The Field Survey
by Zack
The Amalgamation Survey Ship Interloper moved in a synchronous orbit above
the only landmass on the third planet of star P314159264. Three young women
entered the Captain's office, and one said, "Junior Lieutenant Erig and
Ensigns Mahoon and Regan reporting as ordered, Captain."
Captain Goda returned their salute. She said, "At ease, ladies. I've
summoned you because we have an important field survey pending, and since that
unfortunate incident on the holodeck last night we're now short-handed. I need
three field surveyors and you are the only ones that have the necessary
characteristics. I really dislike sending you out on such short notice but I
have no choice. The ship has other commitments and we cannot remain here
beyond our original departure date. Fortunately, this survey isn't difficult
or dangerous. I'll give you a summary of what you'll be doing, and if you need
more details you can get them later from the net."
"This planet, which we have designated as Gamma, is apparently unique in
the galaxy. Like all of the other inhabited planets it was seeded with life by
the Elder Ones, and like all of the other planets it lost its technology in the
Great Crash, when every computer in the galaxy locked up at the same time
because of a date/time bug in the operating system. Unlike all of the other
known planets, which lost all civilization and descended into savagery, Gamma
was able to maintain its social order. Exactly why they were able to do this
is a question that will keep the xenoanthropologists busy for years, but the
tentative theory is that the physical characteristics of the planet are
responsible. All of the habitable land is in the form of one compact continent
without notable physical barriers, and the theory is that this inhibited the
formation of warring factions. We've gotten some good images of the surface,
and so far we haven't found a trace of any ancient or modern fortifications."
"This political and cultural uniformity is a barrier to field surveying,
however. On other planets the surveyor can pose as a foreigner, so that a bad
accent or ignorance of an important custom can be easily explained. Obviously,
that cannot be done here. The initial field survey was done by Lieutenant
Breg, the ship's Xenologist, who posed as a mentally retarded mute and
pretended to have a job as a sweeper in a university library. He was able to
copy books and set up listening posts so that the language transplant could be
prepared and so we could learn about the basics of this culture. Now we need to
know more about the larger society."
"This is where you come in. You three will be disguised as peasant girls,
our substitute for the ignorant foreigner. Gamma's technology is at a
preindustrial level, and as is usual in such societies most of the population
is employed in agriculture. Subsistence farming is so demanding that it is
normal to have a rural population that is unsophisticated. Also, Gamma's
orbit is so circular and its axial tilt is so small that there isn't much
seasonal variation and crops are grown all year. This means there is no winter
break that might otherwise allow the rural inhabitants time for intellectual
pursuits."
"Each of you will enter a major city and will gather information just as a
real peasant might, by walking around seeing the sights and asking questions.
Most city people think that peasant girls are ignorant and naive, so any gaps
in your knowledge will seem plausible, and you can ask questions that a city
child of five would know the answers to without arousing any suspicion.
Compared to your other field surveys this will be easy. You said something,
Ensign Regan?"
"I, er, I haven't been on a field survey, Captain".
"You haven't?" The Captain motioned to Erig and Mahoon and said "Wait
outside".
When the door had closed behind them the Captain sat down behind her desk
and said "Sit down, Ensign, while I look at your service record."
The Captain typed on her keypad and looked at the screen that popped up out
of her desk. "Let's see... Sonji Regan, Ensign, Star Fleet Survey Service.
It says here that you have been on board this ship for four months and that this
is your first Fleet posting. It also says that you didn't attend the Academy
but instead got your commission through the Officer Training Program at your
home planet university. Is this correct?"
"Yes, Captain".
"You have been to Field Survey School, haven't you?"
"Yes, Captain."
"How much experience have you had outside of the Amalgamation?
"Er, none, Captain. Until I went to Field Survey School six months ago
I had never been out of my home city."
The Captain sighed. "Under other circumstances I wouldn't do this, but I
have no choice, I've got to send you. Look, all you have to do is enter a
city, ask some questions, and leave the city. You can do that, can't you?"
Sonji sprang to her feet. "Yes, Captain! Thank you, Captain!"
The Captain said, "Get the others. There is one thing more."
Sonji opened the office door. When the other officers were inside and the
door was shut again, the Captain said, "You all know the First Directive..."
Sonji chirped, "Never interfere in any way, however minor, with the
culture of a non-Amalgamation society."
"Thank you, Ensign. Now, as I was saying, you all know the First
Directive is often bent if it gets in the way of an operation..." The Captain
noticed Sonji's shocked expression. "well, most of you know it. Don't count
on any slack now, though. Until the stink from that fiasco in Sector 4 dies
down we're going to have to play it by the book."
"What happened, Captain?" Erig asked.
"Well, we don't know exactly, but the result was that an early iron age
culture somehow got tactical nuclear weapons. What a mess."
"Now, you three report to the Bio-computer Lab for your language
transplant and then go to Survey Supply for your costumes and equipment. The
Xenologist will meet you there to answer any questions. Dismissed."
The three women saluted and left the office. Once they were well along
the passageway Mahoon started to giggle and said, "Unfortunate incident on the
holodeck. What an understatement!"
"What happened? All I heard is that the three that were supposed to make
these surveys are in sick bay in some kind of a coma."
"Well, they gave themselves a party by going to the holodeck and
activating that rough-sex scenario."
"You mean the one where you're gang-raped by the space pirates?"
"Yeah, that's it. Well, somehow the computer went into a loop and the
scenario ran eight times before the techs could get it stopped. Luckily the
safety backup worked so there wasn't any tissue damage, but it really messed up
their minds. They're all under sedation now, and they all have this big smile
on their faces."
Erig said, "Wow, I did that scenario just once and it really shook me up.
Did you ever try it, Sonji?"
"No. I've been conditioned to avoid bad sex."
"Well, it's true that some of those holodeck scenarios are really bad.
What do you consider to be good sex, Sonji?"
"Good sex is when a husband impregnates his wife. Bad sex is everything
else."
Erig and Mahoon exchanged did-we-really-hear-that looks. "Why would you
believe something like that?" Erig asked.
"In my religion we believe that the way to Enlightenment is through the
voluntary renunciation of physical pleasure. This is something I have known
since I was a little girl. When I reached puberty I received the conditioning
that now keeps me from being tempted."
Mahoon said, "We've shared a compartment since you arrived on board, and
you know that I often have overnight visitors. Doesn't it bother you that I
don't share your beliefs?"
"No, you must find your own way to Enlightenment. It does not have to be
my way. The only thing that bothers me are your moans and screams when I'm
trying to sleep."
Erig shook her head, "I'm glad I'm not of your religion. I wouldn't have
a social life. Ah, here's the Lab."
The language transplant took only a few minutes, and when it was over the
three women were fluent in the language spoken on Gamma.
A short walk brought them to the Survey Supply compartment. Waiting for
them were the store keeper, a communications technician, and a lieutenant.
Erig wrapped her arms around the lieutenant and gave him a passionate kiss.
When they came up for air she said, "Hi, lover. You know Mahoon. This is
Sonji Regan. Sonji, this is Thar Breg, the Xenologist. He'll tell us all
we need to know about the planet."
"Pleased to meet you, sir." Sonji said.
"Yeah, me too. Listen girls, the shuttle departure time has been moved
up so we've got to get going. We can save time if you change here while I
talk. Roget, give me those costumes."
The store keeper handed Breg three large bags, and he gave a bag to each
of the women. "Here are your costumes. After you've changed put your uniform
in the bag and I'll have it delivered to your quarters."
Sonji opened her bag and examined the contents. She found a dress made
from a coarse gray fabric, a knitted shawl, a pair of leather sandals, and a
small leather purse containing a handful of copper and silver coins. She asked
Breg, "Where is the underwear, sir?"
"Peasant girls don't wear any. Hurry up and change."
Sonji was stunned. "Here, sir? In front of everybody?"
"You won't shock us. Do it, Ensign! That's an order."
Sonji looked at the other women. Erig was naked and Mahoon had just
pulled her dress over her head. Blushing all over her body, Sonji turned her
back to the men, stripped off her uniform and underwear, and quickly put on
the dress and the sandals.
Mahoon examined her dress. The bodice was just a sack with holes for her
arms and neck. A full skirt was attached at the waist and ended just above her
ankles. She said, "Well, I wouldn't want to wear it to the prom, but it
doesn't feel too bad. Do we get a change of clothing?"
"No. In this culture clothing is expensive. Spinning, weaving, and
sewing all have to be done by hand. Most peasants never have more than one
dress at a time. Your dress is better than most, because it doesn't have any
patches."
Erig said, "At least we don't have to put on a lot of makeup. For one of
my surveys I had to dye my skin green and paste phony antennas on my forehead."
"Yes, all of you will fit in as is. Most people have brown hair like
yours and Mahoon's, a few have hair as black as Regan's, and there are also
blondes." He waved over the communications technician. "CT2 Aoki will give
you your comm devices and test them out."
Aoki gave each woman what looked like a wooden disk, about 5 centimeters
in diameter and a half-centimeter thick. There was a hole near one edge with a
leather thong threaded through it, and an eight-pointed star was burned into
one side. Aoki said "This equipment contains an audio recorder, but it's
sound activated so you don't have to worry about it. To activate the
communicator pull on the thong. It will buzz to indicate you have contact,
and then you can speak into the star or put it to your ear to listen. It will
stay activated as long as you hold it in your hand. The signal also acts as a
tracking beacon and we can locate you to within a couple of meters. Let's run
a communications check. You first, ma'am." After all three women had made
the check Aoki looked up from a test set and said, "All of the equipment is
operable, sir."
Breg said, "The star is the local deity symbol. These devices are made
to look like the religious medallions that most peasant girls wear. Remember,
the communicator is only to be used in emergencies, not for routine matters.
It would be a violation of the First Directive if anybody saw you using it."
"Now listen carefully. We have selected three district capitols, one for
each of you. The shuttle will drop you off just before dawn. You'll be as
close as we can get without being detected, but you will still have about a
half-day's walk to the city. Here is a list of the questions you should ask."
He gave each woman a piece of paper. "Memorize the questions and leave the
paper on the shuttle. It would be hard to explain where you got something
written in an unknown language. When you get to the city just walk around, ask
the questions, and record the answers. You have enough money to pay for food
and lodging in a hostel for five days. After that walk back to the drop-off
point and call in. You'll be picked up after dark."
"What's with all of this walking? Don't they have horses on Gamma?"
Mahoon asked.
"Actually, they don't. The only draft animal they have is a small ox,
which is powerful, but slow. Anyway, no peasant girl would pay for
transportation when she could walk. Now, get your stuff together and let's
get moving."
Sonji used a leather thong around her waist to tie on her purse, and then
she picked up her uniform and put it in the bag. She didn't see Erig
whispering into Breg's ear.
Sonji put her shawl over one shoulder and started down the passageway
towards the shuttle bay. Erig winked at Mahoon and said, "Thar, don't forget
to tell Sonji about the bandits."
"Oh, yeah. A gang of bandits has been reported near where you'll be.
They've been robbing travelers and kidnapping women for ransom. They wouldn't
do more than gang-rape a peasant girl, though."
Sonji stopped, her eyes wide. She stayed that way until Mahoon grabbed
her arm and pulled her away.
Breg said to Erig, "Why did you want to do that?"
"Just a little initiation. Besides, she'll be more alert if she's
nervous."
"You're a cruel slut."
Erig kissed him. "Just the way you like me, lover." Then she ran
towards the shuttle bay.
***
Sonji walked down a dirt road toward the district capitol, Brombeg. The
road was empty of other travelers. It was mid-morning on a bright, pleasant
day. The weather reminded her of early summer on her home planet, but here
some of the fields had crops ready to harvest, while in others the plants were
just beginning to sprout. It had been cool earlier and she wore her shawl over
her shoulders, but now it was so warm that she took it off and wrapped it
around her waist.
Some of the fields she passed were planted in grain, others in root crops
or vegetables, and about a third were fallow and covered with grass and clover.
Mixed in with the fields were woodlands of various sizes, from less than a
hectare to almost a square kilometer. Sonji always grew tense as she neared
the woodlands, expecting bandits to appear from behind the trees.
Sonji was just leaving a dense patch of woods when she saw something that
made her stop and gasp. Ahead of her the fields on both sides of the road were
fallow, and it was about 50 meters to the next patch of woods. On the right,
close to the woods and about 20 meters from the road, an ox hitched to an empty
wagon grazed on the grass.
Sonji was shocked by what she saw on the other side of the road. A rope
was tied chest-high between two trees. Two women were standing with their
backs to the rope, facing away from her. And she could see that the women's
hands were tied behind their backs!
Sonji's first thought was of bandits, but she ran towards the women
without hesitating. Helping them to escape was her only concern. The women
heard her running and turned toward her. She asked the nearest woman, a
blonde in a light blue dress, "Where are the bandits?"
"Bandits? What ban... Oh, yeah, the bandits! They're close. Get me
loose, quick!" the blonde exclaimed.
Sonji examined the woman's bonds. Her right arm had been put though a
loose loop in the rope tied between the trees, and a wide leather strap around
her wrists held her hands palm-to-palm. The strap was fastened by a brass
clamp instead of a buckle. Sonji asked, "How do I get this clamp open?"
"Look at the clamp end closest to the free end of the strap. See those
two tabs coming up from the base? Pins in the clamp handle spring into holes
in those tabs. You have to push both pins in."
Sonji located the pins. She looked on the ground and found two sharp
twigs. After some fumbling she was able to push in the pins and lift the clamp
handle. As soon as the strap was loose the blonde pulled her arm out of the
loop and ran into the woods.
Sonji heard heavy footsteps coming from the direction of the road and
turned to see a heavy-set man running towards her. He was shirtless and his
left hand was holding up his trousers. He had a wooden cudgel in his right
hand and he raised it overhead as he got close to Sonji. She used a move she
had mastered in her self-defense classes and kicked him in the groin. He fell
to the ground, emitting loud groans.
Sonji turned back to the other woman and said, "Now I'll get you loose."
The woman backed away and said, "Not me!"
Sonji was surprised. "But you're a prisoner! Why don't you want me to
free you?"
"Of course I'm a prisoner, I'm on my way to jail. But I only have to
serve 50 days, and I don't want an escape charge added on to that."
"You mean that man isn't a bandit?"
"No, that's the jailor, Hodg. He's a piece of shit. The other jailor
over there in the wagon is Madii. They tied us here while they took a fuck
break."
Sonji looked over at the wagon. A naked woman stood up in it and dropped
a dress over her head. Sonji asked, "Why did that blonde run away?"
"Oh, that's Flixee. She was sentenced to three years I.S. for fraud. I
guess she figured she didn't have much to lose. My name is Jonii, by the
way."
"What's I.S.?"
"Involuntary servitude. You're a peasant girl, aren't you?"
Sonji walked over to Hodg, who had recovered enough to get to his knees,
and said, "I'm sorry, I seem to have made a mistake...Oooff."
Hodg punched her in the solar plexus. She fell down and he turned her on
her stomach, pulled her hands behind her, and strapped them palm-to-palm.
Then he pulled a piece of thin rope from his pocket and made a harness by
running each end of the rope forward over a shoulder, back through an armpit,
and tying the ends together in the middle of Sonji's back. He took out a wide
belt, looped it around her arms just above the elbows, and pulled until her
elbows almost touched. He used more rope to cinch the center of the belt to the
harness. Then he tied her ankles together, ran a rope from them to the cinch
on her elbows, pulled until her feet touched her hands, and tied off the rope.
He stood up, kicked Sonji, and shouted, "Madii! Bring the wagon over here."
Hodg walked, bent over, to the trees and untied the rope holding Jonii.
When the wagon arrived he helped her get into it and she sat on the floor.
Madii tied one end of the rope holding Jonii's arm to a ring at the front of the
wagon.
Hodg picked up Sonji and tossed her into the wagon. She landed heavily on
her side and screamed in pain. Hodg climbed into the wagon, jammed a wooden
bit gag into her mouth, and fastened the straps behind her head. "That'll
keep you quiet. You can think about your future. Let's see, assaulting a
judicial officer, ten years. Aiding an escape, three years plus the
escapee's time. You've got sixteen years of I.S. ahead of you, slut."
Hodg pinched Sonji's nipples and she squealed from the pain. Madii turned
around and shouted, "Hodg, you piece of shit! Get your hands off her and get
up here!" Hodg climbed onto the seat and Madii urged the ox forward.
The wagon had traveled no more than half a kilometer when Madii was stopped
by a farmer standing besides the road. The farmer's left hand was tangled in
Flixee's blonde hair and he held her bent over with her head at waist height.
Her wrists were crossed and tied behind her back with thin rope. He said, "I
think I got something you folks lost."
"Yeah, she's ours. Where did you find her?" Madii asked.
"She came to my house and asked me to loan her some money so she could get
to town. She said she was a kidnapped heiress and her father would give me a
big reward. But I was in my field and saw you tie her to the trees while you
ah, rested." He leered at Madii, who blushed. "Blondes are so much smarter
than most folks that they sometimes think everyone else is stupid."
"Good job. Getting her back now will save a lot of trouble. You can
apply for a reward."
The farmer smiled. "Oh, I've had a reward already. She did everything
she could to persuade me not to turn her in."
He handed Flixee up to Hodg, who sat her on the floor next to Jonii and
strapped her right ankle to the rope holding Jonii's arm. Hodg got back on the
seat and the wagon moved on.
Several hours later the wagon was still moving. Sonji's arms and
shoulders hurt so much that she was sobbing into her gag. Flixee said, "The
girl is really hurting. Can't you loosen the ropes a little?"
Hodg replied, "I'm hurting, too. We'll be at the jail in less than an
hour. Shut up or I'll gag you."
Flixee muttered to herself, "Hodg, you're a piece of shit."
The wagon entered Brombeg and traveled along the city streets until it
stopped in front of a wooden gate in a high stone wall. Hodg got down and
pounded on the gate until it was opened from the inside, and Madii drove the
wagon into a large courtyard and stopped the ox. She got into the back of the
wagon, unstrapped Jonii's wrists, took the loop off of her arm, and
refastened her hands behind her back. She unstrapped Flixee's ankle, helped
both women out of the wagon, and led them towards the jail.
Sonji screamed as Hodg picked her up by the rope attached to her ankles and
elbows and carried her into the guardroom. He dropped her on the floor and
said to the duty Civil Guard sergeant, "I want this slut arrested for
assaulting a judicial officer and aiding an escape."
"Are you the one she assaulted?" the sergeant asked. He looked at
Sonji, who was lying on her stomach. "She really looks dangerous. You were
lucky to escape with your life. How long have you had her trussed up like
that?"
"Couple of hours."
"I'll bet. Hodg, you are a piece of shit."
Hodg flushed. "I don't care what you say. If a judicial officer makes a
complaint the law says you have to make an arrest."
"Yeah, yeah. The complaint book is on that table. Fill in your part
and then get out of my sight. I'll get information from the girl once she's
able to talk."
He walked over to Sonji, took out a knife, and cut the ropes off of her
ankles. He cut the shoulder ropes and the cinch at her elbows and took off the
belt. He took out a clamp tool, a U-shaped piece of wire with the ends bent
in, and used it to release the clamp on the strap that held her wrists.
Sonji's arms were purple and dangled limply at her sides as the sergeant picked
her up and put her into a chair.
Sonji moaned as the sergeant took out her gag. She croaked, "Water,
please, water."
The sergeant took her limp arms, crossed her wrists in front of her, and
loosely fastened them with the strap. He got a jug of water and a pottery mug
from his desk, poured water into the mug, and held it to Sonji's lips. She
drank some and said, "Oh, thank you. My mouth was so dry."
"I need some information from you and then I'll put you in a detention cell
and you can rest. First, what's your name?"
"Sonji".
"How do you spell that?"
Sonji realized that she didn't even know the alphabet of the local
language. On Gamma she was completely illiterate. She whispered, "I don't
know."
The sergeant wrote ZONGEE on the form. "How old are you?" Sonji paused
to calculate the difference between a Gamma year and her home planet's year.
The sergeant looked at her innocent face and wrote down '18'. He put down
BROMBEG as the place of residence.
The sergeant picked up Sonji and carried her to a door in the back of the
room. He kicked on the door and a sturdy woman opened it. He said,
"Pre-trial detention." and followed the woman into the cellblock. The woman
opened an iron-bound wooden door with a key from the ring attached to her belt.
The sergeant carried Sonji into the cell and put her down on a wooden bench
attached to the back wall. There was an iron collar connected to a ring in the
wall over the bench by almost three meters of heavy chain. The woman closed
the collar around Sonji's neck and fastened it with a large padlock, and the
sergeant removed the strap from Sonji's wrists.
"She's had some rough treatment. The doctor should look at her." the
sergeant ordered.
"The doctor is here now, I'll bring her over. I can search the girl at
the same time. What happened to her?"
"Hodg brought her in."
"Hodg is a piece of shit."
By the time the doctor arrived Sonji was in a lot of pain from the
returning circulation. The doctor had her drink a cup of bitter liquid and she
was soon asleep.
Sonji woke up to find the cell illuminated by dim light from a small barred
window high in the wall over the bench. She was lying on her back, wearing
her dress and covered by her shawl. Her arms hurt and her bruises ached,
especially the place on her thigh where Hodg had kicked her. She struggled to
a sitting position on the bench and adjusted the collar so the chain dangled in
front. She stood up and went to a stinking wooden bucket, squatted over it,
and relieved herself. She found a pottery jug and drank some water. She went
back to the bench, stretched out on her back, and fell asleep.
The sound of the cell door opening woke up Sonji and she looked over to see
a woman slide a wooden bowl across the floor and close the door. Sonji got the
bowl and sat on the bench. The bowl was filled with porridge and there was a
wooden spoon. Sonji hadn't had anything to eat since she left the shuttle and
she was very hungry. The porridge was bland but filling and Sonji scraped the
bowl clean before she put it back on the floor.
She heard a shout from outside and found that if she stood on tiptoe on the
bench she could just see out of the window. A courtyard was bright with
morning sun. About twenty uniformed men were lined up near a gate in the wall.
Sonji recognized the man standing in front of the rank as the guardsman who had
been kind to her yesterday. He shouted something and the rank broke up.
Sonji guessed that this was the morning muster.
The weight of the chain was pressing the collar painfully into the back of
Sonji's neck, so she lay back down on the bench. She inventoried her
possessions. Her money and sandals were missing, but she had her dress and
shawl. She raised a hand to her chest but she couldn't feel her communicator.
She used both hands to feel her neck and back but soon there was no doubt. Her
communicator was missing.
Sonji considered her situation. She was chained to the wall of a jail
cell. No one on the ship knew what had happened to her, and even if they did
know they couldn't violate the First Directive. She was going to be treated as
if she were a real peasant girl. Sonji felt panic and then fear. Sixteen
years in prison! She would be almost forty when she finished her sentence.
She said to herself, "I'm a Star Fleet officer. I must be brave!", but the
thought of spending her youth in servitude on a backwater planet was too awful.
She started to cry.
Sonji cried for a long time and then fell into a fitful, broken sleep.
Once again the sound of the cell door opening woke her up. A woman put a
wooden bowl and a small loaf of bread on the floor and then closed the door.
Sonji was too depressed to be hungry, but she made herself get the food. The
bowl contained warm vegetable soup and the bread smelled fresh. She forced
herself to eat and was surprised by how good the food tasted. She ate it all
and then drank some water and squatted over the bucket. The chain was so heavy
that she was comfortable only when she was lying down, so she got back on the
bench. She tried to empty her mind and pass the time with sleep, but before
long some memory would come to her. Her family back on her home planet. Her
friends from the university. Even the cramped compartment on the Interloper
that she shared with Mahoon. She thought of her bleak future and how long it
would be before she saw a familiar scene or a friendly face. Then the tears
would start.
The sun was sending a yellow beam of light through the cell window when
another meal arrived. This time it was a bowl of stew and more bread. Once
again Sonji forced herself to eat, drink some water, and use the bucket.
The sun was down and the cell was getting dark when the cell door opened
one more time. A woman came in and picked up the empty bowls and put them into
a basket on a cart outside the cell. Then she exchanged the water jug for a
full one she got from a lower shelf on the cart. The cart rolled out of sight
and another one took its place. This one carried a stinking barrel. Another
woman came in, took the latrine bucket, and emptied it into the barrel. She
poured some water into the bucket and brought it back into the cell. Sonji
looked at the woman. It was Jonii! Jonii smiled at her but didn't say
anything. Finally, a woman with keys at her belt looked into the cell and
made a mark on a tablet. The door was locked and night left the cell in
blackness.
The next three days were the same. Sonji had gotten better at blanking
her mind and she didn't cry much. Her arms had stopped hurting and her bruises
were changing to vivid colors. She spent as much time as possible on the bench
with her eyes closed.
Her sixth day in jail started the same way, but about an hour after the
morning meal a woman came into the cell. She looked to be about forty, and
she was smartly dressed in a gray jacket and a pleated gray skirt. She carried
a rectangular case made of polished wood and a folding camp stool. She waited
until the cell door was closed and then she unfolded the camp stool and sat on
it. She put the case on her lap, opened the top, and took out several sheets
of paper.
She looked at Sonji and said, "My name is Lornee. I am an advocate, and
I have been appointed by the court to be your representative."
She raised an eyebrow. "Unless you want to hire someone else?"
Sonji sat up. This woman reminded her of Captain Goda. "No, ma'am. I
don't have anyone else."
Lornee looked at a printed form. "Your name is Zongee?"
"Sonji. Please, ma'am, will I have to go to prison for sixteen years?"
Lornee looked surprised. "Why do you say that?"
"That's what Hodg told me."
"Hodg is a piece of shit. First of all, the aiding an escape charge has
been dropped. Flixee was never reported as missing, so there wasn't any
escape to aid. Second, the maximum sentence for assaulting a judicial officer
is ten years, but you wouldn't get that much time unless you had a long history
of violence. On the other hand, the court considers any attack on its
officers as an attack on the court, so it tends to deal harshly with this kind
of offense. I've read Hodg's statement, and he says you attacked him from
behind with a club, without any provocation. Madii backs him up."
"But that's not true!"
"Knowing Hodg, I don't doubt it. You tell me what really happened."
Sonji related her story. When she finished Lornee said, "I talked with
Jonii and she agrees with what you said, although we both wonder how anybody
could seriously believe there were bandits in the area, or that they would
leave woman captives unguarded."
Lornee sighed. "I hate to tell you this, but I don't think you have a
chance of being acquitted. It comes down to your word against Hodg's and
Madii's. Jonii and Flixee are both convicts and their testimony wouldn't have
much weight. Your story implies you are unsophisticated even beyond the
popular myths about peasant girls. Your best chance for a light sentence is to
plead guilty. If you express remorse, and the judges take into account your
age and background, you won't get more than a few years I.S."
Lornee thought, 'If you look like that in court, with that innocent face,
that woebegone expression, and those tear-stained eyes, the judges will have
to have hearts like kidney stones to give you any more than that'.
"You know best, ma'am. I'll do as you say."
"Your court appearance is scheduled for the first thing this afternoon.
I'll meet you there. Don't worry, everything will work out." She put the
papers back in her case, stood up and folded her camp stool, and knocked on
the cell door. The door opened and she stepped out of the cell. She looked
back at Sonji and smiled. The door closed.
Sonji sat on the bench, with tears of relief running down her face. For
the first time in days she felt some hope. She thought, 'Maybe I won't have
to spend all of the best years of my life on this planet!'
Sonji ate her noon meal and had just finished using the bucket when the
cell door opened and the woman with the keys came in, followed by a uniformed
guardsman carrying a handful of leather straps.
The woman dropped Sonji's sandals on the floor and said, "Put them on."
When Sonji had done this the guardsman took a wide leather strap and
clamped an end to each of her ankles. She spread her feet and found the
maximum allowed by the strap was about 30 centimeters. She could walk, but
she couldn't run. The woman took a key from her belt, unlocked the padlock,
and removed the collar that had been around Sonji's neck for almost six days.
Sonji rubbed her neck, happy to be free of the weight.
"Stand up and turn around." the guardsman ordered.
Sonji quickly did so, and the guardsman put a thick belt around her waist
and buckled it in the back. The woman fastened Sonji's wrists with straps
riveted to the belt just in front of her hips. Sonji found that she could just
make her fingertips touch.
The woman folded Sonji's shawl and tucked it under Sonji's left arm, and
then put the communicator's thong around her neck and put the medallion inside
her dress. She said, "Your money will be held by the court."
The guardsman took Sonji by the right arm and led her out of the cell and
down a corridor to another door. He knocked and a peephole opened. Then the
peephole closed and the door was unlocked and opened. They went though it and
down another corridor and through an unlocked door into the courtroom.
Sonji looked around. To her left was a large desk with three chairs
behind it. To her right were maybe twenty benches, in two rows with an aisle
between them. The only other people in the room were three old men sitting on
the bench farthest from the desk, against the back wall. Sonji panicked when
she didn't see Lornee, but just then a door in the back wall opened and Lornee
walked down the aisle and over to her.
Lornee said, "We'll start soon. Let's go sit down." She led them to a
bench in the front row and sat down. Sonji sat next to her and the guardsman
sat just behind Sonji.
"Let me do all of the talking. Don't say anything unless I give your arm
a squeeze. When you are asked if you want to say anything before sentencing
tell them how sorry you are. Cry if you can."
A clerk came into the room from a door behind the desk and said, "All
rise. Criminal court for Brombeg district is now in session."
Three judges in gray jackets and gray trousers with a red stripe along the
outside seam came into the room and sat in the chairs behind the desk. The one
in the middle looked at some papers and said, "Case number 3141. Assault on a
judicial officer alleged against Zongee. Is the allegent present?"
Lornee took Sonji's arm and led her in front of the desk. "Yes,
Excellency, this is Zongee. I am Lornee, her advocate."
"How does the allegent answer this charge?"
"Guilty, Excellency. We request immediate sentencing."
"Granted. The convict may make a mitigation statement before sentencing."
Lornee squeezed Sonji's arm. Sonji started to cry and wailed, "I'm so
sorry! It was a terrible mistake! I didn't mean to hurt anybody." She was
now sobbing so hard that she couldn't speak. Lornee put her arms around Sonji
and patted her back.
"We will recess for a judges' consultation." the judge announced.
Lornee led Sonji over to the bench and they sat down. She held Sonji
until the crying stopped and then got a cloth from her case and dried Sonji's
tears. She whispered in Sonji's ear, "Very convincing!"
Sonji looked puzzled and said, "What?" Before Lornee could say anything
else the judges returned and they moved in front of the desk.
The judge said, "Assaulting a judicial officer is a very serious offense.
It is a crime of violence, directed not only against an individual but against
justice itself. Even allowing for the convict's youth and inexperience we are
obligated to deal with her harshly. Zongee, you are sentenced to one year of
involuntary servitude. You are placed in the custody of the Warden of Prison
Farm Number Four. Court is adjourned."
Sonji had experienced increasing terror as the judge spoke. When she
realized that she had been sentenced to only one year I.S. she swooned and
Lornee held her up until she recovered. Two women in tan dresses moved up to
them and one said to Lornee, "I'm a keeper from PF 4. I now take custody of
the slave Zongee."
Lornee moved in front of Sonji, held her head with both hands, and kissed
her on the lips. Lornee had tears in her eyes as she said, "Good-bye,
Zongee. I'll never forget you."
The keepers led Sonji away to begin her new life as a slave.
***
A wagon pulled by two oxen entered Prison Farm Number Four. Two keepers
in tan dresses sat on the seat and the back was filled with sacks of seed grain.
Sonji sat on top of the sacks. She still wore the straps that the guardsman
had put on her back at the jail. A rope was tied around her neck and the free
end was held by one of the keepers. It was bothering Sonji to have her hands
immobilized for so long, but she didn't have any of the pain that she had
experienced in Hodg's wagon. She felt her anxiety increase when the wagon
stopped. The keeper holding her tether got down and walked towards her. She
felt a tug on her neck and moved to the edge of the wagon. The keeper helped
her down to the ground and led her into a stone building.
Inside the building there were two more women. A keeper was sitting in a
chair behind a large table. The trusty standing beside her wore a smock made
of coarse brown cloth and a tan headband, and she had an iron collar around her
neck. The keeper holding Sonji's tether said, "This is the new input. Let's
get her processed now so the Warden can interview her today."
The keeper removed the tether and used a clamp tool to release the clamps
and free Sonji's wrists. She unbuckled the belt and said, "Strip."
Sonji hesitated just a moment as she said to herself, "I'm a slave now.
I'd better get used to humiliation." She put her shawl on the table, removed
her dress, and put it next to her shawl.
"Sandals and medallion, too."
Sonji took off her sandals and put them on the table. As she removed her
medallion she pulled on the thong and felt the buzz that meant communication was
established. She kept the medallion in her hand as long as she dared and then
dropped it on the table.
The keeper used a strap to fasten Sonji's hands behind her back. The
other keeper got out a ledger, a quill pen, and an inkwell. She said,
"Name?"
"Zongee." the first keeper answered.
This was written in the ledger. "Offense?"
"Assaulting a judicial officer."
The keeper with the ledger said, "Impressive. Good thing you've fastened
her hands. She might have overpowered all of us. What's her number going to
be?"
The trusty entered the room with a semicircular piece of metal in her hand
and read the number stamped on it. "628". Then she got a brown smock from a
shelf in the corner and wrote 628 on the front and the back with a small brush
and a clear liquid. Where the liquid touched the cloth the brown changed to a
dirty yellow.
The keeper said to Sonji, "Open your mouth." When Sonji complied the
keeper looked inside. Then she ran her hands through Sonji's hair.
She turned Sonji so she faced the table and said, "Bend over and put your
face on the table".
When Sonji obeyed the other keeper held Sonji's hair so her cheek was
pressed against the table top. The next command was, "Spread your legs."
Sonji moved her legs to the limit permitted by the hobble strap connecting
her ankles. Then she gasped as she felt a finger enter her slit. The keeper
doing the probing said, "This is amazing! I feel a maidenhead."
The other keeper said, "A virgin peasant girl! I'll write this down.
She must be a fast runner, or else her brothers are slow."
Sonji felt a finger probe her other orifice. Silent tears rolled from her
eyes as she started to understand that humiliation could always get worse.
Sonji's hair was released and she was pulled upright. The trusty pulled
the smock over her head and under her bound hands. Sonji could see that it was
actually just a piece of coarsely-woven cloth with a hole in the middle. It
was long enough to reach her knees and wide enough so that the edges just met
when the trusty wrapped a string around her waist. It left her hips and the
sides of her breasts exposed. The keeper pointed to Sonji's chest and said,
"628 is your number. Answer when it is called. You no longer have a name."
The three women went through a door in the back of the room, pulling Sonji
with them. In the next room a small forge smoldered in the corner and there
was an anvil and some other apparatus. A keeper put some iron rivets in the
hot coals and the trusty worked a bellows. The forge started to glow. The
other keeper had the iron semicircle with the number on it, and she rummaged in
a wooden box and found a matching semicircle, except that this one had an iron
half-ring welded to it instead of a number. Both of the semicircles had a
radial flange with a hole in it at each end. She said to Sonji, "Kneel beside
the anvil and put your head down."
The keeper put one semicircle under Sonji's neck and the other above it,
made sure the holes in the flanges lined up, and used a large clamp to hold
everything in place. She moved Sonji's hair out of the way, worked a piece of
leather inside the iron circle, and adjusted it so that it covered Sonji's neck
and part of her face and shoulder. The other keeper came from the forge
holding tongs clamped on a red-hot rivet in one hand and a hammer in the other.
She put the rivet up through the flanges and the other keeper moved Sonji's neck
so the head of the rivet was on the anvil. A few blows with the hammer
flattened the rivet, and the keeper dipped some water from a barrel and cooled
it. The clamp was removed, the circle was rotated around Sonji's neck, and
the process was repeated. Sonji now wore a slave collar.
Next the keepers removed the ankle strap and riveted leg irons on Sonji.
These were crude, just semicircles of rounded metal with the ends flattened and
punched to accept a rivet. They were connected by a chain fabricated from two
rods with interlocking loops forged on the ends. Sonji wondered at this and
then she realized that this was the easiest thing for a blacksmith to make by
hand. She stood there, with her wrists strapped behind her back and the
warmth of the rivets spreading through her leg irons, and for some reason
thought, 'Star Fleet never put this adventure on their recruiting posters'.
A keeper removed the strap from Sonji's wrists and said to the trusty,
"Twelve, take charge of 628 until lockdown tonight. Take her to the Warden's
office and then show her the routine."
"Yes, Keeper."
The keepers left the room and Twelve said to Sonji, "I'll show you
something that will help your ankles." She took a piece of string and tied a
loop around Sonji's right calf just below her knee, then looped the other end
around the leg iron and pulled it up as high as it would go. She did the same
on the other leg and said, "You can get some bad bruises if the irons keep
bumping your ankle bones."
Twelve and Sonji entered another building. A blonde in a slave's smock
sat at a table reading some papers. Twelve said, "Here's the new input for
her interview with the Warden".
Flixee looked up and recognized Sonji. "Are you Zongee?" she asked.
"Yes, but I pronounce it 'Sonji'."
"I'm really sorry for what I did. If I had told you I was a convict you
wouldn't be here now."
"I was the one who made the mistake. I'm sorry you didn't escape."
"We can't talk now. We're both in Barracks 2, so I'll see you before
lockdown."
Flixee got up and knocked on a door and said, "The new input is here,
Warden." She turned to Sonji and said, "Go in."
Sonji entered the office. A gray-haired woman sat behind a desk. She
looked Sonji over and said, "This is a pleasant surprise. I had expected
that someone convicted of assault would look hard and tough. You will be
volunteering for private servitude, won't you?"
Sonji didn't know what she meant, but something told her not to disagree
with this woman. She nodded yes.
"Excellent! I knew we would get along. That's all, 628."
Sonji left the office and the building as fast as she could. Twelve
caught up to her and led the way towards four barn-like wooden buildings. A
narrow trench was located about 30 meters from the first building, and the
smell made it obvious what its purpose was. Sonji said, "Can we stop? I
have to pee."
"All right. You stand on two of those boards crossing the trench. Hold
my hand. It can be tricky until you get used to the irons."
Sonji shuffled out on two narrow boards spaced about as far apart as she
could spread her legs. She squatted over the center of the trench and urinated.
When she finished she shuffled to the other side of the trench. Twelve said,
"You can pee in the fields, but this is the only place you can dump. When
you're working you get a chance to use this latrine only in the morning and at
night, so plan ahead."
They went into a building. The only furniture was a long waist-high
counter. The floor was dirt. Sonji said, "Is this the barracks? Where
are the bunks?"
"See those chains?" Twelve indicated four parallel chains that stretched
most of the length of the building. Each had one end fastened to a ring in a
stone block set in the floor and the other end padlocked to a similar ring.
"At lockdown everyone has their irons around a chain, and the end is padlocked.
This makes sure that nobody takes a walk during the night. As the new girl
you'll be first on a chain and the last one off."
"You mean we have to sleep on the dirt floor?"
"Yeah, we're out of featherbeds. You'll get used to it. Besides, I
don't expect you to be here long. Now, the routine. Wake up is at first
light. As soon as the chain is unlocked go use the latrine. Then back in
here for morning meal. They bring it in from the cookhouse and serve it at the
counter. Then everyone lines up outside in the main yard for roll call.
Don't miss it. The Warden makes new work assignments and hands out
punishments. Then you go to your work assignment. You quit work about an hour
before sunset and come back here. There's a pond you can use if you want to
wash all over. You will want to use it, because you're going to be dirty and
sweaty. Night meal is served exactly at sunset, and you have to be in the
barracks, so use the latrine before then. After the meal everyone goes back
on a chain for another roll call and lockdown."
"What about noon meal?"
"That's brought to you at your worksite. It's usually something that
doesn't need cooking, like bread and cheese. Now I'll show you where the pond
is and you can wash. You smell bad."
When Sonji returned from the pond Flixee was in the barracks, and Twelve
let them have a private conversation. Sonji said, "When I saw the Warden
today she said something about private servitude. What did she mean?"
"You can do public servitude, like work on this farm, or they put you up
at auction and whoever buys you gets your I.S. for a year. The money goes to
the district, and it can be a lot of money. If there is a year or more of
I.S. left on your sentence after the first year you're auctioned again. You
didn't know this?"
"You mean if a man bought me he could do anything he wanted with me?"
"Well, not anything. He couldn't burn his initials into your butt, for
instance. The rule is, no permanent scars or other damage. That includes
mental damage. Driving you crazy isn't allowed either."
"But if he wanted sex I'd have to give it to him?"
"Sonji, sex is the minimum he'd want. Whoever buys you wants a slave,
someone he can control, someone who has to do as she is told whether she wants
to or not, someone who can be punished. If all he wanted was sex, he could
get it easier and cheaper from a brothel, or a concubine, or even a wife."
"Have you ever been sold?"
"Yeah, my last I.S. was for two years. The first year a middle-aged man
bought me. He'd tie me up, and spank me, but it was really just play. He
only whipped me once, and I had deliberately provoked him. It hurt, but the
marks were gone in a week. We had some great sex, and I was sorry when the
year was up. The next year a woman bought me, and it was just the opposite."
"A woman? What did she want?"
"Well, at first she wanted a body servant, and my tongue was always busy,
too. She'd have me give her a massage, or oil her body, or do up her hair.
If I didn't do it exactly the way she liked it she'd whip me. Soon she stopped
pretending that it was a punishment and she just tortured me for the fun of it.
She knew every way there was to cause pain without leaving any marks. Usually
she would fasten me in some contorted position and leave me there for hours.
Before long I was looking for a way to kill myself. Then I had some good luck.
The one time she went too far the court made a surprise inspection."
"What did she do?"
"She tied my hands over my head and tied my ankles to rings in the floor.
Then she ran a thin iron wire between my legs and pulled it up until it
supported all my weight. In a few minutes blood was running down my legs and I
was screaming and begging. I don't know how long it was before the inspectors
found me, but it took a lot of surgery and almost a month in a hospital before
I was repaired enough to function. They let me finish my I.S. doing clerical
work. It was almost enough to make me give up crime."
"Flixee, I can't do private servitude if it means I have to have sex. I
just can't!"
"Sonji, you really don't have a choice. I know the law says you have to
volunteer for private servitude, but the Warden has your custody, which means
she gets part of the money. She is also the one who determines your work
assignments and orders your punishments. Believe me, she can force you to
volunteer eventually, so save yourself a lot of pain and do it sooner rather
than later. The Warden will call for volunteers the day after tomorrow, and
I'm going to step forward. Please, you too."
They noticed the sun was almost down and went to the latrine. Just after
they returned to the barracks vats of stew and baskets of bread were brought in.
The slaves lined up at the counter and as they walked down it they were given a
wooden bowl filled with stew and a chunk of bread. They sat on the floor to
eat it. Sonji thought that it wasn't nearly as good as the food she'd had in
jail.
After eating the slaves formed four lines, one for each chain. Flixee
went to the head of one line and put Sonji in front of her. Two keepers
entered the barracks and one shouted, "Lockdown."
"What do I do?" Sonji asked.
"Pick up the end of the chain and pass it back to me between your legs.
Then just walk forward, picking up the chain as you go."
One of the keepers padlocked the chain ends and then walked along and made
sure each slave's leg irons were under the chain. The other keeper called out
numbers and checked the responses against a list she held. When she finished
the roll call the keepers left the barracks and the slaves could lie on the
floor. There was a chorus of groans and a rattle of chains.
Flixee pointed out two shallow hollows in the dirt and said, "One of those
is for your hip and the other is for your shoulder. You can use that block of
wood as a pillow. If you untie the strings from your calves you'll have more
slack."
Sonji lay on her side and found that she was more comfortable than she had
expected to be, but she still spent a restless night.
The next morning the slaves assembled in the main yard. The morning meal
had been bad-tasting gruel. Sonji stood next to Flixee in the front row. In
front of her was a raised platform covered by a pitched roof. When the Warden
and three keepers walked onto the yard and climbed the steps at the front of the
platform everyone became silent.
"Today we welcome 628 to our happy company. 628 is assigned to Labor Gang
2. Now I have an unpleasant task. 238, step forward!" the Warden
commanded.
A slave with that number on her smock reluctantly moved towards the
platform. Two of the keepers moved next to her and held her arms. The Warden
said, "It was reported to me that you defecated in a field yesterday. Is
that true?"
"I...I...I couldn't help it. My bowels were loose and..." the woman
stammered.
"I'm so sorry, but you broke a rule and now you must be punished. Twenty
lashes." the Warden ordered.
The keepers dragged the wretched 238 up onto the platform. The other
keeper tied a rope to each of her wrists. The ropes were looped over hooks in
the ceiling and pulled until 238 was standing on her toes with her arms spread
apart. Her smock was removed and she stood naked with her back to the
assembled slaves.
A keeper swung a wide, heavy strap. It hit the middle of 238's back and
a puffy red welt sprang up. 238 groaned. After the third stroke she
screamed, and kept screaming until all twenty lashes had been delivered. When
the last stroke hit her 238 collapsed, dangling from the ropes on her wrists.
She had red and swollen welts from her shoulders to her knees. The other
slaves watched silently.
After roll call Sonji was collected by the leader of her labor gang and led
to a field. She was given a hoe and shown which plants were the crop and which
plants were the weeds. After she had been hoeing for a while she paused to
wipe the sweat out of her eyes. She heard her number called and turned to see
a keeper walking towards her.
"You weren't told you could stop working! Two strokes. Bend over." the
keeper shouted.
Sonji was shocked. She stood motionless until the keeper pulled her hair
and forced her head down.
"Stalling gets you another stroke. Grab your ankles and don't let go."
The keeper lifted up Sonji's smock and pushed down on her back so that her
bare bottom was uppermost. Then she swung a short strap. A red welt appeared
on Sonji's skin and she gasped. When the third stroke was delivered the pain
was so intense that she had trouble holding in a scream.
This was just the start of a very long day for Sonji. Every keeper seemed
to seek her out and hit her with a strap for any reason or for no reason. By
quitting time her backside was just one big welt.
After she got her food that evening Sonji ate it standing up. Flixee saw
this and raised the back of Sonji's smock. She gave a low whistle when she saw
the condition of Sonji's bottom. "What happened to you?" she asked.
"The keepers just kept hitting me. I don't know what I did wrong."
There was a sudden hush as the Warden entered the barracks. "I want to
remind everyone that tomorrow you can volunteer for private servitude." she
said.
The Warden walked over to Sonji and said, "I heard that you had a hard
time today. It is so, so easy to break a rule without even meaning to, and
then be punished for it. Just look at what happened to poor 238. But you
promised to volunteer, didn't you? Then you won't be here, and this won't be
a concern for you."
After the Warden left the barracks Flixee said, "Well, that was a clear
enough message. If you don't volunteer tomorrow she'll whip you to a bloody
pulp. Please Sonji, she'll break you eventually no matter how much you
resist. Don't suffer a lot of pain for nothing."
"I know you're trying to help, and I thank you. But I just can't do it."
Sonji expected more arguments, but Flixee said nothing.
At roll call the next morning Flixee whispered to Sonji, "This is it.
Are you going to volunteer?"
Sonji shook her head. Flixee shrugged and nodded. The two women
standing to either side of Sonji grabbed an arm and forced Sonji's hands behind
her back. Another woman wrapped string around her wrists and knotted it.
When the Warden asked for volunteers to step forward Flixee pulled Sonji by her
hair and forced her to walk to the front of the ranks. The Warden looked at
them and smiled.
***
The next morning Sonji, Flixee, and two other women, Kanii and Punee,
were in a room not too far from the courtroom where Sonji had been sentenced.
All of them were sleeping on straw pallets, luxury bedding compared to what
they had at the prison farm. A keeper opened the door to the room and a woman
entered carrying a pot of porridge. She put the pot on a table and all of the
women but Sonji went to the food.
Sonji stayed on her pallet because she was chained to the wall. The
chain, attached to a waist-high ring and locked to her collar, was just long
enough to allow her to stand up or lie down. She had been fastened to the wall
since she had arrived yesterday, and she was tired of it.
Flixee brought her a bowl of porridge and said, "Have you forgiven me for
forcing you into this?"
"Of course I have. I know you meant to help me and I can't explain why
this is wrong for me." She changed the subject. "Why am I chained to the
wall while you three can move around the room?"
"Because you're a dangerous woman, convicted of a crime of violence, and
all we did was steal. Maybe I should move back, out of your reach."
"Very funny. What's going to happen to us now?"
"If it's like the last time I was here, they'll take off our leg irons and
give us a medical exam. Maybe even a bath. About two hours before the
auction starts we'll be put on display in the auction room."
"What do you mean, on display?"
"We'll be tied up so everyone can look over what they'll be bidding on.
But all they can do is look. Touching isn't allowed."
"That's awful. What's the medical exam for?"
"They write down all of the scars you have, so that when your owner brings
you back he can't claim you were damaged before he got you. They look for
disease, especially sexual disease, and they put a pebble in your womb unless
you have one already."
"A pebble! What's that for?"
"It keeps you from having a baby. I thought you peasant girls knew all
about things like that."
Sonji quickly said, "Oh, yes. In my village we use a copper coin
instead of a pebble."
"I've heard of that. Coins are supposed to be better, but pebbles are
cheaper. What else do you want to know?"
"Flixee, I'm so scared. If a man buys me, what am I supposed to do?"
"The simple answer is that you do exactly what he wants you to do. The
problem is finding out what that is. Usually he doesn't give you a complete
list of what he wants, and sometimes he doesn't know himself. All I can do is
give you some general rules. The three most important are, be humble, be
obedient, and be very polite."
Flixee continued, "Unless he tells you differently, call him Master,
and be sure you use it in every phrase. Don't speak unless he gives you
permission to do so, or asks you a direct question. Don't ask him for
anything. Especially don't ask him to let you loose, unless you want to be
tied tighter. You can speak if it's something really important, like for
example, you've been in a cage for three days and he has forgotten to give you
any water, but say something like, 'Master, your slave will be damaged unless
she gets some water'. Don't deliberately disobey him or defy him unless you
really want to be punished. Thank him for everything he gives you, whether
it's sex, or food, or a whipping."
"I'll never be able to remember all of this." Sonji wailed.
"Let me put it another way. You want to make him believe that he is the
center of your world, and that nothing is more important to you than pleasing
him. Come to think of it, that's true."
Flixee went on, "Body language is very important. I'll show you. Stand
up, Sonji."
Flixee also stood. She crossed her arms over her chest, looked Sonji in
the eyes and said, "How may I serve you, Mistress?" Then she knelt, bowed
her head, and said, using the same tone, "How may I serve you, Mistress?"
"Wow, Flixee, it really gives me a funny feeling to have you kneeling
like that. I felt nothing when you were standing."
Flixee stood up and said, "If you were a man the feeling would be even
stronger. Once you know how to do it, you can have a lot of control even
though you're a slave."
"What if a woman buys me? What does she want?"
"That's easy. She'll want you to give her sex, and she'll want to give
you pain."
While Sonji was pondering that two keepers entered the room. One took
Kanii and Punee out of the room and the other came over to Flixee and Sonji.
She strapped Sonji's hands behind her back and unlocked the chain attached to
her collar. Sonji and Flixee were taken to a small room that had a large vise
with circular jaws mounted to the floor. The keeper closed the vise around one
of Flixee's irons and used a chisel to cut off the head of the rivet holding it
closed. She repeated the process with Flixee's other leg, and then replaced
the leg irons with a hobble strap.
When it was Sonji's turn Flixee took her arm to steady her and said, "I'm
glad they have this vise. Otherwise you can get some really nasty bruises when
the irons are cut off."
Sonji's ankles were hobbled and the three women entered another room.
Kanii was lying on her back on an examining table. Her knees were spread and
strapped to posts extending from two corners of the table. A doctor was
examining her, and when he finished Flixee stripped and got on the table. The
doctor described the massive scar on Flixee's crotch and a woman wrote comments
in a ledger. When the internal examination was finished Flixee was released
and the woman examined her body for other scars. The keeper removed Sonji's
smock and helped her onto the table. Her knees were strapped to the posts.
She moved her arms and tried to find a comfortable way to lie on her bound
hands.
The doctor had just started his examination when he said, "This is
unusual. A violent criminal who is also a virgin. She won't be one for long,
though, so let's make it easier for her." He took a scalpel and slit the
hymen. Then he completed the examination and implanted a pebble in Sonji's
uterus. Sonji felt her humiliation was now complete.
When Sonji and Flixee returned to their room they found Kanii sitting in a
large tub of water and Punee drying herself off with a large towel.
"Wonderful! I really need a bath." Flixee said.
"We have to share the bath water? Who goes next?" Sonji asked.
"I do."
"I need a bath too! Why do you get to go next?"
"Because my hands aren't strapped behind my back."
***
Sonji and the other three women had been on display for almost two hours.
They were standing on a low platform, and each had her hands fastened to a ring
in the wooden beam over their heads. Their wrists were crossed and strapped,
and they weren't stretched, but after all this time they were uncomfortable.
They were all naked, with each woman's smock next to her feet, folded so her
slave number was visible.
Sonji's mind was detached from her body, and she watched everything as if
it were happening to someone else. The girl who had blushed when she changed
clothes in the presence of her shipmates was somewhere inside, but the
Sonji-body on the platform didn't react to the stares and lewd comments of over
a hundred strangers.
A man climbed onto the platform. He clapped his hands loudly several
times, and when the crowd had quieted said, "Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen,
to the Brombeg indenture auction. We only have four slaves this session, but
they are all choice! Our first offering is number 628."
A guardsman moved Sonji next to the auctioneer. She was still naked, but
her wrists were now crossed and strapped behind her back. The auctioneer said,
"628 was convicted of assaulting a judicial officer. Looks dangerous, doesn't
she? You'll have to take special precautions with her! Eighteen years old
and still a virgin, if you can believe it. Look at that flawless body, that
tan skin, that black hair. You could get lost in that bush. What am I bid?"
The initial bidding was spirited, but the price quickly reached a level
that caused all but two bidders to drop out. One was a man with a shaved head
and a scarred face, who wore a sword and body armor. The other bidder was
Longee. Soon the price became larger than she could pay, and Sonji was sold
to the warrior.
A guardsman dressed Sonji in her smock and took her to a table where the
warrior was paying money to a clerk. He grabbed her arm and led her into a
small room, where another warrior was standing next to a large barrel. They
picked her up and stood her in the barrel, forced her to crouch down, and
fastened the lid. The barrel was put on a hand truck and rolled outside and
down the street.
The barrel had a hole in the side that let in light and air, and it was
large enough that Sonji wasn't excessively cramped, but she was very
frightened. The man who bought her looked cruel, and she was afraid of what
he would do to her if she didn't please him.
The two warriors with the barrel were joined by another man. He had a
patrician look and wore fine clothes.
One of the warriors tapped the barrel and said, "We have her, Councilor
Radg. Are you going to take her to Tarnbeg?"
"No, take her to my house here."
The group walked about a kilometer and stopped in front of a large house.
One of the warriors knocked, and the door was opened by an elderly doorkeeper.
A young man met the group in the large entrance hall.
"Hello, Dag. Can we come in?".
"Of course, Father. It's still your house." They embraced. "But I am
surprised to see you. You haven't been here much since you were appointed by
the legislature to be Brombeg's representative on the National Council. I
thought you were still in Tarnbeg."
"I'm just in town for some meetings. I wanted to stop by to wish you a
happy birthday. How are you, Dag? How are you doing with your studies?"
"I'm doing fine, Father. A year from now I should be an advocate. Can
I get you some wine, perhaps?"
"No thanks, I have a meeting and can only stay a few minutes. Join us
for dinner tonight at your brother's house. By the way, how's your love
life?"
"Bleak. Studying doesn't leave time for courting. I visit a brothel
about once a month, and that's it."
"I haven't given you your present." Radg pointed to the barrel.
"What's this, Father? Beer? Wine?"
The warriors removed the lid and lifted Sonji out of the barrel.
"Here's something to keep you occupied when you're not studying. When you
aren't using her she can be Bomdee's helper. She's been convicted of a violent
crime, so you have to keep her restrained. That hobble strap qualifies when
she's escorted, but she has to be in something more secure if she's left
alone." He handed Dag a clamp tool. "Use this to remove the strap if her
legs won't spread far enough."
Radg and his bodyguard went to the door. "Good-bye for now, Dag. I'll
see you later."
As soon as the door had closed behind them Dag returned to Sonji. He
removed the straps from her wrists and said, "Hello, my name is Dag. What's
your name?"
Sonji replied, "Sonji." Then she remembered what Flixee had shown her.
She knelt, bowed her head, and said, "How may I serve you, Master?"
Dag's erection nearly tore his pants. He pulled Sonji to her feet and
dragged her after him by her wrist. "Come to my bedroom and I'll show you!"
When they reached the bedroom Dag took off his clothes and Sonji's smock.
He threw her on the bed and lay down beside her. He kissed her deeply and
stroked her breast. Her nipple started to harden, and then she fainted.
Dag revived her by splashing cold water in her face. He said, "I once
knew a girl who laughed uncontrollably when I touched her, but this is the
first time someone has fainted. I wonder what happened?"
Sonji was terrified. She knew exactly what had happened. This was the
way her church kept girls from being tempted by physical pleasure and thus be
denied Enlightenment. But how could she explain neuro-psychological
conditioning to someone who had never even seen a brain scan? And if she
couldn't participate in sex, what would he do to her instead?
"Please, Master. Permission to speak?" she begged.
"Yes, Sonji. Anytime that we're alone you can speak without asking for
permission."
"Thank you, Master. This had nothing to do with you, Master. I have
been this way since I changed from a girl to a woman. I'm sorry, Master."
"You mean every time you get aroused you faint?"
"Yes, Master. I can't help it. Could you have sex with me anyway?"
"No. Necrophilia has never interested me."
Dag sat on the bed and touched Sonji's shoulder. She flinched at the
contact and Dag could tell that she was trembling. "Why are you so
frightened?" he asked.
"I didn't do as you wished, Master." Sonji still remembered 238's
screams. "I'm afraid of being whipped."
"You can relax. I'm not going to whip you now. How did your other men
work around this?"
"There are no other men, Master. You are the first."
Dag thought about that for a while. Then he said, "Suppose I don't touch
your body? Kneel between my legs and open your mouth."
At the first touch on her lips Sonji fainted. This was one of the ways
her church kept the boys from being denied Enlightenment.
Dag revived her and said, "I'm sure that we'll solve this problem
eventually, but I've got to leave soon. Get dressed, and I'll take you to
Bomdee."
They found Bomdee taking an inventory in the kitchen.
"This is Sonji. She'll be your helper when I don't need her. I'll leave
the details of her duties to you. Remember, she was convicted of a violent
crime, so you can't let her run around loose. I'm going to tell Mudg to fix
up the inner storeroom for her, so tuck her in there before you go to bed.
I'm going to dinner at my brother's house and I won't be home tonight."
After Dag left Bomdee inspected Sonji carefully and then she asked, "What
did you do before you became a criminal?"
"I was a peasant, Mistress."
"Your master is Dag. Call me Bomdee. Now, listen carefully. I think
it's foolish to bring a violent criminal into this house, but I wasn't asked.
I have been with this family since before Dag was born. I was his nanny, and
I couldn't love him more if he were my own flesh. If you even try to hurt him
you will regret it every minute of your brief, painful life. Do you
understand me?"
"Yes, Bomdee."
"Good. Now, your duties. There isn't a lot of work to do here when the
family is living in Tarnbeg. Dag spends most of his time at the university.
On most days he leaves here just after morning meal and returns several hours
after sunset, so only the staff's meals have to be prepared. I'm the cook as
well as the housekeeper, and if I eventually feel that you can be trusted you
can help me here in the kitchen. Until then there is cleaning you can do."
Bomdee took a coil of thin brown rope out of a drawer. "I can't watch you
every minute. Hold out your hands."
Bomdee had Sonji cross her wrists and wrapped the rope in both directions.
She cinched the wrappings and tied the final knot on the bottom, where Sonji
couldn't reach it with her teeth. She took another piece of rope and made two
turns around Sonji's waist and tied it in the back. "Knees and hands on the
floor." she commanded.
Sonji quickly got down on the floor. Bomdee tied a rope from the knot at
Sonji's waist to the center of the hobble strap and pulled it tight. "You can
get that loose, but you'll be sorry if you do." Bomdee threatened.
Bomdee put a scrub brush and a bucket of soapy water on the floor next to
Sonji. She said, "Get the kitchen floor clean. When you finish you'll be
fed."
Cleaning the kitchen floor took Sonji over two hours. When she finished
she was in a lot of pain from kneeling on the stone floor, and the motion of
her hands while she scrubbed had chafed her wrists until drops of blood appeared
in a few places.
Evening meal was served shortly after Sonji finished cleaning the floor.
Bomdee cut the ropes off of Sonji's wrists and waist. She examined the red
marks left by the rope but didn't say anything.
At evening meal Sonji met the elderly doorkeeper Ludg and his equally
elderly brother Mudg, who was sort of a handyman. They, along with Bomdee,
were the entire staff. Sonji thought that if she really were a violent
criminal she could probably escape. Then she remembered that Bomdee was tall
and looked strong and fit, and that she had never turned her back when Sonji
was near, even when Sonji's hands were tied.
After the meal Sonji washed the dishes and utensils, and when she had
finished it was time for Bomdee to put her to bed. Bomdee lit a candle and
directed Sonji to a small, windowless chamber near the center of the house.
Sonji was happy to see that it had a straw mattress and a coarse blanket, but
she wasn't so happy to see the short chain that was attached to a ring mounted
in the floor.
Bomdee put her candleholder in a niche in the wall near the door and said,
"Use the chamber pot now. It won't be as easy after I've chained you up."
After Sonji had squatted over the pot Bomdee padlocked the end of the chain
to the ring on Sonji's collar. The chain was so short that Sonji could just
sit up. Bomdee took her candle and left the room, and when she shut the door
it was totally dark inside. Sonji heard a bolt being fastened. She put her
head down and tried to sleep.
The next morning Sonji was scrubbing another floor. Her wrists were still
chafed, so Bomdee had used the leather straps to fasten them instead of the
thin rope.
Dag saw her and said, "I know a woman who is aroused just by being tied
up. If she were fixed like you are now she'd be moaning on the floor, but it
doesn't seem to have any affect on you. I have got an idea on how to get
around your problem, though. We'll try it out tonight."
"Yes, Master." Sonji bowed her head. Her stomach churned with anxiety.
She wondered how long Dag would be patient when she couldn't perform a slave's
first duty to her master. He might not like to hurt her, but what if he gave
her to somebody who was more cruel, like the scar-faced man who bought her?
That evening Dag brought Sonji to his bedroom and had her drink several
glasses of wine.
"Wine releases inhibitions. Maybe this will be the solution." he said.
He fondled and kissed Sonji. She fainted. He revived her. She threw
up.
The next day Dag was late leaving for the university. Bomdee and Mudg had
gone to the market, so he had to secure Sonji before he left the house. He
took her into the storeroom intending to lock the chain to her collar, but he
found that Bomdee had locked the padlock and taken the key with her. The
straps were there, so he crossed Sonji's wrists behind her back and fastened
them tightly using both straps. He made her lie on her stomach, released the
hobble strap from her right ankle, pulled it around her wrists, and refastened
it.
Sonji was very uncomfortable. The tight straps irritated her chafed
wrists and the hogtie strained her sore knees. She moaned quietly.
Dag heard the moan and said, "You won't have any discomfort if you've
fainted."
He kissed her neck and stroked her bare bottom. At the same time she
tried to relieve her pain and frustration by pulling against the straps. She
tried with all her strength to separate her wrists and ankles, and as she did
so she felt a wave of heat through her body, centered between her legs. Where
Dag touched her her skin seemed to be on fire. She panted, "Master, I..."
Dag could hear Sonji's panting and see her flushed face. He rolled her
onto her back and stroked her bottom with one hand and a breast with the other
hand. She moaned and thrashed. He opened his trousers, spread her knees,
and entered her. Sonji screamed. She pulled against the straps in
synchronism with Dag's thrusts, and with each pull she felt a wave of
sensation. The waves increased until she felt Dag come inside her and then she
screamed and fainted, but this time it was from ecstasy.
When Sonji returned to the world she was lying naked on Dag's bed. Dag,
also naked, was standing beside her.
"I think we are on the way to solving our problem. Let's try an
experiment." he said.
Dag had a coil of rope, and he used it to tie Sonji's wrists and ankles to
the four posts of the bed. He adjusted the ropes so there wasn't any slack,
but she wasn't stretched, either.
"Now, just remain quiet. Don't move a muscle."
Dag kissed Sonji and stroked her breast. She promptly fainted.
After he revived her he said, "This time struggle. Fight to get loose
with all your strength."
Dag got on the bed with Sonji and moved his hands all over her body. She
thrashed and twisted, straining against the ropes until the bed creaked and
groaned. Dag kissed her hard nipples and when his probing finger found her
clit she screamed and spasmed. After he entered her she again synchronized her
pulls against the ropes to his strokes and came twice more before he had his
climax.
When Sonji was able to talk she said, "Thank you, Master. Did I please
you?"
Dag brushed her sweat-soaked hair away from her eyes and kissed her on the
forehead. "Yes, Sonji. You pleased me."
When Dag removed the ropes from Sonji's wrists he was shocked to see that
the skin was raw and even bleeding in places. Her ankles were also red and
chafed.
He heard Bomdee return. He called her to him and said, "Bandage Sonji's
wrists and ankles. Don't tie her wrists until they've healed, and go easy on
her. I'm leaving as soon as I wash and dress."
Bomdee helped Sonji wash and dress and then took her to the kitchen. She
said, "Hold still while I put this salve on your scrapes."
After she applied the salve Bomdee wrapped Sonji's wrists and ankles with
strips of cloth and clamped the hobble strap loosely around the bandages on
Sonji's ankles. She thought about how best to secure Sonji's arms. Bomdee
still regarded her as a threat, no matter how Dag felt about it, and she
wasn't going to let her go around the house with only her ankles hobbled.
Bomdee fastened the two wrist straps together to form a loop. She pulled
Sonji's arms back and put the loop around them just above Sonji's elbows and
tightened it to hold Sonji's arms to her sides. To keep the loop from slipping
down Bomdee tied rope from its center to the ring on Sonji's collar.
Bomdee handed Sonji a cloth. "Go dust everything that needs it. Start
with the books in the library."
Later that evening Dag sent a message saying that his father had summoned
him to Tarnbeg and he would be away for several days. Sonji was disappointed.
Now that she knew what sex was like she wanted more of it.
Four days later Dag returned. He summoned Sonji to his bedroom and had
her undress and lie on the bed. He kissed and fondled her until she fainted.
Then he got out the leather goods that had just been delivered by the harness
maker and clamped padded cuffs on Sonji's wrists and ankles. After some
thought he closely strapped each wrist to the corresponding ankle.
When Sonji was awake Dag said, "Surprise! Now you can struggle without
damage. Let's go!"
Dag got on the bed with Sonji and moved his hands all over her body. She
thrashed and twisted, straining against the straps that held her wrists and
ankles together. She liked this position because it let her use most of her
major muscles. She strained so hard the Dag was glad that he had got the cuffs
and straps made of the thickest leather.
Dag liked this position because it left Sonji open and exposed. He
entered her and she synchronized her struggles against the straps to the rhythm
of Dag's strokes until they both climaxed.
As they cuddled together afterwards Dag said, "You are unique. I've
known women who liked to be tied up during sex, but you are the only woman who
has to be tied up to have sex."
This set a pattern for the days that followed. Dag would make Sonji faint
and then strap her body into some erotic position. He even had Mudj rig a
hoist so Sonji could be suspended over the bed and lowered onto Dag's waiting
body. But after the novelty of the more bizarre positions was exhausted they
settled on a few favorites, such as the wrists to ankles position they both
liked.
***
About a month later Dag returned from the university just as Sonji was
finishing her kitchen work. He sat in one of the kitchen chairs and gestured
to her.
She went to him, knelt and bowed her head, and said, "How may I serve
you, Master?"
"I'm sure you know the answer to that question by now, but we'll get to
that later. I have something for you to wear. Put it on."
Dag pulled a brown object from his case and gave it to Sonji. She stood
up, stripped off her smock, and put on the new garment. This too was a
smock, but instead of coarse sackcloth it was made of fine linen, and the
numbers were embroidered with gold thread. It was also smaller, so more of
Sonji's body was exposed.
"Thank you, Master. It's lovely."
"This is more of a gift for me than it is for you. You can wear it when
we're together."
Dag continued, "You've made me very happy, and I want to reward you.
What do you want?"
"All I want is to serve you, Master."
"Don't you desire anything for yourself?"
"My only desire is to please you, Master."
"Do you want me to whip you?"
"No, Master! Please, no!"
"At last, a straight answer! Now give me another one. What do you want
for you?"
"I want to learn to read, Master."
Dag was surprised. He had expected Sonji to ask for some frivolous,
personal item, but he could grant this request.
"Bomdee taught me to read, and she can teach you. There are some basic
books in the library, and you can probably find others that are useful."
***
The Gamma language transplant had given Sonji a complete knowledge of
grammar and vocabulary, so all she had to learn were the symbols and the
spelling irregularities, and this was relatively easy because Gamma used a
phonetic alphabet. In two weeks she could read at the elementary level, and
in a month she could read the Gamma language as easily as she read Galactic.
The 'other useful books' included everything in the library, and she spent
as much time there as possible. She didn't exactly lie when Dag asked her
about her reading skill, but she misled him enough that he never had to wonder
why a peasant girl was reading a law book.
***
One evening Dag and Sonji were relaxing in bed when he said, "Tomorrow is
the half-year point of your I.S."
"Is it, Master? Being with you makes time pass so swiftly that I can't
keep track."
"I wouldn't have known either, except that a court official notified me
that your mother will be visiting you tomorrow."
"My mother! How can that be, Master?"
"Didn't you know that you are entitled to a visit from a relative every
half-year?"
"No, I didn't know that, Master. But my mother lives so far away!"
"Well, she'll be here. The court officials will question her about your
treatment, and I think it would be best if they thought you were being treated
more like a violent criminal being punished and less like the pampered daughter
of a rich merchant. Wear your prison-issue smock and Bomdee will chain you in
the storeroom during the visit."
The next morning Sonji was sitting on the pallet in the storeroom when
Bomdee brought to the door a middle-aged woman wearing a peasant's dress.
The woman saw Sonji and cried, "Zongee! My baby!"
Sonji looked up and gave a cry of astonishment. It was Captain Goda!
The Captain gave Sonji a hug and whispered, "Call me Mom. We've found
you at last! What happened to you?"
Sonji gave Captain Goda a detailed account of the last half-year of her
life. (She didn't mention the sex). She also summarized all she had learned
about the social conditions and the political organization of the planet.
When Sonji had completed her recital Captain Goda said, "This is one of
the most successful field surveys I've ever seen. The method you devised to
infiltrate the household of one of the most important men on the planet was
absolutely brilliant! And the fortitude it took to allow yourself to be
subjected to such hardship! Just seeing you chained up like an animal is so
disturbing to me that I can hardly bear it, yet you accept it without visible
upset. I'm going to see to it that this survey is classified as Extremely
Arduous. That will make you eligible for accelerated promotion."
Captain Goda handed Sonji a communicator medallion but she handed it back.
"I can't accept this without permission. Give it to Bomdee and ask her to pass
it on to my Ma.., I mean, Dag. I'm sure he'll let me have it."
Captain Goda ordered, "Once you're in communication with the ship transmit
as much detailed information as you can. Unless we find something really bad
it is likely that Gamma will be invited to join the Amalgamation. Having you
on the ship will expedite the process, so return as soon as possible."
"Aye, aye, Mom."
***
During the next half-year Sonji read as much as she could and dictated
detailed reports into her communicator. She found that Dag, like most
advocates, loved to talk, so she could ask him leading questions and get a
whole discourse on some aspect of life on Gamma. Every day she would upload
everything that had been recorded. When Dag asked her why she always left her
medallion outside the bedroom while they had sex she told him it was just a
custom of her village.
***
Dag and Sonji cuddled together in exhausted bliss. Sonji was still tied
to the bed in a loose spread-eagle. Tomorrow was the last day of her I.S.,
and this was their last night together.
"Sonji, I love you. I can't marry you until your civil rights are
restored a year from now, but you could stay with me as my concubine."
"I love you too, Master. But my mother needs me, and I promised I would
return to her as soon as I could."
Sonji started to cry. She loved Dag so much, and going away was so
painful.
Dag kissed away her tears, and then continued with kisses on the rest of
her body. Soon Sonji was struggling against the straps that held her to the
bed.
Sonji lay awake long after Dag had gone to sleep. She had changed a lot
during the past year. She was no longer innocent and naive, but she still
retained her idealism and her personal code. Leaving Dag was hard, but
Captain Goda had ordered her to return, and when she accepted her commission
she had sworn an oath to obey all lawful orders. Sonji thought, 'Why is honor
so hard, when happiness is so easy?'.
The next day Dag accompanied Sonji to the entrance hall to meet the two
keepers who had arrived to take her away. The keepers buckled a belt around
Sonji's waist and strapped her wrists to it. She still wore the hobble strap.
"She'll be released in a few hours. Why do you have to tie her up like
that?" Dag asked.
"Regulations, sir. All violent criminals have to be restrained."
Dag said, "Then I might as well get some good from it." He kissed Sonji's
lips.
The keepers wondered what there was about the kiss that made Sonji struggle
so violently against the straps, and why she was crying when soon she would be
released from I.S.
Sonji was taken to the courthouse. The straps were unbuckled and her
collar was chiseled off. She was given a medical exam and her pebble was
removed. Her smock was taken away and her possessions were returned. Soon
she stood on the street wearing her dress and sandals, free of all restraints
for the first time in over a year. When she was sure no one could see her she
contacted the Interloper for directions to the pickup point. She walked out of
the city and met the shuttle after dark. Her field survey was over.
Epilogue
Soon after Sonji returned to the Interloper Gamma's National Council
received a formal invitation to join the Amalgamation. During the negotiations
that followed Sonji was often consulted, but she kept away from the Gamma
delegation because it was always possible that she might have to make another
undercover field survey.
Now, over a year later, all of the agreements had been reached, and it
was time for the formal ceremony that would mark the entry of a new member into
the Amalgamation. The Star Fleet personnel who had played key roles in the
process were invited to the ceremony, and Lieutenant Sonji Regan was included
in this select group.
Sonji was circulating among the guests while she waited for the ceremony to
begin. She was wearing the dress uniform of the Star Fleet Survey Service,
with the Distinguished Service medal she had received when the agreements were
reached. There was a stir in the crowd when Radg, the President of the
National Council, entered with his entourage. Sonji saw that it included a
young man wearing the gray clothing of an advocate.
She walked up behind him and said, "Hello, Master."
Dag spun around. When he recognized Sonji he was speechless with
astonishment.
"How are you, Master? Have you found a wife yet?"
"No. It seems that every woman I meet can't even come close to matching a
black-haired slave girl I once owned. But now I understand why she always
seemed to be so much more than a peasant girl."
He reached for her hand but she backed away.
"We had better not touch. It would be embarrassing if I fainted. It
would be even more embarrassing if you made it so I didn't faint."
Dag backed her into a corner and took off his belt. "I'll take that
risk."
The End
My thanks to Leviticus and Dino Dave for their advice and encouragement.
Your comments are welcomed. Email me at zack_writer@hotmail.com
Copyright(c) 2001. All rights reserved.
