Page 10 of No Strings Attached

The Garoxian started growling menacingly and the giant, Kompi, was rocking back and forth on his ass, arms around his knees and keening, while a desperate plea came from the trawg’s cage, “You have to save her so I can be her friend. I love her. Save her! Now! Now now now now—.”

The trawg and the cacophony of growling, keening, and laughter was cut off by the authoritative baritone of Caussus,who was standing at the front of his cage observing the scene “Sir! Sir! Sir, I believe you are considering the risk to yourself of entering the female’s—Vi’s—cage, and I do sympathize greatly. But please consider the risk to yourself if she dies and you did not try to intervene. I believe any death you might experience at her or the Garoxian’s hands would be both faster and less painful than whatever awaits you at the hands of our master if she dies.”

Bahbi glanced away from the female to Caussus, then slowly nodded. That was certainly true, and while it didn’t lessen his fear, it did give him the resolve he needed. He stepped forward to the front of the female’s cage but hesitated at the hand scanner. The derisive voice of Acken came to him from behind, “You shame your ancestors, boy. Let me out to check on her. I’ll fall dead on the spot from disgrace if I’m ever afraid of a small female, of any species.”

Bahbi shook his head and muttered, “Nice try,” then placed his hand on the pad.

Eight: Little She-Beast

Vi had been carefulnot to hit her head when she dropped to the cage floor and started thrashing, but she had also been committed to making it realistic. The idea of tricking the otterman had come to her fully fledged, as if from someone else’s brain, and she hadn’t questioned it.

As she lay still, scanning her body for injuries and feeling the cold stone leach her body of Mister Beastly’s heat, she listened. And sheunderstood. Understood the giant snake, the black lab, the eunuch, and Conan. The translator worked.

Now, it’s a party, she thought and waited for the cage door to open. If Conan was who walked through the door, she decided she would grab and hold on to The Destroyer, hanging her whole body weight from it.Not such a small female species when I’m suspended from your cock, am I?

But she was sure it would be the otterman, and her hunch was confirmed when she heard him whisper, “Nice try.” That was followed by achngthksound of the cage’s lockingmechanism being released. Vi reexamined her mental image of the otterman’s body and weapon placement and got ready.

She could sense him coming forward and looming over her, then kneeling on the ground and leaning forward to observe her face. Vi recognized her moment, opened her eyes, and surged forward to flip him on his back, operating on pure instinct. She grabbed the shock stick and stood up in a fluid motion. The otterman sat up and just looked at her with astonishment.

“Stand up,” Vi said, gesturing upwards with the shock stick. When he did, she said, “Mister Beastly?” She gestured from Mister Beastly to the otterman with the stick. He seemed to get it, because immediately he had the otterman by the throat, giant paw wholly encompassing the startled creature’s neck. The otterman’s amber eyes were wide with shock. She heard what sounded like genuine amusement in the sound of Conan’s laughter from behind her, but she didn’t look back. She held the gaze of the deathly still otterman.

“Where are we?”

“The…chh…cage room,” he forced out through the pressure Mister Beastly was placing on his throat.

She raised an eyebrow at Mister Beastly and saw him relax the pressure by a small degree. It seemed to make a difference, because the otterman repeated, “the cage room,” with more ease and obvious relief.

“Yeah, thanks for the news flash. I mean,where are we? What planet? I don’t think there would be rock walls and floors on a spaceship, but I guess my circumstances could force me to expand my outlook of what is possible. Where THE FUCK are we?”

“Asteroid. Qlu’s asteroid.”

“Who the fuck is Qlu?”

“He’s the master here. I think you might have seen him in the cargo bay, when you killed that Ulu.”

“Ulu? You mean the Grey?”

“They’re grey, yes. They speak in your mind.”

“Yeah,thoseassholes. Hmm…Ulus. So, Qlu…was he the yellow one that looked like the Time for Timer guy? I was trying to break those spindly legs of his with that last Grey, to shut him up.”

“Uhhh? I don’t know if he’s yellow, I’ve never seen him. Time…for…Timer?”

“Never mind. Who are you?”

“Bobby. I’m Trallian.”

“OK, Bobby the Trallian, why do you work for Qlu?”

“I was sold to him. All the Trallians who work for him were.”

“So, you were abducted from your home, too? To serve as prison guards?”

“No, I wasn’t abducted. All extra Trallians are sold. By their families.”

Conan boomed, “Sold cheap!”

Vi threw him a look that said,shut the fuck up, and turned back to Bobby.

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