by Seven Steps
The women drank.
“I don’t care for men, really,” the nina said. “But I don’t think that they should be all killed off either. They should be used to serve. You use them just like you use the washing machine. They have a purpose. To wipe men off the face of the planet would be to shoot us back into the barbarian Earth age. They’re our pets, and we should treat them nicely.”
“You’re beginning to sound like that woman from council,” Niadad said. “The one who’s always trying to free the slaves.”
“I’m not saying to free them. What I’m saying is to treat them kindly.”
“Is that why you have so many runaway men in your sector?” Niadad asked. “I hear that there’s some sort of secret colony.”
Nina stared daggers at the princess. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Well, I’m sure that you’ve heard the rumors of a secret free slave colony in Beta Sector. I think it’s called…” she made a grand display of trying to think of the name. Finally, she looked up at Nina with a wicked smile. “Mahala.”
Nina exploded out of her chair. “That’s ridiculous! How dare you say such things against my sector!”
“I have to admit, I have heard as much Nina,” Paris added.
Nina looked around the table. All the women were staring back at her.
“Is this a conspiracy?” she asked, staggering away from the table. “Is this why you invited me to dinner? To mock my way of life, and to accuse me of harboring fugitives?”
“Oh. Sit down, Nina,” Catherine said, waving the woman to her seat. “I’m sure that you’re doing everything you can to keep your slaves in line.”
“I am,” Nina replied, sitting nervously. “I am doing as much as anyone else here.”
“Then I suggest that we motion to the council to send an Enforcer squad to search Beta Sector to have a look around,” the princess said, bringing her wine glass to her lips. “Better safe than sorry.”
Nina stared hatefully at the princess.
“Just because you’re miserable, doesn’t mean the rest of us have to be, Niadad,” Nina said softly.
The princess narrowed her eyes at her.
“I suggest that you mind what you say, Princess,” Queen Marie chimed in. “Remember, some of us know your secrets as well.”
The princess looked at the queen in shock.
Jesh and Melcus went unnoticed by the drunken women as they tip toed back into the tense atmosphere.
Jesh heard his own footsteps in his head. He began to sweat.
What am I doing? he thought.
Before he knew it, he was standing behind Princess Naiad. He looked down at her hair. It was parted in the middle, revealing a clean, pale scalp. Several gray hairs had begun to show themselves.
Under different circumstances, those hairs would be gone by morning, he thought.
His arm lifted, a shiny Venian Blaster wrapped around his hand. The blaster was attached to five metal stems that fit over all five of his fingers, like a glove with a barrel jetting out of the middle. To fire, one only had to flex their palm.
Jesh saw the princess crane her neck and blink at him.
She’s beautiful, he thought.
He opened his palm and flexed, firing the blaster.
Niadad’s eye socket, and half of her face, exploded. His hands were suddenly filled with brains, blood, and the stench of death. He stumbled backward, stunned that he had actually activated the trigger.
Her blood splattered onto the table, and her body shook a bit before crashing onto the floor.
The women jumped in their seats, and stared first at the dead body, then at Jesh and Melcus.
“Now that we have your attention,” said Melcus, “We are holding you all hostage.”
“What do you want?” Paris asked, her eyes wide with fear.
Melcus looked at her and sneered.
“Judgment.”
CHAPTER 11
Terra found herself deep in the comfort of Nic’s arms. He smelled of mint and vanilla—a scent that she would remember for as long as she lived.
It was a beautiful thing when he finally surrendered to her. They loved each other and, on some level, they'd accepted the fact that, one day, they would die for it. But that day had not come yet. And so, he kissed her forehead and traced the chasms and hills of her face with the tips of his fingers, stopping only to kiss her lips from time to time. He busied himself by lacing their fingers together and nibbling on her ear.
“I just want to get away from here,” she said. “Someplace where we can be together with no one to bother us, and I could be your wife, just like the old books say.”
The side of his mouth tilted up in a smile. “You would do that for me?”
“I would,” she replied. She pressed her ear to his chest. She wanted to hear his heartbeat, steady and strong.
“You would give up your position, and your home, and your reputation, and your money, just to love me?” he asked.
She stretched until her lips were touching his ear lobe. “I’d give up my life if you asked me to,” she whispered.
Tears formed in the corner of his eyes.
“I love you, Terra,” he whispered, kissing the crown of her head.
“I love you, too,” she replied. “If only we could get away, then I’d shout it to the world.”
Just then, the wall comm beeped, indicating an incoming call.
Terra’s heart skipped a beat. “Who could that be at this hour?” she asked.
He gave her one last kiss, before standing.
“Answer it.”
She watched him walk across the room. “Will you be back?”
He turned to smile at her. “As soon as you are through.”
The door closed behind him, leaving Terra grinning in the darkness.
The comm beeped again.
“Answer comm.”
“He’s gone!” Joanna sounded uneasy on the other end of the line. Terra didn't know if there was no video feed or if Joanna was just in a dark room, but her friend’s face did not appear on the screen.
“Who’s gone?”
“Roland!” Joanna cried. “He’s gone! He asked me to go to Earth, and I said no, and he just took off, and I don’t know where he is, and he could be dead! The Enforcers could’ve shot him by now...” She rambled about the possibilities for several more seconds before the situation struck Terra.
Roland was alone at night. Surely, by now, he was either captured or dead!
“I’m sure that Roland is just fine,” Terra said, trying to make herself believe it. “He’s probably just in his quarters or something.”
“I checked the house, and I called him and he isn’t here. I don’t know what to do. If he’s dead, I’ll never forgive myself, and if he’s alive, I’ll kill him!”
Terra’s eyes caught Nic’s form in the doorway.
“Nic, can you find him?” she asked.
He nodded. “Right away, my Empress.” A few more moments passed before the front door slammed shut, leaving her alone in the house.
She felt the loss of his presence like the loss of a limb, and tried to hide her irritation at Joanna for interrupted their evening.
“What did he expect me to do?” Joanna cried. “He’s a servant and I’m a councilwoman. Did he think that I was just going to run away with him? Is he crazy?”
“I say go,” Terra said.
Joanna gasped. “Go where? To Earth? Do you know what's down there? Disease, war, pestilence. I wouldn’t last a day!”
“Joanna, what do you do here? You sit on a council that doesn’t listen to anything you have to say. You’re not making a difference here. You may as well leave.”
“Terra, we make a lot of difference here. Besides, I have a home, friends, and a job. I can’t just chase after my slave on some suicide mission.”
“Yes; you can. Just pack up your bags and go.”
“Terra, I called you for some sanity and you’re beginning to sound more a
nd more like Roland. This is not some fantasy world. Women are not supposed to fall in love with men. Love is only in the old books. Men are supposed to serve, and women are supposed to be served. There is no room for love there.”
“Joanna, there is nothing wrong with loving a man. In fact, on Earth, it—”
“Earth is barbaric! Men rule it! Can you imagine living in a place like that? I’m surprised that they get anything done with men controlling everything.”
“Remember, Joanna: women came from Earth.”
“And we escaped! We left and never looked back.”
“Maybe you will go and find that it is better than you ever dreamed!”
“That’s a fifty-fifty chance. I don’t like those odds. I’ll be a rogue!”
“So what?”
“Terra, I can’t do this. What about our friendship? We’d never see each other again!”
Suddenly, all of the pieces fell into place. She’d been wondering where she could go for the past week, and the answer was suddenly clear.
“Of course you will. Nic and I are coming with you. We’re all leaving this planet together.”
“What? But it’s illegal.”
“We can't let that stop us.”
“Terra, this is crazy. He's crazy. You’re crazy. Everybody's crazy. It’s impossible. How will we even get a ship?”
“We're members of the council. We could easily get a ship. We'll leave tonight. I’ll be at your house in thirty minutes. Oh. I’m so excited!” Terra squealed excitedly as she disconnected the comm.
She was finally leaving this place, and her best friend was going with her.
CHAPTER 12
Nic's soft shoes silently moved over the cobblestone and turned onto yet another street. It was the tenth block he'd walked down, and, still, there was no sign of Roland. Nearly an hour had passed, and his heart ached to get back to Terra's warmth. Her smile. Her dark eyes that made him feel like he was her equal whenever they looked upon him.
We get so little time together as it is. Roland, where are you?
He turned a sharp corner to move onto the next block when, instantly, a white light blinded him.
“What are you doing out here, man?” a harsh voice demanded.
Enforcers!
Fear forced his airways shut, and he struggled to breathe.
Don’t make any sudden movements or else they’ll shoot. Just stay calm.
“I have a PAS in my pocket.”
“Show me. And keep your hands where I can see him.”
Nic had seen too many reports of slaves shot dead when reaching for their PAS. He kept his hands in the air.
“I said show me the PAS, man.” The Enforcer barked.
“The PAS is in my front breast pocket,” he said, keeping his voice quiet, respectful. “You are more than welcome to take it. I won't move.”
His raised hands trembled, and still, he waited.
“Bah!” The Enforcer reached into his pocket and pulled out the piece of paper that stated that he was free to walk the streets under his master's orders.
Spots swirled in front of his eyes as the light was removed from his face. He heard crinkling, indicating that The Enforcer was reading the neatly folded paper.
“This isn’t a PAS,” she growled. “It’s a shopping list!”
Nic's heart fell into his stomach.
“I must have gotten the wrong papers from my empress.” Stars continued to cloud his vision, preventing him from telling what the Enforcer's next steps would be. Was she angry? Was she, even now, pointing a blaster at his head? “But, I am authorized to be here at the behest of my Empress. If you would just call my master, she will tell you. Her name is Terra. She’s on the—”
“Empress Terra?” the Enforcer said. She paused. “I know her. And, I’ve seen you.” Another pause.
Nic’s entire body shook.
What would this Enforcer do?
“I am taking you to the Czarina,” the Enforcer said. Her gruff voice sounded as if she had severely burned her throat. “She will decide what to do with you.”
Rough hands grabbed him by the wrist and walked him over what he thought was orrigrow—the artificial grass that covered the planet.
Though still blinded, he heard a knock on a door.
Someone opened it.
“We want to speak with—”
The whistle-like sound of the Venian Blaster.
A short gasp was followed by an abrupt silence.
The hand that had so roughly covered his wrist slowly slid off.
What’s happening?
He heard his name.
“Nic?”
The voice sent a faint signal of recognition through Nic’s brain. Before he could answer, he was pulled over a threshold and into a house.
CHAPTER 13
Nic’s eyes were glued to the princess’s dead body. His stomach rolled at the sight of her bloody head, her mangled face, the red pool on the carpet around her feet.
At least he had found Roland. His friend sat on the far side of the room, his head in his hands.
How did he get in here?
“Okay,” Melcus said, walking toward Paris with a touch screen in his shaking hands. “We have our demands. We want a ship stocked with interplanetary trading goods, particularly military weaponry.”
“And we want it in an hour,” Jesh chimed in.
“We don’t negotiate with slaves,” Czarina Paris said through clenched teeth
Jesh's jaw clenched. “Either you get the resources,” he aimed his blaster at Catherine, who looked back at him with pure hatred, “or you lose another friend.”
“You’re a filthy, rotten, dirty man,” Catherine growled at him, her eyes narrowing to two slits in her pale face.
“I’m a filthy, rotten, dirty man with a blaster,” Jesh said. “Don’t leave out the blaster part.”
“We have one more demand,” Melcus said. “We want all of our friends given ships and goods, too.” He handed the touch screen to Paris. She didn't take it, making Melcus's hand shake even more as he pulled the square touch screen back to his chest.
“I don’t have the authority to release another woman’s slaves.”
“Oh, you will release them,” said Jesh. “Or else, the leaders of our precious planet will die tonight.”
“Then I guess we’re in for a long night,” Paris replied. She stared down Jesh until he cleared his throat and turned his back to her to look at Melcus.
“We'll put out a statement,” Jesh said. “If we make our demands public then we have a better chance of getting them.”
Melcus nodded. “Right.”
“I’ll make the comm.” Jesh walked to the gold plated wall comm on the far wall. “Call Enforcer station.”
An Enforcer picked up the call on the first ring. Her green eyes and red eyebrows gave her a beauty that belied her beast like size and thunderous voice.
“You are speaking to Lieutenant Essantina,” she said, “and I would suggest you give yourselves up immediately, or else you’ll regret it.”
“I have the most powerful women on the planet in one room. The princess is dead already, and if you don’t want the queen, the countess, and the czarina to join her, I suggest you meet our demands.”
The lieutenant paused before she spoke again. The anger in her voice was unmistakable.
“What are your demands?”
Melcus stepped forward, pushed his floppy brown hair out of his eyes, and recited the list of demands to the lieutenant, taking great care to make sure that everything was perfectly enunciated.
He finished with “...and we want it all in an hour.”
“What if we refuse?”
Jesh took a step forward. “Then, the countess will die next. End comm.” The call disconnected, dropping the room back into heavy silence.
“What do we do now?” Melcus whispered.
“They have one hour. After that,” Jesh turned back to the group of women and slaves, and raised his v
oice, “we kill one woman every hour until we get what we want.”
The czarina gasped. “What?”
“In one hour, I start killing hostages.”
“I should have left you in the slave market where I found you!” Paris spat at him.
“If only you had.”
“You will never get away with this.”
He smirked at her. “Tonight, I am leaving Venus one way or another, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
CHAPTER 14
Jesh stood in front of the window in the common room and stared at the Enforcer pods waiting for them outside.
There they are, waiting for me. If things go sour, I will never leave this house alive. But it doesn't matter now. Even if they kill me, it’s all worth it. I have sent a message to all of these brutal women who think they can just enslave men like animals. I’m not an animal. I have feelings, just the same as they do. I have loved. I have lost. But all that doesn't matter now. With Iris dead and our two children missing, the only family I've ever known, however briefly, is gone.
He dropped his head, the tightness in his chest returning.
Iris was gone. There would be no more laughter from her red lips. No more finding red strings of hair clinging to his clothes when they parted. He would never again play with his son, or hug his daughter.
Those women in there have taken that from me. I should have been on a ship with Iris and our children heading to Earth right now. Instead, I'm locked in a house with the very women who put her to death. But that doesn't matter now. It’ll all be over soon. After tonight, I’ll either be the servant who escaped this wretched planet, or the servant who died avenging his family. Either way, everyone, both man and woman, will know my name.
~()~()~()~()~
“So what are we going to do about those two?” whispered Czarina Paris to the women around her.
“We need a distraction,” Catherine whispered back.
“And how do you suppose that we distract them?” Marie asked.
“I have a thought, but we will need some help,” Catherine said. She pointed to Nic and Roland. “Servants!” she hissed.
Jesh’s heavy black brows scrunched, and he turned toward them.