Chained (Brides of the Kindred) (32 page)

“Blocks? What blocks?” Kor said.

“Oh, is this your first time in a junket?”
the other man enquired.

“It is.”

“Well then, the rooming may be a bit of a
surprise to you. Do you see the clear glass blocks that make up the walls?
Those
are the rooms.”

“They
are?”
Maggie breathed,
forgetting to be silent. On looking closer, she could see that the huge glass
blocks that seemed to make up the walls of the ship did in fact, have people
inside them. All of them were moving very slowly, snaking their way around the
walls so the view must be continuously changing. She also noticed, with some
unease, that the blocks were clear glass—there was no privacy to be had, even
in a “private” room.

“Indeed,” the other master said. “The
blocks move in a maze on a complex system of jet lifts and anthro-pulleys.
Unfortunately, only one can be accessed at a time and if there is any delay at
all, the entire system backs up.” The man leaned closer to Kor and whispered,
“There has been some speculation that the makers of the ship designed it that
way on purpose. You know—to force people to mingle and buy more at the ship’s
shops and vendors? I consider it
extremely
likely but it doesn’t do to
say so too loudly.”

“That’s…very illuminating,” Kor said,
frowning. “But what do we do if we need to get into our room sooner rather than
later?” He was looking at Maggie as he spoke, no doubt wondering how long she
could hold out without him touching her.

Maggie was wondering the same thing.
Already she could feel the pulse of her implant speeding up, demanding the touch
of her master’s hand. Would she be able to wait another hour or more for Kor to
touch her and ease her need? She wasn’t sure.

“You’ll just have to do as the rest of us
do, wander around and buy merchandize we don’t really need.” The fat slave
owner laughed, as though it was a joke. “In the mean time, though, go up to the
Warden of the Blocks and show him your pass orb. He’ll put your name on the
list and call you when your block comes up.”

“Thank you,” Kor said, nodding. “Speaking
with you has been most enlightening.”

“Any time! Glad to help a fellow
passenger. And don’t forget what I said about a public display of humiliation.
If you don’t mind me saying, I can tell your slave would benefit from such a
thing—she speaks out of turn entirely too much.”

Kor nodded silently and steered Maggie
away.

“I barely said a word,” she protested in
an indignant whisper as soon as they were out of ear shot of the other man.

“Even one word is too much,” Kor growled.
“As far as bastards like that are concerned, anyway. Which is why he took away
his own slave’s power of speech.” He sounded angry. “Evil son of a whore.”

“That poor girl,” Maggie murmured with a
shiver as they made their way through the crowd. “What an awful thing to do to
someone!”

“I told you there was a reason female
liberation groups targeted this area,” Kor murmured back under his breath. “Are
you thirsty? It looked like he was right—they have a full bar here.”

Maggie opened her mouth to say yes…and
then closed it again. What she saw on the left hand side of the large circular
bar stocked with every imaginable colored bottle was almost too much to take
in.

A large metal post was set up in the
middle of the area which was clearly meant for the punishment of slaves. A
hapless slave girl wearing nothing but long blue tassels on her nipples was
strung up by her wrists at the post, her arms high over her head. The position
forced her to stand on her tiptoes.

Behind her a man who was obviously her
master was wielding a wicked looking whip that fizzled and crackled as it hit
her. Sparks shot from the end of the whip and with every blow the slave girl
gasped and jumped, trying in vain to twist away from the stinging, crackling
lash. The crowd gathered around the scene laughed and cheered. Even worse, several
other masters seemed to be waiting in line to beat their slaves as well.

“What kind of place
is
this?” Maggie demanded, feeling sick. “Where the people actually
stand in line to beat their slaves with that horrible
thing?”

“That
thing
is a pain whip,” Kor
muttered under his breath. “It’s electrified. Leaves no visible mark but with
each stroke it feels as though every nerve in the body is on fire. Not a
pleasant sensation.”

“You’ve seen this kind of whip used
before?” Maggie asked.

He made a face. “Had it used
on
me,
blondie. Hurts like a son of a bitch—poor girl.”

Maggie didn’t want to watch anymore. Not
when there was nothing she could do to stop the cruel display.

“Come on,” she said, turning away. “Let’s
go see about our room.”

“I’m with you.” Kor took her by the arm
and steered her to the far end of the large common area. There they found an
opening in the glass blocks about as wide as a double doorway. Standing in
front of the opening, behind a work terminal, was another blue-skinned,
silver-eyed alien wearing the same red and gold uniform Rosh had been wearing.

“Hello, Master,” he said as Kor approached
him and held out the pass orb. “I am Yiuck—the Warden of the Blocks. But if
you’ve come about your block, I’m afraid we’re experiencing a few small
technical difficulties. There’s a one to two hour wait right now.”

Maggie had a moment of panic. “
Two
hours?”
she asked. Her implant throbbed strongly and she looked appealingly at Kor. “I
don’t know if I can wait that long,” she whispered.

The guard looked at her in surprise. “Your
slave speaks out of turn, master.”

Kor glared at the alien. “Her implant
makes her most impatient to be in a room alone with me. If I don’t satisfy it
soon, she will begin to have a most unfortunate reaction.”

Maggie felt her cheeks growing hot. Even
though it was probably a common problem with slaves and their implants on this
particular ship, it was still embarrassing to hear Kor inform someone that she
was horny out of her mind and needed to be serviced.

“As to that,” the Warden of the Blocks
said, “We have a lounge area where you can slake all your needs.”

“My needs are
private,”
Kor grated.
“As are those of my slave.”

The alien laughed. “My dear master,
nothing
is truly private here—as you can see from the activities taking place in those
blocks already occupied.”

He pointed to one of the clear glass block
rooms moving slowly across the wall above him. Sure enough, Maggie saw a master
with a slave on her knees in front of him, giving him a very vigorous blow job.
The sight made her implant throb strongly and she crossed her legs as tightly
as she could, feeling miserable. God, what was wrong with her?

“As I said, the lounge area is designated
for sexual gratification. You’ll find it just over there.” The Warden of the
Blocks pointed. “Anything is permissible, we only ask that you keep your
activities confined to that area and do not allow your slave to mouth you in
any of our food service areas.”

“What if I don’t
want
to use the
lounge?” Kor demanded.

The alien shrugged. “Then I’m afraid you
will have to wait for your block to come around to the entrance here.” He
nodded at the wide opening behind him. “Your pass orb will light up and play a
little tune when your block is available for access. You will have exactly five
solar minutes to respond and if you miss your block, you’ll have to wait a
minimum of two hours for it to come around again. So please drop whatever or
who
ever
you’re doing and come at once when your orb summons you.”

Just at that moment, a master with a
blinking, jingling pass orb hurried up and waved it in the Warden’s face.

“I’m not too late, am I?” he asked,
puffing and blowing. “I’ve been waiting for hours and I was all the way across
the room when this thing went off.”

“Your block will be in position for
another thirty seconds,” the alien announced smoothly. “If you go now—”

But the man was already rushing past him.
He threw himself through the open doors and just barely made it into the glass
block that served as his room before it moved slowly past and another empty block
took its place.

Maggie’s implant was throbbing steadily
now. She tugged at Kor’s arm and gave him a pleading look. “Seriously, I can’t
wait much longer!” she whispered desperately.

Kor nodded and stepped up again.

“I’ll pay good credit for you to move my
block to the top of the rotation,” he said in a low voice.

The Warden of the Blocks shook his head.
“I’m sorry, Master, but the blocks follow a set pattern which is completely
unchangeable.”

“Another block then,” Kor said quickly.
“I’ll pay for a different one—closer to the top.”

“Impossible,” the Warden said. “The
masters at the top of the rotation have been waiting for hours already. If word
got out that I was giving away their blocks, I would lose my job. No amount of
credit is worth that.”

“But I—” Kor began.

The Warden cut him off.

“I’m sorry, master, you’ll simply have to
wait your turn. And in case you’re wondering, the lounging area is
that
way.” He pointed firmly to one corner of the massive room. “Please don’t return
until your pass orb summons you.”

“Oh my God,” Maggie muttered as they left
in the direction the Warden had pointed. “Worst…hotel…
ever.”

“I’m sorry, blondie,” Kor murmured. “I had
no idea it would be like this. If there was any other way to get to the
Dragon’s Mouth…”

“But there’s not. I get it.” Maggie
crossed her arms over her breasts and hissed as her increasingly sensitive
nipples protested the move. “I guess I’ll just have to grin and bear it. In the
mean time, maybe we should try to find clues about my implant. You know, put the
time to good use.”

“We can try,” Kor said, looking at her
doubtfully. “But are you sure you can wait?”

“I’ll have to,” Maggie said grimly. “Oh,
look—I think this is the ‘lounging area’ he was walking about.”

They had reached a large corner of the
room which was roped off by scarlet braids that appeared to be made of some
kind of woven hair. Maggie wondered if the hair that made the ropes belonged to
some exotic animal…or if it was made of dyed slave hair.
Ugh!
She had an
involuntary shiver at the thought.

Beyond the rope was a long row of plush
blue lounging chairs that looked almost like Lazy Boy recliners. But the bottom
footrest part of each lounger was split in two with each piece able to swing
outward.

“What are
those
for?” Maggie asked
but even as the words left her lips, her question was answered. As she watched,
one of the masters led his half-naked girl over to the row of loungers. She was
wearing less than Maggie but something besides the girl’s scanty dress caught
her eye—there was a blinking red light in the center of her naval—an implant!
And it looked exactly like hers.

“Kor,” she whispered. “Look!”

“I see,” he murmured.

They continued to watch as the master sat
himself down in one of the chairs. Then he popped open his pants and motioned his
slave girl down between his legs. The split between the two moveable footrests
left plenty of room for the girl to go on her knees before him.

“Take your time,” Maggie heard him say. “I
want to feel your sweet lips wrapped around me, Belindah my dear.”

“Yes, Master,” she murmured, gazing up at
him adoringly. “And I want to feel you in my mouth.”

Maggie’s implant pulsed strongly again as
she watched the slave girl take her master’s cock deep in her mouth, licking
and kissing it lovingly. Did the girl actually enjoy doing that…or was it her
implant only making her
think
she enjoyed it?

That’s not the real
question, Maggie,
whispered a little
voice in her head.
The real question is would
you
enjoy doing that to Kor? And I think we already know the
answer to that.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Kor
murmured, surprising her out of her guilty thoughts.

“Huh?” Maggie jumped. “Oh, I…I doubt it.”

“I’m thinking,” he continued. “That if
that girl has the same implant as you—”

“Her master might be able to tell us exactly
where to go,” Maggie answered. “But do you think we should, uh, talk to him
while he’s, you know…busy?”

“I think—” Kor began but the man surprised
them both by speaking to Kor.

“Do you have a problem? This
is
the
lounging area, you know—such things are permitted here.” He nodded down at the
girl between his legs who continued to suck him lovingly.

“Just admiring your girl’s work,” Kor said
smoothly. “My own slave has what appears to be the same kind of implant as
yours but her oral technique is sadly lacking. Which is why I’m taking her to
the Dragon’s Mouth to try and get it fixed.”