Chapter 10
Despite the many loud attempts that Duo made to strike up a conversation with him, the giant, Ugurt, did not speak as he lumbered through the streets with Duo slung over his shoulder. Katroc did not follow, so at least Duo had some time to plan an escape and his first step was to make as much noise as possible so that Newt would know what had happened to him. Newt had vehemently opposed Katroc the previous day because he neededDuo to make repairs on the pirate station, so Duo reasoned that Newt wasn't going to be happy that Katroc had out maneuvered him.
Ugurt turned away from the main street onto a quieter avenue where the people they passed were well-groomed and wore clean clothing, and while they viewed Ugurt with some trepidation, giving him a wide berth, they sneered at Duo after he passed. He knew they would be of no help in any escape plan even before Ugurt slowed and Duo twisted around to see them approaching a large residence at the end of the avenue. The Varoonyan obviously had his fingers into many lucrative pies on the outpost, he wielded considerable power, or both. There were guards at the door and other men patrolled the perimeter so Duo knew that a clandestine escape would be problematic.
The men at the door gave Duo a curious sideways glance as he passed by them, but Ugurt did not give Duo any chance to greet them let alone strike up a friendly conversation before he stepped through. The door would have caught Duo's face when it slid shut had he not pressed his face against Ugurt's sweaty shirt. If Newt did have the balls to attack Katroc – given what he knew now, where had they come from to threaten him the previous day? - Duo wondered how Newt was going to get past the bruisers on guarding Katroc's mansion. He would need to launch a full assault with his men and Duo doubted that he would go through the trouble for a guy that was handy with a wrench.
Once inside, Ugurt tossed Duo on the floor without any warning and before he could react, he used a control device to make the restraints fall away. Once they were gone, Duo hopped to his feet, decided to run left, but he had only taken a step before Ugurt snatched his braid, yanked him painfully back, then clamped his enormous hand around his neck. He gave a little squeeze in a warning that Duo decided to heed. He didn't have a plan to escape anyway and wouldn't be able to formulate one until he was more familiar with Katroc's domain.
The residence was as opulent as the Cinq Kingdom palace on Earth, but without the pretentious art cluttering the corridors through which Ugurt guided him with his fingers around his neck. They did not stop until they came to a door that was guarded by another beefy man who nodded when Ugurt grunted at him. If that was a language, his translator chip didn't understand it, so Duo decided it was the universal tongue of brainless thugs.
After the other man pressed a few buttons on the door, it opened and Ugurt thrust him inside. Duo tried to catch the door, but it slid tightly shut and almost caught his fingers. He stared at it for a moment, but before turning around, he got his bearings. Based on what he could see in his periphery, Ugurt had not dropped him off in some dank prison like he had been on the pirate satellite upon arriving in the binary system. He could make out a light, airy atmosphere that seemed as though it might be pleasant.
Behind him, he could hear something or someone moving around behind him, so taking a breath, Duo turned to make the acquaintance of the other poor wretches in Katroc's prison. He expected to see wizened men near death that Katroc had been feeding on. Instead he had to blink several times to be sure that what he was seeing was real, and then he turned around to pound on the door.
"Hey, Ugurt, are you out there? This must be a mistake! I don't think Katroc wants me in here!"
There was no answer from the other side of the door, and when he tried to pry it open with his fingers, he did not expect it to budge so he wasn't disappointed.
"Who are you?" demanded a voice from behind him. "Turn so that I can see you."
Duo did not want to turn around, but the commanding voice did not leave him much choice. He reluctantly turned to find himself facing a woman, an attractive woman, an attractive naked woman. Beyond her, further into the room lounging on padded chairs and a long couch were several other women in various states of undress, most not bothering with clothing like this woman.
"Answer the question!" she snapped at him. She reached out to grasp his hair, seizing his braid before he could avoid her and she jerked him against her. Her dark eyes narrowed and she reached down with her other hand to grab his crotch so roughly that she knocked the air from him. "You are not a female!"
"Hey! Let me go!" He reached out to seize the wrist of the hand groping between his legs, but she was faster, and to his surprise, stronger. Releasing him, she grasped his wrist, jerked it behind him and shoved him against the door. Her knee slammed into the part of him she had been fondling, and that had him seeing stars and gasping for breath before she released him and let him fall in a heap at her feet fighting to breathe through the pain.
"I am Sadra, Lord Katroc's first female."
"Pleased to meet you, Sadie," he wheezed over her bare feet.
She reached down, seized his hair and yanked him up until they were nose to nose. His aching body protested, but he did not struggle because he didn't want to be treated to whatever she might do to him next.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "Where do you come from?"
He thought it might be prudent not to mess with her. "I am Duo Maxwell of Earth."
She spit in his face. "A filthy terran! Why did Ugurt put you in here?"
Duo blinked past the spit in his eye. "Listen, lady, I don't know what is going on here! That Varoonyan vampire ordered him to bring me, but I don't think he meant for me to be here." He looked past her to the other women who were watching with only mild interest. They were probably under Sadra's thumb like the women in Zeno's palace were under Lady Xuxa's. According to Trynity, all the females and most of the males had been terrified of that woman, but Duo doubted it was for the same reason that these women did not cross Sadra.
"What does he want of you?" She narrowed her gaze at him. "You did not seduce him, did you?"
"Look, lady, the only thing he wants from me is blood, so don't worry that I will take your place in the rotation." He tried to shake her off, but for a moment she held him to prove that she was stronger before she finally released him.
"So you are a blood slave." She motioned towards the other women. "Go with them and wait until you are summoned to serve the lord."
Duo looked at the others, gulped to see so many naked women in the flesh in one place, and after a wary glance at Sadra, he limped as he crossed the wide expanse.
"Good day, ladies," he said with a smile plastered to his face, trying to ignore all the exposed flesh. He wasn't sure if he should be relieved or insulted that they did not appear interested in him. They were different races although they were all humanoid in appearance, but they were all very attractive women. His greeting ignored, he averted his eyes and headed as far away from them as he could which meant he sat on the floor against a far wall in the corner.
There was nothing for him to do except to think about the stupid decisions he had made in the last few months. He had hoped to rectify the worst of them by returning to the terran solar system as soon as possible. Duo had taken for granted that he could persuade Newt to lend him a craft, but now that he was sure Newt would not let him go because he expected him to work on the satellite station, he would have to find a way to contact Trowa – Trey.
With a huff, Duo dug his fingers into his hair and tugged anxiously. He was going to be as much a prisoner on the pirate satellite as he was now because Newt would not allow him to contact Calabria. And there was no guarantee that Trowa would give him a ship. He would probably be too busy to bother with him. He was Emperor Trey now! He had more important things to worry about than an idiot like him.
He should be more worried about the immediate present, but with so many women around, his thoughts turned to Trynity. He wondered what she was doing, if she had begun her fellowship. By the time he managed to pay his debt to Katroc, she might be finished with her studies. Would she go on to pursue a higher degree at the university? When he finally returned, would he be derailing whatever plans she had made without him? Without him. His stomach lurched as he considered for the first time that she might not forgive him, that he would be gone so long that she would move on with a life that did not include him. She was taking steps now towards a future that he could not even imagine.
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard sobbing, and he thought for a moment that it might be him, but he realized it was a woman. The women had all looked comfortable in the Varoonyan's opulent lodgings, so he raised his head in time to see the door close and another woman standing just inside the room. Like all the others, the new arrival was beautiful, but she was filthy and her clothing was torn and bloody. Sadra wasted no time in crossing the room and roughing her up to prove her superiority although the woman clearly wanted nothing to do with a power play. When she was satisfied that the newcomer was sufficiently cowed, she ordered her to remove her filthy garments and wash.
Duo watched as the dark-haired woman looked around at the others. She looked lost and confused, and deeply dejected, but she trudged further into the room. A few of the other women led her away to do as Sadra had ordered, and when she returned, she was at least wearing a long white garment that tied at the shoulders and on the side. She moved away from the women to sit on a bench not so far from Duo, and glad for the distraction from his own misery, he pushed off the wall and stood. Ignoring Sadra's suspicious glare, he headed towards the newcomer.
When she saw him, her brows rose in startled surprise. He would be surprised too if he saw a man among all these naked women. Not knowing any other way to greet someone, he held out his hand to her and flashed her a welcoming smile. "My name is Duo Maxwell."
She shrank back from him in horror. "You are a terran!"
He threw up his hands. "Guilty as charged."
"You are the reason that I am here!" she shrieked as she launched herself against him. She was all fingernails, fists and open palms, not to mention sharp elbows and knees, and more than once his most tender spot, still smarting from Sadra's treatment, fell victim.
"Listen, lady, I don't know what you are talking about!" He barely managed to keep her from seizing and pulling out a handful of his hair and when he did, he grabbed her wrists and forced her hands down to her sides as he pushed her back down on the bench. "I have never seen you before."
Her face was a mixture of fury and grief as she stared at him and for a moment she did nothing but pant as she sat rigidly in his grasp. And then she said, "You are one of those filthy terran pirates!"
Duo wanted to deny it, but he could not. What had Newt done?
"Were you with them when they captured the ship I was returning to Bayman on?"
"The freighter?" he asked, knowing even as he did that his impression of the ship had been correct.
"It was not a freighter! We were returning to Bayman from visiting a satellite station near the frontier on a passenger cruiser. My parents are studying the gravitational effect of …." He must have shown her how little he was going to understand her because she left off that part of her explanation. "My husband and I finally had time from our own research to visit them, and we saved for many months to afford passage on that cruiser so that we could take our children to see their grandparents."
As she burst into tears, Duo felt sick to his stomach. "What … what happened to your husband and children?" He did not hold out any hope that they had somehow escaped. Newt didn't have any moral problem with slavery and he had made a profit on what Duo had thought was cargo. Now he knew better.
Tears spilled from her lashes. "My husband was killed in the first attempt to repel the pirates. We were not prepared to fight! We are scientists, not fighters! When they crushed what little resistance the men put up and took over the ship, they separated us from the children. The bastards forced us to …"
"I get the idea," said Duo through gritted teeth as he thought of the days Newt had stayed on the cruiser with his men and what they must have done.
"I don't know where my children are or even if they are alive," the woman wailed. "I did not see any children when the pirates handed us over to the Varoonyans."
Duo released the woman and stepped away from her. "I am sorry for what happened to you." He wished he could tell her that he had no part in it, but he had delivered the worst of the pirates to the ship.
"Leave me," she hissed, and when she shrugged off his hands, he moved away to return to the depressing corner of the room where he had been before, but now it seemed even darker.
As he considered what she had told him, he did not try to vindicate himself. He could not even summon any surprise over what Newt had done, not when he had hinted his intentions. But Duo had been so wrapped up in his own stupid plans that he had ignored him. He had only himself to blame if he had been deluded in believing there was any decency in Newt. Stealing his credits, credits he had earned by destroying the lives of people like the woman across the room, was the least of his crimes. Now this woman's family was gone and she was the slave of a blood-sucking alien.
He heard her whimpering and when he glanced up, he saw that no one seemed to care. His gut twisted as he realized that this woman could be Trynity in the future. She would be studying in space, and her work might take her to the wormhole as it had Virinea. What if she returned to the binary system? She could fall prey to pirates as bad or worse than Newt's pack. If not for Maeryn's intervention, one of them would have enslaved her the first time they had come through the wormhole.
Before he could dive further into depression, the door slid open and he raised his head to see Katroc enter the room. Without thinking about it, Duo pressed his back against the wall as if he could get further away from the man, and he noticed that several of the women had scattered to the far corners of the room while Sadra left the Baymani woman's side to approach the Varoonyan.
She bowed low to him. "Welcome, my lord."
His crimson gaze rested on her for a moment and then scanned the room. A cold sweat broke out over Duo's forehead when that gaze locked with his and he could not look away. Katroc smiled and licked his lips before he broke the spell and looked away. Duo heaved a sigh of relief to be released from whatever hold he had on him.
Katroc crossed to where the Baymani woman sat on the bench, her head bowed. He put his hand under her chin and raised her face so that she was forced to look at him. "Are you ready?"
Sadra hurried forward. "My lord! I have seen that she has been prepared."
Duo shot to his feet. "Prepared for what?"
Sadra seemed to fly across the room to deliver a stinging slap to his face before he even realized she had moved. "Do not speak unless you are bidden, terran filth!"
His face felt like it was swelling from her blow, but he did not look away from Katroc and the woman whose life he had played a part in destroying. "What are you doing with her?"
Katroc caressed her cheek with the backs of his fingers and Duo saw her flinch. "She has consented to give me her life's blood."
"What does that mean?" he asked yet knowing the answer. Duo wanted to do something to stop her from throwing away her life.
She looked from Katroc to Duo. "My mate is dead, my children are dead and I am a slave. I have no reason to live." Before Duo had a chance to argue, she held out her hand to Katroc who took it and raised it to his lips. Stepping closer to her, he murmured something to her before swiping across her neck with his sharp nails.
The women shrieked as her blood sprayed forth before Katroc leaned forward to cover the wound with his mouth. Duo took a step towards them, not knowing what he should do, but Sadra stopped him from advancing by stepping between the Varoonyan and the woman whose life he was siphoning away. He did not even know her name and she was dying.
In his eyes, she had become Trynity, and that thought was his undoing. Duo tried to bolt past Sadra, had even managed to sidestep her, but she spun quickly to catch him and the blow she gave to the back of his head felled him, sending him to the floor at the same moment that the woman collapsed in Katroc's arms and he let her fall away from him like useless garbage. As Sadra pinned Duo down with a knee to his back, he Duo raised his head to find his gaze even with the Baymani woman's wide-eyed, lifeless stare before the other women in the room hurried to surround her. They lifted and carried her lifeless body away, but he did not have a chance to watch what they intended to do with it because Katroc came to stand over him.
"Can you get your girlfriend off my back?" asked Duo through gritted teeth. He didn't mind Trynity manhandling him from time to time, but this woman downright infuriated him and he was not in the mood to let her prove how weak he was.
"Let the boy up," he ordered Sadra who quickly released him, and before he could react, she reached down to yank him to his feet.
He jerked his arm from her grasp. "Don't touch the merchandise, lady."
She sneered and after a nod from Katroc, she moved away but remained within distance to help her lord in case Duo tried something. That distance could well be across the room for as fast as she moved.
"There is no need for you to feel shame that you cannot best Sadra. I purchased her several years ago from a trader who claimed she was Calabrian." Katroc was smiling as he watched Sadra. "She has pleased me in many ways since then. She has given me a son, protects me, and she maintains order among my slaves. I have not regretted any single credit that I spent in obtaining her."
"Glad you got a good deal," Duo muttered without meaning it. Sadra was glaring at him so he knew that she would like to pound the snot out of him, and he suspected that once Katroc left them, she would, and he wouldn't be able to stop her. He looked back at Katroc. "So, am I one of your slaves, now? Will you kill me like you did that poor woman from Bayman?"
Katroc raised one of his arched brows. "I did not demand that of her. That poor woman from Bayman had only one thing left to her that was not taken and she chose to give it to me." He reached out a hand to grasp Duo's chin to raise his face and he could feel his deadly sharp fingernails grazing the tender flesh at his throat. "How long will it be before you beg me to end your miserable existence?"
Duo stiffened under his gaze. "Never!" He had someone to live for and he was not going to let her down. Even if she would not want him back, he could at least be comforted in knowing that his sacrifice was worth giving her the future that she wanted, the future she deserved.
He released him and when he raised his fingers to his lips, Duo was revolted to see that he must have cut him because he was carefully licking the blood that coated his fingers. "I am pleased to hear it because I would not want to lose you so soon." He did not give Duo a chance to respond before he held out his hand to Sadra. "Come along, my dear Sadra."
Even before they left the room, they had their hands all over each other, leaving no doubt about what they would be doing. The other women returned from removing the body, and when they got into the large bath together, Duo turned his back on them. Dropping to the floor, he drew up his legs and covering his head with his hands, he pressed his eyes to his knees to block out what was happening across the room, especially when they giggled and called out for him to join them, their voices becoming mocking when he ignored them.
Their bath seemed to go on for hours, and he did not realize he had fallen asleep until he felt a light touch on his arm and he awoke to see that one of the women had placed a plateful of what appeared to be food, some crumbly substance that was free of things that crawled. The women were murmuring to each other and laughing, and he glanced up to see that Katroc had returned and was draped on the couch, Sadra lying atop him feeding him from a plate as the other females sat nearby in groups feeding each other.
Seeing him awake, Katroc motioned for him. "Join us, Duo Maxwell."
He waved to him. "I'm good over here." Duo wondered if Sadra's glare was because he had turned down Katroc's invitation or whether she did not want him near. "I don't feel like being your dessert."
Katroc laughed. "I was going to give you to Sadra for her dessert."
"I do not want that terran boy!" she hissed.
The Varoonyan dragged her head up to look into her eyes. "You could make him a man, Sadra."
"Would it amuse you for me to do so?" she asked as she half-rose and Duo was afraid Katroc would agree and Sadra would tie him into a pretzel before having her way with him. She might try, but he was too scared of her to be able to do what they had in mind.
"I do not want you to bruise him, my dear Sadra." He caressed her cheek with the backs of his fingers, but he licked his lips as he looked at Duo who quickly averted his gaze because he was hungry and he didn't want the Varoonyan to spoil his appetite. The food was surprisingly good and he cleaned his plate in record time even for him. Seeing his empty plate, one of the women hurried to replace it with another plateful of food, and he looked up to see Katroc smiling.
"I will take good care of you, Duo Maxwell."
"And all I have to do is let you suck my blood?" He chewed on his food for a moment, savoring the taste, happy that he could swallow and fill his mouth again. Duo couldn't remember if he had ever been so full and at the moment, he didn't give a damn where he was. This was far better than nutrient paste and dried bugs.
Katroc swept out his arm to indicate the women. "Any one of them will do your bidding, any bidding you desire. Why would you want to return to the life Newt has planned for you? I cannot imagine he can offer you the comforts that I can."
If Newt had his way, Duo would spend days upon days tangled in wires, and while he would enjoy the challenge of making the satellite functional, he sure as hell wasn't going to do anything for that bastard. "You make a convincing case, but I have plans for when I return to Calabrian space. I am going back to the terran system."
"Newt does not know, does he?"
Duo shrugged. "I don't know what Newt knows. I don't particularly care. He did something for me, and I did something for him. Our arrangement is over."
"Good, because you will not be returning to Newt any time soon," said Katroc coolly as he pushed Sadra from him and stood. "I have need of you, Duo Maxwell."
"My blood isn't all that special," he said with a snort.
"But your technical knowledge is. I purchased the Baymani female because I was informed that she was involved in sciences, but she was studying biological development on a frontier world." Duo was surprised when he had assumed that Katroc had purchased her to drain her blood. "If Newt was willing to refuse the fortune I offered despite his need of credits to play the games in the casino, then he has confidence that you can do the needed repairs on his station. I need repairs done on this station."
Duo snorted. "You think I will tinker on your station when I am not providing you with my tasty blood?"
"You should be honored to serve Lord Katroc in any way!" Sadra shoved at Duo so hard that he stumbled back and she would have gone after him to abuse him more, but Katroc caught her around the waist and drew her back to him.
"My dear, although I appreciate your zealous devotion, I would prefer his cooperation." Katroc looked at Duo who was watching them warily. "I would reward you for your blood." He nodded to the females still feeding each other, ignoring their conversation.
"Thanks for the offer, but I don't have any interest in them," he told Katroc.
"The offer will remain open," said the Varoonyan with a smirk. "You cannot imagine the pleasure the females can give you have as I take your blood."
"I will see to it myself," spoke up Sadra, her dark eyes smoldering as they raked his body.
Duo wondered if her mating practices included beating males into submission. "As I said, I have no interest in what you offer." He told Sadra with his look that he was even less interested in her. But the look in her eyes was challenging and Katroc seemed to be amused by their wordless interaction.
"You are in my debt," Katroc reminded him, "and you will pay it by making repairs to this station. If I can slow the orbital decay of the station, my king will be pleased with my efforts and recall me to Varoonya."
By the hopeful sound in his voice, Duo wondered what Katroc had done to be exiled to the outpost. "I really have no reason to help you earn brownie points with your ruler."
"But you do! The sooner I can leave this cesspool, the sooner you will be released from your debt to me. Repair the life support systems of the outpost, and I will provide you with a ship to go wherever you wish."
Katroc could not have made a better offer. Duo did not want to have any more business with Newt after what he had learned today, and he did not want to show up at Trey's door begging for favors. He would earn a ship from this Varoonyan and prove that he could get himself out of this mess on his own.
He held out his hand to the Varoonyan who looked at it with raised brows. "You have a deal, Katroc. I will get this station in tip-top shape as soon as possible so you can go back to your planet and I can go back to Earth."