Log of the Julay - Bindar Breeders

The males were short and heavy through the belly, with cruel looking faces. Those faces also didn't look particularly intelligent either. If they were a representative sample of the male population, it was no wonder Bindar was such a backward planet.

Others in uniform were taller, thin, and had somewhat delicate features, though their faces were almost as equally stern as the males. They looked as if they might be female, and asked Xanmar if they were.

"Yes, there are both males and females in their military, but the females are very unique. They do not reproduce. Instead, they are the equivalent of males except for height and to some extent, in strength."

"So, if these females don't reproduce, where do little Bindarians come from? I saw some when they walked us to the palace."

"From the breeders."

"Breeders?"

One of the guards escorting us jabbered something. Xanmar translated.

"They want us to stop talking because they do not understand us. I will explain at a later time."

We walked down a hallway inside the palace and entered what I assumed was the Emperor's office. Sitting on a raised platform on a huge, red cushion was a humanoid male drinking something from a cup. He had the same body type as the soldiers outside, though he did look as if he was probably a little smarter.

One of the guards jabbered something again, and the Emperor looked up. Xamnar translated what just sounded like gibberish to me.

"You must be the captain of the Julay."

"Yeah, Will Blanden's the name. Captain Will Blanden."

"Odd name. I am Wukholmajing Dorgh, Emporer of Bindar. Who is this female with you?"

"This is Xanmar, my uh...my navigator."

"A Felinian, I believe. We have heard of these obscene creatures who kill their males to satisfy their urges."

"Yes, she's Felinian, but you have nothing to fear from us. I'm just a trader and she's my navigator. Why did you stop us and bring us here? We don't want to trade with you."

The Emperor frowned.

"I have no fear of any anyone, Captain, least of all from an outlaw trader and his murdering whore. Tempt me again with your brave talk, and I shall give your female to my palace guard. We will see how well she fares at their hands.

He smiled then.

I have need of you, though. I need manchalite fuel for my fleet, and unfortunately, because of our status with the Intergalactic Council, Religia will not trade directly with us. We tracked your ship to Religia and then to where we stopped you. No one goes to Religia except to obtain manchalite fuel, so we know you did the same. I would trade for half of your fuel, and send you back to Religia for more if you are agreeable."

I was pretty sure the real reason he couldn't get his own fuel was that Bindar didn't have a ship that would stay running long enough to make it to Religia. The Religians aren't all that picky about who they trade with.

"I don't know. What would I be taking back to Religia in trade?"

"We have recently discovered deposits of laminum on Bindar. As you know, laminum is necessary for the refining of manchalite ore. I will send your ship full of laminum and you will return with it full of manchalite cubes."

No good trader ever accepts the first offer, because the offers always get better.

"If I do this, you'll get your fuel, but what's in it for me? You need to sweeten the pot a little before I agree to your offer."

The Emperor shrugged.

"If you don't agree, I will take what manchalite you have on board, blow up your ship, and force you both to work in the sewage ponds outside the city. Most captives last only a few weeks there. Perhaps you will do better, perhaps you will not.

"I would rather you agreed. It is important for Bindar to be perceived as being interested in getting along with the rest of the galaxy...for now, anyway, and better for you and your navigator too."

"When would we leave?"

"You, along with two of my lieutanants, will leave in the morning. Your woman will stay here with me...just to make sure you fulfill your part of the agreement."

After a quick mental calculation, I figured a couple days to Religia, a day to bargain and load up, than a couple more back to Bindar. I'd be back and we'd be on our way before Xanmar's next reproduction day.

I wasn't sure what would happen if I was late. As long as Xanmar found a way to satisfy her instincts without hurting anyone, she'd probably be all right. If not, if they kept her locked in cell or something she might not be the same Xanmar when I got back.

It's not like I loved her or anything, and I didn't consider her "my woman" as the Emperor has said. "Woman" is a term I keep for Earther females. I'd just gotten used to having her around. Space can get pretty lonely when you're by yourself, and having Xanmar along made the days go faster. Even if she hadn't had her reproduction days, I'd have liked having her there.

I really wanted to tell the Emperor to go fuck himself, but I couldn't bear the thought of what he might do to Xanmar if I did. Sometimes, going with the flow is better than against it. At least it would give me time to think.

"OK, Emperor uh...Emperor. I'll go get your manchalite, but nothing better happen to Xanmar."

"She will be quite safe here with me, just as you will be with my lieutenants."

The Julay felt empty without Xanmar, even though there were two of the Emperor's military on board. As luck would have it, or not have it, they were a pair of the females I'd seen when we landed. They couldn't understand what I said to them and I couldn't understand them, so I figured it was going to be a long five days.

As soon as we hit light-two, my two guards removed the heavy black helmets they wore and combed the short auburn hair on their heads with their fingers. The taller of the two pointed to her chest and said "Moku", then pointed to the other and said, "Tiko". She then pointed to me.

I said, "Will."

Moku repeated my name, but apparently their language had trouble with the letter "w".

"Rlill?"

I shook my head. "Will, with a w...wuh"

"Ruill?"

"Almost." I pursed my lips and made a "wuh" sound. "Like that...Wuhill".

"Wuhl?"

"Close enough for now, I guess."

The shorter of the two, Tiko, seemed to be fidgeting around. I pointed to her and raised both my hands as I would when asking a question. She looked at me with a frown on her face, and then almost smiled. Putting her hands to her crotch, she began squirming.

"Oh, I see. Down the passageway and to the -- here, I'll show you."

I guess females on Bindar aren't all that different from Earther females. They both went into the head together. About ten minutes later, they both came back, out of their uniforms this time. I didn't see the ion pistols on their belts for a few seconds. There were other things to look at.

They wore what I assumed was the standard Oparan military underwear - purple boxer shorts and a purple T-shirt that contrasted nicely with their pale white skin. The boxer shorts pretty much confirmed neither had much of an ass, but they did have nice slender legs. The T-shirts fit tight enough I could see they did indeed have breasts, just really small, pointed ones with short, thick nipples. I'm kind of a nipple man, so they were kind of erotic, in a short, thick, nippley kind of way.

They saw me staring, and that's when I noticed the ion pistols. I noticed them because both of them frowned, pointed their pistols at me and held out the other hand as if to say "Stay away."

I quickly held up my hands to show I would, and smiled at them. They didn't smile back, but at least they put their pistols back on their belts.

After checking the nav computer to make sure it had plotted the fastest course, I decided to turn in. It had been a long day, and I needed some sleep. When I stood up, Moku and Tiko reached for their pistols, but my raised hands seemed to put them at ease. I yawned, put both hands beside my face, laid my head to the side and closed my eyes. When I opened them, both my guards nodded they understood. They followed me down the passageway to the sleeping quarters.

They both watched as I stripped down to my shorts, pulled the blanket and sheet down, and turned out the light. I'd expected them to go do whatever they were supposed to do. Instead, Moku climbed into the bed beside me. Apparently, one would stand guard while the other slept. I supposed that being in a military with both sexes also made it seem normal for one of them to share my bed.

Well, neither one was going to sleep in the same bed with me. I mean, even if they were flat chested, they were still females and probably had female parts under those boxer shorts. What if I woke up in the middle of the night and forgot they weren't normal females? I didn't want to think about what they might do to me if I even just touched one of them accidentally, let alone what would happen if... I got up, took an extra blanket from the bedding compartment and went up to the observation deck. The couch there wasn't all that comfortable, but it would have to do.

I wasn't sure how long I slept, but when I woke up, the Julay had turned on the artificial sunlight panel in the overhead. After stretching out a few kinks caused by a sagging spot in the couch, I walked to the galley to make some oleran tea and see if there was anything I felt like eating. My pantry wasn't well stocked, but there were some dried finxle eggs that would fill me up. After boiling water for my tea, and warming the eggs a little, I took both to the bridge to check on our progress toward Religia. My guards were there waiting for me, still in their boxers and T-shirts, and still wearing their pistols.

The rest of the trip to Religia was about the same. I'd spend the day just killing time. Moku and Tiko would spend the day watching me killing time. After eating, I'd go up to the observation deck to sleep. I never checked, but I assume they went back to my bed.

We went into orbit around Religia on schedule, and I soon had the shuttle heading toward the landing pad at the mining colony. Mazel met me when I stepped onto the pad with Moku and Tiko close behind. They were in uniform again, but that didn't phase Mazel. He was excited.

"You brought two females. What would you like in trade for them?"

"Mazel, trading them to you would qualify as slavery, and I don't want to become food for the Borchan bangas..You wouldn't want them anyway. They'd probably just as soon kill you as fuck you. They're my guar..er...my crew."

It was obvious he didn't understand, but then, if I hadn't fucked anything in years and then saw two females within touching distance, I'd probably have a hard time thinking straight too.

"Mazel, let's go somewhere so I can explain."

The miners on these out-of-the-way planets are usually a little on the outlaw side, but I wasn't sure about Mazel. I didn't tell him who was behind my trip, just that I'd traded for a bunch of laminum and I wanted to trade it for more manchalite cubes. He seemed pleased with that explanation, but still wanted to know about the females with me.

"Are you sure those females wouldn't agree to stay? I could give you more cubes if they do."

"No, they're just along for the ride. I'm dropping them off at Longindo when I get there. They're not what you want anyway. They don't have big enough hips to hold on to, and you'd play yinyuk on a goondic trying to find their tits."

Mazel sighed.

"We need the laminum and we have some cubes, just not enough. We loaded up a freighter yesterday. It'll take a day to get enough to match the laminum you brought."

I couldn't tell him I'd just take what he had. The Emperor would send me off to wade in a lake of shit until I died. If I waited...

The Julay was built for up to light-four, but because she was getting along in years, I'd never pushed her that far. If I had to wait another day, it was either light-three at least or Xanmar would probably be in trouble.

Sleep that night was impossible. I kept thinking about Xanmar. Did they have her in a holding cell without food, or worse, were they abusing her? With the training she'd received to become a Felinian agent, I was pretty sure she could defend herself, but there was no way she could fight off an entire army.

The sunlight panels came on about the same time I mentally listed the hundred-and-seventh way Xanmar could be being mistreated. I walked down to the galley for something to eat and drink before taking the shuttle back to Religia for loading. Tiko was standing guard and put her hand on her pistol when she saw me. I held up my hands and she relaxed enough to smile a little as I passed by.

Over the last two days, I'd decided Moku and Tiko were actually pretty nice to look at if you liked short hair and boyish figures. In another situation, I probably would have liked them as friends. They were a little masculine for my taste, but I knew some men would like that as well.

It was a pity they were from Bindar. From what little I'd seen, the military on Bindar were little better than slaves to the Emperor. I figured that would explain why they weren't even a little bit friendly. To let down their guard and even smile might cause them to fail in their mission. I could only imagine what that might mean, but they both looked fearful of something all the time.

While I had my tea and gronic crackers, Tiko left me alone. I was loading the first load of laminum when they both came into the shuttle bay, dressed in their uniforms. We took off from the Julay, and in a few minutes set down on the landing pad at the mining colony.

Mazel had the cubes bagged and ready, but it took most of the day to transfer the laminum to Religia and the manchalite cubes to the Julay. After making sure my cargo was secure, I set the nav computer for Bindar. The Julay surged out of orbit at light-one, and as soon as we were a few thousand kilometers from Religia, I set her for light-two. Light-two was uneventful, so I cautiously dialed in light- two point five. The Julay shuddered a little, but then everything smoothed out, so I tapped in light-three.

It took her a while, but the Julay made it to light-three with no problems except a little hiccup somewhere around light-two point eight. I decided to let her cruise at that speed for a while to make sure nothing was going to break before trying light-four. An hour later, everything seemed to be fine except for a tiny little rattle from somewhere in the instrument cluster, so I tapped in light-four. The rattle went away and the Julay was soon flying through space on her way to Bindar.

Light-four cut a day off our travel time to Bindar, and the Julay went into orbit on my original schedule. I had left the last load of cubes on the shuttle, so ten minutes after our arrival, Moku, Tiko and I were flying down to the landing pad at the Emperor's palace. We landed to see several cargo shuttles waiting to pick up the manchalite cubes.

The trips to the Julay and back took more than half the day, but I figured Xanmar and I could still make it out of orbit and be on our way to Longindo before her reproductive day began. I'd be sure to never venture this close to Bindar again, and all this would just be a story I could tell someday while sharing a few beers with some other traders. When I brought the shuttle in for the last load, Moku motioned for me to follow her.

The Emperor sat on his red cushion, and Xanmar sat there at his side with a collar and chain around her neck. She smiled when she saw me. While Moku and Tiko spoke quietly with the Emporer, I asked Xanmar if she was all right.

"Yes. They did not try to do anything. They just locked me up with the breeders."

The Emperor cleared his throat, then began talking in the same gibberish as before. Xanmar translated.

"So, you brought the manchalite cubes. Good, good. You have done a good job."

"Yes. I've done what you wanted. Now, let Xanmar and me go."

"Yes, in due time. My fleet needed the fuel and my lieutenants tell me you were no trouble at all."

"All I wanted to do was get to Religia and back. Besides, what could I have done? There were two of them and one of me."

"True, but you still could have tried. You didn't, and that makes me wish for you to make another trip."

This was turning from a good story into a bad dream.

"Another trip?"

"Several, actually. I have six battle cruisers that need fuel along with ten troop carriers, not to mention several small shuttles and other craft. I would say another twenty trading missions would put them all back in commission."

"That wasn't part of our deal. I seem to remember you said one trip and I made one trip."

"I seem to remember that being Emperor means I can change the agreement as I see fit, and I see fit to change it."

He smiled the smile I imagine a bolan sees on the face of a licture lizard just before it gets eaten.

"The other option is still open, if you'd prefer that. Oh, and I know about Xanmar's reproduction day. It's tomorrow, is it not? She is already beginning to stink of the need for penetration. Yes, I can detect the odor and it is a sense I wish were not mine. She reeks of it. Rest assured she will not suffer. I have thirty of my enlisted males ready to do their duty."

I was fuming. The cardinal rule of trading is to never, never, ever change a deal once it's settled. The Emperor had broken ours and I was sure that's what he'd planned all along. Then there was Xanmar. The thought of even one of the Oparan males fucking her made my blood boil. She deserved more than that. She deserved someone who understood her need and willingly satisfied it, not some flunky cock ordered to screw her until he died or she didn't need it anymore.

The Emperor laughed.

"You would kill me right now if you had the opportunity, would you not? I like that. It shows strength and character, something lacking in some of our troops. You may think about it for a moment if you wish."

Xanmar added a statement to his last, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Just agree, Will. Tell him you need to spend the night here to fix something on the shuttle. You will see that everything will work out all right."

I took a breath, then another to calm down a little and hoped Xanmar knew what she was talking about.

"OK, twenty more trips and then you let us go?"

"That is my proposal. Do you accept?"

"I'll need to spend the night here. My shuttle...the flux coils overheated on the last trip down. I need to find out why and fix the problem."

"That will not be an issue. Of course, my two lieutenants will be guarding you, but if you need tools or anything I can supply, all you need do is ask one of them."

"And Xanmar?"

"As I said, I have the situation well under control. Do not worry. She will be treated kindly. We are not brutes, you know."

I didn't believe that for a second. The male soldiers I'd seen all looked strong as Borchan oxen though probably not quite as intelligent, and could easily hurt Xanmar. Still, she always knew what she was doing, well, except on her reproduction days. I let Moku and Tiko escort me back to the shuttle. By nightfall, I was deep into the innards of the shuttle engine, tapping away at nothing in particular. All I'd really done was remove some covers over the flux coils. While Moku and Tiko watched, I kept tapping away and waited to see what Xanmar had been talking about.

It was almost four hours after the Bindarian sun set that the commotion started outside the shuttle. Moku and Tiko went to investigate and a few seconds later, I heard two pings of an ion pistol. Xanmar and several Bindarians who looked almost like Earther females came into the cargo bay dragging Miknu and Tiko. There were more of the Bindarian females behind them. Xanmar motioned for the females to hurry, and then ran to my side.