by Penny Rose
How wrong they had been.
The Kondorians would not do well as idle servants. They were valued for one thing and one thing only: strength. Violence begat violence. That was how it was and how it would always be.
Cade looked at the tattoo on his wrist. The long vertical line with a short horizontal line at the top denoted his mastery of the warhammer. He wondered where his weapon was now. Either scattered somewhere on the battlefield or taken captive just as he was, although he found it unlikely his captors would have seen its value.
Cade sized up the men around him. A muscled man with pale skin and blonde hair wrestled against his restraints, cursing wildly. His neighbor spoke to him in hushed tones. Cade couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, but they kept looking at him.
Several of the men huddled against the wall or were curled up in the fetal position. These men had already accepted their fates. They would be servants until they died. It wasn’t the first time Cade has witnessed the behavior of defeated men. His tribe had defeated many rivals on Kondor, taking their lands and resources.
Cade would not go down that easily. Most of the men around him were bruised and bleeding, and he took comfort in knowing they had fought against this fate. He was certain that he looked no better. He raised his hands to try and feel the back of his head again, but the cuffs made it impossible.
They were advanced technology, fitting snugly around his green skin. Cade knew there was money involved with slavery. The missionaries that had come and lived among his people warned of the danger that planets like his own would face. The empire didn’t protect border planets, because they were not part of the empire. One of the missionaries had described it as the “Wild West,” but Cade had no understanding of the term.
He sighed and leaned back, resigned to watch the scene play out for the moment. He hoped he would get medical attention at some point . Those around him looked like they could use it as well.
Just as he leaned back, the door at the end opened with a suction of air. The doors zipped back of their own accord and four armed guards entered the hallway. They were clad in full body armor, with helmets that concealed their identities. Each one carried a plasma rifle.
Cade had seen the weapons before on Kondor, he’d even managed to loot a few, but he’d never seen one in action. Kondor’s magnetic field made them practically useless on the planet’s surface.
“Everyone up!” one of the guards shouted in the common tongue.
The other captives all seemed to understand. Even on the border planets, the common tongue was popular. That was the main reason the missionaries came—to learn about the planets and teach the common tongue to its inhabitants in the hopes of one day integrating them into the empire. The missionaries were the only reason Cade had any knowledge of magnetic fields or life beyond Kondor.
The majority of the room stood. The muscled blond who had been fighting with his shackles remained seated. A guard stepped in front of him and nudged the man with his rifle.
“Up.”
“Up yours!” The man defiantly planted himself against the wall.
Without responding, the guard smashed the butt of his rifle against the man’s jaw, knocking him out. The prisoner collapsed forward, dead to the world.
“Everyone out. We’ll deal with him later.” The guard turned toward the door.
The guards led them out of the corridor into a large room. It was a massive auditorium with dozens of cages around its perimeter. Bodies moved inside the cages, but the lighting was too dark to make out any of their features. The walls of the room were solid, windowless metal. They could be in a bunker or a spaceship. There was really no way of telling. Hundreds of chairs sat in the middle of the room facing a stage, and those chairs were filled with people.
That was when Cade knew what was happening. This was a slave auction, and he was the prize. He’d be sold to the highest bidder. The guards funneled his group into the nearest cage. A dark-skinned man with pointy ears tried to run away, but the butt of a plasma rifle put him in his place.
Cade knew this would go one of two ways. He’d be taken as a gladiator and sent to fight in the arenas, or he would be forced to do manual labor until he died. Even on Kondor, tales of the great gladiators had made their way across the stars. If this was Cade’s life now, he refused to be a common slave.
One of the guards nudged him in the back as he entered the cell. Cade fought his instincts to thrash out against his captors. It would do nothing for his value if he was unconscious.
The door to the cell closed behind him and he was able to gaze out into the crowd. Anticipation and hushed voices filled the air. Then there was a click and a bright light shone down, illuminating every cell.
“You have five minutes to inspect the slaves,” a robotic voice spoke from several directions.
In the light, the other cells were now visible. Cade recognized some of his own men in the cages across from him, but there were so many others. Hundreds. The mercenaries must have gone to more than one area, more than one planet, to find slaves. Thinking of the manpower it must have taken to capture so many people left Cade with an uneasy feeling. Looking around, he didn’t see an immediate way out of the situation. He would sit back and wait until opportunities presented themselves.
He kept his breathing slow, never allowing himself to get worked up over the situation. He would remain in control at all times. There was no point in getting angry or upset. What was done was done. All that was left was to adapt. Besides, he could see that it was doing no good for the men that screamed at the guards. If they were waiting for a show, he wasn’t about to give them one.
Not yet.
He looked from one face to another in the crowd. They were all waiting anxiously to purchase someone. They talked among themselves. Some made notes. It wasn’t just men; women were also present. There were dozens of races in the room, some of them even looked remarkably similar to those in the cages. They wore finer clothing and held devices that were beyond Cade’s recognition. What gave them the right to buy and sell other people?
Cade had so many questions. How did they get involved in such a thing? How did they hear about a slave sale? The fact that slavery was conducted on such a large scale was beyond Cade’s comprehension. On Kondor, they took one another’s lands, but not their people. No one belonged to another. The thought sickened him, and anger threatened to boil in his veins. He wasn’t ready to display that side of himself. Not here of all places. They would take advantage of that, and he didn’t want them to take any more from him than they already had.
He wondered what kind of person would want to purchase another person. To own them when they had no right to. There was something fundamentally wrong with the idea that one person could own another. Kondor did not believe in such things. He wondered briefly if he would ever make it home—not that he had anything waiting for him. Not anymore. Now that he was captured, another warrior would rise to take his place. The odds were certainly stacked against him.
The longer he stared, the more the anger grew. He had a strong desire to kill them, to kill each and every one of them. They had jumped from the sky with plans to take him and his people away. How dare they do that to him and his men! He took a few deep breaths, determined to quell the building anger.
His men had looked to him for leadership and he had allowed them to be taken captive. He was their leader and had let them down. Who would lead them if the mercenaries returned? He was not there, and he hoped things would not fall apart while he was gone.
Cade made eye contact with Rodgar from across the room. There was an anger in his countryman’s eyes as well. What would happen to the other men of his that were in those cages? He wondered if there was a way to get them sold together, to be with them, and try to work together to come up with a plan. But just as the thought came into his mind, he knew that the chances of finding a place together were slim to none. The slave masters would deliberately break them up to make sure that the
re was no chance of an uprising.
The lights dimmed around the cages, and the main stage lit up. A large screen appeared above the stage with a list of names and numbers. It had the number of the slave, their race, their recommended job, and then the bid amount. Cell one had been emptied and its inhabitants were lined up under the screen. Guards stood at both ends.
Quicker than Cade would have imagined, the prisoners were sold—auctioned off to the highest bidder one by one. Rodgar was led off the stage and Cade had a hollow feeling inside that he would never see the man again. Their lives were no longer their own. From this moment forward, they were nothing but livestock. The process repeated until half the cages were empty.
Two guards approached his cage. One of them pointed their weapon at the prisoners while the other flashed a badge in front of the cell. The door slid open and the guard entered. He stared at the prisoners, one by one, as if swiftly assessing them.
Cade wondered what the guard was thinking. Was he sizing them up? Was there something particular that he was looking for?
The guard grabbed Cade by the arm, pushing him toward the door. He pushed Cade in the back, causing him to stumble. Cade turned and stared daggers at the guard.
“Just try me, slave, and I will shoot you on the spot. You are worth nothing to me, so keep that in mind.”
Every muscle in Cade’s body tensed, ready to erupt with Kondorian power and destroy the guard before him. He wanted to kill him on the spot, to pry the armor from his flesh and make the man beneath feel fear so deep that it would follow him to the next life.
But this was not the time or the place. Cade might have a chance to escape, but it wasn’t now. Not when he was cuffed with a device he had no knowledge of and was surrounded by guards just looking for a reason to shoot. He would be killed without a second thought because there were plenty of slaves. His death would be an example to keep the others in line. Cade might be an example one day, but not for this. The guard was serious when he stated he would kill Cade on the spot. That wasn’t something that Cade wanted. He wanted to live.
Cade exited the cage, but it was slow-going. With shackles on his feet, moving was difficult. When he didn’t move fast enough, the guard would push him forward, causing Cade to constantly stumble. The guard was singling him out, attempting to humiliate him in front of the masses. Why? Perhaps because Cade hulked over the man even while he was wearing boots and armor. It probably gave the guard some twisted pleasure to boss around races he could never hope to compete with outside of this room.
Cade took a deep breath and pressed on. If he was going to live long enough to escape, he had to keep his cool.
His head had stopped spinning, but the pounding was still there. A constant reminder of the wound he couldn’t reach. Cade stood at the edge of the stage beneath the giant screen, which now displayed the names and numbers for his cell. He tried to look up to see the stats more clearly when the plasma rifle was pressed up against his shoulder.
“Get moving. You’re up next.”
Cade stepped onto the stage. The guard stopped him in the middle, and a stream of light poured down upon him from a flying drone hovering above him.
Cade glared defiantly at the crowd. He would not weep and beg before these monsters. He would not show them weakness in any way. He looked them in the eyes, searching for any sense of remorse. Anything to show they had a soul.
They stared right back at him with eyes full of greed.
“And here we have our second Kondorian of the night. This one is primed for the arena. Word has it that they put up quite a fight. We’ll start the bidding at five hundred quills.”
The auction jumped to action and screens lit up across the room. Drones fluttered through the air. As each person entered their bid, a drone hovered over them, shining a blue light on the highest bidder. The lights flickered, and he knew that he was a popular prize. That pissed him off more than anything.
The bidding for him was over in under a minute. It had gone by so fast that it took his breath away. It only took a minute for his life to change forever. Now, he was neither free man nor prisoner. He was a slave. He had just been sold, and that was the most incomprehensible thought.
The guard pushed him off the stage and guided him out of the auditorium, down a corridor, and into a room. Six others waited inside, but none of them were from Cade’s planet. He sighed in disappointment. Rodgar was gone. So were the others most likely. He wondered what would happen to his men and if he would ever see them again. The chances weren’t good. He had let them down, and that was something he would not be able to let go of.
“You are all now the property of Maizon. You will wait in here until you are collected by your owner.”
With a suction of air, the door closed, leaving Cade alone with the other slaves.
There were five, besides himself, and they all had the look of strong warriors. None of them spoke. There was a yellow-skinned man with bulbous eyes, a beast-man with a flowing mane and dark fur, a spotted man with no ears and powerful tusks that jutted from his jaws, a red-skinned man with tentacles for arms, and an insectoid covered in a hard shell with a multitude of eyes. They stood their ground, proud and defiant.
Cade searched their faces, wondering if he could convince any of them to try to escape with him. Before he had the chance to size any of them up, a tall, dark-skinned man entered the room. He was surprised to see a slave owner so close. He stood several feet away from the man who now owned him. Maizon’s skin was dark, almost black as night. He wore fine linens and carried himself as if he walked upon the clouds. His wardrobe was a simple silk shirt and gold pants. Simple, yet elegant. His hands were not the rough hands of a worker, there was no dirt on them whatsoever, and his fingers were lined with jewelry. Cade wondered if the man had ever held a sword.
Maizon’s eyes fell around the room, locking on each individual slave. When his gaze fell upon Cade, it was as if he was looking into the eyes of a devil—deep yellow and cat-like. Cade fought the urge to look away. He had looked into the eyes of men who wished him dead, into the eyes of beasts that wanted nothing more than to devour him whole. This was different. There was a nothingness in Maizon’s eyes, lifeless and cold, and the look sent a shiver down Cade’s spine.
“You men are my property; I would like to make that clear. You are mine and I will do what I will with you. You will fight for the glory of me and all that I am. You are my gladiators now, and you will fight for me. You will fight for yourselves, for your own honor, but most importantly, you will fight for the glory of my house.”
He paced about the room. Cade glared at him while a few others were slowly shaking their heads. Maizon stopped in front of Cade.
“You can die here if you choose to not fight. I will not pay to transport you if you are going to give me problems. The guards will kill you now and save me the trouble of doing it later. Money is nothing to me. I can buy a dozen more slaves. But glory, now that is valuable. So make your choice: die here or die in battle to the cheers of the crowd. You may not be free anymore, but your lives can still have a purpose. The choice is yours.”
The mood of the room shifted at those words. Some of the slaves nodded, agreeing to fight. Maizon looked back at Cade and he nodded. He wouldn’t die in this room. He would try to live as long as he could in the hopes that he could find a way out of this mess and off whatever planet he was on.
“Good. Now that you know your place, we can move forward. First, you will be taken to be healed. You all look like you have already been through a battle, and I need you to be in your best condition for the real battle ahead of you.”
“Sir,” Cade started.
Maizon turned to him with intrigue. “Yes?”
“The other slaves, where will they be going?” He knew it was slim, but maybe Maizon would divulge their location.
“You mean the other Kondorians. Who knows? Your lot doesn’t come cheap. They could be going to any planet with a decent arena system.”
Cade tried not to let his frustration show. His men were on their own now. He just hoped he had trained them well enough.
The guards led them out of the room and down another long hallway. The slaves were all still handcuffed, but the feet shackles had been removed so that they could move more easily. It was like they thought the slaves would be eager to leave the building and start their new lives.
They walked through a door and bright light blinded him. A gust of fresh air filled Cade’s lungs. The air was dry and crisp, unlike the stale weighted air inside. As his eyes began to adjust, a barren landscape stood before him. He had no idea what planet he was on, but it was a vast difference from the lush forests of Kondor. If he tried to run, his green skin would stick out like a sore thumb among the sandy terrain.
His stomach tightened. That would make escape difficult. Even more difficult, what would he do once he escaped? How would he find his men and get off this godforsaken planet? Cade wasn’t ready to give up on the idea of freedom. It wasn’t just him that he had to think about. There were men out there that needed him, and he was determined to be there for them.
He coughed suddenly. The air was thinner on this planet. After a few minutes, his body began to adjust. He still coughed periodically, but otherwise didn’t seem to be suffering any ill effects. He cleared his throat, inhaling slowly until he found it easier to breathe. He noticed the other men were suffering a similar fate, especially the beast-man. So, none of them were from this planet. Who were these people?
The guards led them across the sandy terrain to another building. Maizon whispered something to the guard and left to go back to the previous building. Cade was eyeing his new master when one of the guards nudged him in the back. He fought to control his temper. Now was the time to observe. To search for weaknesses that he could exploit later.
“All of you line up,” the guard ordered.
Cade took his position next to the alien with red skin and tentacles, similar to the one that he had killed on Kondor. How ironic that the species had produced both mercenaries and slaves. He might have laughed except for the fact that Cade was handcuffed right beside him. Cade wondered what kind of man could kidnap and enslave his own people. There was no respect to be had by anyone involved in the slave trade. Bodies were bodies. He needed to remember that before it got him killed.