When Gemini opened her eyes again the first thing she knew was that she was in pain. From head to toe and everywhere in between. She carefully rolled over on the bed and found that Preed was gone. She let out a sigh of relief, and entwined her arms in the bed sheets. She slowly sat up and got out of bed, Gemini didn't bother getting dressed and instead wrapped the sheets around her body. What she wanted more than anything at the moment was a hot shower. With silent feet she made her way to the shower area and when she was inside she dropped the sheets and threw them out to the ground outside of the shower.
Gemini turned a handle and warm water came down from above, it quickly turned hotter and steam soon filled the space. The hot water soothed Gemini's aching body and she sat down on the floor and leaned back against the wall, letting the water take away her pain….
"She must be awake by now," Preed said to himself as he sat in his seat on the pilot deck. He stood up and went to a room that resembled an kitchen. He looked around and then went to work gathering a small breakfast for one.
Upon entering Gemini's room Preed found that she was in the shower, he decided to let her be…this time. He set down what he had in his hands on her bed and silently left.
When Gemini finally turned off the water and wrapped a towel around her body she stepped out into her room and was greatly surprised to find a nice tray of food set out for her. She sat down carefully on her bed, she didn't want to tip anything over.
Preed's gift confused her, "He's kind and yet cruel. Why can't he just choose one and go with it?"
She marveled at the human food he had thoughtfully gotten for her; some butter, bread, jam, and a cup of what appeared to be orange juice next to a fruit that she knew was from Preed's home world. She shook her head as she looked at the food before her and wondered how he had gotten it all. She picked up the toasted bread and took a bit. She smiled and then attacked everything else, except the Akrennian fruit, she wanted that for last. Preed was so silent that Gemini didn't know he was there until he was standing in her room.
"Jesus Preed!" She shouted and quickly stood up. She had finished her 'breakfast' by the time he had shown up. "Stop sneaking up on me." Gemini held the towel tighter around her body and backed away from Preed.
Preed didn't smile for once but looked quite serious, "When you're finished eating you will get dressed and take the tray back to the kitchens. There you will find a list of things for you do on the counter. You're new life as a slave begins today Gemini." He looked at the uneaten fruit and then at Gemini. He noticed that she had one hand on her towel and one hand on the chair that she stood behind to block him.
"And if I refuse to start being your slave?" She raised an eyebrow in her haughty way that Preed loved.
He wished she hadn't done that, the urge to sleep with her again came to his mind. "Why is a simple move of her eyebrow so enticing?" He asked himself. "So you want a repeat of last night?"
Gemini's smirk and and hauntiness disappeared, but her dignity remained in her voice, "I wouldn't want to put you through the trouble." She looked down at the floor.
Preed's sly smile replaced his seriousness, "You're in nothing but a simple towel. I doubt it would be much trouble at all dear."
Gemini's cheeks reddened and she returned his gaze with a hateful glare. "I'll be out in five minutes."
Preed laughed once, "Very good slave. Report to me on pilot deck when you're done." He turned without another word and strode out of her room.
Gemini suddenly realized how hard she was gripping the chair and let go of it. True to her word she was out of her room in five minutes. Her boots, jeans and sleeveless shirt on, her hair tied back into a pony tail. Strands of wet hair stuck to her temples. She carried the tray back to the kitchens and as Preed said there was a note on the counter.
' Scrub the kitchens, I want all machinery, utensils, and cooking devices cleaned and spotless.
Scrub the floors clean; they looked quite filthy. I want to be able to see the design of the floor for once.
Move on to the cargo bay. I believe the last cargo I had was an animal of some sort. It left an awful mess.'
Gemini read down the list with growing dread. Each task Preed wanted her to do was something to do with cleaning. She rolled her eyes and wondered if Preed ever cleaned. At the bottom of the list she found that Preed had the curtsy of telling her where she would find all of the supplies to clean. Since she was already in the kitchen she decided to begin with that first. By the time she was done the kitchens didn't look as if a grimy, dirty, explosion had happened. Looking at the list and looking at the floors she decided to leave that for last. Being familiar with slave auctions and Akrennians, Gemini wasn't bothered by bad smells. But when she opens the door to the cargo bay and saw the "mess" that Preed was talking about she almost thought that being violated by Preed again wasn't such a bad idea. A mental slap made she go forward and get the cargo area better looking than it was before.
The hours went by and all Gemini had left to do were the floors. She groaned.
" First chance I get, I'm making a run for it." She said it quietly and to herself.
But what she didn't know is that she wasn't quiet enough.
Gemini screamed as Preed jumped out and grabbed her arms from behind. He wrestled her to the ground and before she could stop him he fastened a collar around her neck. Gemini growled in frustration as Preed backed away from her with an impish green on his face.
"I had a feeling that you had running away in mind." He gestured to the collar. "That, should make you think twice."
Gemini yanked at the collar but she couldn't even loosen it, "What the hell is this Preed? I'm not a dog!"
Preed stood, "No but you're my slave. That collar will only come off when I unlock it. "He playfully waved a key in the air, a small silver one, and then slipped it into his pocket. "That is an Akrennian slave collar and everyone will know you're runaway slave if you aren't seen with me. And! It has this nifty little feature that I can set to make sure you don't get too far away."
Gemini had been tugging and feeling on the collar for a release, she groaned in anger and threw her hands down, "What happens if I get too far? And how far is too far?"
Preed chuckled, "You'll be shocked with a current so strong that you'll be knocked unconscious. And too far is when I say it is. Now go figure out what to make for dinner. I'm hungry." He began to walk towards his master room, "I'll be in my room when you're finished." He shouted as he left.
Gemini screamed in frustration again and kicked the walls. She took the little blue stone out of her pocket and held it in her hand. She opened her hand and looked at the only remnant of her life on Earth. Her last piece of home and most valuable possession. She closed her hand and put her fist gently to her forehead to calm herself down.
"Fine!" She thought to herself, "If it's a dinner Preed wants, then it's dinner he'll get." She walked off to the kitchens.
Preed's bedroom was the master room, and along with superior furniture, he also had a bath to go with his shower. His ship used to be a transporter for vacationing rich beings but once the ship model was considered "old", Preed snatched the ship up and made it his own. He was sitting in his steaming bath as a way to relax and not to actually bathe when Gemini entered the room with a hover tray. On which was a finely cooked Akrennian meat that was similar to what Gemini would have called a steak back in the Earth days.
"Ahhh. Smell's excellent slave." Preed looked at the food with a hungry gleam in his eyes and moved the tray to over the tub so he could eat and relax at the same time.
Gemini stood silently to the side of the bathroom entrance. She had one hand clasped in the other as she patiently waited for Preed to finish.
"With a few bites in his mouth already he spoke, "Very good indeed. You should've done a little more research though." He swallowed, "The next time you try to slip a drug into my food, make sure that I'm not immune to it. Or replaced it entirely with a common food powder that wouldn't have a taste knowing full well that you would try anything to get free and so took steps to make sure you wouldn't be able to." His ears went back and he looked seriously at Gemini's straight composed back.
Gemini's face was red. Preed had just humiliated her and her plan to drug him had failed. With an outraged and sudden cry she turned around and started to lunge towards him. But Preed calmly looked at her and he snapped his fingers. Gemini suddenly went numb as the electric current swept through her body. Not only filling her with immeasurable pain but with a paralyzing effect. She froze in mid lunge and her muscles were visibly contracting. As a few moments of that her body was released from the current and she fell to the floor in a heap. She took quick, deep breathes in after the stolen time of no breathing. She looked up at Preed and for a rare moment her eyes showed fear. Preed grinned and looked back at his food and continued eating.