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  “A worthy suggestion,” Kor said neutrally, though Maggie could tell he was both disgusted and angered by the man’s advice. “I think I’ll go look at the bar later—as soon as I find my room.”

  “Good luck with that,” the other master said with a sigh. “I went to look for my own room as soon as I came an hour ago. But it’s no use—they’re having technical difficulties and the blocks are all backed up.”

  “Blocks? What blocks?” Kor said.

  “Oh, is this your first time in a junket?” the other man enquired.

  “It is.”

  “Well then, the rooming may be a bit of a surprise to you. Do you see the clear glass blocks that make up the walls? Those are the rooms.”

  “They are?” Maggie breathed, forgetting to be silent. On looking closer, she could see that the huge glass blocks that seemed to make up the walls of the ship did in fact, have people inside them. All of them were moving very slowly, snaking their way around the walls so the view must be continuously changing. She also noticed, with some unease, that the blocks were clear glass—there was no privacy to be had, even in a “private” room.

  “Indeed,” the other master said. “The blocks move in a maze on a complex system of jet lifts and anthro-pulleys. Unfortunately, only one can be accessed at a time and if there is any delay at all, the entire system backs up.” The man leaned closer to Kor and whispered, “There has been some speculation that the makers of the ship designed it that way on purpose. You know—to force people to mingle and buy more at the ship’s shops and vendors? I consider it extremely likely but it doesn’t do to say so too loudly.”

  “That’s…very illuminating,” Kor said, frowning. “But what do we do if we need to get into our room sooner rather than later?” He was looking at Maggie as he spoke, no doubt wondering how long she could hold out without him touching her.

  Maggie was wondering the same thing. Already she could feel the pulse of her implant speeding up, demanding the touch of her master’s hand. Would she be able to wait another hour or more for Kor to touch her and ease her need? She wasn’t sure.

  “You’ll just have to do as the rest of us do, wander around and buy merchandize we don’t really need.” The fat slave owner laughed, as though it was a joke. “In the mean time, though, go up to the Warden of the Blocks and show him your pass orb. He’ll put your name on the list and call you when your block comes up.”

  “Thank you,” Kor said, nodding. “Speaking with you has been most enlightening.”

  “Any time! Glad to help a fellow passenger. And don’t forget what I said about a public display of humiliation. If you don’t mind me saying, I can tell your slave would benefit from such a thing—she speaks out of turn entirely too much.”

  Kor nodded silently and steered Maggie away.

  “I barely said a word,” she protested in an indignant whisper as soon as they were out of ear shot of the other man.

  “Even one word is too much,” Kor growled. “As far as bastards like that are concerned, anyway. Which is why he took away his own slave’s power of speech.” He sounded angry. “Evil son of a whore.”

  “That poor girl,” Maggie murmured with a shiver as they made their way through the crowd. “What an awful thing to do to someone!”

  “I told you there was a reason female liberation groups targeted this area,” Kor murmured back under his breath. “Are you thirsty? It looked like he was right—they have a full bar here.”

  Maggie opened her mouth to say yes…and then closed it again. What she saw on the left hand side of the large circular bar stocked with every imaginable colored bottle was almost too much to take in.

  A large metal post was set up in the middle of the area which was clearly meant for the punishment of slaves. A hapless slave girl wearing nothing but long blue tassels on her nipples was strung up by her wrists at the post, her arms high over her head. The position forced her to stand on her tiptoes.

  Behind her a man who was obviously her master was wielding a wicked looking whip that fizzled and crackled as it hit her. Sparks shot from the end of the whip and with every blow the slave girl gasped and jumped, trying in vain to twist away from the stinging, crackling lash. The crowd gathered around the scene laughed and cheered. Even worse, several other masters seemed to be waiting in line to beat their slaves as well.

  “What kind of place is this?” Maggie demanded, feeling sick. “Where the people actually stand in line to beat their slaves with that horrible thing?”

  “That thing is a pain whip,” Kor muttered under his breath. “It’s electrified. Leaves no visible mark but with each stroke it feels as though every nerve in the body is on fire. Not a pleasant sensation.”

  “You’ve seen this kind of whip used before?” Maggie asked.

  He made a face. “Had it used on me, blondie. Hurts like a son of a bitch—poor girl.”

  Maggie didn’t want to watch anymore. Not when there was nothing she could do to stop the cruel display.

  “Come on,” she said, turning away. “Let’s go see about our room.”

  “I’m with you.” Kor took her by the arm and steered her to the far end of the large common area. There they found an opening in the glass blocks about as wide as a double doorway. Standing in front of the opening, behind a work terminal, was another blue-skinned, silver-eyed alien wearing the same red and gold uniform Rosh had been wearing.

  “Hello, Master,” he said as Kor approached him and held out the pass orb. “I am Yiuck—the Warden of the Blocks. But if you’ve come about your block, I’m afraid we’re experiencing a few small technical difficulties. There’s a one to two hour wait right now.”

  Maggie had a moment of panic. “Two hours?” she asked. Her implant throbbed strongly and she looked appealingly at Kor. “I don’t know if I can wait that long,” she whispered.

  The guard looked at her in surprise. “Your slave speaks out of turn, master.”

  Kor glared at the alien. “Her implant makes her most impatient to be in a room alone with me. If I don’t satisfy it soon, she will begin to have a most unfortunate reaction.”

  Maggie felt her cheeks growing hot. Even though it was probably a common problem with slaves and their implants on this particular ship, it was still embarrassing to hear Kor inform someone that she was horny out of her mind and needed to be serviced.

  “As to that,” the Warden of the Blocks said, “We have a lounge area where you can slake all your needs.”

  “My needs are private,” Kor grated. “As are those of my slave.”

  The alien laughed. “My dear master, nothing is truly private here—as you can see from the activities taking place in those blocks already occupied.”

  He pointed to one of the clear glass block rooms moving slowly across the wall above him. Sure enough, Maggie saw a master with a slave on her knees in front of him, giving him a very vigorous blow job. The sight made her implant throb strongly and she crossed her legs as tightly as she could, feeling miserable. God, what was wrong with her?

  “As I said, the lounge area is designated for sexual gratification. You’ll find it just over there.” The Warden of the Blocks pointed. “Anything is permissible, we only ask that you keep your activities confined to that area and do not allow your slave to mouth you in any of our food service areas.”

  “What if I don’t want to use the lounge?” Kor demanded.

  The alien shrugged. “Then I’m afraid you will have to wait for your block to come around to the entrance here.” He nodded at the wide opening behind him. “Your pass orb will light up and play a little tune when your block is available for access. You will have exactly five solar minutes to respond and if you miss your block, you’ll have to wait a minimum of two hours for it to come around again. So please drop whatever or whoever you’re doing and come at once when your orb summons you.”

  Just at that moment, a master with a blinking, jingling pass orb hurried up and waved it in the Warden’s face.

  “I’