I am in love, thought Antaska. I am completely and totally in love with the old man next to the wall. His name is Nestgorm. He is my love. He is my world. I obey his every command.
The eyes that had been looking into Antaska’s looked away. She felt a strong sense of loss, but hid it from her new love. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings.
“My love,” she said to the old man Nestgorm.
Nestgorm ignored her and spoke to her first love, Marroo. “I’m here to collect my purchase,” he said irritably. Did you make the improvements to her that I requested?”
“Yes,” Marroo answered. “Her body has been genetically modified to improve strength by 500 percent, and it will last approximately five times longer. We also provided genetic enhancement to her existing telepathic abilities to ensure that she will be fully suggestible to telepathic hypnosis—free of charge, of course,” he added.
“Full suggestibility to telepathic hypnosis is guaranteed under your contract,” Nestgorm replied angrily. “Are you trying to sell me inferior goods?”
“Of course not,” replied Marroo. “All of our sales are guaranteed. If you aren’t fully satisfied, you may return this item undamaged for a full refund. Per our contract, we will deduct charges for any damage done to the merchandise up to the full price in the case of death.”
Antaska’s second love Nestgorm gave a dissatisfied snarl, but said nothing.
Antaska sat up in Marroo’s bed and stared at the two Woogah men with unfocussed eyes. Again, she didn’t understand what they were talking about, but that didn’t seem to matter.
He is my love. He is my love, was the only thought that circled in her brain as she looked back and forth between them.
Her first love, Marroo, spoke again. “Enough of this haggling. You know as well as I do how lucky you are that I even have a slave available today. Market supply conditions are tough right now. All manner of interfering alien ‘heroes’ have been following us around the universe warning our potential prey.”
“Yes, of course I know about that!” said Nestgorm, raising his voice to a telepathic shout. “It’s criminal! It’s harming our planet’s economy! Our very way of life is threatened! Our business owners have brought legal complaints to the Universal Council at Central Planet, but they say the actions of those rogues are legal. And other alien planets continue to harass us with their frivolous lawsuits claiming we are stealing their females, when they come to us of their own free will! Hypnotizing females is the way our species mates. Fortunately, the primary universal law that prohibits interference with a species’ reproduction methods protects our right to this practice.”
“That’s right,” said Marroo. “The Universal Council will never rule against us as long as we tell them that hypnotizing females is our biological imperative. And they can’t complain that we take females of other species because of their rule prohibiting interference with interspecies breeding. Of course, the species we take from suspect that’s not what’s happening here, but what can they do about it? Nothing!”
“No, not nothing. They’re choking off our supply!” Nestgorm fumed.
“Anyway, I’m not in the mood to talk about economics right now,” said Marroo. “Luckily for you, I was in the right place at the right time to get this slave. And I know for a fact that she’s the only slave available for sale right now in this hemisphere.”
“Yes, yes, I know that,” Nestgorm grumbled.
“All the other Woogah slave hunters are out in the far reaches of unknown space trying to find new species who haven’t been warned about us yet. I just happened to be at the space station in disguise. As usual, the Verdantes had their human pets along. They must not have noticed that this one had some limited telepathic powers. Fortunately for you, she didn’t miss my notice,” Marroo finished with a self-satisfied laugh.
Nestgorm was not amused. “Anyway, why is she in the bed with you? Her love trance for me might not work right if you made the trance she had for you too strong by performing physical relations,” he complained.
“Don’t worry, I haven’t done that,” Marroo was able to answer truthfully. “I always have them wake up in bed with me to make them believe we’re lovers. As soon as their eyes open, I set the trance so they’re in love with me. It must be powerful enough that I can take complete control of their minds. Of course it helps that I’m so physically attractive. Then once they’re under my spell, I shape their thoughts to make them believe they’re in love with the customer--you. This method is foolproof. Bait and switch is the world’s oldest trick. It works every time. Have I ever failed you? Do you question my expertise?” he asked in an insulted tone.
“I question the practices and loose behavior of you and all others of your profession,” answered Nestgorm in a self-righteous tone. “While you hunters lay about the galaxy with alien women, hardworking men like myself who live by the moral guidelines of our religious leaders must toil upon this great planet to provide you with food and wealth. Unfortunately, since hunters are the only source of the worker slaves I need, I must do business with you and your kind.”
Marroo rolled his huge, expressive eyes, then spoke. “Do not question me or judge me, old man. You’re not hardworking. The hardest thing you ever do is order your slaves to work. And if you’re not happy with this slave, I can take her and my future business to elsewhere. The demand outweighs the supply right now, and I’m the only one who will have merchandise. The other slavers are years away in deep space, but I’ll be heading closer for my next catch to where a huge, undiscovered, and unwarned supply awaits me—Earth!”
“Ha!” laughed Nestgorm. “You’ll never get anywhere near Earth. The Verdantes guard that planet closer than an unhatched egg. They have protection rights, and they’ll blast your particles to oblivion if you try that.”
“Haha!” Marroo laughed back at him. “That’s what you think. It’s obvious you know nothing about space ship technology and even less about alien technology.”
“Oh really?” said Nestgorm. He glared at Marroo and crossed his thin but muscle-corded dark arms across his chest.
“Really,” said Marroo, with a smug look on his so-handsome face. “I’ll just cloak my ship, and they’ll never know I’m there. You see, the thing about alien technology is…it’s alien. Species from different worlds can never figure out the technology of other worlds. It’s just too completely alien. That’s why they can’t detect our spy ships—the same way we can’t detect theirs.”
“That’s right!” said Nestgorm. “I’d forgotten about that. Everyone knows different species, the Verdantes and whoever, send ships all over this planet to spy on us. I don’t really think about it because they can’t do anything about what they see or hear. They have no legal right to be here. But you should watch what you’re saying. They could be listening in right now. They would have heard your plan to go to Earth to get more slaves. They would have found out that our species’ procreation doesn’t really depend on kidnapping their women. Young fool!”
“You’re the fool, old one,” Marroo answered.
With nonchalance, he shifted back to a more comfortable position on his bed next to Antaska, who sighed with the sheer delight of his nearness.
“There’s no way the Verdantes or anyone else could be spying on me, Marroo continued. “This place is below the ground under layers of blocking materials and force fields. Unlike your massive aboveground facilities, easily visible to anyone with eyes, my home is undetectable to any type of sensing equipment.”
“As if I had a choice about being aboveground with the type of work I do!” said Nestgorm in an exasperated mental voice. “I would rather live underground like the rest of the population, but someone must provide for them. And speaking of that, I must get going. I’ve already wasted enough time here.”
Antaska watched, mesmerized by the shimmer of blue on manly arms, as Marroo waved them toward Antaska, in a gesture that seemed to say, “take her.”
What does this m
ean? she wondered in confusion.
She looked at Nestgorm.
“Stand,” he ordered.
Her first order. She stood.
“He is my love, and I have to follow his orders,” her mind told her.
Nestgorm made a fist and rapped it hard against Antaska’s thigh in the manner of a buyer kicking the tires of a new automobile. The rapping produced a sound that was a cross between a knock and a metallic ping.
“Now that’s the sound of great genetic enhancement body work,” said Marroo.
“Acceptable,” answered Nestgorm.
Although Antaska had heard their entire conversation about her and felt slight pain from the knocking on her leg, the dire meaning of their words hadn’t penetrated the dark fog floating in her brain-washed mind. Her thoughts were limited to happiness from being in the presence of her two loves and even more happiness from the attention she was getting from them.
“I need you to go with your love Nestgorm now. He needs your help,” said Marroo to Antaska.
“You want me to leave you, my love?” asked Antaska staring at Marroo in disbelief.
Nestgorm interrupted and complained to Marroo. “Ah ha! I thought this work might be shoddy, and it is. She shouldn’t be questioning your directions to leave with me. She should only be expressing supreme joy at the prospect of serving me. Your hypnosis work on her is flawed, and I won’t pay.”
“Relax! Calm down!” said Marroo. “This is perfectly normal. Happens on occasion. A residual imprint of her love trance for me may still be in her brain, but as soon as I’m out of her sight, that’ll fade in no time, and she’ll be your perfect obedient worker.”
Antaska sensed that Marroo was lying, but she didn’t say anything.
“She’s just like all the others I’ve sold you. Have I ever failed you? But if you really don’t want her, I’ll keep her and find another buyer. I don’t mind at all, in fact.”
At that, Marroo turned and looked Antaska up and down. Her flesh burned where his gaze had passed. She sighed a deep sigh of desire.
“Humph!” said Nestgorm. “No, your work in the past has been satisfactory,” he answered. “In any case, I don’t have much choice despite my reservations about her. As you said, there are no more slaves to be had, and I have work piling up. So I must take her, inferior or not. Please apply some final hypnosis and get her ready to go. And hurry! I must get back to my work farm!”
“Right away,” said Marroo.
He turned to Antaska and locked her once more in his white, cloudy gaze. Once more, dark black clouds filled her mind. Dark, soft, and comfortable, yet still with a sense of wrongness obscured and hidden beneath the clouds.
Once again, Marroo shaped Antaska’s thoughts: Nestgorm is my love. He is my world. I live to please him. I must obey his orders and work hard for him.
Other than these thoughts, circling through Antaska’s brain in a repeating cycle, her mind was now blank.
Marroo spoke to her telepathically. “You must go with Nestgorm now. He is your love. You must help him. Do you understand?”
“Yes. He is my love, and I will go with him,” Antaska answered. “But what about you? When will I see you again?”
Tears began to fall from her face. Nestgorm groaned.
“I’ve got this,” said Marroo waiving a hand at Nestgorm.
“Don’t worry. This separation is only temporary,” Marroo assured Antaska. “Just work really hard for Nestgorm, and we’ll be together again--as soon as you’ve finished helping him, I promise.”
“Very well then, my love. I will count the days until I see you again,” Antaska agreed with what she felt was just the right touch of poetry.
Marroo answered with a deep and ambiguous sigh.
“Shoddy, shoddy,” muttered Nestgorm under his breath. To Antaska, he ordered, “put these on.”
He handed her a pair of work boots. Obediently, Antaska sat on the edge of Marroo’s bed and pulled on the soft ankle boots. They fit snuggly just to her calves and were the grayish blue color of the undyed mold-based material they were made from.
“Nice boots,” said Marroo, while staring at Antaska’s ankles.
“Thank you,” Nestgorm answered. “These are just one of the many fine products made from the molds grown at my farm. My work benefits not only the Woogah people and my customers all over the universe but also the alien slaves who work for me. The soles of these boots are made with a thick layer of rubbery shock-absorbent plasti-mold that reduces foot and joint injuries caused by constant daily running.”
Antaska knew Marroo wanted her to please Nestgorm, so she said, “Thank you, my love,” to Nestgorm.
She turned toward Marroo, seeking his approval. His eyes were caught again in her lightly clouded gaze.
“Up!” Nestgorm ordered Antaska. She stood.
“As you can see, I am a responsible and savvy slave owner,” said Nestgorm to Marroo. “I pay extra to have my slaves genetically enhanced to do more work with less wear and tear than they would get in their natural state. Even so, the amount of work they must do eventually wears down even the strongest foot and knee joints. Giving them protective footwear saves me money by allowing my slaves to work longer before they need expensive foot, ankle, and knee joint stem cell replacements.”
“How interesting,” said Marroo, who was looking not at the boots but into Antaska’s eyes. He blinked and broke his eyes away from hers. Antaska felt something deep and painful ripping inside of her. Bravely, she hid her feelings.
Nestgorm, who wasn’t paying much attention to her anyway, kept talking to Marroo. “Yes, it is interesting,” he said. “Of course, all Woogah surface dwellers must wear ankle boots for protection against bites from ground crawling insects, scorpions, snakes, and other vermin. My slaves are exposed to such vermin at my mold farm, work plant, and even in their barracks. A bite could result in loss of productivity, or in some cases, even death. But I’m a careful man, and I protect my investments.”
“That’s fortunate for you because, as I said, there’s no refund for damage caused by your own negligence,” said Marroo.
“Humph!” said Nestgorm. “Impudent whippersnapper!”
“Follow,” he ordered Antaska.
Nestgorm turned and walked out the door without another look at her or Marroo.
With a goofy, vacant smile, Antaska followed him out the door and down a hallway. Marroo’s programming of her brain gave her feelings of happiness when following Nestgorm’s orders. But her joy was decreased by a sense of sadness at leaving Marroo.
Her mental conditioning limited her to thoughts of love. But due to some glitch in Marroo’s work, she had not been limited to thoughts of Nestgorm. She contemplated her love for both of the men.
I love Nestgorm, but my love for Marroo is stronger, and I’m physically attracted to Marroo but not to Nestgorm. I don’t mind spending some time with my second love, as long as I return to my first love before too long, she decided.
She followed Nestgorm down the long barren hallway on their journey to wherever he was taking her.
Chapter 18
A flurry of activity and conversation broke out inside the unseen Verdante spaceship parked nearby.
“See, I told you nothing would happen. It never does,” said Lieutenant Sosha to M. Hoyvil and Potat. “So now you can relax.”
The hair on both of Antaska’s companions was standing up, and both had been growling and snarling for the last hour.
“I’m glad to see that you two were able to restrain yourselves this time. Good work privates!” said Captain Kamphone. “Maybe you’ll make it to lieutenant one of these days after all. Now, stations everyone! Prepare to lift and follow on my command!”
The crew flew to their stations.
Marroo was surprised to find Antaska still on his mind after she left with Nestgorm. Normally, he forgot his captures the moment they walked out the door. He resented Nestgorm for arriving early and taking her away just as he had decide
d to honor her with the gift of some of his most valuable manliness. Marroo thought again of Antaska’s supple, soft skin that sparkled with rainbow colors from the added cockroach genes—so different than the skin of a Woogah woman.
No matter, he told himself. I’ll make a quick trip to my favorite courtesan establishment, and she’ll soon be forgotten.
Nestgorm led Antaska up and out an exit door in Marroo’s residence to the barren desert outside. An old truck was waiting. Antaska had seen pictures in history books of similar decrepit vehicles that had been used in the days before the Verdantes came to Earth with their gifts of advanced technology. But that memory was buried deep, and it didn’t register in her mind. The only thing that matters was the happiness she felt in being with one of the men she loved.
“Climb up in the back of the truck,” was Nestgorm’s next order.
He got in the cab of the truck and drove away though an empty land of endless desert.
Antaska was in a happy if cloudy frame of mind as she sat in the back of Nestgorm’s truck on her way to wherever he was taking her. She was so happy! Brimming with happiness that overflowed in every direction. Everywhere she looked and everything she looked at pleased her.
She looked down at her new outfit consisting of plain tan slave shorts and a t-shirt.
“I just adore these new clothes!” she said telepathically, although no one was listening.
She looked straight ahead and noticed the slight pinkish glow that was a growing smudge across the overall deep blue of the horizon. The Woogah planet’s small blue sun began to rise directly in front of her.
Antaska’s amorous emotional state somehow magnified the beauty of the sunrise over the vast desert beyond what she had ever experienced when viewing the wonders of nature. In deep awe, she watched and admired the slowly changing colors of the curving sand dunes. At first invisible in the dark night, the rising sun lit the dunes with a deepening golden glow. As the light increased, occasional low shrubs and many varieties of cactus popped into sight, touched with spots of color from red, orange, and pink flowers.
hypnoSnatch (Xeno Relations Book 2) Page 13