SIX
Zeke left the auction house and went back to the docking bays. He continued down the row of ships until he found the one he was looking for. Mexelin Draca's ship was registered as a passenger freighter but armed like a frigate because he was a pirate masquerading as an honest businessman. Zeke had shared a few rounds of drinks with him on occasion, but he was more and acquaintance than a friend. As a fellow feline Mexelin liked his Napeta Catia.
He would probably take all twenty kilos---if he had the funds to pay.
When Zeke found the Nebula Dancer, he walked up the loading ramp to the unguarded hatch and stood in front of it for the ship’s AI to acknowledge him. A baritone AI voice responded to his presence.
“State your name and your business with the Nebula Dancer,” it said,
“Captain Farzeke Be’Kal here to speak with Captain Draca on a personal business matter,” he stated. “I have some merchandise that might interest him---Terran Gold Napeta Catia. I brought a sample in case he is interested.”
The inner hatch door slid open, and Zeke was instantly facing h Mexelin Draca. “Zeke, my friend, please come in. It’s been so long. Tell me about this Terran Gold you mentioned. If it’s as good as rumored, I am very interested,” Mexelin stepped back so Zeke could enter.
It looked like any normal freighter with nothing to hint at its supercharged star drive and heavy armament. In Drayid space, it didn’t matter, but such a heavily armed craft was not legal for private ownership in Alliance space. Then again, neither was the sale of twenty kilos of Napeta catia. Bending the law here and there didn’t concern Zeke, but he drew the line at slavery. He’d give the whole module to Mexelin to get that sapien female back from the Vrootomian who bought her. The things he’d heard they did to females who displeased them turned his stomach. Zeke was one of many who opposed to their joining the Alliance. Narova didn’t recruit enough votes in the Alliance General Assembly to block them. The Vrootomians treated even their own females like slaves, and the Alliance looked the other way because of their non-interference policy regarding sovereign planetary politics. But Zeke knew better. It was their planet’s rich veins of toklatim crystals that got them into the Alliance, not their integrity.
Fortunately, for him, Mexelin Draca could not get near Earth without risking capture. A price on his head barred him from the Sol system and the planet where Napeta Catia grew like a weed.
Once inside the ship, Zeke said, “I’m just going to reach into my pocket for the sample I brought for you to try.”
Mexelin nodded.
Zeke took out a small plastic canister and unscrewed the top, handing it to the pirate. Mexelin put it under his nose and sniffed it gingerly. It had been ground into fine snuff as felines generally snorted the stuff as Earther humans did illegal drugs. Sometimes, they mixed it in food or drink.
“Go ahead, try it,” Zeke encouraged. “Then you will know it’s worth my price.”
Mexelin took a pinch between his thumb and index finger and made two dots of the power on his other index finger. He put it up to his nose and sniffed it up. He sneezed almost immediately and staggered backward, palming the inner bulkhead to steady himself.
“Gods, Be’Kal! Why didn’t you say it was that potent? Woohoo!” he shouted, clearly high. His amber cat’s eyes were nearly black because they were so dilated. “What’s your price?”
“It’s not cheap,” Zeke, warned him. “I need five bars. Some Vrootomian dick bought the female I came for. That’s all I need to buy her back.”
“Three,” Mexelin dickered.
“Four,” Zeke countered.
“Three and a half.”
“Done,” said Zeke. He took out his tablet and commed Tray to send their loading droid over to Mexelin’s ship with the contraband. The module arrived within five minutes.
Mexelin happily gave Zeke three and a half gold bars and took delivery of the contraband module. Zeke thanked him and hurried back to the auction house where the Vrootomian was still adding to his harem. Had Zeke had more time to find a buyer, he might have gotten twice what he did for the contraband. He didn’t care; he wasn’t there for profit. Selling sentient beings to other sentient beings was reprehensible. He just needed enough to buy back the Earther female. That’s all he cared.
Zeke found the Vrootimian noble in his booth at the auction house as expected. He fed him a line that his brother had his heart set on the tall blond Earther female and no other would do. He would be ever so grateful if the Vrootimian would sell her to him for twenty percent more than he paid. Zeke could go as high as fifty percent, but the Vrootomian settled for thirty.
Zeke paced the corridor waiting for the Vrootomian’s servant to bring Susan Williams to him. He was growing more uncomfortable as the mating pheromones took hold. His pants seemed to be growing tighter by the minute as his erection seemed to swell. This was no time to be thinking about mating. What the hell was going on? He didn’t remember coming in contact with a female who would have set him off, but he had passed many of all different species in the corridors of the auction house.
Finally, the servant arrived, leading the young woman by a chain leash, attached to the collar around her neck.
“My master thanks you for your business. Please enjoy your purchase.” The servant handed him the leash and bowed his head briefly as a sign of respect.
Zeke returned the gesture and took the offered lead. Not knowing what was going on, Susan fixed Zeke with a sullen scowl.
“I’m sorry about all of this,” Zeke said, “but if you ever want to see Earth again, come with me. Slavery is illegal in the Alliance. We were sent to rescue you and the others. That handsome red guy outbid us for you.”
“Who are you? What Alliance?” Susan demanded in a low tone.
“The United Galactic Alliance of Planets that protects your world.” Zeke gently gripped her arm and urged her to walk with him. “This world is out of their jurisdiction, so we were sent to purchase you and your friends.”
“What happened to them?”
“They are all safe in my associate. Soon as I get you there, we will go to my ship and get off this miserable world.”
In the hour, it took Zeke to find the feline he knew and sell him the contraband catnip then buy Susan from the Vrootomian, Arkis had collected the other women.
He waited in the private buyer’s lounge for Zeke to return. A Tenzari led the five women into the chamber and handed over the lead to Arkis. They were chained together by their neck collars and clad in flimsy white ponchos. They all looked tired and scared.
Zeke struggled to keep his emotions in check. He could easily understand why males would desire these beautiful women, but to treat them like animals and make them into sex objects was an abomination. At first, he thought his outrage made him tremble. Then his cock seemed to swell even more under his tunic, and he knew. One of them was meomee!
Gods! Goddesses! Spirits of the dead! In his wildest dreams, he hoped it might happen someday when he had roamed the stars for many years until he was ready to settle down. With six of them all standing close together, he couldn’t tell which of them was meant for him. He dared not touch any of them except the one in his grasp. His cock hadn’t stirred again until he entered the room with the rest of the women.
Arkis read the panic in his eyes and frowned.
“Meomee---one of them is my meomee!” Zeke whispered vehemently. “This is all I need.” His eyes rested on Jenna. Zeke was pretty sure that she was the one, but he couldn't think about that right now. They had to get the women to the ship and off this miserable world.
“This is a blessing, brother. Why are you so upset?” Arkis asked in their language.
“We’re in the middle of a damned mission, and I am not even looking for a mate. I just want to get this done and get your Enforcers off my back,” he snapped. Despite what he said, all he could think about was grabbing whichever woman was his meomee and fucking her senseless.
Zeke’s eyes flashed his anger and frustration as he looked at them. The six women seemed to shrink back and stared at the two men fearfully. “No, no,” he said in English, “we are not going to hurt you. Follow him we will explain when we get to the ship.” He left without saying anything more.
Arkis took the lead chain and nodded for them to follow him. They followed reluctantly, but they followed. Since all the women were barefoot, it was slow going once the left the building. The pavements looked smooth, but not smooth enough for anyone unused to walking barefoot.
Zeke brought up the rear, hanging back from the group. His cock was so uncomfortably hard that it was difficult to walk normally. The five-minute walk back to the ship seemed to take an eternity.
#
Once they boarded the Zephyr Arkis took the women to the dining compartment that also served as a conference room. Zeke them at the conference room and retreated to his cabin, there, he called to Bella, to prepare to lift off. Arkis took the key on the lead chain and quickly unlocked the collars on each of the women and threw them with the chain connecting them on the floor in the corner.
“Women, please sit. We leave this planet soon,” Arkis spoke slowly, searching for the right words. It had been years since he’d been to Earth where he used their language every day.
He peeled off the mask he’d been wearing as his Vrootomian disguise. Then he shrugged off his ornate robe to reveal his green enforcer uniform. The women were surprised at the transformation. The Zephyr began its ascent as Arkis seated himself at the head of the table.
“I am Lieutenant Arkis Be’Kal of the United Galactic Alliance of Worlds Law Enforcement. I am part of a covert team sent to Se’Nar to rescue you from the slave market. You were taken from Earth illegally. Your abductors were out of Alliance Territory before we learned you were taken,” he explained. “Our only option was to purchase you at auction.”
“I see by your faces you know I am not of your race. I am feline humanoid as is Captain Be’Kal who is also my sibling. Our pilot is homo sapien. The Alliance is made of many humanoid species some are genetically compatible with sapiens. My race is and has been visiting your planet for several centuries and breeding with your race.
“One of you is likely feeling---uh more sexually needy---uncomfortably so,” he said and met each of their gazes in turn. The one with short dark hair and green eyes with gold flecks around the black center gave a little gasp that gave away her secret. Her face flushed pink and the unspoken question flashed in her eyes. How did he know this?
“You are meomee, woman with short dark hair…”
“Jenna, Jenna Harper. What’s that mean?”
“It means you carry feline genes that are a match for a male of my race, in your case, my sibling, Farzeke---the Captain. In ancient times, we called them fated mates---meomee---a spiritual term for a bodily function. His body senses you are his genetic mate and gives off pheromones that make you desire to mate with him.”
“What if I don’t want him? I don’t know him, and I sure don’t love him! How do I make it stop?”
“You don’t,” Arkis said gravely, “once you feel the mating pull, it’s already too late.”
“If I fuck him will it stop?”
Arkis shook his head. “The bond will only strengthen. You may already be bonded for life. I’m sorry. He is as upset as you.”
“And there’s nothing we can do? How is this possible? You have the technology to travel between stars, and you can’t stop a biological function?” Jenna was shouting before she realized she was losing control.
“Please try to be calm. The methods to stop the hormones and pheromones have unwanted... uh … umm….” He couldn’t think of the right word.
“Results?” Jenna filled in the word. “Like what?”
“Sexual neutrality.”
“What? You mean like dogs and cats get neutered…” Jenna shrieked in horror. She was only 24; she might as well be dead.
“Sadly,” he murmured.
“Oh, Jenna,” said Marcie, “it can’t be that bad. The Captain is very hunky even with that pale blue hair and cat eyes. His bod is to die for…”
“You will both die, if you don’t mate with days or be made neutral,” Arkis added in an even tone.
Get neutered or die? Those weren’t any better choices than becoming a sex slave on an alien planet! Jenna started to cry.