Galactic Slut Ch. 05

Chapter 5

Arrest and Hydromel

"Captain, how long until you make the transition for Havint?" Brusjin asked.

"Our engines aren't as well tuned as a military grade engine; so I'm thinking three hours."

"Good, that should work just fine. Can you send a message on this particular frequency?" Brusjin showed the Captain something on his datapad.

"That's an unusual frequency, but I think we can do it. Who do you want to talk to?"

"An old friend who owes me a favor. We may not be your guests as long as you think."

The Captain set up the comm channel and turned to Brusjin with a questioning look on his face.

"This is Singapore Six calling New Jersey Prime. Are you receiving?"

I looked at my husband in astonishment. I'd never heard him use anything even resembling code before. What in the hell was Singapore Six and New Jersey Prime? He simply mouthed, "Later," to me and continued to listen for a reply. He repeated the call a couple of times, about a minute apart, before there was a response.

"Singapore Six, this is New Jersey Prime. Is that you Brusjin you old abolitionist?"

"Mack! Yes, it's me."

"So what brings you back to the service? I thought you'd quit for good?"

"I'm not back. I need to call in a favor."

"I should've known. I assume you need to stay in system?"

"Right first time. I've got some vital information for the government and the delay caused by diverting to Havint will mean lives, potentially millions of them."

"I see. You still traveling with one of those little morsels you always had to ease business?"

Brus looked at me with a questioning look. I nodded and smiled. Apparently he'd been using the old sex slave as a bribe ploy for many years before he bought me. Ralint was well worth the price.

"Yes and no. I have a wonderful morsel, as you put it, but she's a free woman."

"This I've got to hear. I've pinpointed your location already. Expect a ship to pick you up in one hour. Fair warning, I'll have to have you arrested."

"I kind of expected that. Just don't lose us; that would be very bad."

"I've never lost a friend or a prisoner, so you're doubly safe. I'll see you in three hours."

The communication cut off, allowing me to express my concerns. "Arrested? Brusjin Valenshenko, have you lost your mind? Why in the name of all that's holy are we being arrested?"

"Susan, it's the only way to stay here and get the information to the correct authorities in time. The only people who can stay in system during an Amber alert are those already on the planet and those who are arrested trying to stay. Either we're arrested or Ralint suffers."

He was right of course. I just hoped that this Mack person was someone we could trust. There wasn't much to do while we waited. The plan was to have just Brusjin and I arrested while the ship's crew was allowed to follow the evacuation orders. Mack would take custody, as it were, of us, once we reached the planet's surface. I was still worried about the time in between.

If you haven't traveled in space much, you're probably not aware of just how different Federation laws can be. On my home planet of Valcrue, for example, there is a strong tradition of individual rights. Thus, slavery is illegal there and foreign slaves are restricted to the maximum extent that Federation synchronicity laws allow. There are very few Federation laws per se. Federation law only applies in space or when the laws of the various members and protectorates conflict. The largest realm of Federation law was military law. Individual planets don't have armies or navies (beyond merchant marines).

That's where my concern lay. We were being arrested under Federation law, not those of Pascal's World. Because of the concern over Federation security, Federation space law operated under the assumptions of guilty until proven innocent. Brusjin and I would be treated as dangerous people, potentially saboteurs, until Mack picked us up or we were found innocent in court. Since we were at Amber alert, we could, though it was unlikely, be summarily executed. We'd have no rights whatsoever until we were cleared in some way. If you're wondering how such a state came into being, that's a longer tale that I have time for now. Most people never encountered this aspect of Federation law, since there was so little that one could be arrested for. Only the desperate would ignore the relocation order. It's not like Dolman drives took much energy.

The docking maneuver was text book. We soon found ourselves looking at Federation marines. Rumor has it that they have no sense of humor at all. From what I could see, they didn't. Brusjin and I were soon restrained in magnetic cuffs, similar to the ones I wore as a slave. We were marched off the freighter and onto an assault shuttle. Clearly the marines were not in on the plan as they treated us quite roughly; stripping both Brusjin and I and subjecting us to a thorough search.

Neck shackles held us in place on the shuttle as it shoved off and flew back to whatever ship it came from. I couldn't see where we were going since the rear compartment had no view ports or screens. I was being ogled, however. Most of the marines, of all sexes, were eying me; and those whose expressions I could read were showing quite a bit of lust. I would find out later that marine regulations prohibited any form of sex between soldiers. That meant that Brusjin and I were potentially the first potential sex partners for the marines in who knows how long. Since we had no rights as of now, extracting sex from us was a possibility that had no repercussions.

It wasn't as bad as it seemed. While we could be raped without any legal repercussions to the soldiers; it was highly unlikely that we would be. The laws on Valcrue were the norm among the members of the Federation. Even most slave planets treated non-slave prisoners with some level of dignity. Most of those leering at me wouldn't take action on their desires (unless it was invited) and those that were so inclined would be held in check by the others.

The trip on the shuttle lasted just under an hour. Once we were docked, they drug us to holding cells. Brusjin and I were separated. The cuffs were removed and I was left alone. Military ships have excellent initial compensators, making it impossible for me to tell even if we were under power, let alone how fast we were going. Three hours later, a Kelvin entered my cell.

His uniform indicated that he was a commander in the navy. His compound eyes scrutinized me for a few seconds. I was surprised when he pulled a small device out of his pocket and turned it on. The device was a security leech. It broadcast a signal that most security systems would accept as their normal feed. Whatever was about to happen was not being seen by ship's security. This could not be good.

"Susan, how nice of you to put yourself in our hands. We've been trying to track you down for over a year."

Oh shit! The commander was somehow affiliated with the Hellfire group. I was naked with an agent of my worst enemy. This could not end well.

"Felpur got your tongue? How did you do it, Susan? How did you break free of your Voratex crystal?"

At least it seemed he didn't know that Crystal was still alive. I kept quiet. The less I said, the better.

[Crystal, take no defensive action. If we hurt him, we'll be spaced without a trial.]

[UNDERSTOOD.]

"Too bad. I would have liked more time with you; to employ some tried and true techniques. But, I have very little time, so I'll just have to resort to Gondoilin."

He pulled a small case from his pocket and opened it up. Inside was a hypo; no doubt containing the truth serum. Gondoilin is a hypnotic truth serum that puts the victim into a trance. While entranced, she can't form any thoughts longer than a second or two, making it impossible to form a lie to tell. It also reduces inhibitions, making it almost impossible to not speak when asked a question.

[The serum, I won't be able to hold back the truth. Help!]

[NO FEARS. TAKING OVER BODILY FUNCTIONS.]

The hypo hissed against my arm as Crystal spoke. I could feel my body getting very warm; almost like I was fighting an infection. I didn't sweat, however, like I normally did. I could feel myself glazing over and standing limply. I also recognized the tell tale signs of Crystal being in control of not just my voluntary nervous system, but my autonomic one as well. I wondered what It was up to.

"Susan, what happened to your Voratex Crystal?"

"I don't know. The Captain was using me for Kroklin and I passed out. When I came to, there was no controller in charge," I heard my voice answer. Interesting blend of truth and lie that Crystal was using.

"So your crystal is dead?"

"I assume so. If it wasn't, I'd have been controlled again."

I saw him take out a scanner and pass it over my body. I wasn't worried about him spotting Crystal; my symbiot had long since shown an ability to interfere with scanners near us. It had explained that this ability was lost with an improper joining that resulted in a Crystal slave.

"Well, it's there, but dead. You'll probably give some doctor a panic attack when they scan you. Why are you here, Susan? Why the desperate measures to reach the planet?"

I wondered how Crystal would deal with that question. Apparently It had quite the imagination. "I tried to rescue a slave on Ralint and we had to leave as soon as possible. Since we had already found Progenitor artifacts on the planet, there was no reason to stay; protectorate status was assured. We were supposed to meet Grankt here after his lumen sojourn. The detour would have us miss him. Brusjin was insistent."

"Brusjin Valenshenko was always a fool. The Gravelian would've been detoured just as you were and there would've been little or no lost time. This does play into our hands, however. You've been a thorn in our side for longer than you know." He brought a second hypo out and pressed it against my neck. As it hissed, he added, "Goodbye, Susan. I liked you better as a slave." Everything went black.

…

…

…

…

I opened my eyes only to close them again against the bright light shining in them. I blinked a couple of times as the light source was moved away.

"Susan? Are you awake?" Brusjin's voice never sounded better.

"Yes, it's me. What happened?" As I realized what I felt like, I added, "I'm starved."

"We were hoping you could tell us. You seemed to be in a coma."

"The last thing I remember is the commander injecting me with a hypo while telling me goodbye. I thought I was dying. Just how long have I been out? I can't believe how hungry I am."

[POISON NEUTRALIZED. ENERGY RESERVES EXTREMELY LOW.]

While Crystal was imparting that information, Brusjin was answering, "It's been seven hours since we were arrested. We're in the hospital. Somehow you lost 13 kilos of body mass in seven hours."

I looked around and saw a nurse hovering nearby. I certainly wasn't going to mention Crystal where someone else could hear. "It must have been some kind of poison. I think he was trying to kill me. Can I get something to eat? You wouldn't believe how hungry I am."

"Nurse, would you be so kind?"

The nurse looked like she was being asked to leave me alone with a mass murderer. "Don't you dare do anything to tire her out. I'll be right back."

When she'd left, I asked, "Is the room secure?" Brusjin nodded and I continued. "Crystal says It neutralized the poison somehow, but it used a lot of my body's energy reserves."

"It can do that?"

"I guess so. I suppose if It can search my memories and keep an orgasm at bay, it can interact chemically with a foreign substance. I know it uses a little bit of the energy I make internally to sustain itself. I guess it needed a whole lot to save my life."

[AFFIRMATIVE. ADAPTING BODY TO CONSUME DANGEROUS MATERIALS IS EXTREMELY ENDOTHERMIC. BODY FAT RESERVES SEVERELY DEPLETED.]

"It says it adapted my body to consume the poison; an extremely endothermic reaction, whatever that means."

"It means that it needs heat, energy, input. Normal food interactions are exothermic, giving off energy. Fascinating, it seems to be able to modify your…"

He cut himself off when the nurse returned with a tray of food. The smells assaulted my nose, sending my hunger pangs into overdrive. I couldn't think of anything else but eating for the next few minutes. I suppose I looked like I was making a pig of myself. Honestly, it felt like I'd been starving for several days.

Within a few hours, the doctors had confirmed that I was all right. We ignored their requests that I stay for observation. The last thing I wanted was to give them much more time to probe and poke me. It was only a matter of time until they found Crystal inside me. Standard Federation procedure was to operate immediately to free a Crystal slave. I doubt they'd give us much of a chance to explain the facts.

It turned out that Mack was part of the Foreign Service; the very people we needed to get our information to. We caught a robo-taxi from the hospital straight to his office. The grav tube took us to the 473^rd floor in short order. I've always been amazed at how quickly people can get used to anything. In the year and a half that I've known Brusjin, I'd become very used to not seeing other humans. Humans make up a minority of the population of the Federation, but like most species, we tended to congregate with ourselves for the most part. Traveling with Brusjin on the fringes had exposed me to more alien species in one year than I'd met in my entire prior life. Mack's humanness caught me by surprise.

Mack was just as effusive in person as he was over the comm. "Brusjin! It's about time you came around again. How long has it been? 15 years?"

"Seventeen if you're counting. You know how it is, Mack. There's always some planet trying to get into the Federation and so little time to spend visiting friends."

"You've been doing good, Brus, very good. Apparently you've made some powerful enemies as well."

"Not just me. Mack, this is my wife, Susan. Susan, this is Mackenzie Jebadiah. We've been working on the same project for as long as I can remember."

"Mack, it's nice to meet you." I hesitated, looking around.

"It's okay, Susan. This office is shielded with the best blocks around."

[Crystal, can you sense any spy rays?]

[NEGATIVE. STRONG INTERFERENCE FIELD IS IN PLACE.]

I nodded. "So you're working on eliminating slavery as well?"

"Yes, just from a different angle. My job is far less dangerous than yours and Brusjin's. I simply make sure that the worlds Brus brings in are exposed to as much freedom as possible. Quite boring really."

"I see, boring maybe, but vital."

"So, why are you two here, violating an Amber alert?"

"First, why in the name of all that's holy is the capitol under an Amber alert?"

"That's right, you've been out of the loop. First contact; contact with a star faring race."

"My God!" Brusjin breathed, "The seventh race."

"Exactly, and to make things worse, contact was hostile. The civilian freighter Drusus encountered an alien ship design while exploring for transuranic debris in the rim. The pilot knew what they'd encountered immediately and fired off a standard message buoy. When a scout arrived three weeks later, all that was left was wreckage and the black box. Apparently the buoy launch was taken as a weapon and the freighter was attacked with a weapon of unknown type. Fleet units are patrolling the border heavily, but you know how worthless that is."

A ship in Dolman space can't be detected by ships in normal space. The creation of a detection system is one of the great physics problems of this century; maybe of this millennium. The problem the fleet has is that the average person doesn't understand this. They want to be protected when danger rears its ugly head and don't understand that the first the fleet will see of an enemy fleet is when it appears in their solar system. A space war is an ugly brute and no one can truly win.

"Well, what we have to say will make life all the more chaotic. There's a working Progenitor artifact on Ralint."

Brusjin paused to give Mack a chance to absorb the information. His face was a mask of shock. I wasn't sure he believed us at first.

"What is it?"

"As near as we can tell, it's a star map. It activated when we happened to be close to it." I was grateful he left out the part about it scanning for me. "That's not all. We think there are five artifacts on the planet; all local religious icons."

"Brusjin, there aren't that many in the entire Federation. And one of them works? Do you realize what this will mean?"

"Yes, I know exactly what this means. Unless Ralint is granted protectorate status, treasure seekers will tear the planet and their society apart."

"That's not even taking into account the Hellfire group," I added.

"Shit! We don't need this right now. Is there any way to hold this back?"

Brusjin shook his head. "No, the freighter that brought us here already knows and will be spreading the word as soon as it reaches Havint."

"I see why you came here instead of the closest Federation planet. Fortunately the council is in session. Susan, as much as I'd love to entertain you tonight, I'm going to be quite busy for the next few days. Can I have a rain check?"

"Of course, Mack. I was looking forward to it as well. How long is the Amber alert going to last?"

"I have no idea. It may be semi-permanent. Emergency powers."

Emergency powers; no representative government liked using that phrase. Normally, Amber alerts had to end one way or the other after two weeks. Emergency powers gave the President the ability to extend that limit indefinitely. Numerous planets had, in their histories, examples of so called emergency powers leading to dictatorships. We could leave the planet, but no one could come into the system.

"Well, Brus, it looks like we're heading to Havint to meet Grankt." I handed Mack a data crystal. "This is a recording of the artifact in operation, along with some data on all five of the items. Make sure Ralint is protected."

"I will, Susan. Don't take so long before visiting again."

We left and found a hotel to stay at. Crystal and I searched the data links for an outbound ship. It didn't look promising. Amber alert had already been in place for a week. Just about every ship that had wanted to leave the closed system already had. There seemed to be only two ships with a departure scheduled within the next week. One was a Felpur registered ore hauler due to leave the orrt cloud in two days. Not only would we be unlikely to make a connection with it before it left, it was manned entirely by that feline race.

I'd experienced sex with Felpur before and I vowed it would never happen again. Their cocks, when erect (a state that was inevitable with time) were lined with sharp spines. These spines stimulated the female to ovulate, ensuring pregnancy. In my case, however, they resulted in a severely lacerated pussy. The first time I'd still been a slave and a crystal slave. I had almost died from the rape committed by two of them. While Crystal could no doubt heal me, I wasn't into pain.

The second ship, fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, was one we'd traveled on before. The amoeboid creature I thought of as Captain Rax took Brusjin and I to the twin systems of Halsted and Ixtlicit. Just seeing the ship's name brought memories back. It flowed slowly up my body. It didn't have the slimy feel I had expected, but felt much like a soft hand covering my legs, and like a multitude of little hands as it began to caress me everywhere it touched. The asexual captain experienced whatever pleasure I felt while it used me.