Page 16 of Volunteer 4711

“Why were you sad?”

I return his gaze blankly. There’s no way I have the vocabulary to answer this question adequately, so I reply, “I’m not sad now. I’m happy to be here. I’m happy to be your valet. I’ve no problems.”

He takes his hand away from my face, and I continue undressing him in my usual manner. I feel like he has forgotten all about my eyes by the time I leave him for the night, but instead of dismissing me, he says, “Volunteer 4711, if anyone ever hurts you, you tell me. I won’t have that. You are my responsibility.”

“I understand. Goodnight, Commander.”

“Dismissed.”

The Commander’s words make me feel special. I felt so alone ever since I left Earth, but today I feel like I have at least two Silvers who would miss me, at least for an hour, if I died, and somehow that feels like something to celebrate. I put the Commander’s clothing in the laundry and head back to the servants’ canteen. I have one food credit left for today, and I learned a fruit dessert in my language lesson that I’m going to try. It’s on the servants’ menu, and I asked one of the other servants if it was any good, and she said she ate it often.

When I order, I almost faint at how small it is. The dessert is pink and only about the size of my fist. Disappointed, I take it out of the food machine and grab a trident fork as the Silvers use. I take a forkful and put it in my mouth. This is the first dessert I’ve had since I left Earth; it is divine. I almost fall on the floor. It tastes so good. I’ve so many tastes and sensations in my mouth and body right now. And then the realization hits me. This is chocolate with something very similar to strawberries or raspberries. Then I laugh uncontrollably because it’s ridiculous how much I love this. I finish the whole thing and lick the trident fork, then I look around to make sure I’m alone, and I lick the plate it came on. When there’s nothing left, I decide today has been the best day I’ve had in a very long time.

CHAPTER8

COMMANDER

On the bridge,I am watching my starfighters fire on a ship that refuses to surrender, despite having no chance of winning this skirmish. Before my fighters cripple the ship completely, I pull them back and send over attack forces to board and take the crew prisoner. Also, to look through the ship for anything valuable. The ship itself will be sold off in pieces. The crew will be divided up between males and females. The males who are fit will be offered work on the Home Planet. The healthy and unmarried females will also be offered work on the planet or in my fleet. The old and married will be free to go in an ancient cruiser I have just for such an occasion.

I meet my first officer’s eyes across our strategy screen. I know what he’s thinking. We both just saw the readout from the sensors.

I say nothing at first, but once our men have this well in hand, I ask my first officer to join me in my prep room off the bridge. I sit down as he remains standing. “Yes?”

“You saw the readout. There are Water people on that ship. We should sell them to the Empire.”

“No.”

“We could make a good profit.”

“We will sell them as volunteers to the Home Planet.”

“Commander, I know you are biased because of your valet. But you must see reason here. The crew wants that money, and the Empire loves Water people. We could get twenty times the amount if we sold them to Imperials.”

“I will think about it,” I say and dismiss him. I watch my first officer go and know I am pushing my crew if I don’t sell them to the Empire. Water people, if they are young and healthy, can bring in a lot of money. However, now that Volunteer 4711 is in my life if it is more difficult for me to sell them to an unknown future. From the moment I met her, she has been honest and moral. She works hard to learn my language and complete her duties on my ship. If she is representational of her species, then the more Water people we have on the Home Planet, the better. Unfortunately, I know my fleet will not see it that way. And as the fleet is structured, we all share the profits. It does not help either that we are close to the Imperial border. So close that I would bet there are already some Imperials that were waiting to buy these Water people, and I will be contacted soon to see if I want to sell them.

I return to the bridge, and not a second later, my comms officer tells me an Imperial ship wants to talk. “I’ll take it in my prep room,” I say. I leave the bridge and open the communications. I see a dark grey-skinned man with black hair on the other end.

“Captain,” I address him after reading his rank. “How can I help you?”

“I think you have acquired some humans; Silvers call them ‘Water people.’ And I was planning on buying them before you acquired their ship and crew.”

“What would you want with Water people? I thought the GC made it illegal for Imperials to own them as pets.”

“Not as pets but as residents,” he says, clearly perplexed that I would care about Water people.

“If they are meant to be residents, why are you buying them? Shouldn’t they be coming freely?” Then, I answer my own question when he is silent. “Oh, that’s right, Water people are not in the GC and cannot become residents of the Empire. I am not selling them to you.”

“Commander, if you could hear me out. I am offering a lot of UCs for them. Double what I was going to pay the Agnorrian pirates. I will give you 5,000 UCs per Water person.”

I pause. He has my attention now, and he knows it. That is a lot of money, more than I thought they would be worth. “I’m listening.”

“These humans will have good lives. I promise you. We will not hurt them. They will live more luxurious lives than they would have on Earth or on one of your farms which no doubt you will send them to.”

He’s not wrong. No doubt some of them would end up on farms just like Volunteer 4711 was. I consider his offer and think about my fleet, and I know it’s wrong for me personally, but I need to do what is right for my position. “I accept your deal. I want the UCs first.”

“Let’s get the numbers correct then. You have 101 Water people onboard.”

“No, one hundred.”

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