J McKenna: Slave Planet

“Dr. Reyes, I presume?”

The woman nodded. “Lieutenant. I’m surprised to get such a extensive rescue party,” Beth replied.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes, although I have a little back ache now and again.” She rubbed her swollen belly.

He shook his head slowly. “So it appears the species are quite compatible with ours.”

“Yes, I’d say so.”

“Where’s Lt. Commander Smith?”

“She’s at the training facility.”

“Training facility?”

“Didn’t your briefing include her training in karate? She’s a big hit here, as you might imagine. She’s teaching the men how to fight, Earth-style.”

Nystrom again shook his head, as if to clear it. “Well, if you could lead us to her, we’ll collect you two and be on our way.”

“Um, no, lieutenant. I want to stay. I think you’ll find Jorja does too.”

Nystrom was taken aback. “We’ve come more than two million light years at considerable expense and effort to rescue you—and you say you don’t want to go? I really don’t think you have a choice.”

“I think we do.” She patted her stomach again. “As you can see, I’m not in any condition for cryosleep. The baby won’t wait. It will be another two months before I have it. Once it’s born, I’m not about to take it away from its father.” She turned and signaled to a middle-aged man, who separated from the crowd. “This is Niktus, my, er, husband.” She almost said “master,” but caught herself in time. She didn’t think the soldier would understand.

“Earthling,” Niktus said in heavily accented English, nodding down at the smaller man. “The Baktu welcome you.”

Nystrom was speechless. He expected to be greeted by two very grateful women, being rescued from a horrible ordeal. Instead, he finds they’re happy with their situation. Before he could react, a movement caught his eye. The group swiveled to the right, weapons came up again. “Easy, Marines,” he said.

“Ahh. Here comes Jorja now,” Beth told him.

The tall figure coming toward them wore a loincloth, but her breasts were bare. Nystrom heard another whistle from the soldiers. She was drenched in sweat and had a cloth tied around her short brown hair. Smooth muscles rippled along her arms. She strode right up to the lieutenant. He tried very hard not to stare at her breasts.

“Our rescue party?” she inquired—but not in English. Nystrom’s Ute gave the translation.

“Yes,” Beth told her in the same language. “They say we’ll want to go home now.”

“We are home,” Jorja said.

“Speak English, please!” Nystrom snapped. “You’re Americans! Probably the most famous Americans in the space program. The papers call you, ‘the Abandoned Astronauts.’ Everyone is anxious to see you home safely.”

“Thank the American people for me,” Jorja said in English. “But I am home. I’ve got it made here. You could say I’m a VIP. So’s Beth. She’s the town healer, you know.”

“You can’t possibly want to stay in this backward environment!”

“It’s not so backward. Just different. We’ve come to like it very much.”

“But, but—what about the Prime Directive?” Nystrom sputtered.

“Except for Beth’s medical skills, we’re not using anything from Earth anymore. We don’t need the Utes, so we buried them, along with the radios that were left behind. We burned the pod. We’re living just as the natives do.”

“I thought women were treated quite badly here, that no American woman could stand it.”

“At first blush, that appears to be true,” Beth admitted. “But women have far more power than you would think. It depends on the woman, I guess—and their mast—I mean, man. In our cases, we’re highly regarded, so we get extra perks. We’re using that power to help all the women.”

Beth decided not to tell him about how she was still led around by her leash when in public, often naked like the others. He wouldn’t understand. It wasn’t humiliating, it was a belonging, a sense of acceptance, of being loved. And she did love Niktus. He was a kind and gentle man, despite his fierce appearance.

She thought of the women in the forest, whom she had been helping to return to their villages without punishment. Kate had radioed her from orbit to tell her about them. Beth and Jorja had used their influence to convince elders to educate cruel masters in proper slave-owning etiquette. In the last six months, slaves have been given more avenues to see problems resolved. They were making progress, but they weren’t done. Beth wanted to stay and see it through. Did this violate the Prime Directive? Possibly. She preferred to think of it as gently steering the people toward a more humane way of life.

“Um, we’re going to have to report in on this one,” Nystrom said. He looked around. The men were still staring at Jorja’s breasts. The female soldiers seemed to be eyeing the loincloths of the nearest natives. Nystrom’s face grew hot, but he kept his mouth shut.

“Why don’t you all stay for dinner? We could introduce you to what I like to call roast beast.”

Nystrom nodded dully and excused himself. He stepped back a few paces and pulled out his radio.

“ U.S.S. Saratoga , this is Red Leader. Come in.”

“This is Saratoga. Captain Richardson here.”

“Uh, yeah, captain. Tell Houston we have a problem. The astronauts have gone native on us.”

Kathryn Dyson stepped down from the ramp, trying not to cry in the bright autumn sunlight of Earth. Her legs were still a little wobbly, made more so by the thousands of cheering fans who had turned out to greet the returning women. She spotted Brian and a very tall Donnie, who both ran up to hug her.

“Oh, you can’t imagine how much I missed you two!” she gushed, her heart overwhelmed with emotion. “And Donnie—look how big you’ve gotten.”

“Welcome home, Mom, but please, call me Don now.” He had matured so much in the last two years, she realized.

“Let’s get you away from here. I have big plans for you,” Brian said. She blushed and smiled, tears in her eyes. He kissed her, right there in front of millions, and squeezed her ass briefly. Kate didn’t even mind.

Allyson and Greta stepped out behind her, bringing another cheer from the crowd. They stood and basked in the attention before being whisked off for some much-needed private time with their families.

This was not the welcome they had envisioned. Kate had expected to be vilified for leaving Beth and Jorja behind. Instead, it was NASA and its design of the pods that took the heat. The fact that Kate went down alone, against orders, and nearly succeeded in rounding up all her crew fit in perfectly with the American image—tough, bold, unafraid, and willing to do anything to help her crew members.

The true story would not have come out if America had relied just on Kate’s report. She gave a minimal summary of the rescue. Allyson sent Kate from the bridge to rest from her ordeal with a wink and called up Houston and gave them the complete version of events. America decided Kate was a hero. If it hadn’t been for an overcrowded pod, the mission would have been a rousing success.

No one blamed Kate when she arrived home. NASA quickly ordered that all pods be made larger—which meant the scout ships would have to be larger as well. Another advancement for the space program.

Despite the attention, Kate didn’t feel like a hero. She still felt guilty for leaving Beth and Jorja behind. She went through the interviews with the media and appeared on talk shows to benefit the program, but her mind and spirit weren’t in it.

It wasn’t until the reports came back from the Saratoga that Kate learned the truth. By all accounts, the two women they had left behind were happy on Devon.