Chapter 51 – Unwanted Guests

Content Warning: slavery, submission, voyeurism, orgy, exhibition, dubcon, hints of violence, sci-fi
 
K’rra could only watch as the bounty hunter's hands wandered along Jae’s body. Jae moaned helplessly, overcome with sensation. She latched onto the man, pressing her body against him as his arms wrapped around, claiming her.
The hunter looked dangerous. His wiry body was crisscrossed with scars, lessons learned in past fights. His intense gaze never left the Fury writhing against him. He basked in the glow of knowing he’d conquered what all eyes in the room were on.
He whispered something to Jae, and she blushed. He then grabbed Jae by the back of the neck and forced her to accept a long, rough kiss. K’rra understood that he was marking his territory, showing everyone here that he’d claimed the ultimate prize. He forced one of Jae's hands down under his loincloth and sighed with satisfaction when she eagerly gripped him.
K’rra was having trouble focusing, especially when the hands of a nearby couple began exploring her calves and thighs. She was also a little jealous of the Fury. K’rra wanted to be the center of attention like that. All those eyes on her as she was used. An audience feeding off her desires and sensuality to enflame their own. It made her want to touch herself at the thought of it.
She wanted to ride the erotic high and indulge. She wanted to give herself to everyone, please everyone, and be their everything. The thought of losing herself in service and ecstasy was overwhelming. Only the thought of Kaster counting on her forced her to shove her desires aside.
The orgy and its participants shifted en masse. All eyes followed as the hunter dragged Jae to the center of the room and the enormous canopy bed on its low stage, including the large black eyes of the Avyrian attendants and guards. There were only a few Avyrians in the playroom, but K’rra observed and knew that, as amphibians, they would not be affected by Jae’s broadcast or the room's energy.
The hunter and Jae approached the bed, and the couple on it stopped their own play to watch Jae writhing against the man claiming her. Shoving Jae against one of the bedposts, the hunter pulled Jae’s arms over her head as he leaned in sucking the air from her lungs in brutal kiss. He reached up between her chest and slowly tugged on the zip, revealing skin inch by inch.
The partygoers shifted positions, forming circles around the bed. Hands, and mouths, flippers and claws, tentacula, and lips explored freely everywhere. The participants were getting fevered, frantic, and eager. K’rra wondered what would happen if they all climaxed at once. The thought of being in a crowd experiencing that broke her brain a little. She wondered if the universe would stop spinning in the wake of such a thing.
K’rra knew she had to act, to do something. It was already the oddest orgy she’d ever witnessed, and the Avyrians, clueless to other beings' passions, would eventually recognize that something very odd was happening.
 
*****
Kaster had hoped he’d be asked to wait in the antechamber with his prisoner, but the Majordomo ushered the two into the throne room without a delay. The renewed buzzing at his wrist had to go ignored. That K’rra could even make a call indicated that things were not so disastrous just yet. It was the silence between her calls that worried him.
He’d only been to the throne room once before, but the audience hadn’t changed.
Hol Vydon was on an elaborate throne, its back towering several stories in the air. He looked smug and pleased with himself as Kaster brought his prisoner. Immediately around him were several whispering advisors, the Majordomo breaking away to join them. He whispered into the Hol’s ear, and Vydon listened carefully, his eyes never leaving Kaster.
Around the throne were a motley crew of guards, bounty hunters, and other thugs, some in opulent military uniforms. Beneath the throne's dais, was a crowd of petitioners, businessmen, and more thugs and hunters, all hoping to win the Hol’s favors.
Counting quickly, Kaster noted six warriors around Vydon, and another half dozen hangers-on in the crowd. If things got ugly, it would be an ugly fight, with both he and Kae needing to handle six armed beings each at once. He hoped the plan they’d agreed on would work out. He’d sell Kae, she’d be taken, escape immediately, then flee, while he ‘pursued’ her, slowing others down by picking them off and outright ambushing until they both escaped. Even that was a long shot with so many armed thugs nearby.
He could feel his neck muscles tensing so tightly he thought they might snap at any moment. The Fury mantra passed through his mind: No emotion, only peace. He always hated it. He was not a robot. He was only in this situation because passions had brought him here. The inner turmoil caused a sharp pain in his gut. He wanted to throw off the charade and start attacking this very moment. At least then there’d be no more room for doubt, action crystallized thought, made the obvious clear.
An image of K’rra’s blue hand lying on his pale chest brought sudden peace. He could picture his ship, his cabin, white sheets, and her there next to him. Her warmth seeping into him as they lie in post coital bliss. Suddenly, he had the peace he was looking for. Whatever happened, he would ensure K’rra would never scrape and grovel to this monster ever again.
Hol Vydon announced to the room, “Mighty hunter Kaster returns. And you’ve claimed a bounty that few could. Behold! He brings me a Fury.”
The audience murmured while the armed men became more alert, their eyes narrowing and their hands instinctively wandering to weapons. The crows was now alert that the prisoner was much more of a threat than many had assumed at first glance. 
Steely eyes wandered to Kaster. If he’d captured a Fury, they all wondered, how dangerous did that make him?
*****
There was still no answer on comms. Kaster was engaged, maybe even fighting as she worried. K’rra could waste no more time. She needed to do something, anything, right now.
Disentangling herself from stroking hands, K’rra slipped to the edge of the room. She scanned for a dataport but did not see one. The walls in the playroom were padded and heated to body temperature, any dataport would be covered, or removed somewhere nearby.
She hated doing it but approached one of the nearby Avyrians. The attendant was one of the few beings in the room wearing clothes, a simple, utilitarian white tunic. It was impossible for K’rra to determine which sex it was, as males and females appeared nearly identical. This one had a side pouch full of lubricants, foams, small toys, and other accouterments to increase arousal and ease of access. There was also a stunner in case guests for unruly.
As K’rra approached, the attendant looked at her curiously and asked, “Is there some sort of holiday or cultural custom I’m unaware of?”
K’rra glanced back at the writhing masses forming several circles around the canopy bed. The Hunter had Jae bent over the edge, gripping her hips tightly to grind against her. Around them, the crowd writhed in unison, some of the participants mimicking the hunter's exact movements with their partners.
“I wouldn’t know. Gyth are not a part of whatever custom this is.”
The attendant nodded, perplexed, “It is all rather confusing, isn’t it?”
“Indeed,” K’rra said in her most clinical tone. “Where can I find a dataport?”
“Utility closet, hallway on the left.”
K’rra escaped the playroom and found the utility closet. Inside was a small sink, towels, washcloths, and various cleaning gear and solutions. The dataport was standard. She drew her datapad from a cloak pouch and connected.
The palace was no starship. As she quickly reviewed a list of subsystems, she was amazed at the lack of internal security. Civilian networks were more rudimentary than those she’d learned to manipulate in the Navy.
A plan formed. K’rra took a small bucket and filled it with water.