Kate looked at Nretz for a moment. She was afraid to meet his eyes. He looked fierce, angry. She was afraid to meet his eyes.

"First of all, let's have a proper look at you," he said. "Then you can start earning your keep. This isn't a luxury liner. There's no passengers on this ship." As he spoke, he appeared to be about to rip open Kate's nightdress. It was a thin, silky garment. It came only to her knees and it showed off her figure beautifully. Her waist was slim and her breasts were full. Edgar had bought the nightdress for her. He liked her to wear such things.

Kate shrieked in alarm and wriggled free, backing away from Nretz. She stared at him, stunned into silence. She was shocked and disgusted, but afraid to refuse outright what he obviously wanted. Then she summoned up her courage and said, "No. Please, no. It's not right. I'm not that sort of woman. I've never done anything like that. I can't. I just can't. Please. I'd rather... I'd rather you just kill me."

But Nretz had been expecting a display of reluctance. New slaves were always more fun. He found their initial shyness arousing, as long as they learnt, quickly, that ultimately there was no other course than complete cooperation.

He grinned. "It's your choice, sugar," he said. "But you've got two daughters. Both very useful little fillies, if I may say. Very pretty. They're nice girls, too. Respectable young ladies, not whores. If you're good, they can stay that way. When we get to Akkadis I'll get a good price for them. There's men there who'll pay a damn good price for a couple of fillies like that, still virgins. They'll have a good life, they'll be looked after. Their masters won't wanna share them with anyone. They won't be made into whores.

"But it's your choice. If you want, I can do it the other way. I've got a dozen men here. They get lonely. Space is a lonely place. They like to have female company, see. It gets boring, otherwise. I think I'll let 'em have the younger filly first. Daisy, is that her name? Yes. Daisy. I'll let 'em have Daisy first. She's a pretty little thing. The lads'll like her. She'll be tied to a bunk. Like this one. A nice hard bunk. It's better if it's hard. Wrists tied to the headboard, ankles tied to the footboard, nicely spread out, so they can enjoy her properly, a nice pillow under her butt to raise her twat up a bit. Your Daisy's gonna have a busy shift. Very busy. I'll have her first. I'm skipper. That's my privilege. Fair's fair. Then the lads can have her. By the time she's had thirteen men on top of her, the first ones'll be ready for a second go. And then they can have her any time they want. When they're not working, I mean. I'm not having them whoring when they're meant to be working. But in their own time, they can do what they want. And it'll be just the same for the other filly. We'll use them both as whores for the next two months.

"And when we get to Akkadis, I'll sell them for whores. They've got slave auctions there where the girls are sold cheap, stark butt naked. Everyone comes to watch. Even if they've got no cash, they go to watch the slave auctions. It's like a show, for free. The whorehouses buy 'em cheap, as pleasuresluts. There's bars there, where the girls serve drinks all day, stark naked. And upstairs they have knocking shops. Any man who wants a girl, they take 'er upstairs and have 'er. Other places, the girls are chained to their beds. They never even leave their cubicles. Some of the girls get laid by thirty men a day. Seven days a week. They don't live long, not in places like that. They get worn out and the whoremasters have to kill them. They don't live more than a year. Less, if they get crusts.

"Now, you tell me, sugar. Is that what you want? If so, I'll tell 'em to get Daisy ready now. And you can watch the whole show. The lads won't mind you watching. Just keep quiet, and don't try to interfere. And it won't save you. When we've all had Daisy and the other filly, you'll get your turn too. And if you're no good as whores, I'll throw the lot of you out of the airlock." Kate watched, horrified, as the disgusting man turned, as if to go and make the necessary arrangements.

"No! Please!" she burst out. "Please! I'll do what you want. I'll do anything. Please, not my daughters. Please not my daughters. They're too young. Please. I'll do it. Please."

At first Nretz did not reply. He looked at her, and then beckoned her with his finger. Kate hesitated. "Over here," he said.

Timidly, she stepped over to him. He slid his hands over her nightdress, feeling her slim waist through the silky fabric. He put his hands on her breasts, squeezing them. No man except Edgar had ever touched her there before. Kate gasped and tried to back away again.

"None of that!" he snapped, menacingly. "I'm not finished yet. Not even started." He took hold of the thin dress firmly, with one hand on each side where it buttoned at the front. Forcefully, he ripped the two sides apart. The tiny pearly buttons flew across the room. Kate's breasts were exposed now. She was not wearing a bra. She squealed in shock and fear, but did not try to wriggle free this time.

Nretz was pleased with what he saw. Kate's breasts were like two globes, full and firm, with hardly a hint of sagging. She closed her eyes, unable to endure the shame.

With a second rip, the thin nightdress was divided completely. Now only her skimpy panties were left to protect her modesty. Nretz turned and picked up a knife.

Seeing the blade Kate whimpered in fear. "Keep still. It won't hurt," he said. He cut the remains of the nightdress away, and cut the panties each side, discarding the rags.

"Shaven," he grinned. "Smooth as an Akkadisi pleasure slut! And there was you, saying what a nice modest lady you are!"

"I am. My husband likes... liked me like this. It's depilated."

"Your husband liked it, did he? Well, I think you might find I'm rather harder to please. Let's see if he taught you anything useful. You can start on your knees. Kneel there. Facing the bunk," he said. He loosened his trousers and sat down heavily, facing her.

She knelt and looked up at him, wide eyed with fear.

"For your sake I hope you know what to do with your tongue. And then, if you're a good girl you can show me what you can do on your back. And you'd better make it good. Otherwise I'm having the lamb, not the mutton."

Nretz grinned in anticipation as he spoke. He intended to enjoy his evening's entertainment.

Kate did her very best to make it good. She was determined to try her best to please the captain. If Daisy and Marie were to survive, she must show him that mutton could, indeed, be better than lamb.

She succeeded better than he had expected. Her keenness to please more than compensated for her relative inexperience - for though she had been married to Edgar for twenty years, she had never known another man and had no idea whether men's tastes differed much.

Kneeling with her hands tied behind her back made it difficult to balance, but she was able to bob her head forward and back, sliding her tongue over the head of his manhood. She had not especially liked doing this even for Edgar. She had in fact done it only once for her husband, but she had told him that she found it disgusting, and Edgar, being a mild mannered, considerate man, had not insisted upon it. But Nretz was not mild mannered, and he was certainly not considerate. Unlike Edgar, he was not even clean. His manhood smelled, but Kate forced herself to suppress her revulsion and entertain him as delightfully as was humanly possible. From time to time she was rewarded with grunts of pleasure. Sometimes he gave her instructions, like, "slower... use your lips more... a bit deeper...."

She tried to glance up at his face, to read his expression. To her immense relief he seemed to be enjoying it.

Nretz looked at Kate. She made an attractive sight, looking up at him with wide, big brown eyes, her head bobbing prettily up and down as she concentrated on her task.

Eventually he said, "Stop." He did not want to ejaculate yet. "Get onto the bed. On your back."

This was what Kate had been dreading, but there was no help for it. This man had killed Ella out of hand, simply because she was no longer of any use. But Kate smiled as she obeyed him, as if delighted to be accorded the privilege.

"Put the pillow underneath you. Spread your legs. Wider." Kate obeyed promptly, using her teeth and her legs to adjust the pillow. She moved her ankles a little further apart. "No, wider. Much wider," he said.

Kate heard the irritation in his voice and was terrified. "Sorry. Sorry, master," she said. Neither her family nor any of her friends had ever had slaves on Borobudur, but she had heard slaves in telescreen dramas address their owners as 'master', and the word seemed to escape her lips naturally. She tried to read his expression. He seemed satisfied. Again, Kate felt relieved.

He began kneading her breasts. She closed her eyes and pretended it was Edgar. That made it easier to bear. Somehow it did not seem so wrong, so horrible, when she pretended it was Edgar doing these things to her. She wondered if she should mew and whimper a little, like she used to when Edgar did those things. Edgar enjoyed it. Perhaps other men did too. But if this monster guessed that she was pretending, he might be angry. On no account must she make him angry. She felt his mouth on her nipples. She tried her best to enjoy the feeling, so that he would see she was enjoying it.

She felt him push his manhood into her vagina, just a little at first, and then deeper. She was moist already. She sensed it was right to whimper and gasp a little.

"Lift your ankles," he said. Kate obeyed without delay. "Higher," he added, and again she obeyed. After a while her legs became tired and her muscles began to ache, but she was determined to hold them in the position he liked.

She had learned to clench the muscles of her vagina. It was something Edgar had taught her, and she had practised it privately until she could clench tightly. Edgar liked that. She tried clenching now. Perhaps Nretz also liked a woman who could clench her vagina. She felt it was time to risk a little squeal of pleasure. He was thrusting harder now, and Kate lowered her feet and pushed back firmly with her hips, the way Edgar had liked.

She sensed the speed of his pounding increase. Then he ejaculated. She whimpered and squealed again. He lay still, and then moved to withdraw his manhood from her. Suddenly, acting on impulse, Kate wrapped her legs around him, as if to keep him a little longer on top of her and inside her. He rolled off her anyway, but Kate hoped that it would make him think that she had enjoyed it.

Kate knew what she had to do next. It was disgusting, horribly disgusting, but she had to do it. She slid down the bed until her face was level with his manhood. Then, very softly, with tiny, gentle licks, she began to lick his manhood clean. It was something Edgar had asked her to do, once, on their honeymoon. She had not liked it at all.

At the time, Kate had wondered how Edgar knew about things like that, about clenching, and licking. She had never asked him. It was embarrassing. She thought he had visited pleasure houses in Echidnavea, the large city where he had attended university, before they were married. The pleasure slaves in those places might have clenched their vaginas for Edgar, and licked his manhood too. She had wondered if those pleasure slaves were very pretty. Were they as pretty as her, she wondered? Suddenly another thought occurred to Kate. Were the pleasure slaves on Borobudur born and bred in slavery, or had some of them been abducted and sold as slaves? Had Edgar ever visited pleasure slaves that had been abducted as she and Daisy and Marie had been? Had he showed them any extra kindness, because they had been born free?

But she must concentrate on her task. It was difficult to balance and lick Nretz's manhood with her wrists still fastened behind her back, but she persisted with the little licking motions and tiny, tickling kisses. Her breasts were rubbing on his legs. When she moved, she allowed the nipples to stroke and slide across his skin. She glanced up at his face to see whether he was enjoying it. He was grinning. She smiled too, and looked him in the eyes. She had a pretty smile. She smiled with her eyes as well as her mouth. It was the type of smile a woman smiles for her lover.

"Master," she whispered softly. Then she continued her gentle licking. His manhood was becoming erect once more.

She felt his hand in her hair, gripping a fistful of hair and drawing her up the bed. "Oh! Master," she panted and smiled again. Again she spread her legs for him to enter her. She knew what he liked, now. She raised her legs without being told, even though it was so tiring that her muscles seemed to be burning.

When he had finished the second time, he stood to leave the cabin. Kate slid out of bed and clumsily knelt at his feet, making obeisance with her wrists still bound behind her, touching her forehead to his feet three times. This too was something she had seen a slave do once, in a telescreen drama.

Some women, in these circumstances, would have begged him to remember his promise to spare their daughters. But Kate was wise, and intelligent too, and she understood people.

"Master," she said softly, kissing his feet. "Master?"

He did not reply. He was putting on his shirt. Then he ran his fingers through her long, dark hair.

"Master," she continued, encouraged by what she felt was a friendly gesture, "Master, thank you for being so patient with me. I know I'm not very good at this sort of thing. But I can learn. If you want me again, will you teach me everything you want me to do? Everything you want, I'll try to do it. I mean, I'll do it. I promise. I'll be good. I just don't know what a slave is meant to do.

"Stand up," he said, not unkindly. Kate stood.

He marched her back to the slave quarters, still entirely bare. On the way they passed several of the crew, who leered at Kate with keen interest. Ashamed and unable even to cover herself with her hands, she tried to look straight ahead without meeting their eyes. He opened the hatch and pushed Kate in.

That girl will survive, he thought. She wants to live. She's willing to learn. To adapt. Many new slaves don't survive their first year, but that one will survive.