Collateral Trade

by Candace Smith

  The Casiquas left all those on planet to die, so I think these two species living on Rashilla will suit each other. Chaya returned his attention to the meeting.

  “We can give you a year of food supplies to support the two thousand remaining on board. Our Engine Master can boost your system to get you to Rashilla… excuse me, Adam One… in about a month. In exchange, we get one hundred fifty healthy, breedable women. That is, of course, after we pass a visual sample,” Danilo said.

  “I thought you had three hundred men on board in need of companionship,” Jerome replied.

  “We mate in pairs, Chairman, with a set of twins to each woman.” Danilo was familiar with species who found this practice unusual, and he waited for the man’s reaction. He knew he would not be turned down, considering the Chairman already made the decision to murder the women as an alternative.

  “I see. Well, if you have any other twins searching, send their ships our way. According to my list, we have an overage of seven hundred available young women and it could cause problems when we land and begin to set up housing.”

  “Visual first, Chairman,” Danilo reminded. “Can they be trained?”

  Shit, I’ll have them jumping through hoops if you want. Jerome did not have a clue how to respond. The bottom line of the agreement led to the salvation of the Manerea, by any necessary means. His thoughts moved on from the young women being traded to the unbalanced pairing when they landed. Women fighting three to one for a partner meant Security needed a boost. “Since launch, they have been kept separate from the men. With our overpopulated status, we felt it best.”

  Bruce suggested, “If you wish to send a shuttle back, I can have Officer Metzer return. She’s older than the women you are interested in, but she can give you a better indication of our collateral.” And not even alien giants can rattle that bitch.

  Officer Sandy Metzer was in her forties and headed Security in the lower level. She was a little domineering for the Actanas’ tastes, but much more appealing than the colorful Casiqua females. At least she had prominent breasts and hair, though short and stiffly spiked… and, she could not fade.

  “I wish to speak to Officer Metzer in private. Perhaps, you gentlemen would like to tour our ship?” Danilo arranged an escort with another dark father.

  Sandy Metzer looked at the barbarians. They were tall, muscular brutes, and she decided her aggressive appearance was not exactly what they were looking for. Not that she was under consideration for trade, thank god. “How do you know our language?”

  Danilo smiled. The Casiqua Commander had been surprised by this phenomenon, as well. “Your ship passed into the new world galaxies. When the Ancient Celestial returned, she spelled the advanced world quadrants so all species could communicate for trade. Naturally, it took technological adjustments to break the ship beacon code.”

  “So we’ll be able to communicate with any others we meet here?” This was something she needed to tell Bruce. It could be important and help her towards promotion.

  “Yes, as long as you are in the advanced worlds. Adam One is on the edge, but still within the Shatung Quadrant.” Danilo figured very little interesting communication could be held with the Casiquas, anyway. “Now, Officer Metzer, I’d like to know more about the women.”

  “I believe the women being offered are all in their twenties.” She stared into the dark eyes of the Commander. “They have not learned my strict outlook or behavior, Commander. I was trained for Security.”

  Danilo’s eyes flashed. Trained? “These younger women, can they also be trained?” They were having dismal results with the Casiquas.

  Sandy smiled. Oh, so it’s like that. Why doesn’t it surprise me? “I will personally review the collateral, Commander. It is my job to assure the primary crew travel safely to Adam One, so it would not be in our best interests to screw you.”

  Danilo was curious how this female’s mind worked. She was independent, and did not seem bothered that she would not have the advantage of a mate. “This does not concern you, sending women to an unknown future?”

  Sandy shrugged. “I do as my employer directs. My position is to ensure the majority of our group survives. That, and the fact I will not be on that list, no, Commander. It does not concern me in the least.” Sandy looked at the men standing behind the Commander and controlled a shiver of revulsion. “If your sons are an indication as to their future, they will be well protected and supplied for. Remember, Commander, these women were three days away from evaluated disposal. We are doing them a favor.”

  “I do not mean to insult you, Officer Metzer, but you are one cold ass bitch.” Danilo laughed and slapped the table.

  “Damn right I am, and Commander, I trust you are a man of your word. In return, you have my promise to review the list and remove any women from consideration that I feel will not acclimate to your needs.” She glanced at his sons, again. “This will include any women I feel are either too fragile or too small.”

  As the barbarians were close to seven feet, Sandy figured the shortest woman she could safely pass would have to be at least five-nine. This cut her work in half. They shook hands, and Sandy headed back to the Manerea. With her minor position controlling lower level, the only mark to her credit was catching Matt and Tammy. For this important task and the information about the communication situation, she was assured a promotion.

  Jerome leaned back in the shuttle. “Well done, Officer Metzer. The only additional request from Commander Danilo is you are to personally review the evaluation list.”

  “Thank you, Chairman.” She held up a shaking hand and looked at Bruce. “I was scared shitless I’d screw it up. I’m not exactly the dainty flower they’re wanting.” Sandy could not wait to get back to her lover. Cynthia would absolutely fly into a sexual frenzy when she explained the trade.

  Sandy and Cynthia reviewed the list late into the night. “These two room together, and they’re both about five ten,” Cynthia noted. There was a curly haired blonde woman with brown eyes. The profile said she was studious and intimidated by unusual circumstances. Her friend was equally tall, with long black hair slung over her shoulder in a braid and emerald eyes.

  Even in her picture Sharell looked defiant. Sandy was still peeved the girl shut down her advances, and figured it would be better to let the Actanas deal with her than have her become a combatant problem on planet. “Janella has discovered the veining in the plants, so she may be of use,” Sandy replied. She pointed to the profile of the green-eyed girl. “This one, Sharell, has no focus or commitment. The stupid kid has spent her life with a screwdriver in her hand or slinging drinks, and she actually put in for Navigation.”

  “We have nine others further with the discovery than Janella. Let the girls go together,” Cynthia suggested.

  Sandy nudged her. “You’re such a pushover. No, Janella stays.”

  “Bitch.” Cynthia’s hand slipped to Sandy’s strong thigh.

  During the next morning break, Sharell and Janella sat in a corner sipping water and reading their tablets. A guard walked in and handed a note to Dr. Terar, and he raised an eyebrow and made his way to several researchers. The young women set down their tablets when he approached them.

  “Sharell, you are to report to the shuttlebay.” The scientist wandered towards the next name on his list.

  Sharell smiled with nervous excitement, and Janella hugged her. “You must have been accepted for Navigation.”

  “Oh god, do you think so?” Sharell’s green eyes closed while she envisioned the view of space from the shuttle deck. The only time they wasted the fuel to open the doors was to initiate passion to new Navigation crew by overwhelming them with a sight of the universe.

  “Hurry, Sharell. Tell me every detail when we get back to our room.”

  “Here, I don’t want it confiscated.” Sharell handed Janella her tablet, and then sprinted down the corridor with several other women.

  “I guess it took a while to put together a class for the wom
en,” a girl said. “I applied a year ago, and I’ve seen two classes of men go through.”

  Sharell walked to the center of the bay. There were a hundred or more young women gathered. “Shit, it’s going to be a big class.” A nervous flutter hit her belly that did not seem related to the anticipation of leaving the lab.

  “They must be getting worried about the food supplies and want extra eyes working over the charts for a place to land.”

  On the podium, Officer Metzer stood next to the Chairman and the rest of the Decision Board. Sharell noticed that no Navigation officers were present. A flicker of nervousness caused her to lose some optimism. Back out. I need to leave, now. I need to get to the doors and run for a test-tube. She wrapped her arms around her stomach in a calming embrace. “What’s going on?” Sharell asked the girl beside her. She worked two tables down from her in the nursery. “God, Judy, I didn’t know you put in for Navigation.”

  “I didn’t. I think this has something to do with the aliens. Maybe they have the answer to our food problem and we’ve been selected to train with them for a few days.”

  Not likely. Judy has less talent than I do as a lab rat. Sharell looked around at the familiar faces. “Not all of us are from the lab. I see some women from Maintenance and Supplies here. Look, Tammy’s on the end of our row, and after being caught with Matt she was demoted to Cleaning.”

  “Attention, ladies.” Sandy waited for the murmurs to die down.

  Sharell heard a noise from behind her, and she whispered, “Security is blocking the exits.” Her stomach began to roll. The last time the guards locked her in, she found herself blasted into space. Too late. She hugged herself tighter.

  Officer Metzer was halfway through her speech on sacrifices, when the young women began to slowly back up. At the mention they were to be given to alien men, women screamed and battled to the doors.

  “Fuck it,” Sandy hissed. “You were selected to be shoved into space in a couple days because your services and training did not pass to make you viable to waste resources on.” That got their attention. “There are seven hundred young women left on that list, so you have a choice. Either transport to a new life where you will survive, with dignity and with the knowledge you saved your friends, or you will be considered once more expendable.” Sandy gripped the edge of the podium and glared at them. “I don’t give a damn if we have supplies for you or not. We don’t need traitorous cowards on Adam One.”

  “Jeezus, Sandy, don’t sugar-coat their situation,” Bruce whispered.

  Sandy turned to him. “It is what it is, and it’s better they learn to accept the consequences of their decision. Those barbarians are not going to want a group of fighting, sobbing women to deal with.”

  “Are you going to mention the ‘twins’ angle?”

  “Bruce, with all due respect, do you think I’m fucking crazy? Look at them, they’re terrified.” Sandy did not want a bigger scene than she was already facing, and she had assured the alien Commander he would be getting a good trade. For the sake of the Manerea, she intended to uphold her end of the bargain.

  Most of the young women were holding hands with a friend and crying quietly. A few were sobbing hysterically, and three cowered in Security restraints for trying to escape into the ship. “Security C,” Sandy ordered calmly.

  Young women watched in silence as the attempting escapees screamed and fought being dragged across the deck to a room at the side. Soon, the uncontrollably sobbing girls joined them. From another side room, nine women took their place on deck. It was obvious by their shocked expressions that they heard the arrangement.

  Sandy pointed to the locked room. “Does anyone else wish to join the expendables?”

  “God, Sharell, we don’t even know what they look like.” Judy shivered. “What if they’re all slimy or have claws and scales?”

  Sharell’s eyes locked onto Officer Metzer’s. The cold challenge in the guard’s eyes was obvious, and Sandy glanced at the Security room and shuttlebay doors, daring Sharell. “That bitch isn’t kidding,” Sharell whispered incredulously. “She’s really going to get rid of the women who screw up her plans.”

  At the sound of the shuttlebay doors sliding open, Sharell began to shake. A large transport ship waited on the other side, with a side portal yawning open. As a last futile measure of defiance, Sharell lifted her chin and her green eyes blazed into Officer Metzer’s glare. Her voice was not as calm, and she quivered, “Judy, please stay with me.”

  “No problem.” Judy grabbed Sharell’s hand.

  Everything inside Sharell made her want to bolt, but they dragged each other forward, past the podium. Sharell gripped Judy’s wrist and stared up at the guard. “I’d rather go to them than sell out to your ugly ass.”

  Sandy responded with a chilling smile. “Ah, Sharell. But you haven’t seen them, yet.”

  “What does she mean?” Judy cried.

  The shuttlecraft was one big room and controlled by remote from the Cathisis, so the women still had no idea what the aliens looked like. They spent the short drifting ride to the alien craft, imagining frightening monsters from movies. The shuttle docked with a gentle settling glide inside a huge bay. Dozens of smaller crafts were parked beside it. The side door opened, and no one moved.

  Sharell squelched a crazy notion to steal one of the nearby spaceships. She had no idea how to get out of the situation, and her spinning thoughts continued to scramble through impossible solutions.

  A deep voice called from across the bay. “Welcome to the Cathisis. Come out so we can see you.” There was a touch of humor in the voice.

  Sharell’s knees threatened to buckle, and she tried to convince herself it would be all right. “I guess we can’t stay hidden in here forever, and I sure as hell don’t want some alien dragging me out of here,” Sharell whispered. She knew her face was as ghost-white as Judy’s and the false bravado was not fooling her friend.

  Sharell looked around at all the mysterious machinery and lights searching for the podium. The bay alone was five times the size of the one on the Manerea. It took a moment to locate the owner of the voice, standing overhead on a platform. Beside him were lined a long row of men that circled halfway around the bay. At least they looked like regular men, though a bit on the pro-wrestling circuit side of the size scale and not into haircuts. It was still a minor relief from what she had imagined.

  They wore black tunics with different colored embroidery on the left shoulder. Tight black pants outlined muscular legs, and they wore shiny black boots. Their hair was long and either blonde or dark. The dark haired ones looked seriously scary.

  “I guess it’s better than expendable,” Sharell whispered nervously. “We’ll get a room together until we decide which one we want to check out. I think we had better stick to the blondes.” With this many men, they should be able to prolong the dating stage for at least a month while she tried to orchestrate a plan.

  Sharell thought of the romantic meeting scenes in her novels, where the man swept the woman off her feet with flowers and long dinners discussing common interests. In real life, Sharell thought those sorts of frills were ridiculous. A few margaritas and maybe a slow dance warmed her up just fine. Looking up at these giants, she had a feeling things were going to be very different.

  Chaya and Tian watched with the others, waiting for the women to walk out of the craft. At last, they moved forward to the center of the bay. After seniority of Officers, there was a lottery for the selection and the order in which twins could select. It was far preferable to the irritating chase for the Casiquas.

  Danilo was pleased with the beautiful creatures, and thankful Officer Metzer had been truthful. These women exhibited none of her harsh attributes, and his eyes scanned and absorbed their fear. “Choose wisely, sons.” He noticed both of them staring in one area, and he glanced along the platform finding all of the twins looking in different spaces. He turned to the dark father standing next to him, and noted the same puzzled questioning l
ook on his face. “A mating call, Jifa? With a primitive species?” His light brother had told him the scrolls had suggested such a thing, but Danilo had discarded the possibility.

  “We have chosen, Father,” Chaya whispered. Tian, is she not the most beautiful creature? Look how her eyes reflect the green of the Actana Sea.

  Tian was studying every visible inch of the creature, though it was not much the way the primitives had her cloaked. The hair does not grow in a rope, Chaya. There is a securing device on the end, and her long dark tresses can be unbound. Tian could imagine the feel of the silken strands running through his fingers. He could see himself leading his mate to the communal baths, and watching Sian’s jealousy while he washed and combed his mate’s beautiful long hair. Actana women’s hair stopped growing when it reached their shoulders and the Casiquas were bald.

  She is not too tall, but look how rounded her breasts and hips are. Her legs will wrap fully around me while I plunge into her. Chaya felt his protective gene kick into high gear at the thought of all the twins beside him viewing his new mate.

  Several throaty growls rumbled along the platform. “The dark twins are emitting a bonding warning,” Danilo murmured.

  “I think we need to have our light brothers evaluate the Casiquas when we return to Actana. If even half of what we suspect is true, there has not been more than initial training attempted with them.” Jifa knew this, because his own sons were attempting to bond with Ayana.

  “Agreed. We will speed to Actana as soon as supplies are transferred to the Manerea. It might be in our best interests to keep the primitives appeased until this is sorted out,” Danilo suggested. He watched his sons’ chosen mate’s eyes searching the platform and stalling on Tian.

  “Father, it feels more like she has chosen us,” Tian said. “She is confused, though.” His light reflective senses brushed her, and he turned towards his brother. “She is so very frightened, Chaya.”

  An unaccustomed anxiety edged Chaya’s mind at his mate’s distress. “I feel this, too. We should go calm her.” They walked towards the stairs leading down to the floor.