The Only Game in the Galaxy Read Free Page B

finally. ‘That all right wid yah?’
    Anneke shrugged. ‘I guess.’
    ‘Uh-oh, Ann,’ Selude said suddenly. ‘Here dey come.’
    ‘Who’s “dey”?’
    Selude rolled her eyes and wiped her face, trying to remove years of grime. ‘Go on,’ she said, ‘make yahself pretty, else yah’ll get sold to a slavvy bugger!’
    Anneke tensed. Sold? Sold? ‘Selude. Is this a slave market?’
    ‘Wha’ you think it be, a beaudy parlour?’
    If Anneke had thought it was a ‘beaudy’ parlour, she was quickly disabused of the notion. The trade master’s factors, a squad of burly rough-looking men with long beards and balding heads, piled into the compound and grabbed several ‘items of property’, dragging them to an adjacent slave block where the trade master stood at a wooden rostrum with a well-worn gavel.
    ‘Choice lots, gentlefolk,’ said the trade master, his voice amplified in a fashion Anneke couldn’t see. It drifted across the market square, pulling looks from adjacent streets and shops. The crowd in front of him was well dressed and no doubt well heeled. They sparkled with jewellery and their pale complexions spoke of their leisurely lifestyles. These were the well-to-do, the ‘pleasure classes’.
    ‘What happens now?’ Anneke whispered to Selude, though she hardly needed it explained.
    Selude said, ‘Well, dey caught us, right? So we get six months, indentured.’
    ‘Six months? For being in the wrong place?’
    Selude shrugged. ‘Be a whole lot worse widdout papers.’
    Anneke stared at the girl, her heart sinking. ‘And what papers would they be?’
    Selude squinted. ‘Oh, my. Yah fer the big drop.’ She sounded sorry for Anneke.
    ‘How long?’
    Selude dug away at her filthy nails, vainly trying to make herself decent. She avoided Anneke’s eyes.
    ‘Selude, how long?’
    ‘Look, I ain’t da factor, hokay? Maybe yah get ten years, I dunno. Maybe dey see you punch’em dat guy and dey slot yah for da games and yah out in a year quick-quick. If yah live, dat is …’
    Anneke forced a laugh. ‘If I live,’ she repeated shakily. ‘Well, welcome to Tormat.’
    It was Selude’s turn next. A factor grabbed her by the hair and dragged her out to the block. Anneke forced herself to not intervene. This wasn’t the time or the place. Indeed, she had a belated feeling she should keep a low profile and give nothing away; escape, she knew, would be a waiting game.
    The trade master quickly listed Selude’s attributes, affirmed that there were six months owing on her contract, and that here was a bargain to be had.
    Two women, identical twins, bought her. As they led her away on the end of a silver chain, which fitted a collar around her neck, Selude gave Anneke a quick wave.
    Then it was Anneke’s turn.
    The trade master’s voice took on a new oily tone when Anneke was brought to the slave block. Her statuesque figure, striking looks, and torn tunic and trousers were having an effect on the man. No doubt he hoped it would do the same for the buyers.
    ‘A rare lot,’ he said, purring. ‘Illegal alien. Ten years minimum, full contract. No reservations or defaults. Look at her, gentlefolk. A beauty from the outer worlds. Fit for the most demanding harem or boudoir, and an item that will furnish enormous pleasure for a long time to come. So what do you say, gentlefolk? May we start the bidding at one thousand stakas?’
    Anneke gasped.
    She wasn’t being sold as an ordinary slave item, but as a pleasure girl.
    The bidding, as the trade master guessed, was fierce. ‘Two thousand stakas!’
    ‘No, two and a half!’
    ‘Make it three!’
    The bids poured in, from pale-faced men with powdered hair and silk cravats with an army of hangers-on.
    She was purchased by a large fat man with a dozen rings on his fingers and a permanent veneer of sweat on his heavy jowls. His name was Roklegg and he owned the House of Stalh which, from the obsequious references made by the trade master, Anneke figured was