Rayessa and the Space Pirates

by Donna Maree Hanson

  ‘What about her face?’ asked Case. ‘She needs more.’

  Nipper spoke. ‘I’ll do it. The rest of you don’t know what you are doing.’ Nipper had been quiet, always Venus’ shadow. I was wary as she brought a small case and sat down next to me. ‘Lie back,’ she said.

  When I hesitated, Venus’ large hand urged me back onto the sofa. Nipper brought out a tool, like a pen. ‘This won’t hurt, much,’ she said and smiled.

  With a clip attached to my eyelids to hold them open, she tattooed the rim. Eyeliner she said. My tears welled in the corner of my eyes, but I didn’t cry. I wasn’t prepared to give them the satisfaction. The same instrument served to laser my eyebrows into a fine arch. That hurt like fire on my skin. Next, she tattooed colour into my lips. Her clip immobilised my mouth but didn’t deaden the pain. I moaned in my throat while tears leaked down my cheek to pool in my ears.

  My cheeks were blushed up. I wasn’t sure if it was permanent or not. To finish it all off, they pierced my ears with five jewels along each lobe. I stopped screaming by the time they finished the second lot. I felt sick to the stomach and hot and cold at the same time. By the time they let me up, my face was one throbbing ache. I couldn’t lie down because my ears hurt. I couldn’t lie on my face because all of it hurt. In the end I propped myself up in the corner with pillows and leaned my head back, breathing through the pain.

  Although being angry and physically hurt served to distract me from my real fear, I was left to wonder. What was going to happen to me? What was going on? Why were they dressing me like Del Divlan in a slave movie? What kind of slave market was my father…Stroder going to sell me at? I began to shake and shiver at the thought of being sold. Life wasn’t meant to get worse than it was. I always thought that the future would be rosy and wonderful to make up for the crap I had already endured. Right then Outpost 311 seemed like paradise. It was all that auditor’s fault. He came along and stirred up trouble.

  God, what had happened to Alwin Anton? Was he really dead?

  Chapter Eight

  Poor Little Slave Girl

  After few days, when the pain had lessened, I took a look at myself in the mirror when all the pirate women were out. I was amazed at my transformation. I looked like an actress, like Del Divlan. I was almost beautiful. I pivoted and watched my reflection as I felt the fabric swish around me. It felt divine. The door swooshed open. Too late the pirate women caught me at it and laughed and jeered so much that I withdrew to the corner and sulked.

  Luckily they grew tired of hassling me or had work to do. After they left I surged out of the corner to try the doors but they were locked. Case came in, face twitching. I backed up into my corner, keeping my eyes on her as I slid to the floor. She kept pace with me and lowered herself to a crouch next to me. Her face contorted momentarily, then she said, ‘Come with me. Someone wants to see you.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Never mind, just be quick. We have to get there and back before Warty returns.’ I scrambled up and followed her out. I wondered where she was taking me. I hadn’t seen my so-called father since he put me in these quarters to be readied for sale.

  We climbed down three levels and headed down a narrow corridor. A familiar shape was bent over a worktable pulling apart some circuitry.

  ‘Gris?’ With a quick glance at Case, I edged over to him. I think he heard me but he hunched himself up and turned away. I wanted to hug him. I missed him so much. ‘Gris? Please talk to me,’ I said softly. I touched his shoulder and he shied away. I heard him weep.

  ‘I thought you wanted to see me, Gris. I’m okay really.’

  His head popped up, and he sniffled and wiped his face with his sleeve. He was listening at least. ‘Love Gris?’ he said to the wall.

  ‘Yeah, sure I do.’ My heart was breaking. This wasn’t the Gris I knew. Something had snapped inside of him. He angled his head in my direction. I did my best to hide my surprise. Gris’ eyes stared in different directions and one side of his face sagged much more than the other one. They’d hurt him, hurt him bad.

  Gulping back the lump in my throat, I touched his face, ‘Glad to see you’re okay’. A tear slid down his cheek and he turned away again, repressing sobs. I glanced back at Case but she was looking at the ceiling. I didn’t know what to do.

  ‘Gris?’ I ventured.

  His shoulders tensed and I saw his hand clench the tool he was holding. I was stressing him more than he could bear. Suddenly he yelled at me, still facing away from me. ‘Go now.’

  I flinched at his words and drew my hand back, which had instinctively reached for him. He let out a breath. ‘Must work for Captain. You Captain’s Stroder’s not Gris’.’ He spun round, dribble dangling from his slack lips but his eyes flashed with anger. I jumped back and gazed at him warily. Part of my life was gone. Gris’ condition opened up a gaping hole inside of me.

  ‘Sure, I’ll go,’ I whispered and swallowed the sob that threatened to choke me. I pivoted on my heel and strode to the door, trying to keep my dignity and averting my face from Case.

  Gris rasped out as I stepped in the corridor, ‘Ssssorry,’ then cried to himself. The echoes of his sobs lessened the further we walked.

  I paused, ignoring Case’s neutral expression, and looked back at him. I didn’t know who I was more angry with, me or Stroder? Case grabbed my elbow and led me back to the women’s quarters. She said nothing while we walked. Her twitching got worse though. When we reached the quarters, she punched in the code and shoved me through the door and secured it.

  Left alone to ponder my predicament, I went and huddled in my corner. If the auditor was dead, there wasn’t much that could be done to get me out of this. Gris was Stroder’s man and not himself anyway. I felt betrayed by him and stupid because I had loved Gris more than I had loved anyone. How could I do that? Love someone who can’t control himself? Because he was all you had kid, I told myself and blinked back tears. I had never felt so desolate before. I didn’t want to be a slave. Even if the vid slave movies had happy endings, I wanted to be free. I didn’t want to be owned by someone and I didn’t want to be vulnerable.

  That night, I paced around the quarters, ignoring the women’s mess and the snores of the huge woman, Venus. I started thinking. I was alone. I had no one to help me. What choices were left? My mind raced with dead-end options. Stroder was right. I was useless. I couldn’t think of a way to get out of this.

  There was a sound at the door. I swung round as it opened. Reflexively I stepped back. It was Warty. I’d learnt that not only was she the meanest of the pirate women, she ruled them and no one crossed her. Apparently, she was the head pirate’s woman, and she flaunted it, just as she did her breasts. I gulped as she stepped into the quarters. She had a smile on her face.

  ‘It’s time,’ she said. ‘Time to meet your fate as a slave girl.’

  I tried to stall, by pretending I had to go to the san unit. She leant forward and nearly wrenched my arm out of its socket. I managed to pull my arm free and followed her out.

  ‘Have fun sweetie,’ called Lush. The door closing behind me cut off the sound of the women’s laughter.

  Warty sneered at me but continued to talk. ‘He’s chosen the Centauri market, you know. All kinds of weirdos there. You should last a few years before you’re used up and finally expire.’

  I didn’t have to think too hard about what she was talking about. She had to mean Stroder and the name of the market didn’t leave too much to the imagination. Vidmovies had been good for one thing, at least.

  We went to the next level. Here there was less traffic from pirates moving through the corridors. Her metal-heeled boots echoed in the passageway. They must have been magnetised to supplement the gravity.

  We turned a corner. It was deserted. Next thing I knew I was against the wall with Warty’s hands on my throat. She leaned in close and breathed into my face. ‘So you’re the little girl he kept in that outpost.’

  My eyes bulged. ‘Stroder?’


  She nodded and her lips drew back over her teeth. ‘Yes, Stroder. Stupid cow.’

  ‘I thought he was my father,’ I rasped. The pressure eased.

  ‘So you weren’t his lover?’ Warty seemed sceptical. She stepped back and eyed my slave-cloth draped body.

  My fear turned to revulsion. ‘What are you saying? That’s disgusting. He never laid a hand on me. He’s been gone for years.’

  Another slap sent me reeling and my cheek smarting. Warty then grabbed a fistful of my hair. ‘I saw the way he looked at you through the monitor. I won’t have him buying you himself or holding you back from market.’

  Just then a familiar shadow blocked out the light. Gris. He grabbed Warty with a meaty arm across the chest. The pirate woman writhed and spat curses.

  ‘Go free,’ said Gris.

  ‘Fool,’ yelled Warty. ‘What do you think I was doing you great clod.’

  ‘Don’t listen to Stroder’s woman. If you go in there without going into stasis they shoot you. Stasis, Rae. Go stasis.’

  I hesitated and looked left and right. Warty was making a terrible racket and Gris would have to clobber her to keep her quiet. His eyes looked everywhere but at me.

  ‘Come with me, Gris.’

  A great heave of his chest let me know he was fighting back tears. ‘No. Can’t. Must stay with Stroder.’ Warty got a hand free and thumped Gris in the head. ‘Quick, can’t hold long.’

  I nodded and turned to the hatch release. I broke the seal and it ripped open. Warty managed to kick me and I tumbled down in a heap of arms and cloth.

  Warty leaned in, clinging to the hatchway. ‘You won’t get far,’ screamed Warty after me. ‘But at least you’ll be out of my life.’

  There was a dull thud and I could see Warty’s boots on the floor. Gris leaned in, holding a bleeding ear. ‘Remember the stasis or they…blow you up.’

  The hatch closed and I was tossed against the bulkhead as the life buoy jettisoned. Dazed, I ran through my options. Stasis. Oh God. There were 10 nodes. I clawed my way into one and triggered it. Cold seeped into my limbs as the freezing agent speed through my veins. The ship stayed whole around me while my awareness faded.

  It had worked. I’d be safe in cold sleep. Now all I had to ponder was how I was supposed to be rescued. I did wonder, as my mind numbed, that a life buoy was very small in the cold blackness of space and that no one would be looking for me. But the thought that Gris had helped me made me smile.

  Chapter Nine

  Highest Bidder

  There was a strange scent. I sniffed, breathing it in, and wondered where I was. My sense of smell seemed heightened. I struggled to move my hands since every part of my body felt stiff. I tried to shake my head to dislodge cold sleep from my mind, but it wasn’t obeying my directions. I’d never been in stasis before, not that I could remember at least. In fact, I’d never even thought about what it was like.

  There were noises, which were distinct, yet at the same time jumbled together. A mumble of voices, sounds of oozing, of globules swelling up and plopping onto a hard surfaces, and of footsteps. The clatter of metal and the buzzing of power relays merged.

  My finger flexed next to my ear. I was no longer in cold sleep. A hard surface was under my bare feet. That meant I was standing. It seemed to be a funny position to wake up in.

  Hesitantly, I squinted out of my half-raised eyelid. I shut it quickly. Expectations of rescue had skewed slightly. I opened both my eyes and took in the surroundings. After a minute, I remembered to breathe. It was like a scene from the vidmovie, Slave Traders Meet the Turai to be precise, but it was so much more. Where the vidmovie had only humanoids as sellers and buyers, this place had aliens. Lots of aliens.

  My instinctive reaction was to bolt. The hum of the restraining field sizzled when I tried to move. I eased back, attempting to feel around the edges. Panic was a good option but I was too awestruck to let it take hold. I was at once horrified and fascinated by the slave market.

  The smells were the scents of unwashed aliens and humans, who mingled in rows between stands where beings like me stood suspended. Scales, goo, cold-looking flesh, arms, claws, nobs of gooey ooze, flexed and moved through the throng. My jaw flopped open. Strange noises gurgled in my throat.

  After I calmed down, I felt someone’s eyes on me. My gaze slid sideways. I could see there was a woman in the next stand. She looked humanoid but old and dried up. ‘What are you looking at?’ I asked, curious and annoyed. Her violet-coloured eyes were unnaturally bright and they unnerved me. I lowered my gaze, suddenly self-conscious.

  ‘You, of course,’ she said in a voice like scrunching paper. ‘You don’t know what you are about do you? First time?’

  I swallowed. It looked like I wasn’t even any good as a slave. ‘Uh yes. Is there any way out of this?’

  The woman smiled though her eyes were dark pools. Obviously, she had a way to alter her eye colour in line with her mood. Within the bounds of her restraining field, the woman managed to convey shock and horror using body language. ‘Out? Why would you want out? If you have a first-rate owner life can be good for a slave.’

  ‘Good?’

  ‘You have to be careful, though, to pick the right buyer.’

  I was more than stunned by her words. ‘Pick my buyer? But I’m standing here in full view being eyed off by…’

  The woman dripped excitement. ‘Exactly,’ she said as her eyes darted here and there, not randomly, but pointing out particular beings. ‘Like him,’ she whispered. ‘And her and it there.’

  ‘Really?’ I was awed by how she could work those eyes, be so precise and by how much she knew about these races and beings that I’d never heard of before.

  ‘But you need to choose and then you will them to buy you. Doing this helps.’ She chose that moment to stare at a tall humanoid, draped in a hooded, multicoloured robe with his face covered in a bronze mask. It could have been a breathing apparatus. With the stink I could smell, I could understand the need.

  Despite the restraining field, the woman managed to move her body, a dance of seduction that was surely more real than any actress’ attempt I had ever seen.

  The humanoid stared at the woman, and she repeated her move. ‘Now you do it,’ she said to me once she had her buyer mesmerised by her bodily contortions. I glanced at her sideways and wondered if either of us was sane.

  ‘Me?’ I said, suddenly realising what a pity it was I’d ever been born.

  ‘Yes. He’s a Ridallian by the looks of him. They have a good reputation. But if you don’t mind the smell, green ooze and scales, that Nuvral standing near him wouldn’t be a bad owner. My last owner was Nuvral and it was an interesting placement. It was amazing what he could do with his tentacles.’

  ‘But you’re here. Can’t have been that good.’ I managed to smirk. I needed to prove the woman wrong. Her eyebrow came down. Clearly, it was a gesture of disdain. But I was sure my comment had hit home.

  ‘It was good,’ she said, and her eyes seemed to cloud with memories. ‘But there was a military coup and he was killed. None of the opposition wanted me permanently, even though they found me interesting. I was sold to buy arms, when they had satisfied their curiosity.’ She sighed and a faint smile crept onto her face. Her eyes darted among the crowd of buyers again.

  ‘Their culture was so unstable,’ she added forlornly. ‘Now I have to break in a new owner all over again.’

  ‘I’m sorry then.’ Either my situation was depressing me or that sick feeling in my gut was the after-effects of being in stasis. ‘I can’t do what you just did.’

  ‘Shut up and listen. See he’s passing by again. Throw out your chest, breathe deeply and imagine your lover’s hands caressing you.’

  ‘What? I don’t have a lover. I’m just a…’ What was I? I was 16 and that meant I was no longer a kid. I shrugged. The other aliens didn’t look appealing. If I was going to end up as a slave, I guessed I’d have to take the advice. Better to choose than be chosen.r />
  Still, I doubted whether the slave woman’s tactics would actually work. Mysterious, alien eyes behind the mask slid down my body, and I had to meet them. I thought of Del Divlan and replayed her slave girl seduction scene. Doing an approximation of it, I self-consciously jutted out my breasts, draped in pale blue, mauve and white translucent material. So much for hiding them behind metal plating, I thought. Simultaneously, I arched my back, causing the drapery to flutter ever so slightly along the back of my legs. I knew I was playing with fire and began to worry about what would happen if the Ridallian did buy me. Did slaves have a checklist to work off?

  The Ridallian’s robe fluttered. Did that mean it worked? I looked at him and smiled. He lifted a dark, gloved hand and signalled. My smile turned to puzzlement as he turned his back on me and walked away. Two hairy bovine types took his place. I glared at them belligerently.

  ‘What happened?’ I whispered to my slave woman companion. There was no response. I shifted my head so I could slide my gaze in her direction. The stand was empty. Obviously, she’d been purchased already. I felt alone. The sinking feeling nearly toppled me. If it wasn’t for the restraining field I would have collapsed. That woman had kept my mind off things, a bit. A tear slid down my cheek. It tickled but I couldn’t wipe it way.

  The crowd of aliens and humans swirled around me. More eager faces stared at me from different angles. I could hear them discussing me. A human came up and started a sales pitch. Apparently I had all my faculties. I could be trained to do menial tasks. I could sit on an Ovariates’ nest and care for the young while the wife worked. I could learn to cook and clean in any ship’s galley. Some of my potential buyers asked questions about the legalities of owning me. There seemed to be some concern about my age and status in relation to some unsavoury duties. When I heard what they were, I felt my face heat.