Against A Rock

by Kalin Ringkvist

  At least that’s what he seemed like… She wanted to test it.

  So Floreina took her shower and put on her pajamas. She put on some music; something light and distant and soothing. She checked her refrigerator for snacks, and checked her side-arm laser pistol stowed in its drawer in the table at the foot of her bed. She caressed the weapon momentarily before putting it back in its drawer.

  He looked at her and swallowed nervously. “Hello Ma’am,” he said as the door slid shut. “I brought my Vitoc for today, if you're sure you’re okay with me taking it right now.”

  “Yes, yes,” she replied. “Go for it.”

  “Thank you, Master.” He sat down on the floor.

  “Actually,” Floreina said, rising from the bed to grab a beer, “When it's just you and me, you can call me ‘Floreina’. Obviously not when anyone else can hear… But I think you're smart enough to be my friend and still remember your place, right?”

  “Um… I hadn’t thought about it… but yes, Ma’am. You've always been good to me, but I never forget that I'm yours, and I promise I never will.”

  Floreina nodded contentedly. “Thank you.” She paused as he pulled out his Vitoc syringe and she sat back on the bed. “You’re welcome to come up here and sit by me if you’d like. Won’t that be more comfortable for you?”

  “Thank you, Ma’am… um… Floreina.” He stood, cradling his Vitoc like an infant, and sat on the bed, staying a safe distance from his master. “I might get a little stupid after I take this,” he said. “I've been late on my injection this week, so I'll probably be incapacitated for a while.”

  “I know,” Floreina replied. “That’s fine. To be honest, I’m just feeling a little lonely tonight, and since you’re the only one who knows what happened, in a way, you’re the only one I can talk to.”

  “Okay,” he said as he brought the Vitoc syringe to his neck. He took a deep breath as Floreina watched. He shuddered as the drug injected, his mouth opening involuntarily. She watched his eyes dilate before he closed them and fell back onto the bed, the syringe dropping from his hand. He sighed orgasmically and put his hands to his stomach, a wild grin creeping onto his face. Then he stopped, his body going nearly motionless, except for the subtle rising and falling of his chest.

  And Floreina thought about Mahran and his apparent emotions. He lay, seemingly oblivious to his master and the rest of the universe, caught up in the ecstasy of the drug that kept him alive. And Floreina wondered how so many people outside of the Amarrian Empire could have such unfavorable views on Vitoc and its virus counterparts. If only they could see the stupid pleasure the Minmatar receive from the drug, and the mindless manner in which they pursue it. It’s all they live for, and anyone who sees the way it overpowers their decisions would see that the Minmatar, as a species, are not ready for anything other than to be guided by another more intelligent people.

  Floreina waited for her slave to come out of his trance. She sipped her beer, watching his breathing, secretly admiring his muscular physique.

  She glanced up at The Scriptures quote engraved above her door, reminding her of the most important aspect of her guidance, the quote that kept her grounded.

  Love is patient, love is kind,

  Love does not insist on its own way.

  Love bears all things, believes all things,

  Hopes all things, endures all things.

  Love never fails.

  Mahran sighed a couple times, and babbled, low and incoherently, and after several minutes began to come back, opening his eyes, eventually sitting up, only to lie down again after seeing Floreina's smile.

  “I never thanked you for saving my life,” Floreina said. “You know I appreciate your actions in that situation…”

  “And I thank you for not punishing me for my disobedience.”

  “Can I ask you something, Mahran, and get an honest answer from you?”

  “Of course.”

  “Do you ever wish that you weren’t a slave, like one of those wild Minmatars out there without Amarrian guidance?”

  Mahran paused for a long moment. “Um… yes,” he replied finally. “We all do… in a way, I guess.”

  “Hmm…” Floreina replied. “But you’re okay with me as your owner?”

  “Oh, yes,” he replied. “You’ve been wonderful to me, and I hope to continue being yours.”

  “But you would prefer to be free?”

  He stopped. Mahran was understandably uncomfortable.

  She laid her arm across his, and patted the back of his hand. “It’s okay to say so.”

  “Yeah,” he finally answered.

  “That’s understandable… and I’d probably feel the same way, never having witnessed the destructiveness, war and hatred that the wild Minmatar have caused throughout New Eden. It’s wrong, of course, but sometimes we all desire things which aren’t ethical. I know you’ve seen me do one unethical thing.”

  “I have no reason to think you did anything wrong,” Mahran replied. “All I know is what I saw… and I assume they tried to kill you first.”

  Floreiena laughed. “You are perceptive for a Minmatar, and you are correct; they tried to kill me.”

  “You don’t need to tell me about it. I think it would be better if I didn’t know.”

  She nodded. “I can tell you that I had some disagreements with certain people. Now those disagreements are resolved… but I have a new perspective on a few things… and a couple tentative plans…”

  They paused. “Plans that involve me?” Mahran asked.

  “Now how did you guess?” Floreina laughed. “Yeah… and normally I wouldn’t consider bringing a Minmatar into this idea, but after how you handled yourself with my recent issues, I started thinking differently about you… But I don’t know if I completely trust you… What I have planned is a little complicated for a Minmatar… so you know what…” She shook her head and pulled away from her train of thought. She needed to take a little more time. “Enough of this talk of responsibility… most of us never take the time to understand our Minmatar. Why don’t you tell me about your life on this ship. What do you do when you get a night off?”

  So Mahran carefully told her of many of the simple pleasures enjoyed by slaves on an Abaddon battleship. He spoke at length about his brother who was also on board. At times she talked about herself, to make the evening seem less planned, but always steered the conversation back toward Mahran.

  And as Floreina listened, a strange thing happened. She had begun this night intending to pretend to be interested in his life, and found, to a series of contradicting emotions, that she was actually interested.

  But she had a purpose, and after drinking several beers, making some snacks, and conversing as new friends, she found herself lying on the bed next to him, their feet hanging off the side. She noticed his grin—no doubt appreciating what a great owner he had—and decided it was time to make her move.

  “I have something I want to do,” Floreina said, backing away.

  His eyebrows rose. “Oh? What’s that?”

  “How would you like to earn your brother, Charmann’s freedom?” she asked.

  “My brother?”

  “Well, I can’t let you go because I need you. You’ve kept one secret for me, and if I can get you to keep a few more secrets for me, and maybe do a few things for me, then I’ll purchase and release your brother. Then you can earn your own freedom. All you need to do is continue as you have, being good, and when a situation occurs like the one in the airlock, you handle yourself in the same manner you did there… with the exception of course of taking a weapon. You do two more well-played little incidents like that—one for your brother and one for yourself—and you will both be free… but this time we’ll pre-plan the incidents…”

  Mahran’s mouth hung open slightly, his face red with excitement. “Do you mean all this?”

  “Of course.”

  “Why are you doing this for me?” he asked.

  “Well…” she re
plied. “If I try to force you to do these things without a sufficient reward, I fear you’ll turn me in.”

  “Uh… ” he replied simply.

  “So will you agree to this arrangement? If you don’t wish to violate any more rules or take special risks, then tell me now and I won’t be mad, and we can forget I ever mentioned this, and I'll completely respect your desire to be a good Minmatar as The Scriptures asks of you… but… if you want freedom for your brother, and for yourself, then we can work some things out. What do you think?”

  He took several deep, shocked breaths.

  “You don’t need to answer right now. But whatever you decide, you may not speak of this to anyone…”

  “Yes, Ma’am, I would like to do it. I would do anything for you, Master. If it means my freedom or Charmann's freedom, I will do whatever you need of me.”

  “That was a quick decision,” she said softly. “There’s just one more thing…” And she rolled away to open the drawer in the table at the end of the bed.

  Mahran continued gazing happily at the ceiling as Floreina came back to roll against him. She rested her head on the pillow next to his, placing her knee on his hip.

  “I just want you to know one thing,” Floreina whispered as she brought her sidearm over her body and down toward Mahran. She rested her arm across his chest and turned the pistol to point into his upper lip, aiming upward, toward his brain.

  “I want you to remember: I can still pop you any time I want.”

  And Mahran’s smile disappeared. The color seemed to fade from his face.

  “You already know that I can buy and sell your family on a whim,” Floreina whispered. “And just the same I could pop your brains all over my nice clean sheets, just on a whim… like… just because I feel like it.”

  She flipped the switch, and the sidearm powered up, tiny red lights illuminating along the barrel one by one like a row of tiny demons.

  Mahran shuddered and whimpered slightly, but otherwise remained motionless.

  Floreina caressed the trigger guard, looking into the eyes of her slave as he stared down the barrel.

  “I could get your brother to come up here and dispose of the body… on nothing more than a whim.”

  Her finger slipped past the guard and caressed the trigger. “Hold still.” Her voice was inaudible just a few inches beyond his ear.

  “So I want to make it abundantly clear what the consequences will be for crossing me,” Floreina continued. “It would be kinda fun, I must admit.” She smiled and let her head sink into the pillow.

  Mahran remained rigid and unmoving.

  “I just want you to see this for another few seconds and then I’ll put it away and we’ll have another beer…

  And one final, long pause.

  “So do you understand?” she asked. “Has it sunk into your head that this will be the last thing you see if you ever cross me?”

  Mahran carefully and slowly opened his mouth to say “Yes, Ma’am. I understand.”

  And Floreina’s threat ended as quickly as it had begun. She rolled away, flipping the switch to power down the weapon. She placed it back in its drawer and looked back at Mahran.

  He began to shudder, but otherwise did not move.

  Floreina stood up. His test was not over. “You want another beer?” she asked.

  Only a moment’s hesitation. “Yes, please. Thank you, Master Floreina.”

  ______ ______ ______

  “I understand, Master,” Mahran said, resting his hands on the edge of the operating table. “You have no proof that I can be trusted…” He rapped his fingers nervously and stared at the ceiling. “What are the chances of this going off accidentally?”

  The surgeon did not reply, but simply continued monitoring the tiny robots inside Mahran’s incision.

  “Is there a chance?” Floreina asked.

  “Nope,” replied Doctor Feihron.

  “What about dreams?” asked Mahran. “Could she set it off in her dreams? I’ve heard of sleep walking; can a person trigger implant menus while they’re asleep?”

  “Does your owner normally let you rattle off ignorant and insulting questions?” asked Doctor Feihron.

  “I’m sorry, Sir,” said Mahran. “I’m just nervous.”

  “It’s okay,” Floreina chimed in, “I’m not strict on speech and he’s understandably nervous.”

  “No.” The doctor glanced at Floreina and rolled his eyes. “Menus can’t be activated during sleep. It’s not hard for implants to tell if their host is sleeping. Likewise, it can’t be activated in anger. Your master has to be calm and rational before she can stop your heart. The whole point is that it doesn’t get used. We give them to slaves we wish to keep… you should feel honored.”

  Floreina closed her eyes to focus on the new menu system and browsed through the options. With just the flip of a few mental switches she could shut down any part of her slave. She could bring him pain, make him itch, or knock him unconscious.

  Or she could detonate the tiny explosive in his heart.

  This could be a fun and cruel little toy in the wrong hands.

  “What’s the range?” she asked.

  “Infinite,” replied the doctor, “As long as your slave is somewhere near civilization. It will work immediately as a direct connection if you’re in the same solar system. If you’re not in the same system the signal passes through any communication network as a Trojan horse, searching for the slave’s signal. It might take a day for the signal to sneak through other communications if you’re on the other side of New Eden, but otherwise the signal always finds its target.” The doctor shrugged as he finished closing the incision. “Ready to give it a try?” He motioned to Mahran.

  Mahran stood and gripped the edge of the table, looking downward. He took a deep, shaking breath.

  Now he was truly subject to her whim.

  He could have refused the whole thing… though he probably had no idea how many controls Floreina now had at her disposal.

  She could not help breaking a smile as she flipped the command to shut down everything below Mahran’s neck, directing the sensation to creep slowly up his body. She looked into Mahran’s eyes as he realized what was happening. His eyes widened and his lips pulled back in a grimace.

  Like a work of art… to be able to extend yourself and affect God’s creatures with just your thoughts…

  He began to fall, struggling to grab the table, but still looking into Floreina’s eyes.

  And suddenly her senses shifted as she saw his humiliation and instinctively jumped forward. She caught him and wrapped her arms around him, releasing the hold on his nervous system. He nearly brought her to the ground with his superior weight. He stumbled, legs bending and almost collapsed.

  “Sorry about that,” she said. “I just had to see if it worked.”

  ______ ______ ______

  At first she did not recognize Mahran when he arrived in the docking bay, dressed in his Amarrian attire, carrying a satchel of his belongings. The temporary facial alterations looked excellent, like any other middle class Amarrian tourist. She smiled. “Ahoy, stranger,” she said.

  He grinned. “I could make a good Amarrian, huh?” he turned around to show off the clothing.

  She chuckled. “Shall we go?”

  They stopped at an exit station before disembarking. The guard saluted. “Commander Floreina.”

  Floreina nodded. “This is my slave Mahran, who will be known as Geiyfron, a station manager at a Quafe plant and my old friend from college.”

  “You have your control devices installed and tested?” asked the guard. “All software fully installed in your own implants?”

  “Oh, yes,” Floreina replied.

  “Well, don’t be afraid to pop his heart if you get found out. Don’t try to salvage the situation and run away with your slave. The authorities don’t take kindly to slave traders here. You should never let your slave out of your sight.”

  “Oh, I know,” Floreina a
ssured him.

  “I know, it’s just such a normal and open thing here on the ship that it’s a risk that sometimes people forget. Sometimes the slaves forget too.” The guard pointed at Mahran. “And you understand too, right? You need to play your part as the friend from college. It’s not enough to just insist that you’re not a slave, because the authorities are aware of the remote detonation devices, and know that slaves won’t usually admit their status, and they don’t really care whether or not your master throws the switch as long as they catch the slave traders, so you must be absolutely convincing in your part. If for any reason you don’t think you can handle this responsibility, please tell us now. There won’t be any penalties if you back out now.”

  “No,” he replied. “I’m prepared. I know the risks, and I’ve studied the procedures. I’m ready to see the outside.”

  “Very well, Commander Floreina and Slave Mahran, AKA Geiyfron, you are cleared for shore-leave.”

  ______ ______ ______

  They sat in a small burger café at the Leisure Group Development studio in Teonusude after their short transport ride. Mahran glanced quickly around the café, his eyes wide and mouth turned upward in a childish grin.

  “So… what do you want to do first?” Floreina asked.

  “You’re asking me?” said Mahran. “I don’t know of anything that’s here. Don’t we need to tend to our plans first?”

  “Yes, but you deserve to have some fun first… and I want to relax tonight and tend to things tomorrow. We have all weekend. We’re tourists, remember.”

  “Okay, well I don’t know; I’m happy just wandering and looking at things…”

  “Well then, we should go to the zoo,” Floreina said.

  She told him about the animals they would find there. Mahran’s education had covered extensively the systems on board a starship, but he seemed to know little about life outside of that, only occasionally recognizing the names of the animals she listed.

  She looked at him in his new Amarrian face and clothing and joyous grin, and she could almost see a real Amarrian, and despite his ignorance on a few topics, she could pretend that he was just as intelligent as any other Amarrian.