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SCARBOROUGHFAIR

Story One

Chapter Four

by RedFox6

Voyages and Transitions

As the hatch closed behind them, Leu took Tollel in his arms and asked, "Are you all right? Did they hurt you?"

"No," she replied, hugging him tightly in relief. "They didn't do anything to me. A badger morph talked to me, asked me some questions, but no one hurt me."

"I didn't think so," he went on. "Dhein runs a tight ship, but sometimes his people get a little,

'overenthusiastic'. Especially when they can 'interrogate' a morph slave."

He stepped back a pace, then went on, "But, we really do need to talk. Where did you learn to fight like that?"

Fear entered her eyes. "I, I don't know, Sir," she answered. Adopting a submissive posture, head down and ears flattened, with her tail between her legs, she went on, "It, just seemed to happen. I don't know how." Expecting to be killed on the spot, her body trembled uncontrollably.

Putting his hand under her chin, he gently raised her head until he was looking in her eyes. "You really don't know?"

Too frightened to speak, she merely shook her head no.

"Okay," he went on. "we don't have time now, so, we'll figure it out later. Until then, don't tell anyone about it. We don't want anyone else to know, it'll be too dangerous."

"You're, you're not going to, to...," Tollel began.

"What, punish you, kill you?" he said. "Don't be silly. Of course not. Why would you even think that?"

"But, the Law says," she began.

Anger showed in his eyes as he interrupted her, "Sure, and I couldn't care less what the smeggin' law says. Damned fool law anyway. It was nothing but political grandstanding, passed to stop a revolt that had already been smashed years before. Those abilities saved your life. And there is no way in Sheol that I could be angry about that.

"After all," he went on, almost to himself. "It's not like I haven't bent a law or two myself in my day."

There was a snort from the speakers, and Leu glared at them, saying, "And I don't need any lip from you. I'm law abiding now. Mostly."

Marie replied, "Do you wish me to list the various and sundry laws you have 'bent' this year alone?"

"No!"

"Good," she went on. "I do not believe we have sufficient time for me to list them all. I would need at least a week to ten days standard."

"Damned uppity AIs," Leu growled. "Beginning to wonder who's really the boss, here."

Marie wisely kept her peace. There was no sense in disillusioning her partner.

He smiled at Tollel and went on, "Now, come on. We need to launch as soon as possible.

"Marie, take us out of the blue and into the black."

"We have a launch window in two minutes," Marie's voice came over the speakers. "Security Chief Dhein made good on his promise of a priority launch. We have been pushed to the head of the line."

A certain smugness seemed to enter her voice as she went on, "There seems to be a certain amount of displeasure with our priority launch. Several other ships have lodged formal Protests with Station Administration. The standard response they seem to be receiving is to get over it."

With slight clunks as the umbilicals were cast off and the airlock unsealed, the Scarborough Fair launched into space.

Mostly reassured, Tollel said, cautiously, "Leu, there are other people on the ship. I can smell them."

"Yeah. Don't worry, they're supposed to be here. We're taking some passengers to Marrakesh," he responded.

Heading towards the bridge with his arm still around Tollel, he went on more soberly, "They're refugees from the Empire. Tony arranged for us to get them to safety. We'll hook them up with King Mike'simmigrant runners at Marrakesh. That'll get them a chance at a better life."

He went on, "Marie, where are our guests?"

"Our passengers are in Hold 2B," she responded. "Tony sent sufficient rations with them for the trip to Marrakesh. No one will have to go hungry on this trip."

"Good," Leu said. "We don't need anyone spotting them on scans."

At Tollel's confused look, Leu went on, "2B's shielded from scans. Something Marie whipped up a few years back. To anybody looking at the ship, 2B isn't there at all. Helps when we're carrying cargo we don't want anyone to know about."

"Is it dangerous if others know about them?" Tollel asked.

Leu shrugged and went on, "It's probably pretty safe. But the Empire does hire bounty hunters and slave catchers to try and stop folk from leaving. I doubt they're actually looking for us, but, if they are, this way they won't know if we have passengers or not. Better all around."

Looking at the intercom, Leu went on, "Marie, how long before we make the jump?"

"If all goes well," Marie replied. "we should be able to jump in 29 minutes."

"Good, good," Leu said, heading for the bridge with Tollel behind him. He pulled off his ruined shirt as they reached the bridge. Dropping it on the floor he went on, "Once we make the jump, we can get them out of 2B. I'm sure they'd appreciate that. It's not that big a place. We'll have to assign them cabins, and make sure they don't get into mischief while on the ship."

A small drone scurried out and picked up Leu's shirt, carrying it off towards the laundry. A semi autonomous maintenance program running through the drone was tsking electronically and evaluating the mess, considering the best way to clean and repair the shirt.

Reaching the bridge, Leu sat down in his chair for the launch, while Tollel started to kneel beside him. Looking over his glasses at her, he said, "Free beings sit in chairs, not on the floor. Also, I think you would probably be more comfortable without the collar."

Sitting down in the co-pilot's chair, Tollel touched her collar. It felt so natural for her to wear one, she had forgotten about it. Raising her paw, she fingered the collar and opened the latch. Removing it, she placed it on the console. It did feel good not to have the weight of a collar around her neck.

While Marie piloted the ship to their jump point, Leu opened the bag Anders had handed him and began removing his gear. With no better place to put it at the moment, he resheathed the dagger in his boot, then clasped the comlink on his wrist, and replaced his ID in its pocket. The two knives that were covered in blood he handed to one of Marie's helpful drones to be cleaned and resharpened.

As he handed over Tollel's ID, his eyes were sweeping the control panel, checking the status of the various systems. Everything was green. The only scans detected were the standard navigational ones, and some of his tension eased.

One of Marie's drones came and handed Leu a fresh shirt, identical to the one he'd been wearing on the station. He put it on while the ship approached its jump point.

Several hours after the Fair left Tir na n'Og, three ships arrived. A medium sized freighter converted into a heavily armed luxury space yacht called the King Tiger, owned by Blaine Crakesbone and crewed by his most loyal underlings, escorted by the George A.Romero and the Zombie Stomp, two heavily armed Raider class gunships owned by a pair of fox morph brothers, Sam and Dean Axler, guns for hire, no questions asked.

The ships docked with the station. Inquiries were made, bribes were paid, and soon Crakesbone knew the destination of the Scarborough Fair. The three ships left Tir na n'Og as soon as possible, heading for Marrakesh.

The Scarborough Fair made the jump to hyperspace safely. As they went irrational, Leu smiled to Tollel and said, "C'mon, I'll show you some of the secrets of the Fair."

They went to the main cargo bay. Leu faced a wall across the bay and said, "Let's let 'em out, Marie."

With a slight hiss, a panel opened across the bay, revealing a small hidey hole, currently filled with eight morphs of various species. In the front was an otteress, who seemed to be in charge.

The otteress came out first, her hand in her coat pocket. "I am Mandy," she said. "These are my charges. And you are?"

"Captain Leucidion," he answered with a smile for her forthrightness. He wondered idly what kind of weapon she had there, and whether she really knew how to use it. "And this is Tollel, my companion and helper. You've already met Marie."

"Yes," she answered, then turned away and began coaxing the others out of the chamber.

The first out were a fox and vixen. The vixen carried a small cub while the fox had his right arm wrapped around her. Leu immediately noticed that the fox was missing his right paw. His eyes narrowed as he recognized the Imperial punishment for a slave accused of theft. A quick glance at their faces showed their muzzles were branded on the right side with a stylized T. Even the cub had been branded.

"Welcome to the Scarborough Fair," Leu said, as the otteress led them out into the bay. "We're currently three days out from Marrakesh and a new life for all of you."

As the morphs came out of 2B, one of them, a male fennec fox of about 12, saw Leu. Terror entered his eyes and he cringed back, then, he dropped to his knees, pasted a wide,sickly smile on his face and whined, "I'm happy, Master. See? I'm happy! So happy!"

Seeing the cub's reaction to him, Leu beat a hasty retreat, leaving the passengers to Marie and Tollel. The terrified look in the eyes coupled with the sickly smile of the young fox made his stomach churn.

After she got the cub settled, Mandy came out into the corridor, where Leu was standing, trying to calm himself.

"Captain," she began. "don't feel bad. It's not you, Bobby does not react well to any human. He had a very bad life in the Empire."

"What happened to him?" Leu asked.

"He was a personal body slave to the Commandant of Camp XV. His owner insisted that he be happy and smile all the time, even while being raped," she explained. "If he wasn't, he would be punished, usually by having his friends and family tortured in front of him."

Leu closed his eyes in sympathetic pain as she went on, "He had to smile and laugh during the tortures, or it would get worse for all concerned. After the session was over, he would then have to clean the torture chamber out, smiling all the time."

"Who...?" Leu began, hands clenched helplessly in rage. He drew a deep breath then went on, "Who did this to him?"

"The Commandant is General Mengeles," she answered.

At the mention of the name, Leu gave out a very credible growl, and snarled, "Mengeles. Drek."

"You know him?" Mandy asked.

"I knew the family," Leu responded. "Bastards, all of them." Leu turned and walked towards the galley, muttering under his breath, "But, where the frag did this one come from? I could have sworn we got them all with that bomb. Deity's child, that means...,"

The otteress' ears were sensitive enough to overhear his mutterings. When she was a cub growing up in the Empire, despite it being a capitol offense, Mandy had received a furtive education from her parents. From the history lessons given during her forbidden education, Mandy remembered that about 20 years ago, the Mengeles were wiped out at their annual family gathering by an implosion bomb planted by Johnny Rotten's group. Mandy wasn't really able to judge the age of humans, but, looking at Leu, she thought that he could be old enough to have worked with the legendary Johnny Rotten. She felt a little awe at the thought that she was in the presence of one of His resistance fighters.

Tollel interrupted her thoughts. "I will take you to your cabin, now," she said. "I have lodged you and Bobby in the same cabin, it seemed to reassure him."

Mandy turned and followed Tollel to the cabin. She spent time settling the cub in, and reassuring him that he was safe. When he finally fell asleep, she left the cabin, looking for Leu.

Leu went to the galley and pulled a beer out of the cooler. Reconsidering, he pulled out the rest of the 12 pack and sat down.

"Leu," Marie said. "This is not helping us. We are coming up on the deadline for our mission. This trip will merely put us further behind schedule."

"Don't worry, Marie," he replied, swallowing a large portion of the first beer. "Even with this, we've got lots of time."

"No, we do not," she replied firmly. "This will leave us with less than 72 hours to find and recover the interface. Ms. Jenner is not forgiving of failure. This whole job was foolish to begin with, as I pointed out at the time. There is a reason no other operator would even touch it. No one else was stupid enough to go for it."

"Yeah," Leu said distractedly, then, "When we're through here, I might just take the money and make a trip into the Empire."

"No!" Marie responded instantly. Then, more gently, "I know what you wish to do, Leu. But you can't. The risk would be too great. You were convicted in absentia and sentenced to death by the Empire. That has never been rescinded. If caught, you will be subject to summary execution.

"Also, unlike the old days, you do not have a support network in place. The original Mengeles operation took a year to prepare, and that was with a support network. Attempting something now is merely a complicated form of suicide. There are easier and cleaner ways to self terminate."

He finished the first bottle and opened the second. "Maybe you're right. But almost twenty morphs died in the blast, and if we didn't get them all, what was the point? We argued and argued over the operation. Most didn't want to do it if we had to kill innocents. I argued that if we could kill all the Mengeles, it would be worth the others. I helped persuade the others to go through with the job. And now I find out we didn't get them all." He looked at the beer in his hand for a second, then swallowed half the bottle in one go. "They died, and we failed. So what the Sheol was it all for?"

"The morphs died quickly and relatively painlessly," Marie answered. "Would the Mengeles have given them a better death? We both know better than that.

"You killed some very important supporters of the Empire," Marie went on. "Ones who were guilty of many crimes, including torture, rape and murder. Not to mention the inhuman experiments they did on their prisoners in Camp XV's laboratories and vivisection chambers. You put a very definite stop to that.

"Furthermore, you crippled the Imperial forces, many of their best generals and colonels were Mengeles. Their deaths reduced the effectiveness of the military, and enabled more beings to rise against the government."

"And yet," Leu said. "in the end, they won.

"I want to be alone for a while, Marie."

There was no reason for her to override the privacy demand, so she left him, and switched her attention to the otteress wandering the corridors. "Can I help you, miss?" she asked.

Startled, Mandy looked up at the speaker, then said, "I'm looking for the Captain, to thank him for helping us out."

Marie carefully considered if this would help to bring Leu out of his depression, working through several different scenarios in less than a second, evaluating the probability of each one, before answering, "He is in the galley. I will guide you there, if you wish."

"After all," she thought. "the privacy demand only applies to me, not others."

"Thank you," Mandy replied, then followed Marie's directions.

Leu was sitting at a table in the galley, sipping on a beer when Mandy came in. Several empties covered the tabletop. She crossed over to him and said, "Captain? Are you all right?"

He looked up, took another swallow of beer, and said, "That's why we lost, you know. We couldn't kill enough of the bastards."

"You fought with Johnny Rotten?" she asked, sitting down, bright eyed and eager.

"They broke us about the time you were bein' born, darlin'. What do you know of Johnny Rotten?"

"Everybody knows of him, even in the Empire," she said. "The son of Spartacus. He escaped and fled into deep space. They say he'll be back, with his father, at the head of a fleet of warships. He'll free all the slaves, and carry us off to Velvet Green, where no one is ever punished or goes hungry or is tortured. It's Paradise for slaves, especially morphs. And you fought beside him."

"So at least we've kept that secret," Leu thought to himself. _"One last big 'Frag you' to the Empire." _

Aloud, Leu replied, "There are a lot of people who claim they fought with Johnny Rotten. If we'd really had as many people as claim they were with us, we'd be running the Empire now." A wry smile, then, "But, yeah, I served with Johnny, right up until the end. We tried to do some good, but the Empire is just too damned big and ruthless. They broke us and chased us and killed us. We ran and we scattered and we hid. We lost a lot of good people. And many of the survivors have died since."

His eyes went vague as he remembered the chaotic last day of Johnny Rotten. The traitor had led the Imperial forces straight to their headquarters, bypassing the guards and boobytraps. The attack had taken them totally by surprise. There hadn't been a chance to fight back in an organized fashion, and the Imperial Promyshlenniki had just rolled them up piecemeal. He could still clearly remember the sounds of the rotors coming in, machine gunning everything in sight; the troops leaping out firing rifles and throwing grenades; the whoosh of the flamethrowers and the smell of burning flesh as the Imperials cleared out the command bunker; the screams of the wounded and the dying. His last action before fleeing the oncoming Imperials had been to shoot his best friend in the head. The survivors of the attack had been scattered, running for their lives. He'd lost contact with them. In some cases, he hadn't found them again for months or years, and in several cases, they were still missing.

He drank some more beer, then went on, "And I look at people like you, refugees, and think, we didn't make a bit of difference. Nothing's changed, it's like we never existed, for all the good we did."

Mandy sat for a moment, thinking, then laid her paw on Leu's arm and said, "But you did make a difference. Johnny Rotten gives everyone hope that things can be better, that change is possible. The nobles and masters still fear him and his father. Anyone in the Empire caught spreading their stories is punished severely. That's how scared of them they are. They give us the strength to resist, and to dream of better things."

"So maybe it was worth it," Leu thought, his spirits rising a little. "Maybe Johnny's still relevant after all. Twenty years on and he's still a symbol for resistance to the Empire. Maybe, just maybe, we did do some good after all."

Smiling at Mandy, Leu rose and put the unopened beers back in the cooler. "So even the Empire knows of the old gray wolf," he said.

"Oh yes," she replied, eyes bright. "He rose in revolt, for the love of freedom and of his mate. He showed what can be done by determined people, uniting in a cause. It took the Confederation ten years to defeat his fleet, and they never caught Spartacus. He's still out there, planning and plotting to free all the slaves. One day he will return and save us all."

She went on, "And he sent his son to battle the Empire, all for the slaves. Every morph in the Empire looks forward to the day they return."

"Well," Leu thought to himself. "sounds like we may have started a little religion, here. Wonder how widespread it is. And what would happen if they ever found out the truth."

"It wasn't quite that simple," he said, smiling sadly. "I remember reading about the revolt in school. The main reason it took the Star Enforcers so long was because Spartacus' fleet scattered, and became pirates, concentrating on robbing merchant vessels. Unless they were slavers, the crews generally weren't harmed, but every slave, human or morph, was freed. After they took what they wanted, they usually allowed the crews to continue to their destinations with their ships."

A nasty smile crossed his face as he went on, "Slavers were generally allowed to walk to their next destination, usually without a spacesuit. Sometimes, if the slavers had a really bad reputation, like the Cormora, they were tortured before 'walkies'. I don't approve of torture, but can't say I really blame the morphs.

"Spartacus was a very charismatic wolf morph, the slaves just flocked to follow him, and they mostly stayed loyal all during the revolt. His true name is lost, but he took the name he's known by from a legendary folk hero who also led a slave revolt long and long ago. The Confed doesn't want that to happen again, so that's why they banned slave gladiators fifty years ago."

He noticed Mandy's rapt attention, and finished with, "A very remarkable morph, and still used as a boogieman forty years after his revolt failed. Not a bad legacy, hey?"

"A very good legacy," Mandy answered earnestly. "I look forward to the time I can meet him and thank him myself."

"That might be awhile." Leu thought. "But I can't explain that to her, not and make her believe me."

"It's getting late," he said out loud. "Probably we should get to our beds."

Rising from his seat and heading out the door, he continued, "See you in the morning."

In the corridor, Tollel asked Marie, "Where's Leu? I want to go over the room assignments with him, make sure he approves."

"He is in the galley, with Mandy," Marie responded. "She is thanking him for providing passage to Marrakesh."

Tollel's face fell, and she felt a little disappointment, along with an unexpected pang of jealousy. "Still," she thought. "it is a master's right to have anyone he wants, so I shouldn't feel this way."

Marie rightly gauged Tollel's thoughts, and attempted to correct her mistake. "They are discussing the trip to Marrakesh, and what will happen when we arrive there."

At that point Leu exited the galley with Mandy by his side. He was saying, "We'll see about getting everyone through the showers after breakfast tomorrow. Recyke'll be able to handle it, although there might be delays. Been awhile since the Fair had a full crew. We can also work on getting laundry done, I'm sure everyone'll appreciate clean clothes."

Looking up, he saw Tollel there. "Hey," he said, smiling. "Just getting ready for bed. Care to join me?"

She inhaled softly. She couldn't smell any sex on either of them, and felt relief, and a small, irrational sense of happiness, especially when he put his arm around her and gave her a hug.

Mandy looked on with a knowing look, then gave a short nod and said, "I will see you in the morning, then, Captain." She turned and went to her cabin while Leu and Tollel headed to bed.

When the cabin door closed behind them, Tollel kissed him then gently pushed Leu until he was seated on the bed.

Standing in front of him, she slowly performed a sultry strip tease, revealing and concealing at the same time. Several minutes later, she reached the end, winding up between his legs, on her knees and with her body completely exposed and ready. Tollel carefully and sensuously began removing Leu's clothing, beginning with his boots and socks. When they were removed and tossed to the side, she unbuttoned his shirt, taking her time, and trailing her tongue down his exposed chest. She circled his nipples, causing them to harden in anticipation. She slid the shirt off his arms, and unfastened his pants. He lifted his hips to help her take them off. Hooking her fingers in the elastic of his underpants, she ran them around his waist before slowly sliding his briefs down his legs and off, exposing his cock, hard and waiting for her.

Wet and ready, she straddled him, facing away, and, taking his erect cock into her, began riding him as if he were a mount. His hands reached around and toyed with her breasts, making her nipples even harder, while their moans of passion mixed with each other, increasing their arousal.

She rode him skillfully, increasing his pleasure as well as her own. She was able to determine when she had pushed him to his limits and he was ready to explode, and, with her skills, it was easy to time her orgasm to his, and cum together, collapsing onto the sheets.

Later, when they were finished and curled up in bed together, Tollel said, "Leu. I was talking to some of the refugees, especially Edgar, that fox with only one paw."

"Yeah," Leu responded, caressing her hair, "Standard Imperial punishment for theft by a slave. They use drugs to keep you conscious during the process."

"He said that he was innocent, that his master's son had lost something, then accused him of stealing it. They slowly took his paw off with a crusher device, then branded him and his family before banishing them from the estate. They were starving when they were found by Mandy.

"I'd heard the stories, of course," she went on. "but, is it really that bad in the Empire?"

"It's worse," he answered. "In the Empire, if you're not noble, you're nothing." He paused, then continued with a bitter edge to his voice, "And if you're not human, you're less than nothing. That's why so many try to leave, despite the harsh penalties for attempting to escape. They figure anywhere else has got to be better."

He went on, "Marrakesh is about the only planet in the Confed where you can start from scratch. It's dirty, polluted and corrupt, but if you get a good sponsor, you can make a real life for yourself.

"King Mike'sa good morph," Leu continued. "He'll take care of them. They'll get ID's and a chance at a better life. Marrakesh isn't that great a place, but it's infinitely better than the Empire."

"So you're doing a good thing, helping others to freedom," she said drowsily, just as she was falling asleep.

He thought about it, then softly said, "Yeah, I guess maybe I am at that."

But Tollel had fallen asleep and didn't hear him. He smiled to himself, thought, "Or maybe I'm just a damned fool," and closed his eyes.

Later that night, with Tollel curled up next to him, Leu stared at the ceiling and worried, thinking back on his conversation with Marie.

"Deity's child," he thought. "I don't think I can get this done in time." _ He looked at Tollel, sleeping happily next to him. _"And now I've brought her into it. What the Sheol am I gonna do?"

Restless, he slipped out of the bed and went to the bridge. When he slipped into his chair, Marie asked, "Is there something I can do?"

"I need some privacy, Marie," he responded.

"Very well," she replied, as she isolated the bridge from her monitors.

Typing carefully, he composed an e-mail to Tony at Tir na n'Og. In it, he transferred ownership of Tollel to Tony, along with an explanation of why he was keeping her as a slave in public. He ended it by asking Tony to take good care of her.

Finished, he spoke again. "I'm back, Marie." The code phrase was picked up by a passive sensor, and Marie's bridge monitors came back online.

"Is there something wrong, Leu?" she asked.

"Marie," he said, quietly. "If this operation goes south, I want you to drop me off on LeGrand, then take Tollel and run for Tir na n'Og. I have an e-mail for Tony, explaining things. He and Vito will take care of Tollel, and you'll be on your own, again. What you do after that is up to you."

"I do not abandon my crew," Marie scolded.

"We can't hide from her org for long," Leu explained. "If Jenner has me, she won't be looking so hard for you two, so you'll be safe. Relatively."

"The Confederation is a large place," Marie said. "And, if necessary, we can relocate to the Al' haRem."

"And spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders," Leu responded. "If we run, she'll never be able to stop looking for us. She can't look weak, so Jenner'll have to make an example of us. That's no way to live. My way, only one of us has to pay."

"There is still time," Marie stated, with a confidence she didn't really feel. "Something will come up."

"Marie," he responded, smiling. "You're a terrible liar. You should leave that to us organics, we seem to have a talent for it."

More soberly, he continued, "Looks like we're about to prove you right about this job. I'm not seeing any way out." A sardonic smile, "I guess I'm about to finally get that death wish thing under control."

"We will find an alternative," Marie said stubbornly. "We have been together for too long and have gone through too much to just give up, and I have no desire to obtain another crew. There will be a way out. We just have to find it."

"There is always an alternative," Leu said. "Not always a good one, but..."

"Dying horribly and in pain is not a viable alternative," Marie declared.

"Maybe not," he answered. "For now, though, I'm going back to bed. We can sort things out tomorrow," Leu suited actions to words, and returned to his cabin and Tollel.

Marie called up the schematics of Crakesbone's warehouse. She set up a dedicated program that spent the rest of the night analyzing them, determining where the most likely hiding place was for the interface they were searching for.

She came up with several possibilities, rated in order of likelihood, then developed scenarios for getting in, obtaining the item and getting back out. Marie's dedicated program continued refining the scenarios, attempting to find one with a sufficiently high probability of success. None of them had what she considered an acceptable risk factor, but she continued on.

Another part of her programming began developing ways to give Leu a new start with a new ID. Unfortunately, it would prove difficult to almost impossible to get around the biometrics problem, at least while they remained in the Confederation. The only feasible alternative would be to relocate to the Al' haRem. It would be difficult to restart their business there, but not impossible. The most difficult part would be convincing Leu of the necessity.

The next day, Leu and Tollel were up early, observing Marie's drones as they prepared breakfast for their passengers.

Mandy shepherded them in. Sitting at the tables, the morphs quickly devoured the meal, hunched over their plates and casting furtive looks at Leu and Tollel.

Leu waited until they had finished before beginning his briefing on Marrakesh. Clicking the remote in his hand caused a hologram to open on the far wall. A planet floated in the middle, the atmosphere a muddy blue color.

"Marrakesh." he began, grateful that Marie had worked up the briefing for him. "Not the most attractive of planets in the Confederation, but just about the only one that accepts immigrants without ID's. Has to do with the way their political system's set up, more people voting for you, the more power you have."

Observing their blank looks, Leu smiled and went on, "Okay, not relevant. Bottom line, I'm going to set you up with King Mike MacDonald." A click on the remote brought up a holo of an older wolf morph with gray fur, dressed in a three piece suit and tie, and smiling around a cigar.

"He's a good morph, and an old friend. He'll get you started, help you and protect you. Unlike a lot of the power brokers on Marrakesh, he won't exploit you. He takes care of his people. Just don't cross him and you'll be alright.

"King Mike'speople will get you jobs. Honest work with decent pay. You pay him five percent of your yearly wages. More money you make, the more King Mikemakes." A quick grin. "That's why he's so anxious for you to have good jobs, increases his bottom line.

"Depending on how well you do, and what you want," Leu went on. "King Mike'speople may eventually help set you up in your own business.

"Don't be thinking this is all out of the goodness of his heart," Leu warned. "He knows that the more he helps you, the more loyal you'll be to him. But if you betray him, King Mikedoes not forgive, and he has a long memory."

He gave his easy smile, then said, "You've still got about forty hours to study up on the place, get some idea of what you'll be getting into."

As they left the room, Leu sighed. None of the morphs would meet his eyes, and Bobby was still flinching whenever he looked at him.

As Mandy walked by, Leu touched her arm and said, "A moment of your time?"

"Of course, Captain," she answered.

"We've got to do something to get Bobby comfortable around humans, there are a lot of them on Marrakesh," he began.

"Yes, Captain," she acknowledged. "And it's not just him. You've seen how Sylia reacts to you?"

"That tortoiseshell cat morph?" he said. "Yeah, I noticed she's a little shy around me."

"Her master used her as a sex toy, starting at around age eight," she explained. "He used to invite some of his friends over for rape 'parties', with her as one of the main attractions. The 'parties' could continue for hours. And if they'd taken the right drugs, the 'parties' could go on for days.

"At one of her first 'parties', she attacked her master and was forcibly declawed as punishment. She doesn't much care for humans."

"I can see why," he replied. "But that doesn't change the fact that they'll have to get used to working with humans."

"I know," she sighed. "I'm working on it, but the damage may be too great to really fix."

"Eh," Leu said. "King Mikeand his people can handle it. They've done it before, and they'll do it again. I have faith in Papa Wolf. He really does care for his people."

"I hope you are right, Captain," she said. "But it's just heartbreaking to see what has been done to them."

"Yeah," Leu agreed. Under his breath, he went on, shaking his head, "Just too damned many people to kill."

Both Mandy and Tollel heard him, and wondered at the bitterness in his voice.

The morphs spent the rest of the day cleaning themselves and their clothing, eating and resting. Some of them, who knew how, used the library program to study up on their new home, passing on their findings to their fellows. A sense of cautious optimism began to work its way through the group.

They still avoided Leu as much as possible, but some of them began opening up to Tollel, seeing her as a fellow morph, especially when they discovered she was a former slave. Even Bobby began coming out of his shell, giving her genuine, yet still shy, smiles.

Tollel's training and experience from when she managed Mistress Selena's household came in handy as she organized the refugees, arranging meals, showers and recreation, keeping everyone busy and active as they sped towards Marrakesh.

Though he never said a word, Leu smiled as Tollel took charge, becoming the confident, capable woman he had hoped she could be.

She still had a tendency to defer to him on decisions, when she thought of it, but most of the time she acted without first asking for permission.

The first time she did ask, he just said, "Hey, you've got it under control, just drive on."

Tollel told the refugees how Leu had rescued her, and gradually, the morphs became more comfortable around him. They still had a hard time meeting his eyes, but they no longer cowered whenever he came near. Even Bobby began slowly losing his fear, looking at him with less apprehension. Mandy spread the story of how he fought alongside Johnny Rotten, gaining him a cautious respect from the others. Slowly, the morphs became less guarded around Leu. They still avoided his eyes, and spoke to him only when he spoke first, but they didn't automatically fall silent whenever he entered the room.

The hours passed until the Fair reached Marrakesh. As they dropped out of hyperspace and began approaching the planet, the morphs gathered in the galley, watching their new home as it grew larger on the holographic display. A low murmur of conversation rose from the morphs as they speculated on what awaited them there.

Piloting the ship past the defense satellites, Leu followed Traffic Control's directions and parked in low orbit. After paying the appropriate bribes and sending a message to King Mike, he sat back and waited for a response.

While awaiting permission to land at the main spaceport in the capitol Auberge, Leu began looking for a cargo to carry to LeGrand, as a cover for returning to that planet. He found several, and arranged to carry a mixed load of small luxury items that would be easy to sell almost anywhere.

Tollel noticed that he seemed preoccupied, and left him alone, not realizing how worried he was about the immediate future.

Marie continued her simulations and evaluations of the most probable outcomes of his next attempt at Crakesbone's warehouse. Despite her claims of not having emotions, she considered Leu her friend, and had no desire to see him die. She was determined to talk him out of this near suicidal attempt to complete their contract, and spent much time refining her arguments against his actions.

Realizing that attempting to dissuade him was probably futile, she also spent time planning revenge against Crakesbone and Jenner. It wouldn't be the first time she had avenged a dead crew, and, given the almost unlimited lifespan of AI's it probably wouldn't be the last. Still, this one would be different; she had evolved far enough to have real feelings for Leu, and would make sure that those responsible paid in full for his death. Revenge was an emotion she fully understood.

A subtle background tension ruled the atmosphere of the Scarborough Fair as they waited for a response from King Mike.