Three weeks later, Lady Radhya Kirbyson and Rory stood again outside the recessed entrance to the Bodyguard Training Center. Arms weighted with four large bundles, he moved briskly along behind Radhya. This early in the morning, no other aristocrats were out, just a few freedmen hurrying to their employment. She hesitated, drawing deep calming breaths, forcing down the tide of fear that rose at the thought of entrapment in the training facility. A dromedary bawled behind them, and Radhya jumped. “Milady, we must do this quickly. Seellia’s lot went to the auction an hour ago. When certain aristocrats check the manifests…” Rory trailed off apprehensively.

He uneasily shifted the bundles he carried. The Lady nodded and strode swiftly up to the barred gates, the soft crunch of her boots changing to clanging steps on the metal. As the sound changed, her chin rose haughtily, and her stance became more arrogant.

“Name and rank,” the gate demanded.

“Radhya Kirbyson, owner of Radhya’s World, owner of Kirbyson’s World, owner of Pleasant, co-owner of Petra’s World, co-owner of Stephan’s World, co-owner of Sparky’s World and member of the aristocracy status number 676.”

The stunners following her progress retracted, and the bars sank into the floor with a soft ring.

“You are an hour early,” anxious, my pet? inquired Lord Barone stepping around the corner.

“Only for a glimpse of you milord,” replied Radhya sarcastically bowing just her head. Laughing, Noel escorted them into the bowels of the building.

Barone said, “Well, I guess they will regain balance on the walk to the star-port. I am especially pleased at how well this last group turned out. I hear around about that you are investing in my favorite, well, second favorite sport.”

“Indeed, milord,” smiled Radhya enthusiastically; “I picked up three whose breeding I commissioned and twelve broodmares. I also bought two stallions. They are not outstanding racers, but as studs, I think they will outshine even Coryov’s stable. My track on Pleasant will be done by now, and I plan the opening race for about six months time. It is my hope you will enter. I hear good things about your racers.”

Barone beamed, “My dear Lady Death, you sound almost human. I was hoping to receive an invitation.”

“Absolutely, you are first on my invitation list. I can’t wait to beat you.”

Radhya grinned up at him as they walked the narrow hallways, steps ringing loudly on the metal floor.

Lord Barone stopped before a large door and swished his hand before the glowing yellow plate. The door whooshed aside revealing a room the size of a gymnasium and all white; walls and floor well padded. Fifteen naked men shook and stumbled their way around the room. The reek of the disinfectant made Radhya take a step backward, wrinkling her nose. The staggering slaves muted their grunts and curses as they took note of the open door. Some tried to come to attention, but were simply not yet capable of standing up straight.

“Nice looking batch, this last one. Excellent muscular development don’t you think?” Noel inquired of her.

“If you say so, milord,” Radhya replied evenly.

“Don’t tell me you don’t even enjoy looking?” smirked Noel with an evil grin.

“Only at you,” replied Radhya so sarcastically that Lord Barone laughed aloud. “Touché!” he said.

Privately Radhya was amazed at the transformation wrought on the bodies of her slaves. They looked sleek, fit and well muscled. If the training were as good as the physical result, the high price would almost be worth it. Rory glanced at the Lady, anxiously signalling her with a look of alarm.

“Pass them their uniforms,” she commanded snapping her fingers.

As Rory wove his way through the clumsy mob, he passed uniforms to her four new guards, assisting each into his clothing. As bodyguards, they had heatproof, chemical proof, knife and bullet resistant cloth engineered to protect them from every conceivable danger so they could protect their mistress. Rory hurried.

Barone sneered, Most unusual. Most customers take the slaves home naked, and then dress them, if they wish to bother. “Does a naked male upset you so much then?”

“No, not at all,” Radhya replied in a cool voice. “I have my dignity to consider, and to me, it lacks dignity to have four naked men trotting behind me, whereas in uniforms they make me appear important and perhaps slightly superior to the other aristocrats with naked slaves. Have you ever known the King, for example, to have naked slaves around him? It’s an etiquette situation with me, like matching dishes and silverware at a banquet.”

Noel looked at her thoughtfully; “I have never known you to short etiquette.”

Radhya bowed her head. “I trust the necessary debits have been made?”

“Of course. Even for you, I give nothing free.”

Rory herded the four stumbling men to the door where Radhya was waiting. As she stepped out, Lord Barone restrained her. Dave and Will tumbled to the floor with startled cries.

“Whats this?” he asked eyeing the men.

“What do you mean?” asked Radhya raising her voice for a battle.

“You’ve changed your house colors,” he said pointing to the men.

“I was sick of gray and black which were, after all, my father’s house colors. The forest green and royal purple are very distinguished, and they are duly registered. It is my right to choose colors for myself. I trust you’ll not hold me up further. I have important stock to get home and settle.”

Noel released her arm, and Radhya swept frostily from the door. The four slaves staggered after her, Rory bringing up the rear, assisting the lurchers. She moved out of the building and down the hot dirty street on as direct a route to the spaceport as was possible. Moving as fast as they could without drawing more attention from the bustling crowds than they had to, with four large men having trouble with their coordination and balance, she threaded her way through the jammed streets to the spaceport. The bicycle traffic was especially heavy right now, and Rory leapt aside from by a rickshaw carrying a screaming royal. Padr, Will, Max, and Dave rapidly regained use of their limbs as they went along; Rory pushing them from behind to keep up.

The instant they were through the gates of the spaceport and around the corner from the tall control tower, Radhya broke into a swift sprint. The men reeled after her. She whispered into her wrist comp as she ran. Ahead, the Arrow lowered its companionway as the navigation lights and engines came to life. She dashed up the metal stairs, her feet clanging loudly. She spun left into the phosphorescent lit cockpit with dials and gauges surrounding them on three sides. A slight young man sat in the farther of the two gimballed chairs that filled the area.

“Stane,” Radhya gasped, “clearance from the tower?”

“Five minutes go, a ten-minute window,” the auxiliary pilot replied.

Behind her, Rory darted in and threw himself into his seat. As Lady Kirbyson left the cockpit, Kaarl came up. She squeezed past him and headed down the twelve meters to the hatch. Through it was the warm tan passenger compartment with its six rows of seats, each with three caramel colored reclining chairs. The smooth walls curved up and formed a convex ceiling over their heads. A slight gap between walls and hatch indicated a gimballed floor. A large, presently blank screen faced the seats, intercom grills above and below. To the rear, a black door in the middle of the wall led to Radhya’s small cabin while the other led to the hold below and the one on the right to the head.

“You should be buckled in for liftoff,” Radhya frowned at her accountant.

“Milady, you had a message from Pleasant, most urgent,” babbled Kaarl following her. “Someone called Singha is kitting. I don’t understand; perhaps I didn’t get it correct?”

Radhya smiled a brilliant smile that illuminated her face and made her eyes sparkle like clear water on a sunny day. “Praise the creator who made us all! Perhaps we can yet pull this off.”

She thrust Kaarl into the nearest chair and fell into the next one, beside Padr. The thrust came before she could get the straps around herself. Arrow lurched forward left, then violently right. Tossed roughly forward, then sideways onto Padr’s lap, her head brutally struck his face. Strong hands from behind grabbed her and thrust her firmly into her seat. Big, bulky fingers nimbly did up her straps. She glanced up to see Dave holding her down and maintaining his balance against the shifting stresses of acceleration. She nodded her thanks.

Padr’s nose was pouring blood, and both eyes were swelling and purpling. Radhya extended a hand toward him as the craft shifted and spun.

Rory’s voice came from the intercom. “Milady, Patrol is calling for us to go null and be boarded. They’ve given us a bowshot; a real one is next. Arrow doesn’t have the armoring to withstand a direct hit from this distance.”

“Go null Rory. I’ll meet the commander at the lock.”

Radhya unstrapped, floating free in the weightlessness. A few drops of the floating blood adhered to her sleeve. She stared at Padr enigmatically for a few seconds as she glided to the lock. Within a minute, two troopers appeared, then the commander.

Dressed in the white padded shock suits of the Commonwealth Patrol, gold braid on the shoulders of his uniform distinguished the commander.

“What is the meaning of this?” demanded Lady Kirbyson at her most imperious, with an angry glint in her eye.

“I am sorry; milady Kirbyson, but I have an inquiry for a slave you purchased. There is some irregularity, and you were trying to escape the planet in great hurry.”

“I have purchased eight new slaves recently. To which one do you refer?”

“ 769 462 777,” the commander replied respectfully, “It seems at one time he was a royal, and there is some question of how you obtained him and whether you are too soft to master an ex-royal. Jabin usually reserves them for himself. We also need to know why you are running from Lord Jabin’s World?”

“I have receipts, in my wrist comp,” she answered fiercely, showing him the information, “and I have hard copy too if you require that. As to why I purchase what I do, that is my own personal business. Do you think I do background checks on every slave I purchase? I buy skills not people. In addition, commander, I am not running from Jabin’s World. I have an emergency. My lynx cat is whelping on Pleasant. Each kit is worth a quarter of this planets yearly income. I don’t consider your holding me up as good business practice, for I will charge the Patrol for every kit that does not survive its birth.”

The commander paled. “Still, I must check on this slave, he replied stubbornly.”

Radhya soared gracefully back down the tunnel to the seating section. The troopers followed her. She positioned herself upside down in relation to the seated slaves. The commander’s eyes took in the crimson drops suspended in the air. Padr’s nose was still slowly leaking blood, which floated about the cabin. Radhya flipped and anchored herself with one foot hooked under the footrest of the chair in which she had been sitting. Her gaze traveled over the ranks of her slaves as if she had never seen them before.

“Which of you is 769 462 777?” demanded Radhya.

Padr raised his bloody hand. She glared at him as if all this was his fault. She flipped upside down again to speak to the commander.

“This man was trained as my personal bodyguard at Barone’s school. His uniform, such as it is now, was hand tailored by Jemediah. So, you tell Jabin, excuse me, Lord Jabin, if he wants to have him, he is for sale. I want double my purchase price, double my training fees, and double my clothing costs. If any of my stock becomes injured in this free fall, he can pay for that too. I believe I already mentioned my kits.”

The commander whispered into his wrist unit. “How did this slave come to be injured?” he asked.

Radhya gave him a steel-eyed stare. “I have no obligation to explain my treatment of my slaves.”

The commander whispered again then listened to the reply. “Please, milady,” he entreated. “It would considerably speed things up if you could tell Lord Jabin. First, when did the Commonwealth Patrol become the personal army of Lord Jabin?”

The commander flushed red with embarrassment.

“Milady the king himself signed the orders assigning me to Lord Jabin’s World. If I have to serve him in my service of the king, then that is what I have to do. So if you would please just give me the information I require we can both get back to our real jobs.”

“Very well,” she replied, “he spoke without being spoken to, so I used the prod full in his face.”

“But that doesn’t account for all this blood”; the commander returned suspiciously eyeing Padr.

Radhya’s eyes flashed, “When he cried out, I hit him with the butt. Maybe a broken nose will teach him his place. You call me soft, but I am good to my slaves so they can work harder. A strong body works harder than a weak one. I call it being smart, and I tolerate no disrespect.”

The commander whispered into his wrist comp again. “I am sorry to have kept you milady Kirbyson.”

Radhya floated down the corridor behind the retreating commander and his troopers. “Inform your ruler I will charge him if any of my stock on board is injured and if any kits die hell get the dead one or ones. This is a new species, and I have orders from here to Andromeda for them. I protest this harassment,” she snarled as the lock opened before them. The commander bowed respectfully and closed the hatch.

Radhya floated back to her seat, buckled in and told Rory to continue with as much speed as possible. The Arrow leapt forward. Radhya released a long breath with a groan. As soon as they were beyond the suns gravity-well, the ship jumped into overlight drive. Gravity returned blanketing everything with droplets of blood.

“Jemelina, Aninya clean this up,” called Radhya. “Padr, you are the luckiest man I have ever met in my life,” she said looking at him.

“I am afraid to say anything for fear you will do what you told the commander you did,” replied Padr.

Exasperated she answered him, “If you hadn’t been bleeding and banged up your life would have been short indeed. Three of the aristocracy, besides yourself, were sentenced on trumped-up charges for speaking out against the slave trade. They all ended up as Jabin’s amusements, in his palace. As you know, he fancies himself a Caesar, and he loves his gladiatorial games. That’s where you were destined to go until I bullied Seellia into selling you. To your advantage, he’s more afraid of ending up as a pile of goo, than facing a lion. Your training was a big gamble, a very expensive big gamble, but the increase in your legitimate value now puts your price a little higher than Jabin wants to pay for animal food. Thank the creator Singha decided to give birth now. What you heard about the kits was true. I also have valid need for a landscape architect for my pleasure world. I know Lord Kent was an outstanding one. Still, he might have kept you by saying I couldn’t master you, but our little accident makes you a man blessed by serendipity.”

Aninya gently washed Padr’s bloody face. Even with the blood wiped off, he was a mess. Both eyes were blackened and swollen. His nose puffed out on both sides as well. Radhya inspected it. She called Will forward to check out the damage. Padr stared at her seriously.

“You seem to know a great deal about me, and I know nothing about you,” he said.

“His nose is not broken,” interjected Will.

“Good. Your nose will be fine in an hour or so. It would be a shame to mar those good looks,” she smiled.

Padr snorted then winced at the discomfort.

“You want to know about me?” she asked.

Staring at her Padr nodded.

“Interesting, if little-known fact; my parents once sent the proposition of a contract between us to your parents. I come from generations of genetic engineers and we, you and I, are the most advantageous match among the entire aristocracy, or should I say were.”

“I never heard about it,” puzzled Padr.

“No, your parents flatly rejected the idea. It seems someone of a 600 status is nowhere good enough for someone of a 400 status. A pity Lord Barone does not share such sentiments.”

“Is that why you bought me? To humiliate me because my parents rejected you?” Padr asked.

Radhya looked at him in astonishment. Hurt spread across her face like a spill in the water. Shaking her head, she dashed to her compartment at the rear. At her call, Will followed. Seconds later, he returned to Padr with a tube. He squeezed some of the white sticky substance into his hand. Gently he applied it to Padr’s bruised nose and swollen eyes. Within minutes, the swelling began to recede, and his face gradually shifted back to normal. He sighed in relief.

“You’re really a fool,” hissed Will. “The Lady saves your life repeatedly, at the risk of her own freedom, and you accuse her of wanting vengeance. Either you are stupid, or you have a death wish. Maybe you are just too arrogant to see beyond the end of your own nose.”

Will returned to his seat in the rear and positioned it so he wouldn’t have to look at the back of Padr’s head.