Stardust Dreams (16 page)

A grumble rippled through
the room, and Gallant jerked the chain up. "I didn't hear you, woman. Louder."

Cherry inhaled sharply, but
another nasty grumble stopped her from voicing her real thoughts. "I'm
sorry," she said aloud, then added "master," for effect.

"Then you may
rise," Gallant said nobly and turned back to the small crowd that had
gathered behind him.

The reptile-man glided
forward. "You're no fun at all, Voyager. A few seconds more and I would
have had her."

"To be precise, you
would have stolen my property, and I would have had to kill you. She's mine,
Sinbar, and in spite of her lack of manners, I intend to keep her… for a
while."

Sinbar seemed unaffected by
the threat to his life, but it instantly froze everyone else in the tavern. "I'll
buy her. Name your price." The last word ended in a prolonged hiss.

"Now why would you
possibly want her?" Gallant asked suspiciously.

Sinbar shrugged his narrow
shoulders. "She seems… amusing."

"How odd. I thought
the only thing that amused you was increasing your wealth. What value could a
Terran female have to you?"

The snake eyes narrowed to yellow
slits. "Do you wish to name a price or not?"

Cherry kept her eyes
averted as she followed the haggling back and forth. Several deductions
gradually made themselves clear. Sinbar must have heard the rumor Gallant had
started about her and figured he could make a profit by buying Cherry and
reselling her to Frezlo. Therefore, he probably knew how to contact Frezlo.

Also, based on the
reptile's comments, Cherry was certain she hadn't merely imagined that she
couldn't pull her gaze from his. It must have been some sort of hypnosis, and
Gallant's slap efficiently broke the connection moments before Sinbar "had
her." But it was hard to feel grateful to Gallant while her cheek still
burned.

After several offers were
made and rejected, Sinbar made a series of hissing sounds and slithered out of
the tavern. Although the rest of the clientele soon found other means of
entertaining themselves, the Finites continued to ogle Cherry until Gallant led
her to a table in the opposite corner from them.

She was ready to give him a
piece of her mind as soon as they had a measure of privacy, but the moment they
sat down, a pleasant-looking man with dark red hair approached them and clapped
Gallant on the back.

"Ho, Gallant! I was
over at Camp Three when I heard someone mention your name over the transmitter.
Had to come see for myself. How the
drek
are you?"

Rather than return the
friendly greeting, Gallant's voice was razor-edged. "Alive and well,
Dutch. I see some things never change. News travels as fast as ever around here."

"It's still a small
sector." He looked around for another chair, but none was available. "Stand
up, sweetheart," he said to Cherry with a friendly laugh. "You and I
can share that seat and get better acquainted at the same time."

Gallant clearly lacked an
appreciation for Dutch's good humor. Sternly, he ordered Cherry, "Come
over here."

She rose and moved to his
side, but when he tried to guide her onto his lap, she balked.

"Do you need another
lesson in good manners?" he asked in a threatening tone.

Sending him another visual
promise in retribution, she sat down stiffly across his hard thighs, shifted
more to the front, then rearranged her legs in between his so that she was
perched on only one of his thighs. When she started to move again he wrapped
his arm around her waist and braced her tightly against him.

"Enough!" he
growled dangerously.

Even through the cumbersome
sackcloth, she could feel the reason he wanted her to stop squirming. It was a
shame their safety depended on him having his wits in order, or she could have
exacted a fair amount of retribution right then and there. Just to let him know
she was thinking about it though, she wiggled her bottom one more time before
settling into the possessive hold he had on her.

Chuckling, Dutch sat down
in the vacated chair and called out an order to Kip. All the while, he had been
openly regarding Cherry, particularly noting the slave collar and leash. "I
heard it, but I didn't believe it. Not only does Gallant Voyager have a female
slave, but a human one at that. If I'm not mistaken, there's a pretty woman
under that get-up. What's your name, sweetheart?"

Because of his friendly
tone, Cherry's gaze automatically raised to his. She was about to answer when
there was an imperceptible tug on her chin. She didn't know if it was because
Dutch presented a danger she didn't sense, or if Gallant just wanted to keep
her from making a friend. For the time being, she deferred to Gallant's implied
order by shyly lowering her eyes and letting him answer for her.

"Slaves don't have
names, Dutch." With sarcasm dripping from his words, he added,
"Remember, you're the one who taught me that."

Cherry was curious to hear
more, but Dutch only shrugged and switched subjects.

"So, what brings you
here, Gallant?"

"Apparently a few
things
have
changed since I was here last. Used to be a man's business
was his own."

Dutch held up a hand. "Ho,
no offense meant. Just making conversation."

But conversation came to an
abrupt end throughout the tavern seconds later. Glancing furtively around,
Cherry noticed that all eyes had turned to see the imposing figure that had
just entered the building.

Frezlo!

Over seven feet of hairy,
pig-faced beast surveyed the room before turning his beady eyes on her. With a
loud grunt, he lumbered toward their table.

Cherry saw Dutch settle
back in his chair with an expectant sparkle in his light blue eyes. Instantly
she was certain that he had been aware that Frezlo was on his way and had come
to the tavern for the sole reason of observing the fireworks. Some friend he
was! In spite of the way Gallant had been treating him like an enemy, she had
been starting to consider Dutch as a possible backup ticket home. Apparently,
he was even less trustworthy than Gallant.

From the way everyone else
was watching them, she also knew Dutch wasn't the only one anticipating a good
show.

As soon as Frezlo reached
their table, he pointed his metal finger at Cherry and grunted again. Remembering
what that finger had done to the Weebort had her burrowing further into
Gallant's protective embrace.

Giving her a reassuring
squeeze, he said to the beast, "Our translators don't interpret grunt,
Frezlo. You know that. Speak words, or go visit someone else."

The nostrils of his snout
flared with annoyance, but he complied. "Frezlo… want… her."

"Really?" Gallant
managed to sound surprised. "First the Finites, then Sinbar, and now you. The
value of Terran females must have gone up quite a bit since I won this
one." He leaned back and scrutinized Cherry's features as if he may have
missed something that everyone else saw.

'You… won… her? How?"

"Hmmm?" Gallant
returned his attention to Frezlo. "Oh, yes. It was a friendly game of
cubit. I didn't realize I had made out so well."

"Frezlo… play…
Voyager… now." He grunted at Dutch, who gladly relinquished his chair and
joined the eager bystanders hovering nearby.

Cherry could feel the
tension building in Gallant's body, but none of it was outwardly evident. Taking
her cue from his attitude, she forced herself to change her posture from
cowering to lounging comfortably against him.

The instant she relaxed, he
pretended to be kissing her ear as he whispered, "Good girl. Now play
along with me." He lightly ran his fingers up and down her arm, and she
didn't need to fake the giggle that escaped her throat.

Frezlo pounded a fist on
the table.
"Play!"

Gallant slid his hand down
to Cherry's hip and kneaded it as he spoke. "I don't know, Frezlo. All
this sudden interest in my new slave had me thinking about returning to the
privacy of my ship."

Cherry put her arms around
his neck and whispered against his ear, "I'm probably going to have to
kill you when this is all over."

His laughter implied that
she had told him something extremely naughty. "All right, Frezlo. It seems
the woman enjoys watching the game. And for what she just promised, it will be
worth entertaining her a little." Gallant named a reasonable monetary
stake to start and Frezlo grunted his agreement.

"Kip!" Gallant
called, and the bystanders automatically opened a path between him and the bar.
"Three refreshers and the house cubes, please."

Gallant continued to stroke
and caress Cherry throughout the first match. Molded into his lap as she was,
she alone knew that he wasn't anywhere near as distracted by her as he was
pretending to be. If he wasn't driving her so crazy with his seductive touches,
she might have congratulated him on his control as well as his superb acting
ability.

Somehow, in spite of his
limited attention, Gallant won three games in a row for a quick match. In the
second match, Frezlo narrowly took one game before Gallant beat him again. When
Frezlo stupidly lost the third match also, Cherry decided he was either the
worst player in the galaxy or he was throwing the game on purpose. The latter
possibility became stronger when he demanded they increase the stakes to make
the game more interesting.

"Frezlo… want… her. What…
Voyager… want?"

Forcing himself to ignore
Cherry's wide-eyed panic, Gallant rubbed his chin and glanced around at the
interested faces in the room to give himself time to prepare. He knew Frezlo
was more cunning than he appeared. The minute Gallant named the forfeit he
wanted, Frezlo could figure out that a trap had been set for him. Gallant also
knew, however, that Frezlo was a true gambler, and if he did agree to pay a
particular forfeit, he would never renege on it any more than Gallant would. The
only thing to do was lay the wager on the table and see if it was accepted.

"Seeing as how I've
won all three matches so far, I don't suppose there's much chance of my losing
tonight." He waved for Dutch to come closer, then asked Frezlo, "Do
you accept Dutch as the official witness?" Frezlo grunted. "Fine. One
five-game match. If you win, the woman is yours." He had to tighten his
grip on Cherry to prevent her from bolting. There was no way to let her know
she had nothing to fear. "If I win"—he paused again to make sure he
had both Frezlo's and Dutch's full attention—"if I win, you tell me who
hired you to eliminate the Weebort trader in Innerworld."

"Client… information…
secret."

Gallant shrugged. "No
one will hear your answer but me."

Frezlo snorted. "Why…
want?"

"Personal reasons. He
did me a favor once. Is it a bet or not?"

"Bet," Frezlo
declared with a nod and tossed the cubes to begin the first game.

Each quad rolled brought a
fresh round of murmurs as side bets were made and renegotiated.

Gallant had hoped to win
honestly; a cheat on Zoenid was swiftly rewarded with a special place in the
sun, but by the end of the fourth game, he and Frezlo had each won two. He told
himself he couldn't afford to lose the opportunity to get information from
Frezlo, but in a corner of his mind he admitted that it was Cherry's safety for
which he was going to risk cheating.

"Stand up, woman. My
leg's gone to sleep." Ever since he agreed to make her a forfeit, she had
barely moved a muscle. Like an automaton, she let him guide her to stand behind
his right shoulder so that he could keep her in his peripheral vision. As an
extra precaution, he placed her hands on that shoulder. Instantly she gripped
him so hard, he winced.

"Play!"
Frezlo repeated
when Gallant took another second to move Cherry's robotic hand back to her
side.

Gallant picked up the cubes
and threw his initial try of the tiebreaker game with every confidence that he
would be relieving Cherry's fears in a matter of minutes. It would have been
convenient if he had managed to get a quad, but when his third toss resulted in
nothing more than two pairs, he knew what he had to do.

As Frezlo took his turn,
Gallant casually ran his hands down the front of his vest. Then, even more
slowly, he curled his fingers inside the edges and slid them back up again.

Nothing!
There were no
hard little bulges in the lining; no special set of cubes to exchange for the
honest ones. He felt Cherry's fingers digging into his shoulder, but the shock
of the missing cubes kept him from immediately responding to her signal. When
he did, the look on her face said it all. Numb fear had been replaced by panic…
and
guilt.

A memory of her in the
facility chamber, looking like she was up to mischief, flashed in his mind, and
he instantly knew what had happened to his cubes. His return look of total
exasperation was equally readable. Now he had no choice but to play an honest
game and hope his luck held.