Minx Ep. 02: Return to Anima

"You saw fit to disturb my work, Novice Julius?" Minx heard snickers behind her.

Julius bowed deeply. "Only because the matter was of the greatest importance, Prophet."

The rhino-man looked at Minx, his eyes drinking her in, and he licked his lips. "And this has something to do with this particular cat-girl?"

"You are correct, Prophet." Again Minx heard the trio behind her muttering and snickering.

"Then please tell me what you are so concerned about, Novice Julius."

"As you are well aware, Prophet, the cat-girls live lives of slavery, and are forced to submit to the desires of every man they meet."

"As The Creator designed them," reminded the Prophet gently.

"'They are beautiful so that they may please the eye of man. They are compassionate that they may please the body of man.' The Book of Morovan does not state that cat-girls are to be slaves, or owned."

The rhino-man stood tall. "Do not think that you, as a mere novice, have the right to instruct me!" He glared at Julius and then after a quick glance at Minx, he visibly calmed. "Tell me, child, do you wish to roam free across Anima, to be set upon by all sorts of dangers with no protector, and have no-one supply you with food and shelter?" he asked her in a very gentle tone.

Julius bit back a response, and Minx could see that he was surprised that the Prophet would turn the discussion over to the cat-girl. Minx smiled at Julius. "Yes, I do, Prophet."

The room went silent, and the prophet blinked at her, and then cocked his head.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Minx spoke first. "I understand the dangers, and I believe that cat-girls will never find true peace or happiness until freedom is available to them. They whore away, trading sex for food and shelter, and it isn't right, because they have no other choice before them. Given the chance, some cat-girls could make valuable contributions to Anima. And working them to death once they aren't young and attractive is not the way thinking beings should be treated!"

Everyone stared at Minx. She kept her eyes on the Prophet. He backed away a few steps, visibly shaken, and then turned his back to her and Julius.

"You have tainted the poor child with your blasphemous thoughts, Julius! You have been speaking out of turn, disrespecting your betters, and refusing to accept the edicts of your Prophet and the Book of Morovan! I cast you out of this order! You will wander this world, begging for food and shelter, and hopefully learning to curb your arrogance! This cat-girl is a perversion of the Creator's will, and will be sold to a farm as a field labourer. Now leave my presence!"

"Yes, Prophet," said Julius quietly, and he bowed deeply.

"Well, I did try to warn you that your Prophet may not be interested in anything but his own interests, Julius."

One of the trio stepped forward and swung his open palm towards Minx's cheek. She caught his wrist in her hand just before he could strike her. She spun and pulled, and the dog-man flew over her shoulder to land heavily on the stone floor.

"I'll break bones the next time someone tries to manhandle me," she warned. "Come Julius, we're leaving."

They left the chamber and Julius directed them to the wall of the enclave, where four robed novices stood waiting to lower or raise a large basket. They climbed stairs to the top of the wall.

"And what are you doing, Brother?" asked the eldest of the novices, with a sneer. "You know you are forbidden to leave our enclave without the Prophet's permission. Your presence here, atop the wall, and in the company of her," his face contorted in disgust, "is not to be countenanced."

"I think you'll find, Brother Jer..." the chimp-man began.

"Save your breath, Julius." Minx crossed her arms and glared at the four novices. "I'll just lower you down, and then climb down the rope myself."

"You dare?" exclaimed a shocked novice.

The eldest stepped toward the cat-girl. "I think you need to be taught to respect your betters, harlot." He raised his open hand menacingly.

Minx let out a quick sigh then grabbed the front of the dog-man's robes. She strained briefly, and then lifted him off the ground. She didn't smile in response to the chorus of surprised oaths.

"We have decided to leave," she said, in a calm but oddly unsettling voice. "You're not going to make things difficult? Are you?" The innocent smile on her face had the novices shuffling their feet nervously. "Julius, get in the basket."

The chimp-man did so, and as she set the one novice gently on to his feet the other three carefully lowered her friend to the ground. They quickly brought the basket back up, and Minx climbed into it. She glared at the novices. Averting their eyes, they struggled to lower her quickly, but gently.

As she reached the ground, she leapt out. "That wasn't so bad. For a few seconds I was a little worried that they might have just dropped the basket."

Julius looked shocked at the idea. "They are servants of Morovan!"

The cat-girl shrugged her shoulders, unwilling to push Julius too much. She looked back up the shear wall, and met a couple of curious stares. The novice's heads immediately disappeared from view.

Julius took a deep breath, and surveyed the landscape carefully. "I think there's a town a few days walk in that direction," he said, pointing south and east. "Hopefully we'll find water along the way. I guess since you likely came from that direction that you know where to find water?"

Minx laughed. "Come with me, my friend. You're in for a bit of a shock."

Minx led him around the walls of the religious enclave, and then south to Ship. She didn't tell him exactly where they were going, and she mentally debated what she would tell him while they walked side by side. She kept a wary eye out for any predators, now that she knew they did exist on this world.

Strangely, Julius remained quiet through their journey. Minx wasn't sure if it was because he believed she knew exactly where she was going, or if he was out of sorts because his life had just changed so dramatically. When she looked at him he seemed cheerful, and after two hours of walking he had not made a single complaint.

They rounded a small ridge of rock, and Minx noted that Julius appeared surprised, but not as much as she had expected. "Ship, it's me. And a guest!" called out Minx.

The entry ramp under the belly of the ship lowered. The bounty hunter led the chimp-man up the ramp. His pace slowed as he marvelled at Ship's shiny and smooth exterior and the rubber-like material coating the ramp.

"So, how many of you live here?" he asked, reaching up to run his hand over Ship's hull for a second time.

"Just me."

"Then who opened this — door?" He went silent as he stepped up into the interior of the space ship. Absolutely nothing was familiar to him: not the bed, the pilot's chair, the control console, the artificial materials that everything was made of, nor the lighting that seemed to have no source. He looked about the cabin warily.

"There's no-one here but us, Julius."

"What about me?" asked Ship. Julius jumped, and looked around again.

"It's all right, Julius. Ship is — well, she is..." Minx faltered. How to explain this to him, she wondered.

"I'm an advanced piece of technology, Julius!"

The chimp-man turned to Minx. "She's not a person, but I can hear a woman's voice." Minx nodded. "She's — technology? Such as that used by — The Creator?"

"Well, in a way. Maybe you should just think of her as a friendly spirit."

"Friendly spirit," muttered Ship in disgust.

"I'm not ignorant Minx." He glanced about the cabin again. "I guess — perhaps I am ignorant. But I understand that Morovan had knowledge beyond our ken, and part of this knowledge was technology. He used machines to make us all. I guess Ship is one of those machines?"

"How old does this chimp-man think I am?"

"She can see me?"

"Here, Julius," she led him to the pilot's chair. "Have a seat. She can see and hear you, and you can talk to her directly. She'll explain some things to you while I'm getting medical attention — being healed."

Minx walked back to the medical bed. "Ship," she whispered. "Talk to him, and keep him calm. I need my subcutaneous communicator repaired. Opaque the cover while the bed is working on me. Get us back to our previous hiding spot near the town, but do it very gently. I think he can help Fran with the bar; he certainly has nothing else to do right now."

Minx jumped up on to the bed, and lay down. As the cover slid over her, she could hear Ship begin a conversation with the chimp-man.

The opaqued cover slid back, and Minx opened her eyes to see Julius standing over her.

"Repairs completed, and mission accomplished, boss."

Julius held out his hand, and helped Minx sit up. "How are you doing, Julius?"

"I'm realizing that the world, and life itself, are far more complex than I had known from growing up in the Temple as I had. You've been planning to free the cat-girls for a while now, haven't you?"

"Yes." He helped her stand beside the bed. "I'm okay, Julius. Thank you, anyway."

"You have three lovers, and you care for each of them. A hyperman, a cat-girl and a tiger-man. And yet you don't desire sex all of the time! It's remarkable!"

"Ship! You weren't supposed to gossip!"

"You didn't say I couldn't," her vessel reminded her.

True enough, thought Minx. And Ship might have been hard-pressed to come up with topics that didn't lead to very awkward answers. "Don't worry about it, Ship."

"You really survived an encounter with a hyperman?" asked Julius.

"Yes."

"She not only survived, he's crazy about her. He offered to follow her across the universe no matter where she went. He let her fly off in me."

The chimp-man shook his head in disbelief. "You are beautiful, Minx, please forgive me for thinking you weren't beautiful enough to thaw the ice-cold heart of a hyperman."

Minx blushed. "That's very — gallant of you, Julius. Now, we'd better get back to Fran's bar, and make sure nothing's fallen apart while I was away."

They left Ship in a gulley, and then, after Minx instructed Julius to keep the existence of Ship a secret, they walked towards town. The journey was easy, as much of it was by dirt road. Minx described the town as they walked, and she was surprised to find that Ship had given him details about various people who worked in the bar and tavern. She found herself explaining that she meant the bar to become a safe haven for cat-girls, where they could hide once they had fled their owners. Julius expressed his disappointment that Minx would receive no support from the Prophet.

As they entered the town, Minx saw passersby giving her curious stares. She no longer had a sword, as Bjarn had stolen her only one, but she had an extra laser pistol hidden in her hair again. With some relief, she noticed that many of the curious stares sent in her direction actually lingered on Julius instead of her.

She took a deep breath before pushing her way through the doors of the bar.

"Minx!" cried out Fran. The cat-girl set her platter down, and came dashing across the floor. She leapt at Minx, knocking her back into Julius, and hugged her tightly. "I'm so glad you're back! It's been so hard to run this bar! I..."

Minx put a finger over Fran's lips. "Fran, this is Julius. Julius, please meet my close friend Fran."

Fran backed away from Minx, and shyly looked toward the chimp-man. "He's a priest. Minx, you brought one of the Prophet's followers here? But why?"

"He's going to help you, Fran. But first, have you been stowing the profits from the bar where I showed you?"

"Of course, Minx. But some of the suppliers have increased their prices, and there isn't as much money as there used to be." Minx could see from the expression on Fran's face that the cat-girl thought the price increases unfair, but felt helpless to do anything about it.

"I'll take care of that, Fran. Did you remember the names of the people you talked to?" Fran nodded. "Good. I may have to be less than polite with them, but I'll make them see reason. Can you show Julius around the bar, please?"

Fran took Julius by the arm, and began to lead him around. Minx could see the chimp-man was studying everything seriously, perhaps even committing everything to memory.

Minx went to Fran's office, and closed the door behind her. She went to one of the caches, and removed a small bag of money. She then went to another cache, and did the same. Then she left the office, and went into the bar. She carefully looked about the room. A few eyes glanced over at her, and opened wide when they spied the bags of money. Minx spotted one tough looking dog-man, and went over to his table.

He smiled as she approached. "What do you want, sweetheart?"

The bounty hunter smiled back. "Your sword."

"Cat-girls don't carry swords," he said after several heartbeats.

"I do." Minx plopped the bags of money down on the table. "Will this be enough?"

The dog-man eyed the bags greedily, and then slowly turned to face her. "No. Double it, and you can have my sword."

"I've given you a fair amount," bluffed Minx.

He sat back, and crossed his arms. Minx heard footsteps behind her and Julius soon stood beside her. "May I be of some assistance, Minx?" he asked, strangely serene.

"Screw off, Priest!" shouted the dog-man.

Julius ignored him. "I believe that one of those bags of coins would be a fair amount for the sword he wears, possibly more than it's worth."

The dog-man drew his blade, and pointed its tip toward the interfering chimp-man. "If you say anything else about this I'll cut you. The cat-girl and I are arranging something."

Julius turned to Minx. "I'm right, you know. We took many offerings at the temple, and we were well aware of the value of each item."

"That's it!" The dog man stood, and grabbed Julius' arm.

Minx reacted instinctively. Julius was on her right, and the dog-man on her left. She stepped forward, and kicked the chimp-man's assailant in the groin as hard as she could. He was lifted off the floor, and then fell to his knees. Minx grabbed the sword as he released it.

"Minx!" called out Julius and Fran simultaneously.

The bounty hunter realized that she had likely moved with greater speed than any of them had seen before. She turned, and faced the patrons in the room.

"Let me make this perfectly clear! No-one is to harm any employee of this bar, or I will deal with him!" She turned to the dog-man, who was gingerly covering his groin. "Dog-man! You have ten seconds to leave! If you come back I will kick you again!"

The dog-man began a slow crawl to the door.

"Minx, you shouldn't have done that!" said Fran.

"Violence only leads to more violence. Remember the lessen of..." began Julius.

"Shut-up, Julius." Minx leaned back on the table, and stared at the two. "Look, he was going to be violent, and sometimes you have to stop it right before it happens. He won't be back for a long time. He's been hurt and embarrassed. And before you feel too sorry for him, remember how greedy he was, and that he threatened Julius."

Fran and Julius looked at each other, and then at Minx. There was a tiny hint of fear in the looks they sent her way.

"I want the two of you working together to run the bar. It belongs to Fran, but Julius has the skills to make this work. Also, Julius can read and write, Fran. Can't you, Julius?"

Fran's eyes grew big, and she turned to face the chimp-man. He glanced back and forth between Minx and Fran, in confusion.

"I want you to teach cat-girls," Minx said to him gently.

"It's been only five days, Minx!" pleaded Fran.

"I have to go see Rudy. I've put it off for as long as I can," countered Minx, and in some way she did feel as if she'd been putting it off. They were standing at the door of the bar as the morning sun was just beginning to bake the ground outside. Minx put a hand on Fran's cheek. "I will miss you. And I am proud of you. Julius says that you've been studying hard."

"He's been very patient," she admitted. "And kind."

Minx moved her hand to Fran's shoulder. "You're growing to like him, aren't you?"

Fran nodded. "This is the longest I've ever gone without sex, and he's been spending so much time with me — but, I'm afraid to make a move."

Minx laughed, and after a few seconds Fran joined in.

"It does sound silly, doesn't it? A cat-girl playing shy? I've never been like this before." Fran looked off into the distance.

Minx felt a warmth growing in her heart. Fran was planning, and thinking about the future. "You may have to entice him, Fran. I'm not sure he's ever been with a woman."

Fran blushed in response.

Minx pulled Fran to her, and gave her a tight hug. Then she walked out the doors. She felt sad leaving her friend, but in a way it felt good to walk away. And, she thought, she was going to see that massively muscled and very masculine tiger-man. Her heart skipped a beat at that thought.

"You're all so complicated, boss," said Ship, through the transmitter hidden beneath Minx's hair and skin.

"What do you mean?" responded Minx out loud.

"Fran's a cat-girl, which means she lays back and spreads her legs for a lot of men, but she's hesitant about having sex with a man she likes?"

"Maybe it's easier for her to be intimate when she doesn't care what the man thinks of her, Ship."

"It's still awfully complicated. How fast are you going to spread your legs once you get to Rudy's farm?"

As soon as he wants me to, thought Minx. "He and I have catching up to do, Ship. Although we may spend the night in the same bed." Something I have yet to do with Dragon, thought Minx.

She walked the rest of the way to her vessel humming a nameless tune. Soon after, Ship flew her to a hidden location not too far from where Minx had been told Rudy's farm was. "Are you taking your sword?"

Minx hesitated at the ramp leading out of Ship. "I thought Rudy might not..."

"Some of those lizards may be about," cautioned Ship. Minx frowned and donned her weapon belt. She adjusted the position of the sheathed sword and walked down the ramp.

"Close the hatch, Ship, and don't contact me unless it's an emergency."

"What am I supposed to do with all this free time?"

"I don't know. Talk to Hephaestus."

Minx climbed out of the coulee, and surveyed the landscape. The same browns, greens and golds that she had seen almost everywhere on Anima were the only colours she saw now. She could make out what appeared to be irrigated fields and a slow, winding river south of her. That matched the location of Rudy's farm so she headed in that direction, while keeping a wary eye out for those frightful and dangerous lizards.

As she drew nearer, she could make out a trail stretching from west to east. Once she reached it, Minx followed it east, and eventually some buildings came into view. Her heart started beating faster. She saw some figures working in the fields but none stood out as much larger than the others, so she continued walking towards the buildings. Coming closer, she counted five wooden buildings, all of which were in good condition, and two of which were clearly living quarters.

A man came out of one of the buildings, stretching lazily. He glanced at Minx and stopped. She thought she recognized him as one of Rudy's friends who had come to Rarvey's the night she had met the tiger-man. He must have recognized her, as he dashed off to one of the residences and disappeared inside.

A few seconds later he led the tiger-man out of the house, and pointed at Minx. Rudy let out a whoop and charged her. His long legs closed the distance very quickly, and Minx had to force herself not to run toward him. Rudy stopped in a small cloud of dust a couple of metres away from Minx, and just stared at her.