The Slave World (31)

(31): In the cage

A truism in life is that you learn from new experiences and what I learned from waking up cold and naked inside a small cage in a dimly lit basement of brick and cement surrounded by other cages full of naked girls is that my natural reaction is to scream hysterically.

I was locked in a steel barred cage measuring six feet by four feet and four feet high. It was part of a row of sixteen such cages with another sixteen opposite, the sight of them dimly illuminated by subdued red lighting. Most of the cages contained naked women except two in the arrangement opposite that held naked men.

The floor of my cage had a sheet of ply board screwed in place over the metal bars. There was no blanket or anything I might use as a cover. My hysterical screaming lasted maybe ten seconds before I calmed down enough to register that I was now the centre of attention amongst all the other captives. Some of them looked bored with the way I had reacted, which suggested they had been here for a few days now, while others, possibly newcomers like me, gave me sympathetic looks. In amongst the cages I noticed two girls still apparently asleep. Like me they had probably been drugged but had yet to wake.

There would be more screaming to come then.

I pressed myself to the front of my cage and tried to determine my surroundings. Although I hadn’t been down to the lowest level of the House of Three Moons I suspected I was in the deepest basement which was used to kennel girls ahead of shipment. The sophisticated ankle ring had been removed from my left ankle and in place of it I now wore a locked shipping ring which had a number inscribed on its steel surface. I also now wore a metal collar around my neck with a slave ring at the front and the locking mechanism at the back.

I knelt in the cage for what seemed to be an hour before the cellar door opened. Two figures walked in – a free woman, richly robed and veiled and Andromedus. Neither of them looked in my direction as they walked past the row of cages on the opposite side to me.

“As promised, Lady, your signing on bonus,” said Andromedus as he gestured towards the twin cages housing the men. “They will be shipped to Gor on your flight out.”

The free woman slowly reached for the hooks and removed the veil from her face. It was of course Kassa for I had recognised the colour and style of her garments from when I had helped her dress before in our flat. Andromedus counted I suppose as a close acquaintance who was already familiar with her face and so she was permitted to unveil herself when alone with him. As for the rest of us, slaves in our cages, we didn’t count according to Gorean customs.

“All these girls go to Gor too?” asked Kassa in puzzlement as she regarded the cages lining the walls. Crouched as I was in the subdued red light of the cellar she didn’t seem to recognise me. The fact I couldn’t stand up in this cage and the fact that we were all naked meant I probably blended in with everyone else. I could have called out to her I suppose, but I was afraid to do so while Andromedus was present. Anything she might try to do to help me would simply be obstructed by him and then she might find herself in a cage too if she tried to oppose his will. Better to wait and hope for a chance to speak to Kassa privately. Despite her desire to better herself in life, she was still my friend and I don’t think she would stand by and let me suffer.

“Yes, we’ll move them out to Burley in just over twenty four hours. We have a holding station there and they’ll be joined by a few other acquisitions that we’ve identified late in the day. We always keep a few cylinders free in case of exquisite new opportunities.”

“I see. And how will I travel?” If she objected to the caging and imminent enslavement of her sex, she didn't say anything to suggest that she felt that way. This wasn't the Kassa that I knew. How could she simply accept the Kurii slave trade no easily? The cages here were full of frightened, naked women and it didn't seem to bother her at all. Yes, Kassa could be a pain in the ass at times and she was always eager to better herself, but not at any cost to other people. And yet here she seemed to be a willing recruit, apparently oblivious to the suffering around her.

“Well, I fear the ship isn’t arranged for passengers. The crew have small cramped quarters but I can hardly put you in with them. The journey takes six to eight weeks and the men are Gorean. You wouldn’t want to share a small confined bunk-room with them.”

“Of course not,” said Kassa. “I might be forced to hurt them.”

“Ahem. Yes, well... Our standard approach for transporting agents to Gor is through the same transport tubes we use for the slaves. You of course will be embarked separately and with greater dignity.”

“How do tubes work?”

“They're suspended animation tubes, each one large enough to accommodate a single girl. They have a self contained life support system meaning we do not need to waste resources on providing such things for the whole vessel. Once you are placed inside a tube you will be sedated and Kur science will preserve your body perfectly. When you awake you will be in your new home where you will be the mistress of the house. Normally girls are placed naked in the capsules, but in your case you will be permitted a chemise for your dignity.”

“I see. How do I know men will not molest me while drugged?”

Andromedus laughed. “I suppose you don't, but you have my word for it. It is not in my interests to see you abused. Any man who did so would be killed. Discipline on board ship must be maintained. We would know if your capsule was opened during the voyage. Reprisals would be swift. Death would be slow and painful for the man involved.”

“Death for molesting me?”

“No, Lady, death for disobeying my explicit orders.”

“My tube will be with slave tubes?”

“I’m afraid so. Space is cramped and we do not have a specific separate cargo hold for transporting free women. Your suspension tube will be in the same racks as the slave girls. There can be no confusion though. Their ankles will be locked in shipment rings. Yours will not be. You will be dressed. They will not be. And the manifests will make it quite clear who you are. Your personal details have been recorded so if there is any confusion it will be easy to ascertain which of the girls in the cargo hold is the free woman.”

“I see. And these are my new slaves.” She approached the cages holding the two men. Both men were attractive, good looking, pretty even in that fashionable metrosexual way that many young men now adopt. They had good hair, good grooming and obviously worked out at membership gyms as their bodies were tanned, lean and muscular. They either waxed or used a body grooming clipper for they weren’t excessively hairy. They could easily be fashion models.

Kassa prowled before the cage doors, sliding her coiled whip along the bars as the two men stared at her.

“Hello Lewis,” she said to one of the two men.

“Kassa? What the fuck is going on? Why am I in a cage?” demanded Lewis. “Let me out!”

Kassa laughed. She looked very happy as she crouched to peer into the four foot high barred cage where Lewis knelt. The other man joined in the protests demanding to be released as well. When Kassa suddenly struck the bars hard with her coiled whip they instinctively shuffled back in their cages.

“Quiet,” she demanded. “No more yapping noise. Always yap-yap-yap with you, Lewis.”

I watched as Andromedus now approached the two cages and, taking Kassa by the left hand, escorted her back a number of paces. He then returned to the cages, removed the padlock and slid the bolt aside to release the door of Lewis’s cage. Kassa seemed a bit surprised by this but didn’t interfere. We watched as Andromedus motioned for Lewis to emerge from his prison.

“Where are my clothes?” asked Lewis as he stood up. He covered his cock and balls with his hands, aware that he was being scrutinised by most of the women in this room.

“Your clothes can be returned to you in due course,” said Andromedus in a friendly tone of voice as he placed an arm around Lewis’s shoulders as if they might be close friends. “You are after all a man, and Kassa is just a woman. Look at her, see how she presumes to have power over you.” Andromedus chuckled as he indicated the puzzled looking Kassa. “You’re a man. You are strong. Stronger than her. Just take away that whip she holds, put her to her belly and use it on her. That is your birthright. I assure you no one here will stop you.”

Lewis stared at Andromedus in surprise. “What?”

“She put you in a cage, Lewis. She probably wants to keep you in a cage. Teach her a lesson. Strip her. Bind her. Whip her. Show her the reality of the dominance of the sexes.”

“Andromedus?” Said Kassa as she gazed at him. “What is this?”

“Go on,” said Andromedus as he gave Lewis a friendly slap on the shoulder. “Teach her how helpless she actually is.”

I watched as Lewis now walked towards Kassa. He wasn't pleased with her. Somehow he had woken up naked in a cage and found her to be responsible. And yes, he knew he was bigger and stronger than she was.

“Did you do this?” he said angrily. “Did you arrange this?” Yes, he was angry now. He was an angry man of Earth and he stood before Kassa, almost twice her weight and a good five inches taller than her. “Say something you fucking bitch.”

He suddenly screamed as Kassa took hold of his balls with her right hand and squeezed hard. We all watched as Lewis collapsed onto the floor howling in pain. Kassa took three steps back, uncoiled her whip and lashed him hard across his back twice. Now Lewis screamed again in even more pain. Kassa began to circle his prone body, the long leather strand of her whip snaking across the concrete floor, and each time he seemed to be making some pathetic attempt to rise, with a flick of her wrist she brought that horrible lash down across his body again. Long red weals were appearing across Lewis’s back and arms as she lashed him until he stopped trying to rise. He lay there instead on the cold hard concrete, blubbering.

“Crawl to feet!” said Kassa as she indicated her sequinned slippers. “Har-ta!” Her whip cracked in the air. I watched Lewis lift himself in pain and move towards her, but I could sense that he wasn’t broken yet. Kassa narrowed her eyes and watched him as she coiled her whip again and when suddenly Lewis made a weak attempt to rise up and pull her to the floor, Kassa simply struck him hard in the face with the leather coils of the whip. He went down again, blood spurting from his nose. Again Kassa took several steps back and uncoiled her whip. Again she began lashing him, walking in a semi-circle around his twitching body. Now after a further seven blows of the whip Lewis looked broken.

“Crawl to feet!” commanded Kassa. “Har-ta!”

Lewis crawled again but this time it didn’t seem he had any strength left to resist.

“Kiss feet!” commanded Kassa as she pointed at her slippers. To the dismay of the other man in the cage, Lewis did so, kissing and licking Kassa’s slippers.

“Crawl to cage!” She let the lash slither across his bloodied back. And yes, Lewis crawled painfully back to his cage. Andromedus held the door open and then closed the latch, and replaced the padlock.

“What can I say?” he said to Kassa with a shrug and a smile. “I had to be sure about you. Some of my colleagues in the past have delivered female agents who have been less than impressive.”

“And?” asked Kassa as she coiled her whip again.

“I think I chose well, Lady Kassa.”

“Good. No more tests,” she said. “Tests bore me. You should not bore me.”

“No more tests,” said Andromedus. “As a matter of interest, who are these men to you?”

“That one,” she pointed to Lewis, “was nag-nag-nag manager at Amazon distribution warehouse. Always criticise toilet breaks and generally piss me off.” She struck the cage bars with her coiled whip, making Lewis shrink back in fear. “He work hard for me now on Gor.”

“And the other one?” Andromedus regarded the second man who gazed in fear at Kassa.

“Him? Him I not know, but saw in wine bar three nights ago. Handsome man but rude and arrogant to women there. Disappointed now I see size of cock, but he will please me chained to couch I suppose. What is your name, pretty man?” she demanded.

“Thom… Thomas…” he said.

“Hmm, you think can please me, Thomas? On couch?”

“I… I don’t know…”

“I whip you if not pleasing.”

“I’ll do whatever you want,” he cried.

“Pathetic,” said Andromedus as he gazed at the two men. “Earthmen are pathetic. You’re welcome to them. Do you want them branded?”

“Yes. Pretty Dinah flower on left thigh. That mark of my slaves from now on,” said Kassa as she regarded Thomas’s cock again. “Do you think it much bigger when hard?”

“I wouldn’t know,” said Andromedus. “Flaccid size is no real indication for the size when aroused. Mine is a lot bigger of course.”

“Hmm. Interesting,” She smiled at Andromedus and gazed momentarily at his groin. She than looked back at Thomas. “Still, disappointing with pretty man in cage. He will have to perform well to make up for size.”

“I'm sure he will,” said Andromedus with a chuckle.