Red Planet: The Slave Queen (Tamarians Book 1)

by Jessica Snow

  “So they made generational ships,” Audra says, and I shake my head. “What? How'd they survive the trip then?”

  “Sleeper ships, with automated pilots. In fact, most of the colonists weren't even adults but were in fact infants and children, who were taught via sleep induction on the voyage. The original plan was to send two ships to each target location, in case one was damaged or destroyed in travel, with the first ship to arrive six months before the second. So, T.A.M.A.R.I.A 1 was launched. Even the name of our planet, and my people is a human creation, although we've lost what TAMARIA stands for. But...”

  “Something happened,” Audra says, and I nod. “What?”

  “Stellar fragment is Mogar's guess, or a rogue black hole. It accelerated TAMARIA 1 faster, from ninety percent of light speed up to nearly ninety-nine point five percent of light speed. In doing so, the two ships traveled at relatively different times. The TAMARIA 1 arrived at its destination nearly seven thousand years before TAMARIA 2. In that amount of time, things had changed.”

  “You were no longer human,” Audra notes, and I nod. “Why?”

  “Terraforming is the word for it. Tamaria wasn't quite perfect for humans when TAMARIA 1 landed. Earth had planned for this, and both TAMARIA 1 and 2 were slightly bioengineered to be resistant, at least until terraforming could take hold. In the hundreds of years it took for the planet to be changed, as new species were introduced, the Tamarians evolved. Apparently the solar radiation was slightly different, the air was different, things like that. Unfortunately, while it's given me my eyes, my skin, and these sexy as hell ears, it also meant that when combined with the fact that the first generation of Tamarians were mostly sleep educated, my people.... forgot.”

  Audra's smile at my joke fades as the implications hit her. “The Tamarians saw the second ship as a threat.”

  “They saw them as country bumpkins,” I respond. “Remember, while the Tamarians may have forgotten about Earth, they didn't forget the day to day technology. They'd had that on hand from the beginning to build from. They didn't forget much of the science, even if they forgot about the culture and history. So when TAMARIA 2 came into orbit, it was a few thousand years behind the times. I mean, we had the first FTL drives by this point, and here comes a ship that arrives via sub-light travel? The Tamarians had grown hostile, arrogant in their ways, and when the humans landed....”

  “Things didn't go well.”

  I shake my head. “The Tamarian government seized the ship and saw the mostly immature crew as backward idiots. Oh, there were quite a few speeches about helping the outsiders, bringing humans up to Tamarian levels of accomplishment, but in less than a generation what started as a supposedly reasonable system of apprenticeship and study turned into slavery. The first slavers emerged one hundred and twenty years after TAMARIA 2 landed on Tamaria.”

  “So does that mean that humans and Tamarians are... we're the same?” Audra asks again, and I shrug.

  “It's hard to say, Mogar was still trying to figure that out himself. I mean, seven thousand years is a long time to separate populations. Are a wolf and a dog the same? Both of which, by the way, came from Earth. From what Mogar can figure out, about half of the species on Tamaria came from Earth,” I reply, musing. “I suppose you don't agree with me. A lot of people don't. My father, even though he's seen the same data disks I have, doesn't believe it.”

  “No... I can see it,” Audra says, looking over. “If anything, I just need to look at Neyton and Neyilla's bedrooms. Too many Tamarians like having human sex slaves, there's attraction there that goes beyond just what you might have for a pet.”

  “And humans are attracted to Tamarians,” I counter. “Not every human who is involved with a Tamarian does so as a slave, or at least not unwillingly. Or am I that ugly to you?”

  Audra looks me over and bites her lip, but then shakes her head. “Sorry, Tauren. What you represent, what you are... there's too many hard feelings there. I'm not saying I can't understand your point but..... no.”

  I nod, watching the fire. “You know, history isn't the only thing that Mogar taught me from the old records. What I know could be quite valuable, to the right person.”

  “Such as?” Audra asks.

  “The location of the other Earth colonies, or at least their target locations. Maybe even more importantly, the planets that were rejected for colonization by the T.A.M.A.R.I.A Project. The alternate sites that were rejected for various reasons. Some of them weren't rejected because they were incompatible with human life, but for travel reasons,” I reply. “Free me, and I can tell you where you can take the entire Resistance. Some of the nearest alternate sites for the T.A.M.A.R.I.A Project are easy to reach now with FTL drives. A year or less of travel.”

  Audra considers it for a long time, and I press my advantage. “Think about it, Audra. You, Jensen, the others.... even Mogar, maybe, or the other Tamarians who have genuine feelings for the humans in their lives. You can have peace, and a new life, free from bondage. Just let me go.”

  Audra shakes her head, getting to her feet. “Nice try, Tauren. But there's no way I'm freeing you, and betray every human that's still in slavery. I think it's time we went back before they start thinking you actually did try to escape.”

  I climb to my feet, and kick dirt into the fire, smothering the flames. There's still coals, and I wonder what to do before my body tells me the obvious solution. “May I have a little privacy? I'd like to douse the embers.”

  “With what?” Audra asks before blushing when I cup my crotch. “I gotcha. Okay, I'll wait at the entrance, but I'm not turning my back on you.”

  She retreats, and I turn my back to her, taking out my cock and starting to pee. It's harder than I thought it would be, I can't get the fact that Audra's watching me out of my head, which for some reason makes me feel self-conscious. I don't know why I've had servants seeing me naked since birth. After a moment though I finally get a good flow, and the embers hiss as I drain myself onto them. I tuck myself away and turn around, checking my zipper as best I can. “Okay, I'm ready.”

  Audra nods, her eyes flicking down to my crotch, and she bites her lip again. “Let's get back. I'm going to need to watch you very carefully.... to keep you safe.”

  Keeping me safe? She doesn't know my skills, which is just how I want it to be. Still, she is being nice, and I've had less attractive bodyguards in my life. “I appreciate it.”

  To say that it is an ugly atmosphere when we get back is an understatement. Audra's nearly has a riot on her hands when we get back, and she has to pull her powerlance, pointing it not at me but at her fellow humans, a group of which have us nearly pinned to the cave wall, trying to get to me. Audra though, in a display of bravery that I didn't expect, puts herself between them and me, defending me at the risk of her own life. “I said get the fuck back!”

  “Why are you defending the Pinko?” someone in the crowd yells. “He killed my cousin!”

  “No, his father did!” Audra yells back, her lance still glowing. “Not him!”

  “An eye for an eye!” someone else yells, and the crowd roars in approval, stepping forward again before Audra presses the firing stud on her lance, and a high pitched whine fills the air. It's a warning, the lance is now armed and the next press will send death flying through the air.

  “I said it once already. My brother told me to protect this man. I will do so, and that means get the fuck back!” Audra yells, her voice having the same sense of command that I heard from Jensen in the little that I spoke with him. She's got heart and courage, this woman, and I would not want to be on the other end of the powerlance from her. “You kill him now, and the death of those other slaves will be in vain! There's no way we'll get the other slaves out if King Joren finds out his son is dead! You'll just be signing the death warrants for every slave in the capital.”

  “Pinko-lover!” someone screams, and Audra's eyes flick over, her lip curling. “Fucking Pinko-lover!”

  “Say that
again,” Audra growls, her voice dropping to a deadly whisper. “Get this very, very clear, whoever the fuck just said that. I have no fondness for this man. But I will protect him, because Jensen asked me to. Maybe I just met him, but he's my brother, my blood. Who wants to see how far I'll go to honor that blood?”

  The threat works, and the crowd backs away, Audra reaching behind her to grab the shackles on my wrists and maneuvers me along the cave wall towards the corridor where my cell is. Reaching it, she opens the door and shoves me inside, before following herself, her powerlance still at the ready. When nobody comes to try and beat the door down, she lets loose a long, shuddering breath, and I realize just how scared she was. “Are you okay?”

  “And I thought Neyilla had some people who don't like her,” Audra jokes, her voice still quavering. She turns around and goes over to the chair in the corner and rearranges it so that she can see the door. The problem with that is, it brings her chair right next to my mattress, within easy grabbing distance of me. “Do me a favor, drag your mattress over to the corner where my chair was? That way I can watch you and the door at the same time.”

  “But the cable in the wall....” I start, before just nodding and grabbing my sleeping bad and shuffling over. I arrange it and sit down, my wrists and ankles still shackled. I'm surprised when Audra reaches into her pants pocket and pulls out the key, tossing it over to me. “Really?”

  “I'm not giving it to you, Tauren. I'm trusting in your intellect. You know that if you start some shit in here, you might get past me for sure. Hell, you might even get a powerlance, although this is an officer's model. You might know how to hack the DNA scan element. But there isn't enough power or ammo in this lance for you to get out of the cave alive, not with that crowd out there. You trusted me enough to not shoot you when we were walking. I'm going to trust you enough to not do something stupid, so unlock the shackles, and then slide them all over here. We'll figure out what to do after I find out if we're going to be getting dinner or not.”

  “Actually, I won't be able to get a powerlance, that's an officer's model coded to your biometrics, if I grab it I'll get a shock,” I tell her, but I do as she asks, tossing the key over first before sliding over the two sets of restraints.

  Audra uses her boot heel to pull them under her chair, then holsters her lance, crossing her arms. “Go ahead and get comfortable, I doubt we're getting a movie for a while.”

  “Mogar taught me quite a few ways to entertain my mind when I'm by myself, but that would be quite boring for you,” I reply, smiling. “So.... how about we entertain each other?”

  “I'm not into you, Tauren. I hate the term Pinko, or Pinko-lover, but that doesn't mean I'm interested in you,” Audra says, glowering, but still her eyes flicker over my body. I've seen that look before, she is at least physically interested, and if anything, it's good for some fun.

  I can't help it, I've always been a bit of a flirt, and I grin. “Methinks the lady doth protest too much. But, that's okay. What I meant was, how about some gossiping? I'm sure you can tell me plenty about Neyilla, and I can share things with you that.... let's just say that stupid fucking socket she's already gotten cut into her head is not the most embarrassing thing she's done.”

  Audra grins, leaning forward. “You've got yourself a deal, Tauren. After that, I'll start hollering to see if we can get some lunch. We might be sharing a ration pack though.”

  I shake my head. “No, you can eat. I'll skip.”

  “Like hell you will,” Audra replies, leaning forward. “Get it through your handsome head, Tauren. You're not going to make me like you with some sort of drawn out suffering act.”

  I smirk, leaning back against the wall. “So you think I've got a handsome head, do you?”

  Audra realizes what she just said, and growls, her smile disappearing. “Fucking arrogant nobleman.”

  I laugh, it feels good. “Come on Audra, I'm just joking. I'm sorry, okay? To make it up, I'll go first. This was about twenty years ago, I was fourteen, and eight-year-old Neyilla was visiting the palace with her father.....”

  Chapter Seven

  Audra

  I wake up with a rumbling stomach, and sit up with a jerk, realizing that not only have I fallen asleep, but that I forgot to have Tauren move his mattress back over to the di-car cable in the wall. He's been free in the room the whole time, oh hell, my lance...

  With an audible sigh I feel the weight of my lance against my thigh, still secure in its holster, and I rub my face, wondering how the hell I could have screwed up so much. My stomach rumbles again, and I look down at the remnants of last night's dinner, half a ration pack. I gave the main portion to Tauren, while I ate the crackers and vegetable concentrate, wondering what sort of sadist designed the pack anyway. Now, with my mouth gummy with the leftover residue, I smack my lips, grimacing. “Yuck.”

  Tauren stirs, wiping at his eyes, blinking as he sits up. “What was that?”

  “I said yuck,” I reply, getting up and going over to the water jug in the corner. Thankfully I'd refilled that before everything kicked off yesterday, and that someone put in a bucket to use as a toilet unit as well. A little smelly, but I've dealt with worse. “I think I've got frond root on my breath.”

  Tauren stretches, then climbs to his feet gracefully, rolling his shoulders. Silently, he starts going through the poses that I saw him doing the first day, a routine that I've come to realize is half exercise, half meditation. I swirl around a mouthful of water, then swallow it, grimacing at the taste but not having a sink to spit into, I'm pretty much out of other choices, I'd prefer to not spit into the toilet bucket. “What's that called, anyway?”

  “Mogar taught it to me, he calls it the gentle way,” Tauren says, moving into another pose. “I don't know what it was originally called, or if Mogar made it up. He taught it to me when I was having problems as a teen balancing my physical energy with my need to study.”

  I watch, enjoying the display of Tauren's grace and movement, and it reminds me that other than the walk yesterday, I haven't done a lot of physical movement myself. I've been too busy watching Tauren. I exercised and trained almost daily in Neyilla's house, and while I am now free, that doesn't mean that all the habits I had living in her service were bad ones.

  I hear boot steps coming down the hall outside the door, pausing before it opens, and Jensen comes in. As soon as he sees me he smiles, his smile growing when I go over to greet him. “Jensen... brother.”

  I think Jensen and Tauren are both surprised when I give Jensen a quick embrace before stepping back, studying his face. “You look happy.”

  “After what you just said? I most certainly am. How's our guest?” Jensen asks, turning to look at Tauren. Tauren adjusts his tunic and nods once. “I heard about what happened yesterday. I have spoken with the people in the camp, it will not happen again.”

  “Thank you. I could use a shower if you're in such a good mood. Your sister did an admirable job of protecting me, but this cell is short a bathroom.”

  Jensen laughs, and I can see the twinkle in Tauren's eyes, he's joking again. Jensen nods, and steps back. “Tell you what, Tauren. I will personally escort you to the shower, you can do all the washing you want before we sit down to breakfast. I've got good news, at least from my point of view.”

  “Good news?” I ask. “But Jensen, the news yesterday about the decimation....”

  “Was amazingly, totally overblown. It wasn't ten percent, it was ten. A loss of course, but not as bad,” Jensen says. Tauren nods and Jensen turns to me. “Audra, take a little time off. Go use the ladies' showers, change clothes, I'll meet you at the incoming bunks.”

  The shower is glorious, even with some of the nasty looks that I get from some of the other women. While I wish I had a private stall, there's only a half-dozen other women using it while I wash, and when I come out I find Rebbie waiting for me. “Hi.”

  “Hi,” I answer cautiously. While I didn't say anything to Tauren about it yesterday,
I think Rebbie was one of the people who called me a Pinko-lover yesterday, the words hurting me more for who said them than what was said. It's only been a few days, but until then I thought that perhaps I'd made a friend in the Resistance already. “What's up?”

  “I... it seems I'm saying this a lot, but you were right yesterday,” Rebbie says, taking a deep breath. “It took a lot of guts to do the right thing like that.”

  “If we're going to prove ourselves better than the people who kept us slaves, we have to do the hard thing sometimes. And that hard thing isn't what a lot of people think it is,” I reply, grabbing a towel and starting to dry off. “That isn't always going to be bloodshed.”

  Rebbie sighs, crossing her arms over her chest. “I know. And until yesterday, I thought that would be something I could do. But anyway, you were right. I'm sorry.”

  I can see that she's trying, and maybe there is a chance for friendship here. If there is, I want to save that chance. “Apology accepted. Let's move on, okay?”

  Rebbie nods and leaves, and I change back into my dirty clothes, going back to my bunk. It seems strange, I've slept in Tauren's cell more than I have this bunk, but it officially is 'mine,' with my name written on a piece of paper tacked to the end of the bunk, and when I open the locker I find that the oversized stuff that greeted me the first day has been replaced with three sets of clothing in my size, along with another pair of Lancer boots. I peel off the dirty clothes I've been wearing and put on a utilitarian gray jumpsuit like a laborer would wear, something Neyilla would never have let me even consider before. My lance holster buckles easily around my waist and I strap it to my thigh, comforted by the weight. Rebbie may have apologized, but there were too many people still looking at me with hatred in their eyes even in the short walk from the shower to the bunks. I need to watch my back, but I'm used to that, living in Neyilla's house. Not all snakes slither on their bellies.