WARNING: This is a snuff story. It contains violence, 
torture, and snuff scenes. If this is not your thing, 
then don't read it. It also contains strong sexual 
content. If you find any of that offensive, are under 
the age of 21 or such material is prohibited in your 
state or country, then stop reading right here.

This story is fiction intended for mature adults. All 
persons and events in this story came strictly from my 
kinky imagination. There is no relationship to any 
real person or events. Don't even think about trying 
any thing described in this story.

A Cordelian Slave Girl - Mirida

By Liana M

@(C) Copyright 2006 by Liana M, all rights reserved.


How It Began

You have probably heard by now of the Yatus Games. 
Vids of the games, while illegal on most worlds, are 
widely available now in the underground. You may have 
seen one, but you probably know very little about the 
women and the few men forced to enter those games or 
how they ended up on Yatus. They tell you that the 
player's are all criminals that have been sentenced to 
death and taken to the Yatus colony for execution. 
While that may be true for some, it is only partially 
true for most, and the Yatus Games are only one part 
of the depravity and corruption that is the secret 
world of the Yatus Colony.

The Yatus Colony is completely underground, built in 
old mines on an asteroid in the Korban system. Korban 
is a major hub of galactic commerce with several large 
star ports. With many star ship crews arriving at 
Korban after weeks or months in space, the usual 
collection of casinos and bordellos could be found 
near each of the space ports, but about 20 years ago, 
some do gooders decided that casinos and bordellos 
were causing too much of crime problem, and closed 
them all. Now you don't get rid of gambling or 
prostitution that easily. To some extent it just moved 
underground, but the Yatus Corporation saw this as a 
business opportunity. They had a large underground 
mining town with a small grubby casino and a few low 
class bordellos in an asteroid that could be reached 
easily from Korban. The metals being mined were 
running out, so they decided to build a luxury hotel 
and casino complex with some upscale bordellos nearby.

The Korban government didn't really care about this, 
although the legal status of the Yatus colony is so 
vague that it is not clear they could do anything 
about it, even if they did care. The Korban government 
was happy to see the trouble makers in star ship crews 
run off to the Yatus Colony rather than hang around 
Korban. 

At first the Yatus Colony operated as a fairly 
standard gambling, sex and sin resort, frequented 
mostly by star ship crews but some Korban locals too. 
Things began to change when the Cordelian Treaty was 
ratified 15 years ago. Most of the galaxy hardly 
noticed that a few frontier worlds with a crime 
problem had agreed to legalize slavery for condemned 
prisoners. Cordelian slave licenses were not valid on 
any of the civilized worlds, but the Yatus Corporation 
claims full sovereignty on the Yatus Colony, and 
signed the Cordelian Treaty. This allowed the Yatus 
Corporation to import slaves from the handful of other 
planets that had signed the treaty. 

A Cordelian Slave is a condemned man or women. The 
owner is allowed to do anything he wants with his 
slave, including killing the slave. This threat is how 
Cordelian slaves are controlled. If anyone questions 
an owner's treatment of a slave, all the owner has to 
do is show his papers to the authorities, at least on 
the worlds that have signed the Cordelian treaty.

The Yatus Corporation began to staff their bordellos 
with some Cordelain slave girls, and a few slave men 
too. The slaves didn't have to be paid, but the main 
advantage was that they could be forced to provide 
more kinky services for customers. Word quickly got 
around that almost any S&M fantasy could be made real 
for a price on the Yatus Colony. 

While most Cordelain slave girls had reconciled 
themselves to working in a Bordello as an acceptable 
alternative to immediate execution, being physically 
tortured was different. Some decided that death was a 
better alternative. To keep the girls working longer 
in this highly profitable business, the Yatus 
Corporation had to threaten them with very slow, 
painful executions.  

The first one of these slow painful public executions 
was a hugely popular event. So many people were 
willing to pay hundreds of credits to watch the 
execution, that Yatus was forced to build a large 
arena just for that purpose. 

The Yatus games were a further perversion of this idea 
dreamed up by the Yatus management a few years ago. 
The original idea was to offer 2-4 Cordelain slaves 
the chance for one of them to win their freedom in a 
torture game. One contestant would be set free and 
allowed to leave the colony, and the others would be 
executed on the spot. All the contestants are locked 
into some kind of a fiendish torture machine. Each 
contestant could end her torture by pressing a button 
near her hand, in which case she would be immediately 
executed. The execution could be quick, like a 
blaster, but that was reserved for contestants that 
had suffered through days of torture first. If a 
contestant quickly pushed the button, then they were 
given an extremely slow and painful execution. 

The people who distribute copies of these games say 
that all the contestants 'volunteer' for the games, 
hoping to escape their death sentence. It is 
technically true that all the players are condemned 
Cordelain slaves, but it is a lie that they volunteer 
for the games. There may be a few that do, but most 
are forced to enter the games.

The Yatus Games and the horrible public executions of 
Cordelain slaves is however, not the darkest, most 
perverse aspect of the Yatus Colony. There is a secret 
part of the Yatus Colony that is open only to the most 
wealthy and powerful. Here there are few limits to the 
perversions that can be had for a price. That is the 
world that I experienced and will tell you about.

My road to Yatus Colony began when I was a junior 
officer on a merchant star ship. We made regular runs 
out to the frontier worlds. In a bar on Urtu, one of 
the most notorious of the frontier worlds, a man 
offered me 20,000 credits to bring a small package 
back to Urtu on my next trip. Now I knew this package 
had to contain something very illegal for him to offer 
me 20,000 credits, but I was only making 12,000 
credits a year, so 20,000 credits was a huge sum of 
money. I had made 10 or 12 trips to Urtu, and no one 
had ever looked in my bags when I disembarked, so I 
figured this would be easy money. I couldn't have been 
more wrong. 

On the next trip back to Urtu I picked up the small 
package from a contact I had been given, and hid it in 
my bag. When I headed into the terminal, it seemed 
like the security people were waiting for me. I am not 
sure if they had some detectors for the drugs that 
were in the package or if they had arrested someone in 
the smuggling ring that told them I was bring in the 
drugs. I was arrested, and quickly discovered that 
Urtu had the death penalty for drug smuggling. After a 
short trial, I was condemned to death, and sentenced 
to be sold as a Cordelian slave. 

Urtu actually holds slave auctions every month. Most 
of women are bought by one of the Urtu slave schools. 
There were at least three of them, owned by local Urtu 
businessmen. I was bought at auction by one of these 
schools. Actually, the school was not that bad. It 
kind of looked like a low security prison, with lots 
of guards, but they also had workout classes and 
hairstylists. Much of the day was spend in classes 
where they explained over and over what was expected 
of a Cordelian slave, how to speak respectfully to 
your owner and others, and the importance of our 
appearance and quality of service to our future. They 
had sex classes to improve our "quality of service", 
especially in kinky sexual practices with which we 
probably didn't have any previous experience. These 
classes include evaluation of our services by 
instructors, who gave us feedback on how to improve 
our technique. They also had work out gyms to help you 
lose weight and get in shape, beauty consultants, and 
even cosmetic surgeons. 

They told us we would probably be sold to a bordello 
owner, who would keep us in the line up until we were 
too old. The best girls would go to high-class 
bordellos on the frontier worlds. The rest would 
probably end up at low class houses in some mining 
colony. When we grew too old to justify staying in the 
lineup, our fate would really depended on our wits. 
Some Cordelian slave girls became companions to 
wealthy older men. Some found other ways to profitably 
benefit their owner. Some were simply executed.  Since 
I was only 23, I was told that I could probably work 
in a bordello for 10 or 15 years, if I was good. This 
was not the career I had been looking forward to, but 
I didn't seem to have much choice. 

When the classes were completed, the school held a 
private auction to sell us off. Hours before my 
scheduled auction, they took me to a beauty parlor, 
and fixed my hair and nails. They carefully shaved my 
pubic hairs between my legs, but left a heart shaped 
patch above, which they told me was the most favored 
style right now. 

When my turn came, I was lead naked onto a lighted 
stage. The lights were bright enough that I could not 
see the bidders very well. We had been told that a 
typical Cordelian slave girl would fetch 100,000 to 
200,000 credits at auction. I was, of course, hoping 
for the upper end of that range. I was surprised when 
the bidding quickly spiraled up to 250,000 credits. 
Someone in back bid 300,000 credits. Everyone turned 
to look at this new bidder, but I could not see him 
because of the lights. Someone in front bid 350,00 
credits, and the man in back bid 500,000 credits. 
There was a hush went over the room, the bidding was 
over and I was quickly rushed off the stage. 

I knew I had been sold for a very high price but I did 
not know what this meant. I asked my guard who my 
buyer was. He said he did not know. He had never seen 
that buyer before, and he had not bid on any of the 
earlier girls. I knew I was in good shape and one of 
the youngest, best looking girls to be sold that day, 
but I didn't know what to make of this. 

A few hours later the buyer picked me up, gave me some 
plain clothes and lead me to his star ship. It was 
very small, and I was the only slave on board. I found 
this very unusual. I though most slaves were carried 
by special slave ships to their destinations, but I 
knew better than to ask. 

I expected that the buyer or captain of the ship would 
be sampling the merchandise, so to speak, during the 
trip, but was surprised to discover that I was mostly 
left alone in my rather nice locked cabin. Meals were 
brought in for me, and once a day I was escorted to a 
very small gym where I was allowed to exercise for 60 
minutes. 

After several weeks we arrived at the Yatus Colony, or 
rather at the headquarters on a small moon of one of 
the outer planets. The asteroid the Yatus Colony is on 
spends most of the time so deep in the asteroid belt 
that it is difficult to approach by ship. For a few 
months every 2 or 3 years, the colony is at the edge 
of the asteroid belt and can be reached easily by 
ship. This is when all the metals being minded there 
are hauled away in ships, and heavy supplies are 
brought in. The rest of the time the colony is only 
reachable by transport beams. The transporter beam, of 
course, consumes a lot of energy, so it is only 
reserved for people and the most urgent of supplies.

I was quickly beamed up to the colony and whisked away 
from the arrival center in a private transport. I 
arrived and was led into a rather grand looking 
building that was mostly empty and lead up to a small 
room. This did not look like the bordello I expected. 
There were no customers around. It seemed more like a 
huge private residence. Had I been bought by a wealthy 
man? If so for what?

After a few hours my questions were answered. A well-
dressed man came to my room to explain my new 
situation to me. I was now owned by a bordello of 
sorts, but what he called a necroticism bordello. This 
house specialized in parties where young women, and 
sometimes men too, were executed in erotic manners for 
very wealthy and powerful clients. I would be part of 
there line up, but he told me not to panic. I was 
there top new girl and my price would be 20 million 
credits. It was very unlikely that any of their 
clients could afford that price. They had many girls 
that could be executed for 1 to 4 million credits, and 
those were the girls that would get picked. As long as 
I kept my appearance up and stayed in good shape, they 
could keep my price out of reach for their clients. 

What I would have to do is provide sexual services at 
a their parties. Most of the buyers liked to have sex 
while watching their victims be executed, and I was to 
be available to provide that service. If I were good 
at it, my execution price would be kept out of reach 
of the clients.

I was in shock. This was not at all what I had 
expected. I could not believe that his was legal, even 
for a Cordelian slave, but I guess on the Yatus Colony 
almost anything is legal. He asked if I had any 
questions. I didn't know what to say. He said that 
they were the premiere necroticism house on Yatus, and 
only the most wealthy connoisseurs in the galaxy could 
afford their services. I was the youngest and most 
beautiful girl in their top lineup. If I kept myself 
in shape and pleased the clients, I should live for 
many more years. After he left, I lay in my bed and 
cried myself to sleep. 

The house was very large. There were at least 2 large 
gyms. Given the cost of space on the Yatus Colony, 
this was a very expensive facility. We were allowed to 
use the gym in small groups, but I was never allowed 
to really talk to the other girls. Most of the girls 
were older, well over 35. Many looked to be 50 or 
more, although they were in good shape. We had weekly 
trips to have our hair cut, nails trimmed and pubic 
hair styled. 

The guards watched us closely, so I learned little 
about what was going on. One day a guard arrived and 
ordered us all to the beauty parlor. I realized this 
must mean that a client was coming. I knew what that 
meant. Some of us would be selected for execution. I 
hoped that what I had been told was true, that my 
price would be set so high that clients could not 
afford me. 

We were ordered to strip naked, and collars were put 
around our neck and we were chained together. I was 
lead into a large hall chained to 10 to 12 other 
girls. This was apparently the houses A list. I was 
shocked to see that the client was a woman, very well 
dressed. A man I had seen once or twice was pointing 
at each of the girls in turn and saying something we 
could not hear. The woman's eyes went up and down the 
line of women, stopping to linger over me. Then she 
waved her hand and we were lead off. 

I was confused. What had just happened? Had any of us 
been selected for execution? I didn't know.

I was lead back to my room. An hour or so later, the 
man that had been talking to the women entered my 
room. He told me the client had selected me to be a 
companion for her most important client at the party 
tonight. He told me he knew this would be my first 
time and I needed to do a good job with this very 
important client to keep my price up.

"Have you ever seen someone die young lady?" he asked 
in a straightforward manner.

"No," I replied.

"Well, let me make sure you understand what is 
expected of you. Marchel has three clients she is 
entertaining tonight, and she has chosen 3 women from 
our B lineup for tonight's main entertainment. Their 
fate is sealed, and you must not concern yourself with 
them. Your job is to entertain the clients and make 
sure your client get his release at moment of death. 
If you do not think you can do this, I am sure one of 
the chosen women would be happy to trade places with 
you. Can you do this?"

Since my first day of arrival, I had known this day 
would come. What could I say? I nodded my head. 

"Can you do this?" he repeated.

"Yes," I answered meekly.

"Good," he said. "Marchel is paying a high price for 
your services tonight, so do not let her down. Now 
each client is different. Some clients will want you 
to give them a blowjob. Have you done that before?"

"Yes," I answer.

"Are you good at it?" he asked.

"I think so sir?" I answered.

"Good," he replied. "Some clients will want you to 
ride them. I assume you can do that?"

"Yes," I replied.

"Some clients will want to take you in the ass," he 
said. "Can you do that?"

"Yes," I replied.

"Now remember you don't need to actually enjoy the 
sex," he said. "But you must never let the client 
think you are not enjoying it."

With that the man turned and left my room. A few 
minutes later a guard came to bring me to have my hair 
touched up again and some makeup applied. Two other 
girls from the lineup I had been in that afternoon 
were also led in for touch up and make up. After we 
were ready, the three of us were given some clothes to 
wear. It was semi-transparent, but it did provide some 
modesty. Then the three of us were lead into a small 
waiting room. 

"This is your fist time," the girl next to me 
whispered.

I nodded my head.

"Don't look at the other girls," she said. "Keep your 
eyes on the customers."

I nodded. We were lead into a big hall. There were 
three small theaters off of this hall, each with an 
elevated platform with some equipment on it. Each room 
had a large couch and some soft chairs opposite the 
platform. The guard pointed to the center room, and I 
was lead to a chair near the platform. I quickly sat 
down. A minute later the main door opened and a large 
party entered. I could see the woman from the 
afternoon, but there were many men and a few women 
with her. They broke up into three groups. The group 
that approached the center theater was headed up by a 
fat, balding middle-aged man. As he approached, I 
stood up and then knelt before him. 

He looked down at me then turned back to the women and 
said, "Very nice, Marchel."

"Come, join me on the couch, girl" he said.

I rose and sat next to him. There were several young 
men and a woman who took seats behind us. My client 
ordered drinks for everyone, and I was brought a drink 
along with all the party. When I sipped my drink it 
tasted like fruit juice. I suspected only the real 
customers got alcohol in their drinks.

"So, how long have you been here," the fat, middle age 
man asked.

"I just arrived," I replied.

"Is this your first... er... time," he asked.

"Yes," I replied.

"Excellent," he said. Then turning to find Marchel, he 
said, "You even found me a virgin."

I wasn't what you usually call a virgin, but in this 
house I guess I was a virgin. 

A few minutes later the doors at the end of the room 
opened and a women was lead in by the guards. I had 
never seen her before. She looked to be older, in her 
30s at least, but she was in good condition. She had a 
good figure and larger breasts than I did. She was 
lead up onto the platform. Her hands were already 
fastened behind her back. A device was lowered down 
and loop of smooth cord fastened around her neck. Next 
small devices were attached to here nipples and then a 
long shiny tube was brought out and inserted in her 
vagina. 

"Do you know what that is girl?" the fat man asked.

"I am not sure, sir," I replied.

The man reached in his pocked and pulled out a remote 
control. 

"It is a most ingenious invention," he said. "When I 
push this little button, it vibrates, producing a most 
pleasurable sensation, I am told."

I nodded.

"And if I push this button, it sends out impulses 
through the body," he said. "Impulses that produce an 
irresistible orgasmic effect."

I nodded. I use to own a sex toy like this, though not 
remote control like this one.

"And when you are hanging by your pretty neck," he 
continued. "That can be a fatal experience, even in 
the anti-grave fields used here."

I nodded again.

"And finally, if I push this button here, then sharp 
needles shoot out, cutting her insides apart."

I gasped.

"Don't be shocked, girl," the fat man said. "With you 
here for me, I am sure her suffering will be short. I 
may even let you do the deed."

He looked at me. 

"Would you like to pull the lever, as they say?" he 
asked.

"I don't understand, sir", I said.

"With these buttons I control the girls fate. I can 
finish her quickly or make her struggle. The anti-
grave fields allow a girl to hang for hours. We can 
make it a very erotic final experience for her, or 
just watch her gasp for air."

The guards had finished preparing the girl and left 
the platform now. 

"Let me see," he said. "Ah, this is the one."

As he pushed one of the buttons the loop around the 
girls neck rose and she struggled up on her tiptoes. I 
glanced up at the girl. She was staring down at the 
fat man, with a look of horror on her face.

"There," he said. "That is a good start. Let's see how 
long before her legs get tired."

I tried not to look up, but I could not help myself. 
The girl had large, sagging breasts. She was in good 
physical condition and was having no trouble standing 
on her tiptoes, but it had only been a minute or two.

I quickly looked back down and smiled at the fat man. 
He ordered another round of drinks for everyone and 
some food to nibble on. My drink was only fruit juice 
again, and I didn't feel like eating. 

The fat man lay back on the couch with his drink and 
looked over at me. 

"So, what is your name, girl?" he asked.

"Mirida, sir," I said.

"Mirida, hmmm, nice sounding name," he replied. "What 
did they get you for?"

"Drugs, sir," I answered.

"Ah, yes," he said. "What most of the girls are here 
for."

He got out a cigar and lit it up. 

"So, Mirida, what do you know about hanging?" he 
asked.

"Nothing, sir."

"Hanging has been used as a means of execution for 
tens of thousands of years," he said. "But regular 
hangings are way too quick. It is over in a matter of 
seconds. Even a slow hanging, with no drop, will kill 
anyone in a couple of minutes max. To make it last for 
hours requires precise control, monitoring, and the 
anti-gravity noose, which is the innovation they have 
developed here on Yatus. Just look at her."

I was trying not to have to look at her, but at the 
fat man's command, I looked up. The poor girl was 
obviously having difficulty breathing now. She was now 
dangling with her legs just off the platform. Her legs 
were hanging still and her body swayed slowly back and 
forth.

"Let's give her a little ride," the fat man said 
pulling the remote control from his pocket. "Now watch 
this carefully."

As I watched he pressed a button and the smooth cord 
around the girl's throat lifted her up higher off the 
platform. The girl's legs began to kick looking for 
something to support her self on. Her eyes were 
looking around widely. Apparently the noose had gotten 
tighter. Then the fat man pushed another button, and 
the girl relaxed again.

"That," the fat man said, "is a little taste of what 
it is like to be hanged. I am told being hung can be a 
very erotic experience."

The fat man obviously saw the look of disbelieve on my 
face. 

"Many women find the lack of air heightens the sexual 
experience. Have you heard about that?"

"No, sir."

"Well, let's test the theory on our friend here," the 
fat man said. "Let's give her one final experience"

The fat man fiddled with the remote controls. 

"There," he said. "Now let's turn up the nipple 
stimulation with this."

The girl, already straining for air, gasp as the 
clamps on her nipples bit into her.

"And now we turn up the vibrator," he said.

The girls face became more wide eyed as she realized 
what he was doing. 

"How long does it take you to cum with a vibrator, 
Mirida?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, sir," I answered. "It varies. Five or 
ten minutes maybe."

The fat man reached in his pocket and pulled out a 
small-elongated silver rod and handed it to me.

"Let's see how long you take compared to your less 
fortunate friend here," the fat man said.

I did know what to say.

"You want me to use this now, sir?" I asked.

"Ah," the fat man smiled. "I forgot you are a virgin. 
Yes, I want you to use that on yourself, while I 
manipulate the vibrator on your friend. The difference 
is that your friend is having her breathing 
restricted, and we can both compare what effect that 
has on her."

This was certainly not anything I had expected, but I 
didn't dare displease this important client. I stood 
up and quickly slipped out of my flimsy clothing. I 
sat back down, spread my legs and began to run the 
vibrator around my pussy lips.

"Watch your poor sister, Mirida," the fat man said. 
"See what effect is it is having on her."

As I looked up, the girl was struggling to stay up on 
one leg. Although she was clearly finding it difficult 
to breath, she appeared to be getting aroused. I had 
never watched a woman before, but I could clearly see 
the little signs. A little sigh here, a distant look 
in her eyes...or was that because she was losing 
consciousness?

My own pussy was getting wet from the vibrator or the 
impulses it was sending out, as I watched the girl 
struggle to stay still in spite of the vibrator and 
nipple clamps. 

Suddenly, her face changed, and I knew she was close. 
The fat man adjusted the controls, and she began to 
wiggle her body. Suddenly the noose around her neck 
tightened, and her feet began kicking at the air 
frantically looking for support as her orgasm rippled 
up her body. 

This was too much for me. I closed my eyes and felt 
the little spasms grip the vibrator in my pussy and 
radiate out through my legs and torso. I stiffened my 
muscles and concentrated on the intensity of my own 
orgasm. As tension drained out of my body, in the 
distance I could hear the fat man muttering about 
something.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the fat man fiddling with 
the remote control. I realized that I had just 
masturbated in front of this disgusting man while 
watching some poor girl hang. I felt dirty. I was 
repulsed by what I had done. I could not understand 
how I could have done something so sick, but I knew I 
must not let the fat man sense this. 

He was furiously pushing buttons on the remote.

"Not yet," he kept saying.

I looked up to see that the girl had been lowered back 
down, but was in such a weak condition it was not 
clear it was doing much good. Her face was dark and 
her eyes looked vacant. I was not sure she was really 
alive.

Then suddenly her eyes moved, and her body tensed up 
again. 

"There," he said. "That's better. I didn't want to 
lose you so quickly. At least not until I have had 
mine too."

"You look thirsty, Mirida," the fat man said. "How 
about another drink?"

Since they were just going to bring me more fruit 
juice, I nodded my head yes. 

"I think we need to give both of you a chance to catch 
your breath, so to speak, before the finale," the fat 
man said.

The finale was going to be much more final for the 
girl on the platform. I looked down so the fat man 
could not see the disgust in my eyes. When they 
brought my drink, I took a few sips and set it aside. 
I wasn't really thirsty. 

The fat man picked up the remote and started making 
adjustments again. I heard muffled gasps from the 
platform, but I didn't look up. I was pretty sure I 
knew what was happening.

"Mirida, dear," the fat man said, turning towards me. 
"Do you have oral experience or are you a virgin there 
too?"

I knew what he meant. He wanted a blowjob. That was 
the sort of thing I was expecting. 

"I have experience, sir," I said.

"Ah, but are you an expert?"

"I think so, sir," I replied. "No man has ever 
complained."

"But can you sense a man's arousal, to prepare 
yourself?"

"Yes, sir," I replied.

"And do you swallow it, young lady?"

I nodded.

"Good," he said. "Then I want to test your expertise."

He started fiddling with the remote control again. 
Then he unfastened his pants and bared himself. I took 
this as my queue, and got to my kneels between his 
legs. As I stood up, I could see that all the other 
men had bared themselves as well. Most were already 
stroking. The women in the party was on her kneels in 
front of one of the men.

I knelt down between his legs, smiled up at him and 
began running my tongue up the underside of his cock.

"Ah, you have had some experience," the fat man said.
 
"Now, when you sense me reaching the finale, I want 
you to press this button here for a few seconds," he 
said.

I nodded as I continued licking.

"Pressing this button will finish your friend," he 
said. "I want you to finish both me and your friend at 
the same time."

The muscles in my stomach tightened. How could I be 
the one to execute this poor helpless girl? I licked 
the fat man's penis and ignore his question. 

"Can you do this, girl," he repeated.

I was repulsed. How could I kill an innocent girl?

"If you were the one with the noose around your neck, 
you would be begging to get it over," he said. "Can't 
you finish your friends suffering?"

I had this urge to immediately hit the button and end 
it all for the poor girl, but I knew better than to do 
that.

"Yes," I said, lifting my tongue from the fat man's 
penis. "I can do it."

I slipped the fat man's cock into my mouth and began 
sliding his penis along my tongue, as I tightened my 
lips around his shaft. I wanted to end that girls 
suffering as soon as possible. 

I sucked away with enthusiasm, feeling his penis head 
get bigger in my mouth. I ran his penis head along my 
tongue until I felt that little twitch and tasted the 
salty taste that told me he was about to cum.

I reached out and pressed the button. 

I tried to block everything from my mind as I 
concentrated on his cock. I tightened my lips around 
his shaft and slide the underside of his cock head 
back and forth on my tongue. I could taste his precum 
and feel his cock head getting larger.

Then his cock twitched and cum splashed against my 
throat and filled my mouth. He was a fat, old man, but 
he came with as much force as a young man. I swallowed 
some of his cum and kept on sucking until he pulled it 
out of my mouth. I swallowed the rest of his cum and 
smiled at him. At the Cordelian Slave school on Urtu 
they taught us it was very important to smile at the 
customer and make him think you enjoyed giving him a 
blow job, even when you found it total disgusting. 

I didn't turn around. I knew what I would find behind 
me and didn't want to look. I reached and found my 
glass and took a long drink of fruit juice to wash the 
taste from my mouth. 

The fat man was gaining his composure again. 

"Well, my young girl, whatever your name is, I think 
you are no longer a virgin," he said.

I stared up at him, not sure what he meant.

"You have executed your first," he said.

In my mind I knew that wasn't really true, but I just 
looked at the ground.

Guards came and lead me back to my room, where I cried 
myself to sleep.

The next day guards brought me to an office to see one 
of the men in charge of this house. He was older and 
had a large office. He studied me carefully.

"You did well last night," he said. "The client was 
very pleased with your service." 

I did not reply.

"You are either a good actress or you actually enjoyed 
yourself, Mirida," he said. "You can speak frankly to 
me. Which was it?"

I looked down at the floor.

"I will not hold your answer against you," he said. 
"But I want the truth."

"From what I could see, your orgasm did not look 
fake," he said. "Where you turned on watching the slow 
hanging?"

I was so ashamed I did not know what to say.

"Or was it something more complex?" he inquired. 
"Where you both excited and disgusted by it at the 
same time, and now you are ashamed of yourself?"

I looked up and nodded my head.

"Interesting," he said. "We paid a large sum of money 
for you, more than any other girl we have ever had. 
Last night was a good start. I believe Mr. Adams 
explained to you how things work here. You are one of 
our "A" list girls. The "A" list girls are mainly to 
provide sex for our clients during the executions. As 
long as you continue to do a good job at that, you 
will stay on the "A" list and your execution price 
will stay out of reach of most customers." 

"The customers here really want to think you are 
enjoying both the sex and the execution. I know they 
taught you how to pretend to enjoy the sex with 
customers. Your report from the school says you are 
very good at that, and you showed it last night."

"How do you feel about watching the executions?" he 
asked. "You find them disgusting?"

I nodded. 

"And you think the customers are disgusting too for 
enjoying the executions?" he asked.

I nodded again.

"As I suspected," he said. "Well, just remember to 
never let the customers find out how you feel about 
it. Your life depends on being a very good actress. 
Although we paid a large sum to get you, we have 
customers that would gladly pay far more to witness 
the painful, slow execution of such a beautiful young 
women as yourself."

"Do you understand?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Good," he said. "I will be raising your execution 
price to 50 million credits. If you can keep the 
customers happy, then you can look forward to a long 
career here."

"We have operated this house for almost four years 
now, and in that time only one customer has ever paid 
to execute a A list girl. That customer is probably 
coming for another visit in a few weeks, and I would 
hate to lose you so quickly. I think your new price 
should keep you safe from even him. Just don't let me 
down. I have high expectations for you."

With that I was lead back to my room. 

Several weeks went by with no customers, or at least 
no customer who could afford to look at the A list 
girls. The hardest part of this was being alone all 
the time. The guards kept me away from any of the 
other girls, so I had no one to talk to all day. Most 
of day I was locked in my room. Now my room was good 
size, and had a very nice entertainment console, but I 
really did not like being alone so much.

One day the guard came in mid-afternoon to take me to 
the beauty salon again. I knew this meant another 
customer lineup. I wondered if this was the very 
wealthy customer that had been mentioned.

We were given collars again and chained together. I 
recognized all girls from the previous line up. We 
were lead onto the stage. The customer seemed to be 
fairly young, but well dressed man. We spent a long 
time standing on the stage while he discussed 
something with the man from the house. Eventually, we 
were led off the stage, still very unsure what had 
happened.

I was taken back to my room again to wait and wonder 
what was happening. A few hours later one of the 
managers came to my room. 

"The Client has selected you for his companion on the 
third day," he said. "The client is a very wealthy 
man, one of the richest men in the galaxy. He expects 
you to be very accommodating and provide the finest 
quality service."

I nodded my head.

"The client has selected three girls to be executed by 
crucifixion. You are very fortunate that Mr. Gobbi 
raised your price, or it might well be you on one of 
those crosses. Two of the girls to be crucified are 
"A" list girls. You need to do a very good job, so 
that Mr. Gobbi keeps your price very high."

I nodded my head, even though I did not completely 
understand what all this meant or who Mr. Gobbi was.

"Your services will only be required on the third 
day," he continued. "The client is having a different 
group of friends with him on each of the three days, 
and we will let one of the girls expire on each day. 
You will only be there on the third day for the final 
execution."

I nodded again, but I must have looked puzzled.

"Ah," he said. "You are new here. You have never seen 
a crucifixion before."

I nodded my head.

"We use ultra modern crosses with the latest in 
biofeedback and anti-gravity technology," he said. 
"This allows us and the client far more control over 
how long a slave will last on the cross. We can adjust 
it so almost anyone will last three days on the cross. 
This client has chosen 3 slaves, and he wants to let 
one expire each day for his friends. The client will 
choose which one expires each day. By the third day, 
when you join him, there will be only one slave left 
on the cross. When she expires, it will be the climax 
of the party, so to speak."

I nodded my head.

"I'm sure the client will expect to climax also," he 
said. "Perhaps several times. That will be your 
responsibility."

I nodded my head again. The manager turned and left my 
room.

I was kept in my room for the next two days, not 
allowed to go to the gym for my usual exercise. On the 
morning of the third day, I was taken to the beauty 
parlor to have my hair done and some makeup. I was the 
only girl there that day. 

After the preparations, I was brought to a large hall. 
There were three crosses at the far end, but only the 
center one was still occupied. The girl on the cross 
seemed slumped over and resting on a rod that had been 
inserted between her legs. She looked very weak. As I 
approached, I could see her face clearly, and 
immediately recognized her. She was one of the girls I 
had sometimes seen in the gym and who had been in the 
line-ups with me. She was probably only a few years 
older than I was. I remember someone calling her 
Katrina. 

The cross was very smooth and metallic and metal rings 
held her writs and ankles tight to the cross. It 
seemed that most of her weight was supported by a rod 
that came out at crouch level, but this looked like it 
must be very uncomfortable. The girl's eyes were 
closed. Perhaps she was even sleeping. 

The doors of the hall opened and a large group of 
people walked into the hall. I recognized the young 
man that was leading the group. I had seen him at the 
lineup. I assumed he must be the client. I knelt down 
with my head bowed as the party approached. 

"Get up girl," a voice said.

I looked up into the young man's eyes.

"Come join me," he said.

I got up and sat next to him on the couch. 

"Bring us some fruit," he ordered. "And juice for 
everyone to drink."

He settled back on the couch and looked up at the 
cross.

"Your rest for the night is over," he said, and 
reached for a rather large remote control. He started 
flipping controls, and I heard a moan from Katrina. I 
looked up and the rod that had been supporting most of 
her weight was retracting back into the cross. She 
slipped off it and her knees bent out from the cross 
as her body slid down it. She seemed weak and her head 
and upper body bent forward.

He turned and looked at me, his eyes moving down from 
my face to my hips.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Mirida, sir," I replied.

"Mirida," he repeated. "That's a nice name."

"Thank you, sir," I said.

"So, Mirida, have you ever seen a crucifixion before?" 
he asked.

"No, sir," I said, looking down.

"Ah, that's right," he said. "You are new here."

I nodded.

"Let me explain a little of the basics," he said. "In 
barbaric times, crucifixion was usually done by 
nailing the person to a wooden cross at the wrists and 
ankles. That of course was very painful, but it caused 
considerable loss of blood and actually shortened the 
time a person could last on cross."

"You see, hanging like that," he said pointing up to 
the cross in front of us. "With your arms pulled back 
like that makes it very difficult to breath. In order 
to get good deep breaths, the person has to push 
themselves up on the cross. After a while they become 
so exhausted that they can no longer push themselves 
up to breath, and then they pass out."

"Now, of course, we have added a number of 
technological twists. As you can see, there are no 
nails holding our lovely victim to the cross, only 
clamps. So there is no loss of blood to shorten her 
torments."

I looked up at the barely conscious girl, wondering if 
Katrina could hear what he was saying.

"There is, of course, an adjustable anti-gravity 
field," he continued. "That makes it easier to keep 
her alive for days."

He looked back up at the cross, as the girl pushed her 
way back up the cross for another breath, and then 
slumped back over again. 

"You see that," he said. "After 2 whole days, she 
still has fight in her."

To me Katrina seemed barely alive and struggling to 
breath.

"There is something so lovely about watching a young 
lady struggle for life on the cross," he said, turning 
towards me. "Don't you agree Mirida?"

"If you say so, sir," I replied, my Cordelian slave 
training having taught me not to say anything 
different.

"Come," he ordered. "Sit closer to me."

I slide over and he put his arm around me.

Several platters of fruit and pitchers of different 
fruit juices arrived. I waited until he offered me 
some. Fresh fruit and juice like this must be very 
expensive on a mining colony, but I guess that was not 
an obstacle to a man as wealthy as he was.
 
When he finished the fruit, he again put his arm 
around me. I leaned against his shoulder and closed my 
eyes. I quickly felt his hands groping me through my 
thin clothes. 

I knew what was expected of me, if I did not want to 
be the next one struggling for air on a cross. I ran 
my hand down towards his crouch and felt around to 
confirm his arousal. He quickly pulled his pants down, 
and I stood up, unfastened my gown, and let it fall to 
the floor. I knelt down between his legs, forced a 
smile and began to lick his manhood.

After a few minutes he pulled me up and motioned for 
me to sit on his lap. I climbed up, spread my legs 
wide and slide towards him. With a little difficulty I 
worked his cock inside me. I smiled at him as I let my 
pussy tighten around him, then I began to slowly rock 
up and down on my knees. I closed my eyes and lifted 
my neck as I felt his cock slide in and out. 

It took what seemed like a very long time for him to 
finally cum, and I was exhausted by the time he 
finished. I slumped forward hugging him for a minute 
until he recovered. I climbed off and sat next to him 
on the couch. 

I looked up at the cross to see that Katrina was 
looking very weak, but she continued to struggle to 
breath.

A guard arrived a minute later and signaled for me to 
follow him. I picked up my clothes, and he led me to a 
small room.

"You can clean up here," he said, motioning towards a 
shower.

I felt really dirty and the shower made me feel 
better, but when I was clean again the guard lead me 
back to the big hall. 

I smiled and sat down next to the client on the couch. 
Katrina looked completely exhausted. I could only 
imagine the suffering she must be going through, and I 
quickly turned towards the client and tried to put 
Katrina out of my mind.

"I like you, Mirida," the client said smiling at me. 
He turned and looked behind him and gestured for one 
of the men seated on the couches behind us to come 
over. He stood up and briskly walked over to our 
couch.

"Consider this part of your bonus," he said to the 
young man. 

Then he turned back to me and said, "Mirida, would you 
entertain this young man." 
  
I nodded my head and he turned back to the young man 
and said, "You can use the both over there, if you 
like."

I stood up and took the hand I was offered and let him 
lead me away towards the booth. The man was younger 
than the client, but older than I was. He looked 
around 30. Although not the type of man I would have 
picked, if I had a choice, he was not bad looking.

He led me into the booth and closed the door. There 
was a similar booth on the other side of the main 
area. They were not very large, but they were 
completely enclosed and had a large clear wall that 
looked out on the stage with the crosses. There was 
just a single couch against the back wall.

The young man gestured for me to sit down, so I did. 
He sat down too, but at the other end of the couch. He 
sat there for a minute looking at me but not saying 
anything. 

Finally he asked, "So what is your name?"  

"Mirida, sir," I replied.

He stared at me, not seeming to know what to say.

"This is awkward," he said. "Somehow.... somehow it 
all seems ....."

I smiled at him, trying to look as friendly as 
possible.

He shook his head. "This is crazy," he said.

I smiled at him. 

"What is your name again?" he asked.

"Mirida, sir," I replied again.

"Stop calling me sir," he laughed. "It makes me feel 
awkward."

"Ok," I replied.

He stared at me, and finally said, "If you were not a 
slave here, would you really be interested in me?"

"Of course," I said. "You are handsome and successful. 
What girl would not be interested in you?"

A Cordelian slave must always be a good actress. While 
not really true, it had a ring of truth to it, and 
that is what is needed to fool people. This seemed to 
relax him a little. I'm not sure he really believed 
it, but it made him feel better anyway. He slid down 
to my end of the couch and kissed me on the forehead. 
I looked up into his eyes and smiled at him so he 
would not lose his nerve. He kissed me on the mouth 
and I felt our tongues meet. His hands began the run 
over my breasts. I reached down and felt his crotch. 

We caressed and kissed for a long time before he got a 
little bolder and slipped his hand under my thin 
clothes. I fumbled with his belt, and he stood up to 
slip his pants off. I unfastened my gown and let it 
fall to the floor. When he got his pants off I knelt 
between his legs, smiled up at him and began to lick 
his cock. After licking some pre-cum off the head, I 
slipped his cock in my mouth and ran the head along my 
tongue. After only two strokes, his cock exploded in 
my mouth. I kept sucking until he had finished and 
then licked the last cum off the head. 

I smiled up at him, but he was clearly embarrassed at 
having cum so quickly. He didn't say anything, but he 
began to pull on his pants.

"Do you have to go?" I asked.

He looked down at me still kneeling on the floor. 

"You are a real temptress," he said with a smile. "Of 
course I don't need to go. What was I thinking? Come 
sit with me a while."

I got up and sat next to him. He put his arm around my 
shoulder. He stared up at Katrina struggling to 
breath. 

"God that is erotic," he said. "I have never been here 
before, but you saw how excited it got me. I suppose 
you don't find that erotic."

I didn't know what to say, so I just looked at him.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Of course you don't. That will 
be you some day."

He looked down and then back at me. 

"God, how can you do this?" he asked.

I just starred at him.

"I suppose you do what it takes to survive," he said. 
"You are good, extremely good. God I wish I could get 
you away from here."

He shook his head.

"I would buy your freedom, if I could afford it," he 
said. "But I don't have 1 million credits, much less 
80 million."

80 million credits? The manager had told me 50 
million. Maybe he had raised it higher than he said.

"Even that blow job probably cost 50,000 credits," he 
said. "Most expensive blow job of my life."

I couldn't believe this. These people must be insanely 
rich. 

He starred at Katrina for another minute. Her hips 
were slightly to the right and her head was hanging 
down seemingly lifeless. Then suddenly her body moved 
again and she struggled to push her body up and get 
another breath.

He turned and looked down at me. 

"I want you," he said. Before I had seen tenderness in 
his eyes, but now I just saw animal lust.

He helped me up off the couch, and pressed a button. 
The couch folded out to form a bed. He took me roughly 
in his arms and kissed me and then picked me up and 
dropped me on the bed. He hopped on the bed, his cock 
now hard. I pulled my legs up and spread them wide. He 
ran his fingers around to find the opening and then 
slipped his cock into me. I moaned as he began 
thrusting in and out. He would look up at Katrina on 
the cross and then down at me as he pounded away. This 
time he lasted much longer than before. I was just 
starting to get exited when he grimaced, made a few 
hard trusts and then collapsed rolling off of me.

I snuggled up next to him and rested my head on his 
shoulder. He rested for a couple of minutes, and then 
he seemed to wake up.

"God you are fantastic," he said. 

He got up out of the bed and started to get dressed.

"I think we better get going," he said. "He will 
wonder what is taking so long."

I got my flimsy gown back on and followed him out. The 
guard again took me to the shower to clean up.

I repeated this twice more with two older men in the 
party. They were not as shy. We did not use the 
booths, but just one of couches off to the side. They 
both came fairly quickly, but not like the first young 
man. 

At this point I was starting to get sore. When the 
guard led me back, I sat down on the couch next to the 
client. I wondered whom the client was expecting me to 
entertain next. 

"Mirida, I bet you are ready for a rest," the client 
said. 

I just looked down.

"This girl has given us a good show," he said looking 
up at Katrina. "I think we need to give her a good 
send off to the next life."

I looked at him not sure what he meant.

He reached over and picked up one of the remote 
controls, like I had seen before. He began fiddle with 
remote controls.

"I would guess we will need lots stimulus," he said.

I guessed Katrina must have one of those remote 
control vibrators inside. The client began adjusting 
the controls, but Katrina did not seemed to respond. 
The client kept pushing buttons and making 
adjustments. Katrina struggled weakly to get another 
breath, and let out a little moan as she did. 

"There," the client said. "Given how weak she is, this 
will take a while, so sit back and enjoy everyone. You 
too Mirida."

Enjoy is hardly what I was thinking, but I knew better 
than to say anything. I wanted to close my eyes and 
wait for it to be over, but I looked up at Katrina and 
tried to make it look like I was interested.

Katrina looked soft, her breasts and hips were 
rounded. In contrast to Katrina's curves, the cross 
was straight and cold. Katrina began to moan louder, 
and struggle to force her body up so she could breathe 
better. I am sure Katrina wished that she could bring 
her fingers to her clit for just a minute to release 
the tension that was building inside her, but her arms 
where tightly fastened to the cross beam and much of 
her weight hung from them. 

I had tried the electro stimulation vibrators, and I 
knew they could build up a huge orgasm without any 
physical stimulus. It was an amazing sensation to just 
lay back in your bed and let the tension slowly build 
to the point you could not resist it anymore. I had 
turned the electro stimulation to the highest level 
once for a completely frictionless orgasm. While it 
was physically intense, I found it strangely not as 
satisfying as my fingers. I preferred to use my 
fingers at the end to push myself over the edge. 

"I think it is time, Mirida," the client said.

I looked over and he was pulling his pants down. I 
unfastened my gown again, and knelt between his knees. 

"I don't need that this time," he said. "I want to do 
it doggie style." 

He pressed something and a little platform rose out of 
the floor. I climbed on the platform on all fours now 
facing the cross. The client slipped his cock into me 
and pushed it deep inside. I was surprised at how 
easily it slid into me. I was very wet. 

The client began to thrust in and out slowly, and I 
began to moan. I only like the doggie position when I 
am extremely turned on and want to feel like I am 
being used. I looked up at Katrina and it was clear 
that she was very close now. She was moaning loudly 
and her chest heaved up for more air. As she raised 
her head, I could see the tension in her face. I 
realized that it was hard to tell if Katrina's 
expression was one of agony from the pain of 
crucifixion or pleasure from her impending orgasm. She 
withered on the cross in some combination of pain and 
pleasure.

As her moans grew louder, I felt the tension began to 
build in my own groins. The client was thrusting 
faster and harder, as Katrina moans grew louder. 

Katrina struggle upright on the cross and let out a 
scream as her body twisted and contorted in pain or 
pleasure. The client cried out too, as he thrust 
deeply into me. I felt my pussy muscles tighten up 
gripping his cock and then waves of pleasure rolled 
out across my stomach and legs as I cried out. I 
buried my head in my hands on the platform as the 
spasms in my loins slowly subsided. 

The client had apparently finished too. He had 
collapsed back on the couch. I rolled on my side on 
the platform and lay there semi-conscious for some 
seconds. After some time, I sat up. I looked up 
towards the cross. Katrina was hanging almost 
lifeless. Her hair hung down over her head, making it 
difficult to see her face. I was not sure whether she 
was still alive or not. 

I felt suddenly cold and dirty, but not the kind of 
dirt I could wash off with another shower. I went over 
to the couch and sat down next to the client. I leaned 
my naked body against his, because that is what we had 
been trained to do. He put his arms around my shoulder 
and pulled me close.

"I think she is almost finished," he said. 

I did not say anything. 

"Do you think I should put her out of her misery?" he 
asked.

"What do you mean, sir?" I inquired.

"She is just barely alive," he said. "I can explode 
her vibrator, and she will bleed to death in a few 
minutes. Who knows how long she might hang on in her 
current weakened state?"

It did not look to me like she was going to hang on 
for very long and I found the idea of exploding the 
vibrator inside her revolting. 

"She has suffered for three days," I said. "Let her 
pass on peacefully."

The client looked at me surprised.

"If it were you up there, that is what you would 
want?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied.

"Very well," he said. "I will increase the gravity 
back to normal. We reduced the gravity to keep her 
alive this long."

He reached down and fiddled with some controls.

Katrina seemed to wake up and take another weak 
breath, but she could not force herself up on the 
cross anymore. The client got dressed, and so did I. 
He ordered some more juice for everyone to drink and 
we sat sipping from our glasses as Katrina slowly 
expired on the cross. 

A red light came on at the far end of the hall, and 
the client stood up. 

"That light means her heart has stopped," he said, 
turning towards me. "Mirida, you have certainly lived 
up to your advanced billing."

I looked down. "I'm glad you were pleased," I said.

"I look forward to seeing more of you on future 
trips," he said smiling down at me.

I did not know what that meant. Was he hopping to use 
me like he had today, or was he looking forward to 
watching me die? I didn't know, but I just bowed my 
head.

One of the guards came and led me back to my room. 

The first thing I did was to get in the shower. I let 
the water run over my body for a long time, hoping it 
would make me feel clean again. I sat down on the 
floor of the shower and cried for a long time. 

The next day I was again brought to see the older man 
in the large office. I wondered if this was the Mr. 
Gobbi that the guard had said raised my price.

"The client was extremely pleased with you enthusiasm, 
Mirida," the man said. 

I did not say anything, but just bowed my head.

"I don't think your enthusiasm was good acting 
either," he said. "I think you genuinely enjoyed your 
self."

I didn't dare look up.

The man came out from behind his desk and approached 
me.

He pushed my chin up as he said, "It is nothing to be 
ashamed of. It was very erotic. It is just human 
nature."  

I looked into his eyes. He looked like such nice 
gentleman. It was hard to believe he might be in 
charge here.

"I understand why you are ashamed," he said. "But you 
shouldn't be."

I thought I should be.

The man stared at me for a minute.

"I think I should raise your price again," he said. 
"You are something special."

I looked down at the floor again.

"Keep it up, Mirida," he said. "And you will not have 
anything to worry about."

After the meeting, I was lead back to my room.

For the next month nothing unusual happened. There 
were no customers or at least customer who could 
afford to look at "A" list girls.

One day I was brought to the large office with the 
older gentleman. 

"Mirida, I have an unusual assignment for you," he 
said. "The Emperor of one of the frontier planets has 
brought a number of prisoners here for execution. 
These are people that have been found guilty of rape, 
murder or terrorism. You will be the companion to the 
Emperor in his private box."

I nodded.

"These executions will not be in our house," he said. 
"They will be at the public arena, and they will be 
broadcast back to the home world."

I nodded again.

"Of course," he added. "What goes on in the Emperor's 
box will not be broadcast."

I was brought to the beauty parlor to get my hair and 
nails done. Two guards brought me to a vehicle and 
accompanied me to the arena. I was taken up to a 
private box. It was empty, but the arena was filling 
up with people.

I sat alone in the box for some time. A man was 
brought out into the arena in robes. The robes were 
removed leaving him naked. The man's hands were lashed 
to a metal frame. He was standing with his arms and 
legs spread and connected to the frame. He was left 
standing, fully exposed.

After a minute the guards lead a woman out into the 
arena. The guard was carrying a whip, which he handed 
to the woman when they got near the man. The woman 
positioned herself and then snapped the whip at the 
man. Clearly she was not very experienced with whips 
and the first stroke missed completely. The woman 
positioned her body differently and swung the whip 
again. This time it connected with the man's chest 
with a loud crack. Obviously this was not a simple 
whip. It include some kind of an energy shock when it 
connected.

The woman positioned her body again and snapped the 
whip at the helpless man. This time the whip connected 
lower down close to the man's exposed genitals. The 
man's body twisted in pain from the energy enhanced 
blow. 

Suddenly the door behind me burst open and the Emperor 
entered followed by his entourage. I knelt and bowed 
low on floor. The emperor came up to me. 

"Come," he said. "Sit with me."

I stood up and followed the Emperor to a chair in the 
front of the box. The Emperor was a tall middle-aged 
man with a slender build. He was well dressed in very 
contemporary looking, but comfortable clothes. Not the 
kind of clothes you would expect an Emperor to be 
wearing for an official state function. He settled 
into his seat, and I sat in the chair next to his.

The Emperor looked down at the proceedings in the 
area. There now was a different woman whipping the man 
tied to the structure in the middle of the arena. This 
woman was younger than the first, and seemed to have 
better aim with the whip. She was clearly aiming for 
the genitals, and when she found the mark, the crowd 
in the arena let out a roar of approval.

"Do you understand what is going on," the Emperor 
asked me.

"Not really, sir," I replied.

"This man is a convicted rapist," the Emperor said. 
"He has been found guilty of 23 rapes, but he probably 
committed more than 100. The women who were his 
victims have been offered the opportunity to whip him 
before he is executed. Several have taken the 
opportunity to do so today. We are broadcasting this 
live today to serve as a deterrent."

After a few minutes, another woman came out and took 
her turn with the whip. The man was clearly beginning 
to bleed from the whipping of his private parts. This 
woman was extremely accurate with her blows, landing 
several right on the man's cock. Each time the man 
screamed in agony and the crowd roared its approval.

After this woman was finished, several men came out 
with some equipment. They began attaching some metal 
rings to the man's cock and balls. These rings were 
attached to cables that ran down to something on the 
ground level. Next they inserted a metal butt plug 
into the man rear and connected it to a cable also. 
They carefully checked his wrist and ankle connections 
to make sure they were secure. When they were 
satisfied, they left the arena. 

A man dressed like a government official came out and 
began to read the charges against the man. This took 
some time, since there were so many charges. The crowd 
was clearly getting a little restless. He then 
gestured up towards the Emperor's booth.

The Emperor stood up next to me and held up his hands 
for silence. The crowd gradually became quiet. When 
the crowd had settled down, the Emperor reached 
forward and threw a switch on the barrier in front of 
him. 

The man screamed as his body was jolted by a burst of 
energy, and the crowd roared its approval. It did not 
look to be continuous, but rather a few second burst 
of energy every 10 or 15 seconds.

The Emperor sat back down and turned to me. 

"This will take a quarter hour or more," the Emperor 
said. "At least that is what we have been promised. 
The energy bursts should completely burn away his 
genitals before the device finishes him off."

I looked down and could see the man try to bend over 
with each jolt, but with his wrists and ankles 
restrained he could not. Even from this distance I 
could start to see signs of burnt flesh around his 
crotch. The crowd was getting louder, but I really 
didn't want to look, so I concentrated my attention on 
the Emperor. 

I was not sure what I was supposed to do. I thought it 
would be more than just sit in a chair next to the 
Emperor, but I was going to follow the Emperor lead 
and just sit for the moment.

"This form of execution is especially appropriate for 
a rapist, don't you think?" the Emperor asked me.

I nodded, but didn't want to look at what was going on 
below in the arena. I kept my eyes on the Emperor and 
a smile painted on my face.

The rapist's cries and the crowd noise grew louder. 
The Emperor and other people in the booth were 
concentrating on the arena below. It sounded like he 
would not last much longer. I glanced down and saw him 
withering in pain with a large patch of burned flesh 
around his lower abdomen. I quickly looked back to the 
Emperor. He seemed to be intently staring down at the 
spectacle in the arena. I looked down at the floor and 
hoped this would soon be over. 

After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably 
only a minute, there was wild cheering from the crowd. 
The Emperor was standing up again, and reached for 
another switch. He hesitated a minute as the crowd 
cheering grew louder still, and then he threw the 
switch. Even over the crowd noise I could here the 
screech and explosion of multiple blaster discharges. 
When I looked down the man and parts of the chains 
that had restrained him were gone. His body and parts 
of the chains had been completely vaporized. 

After the crowd began to settle down again, the 
Emperor sat down again and looked over at me.

"What do you think of it?" the Emperor asked.

Not knowing what to say, I replied, "I think he got 
what he deserved."

The Emperor nodded.

"You may find what's coming up interesting too," the 
Emperor said. "Even though it is not an execution."

I looked down at the arena. Men were pushing a number 
of platforms out with some kind of small device 
sticking up in the center. 

"On our world we execute only the most violent and 
dangerous rapist," the Emperor said. "We have another 
very fitting punishment for most rapists."

I glanced at the platforms being positioned in the 
arena below, but still didn't understand what they 
were for.

"We castrate them," the Emperor said.

I had heard that some frontier worlds used a drug on 
child molesters which was suppose to permanently 
remove the sex drive, but administering a drug would 
not make much of a show. This was going to be a real 
castration. 

"The rape victims will activate the actual castration 
of their rapists," the Emperor said. "If you were 
raped, would you want to castrate your rapists?"

Hadn't I been raped multiple times? Wasn't the Emperor 
going to rape me? Would I want to castrate the 
Emperor? 

"Of course," I said, mostly as the answer I thought 
the Emperor wanted.

"The victims will also have the option to take their 
rapist's penis," the Emperor said. "Would you do 
that?"

Cutting off the penis was a good start of what I 
wanted to do to the men who ran the Yatus colony, but 
just the start. 

"Yes, sir," I replied.

"I suspect most of these women will agree with you," 
the Emperor said.

The crowd began to make noise again, and I looked down 
to see three men being lead naked into the arena. Each 
man had a collar around the neck, and the collars were 
chained together. They were lead to the platforms. 
Each man was separated from the chain and lead to a 
platform. When he was standing on the platform, his 
feet and wrists were fastened to restraints, and then 
the device in the middle was brought up and fitted 
around his penis and balls. I suspected this device 
had some sort of laser surgical cutters built into 
them.

With the three men securely in place, the guards left 
the arena. The government official entered the arena 
again follow by three women. The government official 
read out the charge against the first man and then 
handed the first woman a small box. She immediately 
pressed the button and man screamed, as his balls were 
cleanly cut off. There were big screens all around the 
arena that showed close ups of the balls falling to 
the ground. The women smiled, and then pressed the 
second button. The man screamed again and the screens 
showed his penis being cut off and falling to the 
ground. The crowd cheered.

The first man now hung limp from his restraints. The 
official moved on to the second man and read out the 
charges and sentence for the second man. 

The Emperor leaned over to me and said, "This is all 
done without anything to deaden the pain either."

I nodded, as the second man screamed. I looked back to 
see his balls drop to the ground on the big screens. 
The crowd was roaring its approval. The women seemed 
to be looking around, waiting for something. When the 
crowd began to quiet down a little, she looked back at 
her rapist and pressed the second button. The man 
screamed again, and his penis fell to the ground. The 
crowd roared its approval again.

I wondered, were these men really rapists? They seemed 
to be very handsome men, not the kind I would expect 
to be so desperate as to rape women. Perhaps they only 
chose the very handsome ones to do here. 

The official was now reading out the charges and 
sentence for the last man. He handed the last women 
the remote control, but she did not immediately press 
any of the buttons. She walked over closer to the man 
and was saying something that we could not hear. 
Finally, she pressed the button. The man screamed, and 
the monitors showed his balls dropping to the ground. 
The women walked up onto the platform and stepped on 
his balls to a roar from the crowd. 

The women then pointed down at his penis and said more 
things to the man. After several minutes of 
conversation, she took several steps back, then 
pressed the second button. The large screens showed 
the man's penis fall to the ground, as the man 
screamed. The crowd roared its approval again.

"It looks like all three women agreed with you," the 
Emperor said, "and took their rapist's penis."

I nodded.

The three men were being lead out of the arena, and 
the platforms they had been on were being pushed out 
in a different direction. A large platform was pushed 
out from one end of the arena. The purpose of this 
platform looked clear. There was a high beam that ran 
above the platform and about 20 nooses hung down above 
an elevated section that ran under the beam. 

"This is the execution I have been waiting for," the 
Emperor said. "This is a group of terrorists who 
plotted to assassinate me."

As the Emperor said that, a line of naked people 
chained together at the neck was lead into the arena. 
Most were young men, but there were two older men and 
three young women included in the group. When the 
group reached the hanging platform, they were unlocked 
one by one and lead up a movable stairs onto the 
shelf. They were positioned with a noose around their 
neck. Each noose was carefully adjusted so that it was 
taught and the knot was positioned near their left 
ear. Each of the people standing on the shelf had 
their wrists tied behind them. 

When the last person was positioned on the shelf with 
the noose around his neck, the stairway was moved away 
and the group was left standing alone as the guards 
exited the arena.

The Emperor stood and held out his hands for silence. 
It took a minute for the crowd in the arena to quiet 
down.

"These twenty-one terrorists plotted to kill me," the 
Emperor said. "And now they will play the price for 
their crimes and their total disregard for moral 
principals. Tonight we show our determination to 
uphold the historic principals that have made us 
strong by subjecting these traitors to the traditional 
punishment that has been use throughout all of history 
for treason."

With that, he touched a control on the railing, and 
the shelf began to slowly move down. 

The Emperor sat back down next to me, and leaned over.

"These bastards are in for a surprise," the Emperor 
said. "They think this will all be over in two 
minutes, but this is going to be a slow hanging."

Having watched a girl hang for hours, I knew this was 
possible with anti-gravity platforms. There must be an 
anti-grav generator built into the hanging platform.

As I looked back, the crowd roared as the shelf 
descended far enough that the group's legs were now 
swinging free. There feet were not tied. Some seemed 
to be hanging quietly trying to accept their fate, but 
a number were wildly kicking around. The big screens 
in the arena panned along the hanging men and women. 
All of the men seemed to have erect penises. The 
Emperor must have seen me starring at the screen.

"It is widely believed myth that men get erections 
when they are hanged," the Emperor said. "To make sure 
no one here was disappointed, we gave them a special 
secret drug."

I nodded.

"But it looks like we may have overdone it," the 
Emperor laughed.

The roar in the arena was now mixed with laughing as 
the screens zoomed in on each man's erection. Then 
suddenly the penis of one of the men jerked and shot 
some cum on the ground. The man shuddered and then 
went limp as the crowd roared.

"This drug is working as well as I was told it would," 
the Emperor said smiling at me.

There was another roar from the crowd. I looked at the 
screen to see another one of the young men shudder and 
go limp. Then several more men did the same thing. The 
crowd was going crazy. 

The women were still struggling. I wondered if only 
the men had been given this drug. As time passed one 
after another of the men ejaculated and then went 
limp. There faces were now turning blue. The women 
were beginning to turn blue in the face too, but they 
seemed to still struggle a little.

The crowd seemed to settle down as the last signs of 
life faded from the condemned. All of the naked men 
and women hung silently, a few slowly twisting on the 
end of their ropes. 

"I think that is the end of them," the Emperor said. 
"I hope the rest of their terrorist friends get the 
message."

The Emperor stood up and looked back at me.

"Come," he said. 

I stood up and follow towards the back of the box. The 
Emperor exited the box and I tried to follow, but a 
guard stepped in front of me and ordered me to follow 
him. In the hall there were more of the Emperor 
private guards. I could see the Emperor entering 
another door flanked by guards. I was lead to the same 
entrance and into a large room surrounded by three 
guards. 

The room had a large low bed but otherwise appeared to 
be empty. I had seen the Emperor enter this room, but 
he was nowhere to be seen and I could not see any 
other exit. The guards seem to be just waiting, so I 
had no choice but to waited too.

Suddenly a section of the sidewall slide open and the 
Emperor stepped into the room. After the door had 
slide closed I could not see the entrance even knowing 
it had been there. 

"Leave her here with me," the Emperor said.

The guards looked at each other unsure if they should 
follow this order. 

"She is but one unarmed slave girl," the Emperor 
added. "I can handle her."

The guards slowly departed leaving me alone with the 
Emperor.

"They act like you are one of the terrorists," the 
Emperor said. "You aren't a trained assassin are you?"

"No, sir," I said looking down at the floor.

"I didn't think so," the Emperor laughed. "Of course, 
if you were you wouldn't tell me anyway."

"Come," the Emperor gestured towards the bed. "Let's 
try this thing out."

I walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. The 
Emperor went over to some hidden controls on the wall, 
and suddenly the solid walls on three sides of the 
room appeared to turn into windows onto the arena. 
Even the door I had entered by had appeared to vanish. 
I had heard of this kind of technology, but had never 
seen it applied like this. The effect was very 
impressive. 

I could see that the hanging platform had been moved 
to the end of the arena, but the victims were still 
hanging lifelessly from it. A new platform was being 
pushed to the center of the arena now.

"There is nothing so stimulating as watching your 
would be assassins hung," the Emperor said. "It is 
some primeval instinct that sexually stimulates the 
survivor of a combat to the death."

This made no sense to me. The Emperor had simply 
ordered the execution. There had been no combat. 
Perhaps these terrorists had come very close to 
succeeding before being captured.

"Yes, sir," I said, not daring to contradict the 
Emperor.

"Now, as the victor I will have my prize," the Emperor 
said.

I assumed I was the Emperor's prize.

The Emperor grabbed my gown and ripped it down the 
front. He pulled me up out of it and then lay me back 
down on the bed. He lifted my legs up in the air, and 
then suddenly he entered me. All this had happened so 
quickly that I was not prepared and he had a hard time 
forcing himself into me. I let out a gasp of pain, 
which I tried to disguise as a gasp of pleasure. The 
Emperor seemed to be unconcerned with me, and 
proceeded to force himself deeper into me. At least I 
was beginning to lubricate, which allowed me to relax 
and let the Emperor have his way with me.

After several minutes the Emperor arched his back and 
let out a cry. As I had been taught in slave school, I 
arched my back and twisted my face in a faked orgasm. 
The Emperor lay down on the bed exhausted. I sat up 
and looked down on him. I realized that if I were an 
assassin, this would be the moment to strike. Alas, I 
had no training for that. Instead I lay down next to 
the Emperor and placed my arms around him.

After a couple of minutes rest the Emperor pushed me 
away, and sat up again. 

"You actually are a prize worth winning," the Emperor 
said, smiling at me. I guess that was a compliment, 
perhaps on my appearance or the quality of my fake 
orgasm. 

The Emperor stood up and fastened his pants back up. 
On the wall I noticed that two crosses had been set up 
and two women were being fastened to the crosses 
before they were erected. 

"Ah, yes," the Emperor said. "The final show for 
today, a Dandurian enhanced crucifixion."

Danduria was the developer of a torture machine 
rumored to be used by criminals, spies and some law 
enforcement agencies on the frontier worlds. While it 
did no physical damage, it made the victim feel like 
his body was racked with pain. Crucifixion was already 
supposed to be one of the most painful ways to die. 
Why did they need to make it worse with a Dandurian 
torture machine?

The Emperor watched the crosses being erected. 

"These two are not really criminals," he said. "In 
fact we got them right here on Yatus. They are 
Cordelain slaves, just like you, but we made up some 
crime for crowd."

With the crosses now erect, the women were struggling 
to hold themselves upright. While the walls showed 
what was going on in the arena, there was no sound. 
Suddenly both women appeared to scream and their 
bodies went rigid. This must be the effect of the 
Dandurian torture machine. 

"Ah, yes," the Emperor smiled. "That is just a taste 
of what is to come. Too bad I won't have time to stay 
all afternoon and watch."

The Emperor walked over to the controls and turned off 
the wall displays. He then walked over to the door and 
out of the room. In a moment one of the guards was in 
the room ordering me to get up and follow him. I found 
what remained of my clothes on the floor, and draped 
it over myself. 

A few hours later I was back in my room. I took a 
shower, but it didn't really make me feel clean. I was 
not sure I could ever feel clean again.

I expected a visit with one of managers, but the house 
seemed very quiet the next day. I was taken to the gym 
for exercise, but that was all. Nights were usually 
very quiet, but something different was going on that 
night. There were people coming and going in the halls 
late at night. Suddenly my door opened and a strangely 
dressed security man or policeman entered the room and 
ordered me to follow him. In the hall he put a collar 
around my neck and fastened me to a chain, and then 
lead me towards the lobby of the building.

When we got to the main entry, there were many 
similarly dressed policemen guarding a group of slave 
girls who were locked together. The regular house 
guards were also standing around with several 
policemen watching them. My guard added me to the 
chain of women and departed. I looked at the other 
women. I recognized some of the women, but not all of 
them. They were obviously just as worried as I was 
about what this all meant. 

A large vehicle arrived at the front entrance and all 
the women were lead out and put into the back of it. 
The vehicle ride lasted only a few minutes, and I 
recognized the back entrance to the arena that I had 
been at only a couple days before. We were lead off 
the vehicle to a large room. There already were around 
ten women from our house sitting in the room. 

"You will not be harmed here as long as you obey," one 
of the guards said in a loud voice. "Sit here and wait 
for your name to be called. Absolutely no talking."

Then the guard began to remove the chains from our 
collars, but left the collar on. I sat down on one of 
the benches next to some women I had never seen 
before. Several girls were whispering to each other. I 
whispered to the girl next to me, "What is happening?"

"Change of ownership," the girl whispered back to me.

It seemed unlikely that all these policemen would be 
needed if the house had just been sold. This looked 
more like a police take over of the house.

Another group of women arrived and took seats in the 
room. I had not realized that our house had this many 
women. Could some of these be from another house? 

Suddenly my vision froze. Sitting near the end of the 
bench of women that had just arrived was one that 
looked just like Katrina, the woman I watched die on 
the cross with a very wealthy client. That was not 
possible. I had watched her die, hadn't I? 

I looked around at the policemen. They had told us to 
sit on the benches, but there were only two policemen 
in the room, and they were distracted right now by the 
new arrivals. I got up and walked over to the women 
that looked like Katrina and sat down next to her. I 
checked, but it seemed that none of the policemen had 
noticed.

I leaned over and whispered, "You are Katrina?"

The women looked at me a little puzzled.

"Yes," she whispered. "But I don't know you."

"Mirida," I said. "I thought you were dead."

"Don't say that," Katrina said with some panic in her 
voice.

"I saw you die on the cross," I protested.

Katrina looked around to check the policemen guarding 
us.

"Don't ever tell anyone that," she said.

I looked at her puzzled.

"I was dead," Katrina whispered. "They brought me back 
with some new, secret technology. It doesn't always 
work. My memory is very hazy. I don't remember the 
time on the cross or seeing you."

"You mean they try to bring all the women back to 
life," I asked.

"No," she said. "Most they cannot. Time is important 
and how you died. If you bleed to death, there is 
nothing they can do. Like when a client explodes one 
of those vibrators inside you."

I had seen that with my first client.

"What are they going to do with you now?" I asked.

"They don't know," Katrina said. "They just want to 
keep it secret that I'm alive."

Katrina looked around at the police that still seemed 
to be busy with papers.

"Look," Katrina whispered. "I would move away and 
forget everything I told you. I don't think these ones 
have figured it out yet, but they will eventually. If 
they remember the two of us talking, you may be in big 
trouble."

I nodded. I looked around at the policemen, who all 
seemed to have their noses in some papers or books. I 
quickly slipped over to another bench and looked in a 
different direction. I carefully avoided looking back 
at Katrina again.

I guess it made sense that they wanted to keep it a 
secret that they had some technology to bring the dead 
back to life, at least as long as they had not been 
dead too long. The customers might feel cheated, if 
they found out, and demand their money back.

The policemen started calling names one at a time. As 
each woman's name was called, she was lead away to 
another room, and did not return. Eventually my name 
was called, and I was lead to a room were two men I 
had never seen before sat behind a large table with 
several young assistants standing behind them. These I 
took it were the new owners of the house. They were 
looking at some papers in front of them. One of the 
assistants pointed to some items and whispered in the 
older mans ear.

"So, you are Mirida," the older man said, looking up 
at me. "I have heard about you."

I looked down at the floor.

"The notes here indicate the Emperor was very pleased 
with your last assignment," the man continued.

I looked up, but did not say anything.

"All your clients have been very pleased," he said. 
"If you keep up this kind of work you should have many 
more years to look forward to as one of our star 
attractions."

"Yes, sir," I said.

"Take her back to her room," the man said. "And make 
sure she gets special treatment." 

The guards acknowledged the order, and I turned to 
follow them out of the room.

"Wait a minute," the man ordered. "Bring her back."

One of the assistants was pointing to something on the 
papers.

"You were an officer on a merchant star ship?" he 
asked.

"A junior officer, sir," I replied.

"Did you play Tocana?" he asked.

Tocana is a gambling game that is very popular with 
the crews of merchant ships.

"Yes, the officers played once or twice a week," I 
replied.

"Did you win or lose?" he asked.

"I usually lost a small amount," I said. "But 
sometimes I would win."

He studied me for a minute. 

"Ok. Take her away," he said. "And make sure she gets 
some new clothes and some vids to watch."

The policemen nodded, and we turned and went out 
again. This time I was the only person in the back of 
a much smaller vehicle. After a few minutes we arrived 
back the house and the policeman brought me into the 
lobby to turn me over to the regular house guards. One 
of the guards led me up to my old room again. Even 
though it was the middle of the morning, I took a 
shower and went to bed. I did not know what to think 
of the events of the night, but I was so exhausted I 
quickly fell to sleep.

I was awakened from a deep sleep by someone saying, 
"Wake up, Mirida."

I forced my eyes open to see a well-dressed man with a 
guard standing behind him.

"We are moving you to a better room," the man said.

I had never seen this man before, but I recognized the 
guard. I slowly began to sit up to get out of bed. I 
was only wearing panties, but given my experience I 
was now use to being nude around the guards and 
managers.

"Here," the man said handing me a large bag. "Get 
dressed and put your belongings in this. We will wait 
outside."

The man turned and walked out. The guard looked 
surprised, but followed him out. It took only a few 
minutes to get dressed and ready. I only had a few 
changes of clothes the house had issued me. I knocked 
on the door and the guard opened it.

"Follow me," the manager said.

We went down some halls I had never been in before to 
a lift that took us up two floors. I had never been on 
these floors before. The halls looked similar, but 
when the opened the door to my new room, I could 
immediately see that it was almost twice the size of 
my old room. The room also had a much larger shower 
and dressing area and a large vid screen. 

"I think you will find this room much nicer," the 
manager said.

"It looks very nice," I said.

"The vids are available anytime," he said.

My old room had a very small vid screen and it only 
worked for two hours in the evening. 

"We will leave you now to rest," the manager said. 
"Someone will come to bring you to dinner."

Up to now meals had been brought to my room.

"Bring me to dinner?" I asked.

"Yes," the manager replied. "You will be eating dinner 
with some of the staff."

The manager and guard left me alone in my new room. I 
wondered what all these changes meant. What changes 
were the new management planning? Why was I being 
treated so well? It made me feel uneasy. 

A few hours later the guards came to get me for 
dinner. I was brought to a small room on the lower 
level. There was a table set for dinner and I was 
directed to take a seat near the end of the table. 
Three guards sat at the table and we sat there in 
silence for several minutes, until a well-dressed man 
I had never seen before arrived and sat at the head of 
the table.

"Hello, Mirida," the man said. "I am one of the new 
owners of this house."

I nodded. I guess that made him my owner too.

"I hear that you have some experience with Tocana," he 
said. 

"Yes sir," I said.

Several men dressed as waiters began to bring in food, 
which was served to all of us. It was much better food 
than I had been getting, but nothing spectacular. 

The owner proceeded to quiz me on the basic rules of 
Tocana, which is not that complicated. Each player 
gets four tokens. Eventually 5 tokens are placed in 
the middle for everyone. The object is to make the 
highest and lowest set of 5 tokens using 3 from the 
common tokens and 2 from your 4 tokens. For high set, 
there is a ranking based on pairs, triplets and 
sequences and colors. For low set, only tokens of 
value eight or less are allowed with no pairs. Some 
plays, no one can make a low set, so the high set gets 
all the bets, but usually the high and low hand split 
the bets.

One of the guards picked up were the owner left off, 
asking about strategy.

I explained my basic strategy which a lieutenant 
taught me one night after I had lost a lot of credits 
in the weekly officers Tocana game on my ship. The 
basic idea is you only want to play starting tokens 
that have a chance of being both the high and low 
winner, so you get all the bets, and if your chances 
do not look good after the first three common tokens, 
get away from it.

When I was finished the guard nodded and looked back 
to the owner at the head of the table.

"We are going to give you a chance to show your skill 
at Tocana," the new owner said.

I could not imagine what he was talking about. I had 
no money. Unless we were just playing for fun, I 
didn't see how I could play with this group, but I 
didn't say anything. I just nodded.

"The game will be in a few days," he continued. "You 
will play against some of the other women."

So no one in the game will have any money. What was 
the point of this game? 

"If you are wondering where you will get the money for 
this game," he said. "We will loan it to you. If you 
cannot pay your loan back at the end, we will take it 
out on you with the Dandurian whip."

I had heard of the Dandurian whip. It was suppose to 
be unbearably painful, but did not do any actual 
physical damage or leave any marks. That was certainly 
an incentive to win, since I doubted they would let me 
keep any money if I won. Still it didn't really 
explain the point of it all. If they wanted to whip 
some of their slaves, they didn't need a Tocana game. 
They could just do it.

"Yes, sir," I said. Slaves did not question their 
owner. Maybe this was something some client wanted to 
watch.

I was lead back to my room.

The next week or so seemed normal. I was again allowed 
to work out in the gym. The food I was getting seemed 
better than it had been, but I was still forced to eat 
all meals alone in my room and had no contact with 
anyone, other than the guards. No one mentioned 
Tocana.

Then in the evening after dinner a guard came to my 
room and announced he would be back in an hour to get 
me for the Tocana game. About an hour latter he 
returned and lead me to a part of the building I had 
never been to before. We arrived at a large room with 
a low ceiling. In the middle of the room was a 
circular table set up with an automatic Tocana game. I 
had seen these in casinos, but no ship I had been on 
could afford something like this. Instead of dealing 
plastic or metal tokens, there was a control unit in 
the middle of the table and each player had a small 
console. The consoles had very directional screens 
that could only be seen when seated directly in front 
of the screen. There were a number of chairs at one 
side of the room, and there were screens setup facing 
the chairs. I gathered these screens would be showing 
those watching the tokens that everyone had so they 
could follow the game more closely. 

The guard motioned me to one of the seats at the 
table, and I sat down. There was one other woman I did 
not recognize already seated at the table. Over the 
next few minutes four more women were brought into the 
room and took a seat at the table. I did not recognize 
any or them. 

Other men were filtering into the room taking up the 
seats along the wall. Most of these men I recognized 
as managers or guards, but a few I had never seem 
before.

A man came around and placed a stack of chips in front 
of each of the women players. 

The new owner from the dinner a week ago arrived with 
a small entourage that included two well-dressed 
women. The women and the others found seats, while 
owner walked around behind the table so he was facing 
both the seated audience and us.

"Tonight we have a Tocana game for your 
entertainment," he said. "Each player has 1000 
credits. The game will end when the first player goes 
broke. For each 100 credits a player is down, she will 
receive one lash with the Dandurian whip."

He gestured towards one end of the room where 
something was fastened to the wall. It looked like a 
whip with long strands of material handing from a 
handle that had a power cell attached to it. I 
gathered that was a Dandurian whip, although I had 
never seen one before.

"You all understand the rules," he continued. "This is 
a no limit Tocana game, with the usual all in rules, 
so let the game begin."

The officers always played no limit back on my ship, 
but as I had been taught, you never put all your money 
on the table. No limit was tricky. People with more 
money in the game could force you to go all in at any 
time. Sometimes your tokens were just too good to fold 
or you were sure they were bluffing and just trying to 
push you around. Bad luck could clean you out quickly, 
so you always wanted to have enough cash in your 
pocket to buy back in to the game several times to get 
a chance to win your money back.

There was no chance of buying your way back into this 
game. If I went all in and lost, it was 10 lashes with 
the Dandurian whip! I would have to be very careful, 
and not take chances. Of course that was what this 
game was all about, taking chances.

The game started slowly. All the other women were 
playing carefully too. It soon became clear to me that 
while all of these women knew the rules of the game, 
it seemed none of them really knew anything about 
strategy or what kind of tokens to play. You might 
think that would make it easy for me to win, and it 
would in the long run, but in a game like this it made 
it even more tricky. In a game against skilled players 
you could be sure they would never play certain kinds 
of tokens, but these women were playing anything. I 
would have to be doubly careful.

I folded most of my hands. Saw the first tokens on the 
board with a few and quickly folded when I missed. My 
stack of chips was slowly dwindling by the small 
losses and open fees. I decided that with the pots so 
big I needed to play more starting tokens that could 
connect and see what happened.

   
A few hands later I got one, two, and two three 
tokens. I decided to play this and see what developed. 
The board showed another three, giving me 3 threes, 
but that would never hold up for the high hand. If the 
board paired or the last three came, that might be 
high, but my low looked pretty good. Several women 
called, with Kate leading the betting. My tokens did 
not improve on the final board, and Kate bet 100 
credits, a large bet for the game so far. She had been 
getting more aggressive, but I thought I had the low, 
and half the pot looked pretty good right now. One 
other woman called us too.

Thankfully, I did have the low, and Kate had a 
straight for the high, so we split the pot. The pot 
was big enough, even though we split it. I was now up 
a little.

I continued to play very carefully, and saw my chip 
count slowly shrink to one then two strokes of the 
Dandurian whip. Two of the women were getting 
dangerously low on chips and I was afraid one of them 
would bust out of the game soon. That would mean 10 
strokes for her, but 2 or maybe more for me. I 
desperately needed to win another big pot, but my 
tokens were just not connecting with the board.

Then what I feared happened. Kate forced Shiria, one 
of the weak players with only a few chips left, to go 
all in. I watched in horror as the common tokens 
appeared on the board. I was hoping for a split pot 
that would at least keep the game going. Then I 
noticed Shiria had a half smile on her face. Had her 
tokens connected with this board?

The last common token appear and the board flashed the 
results. Not only had Shiria not busted out, she had 
scoped both sides of the pot! She had good starting 
tokens that connected with the board. Kate had lousy 
starting tokens that had completely missed the board.

Suddenly luck and the texture of the game shifted. All 
the women realized how Kate had been pushing them 
around, and began to call her down. 

I finally got a good starting hand, two ones, three 
and four tokens. Kate was in the pot with several 
other women, and Kate opened the pot. I just called 
her, because my hand could always miss the board, but 
it connected this time. I was sure I had both sides of 
this pot. 

Kate led the betting again, and I decided to just call 
her to disguise the strength of my hand. The next 
token on the board was no help to me, but I didn't 
think I needed any help. Kate led the betting again, 
and I decided this was the time to trap her. Rather 
than just calling, I bet all my chips. From experience 
players are suspicious of all in bets on the end. They 
are more likely to call with at least one token to 
come. Going all in when a token comes on the board 
which could not possibly help a good players hand 
always makes it more likely a weak hand will call.

Kate started at me. She still had enough chips to call 
my bet without going all in, but it would take most of 
what she had. Kate thought for several minutes, and 
then pushed her chips into the pot. All the other 
women folded. I didn't even notice what the final 
board token was, but the board flashed that I had 
scooped the pot. 

Kate starred at me in disbelieve. I looked at her 
tokens. She actually had a good low. Mine was just a 
little better. I could hear many hushed conversation 
amongst the audience, but could not make out what any 
of them were saying.

Kate was now very low on chips. Every time she tried 
to enter a pot, someone would try to force her all in, 
and she was forced to drop out. Finally, she was so 
low on chips that she had to go all in. She had a fair 
set of tokens, but they completely missed, and she 
busted out of the game. I smiled, because I was well 
ahead thanks to Kate's overly aggressive play.

As soon as the hand ended, guards moved forward to 
grab Kate and three other women who were down a little 
to a lot. The audience began to clap and cheer. It was 
not clear whether they were cheering the winners or 
the losers of this game.

The guards lined the 4 women up at the end of the 
room. The new owner moved towards the women and 
whispered something to one of the guards. 

"Shiria won the final hand," the new owner announced. 
"So I have decided she will not be punished." 

One of the guards led Shiria back to her seat.

The guards stripped the first girl naked and fastened 
here hands to restraints in the wall, while another 
guard got the Dandurian whip ready. 

Dandurian whips, like other Dandurian torture devices, 
were illegal everywhere. Nonetheless, they were 
available on many of the frontier worlds, especially 
those that had signed the Cordelian treaty.

The first girl received a single stroke, but when the 
strands of the whip hit her back, she cried out in 
agony. The small group of men and a few women watching 
from the chairs cheered at this first blow. Her body 
became rigid, and then a shudder seemed to run across 
her shoulders and arms as the pain slowly faded from 
her mind. There were no marks on her body, but the 
girl was left slumped against the wall sobbing.

The guards unfastened her and one of them helped her 
from the room, since she could not seem to walk on her 
own. All that from a single blow from the Dandurian 
whip! What would 10 do?

The second girl was to get 6 strokes. The first stoke 
had a similar effect on her. Leaving her crying with 
her body hanging from her wrist restraints. The guard 
allowed the full impact of each stoke before 
administering the next. The audience cheered each new 
blow. The girl's cries initially grew louder with each 
additional stroke, but then faded on the final 
strokes. She seemed to have passed out between 
strokes, but each additional stroke brought her back 
to consciousness briefly. When her ordeal was over, 
two guards had to carry her away. 

Kate had watched this bravely, knowing it was her turn 
next. She was older than most of the slaves I had seen 
here. Her face seemed emotionless as the guards 
removed her clothes and fastened her wrists to the 
wall. She lowered her head to rest against the wall as 
she braced herself for the first blow. When it landed, 
she screamed in agony. The audience cheered, but I and 
the other slaves remained silently thankful we did not 
have to endure this. Kate seemed to lose consciousness 
by the third blow. Her body would hang against the 
wall until the next blow landed. When it was over, she 
seemed totally unconscious as the guards carried her 
away. 

The new owner stood up and said, "That concludes our 
entertainment for tonight. Let's all give a round of 
applause for all the contestants." 

There was a polite round of applause and then everyone 
began to get up and leave. A guard came up behind me 
to escort me back to my room. 

The new owner seemed to make eye contact with me from 
the other side of the room and smiled, but said 
nothing, as I was lead out.

Nothing seemed to have changed the next day. I resumed 
my regular schedule of exercise, beauty treatments, 
and leisure time. If I hadn't been a slave with the 
constant threat of execution forced to provide sexual 
gratification for a wealthy perverts, I would have 
thought this was a good way to relax.

Some weeks later a guard arrived in my room early in 
the morning and announced, "Pack you bags. You are 
going on a trip."

I was puzzled.

"How long a trip," I asked.

"It's ten days to get there," the guard said.

That was a long trip. Clearly we were going far from 
the Yatus colony. By star ship, this could be almost 
any of the inhabited worlds.

I packed all my belongings in a bag, assuming this 
would be a round trip. I hoped that was not being 
optimistic. I was quickly loaded into a ground car and 
traveled back to the star port. The ship could have 
been the same one that brought me to Yatus, but I was 
not sure. I was locked into a room similar to the one 
on my trip to the Yatus colony. 

It was several hours before the ship finally lifted 
off. Of course no one told me why we had to wait. The 
trip was similar to my trip to Yatus. I was kept 
locked in my cabin all but one hour per day, when I 
was allowed to use the small on board gym. I saw no 
one except two guards. I was treated and feed well, 
but bored and lonely. I had lots of time to think 
about what this trip was about, and I did not like 
most of the ideas.

I had no idea where we were when the ship finally 
landed. It was obviously a frontier world from the 
looks of the spaceport, but not one I knew. I was 
whisked away from the spaceport in a low altitude 
flying transport along with the two guards from the 
ship. We traveled for more than an hour across rather 
barren landscapes with no sign of human habitation. 
Then we crossed a mountain range and were flying over 
a green valley with rivers and forests. The craft then 
turned slightly and approached a small rounded hill 
with huge buildings on top. As we came closer I could 
see on the top of the hill what looked like one of the 
largest houses I had ever seen. Surrounding it, lower 
down on the hill were many out buildings and some 
smaller houses. We landed on a pad next to the big 
house. There were four other small flying craft there 
and one that was much bigger.

After we disembarked, one guard watched me while the 
other went ahead to meet someone. He came back in a 
moment and motioned to follow him. We were met by 
another guard apparently a local. He led us to a back 
entrance and then down a ramp into the hill under the 
house. There I was lead to a small, well-lit, 
comfortable looking room. The guards dropped my bags. 

"You will be staying here tonight," he said.

I nodded. 

"I hear she is quite good," the local guard said.

The two Yatus guards nodded their heads.

"We will see tomorrow," the local guard said as he 
closed the door.

What did that mean? What was I "quite good" at? Had I 
been brought all this way to provide sexual services? 
That didn't make any sense. There didn't seem to be 
any other slaves from the house on the ship. They 
wouldn't send me on one ship and other slaves on 
another. Were they planning to execute me tomorrow? 

It just didn't make sense.

While the bed in the room was comfortable, I had 
trouble falling asleep. I kept wondering if this was 
my last night. I must have finally fallen asleep, 
because I was awakened with a start by a local guard 
bring breakfast. I was just finishing my breakfast 
when I heard people outside and the door opened again. 
There stood the new owner of my house. Had he come on 
the same ship I did? If he did, I had never seen him.

"Well, Mirida today you get to show how good you 
really are at Tocana," he said.

Tocana! They had brought me half way across the galaxy 
to play Tocana. That did not make sense, but I nodded 
and tried not betray my thoughts.

"This time you will be playing for higher stakes," he 
said. "Your life."

What did he mean?

"Excuse me sir," I said. "I do not understand."

"The owner of this house has arranged for a night of 
rather special entertainment," he said. "It will 
climax with a truly high stakes Tocana tournament. 
Players that bust out will be executed on the spot."  

This is what it was all about. Now I understood why I 
had been brought here. 

"The other players will all be slaves like you," he 
continued. "But I suspect they will be better players 
than the slaves you played on Yatus. You will have to 
play well to survive this night, but I have seen you 
play and know you can do it. I would not risk you in 
this game if I did not have confidence in your 
ability."

He was trying to be reassuring, but I didn't feel 
reassured at all. He had decided to bet on me, but it 
was my life he was betting, not his.

"The game will be late tonight," he said. "You can 
relax here until then. You might want to get some 
sleep so you will be sharp tonight."

With that, he turned and left me alone to contemplate 
my fate. Sleep would be a logical thing to do, but I 
was way to upset to even think about sleep. I tried to 
sit, but ended up pacing around my room like a caged 
animal. I felt helpless to do anything.

A few hours later a man I had never seen before came 
to explain the details of the game. 

"You will be strapped into chair," he said. "This is 
an execution chair. There are special dual dildos 
built into this chair. The losers are executed by 
passing energy through their body. How much energy, 
how painful it will be and how long the losers will 
suffer depends on the Prince. He will have the 
controls and can make the execution relatively quick 
and painless or long and painful as he pleases."

I had my guess what this Prince would pick.

"After the losers are dead," he continued. "They will 
be vaporized with a blaster."

Well that sounded very final. No chance of bringing 
anyone back to life after their body had been reduced 
to gas and dust.

"There are controls for the game build into the arms 
of the chair," he said. "You will be given a 1000 
credits. The game is no limit Tocana. If you lose all 
your credits, you will be executed immediately. There 
will be seven other players. The game will end when 
four of the eight players have lost the ultimate 
stakes." 

"Do you understand this," he asked.

I nodded. 

"They will bring you to be strapped into the chair 
shortly," he said, and then turned and left me alone 
to think again.

In a few minutes a guard showed up, but instead of 
taking me somewhere, he brought a hairdresser and a 
make up person. They washed, dried and trimmed my 
hair, including my pubic hair. A Cordelian slave must 
always look good, even at her execution.

When they finally finished with my hair and makeup, 
there were two other guards waiting to take me away. 
They lead me down dimly lit corridors under the house 
to a stairs that lead up to the main level.

I was led along several brightly lit corridors and 
into a room with the special execution/Tocana chairs. 
Each chair had a dildo in the center of the seat. 

"Take off your clothes," ordered a man dressed like a 
technician.

I slipped quickly out of my slave dress that was so 
flimsy it hid little anyway. The technician spread 
some kind of lubricant on the dildo.

"Now, take your seat," the technician ordered.

I squatted down and slowly let the dildo slide in. It 
was painful, as it forced its way in, but after a 
minute the discomfort seemed only minor. The 
technician was busy strapping my arms to the chair, 
then my legs. There were metal bands run across my 
chest, one just below my breasts and one just above. 
He then fitted a bra like support cage over each of my 
breasts that ran between these two metal bands. This 
cage supported my breasts, but had a large whole at 
the end through which my nipple protruded. After a 
minute the technician came back with another dildo 
with a short wire attached to it. He slid it into my 
vagina and attached the wire to the chair.

"There," he said. "You are all set." 

"The game control buttons are here," he said pointing 
to the ends of both arms. "I really wish you good luck 
tonight. It would be such a waste to vaporize someone 
as lovely as you."

"Perhaps you could rig the game for me then," I said.

"Oh, no," he said. "I couldn't do that. If the Prince 
found out, he would have me vaporized."

He walked over to the corner and pushed some controls. 
The wall opposite us suddenly became transparent and 
we could see into a room with a large Tocana console 
in the center. There were half dozen young men 
strapped into chairs around the console.

"You may find the end of this Tocana game interesting 
to watch," he said. "These men are playing for 
somewhat different stakes."

I looked at him not understanding what he meant.

"The losers here are instantly castrated," he said. 
"Actually, not just castrated, nullified. It is all 
vaporized away, even the nipples."

The room had a balcony around it, and I could see 
people watching the game on the other side. There were 
screens on the balcony that probably allowed them to 
follow the game, but from this level I could not tell 
anything about the state of the game.

Suddenly one of the chairs moved back from the console 
and a blued light flashed in the chair. The man was 
crying out in agony. Two guards came forward and 
unfastened him from the chair. They had to lift him 
out of the chair because he was too weak to stand on 
his own. They turned him around so that everyone could 
see. There was a bright red scare where penis and 
balls had been. Only a couple of drops of blood ran 
down his legs, so the wound must have been sealed by 
the vaporization. 

How could people view this kind of mutilation of other 
human beings as entertainment? I couldn't believe that 
this technician thought I would find this enjoyable, a 
sort of final treat for the condemned before I was 
vaporized for entertainment. 

I resolved to do my level best to make sure it was 
some other Cordelian slave girls that were vaporized 
tonight. It would not be fair to them, but noting here 
was fair. I just wanted to survive. With survival 
there is hope.

A few minutes later another of the young men met his 
fate and had his manhood vaporized. 

"Well, that's it," the technician said. "You are up 
next."

The guards began to clear the remaining men from the 
room, and then a guard came and wheeled my chair out 
into the room. I looked at the other women around the 
console. Most were typical Cordelian slaves, a little 
older than I was. They had mostly lead hard lives that 
showed in their faces and bodies. One of the women 
though did not look like any Cordelian slave girl I 
had ever seen. She was very young looking, and she had 
elaborate body jewelry set in her stomach. This kind 
of body jewelry was common on free women, but 
Cordelian slaves were never allowed to keep their body 
jewelry. Her jewelry looked very high class, the kind 
you would expect to find on the daughter of some 
wealthy businessman. Perhaps that is what she was, but 
still why had she been allowed to keep it? If her 
family were wealthy, wouldn't they have bought her out 
of slavery? 

A man in the balcony announced the beginning of our 
game and play began. Everyone was very cautious. Only 
a few people bet, and bets were small. It rapidly 
became clear that most of women had some experience 
with Tocana and knew the basics of what hands to play, 
all except for the young girl with the body jewelry. 
She clearly had no idea what she was doing. She won a 
couple of rounds with tokens she never should have 
played. That is what makes Tocana so confusing to 
learn. You can play all wrong, and still win for a 
while. It happens to many novice Tocana players. In 
the long run, you will lose playing poorly. Of course 
this game was the short run, not the long run. And 
luck had everything to do with your results in the 
short run.

Luck however did not shine on the young girl for long. 
She started to lose and saw here credits dwindle down. 
The other women started to try to force her to go all 
in. Each time they did, she would back down. This left 
her with fewer and fewer credits.

Finally, I got a good set of starting tokens, an ace, 
ace, two and four. I should have raised with this 
hand, but no one had been raising before the board 
cards came out, so I just placed the minimum bet. A 
couple of women, including the young girl, were in 
too.

When the board cards came, my heart jumped, an ace, 
three and five. I had the best possible low, plus a 
straight for the high. I couldn't believe my luck, but 
how to get the most credits for this? I made a small 
bet to see if anyone else had anything. Only the young 
girl called. 

A high card came on the board. This was the point to 
test what the young girl had. She had slightly less 
than one hundred credits left, so I bet 50 credits. 
She stared at me. I figured she would fold, but she 
called my bet.

Another ace came on the board. I now had four aces and 
the best possible low! I bet another 50 credits to 
force the young girl all in. She seemed to not know 
what to do. She stared at me, and then looked around 
for anyone to help her. She was almost out of credits, 
her fate seem sealed at this point. Finally she called 
with all her credits. 

The board flashed her hand. She had four, five, five, 
and seven, a poor starting hand. She had made 3 fives 
and 2 aces for a high, and ace, three, four, five, 
seven for a low. Good, but not good enough. I had 
scooped both sides of the pot.

A look of terror spread across the girls face, as she 
realized I had scooped the pot and her life with it. 
As the young girls chair pulled back from the console, 
she started to scream, but her scream was abruptly 
silenced as her body became rigid and began to shake 
from the energy flowing through it. She was still 
trying to scream, but her vocal cords would not work 
anymore.

Had I done this to her? I could have bet less and let 
her survive a few more hands. No, I told myself. I was 
not responsible for her agony. Those in the balcony 
who had organized this ghastly spectacle were 
responsible. I was just doing what I needed to 
survive.

The girls body now glistened with sweat and became 
more rigid as the intensity of the spikes of energy 
flowing through her body increased. Her arms and legs 
flailed, but were securely fastened to the chair. Her 
torso wiggled, trying to escape the two dildos that 
were injecting energy into her abdomen. Her body 
jewelry flashed as her stomach wiggled with her 
suffering. Her small, firm beasts bounced around 
inside flexible wire frames that were also injecting 
energy into her body. Why didn't they just end it and 
put this poor girl out of her misery. I closed my 
eyes. I didn't want to watch.

Finally I saw the flash of blue light and opened my 
eyes. A cloud of steam and dust obscured where the 
girl had been. I heard a rattle of falling objects. 
The girl was no more. Her flesh had been disintegrated 
by the blaster and her bones lay shattered on the 
chair and floor. There was a slight odor of burnt 
flesh, but all that remained of the girl was a 
molecular cloud, a bit of dust around the chair, and 
the remains of her bones. Her partially melted body 
jewelry lay on the chair.

The guards pulled the now empty chair away, and swept 
away all evidence of the girl's existence. The game 
resumed, but I could not get that look of terror on 
that poor young girls face out of my mind. I was only 
up a little. The young girl had not had many credits 
to win. I had to be very careful. I continued to fold 
most hands. I needed to concentrate on making sure I 
did not meet the same fate as the young girl.

An hour or so later another woman's luck ran out. She 
was low on credits and was force all in with what 
turned out to be very strong tokens, but she lost when 
a miracle token came on the end to beat her. 

She seemed more reconciled to her fate, as her chair 
pulled back from the table. She didn't try to scream, 
but grimaced as the energy began to torture her. She 
was older and larger framed woman than the young girl. 
Her large breasts shook as her body vibrated. 

This time her ordeal seemed shorter. The blue energy 
beams vaporized her more quickly. One moment she was 
there, her body jerking in response to the energy 
pulses. The next moment there was a flash of intense 
blue light from several locations on the ceiling, and 
a cloud of gas and dust exploded out from the chair, 
followed by the clatter of her bones on the chair and 
floor.

I had, of course, seen movies of people being 
disintegrated by a blaster, but these were all 
animations and special effects. Actually seeing a 
living person disappear in a blaster beam was 
shocking.

I told myself I had to put my feeling aside. There 
were six of us left around the console, and two more 
had to meet their doom in the energy beam to end this 
abomination. I was now below a thousand credits again. 
I had to continue to play very carefully, playing very 
few tokens, and folding them when they missed the 
board.

I got an ace, three, king, king starting hand. A 
decent hand, and made a small bet. One of the weaker 
women called. I got a three, nine, queen board, which 
didn't help me at all. I didn't have a low, since only 
tokens eight or less counted for the low and my three 
was no good because of the three on the board. The 
other woman went all in, and I folded.

My credits dwindled down as the game continued. I 
could not get tokens that connected with the board. 
Luck went back and forth, but each time one of women 
was forced all in, she either split the high and low 
pots or scooped the whole pot.  

I got an ace, three, queen, queen, a fairly good hand, 
and made a small bet. Only one woman who was very low 
on credits called. I figured she must have good tokens 
to call. 

The board brought a king, ten and nine. It looked like 
no one would have a low with this board, and my pair 
of queens did not look very strong. I was about to 
pass when I noticed that the other women looked 
uncomfortable in her chair. If she had played a good 
hand that didn't have a pair of kings, this board had 
completely missed her hand too. On instinct I bet 
fifty credits.

She thought about it for a long time, but finally 
pushed the button to call. She now had less than one 
hundred credits left. The next card was a jack. I 
couldn't see how this could have helped her hand. I 
bet one hundred to try to force her all in or make her 
fold. She stared at me for a very long time, and then 
folded.

That small win left me in a slightly better position 
credit wise, but I was still down. The women lasted 4 
or 5 more games, before she was forced all in by 
someone else and lost. She had played fairly well, but 
her luck ran out. 

She seemed serene, almost relieved that it was over, 
as her chair pulled back from the console. The energy 
began to flow through her body and it became rigid and 
she began to shake violently. Her rather large breasts 
bounced around in their cages. I started to see burned 
flesh around her breasts where the energy flowed out 
of the cages into her body.

Suddenly a flash of blue light came from the ceiling, 
and her body evaporated before my eyes like the 
previous woman. The energy beans are very selective. 
Only the soft flesh is destroyed, converted to dust 
and water vapor. At least her suffering was now over.

There were now five of us, and one of us still needed 
to disappear in a flash of blue light to end this. I 
realized that my credit position was not that strong. 
I had to be extremely careful now to make sure it was 
one of the other four women and not me that vanished.

I played very carefully, only entering games when I 
had strong tokens and then folding when I missed the 
board. This of course did not help my credit situation 
very much. I got an ace, thee, king, ten with the ace 
and king blue, a weak hand that was only barely 
playable. The other woman who was a little low on 
chips bet, I called, and a third woman called too. The 
board came two, seven, jack, with two blue. I had a 
draw to 5 blue for the high, and a four, five, six or 
eight would give me a low hand, but I knew better then 
to bet on draws here. The first woman passed, and so 
did I. The last women bet one hundred credits. The 
woman who was a little low on credits went all in! 

What could she possibly have that would have connected 
with this board? I folded. The third women, who was in 
strong chip position, quickly called. A three and king 
appeared on the board. When the console displayed the 
results of the hand, a look of total astonishment 
crossed the face of the woman who had gone all in. Her 
chair pulled back and her body became rigid with pain 
from the energy flow.

I looked back at the board. She had ace, ace, three, 
four, a good, strong starting hand that had not been 
helped by this board. Still she had a pair of aces for 
a high. Her opponent though had king, king, two, four, 
a weaker hand that had been made the winner by the 
king on the board. The curse of bad luck. 

Her body was shaking violently now as the frequency 
energy pulses grew higher and higher. If she was still 
able to feel pain, then her body made it look like she 
was suffering terribly. 

Although I know it was wrong to feel so, I was glad it 
was she and not I. 

Her modest breasts wiggled in their cages with the 
shaking of her body, and sweat began to run down her 
face and torso.

I have been told there is a high you get from 
surviving a blaster fight. Successfully dodging your 
opponent's beams while vaporizing him with your own is 
supposed to be an intense adrenalin high. As I watched 
this poor, unlucky woman's body shake in torment, I 
felt that rush.

The blue light flashed. Her body disappeared in cloud 
and her bones rattled as they collapsed on the chair 
and floor around it. 

I could now hear cheering from the balcony. A 
technician came our and began to release me. It felt 
good to get out of the chair and off those dildos. It 
also felt very good just to still be alive.

A guard brought me my clothes and I slipped back into 
them. Then he pointed to an exit and I follow another 
guard back through the halls, then down the stairs to 
the lower levels. When we reached the room I had 
stayed in the owner of my house and the two guards who 
had brought me were waiting. 

"You played very well, Mirida," the house owner said. 
"Perhaps too well."

He turned to the guards. 

"Get her out of here quickly," he said. 

The guards nodded. I follow the guards back up to the 
landing area, where the craft that we arrived on 
already had its engines running. I climbed in along 
with the two guards. The pilot motioned the guards 
forward to look at something. They whispered in hush 
voices and then called someone on the communication 
system. A pilot came running out and started the craft 
next to ours. Then a minute later my house owner and 
two other men walked quickly into the other flyer. As 
soon as they were aboard their craft, we both took 
off. 

Why were we all leaving so quickly in the middle of 
the night? What did the owner mean when he said I 
might have played too well? 

I noticed the flyers were staying very low and heading 
down a narrow valley. Although it was dark, I didn't 
remember anything like this on our trip here. The 
flyers turned off all their lights, which I knew was 
not normal at night. Clearly something was wrong. 

The guards did not seem nervous. So I decided to try 
to sleep. I closed my eyes and rested, but could not 
get to sleep. 

The trip back seemed to take much longer than the trip 
here had taken, but we finally arrived back at the 
spaceport. The guards hurried me off the flyer and 
into our space ship. I barely had time to sit down in 
my room, when we took off.

I was kept locked in my room for the next half day or 
so, not sure what was going on.

That was when the ship was stopped and boarded by the 
Jardian Space Force cruiser.

Several young Jardian officers questioned me over and 
over again about what had happened in the last day. 
They seemed especially interested in the young girl 
who had been the first to be vaporized. They finally 
brought me some pictures of a well-dressed young 
woman. I told them she was the woman. They did not 
tell me who she was.

The next day an older, more senior officer came into 
my room.

"Mirida," he said. "First, I want to assure you that 
you have done nothing illegal."

I nodded.

"I have requested, and gotten your Cordelian slave 
file from Urtu. In court you stated you were promised 
20,000 credits to smuggle in the drugs."

I nodded.

"Did you know that the value of the drugs you were 
caught smuggling was about 8 to 10 thousand credits?"

"No," I said, completely confused as to what that had 
to do with anything.

"It was obviously a setup from the beginning," he 
said. "They picked you out and tricked you into 
smuggling just enough drugs to qualify for the death 
penalty on Urtu."  

I stared at him in disbelief. Who had set me up?

"Now this leaves us in a very tricky situation," he 
said.

"What do you mean," I asked.

"Even though you were tricked, you did smuggle drugs, 
you were caught, and you were legally tried and 
sentenced according to the law on Urtu. The official 
Jardian position is that these laws are barbaric and 
inhuman, but they are none the less the law."

"You are going to send me back to Yatus or Urtu?" I 
asked. 

"We have been trying to find a way to avoid that," he 
said. "The Jardian government strongly believes that 
we must put an end to death games on the Yatus colony. 
They go way beyond barbaric and inhumane. And the 
trapping of young, naive woman, such as yourself, into 
the death games on Yatus has to be stopped 
immediately."

"Then you will help me?" I asked.

"We have decided that we need to hold you as a witness 
for two different investigations," he said. "One into 
the death of Claudia Krugel, the first woman to die in 
the game at Prince Balcone's party. The second 
investigation into who tricked you into smuggling 
drugs. Both of those are very serious crimes for which 
you are an important eyewitness. If we allowed you to 
return to Yatus or returned you to Urtu, chances are 
you would never be able to provide evidence in these 
cases."

I realized what he was saying. If they returned me to 
Yatus or Urtu, I would simply be killed, and that 
would be perfectly legal.

"We are going to hold you indefinitely on Jardia," he 
said.

"Hold me?" I inquired. "You mean in jail?"

"Not in jail," he said. "More like house arrest, but 
in a very nice house, much better than the conditions 
you have been living under."

I nodded.

"Once you are on Jardia," he said. "And the public 
finds out the details of what happened to Claudia 
Krugel, the people will never stand for the government 
sending you back to Yatus or Urtu."

"That is good," I said. "But what will they do with 
me?"

"That remains to be worked out," he said. "But don't 
worry about that now."

"Ok," I said. "Thank you for helping me."

"It is my pleasure, madam," he said. "Do you have any 
other questions?"

Slaves are not supposed to ask questions, but now it 
appeared I was free.

"Who was this girl, Claudia?" I asked. "How did she 
become a Cordelian slave?"

"Claudia Krugel was the daughter of a regional 
governor on Jardia, but she was not a Cordelian 
slave," he said. "No one claims she was, not even 
Prince Balcone."

I gasped.

"Then how..." I stammered.

"That is the question we need to answer," he said. 
"Prince Balcone claims she entered the game 
voluntarily, for the thrill of it. He says she was an 
expert Tocana player and expected to survive the 
game."

"That is not true," I protested. "She played like a 
completely inexperienced beginner."

"That is what other witnesses told us too," he said. 

I thought this over for a minute. Perhaps she thought 
she was an expert from playing against other very 
inexperienced players, but why would anyone take that 
kind of risk? Even if the game were pure luck, the 
odds of surviving were only 50/50. 

"It doesn't make any sense," I said shaking my head.

"I agree completely," he said. "We will be leaving for 
Jarida in a few hours. I am sure the authorities will 
wish to discuss this with you further when we get to 
Jarida."

That is how I came to be a sort of prisoner here on 
Jardia. I am kept locked in a large house surrounded 
by guards, while they try to figure out what to do 
with me.

I was able to identify two of the men who set me up, 
and they have been arrested. They in turn implicated 
some higher up people, who apparently are connected to 
the Yatus colony somehow. These higher ups are, 
however, hard to get at, so I don't know what will 
ever come of that.

The poor young girl, Claudia Krugel, still remains a 
mystery. Prince Balcone now says he thinks she was 
trying to commit suicide in a spectacular manner. I 
keep reading in the papers people calling for an 
invasion of Durange to capture Prince Balcone and put 
him on trial for her murder, or an invasion to destroy 
the Yatus colony to put an end to the death games that 
are destroying the "foundations of galactic 
civilization". I have no idea if this is just empty 
talk or we are really on the verge of another galactic 
war. 

The Jardian government has kept my presences here a 
secret. I am not sure if this is for my protection or 
their protection. Every few days an official comes by 
to reassure me that they are working hard to find a 
way to set me free, but so far little has changed.

Liana M
/~lianam/