Turn and Face the Stranger
Title: Turn and Face the Stranger
Author: D. Lerious
Summary: Harper, who is a situation he really wants to get out of, finds himself making a choice that will cause major changes in his life.
Disclaimer: Disclaimers are irrelevant, but I don't claim to have invented the Drom characters, nor am I making money. I will send the Knights of Ni! after anyone who tries to sue me.
Ratings: They are futile, but if you must know, it's PG.
It was an ordinary day on the Planet Gita, which was at the very edge of the known worlds. Harper, was working on some farm equipment. While it kept him busy, it was very routine and boring compared to fixing the Andromeda. Fortunatly, he was able to do some improvements on it. He sighed and remembered how he got there.
The whole Andromeda crew had been through a very hard month, with several battles fought, and that meant lots of repair work for Harper. One day, Dylan made a surprise announcment.
"Why don't we all take shoreleave? Most of the repair work is done, and all seems well."
"For now," Tyr interjected.
Dylan just looked at him.
Later, Beka and Harper were talking about their vacation plans.
"So, where do ya wanna go, Harper?"
"To Sagev Sol drift." It was a drift whose main attraction was the many casinos.
"Why am I not surprised?" Beka asked sarcastically.
"Haha. Where do you wanna go?"
"Trance and I plan to go to Dore." It was a planet with beautiful jade green lakes, whose shores were purple. "Hopefully, we could get Rommie to join us."
"Cool."
So, Harper was dropped off at that drift, and he went straight to one of the more famous casinos there, called "The Casino of Etreus Alam". So, after playing at at various games in the casino for several hours, he went to the bar for some drinks, and he was the only customer there. After being there for a bit he saw a beautiful woman, whose clothes covered nothing but the essensials, sit next to him.
"Hello, Handsome."
"Uh... Hi."
"Having fun?"
"Now I am." It felt good to be hit on.
"I'm surprised that a man with your sexy looks doesn't have women hanging all over him." Her voice and face started to take on a sultry tone.
"Uh...well..."
"Let's have some drinks."
"What's your name?"
"Leila."
"Pretty name."
"Let's have a drink on me."
So, the bartender, with an odd wink, gave them their drinks. After a bit, Harper found that he was feeling sleepy, and the next thing he knew, he is in foot and hand inertial restraints, and is in some sort of cell with a bunch of other young men.
"What the hell..."
"Looks like the little one woke up." It was the voice of a gruff man.
"Where am I?"
"We are all slaves, on a slave transport." It was a younger man speaking.
Harper could not believe it: he was a slave!
"Damn Ubers!" he yelled to no one in particular.
"It's humans that are enslavin' us."
"What???" The idea of human on human slavery was uncomprehensible to him.
"They are taking us to some planets, on the very edge of the known worlds, with mostly human populations."
Harper still could not believe it. He would not see his friends again.
Days passed, and one day, a guard, who was human, took him out.
He was lead to a room, in inertial restraints, where a rough looking man was talking to this other man, who wore simple pants and shirt.
"Welcome to Gita," the simply dressed man said.
"Thank you."
"So, we still have our deal? You'll give me a slave at 1/2 price?"
"Yes. Here he is." The rough man, who was bald, with a glass eye said. He was able to afford to give the man a mechanic, as his employees was able to capture a ship full of engineers just a few weeks ago.
"He looks scrawny."
"Aye, but he be a good mechanic." Harper had told them that he was an engineer, and for extra food, he had fixed varoius things on the slave ship.
"I would like to have him but on a trail run."
"Certainly, we'll be here for a few days, I'll just ask for a security deposit."
"Fine. Here you go."
Harper, over the past few days had suffered alot, from missing his friends, to the humilation of having two lines, that curve around eachother tattoed on his right cheek, signifying that he, as a slave was linked to any future master he was too have. He tried not to think about his situation, and often made jokes, and tried to keep busy. Now, being given a trail run, was making him feel like an animal.
"Come," he told Harper.
After a brief shuttle ride, they took a land vehicle to the man's huge ranch. Once there, they installed a special device around his neck.
"This is a device that makes it so that if you wander for more than half a kilometer from the borders of my ranch, you will be knocked unconscious, unless, I, or the oversee, deactivate the device. Your job here will be to keep the farming equipment in tip top shape. By the way, if you try to even open the device, you will be knocked unconscious, and whipped afterwards."
"Aye." Harper learned that slaves were supposed to say that.
Later, Harper was shown,by one of the other slaves, his sleeping quarters, which consisted of a hammock, some straw on the floor, and a closet's worth of room. Two hours later, he was having dinner with other slaves.
"So, has anyone ever escaped?" he asked discreetly. "I'm just curious."
"There be attempts that always fail." It was a young woman "However, it is possible for a slave here to earn their freedom."
"How?"
"By doing a good job, buying your own freedom or having someone else doing it, and getting freed by the master."
"Great." While this gave him hope, he needed a faster solution. The odds of someone else buying his freedom or someone else giving it to him seemed impossible. Buying his own freedom could take years. But he had a plan.
"I'm gonna be a good slave, gain the guy's trust, and then with that, find a way to escape," he thought to himself.
So, over the course of the next few days, he worked hard to impress the ranch owner with his mechanical expertise, and he decided to keep Harper.
Onward To Chapter 2!
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