This story is the first product written on my new bargin basement ten year outdated laptop. If anyone asks It's named Traveler. If you look for it on my Bro-In-Laws network it's named after a type of penguin that lives in Australia and makes a braying sound. Points if you can send me an e-mail with the name of the penguin.

I know it's not update on all the other stories I've left you hanging on before. I'm trying to work out some personal issues right now and using this site for online therapy.

Star Trek is not mine, but that never stopped me before.

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Alone In A Crowded World

by Lyda Mae (RavenDove) Jeppesen-Huff

Chapter One: The Market

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Dr. Julian Bashir felt a pressure beneath his eyes that he was certain shouldn't be there. He couldn't move and he was uncomfortably cold. He tried to open his eyes, but the world swam before him and he was forced to close them again. His hands had gone numb and as near as he could figure he was in some form of restraint. There was jolt of pain all through his body, and he opened hi eyes again to a foul breathed and slimy biped he was unfamiliar with.

"Welcome to the market of Deronge, slave." the bipedal slug said.

The wave of pain ended and Julian tried to take a closer stock of his situation. The first thing he noticed was the noise. He was in an open air market. He was strapped in an open frame that allowed him no movement whatsoever, while at the same time allowing a clear view of his naked body to all who walked by.

There were many goods for sale here, from food stuffs and fine jewelry to engine parts and exotic pets. The part of the market he was in was set aside for the sale of sentient beings. There were at least a dozen such frames as the one he stood in were within view as far as the frame allowed him to move his head. All but one of them was filled with the from of another being trapped as he was. They were male and female as well as genders Julian could not determine without a tricorder. There were also forms bearing scars and lifeless eyes sitting chained in groups.

The last thing Julian remembered before this moment was having his runabout attacked near the far edge of known Dominion space. There had been four others on the runabout with him, but the forward cabin had been breached. He'd been sealed in a lab module by a force field Then when he'd been near running out of air he'd felt a transporter take him. After that nothing, until waking up here.

He closed his eyes in a moment of self pity. What he had though would be his rescue had turned out to be his doom.

The day wore on and the sun baked his exposed skin until the touch of unwanted hands stung. When his mouth had grown parched beyond the point of madness he begged for water and was given none. When the sun fell behind a the horizon he was released from the frame and had his arms chained behind his back. He and the others who were kept in the frames were lead into a building with no windows and locked into cells with no windows. The chains on their arms were taken away and collars fitted to their necks the held them fast to the wall. Each collar had just enough chain to allow one to sit with their back to the wall or to lay on the concrete but not enough length to allow one to stand.

Julian was given a ration of water and a bowl of mush to eat. It took all of his will not to down them too fast. Other prisoners made that mistake and retched upon the floor. When the meal had ended a guard came trough the cells and washed the mess left behind down drains in the floor and collected the dishes. The lights were turned out and the slaves were left to sleep naked on the wet bare floor.

There were cramps in Julian's muscles that he could not work lose as he turned fitfully on the bare floor. The day trapped in that frame had left him stiff and prone to the ravages of the sun. His skin was burned and the lack of movement might cause blood to clot in human legs. He might not survive much more of this treatment. He had to find a way free of this place. Being sold could mean any number of possible tortures. It was in his tossing on the floor that he noticed the lump beneath his hairline. The worst horror yet was that they had obviously implanted something in his brain. Perhaps it was what had caused the wave of pain earlier. "Some form of obedience device." The idea was repugnant to Bashir, who had removed such devices from Bajorans that had survived the occupation. When sleep claimed him it was filled with nightmares.

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