Welcome to Syrus Ch. 01

This is chapter one of a longer story. While it has some sexual tension, there is no actual sex in this chapter.

*****

"But why me?"

Yes, why the fuck me! How did I get myself into this mess? Six months ago I came to Syrus, an outpost of the Andromeda colony and an Ascyx mine, to be a pre-school teacher. It was supposed to be a temporary thing. I had just graduated, had no experience and no family to speak of. So when the nice woman at the job convention told me that Syrus has a shortage of teachers, I thought, great, a cute little planet to get me started and then I can come back to Earth and get on with my life.

I should have suspected that something was not quite right when my application got accepted almost the second I sent it in. Or when I landed on Hyde, the administrative centre and the closest thing to a town on the planet, to find out that there was no shortage of teachers but a lack of such. In fact, the school hadn't been open for so long that the roof of the building had collapsed.

Syrus was not the cute little planet with farms and smiling colonist families I had imaged. It was, in fact, a wasteland, a desert with a few mining cooperatives scattered in great distance from one another. Ascyx is a tricky material to dig out. It is highly unstable and requires a laboured, manual process to extract from the rocky soil which is why the mines resemble more archaeological sites. Machines are useless and so mining cooperatives of a five to eight highly specialised scientists have formed. This specialised skills required to extract it paired with the fact that it is the essential component of spaceship engines makes Ascyx the most expensive material in the universe. Its discovery three decades ago turned Syrus into a very rich planet. Unfortunately, it has done nothing to change the scenery. Ascyx mining or not, Syrus is an empty desert at the end of the civilised world and I wanted to leave the second I set foot on it.

But then I fell in love. I fell in love with the most adorable little girls you can imagine. It turned out that the only children in my school were the twin daughters of the mayor of Hyde, Katana and Syl. They were the dream of every freshly graduated teacher: smart, curious, funny and so perceptive that I had the feeling they were absorbing every word I said like the dry earth of Syrus absorbed the rare raindrop.

Since the school was not fit for teaching I taught them at the mayor's house, where, practically, I also rented a room. I was assured that there were other children, born the mining cooperatives but too far to come to school. When I tried to find out more about those children and their families, people changed the subject. Even my little students seemed to have been advised not to talk to me about this particular topic. They went quiet and sullen and tried to distract me when I brought it up.

But I guess, it all makes sense now when the man says:

"So far we hadn't found a woman who appealed to all of us."

If this is not enough to freak a girl out, let me fill you in on the rest of the situation: I'm sitting on a chair in what seems to be a large living room. The chair itself is quite comfortable which doesn't make up for the fact that my wrists and ankles are tied up on its arms and legs respectively.

It is Sunday, at least I think it is because the last thing I remember was going to bed on a Saturday night. Next, I wake up in this unfamiliar place surrounded by strangers. The man who has just spoken is in his late twenties, huge by any standard with closely cropped blond hair. He reminds me of a soldier with his alert posture, massive build and this intense stare of his grey eyes as if he is expecting me to suddenly draw a secret weapon and kill them all.

The others in the room are no less impressive. The man to the soldier's right is just as high but slightly leaner, more like a runner than a bodybuilder. He has short dark hair which curls around his ears and a two-day beard, and his eyes are weary but warm. Next to him stands the one which I think is the oldest of the group, maybe in his late thirties. His scalp is shaved clean on one side and on the other his auburn hair reaches to below his ear in an artful wave. His has crossed his arms over his chest and I can't help but admire the way his muscles are defined by the pose. Across the room, two more men stare at me. One has chocolate coloured skin and braids which reach down to his bottom and while I study him I have to revise my earlier assessment of the soldier as the biggest one in the room. This man is a mountain of muscle and hoovers at least a foot over the last member of the group next to him. Although obviously the shortest he is strong and muscular just like the rest and there is something in his posture which reminds me of a dancer. His face is half hidden in the shadow but I can make out a fine Greek nose and shortly cropped black hair.

If I had met any of these guys in a bar back on Earth I would be making eye contact and hoping to get invited for a drink. Here, I am simply terrified.

I close my eyes for a second and open them again. Yep, still there, the room, the men, me tied to a chair.

"So, let me get this straight," I say, more to myself than to anyone in the room, "you want me to be your wife, like the wife of all five of you?"

The soldier nods and a heartbeat later so does the rest of them. He is clearly the leader of this little group.

"And if I say no?"

"You can say no," the soldier says, "but, you have to give us a chance first."

He glances around as if to find reassurance and then continues. "One week. You live with us for one week. Sunday a week from now I will take your to Hyde and if you don't return by the following Sunday, we'll take that as a no. But you have to give us a chance."

"I have to!?" Is he mad? "You've kidnapped me, tied me up and now you expect me to just agree to stay with you for a week so you can do God knows with me? You have no right! Take me home!" I shout and pull at my bonds to make a point.

The one with the arty wave clears his throat.

"Actually," he says and something inside me melts at the sound of his velvety voice. If he takes over the negotiations or whatever this insane conversation is supposed to be, I am lost. "Well, we do have the right to request a week of trial. It is part of your work contract."

My contract? I read my contract thoroughly and white it contained a lot of legal jargon it seemed like a standard teaching contract.

He must have seen the shock in my eyes because he continues: "It is a standard clause for every Syrus contract. By landing on the planet you agree to a week of trail should a mining coop request it. Whether you accept the offer afterwards is up to you, we don't support force marriage. We just try...we try..."

"To be very convincing in that week." The soldier continues and as his eyes hold mine captive his stare grows even more intense than before. It's almost working, my breathing quickens and my cheeks warm. But then reason kicks in and I shake my head. They are lying. They must be. If this was all legal why would they have to kidnap and tie me up first? I shake my head again. No, this is bullshit, no standard contract includes a clause for what practically is sexual slavery.

"I don't believe you. I read my contract." I glance around and try to keep my voice firm. "You've kidnapped me and what you're planning to do with me is called rape." I may not be able to escape but I will call this what it is. I'm not giving this people the excuse to sooth their conscience and believe they doing something right.

To my surprise the soldier chuckles. What?

"Sex may or may not be part of the week trail." He smiles at me and suddenly he doesn't look that scary anymore. "Don't get me wrong, every single one of us will try to get you into bed. But the decision is, again, yours."

This friendly version of him affects me more that the sexy, intense one. I swallow hard. I suddenly realise that if he kissed me right now, I would kiss him back. A current passes between us and something in his expression changes. He has noticed. Oh no, no, no. A sit back instinctively. He smiles at me again.

"Let's start with introductions. I'm Erel," he points at the men to his right, "This is my brother Ham and the old man with the weird hair is Aden." He turns around his shoulder and points his chin at the two standing in the shadows, "the big guy is Keve and next to him is Sana."

No, I don't want introductions. I want out. I close my eyes because I realise that I am about to cry. I breathe in and out a few times. Right, ok, now I'm thinking clearly again.

"If this is all supposedly my choice why am I tied up? Why didn't you seek to talk to me in Hyde over a coffee or something?"

It's Aden who answers me and his voice wraps around me like a warm blanket.

"Trial week negotiations are prohibited in Hyde. A few years ago, there was a negotiation between a coop of eight and a school teacher from Earth which got, hm," he pauses as if he is looking for the right word, "it got, intense. It seemed to have disturbed some residents. Afterwards the townspeople didn't want to host any talks anymore."

"Intense," I turn the word in my mouth and try to comprehend. "You mean violent?"

"No, more like..." he hesitated.

"Heated," the man named Ham says and grins at me. "The teacher requested pre-trail samples."

Oh. Images of partly dressed men and a woman in the only coffee place in Hyde floor my mind. Only, the men are the ones from this room and I don't see the woman because I look through her eyes. Did she agree in the end? How does one woman manages a marriage with eight men? Five I can still imagine, I can be with one every day and rest on the weekend. Wait, am I seriously considering this?

I'm relieved when Aden continues.

"We had to get you to the mine and we guessed you wouldn't agree if we just showed up at your doorstep and asked." He raises an eyebrow at me and I nod in agreement. He nods back and with this simple gesture a sudden understanding is established between us. It is not the charged, sexual current which passed between me and Erel before, but it feels just as intimate.

"And the bonds?"

"For your own safety." It's Ham who answers this time and I feel a bit sorry for him because it earns him an angry glare from me, which should really be directed at all of them. He is unperturbed. "We didn't want you to do something foolish and run off into the desert. We are over a day track to the next mine and a week to Hyde. You would die."

The finality of his statement crushes me. I am in the middle of nowhere at the mercy of strangers. Even if I somehow manage to get away I have nowhere to go. Nobody is going to look for me because they will know what I am with the coop doing a week of trail which seems to be a normal thing here.

This reminds me.

"I want to see my contract." My voice is shaky but I manage to keep the tears down.

The big guy, Keve, takes a step forward and I realise he is carrying a suitcase. My suitcase to be precise, the one I came with from Earth. He places it on the ground in front of me. Up close he is even more intimidating with arms as thick as my thighs but his features are soft and he flashes a smile at me as he opens the lid. On top of a pile of carefully folded clothes lies my contract.

"I will untie you," he says in a deep baritone, "if you promise not to run or attack us."

I almost laugh. Attack them? As if I stood a chance.

"I promise," I say and the next moment the bonds click open and disappear in the insides of the chair. It makes me wonder if all their furniture has inbuilt extras and wait, where was the switch?

I have gotten used to the forced immobility because for a moment I remain rooted in my invisible bonds. The group waits for me in silence. I tentatively move my fingers and toes, turn my wrists and ankles this way and that as if to wake them up. There is no pain, just a numb soreness in my wrists from when I pulled while I was shouting. I lift one hand up and look at it, then the other. No damage, just some mild discomfort which will pass. They've been gentle kidnappers.

I slowly rise to my feet and start towards my suitcase. I feel the caress of fabric as is swishes down my body and pools at my legs. Shit. This is not really happening! Until now I hadn't paid attention to what I was wearing. I felt covered and I assumed I was dressed. In fact, I have been loosely wrapped in my bed sheet which now lies discarded on the floor.

Since my arrival at Syrus I had taken to sleeping naked. It wasn't for practical reasons, the nights here are cold and my room had air control. It wasn't a conscientious decision either, I just put all my pjs at the back of the wardrobe and never looked at them again. It just seemed right to dress light on a desert plant or, when nobody was looking, not to dress at all. This might be the right time to mention that I quite like my body. My breasts are a bit on the small side and my tummy could be a little flatter, but I have long, toned legs and a round, firm bottom which a boyfriend once described as "to die for". My neck is long and delicate (and extremely sensitive to the touch), I have soft, slightly pouty lips, blue eyes and chestnut coloured hair which falls down past my waist in shiny waves.

Only, it takes more than the healthy confidence to be comfortable with five pairs of eyes staring at you at once. Very hungry eyes. My cheeks colour a deep red but more embarrassingly, my nipples harden and the a familiar heat travels down my belly to my core. Oh my God, do I like being stared at by these men? I refuse to dwell on this thought and I have already stood motionless for too long, so I scramble down and wrap myself hastily in the sheet. But the damage is done. My body is hot all over and my thoughts are racing. I have almost forgotten what I stood up for. Right, the contract.

My hands are shaking as I reach out for it. I want to sit down again but I don't trust the chair and its miraculously materialising bonds. The floor is a dark wood so I make myself conformable on it. It must be expensive, wood is an import good in Syrus and this feels like high quality wood.

I open my contract and skim through the pages. Working hours, paid leave, non-disclosure clause, the usual blah blah. Nothing suggesting that I am obliged to agree to a week of wild sex in a mining coop. Am I relieved or disappointed?

Wait, the non-disclosure clause seems longer than usual.

"All visitors of Syrus are subject to one week of trial should an eligible mining cooperative request it. The terms of the trail are agreed upon in advance between the visitor and the cooperative. The visitor is prohibited to disclose any detail of this agreement or its existence to any other Syrus visitors and upon departure from the planet."

I read the text again and then a third time. It still says exactly what it did the first time. I stare at the paper in shock. How did I miss this? Of course, I never read the non-disclosure parts very closely because they are all the same. Or I thought they were. I skim through the page once more and my eyes catch on one particular word.

"How do I know that you are eligible?" I ask Keve because he is closest. He flashes his irresistible smile at me which makes me forget how menacingly huge he is.

"All coops without a wife are eligible," he says.

I drop the contract to the floor and look around me. I am defeated. I will have to stay here for a week at the mercy of this group. I look them over once more. Keve. Erel. Ham. Aden. Sana. Sana?

"Sana is a woman's name," I say out loud before I can stop myself.

"It is," says the last member of the coop and steps out of the corner. I have a proper look at her for the first time, for she is a woman and a magnificent one too! She looked small next to Keve but standing in her own right she is at least a head taller than me, lean and muscly. Her arms are toned, sinewy and end with long, delicate fingers. Her hair is dark, almost black, cut short and frames a beautiful face with fine, soft lips and immaculate skin. As I study her, any hopes I might have harboured disperse. This woman is nobody's wife.

I am so focused on Sana that I almost jump at the sound of Erel's voice.

"When I said that we'd been looking for a woman who appealed to all of us, I also meant that we'd been looking for the one we all would appeal to. We believe to have found her. What about you, June?"