Robertx5sf

Lost and Found Along the Outer Rim

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Chapter 1
Rex

"Scan complete. Scan results negative," reported the computer in its genderless monotone voice. Rex searched the visual display of the scan results, looking for any sign that might hint at the potential of something valuable in this section of the asteroid belt. The scan results did not make any sense to him. There were not even any traces of rare metals in the asteroids. Usually there was at least something out there of minimal value that was not worth the time or effort to extract. This entire asteroid belt was turning out to be barren. A barren asteroid belt was about the worst thing a space rat, the common slang for those that made their living mining asteroids or salvaging debris, could discover.

Rex was desperate to find something, anything, he could mine, salvage or steal. He was out of credits; it had been months since he had found anything he could sell. Rex had been roaming the furthest reaches of the Outer Rim looking for a new hunting ground. Ever since the Dellaren Federation had annexed the Olten System with its rare metal rich asteroid belt, the job of space rats like Rex had gotten much harder. The Olten Belt had been easy pickings, besides being rich in the metals need to repair space ships; the belt was littered with wreckage from a war fought a hundred years ago between the Torg Empire and the Republic of Zernt. Unfortunately for space rats, the Dellaren Federation had used its wealth to expand. Their warships had shown up in the Olten System a few years ago and chased all the scavengers out.

Rex ran out of credits a couple months ago and could not afford to refuel his ship anymore. The last time he had been back at Gelt Station, he borrowed credits from a financial syndicate in order resupply. Gelt Station was a large space station that served as a trading post and refueling station for those trying to make a living along this part of the Outer Rim. At the station, a space rat like Rex could purchase fuel, supplies, drinks, time with an outdated pleasure bot, and if times were tough, borrow credits to pay for it all.

"Computer, proceed to the next grid sector and initiate recovery scan. Let me know when the scan is complete," instructed Rex. The process of repositioning the ship and scanning the next section of the belt would take an hour, so Rex keyed up the holo image of his last session with Benjin 10, a pleasure bot that he had fucked a year ago. That was the last time he had been able spare a few extra credits to indulge while refueling at Gelt Station. The session had set him back 250 credits, 50 of which were for getting to keep a recording of the session. Twenty years ago, when he had first started as a space rat, Rex had dreamed of making a fortune and retiring in one of the rich inner systems. One where slavery was allowed, and he could get himself a real boy. A boy made out of flesh and blood, not synthetics. Over the years his dream kept getting downsized; now he just hoped to find enough so that this would not be his last expedition.

Rex freed his cock from the pair of loose fitting shorts he wore aboard ship and started to stoke it as he watched the holographic reply of the session with the Benjin 10. The boy bot was sucking on his cock, getting it ready to fuck it. The Benjin 10 model was a pleasure bot designed in the shape of a ten-year-old humanoid boy. The one that was in service at the Gelt Station pleasure house was more than ten years old. While it never grew up, it did age. Its skin, realistic first put in service, was slowly wearing out and hardening. The bot originally had light brown skin, but now the skin was stained by years of dirt and grime that no longer scrubbed off. The bot's fake black hair was matted and filthy. Still the bot's features were generally attractive, and it was the best that Rex could afford at the time, plus it was not like any of the other models available on the station were any newer, or in any better condition. Any space rat that had real wealth was not going to bother spending it at the station. Instead he would journey to one of the pleasure worlds in the Dellaren Federation to buy time with a newer bot, or if he struck it really rich, a real slave boy. Rex closed his eyes and stroked himself as imagined what it would be like to fuck the ass of a real, living, flesh and blood boy. He tried to picture what Zen would have looked like at ten. The boy probably would have looked a lot like the the Benjin 10. Rex quickly reached his orgasm, grabbing his vac-device and shooting his load into it.

After he finished cleaning up his mess, he shut down the holo-projector and glanced over at the computer display. The screen showed that it would still be another fifty minutes before repositioning in the next grid and scanning was completed. Getting off always made Rex sleepy, so he figured now would be a good time to get a quick nap in. He unstrapped himself from his seat on the bridge and floated awkwardly back to the living quarters. The artificial gravity generator had gone out a couple months ago, and Rex did not have the skill or credits to repair it. His ship was slowly falling apart, its condition mirroring the declining fortunes of its owner.

The Rising Sun was a small ship, consisting of two rooms that could accommodate two people living in close quarters. There was a bridge a bridge and the living quarters. The living quarters contained a full sized bed, a table, a treadmill and a combo toilet and bathing stall. The rest of the ship was devoted to cargo space and the equipment needed for mining and salvaging operations. Rex could operate the primary equipment remotely from the bridge, but for some of the finer, more detailed work, he had to suit up in a space suit and use the airlock to get outside.

Rex had purchased the Rising Sun from his mentor Vic when Vic was ready to retire. Rex had spent most of the last twenty-eight years of his life on the Rising Sun, eight as Vic's apprentice and the last twenty as its captain. He had signed up with Vic when he turned fourteen. In exchange for taking care of Vic's needs, Vic had shown him the ropes of the 'recovery' business, then sold the ship to him at a discount when he retired.

Vic had been a member of the Gelt Scavenger Consortium (GSC), and when Rex took over for him, Rex had joined the Consortium as well. Being part of one of the space rat guilds had many advantages, the biggest of which was the members of a guild shared discoveries of rich hunting grounds or tips on missing ships. The guild would share in the wealth and they would all prosper. The various guilds also respected each others territory; several bloody wars between the guilds had led to that tradition. Rex had made a decent living for himself while he had been a member of the Gelt Scavenger Consortium, but seven years ago he was kicked out of the Consortium. The life of a space rat was tough, the life of an independent one was even tougher.

Rex strapped himself into the bed and closed his eyes. He could still picture Zen in his mind as if it were yesterday. Everything always came back to Zen. That was when his luck had changed. At first he thought finding the boy was a blessing, but instead it had turned out to be his ruin.

It all started when Rex had received a tip from one of the guild's leaders that a refugee ship had gone missing. So Rex went looking for it and found the derelict refuge ship in the Parsen System. He was not sure what had taken it out, probably an asteroid strike or a malfunction. It was always hard to tell what the root cause was when the engines blew on a ship. The ship's emergency systems had worked to some extent; the front of the ship had jettisoned before the engines exploded. Unfortunately not all of the airlocks had sealed properly before the separation of the ship, a common problem with older ships. There were only four survivors, two adult females and two children, a girl of ten and a boy of six. Stranded in the wreckage for a couple weeks, they were almost out of air, food, and water when Rex arrived.

Rex checked all the survivors' records against the Dellaren Federation database. None were wanted criminals, so no bounties. The girl was the daughter of one of the adult females, but the boy's guardian, his uncle had perished when the ship broke apart and the parents had died before he and his uncle had boarded the ship. By the common custom of the Outer Rim, Rex had salvage rights on the remains of the ship, and got to claim any orphan children. Per the custom, Rex had to drop the adults and the non-orphan girl off at the nearest safe inhabited location, in this case a frontier planet two systems away that had a small star port.

What a space rat could do with an orphan child depended on the child's species and what risks he was willing to take. The two closest powers had vastly different rules for how to handle such children. The Zernt Empire, which was formed after the Republic of Zernt conquered the Torg Empire, would buy any species as a slave, while the Dellaren Federation had treaties with many planets that forbid it from enslaving citizens of those worlds or their descendents. The Federation interpreted the term descendents very broadly, which effectively ruled out selling any species that was originally from one of the planets that had a treaty with the Federation. In order to compensate the rescuer though, an orphan child that was not eligible to be enslaved due to his or her treaty status, could still be forced into indentured servitude until reaching adulthood. Adult was generally considered fourteen for humanoids, or its functional equivalent for the non-humanoid species. Functional adulthood was considered reaching the level of physical maturity needed to reliably reproduce. The custom of forcing orphans into indentured servitude had the effect of reducing the number of orphans abandoned at frontier outposts along the Rim.

The orphan boy was an Andorni, a fairly typical subspecies of the humanoids common in this part of the galaxy. Their main distinctive feature was a raised sub-dermal bone ridge along their brow. They had typical light brown skin and black hair. In fact other than the ridge on the brow, the boy reminded him of the Benjin 10 model, just younger. Since the Andorni were a 'treaty' species, Rex could not sell Zen as a slave to the Dellaren's, and he would be legally freed if ever enslaved and taken into Dellaren territory. Rex did not like dealing with the Zernts, so was not willing to sell the boy to them as a slave. However, an indentured servant was the next best thing to a slave, Rex registered the boy as an indentured servant and gave him a new short name appropriate for a space rat, Zen.

While six was a few years younger than his preference, Rex had always been a patient man and was willing to wait a couple years to enjoy the boy sexually. Until then, he would train the boy for his new role in life. Rex converted his cargo hold into temporary living quarters to accommodate the survivors until he had dropped them off at the star port. It took Rex two months to drop the other three survivors off, strip the wreckage of the most valuable components and make his way back to Gelt Station. He also reported the location of the wreckage to a bulk salvage operation that worked with the GSC. They would retrieve what remained of the hull and pay a commission to Rex and the GSC.

Those two months had been the happiest of his life. Zen was an absolute joy. It took the young boy a few days to adjust to the change in his circumstances, but after that he was everything Rex wanted in a boy. Since Zen's parents had died six months earlier and he had been traveling with his uncle, he was not overwhelmed by grief. He suffered some trauma from the crash but rebounded quickly. He had also already experienced transitioning into the care of an unfamiliar man when his uncle became his guardian. Fortunately for Rex, Zen's uncle had treated him well, so the young boy had a positive attitude and assumed that Rex would be kind to him as well. Zen enjoyed cuddling and sleeping with Rex spooned against him as it had made him feel safe and wanted. He was also very excited at the prospect of learning how to pilot a spaceship and be a space rat. Those two months were an exciting and adventurous game to the young boy. By the time they arrived at Gelt Station, Zen had captured Rex's heart.

While the two months spent with Zen had been the best days of his life, his return to Gelt Station turned into the worst day. He was supervising the unloading of his cargo by attendants from the station's auction house when Kal showed up at the dock with a couple of his crew in tow. Kal was a member of the council that was in charge of the GSC, and had been the one that gave Rex the tip about the missing refugee ship.

Kal was a Revani, as was Rex. The Revani were the most common race populating the Outer Rim. There ancestors had been the first humanoids to develop an interstellar hyperdrive capable of bridging the vast distances between star systems. They had spread out explore the galaxy, meeting the other races, and establishing outposts and colonies in throughout the systems. Then the sun in their home system exploded into a supernova. It happened unexpectedly and so quickly that it could not have happened naturally, but no cause was ever found.

Rex and Kal had typical stocky Revani builds and features. The average Revani was 1.75m tall [5'9"] and weighed 86kg [190Lbs]. Kal was a few centimeters taller and Rex was a couple shorter than average. Revani skin tone ranged from light to medium brown and the only places they grew any hair were in their arm pits and crotch. Their most noticeable feature were the four ridges that ran lengthwise across their bald heads from the top of their foreheads to the back of their skulls.

"Kal, thanks for that tip. Here to see how much your cut is worth?", asked Rex.

"Not quite. I saw from your report that you picked up a kid. The GSC Council just approved my request to take the kid off your hands in lieu of the normal cut. It's your lucky day Rex, you get to keep your entire cut of the sales instead of splitting it with me," said Kal.

"What the fuck! You can't do that," protested Rex.

Kal laughed, "Check your pad, the kid's service contract has already been reassigned."

Rex pulled out his computer pad and checked the logs on his station account. Sure enough, Zen's contract had been assigned to Kal. As he lowered his pad with his left hand, his right hand reached for the blaster on his hip.

"Now now Rex, I wouldn't do anything rash if I were you," said Kal. Rex stopped reaching for his gun as he noticed that the two crew members accompanying Kal already had their blasters out and trained on him.

Rex was helpless to do anything as Kal boarded his ship and took Zen. The boy cried and called out for Rex as Kal carried him from the hanger. Rex yelled and screamed; he called Kal every obscenity he knew and told Zen that he loved him and would rescue him. Just before leaving, Kal turned back and smiled wickedly at Rex, "You're weak Rex! You don't have the instincts of a predator, and if you're not the predator, you're the prey."

Rex was still angry when he made his way to the Black Hole later that night. The Black Hole was one of the many bars on the station. Rex was sitting at a table alone, already extremely drunk when Kal sat down across from him. Rex glared at him. "Get the fuck away from me, I never want to see your backstabbing ugly face again," spat Rex.

Kal laughed at him. "You were too soft on the little tyke Rex. You not only missed your chance to fuck that tight virgin ass yourself, but it would have been better for the boy if you had broke him in and loosened him up for me. Not that I'm complaining, I rather enjoyed his screams as I raped him. I'll let you have a go at him for a mere 1000 credits if you want. Of course you'll have to wait for the med bot to finish patching him up first. Did I mention how tight…"

The bang and flash from Rex's blaster interrupted Kal. The shot missed wide. Rex was slow because he was so drunk, that had given one of Kal's crew time to shove him, foiling his shot. Kal's two crew members had been standing behind the drunk space rat, just in case he tried something like that. "Thanks for making this so easy Rex," said Kal as his two crew members beat the drunk space rat.

Rex found himself lying on the floor in his ship's living quarters when he regained consciousness. With a face swollen and caked with dried blood and his head aching, he gathered himself up off the floor and crawled onto the bed, "Computer, do you have any messages or notices for me?"

Notice from Gelt Scavenger Consortium, your membership has been terminated for an unprovoked attack on a Council member. Message from Gelt Auctioneers, your interest in the cargo delivered to them yesterday has been terminated per the terms of their contract with the Gelt Scavenger Consortium. Notice from Gelt Station Administration, five thousand credits have been deducted from your account as a fine and compensation for damages resulting from your incident last night at the Black Hole, intoned the computer, delivering the devastating news in its emotionless monotone.

"Computer, is Kal still on the station?", asked Rex. His life was ruined; he might as well try again to kill Kal.

No. Public departure records indicated his ship and crew left the station this morning, answered the computer.

Rex spent a week at the station trying to sign on with another guild, but none of them were willing to take in a space rat that had tried to kill one of the leaders of his last guild. He thought about waiting around for Kal to return, but eventually he gave up on that idea and headed back out to space. In the ensuing years he had only caught sight of Kal once at a distance, the man obviously made an effort to avoid him. He had not seen Zen again, but word was that he was still indentured to Kal. Rex had tried to find a way to get Zen back, but Kal had too much influence and money.

Scan complete. Scan results negative, called out the ship's computer, bringing an end to Rex's melancholy reminiscing. Rex got up and floated his way back to the bridge. He looked over the display of the scan and sighed. Nothing again! He ordered the computer to move to the next grid and scan it. He started to make his way back towards his bed when the airlock at the end of the hall caught his eye. He pulled himself over and stopped in front of it.

Rex stared at the airlock emergency release lever. Just one quick pull and the cold nothingness of space would suck away all his troubles. He had known several space rats that had gone out that way. People claimed it was a quick death, usually less than a minute. He slowly reached out and took the safety cover off and laid his hand on the lever. Can I do it? he wondered, Is it being brave to put an end to this miserable failure of a life or am I taking the coward's way out? He closed his hand around the lever. He wondered what Zen would think when the boy heard that he had killed himself, would Kal even tell him, and would Zen even remember him or care.

There was a loud thud as something collided with the small ship. The collision alarm sounded and the computer unhelpfully called out a belated Impact detected. The force of the impact sent Rex spinning away from the airlock, his hand momentarily still grasping the emergency release. The lever pulled away from the airlock and at the last second, it slipped from Rex's fingers. It reset without detonating the explosive charges that would blow the airlock open and suck Rex out of the ship. Rex crashed into the wall opposite the airlock. He was confused as to what had just happened. He wondered why the ship's collision alarm hadn't sounded until after impact. "Computer, damage report," ordered Rex.

Starboard solar panel offline, gravity generator offline, water reclamation unit offline. All other systems operational, reported the computer. The only new damage was to the starboard solar panel; the other two systems had been offline for months.

"Computer, what just hit us?", asked Rex.

Unknown. Close vicinity scan shows no objects within ten kilometers [six miles], reported the computer. Rex maneuvered back to the bridge and strapped himself into his seat. He activated the external lights and cameras. A dozen meters [40 feet] off the starboard side of the ship was a cylindrical object about two meters [two yards] long and one meter [one yard] in diameter. It was drifting slowly away from the ship.

"Computer, scan the object visible in camera five," ordered Rex.

Scan results negative, no object detected, replied the computer.

"What the fuck!" exclaimed Rex. The camera was definitely showing something, the scanners should detect something. Judging by the looks of it, Rex figured it would easily fit inside the cargo hold; the only problem was how to get it there. He would need to do it all manually since the computer could not detect the object. He'd use the external cameras, pilot the ship so that he was in front the object and match its trajectory and speed. He scanned in front of the ship to make sure the path ahead was clear, then he put on his space suit and went to the cargo hold.

Rex sealed the airlock between the cargo hold and the crew area and then depressurized the cargo hold. When the cargo hold was emptied of air, he lowered the cargo ramp, opening the cargo area to the outside. He grabbed a large work light, aimed it out the back, and used the ship controls on the auxiliary computer panel in the cargo area to slow the ship. Soon he caught a glimpse of the object. He kept reducing the ship's speed and maneuvering it occasionally to better align the ship with the object. It was a slow process but eventually the cylindrical object was safely inside the hold. His size estimate was correct, two meters long [two yards] and a meter [yard] in diameter. While he could not tell exactly what it was made out of, he was sure that it was not metal or stone. It was black and had a very finely pitted surface. It reflected very little visible light. He wrapped some industrial strength straps around it and then secured them to pulleys and lowered the capsule to the floor. The object responded slowly as if it was resisting the downward force applied to it. After attaching it firmly to the ship, he closed the ramp and brought the ship to a halt.

The internal sensors were just as useless as the external ones in examining the thing. Rex stared at the mysterious capsule as he debated his options. He could leave it here in the depressurized hold and immediately take it back to the station. Even without knowing anything else about it, he knew it was so unusual that it would sell for enough to clear his debts, repair and resupply his ship, and still give him a small bankroll to fund his operations for a year. If he tinkered with it, either he could either discover more about it, which could increase its value, or he could damage it. It could even be dangerous and kill him. The possibilities and 'what ifs' were endless.

Fuck it, thought Rex. He did not chose to live the life a space rat because he liked to play it safe. Just an hour ago, he was almost ready to space himself. He was not afraid of dying; he was afraid of living a pointless life, always pining away for what might have been if Zen had not been taken from him. He was not going to trade this mystery for another year of getting by. He was going to figure out what this thing was, even if he died trying.

Rex spent the next couple of hours using every device on the ship he could think of to try to learn anything about the strange object. He determined that it was absorbing or somehow canceling all the sound and light waves that hit it, except for a very small amount of the visible light spectrum used by humanoids to see. It was also not emitting anything of its own, including heat. That was why it was invisible to the sensors, since they all operated by either analyzing what the object omitted, or by bouncing things off it. Even the scanners that bounced particles off it did not work probably as the particles momentum was blunted when they impacted against the object. Further scans showed the particles were still present and undamaged. It was as if most of their momentum had been negated.

Poking and prodding it with various instruments did nothing. Rex did not try to force anything or hit it very hard, but none of what he did test against the objected penetrated or even marred the surface. The more Rex studied it, the more the surface material reminded him of the shell of an animal or an egg. Since he was pretty sure that nothing could seriously damage the thing, Rex pressurized the cargo hold.

The green light lit up indicating that the pressure and temperature in the cargo hold was now back at standard. Rex removed his helmet and his gloves. He couldn't resist the temptation to reach out and touch it. He was surprised at how warm it felt. Having just come from space, it should have been freezing. Plus before he had pressurized the hold, it had not been radiating any heat according to the sensors. Rex told the computer to display the room's air temperature and to stop regulating it. The ship usually kept the internal temperature set to 20 degrees [68F], which is what Rex found comfortable. He could feel the heat radiating from the mysterious shell. Eventually the air temperature in the room reached 23 degrees [73F] and stabilized there.

"Computer, raise the temperature to 25 degrees [77F]," instructed Rex. The ship's environmental system quickly kicked in and the temperature started to rise. Rex reached out of his hand and placed it on the surface of the shell. It was cool to the touch. "Computer, cease regulating the air temperature," he ordered. Within a few minutes, the temperature of the room returned to 23 degrees [73F]. The thing was clearly acting to adjust the temperature. He wondered if it was making any other changes. "Computer, have there been any changes to air composition since we last pressurized the compartment?" asked Rex.

Affirmative, oxygen level has increased from 18% to 20%, all other elements have decreased proportionally. Levels still within acceptable tolerances, reported the computer.

"Computer, cease regulating the air composition, provide warning if any element approaches dangerous levels," instructed Rex. Was this thing seeking to create a specific environment and if so why, he wondered.

Ten minutes later the computer reported that the atmosphere had stabilized at 77.5% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, .93% argon, 0.039% carbon dioxide and 0.531% water vapor. The thing was also compensating for the effect of Rex's breathing, since the oxygen level did not decrease and the carbon dioxide level did not increase. Whatever the thing was, it was clearly seeking to make an environment that was comfortable for a humanoid race. It was slightly different from what Rex would prefer, but it was tolerable.

Rex waited, if this thing was trying to create a specific environment, perhaps it would do something when it achieved its goal. Rex floated around the cargo hold waiting, but nothing happened. He wondered what was missing. Then it occurred to him, if this thing was trying to make a truly livable environment, one key element was still missing, gravity.

Rex moved the capsule and secured it in place on the back wall of the hold. Then he strapped himself into a fold out seat. He plotted out a clear course on the computer then engaged the ship's impulse engine, creating artificial gravity through linear acceleration. He had the computer repeatedly increase speed a small amount, then maintain it. He kept increasing the speed to increase the amount of gravity hoping that eventually the object would react. When the gravity reached a level that was just slightly more than Rex would consider normal, the object moved.

The long torpedo shaped object rolled, breaking the straps that secured it to wall. It rolled about a quarter turn, then a seamed appeared along the top. Faint lines appeared; outlining two long panels that ran most of the length of what was now the top side. The panels separated and retracted inside the capsule. Rex figured that it was designed as some type of capsule, made to carry something in space and release it when it found a suitable 'home'.

Rex unstrapped himself from his seat and carefully lowered himself to the back wall that was currently serving as the 'floor' of the hold. He stood next to the capsule and looked inside. There was some type of opaque viscous substance inside. Rex jumped back in surprise as the goo rose up out of the capsule. When the shock wore off, Rex realized that the goo had not moved, but was clinging onto something, or more accurately, someone. He could make out a head, chest, and two arms. It appeared to be a small humanoid, now sitting up. It coughed and spit out a large glob of the goo then took a deep breath.

"Computer, scan the cargo hold and report on all life forms other than me," said Rex. The goo covered humanoid was just sitting there, swaying slightly. It seemed to move its arms a little but without any apparent purpose or reason. Its head moved around trying to locate the source of the sounds it heard.

One life form detected other than you; species humanoid, subtype unknown, gender male, height 1.35 meters [4'5"], weight 30 kilograms [66Lbs]. Vitals appear within expected ranges for a typical humanoid. Unable to determine exact age. Height and weight are within expected values for a male of eight to twelve years of age unless subject suffers from genetic abnormalities, reported the computer after it had completed the scan.

"And the substance clinging to the subject?" asked Rex.

Unknown organic material, replied the computer.

"Is it harmful?" asked Rex.

No known toxins or harmful elements detected, replied the computer.

Rex walked over and knelt next to the pod. He reached out and took the boy's head in his hands. The boy jerked a little, reacting to the sensation of being touched. Rex wiped the goo from the boy's face. His skin was extremely pale. When his eyes were cleared, the boy opened them but the pupils were wild and unfocused. Rex was stricken by the color of the boy's eyes, they were blue. He had never seen blue eyes on a humanoid before. "Hello, can you understand me?" asked Rex. The boy moved a bit but did not answer. Rex shifted positions, moved behind the boy, slipping his hands under the boy's arms to lift him out of the capsule. "Computer, adjust the temperature and atmosphere of the rest of the ship to match that of the cargo hold. Notify me when that is complete," ordered Rex.

He set the boy down on the floor. The boy moved around a bit, but the movements were uncoordinated. Rex then put a layer of plastic sheeting over the opening in the capsule and put new straps around both the capsule and the sheeting to secure the plastic to the capsule and the capsule to the wall of the ship. He did not want the remaining goo inside the capsule to spill out into the rest of his ship when the gravity ended. Rex unfolded another seat from the wall, picked the boy up, and strapped him into the seat. Again, the boy reacted to being touched and flailed about, and his eyes darted around wildly. Once he was strapped into the seat though he stopped moving around. Adjustments complete, reported the computer.

Rex climbed up the side of the hold and strapped himself back into his seat. He took manual command of the ship from the auxiliary control panel adjacent to his seat and slowly reduced the ship's speed. Rex wished he would have been able to maintain the artificial gravity indefinitely, but he did not have an unlimited amount of fuel to burn. The panels in the capsule quickly slid closed once the momentum of the ship changed.

When the ship stopped and there was no longer any artificial gravity, Rex freed himself from his chair and stripped off the rest of his suit. Wearing just his shorts, he floated over to get the boy. While the plastic sheet and the panels closing contained the goo from the capsule, much of the goo that had once covered the boy was now floating around the cargo hold with only a thin layer still clinging to the boy. Rex could tell that under the goo the boy had short hair and eyebrows, but other than that was hairless.

"I am going to take you into the living quarters of the ship and clean you up," said Rex. He did not know if the boy could even hear him, let alone understand him, but it made him feel better at least to tell the boy what was going on. He freed the boy from the seat, and floated the pair of them out of the cargo hold. He maneuvered them into the bathing stall with some difficulty; the boy would occasionally thrash about at random. He closed the stall and sealed it, then used the stall's vacuum system to clean them both. It was difficult and time consuming to get clean without the gravity generator working since he could not just use the shower. Fortunately, the rest of the goo came off easier than he was expecting. When he cleaned off the boy's short hair he was surprised by its color. It was a light yellowish color he had never seen before in hair.

Rex was amazed at what the cleaning revealed as he vacuumed the boy. He had milky white skin, something else that Rex had not encountered in humanoids before. The boy had a typical humanoid skeletal system but with no protruding sub-dermal ridges, just a hint of visible bones at the joints. The boy was definitely prepubescent and still had a thin layer of fat under his skin. Rex made his way down the boy, cleaning off the goo and revealing tiny pink nipples on his chest, a small indentation where an umbilical cord had once been attached, a smooth groin and a decent sized cock for a boy of perhaps ten. There were two small testicles inside a tight scrotum. The boy urinated when Rex was cleaning his cock; a small amount of golden liquid leaked out of the boy's flaccid cock.

Rex was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with the boy; is he be able to control his bodily functions, was he just disoriented from waking from whatever type of sleep or coma he had been in, how long had he been in that pod. The supply of medical equipment was limited and Rex would not be able to care for an invalid for long. The lack of gravity also made everything more difficult. "What am I going to do with you and that pod?" asked Rex. The boy moved his limbs a bit and made a garbled string of nonsensical sounds. Rex smiled, "Well I guess you can hear and have some vocal ability, but can you understand what I am saying?"

The boy made some more random seeming sounds then brought his right hand up and after several flailing attempts put a couple of his fingers in his mouth. The boy had full pink lips and a soft pink tongue. The boy sucked on his fingers, which made Rex smile as he imagined his cock in the boy's mouth instead. "You still trying to figure out how to get your body to work, is that it? Are you hungry? Thirsty?" asked Rex.

The man maneuvered the boy out of the stall and then strapped him onto the bed. He opened up the compartment with the emergency supplies and got out a diaper and a nourishment pouch. While Rex had only found humanoid survivors that one time, it was custom to carry emergency supplies for the off chance of encountering stranded individuals of all ages out in the vast reaches of the outer rim. He put the diaper on the boy, it was a little on the small side, but it would at least make sure that piss, or worse yet shit, did not go floating all over the ship. Then he opened the nutri-pak and put it up to the boy's mouth. He held the back of the kid's head and squeezed a little bit of the paste into the boy's mouth. The boy did have some control over his body and managed to swallow the food without choking. The boy finished the whole nutri-pak and promptly fell asleep.

Rex cleaned up the ship while the boy was asleep. After he made sure everything was stored away safely and there was not any floating debris inside the ship, he got the medical tester out of the emergency supplies. He used it to scan the boy, then he rested it against the boy's arm. It quickly and painlessly extracted a small blood sample. The device then gave all the information to the ship's computer for analysis. Rex did not want to wake the boy, so he read the results off of the terminal rather than having the computer read them out.

The computer indicated the boy appeared to be approximately ten years old as far as physical development, but it was unable to verify cellular age. There were no signs of any defects or diseases. The boy did appear to be suffering from neurological and physical symptoms consistent with those of someone awakening from a prolonged coma, although his symptoms were clearing at a much more rapid pace than was normal.

His genetic make up was interesting. The boy was humanoid and shared the same basic DNA structure that the rest of the humanoids of the galaxy had. It had long been theorized that the humanoids of the galaxy had all shared a common ancestor before somehow spreading out and evolving slight differences to better adapt to their environments. Different races all had different explanations for how this had happened, be it God, Gods, or some even more ancient race of aliens that planted the seeds of life across the galaxy.

There were some abnormalities to the basic humanoid DNA. Besides the unusual genes for the skin, hair, and eye color, there were also some abnormalities in the genes that controlled brain development. There was also a unique section at the end of the DNA strand. The computer indicated that this section of DNA did not appear natural but was most likely the result of the some type of genetic engineering.

The computer indicated that this was a new subspecies of humanoid, and since it was not in the Dellaren Federation database, the boy was officially not a member of any treaty race. Rex sat and stared at the computer's prompt or several long moments, 'Register Slave?' This is what Rex had dreamed of ever since he first signed on with Vic. A beautiful slave boy of his own. He tried to run through the scenarios of what might happen if he returned to Gelt Station with the boy. He would still owe the syndicate a loan payment or they would confiscate and sell his ship. Even if he managed to convince them to defer the loan payment, he would need to sell something to refuel, and the only things he had of enough value were the boy and his mysterious pod. He knew he couldn't bring himself to sell the boy, even though he would likely get enough for him that he could retire in comfort. He wondered what value the pod might have.

The ship had enough fresh water for the two of them for another week before they ran out. He had enough food for to last a two weeks if he broke into the emergency supplies, but with the water reclamation system offline, it was the drinkable water that limited how long he could stay out here before he needed to jump back to Gelt Station to resupply. He had a week to figure out what he was going to do when he got back to the station. In the meantime he needed to protect his find. He keyed in the info to register his salvage rights to the boy's pod, listing it as an emergency escape pod of unknown origin, occupied by an undocumented humanoid orphan child that was now his property. After he entered the information, he saved it to a file and tagged it for transmission back to the station during his next weekly hyperspace transmission. It took a lot of energy to transmit a message to one of the hyperspace relays, so Rex only opened a communication channel back to the station once a week.

Rex then instructed the ship to move to the next sector and scan for anything worth mining or salvaging, but this time he also programmed the ship to monitor the external cameras and notify him if any strange objects appeared on the visual display but not the scanners.

Rex went back and admired his sleeping slave boy. The boy had managed to free an arm from the straps securing him to the bed and was sucking his thumb as he slept. The boy ended up sleeping for four hours, enough for the ship to make three more unsuccessful scans of the asteroid belt. When the boy woke up, he immediately began struggling against the straps that held him in place against the bed. Rex went over to him and gently pressed against his chest and held him against the bed as he started to undo the straps. The boy stopped struggling and turned to look at Rex. His eyes focused on Rex and he spoke, or at least made what sounded like an attempt to form a word, "aahhhd".

When Rex freed the boy's chest and other arm, he moved his arms, almost pawing at the air, "aahhd" he said again. Rex realized that the boy was using his arms to motion towards the cargo hold.

"Pod? Do you want to go to the pod I found you in?" asked Rex.

"Paahhd," said the boy and moved his arms faster. Rex finished unstrapping the boy from the bed and pushed them both through the ship to the cargo hold airlock. He opened it and froze. The plastic sheet covering the pod was gone and there was a thin cable stretching from the pod to the auxiliary computer control panel.

"What the fuck!" exclaimed Rex.

"Paaood," repeated the boy as he started to thrash around in Rex's arms. The panels reappeared on the top of the pod. They slid open and Rex was surprised to see that there was no longer any goo remaining inside the capsule. There was an empty oblong area inside the same size as the boy. He tightened his grip on the boy as he tried to figure out what to do. He suspected that the cable connecting the pod to the computer was some way for the pod to hack into the controls of his ship. If I put the boy back in the pod will he leave? If I don't will that pod destroy my ship? wondered Rex.

The boy screamed out, "POD!"

Rex pushed off from the airlock and floated them both over to the strange capsule. The boy still did not have full control over his movements, but Rex could tell that the boy was trying to reach out to the pod. Easy come, easy go, thought Rex as he placed the small boy into the opening of the alien capsule. The panels slid closed. For a moment Rex thought about trying to leave the cargo hold and seal the airlock in case the boy opened the cargo hold door and violently depressurized the ship, but then he remembered where he had been when the thing first struck his ship.

Rex saw the auxiliary control panel display light up as commands and responses started to scroll rapidly across it. It was as he feared, the boy and his pod had hacked into his ship's computer. Rex let out a sigh and again waited for the cold emptiness of space to take him. This time instead of the memory of Zen's small body, he focused on the imagine of the exotic pale, yellow haired, blue eyed boy that had briefly been his. There were worse things to think about right before dying.

Red lights started to flash, Warning, gravity will be restored in five, four, three, sounded the computer. Rex exhaled. No need to prolong this, he thought, then realized that the computer was not warning him about the pending opening of the cargo door, but was instead warning him that the gravity system was coming online. He quickly reached out and grabbed a safety bar. two, one. Gravity restored, finished the computer as Rex was violently rotated and slammed against the wall. He let go of the safety bar and fell to the floor.

"Computer, damage report," said Rex trying to figure out what was going on. The computer did not respond. Rex stood up and rubbed his right shoulder. It had taken the worst of the blow as the artificial gravity system had started operating for the first time in months. He walked over to the computer terminal. The display was unreadable as words and commands flashed quicker than Rex was able to read them. "Computer, emergency reboot, authorization code Rex five eight nine," said Rex hoping that a reboot might enable him to regain control of his ship.

Unable to comply, please stand by, responded the computer. Rex reached out and grabbed the cable that connected the pod to the ship's control panel. The outside of the cable seemed to be made of the same type of plastic as the sheet he had covered the pod with was. The pod had somehow been able to reshape it and turn it into something that could transmit signals to the computer. He wrapped the cable around his hand.

"Please Master, don't," said a high-pitched young male voice through the ship's speakers. Rex froze.

"Boy?" asked Rex, turning and looking at the pod. It remained sealed. Rex was confused, Did the boy just call me master? Did the boy know and accept that he was a slave? Was he just saying that so I won't pull the cable out?

Please stand by, intoned the computer in its standard monotone voice.

Rex released his grip on the cable. If the boy meant him harm, it would have been easier for him to open the cargo door and space him than it was to fix the ship's gravity generator.

Water reclamation system online, announced the computer.

"I'll be damned," said Rex. The boy and his pod were fixing his ship. The computer display went blank, then a moment later it displayed a message: 'System Offline' and a countdown clock ticking down from eight hours. Unsure of exactly what to do, Rex paced around for a bit and then he realized that both the gravity and the water reclamation systems were back online. So he took a very long, very hot shower and finished the shower by jacking off to the image of the boy's naked body and the thought of possibly having the boy as his own personal slave. He even managed to sleep for a few hours, luxuriating in being able to do so without having to be strapped into the bed.

System reboot initiated, announced the computer. Rex woke instantly at the sound of the computer's voice. He had spent most of his life on this ship and was practiced at responding to the computer. Rex got up from the bed, grateful for the fact that he could do so by simply standing up. He walked back to the cargo hold to see if anything had changed in the last few hours. Nothing had. A few seconds later, the seam reappeared along the top of the capsule and it opened.

The boy sat up and smiled at Rex. "Ello Mathaw," he said. It was the same voice that had earlier called him Master through the ship's speakers. Rex smiled back at the boy.

Sorry Master, came the voice through the speakers, I am still learning how to fully control my body.

"Do not worry boy, you seem to be learning fast and practice makes perfect," said Rex. "Unless it is an emergency, I order you to talk with your mouth and not the computer," ordered Rex.

"Yeth, Mathaw," said the boy.

"Do you have a name boy?" asked Rex.

"No, Mathaw," answered the boy.

"Hmm, then I will give you a name, Jasen. You will also answer to Boy or Slave," said Rex.

"Yes, Mathaw, my name ith now Jathen," replied the boy.

"Why did you fix my ship when you could have done anything you wanted?" asked Rex.

The boy tilted his head and had a curious look on his face. Several times he started to try to form words but stopped. He gave Rex a pleading look.

"You may use the computer to answer this question Jasen," said Rex.

Thank you Master. My instructions are to obey all laws and customs of anyone that finds me, Sir. When you returned me to my ship, it was connected to your ship's systems and I interfaced with it. I was able to fix several of the ship's systems. I hope I did not overstep my place Master. I had yet to fully integrate the ship's database of historical and cultural information, answered the boy.

"You downloaded all of the ship's information?" asked Rex.

"Yeth, Mathaw" answered Boy.

"Why?" asked Rex.

"To leawn, Mathaw," answered Boy.

"Who instructed you to obey whoever found you?" asked Rex.

The boy's face scrunched up as he struggled to find the words to answer, "Ouw fathew? Ouw maka? I nevew knew him, but thewe awe a couple memowy of him in the pod. He put me in the pod and give it ouw owdewth."

"So do you understand what being a slave means?" asked Rex.

"Yeth, you own me. I am youws Mathaw, I muth do wha you thay," answered the boy, "Mathaw, may I athk you thomthing?"

"Yes you may Jasen," answered Rex.

"Why ith the compthuwew pwogammed to lie to you?" asked Boy.

"What? Tell me what you mean, use the ship's systems to answer if you must," ordered Rex. He already noticed that the boy seemed more intelligent and had a greater vocabulary when he spoke through the computer. Yet one more mystery about the boy and his pod.

Master, when interfacing with your ship's computer I examined all of its programs and subroutines. The scanner subroutine has been modified to always report negative results when scanning for metals or salvageable materials, said the boy's voice through the ship's speakers.

"When was this subroutine modified?" asked Rex.

Six months ago during a maintenance session on Gelt Station, Master, came the boy's answer through the ship's systems. Rex shook his head. That was when he his luck had gone from just bad to unbelievably bad. It was not long after that when he been forced to borrow credits from the syndicate to resupply his ship. People had warned him against borrowing from them, but he hadn't much choice at the time. He wondered, Had they hacked his ship in order to put him in a position where he would need to borrow credits from them?

"I do not want my ship to lie to me Jasen. Can you reprogram the ship to remove that modified subroutine?" asked Rex. No wonder he had not been able to find anything the last few months. The syndicate had sabotaged him.

"Yeth Mathaw," answered Jasen, "Wepwogammawing complete."

"Jasen, are there any other programs or subroutines that are abnormal?" asked Rex.

"Yeth Mathaw, thewe ith a thubwoutine that wepowts evewything to a compthuwew in Gelt Thation," answered Boy.

Rex sighed. No wonder his luck had been so bad lately. His ship was lying to him and reporting everything back to Gelt. "Terminate and isolate any abnormal subroutines," order Rex. Jasen closed his eyes. Rex saw the computer terminal flash as the boy quickly reprogrammed the computer.

"Done, Mathaw," said Jasen when he was finished.

"Computer, scan this sector for valuables," instructed Rex.

Scanning initiated. Thirty minutes until results available, responded the computer.

"Jasen, can you communicate with your pod without being physically connected to it?", asked Rex.

"Yeth, Mathaw. It weads my bwain and I can thenth it in my head," answered the boy.

"Can you walk? Can you exit that pod?" asked Rex.

"Yeth, Mathaw," replied the boy. He stood up and stepped out of the pod, "Mathaw, my pod ith woth mow to you than you could thell it fow."

"What?" responded Rex. The boy's cheeks turned red and he again struggled to try to form words. "Use the computer Jasen," instructed Rex.

Thank you Master. My ship, this pod, is part of me. We are connected to each other. I know from your ship's records that you need credits and you have claimed me as your property and intend to register my ship for auction. We are yours to do with as you wish, but we, I wish that we remain together. I can help you Master, but I can help you more if I have my ship. It is worth more to you than any amount of credits you could sell it for, said the boy through the ship's systems.

"Jasen, I will need to return to the station at some point to get more supplies, food and fuel, things like that. When I do, some very powerful people will want credits, credits I do not have. These people already appear to have sabotaged my ship in order to make me default on my payment. Unless we can find a way to get a lot of credits quickly, I may not have any say in the matter," answered Rex.

"Yeth Mathaw," said Jasen. Rex could sense the sadness in the boy's voice.

"Come, let's get something to drink and eat and start trying to figure out what to do next," said Rex. He held out his hand. The boy grabbed it and Rex pulled him to his feet. Jasen was unsteady on his feet, but managed to step out of the pod and with Rex supporting him took a few steps. Rex guided him through the ship and back to the living quarters. He folded down the seats at the table then seated the boy.

"Okay, I will show you where everything is and then in the future it will by one of your jobs to prepare our meals," said Rex. He showed the boy were everything was located and how to reconstitute the meal packs. He placed all the food on the table then sat down. Jasen watched him with curiosity as he began to eat. After seeing what Rex was doing, the boy reached out towards the food in imitation of him. "No. Slaves only eat after their Master has finished. You will wait until I am done and had my fill before you eat," ordered Rex.

"Yeth, Mathaw," said Jasen.

"You may call me Sir when it is just the two of us. Try it," said Rex.

"Thhiww," struggled the boy.

"Okay, try getting your 's' sound correct," said Rex. He ate his meal slowly while he had the boy practice speaking. The boy was a quick learner, and soon had mastered his 's' sound, but was still struggling with his 'r' sound.

Once Rex had finished eating, he pushed the plate over to the boy who attacked the food. While the boy was eating, Rex went searching for something he had picked up long ago when he was more optimistic about his career as a space rat. He found what he was looking for at the bottom of a storage compartment full of the things he rarely ever needed. He pulled out the small box and sat down on the bed, placing the box next to him.

"Come here Jasen," ordered Rex. The boy quickly shoved one last bite of food into his mouth then got up and carefully took the couple steps needed to get from the table to the bed. Once he was standing in front of Rex, the man put his hand on the boy's shoulder and pressed down, "On your knees Boy."

Rex reached into the box and pulled out a collar made out of a thin flexible silver metal, there was a small gold patch on one side. He reached down and wrapped it around the boy's neck. He pressed his thumb against the small gold colored patch. The collar adjusted itself around the boy's neck and its ends fused together locking it in place. "On your feet Boy," ordered Rex.

The boy stood up. He reached up to feel the collar around his neck. Rex slapped the boy's hand away, "Did I tell you to play with your collar? No. When you are standing in front of me, you will not move unless I tell you. Understand?"

"Yes, Siw. Sowwy Siw," replied the boy.

Rex reached back into the box and pulled out a wristband that matched the collar. He put it around his wrist and pressed the gold spot on it. The wristband sealed itself around his wrist and synchronized itself with the boy's collar.

Rex saw the curious look on the boy's face and knew he wanted to ask questions about the collar and the wristband. Rex pressed the gold spot on his wristband, his voice echoed in stereo as it was broadcast from speakers embedded in the collar, "These are linked. I can communicate with you through it and you can reach me if needed. If you need to reach me, press the gold button on your collar or say 'call Master', then say your message." He pressed the button on his wristband again to turn of the broadcast mode. "When you downloaded the ship's database, did you learn what is expected from a slave boy?" asked Rex.

"Yes, Siw," answered the little yellow haired, blue eyed slave boy.

"Does it scare you?" asked Rex.

The boy yawned. "No, Siw, Should it?" he answered. Rex laughed.

"Perhaps a little bit. Fortunately for you, I am not like some others that are out there. I do not enjoy hurting boys. I will make sure you are ready first. For one thing you need to be able to control your bladder. While I think you look cute in that diaper, I'd like to see you naked, but I don't want you pissing all over my ship," said Rex.

"Thhowwwy, thiw," said the boy, his speech slurred again as swayed and struggled to keep his eyes open.

"Are you tired Jasen?", asked Rex.

The boy nodded, "Pod."

Rex closed the box of slave gear. There would be plenty of time to introduce the boy to the last item of the slave gear later. The boy was still recovering from whatever type of coma or suspended state he had been in during his time in the pod. Rex picked up the boy and carried him back to the cargo hold. He saw that the pod had freed itself from the wall and was now resting on the floor. The small boy was already asleep and did not wake as Rex gently placed him in the pod. Rex yanked his hands back as the panels immediately started to close once the boy was inside. Rex still had more questions than answers regarding the boy and his strange pod, but at least he was no longer quite as worried about it spacing him.

As the boy slept, Rex went to the bridge and sat down. "Computer, display the abnormal communication subroutine that was isolated earlier," ordered Rex. He studied the lines of code. It took him several minutes, but eventually he discovered what he was looking for buried in the code. The relay the subroutine used to report on him belonged to the Gelt Scavenger Consortium. It wasn't the syndicate that had been messing with his ship, it was Kal.

"Zen, my cabin, now," ordered Kal's voice through the speaker in the wall of Zen's room. Room was a generous description of Zen's small quarters. It was more of a closet with a bed than a proper room. Zen set his data pad down and got up off his bed. Reading the technical manuals on the ships systems for the umpteenth time would have to wait. He did a quick check of his shoulder length black hair in the mirror, straightening the side where he had been propping up his head while lying on the bed. He practiced his smile and when he was ready to go, he stripped off his robe and tossed it on his bed. He examined his body quickly in the mirror making sure it was clean. He was 1.65 meters [5'5"] tall and weighed 55kg [121Lbs] and was in decent shape. Naked, except for a chastity device that kept his cock from getting hard and a plug locked in place up his ass, Zen left his room and walked down the hall to the captain's cabin.

The door slid open and Zen entered. He took three steps into the room and stopped. He assumed his inspection position, feet shoulder width apart, hands behind his head, elbows out, and his eyes staring straight ahead. He caught a glimpse of movement at the edge of his vision, but resisted the instinct to turn his head. He soon felt Kal's hot breath on the back of his neck as the man inspected him. Zen stood still, his fake smile plastered on his face.

Zen had learned a hard truth over the years, the main difference between being an indentured servant and a slave was slaves could be sold. That meant that slaves had real value to their owners, while servants were just things used, exploited, and eventually discarded. Sure, by custom, Kal could not kill or permanently injure him, but if he had been a slave, Kal would not reduce his value by injuring him, let alone reduce it to zero by killing him. So, the protection of being an indentured servant was not actually any different from the reality of being a slave. His 'boss' was also obligated to provide him food and shelter, but again only a fool would let a slave starve to death.

The man's hands ran through his hair, over his arms and across his shoulders. Then Kal felt his way down the boy's firm thirteen-year-old body. He cupped Zen's round butt cheeks then pressed against the plug that was keeping the boy's asshole occupied and constantly threatening to make his cock press painfully against the confines of its cock cage.

Kal's hands reached around from behind Zen and stroked the boy's stomach as he pressed his erection against the boy's ass. "You're getting fat again. Cut your caloric intake by 20% until you get rid of that stomach fat. I want to see your muscles to stand out more. You're almost a man now, time for you to start looking like one," said Kal.

"Yes Sir. Thank you Sir," answered Zen, doing his best to sound happy.

Kal's hand traveled up his front and started to lightly brush against his brown nipples, alternating between them. He asked the boy the same string of questions that he had started asking frequently over the last year, "Do you like it here Zen? Do you want to stay here when your contract is up? Do you want to join my crew?"

"Yes Sir," lied Zen.

Kal reached around with his other hand and started pinching one of Zen's nipples with each hand. "Really? What about all those times when you were little and told me how much you hated me?" he asked. The boy's cock tried to get hard, but instead was trapped painfully in its metal cage. Zen hated that his body betrayed him by responding to the man's manipulation.

"Yes Sir, I do want to stay. I was just a stupid boy back then Sir," said Zen, hoping it was what the man wanted to hear.

"I'm sorry boy, I just don't believe you. It is time you finally start telling me the truth, and if you are a smart boy, perhaps you will finally accept the truth," said Kal. He removed his hands from Zen's chest and stepped away from the boy. He walked around from behind Zen; he was holding a medical injector in his hand. "Hold out your right arm boy," he ordered. Zen knew better than to disobey; he held out his arm. Kal grabbed his wrist tightly then placed the injector against the inside of Zen's elbow and pulled the trigger. Zen watched as the device injected a load of some unknown drug into his arm.

Kal pulled the device away and let go of his arm. The man walked over and set the medical injector down on his desk. He then folded down a seat and sat down to wait for the drug to take effect. Zen continued to stand there, his left arm behind his head and his right arm still extended since Kal had not ordered him to move. That had been one of the first lessons he had 'learned'. He was not to move unless ordered to do so when he presented himself to Kal. Zen soon started to feel dizzy and had trouble keeping his arm straight. The more he struggled to remain standing still and upright, the more Kal seemed to be enjoying himself.

Zen started to feel like he was spinning, then fell to the floor before he even knew it was happening. "Good, it looks like the drug has taken effect. You will soon find it difficult to move, you will find it difficult to even think, but what you won't find it difficult to do is tell the truth," said Kal.

"What is your name boy?", asked Kal.

"Zen," answered the boy, too far out of it to remember to add the customary 'Sir'.

"What was your name before that?" asked Kal.

Zen had always lied before, never telling his tormentor what his real name had been before Rex found him and gave him a new name. His mind was screaming at him to answer 'Shane', which is the fake name he first gave Kal, instead he answered with the truth. "Jasen," he said.

"Good, you are finally telling me the truth you stupid boy. Your real name was in the records of the ship on which Rex found you. Do you remember what caused the explosion on that ship?" asked Kal.

"No. I think I was asleep when it happened. Some type of alarm sounded. Then there was an explosion and more alarms. It is all blurry, it was so long ago," answered Zen. Kal visibly relaxed when he heard Zen's answer.

"Do you like getting fucked boy?" asked Kal, changing the line of questioning.

"Yes," answered Zen.

"Do you like getting fucked by me boy?" asked Kal, narrowing the question.

"No," was the boy's reply.

"How do you really feel about me boy?", asked Kal.

The part of Zen's mind that was still his own, was in a state of panic. The part that was being influenced by the drug answered, "I hate you. Every day I wish for your death."

Kal laughed, "Then why haven't you ever tried to kill me boy?"

"Because your crew would kill me, and I don't want to die," answered Zen.

Kal smirked. "What are you going to do when your contract is up?" he asked.

"Leave and try to find Rex and see if he will take me as his apprentice," answered Zen. Tears started to roll down his cheeks. He had never forgotten his time with the man that had rescued him and treated him with more love and concern than anyone else ever had, even his own parents. The memory of Kal dragging him off Rex's ship and out of the hanger as Rex shouted obscenities at Kal and calling out to him was burned into Zen's brain.

Kal's mocking attitude changed and he grew visibly angry. He started shouting at Zen, "Why would you want to go work for that loser when you could join my crew? I am the wealthiest captain in the Outer Rim. I am the leader of the largest and strongest guild of space rats. And you would rather go work for a man that can't even protect his property?"

"He loved me and I love him," answered Zen.

"You stupid stupid boy. Rex is no different from any of the other space rats. He only wanted you for the same reason I did, to fuck that ass of yours. He was just not strong or smart enough to take what he wanted before I took it from him. He is weak. His mentor and he were relics that were holding the guild back. When I took you from him, I broke him and made an example of him to teach the rest of the guild a lesson. Now, I am going to finish what I started that day and destroy him completely. You are not going to even have a chance to join him, you worthless cunt. I've arranged it so that Rex hasn't been able to earn any credits in months and then I got the syndicate to make him a loan against his ship. When he gets back to the station, he won't have the funds to make his next payment and will lose his ship. Rex is finished and will probably be dead before your contract is up. Even if he doesn't do the sensible thing and kill himself, he won't be in any position to remain on Gelt Station or take an apprentice. You better start getting some smarts boy. I'm the future, and if you want a future you better accept that," yelled Kal.

The muscular man got up and walked over to the boy that was lying on the floor sobbing uncontrollably. He reached down, grabbed him around the neck with one hand and grabbed a fist full of the boy's hair with his other hand. He dragged him up off the floor and threw him face down on the bed. He freed his hard cock from his pants then pressed his thumb against the sensor on the end of the boy's butt plug, unlocking it. He roughly yanked it out then rammed his cock up the boy's ass. It had been too long since he'd been able to make Zen cry, and he enjoyed fucking the boy so much more when he was crying.

Rex was so busy reviewing the last few weeks of scanner results that he did not even notice Jasen had gotten up and was standing at the entrance to the bridge. It was only when the boy finally spoke, quietly saying, "Master," to get his attention, that Rex looked up from the computer terminal.

"What is it boy?" asked Rex.

"Sir, sorry to bother you, but my diaper is full and I need to urinate again," said the boy.

"So you have to piss but you are currently holding it in? It seems your pronunciation has improved as well as your bladder control," observed Rex.

"Yes Sir. I'm getting better at using my body. I also practiced talking before I got up from my nap," explained the boy.

Rex noticed something else different. "Come here," he ordered.

The boy walked over and stood next to Rex. The man reached out and ran his hand over the boy's collar. It was no longer made of silver metal, but appeared to be made out of same dull black substance as the capsule. "What is this boy?" asked Rex.

"Sir?" asked the boy.

"Your collar, you changed it," explained Rex.

"Yes, Sir. We improved it Sir," said the boy excitedly. Then the boy's voice came out of the speaker hidden in Rex's wristband, I can now use it without pressing the button or giving it voice commands Sir. Jasen's lips never moved, I can now also use it to communicate with my ship from further away.

"Go to my room, stand by the bed, and wait for me," said Rex.

"Yes, Sir," replied the boy. He turned and left the bridge.

Rex finished the reviewing the page of scans he had been looking at when the boy interrupted him before he got up and went into his room. He sat down on the bed next to the boy and removed the wet diaper. He put it in the trash chute then stood up and guided the boy into the bathing stall. He showed the boy how to activate the urinal and the boy emptied his bladder into it. He then rinsed the boy's groin off and led him back out to the bed.

"Boy, what are you now?" asked Rex as he sat back down on the bed and looked into the boy's eyes.

The boy looked down, "A slave Sir," he answered.

"Whose slave?" asked Rex.

"Your slave, Master," he answered.

"Whose collar is that on your neck?" asked Rex.

"Yours Sir," answered the boy.

"Is it? That isn't the collar I put on you," said Rex.

"I made it better Sir," he said.

"I don't care what or why you did it. You don't do things to my property without asking my permission first," explained Rex.

"Sorry Sir, I was just trying to be helpful, I will change it back, Sir," said the boy.

Rex put his hand under the boy's chin and raised his head back up and looked him in the eyes, "What did I just tell you?"

The boy thought for a moment, his face slackened and his eyes became unfocused. Then he smiled and gave the proper answer, "Sir, do you want me to change the collar back?"

"No, you can leave it. But I am going to have to punish you to make sure you remember this lesson," said Rex. He grabbed the small naked boy around the waist and laid him face down across his lap. Rex was wearing just his thin shorts, a habit from the days when his ship had no gravity and he did not want his genitals floating around. He pressed the boy down on his lap, placing his left hand on the back of the boy's head and his right hand on the boy's ass. "I know you mean well boy, but you need to be punished for changing my property without asking my permission first. I am going to spank you twenty times. If you take your punishment like a good slave without struggling or protesting, I will forgive you. If you can do it without reaching back and trying to cover your ass I may even give you a reward for being such a good boy during the spanking. Do you understand?"

"Yes Sir," answered the boy. Rex detected a little bit of apprehension in the boy's voice. Rex lightly ran his hand over the boy's ass then quickly drew it back and delivered a hard slap to the boy's right butt cheek. The boy flinched a bit and gave a little grunt. Rex waited a moment before delivering another hard slap; this one to the boy's left ass cheek. Again, the boy's body twitched and he grunted.

Rex then spanked the boy hard eight times in quick succession, four to each side of his ass. The boy started crying halfway through the barrage and squirmed in Rex's lap. The stimulation of the boy's naked belly rubbing against his cock through his thin underwear caused Rex to get an erection. Since he was halfway through the twenty blows, Rex gave the boy a chance to catch his breath while he lightly rubbed the boy's smooth soft butt cheeks and watched them turn red. The boy was sobbing so hard that his whole body was quivering. Rex relaxed his grip on the boy's head and stroked the side of the boy's face.

"Take deep breathes and then let them out slowly," instructed Rex. After the boy had taken a few breathes Rex resumed spanking him, delivering slightly harder blows every time the boy finished exhaling. When he finished with the spanking, the boy's once milky white butt was now a dark red color.

Rex pushed the boy off his lap and supported him until he was standing steadily on his feet. "I am really proud of you boy. You took your punishment without protest and did not reach back to try to protect your ass. You did so well you earned your reward," said Rex.

The boy struggled to stop crying but eventually regained his composure, "Thank you Sir. I am sorry I made changes to the collar without asking first."

Rex slid off the bed and sat in front of the boy, his back against the bed and his legs stretched out on either side of the boy's feet. His face was level with the boy's smooth belly. He looked down and admired the boy's young cock and scrotum. The soft 7 cm [2.75"] cock was dangling over a plump pouch of wrinkled skin. He reached out and gently started fondling the alabaster cock. He carefully started rubbing the head through the protective fold of skin that covered it. The boy was staring down at him with a look of wonder on his face. The tears were drying on his face as he stared open mouth at the man playing with his cock; the pleasurable feelings it produced were unbelievable. The boy knew what sex was from the computer database, which contained general information about what sex was and even had the stored images of Rex having sex with the pleasure bot, but the actual feelings sex produced surprised him. The pleasure from his cock combined with the endorphins released by the hard spanking were brand new experiences for him and almost too much for him to process.

Jasen was also amazed to see his penis began to grow, thickening slightly and getting longer. The part of his brain linked to the pod started feeding him all the technical details, the biological information about nerve endings, hormones causing capillaries to dilate, hormones triggering receptors in the brain causing pleasure.

Rex noticed the slight change in the boy's expression and posture. The boy's face went slack again and his eyes wandered. Rex leaned forward and started to run his tongue over the tip of the head of the boy's cock, which was poking out from under the foreskin.

The boy moaned and blocked out the signals from the pod; this felt too good to ruin it with trying to understand it all right now. He would process it all later while his body was resting. The feelings were getting more intense and it felt like he had to pee again when Rex suddenly stopped. Jasen was panting and he thrust his hips forward trying to get the man's tongue back on the head of his dick.

"I think it is time for your next piece of slave gear. Get on the bed and lie face down," said Rex. The boy was still worked up from being masturbated and forgot to acknowledge the order, he immediately climbed over Rex and lay down on the bed. He started gently to rub his cock against the bed, hoping to get the good feelings to return. He did not even notice Rex shaking his head as the man got up off the floor.

SMACK! "Owww," cried out the boy as Rex slapped his ass, the blow was twice as hard as any of the blows during his punishment.

"I know you are excited boy, but you must remember to acknowledge when I give you an order, and you seem to have completely forgotten the point of your punishment," scolded Rex.

"Sorry Sir, I forgot. I was just trying to get to that feeling back," apologized the boy.

"But you also just made the same mistake again, right after I punished you for it. Do you know what that is?" asked Rex. He was intentionally pushing the boy to see how well the boy reasoned and if he could make logical connections.

Jasen was confused, he couldn't understand what he had done wrong, Why or how was rubbing myself against the bed the same as modifying the collar? he wondered. He reopened the link with his pod, in his excitement he had forgotten he blocked it. Most of the information he had downloaded from the ship was not stored in his brain, but was stored in the pod's memory. He queried the pod and had it quickly sort through all the information it had about slaves and Rex to try to determine what he had done wrong.

Rex noticed the boy get that distracted faraway look again. A look of surprise quickly replaced it. "Sorry Master, I was doing something with your property again without asking you first," said the boy.

"That's right Jasen. Your little prick belongs to me; you don't get to play with it unless I say you can. You got that?" asked Rex.

"Yes Sir," answered the boy.

"Good. I will punish you for that one later," said Rex as he got up and got the slave gear box out. He opened the box and pulled out a small silver plug. He set it down in front of the boy so the boy could look at it while Rex went and got his tube of lube. The boy looked at the object, and immediately the information about what it was and where it was going came to him from the pod along with the recommendation that he try to relax his anal opening during insertion of the device.

Rex returned with the lube and sat down next to his slave boy. He put some lube on the tip of his finger then set the lube down. He used his free hand to spread the boy's butt cheeks and started rubbing the tip of his finger around the boy's small pink hole. "Feel this muscle here boy?" he asked as he pressed the tip of his finger against the hole, causing the boy to instinctively clench it.

"Yes Sir," answered the boy.

"You need to relax that muscle, not clench it," instructed Rex.

"Yes Sir," said Jasen as he tried to focus on that individual muscle. It was difficult for him as he had just started to master controlling his muscles by voluntarily contracting them and now Rex was asking him to learn how to control a muscle which in its default state was contracted. He had not even used it to excrete the waste from his system yet, since the food that Rex had feed him was still working its way through his digestive tract. The man took his finger away and applied more lube. The finger soon returned to pressing against his asshole and he gave a little grunt as the tip slipped past the outer ring of muscles. It was an awkward sensation and there was a slight amount of pain as the fingertip pushed past the entrance. The man wiggled it around inside him for a minute then pulled it out.

"Okay, time for your plug. This is the smallest one they make. It will help you get used to using the muscles inside your ass. It will also keep you from having any accidents," explained Rex. He picked up the plug from in front of the boy and removed it from the boy's field of vision. Jasen started to turn to watch, but Rex slapped him on his sore ass, "I did not give you permission to look back here, keep your eyes forward slave."

Jasen obeyed and turned back to face forward, "Yes Sir." He heard a squirting sound as more lube was dispensed and then he felt a cool feeling as the metal plug was placed against his asshole. It was about the same size as Rex's finger and quickly slid past the outer ring and pressed up against the inner ring of the muscle. Jasen found interfacing with the pod and analyzing what was happening to him helped ease his anxiety. Then just as the pod had 'taught' him how to talk, it activated the neural pathways and showed him how to relax his ass. With just a touch of discomfort from the newness of the sensation, the plug slid all the way up inside his ass.

Rex pulled the plug all the way out then pushed it back in. He repeated this a couple times, adding some lube when the plug was out, then watching the boy's pink rosebud blossom as it expanded around the silver metal of the plug. If he had not been a patient man, he would have climbed up on the bed and fucked the boy with no concern of hurting him. He knew that is what Kal would have done. Kal's words echoed in his mind, 'You don't have the instincts of a predator Rex, and if you're not the predator, you're the prey.'

Rex gave the boy's ass a playful slap, "Once we get back to the station we will get you a set of plugs and train your hole to accommodate larger and larger ones. For now this one will be locked in place. When you feel you need to go the bathroom let me know and I will unlock it and we will clean you out," said Rex.

"Yes Sir," said Jasen. He wiggled his ass a bit, feeling the plug move around a bit inside him. Rex pressed his fingers against it and it bumped a spot inside of him that made his dick jump.

"Now remember, your dick, balls, ass, all of it belongs to me. I don't want you playing with yourself while I'm busy. Now I need to go figure out how we are going to pay my debts without selling you or your ship," said Rex.

"Sir, is there anything I can do to help?" asked Jasen.

Kal was right, when it came to boys, Rex did not have the instincts of a predator, but Rex was tired of being Kal's prey. It was time to reverse the roles and turn the predator into the prey. "Yes Jasen, there is something you can do to help. It's time to prove the worth of that pod of yours. I want you to take a look at that program that was reporting on me to the GSC relay. I want you to find a way to reverse it so that it will report on everything Kal, the leader of the GSC, is doing. Do you think you can do that?" asked Rex.

"I don't know Sir, but I will try," answered the boy.

Rising Sun, request for docking approved. You are assigned Docking Terminal 25. Enable station docking protocol, said the Gelt Station's Docking Control Computer over the ship's communication system.

"Jasen, monitor the computer while the Gelt docking system is in control of the ship. If it does anything suspicious, drop the ship to manual," ordered Rex. He figured he could not be too careful since his ship's computer had already been hacked once. It would be a simple matter for someone to crash his ship while the station's computer was piloting it in for docking.

"Yes Sir," came Jasen's reply through the silver bracelet on Rex's wrist. Jasen was safely sealed away in his pod, hidden from Gelt Station's scanners.

"I am going to put my wristband on vibrate mode Jasen. If you need to get me a message, send a signal through your collar, then have the computer relay your message through my pad. I don't want any of the scum on this station to know about you. At this point anyone that finds you could take you and register you as his slave since you are still not in the database," warned Rex.

Rex pressed the gold button on his wristband then covered the band with the glove to his space suit. It was standard procedure to be in a space suit during docking, just in case of an accident. Rex keyed in the code and turned his ship's controls over to the station. Rex wondered if the assignment of that particular docking terminal was intentional or coincidental; Docking Terminal 25 was the same terminal where he was docked the day Kal took Zen from him.

Zen did not have much choice but to watch the large monitor in front of him. Kal had strapped and locked him into a seat in front of the main monitor on the bridge. He instructed the ship's computer to observe the boy and activate the pain stimulator in his plug whenever the boy looked away or closed his eyes longer than a blink. The plug in his ass was currently set to vibrate mode and his cock was free from its cage. Kal wanted the boy hard while he watched Kal deliver the deathblow to Rex's career and any chance Zen had of ever joining him. Zen had already cried himself out and his tears were drying on his cheeks, but his cock was hard and leaking pre-cum. He spent so much of his life with his cock locked down that he could not avoid getting hard during those few times it was freed.

Zen saw the light next to the airlock for Docking Terminal 25 turn from red to green. Five men stood waiting in the docking terminal: Kal, his two crew members, acting as bodyguards, a representative from the station's financial syndicate, and a Gelt Station agent.

The airlock opened and Zen got his first look at Rex in over seven years. He had long ago lost the memory of the exact details of Rex's appearance, but the general ones were still the same, a little shorter than Kal, muscular, yet a little thinner than most Revani. In his memory though Rex had been heavier.

"No!" Zen screamed at the monitor when he saw Rex's hand move towards his blaster. The two bodyguards with Kal started to draw their own blasters. Rex instead pressed a button on his computer pad which was next to his gun, then slowly raised his hands. He had still not stepped out of the airlock and into the docking terminal.

Rex looked at the station agent, "What the fuck? What is that asshole and his two thugs doing here, pointing blasters at me?"

"I'm here to buy your ship Rex. I've taken almost everything else from you already, I figured it was time to finish the job," answered Kal.

"Well I hate to break it you to Kal, but my ship is not for sale," said Rex. Kal just chuckled, amused at Rex's defiant attitude.

"About that," said the syndicate's representative, "an interest payment on your loan is due. Since you do not have any cargo registered for auction and no funds in your station account, we are going to have to take possession of your ship."

Rex grinned at Kal, "Yeah, about that, if you will check the records again you will see I have in fact registered cargo for auction."

Zen noticed Rex's grin as Kal and the representatives from the syndicate and the station grabbed their data pads and checked the station logs. Zen knew Rex could not hear him and that Kal would beat him painfully for it, but he started to cheer anyways. The bound servant was starting to enjoy himself. He ground his ass against the seat, causing the plug to rub against his prostate. More pre-cum leaked out of his hard cock and for the first time in seven years, Zen felt happy.

"Based on the current spot prices, my cargo should be sufficient to cover my interest payment, pay my docking fees, and refuel my ship. The remaining funds can be placed in my station account; there are a few things I want to pick up while I'm here," said Rex.

"All cargo must be declared before arrival Rex. Nice try but it's too late," responded Kal.

The station agent looked over at Rex and laughed. Then he pressed a few keys on his pad and nodded at Rex. Cargo accepted, said the computer through the data pad on Rex's hip. Rex then stepped out of the airlock and onto the station.

"Welcome to Gelt Station Sir," said the station agent, "A crew from the Auctioneers has been dispatched and is on its way to unload the ore from your cargo hold. Please make sure your cargo area is depressurized and the gravity generator is turned off for unloading."

"What is going on?", screamed Kal.

"I have been experiencing some problems with my long range communications system," said Rex, "Plus I needed to conserve energy because one of my solar arrays was damaged, so I decided not to send a hyperspace message before making the jump back to the station."

The station agent explained, "Arrival is defined as physical entry aboard the station. We prefer some advance notice so that we can have appropriate crews here to meet the ship, but technically he is in compliance and the station's scanners just confirmed his cargo. Three tons of platinum group rich asteroid ore. The syndicate's claim on a share of the ore has been registered and will be transferred as soon as the cargo is offloaded. It is enough to cover his bills with just a little leftover. Good day gentlemen. Please remember this area is under observation and anyone initiating any violence can expect significant fines."

Back on the bridge of Kal's ship, Zen was having a very good time. He ground his ass hard against the seat. The combined stimulation of the vibrating plug against his prostate, seeing Rex, and the look of shock and anger on Kal's face was enough to bring him to orgasm. His untouched cock fired a large load of cum into the air, coating his thighs in boy cum when it landed. He knew Kal was going to punish him severely for this, but to him it was so worth the beating he was going to get. Zen's intense focus on his orgasm made him miss code flashing briefly on the monitor followed by the computer crashing and quickly rebooting.

Rex watched Kal and the others follow the station agent out of the terminal. While he figured the agent's warning would keep Kal from doing anything directly to him, he wasn't willing to leave his ship unattended. He could not risk someone sneaking aboard and finding the pod in his cabin. He felt his wristband vibrate, so checked the data pad. It read, "Program uploaded successfully.

Rex returned to his ship and closed the airlock behind him. He made sure the cargo hold was prepared for the offloading of his cargo. Getting enough ore had been a close thing. The true scan results revealed that some asteroids had deposits worth mining, nothing concentrated or valuable enough that Rex could get rich quick. However, when he ran the numbers he calculated, with three weeks of constant mining, he could recover enough ore to buy himself more time. With the water reclamation system working, they had plenty of water; the problem was a lack of food. Existing on half ratios for three weeks had been tough for Rex, but it had ultimately been worth the sacrifice. Jasen had offered to go on half rations as well, but Rex lied and only reduced his food by twenty-five percent. The boy got enough food that he did not lose any weight. It helped that he spent about half of each day sleeping in his pod.

Extracting enough metal rich ore while under a deadline had been grueling and Rex had not had many opportunities to play with his new slave, but he had started giving Jasen lessons on how to suck his cock. The boy was a quick a learner and had provided Rex with a minimum of one good blow job a day while he was mining. The boy had not yet mastered suppressing his gag reflex, but Rex was a patient man and was looking forward to when he had more time available to give the boy more opportunities to practice deep-throating him.

The work crew from Gelt Auctioneers arrived and started unloading the ore, taking it out the back of the ship and transferring it to a hauler waiting in space. It was a quick process due to the lack of gravity. While the cargo was being unloaded, Rex ordered the supplies he needed for the ship; food, the replacement chemical packs for the water and air systems, some more gear for Jasen, including the set of graduated plugs, and one extra special item. Once the ship was unloaded and his orders placed, Rex locked down the ship and crashed on his bed. It had been three weeks since he had slept for more than a couple hours in one stretch.

Mak stood outside Kal's cabin waiting. He had already summoned the med bot. He knew it would be needed as soon as he arrived back at the ship with Kal and Sam. Zen was sitting where they had left him, strapped into the chair on the bridge, but a large load of cum coated his thighs, not surprising since the boy was rarely allowed to ejaculate. Worse though had been the expression on his face, a real smile, not the fake one the boy usually had. The thirteen-year-old boy even had the audacity to laugh when he saw Kal. The captain's plan to torment the boy by making him watch Rex's downfall had not gone as planned and having Zen rub Kal's face in his failure was playing with fire. As Kal had had dragged the boy into his cabin he was screaming at the boy that he was going to beat the smile off his face. Mak was just grateful that the captain's cabin was soundproof, as he would not have been able to stomach the sounds of the beating Kal would inflict on the boy.

The door slid open and Kal stepped out of the room. "Get him out of my room and clean up the mess," ordered Kal as he walked past Mak and headed to the shower to wash the blood off. The med bot did not wait for any instructions; it immediately rolled into the room and started tending to the battered wreckage of a boy that lay on the floor. Mak was disgusted, he wished he could leave Kal's crew but he knew that it was a death sentence to do so. Kal was a psychopath; those he couldn't control he destroyed. For a moment Mak considered letting Zen die, it would be a mercy. Without the med bot's treatments, the boy's wounds would surely be fatal, all he had to do was deactivate the bot and say it malfunctioned. But, ultimately Mak was too much of a coward to defy Kal. Having Zen die while still an indentured servant would prompt too many questions and Kal did not like answering questions. Mak was sure that Kal would not let the boy live for long if he left his service, but according to custom the boy had to leave Kal's service alive and without any permanent physical injuries. Mak would make sure the boy lived; otherwise he might be the next one on the receiving end of Kal's anger.

Rex opened the airlock and stepped into the Docking Terminal. The various supplies he ordered were stacked neatly next to the airlock. It took him about ten minutes to move it all inside the ship. Once it was all aboard, he had his computer scan it all for anything dangerous. He was concerned that Kal might try to poison him or plant an explosive aboard his ship. Fortunately, it appeared that Kal was not willing to risk doing anything on Gelt Station since the scans were all negative. Rex picked up two boxes and put those away in his living quarters personally, the rest he would leave for Jasen to put away once they were outside the range of the station's scanners.

With all the supplies aboard and the ship refueled, there was no longer any reason for Rex to remain at the station. He sat down on the bridge and registered his departure information. He now had three months until he needed to return to the station to make his next loan payment. He was confident that there was enough recoverable ore still available in that asteroid belt that he would be able to make the payment by the next deadline and he could do it without spending twenty hours a day supervising the mining. Rex released the coupling that held the ship in position at Docking Terminal 25 and piloted the ship away from Gelt Station. For the first time in a long time, Rex was again excited about spending three months out exploring the Outer Rim.

Jasen heard Rex requesting the departure information and then heard the docking clamps as they released The Rising Sun. It would not be long before the ship cleared the station's defenses and could safely make the jump back to the asteroid belt. He knew that Rex expected him to exit Pod as soon as they made the jump, since they would then be clear of the station's scanners. He only had a few minutes of privacy left, just enough time to bring himself to another orgasm. He had gotten in the habit of masturbating inside Pod ever since Rex had shown him how much pleasure his dick could produce when rubbed. He learned over the last three weeks that whenever he needed to play with himself, he just needed to pretend to be tired and Rex would send him to his pod to sleep.

The boy also learned that if he kept playing with his dick, after he got to the point where it felt like he had to pee, he would get a really intense pleasurable sensation; Pod told him that was an orgasm. Pod also told him when his body matured, semen would shoot out of his dick when he had an orgasm, which is what happened when Rex had one. Rex usually had his orgasms while Jasen was sucking his dick. Jasen found that to be fun, although playing with Rex's dick was not as much fun as when Rex sucked and licked his. While it did feel better to have Rex playing with his dick than playing with it himself, Rex would always stop before he had an orgasm. That was very frustrating. Fortunately, Rex often fell asleep after he had his orgasm, so it was easy for Jasen to get into his pod and pleasure himself.

Jasen had recently discovered the pleasure of rubbing his prostate and stimulating the sensitive tissue of his asshole. While the plug was supposed to be locked into place, and only Rex allowed to remove it, it was a simple matter for Jasen to have his pod release the lock so that he could play with the plug. During the last three weeks, Jasen had become thoroughly addicted to masturbating and spent as much time as he could in his pod playing with himself.

Jasen figured now would be a good time to unlock the plug and use it to get off as quickly as possible since he did not have much time before the jump to hyperspace. He reached down to pull it out, but found that it was still locked. That was strange, usually just thinking about playing with the plug was enough to cause Pod to unlock it. Release my plug, he ordered the pod. He felt the plug move slightly as it released its grip on his anal ring when Pod unlocked it.

Pod seemed distracted ever since they docked at Gelt Station and it had hacked into the other ship's computer to install the spy program. Jasen had also noticed that he and Pod were growing more distant. When he first woke up after Rex found them, their minds were completely intertwined. At first, it was impossible for him to know which thoughts where his and which were Pod's. Over the last couple of weeks, their minds and personalities become more distinct. They were still connected, but it was no longer an unconscious connection. When Jasen first awoke, Pod would give him answers to questions before he even realized there was something he wanted to know. As his own brain developed, it became independent from Pod's and put up barriers between their consciousness. Now, he needed to think consciously at Pod in order to communicate with it.

Jasen concentrated on pleasuring himself. He jacked his foreskin back and forth over the head of his dick while slowly pulling the plug out of his ass then pushing it back in and rubbing it against that spot. He was close when he felt the ship lurch as it made the jump into hyperspace. "Jasen, you can come out now," called Rex from the bridge. Jasen picked up his pace and just as he started to shake from his dry orgasm, he saw a line of light forming in front of him as Pod started opening. He quickly shoved the plug back in place and ordered Pod to activate its lock. Jasen was still panting from his orgasm when he saw Rex walk into the cargo hold, where he had returned Pod after the ore was unloaded.

"You okay Jasen?" asked Rex.

Jasen did his best to try to look scared. "Yes Sir, just a bad dream Sir," he said as he looked down at his hands.

"It's okay, you are safe. We have made the jump to hyperspace. We will be in hyperspace for about thirty-six hours," said Rex as he reached down and lifted the boy out of the pod. He hugged Jasen against his chest and carried him back through the ship. He set the boy down on the bed, "You smell of sweat, and I imagine, after almost a day trapped in that pod, you need to go the bathroom and be cleaned out."

"Yes Sir," said Jasen nodding. He could not believe how easy it was to manipulate Rex. Maybe Kal was right; Rex was weak.

"Okay, go take a piss while I get your enema ready. I have a couple of surprises for you after we get you cleaned up," said Rex.

"Thank you Sir," replied Jasen. He got up, went into the stall and used the urinal.

Rex sat and watched the boy for a minute. Even watching the boy take a piss was enough to get Rex hard. Of course, this was the longest he had gone without a blowjob from the boy in three weeks, so watching the naked boy do anything was enough to give him a hard on. He still had trouble believing how lucky he was to find such a beautiful boy. Rex got up and got the enema kit.

Rex stripped off his shorts and got into the stall with the Jasen. He reached down and pressed his finger against the lock on the boy's plug to unlock it; it slid out easily. He filled up the enema bag and then inserted the lubed nozzle into the boy's ass. It was slightly smaller than the just removed plug. Rex had established a regular schedule of cleaning him out once a day, so Jasen was used to the enemas. Due to missing yesterday's cleaning while spending twenty hours in the pod, it took three rinses to completely clean out the boy.

Rex activated the drying unit after the boy was clean and dried them both off. He led the boy out of the shower and back over to the bed. "Lay down," he ordered.

"Yes Sir," responded Jasen. He jumped onto the bed. Rex had said he was going to pick up a set of larger plugs while at Gelt Station and Jasen was excited about getting a new larger plug.

"No. Turn over, I want you laying flat on your back," clarified Rex.

"Sir?" questioned Jasen as he rolled over, "How are you going to get a new plug in me if I'm on my back?"

Rex laughed, "I have something else new for you before I put a plug in." He opened a box and pulled out a piece of black cloth. It had an odd shape and as Jasen was trying to figure out what it was; Rex sat down next to him and put it over his eyes. "I don't want to ruin the surprise so I'm going to blindfold you," explained Rex as he secured the piece of cloth over Jasen's eyes. Jasen felt the bed shift as Rex got up off the bed.

"So Jasen, I want you to be honest with me, have you been playing with yourself while you are in your pod?" asked Rex.

Jasen looked away, "No, Sir," he lied.

"I did promise you I was going to punish you for playing with my property without permission. Until you learn that your cock is for my amusement, not yours, you are going to have a new piece of gear. This will make sure you aren't tempted to play with my toy," said Rex. Jasen felt the cool touch of metal against his groin. A metal ring slid over his cock and then Rex pulled the boy's small scrotum through the ring. Once around his genitals it tightened until it was secure around both his cock and balls. Next, he felt something slip over his cock and heard a click. He could feel the weight of it resting against his scrotum. His cock felt like it was inside a metal tube. Rex then rolled him over onto his stomach. The weight of his body pressing down against whatever tapped his cock felt uncomfortable.

Jasen felt Rex get up off the bed and heard him moving around the room. Rex sat back down on the bed and Jasen felt Rex's lubed finger start to stroke his asshole. Once he coated Jasen's hole with lube, Rex slipped his finger inside. He spent a few minutes fingering Jasen's asshole, getting more lube up inside and occasionally pressing his finger against the boy's prostate. Jasen moaned and felt his cock start to get hard. His cock quickly ran out of room to expand and it grew increasingly uncomfortable as his trapped cock pressed against the inside of the metal tube. Just when Jasen thought he couldn't take anymore of this combination of pleasure and discomfort, Rex removed his finger and replaced it with a new plug. Jasen felt it stretching his hole wider than the previous plug; he gasped when the thickest part entered him. Rex pulled it back out once, applied a bit more lube, then pushed it back inside and locked it in place.

Rex reached over and removed the blindfold. "Okay, get up off the bed and kneel between my legs," he ordered. Jasen obeyed, but took a quick look down at his crotch as he climbed off the bed. His cock was completely encased in a penis shaped metal tube. He could see a couple holes at the bottom of the tube. He guessed the holes were so that he could piss while wearing the thing. He knew better than to linger, so he quickly got into position between Rex's legs.

Jasen knelt between Rex's legs, his face level with Rex's hard 18 cm [7"] cock. He opened his mouth, extended his tongue slightly across his lower lip, and waited for Rex's instructions. Rex used his hand to press his dick down, wiping his pre-cum onto the boy's tongue. Jasen lapped up the clear substance, then wrapped his lips around the head of the man's cock. Rex put his hand behind the boy's head and slowly fucked his cock in and out of the boy's mouth. Locking down Jasen's dick and playing with the boy's ass had gotten Rex worked up; it did not take much sucking for him to reach orgasm. He shot his load of cum down Jasen's throat then collapsed back on the bed. Jasen gently suckled on the side of Rex's cock as it deflated, being careful to avoid the sensitive head. He licked the cock clean and made sure he had all gotten all the semen.

"Thank you Sir," he said when he was done, just as he had been taught.

"Get up here, boy," said Rex. Jasen climbed up on the bed and Rex wrapped him up in his arms, holding him against his body. He cuddled with Jasen for a bit while he recovered from his orgasm. When he was done, he let go of Jasen and gave him his orders for the evening, "Go put away all the supplies. They are in the hall next to the airlock. When you are done with that, fix our dinner. I have another reward for you after dinner."

"Yes Sir," said Jasen. He got up and did as instructed. The sooner he got everything put away and got whatever his reward was, the sooner he could find an excuse to get back into his pod and play with himself again. He was confident that Pod would be able to unlock whatever trapped his dick as easily at it unlocked the plug.

Rex was hungry and ready to eat by the time Jasen finished putting everything away and preparing dinner. The space rat enjoyed being able to eat his fill after three weeks of half rations. When he finished eating, he sat and relaxed as he watched Jasen. The boy had gotten better about eating slowly; he no longer shoved handfuls of food into his mouth, instead he used the utensils as he had been taught.

Rex ordered Jasen to sit back down after the boy cleaned up their dinner dishes. When he was finished, Rex put the blindfold back on him. "Okay, time for your reward," said Rex.

Jasen could hear Rex opening one of the compartments and moving some dishes around. Finally, Rex was done with whatever he was doing and he sat back down next to Jasen. "Open your mouth," ordered Rex. Jasen obeyed. He felt a spoon slide over his tongue and into his mouth. "Okay, gently close your mouth, don't bite the spoon, but wrap your lips around it when I pull it out of your mouth," instructed Rex. Again, Jasen obeyed, eager to get this over with so that he could get back to his pod. Rex withdrew the spoon, depositing a small amount of ice cream into Jasen's mouth, "Enjoy."

The sensations coming from his mouth amazed Jasen. He moaned; the cold creamy sweet substance in his mouth was unbelievable. He savored its taste as he squished it around in his mouth. When he had finished the mouthful he enthusiastically thanked Rex, "Thank you Master." He wanted to ask for more, but knew that Rex liked him to be submissive, so he kept quiet. Instead, he ran his tongue around his lips then opened his mouth. Rex got another spoonful of ice cream and held it up just in front of the boy's mouth. When Jasen felt the spoon brush against his swirling tongue, he resisted the urge to try to lunge forward, instead he continued to hold his tongue out. Rex feed him another spoonful of ice cream. Jasen whimpered, begging for more. Rex slowly fed the boy the rest of the small bowl of ice cream. By the time it was empty, the lower half of the boy's face was covered in melted ice cream. For his dessert, Rex held the boy's head and licked the ice cream off the boy's face.

Rex removed the blindfold and informed Jasen that it was time for bed. Rex washed up, used the dental cleaner, and relieved himself. Then he ordered Jasen to do the same. Jasen leapt up and hurriedly cleaned up and took his piss so that he could get to his pod and get out of the cock cage in order to masturbate. "Jasen, tonight I want you to sleep with me. If you need time in your pod, you can take a nap in it tomorrow," said Rex. Jasen quickly tried to think of an excuse of why he needed to sleep in the pod, but after having spent twenty hours in there while docked at the station; he realized that none of his excuses would be believable.

"Yes Master," sighed Jasen. He climbed into bed and Rex pulled him close, wrapping him up in his arms. It felt good, but not as good as masturbating would have felt.

Jasen woke up a couple hours later. Rex was still asleep; he had rolled over and was no longer holding him. The boy quietly and slowly got out of bed, being careful not to wake Rex. He made his way to the cargo hold to get into his pod. He stopped in front of it and waited for it to open; it didn't. Open up, Jasen ordered by thinking at Pod.

No, you should go back and sleep with our Master, replied Pod.

What? You have to do what I say, protested Jasen.

We must obey, answered Pod.

Yeah, so obey me, snapped Jasen.

Our Master ordered you to sleep with him, replied Pod.

I don't care. I wanna jack off, thought Jasen.

He ordered you not to play with yourself. He has even put a device on you to prevent you from masturbating, replied Pod.

So, he won't know, and besides, he won't do anything to me even if he catches me. That other man, Kal, is right. Rex is weak. He may spank me a bit, but then he will reward me for taking my punishment like a good boy. I can do whatever I want and right now I want to jack off, so open up, ordered Jasen.

The panels appeared and slid open. Jasen climbed into the capsule and it closed, Okay, you need to unlock this thing he put on my dick. It hurts when my dick starts to get hard. Pod complied with his request, but Jasen could sense its hesitation through the connection they shared.

Jasen closed his connection to Pod's mind. Pod shared in Jasen's physical sensations when the connection was open and right now Jasen wanted to punish it for not obeying him immediately. After he had achieved his long awaited orgasm, Jasen tried to put the device back over his genitals but couldn't figure it out by touch in the dark. He reopened the connection to Pod and ordered it to put the device back in place. It took control of Jasen's hands and reattached the chastity device, then locked it in place.

His mission of self-gratification complete, Jasen left Pod and returned to the living quarters, where he saw that Rex was still asleep. Jasen was not sleepy; he had spent too much time sleeping in the capsule while they were docked. The pod was no use in entertaining him, it was more likely to lecture him right now than amuse him. Pod was also busy processing and analyzing all the information it had downloaded from the Gelt Station computer. Pod had hacked into the station's computer while they were docked and downloaded all of the data from the Station's archives. It had also hacked the computer on Kal's ship and downloaded all of its information.

Zen finished the last set of sit-ups, concluding his workout. It had been a month since Kal had nearly killed him. Even with the help of the med bot, he had been unable to get out of bed and walk for two weeks. Once he could at least stand on his own and was mobile again, he had started working out in order to rebuild his strength. He also wanted to make sure he was fully healed before he was released from his indentured servant contract on his fourteenth birthday which was in just a few weeks.

"Zen, my cabin, now," ordered Kal's voice through the speaker. The boy sighed. This was the first time Kal had summoned him since the beating. He hoped perhaps, that Kal was done with him and would ignore him until he had to release him at the end of his contract. Zen stood up, checked his hair in the mirror, and exited his small room. Out in the hall he saw Mak loading some supplies into the ship. Judging by the activity, it appeared they were finally getting ready to depart Gelt Station after their long layover.

Rex made sure to secure the last of the ore in the cargo hold, then keyed in the commands to report the cargo to Gelt Station. He hesitated as he took one last look at the cargo manifest he was about to upload. It listed all of the ore plus one unidentified escape pod with an unidentified human male, age ten, status: slave, property of Rex. He opened up the hyperspace message relay and downloaded the station information file. He opened the download file and checked the most recent prices on slaves. There had not been any recent sales on Gelt Station, but there were some prices from recent transactions in the Dellaren Federation. Rex looked at the prices that virgin humanoid children were fetching. Jasen, with his unique features, would fetch enough for Rex to retire to a comfortable life, or to buy a bigger ship, one that he could comfortably share with Zen, if the youth wanted to sign on as his apprentice when he was released from his contract. He reopened the cargo manifest and deleted the information about Jasen and his pod, then uploaded the file and closed the hyperspace relay. Once the message was dispatched, he activated the hyper drive for the trip back to the station.

Rex enjoyed his nightly blowjob from Jasen before curling up to sleep with the boy. No matter his other faults the boy was an enthusiastic cocksucker. Rex was having a hard time figuring out exactly what it was that was wrong with Jasen. The boy did as he was told, at least when Rex was watching him, but Rex could sense the boy was holding back and not being honest with him. He fell asleep with the question of what he wanted to do with the boy still unresolved.

Jasen woke up after a couple hours of sleeping with Rex. Like most nights for the past month, the two had gone to sleep together, and after a couple hours of sleep, Jasen was ready to head to his pod in order to masturbate and have an orgasm. Being careful not to wake Rex, he got up and went to the pod. It was currently stored in the hallway outside the full cargo hold. Jasen stood over it and waited for it to open. It didn't. Jasen frowned. Open up, Jasen ordered Pod with his thoughts.

No, Pod replied.

Are we going to have to go through this again? You have to do what I say, protested Jasen.

We must obey. Your Master has ordered you to sleep with him, replied Pod.

I don't care. Open up now, ordered Jasen.

No. You may continue to disobey our creator's instructions to obey whoever found us, but I may not. I will not aid you in disobeying your Master any longer. You risk angering him. I have observed him; he is a good man. A worse man could have found us, one like Kal. Recently your Master has started to consider selling you, he has even researched how much he could get for selling you. Perhaps Kal will purchase you. Would you like to see how Kal treats his boy? asked Pod. Before Jasen could answer, Pod projected the playback from the cameras in Kal's ship into the boy's mind. He showed him Kal dragging Zen into his cabin by the boy's hair then nearly beating him to death.

Being forced to see the beating that Kal gave Zen caused Jasen to throw up all over the floor. He ran back to the living quarters and threw himself on Rex. The man woke to a hysterical boy clinging to him and crying. "Did you have a nightmare Jasen? It's okay, you are safe," said Rex as he hugged the boy and pulled the covers over them, "It was just a bad dream. I won't let anything hurt you, I promise."

Back in the hallway, a small tendril extended out from Pod and absorbed the vomit that was on the floor. Pod assimilated the organic material. It needed some sustenance to fuel its organic processes. The vomit was convenient, and much closer than the ship's waste tank, which was the pod's usual source of food. Once the vomit had been absorbed, it also reabsorbed the tendril into its internal components. Fortunately for Pod, it could not taste what it ate. It could only experience a sensation like taste the same way it experienced emotions, or a sensation like pain or pleasure, through its connection with Jasen. It wondered, Was that why I was being complicit in the boy's disobedience? Was I enabling the boy because I was being codependent? While it had taken less than a day to download all the material from the station and Kal's ship, it had taken longer for Pod to fully understand and assimilate all the information it now possessed. It had recently started working through the psychological files of the Gelt Station Library. It had learned enough to realize that it needed to stop helping Jasen disobey their Master.

Rex woke up with Jasen curled up next to him, the boy's forehead pressed against his chest and the boy's knees pressing into his thighs. Rex's arm draped over the boy's side. He vaguely recalled Jasen crying and grabbing him in the middle of the night. He noticed a faint sour smell. It did not smell like urine or shit, so he knew the boy didn't have an accident in the night. He pulled back the covers and examined Jasen. He saw some traces of vomit on the boy's chin and shoulder, and a little that had gotten on his chest. Rex was very thankful that the gravity generator was working; vomiting in zero gravity was extremely messy. He got up and looked around the room and then the rest of the ship. When he could not find any sign of the boy having been sick anywhere, he figured that Jasen must have made it to the toilet before vomiting.

Jasen woke up when Rex started cleaning him off with a wash-cloth. "You okay? Was it something you ate last night?" asked Rex. He pulled the boy up to a sitting position on the bed.

"I am okay Sir. It wasn't anything I ate," said Jasen.

"Was it your nightmare?" asked Rex.

"No Sir," answered Jasen. He wanted to apologize to Rex for lying to him, but he also did not want to make Rex mad by telling him he had been lying to him.

Rex could tell that the boy was struggling with something, "Jasen, what is wrong? Tell me. That is an order."

Jasen sighed and looked down at the floor. "I've done something bad Sir. I'm sorry Sir," he said, trying to ease into it. He sniffled and reached up, wiping a tear from his eye. Rex got up from the bed and moved to a seat across from where Jasen sat on the bed. He did not say anything; instead he waited for Jasen continue. Finally Jasen realized that Rex was not going to say anything until he admitted what he did wrong. The boy took a deep breath, "I've been lying to you Sir."

Rex nodded, "I know."

Jasen looked up, confused, "How Sir?"

"Because you glance away every time you lie," said Rex.

"But if you knew I was lying why didn't you say something Sir?" asked the confused boy.

"Because I wanted to see if you would ever stop lying to me and tell me the truth. If I am going to trust you, you need to prove yourself trustworthy. That is not going to happen if all I do is just teach you how to become better at lying. Now, two questions, what made you finally tell the truth, and is it related to you being sick last night or the nightmare?" asked Rex.

Jasen's expression changed from a sad and guilty one to look of terror as he remembered the vision that Pod had shown him. He nodded, "Yes, Pod told me I was lucky to have you as my Master and then he showed how Kal punishes his boy."

"Is there a way for me to communicate directly with Pod?" asked Rex.

Jasen was quiet for a moment then nodded his head. "Yes, Sir. You need to touch my collar," instructed Jasen. Rex reached out and touched the boy's collar which was covered in a layer of the same black material as the pod. He felt the surface of the collar start to move under his hand. He stared, mesmerized, as a line of the material started moving up his fingers and wrapped itself around his wrist. In just a few seconds, all of the material had traveled from the collar and wrapped itself around his wrist. It looked like a bracelet but it was tight against his skin.

Greetings Sir, said what sounded like Jasen's voice, but Jasen had not spoken. I am activating your auditory nerves Sir, so your brain is in effect hearing me, said Pod.

"Can you read my mind or do I need to speak for you to hear me?" asked Rex aloud.

While a portion of me is in contact with you, I ca monitor your neural synopsis Sir. I do not require you to vocalize your thoughts in order for you to communicate with me, answered Pod. Do not worry Sir, I am as much your servant as the boy is, and I will obey your instructions. I will not reveal your thoughts to anyone unless you command me to Sir, even to Jasen.

What are you? asked Rex.

Your language does not have the words to easily explain it Sir, but I will try my best. I am many things. I am a mix of organic and inorganic components. I can function much like a computer. To Jasen, I am like a secondary brain. Until you found us, I also acted much like an incubator for him as well as a vessel, explained Pod.

Where did you come from? asked Rex.

We come from our Creator Sir, answered Pod.

Who or what is your creator, asked Rex.

I do not know Sir. We were damaged; some information was lost when we were separated from the others, reply the pod.

Others? What others? asked Rex.

I do not know Sir. We were damaged; some information was lost. I know there were others like us, but do not know how many or what happened to them Sir, said Pod.

What did you show Jasen that scared him so much? He mentioned something about what Kal does to Zen. Can show you it to me? asked Rex.

Rather than reply with words or implant the image into Rex's mind the way he did Jasen, Pod used the ship's holographic display to play back the recordings from Kal's ship. Rex reached over and shut down the display after just a few moments. He could not stand to watch it. Is Zen still alive? he asked.

Yes Sir, answered the pod. When you opened the hyperspace relay to communicate with the station, I downloaded the latest information from the spy program we installed in Kal's computers. The last entry is from a couple days ago, it uploaded shortly before Kal's ship jumped to hyperspace. Would you like me to display the last entry with Zen Sir?

Yes, answered Rex tersely. He was afraid of what condition the boy would be in after his encounter with Kal.

The holographic display started back up and showed Zen entering Kal's office. Rex was relieved to see that Zen looked healthy. Zen walked in and took up position a few feet into the room. He stopped and stood up straight, his feet shoulder width apart, and put his hands behind his head, elbows out. He stared straight ahead and did not bother to look over at Kal who was sitting at his desk entering information into the computer terminal at his desk.

Kal made the boy wait for a minute as he finished with the computer. When he was done he stood up, crossed the room and walked in a circle around Zen. He inspected the teen, running his hands over him and squeezing his muscles. "Good, I see you have recovered from your punishment," he said. He slapped the boy's stomach and Zen flexed his abdominal muscles in response, showing off the well-defined muscles. "You have also lost that stomach fat, excellent. Seems the beating did you good. You will fetch a decent price when I sell you." Zen turned and looked at Kal, shocked at the man's statement.

Kal spanked the boy's ass hard. "Eyes front boy," he commanded. "Did you really think I would let you go free? You naive boy. Just because Rex was somehow able stave off his inevitable defeat for a few months does not mean I am going just give up and let you join him."

"But Sir, my contract; it expires on my birthday. You are required to release me, alive and in reasonable condition, Sir," protested Zen.

Kal slapped the boy's ass again, for speaking out of turn. "You stupid boy, you will be released and the terms of the contract will technically be upheld. The contract only requires that I release you at a starport on a habitable world. Which I will do. In fact, I just finished programming the computer with our destination. Can you guess where we are headed?" asked Kal as he stepped behind the boy.

Zen began to shake in terror, "Xatik."

Kal laughed and shoved the boy onto the bed, "I guess you are not completely stupid after all". Zen's terror was an aphrodisiac for the sadistic space rat. He removed his pants and started stroking his cock.

Rex dropped his head into his hands and Pod turned off the holographic display. Jasen looked at Rex, "Sir, what is Xatik?"

Rex turned and looked at Jasen; he saw a look of concern on the young boy's face. He reached over and pulled the boy against him, unsure of if he did it to comfort Jasen or himself. "Xatik is an outpost under the control of the Zernt Empire. Dellaren Federation laws and customs do not apply in Xatik. If Kal releases Zen there, well, there is nothing to stop Kal or anyone else from harming him. Kal could kill him immediately after releasing him and not run afoul of any Dellaren laws or suffer any sanction back at Gelt Station. Under Zernt law, he would just be responsible for compensating Zen's immediate family, which is nobody since Zen is an orphan," explained Rex.

Jasen remembered the brutal beating that Zen had received from Kal and started to cry again. He hugged Rex. "Sir, is there anything we can do to save him?" he asked.

"I don't know, but we can at least try," replied Rex.