Of Women and Warriors
By Dany
Rated R
Summary: Captured and enslaved by female warriors on an alien planet, the all-male away team must fight for their survival. Meanwhile, Captain Janeway comes up with an unusual rescue plan…
The jungle was steaming.
It had rained barely an hour ago; one of those short, but intense showers common on both continents of the planet. The shrill cries of several birds resonated across the small clearing by the river. The water's currents were moving lazily, and small waves lapped gently at its banks. Everything was peaceful.
Suddenly the quiet was broken by a humming sound. The noise increased gradually, and a shadow fell onto the ground next to the riverbank. It grew rapidly until… the Delta Flyer settled itself firmly with a 'Thud'.
A minute later four figures, clad in green and brown Starfleet camouflage uniforms, walked down the lowered ramp. Their phasers were holstered, but their tricorders were flashing in all directions.
Commander Chakotay sighed as he looked at his readings. "Just what I was afraid of."
"Yup, the captain was right when she warned us that the planet's ionic interference might mess with the tricorder readings," Lieutenant Mike Ayala replied.
"Same here," Harry Kim chimed in, "I can clearly hear about half a dozen different animal sounds just in this immediate vicinity, but my tricorder shows no coherent life signs."
Chakotay tapped the combadge at his chest. "Away Team to Voyager."
Static.
He tried it again with the same results.
"Great," he mumbled. "Wonder what else is going to malfunction."
Lieutenant Commander Tuvok spoke up. "I suggest we implement the modifications agreed upon on Voyager and switch our sensors to only indicate edible vegetation. After all, this is the primary purpose of this mission."
Chakotay nodded. "Agreed. But it's not exactly comforting to know that we won't be able to clearly detect anything else but stationary plants."
Mike Ayala flashed a weak grin. "I guess we'll just have to revert back to our roots and use our eyes and ears as early warning systems."
They reprogrammed their tricorders, closed the shuttle ramp and headed off into the underbrush.
EARLIER...
Twelve hours earlier Voyager's long-range scanners had picked up the M-class planet and changed course, heading for its coordinates. Supplies were running low and Neelix had been overjoyed when he heard the news that a planet with a possible abundance of foodstuffs had been found. When they broke orbit they had come face to face with a picturesque planet about half the size of earth. It contained only two separate continents connected in several locations by land bridges. The rest of the planet was water.
When they began their preliminary scans, however, they soon discovered that the planet was surrounded by an atmosphere of ionic particles so dense that only a scanning beam set at maximum power had been able to penetrate it. The information the beam had transmitted, though, was very encouraging. The climate on the continents was sub-tropical, and most of the areas were covered by enormous rainforests. They read some tens of thousands of humanoid life signs, but no traces of advanced technologies. And most importantly, the scans indicated a virtual cornucopia of edible fruits, plants and roots, not to mention a wealth of fish and wildlife.
Because of the strong ionic interference, a direct beam-down had been deemed too dangerous, so the assigned away team had taken the Delta Flyer. The Captain and the Commander had agreed on a landing site that was close to a large vein of roots, yet still a safe distance from any populated areas so contact with the natives could be avoided.
Before he boarded the shuttle she had kissed him full on the mouth, and the memory of where else those lips had kissed him the night before sent a surge of desire through him. Chakotay remembered the night she had finally come to him, months after their return from New Earth. By that time he had pretty much given up any hope of ever being more than just a good friend to her. He had almost convinced himself that he had misinterpreted all of her smiles, gestures and other signals throughout their stay there; that his memory had simply magnified their significance. Then, one night exactly six weeks ago, his door chime sounded at two a.m. and there she was, dry-eyed and determined. Her words "I can't pretend any longer" had penetrated him to the core. He had invited her in, and neither one of them had slept alone ever since.
Standing before the shuttle, he pulled her close and returned her kiss with equal passion. "Back before you know it," he murmured.
She stroked his cheek with her thumb. "Hurry," she smiled, "because I'm much too used to waking up next to you now."
He had kissed her nose and flashed her those deadly dimples before he disappeared into the Delta Flyer.
PLANETSIDE...
On the surface of the planet the members of the away team reached the location of the root accumulation about a hundred yards away from the shuttle and were quickly engrossed in digging up the gnarled bulbs to categorize them and determine their nutritional value.
The attack happened so fast that none of the men even knew what had hit them until they were all flat on the ground. Chakotay found himself face down, his body pinned to the ground by a considerable weight on his back. He felt a hand at the nape of his neck and turned his head just in time to avoid his face being ground into the earth. He reached behind him and blindly swung at the weight on his back. His fist connected with something solid and to his satisfaction he heard a grunt of pain. The weight shifted and suddenly he was roughly flipped onto his back. He blinked to clear his vision from the dirt that made his eyes water. Now the shape of the metal tip of a vicious looking spear, hovering only inches from his face, came into focus. The warrior holding it was a fierce-looking woman, lithe and muscular, with glistening green skin that matched the color of the foliage all around them perfectly.
'With that kind of camouflage they've probably been monitoring us since we landed and we never knew,' flashed through his mind as he steadily held her gaze. The woman was dressed in a leather bodice and a short leather skirt. Her long, brown hair hung in several braids over her shoulders and was adorned with feathers and small, colorful stones. Her dark eyes had a distinctly oblique shape that made her look strangely Oriental. Despite the hostile expression on her humanoid face she was quite beautiful. She held a spear with two hands, and he suddenly noticed that, directly beneath her arms, a second set of arms of the same length protruded, each holding a long dagger.
His let his eyes flicker to his left to look for the other members of his away team.
Harry, Mike and Tuvok had apparently been overpowered just as swiftly and were just pulling themselves up into sitting positions. They were surrounded by half a dozen equally fierce-looking warriors, all armed; and all were women.
"Hold phasers," Chakotay told them, somewhat unnecessarily, for his crew knew not to make any moves that could be interpreted as hostile by the women.
He turned his gaze back to the warrior towering over him and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could address her, a shout came from his left and he turned to see two of the warriors pulling Tuvok up and jabbing their spears and daggers at him.
"Hey, hey, he did nothing to provoke you!" Chakotay shouted at the women.
He turned back to his captor. "This is a member of my crew, and we are here on a peaceful mission of exploration…"
"He is a Sahni, and he is trespassing on our territory. He will be punished!" the woman snarled, cast a murderous look at Tuvok, but nevertheless barked an order at her warriors who reluctantly ceased their prodding. Chakotay frowned in confusion and put up his hands. "You are mistaken. He is of a race called Vulcans, and his homeworld is far from yours. They are a peaceful people, as are we. And if we have indeed trespassed, we did so unknowingly."
The woman's response was to bring her spear a little closer towards his face and glowered at him. "Peaceful? None of you People From The Sky are peaceful. You might look different from the people of our legends, but you are all the same. And we will protect what is ours."
With a wave of her spear she motioned Chakotay to stand. Mike and Harry did likewise. Swiftly, the women warriors took the away team's phasers and tricorders. Chakotay made another attempt at communication. "Please, I'd like to speak to the leader of your tribe. I can explain our presence here."
Chakotay was a tall man, but his female captor was at eye level with him as she moved closer and growled in his face. "Oh, you will. Indeed you will."
THE VILLAGE...
The band of warriors took their prisoners on a relentless march through the jungle, stopping only once for a brief rest by a picturesque waterfall when Harry Kim simply lacked the strength to get back up again after stumbling over a root. The women thwarted any communication between the crewmembers, but the four men needed all of their energies to keep up with the warriors' brisk pace anyways. Their captors neither asked them any questions nor did they answer any. Chakotay supposed that this would come later, after they reached their final destination.
That finally happened several hours later when the thick underbrush suddenly gave way to reveal a wide valley that had been cleared of any trees. At least a dozen fields with crops in various stages of harvest were scattered around the valley floor. On top of a large hill on the far side rose an enormous, wooden fortress, completely surrounded by a deep moat that was fed by a swift stream. Watchtowers were set up in all four corners of the bastion and a high, formidable looking wall of thick tree trunks encircled it all. The warriors took them towards the fortress. As they passed the fields, Chakotay saw several dozen men tending the crops, closely watched by more armed females. The men wore only short kilts and sandals, and their dark brown skins glistened with sweat. Chakotay remembered the words of the leader of their captors when she first saw Tuvok.
'He is a Sahni.' These mens' skin color was the exact shade of Tuvok's. And these Sahni were obviously servants or prisoners of the women. He now understood why they had reacted with such hostility towards Tuvok. He exchanged a glance with the Vulcan, who had obviously come to the same conclusion.
They crossed the bridge over the moat and entered the fortress.
Once inside, Chakotay realized that his first assumption had been wrong; this was no fortress, there was an entire village within those walls. Dozens of houses, huts and other buildings lined up on either side of them, but the largest structure towered a few yards ahead of them, just beyond the central square. It was a three-story stone mansion with elaborate balconies and a large, covered patio that ran along the entire front of the house. Half a dozen intricately carved wooden pillars held up the overhang. The brown-haired leader headed straight for it. Chakotay, Tuvok, Harry and Mike had no choice but to follow. When they had reached the porch, the woman turned to them.
"Wait here," she instructed them, pointing to a wooden bench. Then she went through the front door without another glance. Under the watchful eyes of two guards the exhausted officers slumped onto the bench in the shadow of the patio. Moments later a man with a tray appeared in the doorway. His skin was green like that of the women. He was dressed better than the men from the fields, but his demeanor was just as subdued. He regarded them curiously as he handed them bowls of water, but made no attempt at communication.
The four men drank greedily until another female guard stepped through the door.
"The Queen wishes to inspect you," she said, motioning them to their feet.
She led them through an enormous entrance hall and towards a massive, ornately carved wooden door. "You men will bow your heads until Queen Loor addresses you," she told them sternly before she pushed open the door.
Queen Loor was seated before a roaring stone fireplace on a large, high-backed chair draped with thick, furry animal hides. A woman of powerful visage, she sat with her legs crossed, two of her forearms lying along the arms of her chair, the other two folded across her stomach. Although clearly middle-aged, her body was as lean and muscular as that of the leader of their captors, who now stood motionless to the right of her Queen's throne. From the look on her face, the older woman had doubtlessly received a complete report from her warrior while Chakotay and his crew had waited outside.
There was an almost tangible aura of authority around her, and when she rose from her chair to approach them she did so with the graceful and confident movements of a woman descended from a long line of nobility. Her floor-length robe rustled softly as she circled the little group, looking them up and down with an openly curious look in her onyx eyes. When her gaze fell upon Harry Kim, she stopped and reached out, turning his face towards her.
His almond-shaped eyes, so much like her own, seemed to puzzle her, for she studied his face intensively for some time. Then she moved on to stand before them once again.
"Who speaks for you?" she asked in an imperious voice.
Chakotay lifted his head. "I do," he replied, looking directly at her.
"I am disturbed by your presence here," she said harshly and without preamble. "The peace of my entire tribe has been compromised by you."
Chakotay was starting to get used to the unfriendly demeanor of these women, but he was also getting tired of being treated with such hostility. He took an exasperated breath before he calmly replied, "Those were not our intentions. I have tried to explain our presence to your warriors, but to no avail." He cast a glance at the brown-haired woman next to the Queen's throne who returned his gaze with a scowl.
"It is me you need to explain yourselves to!" Queen Loor snapped. Her eyes traveled over him once more, taking in his uniform and features which were doubtlessly completely alien to her. Then she abruptly turned and strode back to her throne.
"People From The Sky are not welcome here," she stated firmly after she had sat back down.
Chakotay took one step forward. "Then accept our apologies for the intrusion and let us go, so we can return to our ship and move on."
The Queen's eyes blazed. "So you can come back with more of your people and attack us! How weak of mind do you think I am?"
Sensing her dangerous mood, Chakotay swallowed his pride and bowed his head to her. "Your majesty, I speak the truth when I tell you that this is our first visit to your world. We are not familiar with your customs or traditions, and we were also not aware that there is obviously some existing hostility between your people and other…People From The Sky."
This seemed to appease the Queen, for her face relaxed slowly and she leaned forward in her chair. "Very well, I will forgive your insolence this one time. But you will learn to properly conduct yourselves from now on, or any disobedience will be severely punished."
She exchanged a glance with her warrior, before she continued.
"Let me fill you in on some of our history.
"Many seasons ago," she began, "during the early years of my mother's reign, People From The Sky arrived on the Sahni continent across the water. They were all men. My mother's rival, the Sahni queen Seratani, practically welcomed them with open arms, thinking she could forge an alliance with them to help her destroy my mother's army."
Queen Loor smirked. "She was a fool. It did not take long until the strangers turned against her. They had the audacity to demand from her that all the slaves and servants be given their freedom." The Queen and her warrior shook their heads in unison, as if this was the craziest thing they had ever heard. "Seratani refused, of course," she continued, "and the strangers almost exterminated the Sahni with their superior weapons before the warriors managed to overpower and kill them."
To emphasize her words, Queen Loor picked up one of the away team's phasers from the table beside her. "Weapons such as these."
Chakotay started to speak, but she cut him off with a sharp hand gesture. "I am not interested in hearing any of your excuses. The strangers had also used sweet words to worm their way into Seratani's confidence, and as long as I am alive there will be no repeat of the tragedy that befell the Sahni. They are our enemies, and if they are to be slaughtered, it will be by us."
Chakotay shook his head. "I can assure you that we have no such notions. We are travelers and have merely stopped on your world to replenish our food supplies."
He tapped his chest. "I am Commander Chakotay of the Federation Starship Voyager, and…"
The Queen interrupted him with another impatient swipe of her hand. "I do not care to know your name, or where you come from," she snapped. "Once you have proven your worth within the slave community then I will name you."
Chakotay cast her an incredulous look. "Slave community?"
With a smirk the Queen waved to her guards. "Show them to their new home."
THE SLAVE QUARTERS...
The slave's longhouse was an enormous building that ran along the entire length of the southern wall. Chakotay estimated it to be at least 150 meters long.
"Spirits, how many slaves do they have?" he thought bleakly when he recognized it for what it was. Thin curls of smoke rose from several circular openings of the slanted thatch roof. It was constructed out of sturdy logs, which seemed to be the predominant building material for most other buildings within the village as well. Their guards led them to the larger one of the two entrances, both of which were guarded by two heavily armed warriors. With her spear, the lead guard motioned them inside and shut the door behind them. It was murky inside. The only illumination came from the flickering flames of several cooking fires, and the air was heavy with the scents of unfamiliar food, wood smoke, and the dried sweat of many men.
The away team found themselves the focus of multitudinous pairs of eyes. All conversation stopped, all motion ceased as hundreds of brown-skinned, four-armed men of all ages turned to stare at the newcomers. Chakotay kept his face neutral, but his eyes scanned the expressions all around him, looking for any sign of hostility. He saw, instead, a myriad of unexpected emotions; astonishment, confusion, wonder, fear.
Suddenly there was movement to his left and several of the slaves stepped aside to reveal a thin, balding man, his face lined with age. All four of his hands were curled around a sturdy walking stick. He detached himself from the throng and slowly approached them.
"You are People From The Sky, aren't you?" he asked cautiously, peering up at Chakotay. His voice was as raspy as sandpaper. It was impossible to judge his age.
"That's what the women have been calling us, yes." Chakotay replied.
He pointed to himself. "My name is Chakotay," he said, "and these are my crew members; Tuvok, Mike Ayala, Harry Kim."
"The Queen has named you already?" The old man blinked in surprise.
Chakotay shook his head. "No. These are the names we have carried since birth."
His words were met with shocked exclamations from the slaves around them. Eyes widened in wonder and the expressions on many faces were that of utter astonishment.
The old man recovered first. "This is unheard of," he exclaimed, shaking his head. "This only happens to servants who have never been slaves."
He noticed the puzzled expression on the four strangers' faces. "Your home must be far from our world."
"You have no idea." Chakotay muttered before he formally addressed the man he sensed to be the leader of the slave community. "You are right, we are far from our home, and we came here to find food and water when we were attacked and taken captive by the warriors of this tribe."
The old man grunted. "You are an important capture for the Sultaar warriors. It has been a very long time since People From The Sky last visited our world. And that was not a pleasant visit." He reached out, touched Chakotay's arm lightly and steered him towards a burning pile of wood surrounded by circle of stones. When they were all seated around the fire the old man looked at Chakotay. "The Queen has named me Kiar, and I will answer your questions."
Chakotay nodded his thanks. He was intensely aware of the silent stares of the crowd of slaves all around him. "It's true that we know nothing of your society here."
"The first thing you need to know is that, no matter where you came from, you are now the property of Queen Loor of Sultaar," the old slave said solemnly.
"Property?" Mike Ayala cried with an incredulous look. "Wait a minute. We are no one's property."
"You are now, my friend." Kiar's expression was grave. "We are all spoils of war, and the Sahni and the Sultaar have been at perpetual war with each other as long as anyone can remember." Dozens of heads nodded in confirmation of his words.
"Then, a few seasons ago, a battle unlike any other took place on the shores of Sahni. The warriors fought each other for five sunrises without pause, but in the end a stalemate had to be admitted, for each side had lost too many warriors and slaves. Most of the Sahni you see here were captured during that battle and have been slaves to the women of Sultaar ever since."
He said this with no trace of malice in his voice and Chakotay realized with a start that this man didn't know any other life.
Kiar regarded the four men across from him thoughtfully. "I see from the expression on your face that you are unaware of the way of life on our world. Please, let me explain…
"Since the beginning of time, or so it seems, all males, whether they be Sahni or Sultaar, have been ruled by women. We have only two stations in life: To be either servants or slaves." More heads bobbed, and murmurs of agreement could be heard.
"Take me for instance," the old man continued. "In my home village on the Sahni continent I was a servant, as was every man there. But I was also a weaver. Most servants are craftsmen of some kind; cooks, potters, weavers, tanners and so forth. But there, only Sahni men can be servants, whereas all Sultaari men will never be anything else but slaves, used only for the hardest and most demeaning of work. Every now and then a Sahni woman might take a Sultaari slave to her bed for pleasure, but these are exceptional cases, for usually this honor is only bestowed upon lucky Sahni servants."
He emphasized his words with a vigorous nod, "Oh yes, to be a giver of pleasure is a much sought-after position indeed, for it has many privileges. A man with the necessary skills, and lucky enough to attract the attention of a high-ranking warrior, is most envied among us."
Only Tuvok remained expressionless, the three Humans exchanged incredulous looks. "That's the way it has always been and will always be," Kiar said matter-of-factly. "As you can see it works the same way on this, the Sultaari continent of our world, just the other way round."
Suddenly Kiar changed the subject. "My friends, do you know who the woman is who has brought you here?"
Chakotay shook his head. "She never saw it fit to introduce herself to us."
Kiar smiled and his eyes almost disappeared into the ancient wrinkles of his face.
"You have been seized by the mighty Niukia, second daughter of Queen Loor, and the successor to the throne since the first daughter perished in the Great Battle. And if she chooses you to be the one to pleasure her tonight, you would do well to recognize this honor and prepare yourself for it." He was now looking straight at Commander Chakotay.
"I have no intention of being her bedmate," Chakotay growled.
Kiar shook his head. "You have no saying in this matter," he said casually, "she will take you, whether you are willing or not."
"We shall see about that," Chakotay said tightly.
Kiar's face had taken on a troubled expression. "You cannot defy her. It's just not done."
Chakotay leaned forward, closer to the old slave, but spoke loud enough for everyone else to hear. "Where we come from, suppression such as this here does not exist. Men and women are equal to each other, and are free to make their own choices. There is no superior gender, no separation of the sexes. Men and women share friendships, marry, raise families, work side by side with each other…" he was interrupted by exclamations of disbelief from all around him.
Even Kiar's eyes were bulging with skepticism, and not a little fear. "Sacrilege!" he cried, "Blasphemy. How can something like this exist?" He looked around, as if searching for something. "If they hear you speak like this you will not live to see another day…"
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps drawing closer. Two Sultaari warriors were approaching their circle with determined strides. The other slaves scrambled out of their way and Chakotay tensed as he lifted his head to meet their eyes. One of the women glared at Kiar. "What is all this talking about? What are you telling them, old man? What are they telling you?"
Kiar bowed and submissively held two of his hands up to the warriors. "Please, we are merely trying to teach these strangers about the enlightened ways of our world to help them adapt better to their fate."
The woman chuckled humorlessly. "What is there to teach? They will obey, or they will die. That is all they need to know." She pointed to Chakotay and Harry. "Follow me. You have been summoned by our most revered Queen and her daughter."
ACT OF DEFIANCE...
They were taken to another structure; this one was built out of quarried stone and obviously served as a bathhouse. Several torches lighted the inside, and the heat radiating from a large stone hearth was stifling. Two large kettles hung over the fire, and in the flickering light Chakotay could see half a dozen stone basins cut into the floor before them. One of them was filled with steaming water. Then, under the watchful eye of their armed guards, a silent slave bid them by way of hand gestures to take off their uniforms. Harry gave Chakotay an uncomfortable look, but the commander shrugged. "The way things have been going so far, you will either take a bath or they will make you take one." He reached down to pull off his boots. With a last glance at the guards Harry followed suit. When the two men were naked, the slave motioned them to enter the pool. The water was hot, but not scalding, and scented with an aromatic herb. Chakotay immersed himself up to his neck, and the slave slowly poured more water over his head, and then proceeded to rub his wet hair with the same sweet-smelling leaves before following the same procedure with Harry, who shared the commander's basin. The eerie silence, in which all this took place, unsettled the young ensign. When the slave turned to fetch something from the back of the bathhouse, Harry whispered, "What do you think is going to happen, Commander?"
"I'm not sure, Harry." Chakotay replied, even though from the look in his eyes he seemed to have a pretty good idea. They both remembered the old slave's words regarding the women's requests for pleasure.
The silent slave returned with two bundles, which he unwound to reveal two lengths of cloth made out of a coarse linen-like material. He motioned the two men out of the pool and wrapped one of the cloths twice around Chakotay's naked waist. The material reached to just above the commander's knees. The slave then tied the kilt with a leather cord. A pair of rough leather sandals, slightly too small, made up the rest of the clothing.
When they were dressed, Harry looked between him and his first officer.
"Throw in an 'Eye of Horus' amulet and we could pass for ancient Egyptians," he remarked wryly.
"Speaking of amulets..." Chakotay reached for his discarded uniform and removed his combadge. He asked the slave for another leather cord, then looped that through the Starfleet insignia and tied it around his neck. "Can't think of any other place to put it," he said with a crooked grin at Kim's puzzled look. He motioned for Harry to do the same.
"Try not to let them take your combadge. We need the universal translator, plus Voyager will have a better chance of finding us through them." Chakotay said.
The guards took them to the manor house. Inside, however, two females took Harry down the corridor towards the Queen's chambers, whereas Chakotay was hustled up a stairway to the second floor. One of his guards pushed open a large set of double doors and motioned him to enter. Inside, he found himself in a large chamber that was sparsely, yet elegantly furnished. Across from the stone fireplace was the bed, the largest piece of furniture in the room, piled high with furs. Several tapestries depicting hunting scenes and festivities adorned the walls and on the floor lay half a dozen colorfully woven rugs. A bedside table, two large, exquisitely carved chests and a sturdy table with two chairs made up the rest of the furnishings.
The brown-haired warrior Kiar had called Niukia stood before the open window, gazing out at something.
Niukia's demeanor, as well as her clothing, had changed. While in the jungle, she had been the fierce warrior and hunter; now there was an air of regality around her. In place of her leather bodice and skirt she now wore a tunic-like dress of dark blue. The silky material fell down to her calves and hugged her body tightly, accentuating every curve underneath. She wore her hair loose and unadorned, the luscious strands falling softly about her shoulders. She turned and openly regarded his near-naked body for a while before she spoke.
"The slaves have probably already told you who I am, but I will tell you again, just to make sure you understand," she said authoritatively. "I am Niukia, daughter of Queen Loor, and First General of her army of Sultaar."
Chakotay looked at her unimpressed.
Annoyed that her introduction did not have its desired effect, Niukia crossed the room with quick strides until she stood right in front of him. Now her gaze fell onto the combadge around his neck and she wrapped her slender fingers around it.
"Who allowed you to wear this ornament?"
"It's a necessity, not a decoration," Chakotay spoke for the first time. "This device allows me to understand your language. Without it, we cannot communicate." His hand came up to clasp her wrist before she could rip the combadge from around his neck. Niukia's oblique eyes narrowed even more at this unexpected move and in return she gripped his wrist with her second hand. Their eyes locked in an unspoken challenge as she pulled on the Starfleet insignia, while he pulled in the opposite direction. The tug-of-war went on for several seconds, and Chakotay grudgingly had to admire this woman's strength. Suddenly he heard the hurried footsteps of the two guards behind him coming to their mistress' aid. Niukia's mouth split into a grin and she held up her hand. "No. Leave us," she commanded her warriors. Then her gaze fell back on him.
"Do not think for a minute that I need my guards in order to handle you." She opened her palm and released the combadge. Likewise, Chakotay let go of her wrist. He could see the marks of his fingers around her wrist, yet the Queen's daughter made no move to rub it. Instead she looked at him, the expression of faint amusement still on her face.
"You've got spirit. Very uncommon in a male."
"Not where I come from." Chakotay replied.
Niukia ignored his remark and instead pointed casually towards the bed. "I will enjoy being pleasured by you. Get undressed and lie down."
Chakotay did not move.
Now the warrior's amusement turned to anger and she once again gripped the combadge. "Did you not hear me, or is there something wrong with your device?"
Chakotay's eyes bore into hers. "My communicator works just fine. But I will not be forced by you or anyone to act against my will."
For a moment Niukia simply stared at him, stunned at his defiance.
"I'm not used to disobedience," she growled and for a moment it seemed as if she was going to attack him. But then her face softened suddenly.
"I must remind myself once again that you are not yet familiar with our ways," she said, "so I will be patient with you tonight." With that she walked towards the double doors of her chamber and exchanged a few murmured words with the guard in the hallway.
Only moments later the doors opened again and a male slave entered, carrying a tray with several bowls on it, which he quickly arranged on the dining table. Fragrant aromas wafted through the air. Niukia eased herself into a chair and motioned for Chakotay to take the seat across from her. He hesitated, not sure what to make of this sudden change of mood, but the various scents of the food made him realize how hungry he was. Niukia was already serving herself from the bowls, piling grilled meats and roasted vegetables onto her plate, which she ate with her fingers. When he was seated she nodded to him to help himself, and for a while they ate in silence.
There were three different types of tasty vegetables, all heavily seasoned with the same kind of spice. They were too tangy for his taste, but he was too hungry and distracted by the woman across from him to care. Niukia watched him eat with an expression he couldn't quite place.
The hot spices were making him thirsty, but when he looked around the table he realized for the first time that the slave had not brought any beverages. Seeing his searching look Niukia suddenly clapped her hands, and immediately the two guards re-appeared in her chamber, hoisting him out of the chair. The daughter of the Queen rose as well. "This audience is over, but we will meet again," she said with a sly smile, "sooner than you think."
The guards grabbed his arms and a dark sense of foreboding crept over Chakotay.
His eyes narrowed. "What kind of game are you playing here?"
Niukia was still smiling. "Oh, this is no game, I can assure you of that."
She dismissed him with a wave of her hand and Chakotay was pulled out of the room. But after they exited the mansion, the guards took him towards the central square instead of the slave quarters. In the middle of the square stood a whipping post, and next to it was a small cage, constructed out of thick, sturdy bamboo poles. One rough shove, and Chakotay was locked inside. He crouched in the darkness, for the cage was too low for him to stand upright.
The fierce heat of the spices was burning his throat and his thirst increased by the minute. In his mind he heard Niukia's words once again. 'I'm not used to disobedience.'
The sudden realization of her intentions shot through him like a jolt of electricity. He had refused to obey her orders. Now she was making sure that she wouldn't be resisted again.
She was going to break his will though thirst.
HARRY...
Harry Kim was nervous.
For the dozenth time his eyes flickered back to the closed, ornate doors that led to the Queen's private quarters. He didn't know how long he had been waiting in this small antechamber, but his nervousness had only increased with the passage of time. There was not much in this room to distract him, either, as he sat on one of the few stools and once again looked over the few tapestries adorning the wall. He wondered how Chakotay was faring, when suddenly the doors opened and a green-skinned servant entered. He addressed Harry in a demure voice. "The Queen wishes to see you now."
Harry rose, and for a moment the two men studied each other wordlessly. Sensing the stranger's uneasiness, the servant leaned closer towards him. "Since this is your first pleasure audience with the Queen, it is quite safe to assume that you will not be asked to perform the honorable duty of copulation tonight, so try to relax," he said quietly.
Harry felt himself blushing at the servant's words and looked away. "But if she doesn't want me to do that, then what…?" he murmured.
"Well, you have hands and a tongue. I'm sure you can think of a few ways…"
The servant grinned when he saw Harry's cheeks flush even darker. He nodded towards the door. "Come, you mustn't let her majesty wait."
Harry crossed the threshold and found himself in a spacious room with a domed ceiling and arched windows. It was richly furnished with tables and chairs of polished wood, an enormous bed covered with shimmering silky sheets, and an assortment of lounge chairs, ottomans and divans draped in a variety of furs and silks. Queen Loor reclined leisurely on one of those divans, and from her vantage point her eyes traveled openly over his scantily clad body. Despite the crackling hearth a chill ran down Harry's bare back. He felt like a piece of meat being inspected by the butcher as he stood tensely before her.
"You really are a strange-looking people," she said sincerely. "But your eyes are beautiful. Come closer."
She waved to the green-skinned servant.
The servant approached them carrying a tray with two goblets. The Queen handed one to Harry. "We call this beverage 'Karach'. It is made from fermented Kara berries and aged for at least two seasons." She took a sip, relishing the flavor.
"It heightens my senses for the pleasures of the flesh."
Queen Loor motioned for him to drink. "I am allowing you a cup, because it may help you to better perform your duties to me."
Harry made no move. "I'd rather have strawberries with my champagne," he replied dryly. Next to him the servant blanched visibly and his tray started to shake slightly.
The Queen very much comprehended the implications of his words. Her body stiffened and she virtually impaled the young officer with her glare. "For your impertinence I should let you hang by your feet from a branch of the tree in the central square."
She inclined her head slightly, and faster than Harry could blink, her two guards were on him. One of them yanked his arms behind his back. The cup fell to the floor, spilling its contents. The second guard put two of her hands on his chest and started to play with his nipples while, at the same time, her third hand reached under his kilt. Harry swallowed hard as her thumb drew lazy circles around the tip of his manhood, and against his will he felt himself stir.
All the while the Queen was watching his face with a bemused expression.
Harry felt like he was standing in the midst of his own dream. The entire situation had such a surreal quality to it that he was sure he would wake up at any moment. He pressed his eyes shut. 'This is not happening to me,' he thought, but when he opened his eyes again, the Queen was still lounging before him, plus the two hands rubbing his nipples and the third hand stroking him under his kilt felt far too real to be a dream. Harry began to perspire. When the Queen saw that she rose from her divan and moved towards him with feline litheness. Standing very close to him, she inhaled deeply.
"Your scent," she whispered. "So different, so unfamiliar." Her mouth curled into a predatory smile. "I like it."
Her eyes traveled downwards where Harry's member was now standing at attention in all its stiff glory.
"Impressive," she said with glinting eyes. "But I'm afraid that the time for that has not yet come. You must first prove to me how skilled you are with your tongue."
She turned back towards her divan. En route she let her robe slide from her shoulders and down her body. Naked, she laid back onto the divan with one foot on the floor, the other propped up on the leg-rest. She was completely unperturbed by her little audience; in fact, she seemed to enjoy the attention she commanded from her guards and her servant, who were all watching her with a reverence normally reserved only for a deity.
Another nod of her head, and the guards released their grips on Harry.
"Come here," she said huskily while she repositioned herself slightly. Harry felt a cold shiver of dread run through him.
Although he was acutely aware of the looming presence of the guards behind him, he did not move.
The Queen's eyes narrowed until they were mere slits, and when she spoke, she did so with icy authority. "I am giving you a choice; you can either get over here of your own accord and pleasure me, or you can be brought here by my guards with your hands tied behind your back, your head held in place between my thighs, and my servant's rod up your back hole."
She smiled cruelly as Harry's expression changed to horror. When her words finally registered as images in the young ensign's head, he was paralyzed with shock. A moment later the Queen casually signaled the green-skinned servant, who immediately put down his serving tray and began to untie his tunic. This moved Harry out of his momentary stupor and he took a deep breath. "Wait." He closed his eyes, trying to mentally brace himself for what was to come. "All right, you made your point."
The Queen grinned. "Glad to see that we now understand each other."
Slowly, Harry approached the reclining woman and knelt between her legs.
The last thing he saw before he lowered his head was Queen Loor's fervid face.
AFTERWARDS...
It was very late into the night when Harry was escorted back to the slaves' quarters. Almost everyone inside was asleep, but Mike Ayala was concerned about Chakotay and Harry, and was therefore still awake when the young man eased himself onto the sleeping pallet next to him. The look of misery on Kim's face disturbed Mike even more than his absence had. He handed Harry one of the extra blankets Kiar had given him earlier when the bedding had been dispersed among the slaves.
"Harry, what happened? Where is Chakotay?" he whispered. "Are you all right?"
But Harry just turned his back to Mike, curled himself into a ball on the pallet, and wordlessly pulled the blanket over his head.
CHAKOTAY...
When dawn broke over the Sultaar village, Chakotay was raging with thirst. By mid-afternoon he was delirious. The tropical sun bore down on him without mercy as he lay on the dirt floor, completely unprotected from its fierce rays.
His tongue was so swollen it seemed to fill his whole mouth, and much as he willed himself to, he couldn't get the thought of water out of his mind. A few times he actually thought he heard water rushing, but saw nothing when he turned to look for the source of the noise. On the other side of the central square, a group of men were working on splitting logs, and one of them was taking a drink from a water bucket.
Chakotay quickly looked away.
The sun was just starting to sink when a group of slaves returned from a day of working in the fields. Mike Ayala was among them, forcing his dead tired feet to move across the central square, when he happened to spot movement in the bamboo cage next to the whipping post. He looked closer.
"Chakotay!" Ayala recognized the slumped form inside the cage and was already running towards him before his guards could react. He dropped to his knees and reached between the thick poles, shaking the semi-conscious figure of his commander.
"Chakotay, what happened? Are you ok?" His eyes traveled quickly over his first officer's body, but he saw neither blood nor any other indications of injuries. Yet he could see from the expression on the older man's face that he was clearly in some kind of agony.
Chakotay's delirious, sunken eyes were unfocused. He made a garbled exclamation that sounded like 'Kathryn' to Mike, but before he could respond, several hands grabbed the lieutenant's hair and neck, and he was pulled to his feet. A burly female guard yanked him backwards and slammed him against the wall of the nearest building with such force that his head bounced off the stones. She grabbed his wrists with two of her hands while the other two went around his throat and between his legs, gripping his testicles with the strength of a steel vise. The pain was excruciating, making his eyes water. He was pinned to the wall like a helpless insect, and the guard hissed in his face. "Step out of line without permission one more time and your blood will drip from these walls, slave. Understood?" She emphasized her threat with another squeeze of his genitals, grinning at the look of pain on his face. With her other hand still firmly wrapped around his throat, Mike could only manage a weak nod. She released him with a grunt and shoved him towards the direction of the slave quarters. Mike cast another quick look at the bamboo cage, but he could not make out his commander's features anymore.
From the shaded porch of her mother's mansion, Niukia witnessed the commotion in the square with an amused expression on her face. What was it with those Men From The Sky?
She grabbed the jug of water next to her and walked slowly towards the bamboo cage, relishing what was to come. The Man From The Sky stirred as she unlocked the cage door and crouched beside him. Niukia dribbled some water from the jug onto his face to get his attention. His cracked lips opened and she slowly poured a bit of the cool liquid into his mouth. The stranger tried to swallow, but his swollen tongue was in the way and he erupted into a coughing fit. "Slowly," she coaxed him. "Only a little at a time, or you will choke." Patiently she kept on feeding him little gulps of water and bathing his hot face in between her ministrations.
After a while the stranger's eye became clearer and focused on her. He remained silent, but she knew he recognized her. Her beautiful face split into a smile that never reached her eyes. "Now we will continue where we left off last night. I believe that you have had enough time to contemplate your situation, don't you think?"
Not waiting for an answer, she rose and exited the cage. Outside, she handed the jug to a guard. "Give him some more water, then clean him up and bring him back to my quarters."
With that she turned and strode back towards the mansion.
Less than two hours later, a re-dressed and freshly bathed Chakotay was escorted back to the quarters of the Queen's daughter.
Still weak from his ordeal, but with his head held high he stood before her dining table where Niukia reclined in her chair, nibbling on a piece of fruit.
"So, how did you enjoy your stay in the cage?" she said mockingly.
When he did not reply she continued lightheartedly, "This could turn into your permanent quarters, you know. If you choose to remain so contumacious."
He looked down at her. "I have no desire for any relations with you."
"Still defiant, I see." She leaned back in her chair.
"Tell me," she asked innocently, "aren't you the leader of your little team?"
It was a rhetorical question; she had been right there when the Queen had questioned them the day before. Chakotay suspected where she was going with this, and a clump of ice started to form in his gut.
"And as their leader, you are responsible for the well-being of your group."
Her posture was relaxed, her tone almost conversational. "I think that you will obey me for the sake of the lives of your men."
By now Chakotay's heart was pounding, and he clenched his fists to suppress the blazing fury in his chest. Niukia took a sip from her goblet before she continued, her voice casual, as if she was discussing the weather. "Do you remember the waterfall where we rested on the way here? Yes? Then you will recall the scaffolding in the water."
Chakotay remembered indeed. He had been curious about the wooden structure standing in the middle of the large pond at the base of the waterfall. It wasn't really a scaffolding, merely two thick wooden poles rising about four feet out of the water, with a sturdy crossbeam connecting them.
Niukia took an oblong pink fruit from the bowl in front of her and started to peel it slowly. "The pond is inhabited by hundreds of Demon Fish. Their teeth will rip the skin off a man faster than I can peel this fruit." She looked at Chakotay intently. "They have a taste for blood and they are always hungry."
She took a bite from the fruit before she continued. "I think the Sahni-skinned one will be the first. Once he is strung up by his feet and lowered into the water, it will be an amazing sight to see the water boil around him as the fish clean the flesh off his skull."
Chakotay clenched his jaws at her nonchalant description of this hideous torture.
He glared across the table, his eyes throwing daggers at her. She seemed unperturbed by the murderous expression on his face.
Then he lowered his head, thinking. After some contemplation he hissed, "You will not harm them if..?"
"Please me, and they will live."
"Do I have your word?"
Niukia's eyes narrowed. "Nobody has ever dared to question my word," she exclaimed hotly. Chakotay just continued to glare at her in silence.
"Fine. You have my word." She inclined her head towards her bedstead.
"Now get on the bed."
Chakotay glanced at the bedstead and took a deep breath. I'm so sorry, Kathryn!
UNDER PRESSURE...
Niukia felt the sweet drowsiness of complete satisfaction creep over her. Moments ago she had collapsed on the bed next to Chakotay, utterly spent. The muscles of her inner thighs were still quivering in the aftermath of one of the most powerful climaxes she had ever experienced.
After she had given him her word, he had quietly walked towards her bedstead, removed his kilt and laid onto his back on the bed. She had followed him, shrugging out of her dress along the way, throwing it aside without a glance. She looked down onto the alien stranger stretched out before her. In matters of sex Niukia normally preferred the company of her female peers, but this male was certainly worth looking at. He was taller and more muscled than any male servant or slave she had ever used. His manhood was of impressive proportions, even in its current limp state. He lay in quiet dignity, staring at the ceiling, letting her examine his body. Looking at him, she felt the stirrings of excitement spread through her body. In one swift motion she straddled his chest.
It gave Chakotay a glint of satisfaction to see the large, purple bruise just above her hip bone, where his fist had hit its mark during the initial attack in the jungle.
Niukia brought her face close to his. "You will use only your tongue on me. Bite me, or do anything rash, and you will watch every one of your men die before it's your turn."
One of her hands reached out and brought Chakotay's head close to her sex. Her mound was completely hairless, and Chakotay could smell the musky scent of her arousal.
"Now pleasure me," she said huskily.
Chakotay had complied.
Now he lay next to her, motionless. She knew he was waiting for further instructions from her, but she didn't have any. She was sated for now. Besides, she mused with a sly grin, there is tomorrow, and the next day, and the next…
"You may go now," she mumbled sleepily and watched him with half-closed eyes as he swung his legs off the bed, re-wrapped the kilt around his waist and walked towards the door without once looking at her. There was a profound dignity around him, an aura of pride and strength, as he let the guards lead him out of her chamber. Niukia knew she should have felt triumphant at having bent this man to her will, but instead she felt an inexplicable sense of kinship. Why? she wondered.
The answer struck her out of nowhere. This man is a warrior among his people, she thought, maybe even…equal to me?
Men as warriors; what an absurd idea!
She knew she should report this thought to her mother, but she was too drowsy to move.
LATER...
The next day Niukia strolled through the village towards the site where the slaves were busy erecting an addition to the village's crop depository. The time of the harvest was near and the fields were abundant with grain and vegetables.
They would eat well this winter.
Chakotay and the other three men of his crew were amongst the workers. She watched them as they sat in the shade of the depository, taking a short break from their work. Chakotay and the young male her mother had picked as her toy were sitting next to each other, talking quietly. Actually it was Chakotay who did most of the talking, the younger man only nodding here and there, but when their guards called them back to work and their short conversation ended, the almond-eyed one's obvious air of despondency seemed to have lifted somewhat.
The Sahni-skinned male seemed to be the one with the most stamina for physical work. The other three were already showing signs of weariness after only two days of hard labor. The almond-eyed one looked especially exhausted, she thought with a grin, for she knew that he had been summoned to her mother's quarters once more. Just as she had called Chakotay back into her bed last night. He continued to perform his duties to her complete satisfaction, but he was as silent and indifferent as he had been the first time. He spoke to her only once; it had been last night after she had addressed him with 'You may leave now, slave.'
He had turned to her and said in his deep, dignified voice, 'Chakotay. My name is Chakotay.' Then he had left without any further comment.
Now she watched him as he and the Sahni-skinned one strained to heave a large beam over their heads to pass it on to two slaves on the scaffolding above them. His muscles were bulging with the effort and the sweat was dripping from his head. She moved closer until she stood almost next to him. Chakotay ignored her.
Suddenly his hand slipped and he lost his grip on the log. The heavy piece of wood came falling towards him, but Niukia reacted with lightening speed. She grabbed the log with all four of her hands and heaved with all her might. The beam came to a halt a centimeter above Chakotay's head. The next moment he had re-established his grip on the log and together they stemmed it upwards into the hands of the waiting slaves.
Once free of the log, Chakotay peered at her. "Thank you," he said quietly.
Niukia nodded curtly, returning his gaze with a soft expression before her demeanor changed and she was again the dominant warrior.
She looked over the four men. "I came to tell you that tomorrow you will be joining the work crew going up the South Mountain for the tea leaf harvest. You will leave at first light, for the ascend is long and steep. Rest well tonight; you will need your strength in the morning." She turned to leave but stopped before Chakotay.
"Not you, though," she said with a slight grin. "You are needed here."
That evening, during a meager evening meal, the Voyager crew members moved to a corner of the slave quarters.
"This trip tomorrow would be our chance for an escape attempt." Chakotay said.
Tuvok looked thoughtful. "I agree," he said, "however, I believe that careful planning is in order, as the warriors will doubtlessly be more watchful of us out in the field than within this controlled environment."
"Right," Mike Ayala chimed in. "And we also have to take into consideration that we are going to be split up." He looked at Chakotay. "She already said that you won't be going, after all." There was no need to name names, for they all knew who he was talking about.
"And if that is the fact, then it is very likely that Harry won't be going, either." Mike cast a look at the ensign who sat quietly next to the commander. Ever since their nightly summoning to the manor house began, Harry had become more and more introverted, but the melancholy on his face spoke its own volumes. Chakotay had been trying to keep the young man's spirits up with gentle council, but so far he had had only limited success.
The others did not press Harry to participate in their conversation.
Chakotay nodded and looked at Mike and Tuvok. "Then it'll be up to you to make a break for it and somehow make it back to the shuttle."
"And it's a long way to the shuttle." Mike sighed.
Tuvok spoke up. "I have a sound recollection of the route taken from the initial point of attack in the jungle to the village. Therefore I believe that I am the one best suited to follow a reversed course…"
"You mean, we." Mike Ayala cut in.
Tuvok looked at him dispassionately. "No disrespect, Lieutenant, but you would merely slow me down. Vulcans require neither rest nor nourishment to the extent Humans do. Besides, your task would be to give me as much of a headstart as possible by keeping the guards' attention diverted."
"Tuvok is right." Chakotay concurred and looked at the Vulcan. "Of the four of us, you would have the best chance of outrunning your pursuers."
Mike was not happy with this conclusion, but he saw the logic behind it, and the away team spent the next half hour discussing various means of escape until, inevitably, two females warriors arrived in their midst to escort Chakotay and Harry once again to the royal manor house.
TEA PICKINGS...
Early the next morning, the twenty slaves selected for the tea leaf picking were assembled in the central square. Tuvok and Ayala were among them, and true to Mike's assumption, Harry and Chakotay had been ordered to stay behind.
A dozen heavily armored females made up the party's protective entourage. The slaves traveled lightly; each one carried only a water-skin, a blanket and several large, empty burlap sacks in which to gather the tea leaves.
'You will be on the mountain for about a week, and then a second party will join yours to help carry all the filled sacks back.' Kiar had told them last night during the evening meal. 'It's hard work, especially since the tea bushes have sharp thorns, but at least you'll be eating better up there than you ever will down here, because you are allowed to consume all the meat the women are able to slay.'
Mike remembered looking at his bowl of watery river snail stew, their main staple since their arrival, his mouth actually watering at the thought of grilled meat.
At the commands of several guards, the slaves hoisted their gear and lined up to leave. Chakotay and Harry watched their departure from their vantage point on the scaffolding of the depository. Chakotay exhaled heavily and sent a silent prayer up to the heavens for his crew members' safety.
TO BE CONTINUED…