“Of course,” he said and pressed his left eye to the lens, holding still for a moment until a green light flashed and the Ambassador pulled it away.
“Very good,” he murmured. “And now if you please—we have all your fingerprints on file but just one will do for identification.” He held out a small white square about the size of a pack of Post-its which seemed to be made of some kind of soft foam.
Again, without hesitation, Terex pressed the pad of his left thumb firmly into the white foam and held it until it lit up green.
“Well, now!” Ambassador Waygu looked immensely pleased. “It really is you! Oh my—I’m so pleased.”
“Ambassador. I’m also pleased to have returned.” Terex made a sweeping gesture. “Much has changed, and yet much remains the same.”
“Exactly! Such wisdom! But then the holy texts speak of your thirst for knowledge and your judicious advice.” The Ambassador, whose snowy beard was only a shade paler than his skin, looked excited. “By the rod and flail! To think that I should live to see this moment when he who is foretold has returned!” He turned to the assembled crowd and clapped his hands. “Listen up, everyone! Listen!”
The band stopped playing their string and leaf instruments and the milling people stopped talking among themselves. An expectant hush fell over the crowd.
“Many of you know the story of Master Valdor, keeper of the Ancient Lore, who took to his ship and flew into the Blind over a hundred cycles ago,” the Ambassador said. “Master Valdor swore he would return. He planned to explore the unknown and find answers to many of our most pressing questions. Then, using wormholes and the supermassive time vortex in the heart of the Blind, he would come back to us, having hardly aged a day, to share what he had learned.”
“Wow—so this guy you’re supposed to be has been gone over a hundred years?” Elaina murmured in Terex’s ear.
He nodded. “Time travel isn’t deemed practical by our people, but it is possible if they do indeed have access to a time vortex.”
“What about all the answers to these burning questions you’re supposed to have?” Elaina asked.
He frowned. “Let me worry about that.”
“…and so he has returned to us,” the Ambassador concluded, sounding like he was wrapping up his speech. “And I am going to bring him to the palace to meet with his Supreme Exaltedness, Krumf the Fourth. But let your eyes feast upon him while you can and thank Janos, the Lord of Judgment, he who sits on high and metes out both pain and pleasure, that your eyes have witnessed this event. Surely it is a blessing none of us shall ever forget.”
Elaina thought that Terex looked slightly uncomfortable at this—as well he should. By declaring himself to be the long lost prophet finally coming home, he now had some very big shoes to fill. He’d told her to let him worry about it and mind her own business and Elaina decided she would—for now. She just hoped they weren’t found out because any consequences that fell on the big Kindred would almost certainly fall on her as well.
“Master Valdor—if you would say a few words?” the Ambassador asked.
“Oh, er…” Terex cleared his throat and came forward. “Words cannot express,” he began. “The depth of my emotion at this time.”
People began to applaud but then there was a low, collective gasp from the crowd.
Elaina, who had been staying carefully behind Terex until he stepped forward to speak, looked around wondering what had caused the crowd’s reaction. To her surprise and chagrin, she found that the people in front of them were looking not at Terex, but at her.
“Look at the Master’s slave,” she heard someone murmur. “She covers herself as though she was a male!”
“Ugh—see how she’s concealed from neck to toes. How tacky.” The girl in the crotchless gold lame` bikini spoke to the man beside her, giving Elaina a look of pure disgust.
“Its more than tacky—it’s indecent,” the man with her remarked. “But no more speaking out of turn, Lia, or I’ll have to punish you.”
“Forgive me, Master.” The girl with the gold bikini hung her head, casting a sullen glance at the man who held her leash.
Elaina looked down at herself—did she really look that bad? Her plain brown sweater and jeans seemed extremely modest to her—which was one reason she’d chosen to wear them in the first place. But could it be that the people of Nixelle Prime-Beta found them somehow offensive?
“Oh, er…” Ambassador Waygu himself looked around and seemed to notice her for the first time, just as the crowd did. His already pale face went even paler and Elaina heard him give a little gasp. But to his credit, he wiped the look of horror off his face quickly and reached out to take Terex by the arm.
“Come, Master Valdor.” The Ambassador nodded at the big Kindred as he hustled him quickly out of the crowd. “And, er…your slave may come as well. Did you find her on your travels?” He cast a doubtful glance at Elaina who looked blandly back.
“I did,” Terex answered simply. He put a proprietary arm around Elaina’s shoulders and pulled her close to him. “Elaina is mine.”
Despite the fact that she didn’t like pretending to be owned, Elaina couldn’t help the shiver that went down her spine at the possessive growl in the big Kindred’s voice. It almost made her wonder what it would be like if she really did belong to Commander Terex…If he could do anything he wanted to her…anything at all…
Stop it—you’re here to find a cure for Gina, not indulge your kinky sex fantasies!
“No one disputes that you own her, Master Valdor,” the Ambassador murmured as they finally got clear of the crowd. “However—forgive me, as I know much has changed since your time—but you cannot bring her to the palace dressed as she is now.”
“What? Why not?” Terex asked, frowning. “I know she isn’t dressed as a female of our fair planet, but I believe her native clothing is most fetching. I found her on a small, primitive world named Earth, many light years from here.”
“Her native dress may be considered fetching on her home world, but here she is positively indecent!” The Ambassador, who was rather portly, was getting red in the face, possibly from walking and talking at the same time. “I simply cannot present you to his Supreme Exaltedness Krumf the Fourth with her looking like that. Her flesh is hidden and she has no collar—”
“How am I supposed to look, then?” Elaina interrupted him, speaking up for the first time. “Like all the other women here?”
The Ambassador looked even more shocked.
“You let her speak to strange males in that manner? Master Valdor—surely you can see the problem!”
“On Elaina’s planet females are permitted freedom of expression,” Terex said stonily. “And they do not display their bodies.”
The Ambassador came to a halt. “If she does not agree to change her clothing to something decent and hold her tongue in the presence of his Supreme Exaltedness, I am afraid I cannot present you at the palace.”
Terex glowered. “I will not ask her to demean herself in public.”
“I can see that she is a Love Slave—clearly she must be for you to tolerate such behavior and dress as she displays,” the Ambassador argued. “But even a Love Slave must agree to abide by the standards of common decency.”
“The standards here are not the ones my, er, Love Slave was raised with,” Terex began. “And you must see—”
“I’ll do it,” Elaina said quickly, before he could protest further, as she could tell he was about to do. This time she spoke to Terex himself, as it appeared to be wrong or disgraceful for her to address any man other than her “master” on this world.
“A moment, please,” Terex said to the Ambassador. Then he pulled her a little way away and lowered his voice. “Are you certain, Elaina?” He searched her eyes with his own. “I don’t want you to do something that makes you…uncomfortable.”
Elaina thought that wearing an outfit like the ones she’d seen the other women in the crowd wearing most certainly wo
uld make her uncomfortable. But at the same time, it appeared to be the only way to get along and blend in here.
“I’ll do it,” she repeated. “What choice do we have?”
“Very well.” The big Kindred didn’t look very happy about it but he must have seen her point—there was nothing else to do if they wanted to get in good with the ruler of this planet. (Though calling himself “his Supreme Exaltedness” seemed both ridiculous and extremely conceited to Elaina.)
Terex turned back to the Ambassador and nodded.
“It is decided—Elaina and I will both wear appropriate clothing for the audience at the palace.”
“Oh good!” The Ambassador looked extremely relieved. “Come with me, then—my domicile isn’t far from here—near the royal parkland.” His chest puffed up with pride. “His Supreme Exaltedness likes to keep me close—I advise him often.”
“I am certain he values your wisdom.” Terex nodded his head and they resumed their walk. “Please tell me—what do you think is the best piece of advice you ever gave him?”
“Oh, as to that…” the Ambassador began eagerly.
The men walked in front and Elaina hung back, only half listening to their conversation as she looked around them. She’d never been on another planet before and she was intensely curious to see the alien world.
The countryside around the docking area must have been beautiful once—there were rolling hills with patches of purple grass and tall, skeletal trees with papery green bark and ragged blue and purple leaves. The landscape looked like it had once been a place you’d like to picnic—maybe before the huge factory belching smoke she could see in the distance had been built. A sludgy, foul-smelling stream ran through the countryside, filled with greenish-gray muck that looked like some kind of industrial waste. Elaina thought it was a shame that what appeared to be a once beautiful land had been so thoroughly ruined by pollution.
They soon left the docking yard behind and came to a parking area of sorts. But instead of cars or space ships, all Elaina saw were strange, sloping, two wheeled vehicles which reminded her a little bit of Roman chariots without any horses to draw them. The small vehicles were gilded on the outside so that they glittered in the weak sunlight. The front edge would come up to her breasts she estimated—which meant it would only come up to Terex’s waist if he was driving it. She had no doubt he would be—there would be no way they would let a lowly woman drive here, not if she couldn’t even speak to a man in public.
“These may be new to you, Master Valdor,” the Ambassador said to Terex, indicating the two-wheeled vehicles. “We call them jendels—they’re a form of personal carriage just big enough for one or two. They run on lithium-ion propulsion and they’re exceedingly easy to drive. Let me show you.”
He spoke to an attendant and pointed to the glittery blue jewel in the center of his tall, white turban hat. Elaina wondered if it was a sign of his rank which automatically entitled him to ride one of the small vehicles. It seemed likely—at least, she couldn’t think why else he would point out his jewel.
Soon enough two of the sloping vehicles were wheeled up for them. Elaina watched silently but with interest as the Ambassador explained the steering mechanism, which consisted of a long golden stick with a cross bar at the end poking up from the front of the vehicle. The steering stick could be manipulated to guide the jendel back and forth, left and right. There were braking buttons on the left part of the cross bar and a button on the right which increased the speed.
“They don’t go very fast, of course,” the Ambassador explained, as he showed Terex the buttons. “But then, they’re not meant to. They’re for the upper echelon only, you see, and they’re only to be driven on the Great Pink Way.”
He pointed to a wide, winding road to their left which appeared to be paved with crushed seashells. They were a pale pink with a sparkling, opalescent quality that made them shimmer even in the barely-there, smoggy sunlight. Okay, well the name made sense, Elaina thought. But did these people actually have a road that only the rich and famous could drive on?
Apparently so. Before she knew it, Terex was stepping aboard one of the jendels and motioning for her to get on behind him.
“Your slave may stand and hold on to your waist, of course,” Ambassador Waygu said, frowning. “But it’s also permissible for her to sit. Havros—bring a cushion for Master Valdor’s Love Slave!” he called to one of the attendants.
At once, one of the attendants—a young male with the same black hair and pale skin as the rest of the natives, came rushing up, holding a puffy golden cushion. Elaina saw him cast a scandalized but curious glance at her clothing and then he nodded and tried to avert his eyes as he placed the cushion carefully to the right of where Terex was standing.
“There you are.” The Ambassador looked pleased. “This way your slave will be less…conspicuous.”
Terex looked like he was going to object but Elaina gave him a small shake of her head. She didn’t really mind sitting down. Certainly it was better than having everyone point at her and talk about her “indecent” state of dress.
“Very well.” Terex nodded at her and Elaina hopped into the jendel and sat on the gold cushion beside him. It wasn’t really that uncomfortable. The sides of the small vehicle had leather padding she could lean back against and she could still get a good view of the countryside through the open back of the jendel.
“Now then, if you’d care to follow me,” she heard Ambassador Waygu say. “We’re going to be passing through the capital city but only for a little way. Whatever you do, stay inside the jendel and keep to the Great Pink Way and you’ll be just fine.”
“Lead the way,” Terex murmured and then, with a lurch, they started off.
Chapter Nine
Terex drove the little vehicle with ease, its wide wheels crunching over the crushed pink shells of the road as he followed Ambassador Waygu. He was very aware of Elaina who was sitting on his right side on the cushion that had been provided for her. She was silent, staring out at the alien world they now found themselves on. Terex appreciated the fact that she hadn’t berated him or complained about being treated like a slave, which made him feel guilty for more than one reason.
Gods, what had he gotten the two of them into? Why had he disregarded the words of the priestess and lied about his identity? Now he had no choice but to continue the fiction and Elaina was stuck in it with him, pretending to be some kind of a sex slave.
And soon she’ll have to dress like one too.
He thought of the way the other females in the crowd that had come to greet them had been dressed. Seeing their flesh on display had done nothing for him but the idea of Elaina in such a revealing outfit made his shaft throb and his fangs ache to pierce her tender flesh. As if it wasn’t hard enough to keep his mind on his mission without the added distraction of having her half naked… Well, he would just have to try and find the least revealing outfit that was permissible by Nixian society and have her wear that.
We just need to keep our heads down and get what we came for, Terex told himself. It should be fairly simple to find out through casual conversation about the silver sphere and the little healer—whatever that might be, he reasoned. Since the people here revered Master Valdor so much, they might even give him the items in question as a token of their respect. In the meantime, if he and Elaina could just keep quiet…just blend in with the Nixian people, they ought to be all right.
They had been driving for some time as he thought this. The Great Pink Way, as Ambassador Waygu had called the road made of crushed shells, had taken them from the countryside into the outskirts of a great city. They had passed by rich domiciles with tall black marble columns and poorer dwellings made of the green-barked trees they had seen earlier. Now they were in a market area of sorts, Terex saw. But it was like no market he had ever seen before.
All around them were small, neat stalls, each with a 3-D hologram of the wares they sold hovering overhead. Most of these seemed to b
e selling food, although some also appeared to sell clothing, shoes, and other alien goods Terex couldn’t identify.
The strange thing was that the business going on all around them was conducted in silence. Everywhere he looked, there were females shopping at the stalls. Terex could tell most of them were dressed very scantily, as the ones that had greeted their ship had been, though many of them were wearing semi-transparent coverings over their provocative outfits.
While the shoppers were mostly females, the proprietors were mostly male, which may have accounted for the almost complete quiet of the marketplace. As far as Terex could see, the women pointed silently to the items they wanted and the proprietor of the cart would nod and make a sign with his hands—perhaps telling the price? The female shopper would nod back and make signs of her own—either agreeing or disagreeing or possibly haggling. Terex couldn’t tell but he could see how their hands and fingers flew as they signed to each other, all without saying a word.
Throughout the marketplace these silent conversations went on at every stall. It was fascinating to watch so much business being conducted without a word in an area that should have been ringing with shouts and filled with conversation.
“I can’t help noticing how very…quiet it is here,” Terex said to the Ambassador.
“An innovation that happened after your time, my dear Master Valdor,” Waygu assured him. “For it was shortly after you left that the new treatise on Female Conduct was proposed and ratified by our Senate. It stated that females should speak only to each other and to the males who owned them and so the silent marketplace was born.”
“Silent, yes,” Terex remarked. “But they do still seem to be communicating.” He nodded to the rapidly moving hands of the shoppers and merchants.
“Oh that.” The Ambassador waved dismissively. “That’s simply market hand slang. It means nothing.”
Terex thought it might mean more than the Ambassador let on. There was a silent language here—developed for the sole purpose of allowing women to communicate without speaking because the men on this planet literally didn’t allow them to make their voices heard.