THE PRIZE: BOOK TWO - RETRIBUTION (27 page)

“It’s all over, dear.”

“I know, Mom.” Ellis stroked her hair for a moment until she saw movement on the floor.

“Any of them alive?” She asked the group of panting girls, some of whom looked about to go into shock.

“Some.” Gwen answered, kicking the closest body that showed signs of life.

“Good, get them against the wall.” In all, four of the ten were still alive, and for a moment, Ellis thought to go over and slit their throats, but she held off. They needed information first. Then a thought struck her.

“Shave the back of their necks.” She growled. One of the men conscious enough to understand looked at her in shock, realizing what she was about to do.

“Oh fuck… no… please” he begged.

“Shut up, asshole.” Gwen kicked him. Picking up the sonic shaver, Ellis walked over and grabbed him by the hair.

“Oh god… please.” He begged. Ellis ignored his pleas, thinking about how many times this worthless pile of shit had done this to other girls in his life as a slaver.

“There, all nice and smooth. Now the implant.”

“Please… don’t…”

“Tell me what I want to know, and I might not.”

“Don’t tell the bitch anything Wallace, or else.” This came from their de facto leader.

Picking up the blade, Ellis walked over and took a knee in front of him. Of course, the man had to look, it was almost a conditioned reflex for a human male to look at a naked woman’s sex.

“You have obviously mistaken me for a nice person.”

“I don’t give a shit, bitch. Do your worst. Once the rest of the crew arrives I’ll have an implant in you and you’ll be on your knees sucking my dick.”

“You think so, asshole?” She asked, smiling as she said it.

“Too right.” Ellis put the edge of the blade against his throat and for a moment the man laughed. “You haven’t got the balls, bitch!”

“Bye bye asshole.” With that she slit his throat. Before he started gagging the man looked surprised, as if he couldn’t believe she’d done it. He slid to the floor and lay there drumming his heels on the deck as he choked on his own blood. By now the remaining three were conscious, their faces white with fear.

“Do any of you think I’m a nice person, or some weak female?” All three shook their heads.

“Good, because what I want now is information, and if I don’t get it I’m going to start by cutting off body parts, starting with your toes and fingers. If you still won’t talk I’ll continue with your dick and balls and work my way up to your ears and eyes.” More than one looked at the dead body of their leader.

“What… what do you want to know,” one stammered.

“First, how many more crew are there?”

“There’s… there’s four in the engine room and two on the bridge.”

“Is that all? No security detail, no more guards?” All three shook their heads.

“And where are we?”

“We’re at habitat number twenty-six in the free market zone orbiting around Keplar Three.”

“Which star system?”

“Don’t know… you’ll have to ask the navigator.” Ellis knew of the so-called free market zone, but had never heard of any planet by that name.

“Tell me about the captain and the navigator.”

“The Captain’s okay, a bit tough, but the navigator is a pussy.” The man’s eyes kept darting around the storage bay, from one angry looking female to the next.

“Don’t worry about them. Worry about me, because I’ll hurt you worse than anything they can do.” The man swallowed, locking his eyes on Ellis and the knife in her hand.

“Tell me about the engineering crew.”

“There are six of them, but they keep pretty much to themselves down below.”

“Where are the weapons stored?” Suddenly the man got shifty eyes, as if he thought he had a bargaining chip. Ellis dissuaded him of that idea by jamming the point of the knife into his crotch. The man gasped in pain.

“You fuck with me and I’ll cut your dick and balls off first, asshole!”

“The arms locker is on deck two, one up from this one.” He moaned as Ellis dug the point in deeper. “The code is 808080.”

Good.” With that she jerked his head down and nodded to one of the waiting girls. She gleefully jammed the implant against the back of his skull.

The man let out one last moan and fell silent as the implant took over his mind. Without orders he would sit there until he died of hunger or thirst without being able to do a thing about it. By that time he’d probably be stark raving mad from the horror, silently screaming in terror. Ellis knew this but had no sympathy for the man, thinking of the number of times he’d done the same thing to some unfortunate female. Probably laughing while he did it. As she turned to the next man, he started crying, begging her with his eyes. She didn’t even bother asking him any questions, but simply pulled his head down and slapped the implant against the base if his skull. The third man fainted and never felt the implant take over his mind.

“When I say go, you will walk ahead of me to the arms locker. If we meet any of the crew and they ask you a question, you will answer as you normally would.”

The man looked at her with blank eyes, but other than that, he looked normal. It wasn’t so much that the implant turned him into a zombie but took away his will to resist and do anything other than what he was ordered. If told to go and do the same thing he did normally, he could walk, eat, piss, fart, eat, and operate equipment just as he normally would. Moreover, keep on doing the same thing day after day. He’d even sleep if he was told to, and therein lay the danger. Deprived of sleep his mind would soon go mad, and one of the reasons the slave whores burned out so fast, and the need for a constant fresh supply of young women. Their owners didn’t care about their health, just profits and would literally work them to death. By that time, it was a blessed relief from their nightmare existence and they welcomed it with open arms. It was also the main reason Ellis hated the slavers so much, as fear of such a thing happening to her and any of her ‘children’ haunted her deepest thoughts.

The prep area was equipped with a shower, scented soap, towel and a hair drier, as well as some clothing and makeup in the storage lockers. This was where the girls were cleaned up, dressed, and made up before they were taken onto the station, making them look good for the potential buyers. Ellis showered mainly to clean off the blood, ordering the others to do the same, but other than some lipstick, she didn’t bother with anything else. After removing the implant from the first two victims, she held the sobbing girls until they’d calmed down, understanding how violated they felt. She then pushed them under the showerhead and told them to take their time. As a precaution against any crewmembers walking in, she’d stationed three of the girls by the hatchway with orders to kill anyone that came in. Her main fear was that someone would come to investigate if they took too long making their next move. For the first part of her plan she only needed five of her core team, and as soon as they were reasonably dressed she ordered the now compliant crewman to lead them to the arms locker. She left Gwen in charge of the rest with orders to get them cleaned up and dressed for when she returned with the weapons.

“Sounds good to me.”

“Also find out if any of them have handled weapons before.”

“Bet most of them have to some degree.”

“Find out. I don’t want someone discharging a blast rifle and killing one of us.”

“Got you.” Gwen answered as Ellis turned to her team.

“Alright. Here’s the plan. We walk with our heads down, looking submissive just in case they have someone watching the security cams. I want them to see what they expect to see, nothing more. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am. They replied.

“Okay dickhead. Go.” She said to their pet male.

Without a word, he turned and walked out the hatchway and down the passageway at a normal walking pace with Ellis and the five girls following him. It was nerve wracking, as Ellis didn’t know what protocol they used once the girls were ready to transfer to the station. If it came to a fight, she was as ready as she could be, with two knives and a stun rod, hoping she had surprise on her side for the first few seconds. If they were discovered and attacked, she was betting they wouldn’t want to injure them, hereby giving her a slight advantage. She wouldn’t hesitate and planned on killing them. In distance, the walk wasn’t long, down one passageway to the end, up one flight of stairs and half way down another passageway to the arms locker. In her mind, it felt like an eternity, expecting men to jump them each step of the way. She covertly looked for and found the security cams, but there was no telling if they were on, or if someone was watching the monitors. Either way, they were committed, but she knew she’d need another shower after this, if they succeeded, as she was sweating so much. Her hands felt sweaty around the handles of the knives held backward out of sight against her arms, and she dearly wanted to wipe them dry.

“Mom… I’m scared.” Jenny whispered.

“Me too baby. Just hang in there and act normal and everything will be alright.” Ellis whispered back, kept her voice firm and confident, and let none of the nervousness she was feeling show. Having been in combat, and surviving the journey through the pyramid, she felt little fear for herself. Her fear was for Jenny, and what might happen if she failed. She kept telling herself that was never going to happen. Jenny would never be a slave again, even if she had to kill her herself. Without warning, the man in front of her just stopped walking, where upon Ellis and the others bumped into each other.

“Shit!” She muttered, but a quick look around showed they were standing outside a cabin with a combination lock on the entranceway. The reason for her explosive outburst was the security cam over the door. She quickly tapped in the code the crewman had given her, and thankfully, the door clicked open.

“Get inside. Quick!”

Thinking the order meant him, the man pushed the door open and stepped inside, slowing the rest of them entering for several heart stopping seconds. Ellis felt like swearing again as she found that the arms lockers were secured as well with old fashioned padlocks. In a sudden burst of fury, she grabbed the first and tore it, and the steel mesh door completely off the wall. She quickly went from locker to locker and ripped the rest of the padlocks apart, grinning in satisfaction, and looked around at the rest of the girls, and Jenny. They all stood with their backs to the now closed door with a look of sheer terror on their faces.

“What!” Ellis demanded.

“Mom… you… you just seemed to explode. You went all blurry and ripped all the lockers open in a fraction of a second.” Ellis laughed.

“Oh that.” She blushed. “I sort of forgot I could do that. It’s been a while since I had to.”

“Mom, you are downright scary when you get angry.”

“I’m sorry dear; I didn’t mean to frighten you.” Suddenly Ellis felt embarrassed.

“Remind me never to get you mad at me, Mom.” Ellis walked over and gave her a quick hug.

“God! I hope one day I can do that. I’ll teach those boys not to pick on us girls so much.” Ellis laughed.

“I’ll have to talk to Michael about that and see what he can do. For now, let’s get ready and get these weapons back to the rest of the girls.”

To Ellis’ delight, one of the lower, unlocked lockers produced a double shoulder holster rig, which she immediately grabbed and strapped on. Two fully loaded blast pistols went into each underarm holster and more power packs into the pouches of the utility belt.

“Okay. Here’s the plan. You four will take as many rifles, pistols and power packs back to the rest, while Jenny and I go have a word with the Captain of this fu… ship.” That put a grin on everyone’s face. “When you have them all armed, wait for my signal to move. Got it?”

“Yes, Ma’am!” They all replied. After that little display of power, none of them had any doubt about who was in charge. Ellis felt energized again, armed, and ready to go to war, even if she was only dressed in a pair of tiny shorts, a tank top, and strappy four-inch high heels.

They found a duffle bag in one cabinet and loaded it up with weapons and power packs while Ellis found a nice customized blast rifle and loaded it with a fresh power pack. The rifle came with multi-frequency targeting glasses so she didn’t even need to put the rifle against her shoulder to fire at a target. With those and a bandana around her head to keep her long, red-gold hair out of her eyes, she was ready to go. She turned to find Jenny similarly dressed and looking mean. Ellis nodded to her.

“You’ll do dear, just remember to shoot first and ask questions later, just like when we play paintball. Jenny smiled and blushed a little.

“Thanks, Mom. I won’t let you down.

“Good. You know the drill, so sling the rifle, and let’s go.” They exited the arms locker together, their pistols sweeping left and right as they moved down the passageway towards the bow, and the bridge.

“Stairs - going up.” Ellis whispered.

“Covering the rear.” Jenny answered. Jenny spun, rifle up and covered their rear, just like Ellis and Penn had taught her so many times when they’d played paintball war back home. Jenny let out a sigh, feeling a profound sense of relief. This she knew how to do. She smiled slightly thinking back how she’d thought it rather a childish game to play, as she grew older. Somehow, she judged it more of a boy’s game, but joined in because her Mom encouraged her to. Now she understood why, as all the things her Mom and Dad had taught her felt into place. Back home it was embarrassing to have to serve the boys dinner when the girls lost, and listen to them laughing it up and making jokes at their expense, but that was nothing compared to failing here. If she failed here Mom could get injured, and that wasn’t going to happen.

“Taking point.”

“Taking rear.” Jenny replied as they reached the top of the stairwell and started down the long passageway with doors on either side. All went well until they reached the halfway mark and a man stepped out into the passageway behind them. Jenny didn’t hesitate and shot him in the head. Her aim was off slightly, as she’d meant to hit him center mass in the chest. Not that the man cared for the finer points of shooting, he was dead.