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Chapter 43 – Plans Laid
Content Warning - slavery, submission, no-sex, sci-fi
K’rra went to kneel on the floor and Kaster stopped her. “Sit on the chair. With the rest of us.”
She felt uncomfortable but did as her master wished. In just a year of slavery, she had become so accustomed to kneeling on the floor that the chair felt almost as uncomfortable as the jumpsuit she was wearing. She wanted nothing more than to strip and take her rightful place at Kaster’s feet.
Kae and her twin Fury sat across the table staring daggers at each other. Jae’s arms were bound at the elbows and wrists. She’d been disarmed before being brought aboard the ship.
As Outlander fled Obeza she’d regained consciousness to find herself cuffed and gagged. K’rra had been tasked to make sure her twin didn’t do anything untoward while Kaster was busy piloting. Once they lurched into jumpspace Kaster returned to the common room.
K’rra hesitantly pulled a chair to the table sitting directly across from her master. She kept her eyes down, stealing only a quick glance at the other two women. Kae’s eyes burned with unrestrained anger. Kae seemed haughty as if the binds and gag were a temporary annoyance and nothing more.
Kaster leaned into the Fury Jae and removed the gag.
“Kidnapping a Fury Peacemaker won’t end well.” Jae said looking Kaster in the eye.
Kaster’s gaze darted to Kae. The Rogue Fury shook her head. Kaster told her, “Let me know if she tries to influence me. I’ll do the same for you.”
“She hasn’t got the skill,” Kae said. “They aren’t like us, they learn a mile wide and only an inch deep.”
Jae said nothing. She looked at Kaster understanding he was the one in charge.
“I need your help,” Kaster told the fury.
Jae laughed, “Do you now? Interesting way to ask, binding a girl like your illegal slave.”
“I made a mistake that I need to atone for.”
“Talk to a priest,” Jae smirked.
“I sold a Fury into slavery.”
The smirk slid off the Fury’s face.
“You didn’t tell me about this,” Kae snapped.
“You’re just an apprentice.”
“What? This is insanity, neither of you have trained.” Jae sputtered.
“Not trained? I hid from you for years, and he beat you in combat.” Kae barked.
“But no official training,” the Fury replied evenly. “It’s the blind teaching the sightless.”
Kae’s voice echoed with Focus, “Silence. I could control you now.”
“I will not be silent!” Jae yelled, her voice struggling against the mental command.
“Enough!” Kaster slammed his fists down against the table. The three women stared. “If you would like to help us rescue a fellow Fury, join us for the moment. You two can go back to your blood feud once we’re done.”
“She won’t help. Kill her.” Kae said. There was a moment of quiet and she continued, “She’s plotting even now. Kill her and we can live.”
“Who is the Fury?” Jae asked.
“Indi-Ra.” Kaster said.
“Defeated in a duel. Her whereabouts unknown. You were the one who challenged her?”
“I did.”
“Untrained,” Kae spat.
Kaster continued speaking evenly, “It’s an interesting dynamic we have here. A Fury, properly trained. And two Rogues, one focused on martial skills, the other on sleight of mind. Not only do we have an opportunity to rescue your fellow Fury, but we also have the very real possibility of taking down one of the very worst warlords in the Coalition.”
“Wait? What?” Kae said in horror. “You never mentioned a suicide run.”
“No!” K’rra yelped. “Master, no.”
“Why not?” Kaster asked his slave.
“As she said. It's suicide.”
“Or?” Kaster asked carefully. “Are you worried about his well-being?”
“I…” K’rra struggled to keep her thoughts in order. It was strange to have such a tangle of thoughts all fighting for control. She’d been trained to think logically and clearly from childhood. Her newfound emotions had been a blessing and a curse. They made her feel alive, yet at times, they were so tumultuous and twisted that she had trouble even expressing her thoughts. She just wanted to run away and take Kaster, Kae, and his ship to the edge of the galaxy to live out their days. And yet, the thought of Hol Vydon being hurt caused a stabbing pain in her throat. “I just want to run away with you…”
“She’s not telling the whole truth,” Kae said. “But she has the right of it. This isn’t a fight we want. It's void-crushing madness.”
“If we run, Vydon will hunt us to the end of the universe,” Kaster explained. “I’ve already made my mind on this. We take him out, absolve some sins, and we never have to look over our shoulders again. K’rra, you have no say. Not only are you a slave who needs to remember her place, but he’s placed a failsafe in your mind to protect his investment. Kae, you’re an apprentice. You can follow your master into trials of his own or go your own way and find training elsewhere. I am going to confront Hol Vydon, and there is only one way it ends. In blood.”
“That’s not much of a sales pitch to help you,” Fury Jae said.
“No… but it’s honest. You can help rescue your fellow Fury, or you can go your own way.”
“I don’t want in on this either,” Kae said. “I only signed up for the training. Not taking on Vydon.”
“You robbed his casino,” Kaster said. “You tried misdirecting the blame to your sister, and that’s what he thinks right now. But eventually, he’ll find out.”
“You framed me?” Jae asked.
Kae shrugged. “A girl’s gotta eat.”
“Do you ever get tired of selling out people close to you?” Jae said, then turned to Kaster, “Did she tell you what happened to her first trainer? She planted a suggestion that he surrender to the Furys and tell them the other coven members were dead. And he wasn’t just her trainer. He was her lover as well.”
“And what about you?” Kae shot back. “Those coven children you took? Were they all made Furys?”
Jae was silent but a haunted expression washed across her face for an instant. Kae capitalized on the retreat and pressed on, “Those that don’t make the cut are killed or lobotomized. Fury practice. To save civilization from Focus users that haven’t been brainwashed.”
“Do I need to slam the table again?” Kaster asked. “You really are sisters. Nobody else could endlessly fight like this.”
“I’m done. And I’ll join you.” Jae said. “For Indy-Ra.”
“And you?” Kaster asked Kae. “Vydon will find out you robbed him. This is your one chance to nip it in the bud. Either way, it’s the bed you made.”
“I’m aware,” Kae snapped. “What about you? You made sure to air our dirty laundry, what’s yours?”
Kaster stared silently at Kae.
“Did you ever wonder?” Kae turned to ask K’rra. “Just what were the conditions of the bounty on that Fury?”
K’rra looked at Kaster, saw an indecipherable mask, and then looked back to Kae. “He’s a bounty hunter. She had a bounty.”
“Did he tell you what he did to her?”
K’rra looked nervously back to Kaster, “No. I’m sure it was just business.”
“He had her. Against her will. Opened his Focus like I’ve done with you. Made her feel how much he wanted her while he took her right here in this spot.” Kae said with a sneer.
“You did what?” Fury Jae hissed.
Kae continued with a nod to K’rra, “And he never told his slave he was a rapist.”
“I said I had sins to atone for,” Kaster stated.
“This is more than just a sin. You violated her body and her mind.” Jae spat. The disgust on her face was unmistakable. “You wanted me to think you noble? You belong with Vydon, and the rest of them. You’re garbage.”
“I said no such things. Only that I had a mistake to correct.”
“This is no small mistake. I should strike you down.” Jae said.
“You tried once. And failed.”
“And succeeded once,” Jae shot back.
“After Vydon, we can have a rematch.”
“Count on it,” Jae said.
“I know you’re using your Focus to read me. Am I being earnest?”
Jae nodded, “You are. You want to fix this, but that doesn’t absolve you from your crimes. Why the sudden change?”
Kaster nodded to K’rra, “I found a broken bird, nurturing it changed me. I like the man I’ve become. Much more than the one I was.”
“Oh Master,” K’rra gushed, fighting back tears by fanning a hand in front of her face. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I don’t get it.” Kae snipped. “She did what?”
Fury Jae replied, “He had nothing to live for. She changed his nature.”
“A slave? A mere slave?” Kae asked incredulously.
Overwhelmed with emotion and eyes quivering, K’rra blurted out, “Knowing that I, as your slave, took this poison from you and made you a better being is the greatest gift I could ever know. I don’t care about what you did before or who you were. I only want to be with the master you are now
Kaster looked poisonously at Kae, then turned to the Fury, “Will you help? Not me, but your sister Fury?”
Jae sighed, “For now.”
“And you?” Kaster asked Kae. “I’m tempted to space you. But help me in this and I will complete your martial training. In exchange for training me in the way of suggestion.”
Kae crossed her arms and looked away from the table. “Let's hear your plan before I commit suicide.”
“K’rra?” Kaster said.
“Yes?”
“Are you in?”
“You even need to ask, Sir?”
“Of course I do. You will suffer more than any of us if things go poorly.”
“Sir. I took an oath to the Federation. Breaking it led me to you. I’d break it a thousand more times if I had to.”
“I’ll take that as a yes then.”
“So, what's the plan?” the Fury asked.
Kaster was quiet a moment as then explained. “We split into two teams. I take Kae and present her to Vydon as Fury Jae. K’rra and Jae go to the slave quarters and rescue Indy-Ra. When you’ve done that, you signal me and the two of us kill Vydon and fight our way out.”
“That’s the whole plan?” Kae said in dismay.
“How would you do it?” Jae asked her sister.
“Stars! I wouldn’t.” Kae said without offering any alternatives.
The Fury leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling. “What I like about this, is that it gives us cover. The bounty hunter returns with his quarry. We have a reason for being there. Hol Vydon may be vexed, but his slave isn’t being returned, and he’ll be happy that a Fury bounty was brought in. They’ll be thinking it's business as usual, they’ll be unprepared.”
Kae looked perplexed, “You think this is a good plan? I suppose I would, too, if it was someone else being brought before the Hol. In cuffs I assume?”
Kaster nodded, “They expect you bound and gagged.”
“Gagged? No! No way in the void.”
K’rra spoke up, “I could alter the bindings. Changing the locking mechanism should be fairly simple. You could get out of them easily when you needed.”
Kae looked K’rra deep in the eyes, “You wouldn’t betray your mistress would you?”
“Never, ma’am.”
“I want to test them before I agree to anything,” Kae said.
“Looks like we have a plan.” Jae leaned forward. “I’ll need my WaveBlade.”
