by Stella Cassy
He strolled out of the pavilion we'd eaten in and onto a path through the forest. "We've made strides with the slaves. We find the humans too much work, but there are many other species that make fine additions to our ground forces." He walked slowly so that we could move side by side and converse. "They know they're treated relatively well here on Coovoo. In exchange for their loyalty, they're given a higher status and a few more freedoms. Rebellions amongst them are squashed swiftly and harshly." Chiron slapped his hands together for emphasis.
He was obviously proud of his achievements with his slaves. "I'm eager to see what you've accomplished. Perhaps we can adopt some of your methods on Thirren." I tried to compliment him, to show him that I viewed him as an equal. I didn't, of course, but it would help our negotiations if he thought we were on an even footing. I needed him to believe that I respected and admired him. He'd be more open to negotiations.
The path opened up into a clearing. To our left, various slaves stood with bows and arrows. Rudimentary weapons, but I supposed they were relatively effective for ground troops. On the right, bullseyes sat, waiting for the slaves to begin their target practice.
When we emerged into the clearing, a Coovian nodded, and the slaves took aim. Their arrows were true, hitting the center of their targets nearly every time. For crude weapons, they were at least accurate. Of course, I wasn't convinced one of the arrows would be able to pierce even my most vulnerable skin, but they were proud of themselves, so it was important to praise them for their efforts. I often did the same for the children sparring on Thirren.
"I'm impressed at their accuracy," I said loudly. "You've trained them well." I nodded at the man that seemed to be in charge of the slaves. "Well done."
He smiled tightly and turned to murmur to another Coovian standing beside him. I averted my gaze, ignoring his slight, reminding myself that I was totally unfamiliar with their customs.
Chiron led me around the archers to a sparring field full of more slaves battling one another. We stood and watched them as an instructor circled and gave advice, occasionally whacking one of them with a large wooden stick. The slaves learned how to battle different species by constantly rotating. They never really knew who they'd be up against the next round. It was a smart way to learn to best your foe, no matter who you ended up battling.
"Impressive," I said to Chiron with a smile. "You've got a tight organization going here."
We continued around the combat area, looking down on the training slaves. Personally, I'd never trust slaves to go to battle for me. Not only was there too high a chance of betrayal, but there was no honor in letting others fight battles for me. A Hielsrane's honor came from loyalty, duty, and battle.
And raids, of course.
We strolled leisurely through the forest toward my ship. "You'll stay the night here?" Chiron asked. "We'll show you the armory tomorrow, then talk business."
Frustrated with the delay, I agreed. At this rate, I'd never be the first one back home. We parted ways at my ship. "My men and slave?" I asked.
"Your men are being entertained at our house of fancy. They'll want for nothing tonight. And your slave is in the pits with the other new recruits. She'll do some mining and be returned to you when you're ready to leave." He bowed his head slightly and walked away.
I went straight to the deck and pressed the comms button to connect to our command center. Carissa answered immediately.
"Illion. How is your mission?"
"We arrived safely on Coovoo. Their current leader, Chiron, has been reluctant to talk business, as he calls it." I watched her face. "Should I wait to tell you about him until Tarion arrives?"
"No, you may proceed. Tarion has left me in charge while he deals with other matters." I logged that information away. For a former slave to now be in charge of our elements missions was... not bad, exactly. Just a change. Different.
"Right, then." I filled her in on the events since we'd left, including the freighter, Leticia, and the events on Coovoo.
"Illion, I believe the Coovians are trying to threaten you," Carissa said thoughtfully. "I've not had a significant amount of interaction with them, but they have subtle minds. They play a lot of games and are big on innuendos. I think it's very likely the show of battle-trained slaves was a threat. At the least, it was a show of strength to dissuade you from trying to attack them."
I considered her words. "All right. I'll keep that in mind and be watching for a double-cross. They're still the closest planet with an excess of water. We would do well to make a deal with them."
"Possibly. We'll see how your talk goes tomorrow. Check back in after you start negotiations."
I signed off with a nod. She was overly cautious, but I would keep my eyes open anyway.
12
Leti
Ignoring the shout of the centaur above me, I stopped dead and stared at the creatures. Fucking Pax. I wondered how many I could take out with the pickaxes they swung before one of the centaurs took me out. Probably not many. Damn. The Pax were small, but they were incredibly fast and limber. They'd be hard for me to take down, especially since I had no experience fighting such a creature.
The centaur moved toward me, and some of the Pax even turned to look. I vowed to myself one day I'd learn to fight. I knew it wouldn't matter how well I could fight, in the situation I was in, I never stood a chance. But I'd eventually be able to take them one on one. I wouldn't be so vulnerable.
Before the centaur had time to point his weapon, I heeded his shouts, throwing up an arm and ducking my head down. "I'm going," I called. "Just needed a moment."
"You don't get moments, slave," he replied. "You get work."
The urge to roll my eyes and tell him where he could shove it was almost more than I could fight off. I managed to resist. I might've been able to get away with that with Illion, in private, but it would never fly with these horse-men. It probably wouldn't have flown with Illion either, not around his men.
As I neared the Pax, one of them seemed to be standing back. He noticed me and turned. "Here," he said, picking up a pickaxe out of a pile and handing it to me. "Get busy."
I took the tool. "May I have gloves?" I asked softly.
He laughed and turned away, looking at the workers. "Over there." He pointed to an empty spot between two other Pax. I walked over as slowly as I dared, then watched what the creatures on either side of me did before I began.
Mimicking their swings, I lifted the axe and brought it down on the rock wall in front of me. "What are we looking for?" I asked after the point of my pickaxe bounced ineffectively off of the rock wall without removing any of it.
The Pax on my left laughed while the one on my right replied, "Precious stones."
"For now," Lefty said ominously.
"What do you mean?" I asked. "Do you have an escape plan?" I tried not to let my hopes grow.
"No, idiot. We aren't really slaves. And if you help us, you won't be either." The Pax digging beside me went back to chipping away at the rock with his pickaxe. "Get busy or they'll start yelling."
"What are you talking about?" I asked as I hit the rock with my axe again.
He continued swinging. "We're going to take down that Drakon ship that landed. I assume you came off of it?"
I squinted sideways at the Pax. They were the ones that kidnapped me to begin with. Why the hell would they help me escape? Even if I helped them, they'd double-cross me. "So the Coovians are going to kill the Drakon?"
"Every last one of them. We're taking their ship, packing it full of Pax warriors, then going back to their planet to destroy as many of them as we can."
"When are you doing this?" I asked, hoping he'd keep talking.
"Hey!" One of the guards walked close to us on the platform. "Shut up and swing harder."
"What are we digging for?" I whispered once he'd passed. "What's the point of this?"
"If the Drakon look in here, it has to look legitimate. So we're mining for the precious jewels the Coov
oo sell for things they can't produce here on the planet."
I didn't ask any more, just swung. Within a few minutes, my arms were exhausted. I didn't know how much longer I could swing the axe without dropping it. I was a doctor, not a farmer or miner or whoever else would swing an axe on a regular basis.
The Pax weren't the only creatures around me. I had to assume they'd recruited all the other slaves to help them overpower Illion and his crew. It wouldn't take all that many, not really. There had to be thirty slaves in the pit, half of them Pax. Even if just the Pax were involved, they might have enough to overpower Illion.
"Is everyone in on it?" I whispered after double-checking that no guards were within earshot.
The Pax nodded. "All of us. We're going to free the slaves in exchange for their help."
We worked until the guards shouted. They lowered bars of food and packets of water. "Now what?" I asked my new Pax friend. I'd rather have driven the tip of my tool through his brain then talk to him, but I had to pretend to go along with it. Maybe I could buy my freedom with the information he gave me.
"Eat, drink, and sleep."
"Here?" I asked in horror.
He nodded. "Yeah, it sucks. Can't wait to get this show on the road and stop this ruse."
The bar I grabbed from the pile tasted like stale bread, so it wasn't too bad. Not like the ones on the orange aliens’ ships. I ate it quickly and downed the refreshing water. At least my belly was full.
I located the softest looking pile of dirt I could find and lay with my head on my shaking arms. No matter how I tried to relax them, they shook from all the exertion of the day. I'd dropped the axe several times until finally, the Coovian guard made me drag piles of dirt out of the way of the diggers. I used the big tarp I'd used to drag the dirt to cover myself up in the cave. As the sun dropped, the cave cooled considerably.
13
Illion
My comms device woke me early. "Captain, the Coovian contingency is here to escort you."
Ugh, I didn't want to go on another pompous tour of their training facilities. "I'll be there in ten microns," I replied. After a quick shower, I downed a bar of food and hydration pack, then I was ready. They might've been planning to feed me breakfast, but I wasn't positive and didn't feel like starving until lunch.
I shouldn't have worried.
"I trust you're hungry?" Chiron asked the moment I walked into the room. A table was set up with an assortment of fruits and pastries.
"Famished," I lied.
The food was delicious, and I was able to eat a fair portion, enough to satisfy my host, at least. As soon as we'd both pushed our plates away, he stood. "Shall we?"
I nodded. "What's on the agenda? I'd like to get down to business."
"All in good time, boy. All in good time! I want to show you our slave pits and the city proper." He led the way again, forcing me to walk slightly behind him. I was sure it was intentional.
The city was thatched houses and markets. Coovians stood in a small market selling jewels, food, and crudely made clothing. I eyed the jewels, and my mind strayed to Leticia. She would look beautiful riding my cock with a necklace of sapphires around her neck.
"Do you own any of our jewels?" Chiron asked, snapping me out of my unbidden fantasy.
"No, I can't say that I do. Maybe I'll be able to pick something out for my mother before we leave."
"I'll gift you a necklace for her myself," he promised in a loud and proud voice.
The slave pits were next and were quite a walk from the city. Chiron regaled me with stories of getting their freshwater delivery systems up and running, as well as how their electricity was funneled in using water.
It was like he knew exactly what I was there to ask for and wanted to show off how much they had of it. Maybe Carissa had been right. He was showing off to intimidate and threaten me.
The slaves were hard at work, chiseling and digging out more of the precious jewels. "If they produce a large jewel, they're rewarded with a night's stay in a comfortable room and a warm meal," Chiron said proudly.
"That's generous," I said dryly. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye, clacking his front hoof on the wooden plankway that rose above the slave pits.
Looking out over the slave pits, my eyes snagged on Leticia hauling a pile of dirt across the room. "What do you have my slave doing?"
He peered down into the pit. It took him a moment to spot her. "She seems to be moving the dirt away from the workers. It's a job we sometimes have the weaker slaves do until they build up their endurance."
As he walked away, completely unfazed by the way she struggled to pull the dirt-covered tarp, I looked back and forth from Leticia to Chiron.
Making the decision to leave Leticia to her own devices, I followed Chiron, but couldn't resist one last glance down at Leticia. Her well being weighed heavily on my mind.
For a moment, I didn't see her. It was as if she'd disappeared. Then I realized she was so dirty she blended in with the dirt pile she'd been dragging. She was laying on top of it, passed out.
I shouted her name as I launched off of the platform, using my wings to glide to her. I reached her in seconds before anyone really had time to react. Lifting her into my arms was second nature. When she was safely ensconced in my arms, I used my wings to propel me forward, toward the exit of the caves.
Damn it! I'd carelessly let her be worked too hard, and now we might lose a great investment. How could I have been so stupid? I should've had her sent straight back to our ship and left one guard on her. The doctor wouldn't have minded.
I heard the sound of galloping hooves hitting the wooden walkway. Chiron followed our progress above. As I neared the closed gate, it opened and Chiron joined me on the ground.
"Have my doctor found and sent straight back to my ship, please," I called before he neared. He nodded curtly and turned to one of the guards at the gate, who took off at a full gallop, his hair and tail streaming out behind him. I didn't stop to admire his speed, instead going as fast as I could toward my ship.
Unfortunately, the pathways through the woods were too narrow for me to use my wings to help propel me forward and run faster, but I moved as quickly as I could. The bay door was open, so I ran straight in and to the medibay.
Before I laid her on the bed, I noticed how nasty she was, covered in dirt from head to toe. She couldn't be evaluated while that dirty, so I changed direction, through Doctor Oslow's lab and into his private showers. "Computer, set the shower temperature to optimal for human cleansing."
"Water temperature set to one hundred and three degrees Fahrenheit." I had no idea how hot that was, but to me, the water was tepid, barely warm. I sat Leticia on the shower floor, a river of mud washing off of her and down the drain. Drawing down the zipper of her jumpsuit, I discovered clean skin underneath. Our clothing was technologically advanced. It formed to the wearer's size and shape, adjusting body temperature as needed, as well as being impervious to dirts, oils, and waters. At least I knew she hadn't been cold the night before, not too much, anyway.
When she was undressed, I tried to ignore the curve of her breast or her pink nipples puckering under my vigorous washing. I skipped her crotch area. If I tried to wash it, I'd end up cleansing it with my tongue, and she was too fragile at the moment.
Doctor Oslow's voice drifted into the bathroom. "Illion?" he called.
"In the shower. Bring her a towel and a change of clothes."
He peeked his head in before ducking out and returning with a large towel. "We'll dress her after her examination." I was almost finished rinsing the soap suds out of her hair. I stripped my shoes and clothing off, then lifted her onto the towel, wrapping her like a babe. Oslow handed me a towel before lifting her and carrying her out of the bathroom. I wanted to rip her out of his arms.
That wasn't my normal. Why did I want to carry her myself? She was just a slave.
I dried quickly before joining Oslow in the medibay. I slipped one of his jumps
uits out of the drawer and put it on before joining him beside Leticia's bed.
"What's wrong with her?" I asked.
He hovered a handheld scanner over her body. "Without the full-body scanners the bigger ships have, this will have to do. Dehydration, low sugar in her blood, and muscle fatigue. I'd say they just worked her too hard."
"What can we do? Can you fix her?" I wanted to strangle Chiron for abusing my property.
"All she needs is rest and hydration. When she wakes, we'll make sure she drinks plenty of water, and while she rests, we'll put her in the hydration fluid. That will go a long way toward helping with her dehydration. As you know, it's packed full of nutrients."
Before he had a chance, I unwrapped her from her towel and carried her over to the green hydration beds. Settling her gently, I turned back to the doctor, who watched me with a small smile on his face. I had no idea what there was to smile about. "What else?"
"Nothing. Now we wait for her body to heal itself. When she wakes, we feed her and give her lots of water. After that, you can have her return to work at a lighter pace or allow her to rest until completely recovered."
"She'll rest until she's even better than the moment she stepped onto this ship."
He nodded. "As you wish."
I stalked out of the room, but as soon as I entered the hallway, I realized I had nowhere to go unless I wished to return to the damn Coovian host.
No, thanks.
Whirling back the way I'd come, I reentered the medibay. "I've decided to stay with her until she wakes."
Wisely, Doctor Oslow had nothing to say to that.
She slept through the rest of the rotation. Oslow eventually returned to the festivities. "If you're staying, I'm going to go finish the fun I was having when you called for me."
I nodded my head. "I just have to feed her when she wakes up?" I asked.
He chuckled. "Yep."
She slept another couple of solars after that. The green hydration fluid covered her body, hiding the beautiful parts, but I didn't mind. I wanted her to heal more than I wanted to continue exploring her body.