Untitled Document

Title: Redemption
Author: Banshae, 2001
Rating: R (violence, implied rape, cussing)
Disclaimer: You know and I know that I don't own these characters. I'm just borrowing them for my own little passion plays. However, I DO own the original characters and places, so no snurching!
Spoilers: All of seasons 1 & 2, pretty much all of season three, up to IP: Icarus Abides
Archiving: You actually want this?! Just let me know: morgayne@hotmail.com, so I can jump up and down and do a happy dance.
Summary: Takes place after IP: Icarus Abides. Talyn's crew stops off at a commerce planet and Aeryn turns up missing.
Special thanks to Felix, who argued with me and encouraged me and gave me great ideas. This fic wouldn't have been the same without him.

Redemption: Part 2

Sensation came back first:

Throbbing at the base of her skull.

Matching pain on the side of her head.

She couldn't feel her hands and feet yet, but her back felt twisted at an unnatural angle

Why is it so cold?

The light lanced her eyes painfully and she hissed, pressing them shut and slitting them carefully the second time.

White walls. No windows. One door. A soft humming from somewhere beyond the walls.

She discovered a microt later why she was so cold: they'd taken her clothes, and when she tried to sit up, she realized her hands were secured tightly behind her back. Shivering, she managed to leverage herself into a sitting position. Where am I?

A sudden wave of nausea washed over her, giving her only a moment's notice before her stomach emptied its meager contents. Afterward, she sat still for a long time, panting weakly. Her limbs felt too loose, her head felt disconnected as though it was going to float right off her shoulders; whatever they'd used to drug her, she was still feeling the effects.

Gritting her teeth, Aeryn was able to coordinate her limbs enough to slide herself up the wall into a standing position. Weak-kneed and lightheaded, she forced herself across the small room to the door. A brief examination left her exhausted and with the conclusion that she was trapped. Even if her hands were free, there was no way to open the door.

She'd just have to wait till someone opened it.

Retreating to the opposite side of the room, she sat back down. Her legs felt like she'd run ten metras in full combat armor. Her head was throbbing so hard she could barely hold a thought. She closed her eyes again and began to breathe deeply in the mind-clearing pattern that Zhaan had once taught her. Maybe she could dilute the effects of the drug if she concentrated

She'd only been meditating for a little while before a voice startled her to awareness, "Well, well, looks like our pretty little sladkee is awake."

There was a creature in the doorway she didn't recognize. It obviously wasn't a native of this planet, though it was also bipedal. Instead of being covered in fur, its smooth, dark skin had an iridescent sheen. Massive legs supported a torso sheathed with muscle, and its arms were overly long, ending in hands with fingers resembling talons. The face looked distinctly reptilian, with a snubbed snout and slit-pupiled, yellow eyes set on a slant.

Aeryn stared at the creature as it stepped forward into the room. She became acutely aware she was naked, weaponless, half-drugged, and facing a being twice her size. It's never frelling easy, is it?

She cursed inwardly again when two smaller humaniods entered the room, flanking the first. They resembled Sebeceans, but their skin was deeply bronzed and their hair was pure white. To her eyes, they looked like twins with identical brown leathers and thick metal necklaces around their necks.

"Welcome to our humble home, sladkee," the first creature hissed, moving close and crowding her against the wall.

"What do you want?" Aeryn snapped. She eyed the three of them, waiting for her chance, however slim, to get to the door.

"I've got what I want," a taloned hand reached out and tapped her chest. "You should fetch a high price. Sebeceans are rare in this part of the Uncharteds and I have many buyers looking for such a versatile item."

Aeryn listened with a mixture of horror and disgust. "Frell you!" She snarled, launching herself away from the wall and striking the creature with her shoulder. Taken off guard, it stumbled sideways and she squeezed past it toward the door.

Twin One threw a punch at her head; she ducked, kicking out with her left foot. He went down with a grunt.

Aeryn twisted away from Twin Two, who had produced a short black baton. He swung it viciously at her, and her drug-befuddled reflexes weren't fast enough this time. It connected with her right hip, instantly numbing her leg down to the foot.

She stumbled, and the baton hit her again, driving her into the side of the door. She got a glimpse of the hall beyond, a long expanse lit by overhead lights and punctuated by more doors in a regular pattern, before one of her opponents grabbed her bound wrists and threw her back into the center of the room. She landed heavily and lay there, stunned.

"Naughty, naughty," the big creature squatted over her. Its lips split into a travesty of a smile, showing a double row of sharp teeth as long has her thumb, "Not just a Sebecean, then. A Peacekeeper!"

"Should we dispose of her, Kelhvek?" One of the twins asked.

Kelhvek wheezed laughter, "Of course not. Imagine the price for a Peacekeeper sladkee such as this! No, she only needs the proper training." He grasped Aeryn's hands and stood, hauling her up so she was forced to stand or have her arms wrenched from their sockets.

She tried to keep her footing despite the numbed leg, anger and fear burning in her stomach. "You can't keep me here-" she spat, "-my company will be looking for me."

The yellow eyes held only amusement, "I think not, pretty one. K'shen and K'tren saw you with a Hynerian and a Bannik, not a company of Peacekeepers. And there is no PK presence in this system." Kelhvek leaned close, fetid breath hot on Aeryn's face, "I think it more likely that you will not be missed." He gave her arms a sharp upward yank, stopping short of actually dislocating her shoulders and only releasing her when she cried out. She sagged to her knees, eyes watering with pain.

Stepping back, he motioned to the twins, "Collar her."

Before Aeryn could move, one of them- the one she'd kicked- struck her across the face, knocking her to the ground again. She saw the other twin coming at her with a device similar to a Peacekeeper control collar. Knowing she was frelled if they managed to get it around her neck, she reared up and bit him when he leaned close. In a moment they were both on her and she fought with everything she had left, kicking and thrashing.

It wasn't enough. They managed to pin her down after a brief struggle, fastening the collar tightly around her neck. As soon as the clasp closed, they let her go and Kelhvek approached. He squatted over her again and tenderly smoothed the hair away from her bloodied cheek. "Now. You have your collar. There will be no more violence from you. Such acts only damage your value, and we can't have that, can we?"

Aeryn lifted her head enough to spit at him and the creature gave a bark of laughter, "You have spirit-" he stood "-but you must learn to obey."

Kelhvek raised a taloned hand at her. Aeryn had seen control collars used on prisoners before and knew how effective they were. Now she learned why. All coherent thought fled as a flare of agony shot down her spine and pain sizzled along every nerve as though she'd touched a high voltage wire. She convulsed, back arching and twisting against the heat searing through her body. Through the roaring in her ears she heard a high keening and realized it was the sound of her own screaming.

Then the pain was gone as instantly as it'd come and she was left limp and panting, her body buzzing with reaction and slicked with sweat. Kelhvek grinned down at her, "So, you learn the first lesson of the collar. Disobey and be punished." He turned to the twins, "Do not damage her too much, is that understood?"

"By your command, sire," they said in unison, identical smirks oozing across their faces as they stepped forward.

Aeryn closed her eyes against their approach, hearing them sneer in turn:

"Lesson two, sladkee: spread-"

"-and submit."


TBC....