Galactic Slut Ch. 10

Chapter 10

Quantum Shift

It was three months before the wanted broadcasts for me were taken off the communication's grid. It was another two months before Turbin and I felt it sure enough that the hunt was truly over for me to venture into the nearest town. During that time, Turbin and I had enjoyed sex together at least once a week; frequently more often than that.

We still faced the fact that getting off the planet required traveling to one of the major cities; cities where Hellfire could be expected to have a major presence. I was sure that any attempt to board a public transport or liner would result in my capture, again. Crystal and Jewel were certain that four joined buds were on the planet (at least that's what the collective base consciousness told them). What they didn't know was just where to find these people. I was sure any properly joined creature would be against Hellfire and thus, our ally.

When I asked Crystal why the collective couldn't tell us where to find the buds, It's answer was a little confusing. According to Crystal, buds have a poor ability to visualize and pass on spatial positions. What was confusing was that Crystal Itself never exhibited such difficulty. It was unable to explain just why that was so. The end result was that we didn't know where to find the joined pairs other than on this planet.

Jewel was also a bit of a mystery. It was able, very quickly, to pick up and use proper syntax when It communicated to me. It didn't seem to understand what I was asking when I inquired about the reason, but I suspected that thousands of years exposed to humanoid speech went far to explain much. The other surprise is that Crystal and Jewel actually disagreed on things. I suppose that shouldn't have been as much of a surprise as it was. They were distinct sentient beings, after all. I'd just gotten into the not so good habit of viewing them as all the same.

That realization brought to light the last potential problem I'd have getting off the planet. The person and his or her bud might not be willing to take the risk of helping me off the planet. There may well be a cost to such help; a cost I might be unable or unwilling to pay. That bridge, however, would have to be crossed when we reached it. For now, we were getting ready to head into the town.

The plan Turbin came up with wasn't one I was particularly fond of, though it did have the advantage of being believable. I was going to pretend to be his slave. When you've been a slave and found your freedom, even pretending to be one again isn't something you do lightly. The reason I accepted the plan was a particular cultural norm on Yeltion; slaves were generally kept covered from head to toe in public.

While slavery was legal on Yeltion, it was hard to enslave anyone against their will. Most slaves were more along the idea of then old earth indentured servants; sold for a period of time for money, usually debt forgiveness. These slaves had generous protections under the law and couldn't be sold or used in any way that violated their contract. True slaves, usually imports or criminals, were quite rare and extremely valuable. To dissuade thieves, owners had taken to hiding the merchandise, as it were. The penalty for stealing a slave was slavery (a quite common law) and who would take that chance without knowing what they were stealing first?

This meant that I could walk around, unnoticed, in a gray blendish and no one would know who I was. The only danger to such a ruse was that if discovered, the lie became reality. The penalty for a free person walking around in a blendish was enslavement; summary enslavement. The only other option was to brave the scrutiny and possibly be recognized. I'd take my chances under cover.

Turbin had a flitter for getting to and from town. Like most farmers on Yeltion, it was a cargo hauling model, built to ferry supplies to and from his farm. Our timing was such that it was, in fact, time for him to make a run into town for a major grocery run. So, it came to be that I was sitting beside my Rawulf ally, more covered than I'd been at any time in the last year, flying into the town of Joslin.

Turbin parked in front of the general store (funny how some names just never go away). He got out and walked around to my side of the flitter. "Out, slave, I don't have all day." We'd agreed that he should treat me with some disdain to reinforce the belief of onlookers. A human walked up.

"Turbin, what have you got there?"

"A slave, dummy, what's it look like?"

"I can see it's a slave. How'd you get a slave of your own out on the farm?"

"Section 23 of the slavery articles."

"Thievery? You mean to tell me in this day and age, someone tried to steal from your farm? It must be pretty stupid."

"Yeah, that's why I'm taking it into Callepa to sell. It's not like I need a slave on the farm. Machines take care of everything."

"Well, not everything," the man said with a leer.

"True, true. Will you make sure my usual order is loaded up by day after tomorrow? I'll be spending a couple of days in the city."

"Sure thing. Don't need any extras?"

"Not this time. See you around."

He grabbed our bags from the back of the flitter and we set out for the mono station. Yeltion used a high speed monorail for long distance travel to and from their cities. The government kept flying vehicles severely restricted in the cities themselves. The train would cover the 1000 miles to Callepa in just over two hours. While I attracted plenty of attention, it was all focused on the novelty of a true slave in this neck of the woods. The plan was working fine.

While the blendish hid me from view quite effectively, it still allowed me to see around me. There weren't many runs into the city. Our evening trip was on an almost empty car, though plenty of people debarked when it arrived. It seemed that there were a fair number of people who commuted to the city to work, but lived in the relatively less urban town. Most of my life had been spent in major population centers. I'd only become experienced with rural settings since meeting Brusjin.

I was glad for the blendish and the cover it gave me as tears came to me again at the thought of my dead husband. I'd vowed to destroy the people responsible, the Hellfire Group, even if it was the last thing I did.

With no one around, the trip was uneventful. The arrival in Callepa was anything but. The terminal was overrun with security guards. We were scrutinized heavily as we debarked. I didn't like that Turbin had to identify me as his slave to someone in a position of authority. It's one thing to have the creature on the street think you're a slave, but quite another to have a slave recognizing government think that. I was impatient to reach our hotel.

At the hotel, I was able to get out of the blendish. Turbin unpacked the bags, my virtual room being the first thing. Everything else was his; I didn't have any possessions other than the small cube that I hoped would be my ticket off this planet. I started the program running and interfaced with the hotel room's computer terminal. Crystal took over the operations and soon had space flight schedules displayed on the holographic output.

Yeltion wasn't a hot spot destination, so there weren't many flights off, at least not passenger flights. Cargo ships, on the other hand, were quite numerous. Apparently Yeltion's transformation from a subsistence/import economy to a surplus/export one was going well. Crystal was able to confirm that the vast majority of the cargo vessels were hauling local grains. The next month saw only two passenger liners outbound, neither one leaving for at least two weeks. It was also clear why we didn't see the passenger flights from Turbin's house. The two liners had only added their departures in the last day. Prior to today, they were intending to leave without picking passengers up; a result of government restrictions.

I was uneasy about applying for a ticket on either liner. I had a suspicion that anyone buying a ticket on one of the outbound ships would find themselves facing extra scrutiny by Hellfire and the government. It might have been paranoid of me, but you know what they say: "You're not paranoid if they're really out to get you."

The second thing we did was to start the search for the four joined buds. Now, you might think our access to the planetary communication network would make that an easy prospect. Such was not the case. We had access to the network at Turbin's house. Granted, anything we did would have been easily tracked back to us, the reason we didn't try anything before. Unlike communication between bud and base, communication between buds was very limited in range. We knew from the collective that four buds were still on planet. Those buds also knew of our presence and need for help. Finding each other would require a little more time.

The first step was to place an ad on the planetary net. Much like newspapers on ancient earth, modern internets had advertising sites where one could advertise just about anything; at least anything legal. Our ad was simple. "We found your lost jewelry. Contact us at 3e5tyh72." The communication code was invalid. Instead, we'd wait for the counterpart ads to be placed, then we'd initiate the next stage of contact.

It was doubtful that all four would reply. From the collective, each host knew that helping us would be dangerous. It was my hope that one would be willing to help. Hosts were always mobile; that was the point of a joining. All had been trapped on the planet for five months because of the travel lockdown (I'd wondered about that).

While I'd been working, Turbin had gone out to buy me some clothes. Yeltion's human population had a definite nudity taboo. Anyone going naked would be taken for a slave. Worse, they'd attract the maximum amount of attention; the last thing I needed. After five months, he definitely knew my sizes. This was one of the dangerous parts of the plan. Hellfire knew I'd been naked when I escaped. They might be looking for large purchases of female clothing. To that end, Turbin was spreading the purchases out, making a lot of small purchases. He was also paying with cash for each purchase.

Once the ad was placed, there wasn't much to do until Turbin returned. I explored the net, trying to get a feel for what was going on on this world. For a world under the heel of Hellfire, it was remarkably similar to many other worlds I'd been on. People seemed to live their lives oblivious to the greater scheme of things. The travel restrictions that had been recently been lifted were lifted not because the local citizens had complained, but because the multi-system conglomerates had complained. Those limits didn't affect the common man or woman on the street, so they didn't care about them. I suppose I'd been much the same way. I'd never given slavery a second thought until I'd been enslaved.

The room announced a response to the ad just before Turbin returned. I looked at the ad and smiled. "Lost: 1 crystal pendant. If found contact 27hyt5e3." That was the counter sign. One of the hosts had responded. Turbin walked in as I was composing the response. "The party is on. Hyde park at sunset." Turbin and I had chosen the meeting sight a couple of months ago. The park was an open space that left no place for anyone to watch unnoticed. While long range surveillance was a possibility, Crystal assured me that any attempts to eavesdrop on our conversation wouldn't succeed, thanks to the resonance a mating unity could establish.

I donned a typical Yeltion garment that covered most of my body. Oddly enough, while much was covered, little was concealed as the one piece wrap fit tightly against me. The fabric, one of the new synthetics, seemed to cling to my skin like it was afraid of falling off. The result was every curve amplified while no skin (other than my face) was visible. Some of the pants and blouse outfits fit so well that the lips of the woman's pussy or the ridges of the man's cock were highlighted. As nudity taboos went, it was very different.

We managed to reach the park without having a run in with the authorities. I suspected that most of the searching for me was taking place at transportation hubs. After all, I'd have to access one of those to get anywhere; an efficient use of resources actually. At the park, I was counting on the ability of Crystals to detect one another's presence to recognize the host. I waited at a statue/fountain for some sign that he or she had arrived. That sign was a brief takeover by Crystal to look at, and meet the eyes of, a Felpur.

A Felpur! My experiences with this race had been less than stellar. Of course he was male.

[Crystal, are you sure? This is the host? He's not a crystal slave?]

[THIS HOST HAS EXPERIENCED A NORMAL JOINING. HE CAN BE TRUSTED.]

[If you say so.]

Nervously, I walked over to him. His sleek black fur had streaks of golden in it. Like all of his race, muscles rippled below the surface of the fur. Felpur aren't capable of being over weight as their body doesn't create new fat cells beyond what they have at birth. Their muscles use energy three times as efficiently as a humans, making them one of the strongest races, pound for pound, in the Federation. There were stronger races, to be sure (such as Grankt's species), but that was from sheer greater size.

"You are the host to the mating unity between the buds known as Crystal and Jewel?"

I recognized the subtle syntax of a bud speaking. "Yes, I am. We need help getting off the planet."

"Assistance should be possible. There is a price."

"I understand. I assume you wish a new experience of some sort?"

"Yes. This host is frequently shunned from sexual contacts with other species."

"With good reason. Those cock spines can kill a woman."

"Spines will not present difficulty. I will prevent them from deploying."

That made sense. If Crystal could grow me claws and keep my orgasm on hold for as long as It wanted, there should be no trouble with this bud keeping the cock spines from tearing me up. "Why haven't you…of course, you'd have to reveal your presence. I'm assuming your people don't want your presence a matter of general knowledge."

"That is correct, especially within your Federation. The abuse of our buds and bases has made our species unwelcome to the people of your Federation."

"Well, the price isn't much. I agree. How can you help us?"

I saw the change in expression indicating that the Felpur was back in control. "I've had passage booked on a liner since the travel ban was lifted. My plan is to buy you from the Rawulf and take you on board as my slave."

"Hold on there one damned minute! You want me to voluntarily enslave myself again? I've been a slave, I don't plan on repeating the experience."

"Listen, I don't plan on keeping you. Once we're out of the system, I can sign your freedom papers. There's aren't any laws forbidding the freeing of slaves on Yeltion. That it never seems to happen is a matter of economics. Amethyst wouldn't let me keep you for the long term." Amethyst must be the name he gave his crystal. I looked dubious. He added, "It'll also help your partner. He brought a slave to sell. If he doesn't sell a slave, yet leaves without one, it'll raise suspicions."

As much as I didn't like it, his arguments made sense. Plus, the blendish would keep me concealed. "Okay, I suppose I don't have many options. Faking a sale won't work?"

"I'm afraid not. All sales must be registered in person at the government offices. You can't do it online. It's supposed to protect people from being enslaved without their knowledge. There's something else. You'll need to be disguised. All slaves leaving the planet have to be inspected. It's not a new law, but I have no doubt that they'll be using it to look for you. I'm told that won't be a problem for your pair."

Shit! [Crystal, is there something you haven't been telling me?]

[NOT EXPLICITLY. OUR ABILITY TO MODIFY YOUR BODY EXTENDS TO YOUR PHYSICAL APPEARANCE]

[I thought the energy demands would be too great to make that extensive of changes.]

[THAT WAS TRUE. A MATING UNITY HAS MORE POWER AVAILABLE TO IT.]

[How do you mean?]

[IT HAS TO DO WITH OUR REPRODUCTIVE METHOD. WE ARE CRYSTILINE ENERGY BEINGS. A NEW BASE-BUD PAIR IS FORMED DIRECTLY FROM THE ENERGY WE GIVE IT. A MATING UNITY IS ABLE TO ABSORB ENERGY DIRECTLY FROM THE ENERGY LATTICES THAT ARE NEARBY. THIS IS STORED IN A PRECHILD ENERGY MATRIX UNTIL REPRODUCTION IS DESIRED. THIS STORED ENERGY CAN BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE, SUCH AS MODIFYING THE HOST CREATURE]

[That explains why I haven't been getting hungry after the changes in the recent past.] Actually, I was stunned. I wondered what limit there was to their ability to make modifications in me. Then it hit me: crystalline energy. Crystals weren't physical creatures at all, at least not totally. There wasn't anything in Federation data banks about just what type of mineral made up voratex crystals. This was why; they weren't minerals at all. It also explained why they were so good at detecting and manipulating energy fields, such as scanners. In a way, it made sense. I had the impression that mating unities were rare, They'd want to protect such hosts as much as possible.

[Crystal, when are you two planning to reproduce?]

[NO PLANS HAVE BEEN MADE. MISSING ELEMENT EXISTS.]

[What missing element?]

[UNKNOWN. WE SIMPLY KNOW THAT ANY REPRODUCTION ATTEMPT OFF THE HOME WORLD RESULTS IN STILL BORN.]

[Wait, Hellfire controls your home planet. Does that mean there's been no new crystals born in over 500 years?]

[AFFIRMATIVE/]

[Crystal, I'm so sorry.] A thought occurred to me. [Crystal, how long do your people live?]

[IF BUDS DON'T SEPARATE, A BASE BUD PAIR CAN LIVE FOR UP TO 1000 YEARS. ONCE A BUD JOINS WITH AN ORGANIC HOST PROPERLY, BOTH BUD AND BASE CAN LIVE TEN TIMES AS LONG. IMPROPERLY JOINED BUDS WILL ONLY LIVE ONE TENTH AS LONG.]

[Crystal, is your race dying?]

[AFFIRMATIVE.]

I turned to the Felpur. "According to the net, there isn't a liner leaving for two weeks. What are we traveling on?"

"The Kubiashi Maru is a hybrid cargo/passenger ship. It filled up within hours of the ban being lifted."

"How did you come to have a crystal?"

"I encountered a strange alien I've never seen since. It was dying and offered me the chance to join with his bud. I didn't know until later that these same crystals were voratex crystals. I haven't tried to tell the authorities for, what I suspect, are the same reasons you haven't."

I nodded my head. "They'd try to remove our crystals, thinking we were slaves in need of saving. There must be some way to get the truth out that people would believe."

"If there is, I can't see it. You'd probably have to implant a crystal in all the politicians."

"All I'm worried about now is getting off this planet. Shall we do it?"

I looked around as Crystal took momentary control and then the pain hit. It wasn't very strong, more like a dull ache. I could also feel my skin crawling over me, unlike the previous times I'd been changed. I could also feel some kind of flow from the center of my chest. Was that the energy from the pre-birth? On some level it seemed somehow wrong to use up the energy that would become another of these beautiful creatures, but it couldn't be born here.

The ache faded and I walked over to a small pond in the park. My reflection was so…different. It's hard to describe how it was different, but there was no way anyone would be able to tell who I really was. The only things unchanged were my height and hair color; the former because (I think) would have been far more painful than it had been, the latter because hair is no longer alive. Every other detail had been changed in some way. My face seemed more symmetric that it had been. My eyes were brown now. A quick look at my fingers confirmed my suspicion that my finger prints had changed. I wouldn't be surprised if even my retinal pattern had changed.