being cooked from the inside out, while an electrically generated hell smashed my sanity to ruins.

“Fucking-A, did you see how fast she moved?” Deep Voice backpedaled away in shock from my writhing form.

“No shit, I almost wasn’t able to zap her in time. By the way, that’s a medium setting. I could probably kill her if I turned it up to maximum.”

“That’s enough, Dobbs, looks like she passed the first test. You said it could be reversed right to make her docile and obedient.”

Just as unexpectedly the pain disappeared and I gasped for air, curling into a ball of lingering torment.
What the hell was that!
“Please no more, I’ll do whatever you say, just don’t hurt me again,” I managed to whisper. The rage and determination I’d felt moments before had been reduced to splinters in the span of a breath.

“Oh man, you have no idea what I can do to her with this thing. It’s better than making her docile, by a long shot.”

Glasses stepped closer, towering over me. I knew this kind of vermin, and what the inevitable outcome of my captivity was going to be now. The degenerate mist in his eyes was a dead giveaway. What gave the whole situation a frighteningly surreal feel was that I couldn’t stop myself from spreading my legs while I anxiously eyed his crotch waiting for it.
What the hell’s wrong with me?

“What have you done to me? Please, let me go. I have money, an unregistered cred-stick; there’s 200,000 universal credits on it, take it, it’s yours. Take my ship even, just let me go.” Glasses laughed in my face.

“Bitch, we already have your money and your ship. You have nothing to deal with.” Damn, I’d left the cred-stick lying out next to my holster by the bed. “As for what I did to you, just a bit of readjustment on that sweet little control processor in your head, making you nice and friendly is all.” I felt like I was going to puke. This had to be a nightmare. I need to wake up, wake up!

“That’s impossible, you couldn’t have, its tamper proof.”

“Not if you happen to be one of the original members on the design team, it’s not.” He began fiddling with the computer pad.

I drew back shivering, followed by a throaty moan, as the precursor to an orgasm ripped through my body like a shockwave of physical lust. I’d never felt such a raw and untamed pleasure before. I nervously licked my lips, continuing to eye the bulge of Glass’ stasis suit.
Oh my god, I want him.
I wanted him so bad I could taste it.

“See something you want, bitch?”

“Yes,” I stammered.

“And what’s that?”

I chewed my lip, heart pounding as the heat within me continued to spread out of control. “You, I want you. I want you to fuck me.”

“Well what do you think?” He turned to Deep Voice with a broad grin. “Cool, huh?”

“Nice, very nice. She could be faking it though; maybe she’s just scared. We have to be sure.”

“C’mon man, give me a fucking break! All right, watch this.”

Electric arousal crashed through my brain, drowning me in pure, unimaginable ecstasy. I came, hard. Glasses leered down at me with an excited gleam in his eye, while I writhed at his feet. “You liked that, huh? You want some more?”

“Yes.” My head jerked excitedly. I rolled over on my back, spreading my legs. “I want you so bad, please! Do anything you want, I don’t care, both of you can.” I spread myself wider; I was dripping and they could see it. “Please, I need it! Fuck my ass, I like it in the ass,” I pleaded desperately. “I can take both of you at once.”
Oh my God…

“Shit, Dobbs, you weren’t kidding, were you?” Quin gasped in astonishment.

“Told you man, and get this. That wasn’t even close to being the highest setting. Want to see her really hit the roof?”

“No, that’s enough. I’m almost tempted to keep her. You’re right though; she’s going to make us a shit load of cash after a show like that.”

The wonderful sensation of pleasure left me like a fading wisp of smoke and my senses returned in full force. I looked between the two men horror stricken, scrambling away, coming to my feet. Somehow, Dobbs had managed to do just as he said, and hacked into the control processor in my brain creating a link between it and a hand-held remote. It was the only explanation. This was worse than any nightmare imaginable, because it was actually happening, and unfortunately the processor was the one thing I
needed
to keep all the cybernetic systems in my body working in tandem. There was no way of shutting it off, or taking it out, even if I could.

I looked between Dobbs and the pocket controller feeling low and meek before a power I couldn’t explain. I wanted to curl up beside him to abase myself, worshiping him while offering my body for his unconditional and leisurely use. If I was scared before, now I was terrified. I suddenly realized he’d made me into the perfect, obedient slave that any number of buyers on Regilain would be sure to want. The bile in the back of my throat crept a little higher, accompanied with the queasy urge to vomit.
So this is how it was going to end for me, on my knees begging to be fucked by some depraved psycho, until the day I die.
Life sure can be a kick in the balls at times.

“Dobbs, take her back to her cabin and make sure there’s a guard on her. I don’t want one of those shitheads forgetting she’s off limits. I’m heading forward to check on the ship status; that fucking prick Carlos has some payback coming after we’re finished with business on Regilain.”

“Sure, no problem, Quin,” Dobbs replied evenly, watching him leave before turning his attention back to me. “You just remember what’ll happen if you get any funny ideas about pulling some shit with me. The pain you felt earlier is nothing compared to what I can do to you. Now get your ass up, let’s go.” He prodded me with his stasis boots and I was overcome by the urge to lean forward and lick it, to prove that I would be good from now on.
How could he even think that I would disobey him?
What was I saying? It had to be an effect of the remote.

I climbed hesitantly to my feet and our eyes met, vulgar and insatiate. I looked away, cheeks flaring.

“You really enjoyed that, didn’t you?” His voice seemed so tender, and it whispered to my soul in a way I couldn’t resist. Dobbs’ sweaty hand fell on my shoulder, working behind my neck, and I swallowed hard, nodding quickly. “And you’ll do anything I say now, won’t you?” He yanked my hair back with a firm grip of total control while pulling me close enough to smell the desire seeping from the pores of his potmarked face. I felt weak in the knees, surrendering willingly, squeaking timidly in agreement.

“What’s that?”

“Yes.”

I could feel the excitement of carnality growing in the air between us, and I saw myself in his eyes, ready to give everything away upon request.
Please, I want you so bad.

“I think Quin’s passing up the opportunity of a lifetime. Can you imagine the fun we’d have together?” His free hand eased between my damp thighs and I spread them without reservation.

“Yes,” I sighed again. I could imagine it. I wanted to stay with this complete stranger, this man who now had a power over my mind and body stronger than any physical restraint imaginable.

Glasses leaned down to kiss me, and so help me I met him halfway. Our tongues coiled with a passionate thirst I’d rarely felt, while his hands roamed about my body, cupping my ass, lifting me closer. My arms encompassed his neck and our kiss grew deeper, stronger, while the ignited desperation within me spread unhindered. I loved it.
I loved him!

“Dobbs!” We jumped as one, shocked from our world of pleasure, drawing apart in a flurry of mumbled curses. Quin stood in the doorway glaring at us like a menacing giant. “I said nobody touches her, and that includes you!”

“C’mon, Quin,” he whined, gritting his teeth. “Just once, let me fuck her just once. What the hell can it hurt? You owe me-” Quin stormed across the cabin, delivering a jaw-crunching roundhouse punch that sent the smaller man tumbling to the floor.

“Cuz I said so, that’s-”

I don’t know what came over me. My face contorted in unbridled fury that matched my confused devotion. Without conscious thought or reason, I threw myself at Quin, leaping upon his back.

“What the…!”

“Don’t ever touch him again,” I screeched like an enraged harpy. “I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch!”

My arm wrapped around Quin’s beefy neck, seconds away from snapping it like a twig with my servo enhanced strength. That’s when the pain descended again. I screamed, falling from his back like a fish out of water. The pain didn’t last long, but it was more than enough to accomplish its purpose. I pulled myself into a ball, whimpering.
What did I do wrong? I was protecting you.

“Dobbs, what the fucking hell,” Quin boomed furiously, rubbing his neck, backing away from me.
“I thought you said she would be an obedient slave, you could control her? She just tried to rip my goddamn head off!”

Dobbs climbed to his feet, wiping away the blood from his split lip with the back of his hand. He looked nervous, eyes darting between Quin and I. He motioned with a wave of his hand, and they both retreated to a corner of the med bay out of earshot. They spoke in hushed voices, trying to keep their conversation secret, but my enhanced hearing heard it perfectly.

“What you saw there was a built in defense mechanism of the remote. It’s not my fault; I didn’t have anything to do with her jumping you like that. She would have acted that way no matter who had it.”

“We make planet fall in six hours,” Quin hissed. “And now you decide to tell me this shit? I’ve already contacted the Holloway Company about her, and now you’re telling me she’s out of control?”

“Listen, man, I can control her,
to a point
. She isn’t a droid, only susceptible to suggestion and obeying orders from whoever has the remote, get it?”

Quin shook his head. “I don’t like it. It might cause problems when I sell her off.”

“You saw what I made her do. I can turn up the juice, and she’ll roll around on the floor begging for it like a dog in heat. It’s hardwired into her now; but she
can’t
lay a finger on the person with the controller, no matter what. We’ll have to deal with her like this, unless you want me to give her a full lobotomy.” Quin glared at me, and I could almost hear the wheels turning inside his head, contemplating my fate.

“No, we can’t do that,” he finally said. I let out a deep breath, visibly sagging in relief. “If Holloway or a buyer wants her that way then fine, they can do what the hell they want after she’s out of our hair. I want her acting normal though; I’ll get a better price for her that way. Just make sure you keep a tight leash on her, and if you have to zap the shit out of her again to get the point across, then do it. No fuck-ups Dobbs, my reputation is on the line.” Quin gave me one last cagey glance before leaving the cabin.

“Bitch,” Dobbs’ voice was like a white-hot razor slicing into me. “If you
ever
embarrass me in front of Quin like that again, I’ll turn up the pain and leave it that way until you’re a pile of screaming goo. I don’t give a fuck whether we sell you or not any longer, understand?”

I nodded quickly and felt oddly disappointed that I’d made him look bad, for whatever reason, in front of Quin. All I wanted to do was make Dobbs happy again. I almost asked if he wanted to fuck me to make up for it, but I knew he couldn’t now.

Dobbs led me silently back to my cabin, giving me a swat on the rear as I passed through the doorway.

“You be a good girl and no trouble out of you from now on, understand?” With a weak nod on my part, the door slid shut, locking behind me.

I let out a deep breath, eyeing the disheveled mess of my ransacked cabin. I rummaged through the scattered pile of clothing strewn about like a shambling sleepwalker, beginning to dress.
I can’t believe it, I’m going to be a slave and there’s nothing I can do about it. Or maybe there is?
Somehow if I could get a hold of the remote, there might be a chance of escape. My hopes quickly vanished. I’d been in a position to take it from Dobbs earlier, more than once actually, and I couldn’t.
I didn’t want too. Shit.

I crawled into bed to hide my misfortune behind a wall of covers the way I always did when the world came crashing down upon me. It wasn’t long before the tears started to flow, wetting my cheeks. At some point I fell asleep, lulled into a fitful slumber by my sobbing, and the impending uncertainty of what my life had so unexpectedly become again.