Galactic Odyssey Ch. 07

We continued eating and made some polite smalltalk about the business while Nora just sat there with a frown on her face. I didn't want to ask her in front of her husband, but I could tell that something was brewing inside her.

"I've had enough, George," she said suddenly. "I want that clit ring gone."

George laughed. "'So that's what this is about? I'm sorry, my love, you earned it fair and square."

"It is irritating, I can't even wear panties anymore! And I'm dripping all the time!"

"I'm sorry to hear that, my love."

That was his entire reaction. Nora groaned and reached under her skirt and after pulling her hand back out, she held her juicy finger under his nose. But George just picked up a napkin and cleaned the finger as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"George, seriously. I'm ready to fuck every single man on this goddamn ship."

"Please, my love, language. We're having dinner. But you know that I don't mind if you go on sexual adventures. You're a young woman, go and have fun."

"I don't want 'sexual adventures.' I want that ring gone!"

George chuckled. "By the way, did you tell your friend the whole story? I'm not the bad guy here."

When Nora said nothing, he turned towards me. "She signed a contract. Fifty million credits for her charities and all she needed to do was stick around with me for a couple more years. And did I take back the money when she left? No! But when you break a contract, you can't expect to weasel out of the penalty clause."

Nora groaned in frustration. "Fifty million means nothing to you! Why does everything have to be about your stupid deals? What the hell is it you want? Name your goddamn price!"

"My price?" he asked, amused. "I have a wonderful wife and I own everything I ever wanted, I don't have a price."

"All the sex you want for one month. Even things I normally don't do, whenever you want. And I'll sleep in your bed every night the entire month."

He looked at her and smirked.

"No."

Nora slammed her fist on the table, making the plates jump, while I tried to attract as little attention as possible. Being single never looked more attractive than it did right now.

"How about I take a whipping?" she asked. "Twenty lashes."

She looked at him, but George ignored her and continued eating. He enjoyed the Segaya stew and the expensive red wine and was not in the least bit interested in negotiations.

"How many?" Nora asked.

"How many what, love?"

"How many lashes to get that stupid ring removed?"

George showed his pearly white teeth. "A thousand."

Nora jumped from her chair. "A thousand?! Are you nuts?"

"For a thousand whacks I'll have it removed. Take as much time as you like and make sure to fill in Cassidy's customer survey, we're trying to improve our service."

"You're an asshole, George. But you've got a deal."

George chuckled. "You'll never go through with it, love. Have you forgotten about Emaris? You'll do ten, maybe fifteen and then you're done."

*

Despite my busy schedule, I regularly checked in with Donnie Rann to get an update on my sister. The chances of me escaping and finding her on my own were minimal at best; as long as George's organization was actively looking for her, I had to stay put.

"You were right," he said. "She really was shipped to Naridia III and sold there at auction. We were able to dig up the records, see for yourself."

He projected a three-dimensional photo of a young blonde girl above his desk - she was collared and naked, with a slave registration tattoo above her pubic mound. As with most cheap slaves, they hadn't bothered cleaning her up; her hair was a tangled mess, she was dirty and sweaty, with shackles on her feet and her hands zip-tied behind her back. She was older now and her breasts had grown, but there was no doubt - it was Amara.

"She looks just like you, Cassidy, and the registration number matches. We checked all the auctions just in case, but it has to be her."

I nodded and wiped a tear from my eye. "Gods, yes, that's her. Where is she now?"

"We're still looking. She went through the usual obedience training and they sold her to a local business. But according to my information, her first ... job didn't work out so well. She-"

"What kind of job?"

"It doesn't matter, she only worked there for less than a month."

"Donnie, please, I have to know."

"Alright." He leaned back and sighed. "It was one of the brothels in the suburbs, one of the larger establishments in the area. My investigators found some witnesses who remembered her, which wasn't easy - keep in mind that it was two years ago. Apparently, they disciplined her a lot, but decided to sell her when she caused too much trouble."

It broke my heart picturing Amara as a prostitute. She was almost five years younger than me and in my mind, she was still that carefree young girl that I took swimming and hiking during our long summer vacations back home on Thoria. When I was in trouble, she always had my back, no matter what happened, and it hurt that I hadn't been there to protect her.

"Cassidy, are you alright?" Donnie asked.

"I'm fine," I said and blew my nose. "Do you know who bought her?"

"It was a private sale with no records, but according to some of the regulars, her new owner is a farmer from the Alandra Plains. Unfortunately, that doesn't narrow it down much, there are millions of slaves working in the Plains. We checked all transports leaving the planet, at least we're fairly certain that she's still on Naridia."

"What about sensor feeds? Can't you identify her owner?"

"It's Naridia III, not Helios Prime, Cassidy. There's very little surveillance."

I buried my face in my hands as a feeling of hopelessness overcame me. Would I ever see my sister again? Or would they work her to death on some farm, millions of lightyears away from home?

Donnie put his hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, kid. I've got my best guys there in the field and we're offering rewards. We'll have to sift through thousands of leads, but in the end that always get results. It just takes time."