“What is this? Where am I?” I looked around the dark room where my invisible assailant had dragged me. Only he wasn’t invisible anymore.
I found myself face to face with a big, ugly, bald Korrigon who smelled like rotten fish. It was Shadrack, the Pet Finder from the F’too’sh Beta spaceport. There was no mistaking him for anyone else, mostly because he was ten feet tall with gray skin and full-black eyes. Also, he smelled terrible.
I had noticed, during my stay on Korrigon Four, that none of the other male Korrigons I was near smelled very good to me. Certainly, none of them had Sir’s spicy, masculine, delicious scent. But Shadrack was the only one I had ever met who actually stunk.
I wrinkled my nose and tried to get away from him.
“Let me go! Let me go!” I gasped, trying to breath through my mouth instead of my nose.
Shadrack laughed at me—more boulders rubbing together.
“And if I do let you go, where do you think you’re goin’ girly?” he rumbled.
“I don’t know—away from here. Away from you,” I snapped. “Besides, you can’t touch me by order of Splendara the Third and Thirtieth! In fact, you’re not even supposed to be anywhere near here! Earth is a Closed planet and the Sovereign has put everyone in this galaxy off-limits to Pet Finders!”
Shadrack’s face darkened at my words.
“Yeah, you don’t have to tell me, girly,” he growled. “Ruined a budding Pet trade, so she did, when she made that Proclamation! But look around you—you ain’t on Earth no more. You ain’t anywhere near it.”
“I…I’m not?”
I had figured that maybe I was in a spaceship orbiting the Earth and had been hoping I could scare him into letting me go. But hearing him say we weren’t even near my home planet made my heart sink.
“No, yer not.” He smirked at me.
“Where…where am I, then?” I demanded, wishing my voice wouldn’t shake so much.
“Gravity chamber attached to a Folding Drive Wormhole,” Shadrack informed me. “Gotta get you all kitted out with a gravity belt and such-like before you can come out and be put in the Pet Auction.”
“The what?” I exclaimed, suddenly feeling cold all over.
“You heard me—you’re goin’ in the Under Road Pet Auction,” Shadrack said, sneering at me. “Just like you were meant to, back when I first saw you at the spaceport. Lady Fate, she takes a hand in our lives sometimes, now don’t she?”
“You…you can’t put me in a Pet Auction!” I snapped. “I’m to be left strictly alone, by order of Splendara the Third and Thirtieth herself.”
“Yeah, well what Her Majesty don’t know won’t hurt her, will it?” Shadrack said, leering at me. “Besides, it ain’t on account of the Sovereign that I’m here—I’m here because Sir Gra’multh sent me.”
“Sir Gra’multh?” I repeated stupidly. “But he’s…he was punished by the Sovereign!”
Shadrack smirked at me.
“Why do you think you’re here? My Lord Gra’multh wants revenge for the humiliation you put him through in the throne room. Chokin’ him like that and then making him apologize to a mere pet! And before you get any ideas about chokin’ me, too…”
He suddenly leaned forward and clipped a heavy collar around my neck. I heard a sizzling sound like hot and cold surfaces meeting and part of the collar got extremely warm.
“What’s this?” I put up my fingers to feel rigid metal encircling my throat. It was nothing like the flexible golden collar Sir had given me to wear. It was cold and heavy—all except for the one spot which was so hot it almost burned me.
“An inhibitor collar,” Shadrack told me, with obvious satisfaction. “It’s going to keep those nasty little Mental Abilities of yours in check, so your new Master don’t have to worry about you cavin’ in his head just by thinkin’ about it. Now let’s get you dressed up for the auction. Strip.”
I shrank away from him.
“Don’t you touch me!”
“Oh, don’t worry—Shadrack don’t sell used merchandise.” He raised both of his big, dirty paws in front of him in a “hands off” gesture. “That don’t pay. Besides, a La-ti-zal Pure One female who was formerly the pet of a HighBorn Overlord and has been untouched by any other male will bring a pretty price at the Under Road.” He rubbed his hands together, making a gritty, sandpapery sound. “Old Shadrack is gonna get a stellar payday out of this one, so he is! Now strip and put these on.” And he pointed at a pile of clothes in the corner of the small, dim room.
Well, I say “clothes” but they weren’t clothes at all. There was a leash to go with the inhibitor collar I had on, a gravity belt, and an anal tail with long, white silky fibers.
I was grateful for the tail, as strange as that sounds. I remembered well what Sir had told me when he had first trained me to wear one—that the white fibers marked me as untouchable to anyone but my Master and owner. So at least I wouldn’t be handled and fondled by a bunch of prospective buyers—I hoped not anyway. While I was wearing the white tail, it should be as good as a “hands off the merchandise” sign.
However, hands off clearly didn’t mean eyes off. Shadrack watched me strip and get into my outfit, which was humiliating, especially when it came to putting in the tail.
“There’s a little bottle of lube for you, if you need it, girly,” he remarked, leering at me. “Go on and use it if you want to.”
I didn’t answer him, though I did find the bottle of lube and use it. The anal plug attached to the long, silky white fibers was larger than any Sir had trained me to take, so I needed it.
At last I was ready to go, though I felt horribly naked and helpless. I had gotten used to running around nude with Sir, but he had always been by my side, comforting and protecting me—keeping me safe from anyone who might have seen my nudity as an invitation. Now I was on my own and I had never felt more vulnerable in my life.
“This way,” Shadrack said when I was finished “dressing.” “Got somebody who wants to say hello to you, girly.”
I followed him unwillingly out of the small, dim room and found myself in a larger area. One of the walls was flat white with nothing on it, reminding me of the viewing wall Sir had in his spaceship for watching movies and plays on.
Just as I was thinking that, the wall flickered and an enormous image of Gra’multh’s head and face appeared on it.
I gasped and drew back—it was kind of a shock seeing such a huge face projected right in front of me, after all. But Shadrack grabbed me by the arm and dragged me forward.
“No, no, girly,” he chortled. “No time to get shy now—His Honor wants to see you.”
“So I see you found her at last,” Gra’multh said, speaking to Shadrack.
“Yes, Your Honor.” Shadrack performed a quick bow. “Took some time to locate the little pet, all the way in another galaxy, but in the end we found her. Many thanks for the Folding Drive—we’ll be able to bring many more females through from other worlds with it.”
“Just see that it’s not in any way connected to me,” Gra’multh ordered, glaring at the Pet Finder.
“No, Your Honor! Of course not!” Shadrack bowed reflexively again.
“Now, bring her forward—I want to see the little slut who caused me so much trouble!” Gra’multh ordered.
“Here she is!” Shadrack dragged me closer to the giant head projected on the wall, though I didn’t want to go.
“Get your hands off me!” I snapped, yanking my arm out of his big, dirty paw. Then I glared up at the screen. “How dare you have me brought here? Do you know what the Sovereign is going to do to you once she finds out that you’ve broken her rules and kidnapped me?”
“But my dear little pet, I’m not doing a thing to you.” Gra’multh widened his full-black eyes innocently. “I swore to her Majesty that I wouldn’t lay a finger on you—and so I haven’t. In fact, I’m all the way in the Southern Continent!”
“Wait—does that mean I’m in the Northern Continent of Korrigon Four?” I demanded, my heart leaping in my chest.
Gra’multh ignored my question.
“As you can see, your fortunes are about to change greatly, my dear. You’re going to be just an ordinary pet again—no more ‘shock-a-lot ship clookie” parties with the Sovereign for you.” He smirked at me.
“You can’t do this!” I exclaimed, not bothering to correct him. “Once the Sovereign finds out—”
“Oh, she won’t be finding out,” Gra’multh interrupted me. “You see, the auction you’re being sold at is a black-market affair—every single pet being sold is rare, exotic, banned or prohibited in some way. And every buyer there knows it is in their best interest to keep their purchases quiet.” He cocked his head to one side, his full-black eyes filled with malice. “Why, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if your new owner didn’t cut out your tongue or inject you with a voice paralytic to make certain of your silence. We can’t have word of the Sovereign’s favorite pet being sold at the Under Road Auction, now can we?”
“You…you bastard!” I exclaimed. I reached for the heavy collar around my throat, looking for a way to take it off, but it was one seamless piece and I couldn’t find any opening or crack in the metal.
“Forget it, girly—there’s no way you’re getting the inhibitor off,” Shadrack growled from behind me. “It’s perma-welded on. So you can kiss Your Mental Abilities goodbye.”
“Enjoy your new servitude,” Gra’multh’s giant head said, smirking down at me from the viewing wall. “And don’t think that your old Master will come and rescue you, either,” he added. “The location of the Under Road Auction changes every time it’s held and it’s always kept strictly secret. Barinthian will never find you—even if you’re right under his nose!”
He threw back his head and laughed—an ugly, evil sound that made my stomach knot into a slick fist. And then the viewing wall went blank as the giant head at last disappeared.
“All right,” Shadrack said to me. “Now that’s over, it’s time to go get ready for the auction, girly.”
I wanted to protest or resist, but I knew it wouldn’t do me any good. My fate was sealed—I was going to be sold to some stranger right here on Korrigon Four and Sir would never even know about it.