Enslaved (Brides of the Kindred Book 14) (2 page)

I’d like to see Lady Malroth snub me with
him
standing
behind me, guarding my back,
she thought eyeing the massive Havoc
again.

Still, it would do no good to get such a large male unless he
truly was tractable. And no matter how much the slaver reassured her, she
couldn’t make herself believe this Havoc was the innocent, malleable slave he
was promised to be.

“I don’t know,” she said, frowning. “I don’t know how I could
control such a large male.”

“Easily,” the slaver said eagerly. “Observe.” He walked over to
the platform and tapped the massive male on one arm. “Slave—get down from the
display platform. This Mistress wishes to see you.”

The Havoc male didn’t twitch so much as a muscle. He wasn’t
just unmoving—he appeared to have turned to stone, kneeling there on the round
display platform.

“Do you hear?” The slaver raised the black blindfold,
uncovering the most gorgeous eyes Trin had ever seen. They were a pale silver-blue
that was almost white with a thin band of black around the irises.

Beast’s eyes,
she thought, and shivered for some reason.
But the slaver was still trying to get the Havoc’s attention.

“I sssaid get down!” he bawled and slapped the muscular arm more
forcefully.

Again there was nothing. Not so much as a flicker of movement.

“This is your last chance.” There was an ugly look on the
slaver’s reptilian face now—his snout was wrinkled in anger, his yellow eyes
were enraged slits. “Ssstand
now
or taste the pain of your collar.”

The huge slave simply looked at him—or glared might be a better
word. The extraordinary eyes narrowed and for a moment Trin thought he looked
like a wild animal set to pounce. But he gave no other response and didn’t move
so much as a muscle.

“You
will
move if I sssay ssso!” Clearly infuriated, the
Xethian slaver pulled out a small black remote and pointed at the Havoc.

“No, wait!” Trin exclaimed. “I don’t want—”

But her protest came too late. The slaver pressed the button
and the big body on the platform went suddenly rigid with agony. Trin watched
in horror as the Havoc’s back arched and his head snapped back in pain. Every
muscle on his big frame stood out as hard as a rock and the cords in the
powerful column of his throat were rigidly defined.

The eerie thing was that he suffered in silence. Though it was
clear he was in horrible pain, the Havoc never made so much as a whimper, let
alone a plea for mercy. He just took it.

“Stop! Stop it!” Trin exclaimed. “Look, his face is getting red
and he can barely breathe. Stop it now, you’re hurting him! That’s too much
pain!”

“Pain is the
point
,
my lady,” the slaver hissed malevolently. “And this ssslave needs to learn to
do as I tell him if he does not want more pain than he can bear.”

“You’re giving him more than he can bear right now!” Trin
protested. “Look, he’s about to faint! He—”

Before she could finish her words, the intractable Havoc male
toppled off the platform, his entire long body going rigid, as though he was
having some kind of a seizure.

“Stop!” Trin ordered again. “You’re
killing
him!”

“Why ssshould I not kill him? I will not have a ssslave who
does not obey,” the slaver hissed petulantly.

“That’s enough—I’m through asking you.” Trin doubled her fist
and gave the slaver a shot to his scaly jaw. She didn’t like to resort to
physical violence but she couldn’t just stand by and watch the Havoc killed on
a whim. The slaver’s long, boney jawbone sent a jolt of pain through her
fingers as she connected, making her wonder briefly if she might have broken
one or several, but the blow had the desired effect.

“Ssslurlesh!” It was obviously a curse in the slaver’s native
tongue. He dropped the remote in surprise and it skittered across the floor.
Trin ran after it. The slave’s broad back was still bowed in agony and she was
afraid if she didn’t shut off the collar soon he might have permanent damage.

The little black remote was kicked by several feet but at last
she got her hands on it and hurried back to the display—only to see the slaver
standing there with one three fingered hand to his scaly jaw and a couple of
security Crangs flanking him.

“This isss the one,” he said, pointing at her. “Ssshe ssstruck
me with no provocation whatsoever!”

“I had plenty of provocation,” Trin said angrily. “He’s
killing
his slave. Just look!” She turned with the remote ready, hoping she was
pressing the right button to stop the painful pulses.

The slave, whose entire body had been a rigid statue of pain,
suddenly went limp and lay still on the metal floor. Trin ran over to him and
checked his pulse. It was there—slow but steady—but he was completely out.
Well,
at least he’s still alive.
She breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to
the huge, lumpish security Crangs who looked like they were made of cooled lava
deposits.

“See?” she demanded.

“It does not matter what the slaver, who is the one who is the
owner of this slave, was doing to his slave which he owns,” one of the Crangs
pronounced laboriously. “He is the owner of the one who is called the slave,
not you.”

“Therefore, you must be the one who shall be arrested and tried
in the Hub court that is called the place of law for the crimes you have
committed,” the other Crang droned. “This is what is called justice.”

“Justice?” Trin exclaimed. “Have you been smoking mindbliss
weed? You can’t arrest me for keeping this scaly bastard from killing someone.”

“He is not a someone who is having what are known as rights,”
the first Crang said. “He is what is known as a slave and you are the one who
is being in the wrong.”

“Therefore, come with us,” the second one said, reaching for
her.

“Hold on a minute!” Trin knew what this meant. Those taken into
custody at the Flesh Bazaar as often as not found themselves on the wrong side
of the auction block when the hasty “trial” in the

She took a hasty step backwards and nearly stumbled over the
body of the huge Havoc who was still out like a light. It gave her an idea. “I
may have overreacted,” she said, though she could barely force the words out.
“But it was only because I didn’t want the slave I was intending to buy to be
damaged.”

“
Buy
, you sssay?” The
wounded slaver perked up considerably.

“Yes,
buy,”
Trin emphasized. “I’ve decided he’s the perfect slave for me.
So…how much?”

The
slaver’s eyes narrowed, rendering them nothing more than yellow slits.

“Fifty
thousand credits,” he announced. “And not a sssentine less.”

“Fifty
thousand?”
Trin could scarcely believe her ears. “But that’s
crazy.
It’s
ten times what even the best, most perfectly trained slave is worth and—”

“And
you will pay or these fine Crangsss will take you to the court.” The slaver
smirked at her.

“I—”
Trin began, meaning to tell him to go procreate with himself. But the Crangs
were coming towards her, their lumpish, rock-like hands outstretched, ready to
drag her before the “court” where she would be declared guilty at once,
stripped of her clothing and all her goods, and sent to the auction block.
Fifty thousand credits was her entire savings and then some but there wasn’t
much she could do—she was stuck.

“Yesss?”
the slaver inquired. “You were sssaying?”

“I
was saying wrap him up.” Trin sighed. “I’ll take him.”

Chapter
Two

“He’s
groaning again.” Sidna,
The Alacrity’s
resident medic, frowned at the huge slave who was sprawled on a small cot.

After
wiping out her bank account to buy him, Trin had been forced to pay even more
to have the security Crangs carry him aboard her ship. He was out cold—possibly
brain damaged from the punishing jolts of the pain collar—and much too big and
heavy for her to even try lifting or dragging on her own.

Currently
he was installed in the only spare room on
The
Alacrity
—the small connecting cabin that linked with Trin’s own suite of
rooms. The space had originally been designed for a body slave to stay in since
the ship had been built on Yonnie Six. It had been empty for the entire five
years she’d been captain. Now it was filled to capacity—the massive Havoc took
up the entire cot and overflowed it, his muscular bulk barely leaving room for
the med-bot Trin had stationed in his room for assistance and security.

“I
still think you should put him in the brig,” Sidna said. She was a small, trim
woman of about fifty cycles with short, no-nonsense iron gray hair and sharp
gray eyes to match. “That’s where we kept the Gox we transported last cycle.”

“The
Gox was a dangerous animal with three inch long fangs and claws like knives,”
Trin objected. “We took hazard pay to transport it. This is just a slave.”

“Don’t
fool yourself, Trin—he’s a dangerous animal too.” Sidna nodded at the Havoc.
“All males are but this one looks especially hazardous.”

“You
can’t tell that just from looking at him,” Trin said uneasily. At least, she
hoped not although what Sidna was saying actually matched with her own first
impression of the Havoc male.

As
she watched, a low groan broke from the slave’s lips and he twitched in his
sleep, his face contorting into a mask of agony.

“Do
you think he’s still having pain?” Trin asked, looking at the other female.

“Impossible
to say.” Sidna shook her head. “How long did you say the pain collar was
activated?” she asked.

Trin
shrugged. “Don’t know. Five minutes maybe? I turned it off as quickly as I
could but that bastard of a slaver had it set to its maximum pain threshold.”

Sidna
sighed. “Could be permanent nerve damage—those collars the Yonnites use are no
joke.”

“What
can we do for him?” Trin asked. “I know the whole situation is a pain in the
ass but I feel responsible for him now.”

Sidna
shook her head again.

“Nothing
to do but wait and see what happens when he wakes. I still don’t like him being
so close to your room, though. He’s
huge
.”

“He
might take a little handling,” Trin admitted reluctantly. “But the med-bot can
manage him. I’ve got it set to alert me when he wakes.”

“What
if he wakes up agitated or aggressive?” Sidna protested. “Think what kind of
damage an animal of this size could do to the ship! Not to mention everyone
aboard it. You’re not safe with him so close. Please, Trin, move him to the
brig.”

“I
know how to manage big animals,” Trin said grimly. “I grew up riding every day,
remember?”

“A
male is not a morse,” Sidna said severely.

Trin
smiled. “A
horse.
They’re animals
from Earth. My mother bought me a pair because I was so interested in the
planet where she got the sperm that created me.”

“Yes,
I’ve seen pictures—they’re huge,” Sidna said. “And so is this Havoc you bought
but that doesn’t make them the same kind of animal.”

“I’ll
be careful,” Trin promised her. “An animal is an animal—they just need to be
gentled.”

Sidna
sighed in exasperation. “At least keep a blaster on your belt.”

“I’ve
got a stunner if it makes you feel better,” Trin said. “See?” She pulled out
the small weapon and handed it to Sidna to make her point. “But I’m not going
to use it on him—his nervous system has already been ravaged by that damn pain
collar.”

“Which
begs the question, will he ever recover from it enough to do you any good?”
Sidna looked at the big form twitching on the bunk skeptically.

“You
can answer that better than me,” Trin said. “If there isn’t permanent damage,
do you think he’ll be up and around soon?”

“Hard
to say. Havoc are said to be hardy—they’re an offshoot of the Kindred after
all. And the Kindred are supposed to be damn near unkillable. He
may
make a full recovery but I don’t
know if it will be in time to stand at your side through the next negotiation
on Yonnie Six.”

“That’s
been pushed back a bit,” Trin said. “I don’t have anything to bargain with
right now and we’re low on credit.”

“Low
on credit?” Sidna’s gray eyebrows shot up. “You said we were flush from that
last deal you did in Charn. We made enough to give the whole crew bonuses. What
happened?”

“He
happened.” Trin sighed and
nodded down at the prone slave. “I…had to pay a bit more than I planned for
him.”

“How
much more?” Sidna wanted to know.

“I’d
rather not say,” Trin said briskly. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I have a little
left—enough to buy a good shipment of
Jaxite
crystals for the trade negotiations when we do get back to Yonnie Six.” She
didn’t mention that the little credit she had was her personal nest egg—the
small amount she kept back only for extreme emergencies and never touched. If
this deal didn’t go well, she would be completely out of options.

“
Jaxite
is rare,” Sidna pointed out. The
smoky blue crystals were used in the distillation of Dream Gas—a high priced
commodity on the decadent Yonnie Six. “If you only have a little credit left,
how are you going to afford them?”

Trin
busied herself with making sure the med-bot’s settings were correct.

“I’ve
heard from a reliable source that there’s a load of it for sale in the Demon’s
Eye and I’ve already contacted the seller. If we can get there before anyone
else, he’ll sell them to me at cost.”

“The
Demon’s Eye?” Sidna put a hand on one slim hip. “Just how desperate
are
you, Trin? That place is a cesspool
of filth and danger. I know hardened pirates who’d be afraid to cross its
boarders. The crew won’t like this—not a bit.”

“They
don’t have to like it,” Trin said stubbornly. “Once we get there I’m going in
alone.”

“What?
But you can’t—”

“I’m
the captain of this ship and I can do what I deem necessary.” Trin hardened her
voice purposefully. “I mean it, Sidna—I don’t want to hear any more about it.”

The
medic looked like she wanted to say something else but Trin lifted her chin and
frowned at her, letting her know she wouldn’t tolerate any more talk about the
matter.

She
didn’t like to pull rank on Sidna—the older woman was like an aunt to her and
she normally gave good advice. But in this case, Trin was backed into a corner.
Her credit was almost nonexistent, the payment on The Alacrity was due, and
they only had enough fuel for one more run. They had to get liquid and
fast.
The
Jaxite
shipment seemed like the best way to do that—even if it
wasn’t the safest way.

“I
can handle it, Sidna,” she said, making her voice a little softer. “Really.”

Sidna
looked at her, her lips thinned down to a bloodless line.

“Fine,
Captain.
Should I tell the navigator
to set a course for the Demon’s Eye?”

“I’ll
tell her myself as soon as I finish tending to my new…acquisition.” Trin
grimaced as she looked at the huge Havoc, still twitching on his small cot.

“Fine.
But I still say he’s dangerous.”

“I
can manage him,” Trin snapped, losing her patience. “And if you’re so worried,
you can keep your distance. I’ll tend to him myself.”

Sidna’s
lips got even thinner.

“As
you wish, Captain.” Turning on her heel, she left Trin to look down at the huge
slave and wonder what the hell she’d gotten herself into.