Angel

I could hear the immigration official in my head as the Dormerian fingered my collar.

"Are you out of your mind, bringing a wife to Dormer?"

And then Bob stated, "My wife is one of the best researchers the field of exo-archeology. It would be impossible for her to do her work via telepresence. Like me, she believes in getting her hands dirty. Besides the Domerians shun the ruins left by the Ancient Ones. She, the both of us, should be perfectly safe."

At first, the immigration official stood fast, but my Bob is as persistent as he is charming. In the end, the official absolved himself and the immigration board of any responsibility and had us affix our signatures to a document that waived our right to sue or litigate. All he promised to do was land us here and return when our funds expired in about two Dormer summers. For everything else, we were on our own.

I put away my wedding and engagement rings and donned a krine, the simple one piece garment of the native Dormer women, like them I wore a collar and was registered. The subterfuge was worth it. Bob and I quickly unearthed a treasure trove about the "Ancient Ones" that galaxy spanning species that seemingly vanished utterly, leaving only their scattered ruins on worlds throughout the Milky Way. Bob and I were no closer to determining their origins, but we had a better sense of what they were like physically and culturally. We both felt our subsequent monographs would make our academic careers for life. I saw myself as a full professor. Bob was shooting for Dean.

The huge Dormerian's fingers squeezed between my collar and my neck holding me fast.

"You're a pretty little thing ain't ya'?" he opined. I could smell the locally made whiskey on his breath.

"Citizen," I replied, trying to suppress my fears, "I am the registered property of Robert Olsen, whose encampment is just beyond that rise."

The Domerian followed my gaze.

"Now I KNOW, you are playin' with me darlin' NOBODY lives that close to the ruins. The Ancient Ones haunt that place." after a pause, he continued with, "Anyway, it is no difficult thing to alter registration numbers. Happens all the time."

I'm afraid me fears were getting the better of me. "Unhand me, Sir!"

Those were the wrong words to utter. The Dormerian's face became hostile and his beady eyes became hard points.

"You better watch your tongue, Missy. No mere woman orders me around!"

Instantly realizing my mistake I tried to state my case in a pleading voice, "I am sorry, citizen. It is just that you have me at a disadvantage."

Some of the malevolence left his face and he laughed softly as he stated, "Yeah, you could say that."

He grinned at me and stated, "Let's see the goods!"

I froze. Never had I expected to be in this position. Bob and I were left pretty much alone in the ruins, aside from a brave prospector or two, we rarely saw another soul. On market days, I never left Bob's side and we were always home long before dark. I lived among the Dormier women but I told myself repeatedly that I wasn't one of them.

"You are not my husband, Sir!" I managed to squeak out.

"I never claimed to be, darlin' but me spying you in the altogether wont take away what your husband has already seen."

"I would prefer not to, citizen, as I am not yours."

"Now you're just being stubborn angel face."

He removed the buck knife from the sheath about his waist. I struggled madly to free myself. The huge beast holding me fast just laughed. With a swift, practiced motion he sliced through the knot on my left shoulder that secured my krine in place. My left breast was exposed to his unwanted gaze and then the brutish Dormerian tore the fabric from my body. Naked as the day I was born, I shivered under the intense red sun of Dormier and the equally hot piercing eyes of my assailant.

His leer was so intense it was as though I could physically feel his eyes touring every inch of my exposed flesh. "Why, darlin', you are beautiful!" He stated.

Then came the words I'd dreaded since I first set foot on this planet. "Hell, darlin' damned if you won't bring a mighty fine price!"

I began to fight more then, with everything I had. He was over three times my weight and over a head taller than myself, however. I tried to scream for Bob, hoping against hope he would hear me, but the fat Dormerian clasped his hand over my mouth. I tried biting down only to note for the first time that he wore a thickly padded glove that muffled my cries and made my teeth useless as a weapon. From a pouch about his enormous gut he produced a gag and some stout cords. Like a man who had done this all his life, which I now realized was exactly the case, he trussed me up hand and foot and forced the ball gag into my mouth so quickly that I never made more than a muted sound. With a laugh, he threw me over his shoulder. I spied my cast off krine lying in the sand. A sudden gust of wind arose carrying the garment away. Would Bob even have a clue as to what had happened to me? Was there any chance he could rescue me? I recalled my signature at the bottom of those immigration documents and cursed my stupidity.

He toted me as though I weighed nothing beyond a sand dune where a pair of horses stood tethered to a rock. The pig tossed me on my belly over the saddle of one horse. I should not have been surprised that he took that moment to fondle my ass, but I was. He mounted up the first horse and I thought the only being more piteous than myself at that moment was the poor horse straining under his weight. He led the horses off towards the city. For just a moment, I had my last sight of the ruins. I strained my eyes, hoping that Bob had come looking for me, I'm never too long fetching water, but he never appeared.

The ride to the city was not long. Rather than pay the upkeep for a pair of horses, Bob and I stretched our income by hiking to and from the city. We ate simply, lots of rice and beans, and the occasional chicken or goat. Our work came first. It was an investment for our future. Now, I had no illusions of what would become of me.

Surprisingly, my situation did not arouse any sympathy from the residents we passed. My feminist, twenty-third century outlook, did me little good on Dormer. My situation was not an uncommon one. It was extremely unlikely, in the event we encountered any constabulary, that they would even question my abductor or trace my registration. The attitude on this backward planet was, essentially, if you could not hold on to your woman you did not deserve her. Very rarely was an abducted bride returned to her proper husband. I knew the risks and STILL I took up residence on this planet. Who exactly could I complain to?

My fat abductor led my horse into the seedier parts of the city. We rode through alleys so narrow, a horse could barely navigate them. More than once my heels grazed a wall. I knew I was in terrible trouble, still I tried to steel myself. If I kept my wits about me, I might find a way to escape. If I escaped I was SURE I could find my way back to the ruins and Bob. I had no illusions about what would happen to me before I made it back to Bob however. I felt my stomach churning as I was lifted from the horse and placed on the carpeted floor of some sort of workshop whose purpose I could not begin to fathom.

There was another man present wearing a leather apron. He looked right past me and spoke to my abductor.

"What do we have here, Charles?"

"Just a little something I found wandering out by her lonesome on the edge of the city. How much for a new registration so I can turn this hot piece of ass into a hot piece of cash."

The stranger in the apron took his first long look at me. I DETESTED the way his eyes lingered on my exposed flesh. With dread, I realized that I would have to get used to this kind of gross assessment.

"My, but she IS a pretty one!" stated the stranger.

He fingered my collar. "These are easy numbers to convert," he stated. "Simple job like this, I'll cut fifty credits off my usual price."

After a pause, he asked, "What name should I place on the registration?"

My abductor stroked my blonde hair, seemed lost in thought for a moment and stated, "She looks like an angel and is a gift from heaven, just call her "Angel"".

Somehow, I realized at that moment, with the loss of my name, that I might never be able to return to my old life. Inside me, something broke and I sobbed loudly through my gag.

My fat kidnapper was nonplussed. "Oh, it's not so bad girl. Woman with your looks will, no doubt, be purchased by a man with lots of money. You'll have him eating out of your hands in no time. In months to come, you will thank me for intercepting you."

That information hardly made me feel a sense of gratitude. I continued to sob.

My fat enslaver's moon face turned serious. "I'm going to cut you loose now so that Jerry can put you in the collar rig. Don't try anything stupid like try to run away. The doors are locked and even if you DID manage to escape you'd never be able to find your way out of this part of the city. All that would happen is that you would be swept up by one of my competitors. Believe me darlin', next to them, I am a world class gentleman."

With more care than I'd thought possible of him, the beast sliced through the ropes binding me. I felt instant relief as circulation returned to my legs and arms and freedom from the chafing of my nipples by the rope. My ball gag remained in place and I knew better than to try and remove it. He helped me to my feet which were unsteady both from being trussed up so long and from almost paralyzing fear. I wobbled at first but eventually, my legs supported my weight.

The Man in the apron and my kidnapper led me to a large frame clearly designed to hold a person. It looked like a medieval torture device! I wanted no part of it and I struggled mightily. The man in the apron spoke gently to me and explained that his rack was just to ensure that I and my collar did not move while he went about the process of altering the numbers. I continued to struggle, but it was pointless. Against the two of them, I may just as well have been a rag doll. My body was strapped down and something resembling a vise secured my head in place. It was both mortifying and terrifying.

Jerry, the man in the apron, stepped over to a brazier in the corner of his workshop. He returned with some sort of metal thing, blazing red hot from heat. My eyes flew open in terror and I cried out loud enough to be audible beyond my ball gag. I attempted to slink away but I was, of course, held fast, like some insect on an entomologist's wall.

The smell of burning steel is now seared in my memory. Jerry pressed the hot metal to the registration numbers on my collar. The heat emanating from it was intense enough to cause me to break out in a sweat. Even the interior calf skin lining of my collar became quite warm. With a spray bottle, Jerry squirted some water on my collar and steam rose from where he had lain the metal. He fingered his handiwork, pride obvious in every pore as he stated, "Perfect!"

The two of them freed me from the appalling frame. Then I had to suffer the indignity of being weighed and measured. My kidnapper took the measurement of my bust, waist, and hips, with a tape At least he didn't handle more than necessary when doing THAT procedure. After all of this, my ball gag was, at last, removed.

My fat abductor made a point of making a fist before he loosed my gag. I was smart enough to not cry out when the ball was removed from my mouth. They allowed me to breathe deeply for a few moments as my lungs tried to claim all of the air they had been deprived of since I had been captured since I didn't know how many hours ago. They even gave me a drink of water and were relatively civil to me, considering.

Jerry produced a camera. While I certainly didn't feel like smiling, under duress, I managed an awkward one while Jerry took several snaps. The camera ejected a string of my portraits and Jerry and my kidnapper selected the one they like best. I watched helplessly as my likeness was attached to a counterfeit registration sheet. The man who had waylaid me while I was retrieving water affixed his name to the bottom of the document and just like that, I went from being Robert Olsen's wife to being this obese pig's. I was his to sell or trade or use as collateral as a loan. I recalled my life with Bob, my work at the university and all the heady days of my undergraduate years. I refused to believe they were over, I emitted a piteous sigh.

From somewhere, my kidnapper produced a threadbare krine. I could not put it on fast enough. The fabric was rough and patched but I did not care. He looked at me as though he was a lion and I was a deer. I could read in his close set beady eyes, his overwhelming desire to force me horizontal and have his way with me. I felt the marrow in my bones run cold.

"Well, wife." he drawled, "ordinarily this would be the moment when I "sample" the merchandise, but Madame Wu made me promise her that if I found a truly exceptional beauty, I would forgo my usual "tasting of the prize" for a 500 credit bonus. Unfortunately darlin' you are to be denied the pleasure of lying with me. What a shame. I would have rocked your world."

I stared at him dumbly. It took a few seconds to realized that this brute would not ravish me. That was one less horror in my endless nightmare.

The man who had abducted me handed a wad of bank notes to Jerry and the two men shook hands. He turned to me and said, "Let's get you to Madame Wu's before dark. I could use that cash. I think I'll rent three women tonight to celebrate my good fortune in nabbing an angel."

He grasped me by the hand, his clasp was clammy, he squeezed down hard, causing me to gasp. Menacingly he stated, "As far as anyone knows or cares, you are my wife. If you were able to escape, the law is on my side, and they would return you to me. After I got you back I would thoroughly discipline you, with my fists and a whip. Your beauty would vanish and I would sell you cheap to a brothel. Believe me, darlin' you want to obey me and make it to Madame Wu's without any fuss. People who piss me off meet with a bad fate, EVERY time!"

He did not need to tell me twice. I allowed him to lead me out of the shop. My 'husband" hefted me in the air and set me on the lead horse while he threaded it and its companion back through the alleys and onto a broader avenue. For a moment he left me. Before I could make any move to escape, however, he reappeared riding the second horse. He pulled next to me and gathered up my horse's reins. Riding side by side in the twilight, we progressed towards the center of town.

Even I living outside of town had heard of Madame Wu. I knew she was a businesswoman, but until now, I had no idea what her business really was. As I said, I never really mingled with the women on this planet. From gossip, I had picked up in the markets and other places I knew that Madame Wu was very powerful. She was nearly the lone woman on Dormer who had never worn and would never wear a collar. Powerful men cow towed to her. And she was rumored to be the unseen power behind a great many of the city and province's politicians. Truth be told, I secretly admired her, she was proff that no patriarchal systems flourishes without a woman's touch.

We pulled up before an ornate building constructed out of white marble. It looks something like a cross between a palace and an exhibition hall. Holding me close, with one of his repellent chubby arms about my waist, he rang the doorbell in a series of precise rings of a certain length. The door opened and an armed guard appeared. He exchanged smiles with my kidnapper and stepped aside. A woman of indeterminate years stood in the foyer. She wore a close-fitting jade gown, Her hair was elaborately coiffed, gold hoops hung from her ears and she smelled divine. She focused only on my kidnapper.

"Charles, what have you for me today?"

"One I think is very much worth that bonus you promised me. I haven't sampled this one."

"That is progress, Charles. I so dislike undoing the damage your damned libido causes."

She turned to me, eyed me carefully head to toe. "Very nice, Charles. I assume you have her papers."

He handed her his forged documents.

"Another wife Charles? It is a very good thing for you that you do not live on one of those regressive worlds with divorce and alimony!" Then she and my kidnapper shared a hearty laugh.

"Bring her in, Charles. If she is all that I'll be happy to award you your bonus."

I was muscled across the threshold into the air-conditioned comfort of Madame Wu's palace. I was led to a stark white room.

"Let's see what we have here," stated Madame Wu as her fingers went to the knot on my shoulder. My krine fluttered to the floor. Even though, Madame Wu was a woman, I felt more naked and vulnerable under her penetrating gaze than even under my abductor's. I felt like a side of beef about to be bisected.

"Turn, girl," she ordered.

I complied.

"Oh, Charles you have outdone yourself! I very much applaud you leaving this one unmolested. I doubted that you had the wherewithal to deny yourself. I have just the client in mind. Big money. I'll give you your bonus tonight and your commission when she sells. How does that sound, Charles?"

My abductor, smiled broadly. "For five hundred credits, I can pretend that ANY woman is this one!"

"That's the spirit, Charles!"

Madame Wu turned towards the guard, who had followed us to this room, and stated. "Ping, see that Charles gets his five hundred credits, then let him have a drink of our best Whiskey before sending him on his way."

Ping bowed, gestured to my "husband" and together, the two exited the room. Madame Wu watched them lave before she turned to me.

"Let's get you situated, Angel. I'm sure you can use a hot meal and a bit of freshening up. There is always room for one more in the holding cell."

I made a motion to speak.

"Silence Angel! You have, no doubt, been diverted from the trajectory your life was on. That happens all the time on Dormer. Talking won't ease your mood or calm your nerves. I find it best if my girls simply accept what has happened to them. I will find you a first rate husband, one with wealth and power. Before very much time passes at all, you will scarce miss your old life."

She stood there, daring me to contradict her before her features brightened and she stated. "The stew today is first rate!"

I had a million questions, but I was not permitted to ask any. I wanted to scream out my name and tell her about Bob and my lost life, but Madame Wu was not interested. Instead, I ate stew and biscuits and sipped a cup of tea. The stew was indeed excellent as was the tea. I've had better biscuits. Under Madame Wu's supervision I had a long, leisurely, and delightfully hot shower. It had been months since I had had a proper shower. Bob rigged one up in our rustic dwelling in the ruins but the damn thing never got hot enough and never lasted long enough. I can't say I felt better after the shower, but my mood did lighten. Even if Madame Wu had no interest in hearing me out someone somewhere on this godforsaken rock was bound to. It was only a matter of time.

After I was thoroughly dry, Madame Wu confiscated my towel and marched me naked towards the center of her rambling mansion. We passed many male guards who seemed disinterested in me but made it glaringly obvious that escape was impossible. A pair of bolted door swung open and Madame Wu pushed me in. The doors closed behind me. I heard the cries and voices of other women. After my eyes adjusted to the dark, I found an empty cot. There were about a dozen naked women beside myself in Madame Wu's holding cell.