Being dragged by the arms is not an experience I’d like to make habitual. The feeling of the sockets being pulled constantly is pure agony. Not to mention the broken ribs and the high possibility of internal bleeding. Were I a weaker man, I would have lost consciousness during my ‘transportation’. As it was, I got to experience the full luxurious care package of being dragged by a pair of rock-men. There was the silent one, I called him Bullwinkle, and the chatty one that nearly killed me, Rocky.

Passer-byes averted their eyes as they hurried from our passage through the lowest level of the space station. The deeper we moved into the area, the more garbage littered streets stained with blood. Yep, this was a lawless place alright. You’d have thought the people in charge would have cleaned this place up after enforcing hard law. But that would be naive. Guarantee that whoever this ‘Boss’ was that Rocky and Bullwinkle were taking me to was under the thumb of someone bigger in the upper sections of the station.

The biggest criminals are the ones with the law behind them after all.

My boots tore open from the abuse of being dragged far before we reached our destination. Lets just say I’d need new toenails after this. A pair of heavily armed slug-people squelched outside a large home that looked to be made of welded together scrap. It was by far the best looking house I had seen in this level, as it had a pair of potted plants outside. The definitive show of cultured living. The owner of this fine epitome of cultured living must have been a scholar and a gentleman.

“Don’t speak unless spoken to, squishy.” Rock rumbled as held open the door for Bullwinkle to pull me through.

“You got it Rocky.” I answered through gritted teeth.

The inside of the scrappy-looking home was different. Very different. Carpeting covered the floor that I was currently bleeding all over, dim lighting from faded wall-mounted lamps provided ample light with which to see the dreary interior. A table and various stands were made from actual wood and there was even a leather sofa. And that was just the entrance room. Bullwinkle then pulled me over his shoulder and began ascending a flight of stairs. Not the best position for one in my situation, as his rocks had begun digging into my broken ribs with every step. In an attempt to vent my frustration, I flipped Rocky the bird while he trudged along behind us. He growled, but other than give me a smoldering glare, he did nothing. A good dog knows to not upset his master. We passed through a hallway after reaching the top of the stairs, wooden doors lined the sides. Inside were various sounds of exertion and heavy breathing. Good to know the nicest home in the slums was a whorehouse.

Bullwinkle shifted his weight, causing me excruciating pain, and lightly knocked upon a door I was faced away from.

“Come in.” The faint voice from beyond the unseen doorway spoke in a bored tone.

“Behave.” Bullwinkle whispered to me as he opened the door. “We’ve brought him.”

“Ah, excellent! Do sit him down on the sofa there.” The sound of papers shuffling filled the silent room. Well, silent other than my groans of pain and the stomping of rock men. Unceremoniously, Bullwinkle dropped me on a leather sofa that would have been comfortable were it not for all my aches and pains.

“I see he is bleeding.” A three legged frog-like alien regarded me with a set of four eyes atop thin stalks.

“He resisted.” Rocky awkwardly stated, avoiding eye contact with his employer.

“Like…hell I did…” I gasped while clutching my chest. A single eye-stalk stared at Rocky,

“Get Hylan here. Now.” The Boss demanded with a thunderous voice. In a rush, Rocky left the room with booming steps. The Boss sighed, “Its so hard to get these simpletons to listen to basic orders. As for you…” the frog-man affixed all four eyes upon me, “try not to die in the meantime.”

‘Alright Aya, I’m gonna need a name and a history of this guy asap.’ I commanded while clutching my chest.

‘He is a Utalien named Gorlbuul Kresh. Wanted in many sectors across space for piracy, illegal weapon trading, slavery, and unpaid docking violations.’

‘Damn, we’re dealing with a real hardass here.’

‘Chances of success in your plan are close to twenty percent.’

‘Aya, one day you’ll learn all the odds are always fifty-fifty. Things either work out or they don’t.’

Rocky returned with a large bag in his hands. Just above his head floated one of those small blue-skinned fairies I had seen before. She stood no taller than the base of my palm to the tip of my middle finger. With a curious face, she flew over to me and stared me eye to eye.

“Wasa hummie doin ‘ere?” She asked in a high pitched voice as she flew off towards the bag and began rooting around inside it.

“I asked Rullix and Lursix here to retrieve him.” Gorlbuul sighed, “I should have sent the slugs.”

“We did the job boss.” Rullix, or Rocky as I called him, protested.

“Yes you did. And did I tell you explicitly to harm him in any way?” Rullix stayed silent. “Did I tell you to smash in his ribs? Did I order you to drag his feet, resulting in a few toes being lost from being dragged over sharp metal floors? Did I say any of that hmmm?” So thats why my feet felt so light. Curiously, I looked down and yep, two toes were missing on my right foot.

“…no boss.” Rullix responded shamefully.

“Bottoms up!” As Hylan appeared in front of me and jabbed a needle into my gut.

“Hold him down Lursix.” Gorlbuul commanded. Without a word, the other rockman pressed me down into the sofa.

‘Aya, talk to me.’

‘Nanobots Captain. They’ll fix the broken bits inside you and regrow your lost toes.’

‘Oh. Thats good.’ I sighed in relief.

‘Its going to be exceptionally painful.’ Aya responded as my body began to feel as if it had been set on fire from the inside.

How long had it been? Hours? Days? Weeks? Judging by the clock in my vision, it had been five minutes. Agony the likes of which only the worst of sinners should suffer had been forced upon me. I’m pretty sure that I yelled that I was going to kill Rocky the first chance I got, because he kept grinning at me. Or he could just enjoy seeing me in pain. Either way, what could I do right? I wiggled my recently regrown toes happily. The boys were back in town.

“All better boss!” Hylan saluted as she floated around my body, inspecting it for any damages.

“Thank you Hylan, you are dismissed.” Gorlbuul croaked. “Lursix, carry her bag back to her laboratory for her.”

“Yes sir.” Lursix nodded and removed his hands form me and took the bag from Rullix. Once they left it was just me, Gorlbuul, and Rocky.

“Now, shall we have introductions?” Gorlbuul grinned, his mouth full of sharp teeth.

“Sounds good to me.” I sighed as I sat up on the couch. “Name’s Chet.”

“Gorlbuul.” He nodded. “I had originally sent Rullix and Lursix out to retrieve the human dressed in Salyzan military clothing in the hopes of finding out what exactly a human was doing in the dregs of this lovely space station. Allow me to apologize on their behalf.” He bowed his large head. “What can I do to make this up to you?”

“Can I kill him?” I pointed towards Rocky.

“Of course.” Gorlbuul reached under his desk and tossed an object towards me.

Rocky stammered in shock as I grabbed the object from the air. The object was a gun. Well, an alien gun. Kinda looked like some sort of Buzz Lightyear ray-gun thing. Regardless, I aimed at Rocky’s head and pulled the trigger. A bolt of silver shot out from the end and melted into Rocky’s face. At first, nothing happened. And then spikes of ice began to erupt from between the gaps in Rocky’s rocks. When he fell over, his body shattered, sending particles of solid ice all over the floor.

“Does this make up for the slights he has given you, Hero?” Gorlbuul asked with a smile.

“Yeah, I definitely feel much better now. Can I keep this?” I asked as I turned the weapon over in my hands. “Also, when’d you figure out I was the Hero?”

“Oh no, I simply must insist that you return my weapon.” I shrugged, stood up, and handed it off to the mobster before returning to the sofa. “As for figuring out you were the Hero, well…theres this video going around on the Gal-Net and I thought you looked familiar.”

“Video?”

“You don’t know?” Gorlbuul laughed deeply. “Oh this is rich! I can’t wait to see your expression!” He lifted a holo-viewer from atop his desk and tossed it to me. “Just tap the screen, the video will play automatically.”

Moments later, Gorlbuul and I sat at his desk, laughing hysterically as we watched the video over and over as we sipped some sort of alien mixture. He only laughed harder when I explained why I was looking for Sarah Connor in my delirious state.

“Ah, thats good shit.” Gorlbuul chuckled as he wiped away mucus expelling from his eye-stalks. “So tell me Hero, shouldn’t you be fighting the Demons on the edges of space? Doing as your divine mandate requires of you?”

“Well, theres a problem with that.” I chuckled.

“Oh? Do tell. I love a good story.”

“I punched Prince Lavizo in the throat when he attacked me. Now his family wants me dead.” Gorlbuul snorted,

“You punched that little shit? I envy you for that.” His smile grew, “You’re a decent sort for a Hero.”

“Thanks, you’re not so bad either for a badguy.”

“Not everyone gets to play hero in life. Sometimes we need to wake up and face reality.”

“I’ll drink to that.” I took a shot. “I’ve been facing that shit everyday.”

“Hear, hear!” Gorlbuul gulped down his shot, “So, what brings you to my little neighborhood?”

“I’m looking to sell a hot ship.” I responded.

“Hmmm, hot you say?” His eyes glanced at me questioningly.

“Yep, probably being tracked by the Queen personally. One of the Kingdom’s more recent Xaylix class Corvettes.”

“I may be able to take that problem off your hands.” His smile was infectious, “How much are you looking to get for a sale?”

‘Estimated value of our ship is twenty million credits.’ Aya immediately informed me.

“Ten million credits.”

“Oh? Why so little?” Gorlbuul asked genuinely curious.

“Well for one, you’d be doing all the work. Transportation, debugging, and other stuff. Secondly, it’s been slightly used. You can’t return a vehicle for the same price you pay as soon as you leave the lot. Thirdly, the AI core installed is fried, but theres a second one stored away in one of the cockpit’s compartments.” I took another shot of the mucus-y liquor. “Thirdly, I’m going to need a new ship. Hopefully you’ll be able to help me out there.” His grin said everything, “And finally, I’m going to need a new identity. As it is, I won’t be able to move around space without everyone knowing exactly where I am.”

“Hmmm…” Gorlbuul rubbed his chins with a three-fingered hand. “I think we can work something out. I must say, its certainly refreshing to meet a client who knows exactly how to do business.”

“Thanks. Its not like any of this is exactly new to me anyway.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, back home I bought weed once.”

“Weed? I am unfamiliar with such an item.”

“Oh, its only the most dangerous drug on my home world.”

“I see.” Gorlbuul nodded in understanding. “Well, I don’t have many ships on hand at the moment, but you’re free to take a look.” He slid a new holo-viewer across the desk to me. As I picked it up, holographic images of various ships hovered over the display. I scrolled through the bunch multiple times. He wasn’t wrong, there were ten ships on offer at the moment. None were Corvette sized either, which was a problem. Bigger ships needed more people to fly effectively. Gorlbuul offered a few crewman if needed. And if trust was an issue, qualified slaves could be purchased.

In the end, I settled upon a small frigate type that looked almost like a pill-bug. Gorlbuul had been happy to inform me of the ships specs.

“I see you’re a man of fine taste. The Draas class Frigate is very popular amongst up and coming traders.” He gulped down a drink. “It boasts decent firepower, about six plasma cannons worth which can chew through most other ships of similar classes. Its also got a torpedo launcher at the front for a deadly long range surprise. And the cargo hold is nothing to scoff at as well.”

“Shame about the speed.” I grimaced, noting the top sublight speed was just over half that of the Corvette I had sold.

“Well of course. Its basic science. Bigger mass means you’d need bigger engines to achieve the same amount of thrust.”

“Yeah, I always hated physics.” As Gorlbuul chuckled, the door crashed open behind me.

“Boss, we caught a pair of snoopers scoping out the base.” Lursix rumbled. I instantly felt a chill run down my back.

“Bring them here.” Gorlbuul ordered his underling with a serious expression. Lursix grunted and left us alone.

“Ah fuck.” I ran a hand over my face. Shit was going to get complicated.

“Sounds like you have a guess who our new guests will be.”

“Yeah. We may have trouble.”

Moments later, a screeching Princess and a cowering snake-man were tossed unceremoniously upon the floor of Gorlbuul’s room. Yep, I knew she was a dumbass.

“Well, well. What have we here?” Gorlbuul wondered aloud.

“How dare you treat me such a way?!” Princess Egyle screeched as she rose to her feet. “I’ll see you all jailed and executed for your brutish behavior!”

“P-princess, please!” Hortur trembled as he attempted to calm her.

“Princess?” Gorlbuul looked to me curiously.

“Allow me to introduce Princess Egyle Salyzan and engineer Hortur…uhh…”

‘Klass.’Aya reminded me.

‘Thanks.’

“Hortur Klass.”

“I see.” Gorlbuul rose from his seat and walked towards the Princess. She glared at him,

“Don’t come near me, scum! My father will hear of this.”

“No. He won’t” Gorlbuul smiled lasciviously. “My clients would pay by the shipload to taste a Princess.”

Fear surged across the Princess’ face. “You…wouldn’t dare!”

“Oh I wouldn’t dare. But many would.”

“I’m sure many would, Gorl buddy. But her father and mother are about an hour away via hyperspace if my head-math is correct.” I interrupted. “The ship may be a hot item, but the Princess is a sun compared to that. King Lavian will come here guns blazing after reviewing security footage of his daughter following me to the lower levels. Even if you get her out in one of your ships, he’ll tear this place apart looking for her. Hes quite the doting father after all. Mothers a bitch though, she’d probably leave her to rot.”

“My mother would never-” Egyle shouted but was backhanded by Gorlbuul. Shock and fear gripped her as her entire body trembled.

“What do you propose Hero?” He asked coldly.

“You said you offered slaves earlier, how exactly does that work?”

“We connect a small device into the subject’s cranial implant. These devices are then matched to the owner’s implant and from then on are their property. The slaves will have to do everything commanded of them.” His smile was full of teeth. “Otherwise that medicine you took earlier will look like a relaxing vacation compared to the agony the device will send into their bodies.”

“Got a few of those devices handy?” Gorlbuul looked towards me curiously.

“Always. Why?”

“I have a plan.”

“I’m listening.”

“First, lets go somewhere more private.”

Almost an hour later, everything was as ready as could be given the rushed nature of events. The Xaylix class Corvette had been flown off to destinations unknown as part of our deal, and I was ten million credits richer. Unfortunately, I had to forgo a new identity for another time. Still, that was a minor setback compared to what could have happened. As for Princess Egyle and Hortur…well…

“I demand you take this device off of me this instant!” Princess Egyle raged as she sat perfectly still at the tactical section of my new ship’s bridge, a silver tiara connected to her forehead. When I had first placed the slave device on her, she immediately had fought back against a simple order. And then writhed on the ground in agony for a good ten minutes. Hortur had silently accepted his new position as the device was placed upon him as well.

“No.” I stated as my hands flicked across the controls. Retract the landing gear, check. Turn about and face outer airlock, check. “Vornalis Orbital, this is Boatsy,” Apparently someone’s daughter had named this fine vessel. “Hangar 448-A will be open for landing in a few minutes.”

“Acknowledged Boatsy.” The comms officer snickered, “Good luck out there.”

“Copy that.” I closed the comms and gently pressed up on the throttle, sending us on a slow course out of the space station.

‘Captain, new vessels appearing on the system map.’ I took a quick glance, thirty ships had appeared and were making a beeline for the station.

“Alright people, its show time.” I selected the biggest ship of the new arrivals and opened video communications. At the head of the bridge floated King Lavian himself.

“Hero. I assume you know why we are here.” He spoke informally.

“Why King Lavian! What a surprise! Oh we’ve been having the most fun your daughter and I. Eggy, can you come here please?” With tears in her eyes, Princess Egyle stood from her seat and walked over to me. “Say hi for the dear old man would you?”

“Father…help me!” She cried out.

“Hero…what have you done?”

“Oh this?” I touched the tiara on the Princess’ head. “Just a little thing I picked up somewhere. Does it look good on her? I think it does.” I grinned and pulled the Princess close. “It makes things so much easier for the both of us this way.”

“I will see you scoured to the far corners of space itself.” King Lavian spoke levelly. Good, he was enraged.

“Oh you’ll have to find me first Lardo. And by then it’ll be far far too late. Your Princess and I are about to become very acquainted with one another.” My hand tenderly stroked the Princess’ face. Her body trembled beneath my touch. “Ta-ta!” I moved to close the comms.

“Wait! Hero…Chet, wait.” The King visibly deflated, which was impressive considering his mounds of flesh. “I’ll give you anything you wish. Just…just bring my daughter back to me.”

His voice cracked with every word.

“Sorry King Lavian, but no can do.” I closed the comms.

“You’re sick.” The Princess whispered trembling. “I’ll never give in to you.”

“Go back to your seat Princess.” With a sneer, she complied.

Despite the Kingdom’s ships burning through their fuel cells at full possible speed, they could not catch my ship. We entered hyperspace long before they would ever pose a threat. With a heavy sigh, I stood from the captain’s chair. Definitely not the way I wanted events to transpire.

‘Captain.’ Aya chided me.

“Right right.” I sighed and walked over to Hortur. With a quick hand, I removed the slavery tiara from his forehead.

“H-hero?” Hortur looked at me curiously.

“You’re free buddy, but it may be awhile until we get somewhere safe enough for you to head home.” He nodded in understanding.

“Thank you. What about the Princess?”

With hopeful eyes, she stared at me and Hortur. Hope that quickly fled as I shook my head.

“She’s going to learn that actions have consequences.” With heavy steps, I approached her. “Just what the fuck were you thinking?”

“Huh?”

“What was going through that thick skull of yours when you followed me? You should have known better than that!”

Her face twisted as the words came from her mouth. “I wanted to capture you to bring to my father! I wanted to be the one to lock you up!”

“And so you got captured yourself. Do you even know what almost happened back there?” I was beyond pissed.

‘Captain.’

‘Shut up Aya.’

Princess Egyle stammered as she tried to argue.

“Shut up.” I commanded. Instantly, the Princess’ mouth clamped shut. “I’ll tell you what almost happened Princess. You were almost made into their plaything. And the worst part? They wouldn’t even need anything other than that tiara on your head to do it. You’d be busy serving them with a smile, all to avoid that agony that it can bring. Now, what do you have to say?”

Tears flooded from her eyes as her body shook raggedly with sobbing. “Please! Take it off! I don’t want this!”

“No. You’ve already ruined your chance back on the station. You could have left me alone. You could have been picked up by your father in peace. But you didn't do that, and now you have to deal with the consequences. If I let you go, you’ll ruin everything. Again. So until I deem it safe enough to let you go, you’d better be on your best behavior.”

I began to walk from the bridge, leaving the sounds of sobbing behind.

“P-princess.” Hortur spoke in comfort as I heard him slither across the floor. I turned to him.

“Hortur. Attempts to remove the device by anyone other than the owner gives the same result as a slave disobeying a series of orders. Don’t try it.”

“Yes Hero. I understand.” He responded as he attempted to soothe the distraught Princess.

I nodded and left the bridge.