Planet of Pain (24 page)

‘Nice outfits,' Stella said, giving Jo and Eli the once over. They were still naked because Minassian had whisked them away before they'd even had time to grab their clothes.

‘What… how…?' Jo stammered.

‘Long story,' Bel said. ‘We'll tell you later.'

‘Move it, ladies,' Minassian said gruffly. ‘We've a narrow window and it's not getting any wider while you're standing here chattering.' They followed him into the airlock, and from there into a shuttle. Then they were soon blasting up into low orbit, where they transferred to a starship.

‘
Petra
,' Minassian said, with more than a hint of pride in his voice. ‘My ship. She's as fast as one of your alphas, and better armed than most destroyers.'

Petra
must have been fired up and ready to roll, for within minutes of strapping in they were in a hard burn. Eli, the only groundling in the party, was petrified; and Jo, in the next seat, held her hand and talked to her, trying to reassure her. In that respect it felt just like old times.

 

When the burn stopped one of Minassian's men took them to their quarters, which were comfortable enough, if basic.

The ship felt cold after Paradise, but Jo managed to scrounge some new coveralls for herself and Eli from their guide. Once he'd gone she could finally demand an explanation of how this apparent miracle had come about.

‘I guess we've got this Minassian guy to thank,' Stella said. ‘Seems he's a slaver; buys women from Paradise and sells ‘em on. Me, I'm just glad as hell to be outta there. I doubt he would have spared me a second glance, except I was standing right next to body-beautiful here. Bought us both as a job lot. Guess I was born lucky, huh?'

Jo thought it was a little early to be celebrating, as they had no idea what their future owner might be like. On the other hand, it was hard to imagine anything worse than the place they'd just left.

‘When we realise we're headed off-world,' Stella went on, ‘Bel here digs in her heels. Refuses to board the shuttle without you, gun or no gun. Tells him to go ahead and blow her goddam head off for all she cares.'

‘I was bluffing, needless to say,' Bel said. ‘And it was Stella who took him off to one side and finally persuaded him to go back for you, though I can't imagine how she managed it.'

‘Hell,' Stella said, ‘I just told him the cutest babe in the sector was a coupla hops along the corridor, and he'd be a fool to miss out on the chance to make some big bucks.'

‘So off he went,' Bel said, continuing the back and forth double-act she seemed to have going with Stella, ‘and came back with two of you, not one.'

She looked at Eli and Jo made the introductions. Eli smiled uncertainly, and stayed close to Jo.

‘I guess that's pretty well it,' Stella said in conclusion. ‘He bought the two of us and the two of you, so here we all are.'

There they all were indeed; facing an uncertain future, but alive and well and in pretty good shape, all things considered.

 

There was a medical facility aboard
Petra
, and the very first item on the agenda, they were told, was a comprehensive check-up. As they stripped, Jo caught sight of Bel and Stella – and nearly fainted.

‘Dear God!' she exclaimed. She didn't know what was the most shocking – the rings in their nipples and labia, the garish shark tattoos on their bellies directly above their shaved groins, or the bruising.

‘I don't think she's too keen on our decorations,' Bel said mildly.

‘Jeez, I wonder why?' Stella said, straight-faced.

Jo just stared, horrified. Rings and tattoos aside, the bruising spoke of appalling treatment. ‘What happened to you both?' she gasped.

‘White shift,' Stella said, as though that explained everything.

Bel was more forthcoming. ‘Every woman there has rings,' she said, ‘and they hang weights on them during a punishment. If you're lucky it's just for the duration of a punishment. If you're not it can be for a whole work shift.'

‘And the tattoos?' Jo asked.

‘That's just Fish,' Bel said. ‘He likes to mark his property.'

‘Who's Fish?'

‘Guy we know,' Stella said casually. ‘Head guard.'

Jo nodded slowly and didn't pursue it; she knew all about vindictive beasties. No need to ask about the bruised buttocks, either, though the marks on Bel's breasts were more puzzling. There appeared to be a darker purple band across the top, and another beneath. Bel saw her looking and explained.

‘They clamp your tits between two sticks, then bind the ends with cords to force them together.' She made a winding gesture, round and around. ‘The more binding they use the more it squeezes.'

‘Like a punishment, you mean?'

‘More of an incentive,' Bel said, with a sly glance at Stella.

‘An incentive, yeah,' the other woman said. ‘Kinda like: suck harder, bitch, or you get another coupla yards of twine. Lucky for me my titties ain't big enough to do it.'

‘Lucky?' Jo said. ‘So how did that happen?' She pointed to Stella's groin and inner thighs, and Stella shrugged.

‘You know me,' she said. ‘Always talkin' back, right? My big mouth earned me a ride on the goddam mule nearly every day.'

‘What's the mule?'

Stella looked at Bel. ‘She don't know what the mule is,' she said.

‘Blue shift,' Bel said scornfully. ‘Damned holiday camp.'

Their lips twitched and it was clear they were both suppressing grins, then the next moment they burst out laughing at what was obviously a private joke. Jo felt a little jealous of their obvious camaraderie, and a little peeved that they should make light of her own and Eli's tribulations. ‘Hey,' she protested, ‘it wasn't all fun and games for us either, you know.'

 

The doctor didn't agree with Jo's assessment of the shape they were in, declaring them to be maltreated and malnourished.

‘In fact if I were a vet, and you three were domestic pets,' he said, pointing to Bel, Stella and Jo in turn, ‘I'd recommend you were put down. Fortunately for you I'm a doctor, and ethically obliged, therefore, to make you better.'

Jo just stared at him, thinking it was the most unusual bedside manner she'd ever come across.

‘As for you, young lady,' he added, looking at Eli, ‘I'd keep you for my very own pet, and stroke you every day.'

‘Hey, come on, doc,' Stella protested, ‘can't you get struck off or something for saying that kinda stuff?'

‘I have been struck off,' he said. ‘You think I'm here by choice?'

They had a machine in the surgery, he told them, that would cure all their ills. It would lift deep bruises in a matter of hours, and even restore muscle tone, and after an hour a day for a few days their bruises and tattoos gradually faded away to nothing, and once the man from Engineering had cut away Bel's and Stella's rings their piercings healed up in no time. Add to that tasty food and lots of it, along with plenty of rest, and they were soon as good as new.

Stella in particular was looking fitter and stronger than ever, Jo thought. She'd taken up a regular exercise routine, inveigling Minassian into letting her use an empty storeroom so she didn't disturb the others.

‘Seems she can get him to agree to pretty well anything,' Bel said. ‘I just wish I knew how she did it.'

‘Maybe she's having sex with him,' Jo said, thinking of Karlyn's universal currency.

‘Maybe,' Bel murmured, though she looked unconvinced.

They didn't see much of the slaver captain, in fact, who kept mostly to the bridge. They saw several of his men, like the individual who came to do their hair and nails, and the man from Engineering, who now sported one of Bel's nipple rings in his ear, and the doctor. All of them were polite, bordering on friendly. It made a welcome change from verbal abuse and molestation, Jo supposed, though she couldn't help feeling like a lamb being fattened for slaughter.

 

 

 

 

‘Your new owners are the Kraffts,' Minassian said. ‘Annamarie and Sigismund, sister and brother. You've heard of Krafft Systems, maybe?'

Jo and the others were in their quarters. The slaver captain had arrived unannounced and told them to sit on their bunks, whereupon he proceeded to inform them – for their own good and his, he said – about their immediate futures. In response to his question about Krafft Systems, Bel nodded.

‘Don't they supply nav equipment, or something?' she said.

‘That used to be their main field, yes,' Minassian said. ‘They branched out a while back into other areas; drives, weapons control and so forth, where they've done pretty well. Annamarie and Sigismund own the company. In theory they're independents, but for the past year they've dealt solely with the League. Obviously they think your side's going to lose the war, and they may well be right.'

Stella snorted, but said nothing.

‘I've had dealings with them in the past,' Minassian went on. ‘I've supplied them with quite a few young women, in fact. They're a strange looking pair, with even stranger habits. I'm telling you all this so you'll know what to expect, and won't throw a fit when you meet them. It's bad for business, supplying slaves who throw a fit.'

‘Slaves?' Bel said. ‘Sex slaves, you mean?'

‘Sex,' Minassian confirmed, ‘bondage, discipline; they're into all that. Not unlike Paradise, in some ways, except you won't have to work in any mine, and the surroundings are much more comfortable.'

Good news and bad news, then, Jo thought. But at least it sounded as if they were staying together, which was one concern off her mind. She'd been worrying about the possibility of being split up, though she hadn't said anything to the others. She didn't want Eli getting upset prematurely.

‘Their ship is named
Chrysalis
,' Minassian went on. ‘It's part luxury liner, part flying test bed for their products, and part demonstrator-come-entertainment facility for prospective customers. You might well end up as part of the entertainment, if the customer is so inclined.'

Jo glanced at Bel and Stella to see how they were taking this. Bel was watching him intently, whereas Stella was examining her nails, apparently bored with the whole thing already.

‘There's not too much else you need to know,' the slaver said. ‘The Kraffts live aboard
Chrysalis
permanently, along with a few servants, a handful of crew, and a score or more technicians and engineers, depending on what project is ongoing at the time. I doubt you'll meet any of the latter, unless they have a major breakthrough and Annamarie decides to throw them a party, with you four as the party treats.'

He was joking, Jo decided.

‘Seriously,' he said, ‘behave yourselves once you get onboard. Do what you're told like the good girls I know you are, or can pretend to be at least, and don't answer back.'

He looked hard at Stella as he said this, but she just glanced up from her nails and shrugged.

‘That's it,' he said. ‘We'll be docking with
Chrysalis
shortly. I'll escort you aboard and stay there while they look you over. Form up in a row behind me, and when I give you the nod take your clothes off. They'll want to inspect you, naturally. If they ask you anything just answer honestly and politely. Once they've agreed to take you, which I'm sure they will, I'll leave. After that you're on your own. Any questions?'

‘These other women you supplied them with,' Bel said. ‘What happened to them?'

‘They sold them,' Minassian said, ‘just as they'll sell you eventually. Don't have any illusions about that. Right now you're shiny new toys, and they'll have lots of fun playing with you. After a while, when the shine starts to wear off, they'll get bored and sell you back to me at a loss. Then the doc will fix you up and repair the damage, if it's not too bad, and I'll sell you on again.'

‘Helluva career,' Stella muttered. ‘And to think my folks wanted me to be a goddam brain surgeon.'

‘Make that the last smart comment out of that mouth of yours, missy,' Minassian warned. ‘After this it's “yes sir, no sir, three bags full, sir”. That way you might live long enough to
get
sold on, you hear me?'

‘Yes, sir,' Stella said, with not a trace of humility.

Minassian shook his head. ‘Grab any personal effects you've got and come with me. It's time.'

 

The ship,
Chrysalis
, was like no other vessel Jo had ever seen. The corridors were all fresh white paint and polished stainless steel, the crewman who met them at the hatch and escorted them to the lounge was immaculately turned out, and the lounge itself was astonishing.