Aarla's Descent Ch. 05

The grenade lands on the ground like a pebble. It was thrown by Mr. Garcia, its motions stopped between the group of fortune hunters (you are not sure how many) who ambushed you, the shrapnel let loose right away, as it was held back a few seconds prior.

As for why your attackers didn't start the show with a grenade: you are not sure. Perhaps they were tasked to preserve the statue. Perhaps they only wanted to kill Mr. Garcia, so you would end up among the spoils of conquest. Nor do you care too much about it to be honest. What matters is that the grenade, your grenade, worked, and most of the guys who attacked you were taken out as a consequence. And now, as Mr. Garcia started shooting, and the few guys who remained alive also started shooting, you began to sprint towards them, the bullet proof skin of an adenian your main advantage.

The first guy you find is at the cave's entrance, just behind the four bodies of those who were daring enough to enter. The man shoots, but he misses, you hitting him two feet forward, the velocity enough to knock him out cold, his body spun and landed on the sand like a rag doll.

You see two other fortune hunters in your peripheral vision, one of them, with a regular gun, shoots you on the thigh, and you yell (even though your skin is bulletproof, it still hurts), the other with a plasma gun also shoots, but he misses, then he gets mowed down from the cave by Mr. Garcia. Another shot lands, as you just got going, this time on your stomach, but now you choose to endure the pain, spun up from the ground legs first, both of your feet colliding into the man's neck, who is dead by the time he reaches the ground.

"You okay?" you hear Mr. Garcia. With that you realize that the fight is over. And you won!

You look over your body, two swollen points from the impacts on your thigh and stomach. But there is nothing your body couldn't fix. So you decide to nod as an answer.

One of the men, the one you presumably knocked out, starts to crawl on the ground. Mr. Garcia jumps up to him like a lion, he rips his gun from his hand, then he puts the plasma against his temple.

"How many on your ship?" he demands. The final word gets you as a surprise. You are not sure if they have their own vessel. But Mr. Garcia is, and he was the one who asked the question.

"One. The pilot. James," the man mutters with tears in his eyes. "The ship is at the end of the canyon, the next point of the star on the right. Ramp code: 0-0-0-0. Launch code: A-T-X-4-9-9-9," he adds in quick succession, in the hope that he could prove to be useful enough to be kept among the living. He is not.

"What's your name?" he asks.

"Mike," he answers. "Mike Straus."

"Thanks, Mike," he says, and he shoots Mike in the head.

You shudder to you lay witness to Mr. Garcia's brutality. You recognize that with you, he was actually gentle. But this is something that also turns you on to an extent. Why am I like this? You follow him with your eyes as he dresses down and puts on Mike's clothes. They fit him perfectly. He also puts on a helmet from another soldier and he covers half of his face with a rug that got bloodied in the shootout.

This could work, you think to yourself. You also realize that once it works, you can actually get your chance to turn the tables. This makes you pretty eager when he says "We are going," and he starts to escort you forward.

You don't think he intends to speak a word to this James, the pilot Mike mentioned earlier. Why would he? And your suspicion becomes true, once you find the ship in the canyon, and he walks up the docking ramp, the hatch opened by the code that Mike gave you.

"What happened, Mike?" the guy you identify as James asks as he comes down, wearing a shirt and boxers. And for the record: you almost feel sorry for him.

"It's just business," Mr. Garcia says, then James freezes, looking at Mr. Garcia with wide eyes as he lifts up the plasma gun and shoots a hole through his head.

He could have at least waited if the codes are good, you think to yourself. But again: you are not running the show here. As you recognize the heat from the plasma gun's barrel against your back, you also find yourself surprised for once.

"Come on, we both know you are planning to take advantage of the situation," Mr. Garcia says. "Now let's see what they have for you in the cargo hold!"

The plasma gun pointed to your back, it is actually you in the lead, as you find and search for the said cabin. But once you arrive you realize it is game over.

The first thing you see is a slave cage, rectangular, barely able to keep a person. On top of it there is a ruanite straitjacket, in the color of gold, laid out on the surface of the cage with a ballgag and a pair of slave ballet boots. At first glance, the material looks just like latex. But it is made with nanobots, designed to be inescapable for the wearer. Even for an adenian.

You also realize that the setup is deliberate. The crew was expecting to bring an adenian to their vessel, a female adenian. These items are perfect to keep her subdued, but due to the color it is also sexy, meaning that the crew was planning to spend some quality time with her. And that is when it finally clicks: you are in the Zeta Sector. Where your kind is sold at slave auctions like royalties, purchased by the richest of the richest to toy with you as they please.

And that doesn't just mean that the attackers didn't come here for the statue. It also means that Mr. Garcia also didn't come here for the statue. He just happened to see you at one of the ports during your ventures, placed a tracker on your ship, and followed you all the way to Alescia. Of course, this doesn't explain the fixation on the statue. Technically both groups could have ambushed you whenever they wanted. Unless of course your employer tipped them off for some extra cash, which might just explain why Mr. Garcia knew exactly where your ship was going to come out of FTL.

"Judging by how still you just got, I guess you realized it," Mr. Garcia says, the gun still held to your back.

"Mhmmm!!!" you grunt out of anger, the makeshift gag still in your mouth.

"You know, I'm actually quite fond of you, darling. So tell you what: we are going to sell the statue to our mutual employers, and until then you are going to do everything to please me. And, if you do a good job, I might just decide to keep you for myself. I mean, you know... Those guys are kinda sick, the very rich ones. Aren't they? I'm not sure if you really want to be in bed with them."

"Mhm!!!" you grunt again.

"Yeah, we will see. Just a tip for the future," he says, then you feel a tug from the gun. "On your knees now."

I have to do something, you think to yourself. But what? Even if the worst comes to pass, and you get sold to one those rich fucks, that still entails that you are going to be alive in the end. Which will definitely not be the case if you get shot in the back from that plasma gun.

Mr. Garcia unlocks the utility straps holding your arms, then you are instructed to get the straitjacket in your hands, open from the back so one could just slip into it. Slowly, and with a deep breath, you slide your right arm all the way to the end of the material. Then you take another deep breath, and slide your left arm as far you are able to. After that, the man holds the back portions together, and pulls up the zipper from the bottom of your hips to the top of your neck, and you realize that you are now trapped, locked into a material that no living being ever escaped from.

Next, your legs are raised and they are placed inside the slave ballet boots, connected by a short chain to further restrict your movement. You even get an additional strap on the arms of the straitjacket, just to make sure that you are completely helpless. After that, all that remains is to switch your makeshift gag to the actual one. But you have one final saying still.

"I know a place where you could ask double for the statue," you say before the gag could be inserted.

"Hm, is that so?" the man asks. You reckon with a frown.

"I know a guy at a station, located just next to Adanian space. His name is Fjinn. He is just for the profit. So he will buy the statue even if you know you enslaved me."

"You think he might even use you?" you ask.

"Yes. I'm sure he wants to fuck me," you answer.

"Ah, you see: you have your uses. We will go to this Fjinn, sell him the statue, then as a reward to your services, you can get his semen inside you."

"Yes," you nod. Only to get your jaw grabbed from behind next moment.

"Yes, what?" Mr. Garcia asks.

"Yes, Master!" you answer.

"That's more like it," he says. After that, he straps the fist sized ballgag in your mouth, and gets you locked inside the cage. What you didn't notice first that there was also a blindfold atop of the cage, which now also gets locked on you. The man headed for the cockpit afterwards.

You realize that your only hope left is that Mike gave you the wrong code. That way you would still have some time to do something. But to your dismay you can hear the engines come to life, the cargo hold shaking around you as the ship lifts up from the ground and begins to climb towards the stratosphere.

Even so: you still have a saving grace. You didn't tell the truth when you said Fjinn was all for the money. He is actually your friend. Not a close friend. But a friend. Someone who might just be willing to help you. Not to mention that you would be sailing in friendly waters there. So in theory, all you have to do is to endure, and you could still climb your way out of this.

"The system says it is going to be a long road. Three days to be precise," you hear from the comm, which actually makes you shudder. "But don't worry. I'm pretty sure we will find a way to enjoy ourselves until then!"