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The Wolf Hunters

Episode

3

A Dirty Secret on Alchoa II

By

Lutrian

ver. 3.1

On the viewscreen, the planet appeared as a light blue-gray version of Venus, with large twin moons. A long angular vessel, lined with lit viewports, and signs of battle damage, occupied the lower part of the view screen. We were safe from the Motricians. Now, it was time for both our ships to lick their wounds.

Our battle damage was light, just a few pockmarks on the hull, for the most part. More serious, was the damage to the hyperdrive, caused by the severe amount of strain I had put the ship through, to save the starliner.

Karen, who sat at the communications console, said, "The _Stellar Wind_is hailing us."

"On screen," said Captain Benson."

The Captain of the starliner, who had short cropped sandy gray hair, appeared on the screen. He spoke in his thick slavic accent. "We thank you, for bringing us home safely. I'm going to petition my operator to compensate you for your services in rescuing us. Thanks again."

"You're welcome," said the Captain. "Maybe next time you go off the beaten track, hire yourself a Wolf Hunter escort."

"I assure you, I will demand hazard pay, next time. Thanks again.Stellar Wind out."

Scot Nelson sat at the weapon console. He wore a bandage over his right shoulder. Blaster wounds were often difficult to properly treat, due to the massive amount of tissue damage plasma weapons caused. He would still need surgery to remove some scar tissue that had developed in his deltoid muscle. Despite his injury, he was still the arrogant ass he had always been. He had only been discharged that afternoon, and had just arrived at his station, minutes before. "Captain, you know I could take them on, Niq weapons and all."

The captain frowned and shook his head. "You can do it with your own ship, not mine. Got it!"

"Well, at least the wolf fucker is gone." mumbled Scot.

I never liked Scot. The guy would talk back at the Captain, question orders, and worse, run off on his own, during missions. Maybe this was one reason, Karen was allowed to stay, despite her messing up in a huge way, a few days ago. Scot did have a lot of talent. He was great with small arms, and very skilled at working the weapon console. Carl used to be the primary gunner, but now he mostly serves as relief, since Scot's skills now exceeded Carl's. Unfortunately, Scot was the type of person who refused to work as a team. As Captain Benson had once said, when I had complained about Scot's attitude, "Don't worry about him. He'll get himself killed one day, and solve all our problems." I was just worried that his actions might get someone else killed.

Watching the screen, the planet filled most of the view. Making adjustments on the console, I eased us into an orbit, and plotted a course to the space dock. It would still be awhile before we reached the facility. "We should be at the dock in forty-five minutes."

The captain nodded. "This facility is somewhat limited. We'll definitely refuel, and stock up on kinetic rounds and plasma torpedoes. I really want to get a new hyperdrive. They don't have the facilities for that kind of work, here, though. There's a drive out now, that might be able to get us to nearly 5000c. We'd be faster than those cats and not have to risk killing ourselves in some hyperspatial maelstrom."

"Nice," I mused. "I doubt we could afford it, though."

"Yeah. Actually I'm going to try my damnedest to afford it."

Soon, the space dock was visible, gliding over the planet's clouds. The station appeared as a number of tubes, interconnected to each other at right angles, like an overly complex three dimensional hash mark. At most of the endpoints, was a docking berth

"Karen, clear us for docking."

Karen pressed a button. "Sabre of Justice, calling Alchoa dock. Requesting clearance."

The voice came over the com, "Clearance granted. You may proceed to dock at berth three."

I switched to an assisted manual mode, and gently eased us towards the docking facility. Once I located the proper docking berth, I slowly brought the ship alongside the docking tube. The autopilot matched speed, and matched our main airlock with theirs. There was a moment where it seemed like nothing was happening, then a light clank sounded from starboard. My nav display began to flash a "Ship docked." message, before the console partially powered down.

The captain got to his feet. "Most of you are going to be off duty for a while. If you go on planet leave, bring a communicator, warm clothing, and plenty of rain gear. I will contact anyone who I need to remain on duty, but we'll mostly be on skeleton staff, with short rotations." He turned to me, and said, "Art, proceed to the main airlock, and arrange the work detail. Remember, restock of expendable ordinance, fuel, and get an engineering crew to help repair the hyperdrive. Food stocks are fine, and food is overpriced, here. Once you're done, you can go off-duty for a while."

"Affirmative," I said. I got to my feet, and headed out the door of the bridge. At the first intersection, I turned left. Ahead, past another intersection, was a large door with a window on the upper half, with a panel displaying green lights. I reached the door, and pressed a pad near the door panel. The door slid open, along with the second door, several feet in. Behind was a short hallway, heading to a brightly lit room with a service counter beyond.

* * * *

With the ship being restocked, and with an engineering crew servicing our engines, I returned to my quarters. Once dressed in my baggy ugly green hooded raincoat, and equipped, I headed to Trans Con. I had the option of using the station's own transporter, but that costs actual money. I had a nice accumulation of planet leave teleport credits, that I had earned. At the teleport console, I debated whether to wait for any additional crew members to accompany me. Captain Benson had a policy, that full teleports would cost no credits. A full teleport was six or more crew. Fewer than six, would still cost a credit, which anyone could volunteer to relinquish. Being that I had accumulated a fair number of credits, I decided to not wait.

I accessed the com system, and selected "Alchoa City Customs."

"This is Alchoa City Customs, can I help you." said a woman's voice.

"I wish to request teleport access."

"How many?"

"Just me, ah, one."

After a pause, she said, "Transmitting lock signal to your console, for pad three. Disabling local damper. You may disembark." The voice clicked off, and the console beeped to confirm that it was ready.

The_Sabre of Justice's_ computer had somewhat limited voice capabilities, other than a specific emergency system that could be activated with a communicator, or my MPAD. After setting a five-second delay on the console, I hurried to the middle of the pad.

"Three, two one," said the computer. "Narrowing field." The disk glowed green, then the green narrowed to a fairly tight fit under me. "Engaging."

The system hummed, and the teleport field formed around me. A band of blue-white light formed around chest level, and split, and a new one formed, splitting as well. Trans con dissolved in my view, as the gravity ebbed. As the bands reversed and converged, a new room formed around me. Once the last band converged, the field vanished, and the hum died out.

I stood on a smaller disk, maybe three meters wide, surrounded by a cage-like gate, with a turnstile to the right of it. I pushed myself through the turnstile, and approached the single large service window. Behind the window, sat a skinny woman with short blond hair. She looked up and said, "May I see your travel documents."

My raincoat was lined, on the inside, with faux fur, and has two large pockets inside, to protect water sensitive objects. I took my MPAD from the inside pocket of my raincoat, and accessed my data. I've wanted to get a newer MPAD model, like the one that Daryl's had, which had a large holographic screen. It wasn't like I couldn't afford one. Hell, some of these now had built in Mindlink translators. I handed the woman my MPAD, and she waved it in front of her console, then handed it back to me. After a moment, she asked, "Are you in possession of any weapons or illegal materials?"

"Ah, no," I responded. "Other than a pocket knife."

"May I inspect it?"

I removed the knife from my back pants pocket, and handed it to her. She opened the blade, and placed it next to a ruled line near her computer terminal, then handed it back to me.

"Do you have anything else you'd want to declare and check through customs."

"I just have my clothing, Mindlink translator, that's pretty much it."

She pressed a button on her console. "Please proceed through the scanner to the arrival lounge, where you may exit the facility. Have a nice day."

A door slid open, beyond the window. I proceeded through a ten meter long hallway with softly glowing walls. Linear blue lights swept up and down my body as I walked to the door on the end, which slid open. The room was a lounge with two large couches, Five doorways, similar to the one I entered through, emptied into this room. There was another window with a human working behind it, who handled those who were disembarking from the planet. Another pair of doors, on the far wall, were a pair of public restrooms. To my right, was a large glass door leading outside, accompanied by the sound of rain. The floor had streaks of mud and trails of muddy footprints. Proceeding to the door, it slid open, buffeting me with the cold wet wind and spray of rain.

Alchoa II was a shithole. At about 6:30pm local planet time, the sky was a dark clouded gloom, with cold gusty wind, and a near downpour of rain, which blew under the awnings that sheltered the sidewalks. From the few times I've been here, it had always been raining. In fact, none of the locals I had talked to, ever recalled a day, or even a few hour stretch, when it wasn't raining. The cold threatened to seep under my raincoat, making me grit my teeth. As I stood in front of the Alchoa City Administration building, I watched the small number of people, all humans, heavily clad in rain gear, as they wandered the sidewalks. The few cars I saw, moved rather slowly, as they sloshed through puddles, and bounced through potholes in streets that this planet kept trying to eat.

A pair of tall figures, at least two meters tall, stood next to the door, all cloaked, and wearing heavy rain-resistant robes. They had a levitating covered merchant cart, held aloft by a null-grav system. One of them turned to me and spoke into my brain with a Mindlink translator.

"May we interest you in our wares." I turned to the creature. The creature's face was barely visible under its hood. It's fur appeared white, and the face did not match any species that I was familiar, with. Its face did seem canine, but with some feline characteristics, though it was hard to put a finger on the features since it was partially obscured. "We have a few rubber Alchoan lampreys." the creature said, as it puled a fat rubber leech-like thing, with a sucker filled with jagged rubber teeth. The creature returned the toy to the cart, and lifted out a small metal flat-topped cone, with a faintly glowing blue ball at the end, with a tiny sparkling object deep inside the ball. "We only have one of these left. It's what you people call a field crumb."

A few years before, a Denitrian ruin was discovered just outside of Alchoa City, and a field crumb was found within. A field crumb, was what some Federation officials called, "the most frightening alien artifact known." No one knew the full capabilities of such a device. What was known, was that when activated, they could rewrite the biology of every indigenous living organism on a planet, usually, but not always, without killing them. The one found on Alchoa II was now under heavy 24 hour military guard. I was unsure how to take the strange toy field crumb. On one hand, I thought it was in very bad taste, but on the other, maybe it would provide a way for the local people to deal with the presence of a possible doomsday device under their own doorstep. The creature nodded, then it reached inside the sphere to pull out the sparkley bit, which promptly vanished. After a moment, there was a flash, and a horizontal yellow-white holographic shockwave expanded from the cone. The unit itself, then, abruptly and silently erupted in a blazing column of yellowish-white flame, which illuminated the entire street as if the sun was out, before it finally went dark again. I found this to be extremely weird and disconcerting. A moment or two later, the orb and little spark re-appeared in the field crumb toy. "Just remember, do not point this at someone when you play with it. It can damage the eyes."

"Who are you?" I asked the creature, trying to place what species it was. "What species? What planet."

"The one who was demonstrating the toys, said, "We come from out there," as he waved his hand towards the clouds."

The other creature said, "We are Hartosians. We're traveling traders. We are from outside your Federation."

"But, ah" I stuttered, since I had seen these same two individuals, or two other individuals from their species, hanging around on Alchoa II, hawking wares, for years. "For traveling merchants, you seem to not travel much."

"We like it here," he said. "This is a miserable planet filled with miserable people. We create goods specifically tailored for these people, to help elevate their mood. And of course, we sell to tourists, who want a souvenir to take home with them."

"What powers the field crumb toy?" I asked.

"Its battery recharges using the ambient light. It may take a few days to charge indoors. Sit it on a window sill on a planet that has real sunlight, and it will charge fully in one of your Federation standard hours."

Going against my better judgment, I pondered buying the toy. "How much for the field crumb."

"It's Seventy-four of your dollar credits" he said. "Don't worry, we have the capability of processing payments via your mobile devices."

The price seemed a bit steep, but still, I was intrigued. I removed my MPAD from my pocket. "Okay, you got yourself a sale."

The other creature seemed to sigh. "We need to build more of these. Humans are easy to please, with glowing stuff."

The creature who stood at the cart, removed a tiny device the size of a thumb. "Just set your payment, then bring it to proximity with my device, like you normally do."

I set the amount, then waved my MPAD at the small device the other creature held. "Thank you, Human." He handed me the toy field crumb.

The toy was small enough to fit in the inner pocket, with my MPAD, whereupon, it seemed to automatically turn itself off. I turned left, from where I was, facing the door of the Alchoa City Administration building, and walked down the street. The rain pelted me every time the wind gusted. Stepping to the edge of the sidewalk shelter, onto the curb, I looked up into a sky broiling with dark blue-gray clouds. Steady cold rain splashed all over me, as the chill wind continued to gust intermittently. Returning to the shelter, I strode down the sidewalk to where I had remembered there being a decent bar.

All the stucco and concrete, and even the odd tree trunk, was covered in strange streaks and patches of luminous slime or mold. The people who passed me didn't stop for conversation, and they seemed in a hurry, possibly to get somewhere dry. At an intersection, I waited for the light to change. When it did, I had to hurry through the intersection, splashing through ankle-deep water, as rain poured from the sky. On the other corner, was an establishment with a large sign which read, "The Thirsty Lamprey," with a cartoon representation of a giant leech-like creature attached to the side of a beer keg. This was one of the few bars on Alchoa II, and probably the only tolerable establishment. This bar had occasional live acts, but they were all horrible. As I entered through its swinging door, I was assaulted by the sound of some instrumentation which has a vague approximation of music. The bar ran the entire length of the right side of the room, with five tables occupying most of the remaining floor space. On the left side, was a stage, where a band of sorts was performing. Two people played guitars, and a third one banged on a full-size drum set. The fourth one screamed into a microphone, "We all want to die, yes die, yes die, scream and die!"

I sat on the nearest stool, and gazed at the selection, as the bartender tended another patron. There were only a handful of people in the bar, which was typical, this early in the evening. I checked the MPAD for the time, and to make sure it had synced itself with the planet's local time server. The planet had longer days than earth, and though it still observed a 24 hour clock, each of the hours was about eighty minutes long. It was barely seven in the evening. The bartender wandered to me and asked, "What would you like?"

"Do you have anything except Budweiser?"

"We have Alchoan Swamp Stout." he said, proudly. "A microbrewery started up, down the street from here."

The name kinda turned me off. "Ah, a rum and Coke, then."

"Aye," he said, as he rattled some ice cubes into a small glass, and began to add some rum.

"Has this place improved, since the last time I've been here."

"Other than the brewery, ah," he seemed lost in thought.

"No brothel, bordello," I asked.

"Oooh?" the bartender was lost in thought again, then finished adding the Coke to my drink, before placing it on the counter in front of me. The bartender then nodded at the other patron. "Come help this guy."

The other patron was a somewhat portly man with short light-brown hair. He rose to his feet and moved to the stool next to mine. "My name is Jimmy. We run a nice little place just outside of town. We keep it kinda hush hush, though. Too many religious sorts. We have three nice ladies, and a little bisexual twink, if you're into something like that."

This definitely sounded like an interesting diversion, though it seemed a bit too mundane, or tame. I took a sip of my rum and Coke. "Got anything, a, special. Like non human."

The guy began to crack up in laughter, then he smirked. "When you go there, tell them that you want the special bitch toy."

I had a horrible feeling of what it might be, considering I'm used to trying out code words at these types of establishments. "It better not be a German Shepherd."

"No, no," he protested. "We don't do that kind of thing. She's a bit more, shall we say, legitimate, but even more feral."

I was intrigued as I took another sip of my drink. "How do I get there?"

"Oooh, now you're talking. At the edge of town is a bar called the 'Stale Beer Booby.' You might want to hail a cab and ask the driver to take you there. It's a ways away. Once you're there, just go through the door in the back, and you'll be in the brothel."

"So you run the place?" I asked.

"Hell yeah," he said. "I'm the owner. The bar's been open for half a decade. We added our little extra touch a bit over a year ago."

"Why do you drink here, I mean, isn't this place your competition?"

"Not really. I mean, we serve a different part of town, and of course I come here to direct business to those who want a little fun time. After all, there's not much else to do in this shithole."

"Okay, thanks," I got to my feet, and downed the rest of my rum and coke. Fishing in my pocket, I retrieved my MPAD, to pay the tab.

* * * *

Sitting in the back seat of the cab, I watched the rain form patterns on the cab's windshield, as the wipers slid back and forth. An old Gothic looking church loomed into view, to my right, though all the windows were boarded up. The church had been seized by the Federation Security Administration, or FSA, a few years before, after several incidents which bordered on terrorism. The human cab driver didn't talk much as we drove through downtown, and towards the suburbs. So far, the only non-humans I had seen on Alchoa II, were those weird alien merchants. I felt in my coat pocket for the field crumb toy, though I was unsure why I bought it, except maybe as a novelty to put on my desk, in my quarters.

Alchoa II's history was long and complicated. Started by the Lutrian Tar'Khara corporation almost two hundred years before, they established a Lutrian city, around the manufacturing of chemical fertilizers and explosives. After earth Joined the Federation, and while there was an extremely high unemployment rate, many humans relocated to Alchoa II to seek work. Many of those were members of the Church of the Most Holy Trinity, an anti alien hate group. As more humans settled, more of the Lutrians left. This was in part, due to the hate from some of the human colonists, but also due to the fact that many Lutrians were eager to leave Alchoa due to its unpleasant weather. Eventually the planet was almost entirely populated by humans, many, if not most of whom, were fundamentalist Christian. Then, there was the attempted takeover of the Wolf Hunters by a rogue faction of Alchoan zealots, which ultimately got The Church of the Most Holy Trinity, outlawed.

The street lights thinned out as the large buildings gave way to tracts of houses. Soon, the cab slowed, then entered the parking lot of an expansive building, in front of a chain link fence, with nothing but heavily forested swamp, beyond. A large, wooden, rotting, sign read "Stale Beer Booby." The cabbie said, "That will be fourty-seven, fifty-three."

I removed my MPAD from my pocket, and set it to pay 52 dollar credits, then handed it to the cab driver. The driver waved it at this meter, which acknowledged the charge, then handed it back to me. After pocketing the MPAD, I pushed the door open, and emerged into the dark downpour, outside.

As the cab turned and drove off, disappearing into the darkness and sheets of shifting rain, I turned and walked to the wooden door of the bar. I pushed the door open and entered.

The lighting was subdued, and a small monitor which hung on the back, right, corner, displayed the current news coverage. The bar, itself, ran along the left side of the room, with the bartender waiting on several guests, who sat on barstools. There were eight tables, four of which had groups of people sitting, and drinking. The air was warm, and smelled of stale beer which was typical for dives like this. At the back of the room, was a doorway, covered with a breaded curtain.

"We urge all captains to avoid any contact with this vessel." The screen showed an image from the Sabre of Justice's own external cameras, a wedge-shaped ship with small twin semi-inboard nacelles affixed to the sides of the rear of the vessel. "This vessel has Niquentorian technology. No attempt should be made to engage it. If you see this vessel, report it to the FSA at once."

The strands of beads caressed my body, and rattled, as I passed through the door, into the brothel area. The room was a lounge dominated by reds, pinks, and purples. A black light caused the crimson carpet to fluoresce brightly, along with the pink trim, which traced all the doorways in this room. A balding portly man in a white suit and tie, approached me. "So what's your pleasure. All three girls are currently available, along with our little twink guy. So what will it be?"

Recalling what the owner had mentioned in the other bar, I said, "I want the special bitch toy."

"Oh man," the pimp said, as he laughed. "Okay, wait here while I get her." he strode off though a doorway, and into darkness. I was definitely nervous. Was he going to bring out a dog or some other animal? There was the faint sound of a struggle. The pimp emerged from the room holding a leash. From the darkness, shuffled a large bipedal wolf-like creature who must have been about six foot eight, at least. The creature's legs were in leg irons, her arms handcuffed together. The creature glared at the pimp, then towards me, with her large pointed ears drawn back, and her teeth were bared. The creature's fur was somewhat short over most of her body, but hung long beneath her arms, almost to her ankles, and seemed to almost shimmer a bit in the black light. She snarled and fought at her restraints, somewhat half-heartedly. It was definitely a Zephenidian female, a big one.

All I could utter, was, "Oh my god, where did you get that?"

"Oh, some human merchant sold her to us, about six months ago."

I wanted to tell him off, to warn him about the consequences of dealing in slaves. However, I wasn't totally sure about the situation. Was she really a slave, or was this an act? The only option I could see, was to purchase some time with her, and find out myself. "I'm game. How much?"

"Two hundred and fifty dollar credits for an hour." said the pimp. "One hundred and thirty for a half-hour."

The price seemed a bit excessive, but I knew I had to find out what was really going on. "I want her." The pimp led me to a small bedroom in the back, with the restrained Zephenidian in tow. "Do not remove her restrains. I cannot be responsible for what she might do to you. Avoid her mouth. She promised not to bite our clients, but I don't trust her. Your room." He pointed to the bed. The Zephenidian slowly shuffled to the bed, climbed in, and reclined. The pimp detached the leash. "I hope you enjoy her."

After the pimp left, I checked my Mindlink translator to make sure it was on. "Hello. My name is Art."

She gave me a long stare, then growled, "Aren't you going to take off your clothes and rape me, like the others?"

I was hoping that this was a consensual situation, and that she was merely into BDSM, but the pimp's warnings were definitely signs that she wasn't playing along. "Ah, ah, you're not here consensually?" I stuttered.

She flexed her legs as if she was trying to spread them, though the leg irons limited her movements. "Just do it, and get it over with."

I approached her cautiously, but kept out of reach, in case she tried to attack. Something felt very wrong about this situation. Back in my younger days, I might have just done it. With nearly a century of having hired prostitutes, I've learned that the ones who were there of their own free will, were a lot more fun. The flings I had with Lutrians may have also helped me gain a real conscience. This situation was beginning to look more and more like downright slavery. Who was the merchant or merchants who sold this poor creature to the owner of this establishment? A lot of people could get in serious trouble, and this also means that helping her could be downright dangerous. "I won't hurt you." I told her. "I'm not going to have sex with you."

"Chuthnu, this is my punishment. It's what I deserve. Fuck me, or strike me. I don't care. I've hurt too many of your people when I served in the Hunter Fleet."

I stepped closer, watching her reaction. "How did you get here?" I slowly reached my right hand to her arm in a gesture that I hoped she would interpret as reassurance.

She reached her bound hands to mine and grabbed my arm with both of her hands, and held it in a tight grip. She sat up, and glared at me. "Though restrained, I could hurt you. I could kill you. The time will come, when I become tired of this place, and this situation. I will hurt someone, maybe a client. I won't kill, just hurt, so it turns my master against me. Hopefully he'll kill me."

Her grip was beginning to hurt, as he brought her mouth closer to my face. I was afraid, very afraid, but I tried to hide it, though I was sure she could still feel it due to the Mindlink translator. "How did you get here?" I repeated.

She maintained her grip as she spoke. "My ship was destroyed. I was adrift in an escape pod for many many days. We had run out of supplies. No food, no water. I'm surprised I was able to survive, though the two males in the pod had died. One of them had been hurt, though. I had to withstand the air growing foul as they rotted. A human vessel responded to the pod's beacon, and took me aboard. I was bound, and raped several times before I arrived here. It's what I deserve. Chuthnu."

Chances are, it was probably an engagement with Wolf Hunter vessels that resulted in her being inside an escape pod. However, her pod was either ignored, or missed, and was likely picked up by a trader or pirate. This did bring some relief, that it was probably not someone affiliated with the Wolf Hunters, who captured and sold her. The bigger problem was, how to I get her back to my ship. The colony was protected with a damper field, which extended at least ten kilometers into the swamp. Taking her out into the swamp was out of the question. I had heard stories of the local wildlife that made me shiver. There were horrors called Alchoan lampreys, basically leeches larger than vacuum cleaner hoses, with teeth over an inch long, which could tear a person apart. Sure, a human was poison to them, but I've heard that these things just keep coming until the person bled out, or until they started pulling out entire organs. There had to be a way.

"I, ah, I need to stay with you for a few more minutes, to make the half-hour mark, so it would look like we did something. If they check you, tell them that I risked letting you give me a blowjob."

She continued to hold my wrist in a tight grip. "Why bother, chuthnu?" She brought her jaws to an inch of my throat, which definitely made me extremely nervous. "I wasn't a mere crew member, Chuthnu._I was the _Hhrff of a Hyk'Tashuk class vessel, known as Pa'Uchu's Snare. I was meant to be the last to leave the ship, possibly to go down with the ship. My crew dragged me into an escape pod against my will. My pod was the only one launched, which meant the rest of my crew died without their_Hhrff."_

"I still have to get you out of here," I insisted. "I don't know who else knows you're here. How many clients, different clients, have you had? The more people who know, the more in danger you are. There are people here who would kill any Zephenidian, if they had a chance." She opened her jaws and lightly nipped the front of my neck, which made me almost leap out of my skin, before she leveled her gaze with mine. "Those people are dangerous. It's not worth you risking your life to save me."

"I'm going to save you." I meant it. I wanted to do my part to stop this situation, to do something that didn't involve killing Zephenidians. Saving two Zephenidians in less than a week would definitely be an awesome accomplishment.

"Fine," she released my hand and sat up, gazing into my eyes again. "Chuthnu, I won't aid you, but I won't hinder you. I may aid you, only if it's clear that you have the upper hand."

I nodded at her, before slowly walking out of the room, back into the brothel. The pimp was waiting. "So how did you like our little bitch toy?"

"She was fucking awesome," I lied. She probably was awesome, but I wasn't going to have sex with her because of her slave status. After paying for a half-hour session, using my MPAD, I pushed myself through the bead curtains. Once in the bar, I accessed the local net, and after pouring through some data, I found the place where I could summon a cab. Once that was finished, I pulled the bar's door open and plunged through a sheet of rain, into the cold wet darkness beyond. The wind buffeted me, as the rain came down in an intermittent spatter. After I crossed the parking lot, I retrieved my MPAD from my pocket while protecting it in my raincoat, and selected the surface to ship coms. "Captain Benson, do you copy!"

The Captain's voice burst from my MPAD. "Art, is that you?"

"Houston, we've got a problem!" I yelled.

"What's wrong," said the Captain, his voice sounding extremely concerned, worried in fact.

"A newish brothel opened at the edge or town. But they got a Zephenidian slave. Forced sexual servitude."

"Did you contact the local police?"

"I wouldn't trust the local police in something this delicate," I said. "There's still of lot of Trinity outcasts. I'm afraid, they'd kill her. Can you see if we can get the FSA to help? Especially if they're Lutrian, Chakharan, whatever they call themselves. I know there's a standing force of Federation military, to guard that field crumb in the ruins outside of town."

"I'll see what I can do. Captain Benson out." I slipped the MPAD back in my pocket, and waited.

The rain was almost pouring again, as the sky flashed lightly with distant lightning. The cold was beginning to seep under my raincoat. Small gnats began to swarm around my face. I sighed and mumbled to myself, "This planet fucking sucks." The number of tiny insects slowly increased, as they attempted to feed on my face. Each one that took a small itchy bite from my skin, fell off, dead.

My MPAD beeped in my pocket. I brought it back to my ear, protecting it with my raincoat, as I said, "Art here."

Captain Benson's said, "I don't know what to tell you."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The FSA office said that they cannot spare anyone. Neither can the Federation military."

"Shit!" I yelled. "What do I do? I assume you can't get a transporter lock because of the damper. Shit. What about the _Blade of Truth?_Can't you have Carl fly her down to retrieve me and the Zephenidian."

"The Alchoan police are going to throw a fit," said the Captain. "This would be troublesome and very illegal."

"The police here would kill her," I pleaded. "I know it."

"This is going to be complicated," said the Captain. "This is going against my better judgment, but I'll get Carl to fly the _Blade of Truth_down to your location."

"Thanks, Captain," I said.

The com was quiet for almost a minute, before Captain Benson returned. "Carl is on his way to prep the Blade of Truth. Keep in mind, we could face arrest, you know. So what's your plan?"

"I'm going back and say I want another go with her. When Carl gets in range, and passes through most of the transport damper, have him lock onto me and the Zeph, and get us aboard."

"You're putting yourself in grave peril, Art," said the captain. "I'd hate to lose you. People who would keep a Zephenidian captive, would likely have no qualms about killing you."

"I just don't want to see these fuckers get away with this. So how soon will my backup arrive."

"Carl should have the ship prepped in five minutes. Less than an hour, maybe?"

"Tell Carl to teleport me, and whoever I'm next to." I said as I tried to plan this out in my head like some morbid chess game, with lives for pieces.

"Keep in mind, the _Blade of Truth'_s teleport pad is not even two meters wide. You will have to be next to each other, and if you're fucking her, teleporting you would be rather strange and complicated."

"Understood. Art out." The MPAD clicked off, and I slid it back into my pocket. I waited in the rain for a while, as I tried to think of an explanation of why I'd want another fling with the Zephenidian within minutes of having previously been with her. Long trip back to Earth, and she was awesome. I hyperventilated, and tried to relax. "This is going to be awkward." I mumbled to myself. The headlights of the approaching cab broke the darkness. "Shit." I waited for it to approach.

The cab slowed, and came to a stop, and the driver rolled down his window. "Where would you like to-"

"I changed my mind," I said as I pulled out my MPAD. "Gonna tip you five bucks for showing up. Might need a cab later, though."

"It's mo problem, I can wait?" said the cab driver.

"It might be an hour, might be never."

"Aye," he said, as I set the amount on the MPAD, and waved it at cab's meter. "Thanks."

The cab backed away, then turned, before heading back down the street, splashing through the occasional pothole.

The moment of truth, I thought. I headed back to the bar, and into the dry warmth inside. Once through the beaded curtains, I saw the pimp, still waiting for clients.

"Bitch toy again," I said as I was panting slightly with nervousness.

"So soon?" he questioned.

"I'm going to be stuck on a trip back to earth on a ship that can barely make 2k light. I need to blow my nuts again, before heading out."

"Aye, she's still in the room." he said. "I'll lead you."

I followed the short sleazy man to the door of the suite. She sat at the edge of the bed, eyeing me with a distant gaze. "Enjoy." He turned and left the room.

"Going to fuck me this time?" she growled.

I approached her, and whispered, "I got a ship on its way."

"Chuthnu, my life is here, a life of punishment."

"Even if you want to," I tried to reason, "The more people who find out, the more likely someone will kill you. Aliens aren't well liked on this planet, and Zephenidians doubly so."

"It would be a just murder." She got to her feet, and shuffled towards me in her leg irons. "I was the Hhrff of a large ship. I was responsible for taking down many ships. I'm a war criminal."

"You didn't know!" I shouted. "You, like most Zephenidians were brainwashed by your Establishment!"

"I am," she looked down at her feet. "I am an evil creature, and I think you should leave. I think they're coming for you."

Two men, the pimp, and the man I remember who was called Jimmy, from the bar in downtown Alchoa City, burst through the door of the room. They both brandished small blaster pistols of a type often colloquially known as sparkers. Jimmy yelled, "You're not taking our bitch toy."

I turned to the Zephenidian fearing that she had alerted the men, and quietly asked, "Did you betray me?"

"You have some nerve," Jimmy glared at me.

"Your little wolf won't last on this planet!" I yelled. "If word got around about your little secret, someone would kill her!"

"Until then, she makes us lots of dosh." Jimmy said.

"How did you even get her here, past customs."

"We paid them off, how else," said Jimmy. "We just slipped her through in a trunk, and all was good."

I nervously fingered the field crumb toy in my pocket, as I know that my time was very limited.

"What do we do with them?" asked the pimp.

"We keep her," answered Jimmy. "This man, we drag him through the gate and dump him in the swamp and let the lampreys tear him to pieces. Or we shoot him, if he doesn't go quietly."

The Zephenidian shuffled to my side as she said, "Maybe it's time I die, or live."

Neither man appeared to be wearing a Mindlink translator, so whatever she said would not register. The pimp cursed, "Shit."

Jimmy started waving the gun at me. "Tell her to back away from you, so you can take your little swim with the worms."

The toy, I was gently grasping in my right hand, gave me a bit of an idea. I slowly drew it from my pocket, though it was still under my raincoat. "You tell her."

"I forgot my fucking translator, moron!" growled Jimmy. "Are you blind or retarded?"

I didn't know if the field crumb toy was working, as I held it inside my raincoat. Was it still dormant, or was it active? I fingered it, and tried to feel for the spark. There was nothing to feel at the truncated tip of the cone-shaped base, but I pinched it anyways and pulled the nonexistent object, as I turned to the Zephenidian and said, "That man told me, to tell you, that he wants you to eat out his mother's pussy."

The Zephenidian's eyes widened.

"What the fuck did you say?" Jimmy screamed, while waving the gun around.

"I'll kill him!" said the pimp. "Can I kill him?"

I yanked the field crumb out of my raincoat, and pointed the narrow end of the cone at the two men. It flared, sending a vertical holographic yellow shockwave spreading around me and the Zephenidian, followed by a blinding column of light, which I aimed at their faces.

They screamed. The pimp dropped his gun to the floor as he threw his hands over his face. The owner, Jimmy, fired, sending blue-white bolts of plasma past me, as he fired blindly. I grabbed the Zephenidian by the manacles, and dragged her through the door past both of the men who were now too busy shielding their eyes, while I kept the column of light in their faces. Once past, I pocketed the toy, which turned itself off, then pushed the Zephenidian through the bead curtain, and into the bar.

Several of the patrons turned and stared, open-mouthed, and two of them even screamed, or uttered expletives. The bartender seemed calm, probably because he knew about the Zephenidian. I pushed ahead of her, grabbed the door, pulled it open, and plunged into the icy rain, with the Zephenidian in tow.

"We got to get out of here," I said to the Zephenidian. "We can't go downtown, someone will kill you. I don't know where my friends are. Shit."

"Chuthnu, unless you have a key to open my restraints," she shook the wrist restraints in front of her. "We're not going to go anywhere particularly quickly."

The pimp stormed out the door of the bar brandishing his blaster pistol. "What the fuck did you do to us." He fired several shots, which blazed blindingly in the dark. They sizzled through the rain and hissed as they impacted the wet asphalt. "You fucking blinded Jimmy. You're not leaving with our slave!" He rushed towards us, and leveled the gun at me.

The Zephenidian spun around, and grabbed my shoulder and arm with her bound clawed hands, and pushed me down and behind her. The pimp's gun flashed a sun bright bolt.

There was a crackle and a shower of sparks. The Zephenidian shrieked falling back on me, as my back crashed into a shimmering barrier. There was a hum, and blinding light formed and spread, as everything outside began to shimmer. The pimp yelled, "Fucking fuck!" as he fired at us. The bolts flashed against an energy wall spreading out, and dissipating. I held her as she screamed, and whimpered. The parking lot, and the raging pimp dissolved and faded. The airlock of the Blade of Truth formed around us, as the light from the teleport's confinement field converged, and gravity re-asserted itself. The light, and the hum faded. I slumped onto the pad, with the Zephenidian on top of me. "Carl, she's hurt."

Carl stood at the door of the airlock, at the teleport's controls. "The first aid kit is on the wall behind the cockpit. I gotta get back to fly this thing. We got police in pursuit." He turned and ran up the short corridor, past a couple of doors, then took his seat. The viewport was almost pitch black, with the occasional white wisp of cloud.

I pulled myself out from under the Zephenidian, and tried to inspect her injuries. "How bad are you hurt?" There was some patches of burnt fur on her chest, mostly on her right side, and the chain of the handcuffs had melted and had broken.

She slowly rose to a sitting position, and whimpered, as she checked her foot. "I think I'm okay. I think my foot got burned by melted metal."

"Can you walk," I asked, as I peered at her feet, noticing a number of small burned patches.

"As well as I can while wearing these leg restraints."

I got the Zephenidian to her feet and escorted her to the cockpit. The viewport showed black on the lower part of the screen, with stars above, revealing the curve of the planet's night side.

"The police are trying to hail the Federation authorities." said Carl.

"The Alchoan police are corrupt as fuck." I said. "That's how she was able to be smuggled in. The fuckers were paying them off."

"So, how is she?" asked Carl.

"I think her feet got spattered by melted metal, just before you pulled us out."

"I wish I could have gotten here sooner. I just didn't want to have to fire at the police vehicles." Carl made some adjustments on the console.

"At least you got here. Let's get out asses home."

* * * *

As I climbed through the airlock, and through the circular hatchway of the Sabre of Justice, Captain Matt Benson and Doctor Eugene Costello stood by the teleport console. The Zephenidian emerged, still wearing her leg irons.

"I've never treated a Zephenidian before," said Doctor Costello. He, like Me, and Captain Benson, were founding members of the crew. He was a small man, short, and kinda skinny, with short cropped dark brown, or black, hair, and he wore a white lab coat. "Keep in mind, I'm not a veterinarian."

"I think she got some mild burns from a blaster shot." I explained to the doctor. "I don't think you'll have any trouble with it."

"It's just, ah," the doctor stammered slightly. "Zephs scare the piss out of me."

"Just take her to Medical, and fix her up," I ordered. "We'll keep her restrains on, if it helps you feel safer." I turned to the Zephenidian. "Follow the fellow in the white jacket, and don't try anything weird."

Since her hands were freed due to the blaster shot, she rested both hands on my shoulders, and gently flexed her blunt claws against my skin. "Thank you, thank you, chuthnu." She released her grip, and shuffled towards the doctor, who turned and led her through the door leading into the main corridor."

"So what's the news," I asked Captain Benson.

"I've got a little bit of a quandary, here." He started walking towards the door, and motioned me to follow.

"Alchoan law enforcement?" I asked. The door slid aside, and we entered the corridor.

"I've already transmitted the info to both the Alchoan police and the FSA. They're both going to duke it out, I think. The Federation Security Administration told them to drop any charges against us. My quandary is this. The Captain of the Stellar Wind does not want to take on another Zephenidian passenger, so we have to go to Laeness IV, anyways."

"So?" I asked. "What's the problem?"

"Daryl has asked me if he could return to our ship, with Jurrukush, for the trip to the Laeness system. He said that he didn't feel safe after the Motricians almost got a hold of them."

"I'm sure Karen would be thrilled." I chuckled. "I want to watch."

As we entered the bridge, Karen turned to us, then made a mock gesture of pretending to bang her head against her console over and over again.

"Yeah, you get your pick." I laughed, though I had no intention of having the new female Zephenidian do anything with Karen. She was a slave, and had been raped, so this was nothing I intended to impose on her. I still wasn't one hundred percent sure that the captain was totally serious about the bizarre punishment, he intended to give her. Forcing Karen to make out with a Zephenidian would probably break a lot of Federation laws. Though she did agree to it.

* * * *

In Trans Con, I watched as two shapes formed, as the blue-white bands converged, and the hum subsided. Daryl was slightly taller than me, and kinda skinny, with black shoulder-length hair. Jurrukush stood next to him, being almost a head taller than Darryl, though he might have been a bit shorter than the Zephenidian female. Unlike the former slave, Jurrukush had a tail, and a mane of thick fur flowing over his head, as well as the usual Zephenidian arm-fur. Daryl was always shy, downright timid, even. Jurrukush rested his hand on Daryl's back and gently pushed him ahead of him, off the pad.

"I, ah, I wish I didn't have to keep imposing on you guys." Daryl stammered.

I stepped out from within the teleport console suite. "Daryl, everything is fine. Besides, it looks like we might need your boyfriend."

The Zephenidian's ears perked.

"I rescued a Zephenidian slave from a whorehouse on the planet." I said. "Maybe he could help her, maybe talk to her. You know, common culture."

"Keep in mind," said Jurrukush, "She might not accept my ethnicity. I have a tail and my father was from a group on my home planet that tends towards isolation."

"And of course, there're those cats who are after you." I gazed at the two, then I reached out my hand. "Daryl, Jurrukush, welcome aboard."