Slave Empire - Prophecy

by T C Southwell

Rayne woke to find her captor standing over her, and leapt off the couch like a startled cat. Lacking feline reactions, she tripped over her feet and landed with a thud on her rump. She grimaced, then tried to scramble away in alarm when he stepped towards her. He gripped her wrist before she could evade him and hauled her to her feet, and as soon as she was upright she tried to prise his fingers loose. After a futile struggle with his iron grip, she became aware that he was merely watching her efforts, and glared up at the horrible mask.

  “Are you going to just stand there and hold my arm all day?”

  She sensed his reluctant smile, and he said, “You should be more careful. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

  “Well your wishes aren’t exactly high on my list of priorities, you know.”

  “You’re very brave all of a sudden.”

  “This isn’t bravery; it’s called desperation. Something you wouldn’t know anything about.”

  “I understand better than you know,” he replied.

  “I’ll bet you get your kicks from terrorising helpless slaves, but I won’t give you the satisfaction again.” She drew a shaking breath. “Look, if you take me to Atlan, I’ll see to it that you’re rewarded as well as reimbursed.”

  “Really. You must be an important person, then.”

  “I have some important friends. The Council will pay for my return.”

  He shook his head. “As much as I would like to oblige, I’m afraid it’s out of the question. You see, there’s a price on my head on Atlantean worlds. A very large one. If they catch me, they’ll kill me, so I’m not going anywhere near Atlan.”

  “Well, just let me go then. I’ll call my friends, and they’ll come and get me. I’ll make sure you still get the reward.”

  “The Atlanteans, come here?” He gave a soft, mirthless bark of laughter. “That would be risky. Besides, you have no money, and, unlike on Atlan, a space line costs money here.”

  “Oh. Perhaps you could...”

  “Lend you some?” He chuckled again. “Why don’t I just take you to a law-abiding world, then you can call on a free space line?”

  She glared at him. “You’re not going to help me, are you?”

  “No. I have plans for you. I didn’t buy you just to give you back to your Atlantean masters.”

  “Damn you!” She tried to wrench free, but only succeeded in jerking herself closer to him, something that, oddly, seemed to discomfit him, for he stepped back. For a moment she was close enough to sense his warmth and strange, powerful charisma. Startled, she stepped back, then realised that his laser was within reach, grabbed it and tried to yank it out. It seemed to be stuck, and his grip on her wrist tightened painfully as he pushed her away, releasing her.

  “That was a really stupid thing to do,” he said.

  “If you think I’m not going to fight, or try to escape, you’ve got another think coming.”

  He motioned to her wrist. “Did I hurt you?”

  She looked at it, surprised by his concern. There was a red mark around it, but no real damage. “No, it’s fine.”

  “Good.” He paused. “For future reference, in case you’re tempted to try that again, my weapon is keyed to my DNA, so you can’t use it, or even release it from the holster.” His tone became brisk. “We’re going to my ship now. We’ll be more comfortable there. Stand next to me, so I can activate the transfer Net.”

  Rayne longed to refuse, but there was no escaping, and if she did he would only force her to do as he wished, a humiliation she chose to forego. The golden light of an energy shell engulfed them, and dispersed to reveal a room decorated in pale blue and cream. A thick carpet of the grey moss covered the floor, and comfortable chairs formed a half circle around a low glass table. Two slanted windows gave a view of Gergonia’s dreary yellow globe and the sullen red planet beyond it.

  The Shrike went over to a console and placed his hand on the sensor pad. The crystals lighted and sparkled at his touch. Although no sensation was evident, she sensed that a Net link had been forged, and the ship headed into the unknown. A glance at the windows showed a golden haze crawling over them, obscuring the view and confirming her suspicions.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To my base.”

  “Where’s that?”

  He shook his head, studying the holographic readouts that scrolled up from the console.

  “Won’t you at least tell me your name?” she asked.

  “Most people call me ‘the Shrike’.” He wandered over to a chair and sank into it, indicating that she should take the couch opposite, and she perched on the edge of it. She longed to point out that this was not the answer she had been looking for. It sounded more like a title.

  “So, who’s your benefactor on Atlan?” he enquired.

  “Commander Tallyn.”

  “Ah, Tallyn.” He nodded. “Now there’s a man with a devious mind.”

  “He’s a good man.”

  “Oh yes, he is, and you seem to like him.”

  She looked away, embarrassed. “He was good to me and my brother. He saved us.”

  “Why?”

  She shied away from telling him the reason for her rescue, which was also the reason for her kidnapping. He might be another enemy of Atlan, and decide to kill her if he knew who she was. “It has nothing to do with you.”

  “Don’t be difficult.”

  “I don’t have to tell you anything. If you want to force it from me, then put a slave collar on me.”

  “I’m not going to collar you.”

  “Why did you buy me?”

  He shrugged. “I have my reasons.”

  Rayne gazed around, a few wild and improbable plans presenting themselves for her common sense to dismiss. If she could escape from the room, she might be able to evade pursuit long enough to locate the emergency life pods. Once on board one, she could escape, deactivate the pod’s beacon until the Shrike’s ship was out of range, then reactivate it and wait for rescue. Her eyes lingered on the open door, which seemed to beckon to her, inviting her to use it and find the freedom she craved. The Shrike seemed to be watching her, his hands clasped, but it was difficult to tell. She looked at the door again, and his deep chuckle made her tense.

  “That’s the most ridiculous plan I’ve ever heard,” he said. “Even if you managed to escape this room, which you won’t, do you really think you’ll be able to launch a life pod by yourself, and without any of my crew noticing?” He chuckled again, and her humiliation grew.

  “You shouldn’t read peoples’ minds,” she retorted, wishing she could think of a more scathing rebuttal.

  “Probably not, but yours is most entertaining.”

  Rayne tried to imagine what he might look like, conjuring an image of a deformed, malevolent alien much like the mutants she had seen on Earth.

  “How unpleasant,” he said. “I can assure you, I don’t look anything like that.”

  “To me you do.”

  He sighed. “Will you tell me your name?”

  After a moment’s hesitation, she did, aware that he might try to learn it telepathically if she refused, and discover her secret. She tried to block his mental intrusion with the method Tallyn had taught her, aware that she pitted slight and unpractised skills against a vastly experienced intellect.

  The Shrike stood up, taking her by surprise. “I must see to the running of my ship. I’ll see you later.”

  As the door closed behind him, Rayne rose and paced the cabin, racking her brains for a way out of her predicament. Getting off a space ship in flight had to be almost impossible; she had never heard of it being tried. Once they reached their destination, her chances would be even slimmer, and she did not even know where they were going. Appealing to the masked marvel seemed hopeless, so she had to find her own way home. After an hour or so of fruitless pondering, she sat down, deciding that she would have to wait for her situation to change.

  The door opened as she was dozing off, and she jerked awake, cursing t
he fact that she always seemed to be falling asleep whenever she was left alone for a while. The Shrike stood in the doorway, and gestured for her to precede him into the corridor. Grey moss carpeted it, and the smooth white walls seemed to have been moulded from a single sheet of plastic, or whatever they were made from. Harsh white lights overhead cast stark shadows, and the only colours seemed to be grey and white. The cold corridor led to a smooth, featureless room, rather like a shuttle bay, where two guards waited. At the Shrike’s signal, they stepped forward and gripped her arms. Before she could protest, the shimmering gold of an energy shell engulfed her.

  When it dispersed, she stood on a planet’s surface. The increased gravity made her knees buckle, and the guards held her up. It must have been half again as much as Earth or Atlan, whose slightly stronger gravity she had grown accustomed to over the last four years. She stood at the edge of a vast transparent dome, beyond which a rock-strewn red desert stretched away as far as she could see. It reminded her of Mars. Wind blew dust against the barrier with a soft hiss, and she sensed the aching cold outside.

  Scudding clouds moved across the grim planet’s grey sky, and the sun was a dim glow. A sprawling city filled the dome’s warm interior, and stunted trees bordered the road that led into the metropolis. The guards guided her between white buildings, some festooned with greenery. Skyways looped overhead and gravcars hummed past. The dome created a tropical greenhouse where the desert soil yielded all manner of vegetation. Further off, between the buildings, water sprinklers irrigated tracts of agricultural land, and the dome gave the sky a pearly glow.

  They entered a nondescript building and traversed a short corridor to a door that slid open. The guards pushed her inside and the door shut. The sleek, modern room had elegantly understated décor and every creature comfort. Light poured in through skylights, and a warmly decorated bedroom, plush bathroom and an auto kitchen led off it, all tastefully furnished. After an hour or so, she decided to have a hot bath to ease her tension. When she was dressed again, she wandered about, growing bored and restless.