J McKenna - Slave Planet

Sure enough, the man pressed himself against her from behind and his cock disappeared from view. The woman braced herself as the man began pumping—the same way a man of Earth would, Beth noted. She observed the woman reach down between her legs and rub herself, indicating the women probably had clitorises on this planet, just like the women of Earth.

The cart rolled on before Beth could see any more. She sat back, stunned by the meaning of her observation. The shockwaves would be felt all the way to Earth. If two species separated by such a great distance could be so similar, what did that say about the very fabric of the universe? The vast universe would be a lot more cohesive and organized than anyone previously had thought.

A small crowd gathered as the cart approached the main square. Skinny, walking behind, began answering their questions, waving his arms, his voice rising and falling. Murmurs filtered through the crowd as the man’s words were relayed to newcomers. By the time the cart stopped near a large platform, the crowd had grown to more than fifty. The driver reined in the donkey, then stood. The crowd seemed to fall back slightly. Beth thought Lumpy must be an important figure to the villagers.

He came around to the back and unlocked the cage. There was no chance for the crew to try to overpower him, not with the crowd behind, so they allowed themselves to be taken out, one by one, and let him tie their hands behind them. They were led up the stairs to the platform. Greta limped and staggered, unable to maintain her balance. The man’s partner held her up easily with a large hand wrapped around her upper arm.

The women were embarrassed to be naked in front of the crowd, regardless that it may be the custom for the women of this world. They were directed to stand before thick wooden posts and their hands were untied, then retied around them. They could barely move. They hung their heads in shame.

Lumpy walked the platform, speaking to the crowd, gesturing to the captives. The crowd appeared to be impressed by them. He said something and the crowd reacted, almost derisively, Beth thought. The man’s face darkened and he said something to his partner. Skinny approached Ally and untied her, bringing her forward.

When she stood next to Lumpy, he said something to her and pointed at the crowd. Ally, embarrassed at being put on display, didn’t understand what he was trying to say. He gestured again, growing angry. Ally just shook her head, tears falling from her eyes. Her heart pounded. She wished she could understand him.

He grabbed her jaw and waggled it. Oh! He wanted her to speak, to show they weren’t from around here, she realized. Duh. That should already be obvious. “My name is Allyson Egerton,” she said in a firm voice. “I am commander of a space ship. We come from Earth. We mean you no harm, but we would like to be released so that we may return to our ship.”

Her words electrified the audience. They stared, open-mouthed, then began talking anew amongst themselves.

Ally knew they couldn’t understand her, but it made her feel better to stand up and speak for the people of Earth. She turned to Lumpy. “If you would get our translators out of the bag, we could begin to talk to each other.” The man just stared at her. Ally pointed as best she could with her hands behind her back toward the cart parked below. “The bag, you big galoot, the bag.”

The man cocked his head, then said something to Skinny. Ally was relieved to see the man return to the cart and retrieve the bag. These beings were highly intelligent! He returned to hand the bag to his partner. Lumpy began pawing through it. He pulled out a phaser and held it up to the crowd. There was more murmuring. He held it clumsily, finally fitting his fingers around the grip. The gun was small in his hands. By luck, his finger touched the trigger, but, of course, he was locked out. To him, the object would be useless. He dropped the gun into the bag and pulled out a U.T.

“Yes!” Ally shouted. Behind her, Beth and Jorja shouted as well. Curious, the man held it closer to his face, trying to understand its significance. “Turn the switch on the side,” she said, desperate for him to understand. “It’s going to take awhile to work, but let’s get started, OK?”

He wasn’t getting it. Frustrated, Ally indicated to the partner that he could cut her ropes. She gestured again and again. Words were exchanged between the two men. The big man shook his head. He didn’t trust the pilot who blasted him twice.

Ally watched as the man slipped the Ute into a pouch hanging from his belt. Her heart fell as she was dragged back to the post and retied. “Noooo! Listen to me! We can talk to each other!”

The partner pinched Ally’s nipple, hard, and she squealed, then shut up. She didn’t say anything when he reached down and stroked her bare pussy. Ally was beyond embarrassment at this point. The other captives watched dejectedly. Greta just hung from her bindings, her eyes closed.

The big man again spoke to the crowd. Some responded excitedly.

“You know what’s happening, don’t you?” Beth said to Ally, who was fastened to the adjacent post.

“I think so, but I’m afraid to believe it.”

“I’m afraid it’s true. We’re being auctioned off.”

“How could they? Would we do that to E.T.?”

“They don’t think of us as alien—just as foreigners, like we came from another continent. We probably look exotic to them, like Swedes might look to the Spanish or vis versa. You know, this culture is not all that dissimilar from ours, once upon a time.”

Ally looked over at the anthropologist. “This isn’t helping, doc. I want to hear how we’re going to tell them otherwise, without the Ute.”

Beth looked back at the big man talking up the crowd. “Maybe we’ll have to learn their language the old-fashioned way.”

Kate studied the latest photos with a magnifying glass. She wanted to memorize the layout of the town, especially the town square. When the most recent photo fell out of the digital processor, she turned white with fear—and fury—as she held it up to the light. Unless she was mistaken, her four crew women were all being held on some sort of platform, bound to stakes. They appeared to be naked, just like all the other women in town.

“Dammit, Ally, how could you let them take you?” Kate knew she was missing something. Somehow these sixteenth century beings managed to overpower an intelligent, alert woman armed with a late-21 stcentury weapon. What had happened?

She would have to be very careful.

Taking one last look, she climbed down the ladder into the escape pod. Kate paused before she slipped inside, looking around her ship. It may be the last time she would see it. But she had no choice. She was going to rescue her crew or die trying.

Kate glanced at her chronometer as she strapped herself in. Nearly an hour and a half had passed since she radioed Earth. It had taken some time to reposition the ship to give her the best aim at landing near the second pod. The pod would travel nearly all the way around the planet as it made its way through the atmosphere. Once it was in the upper atmosphere, she’d have to hope that her calculations about the prevailing winds were accurate. Otherwise, she might end up two hundred kilometers away.

She decided to launch before guilt made her wait for NASA’s response. She had no doubt that Hunter would be sending one, probably to tell her “under no circumstances” should she leave the ship. Screw him. She bolted the door and fastened her restraints.

“Hey, it was a nice career,” she said out loud and pulled the launch handle.

The escape pod was designed to rocket away from the bay door, in the event the ship was about to explode. She hung on grimly as the G-forces pressed her back in her seat. Kate let the computer aim the pod at the right angle to pierce the atmosphere.