Escape of the Glitter Princess

by Chad V. Holtkamp

  The Glitter King howled. “Increase the bounty on the Captain’s head tenfold just for endangering my daughter.”

  Jock cringed. The man was small but powerful. “So this is where Amy got her feistiness,” he thought.

  “Why did you take them to Veibos? Did you not know of their galactic slave ring? I will have your head, too!” the king roared and signaled for the drone fighters to take him.

  The situation was going south in a hurry and Jock needed to quickly explain.

  “Wait!” Jock yelled as the drone fighter took him by the arms. “Before you cut my head off, let me finish! It was the Captain’s fault.”

  Being fond of his head, he couldn’t tell the Glitter King the whole truth. “The Captain told me they were on a diplomatic visit to the Boru system to expand the princess’s good will across the galaxy. We agreed to take them to Crypso. But the Captain sabotaged my ship and we had to make an emergency landing on Veibos. Once there, he said the Veibon Chief was an old friend. We thought we were among friendlies, but it was a double-cross. My AI alerted me of the sabotage and I was able to escape, but I have been unable to contact the Federated Union for help due to the solar storm. I came all this way to get your assistance in rescuing the princess and my companions.”

  The king was horrified at the news. He’d already beheaded the princess’s first protector years ago when Amaratis got back from Earth after her fling with Jock. Now Captain Andana had done something far worse than letting his daughter fall in love with a Human.

  “I will kill him with my bare hands!” the king raged. “Guards, release him. Call back the search party and arrange for the royal fleet to leave as soon as they are ready. From what I know of these slavers’ traditions, we have little time until the princess will be sold at an auction and taken away forever before the moon turns.”

  “Can you translate when the moon turn is?” Jock asked.

  “That means what Humans call tonight!” the Glitter King said.

  Jock was both thankful for his help and filled with dread. He never dreamed the Veibons were slavers and calculated the nine hours it would take to get back. They were cutting it dangerously close, but there wasn’t more they could do.

  Chief Rygel mulled over Captain’s Andana’s warning of the lovelorn Human, but could only think of the many riches coming his way. Instead of tripling the guards first, he sent a message to his many esteemed guests that were on their way to the auction.

  “Ha ha! I have a very special night planned for all of you,” he said proudly. “Not only do we have the Princess Amaratis for sale, but also we have an extra special bonus. A well-preserved Human male and a fire-haired Centaurian mindreader for your auctioning pleasure!”

  The message went out to the more than 100 guests he was expecting. While he calculated his profits, he called in his best guard.

  “How many can we spare to guard the tent tonight?” he asked.

  “Sir, how many guests are we expecting?” the guard asked.

  “Ha ha! Over one hundred! We shall be rich!” the Chief exclaimed.

  “Sir, with that many guests and the high-value merchandise, we will need to divide our forces,” the guard said. “You know how dangerous it is to have so many undesirables in one place. The biggest auction we’ve had was only 40. And even that quickly grew out of control.”

  “Ha ha! You are right!” Chief Rygel said. “That was a delightful evening. Only eight dead and 30 wounded. The bounty was well worth it. But tonight we have a specific one to watch out for. The Human who escaped the moon had once loved the Princess. He may return to do something stupid.”

  “Agreed, sir,” the guard replied. “But doubtful. The solar storm in the Sol System would keep him from reaching the Constellation. Even if he managed to get to the princess’s home planet to rally their forces it would be unlikely that he’d return before the action ended.”

  “Ha ha! I hope you are right,” Chief Rygel said. “I want this to be the grandest of nights when our Veibon treasury overfloweth with riches. Put twenty of our best at the entrance of the tent. Leave the rest to control the savages.”

  Dom, Desire and the Princess were dragged from their cages just as the compound transformed back into a beautiful palace. The dirty desert Veibons that had come for them turned back into the beatific Adonises they had been the night before.

  Dom had lost track of time but guessed it was afternoon. He tried to take a shot at one of the Veibons, but it was quickly thwarted by the other three beings. He wasn’t a GOON and made the call to save his energy for a better time to escape.

  Desire tried to read the Veibons’ minds, but could not. Her earlier guess that the Alien cloaking technology kept her from doing so was correct.

  Princess Amaratis started begging for her life. “Please, if you return me to my father, I will give you all the Glitter in Aesneia!” That made one of the Veibons smile, but she was slapped for a second time. The situation was deteriorating even more.

  They were dragged to new part of the palace that looked vaguely reminiscent of a spa.

  “Wait, don’t tell me. You’re treating us to a spa day?” Dom joked just to annoy the Veibons. It worked. They shoved him forward into a changing room and ordered him with a stun gun to change into a towel. As the door closed and locked him in, he watched as Desire and the princess were taken separate ways.

  With no other choice, Dom discarded yet another soiled flight suit and changed into the towel. He knocked on the door when he was done. “Excuse me, do you have a bigger towel?” he asked. “This is more like a washcloth. Do you Veibons not have much to cover up?”

  They were not amused. They picked Dom up and threw him into a hot chamber. And kept the towel.

  Naked and afraid, the stark reality of the situation dawned on him. “What if I can’t get us out this mess? I’m all for having a little hanky-panky, but only by my choosing.” Besides that, he was more concerned about Desire and the princess and what kind of creatures would buy them. It wasn’t a pretty thought, dirty, disgusting things smelling of dung and sweat taking his Desire and torturing the princess. “I’m so glad Jock isn’t alive to see this.”

  The he screamed. “What’s with this heat! I’m all for a good sauna, but you’re deep frying my good parts.” He guessed The Veibon Chief wanted them to sweat off the impurities of their disgusting moon.

  The heat was too much to bear at the moment, and he longed for the hours spent waterboarding. At least he could rehydrate rather than melt into a gooey puddle.

  After what seemed like an hour, but really was only about 10 Earth minutes, the Veibons picked him up and carried him to the next room. It was a hydrotherapy room. “I was only kidding about waterboarding,” he thought as he was suddenly doused with bucket upon bucket of ice cold water. As he dripped dry, a Veibon servant girl smiled admiringly and brought him a larger towel, along with a refreshing mint cocktail in a golden chalice.

  “Now this is more like it,” Dom said. “Do you have any cheese and crackers with that?” She just stared and smiled waiting for him to finish the drink.

  When Chief Rygel’s mass transmission reached the auction’s guests, the crush of traffic to the Boru system spiked, causing ripples in the gravity fields. Several species were overcome with excitement. In the rush to be the first to arrive, they pushed their ships to reckless levels of speed, causing several to collide and vaporize.

  No matter, there was still an impressive variety of slavers on their way: The Snahetuns, Jaflosies, Cetars, Yubrors, Nuwhandas, Stonias, Xiytes, Bothians, Olyarians, Gwarts, Laswons, Ablaunides, Funtas, Pwichis, Smones, Wapsipaehiris, Bebliers, Traoz, and the Chaugnauts.

  They were all from different parts of the galaxy, but all had one thing in common. They wanted to outbid the others and were willing to spend whatever it took to get the Aesneian, Human and Centaurian.

  King Iearus commanded that his troops assemble immediately and prepare for a massive attack on the Veibons.

  “Th
ey will pay for what they have done, especially the Captain,” the Glitter King raged. “Bring him back alive. I want him for myself!”

  In this late day and age he knew he was in no shape to command a ship. He’d let the younger, fitter warriors do the dirty work. He would wait with bated breath as they went about their mission.

  The angrier he got, the more his feelings of displeasure for Jock’s indiscretion with his daughter bubbled to the surface. After all these years, he was still upset with Jock and wanted to flog him severely for nearly tearing apart his family.

  “Jock Saunders, I will allow you to lead the attack, but if I hear you have laid one hand on daughter, I will not only have your head. I will chop you to pieces and serve you to my ferocious Sniris.”

  Jock didn’t know what a Sniri was, but he certainly didn’t want to find either. Jock understood the Glitter King’s desire to punish Jock for their love affair, but the clock was ticking, and they needed to get back to Veibos before the slave auction happened.

  The king’s forces had been on high alert since the princess had disappeared. They would have followed her, but she left without warning in the middle of the night. They tried to track the ship, but the Princess seemed to have disabled her comm screens to get away.

  Once they realized she had escaped they sent out a search party, but they had come up empty. The king wasn’t happy about that, either, but since Captain Andana was in on the scheme, they had too much lead time to be found.

  Jock looked the Glitter King straight in the eye. “King Iearus, it is my only wish that I will bring your daughter back safe. I assure you that I will abide by your guidelines. In the meantime, can you please send a transport to the Constellation? With all the solar activity lately, my AI has been unable to get a transmission through to my Commander Weisman. He could provide valuable backup.”

  Even while being separated from Desire and the princess, Desire sent Dom thoughts with her telepathy. Despite the gruffness of how they treated Dom, the girls were being tended to by female servants. He was thankful for that small courtesy.

  Once he finished his drink, the servant girl led Dom to another room where he was reunited with Desire and the princess. Seeing Desire in a towel was almost more than he could handle. “Thank god for the larger towel,” Dom joked. “Desire, yours is very becoming on you.”

  Out of character, Desire giggled. The princess started giggling, too. “Why are you two so happy? We’re about to be sold to the highest bidder!” he asked as a giggle fit overcame him as well.

  Suddenly, a rush of endorphins washed over this body. He felt giddy and excited about the night ahead. But in the back of his mind, he knew they had all been drugged.

  The servants took them by the hand and led to three separate massage tables. Just then, Chief Rygel entered the room.

  “Ha ha! I see you are being groomed and prepped for our evening entertainment. By the looks of your relaxed bodies, I trust you enjoyed our special cocktail! You will now be pampered and primped for the auction. No self-respecting Veibon would auction damaged goods or those who are stressed. My clients pay top dollar for their slaves. The least I can do make sure you look and feel your best. Prepare for bliss ha ha! Servants, commence with their massages, manicures and pedicures.”

  They were all limp noodles as the servants gave them massages. Rather than wearing off, the cocktail’s effect grew stronger as the servants worked it through their bodies via strange techniques. Desire sent thoughts to Dom throughout and he had to fight like hell to get her out of his head. It was much more than he bargained for and he wondered if he could ever get her to that happy place she was sending his way. He was worried when the servant asked him to turn over.

  Desire could sense that even the princess had calmed from her earlier hysterics. She had finally stopped thinking about Jock and was zoning out envisioning the beautiful sunsets on her home planet, Aesneia.

  Unfortunately, the princess’s masseuse became a little too eager to please. Chief Rygel, who had been enjoying the show, burst back into the room. “No sampling the merchandise!” he yelled. “Just get them fresh and ready! We still need to sleep them and feed them.”

  The servants completed the pampering and even used a tiny dab of Glitter on each, to make them look younger. It would cost the Chief a bit, but he would more than make up for it on the back end with higher auction prices.

  15

  After being pampered, given mani/pedi treatments, and being treated to full body deep tissue massages, they were given white fluffy robes and sent to take a short nap. The Chief needed them to be rested for the Veibon customers lined up for the slave auction.

  “You know, this wouldn’t be a bad life,” Dom said giggling, as the guards walked the three to their respective rooms. “I haven’t had this much relaxation time since Turks.”

  Desire agreed that it was just as good as Akumal for her, “But at least on Akumal, I knew that I could just get back in the water and my life was my own. Here, we have no idea what’s coming next.”

  The princess spoke up. Even though she was still giggling from the cocktail, she grew serious. “I know what’s coming next,” she said. “I’ve heard stories that even though they primp and style and make you feel like a million credits, once the music stops it’s all over. These creatures are vicious animals and treat their property as such. That’s what we’ll become, property.”

  The smile faded from Dom’s face. They all knew it was true. “Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood since we’re all feeling pretty good right now.”

  They were stuffed in separate rooms next to each other with Desire in the middle.

  The Veibons guards told them to shut up and sleep while they stood watch outside each room. As night fell on Veibos, Dom and the princess got an hour of much-needed sleep. Desire even took a couple of micronaps.

  Despite being off schedule with their sleep time, the lasting effects of the cocktail made it easy to fall asleep.

  Dom slept fitfully, dreaming of Cat the Froree in the wilds of Antarctica. It was cold, way colder than he’d ever experienced in Chicago. And he was dressed only in his flight suit. Cat carried him like a rag doll to her ice cave, and despite the chill, he felt warm all snuggled in her fur. Then she threw him against the wall. Much like her name, she loved to toy with her prey before pouncing on it. Just as she pounced for the kill, Dom woke up in a sweat.

  “Damn, I going to need another hydrotherapy session,” he said as he sat up. “At least I don’t have the headaches anymore,” he thought. The cold sweat beaded on his forehead and upper lip. He wiped it away with the back of his hand.

  Desire was back on Centauri in her dream, working the field with her father. It was one of the happier times in her life, before she learned of her gift, back when she was just a normal girl. They were working on an evaporator, wrenching it to pull moisture from the air to irrigate the fields. It wasn’t working, and her father grew angry and struck her. The force of the slap woke her from her dream. Her face felt raw, and her body temp was high. She considered taking another micronap, but didn’t want to have another bad dream.

  The princess dreamed of being back on Earth, having dinner with Jock. He was smiling at her, waiting for the right moment to give her a big surprise. After the appetizer, he poured her a glass of champagne and toasted to a beautiful relationship. After which he pulled out a ring and asked her to marry him. She shot up out of bed, pulling herself out of the dream. She didn’t want to relive the next moment once again.

  After a fitful rest, the guards came for Dom, Desire and Princess Amaratis. They handed them purple velvet cloaks and escorted the three to another evening feast. Dom felt like he was having déjà vu as they entered the banquet hall.

  “Another day, another feast,” Dom said. “The Veibons sure like their food. Wonder what’s on the menu tonight? Maybe they have a slave special.”

  He was right behind the princess when an eager Veibon came up to her and gave her a trinket to w
ear to dinner. Rumors had spread throughout the compound and the Veibon recognized her as royalty. He wanted to pay homage to the female known throughout the galaxy as the “Glitter Princess.”

  Despite being a Veibon, she thought he had sweet eyes and was obviously giving her something of value. “Why thank you!” she said, admiring the beauty of the gemstone. It was a small thing. Little did she know that it would be useful later at the auction. The guards smacked the Veibon and batted him out of the way, but allowed her to keep the trinket.

  Another Veibon rushed up to pay homage to Desire. It was another gemstone and this was becoming a pattern. She smiled and thanked the being, wishing she could dive into his thoughts and get a better read on why they were doing this. They seemed to be risking their lives to deliver the gifts, but were still willing to endure the guards’ beating as they drove them away.

  Not wanting to be left out, Dom waited patiently for his Veibon gift. He hoped it would be from that harem hottie he met the night before, but no other Veibons stopped to pay him homage, much to his chagrin.

  “Sorry, Dom,” Desire said. “Guess you’re the odd man out. They seem to only present gemstones to beautiful females.”

  “Oh, well,” he said, “I don’t really need their space junk anyway.” He was lying. He didn’t like being left out of the gift giving.

  The guards led them to the large banquet table from the night before. The Chief was already waiting for them. He had the guards seat Desire on one side of him and the princess on the other. Knowing Desire could take care of herself for the most part, Dom took the seat next to the princess. The ornate gilded pillows felt soft under their massaged bodies.