No Turning Back

[BLACK BART]

For Maid and I to enjoy writing...all else are cordially invited to read and enjoy as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everything was ready.The usual bribes to the port officers, the black market power cells were in place, the location of the star system was logged into the on board navigational computer. One final suicide run, one final time out, and it would all be over.

"StarShip Utopia lifting away. Thanks for the hospitality boys and tell Virginia I'll be back to see her and pay her the credits I owe."

Griffin scratched the three days worth of growth on his chin and punched the com-link without waiting for a reply. He didn't have the patience for it like everything else. He was fed up with solving other peoples problems and coming out on the short end, too much work and too few credits in return...

And that was one of the reasons he took this commision. Sack a planet and then reap the rewards, plus a bonus for stopping the uprising of the locals and getting a taste of the local...flesh.

Griffin was if anything a realist. He knew there was no luck in his line of business, only calculated risks, and the wise survivor only took the risks he was capable of paying for. He's have a long, quiet journey before reaching the planet he was headed for, a time to relax....think.....and plan how to spend all those credits...

 

[Maid of Marvels]

It had cost her an unbelievable amount of credits to get hold of the spaceport's departure manifest. She was looking for specifics:

1. destination
2. few or no passengers
3. registry, but more specifically lack of [/list=1]
   After a few questions and more than a few greased ACT's*, her decision was final. She was heading for home -- aboard the independently owned StarShip Utopia. She only hoped it was big enough to allow her to move around without being detected.
   
   *ACT - Automated Credit Transfer

 

[Maid of Marvels]

The only light at first came from a dim bulb that eventually flickered and died. The heat was nil -- my goosebumps had goosebumps for pete's sake. I longed to stretch my legs and walk the cramps out of them, but the whirring, clanking, beeping sounds that could only be a watch droid making its irregular passes through the cargo hold prevented that.

What was I like, whining as if this were some sort of luxury cruise gone bad? Irregardless, I'd sue the pants off that cretin of a travel agent when my business at home was concluded. A cakewalk in space this was not. He'd assured me enough synthprotein to sustain me longer than the twelve days minimum travel time to the outer galaxy. Oh, and don't forget the vacutubes of Hydro. The crate barely held me, let alone anything extra. Just to be fair, he may have just been thinking of my comfort rather than having pocketed the credits I'd given him as a bonus. Uh huh.

I napped on and off, allowing that sleep would help me pass the time. That was after I named and put faces and descriptions to everyone responsible for what had happened on Isiz Prime. Over and over again until every wrinkle, line and wart was emblazoned in my mind's eye for all time. And recited every poem and story I could remember from my childhood. Mental calisthenics. I almost chuckled aloud at the imagery -- a pulsing, gray, gelatinous mass doing pushups inside my skull.

I knew I was losing it. It wasn't so much the lack of food -- I could do to lose a pound or two -- but the thirst. The dry, desert-like wasteland that was my mouth no longer even produced enough saliva to let me imagine drinking the tall, cool glass of iced water that quenched me in my dreams.

I rolled over in my bed and pulled the covers snugly around my body as a leg cramp... gods, don't you just hate those? What was all that noise? Who was screaming?

WARNING!!
INTRUDER!!
WARNING!!

It took me a minute to realize that I was the one screaming. How long had I been here? Two days? Three? How long was a day in the dark?

My hands came up to shield my eyes from the blinding glare of the lights as the lid to the crate I was in came open with a deafening clang. My last conscious thought was: Please don't let it end before I've even had a chance to begin.

 

[BLACK BART]

Griffin

Feet perched over the navigational console Griffin sipped as an old fashioned blended bottle of scotch. Contraband of course, the only thing legal nowadays was a watered down and chemical rendered version that no matter much you drank you only got a mild buzz.

Routine systems check indicate cargo hold 3 is 13 degrees warmer than expected normal, suggest droid be sent to inspect?

"Yeah, yeah send down a maintenance droid and flood the hold with ultrasound, it'll knock out the damn rats and the droid can collect them to sell when we get to the planet."

*Not a thing was wasted in space...Griffin would sell the rats as a rare delicacy to the unsuspecting tourists at the spaceport and be lifted off before they had a clue*

"Understood, droid dispensed"

A few more long pulls at the bottle and Griffin relaxed, his eyes drifting closed as he looked forward to a long, peaceful nap...

The clanging of the internal alarm system and the harsh, shrill warning voice of the master computer ripped those dreams away and Griffin lurched to his feet and promptly saw stars. Not the real ones that filled the monitors but the kind you saw if you experienced a sudden and painful blow to the head...

"Friggering asteroids what is all the racket about?" He demanded and dropped back into the seat he had been slumbering in.

The reason the hold is above normal temperature has been located & temporarily stunned

"So what is the problem? Stow it for future sale as we always do"

The cap spun on the neck of the half empty bottle and Griffin tightened it to insure none was lost...then nearly tore it off as the reason came over the speakers.



Sale of humans is illegal in 1937 galaxies we've traveled in and is currently forbidden in the one we're headed for as well.

 

[Maid of Marvels]

She came awake slowly, trying to keep her breathing slow so as not to look more alert than they thought her to be. At least not until she figured out where she was now. One thing was for certain, the breathing quality of the air was a far cry better than the fetid, malodorous stuff she'd been inhaling in that crate.

And that was another thing. Hana struggled not to take a long, luxurious stretch. She was out of the crate! Whether that was good news or bad news remained to be seen, however. Being out of the crate also meant that she had been discovered.

"Awake, are we?"

Her eyes popped open at the sound of a man's voice. A real man, not a bot or droid or even a computer. A Terran. Hana turned her head to get a better look at... What was his name? Griffin... something Griffin or Griffin something. His name wasn't as important as why she had chosen his particular starship to stow herself on. He was a rogue pilot. A loner, rarely taking passengers and trusting no other to run his starship. She highly doubted the man could be anyone other.

Using an elbow for support, Hana pushed herself into a sitting position only to realize that she was completely naked. "Where are my clothes??" she demanded, clutching at the blanket and holding it up in front of herself as if it were a suit of armor.

"You were stinking up the hold."

"Who are you? Where am I? Where are you taking me?" Hana figured she'd play it dumb at first, at least until she took full measure of the man. At least until she... did what?

Getting caught had not been part of her plan. What if he asked her name? Hana wasn't about to tell him who she really was. Radmilla. That was it! Radmilla Pek -- one of the serving girls at home. He'd never be able to check it out. Yes, Radmilla Pek it would be.

Hana glared at the man who looked more amused than anything else. Cocky bastard with his eyebrow arched as if she were there for his entertainment. "Me first" he said quietly, but there was no mistaking the danger in the tone of his voice.

 

[BLACK BART]

Griffin

A stowaway!

Of all the forms of life I couldn't think of a lower one at this particular parsec in time then the one I was looking at now.

The crate she had chosen was specifically altered for space travel, the supplies she had taken with were specific and expensive, the only shortfall being not quite ample in supply...

Though the woman under the grungy suit made up for the lack in other curvaceous and well formed ways indeed! Thoughts of erotic moments were intruding on my brain and making it difficult to be logical...to form the conclusions I would base my actions on her over.

That is until she woke and sat up, the blanket falling away before she snatched it and began tossing a tirade of questions and demands at me, then it became easy once again to focus on what needed to be done.

"You were stinking up the hold" I answered *And this room* I thought to myself as she continued in an imperious tone that implied I was the intruder.

That did it! No more gracious host!

"ME first" I hissed knowing the tone I used was usually right before I leapt into a good fight.

Perhaps she was more intelligent than she was putting on, for at the words she quieted and made a point of tucking the blanket under her arms, the motion pulling it taut across her full breasts...

"I tracked the origin of the crate you came packed in and ended up with a dead end. I want to know who you paid to have you smuggled aboard my ship and how much. I'm not going to ask WHERE you thought you were going because I'm making only one stop. I'm not going to ask WHY because I don't want to be mixed up in some petty off world problems that aren't my own. And I'm definately not going to ask WHO YOU ARE because you would no doubt lie to me and expect me to believe you're some sort of meaningless worker trying to get back to her dying parent."

Standing I stalked over to the single locker tucked in an unused corner and pulled open the narrow door, then reached inside and pulled out an extra small set of coveralls.

"This came with the ship when I won it, the Ex Captain was quite a small Lunar bred native and the opposite sex, so you'll have to make do as best you can. As it is I'll have to have that blanket deloused and the bunk as well before I sleep on it again so you can stay there and keep out of my way when you're not working off payment for passage."

There had been no form of Identification with her at all and I had taken the time to scan her features and feed it into my data banks before she woke. Two things were for certain.One: The amount of credits needed just to get this far undetected meant she was from a very, very rich and powerful family...and Two: She was trouble with a capital "T"!

"Now why don't you give the droid my blanket so he can tend to it and give me my answers so I don't have to push you out a waste chute?"

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Glaring at Griffin through squinted eyes, I crinkled my nose in disgust. Things were definitely looking... down. If he hadn't found me... What, bird brain? If he hadn't found you, you would be dead. Yes, but... But what? That's exactly what I didn't know, and what I had to figure out.

"I need to wash," I said, turning the overalls he'd tossed at me this way and that, tugging at the unfamiliar material. "I won't give up the blanket til I've cleaned up and squeezed into these... clothes." And it would be a tight squeeze, too, there didn't seem to be much "give".

"Three minutes."

"Three?? You must be out of your... Ten."

Griffin eyed me up and down as if considering the ramifications of having to work with someone who smelled worse than a polecat. "Seven." His tone of voice told me in no uncertain terms that there would be no further haggling -- as if I were really in a position to haggle over anything.

"Seven... I can do seven. Though it might take me longer than that to dress. You won't mind waiting?" Clenching the blanket behind my back, I stood and grabbed the overalls. "Where... "

He nodded in the general direction of a small door on the far side of the cabin, and I didn't waste a nanosecond heading there. If he thought I was a mess, he should try it once from my side.

I threw the blanket out through a narrow crack in the door before closing it tightly behind myself. "Countdown doesn't start til the water does. Right?" Unable to hear his response, though I could imagine what it was, I placed the palm of my hand over the panel on the wall that would start the water flowing. Please, I said quietly -- let there be enough to at least get some of this dirt off.

********

Six minutes, forty nine point eight six seconds, the droid announced clearly over the com as I stepped from the shower cubicle, hair and body washed and in need of a towel. "Scrap heap!" I didn't know if he could see or hear me or not, but I stuck my tongue out in the general direction as I hurriedly began drying off. I'd done it in less time than Griffin had allowed and somehow that gave me back a modicum of self esteem.

The overalls were even worse than I had feared, but I put them on anyway. Did I have a choice here? A little short and the zipper didn't go up nearly as high as I would have liked, I wrapped the towel around my head and stepped back into the cabin. "Do you have a brush I can use?"

 

[BLACK BART]

Griffin

Leaning against the metal plating I formed several logical conclusions in my mind and moved forward with them as the sound of the shower began.

The stowaway had an urgent reason for being on board my ship.

So urgent she would risk her life to be onboard.

To get this far meant she had connections and clout.

Connections and clout meant power and money.

I as the Captain of my own ship had the right to treat her in one of two ways.

One as a stowaway and thus to be dropped at the closest spaceport, thus forcing me lost time and money as I returned to earth to do so.

Or Two, as a paying though unwanted passenger and charge the going rate for transporting her to a destination I was headed for anyways.

"Send the maintenance droids to the front control room." I ordered with a smile as I made my decision. "Have them delouse and expand the bunk, then reset it with the trading silks I purchased on Earth."

Grinning I waited and then watched as my orders were carried out and the bunk was quickly treated, cleaned and remade.

"Begin a record of expenses for our guest." I chuckled "Starting with the moment her crate was loaded on my ship. A very detailed and precise audit of each expense she has created that you are aware of. I will occasionally add to the list and expect a running total at all times, is that clear?"

"At what rate of expense shall I use?" Came the single question that made me grin like an idiot.

Having never legally transported a passenger before I had never been forced to set a rate...thus I was free to create one now. In a time where 1000 credits would allow a man to live in the finest luxury spaceport for a solid week without lacking any wants I knew exactly how I would be charging my guest.

"500 times the current luxury liner rates with a footnote due to the urgency and privacy our guest has insisted on." I replied with a grin, envisioning the mound of credits that would quickly be accumulating. "In fact I want a detailed list of every occurence on board my ship since her arrival in order to decide what functions I'll be charging her for."

The shower had stopped and quickly afterwards a figured appeared in the doorway, much better looking and smelling than the one that had gone in there I decided and I grinned as I heard her request.

"Of course I do and coming right up! My ship is your ship, feel free to ask me for anything and know I'll do my best to accomodate your wishes."

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Alarms, whistles, sirens... You name it and it was going off in my head. If I thought I had trouble when I got caught, that was nothing compared to what it appeared I was in for now -- maybe even worse than what I'd face when I got home. No matter what, that was my main goal and I guessed I'd have to do whatever it was he wanted to obtain it. Two could play at this game.

Pulling the towel from my hair, I gave it a few rubs to make sure I wasn't dripping and shook my head. Gods, it felt good to be clean again! Behind me, as if on cue, a droid entered the cabin with some personal items for my use -- a hairbrush among them. Taking it without speaking, I began to brush out the tangles while I scrutinized the captain of the starship I'd paid good credits to stow on only to find they'd been wasted. Well, not entirely. I was still on board and I was still on my way home. So far.

I was relatively certain that Griffin hadn't discovered who I was, but his sudden change in behavior was more than a little disconcerting. On the other hand, he was a smart man. He would know that the crate in his hold and my being here didn't come cheaply. But what was he really up to?

"My name is... " He'd already said that he wouldn't ask who I was, leaving me to believe that he wouldn't believe the truth either. And if I took the chance, would he ransom me off to the highest bidder? Knowing that I didn't dare risk that possibility, I looked him in the eye and finished my sentence. "Radmilla. Radmilla Pek. More than that I doubt you'd care to know or even be interested in, but you have to call me something if I am going to be working my passage. And I prefer a name to 'hey you'."

"As you wish."

As I wished? I tipped my head and took a good, hard look at Griffin. Was it my imagination or had his grin become wider still? He looked like a cat that just ate the canary and I fully expected him to spit out a feather any minute now. "Well, then" I said. "Would it be possible for me to have something to eat before you set me to work? It's been ages... and I'm starving."

 

[BLACK BART]

Griffin

"Radmilla Pek" I grimaced inwardly at the name and thought to myself she could do a lot better for a name than the one she chose. It was bland, uninspiring, one you'd attach to a dowdy, horse faced servant or ore miner...and from the way the too small suit fit this woman as well as the way she carried herself she fit none of it...

Still I was going to go thru with my plan, the credits to be gained guarnteed it...and there was one unfinished matter as well between us.

"Believe it or not I have a top of the line food synthesizer on board...installed less than three months ago when I dry docked for repairs. Your voice has been added to the secondary functions on the systems computer and it will respond to almost all of your requests. If it doesn't come to me and I'm sure we can work things out."

Smiling I settled into the chair in front of the nav panel and relaxed as she did so next to me, then turned the chair slowly so I was looking directly at her as she brushed out her hair.

"You won't need to worry about having to work on this ship as well, all the systems except for the critical primary and main core are maintained by my droids, so make yourself at home with the ships libraries... I keep them well stocked as I do spend most of my time in this bucket of bolts."

"Thank You, I think...You're quite the cooperative host Mr Griffin...It seems I was wrong about several impressions I had when we first met." There was a sweet and carefully held smile on my new guest face as she spoke but her eyes showed the doubt she didn't voice...

"What impressions were those, Miss...Pek...it is Miss isn't it?"

"Yes it is Mr. Griffin and as a good guest I hate to mention the impressions, it might make me seem...ungrateful?"

"You have me curious now Miss Pek...and I won't relent untio you satisfy me, a terrible trait I have I'm told. Don't worry I won't think ill of you, I promise."

"Then if only to satisfy your curiousities, it seems it's the least I can do. I felt as if I were an unwanted imposition at first...and then had the distinct impression you were set on finding the most distasteful chores for me in order for me to pay my way. And finally I thought I could see death in your eyes when you demanded to know the name of the agent that arranged for me to be onboard. I'm glad that I was wrong on all counts."

Leaning forward I returned her smile, then dropped it as I answered...

"I realized you have a serious reason for being onboard Miss Pek and know as well you have the means to compensate me for my expenses in bringing you safely to your destination. I was wrong in acting as I did at first and can only offer the explanation that I spend too much time in space and not enough with others of my same race. But you were correct in one thing, I must confess..."

"And that is?" "Miss Pek" asked and leaned forward as if it were a game of flirtatious inflections...

"I want to know the name of your agent, Miss Pek...He was sly and brave enough to forge documents and sneak you aboard my ship. I'm not upset about that or with you. But if he can smuggle you onboard without my knowledge what's to say the next time he might feel brave enough to forge documents for say...an assasin droid? He needs to be taught a very serious lesson. Himself and the people that helped him. And I'm going to teach it to him personally and up close before he has too much time to brag of his "genius". Now the name please, Miss Pek?"

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Given the tone of the conversation, one might have thought Griffin and I were sitting across a table over a fine luncheon discussing the weather and the results of a favorite team's win in a tournament. It wasn't much different, I supposed, though there were more important things at stake than a possible tryst and a stolen kiss or two in the gardens afterward. And now he had laid some of his cards out on the table leaving me to wonder if I should call or bluff.

If I gave the name, it would deprive me of my own revenge at being duped. To tell him that I hadn't made the arrangements myself would entail giving a second name. One that we both knew didn't exist. If I gave no name, perhaps he wouldn't jettison me off into space and I would still have a chance of getting home. His point, however, was quite valid. If someone could get me aboard the Utopia, his security had something lacking -- even if it was the tiniest chink.

"Please," I said with a smile. "Call me Radmilla. A new food synthesizer you say? Does it replicate ethnic cuisines? I do so love a fine Izahian curry and Vrilg sweets are to die for."

Standing up, I set the brush down on the table beside the bed while surreptitiously checking to see if the overalls I had squeezed into were popping at the seams yet. Okay, it was better than naked, but even so... I'd have to find something more suitable before we landed.

"The name, Miss P... Radmilla."

"Your ship is quite different than I imagined it would be, Griffin. You don't mind me calling you Griffin, do you? I'd love to see more. And you mentioned libraries? I do so love a good mystery, don't you? Perhaps you could show me around while we... talk."

"The name."

Pretending not to hear, I pressed my hand on the plate beside the door, ready to pass through as it opened. What was it Commissioner Gregori always said? "Hana, if you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with... " It was certainly worth a chance. If the rumors that had reached me were true, I had very little to lose.

 

[BLACK BART]

"Computer, change status of female aboard this ship from acknowledged guest"

Walk away from me would she?

"To the status of hostile intruder."

There was definitely more than one way to play this game, in the end I would still collect my credits.

"In 5...4..."

"Wait now just a minute Captain you just said minutes ago I was your GUEST."

"You should be more careful as to which host's hospitality you abuse then.... the name?"

"It would be an abomination and a very serious blow to my credibility"

"Then you will be stunned and put into the stasis hold. When I arrive at the planet I'll determine your true identity and track the one who sold me out by that route. Then I'll sell your frozen yet living body to the highest bidder and be on my merry way. Three.... two...."



"I will NOT be a party to blackmail...."

The room lit with a blinding white, then focused on the well built and defiant woman who stood in the center of it, her hands on her hips and jaw and ample chest jutting forward in defiance.

And then the discussion was over as her body went limp as the positively charged neutron ray interrupted the woman’s natural electrical balance.

"She wanted to see the library so lets deliver her there, specifically to the holodome where we'll set up a mock "auction" of this woman as promised. Probe her memories that are reachable without damage to her subconscious and then super impose them on a scenario in which she is being auctioned off to her enemies. Bring out the bidding and offer the final bid in the form of the name I desire when it comes to her mind, Understood?"

Long minutes of silence began as the computer concentrated its entire reserve of memory on the task at hand and then finally replied.


Confirmed

 

[Maid of Marvels]

She raised her head slowly, a dull ache in her shoulders rousing her from whatever place she had been taken after that blinding flash... But the sight that met her eyes as Hana's senses came sharply into focus was nothing she could have ever dreamed, let alone imagined.

The sounds, the stench of unwashed bodies mingled with raucous cries and shouts that had only one place in her youthful memories -- and even those were stories told by others of the horrors of the slave market. A practice long since outlawed throughout the Common Union.

"What is going on here!" Hana cried out indignantly as she tried to move, only to discover the reason for the burning in her shoulder muscles and her arms. She had been strung up like a side of beef at the butcher, her feet barely touching the wooden platform where she had been put on display.

Men and women, Terrans and Outlanders alike leered and poked at her, prodding her with tips of canes and fingers as she continued to struggle. "Let me down! You can't do this!"

A sharp crack across her face accompanied by a harsh, jeering voice sent her swinging helplessly. Hana raised a leg to kick out, only to have it caught in a large meaty hand.

"You are in no position to make demands, wench!" he growled. "She's a feisty one, this!" The man said in an aside to the crowd with a high cackle of a laugh that was not unlike the cry of a hyena.

Hana tasted the metallic copper from the blood dripping from her cracked and swollen lip as she took his measure. He was a large man. Larger than most in many ways that were quite apparent. A golden loop, denoting his status as eunuch, pierced his nose and another hung from his right ear, nearly reaching his shoulder. His head was shaved, glistening with sweat from the effort of holding her still as she continued to struggle.

"Bind her!" He called to two of his acolytes who rushed onto the platform and tied her ankles to two iron loops set into the wood there.

"You can't do this to me! Let me loose!" Hana demanded, twisting against the heavy ropes that bound her in place. He laughed again.

"Oh, I will. I will. When the price set for you is met."

"Now!"

Hana cried out as an unexpected lash of a cane fell on her back with a whine and a crack. "I said you were not in a position to make demands."

He reached out to grab one bared nipple, using it to pull her body close. "The name, bitch. Give us the name!"

"Never!! I will not!" she retorted, gathering a mouthful of spit mixed with blood and letting it fly into the slave master's face.

He grinned, wiping the spittle from his cheek. "Oh, you will. You most certainly will" he hissed and turned back to the crowd. "The bidding begins at five thousand credits... though that is rather low for a true blonde." He cackled again as he grabbed at the nest of curls between her legs as if to prove his point.

"I'll bid five thousand!"

"Seven!"

"Fifteen, if I can stick my finger in that cunt to be sure she is a virgin first." That last brought on a cacophony of ribald remarks and offers to stick things other than their fingers into every cavity of her body.

Hana looked from face to face, continuing to struggle helplessly against her bonds as she began to fully realize the desperation of the situation she was in. All for a name! A name she would not give. "Let me go!" she demanded through clenched teeth. "Let... me... go!"

 

[BLACK BART]

Griffin

The determined Captain watched in amusement and growing admiration at the monitor and what his "guest" believed was her reality.

"Take it up to the point of rape and then stop if she still doesn't give us an answer. Probe her frontal lobes to see if you can glean a face as the program keeps demanding the name we want. If she won't give the name voluntarily perhaps she'll give it away not knowing as she thinks of him or her."

He wouldn't break her. He wasn't THAT much of a rogue spacer, even out here a code of sorts existed and you didn't prey on helpless women.

"Let's see how she reacts to that now"

But if she weren't so helpless? Griffin reflected and grinned, then it would be an entirely different situation.

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Hana concentrated on the taste of blood in her mouth, the sweat-salt that burned her eyes and stung the weal on her back as the bidding continued.

"Twenty seven thousand credits!" someone shouted.

"Thirty three!"

"Is that all?" She muttered under her breath, but it didn't go unheard.

The name. The words came almost like a whisper in the wind. "Never!" she answered with an equally silent cry. "Go to blazes!"

"The wench thinks that isn't enough!" the slavemaster informed the crowd. "Let's up it to fifty and commence from there!"

Who in their right mind would pay fifty for me, Hana thought, and almost laughed aloud at the ludicrousness of it all. Evidently some of the previous bidders were of a like mind and the eunuch was greeted with a volley of jeers from some, while others turned to walk away.

"Hold up! Hold up!" he shouted into the crowd. "For those who meet the new bidding price, I will also offer a bonus... You may take a more personal look. Close up! Don't you want to touch this tender young tart? Feel her titttttttttties?" he dragged the word out as his fat fingers gripped Hana's breast, squeezing until she cried out.

The name.

"Fifty! I will give fifty for that fine young puss!" A man jumped onto the platform and began to run his hands over her body. With a lewd grin, he turned to the now cheering crowd for a moment, thrusting his hips back and forth obscenely as he grabbed his erection. "She's a bit thin for my taste, but she'll fatten up nicely after I fill her with a load or two."

He turned around to grab at her sex, only to be met with a faceful of spittle mixed with blood. "Why you bitch!" he cried out. "No one does that to me and gets away with it."

The name!

Fumbling with his trousers, he pulled her writhing body against his. Hana continued to struggle even as she felt the tip of his penis rub against her belly. Hana wanted him just a little closer so she could bite that bulbous nose right off his scabby face.

"Ohh, yes... " she whispered. "Closer, lover boy. Closer... "

The NAME!!

"NEVER!!" she cried out and opened her mouth to take the bite, only to have him snatched away just as her teeth grazed his skin. He landed in a heap, mid-crowd and was greeted with quips and sneers alluding to his virility -- or lack of. His erection seemed to have lost its oomph, Hana noted with a smirk that was promptly erased from her face with a punch to her jaw that made her see stars.

"How can I sell you if you're going to damage the buyer, bitch!"

The name!!

"Over... my... dead... " she whispered as everything began to fade to black.

 

[BLACK BART]

Griffin

“Body”

She did indeed have one hell of a body Griffin admitted as the bindings retracted from the pedestal style chair she was slumped and he moved over to her.

“Failure to detect any mention of the name you’re searching for or temporal recall of anything recognizable. Level of resistance indicates subject has had significant training and logical conclusion would indicate…”

“I know…I know, she’s not the innocent she wants us to believe.”

Griffin rolled his eyes and zipped up the too small suit, which had been opened to place the sensors over “key” areas.

“Was there anything from this scenario that could even be gleaned marginally useful?”

She would wake confused and with a headache that would split a moon Griffin reflected, the memories seeming to be the result of a space induced nightmare and fading rapidly as time passed.

“Recalling key memory and stimuli sequences now. Do you wish audio and video to be played back?”

“NO”

Griffin was quick to answer and as the droids moved his passenger back to her “bunk” he shook his head and wondered at how he got himself into these messes.

“Three items may be of minor importance.

And WHY did this “logical” computer seem to be such a pain in the ass all the time?

Sighing he turned and waited, then finally did the obvious…

“And those items are?”

“Her first name is Hana, not Radmilla as she stated when questioned.

“Her last name is false as well but her true identity not recovered”

“And the third?” Griffin sighed and moved towards the access hatch to verify the trouble the red winking light on the control panel in the room indicated.

“Despite her insisted horror at being nearly raped her body was highly aroused.

“Why did I ask?” Griffin muttered and climbed towards the drive systems, the odor of hyper coolant already too strong for comfort…

“Cross reference the first name and her facial features with all records from the planet we’re heading to and notify me immediately if you arrive at a positive identity.”

** Hours later and coated in space grime Griffin peeled off his own coveralls and stepped into the shower across from the sleeping woman**

“What next????” He moaned and grimaced as he bumped the wall with his scalded shoulder in the tiny confines of the stall “At least I can take a relaxing bio-shower and get a few hours of shut-eye…”

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Hana was suddenly, startlingly awake; her heart beating a vibrato trill as though it would burst from her chest, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps as she gulped for more. She didn't know where she was. She couldn't move. Her mouth felt like the entire Delgadian army had tramped through it, but not before leaving mountains of cotton fluff in their wake. Her head was pounding like a volcano ready to erupt.

The name! Wisps of something came and went and came again, like tendrils of smoke weaving through her subconscious. Hana could hear voices and a kaleidoscope of leering faces as they swirled around her. Fifty thousand!! A slave market? What in the worlds was going on here?

She tried to blink, but it was as if her eyes were propped open by some unseen buttress, only allowing them to stare unwaveringly at what could only be a wall made of some metal alloy. The air was too fresh for her to be back in that crate. Maybe that had only been a dream as well?

Breathe, dammit! Breathe!

Hana willed herself to move, wanting -- no, needing -- to sit up, to look around, to figure out where she was and what she was doing there. Just as she thought she had her body under control at last, an arm came crashing over her, pinning her in place only to be followed by what sounded impossibly like someone snoring.

"Oh, brother" she groaned. "I must have really tied one on last night."

 

[BLACK BART]

Griffin

Several tiny glimpses of the previous night began to return as my senses did as well and I grew aware of my location...

I had been dead tired, the effects of the exposure to the the coolant and it's slightly radioactive content offset by the shower and the pills I had taken. The pills had worked too quickly and as with every cure there was a complication for they sapped me of my strength, my awareness... and left me feeling as if I had been dragged through a class 4 asteroid belt...

This came back to my mind as did the soft warmth pressed against my body and specifically in my left hand...

Warm....soft....? And as I cupped and hefted the weight of I became aware of a tiny point hardening against the palm of my calloused hand...

One eye open I knew I was in my own ship by the surplus green tinge of the interior walls and the very hum of the drive engines...the "where" was quite apparent but the "who" I was with???

And then the final missing link came back to me and I grinned...I was in the spare bunk presently occupied by my own very specila guest...

"Good Morning Radmilla" I greeted the quivering yet still not moving warmth pressed against my own nude maleness. "Or shall I call you by your real name?"

The soft warmth stiffened and still yet it remained pressed against me and I became aware of a single factor that explained the situation and her lack of movement...

Hana was as nude as I was...and apparently by her first statement quite unsure as of what had happened the previous night.

"D...d...did I tell you that before or after we....I mean did we...ohhh, what else did I tell you???"

Grinning I KNEW it was truly a good morning and decided to make the best of it while it lasted.

"Only that I was the best you ever had and when we arrived at your planet I would be rewarded generously...Hana"

 

[Maid of Marvels]

The best I ever had... Hana forced herself to blink and blink again, but the rest of her body remained frozen and no matter what she did, she couldn't make any of her parts work. The worse thing of all was that she didn't know what she was supposed to do now.

Hana had never been with a man before... before... Griffin. That was his name. And what was he doing with her breast for Gaia's sake? Didn't he get enough... before? And what was that dream she had about slave markets and eunuchs? And why wouldn't her head just explode so it would stop hurting? In fact, she wanted nothing less than to crawl right into a worm hole and get sucked away into nothingness.

Somehow, through the tangle of thoughts that were swirling through her head, she suddenly realized that he had spoken her name. Her real name. Hana. She couldn't have told him anything more. At least she didn't think she had. If only she could remember!

Griffin's thumbs were tracing idle circles around the nipple on her breast, and was it her imagination or had he moved closer? She could feel his thighs pressing against the back of hers, almost as if she were sitting in his... Lap! Oh my! If she paid attention she could probably feel... If she could remember what that felt like, that is.

Move. Move. Move. Think. Think. Think!!

"Maybe I should go to my own quarters... " Hana offered quietly, hoping that... Mmm... that really does feel kind of good, doesn't it? No! It does not!! Oh... yes, it does.

It seemed now as if he were nuzzling in her hair and his voice startled her -- so very close to her ear. "These are your quarters, Hana. And mine. There are no others." Tweaking her nipple hard enough to make her cry out in surprise, Griffin began to laugh. A deep, booming laugh that seemed to come from somewhere near his feet, slowly working its way up and out.

And if Hana wasn't so mad, she thought she would almost like the sound of it. Oh, her aching head!!

 

[BLACK BART]

Griffin

"The first time was good Hana, so good in fact I'm ready for another round and to teach you how to pleasure me this time."

Grinning I slid an arm under her to join the other and began fondling both bare, well shaped breasts as I pushed my hips HARD against her backside.

At the use of her name her head turned and I knew I had listened to the right hunch. At least I had a name and with it perhaps had placed some doubt in her mind as to how much more I knew.

"Let's say we do it with you on top again and then I take you from behind, wasn't that what you were curious about...hun?"

Dropping one arm down I slid my fingers between her lean legs and pushed them to the carefully trimmed wedge of her sex...then began to slowly work one finger between the lips. Her hips rocked back and away from the intruding digit and into another larger one pressing at her flanks as she moaned...and I pushed my hips and rapidly swelling cock forward again. Again her hips moved away from the press of my body and my hand slid to her sex...and as I tried to probe her and felt the moist heat Hana quivered in my grasp.

"Hana is a much prettier name than Radmilla, a name I can imagine being used by a tavern wench or a pleasure server."

I tossed out and pushed my lips to her neck to trail wet, sloppy kisses upwards to her ear...

"After our last round of passion I wonder why you tried to hide the fact you were a "server" I would have a lot more friendly and even helped you find a few clients on the way..."

Her hips were moving on thier own voalition and it was no longer just a game to search for answers...I was heated up and so was she...Moving back I slid my arm from under her and rolled her on her back, sliding between her legs with my own as I hovered over her and admired her full figure.

Still the question of just exactly who this stowaway was plagued me and as I slid my hand to her waist and teased her sex with a finger I wondered....

I had expected her to warm to my touch...for her to open herself and us to join...but as I slid a finger into her now wet hole she stiffened...and a look of fear flitted over her face and eyes.

And something clicked in my mind as I slid another finger into her sex and felt her body relax as a look of resignation filled her features.

Damn it...she was a virgin. And the only class of people that could afford such a luxury in this time brought large troubles along with them.

I rose and tossed off the cover, my shaft bobbing in front of her face as she rose to a sitting position as well and I looked down at her.

"I'd be within my rights as a ship Captain to treat you as a stowaway and way I chose.." I growled, my hand grasping her chin and lifting it so she had to look at me. "But something tells me you would make me pay dearly for it if I delivered you in less then perfect condition...isn't that right, Hana?"

 

[Maid of Marvels]

I met his gaze without flinching, the pain of his grip on my chin keeping the tears that threatened from welling up and overflowing. I needed time. Time to think. Time to sort out what had just happened -- or more to the point, what had not happened. It also made me question the veracity of his claim of what had happened last night. The slave market was another thing altogether though... almost too real to have been a dream, and yet...

My back stiffened as I considered my reply. Griffin's statement told me that although he knew my birth name, and that I obviously had access to resources that placed me on his ship as well as the wherewithal to contract for such services, he still didn't know exactly who I was. He had sussed out that I might be someone important, but he would never find what he truly sought. Besides, I was still kicking myself in the ass mentally over being found in the first place.

"I meant you no harm, Captain. I simply required transportation that could not be obtained by other means." My words hung between us like the understatement of the millenium and my formality perhaps (at least for myself) reset the boundaries between us to a safer distance. "You will be... compensated upon my safe arrival at your next destination. You have my word."

Had I said enough? Had I said too much? Why didn't he just go away? Why did he look at me as if he could see straight through to my innermost thoughts? And there was something else... Why had he stopped what he was doing? I mean besides what he had just stated. Wasn't I good enough for him? Somehow that fact stung more than it assuaged and I didn't like it. I didn't like it one bit.

"And now, if you don't mind... I'd like to dress. Alone." In view of the fact of where we'd been a just a few moments ago, and that he stood before me naked and still... well, naked, my last words sounded more foolish than anything I'd said thus far. It seemed I was on a downward spiral, crashing headlong toward stupidity. And that bothered me, too. I didn't want him to think I was stupid. But why?

 

[BLACK BART]

Griffin

I grunted and turned away.

What the hell was wrong with me? I had carried illegal cargo and passengers hundreds of times before and never gave a second thought to them once I had dumped them at thier destinations. So WHY was this one getting to me?

Because for some reason I couldn't quite pin down it was different.

Not because she had stowed away.

Not because she was obviously from some powerful family and thought her reasons suited her actions.

Not even because her long, well shaped body was so much fun to cuddle against and watch her squirm when I taunted her with our "evening" together.

It was her attitude. Her refusal to be broken and her strength in returning to the "uppity" tone she used.

Even thinking we had just slept together she had pushed me away. And after cuddling naked against each other in the sane narrow bunk for the evening she now insisted on dressing..."alone" ???

"Go ahead and DRESS" I growled and bent to pull on my own suit then thought better of it and gripped it in one hand. Let her look. Let HER think of what she was looking at! And maybe it would haunt her enough to melt the ice that flowed in her veins.

That was it I smirked to myself as I watched her eyes trail down my body and hover at my still aroused groin area. Lets see if that would warm up the ice queen!

"The ship is on auto and your status has been reduced to dangerous and hostile passenger. Touch anything and you may get jolted and tossed on that sweet little ass of yours. I'm going to C deck and plot our approach to your planet and send out some long range probes. Rumour is theres a war going on and both sides are getting ready for one final conflict. It makes getting on the surface tricky since I don't know what I'm dealing with and even more tricky getting off. But you wouldn't know anything about that would you Princess?"

Her eyes snapped from my groin to meet my eyes as I finished. Her cheeks turning crimson red as she realized she had been staring and was caught at it. Plus the confusion in her eyes from the title I had used.

Laughing and grinning I sauntered out of the tiny pilots cabin and thru the archway, swinging my hips as I did and chuckling...one more day and we'd be within visual of the quadrant...and I'd be done with her once and for all....

"One more thing your royal highness" I tossed out as I opened the lift door. "I get payment in advance for my services...or my tried and true rule is I discharge ALL cargo before destination is reached. Your choice Princess...arrange payment in full or find other ways to get to the planets surface."

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Princess. Royal Highness! He couldn't know. Could he?? No, she reassured herself. Even Griffin didn't have the connections that would reveal her identity. It was merely his sardonically mordant nature. Or was it?

Emotions in flux, Hana was shivering as she lowered her legs to the floor. That her status had been reduced to hostile was no surprise. That he had requested payment in advance was no problem. That they had lain together naked, that he had touched her intimately, that her body had reacted was.

The feel of his body, hard against her own, the feel of his hand on her breast, his fingers on her sex, the sight of him, of his... Hana fought back the sensations, finding them easily replaced by anger, resentment and not a little confusion. She'd bet good credits that he'd not have turned away Radmilla, the servant whose name she had used briefly. Or any other willing woman. Then why...

That, perhaps, was a discussion for another time and place. Right now, returning home and fulfilling her mission was uppermost in importance. She would not be stopped. He could have it all. Credits meant nothing. Her family and her home, however... Bounding off the bunk, she rushed thoughtlessly after him. "I have the credits, Captain. What do you require?"

 

[BLACK BART]

Griffin

"Clothes"

I chuckled and stopped long enough to admire the curves of the woman who gat gotten so deep under my skin before looking at her face.

And then silently cursed myself for being such a heel and treating her as I had.

But still she had refused to share with me her true identity AND she WAS a stowaway on my ship. I needed something, anything to keep the advantage in my corner, it was the one thing that kept me alive despite the odds being against me most of the time.

And THAT wasn't going to change.

"You've got five minutes and I'll meet you back here. Dress and get debit chip ready for the transfer and when I return I'll give you the amount I need."

The door closed behind me and I moved to my own quarters, triggering the shower and sliding into it for two minutes before hitting the recycler that would draw the water back into a purifying tank... No waste in outer space...

I pulled on a fresh one peice and then stopped, digging through a little used drawer for a tiny bottle and almost giving up before I found it.

"Who the hell are you trying to impress?" I questioned myself in the mirror as I sprayed the dipilatory creme/ after shave on my face and wiped away the residue. "A woman who will off your ship in less than thirty six hours?"

I was on the pilots deck with 20 seconds to spare and saw my "guest" was dressed as well and holding out her debit chip as I approached.

"Use it over here. The amount is going to twenty three giga credits and don't worry I have it all in detail in the ships log srom the first moment you were aboard and I had to delouse the hold... I'm being generous so don't bother to argue."

Which is exactly what I expected and when I didn't hear any attempt to barter it only reinforced my belief I was dealing with one VERY rich woman...

For once I didn't curse the antique system that was aboard my ship, though in many past uses I had often promised myself to replace the ancient and quirky console and update to one which could verify and transfer the amounts in light seconds...

The tiny card slid into the matching slot on the console, her fingers quickly triggering the verification code and then repeating it at the screens prompting...and it was done, I was going to be a rich man in less than a half hour.

"Not so fast" I stopped her hand from removing the chip and punched in a set of codes that would trigger a trace that would follow the transaction to it's source...and report just where and who it came from and give me the identity of this irritating passenger as well.

"It wil take about thirty minutes to verify and transfer the credits to my own account" I informed her and handed her the tiny card. "It's slow but quite reliable and has a few features I've programmed into it as well, we might as well get comfortable and you can tell me something about yourself..."

 

[Maid of Marvels]

New features he'd programmed in himself, huh? I shifted my thoughts to keep my face free of emotion. They used to call it a poker face Ambassador Donatelli had told me when he taught me how to play. Of course he meant in the days before most card games were computerized. Playing cards. Now there was another thing I hadn't thought about in ages.

Our fingers touched when Griff handed me back my card, sending shivers up my arm that reminded me of how they had made me feel. On my breasts. Between my legs. Inside... I felt my nipples stiffen against the paint-on-skin tight fabric of the overall he'd supplied and blushed at the memory of his naked body, proudly erect as he'd stood before me. How could I feel this way? Basically, I was no more than a prisoner held for ransom, but...

"Hana! Did you hear anything I just said?"

His voice. The same voice that murmured against the nape of my neck. His mouth... Kissing. I half moaned aloud, cutting it off as I realized I had been daydreaming.

"I'm... sorry. I have the worst headache. What did you say?" I sat up straighter in my seat, willing myself to think of anything except... him. Women probably came a dozen to a credit for this man -- and many came without a fee at all. I would be no different, I was certain. And why did it even bother me? What he did was not my concern. I only needed him to get where I was going.

"I asked you to tell me something of yourself while we wait."

"Oh... " Looking up, I saw a flicker of something indiscernible in his eyes. What was that? It almost looked...

Leaning back I massaged my temples with my fingertips as I tried to think of something that wouldn't give me away. Of course the truth was sometimes and most times stranger than fiction. He'd get no information from his tracer. The security attached to my ACT card was impeccable. There wasn't a chance in a million that he'd learn anything there. So what if I...

"I was an only child, my parents bound to the Overpopulation Act that forbade multiple births on Icarus Prime. Yes, I was born and raised there, taught the basics and then sent off planet for more formal education."

"The name I first used, Radmilla Pek, was the name of a serving girl in our household. I want you to know that she plays no part in this and I risked her safety by using it. It was ignorant at best, I know. That and thinking that I could use a name that was not my own and get away with it." I struggled to look suitably chastened, though truth was, I was more than a little ashamed to have risked Radmilla's safety in such a foolhardy manner.

Glancing up, I tilted my head and straightened, looking him directly in the eye. "I have to ask you a question based on something you said earlier... I can't just leave it hanging when everything that's most important to me hinges on your knowledge."

I watched his face carefully as I asked the question casually. "How did you know I was the Princess, Captain? I was so sure that everything about me was impossible to trace. Heads will surely roll, you realize. And I can't help wondering what you'll do with this little snippet of knowledge also."