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Homecomings A Scarborough Fair Story by RedFox6

Chapter Four Recruiting Drive Confederation of Independent Star Systems Onboard the Scarborough Fair en route to Haiphong Present Day

Once the Fair had safely launched and entered hyperspace, Tollel took her friend to the Daktari. She anxiously waited outside while it performed its procedures.

When everything came up green, the Daktari released Aoife into Tollel's care. Tollel immediately took her to the showers for a good long wash together.

After Aoife exited the Daktari and Tollel took her to the showers, Marie gave Leu a rundown on her condition. "She is healthy and in generally good condition, with very few injuries, mainly minor ones. Most of them are several days old or older, except for this bruise on her muzzle." The area was highlighted brightly on Aoife's hologram, perhaps more brightly than normal. "This injury is very recent. Within the last few hours in fact. And it is the same shape as a fist." An accusing silence followed.

Leu looked down with a chagrined smile, "That would be from me. I had to keep her from saying Tollel's name."

"By striking her?"

"It seemed like the best idea at the time. It certainly impressed the other owners around."

"The only way you could think of to silence her was by hitting her?" The disapproval came through clearly.

Lowering his eyes, Leu stammered, "Well..., I..., you see..., there wasn't any time. I couldn't think of anything else." He went on, pleading, "But I did apologize to her."

Marie's silence expressed her disapproval better than any words could have, while the highlighted mark glowed accusingly.

After letting him stew for a few moments, Marie went on, rotating the holo and zooming in on two small areas. "There are also these." The hologram focused in on two small implants. "The first is a standard tracking and ID transmitter chip implanted into her shoulder blade. The second one in her arm is much more interesting. It is a long term drug dispenser, injecting a measured dose of drugs into her system on a set schedule, once every 20 hours TS. Analysis indicates that the drug is Xombex. The dose is small enough not to interfere with her mental processes, but is enough to make her more docile, obedient and suggestible. This is unusual behavior for slave owners; the process is expensive, and the dispenser needs to be recharged on a regular basis. There are cheaper ways to force a slave into submission. The same goes for the ID chip. Most owners would not go to the expense of surgically implanting a tracking device, but merely incorporate it into the slave's collar.

"The Daktari has already deactivated the tracking device and emptied the dispenser. The drugs remaining in her system were flushed out during the blood cleansing procedure. She should be free of all residual effects within 48 hours.

"Based on the way the flesh and bone have grown around these devices, they were implanted between six and seven TS years ago.

"They will have to be surgically removed," she went on. "They will have no adverse effect by remaining in place, so, we will have ample time to discuss the operation with Aoife before performing the surgery."

While this had been going on, Tollel and Aoife had headed to the showers, happily chattering away to each other all the way.

Reaching the shower room, Tollel said, "See? Privacy screens. And lots of hot water and soap. You can take as long as you want to get clean. And there are no spyeyes. Leu won't watch us."

"Why?" Aoife asked. "Is there something wrong with him?"

With a knowing giggle, Tollel answered, "Oh, no. There's nothing wrong with him. Far from it.

"But he hates slavery, and respects us and our privacy. I even have my own cabin, with a door that locks from the inside. You'll have one, too."

Looking her in the eyes, Tollel licked her lips and said, "Let me help you with your shower?"

When Aoife smiled and nodded, Tollel joined her in the shower stall.

As the water poured over them, they filled their hands with soap and worked the lather into each other's fur. Coming together, they caressed each other's bodies, cleaning and arousing each other as they went. Paws caressed breasts and toyed with pussies, while mouths suckled on nipples.

The shower stretched on and on as the two gave each other climax after climax, until they were almost too tired to get to the drying tube.

While they spent time grooming each other, Tollel thought with a small smile, "Poor Leu. He'll never know what he missed."

Groomed to their satisfaction, the two walked, nude, to Tollel's cabin, talking all the way. Aoife was close enough in size to wear some of Tollel's clothes, and they were going to go through the wardrobe to choose suitable apparel. Also, Tollel had a surprise waiting for her friend in the cabin.

"It sounds like you really trust him," Aoife was saying as they entered Tollel's cabin.

"Yes," Tollel replied, opening the door to her closet. "I'm not really sure why, but I trusted him almost as soon as I met him. And I haven't regretted it once."

She went on gravely, "He saved me from Sheol, and freed me. He treats me as an equal and a partner, and I think maybe he loves me. There's no forced coupling, and he makes sure I'm pleasured as well as he is.

"I eat and drink the same things Leu does, and I can eat whenever I want and as much as I want."

Tollel indicated the clothes inside her closet. "I can wear what I want onboard. These are mine. I chose them, not Leu." She thought for a second, and then continued with a grin, "Of course, that's mainly because Leu has no fashion sense. Just like most males. You saw what he's wearing?"

At Aoife's nod, Tollel continued, "That's pretty much his idea of fashion." They giggled together.

Gesturing around the cabin, she went on, "This is all mine. Leu doesn't enter without my permission. As long as it doesn't endanger the ship, I can do anything I want in here."

With a sly smile at Aoife, Tollel went on, "And anyone I want."

When Aoife smiled in return, Tollel embraced her and kissed her, and they fell into the bed wrapped in each others arms. Kisses led to more intimate caresses, and it wasn't long before they were using their skills to pleasure one another again.

When they were done, again, Tollel said, "I have something for you. A special gift.

"Look at this," she went on. "It was finished while you were in the Daktari." She reached across her friend and picked up an ID card. Placing it in the computer's reader, she watched while Aoife read the screen.

She finished the readout, looked up at Tollel and exclaimed, "It says I'm a free citizen!"

Smiling happily, Tollel hugged her tightly and said, "Yes. We'll file the papers as soon as we reach Haiphong."

"If he can free me, and, as you say, he hates slavery," Aoife asked thoughtfully after a minute. "then why are you still a slave?"

"I'm not, in private."

At Aoife's puzzled look, she went on, "It's, complicated. My last master, the one Leu freed me from, was looking for me and had my biometrics flagged." A note of pride entered her voice as she continued, "I killed him, but his org is still looking for me. To keep me off the Interwebs, we have to keep me a slave, in public. Leu doesn't like it anymore than I do, but we don't really have a choice.

"But we have hopes," she went on. "that someday they'll stop looking for me and we can file my papers."

Lounging in their newly installed hydrotherapy tub, enjoying the action of the hot water as it relaxed and soothed his tired body and washed away the stresses of the day, Leu remarked, "Damn, this feels good. Marie, why didn't we get one of these a long time ago?"

Perhaps wisely, she refused to point out that, the few times she had suggested it, it had been Leu's decision not to get one, calling it 'an unnecessary luxury that would never get used'. Her only response was, "House al'Malik was most accommodating to Tollel's requests."

Leaning his head back, Leu smiled at himself and answered, "All right, I admit it. You and Tollel were right and I was most definitely wrong. Happy now?"

"Happiness is an emotion," Marie began. "And, while I know what emotions are, I do not suffer from them myself."

Heaving himself out of the tub and walking to the drying tube, Leu replied, "Don't know what you're missing then. Emotional responses are one of the hallmarks of us 'organics'." Behind him, the water began draining out of the tub, heading back to Recyke.

"In my experience, they only cloud judgment, causing one to make foolish decisions," was the response.

Smiling, Leu thought of Tollel and his impulse to free her. "Sometimes it works out all right," he said softly, as the drying tube did its work.

"And," he went on in a normal voice, "most important, it makes us unpredictable. Makes it harder to counter us, and that can be a good thing."

Leu dressed as he listened to Marie point out how most of his decisions made emotionally hurt rather than helped the situation. He responded with examples of how unpredictability had gotten them both out of tight situations. It was a standard part of their continuing debates. So far, neither had convinced the other to change their minds.

That night, Leu had one of his recurring nightmares. He was back on Deseret during the last gang war, with his human partner Florie. The fighting had reached the starport and the perimeter had been breached. They were running across the field, desperately trying to get back to the safety of the ship. Bullets and beams were flying everywhere, interspersed with the dull crump of exploding rockets and mortar shells. Several rounds struck Florie in the chest, throwing her back into Leu's arms. He picked her up and sprinted towards the Fair, hoping against hope he could reach the Daktari before it was too late. She died as they reached the airlock. Leu huddled on the floor, sobbing, holding her body while Marie launched the ship, PDW's blazing, full strength plasma blasts annihilating anyone firing at them as she deftly maneuvered amongst all the other ships launching in a chaotic free for all. But this time, when he looked down through tear filled eyes, it was Tollel's body in his arms.

He woke up in the dark, heart racing. A couple of seconds later, he had calmed down enough to turn on the lights and slip out of bed.

He quietly padded to the galley and began brewing a pot of White Arrow tea, hoping to calm his nerves down. He had acquired the taste for White Arrow from Florie. A product of her home planet, it was just one of the many things he was grateful to her for.

"Leu?" Marie began.

With a small smile, he replied, "It's okay, Marie. Being on Deseret just brought on another flashback. I'll be okay in a bit. Just gotta take it easy for a bit."

When he sat down, she continued, "It has been a while since your last flashback. Are you sure you are all right?"

"Yeah, it has been a while," he replied, softly. "Got something to lose again." Visions of his dream came back, and he felt an involuntary shiver go down his spine.

"Yeah, I'm fine" he said, a little louder. "Now that we're away from Deseret, it's all good. Just have to remember not to come back here again.

"I'll sit here a bit, and then go up to the bridge and work on the books some more. Don't think I'm getting any more sleep tonight."

In the early morning, the two awoke entwined in Tollel's bed. Aoife looked at her sleepily and said, "That was wonderful. I haven't been able to relax like that in years."

Good morning kisses were exchanged, then, reluctantly, Tollel said, "We really should go see how Leu is doing."

Slipping out of bed, they helped each other dress and groom, before leaving the room and walking down the corridor to Leu's cabin.

He didn't answer to their knock.

"Marie, where's Leu?" Tollel asked, a little worried. Leu normally awoke instantly, a heritage of living on a spaceship for decades, where the slightest unusual noise could mean trouble. She couldn't hear any sounds that weren't normal ship noises, and had no idea where Leu might be.

"He is in the galley," was the reply.

Walking to the galley, the two couldn't smell anything cooking, or hear any movement.

When they entered the galley, they found Leu slumped over a table, sleeping peacefully. Beside him was a cold cup of tea, half drunk.

Relief washed over Tollel's face, followed by a mischievous grin. Looking at Aoife, she saw that they were thinking alike.

Quickly and quietly they slipped under the table. Leu awoke to two industrious mouths working on his cock and balls. One to either side of him, they began fellating him. One would nuzzle and lick at his balls, while the other would suck on his cock, then they would switch. Alternating between licking and sucking his balls and running their tongues up and down his cock, they quickly brought him to full erection.

He was able to tell who was doing what because of Aoife's two tongue piercings. They produced a unique sensation on his dick, contrasting the harshness of the metal with the softness of the flesh between them as she licked up and down his shaft.

It didn't take the two long before they had him groaning in ecstasy and cumming hard.

"Sheol of awake up call," he thought, fully awake and alert now. "Better than coffee even."

"Best alarm clock ever!" he said, leaning back in his chair.

As the two came out from under the table, he went on with a smile, "But now you've made me all messy. As punishment for that, you'll have to make breakfast while I shower."

Showered, shaved and dressed, he returned to the smell of waffles and bacon.

"Our next stop is Haiphong," he was saying to Marie as he entered the galley. "so you might as well leave the extra armor on. Also, considering where we're going, we'll need to hire a trailer."

"That had rather been my plan," Marie answered dryly. "I have done this a few times before, remember."

"Alright, already," he returned. "Sorry for just wanting to double tap everything."

Looking up, he inhaled and said, "That smells delicious. Shall we begin?"

When the meal was over, Aoife pushed her plate back with a satisfied sigh and said, "I haven't eaten that well in years. My Masters never let me have anything but Slave Kibble.® And they usually made me eat it out of a bowl on the floor, without the use of my paws."

"Well," Leu said. "that's all over now. You'll be safe with us for now. And once we find your family, we'll drop you off there as soon as we head that way."

Aoife suddenly looked unhappy. With her head lowered, she said sadly, "I don't think they would really want me back. They're the ones who sold me, after all. They said that was all I was good for, to add some more money to their accounts."

"Aw Sheol," Leu thought. "Open mouth, insert foot. Up to the knee."

"I'm sorry," Leu said. "I didn't know. I just thought that...., Well, Sheol, in that case, you can stay with us for as long as you want.

"We'll teach you all about the glamorous life of a small time free trader. It's not all about gallivanting about the galaxy rescuing beautiful women, you know."

Smiling, he put his hand in Tollel's paw and said, "Although we do seem to do more than our fair share of that."

With a quick grin she squeezed his hand in return.

"Not the most profitable of trades," he went on. "We carry cargoes the big corporations consider too small to bother with. But it does have its advantages. We get to set our own schedule and keep whatever profits we make. Sheol of a lot of hard work, and mostly boring as all get out, but we don't have to answer to a board of directors that is only concerned with the bottom line."

Aoife looked over at Tollel, who was smiling hopefully, before saying, "Then I accept your offer, Captain."

"Excellent," he replied. "First things first. Onboard we're pretty informal so just call me Leu."

Sharing an inside joke, he grinned at Tollel and went on, "'Hey, you', usually works too.

"Off ship, we have to be more formal," Leu continued. "I'm assuming Tollel's already told you about her, status, in public."

When Aoife nodded, he said, "Good. Just remember it's just an act and it'll all be good.

"We've got a couple of days before we reach Haiphong, so we'll have plenty of time to get you up to speed on how we run things here on the Fair.

"Couple of other things," he continued. "The Daktari found a couple of implants in your body. They'll have to be surgically removed, eventually. But until then they won't do any more harm to you.

"One's a drug dispenser, it's been emptied already, and the other is an RFID tracking chip. That's been deactivated."

"An RFID chip?" she interrupted. "That explains why I could never get away from them.

"I tried to escape a few times," she confessed. "They always caught me. Usually they would just whip the soles of my feet until I couldn't stand, then lock me in a slave cage for several days as punishment."

With a small shudder, she went on, "Sometimes, they would do other things to me."

One paw gently touching her breasts, she explained, "Once one of my Masters nailed my nipples to a table and left me like that all night.

"Sometimes they would video me while I was being punished or used. The Master that nailed me to the table laughed while videoing my punishment that time, and said something to the effect of proof of life."

Tollel hugged her while she recovered from the memories. "After a while, I stopped trying to escape," she went on. "It was always difficult anyways. I rarely even knew what planet we were on; we moved around a lot. And periodically my Master would turn me over to a new Master. Often, I didn't even know their name, but they were invariably Cormorans.

"And I was constantly kept under strict discipline and restraint," she finished. "Whenever we traveled, I was bound and hooded and forced into a small slave carrier for transport. And when I wasn't in a slave carrier, they kept me chained all the time, especially at night."

"Well," Leu said. "that won't happen here. You'll travel in a crew cabin like the rest of us. In fact, we've given you the cabin next to Tollel's."

A quick smile, then, "You don't have to actually sleep there if you don't want to, but it's important that everyone have their own space. It's the principal of the thing, and it allows you to get away from everyone if you want.

"Soon as we get the chance, we'll pick up some toiletries for you, along with some more clothes." In his head, Leu could already hear Marie complaining about the expense, and he smiled at the thought.

Reaching across the table, he shook her paw and said, "You're hired. There are a few more details to work out but they can wait for later. Welcome to the crew of the Scarborough Fair."

As Tollel happily hugged her, Aoife smiled in return and said, "Thank you, Leu. I'll do my best to be a credit to this crew."