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Archive name: survey.txt (MF, sci-fi, bd, slave)
Authors name: Zack (zack_writer@hotmail.com)
Story title : Field Survey

--------------------------------------------------------
This work is copyrighted to Zack © 2002.  Please don't 
remove the author information or make any changes to 
this story.  All rights reserved. Thank you for your
consideration.
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Field Survey (MF, sci-fi, bd, slave)
by Zack (zack_writer@hotmail.com)

***

The Amalgamation Survey Ship Interloper moved in a 
synchronous orbit above the only landmass on the third 
planet of star P314159264. Three young women entered the 
Captain's office, and one said, "Junior Lieutenant Erig 
and Ensigns Mahoon and Regan reporting as ordered, 
Captain." 

Captain Goda returned their salute. "At ease, ladies. 
I've summoned you because we have an important field 
survey pending, and since that unfortunate incident on 
the holodeck last night we're now short-handed. I need 
three field surveyors and you are the only ones that have 
the necessary characteristics. I really dislike sending 
you out on such short notice but I have no choice. The 
ship has other commitments and we cannot remain here 
beyond our original departure date. Fortunately, this 
survey isn't difficult or dangerous. I'll give you a 
summary of what you'll be doing, and if you need more 
details you can get them later from the net." 

"This planet, which we have designated as Gamma, is 
apparently unique in the galaxy. Like all of the other 
inhabited planets it was seeded with life by the Elder 
Ones, and like all of the other planets it lost its 
technology in the Great Crash, when every computer in the 
galaxy locked up at the same time because of a date/time 
bug in the operating system. Unlike all of the other 
known planets, which lost all civilization and descended 
into savagery, Gamma was able to maintain its social 
order.

"Exactly why they were able to do this is a question that 
will keep the xenoanthropologists busy for years, but the 
tentative theory is that the physical characteristics of 
the planet are responsible. All of the habitable land is 
in the form of one compact continent without notable 
physical barriers, and the theory is that this inhibited 
the formation of warring factions. We've gotten some good 
images of the surface, and so far we haven't found a 
trace of any ancient or modern fortifications." 

"This political and cultural uniformity is a barrier to 
field surveying, however. On other planets the surveyor 
can pose as a foreigner, so that a bad accent or 
ignorance of an important custom can be easily explained. 
Obviously, that cannot be done here. The initial field 
survey was done by Lieutenant Breg, the ship's 
Xenologist, who posed as a mentally retarded mute and 
pretended to have a job as a sweeper in a university 
library. He was able to copy books and set up listening 
posts so that the language transplant could be prepared 
and so we could determine the basics of this culture. Now 
we need to know more about the larger society." 

"This is where you come in. You three will be disguised 
as peasant girls, our substitute for the ignorant 
foreigner. Gamma's technology is at a preindustrial 
level, and as is usual in such societies most of the 
population is employed in agriculture. Subsistence 
farming is so demanding that it is normal to have a rural 
population that is unsophisticated. Also, Gamma's orbit 
is so circular and its axial tilt is so small that there 
isn't much seasonal variation and crops are grown all 
year. This means there is no winter break that might 
otherwise allow the rural inhabitants time for 
intellectual pursuits." 

"Each of you will enter a major city and will gather 
information just as a real peasant might, by walking 
around seeing the sights and asking questions. Most city 
people think that peasant girls are ignorant and naive, 
so any gaps in your knowledge will seem plausible, and 
you can ask questions that a city child of five would 
know the answers to without arousing any suspicion. 
Compared to your other field surveys this will be easy. 
You said something, Ensign Regan?" 

"I, er, I haven't been on a field survey, Captain". 

"You haven't?" The Captain motioned to Erig and Mahoon. 
"Wait outside". 

When the door had closed behind them the Captain sat down 
behind her desk and ordered, "Sit down, Ensign, while I 
look at your service record." 

The Captain typed on her keypad and looked at the screen 
that popped up out of her desk. "Let's see... Sonji 
Regan, Ensign, Star Fleet Survey Service. It says here 
that you have been on board this ship for four months and 
that this is your first Fleet posting. It also says that 
you didn't attend the Academy but instead got your 
commission through the Officer Training Program at your 
home planet university. Is this correct?" 

"Yes, Captain". 

"You have been to Field Survey School, haven't you?" 

"Yes, Captain." 

"How much experience have you had outside of the 
Amalgamation? 

"Er, none, Captain. Until I went to Field Survey School I 
had never been out of my home city." 

The Captain sighed. "Under other circumstances I wouldn't 
do this, but I have no choice, I've got to send you. 
Look, all you have to do is enter a city, ask some 
questions, and leave the city. You can do that, can't 
you?" 

Sonji sprang to her feet. "Yes, Captain! Thank you, 
Captain!" 

"Get the others. There is one thing more." 

Sonji opened the office door. When the other officers 
were inside and the door was shut again, the Captain 
said, "You all know the First Directive..." 

Sonji chirped, "Never interfere in any way, however 
minor, with the culture of a non-Amalgamation society." 

"Thank you, Ensign. Now, as I was saying, you all know 
the First Directive is often bent if it gets in the way 
of an operation..." The Captain noticed Sonji's shocked 
expression. "well, most of you know it. Don't count on 
any slack now, though. Until the stink from that fiasco 
in Sector 4 dies down we're going to have to play it by 
the book." 

"What happened, Captain?" Erig asked. 

"Well, we don't know exactly, but the result was that an 
early iron age culture somehow got tactical nuclear 
weapons. What a mess." 


"Now, you three report to the Bio-computer Lab for your 
language transplant and then go to Survey Supply for your 
costumes and equipment. The Xenologist will meet you 
there to answer any questions. Dismissed." 

The three women saluted and left the office. Once they 
were well along the passageway Mahoon started to giggle. 
"Unfortunate incident on the holodeck. What an 
understatement!" 

"What happened? All I heard is that the three that were 
supposed to make these surveys are in sick bay in some 
kind of a coma." 

"Well, they gave themselves a party by going to the 
holodeck and activating that rough-sex scenario." 

"You mean the one where you're gang-raped by the space 
pirates?" 

"Yeah, that's it. Well, somehow the computer went into a 
loop and the scenario ran eight times before the techs 
could get it stopped. Luckily the safety backup worked so 
there wasn't any tissue damage, but it really messed up 
their minds. They're all under sedation now, and they all 
have this big smile on their faces." 

"Wow, I did that scenario just once and it really shook 
me up. Did you ever try it, Sonji?" 

"No. I've been conditioned to avoid bad sex." 

"Well, it's true that some of those holodeck scenarios 
are really bad. What do you consider to be good sex, 
Sonji?" 

"Good sex is when a husband impregnates his wife. Bad sex 
is everything else." 

Erig and Mahoon exchanged did-we-really-hear-that looks. 
"Why would you believe something like that?" Erig asked. 

"In my religion we believe that the way to Enlightenment 
is through the voluntary renunciation of physical 
pleasure. This is something I have known since I was a 
little girl. When I reached puberty I received the 
conditioning that now keeps me from being tempted." 

Mahoon said, "We've shared a compartment since you 
arrived on board and you know that I often have overnight 
visitors. Doesn't it bother you that I don't share your 
beliefs?" 

"No, you must find your own way to Enlightenment; it does 
not have to be my way. The only thing that bothers me are 
your moans and screams when I'm trying to sleep." 

Erig shook her head, "I'm glad I'm not of your religion. 
I wouldn't have a social life. Ah, here's the Lab." 

The language transplant took only a few minutes, and when 
it was over the three women were fluent in the language 
spoken on Gamma. 

A short walk brought them to the Survey Supply 
compartment. Waiting for them were the store keeper, a 
communications technician, and a lieutenant. Erig wrapped 
her arms around the lieutenant and gave him a passionate 
kiss. 

When they came up for air she said, "Hi, lover. You know 
Mahoon. This is Sonji Regan. Sonji, this is Thar Breg, 
the Xenologist. He'll tell us all we need to know about 
the planet." 

"Pleased to meet you, sir." 

"Yeah, me too. Listen girls, the shuttle departure time 
has been moved up so we've got to get going. We can save 
time if you change here while I talk. Roget, give me 
those costumes." 

The store keeper handed Breg three large bags, and he 
gave a bag to each of the women. "Here are your costumes. 
After you've changed put your uniform in the bag and I'll 
have it delivered to your quarters." 

Sonji opened her bag and examined the contents. She found 
a dress made from a coarse gray fabric, a knitted shawl, 
a pair of leather sandals, and a small leather purse 
containing a handful of copper and silver coins. She 
asked Breg, "Where is the underwear, sir?" 

"Peasant girls don't wear any. Hurry up and change." 

Sonji was stunned. "Here, sir? In front of everybody?" 

"You won't shock us. Do it, Ensign! That's an order." 

Sonji looked at the other women. Erig was naked and 
Mahoon had just pulled her dress over her head. Blushing 
all over her body, Sonji turned her back to the men, 
stripped off her uniform and underwear, and quickly put 
on the dress and the sandals. 

Mahoon examined her dress. The bodice was just a sack 
with holes for her arms and neck. A full skirt was 
attached at the waist and ended just above her ankles. 
She said, "Well, I wouldn't want to wear it to the prom, 
but it doesn't feel too bad. Do we get a change of 
clothing?" 

"No. In this culture clothing is expensive, because 
spinning, weaving, and sewing all have to be done by 
hand. Most peasants never have more than one dress at a 
time. Your dress is better than most, because it doesn't 
have any patches." 

Erig said, "At least we don't have to put on a lot of 
makeup. For one of my surveys I had to dye my skin green 
and paste phony antennas on my forehead." 

"Yes, all of you will fit in as is. Most people have 
brown hair like yours and Mahoon's, a few have hair as 
black as Regan's, and there are also blondes." He waved 
over the communications technician. "CT2 Aoki will give 
you your comm devices and test them out." 

Aoki gave each woman what looked like a wooden disk, 
about 5 centimeters in diameter and a half-centimeter 
thick. There was a hole near one edge with a leather 
thong threaded through it, and an eight-pointed star was 
burned into one side. Aoki said "This equipment contains 
an audio recorder, but it's sound activated so you don't 
have to worry about it. To activate the communicator pull 
on the thong. It will buzz to indicate you have contact, 
and then you can speak into the star or put it to your 
ear to listen. It will stay activated as long as you hold 
it in your hand. The signal also acts as a tracking 
beacon and we can locate you to within a couple of 
meters. Let's run a communications check. You first, 
ma'am." After all three women had made the check Aoki 
looked up from a test set and said, "All of the equipment 
is operable, sir." 

Breg said, "The star is the local deity symbol. These 
devices are made to look like the religious medallions 
that most peasant girls wear. Remember, the communicator 
is only to be used in emergencies, not for routine 
matters. It would be a violation of the First Directive 
if anybody saw you using it." 

Breg ordered, "Now listen carefully. We have selected 
three district capitols, one for each of you. The shuttle 
will drop you off just before dawn. You'll be as close as 
we can get without being detected, but you will still 
have about a half-day's walk to the city. Here is a list 
of the questions you should ask." He gave each woman a 
piece of paper. "Memorize the questions and leave the 
paper on the shuttle. It would be hard to explain where 
you got something written in an unknown language. When 
you get to the city just walk around, ask the questions, 
and record the answers. You have enough money to pay for 
food and lodging in a hostel for five days. After that 
walk back to the drop-off point and call in. You'll be 
picked up after dark." 

Mahoon complained, "What's with all of this walking? 
Don't they have horses on Gamma?" 

"Actually, they don't. The only draft animal they have is 
a small ox, which is powerful, but slow. Anyway, no 
peasant girl would pay for transportation when she could 
walk. Now, get your stuff together and let's get moving." 

Sonji wrapped a leather thong around her waist and tied 
on her purse, and then she picked up her uniform and put 
it in the bag. She didn't see Erig whispering into Breg's 
ear. 

Sonji put her shawl over one shoulder and started down 
the passageway towards the shuttle bay. Erig winked at 
Mahoon and said, "Thar, don't forget to tell Sonji about 
the bandits." 

"Oh, yeah. A gang of bandits has been reported near where 
you'll be. They've been robbing travelers and kidnapping 
women for ransom. They wouldn't do more than gang-rape a 
peasant girl, though." 

Sonji stopped, her eyes wide. She stayed that way until 
Mahoon grabbed her arm and pulled her away. 

Breg said to Erig, "Why did you want to do that?" 

"Just a little initiation. Besides, she'll be more alert 
if she's nervous." 

"You're a cruel slut." 

Erig kissed him. "Just the way you like me, lover." Then 
she ran towards the shuttle bay. 

* * * 

Sonji walked down a dirt road toward the district 
capitol, Brombeg. It was mid-morning on a bright, 
pleasant day and the road was empty of other travelers. 
The weather reminded her of early summer on her home 
planet, but here some of the fields had crops ready to 
harvest, while in others the plants were just beginning 
to sprout. It had been cool earlier and she wore her 
shawl over her shoulders, but now it was so warm that she 
took it off and wrapped it around her waist. 

Some of the fields she passed were planted in grain, 
others in root crops or vegetables, and about a third 
were fallow and covered with grass and clover. Mixed in 
with the fields were woodlands of various sizes, from 
less than a hectare to almost a square kilometer. Sonji 
always grew tense as she neared the woodlands, expecting 
bandits to appear from behind the trees. 

Sonji was just leaving a dense patch of woods when she 
saw something that made her stop and gasp. Ahead of her 
the fields on both sides of the road were fallow, and it 
was about 50 meters to the next patch of woods. On the 
right, close to the woods and about 20 meters from the 
road, an ox hitched to an empty wagon grazed on the 
grass. 

Sonji was shocked by what she saw on the other side of 
the road. A rope was tied chest-high between two trees. 
Two women were standing with their backs to the rope, 
facing away from her. And she could see that the women's 
hands were tied behind their backs! 

Sonji's first thought was of bandits, and she ran towards 
the women without hesitating. Helping them to escape was 
her only concern. The women heard her running and turned 
toward her. 

Sonji asked the nearest woman, a blonde in a light blue 
dress, "Where are the bandits?" 

"Bandits? What ban... Oh, yeah, the bandits! They're 
close. Get me loose, quick!" 

Sonji examined the woman's bonds. Her right arm had been 
put though a loose loop in the rope tied between the 
trees, and a wide leather strap around her wrists held 
her hands palm-to-palm. The strap was fastened by a brass 
clamp instead of a buckle. 

Sonji asked, "How do I get this clamp open?" 

"Look at the clamp end closest to the free end of the 
strap. See those two tabs coming up from the base? Pins 
in the clamp handle spring into holes in those tabs. You 
have to push both pins in." 

Sonji located the pins. She looked on the ground and 
found two sharp twigs, and after some fumbling she was 
able to push in the pins and lift the clamp handle. As 
soon as the strap was loose the blonde pulled her arm out 
of the loop and ran into the woods. 

Sonji heard heavy footsteps coming from the direction of 
the road and turned to see a heavy-set man running 
towards her. He was shirtless and his left hand was 
holding up his trousers. He had a wooden cudgel in his 
right hand and he raised it overhead as he got close to 
Sonji. She used a move she had mastered in her self-
defense classes and kicked him in the groin. He fell to 
the ground, emitting loud groans. 

Sonji turned back to the other woman and said, "Now I'll 
get you loose." 

The woman backed away and exclaimed, "Not me!" 

Sonji was surprised. "But you're a prisoner! Why don't 
you want me to free you?" 

"Of course I'm a prisoner, I'm on my way to jail. But I 
only have to serve 50 days, and I don't want an escape 
charge added on to that." 

"You mean that man isn't a bandit?" 

"No, that's the jailor, Hodg. He's a piece of shit. The 
other jailor over there in the wagon is Madii. They tied 
us here while they took a fuck break." 

Sonji looked over at the wagon. A naked woman stood up in 
it and dropped a dress over her head. "Why did that 
blonde run away?" 

"Oh, that's Flixee. She was sentenced to three years I.S. 
for fraud. I guess she figured she didn't have much to 
lose. My name is Jonii, by the way." 

"What's I.S.?" 

"Involuntary servitude. You're a peasant girl, aren't 
you?" 

Sonji walked over to Hodg, who had recovered enough to 
get to his knees, and said, "I'm sorry, I seem to have 
made a mistake...Oooff." 

Hodg punched her in the solar plexus. She fell down and 
he turned her on her stomach, pulled her hands behind 
her, and strapped them palm-to-palm. Then he pulled a 
piece of thin rope from his pocket and made a harness by 
running each end of the rope forward over a shoulder, 
back through an armpit, and tying the ends together in 
the middle of Sonji's back. He took out a wide belt, 
looped it around her arms just above the elbows, and 
pulled until her elbows almost touched. He used more rope 
to cinch the center of the belt to the harness. Then he 
tied her ankles together, ran a rope from them to the 
cinch on her elbows, pulled until her feet touched her 
hands, and tied off the rope. 

He stood up, kicked Sonji, and shouted, "Madii! Bring the 
wagon over here." 

Hodg walked, bent over, to the trees and untied the rope 
holding Jonii. When the wagon arrived he helped her get 
into it and she sat on the floor. Madii tied one end of 
the rope holding Jonii's arm to a ring at the front of 
the wagon. 

Hodg picked up Sonji and tossed her into the wagon. She 
landed heavily on her side and screamed in pain. Hodg 
climbed into the wagon, jammed a wooden bit gag into her 
mouth, and fastened the straps behind her head. 

"That'll keep you quiet. You can think about your future. 
Let's see, assaulting a judicial officer, ten years. 
Aiding an escape, three years plus the escapee's time. 
You've got sixteen years of I.S. ahead of you, slut." 

Hodg pinched Sonji's nipples and she squealed from the 
pain. Madii turned around and shouted, "Hodg, you piece 
of shit! Get your hands off her and get up here!" Hodg 
climbed onto the seat and Madii urged the ox forward. 

The wagon had traveled no more than half a kilometer when 
Madii was stopped by a farmer standing besides the road. 
The farmer's left hand was tangled in Flixee's blonde 
hair as he held her bent over with her head at waist 
height. Her wrists were crossed and tied behind her back 
with thin rope. 

He said, "I think I got something you folks lost." 

"Yeah, she's ours. Where did you find her?" Madii asked. 

"She came to my house and asked me to loan her some money 
so she could get to town. She said she was a kidnapped 
heiress and her father would give me a big reward. But I 
was in my field and saw you tie her to the trees while 
you ah, rested." He leered at Madii, who blushed. 
"Blondes are so much smarter than most folks that they 
sometimes think everyone else is stupid." 

"Good job. Getting her back now will save a lot of 
trouble. You can apply for a reward." 

The farmer smiled. "Oh, I've had a reward already. She 
did everything she could to persuade me not to turn her 
in." 

He handed Flixee up to Hodg, who sat her on the floor 
next to Jonii and strapped her right ankle to the rope 
holding Jonii's arm. Hodg got back on the seat and the 
wagon moved on. 

Several hours later the wagon was still moving. Sonji's 
arms and shoulders hurt so much that she was sobbing into 
her gag. 

Flixee said, "The girl is really hurting. Can't you 
loosen the ropes a little?" 

Hodg replied, "I'm hurting, too. We'll be at the jail in 
less than an hour. Shut up or I'll gag you." 

Flixee muttered to herself, "Hodg, you're a piece of 
shit." 

The wagon entered Brombeg and traveled along the city 
streets until it stopped in front of a wooden gate in a 
high stone wall. Hodg got down and pounded on the gate 
until it was opened from the inside, and Madii drove the 
wagon into a large courtyard and stopped the ox. She got 
into the back of the wagon, unstrapped Jonii's wrists, 
took the loop off of her arm, and refastened her hands 
behind her back. She unstrapped Flixee's ankle, helped 
both women out of the wagon, and led them towards the 
jail. 

Sonji screamed as Hodg picked her up by the rope attached 
to her ankles and elbows and carried her into the 
guardroom. He dropped her on the floor and said to the 
duty Civil Guard sergeant, "I want this slut arrested for 
assaulting a judicial officer and aiding an escape." 

The sergeant asked, "Are you the one she assaulted?" He 
looked at Sonji, who was lying on her stomach. "She 
really looks dangerous. You were lucky to escape with 
your life. How long have you had her trussed up like 
that?" 

"Couple of hours." 

"I'll bet. Hodg, you are a piece of shit." 

Hodg flushed. "I don't care what you say. If a judicial 
officer makes a complaint the law says you have to make 
an arrest." 

"Yeah, yeah. The complaint book is on that table. Fill in 
your part and then get out of my sight. I'll get 
information from the girl once she's able to talk." 

He walked over to Sonji, took out a knife, and cut the 
ropes off of her ankles. He cut the shoulder ropes and 
the cinch at her elbows and took off the belt. He took 
out a clamp tool, a U-shaped piece of wire with the ends 
bent in, and used it to release the clamp on the strap 
that held her wrists. Sonji's arms were purple and 
dangled limply at her sides as the sergeant picked her up 
and put her into a chair. 

Sonji moaned as the sergeant took out her gag. She 
croaked, "Water, please, water." 

The sergeant took her limp arms, crossed her wrists in 
front of her, and loosely fastened them with the strap. 
He got a jug of water and a pottery mug from his desk, 
poured water into the mug, and held it to Sonji's lips. 
She drank some and said, "Oh, thank you. My mouth was so 
dry." 

"I need some information from you and then I'll put you 
in a detention cell and you can rest. First, what's your 
name?" 

"Sonji". 

"How do you spell that?" 

Sonji realized that she didn't even know the alphabet of 
the local language. On Gamma she was completely 
illiterate. She whispered, "I don't know." 

The sergeant wrote ZONGEE on the form. "How old are you?" 
Sonji paused to calculate the difference between a Gamma 
year and her home planet's year. The sergeant looked at 
her innocent face and wrote down '18'. He put down 
BROMBEG as the place of residence. 

The sergeant picked up Sonji and carried her to a door in 
the back of the room. He kicked on the door and a sturdy 
woman opened it. He said, "Pre-trial detention." and 
followed the woman into the cellblock. 

The woman opened an iron-bound wooden door with a key 
from the ring attached to her belt. The sergeant carried 
Sonji into the cell and put her down on a wooden bench 
attached to the back wall. There was an iron collar 
connected to a ring in the wall over the bench by almost 
three meters of heavy chain. The woman closed the collar 
around Sonji's neck and fastened it with a large padlock, 
and the sergeant removed the strap from Sonji's wrists. 

The sergeant ordered, "She's had some rough treatment. 
The doctor should look at her." 

"The doctor is here now; I'll bring her over. I can 
search the girl at the same time. What happened to her?" 

"Hodg brought her in." 

"Hodg is a piece of shit." 

By the time the doctor arrived Sonji was in a lot of pain 
from the returning circulation. The doctor had her drink 
a cup of bitter liquid and she was soon asleep. 

Sonji woke up to find the cell illuminated by dim light 
from a small barred window high in the wall over the 
bench. She was lying on her back, wearing her dress and 
covered by her shawl. Her arms hurt and her bruises 
ached, especially the place on her thigh where Hodg had 
kicked her. 

She struggled to a sitting position on the bench and 
adjusted the collar so the chain dangled in front. She 
stood up and went to a stinking wooden bucket, squatted 
over it, and relieved herself. She found a pottery jug 
and drank some water. She went back to the bench, 
stretched out on her back, and fell asleep. 

The sound of the cell door opening woke up Sonji and she 
looked over to see a woman slide a wooden bowl across the 
floor and close the door. Sonji got the bowl and sat on 
the bench; the bowl was filled with porridge and there 
was a wooden spoon. Sonji hadn't had anything to eat 
since she left the shuttle and she was very hungry. The 
porridge was bland but filling, and Sonji scraped the 
bowl clean before she put it back on the floor. 

She heard a shout from outside and found that if she 
stood on tiptoe on the bench she could just see out of 
the window. A courtyard was bright with morning sun and 
about twenty uniformed men were lined up near a gate in 
the wall. Sonji recognized the man standing in front of 
the rank as the guardsman who had been kind to her 
yesterday. He shouted something and the rank broke up. 
Sonji guessed that this was the morning muster. The 
weight of the chain was pressing the collar painfully 
into the back of Sonji's neck, so she lay back down on 
the bench. 

She inventoried her possessions. Her money and sandals 
were missing, but she had her dress and shawl. She raised 
a hand to her chest but she couldn't feel her 
communicator. She used both hands to feel her neck and 
back but soon there was no doubt. Her communicator was 
missing. 

Sonji considered her situation. She was chained to the 
wall of a jail cell. No one on the ship knew what had 
happened to her, and even if they did know they couldn't 
help her if it violated the First Directive. She was 
going to be treated as if she were an actual peasant 
girl. Sonji felt panic and then fear. Sixteen years in 
prison! She would be almost forty when she finished her 
sentence. She said to herself, "I'm a Star Fleet officer. 
I must be brave!", but the thought of spending her youth 
in servitude on a backwater planet was too awful. She 
started to cry. 

Sonji cried for a long time and then fell into a fitful, 
broken sleep. Once again the sound of the cell door 
opening woke her up. A woman put a wooden bowl and a 
small loaf of bread on the floor and relocked the door. 
Sonji was too depressed to be hungry, but she made 
herself get the food. The bowl contained warm vegetable 
soup and the bread smelled fresh. She forced herself to 
eat and was surprised by how good the food tasted. She 
ate it all and then drank some water and squatted over 
the bucket. 

The chain was so heavy that she was comfortable only when 
she was laying down, so she got back on the bench. She 
tried to empty her mind and pass the time with sleep, but 
before long some memory would come to her. Her family 
back on her home planet. Her friends from the university. 
Even the cramped compartment on the Interloper that she 
shared with Mahoon. She thought of her bleak future and 
how long it would be before she saw a familiar scene or a 
friendly face. Then the tears would start. 

The sun was sending a yellow beam of light through the 
cell window when another meal arrived. This time it was a 
bowl of stew and more bread. Once again Sonji forced 
herself to eat, drink some water, and use the bucket. 

The sun was down and the cell was getting dark when the 
cell door opened one more time. A woman came in and 
picked up the empty bowls and put them into a basket on a 
cart outside the cell, and exchanged the water jug for a 
full one she got from a lower shelf on the cart. The cart 
rolled out of sight and another one took its place. This 
one carried a stinking barrel. Another woman came in, 
took the latrine bucket, and emptied it into the barrel. 
She poured some water into the bucket and brought it back 
into the cell. Sonji looked at the woman. It was Jonii! 
Jonii smiled at her but didn't say anything. Finally, a 
woman with keys at her belt looked into the cell and made 
a mark on a tablet. The door was locked and night left 
the cell in blackness. 

The next three days were the same. Sonji had gotten 
better at blanking her mind and she didn't cry much. Her 
arms had stopped hurting and her bruises were changing to 
vivid colors. She spent as much time as possible on the 
bench with her eyes closed. 

Her sixth day in jail started the same way, but about an 
hour after the morning meal a woman came into the cell. 
She looked to be about forty, and she was smartly dressed 
in a gray jacket and a pleated gray skirt. She carried a 
rectangular case made of polished wood and a folding camp 
stool. She waited until the cell door was closed and then 
she unfolded the camp stool and sat on it. She put the 
case on her lap, opened the top, and took out several 
sheets of paper. 

She said, "My name is Lornee. I am an advocate, and I 
have been appointed by the court to be your 
representative." She raised an eyebrow. "Unless you want 
to hire someone else?" 

Sonji sat up. This woman reminded her of Captain Goda. 
"No, ma'am. I don't have anyone else." 

Lornee looked at a printed form. "Your name is Zongee?" 

"Sonji. Please, ma'am, will I have to go to prison for 
sixteen years?" 

Lornee looked surprised. "Why do you say that?" 

"That's what Hodg told me." 

"Hodg is a piece of shit. First of all, the aiding an 
escape charge has been dropped. Flixee was never reported 
as missing, so there wasn't any escape to aid. Second, 
the maximum sentence for assaulting a judicial officer is 
ten years, but you wouldn't get that much time unless you 
had a long history of violence. On the other hand, the 
court considers any attack on its officers as an attack 
on the court, so it tends to deal harshly with this kind 
of offense. I've read Hodg's statement, and he says you 
attacked him from behind with a club, without any 
provocation. Madii backs him up." 

"But that's not true!" 

"Knowing Hodg, I don't doubt it. You tell me what really 
happened." 

Sonji related her story. When she finished Lornee said, 
"I talked with Jonii and she agrees with what you said, 
although we both wonder how anybody could seriously 
believe there were bandits in the area, or that they 
would leave woman captives unguarded." 

Lornee sighed. "I hate to tell you this, but I don't 
think you have a chance of being acquitted. It comes down 
to your word against Hodg's and Madii's. Jonii and Flixee 
are both convicts and their testimony wouldn't have much 
weight. Your best chance for a light sentence is to plead 
guilty. If you express remorse, and the judges take into 
account your age and background, you won't get more than 
a few years I.S." 

Lornee thought, 'If you look like that in court, with 
that innocent face, that woebegone expression, and those 
tear-stained eyes, the judges will have to have hearts 
like kidney stones to give you any more than that'. 

"You know best, ma'am. I'll do as you say." 

"Your court appearance is scheduled for the first thing 
this afternoon, and I'll meet you there. Don't worry, 
everything will work out." She put the papers back in her 
case, stood up and folded her camp stool, and knocked on 
the cell door. The door opened and she stepped out of the 
cell. She looked back at Sonji and smiled. The door 
closed. 

Sonji sat on the bench, with tears of relief running down 
her face. For the first time in days she felt some hope. 
She thought, 'Maybe I won't have to spend all of the best 
years of my life on this planet!' 

Sonji ate her noon meal and had just finished using the 
bucket when the cell door opened and the woman with the 
keys came in, followed by a uniformed guardsman carrying 
a handful of leather straps. 

The woman dropped Sonji's sandals on the floor and said, 
"Put them on." 

When Sonji had done this the guardsman took a wide 
leather strap and clamped an end to each of her ankles. 
She spread her feet and found the maximum allowed by the 
strap was about 30 centimeters. She could walk, but she 
couldn't run. The woman took a key from her belt, 
unlocked the padlock, and removed the collar that had 
been around Sonji's neck for almost six days. Sonji 
rubbed her neck, happy to be free of the weight. 

The guardsman commanded, "Stand up and turn around." 

Sonji quickly did so, and the guardsman put a thick belt 
around her waist and buckled it in the back. There were 
straps riveted to the belt, and he used them to fasten 
Sonji's wrists just in front of her hips. Sonji found 
that she could just make her fingertips touch. 

The woman folded Sonji's shawl and tucked it under 
Sonji's left arm, and then put the communicator's thong 
around her neck and put the medallion inside her dress. 
She said, "Your money will be held by the court." 

The guardsman took Sonji by the arm and led her out of 
the cell and down a corridor to another door. He knocked 
and a peephole opened and an eye peered out; then the 
door was unlocked and opened. They went though it and 
down another corridor and through an unlocked door into 
the courtroom. 

Sonji looked around. To her left was a large desk with 
three chairs behind it. To her right were maybe twenty 
benches, in two rows with an aisle between them. The only 
other people in the room were three old men sitting on 
the bench farthest from the desk, against the back wall. 
Sonji panicked when she didn't see Lornee, but just then 
a door in the back wall opened and Lornee walked down the 
aisle and over to her. 

Lornee said, "We'll start soon. Let's go sit down." She 
led them to a bench in the front row and sat down. Sonji 
sat next to her and the guardsman sat just behind Sonji. 

"Let me do all of the talking. Don't say anything unless 
I give your arm a squeeze. When you are asked if you want 
to say anything before sentencing tell them how sorry you 
are. Cry if you can." 

A clerk came into the room from a door behind the desk 
and said, "All rise. Criminal court for Brombeg district 
is now in session." 

Three judges in gray jackets and gray trousers with a red 
stripe along the outside seam came into the room and sat 
in the chairs behind the desk. The one in the middle 
looked at some papers and said, "Case number 3141. 
Assault on a judicial officer alleged against Zongee. Is 
the allegent present?" 

Lornee took Sonji's arm and led her in front of the desk. 
"Yes, Excellency, this is Zongee. I am Lornee, her 
advocate." 

"How does the allegent answer this charge?" 

"Guilty, Excellency. We request immediate sentencing." 

"Granted. The convict may make a mitigation statement 
before sentencing." 

Lornee squeezed Sonji's arm. Sonji started to cry and 
wailed, "I'm so sorry! It was a terrible mistake! I 
didn't mean to hurt anybody." She was now sobbing so hard 
that she couldn't speak. Lornee put her arms around Sonji 
and patted her back. 

The judge announced, "We will recess for a judges' 
consultation." 

Lornee led Sonji over to the bench and they sat down. She 
held Sonji until the crying stopped and then got a cloth 
from her case and dried Sonji's tears. She whispered in 
Sonji's ear, "Very convincing!" 

Sonji looked puzzled and said, "What?" Before Lornee 
could say anything else the judges returned and they 
moved in front of the desk. 

The judge said, "Assaulting a judicial officer is a very 
serious offense. It is a crime of violence, directed not 
only against an individual but against justice itself. 
Even allowing for the convict's youth and inexperience we 
are obligated to deal with her harshly. Zongee, you are 
sentenced to one year of involuntary servitude. You are 
placed in the custody of the Warden of Prison Farm Number 
Four. Court is adjourned." 

Sonji had experienced increasing terror as the judge 
spoke. When she realized that she had been sentenced to 
only one year I.S. she swooned and Lornee held her up 
until she recovered. 

Two women in tan dresses moved up to them and one said to 
Lornee, "I'm a keeper from PF 4. I now take custody of 
the slave Zongee." 

Lornee moved in front of Sonji, held her head with both 
hands, and kissed her on the lips. Lornee had tears in 
her eyes as she said, "Good-bye, Zongee. I'll never 
forget you." 

The keepers led Sonji away to begin her new life as a 
slave. 

* * * 

A wagon pulled by two oxen entered Prison Farm Number 
Four. Two keepers in tan dresses sat on the seat and the 
back was filled with sacks of seed grain. Sonji sat on 
top of the sacks. She still wore the straps that the 
guardsman had put on her back at the jail, and a rope was 
tied around her neck with the free end held by one of the 
keepers. It was bothering Sonji to have her hands 
immobilized for so long, but she didn't have any of the 
pain that she had experienced in Hodg's wagon. 

She felt her anxiety increase when the wagon stopped. The 
keeper holding her tether got down and she felt a tug on 
her neck. Sonji moved to the edge of the wagon; the 
keeper helped her down and led her into a stone building. 

Inside the building there were two more women. A keeper 
was sitting in a chair behind a large table. The trusty 
standing beside her wore a smock made of coarse brown 
cloth and a tan headband, and she had an iron collar 
around her neck. 

The keeper holding Sonji's tether said, "This is the new 
input. Let's get her processed now so the Warden can 
interview her today." She removed the tether and used a 
clamp tool to release the clamps and free Sonji's wrists. 
She unbuckled the belt and said, "Strip." 

Sonji hesitated just a moment as she said to herself, 
"I'm a slave now. I'd better get used to humiliation." 
She put her shawl on the table, removed her dress, and 
put it next to her shawl. 

"Sandals and medallion, too." 

Sonji took off her sandals and put them on the table. As 
she removed her medallion she pulled on the thong and 
felt the buzz that meant communication was established. 
She kept the medallion in her hand as long as she dared 
and then dropped it on the table. 

The keeper used a strap to fasten Sonji's hands behind 
her back. The other keeper got out a ledger, a quill pen, 
and an inkwell. She asked, "Name?" 

The first keeper answered, "Zongee." 

This was written in the ledger. "Offense?" 

"Assaulting a judicial officer." 

"Impressive. Good thing you've fastened her hands. She 
might have overpowered all of us. What's her number going 
to be?" 

The trusty entered the room with a semicircular piece of 
metal in her hand and read the number stamped on it. 
"628". Then she got a brown smock from a shelf in the 
corner and wrote 628 on the front and the back with a 
small brush and a clear liquid. Where the liquid touched 
the cloth the brown changed to a dirty yellow. 

The keeper said to Sonji, "Open your mouth." When Sonji 
complied the keeper looked inside. Then she ran her hands 
through Sonji's hair. 

She turned Sonji so she faced the table and said, "Bend 
over and put your face on the table". 

When Sonji obeyed the other keeper held Sonji's hair so 
her cheek was pressed against the table top. The next 
command was, "Spread your legs." 

Sonji moved her legs to the limit permitted by the hobble 
strap connecting her ankles. Then she gasped as she felt 
a finger enter her slit. The keeper doing the probing 
said, "This is amazing! I feel a maidenhead." 

The other keeper said, "A virgin peasant girl! I'll write 
this down. She must be a fast runner, or else her 
brothers are slow." 

Sonji felt a finger probe her other orifice. Silent tears 
rolled from her eyes as she started to understand that 
humiliation could always get worse. 

Sonji's hair was released and she was pulled upright. The 
trusty pulled the smock over her head and under her bound 
hands. Sonji could see that it was actually just a piece 
of coarsely-woven cloth with a hole in the middle. It was 
long enough to reach her knees and wide enough so that 
the edges just met when the trusty tied a string around 
her waist. It left her hips and the sides of her breasts 
exposed. 

The keeper pointed to Sonji's chest and said, "628 is 
your number. Answer when it is called. You no longer have 
a name." 

The three women went through a door in the back of the 
room, pulling Sonji with them. In the next room a small 
forge smoldered in the corner and there was an anvil and 
some other apparatus. A keeper put some iron rivets in 
the hot coals and the trusty worked a bellows; the forge 
started to glow. 

The other keeper had the iron semicircle with the number 
on it, and she rummaged in a wooden box and found a 
matching semicircle, except that this one had an iron 
half-ring welded to it instead of a number. Both of the 
semicircles had a radial flange with a hole in it at each 
end. She said to Sonji, "Kneel beside the anvil and put 
your head down." 

The keeper put one semicircle under Sonji's neck and the 
other above it, made sure the holes in the flanges lined 
up, and used a large clamp to hold everything in place. 
She moved Sonji's hair out of the way, worked a piece of 
leather inside the iron circle, and adjusted it so that 
it covered Sonji's neck and part of her face and 
shoulder. 

The other keeper came from the forge holding tongs 
clamped on a red-hot rivet in one hand and a hammer in 
the other. She put the rivet up through the flanges and 
moved Sonji's neck so the head of the rivet was on the 
anvil. A few blows with the hammer flattened the rivet, 
and the keeper dipped some water from a barrel and cooled 
it. The clamp was removed, the circle was rotated around 
Sonji's neck, and the process was repeated. Sonji now 
wore a slave collar. 

Next the keeper removed the ankle strap and riveted leg 
irons on Sonji. These were crude, just semicircles of 
rounded metal with the ends flattened and punched to 
accept a rivet. They were connected by a chain fabricated 
from two rods with interlocking loops forged on the ends. 
Sonji wondered at this and then she realized that this 
was the easiest thing for a blacksmith to make by hand. 

Sonji stood there, with her wrists strapped behind her 
back and the warmth of the rivets spreading through her 
leg irons, and for some reason thought, 'Star Fleet 
should put THIS adventure on their recruiting posters'. 

A keeper removed the strap from Sonji's wrists and said 
to the trusty, "Twelve, take charge of 628 until lockdown 
tonight. Take her to the Warden's office and then show 
her the routine." 

"Yes, Keeper." 

The keepers left the room and Twelve said to Sonji, "I'll 
show you something that will help your ankles." She took 
a piece of string and tied a loop around Sonji's right 
calf just below her knee, then looped the other end 
around the leg iron and pulled it up as high as it would 
go. She did the same on the other leg and said, "You can 
get some bad bruises if the irons keep bumping your ankle 
bones." 

Twelve and Sonji entered another building. A blonde in a 
slave's smock sat at a table reading some papers. Twelve 
said, "Here's the new input for her interview with the 
Warden". 

Flixee looked up and recognized Sonji. "Are you Zongee?" 

"Yes, but I pronounce it 'Sonji'." 

"I'm really sorry for what I did. If I had told you I was 
a convict you wouldn't be here now." 

"I was the one who made the mistake. I'm sorry you didn't 
escape." 

"We can't talk now. We're both in Barracks 2, so I'll see 
you before lockdown." 

Flixee got up and knocked on a door and said, "The new 
input is here, Warden." She turned to Sonji and said, "Go 
in." 

Sonji entered the office. A gray-haired woman sat behind 
a desk. She looked Sonji over and said, "This is a 
pleasant surprise. I had expected that someone convicted 
of assault would look hard and tough. You will be 
volunteering for private servitude, won't you?" 

Sonji didn't know what she meant, but something told her 
not to disagree with this woman. She nodded yes. 

"Excellent! I knew we would get along. That's all, 628." 

Sonji left the office and the building as fast as she 
could. Twelve caught up to her and led the way towards 
four barn-like wooden buildings. A narrow trench was 
located about 30 meters from the first building, and the 
smell made it obvious what its purpose was. 

Sonji asked, "Can we stop? I have to pee." 

"All right. You stand on two of those boards crossing the 
trench. Hold my hand. It can be tricky until you get used 
to the irons." 

Sonji shuffled out on two narrow boards spaced about as 
far apart as she could spread her legs. She squatted over 
the center of the trench and urinated. When she finished 
she shuffled to the other side of the trench. 

Twelve explained, "You can pee in the fields, but this is 
the only place you can dump. When you're working you get 
a chance to use this latrine only in the morning and at 
night, so plan ahead." 

They went into a building. The only furniture was a long 
waist-high counter. The floor was dirt. Sonji asked, "Is 
this the barracks? Where are the bunks?" 

"See those chains?" Twelve indicated four parallel chains 
that stretched most of the length of the building. Each 
had one end fastened to a ring in a stone block set in 
the floor and the other end padlocked to a similar ring. 

"At lockdown everyone has their irons around a chain, and 
the end is padlocked. This makes sure that nobody takes a 
walk during the night. As the new girl you'll be first on 
a chain and the last one off." 

"You mean we have to sleep on the dirt floor?" 

"Yeah, we're out of featherbeds. You'll get used to it. 
Besides, I don't expect you to be here long. Now, the 
routine. Wake up is at first light. As soon as the chain 
is unlocked go use the latrine. Then back in here for 
morning meal. They bring it in from the cookhouse and 
serve it at the counter. Then everyone lines up outside 
in the main yard for roll call. Don't miss it. The Warden 
makes new work assignments and hands out punishments. 
Then you go to your work assignment. You quit work about 
an hour before sunset and come back here. There's a pond 
you can use if you want to wash all over. You will want 
to use it, because you're going to be dirty and sweaty. 
Night meal is served exactly at sunset, and you have to 
be in the barracks, so use the latrine before then. After 
the meal everyone goes back on a chain for another roll 
call and lockdown." 

"What about the noon meal?" 

"That's brought to you at your worksite. It's usually 
something that doesn't need cooking, like bread and 
cheese. Now I'll show you where the pond is and you can 
wash. You smell bad." 

When Sonji returned from the pond Flixee was in the 
barracks, and Twelve let them have a private 
conversation. Sonji said, "When I saw the Warden today 
she said something about private servitude. What did she 
mean?" 

"You can do public servitude, like work on this farm, or 
they put you up at auction and whoever buys you gets your 
I.S. for a year. The money goes to the district, and it 
can be a lot of money. If there is a year or more of I.S. 
left on your sentence after the first year you're 
auctioned again. You didn't know this?" 

"You mean if a man bought me he could do anything he 
wanted with me?" 

"Well, not anything. He couldn't burn his initials into 
your butt, for instance. The rule is, no permanent scars 
or other damage. That includes mental damage. Driving you 
crazy isn't allowed either." 

"But if he wanted sex I'd have to give it to him?" 

"Sonji, sex is the minimum he'd want. Whoever buys you 
wants a slave, someone he can control, someone who has to 
do as she is told whether she wants to or not, someone 
who can be punished. If all he wanted was sex, he could 
get it easier and cheaper from a brothel, or a concubine, 
or even a wife." 

"Have you ever been sold?" 

"Yeah, my last I.S. was for two years. The first year a 
middle-aged man bought me. He'd tie me up, and spank me, 
but it was really just play. He only whipped me once, and 
I had deliberately provoked him. It hurt, but the marks 
were gone in a week. We had some great sex, and I was 
sorry when the year was up. The next year a woman bought 
me, and it was just the opposite." 

"A woman? What did she want?" 

"Well, at first she wanted a body servant, and my tongue 
was always busy, too. She'd have me give her a massage, 
or oil her body, or do up her hair. If I didn't do it 
exactly the way she liked it she'd whip me. Soon she 
stopped pretending that it was a punishment and she just 
tortured me for the fun of it. She knew every way there 
was to cause pain without leaving any marks. Usually she 
would fasten me in some contorted position and leave me 
there for hours. Before long I was looking for a way to 
kill myself. Then I had some good luck. The one time she 
went too far the court made a surprise inspection." 

"What did she do?" 

"She tied my hands over my head and tied my ankles to 
rings in the floor. Then she ran a thin iron wire between 
my legs and pulled it up until it supported all my 
weight. In a few minutes blood was running down my legs 
and I was screaming and begging. I don't know how long it 
was before the inspectors found me, but it took a lot of 
surgery and almost a month in a hospital before I was 
repaired enough to function. They let me finish my I.S. 
doing clerical work. It was almost enough to make me give 
up crime." 

"Flixee, I can't do private servitude if it means I have 
to have sex. I just can't!" 

"Sonji, you really don't have a choice. I know the law 
says you have to volunteer for private servitude, but the 
Warden has your custody, which means she gets part of the 
money. She is also the one who determines your work 
assignments and orders your punishments. Believe me, she 
can force you to volunteer eventually, so save yourself a 
lot of pain and do it sooner rather than later. The 
Warden will call for volunteers the day after tomorrow, 
and I'm going to step forward. Please, you too." 

They noticed the sun was almost down and went to the 
latrine. Just after they returned to the barracks vats of 
stew and baskets of bread were brought in. The slaves 
lined up at the counter and as they walked down it they 
were given a wooden bowl filled with stew and a chunk of 
bread. They sat on the floor to eat it. Sonji thought 
that it wasn't nearly as good as the food she'd had in 
jail. 

After eating the slaves formed four lines, one for each 
chain. Flixee went to the head of one line and put Sonji 
in front of her. Two keepers entered the barracks and one 
shouted, "Lockdown." 

"What do I do?" Sonji asked. 

"Pick up the end of the chain and pass it back to me 
between your legs. Then just walk forward, picking up the 
chain as you go." 

One of the keepers padlocked the chain ends and then 
walked along and made sure each slave's leg irons were 
under the chain. The other keeper called out numbers and 
checked the responses against a list she held. When she 
finished the roll call the keepers left the barracks and 
the slaves could lie on the floor. There was a chorus of 
groans and a rattle of chains. 

Flixee pointed out two shallow hollows in the dirt and 
said, "One of those is for your hip and the other is for 
your shoulder. You can use that block of wood as a 
pillow. If you untie the strings from your calves you'll 
have more slack." 

Sonji lay on her side and found that she was more 
comfortable than she had expected to be, but she still 
spent a restless night. 

The next morning the slaves assembled in the main yard. 
The morning meal had been bad-tasting gruel. Sonji stood 
next to Flixee in the front row. In front of her was a 
raised platform covered by a pitched roof. When the 
Warden and five keepers walked onto the yard and climbed 
the steps at the front of the platform everyone became 
silent. 

The Warden announced, "Today we welcome 628 to our happy 
company; she is assigned to Labor Gang 2. Now I have an 
unpleasant task. 238, step forward!" 

A slave with that number on her smock reluctantly moved 
towards the platform. Two of the keepers moved next to 
her and held her arms. The Warden said, "It was reported 
to me that you defecated in a field yesterday. Is that 
true?" 

"I...I...I couldn't help it. My bowels were loose and..." 
the woman stammered. 

"I'm so sorry, but you broke a rule and now you must be 
punished. Twenty lashes." 

The keepers dragged the wretched 238 up onto the 
platform. Another keeper tied a rope to each of her 
wrists. The ropes were looped over hooks in the ceiling 
and pulled until 238 was standing on her toes with her 
arms spread apart. Her smock was removed and she stood 
naked with her back to the assembled slaves. 

A keeper swung a wide, heavy strap. It hit the middle of 
238's back and a puffy red welt sprang up. 238 groaned. 
After the third stroke she screamed, and kept screaming 
until all twenty lashes had been delivered. When the last 
stroke hit her 238 collapsed, dangling from the ropes on 
her wrists. She had red and swollen welts from her 
shoulders to her knees. The other slaves watched 
silently. 

After roll call Sonji was collected by the leader of her 
labor gang and led to a field. She was given a hoe and 
shown which plants were the crop and which plants were 
the weeds. After she had been hoeing for a while she 
paused to wipe the sweat out of her eyes. She heard her 
number called and turned to see a keeper walking towards 
her. 

The keeper shouted, "You weren't told you could stop 
working! Two strokes. Bend over." 

Sonji was shocked. She stood motionless until the keeper 
pulled her hair and forced her head down. 

"Stalling gets you another stroke. Grab your ankles and 
don't let go." 

The keeper lifted up Sonji's smock and pushed down on her 
back so that her bare bottom was uppermost. Then she 
swung a short strap. A red welt appeared on Sonji's skin 
and she gasped. The next stroke hurt even more. When the 
third stroke was delivered the pain was so intense that 
she had trouble holding in a scream. 

This was just the start of a very long day for Sonji. 
Every keeper seemed to seek her out and hit her with a 
strap for any reason or for no reason. By quitting time 
her backside was just one big welt. 

After she got her food that evening Sonji ate it standing 
up. Flixee saw this and raised the back of Sonji's smock. 
She gave a low whistle when she saw the condition of 
Sonji's bottom. "What happened to you?" 

"The keepers just kept hitting me. I don't know what I 
did wrong." 

There was a sudden hush as the Warden entered the 
barracks. She announced, "I want to remind everyone that 
tomorrow you can volunteer for private servitude." 

The Warden walked over to Sonji and said, "I heard that 
you had a hard time today. It is so, so easy to break a 
rule without even meaning to, and then be punished for 
it. Just look at what happened to poor 238. But you 
promised to volunteer, didn't you? Then you won't be 
here, and this won't be a concern for you." 

After the Warden left the barracks Flixee said, "Well, 
that was a clear enough message. If you don't volunteer 
tomorrow she'll whip you to a bloody pulp. Please Sonji, 
she'll break you eventually no matter how much you 
resist. Don't suffer a lot of pain for nothing." 

"I know you're trying to help, and I thank you. But I 
just can't do it." Sonji expected more arguments, but 
Flixee said nothing. 

At roll call the next morning Flixee whispered to Sonji, 
"This is it. Are you going to volunteer?" 

Sonji shook her head. Flixee shrugged and nodded. The two 
women standing to either side of Sonji grabbed an arm and 
forced Sonji's hands behind her back. Another woman 
wrapped string around her wrists and knotted it. When the 
Warden asked for volunteers to step forward Flixee pulled 
Sonji by her hair and forced her to walk to the front of 
the ranks. The Warden looked at them and smiled. 

* * * 

It was morning of the next day. Sonji, Flixee, and two 
other women, Kanii and Punee, were in a room not too far 
from the courtroom where Sonji had been sentenced. All of 
them were sleeping on straw pallets, luxury bedding 
compared to what they had at the prison farm. A keeper 
opened the door to the room and a woman entered carrying 
a pot of porridge. She put the pot on a table and all of 
the women but Sonji went to the food. 

Sonji stayed on her pallet because she was chained to the 
wall. The chain, attached to a waist-high ring and locked 
to her collar, was just long enough to allow her to stand 
up or lie down. She had been fastened to the wall since 
she had arrived yesterday, and she was tired of it. 

Flixee brought her a bowl of porridge and said, "Have you 
forgiven me for forcing you into this?" 

"Of course I have. I know you meant to help me and I 
can't explain why this is wrong for me." She changed the 
subject. "Why am I chained to the wall while you three 
can move around the room?" 

"Because you're a dangerous woman, convicted of a crime 
of violence, and all we did was steal. Maybe I should 
move back, out of your reach." 

"Very funny. What's going to happen to us now?" 

"If it's like the last time I was here, they'll take off 
our leg irons and give us a medical exam. Maybe even a 
bath. About two hours before the auction starts we'll be 
put on display in the auction room." 

"What do you mean, on display?" 

"We'll be tied up so everyone can look over what they'll 
be bidding on. But all they can do is look. Touching 
isn't allowed." 

"That's awful. What's the medical exam for?" 

"They write down all of the scars you have, so that when 
your owner brings you back he can't claim you were 
damaged before he got you. They look for disease, 
especially sexual disease, and they put a pebble in your 
womb unless you have one already." 

"A pebble! What's that for?" 

"It keeps you from having a baby. I thought you peasant 
girls knew all about things like that." 

Sonji quickly said, "Oh, yes. In my village we use a 
copper coin instead of a pebble." 

"I've heard of that. Coins are supposed to be better, but 
pebbles are cheaper. What else do you want to know?" 

"Flixee, I'm so scared. If a man buys me, what am I 
supposed to do?" 

"The simple answer is that you do exactly what he wants 
you to do. The problem is finding out what that is. 
Usually he doesn't give you a complete list of what he 
wants, and sometimes he doesn't know himself. All I can 
do is give you some general rules. The three most 
important are, be humble, be obedient, and be very 
polite." 

Flixee continued, "Unless he tells you differently, call 
him Master, and be sure you use it in every phrase. Don't 
speak unless he gives you permission to do so, or asks 
you a direct question. Don't ask him for anything. 
Especially don't ask him to let you loose, unless you 
want to be tied tighter. You can speak if it's something 
really important, like for example, you've been in a cage 
for three days and he has forgotten to give you any 
water, but say something like, 'Master, your slave will 
be damaged unless she gets some water'. Don't 
deliberately disobey him or defy him unless you really 
want to be punished. Thank him for everything he gives 
you, whether it's sex, or food, or a whipping." 

Sonji wailed, "I'll never be able to remember all of 
this." 

"Let me put it another way. You want to make him believe 
that he is the center of your world, and that nothing is 
more important to you than pleasing him. Come to think of 
it, that's true." 

Flixee went on, "Body language is very important. I'll 
show you. Stand up, Sonji." 

Flixee also stood. She crossed her arms over her chest, 
looked Sonji in the eyes and said, "How may I serve you, 
Mistress?" Then she knelt, bowed her head, and said, 
using the same tone, "How may I serve you, Mistress?" 

"Wow, Flixee, it really gives me a funny feeling to have 
you kneeling like that. I felt nothing when you were 
standing." 

Flixee stood up and said, "If you were a man the feeling 
would be even stronger. Once you know how to do it, you 
can have a lot of control even though you're a slave." 

"What if a woman buys me? What does she want?" 

"That's easy. She'll want you to give her sex, and she'll 
want to give you pain." 

While Sonji was pondering that two keepers entered the 
room. One took Kanii and Punee out of the room and the 
other came over to Flixee and Sonji. She strapped Sonji's 
hands behind her back and unlocked the chain attached to 
her collar. Sonji and Flixee were taken to a small room 
that had a large vise with circular jaws mounted to the 
floor. The keeper closed the vise around one of Flixee's 
irons and used a chisel to cut off the head of the rivet 
holding it closed. She repeated the process with Flixee's 
other leg, and then replaced the leg irons with a hobble 
strap. 

When it was Sonji's turn Flixee took her arm to steady 
her and said, "I'm glad they have this vise. Otherwise 
you can get some really nasty bruises when the irons are 
cut off." 

Sonji's ankles were hobbled and the three women entered 
another room. Kanii was lying on her back on an examining 
table. Her knees were spread and strapped to posts 
extending from two corners of the table. A doctor was 
examining her, and when he finished Flixee stripped and 
got on the table. The doctor described the massive scar 
on Flixee's crotch and a woman wrote comments in a 
ledger. When the internal examination was finished Flixee 
was released and the woman examined her body for other 
scars. 

The keeper removed Sonji's smock and helped her onto the 
table. Her knees were strapped to the posts. She moved 
her arms and tried to find a comfortable way to lie on 
her bound hands. 

The doctor had just started his examination when he said, 
"This is unusual. A violent criminal who is also a 
virgin. She won't be one for long, though, so let's make 
it easier for her." 

He took a scalpel and slit the hymen; then he completed 
the examination and implanted a pebble in Sonji's uterus. 
Sonji felt her humiliation was now complete. 

When Sonji and Flixee returned to their room they found 
Kanii sitting in a large tub of water and Punee drying 
herself off with a large towel. 

"Wonderful! I really need a bath." Flixee said. 

"We have to share the bath water? Who goes next?" Sonji 
asked. 

"I do." 

"I need a bath too! Why do you get to go next?" 

"Because my hands aren't strapped behind my back." 

* * * 

Sonji and the other three women had been on display for 
almost two hours. They were standing on a low platform, 
and each had her hands fastened to a ring in the wooden 
beam over their heads. Their wrists were crossed and 
strapped, and they weren't stretched, but after all this 
time they were uncomfortable. They were all naked, with 
each woman's smock next to her feet, folded so her slave 
number was visible. 

Sonji's mind was detached from her body, and she watched 
everything as if it were happening to someone else. The 
girl who had blushed when she changed clothes in the 
presence of her shipmates was somewhere inside, but the 
Sonji-body on the platform didn't react to the stares and 
lewd comments of over a hundred strangers. 

A man climbed onto the platform. He clapped his hands 
loudly several times, and when the crowd had quieted 
said, "Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen, to the Brombeg 
indenture auction. We only have four slaves this session, 
but they are all choice! Our first offering is number 
628." 

A guardsman moved Sonji next to the auctioneer. She was 
still naked, but her wrists were now crossed and strapped 
behind her back. The auctioneer said, "628 was convicted 
of assaulting a judicial officer. Looks dangerous, 
doesn't she? You'll have to take special precautions with 
her! Eighteen years old and still a virgin, if you can 
believe it. Look at that flawless body, that tan skin, 
that black hair. You could get lost in that bush. What am 
I bid?" 

The initial bidding was spirited, but the price quickly 
reached a level that caused all but two bidders to drop 
out. One was a man with a shaved head and a scarred face, 
who wore a sword and body armor. The other bidder was 
Longee. Soon the price became larger than she could pay, 
and Sonji was sold to the warrior. 

A guardsman pulled Sonji from the auction platform and 
dressed her in her smock. He took her to a table where 
the warrior who now owned her was paying money to a 
clerk. The warrior hardly looked at his purchase; he 
grabbed her arm and led her into a small room, where 
another warrior was standing next to a large barrel. They 
picked Sonji up and stood her in the barrel, forced her 
to crouch down, and fastened the lid. The barrel was put 
on a hand truck and rolled outside and down the street. 

The barrel had a hole in the side that let in light and 
air, and it was large enough that Sonji wasn't 
excessively cramped, but she was very frightened. The man 
who bought her looked cruel, and she was afraid of what 
he would do to her if she didn't please him. 

The two warriors with the barrel were joined by another 
man. He had a patrician look and wore fine clothes. One 
of the warriors tapped the barrel and said, "We have her, 
Councilor Radg. Are you going to take her to Tarnbeg?" 

"No, take her to my house here." 

The group walked about a kilometer and stopped in front 
of a large house. One of the warriors knocked, and the 
door was opened by an elderly doorkeeper. A young man met 
the group in the large entrance hall. 

"Hello, Dag. Can we come in?". 

"Of course, Father. It's still your house." They 
embraced. "But I am surprised to see you. You haven't 
been here much since you were appointed to be Brombeg's 
representative on the National Council. I thought you 
were still in Tarnbeg." 

"I'm just in town for some meetings. I wanted to stop by 
to wish you a happy birthday. How are you, Dag? How are 
you doing with your studies?" 

"I'm doing fine, Father. A year from now I should be an 
advocate. Can I get you some wine, perhaps?" 

"No thanks, I have a meeting and can only stay a few 
minutes. Join us for dinner tonight at your brother's 
house. By the way, how's your love life?" 

"Bleak. Studying doesn't leave time for courting. I visit 
a brothel about once a month, and that's it." 

"I haven't given you your present." Radg pointed to the 
barrel. 

"What's this, Father? Beer? Wine?" 

The warriors removed the lid and lifted Sonji out of the 
barrel. 

"Here's something to keep you occupied when you're not 
studying. When you aren't using her she can be Bomdee's 
helper. She's been convicted of a violent crime, so you 
have to keep her restrained. That hobble strap qualifies 
when she's escorted, but she has to be in something more 
secure if she's left alone." He handed Dag a clamp tool. 
"Use this to remove the strap if her legs won't spread 
far enough." 

Radg and his bodyguard went to the door. "Good-bye for 
now, Dag. I'll see you later." 

As soon as the door had closed behind his father Dag 
returned to Sonji. He removed the straps from her wrists 
and said, "Hello, my name is Dag. What's your name?" 

Sonji replied, "Sonji." Then she remembered what Flixee 
had shown her. She knelt, bowed her head, and said, "How 
may I serve you, Master?" 

Dag's erection nearly tore his pants. He pulled Sonji to 
her feet and dragged her after him by her wrist. "Come to 
my bedroom and I'll show you!" 

When they reached the bedroom Dag took off his clothes 
and Sonji's smock. He threw her on the bed and lay down 
beside her. He kissed her deeply and stroked her breast. 
Her nipple started to harden, and then she fainted. 

Dag revived her by splashing cold water in her face. He 
said, "I once knew a girl who laughed uncontrollably when 
I touched her, but this is the first time someone has 
fainted. I wonder what happened?" 

Sonji was terrified. She knew exactly what had happened. 
This was the way her church kept girls from being tempted 
by physical pleasure and thus be denied Enlightenment. 
But how could she explain neuro-psychological 
conditioning to someone who had never even seen a brain 
scan? And if she couldn't participate in sex, what would 
he do to her instead? 

"Please, Master. Permission to speak?" she begged. 

"Yes, Sonji. Anytime that we're alone you can speak 
without asking for permission." 

"Thank you, Master. This had nothing to do with you, 
Master. I have been this way since I changed from a girl 
to a woman. I'm sorry, Master." 

"You mean every time you get aroused you faint?" 

"Yes, Master. I can't help it. Could you have sex with me 
anyway?" 

"No. Necrophilia has never interested me." 

Dag sat on the bed and touched Sonji's shoulder. She 
flinched at the contact and Dag could tell that she was 
trembling. "Why are you so frightened?" 

"I didn't do as you wished, Master." Sonji still 
remembered 238's screams. "I'm afraid of being whipped." 

"You can relax. I'm not going to whip you now. How did 
your other men work around this?" 

"There are no other men, Master. You are the first." 

Dag thought about that for a while. Then he said, 
"Suppose I don't touch your body? Kneel between my legs 
and open your mouth." 

At the first touch on her lips Sonji fainted. This was 
one of the ways her church kept the boys from being 
denied Enlightenment. 

Dag revived her and said, "I'm sure that we'll solve this 
problem eventually, but I've got to leave soon. Get 
dressed, and I'll take you to Bomdee." 

They found Bomdee taking an inventory in the kitchen. 

"This is Sonji. She'll be your helper when I don't need 
her. I'll leave the details of her duties to you. 
Remember, she was convicted of a violent crime, so you 
can't let her run around loose. I'm going to tell Mudg to 
fix up the inner storeroom for her, so tuck her in there 
before you go to bed. I'm going to dinner at my brother's 
house and I won't be home tonight." 

After Dag left Bomdee inspected Sonji carefully and then 
she asked, "What did you do before you became a 
criminal?" 

"I was a peasant, Mistress." 

"Your master is Dag. Call me Bomdee. Now, listen 
carefully. I think it's foolish to bring a violent 
criminal into this house, but I wasn't asked. I have been 
with this family since before Dag was born. I was his 
nanny, and I couldn't love him more if he were my own 
flesh. If you even try to hurt him you will regret it 
every minute of your brief, painful life. Do you 
understand me?" 

"Yes, Bomdee." 

"Good. Now, your duties. There isn't a lot of work to do 
here when the family is living in Tarnbeg. Dag spends 
most of his time at the university. On most days he 
leaves here just after morning meal and returns several 
hours after sunset, so only the staff's meals have to be 
prepared. I'm the cook as well as the housekeeper, and if 
I eventually feel that you can be trusted you can help me 
here in the kitchen. Until then there is cleaning you can 
do." 

Bomdee took a coil of thin brown rope out of a drawer. "I 
can't watch you every minute. Hold out your hands." 

Bomdee had Sonji cross her wrists and wrapped the rope in 
both directions. She cinched the wrappings and tied the 
final knot on the bottom, where Sonji couldn't reach it 
with her teeth. She took another piece of rope and made 
two turns around Sonji's waist and tied it in the back. 
"Knees and hands on the floor." she commanded. 

Sonji quickly got down on the floor. Bomdee tied a rope 
from the knot at Sonji's waist to the center of the 
hobble strap and pulled it tight. "You can get that 
loose, but you'll be sorry if you do." Bomdee threatened. 

Bomdee put a scrub brush and a bucket of soapy water on 
the floor next to Sonji. She said, "Get the kitchen floor 
clean. When you finish you'll be fed." 

Cleaning the kitchen floor took Sonji over two hours. 
When she finished she was in a lot of pain from kneeling 
on the stone floor, and the motion of her hands while she 
scrubbed had chafed her wrists until drops of blood 
appeared in a few places. 

Evening meal was served shortly after Sonji finished 
cleaning the floor. Bomdee cut the ropes off of Sonji's 
wrists and waist. She examined the red marks left by the 
rope but didn't say anything. 

At evening meal Sonji met the elderly doorkeeper Ludg and 
his equally elderly brother Mudg, who was sort of a 
handyman. They, along with Bomdee, were the entire staff. 
Sonji thought that if she really were a violent criminal 
she could probably escape. Then she remembered that 
Bomdee was tall and looked strong and fit, and that she 
had never turned her back when Sonji was near, even when 
Sonji's hands were tied. 

After the meal Sonji washed the dishes and utensils, and 
when she had finished it was time for Bomdee to put her 
to bed. Bomdee lit a candle and directed Sonji to a 
small, windowless chamber near the center of the house. 
Sonji was happy to see that it had a straw mattress and a 
coarse blanket, but she wasn't so happy to see the short 
chain that was attached to a ring mounted in the floor. 

Bomdee put her candleholder in a niche in the wall near 
the door and said, "Use the chamber pot now. It won't be 
as easy after I've chained you up." 

After Sonji had squatted over the pot Bomdee padlocked 
the end of the chain to the ring on Sonji's collar. The 
chain was so short that Sonji could just sit up. Bomdee 
took her candle and left the room, and when she shut the 
door it was totally dark inside. Sonji heard a bolt being 
fastened. She put her head down and tried to sleep. 

The next morning Sonji was scrubbing another floor. Her 
wrists were still chafed, so Bomdee had used the leather 
straps to fasten them instead of the thin rope. 

Dag saw her and said, "I know a woman who is aroused just 
by being tied up. If she were fixed like you are now 
she'd be moaning on the floor, but it doesn't seem to 
have any affect on you. I've got an idea on how to get 
around your problem, though. We'll try it out tonight." 

"Yes, Master." Sonji bowed her head. Her stomach churned 
with anxiety. She wondered how long Dag would be patient 
if she couldn't perform a slave's first duty to her 
master. He might not like to hurt her, but what if he 
gave her to somebody who was cruel, like the scar-faced 
man who bought her? 

That evening Dag brought Sonji to his bedroom and had her 
drink several glasses of wine. 

"Wine releases inhibitions. Maybe this will be the 
solution." 

He fondled and kissed Sonji. She fainted. He revived her. 
She threw up. 

The next day Dag was late leaving for the university. 
Bomdee and Mudg had gone to the market, so he had to 
secure Sonji before he left the house. He took her into 
the storeroom intending to lock the chain to her collar, 
but he found that Bomdee had locked the padlock and taken 
the key with her. The straps were there, so he crossed 
Sonji's wrists behind her back and fastened them tightly 
using both straps. He put her on her side, released the 
hobble strap from her right ankle, pulled it around her 
wrists, and refastened it. 

Sonji was very uncomfortable. The tight straps irritated 
her chafed wrists and the hogtie strained her sore knees. 
She moaned quietly. 

Dag heard the moan and said, "You won't have any 
discomfort if you've fainted." 

He kissed her neck and stroked her bare bottom. At the 
same time she tried to relieve her pain and frustration 
by pulling against the straps. She tried with all her 
strength to separate her wrists and ankles, and as she 
did so she felt a wave of heat through her body, centered 
between her legs. Where Dag touched her her skin seemed 
to be on fire. She panted, "Master, I..." 

Dag could hear Sonji's panting and see her flushed face. 
He rolled her onto her back and stroked her bottom with 
one hand and a breast with the other hand. She moaned and 
thrashed. He opened his trousers, spread her knees, and 
entered her. Sonji screamed. She pulled against the 
straps in synchronism with Dag's thrusts, and with each 
pull she felt a wave of sensation. The waves increased 
until she felt Dag come inside her and then she screamed 
and fainted, but this time it was from ecstasy. 

When Sonji returned to the world she was lying naked on 
Dag's bed. Dag, also naked, was standing beside her. 

He said, "I think we are on the way to solving our 
problem. Let's try an experiment." 

Dag had a coil of rope, and he used it to tie Sonji's 
wrists and ankles to the four posts of the bed. He 
adjusted the ropes so there wasn't any slack, but she 
wasn't stretched, either. 

Dag instructed, "Now, just remain quiet. Don't move a 
muscle." 

Dag kissed Sonji and stroked her breast. She promptly 
fainted. 

After he revived her he said, "This time struggle. Fight 
to get loose with all your strength." 

Dag got on the bed with Sonji and moved his hands all 
over her body. She thrashed and twisted, straining 
against the ropes until the bed creaked and groaned. Dag 
kissed her hard nipples and when his probing finger found 
her clit she screamed and spasmed. After he entered her 
she again synchronized her pulls against the ropes to his 
strokes and came twice more before he had his climax. 

When Sonji was able to talk she said, "Thank you, Master. 
Did I please you?" 

Dag brushed her sweat-soaked hair away from her eyes and 
kissed her on the forehead. "Yes, Sonji. You pleased me." 

When Dag removed the ropes from Sonji's wrists he was 
shocked to see that the skin was raw and even bleeding in 
places. Her ankles were also red and chafed. 

He heard Bomdee return. He called her to him and said, 
"I'm leaving as soon as I wash and dress. I want you to 
bandage Sonji's wrists and ankles. Don't tie her wrists 
until they've healed, and go easy on her." 

Bomdee helped Sonji wash and dress and then took her to 
the kitchen. She said, "Hold still while I put this salve 
on your scrapes." 

After she applied the salve Bomdee wrapped Sonji's wrists 
and ankles with strips of cloth and clamped the hobble 
strap loosely around the bandages on Sonji's ankles. She 
thought about how best to secure Sonji's arms. Bomdee 
still regarded her as a threat, no matter how Dag felt 
about it, and she wasn't going to let her go around the 
house with only her ankles hobbled. 

Bomdee fastened the two wrist straps together to form a 
loop. She pulled Sonji's arms back, put the loop around 
them just above Sonji's elbows, and tightened it to hold 
Sonji's arms to her sides. To keep the loop from slipping 
down Bomdee tied rope from its center to the ring on 
Sonji's collar. 

Bomdee handed Sonji a cloth. "Go dust everything that 
needs it. Start with the books in the library." 

Later that evening Dag sent a message saying that his 
father had summoned him to Tarnbeg and he would be away 
for several days. Sonji was disappointed. Now that she 
knew what sex was like she wanted more of it. 

Four days later Dag returned. He summoned Sonji to his 
bedroom and had her undress and get on the bed. He kissed 
and fondled her until she fainted. Then he got out the 
leather goods that had just been delivered by the harness 
maker and clamped padded cuffs on Sonji's wrists and 
ankles. After some thought he closely strapped each wrist 
to the corresponding ankle. 

When Sonji was awake Dag said, "Surprise! Now you can 
struggle without damage. Let's go!" 

Dag got on the bed with Sonji and moved his hands all 
over her body. She thrashed and twisted, straining 
against the straps that held her wrists and ankles 
together. She liked this position because it let her use 
most of her major muscles. She strained so hard that Dag 
was glad the cuffs and straps were made of the thickest 
leather. 

Dag liked this position because it left Sonji open and 
exposed. He entered her and she synchronized her 
struggles against the straps to the rhythm of Dag's 
strokes until they both climaxed. 

As they cuddled together afterwards Dag said, "You are 
unique. I've known women who liked to be tied up during 
sex, but you are the only woman who HAS to be tied up to 
have sex." 

This set a pattern for the days that followed. Dag would 
make Sonji faint and then strap her body into some erotic 
position. He even had Mudj rig a hoist so Sonji could be 
suspended over the bed and lowered onto Dag's waiting 
body. But after the novelty of the more bizarre positions 
was exhausted they settled on a few favorites, such as 
the wrists to ankles position they both liked. 

* * * 

About a month later Dag returned from the university just 
as Sonji was finishing her kitchen work. He sat in one of 
the kitchen chairs and gestured to her. She went to him, 
knelt and bowed her head, and said, "How may I serve you, 
Master?" 

"I'm sure you know the answer to that question by now, 
but we'll get to that later. I have something for you to 
wear. Put it on." 

Dag pulled a brown object from his case and gave it to 
Sonji. She stood up, stripped off her smock, and put on 
the new garment. This too was a smock, but instead of 
coarse sackcloth it was made of fine linen, and the 
numbers were embroidered with gold thread. It was also 
smaller, so more of Sonji's body was exposed. 

"Thank you, Master. It's lovely." 

"This is more of a gift for me than it is for you. You 
can wear it when we're together." 

Dag continued, "You've made me very happy, and I want to 
reward you. What do you want?" 

"All I want is to serve you, Master." 

"Don't you desire anything for yourself?" 

"My only desire is to please you, Master." 

"Do you want me to whip you?" 

"No, Master! Please, no!" 

"At last, a straight answer! Now give me another one. 
What do you want for you?" 

"I want to learn to read, Master." 

Dag was surprised. He had expected Sonji to ask for some 
frivolous, personal item, but he could grant this 
request. 

"Bomdee taught me to read, and she can teach you. There 
are some basic books in the library, and you can probably 
find others that are useful." 

The language transplant had given Sonji a complete 
knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, so all she had to 
learn were the symbols and the spelling irregularities, 
and this was relatively easy because Gamma used a 
phonetic alphabet. In two weeks she could read at the 
elementary level, and in a month she could read the Gamma 
language as easily as she read Galactic. 

The 'other useful books' included everything in the 
library, and she spent as much time there as possible. 
She didn't exactly lie when Dag asked her about her 
reading skill, but she misled him enough that he never 
had to wonder why a peasant girl was reading a law book. 

* * * 

One evening Dag and Sonji were relaxing in bed when he 
said, "Tomorrow is the half-year point of your I.S." 

"Is it, Master? Being with you makes time pass so swiftly 
that I can't keep track." 

"I wouldn't have known either, except that a court 
official notified me that your mother will be visiting 
you tomorrow." 

"My mother! How can that be, Master?" 

"Didn't you know that you are entitled to a visit from a 
relative every half-year?" 

"No, I didn't know that, Master. But my mother lives so 
far away!" 

"Well, she'll be here. The court officials will question 
her about your treatment, and I think it would be best if 
they thought you were being treated more like a violent 
criminal being punished and less like the pampered 
daughter of a rich merchant. Wear your prison-issue smock 
and Bomdee will chain you in the storeroom during the 
visit." 

The next morning Sonji was sitting on the pallet in the 
storeroom when Bomdee brought to the door a middle-aged 
woman wearing a peasant's dress. 

The woman saw Sonji and cried, "Zongee! My baby!" 

Sonji looked up and gave a cry of astonishment. It was 
Captain Goda! 

Captain Goda gave Sonji a hug and whispered, "Call me 
Mom. We've found you at last! What happened to you?" 

Sonji gave Captain Goda a detailed account of the last 
half-year of her life. (She didn't mention the sex). She 
also summarized all she had learned about the social 
conditions and the political organization of the planet. 

When Sonji had completed her recital Captain Goda said, 
"This is one of the most successful field surveys I've 
ever seen. The method you devised to infiltrate the 
household of one of the most important men on the planet 
was absolutely brilliant! And the fortitude it took to 
allow yourself to be subjected to such hardship! Just 
seeing you chained up like an animal is so disturbing to 
me that I can hardly bear it, yet you accept it without 
visible upset. I'm going to see to it that this survey is 
classified as Extremely Arduous. That will make you 
eligible for accelerated promotion." 

Captain Goda handed Sonji a communicator medallion but 
she handed it back. "I can't accept this without 
permission. Give it to Bomdee and ask her to pass it on 
to my Ma.., I mean, Dag. I'm sure he'll let me have it." 

Captain Goda ordered, "Once you're in communication with 
the ship transmit as much detailed information as you 
can. Unless we find something really bad Gamma will be 
invited to join the Amalgamation. Having you on the ship 
will expedite the process, so return as soon as 
possible." 

"Aye, aye, Mom." 

* * * 

During the next half-year Sonji read as much as she could 
and dictated detailed reports into her communicator. She 
found that Dag, like most advocates, loved to talk, so 
she could ask him leading questions and get a whole 
discourse on some aspect of life on Gamma. 

Every day she would upload everything that had been 
recorded. When Dag asked her why she always left her 
medallion outside the bedroom while they had sex she told 
him it was just a custom of her village. 

* * * 

Dag and Sonji cuddled together in exhausted bliss. Sonji 
was still tied to the bed in a loose spread-eagle. 
Tomorrow was the last day of her I.S., and this was their 
last night together. 

"Sonji, I love you. I can't marry you until your civil 
rights are restored a year from now, but you could stay 
with me as my concubine." 

"I love you too, Master. But my mother needs me, and I 
promised I would return to her as soon as I could." 

Sonji started to cry. She loved Dag so much, and going 
away was so painful. 

Dag kissed away her tears, and then continued with kisses 
on the rest of her body. Soon Sonji was struggling 
against the straps that held her to the bed. 

Sonji lay awake long after Dag had gone to sleep. She had 
changed a lot during the past year. She was no longer 
innocent and naive, but she still retained her idealism 
and her personal code. Leaving Dag was hard, but Captain 
Goda had ordered her to return, and when she accepted her 
commission she had sworn an oath to obey all lawful 
orders. Sonji thought, 'Why is honor so hard, when 
happiness is so easy?'. 

The next day Dag accompanied Sonji to the entrance hall 
to meet the keeper who had arrived to take her away. The 
keeper buckled a belt around Sonji's waist and strapped 
her wrists to it. She still wore the hobble strap. 

Dag objected. "She'll be released in a few hours. Why do 
you have to tie her up like that?" 

"Regulations, sir. All violent criminals have to be 
restrained." 

"Then I might as well get some good from it." He kissed 
Sonji's lips. 

The keeper wondered what there was about the kiss that 
made Sonji struggle so violently against the straps, and 
why she was crying when soon she would be released from 
I.S. 

Sonji was taken to the courthouse. The straps were 
unbuckled and her collar was chiseled off. She was given 
a medical exam and her pebble was removed. Her smock was 
taken away and her possessions were returned. Soon she 
stood on the street wearing her dress and sandals, free 
of all restraints for the first time in over a year. 

When she was sure no one could see her she contacted the 
Interloper for directions to the pickup point. She walked 
out of the city and met the shuttle after dark. Her field 
survey was over. 

Epilogue 

Soon after Sonji returned to the Interloper Gamma's 
National Council received a formal invitation to join the 
Amalgamation. During the negotiations that followed Sonji 
was often consulted, but she kept away from the Gamma 
delegation because it was always possible that she might 
have to make another undercover field survey. 

Now, over a year later, all of the agreements had been 
reached, and it was time for the formal ceremony that 
would mark the entry of a new member into the 
Amalgamation. The Star Fleet personnel who had played key 
roles in the process were invited to the ceremony, and 
Lieutenant Sonji Regan was included in this select group. 

Sonji was circulating among the guests while she waited 
for the ceremony to begin. She was wearing the dress 
uniform of the Star Fleet Survey Service, with the 
Distinguished Service medal she had received when the 
agreements were reached. 

There was a stir in the crowd when Radg, the President of 
the National Council, entered with his entourage. Sonji 
saw that it included a young man wearing the gray 
clothing of an advocate. 

She walked up behind him and said, "Hello, Master." 

Dag spun around. When he recognized Sonji he was 
speechless with astonishment. 

"How are you, Master? Have you found a wife yet?" 

"No. It seems that every woman I meet can't even come 
close to matching a black-haired slave girl I once owned. 
But now I understand why she always seemed to be so much 
more than a peasant girl." 

He reached for her hand but she backed away. 

"We had better not touch. It would be embarrassing if I 
fainted. It would be even more embarrassing if you made 
it so I didn't faint." 

Dag backed her into a corner and took off his belt. "I'll 
take that risk." 

The End

Copyright (c) 2002, 2002 by Zack. 
zack_writer@hotmail.com - All rights reserved.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It's okay to *READ* stories about unprotected sex with
others outside a monogamous relationship. But it isn't
okay to *HAVE* unprotected sex with people other than
a trusted partner. You only have one body per lifetime,
so take good care of it!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Kristen's collection - Directory 19