by John Norman
“How so?” he asked.
“I am not a prostitute,” she said.
“What are you?” he asked.
“I am a slave girl,” she said.
Tuvo Ausonius gasped.
“You are not branded, you are a free woman,” said the masked figure.
“In my heart, your lordship, I know that I am a slave girl,” she said. “I have known it for years.”
“Interesting,” said the masked figure.
“Disgusting slave!” cried Tuvo Ausonius.
“I beg your indulgence, and forgiveness, your lordship,” she said, “for my debasement, my degradation and weakness. But there are such women, and I am one of them. I do not think that there is any longer any point in denying it. I want to be owned and mastered, to have no choice but to obey. I want to love and to serve, selflessly, unstintingly, with all that I am and can be.”
“Surely you are terrified at the thought of becoming a female slave,” said the masked figure.
“It is what I am,” she said. “Beyond that I do not know what to think. I sense that it is my true freedom. I do not think I could be happy in any other life.”
“Your thinking must be corrected,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“To agree with yours?” she asked. “I have spent my life with such thoughts. They are gray, meaningless and empty.”
“Terrible, terrible!” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“Some women want to know that they are alive, really,” she said. “They desire real experiences, strong experiences.”
“What of tenderness and sensitivity,” said the masked figure, amused.
“Such things,” she said, “are surely very precious, and doubtless a girl muchly treasures them, but they are meaningful only when set against a background of power and mastery.”
“Degraded slut!” cried Tuvo Ausonius.
She looked at him, angrily. “I do not apologize for what I am!” she said.
“You would choose the brand, as opposed to a mere twenty years in a penal colony?” asked the masked figure.
“Yes,” she said.
“Why?”
“I am a slave.”
“I think I shall send you to a penal colony,” said the masked figure.
“Please do not!” she said.
“I can do what I wish,” he said.
“Yes,” she said, putting her head down, trembling, “the power is yours.”
“What do you think I should do, Tuvo Ausonius?” asked the masked figure.
“It matters not to me, of course, your lordship,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“She is well curved,” said the masked figure.
“I am a same,” said Tuvo Ausonius, “we do not notice such things.”
“The penal colony is, of course, by far, the lesser punishment,” said the masked figure.
“The lighter punishment might be appropriate for a different woman, a higher woman,” said Tuvo Ausonius, “but consider this one, what she is, her debased nature, the utter worthlessness of her.”
“True,” said the masked figure.
“Too, as a free woman she would be priceless, of course, but she would actually have no value,” said Tuvo Ausonius. “As a slave, she would presumably be worth at least something. For example, she could be bought and sold.”
“True,” said the masked figure.
The masked figure turned to Sesella Gardener, the stewardess, from the line Wings Between Worlds.
“You understand,” he said to her, “that as a slave, you might come into the keeping of anyone. For example, you might be sold, and you would then belong, wholly, to whoever bought you.”
“Yes,” she said.
“You might even come into the keeping of our esteemed Tuvo Ausonius,” he said.
“Oh, no!” she cried. “Please, no! Do not jest, your lordship! Do not even hint at such things!”
“It is surely a possibility,” he said.
She struggled helplessly, futilely, but she could not even rise to her feet, as she was held.
“You are to be herewith, on numerous grounds, and particularly prominent among them those of fittingness, with my next words,” said the masked figure, “pronounced slave.”
She looked up at him, trembling.
“You are a slave,” he said.
“Take her away,” said the masked figure. “See that she is branded before nightfall.”
The slave’s guiding rod was freed from the sockets and she was pulled to her feet.
“Trust that you come into the keeping of a good master,” said the masked figure.
She was thrust from the room.
She looked back, once, wildly, over her shoulder at Tuvo Ausonius.
“She came to your room, did she not?” asked the masked figure.
“Yes,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“One wonders why,” said the masked figure.
“Yes,” said Tuvo Ausonius. “It is all very strange.”
“She mentioned that there was another reason, other than her concern with her position with the company, and such.”
“As I recall, she did,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“I wonder what it might have been,” said the masked figure.
“I have no idea,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“Some women have needs,” said the masked figure, “a complex spectrum of needs.”
“Perhaps some low, terrible women,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“Such as slaves?”
“Perhaps,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“She is now a slave,” said the masked figure.
“Appropriately so,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“I think she may have found you attractive,” said the masked figure.
“Surely not,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“You are not a bad-looking fellow,” said the masked figure.
“She hates me,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“That might make it interesting then, to own her,” said the masked figure.
Tuvo Ausonius regarded the masked figure, startled.
“Surely you found her attractive?” said the masked figure.
“I am a same.” said Tuvo Ausonius. “Such matters are of no interest to us.”
The masked figure turned to the commissioner, and the two officers who had remained in the chamber. “Thank you, gentlemen,” he said.
They bowed and withdrew.
“Tuvo Ausonius,” said the masked figure.
“Yes, your lordship,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“I am confident that you are innocent of peculation, and such, but the evidence is surely serious. I fear you have enemies.”
“I do not know who they could be,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“I, too, have enemies,” said the masked figure.
“You, your lordship?” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“Unfortunately, yes,” said the masked figure. “In these days intrigue, ambition and malice abound.”
“I am innocent,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“I think that you are likely to fare very badly if you do not obtain a friend, a protector, in a high place, someone of importance, someone with considerable influence.”
“Alas, I know no one!” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“At some risk to myself, I could be such a one,” said the masked figure.
“Your lordship!” exclaimed Tuvo Ausonius.
“But there is a serious difficulty.”
“Your lordship?”
“I admire your insight and courage, your insight in detecting that the former Sesella Gardener was rightfully, and naturally, a female slave, and your courage, despite the risks involved, in attempting to see justice done, to bring about her fitting reduction to embondment, thus bringing to an end her pretensions as a free woman.”
“It is nothing, your lordship,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“Such insight, such intelligence, such daring, such courage,” said the masked figure, “are such as are needed by a confidential agent, of the sort I mentioned
earlier.”
“One attached to the palace, a tenth-level imperial civil servant?”
“Certainly, but one who would report only to a given individual.”
“Who?” asked Tuvo Ausonius.
“The arbiter of protocol.”
“I have heard of him,” said Tuvo Ausonius, shuddering.
“There would be considerable compensations, pecuniary and otherwise, involved in such a post,” said the masked figure.
“I would be honored even to be considered for such a post,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“There is a serious difficulty, of course,” said the masked figure. “There are the charges of peculation which, even though we both know them false, might bring about your arrest and sentencing to hard labor on a mining planet.”
“Perhaps your lordship might consider sheltering me from such dangers,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“It is not impossible,” said the masked figure.
“What of the matter of the slut?” asked Tuvo Ausonius.
“That matter is done,” said the masked figure. “I have already cleared you of that. Your enemies, even if they wished, can no longer make use of it.”
“The woman herself?”
“She is now a property,” said the masked figure. “She has no legal standing, no more than a pig or dog.”
“I am deeply grateful to you, your lordship.”
“You are then interested in my suggestions, in the possibility of promotion, of rewards, even riches, of perquisites and favors, of various sorts, of service to the empire and palace?”
“Yes, extremely so, your lordship.”
“You understand that these matters are confidential, that they may involve matters of delicacy, of state importance, and that your allegiance, devotion and service must be complete and unquestioning?”
“Of course,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“You will be contacted,” said the masked figure.
“Yes, your lordship,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“In the beginning you will be on a probationary basis.”
“Of course, your lordship,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“An officer will be at the guard station, at the end of the hall. He will arrange to have your clothing returned to you.”
“Thank you, your lordship.”
“When you receive it, I think you will discover that a letter of credit will be enclosed in the left inside jacket pocket, in the amount of a thousand darins.”
“My thanks, your lordship!” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“In one of the pockets of your jacket,” said the masked figure, “we discovered a ticket to the commissioner’s auction, to be held this evening.”
“Oh?” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“Perhaps you planned to attend?”
Tuvo Ausonius shrugged.
“As a matter of curiosity, of sociological illumination,” said the masked figure.
“Possibly,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“You are correct that a certain slave will be put up for sale,” said the masked figure.
“Oh?” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“It might be interesting,” said the masked figure, “to see her exhibited naked for the men, perhaps on a neck chain, forced to move, and pose, as the auctioneer requires, knowing herself subject to his ready, even eager, whip at the least sign of unwillingness or hesitancy.”
“Perhaps,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“The experience should do her good,” said the masked figure. “I myself intend to attend, though you will not recognize me there.”
“No, your lordship,” Tuvo Ausonius assured him.
“I will have an agent bid for her,” said the masked figure.
“Oh?” said Tuvo Ausonius, in disappointment.
“On your behalf, of course,” he said.
“Your lordship!”
“It is nothing,” said the masked figure. “That is just one of the perquisites of which I spoke.”
“Thank you, your lordship,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“After the sale, return to your quarters. She will be delivered to you, hooded, by midnight,”
“Thank you, your lordship,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“You will recall how she rushed upon you and struck you when you were helpless?”
“Yes,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
“She will be yours, by midnight,” said the masked figure.
“Thank you, your lordship,” said Tuvo Ausonius.
CHAPTER 22
“Are you pretty?” asked the fellow.
“You can see very little through the grille,” said another, irritably.
“Please feed me, Masters,” she said.
“Come closer to the grille,” said another, bending over the crate.
“Bring it out, farther, into the light,” said another.
Three of the mariners turned the crate about and slid it out, scraping on the plating, from the wall, more under a light, fixed in the ceiling of the hold.
“The virgin seal,” said one in disgust.
“Who would know?” asked another.
“They could tell, if the seal was broken,” said another.
“You could lose your certification,” said another.
“I am not crated, Masters!” called a feminine voice from across the hold. There was a sound of chain on the steel plating. “Content me! Feed me!”
“Be silent, if you want to keep your blanket,” said one of the mariners.
“Are you pretty, in there?” asked one of the mariners, tapping on the grille with a finger.
“Some men have seemed to find me pretty, Masters,” said a frightened voice, from within the locked, sealed box.
“What is your name?” asked one of the mariners.
“Whatever Masters please,” she said.
“You answer to ‘Flora’?” said one of the men, reading the label.
“I answer to whatever name is given me,” she said. “That was my house name, in the house where I was boarded.”
“I know that house,” said one of the mariners, with a laugh. “They train girls there, as well.”
“Are you trained?” asked one of the men.
“A little, Masters,” she said. “We are trained, as Masters please.”
“A trained girl,” said one of the men, approvingly.
“Only a little, Masters!” said the woman.
“I am trained!” called the voice from across the floor. “Content me! I will be good! Feed me!”
“Take her blanket,” said one of the men.
One of the fellows walked across the hold.
There was a tiny cry of misery.
In a moment, with a blanket, folded, he returned. He dropped the blanket to the side.
“Put the side of your face up, next to the grille,” said one of the men.
The girl in the box did so.
“I can see a little of her,” said a man.
“She looks interesting,” said another.
“We could break the seal and claim we knew nothing of it,” said one of the mariners.
“The key is here, taped to the top,” said another.
“The box was logged in, and the seal checked,” said one of the men. “Who has access to the hold? Do not be foolish.”
The girl inside the box cried out, as one of the men kicked the side of the box, angrily.
“There is the other one,” said one of the mariners.
The men turned about.
There was a sudden small sound of chain, as though a slave, perhaps finding herself regarded, had hastened to kneel, perhaps performing obeisance.
“Would you like your blanket back?” asked a man.
“If it should please Masters to return it to me,” said the voice.
“Lift your head,” said one of the men.
“I am hungry, Masters, please feed me,” said the girl in the box.
“Be silent,” said one of the men.
“Yes, Masters,” she said.
Th
e men then went, taking the blanket with them, across the hold.
The girl in the box, peeking through the grille, watched them.
They were crouching down, about the other girl. She was fair-haired and well ankled. Her left ankle was chained to a ring, set back near the opposite wall of the hold.
“I am not a virgin,” she said to them.
“Bring her a little food,” said one of the mariners. “She will need her strength.”
Men laughed.
The girl in the box watched for a little, but then lay down, her knees drawn up, closely, in misery. She could not help but hear the cries from across the hold. She squirmed. She was helplessly heated, for she, too, was a slave. The cries were those of slave rapture, that rapture that she herself had never yet felt, that rapture mercilessly, even ruthlessly, inflicted upon one who has no choice but to submit.
Later a man came to her box and, with his boot, slid up the tiny panel at the foot of the door.
Two small pans, with the side of his foot, were slipped through the opening from the outside, one for food, which contained some broken pieces of pressed cakes of cereal, and one for water.
“Keep your box clean,” he said.
“Yes, Master,” she said.
CHAPTER 23
The small slave, hooded, naked, kneeling, her wrists encircled with steel, put out her hands, following the chain running from her wrists, and felt the heavy ring, fixed in the floor, to which she, by the wrists, was chained.
It was only that night that she had been sold, and that only in a magistrate’s auction, one in which a variety of items, not only women, had been offered, abandoned parcels, unclaimed trunks, confiscated properties, a captured stray dog, many such things.
She felt the ring carefully, her small fingers touching it, and holding it.
She had been exhibited naked, of course.
She had obeyed the auctioneer with perfection.
It had not been necessary to strike her, even once.
She was still reeling with what it had been like, ascending to the tall, wide, rounded block, the lights, being frightened, not being able to see the men, really, the sawdust beneath her feet, the loose metal collar with its light chain on her neck, not inhibiting her movements, the prodding of the auctioneer’s coiled whip, which had snapped once and had made her cry out, almost as though she had been struck.