The Iron Maiden (9 page)

He looked more positive. “Well, if you're sure--”

For answer, she began to disrobe. Her hair had grown back some in the past year; now she let it flop loose. She was wearing a light robe; she opened it to show her breasts and belly. She was considerably better fleshed than she had been at age twelve, but not yet of the stature of Faith. “If you like, I can do you instead of you doing me,” she said, going to him and addressing his clothing. The feelies had many active women; some men preferred their women passive, but others liked them lively.

“Naw. I just--hell, let's get it on.” He loosened his belt and was quickly out of his clothing. He had a full erection.

She got on the bed and spread her knees. But then he hesitated again. “I don't know; maybe I shouldn't.”

“You don't like me?”

“I do like you, kid. That's the problem. You're no whore.”

“Shouldn't that make it better with me?”

“Yeah, it should. Except--”

Now she was genuinely perplexed. “Except what?”

“Except I know you. I know you don't really want to. I don't want to do that to you, even if you say it's okay.”

It was like a light flashing. “You know me. You like me. You want to treat me right--not like a whore.”

“Yeah,” he said gratefully.

“Would it help if you know I want it?”

“Yeah. But--”

“Here's the truth, Bruiser. Sex I think I can take or leave. But since my secret's out, and I have to do it anyway, I want to start with someone I like. I like you.”

He seemed surprised. “You do?”

“You saved my life, Bruiser. I'm not going to be your girlfriend--I belong to the captain--but you're a decent man and I owe you. So this hour I'll repay you. You're the only man on this ship I'd really like to do it with.”

“Gee.” He was like a ten year old boy, despite his powerful man's body.

He joined her on the bed, but still he hesitated. “There is something else?” she asked.

“The--how we do it--it's supposed to be your choice.”

“That's to protect me from weird perversions. I'll go with what you prefer.”

“Naw, you got to choose. It's the rule.”

She considered. She had lain on her back for Hope. She would prefer not to have another man use that position just yet. So she rolled over on her side and drew up her legs. “This way.” In terms of feelie sex, this was boringly tame, but for her first open sex, it was challenging enough.

He was glad to oblige. In a moment he clasped her from behind and was thrusting into her. She remained tight, and it was a stretch, but not uncomfortable. His climax was instant. She wasn't looking for any herself.

He was done, but most of the hour remained. “Now let's talk,” she said as he disengaged. “I'd like to know what really pleases a man.” She donned her gown so that she could conceal her midsection while she unobtrusively cleaned up.

“You just did it,” he said with a rueful smile.

“I just let you get your edge off. What would make you happiest right now?”

He seemed bemused. “You really want to know?”

“Yes. When I'm a boy, I try to be the best boy I can be. When I'm a girl, I want to be the best girl. I'm not into role-reversal for this.”

“Honey, you're doing it now.”

“I am? But I'm just talking to you, trying to get information.”

“You're treating me like a person. The whore kicks me out the moment I'm done. I'm just a chore, and she wants me out of the way. It's nothing but sex, and she sure lets me know it.”

This was another revelation. “You want something else?”

“Like you said, you're not my girlfriend. But I'd like it if we could be friends. Sure, I'd always like sex with you, but it's much better if you like me too.”

“You want respect.”

“That too.”

“A relationship.”

“Yeah. I know it's not possible, but you asked me what I'd like, so I told you.”

Her understanding was expanding. “You know you can't touch me, outside of this hour.”

“Yeah.”

“But we can get along.”

“Yeah.”

“And in this hour you can touch me. And you're telling me that the way I feel about you is more important than the sex, or at least greatly enhances it.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Tell me how I can fake it.”

He shook his head. “That's no good, kid.”

He had misunderstood. “There will be other men after you, every week. For them I'll have to fake it.”

“Oh. You mean--?”

“For you I'll mean it.” That wasn't entirely true, but also not untrue. He was far from her notion of the ideal lover, but she did want to make him feel good, in thanks for the way he had helped her.

He wasn't entirely fooled. “I think you know it already. But men want to be fooled. If you smile, and maybe sit in my lap, and--”

“Like this?” She smiled and sat on his lap. Then she turned enough to embrace him and kiss him.

“Yeah.”

They continued with increasing passion, and before the hour was out had had sex again, this time more rewarding for them both. As she left, Spirit kissed him once more. “Thank you, Bruiser, for everything.”

Then she left for the captain's quarters.

“How was it?” Brinker asked as Spirit cleaned up more thoroughly.

“He's a good guy. He didn't want to hurt me. We did it twice, and I learned a lot. He doesn't want feelie sex or whore sex, he wants caring sex.”

“True, for Bruiser. But some of them aren't good guys.”

“I think I can handle them, as long as they follow the rules.”

“They will follow them, or be removed from the eligible list. If anyone forces you, report him. Your word will not be questioned.”

But Spirit knew they could push the limits, putting her in an awkward position, not wanting to draw too narrow a line.

There turned out to be no problem about that. When Bruiser was questioned about his session, all he said was “I'm in love.” That meant that he would take it personally if another man abused her. When Spirit, as cabin boy, went on routine chores, and some men started obliquely razzing her, Bruiser appeared, closing his big fists. The razzing stopped.

As it happened, the winner of the next raffle was one of the razzers. Spirit played up to him shamelessly, pretending to like him. He wasn't fooled, but he liked the notion, and thereafter he treated her with greater courtesy. It was true: men wanted to be fooled, to think that they were doing their women a favor.

In the course of the next year, she won over the whole crew, and it was clear that it wasn't just the sex. It was that, for an hour, each had had the taste of what she might be like as a girlfriend, and that appealed.

She was only fourteen, but by now fully formed along the lines of her sister Faith, and she had perfected her courtship strategy. She was satisfied that she now knew how to impress and win any man she chose to, despite her scarred face and hands and her missing finger. Actually, for the hour sessions, she donned gloves with one stuffed finger, and applied foundation makeup to mask her facial scars. She became beautiful; she knew the men were not lying when they told her so.

“You're doing what you have to do,” Brinker told her. “But you do have a talent for it.”

Meanwhile she pursued the search for her brother. The pirate network was imperfect, but Brinker was able to access certain records, which showed that Hope had made it safely to the receiving station at Leda, then disappeared. But after a year he had reappeared as a Navy recruit. The feelies were big on the military gray market, so she was sure Hope had access to them. He would know that she survived, and remained on the pirate ship, and was doing all right for herself. When she turned sixteen she would be eligible to join the Navy; the minimum age was a year lower for women than for men, perhaps because they matured earlier, or maybe because men preferred younger women.

She was in no hurry. She wanted to be reunited with her brother, but her situation here was good, and she did need to be somewhere until she was old enough. Brinker had promised to let her go when the time came, because Spirit had more than paid her way. She watched Hope Hubris from a distance as he made E3 rank and took a buxom Hispanic woman his own age as a roommate. As he made E4 and trained in ship-raiding. As he made E5 and disappeared on a mission.

Meanwhile Spirit was now sixteen. It was time.

“You don't have to go,” Brinker said. “You have captivated all the men, and done good work on the feelie trade. You can make it as a pirate.” She did not pretend friendship; they had mutual respect and convenience, but were personally wary of each other, as many pirates were.

“I know. But I've got to be with my brother.”

“We can't go to Leda,” Brinker said, unsurprised. “But we can trade you to another ship, and you can transfer from there to a gray market ship that transports feelies to Leda.”

“That's good enough,” Spirit said. But she was cautious. “You know I have not betrayed you, and will not. You have no call to betray me.”

“I will not send you to your death,” Brinker agreed. “I have treated you more generously than I needed to. Have you wondered why?”

“Yes. That's why I suspect there is unfinished business between us.”

“It is this: the tenure of no pirate is secure. The time will inevitably come when I lose my position. If I survive, I will need an ally in the Navy. You are my reserve knife.”

Spirit nodded. “Come to me then, and I will do what I can. That will acquit the debt. We are not friends.”

“That will do.”

But as it happened, things changed before Spirit could go. They came across a Naval vessel, the Hammerhead, that had lost its drive and become a derelict. The personnel must have been evacuated, because the Jupiter Navy did not desert its own. Probably there was a caretaker crew to maintain the vessel while a new drive unit was requisitioned and transported to the site. Meanwhile it was vulnerable.

This was a rare opportunity to sack a destroyer-class vessel.

“I don't trust this,” Spirit told Brinker privately. “A derelict Navy vessel right in our path? It's bound to be a trap.”

“It is,” the captain agreed. “But we have a countermeasure.”

“It's still too dangerous. Better to leave it be and get the hell out of here.”

“I appreciate your opinion. Now report to your battle station.”

Spirit knew better than to argue. The captain had made up her mind. She remained where she was: her battle station was the captain's cabin, guarding the captain. She quickly removed all her clothing, retaining only a knife. That was so she could move silently. Now that her gender was known, this had become standard practice; she was naked for every salvage mission, and no man touched her. She was also the courier for the captain's orders, so that no electronics had to be used. It was said with a smirk that nude news had to be believed.

“This will be a swift mission,” the captain told the crew. “It surely will not be long before the Navy comes on the scene. We must clean it out and get away before that happens.” Then she shut down the intercom; the rest would be done silently.

They oriented on the Navy ship and fired. The third strike holed it; they saw the air puff out. They moved in to mate locks, and the suited three man boarding party moved through efficiently. They would make sure the ship was secure: that all aboard it were dead.

Then the Hidden Flower's power died.

“What happened?” Spirit asked, alarmed. “Our power shouldn't fail like that.”

“They have a suppresser.”

“A suppresser!” Spirit said. “They were ready for us! We've been betrayed!”

“Carry the word: all personnel back off. Do not engage the enemy until I give the word.”

Spirit moved into the passage. She knew exactly where everything was, so needed no light, and the men knew her voice. They would obey without question.

The locks remained mated, and the Navy personnel were boarding. They must have ambushed the Hidden Flower boarding party, and taken out the backup party. Six men gone--and Brinker wasn't concerned? But Spirit went rapidly to the other stations, gave the word, and retreated to the captain's cabin before the Navy men got there.

“They had suited men waiting for their ship to be holed?” Spirit asked the captain.

“They have a double hull.”

“A double hull! You knew--and mated anyway?”

“Yes.”

Then, suddenly, the Navy boarding party withdrew. “Damn,” Brinker muttered. “Have they caught on, or are they merely suspicious?”

“Caught on to what?” Spirit asked.

“We have an agent aboard their ship. He will turn off the suppresser.”

“An agent?” Now it was coming clear. The Navy had set a trap for whatever pirate ship it could catch, but the pirates had infiltrated a man to turn the tables on them. Play and counterplay.

Then the Navy boarders returned. “Did they catch on--or didn't they?” Brinker asked rhetorically.

“We should close the lock and disengage immediately,” Spirit said. “Don't gamble on it.” She didn't like the chance of the Hidden Flower losing its air pressure; she would be the first to die.

“They would shoot us out of space. We are in this until it finishes, win or lose.”

“That sounds like a 50-50 chance,” Spirit said glumly.

The ship's power came back on. “Engage!” Brinker said, satisfied.

Spirit moved out to the stations, carrying the word. In her wake the pirates moved out, ready to kill the boarders. They had lasers and knives, so that there would be operative weapons with or without the suppresser.

There was a period of silence after Spirit returned to the cabin. The pirates should be reporting back, but they were not. Then the suppresser came back on.

“Damn!” Brinker whispered. “Betrayal.”

Spirit nodded in the darkness. She had not trusted this from the outset.

“They will come for me,” the captain said. “You will engage them first.”

“Yes, sir.” It was now a matter of life and death, and Spirit was pledged to defend Brinker. She gripped a knife in each hand; she had trained with these too.

There was a noise in the passage. A hand drew the cabin's entrance panel aside. Without power, it was not locked in place. Beyond it Spirit was aware of a suited figure, pinpointing it more by smell than sight.