Steel World Inc. Chapter Nineteen

 

I found Miss Madison exactly where I had left her – kneeling on the tiled mosaic floor of the sunken sofa area, a short steel chain descending from her collar ring to the iron ring set into that floor. 

 

Nearly an hour had gone by since she had been left here alone, and I was surprised, and a little pleased, to find she seemed a lot calmer now.

 

“Miss Madison,” I said as I entered the large room. I had shown my key pass card to the guard and he had admitted me without comment, just as Magnus had promised.

 

“Simon!” she seemed surprised to see me, and even more surprised to see Miss Esme Hamilton, who walked closely behind me. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the lovely, long-legged Esme. 

 

“Miss Madison!” said the girl in return, surprised, no doubt, to see the lofty and terrifying manager of Enterprise Resource Planning and Modular Design kneeling on the tiled floor in a steel collar and brief slave tunic. Miss Hamilton now wore a slave tunic, too. I had found her one and told her she could have it. Despite the brevity of the garment, she was grateful to pull it over her body.

 

“Thank you, Simon,” she had said to me earlier. “Those men, they caged me and they were going to…”

 

“Hush,” I told her. “You’re safe now.”

 

“They told me I was a slave! I was going to be shipped to a ranch!”

 

“That’s over, Miss Hamilton. Take some deep breaths.”

 

“Where is Karl?” asked Miss Madison. She could see that aside from a collared slave at the end of my leash, I was alone.

 

“Mr Magnus has business in Amsterdam,” I said. “ He had to leave.”

 

“Oh. Of course. I forgot.” She moved on the tiles. She regarded Esme with a wary unease. I suppose it was very awkward for her to be seen by an office secretary now, particularly an office secretary who might have reasonable grounds for wanting to hit and scratch her, and pull her hair.

 

“She’s the one who did this!” exclaimed Esme, pointing now at the unfortunate Miss Madison. “She took me down to the cellar! She caged me! She had the other girls whipped when they tried to resist! It was that bitch!”

 

Esme would have run down the short steps to confront Miss Madison, had I not been holding her leash and carefully pulled her back. She choked and gasped and stumbled to a halt, grasping her collar with both hands.

 

“No,” I said to Miss Esme Hamilton. My expression was stern.

 

“But, Simon! She stripped and caged me! Me and the other girls!”

 

“Why did you do that?” I asked Miss Madison. It was obvious why Magnus and Frick were doing it – they were men, but Miss Madison was of the same sex as Esme and the other girls. Surely her sympathies were with the women?

 

“They’re natural slaves,” she said, dismissively. “They deserve a collar. They chose to risk their freedom for a designer handbag.” She sneered at Esme. “Pathetic.”

 

“You wear a collar, too!” said Esme. She seemed happy to see Miss Madison chained to the floor. “Is she a slave, Simon? Please tell me she’s a slave!”

 

“Don’t tell her anything, Simon,” snapped Miss Madison. 

 

“Yes, she is,” I said. A thought occurred to me. “In fact she is more of a slave than you are, Esme. She enslaved herself. You were simply abducted.”

 

“Slave!” hissed Esme at Miss Madison. “I’m glad you’ve suffered the same fate! You enslaved yourself! Hah!”

 

“Calm yourself, Miss Hamilton. Nadu.”

 

The lovely blonde girl stared at me. Surely I did not mean that now that we were away from the other men? Surely I would not command her anymore? Surely I was not that sort of man?

 

“Nadu.” I said again, as I tightened the leash a little and gave it a small tug.

 

“Oh!” Miss Hamilton dropped to her knees and spread her thighs. I continued to stare at her until she straightened her back and placed the palms of her hands on her thighs. How swiftly collared girls learn that particular command. 

 

“I chose well when I enslaved you, Esme,” said Miss Madison, her voice tinged with scorn. She was feeling braver now it seemed I wouldn’t let Esme attack her. “You are every inch the slave girl.”

 

“It may be my imagination, but you seem a little calmer, Miss Madison. I expected to find you struggling with your collar chain?”

 

She shrugged. “I’m not a fool. I know Gorean steel holds females perfectly.” She was kneeling now with both her palms resting forwards on the mosaic floor. The chain descended down from her collar ring and looped several links on the floor. It was not long enough for her to stand, I recalled.

 

“But still, why aren’t you demanding your freedom?”

 

She tossed her head, angrily. “I know Gorean men. They will not free me.”

“So you admit you are a slave now?” I asked.

 

“Men tell me I am.”

“Tell me truthfully, were you aware of Gorean merchant law pertaining to self-enslavement?”

 

“He tricked me,” she said. “I spoke those words before I realised what I was saying. I was tricked. Mr Frick knew what he was doing. I think he goaded you into asking me to serve.”

 

“And now you are the property of Karl Magnus.”

 

Miss Madison said nothing. But I detected a slight movement of her body as she considered her fate. It was an unusual movement – an inflection of sorts, almost as if her body responded to the possibilities inherent in being the slave of a man like Karl Magnus. 

 

“Again, I could be wrong, but you don’t seem totally horrified by the prospect of being his slave girl?”

 

Now Miss Madison blushed and looked away. 

 

“It’s true,” I said, with the dawning realisation. “There is a part of you that is aroused by the idea. You have had time to consider it, here, alone, chained. Tell me, Miss Madison, do you have feelings for Karl Magnus?”

 

Miss Madison said nothing.

 

“Answer my question. I don’t have much time. I want to know. Are you sexually attracted to Karl Magnus? Do you desire his touch?”

 

“Yes! Yes, I do!” She was angry again. She tossed her hair again. I heard the soft jingle of steel chain. “What of it? I am a woman! I am not some frigid, sexless object! I am an Earth woman! I can be attracted to a man, especially a powerful, strong man. The female of the species is genetically predisposed to finding men who are stronger than they are, attractive and desirable as sexual partners. It is natural enough.”

 

Natural enough for slaves, I thought. “Have you ever slept with him?”

 

“Of course not! Don’t be ridiculous.”

 

“But you wanted to?”

 

Again, the blush in her cheeks didn’t fade. 

 

“A woman doesn’t simply sleep with Karl Magnus.” She regarded me as if I was a fool. “He is Gorean. If I initiated any such encounter, it would not go well for me. He would be angry. Free Women do not suggest such a thing. It is for the man to express an interest.”

 

“But now that you are his slave?”

 

There was a tightness of her breath. She shook her head angrily again. “He will put me to use, I suppose. Fully. He will take his pleasure with me. I will be well used.”

 

“And you want that Miss Madison?”

 

“There are worse things,” she said ever so softly.

 

“Slave!” hissed Miss Esme Hamilton. She looked furious. No doubt Miss Madison’s words were insulting to women in general. Miss Hamilton would be offended on behalf of her sex. I motioned for her to be quiet. I wished a deeper understanding of this apparent nature between women and the men they desired. 

 

“Worse things than what?”

 

“Worse things than being put to use by a man like Karl Magnus.”

 

“Have you fantasised about such a thing in the past, Miss Madison? Really?” Her clenched fists on the floor were all I needed to know. Now that she had time to consider her slavery, alone in this room, for an hour, she had discovered that her body secretly wanted this. Her body wanted to crawl before Karl Magnus and beg slave rape. Interesting. “Mr Frick thinks Magnus has feelings for you?”

 

The look in her eyes was telling. “Does he?” she asked. There was a sense of urgency in her voice. “Does he?” The chain slithered along the tiled floor as she moved closer. “What did he say?”

 

“I do not truly know. I do not know the man very well. He is not very emotive. Would Magnus free you?”

 

“Of course not. Only a fool would free a female slave.”

 

“Do you want to be freed, Miss Madison?”

 

“Yes,” she snapped. “Of course I do.”

 

“You are a contradiction to yourself, then.”

 

“I am a woman. It is in our nature.”

 

“I think you have in the past fantasised about being his slave. Interesting.”

 

“As I said, there are worse fates than being Karl’s personal slave. I am uncomfortable with this conversation. Why are you here? Has Karl given you instructions concerning me?”

 

“No.” I produced the key to the collar chain. That, I still had, even though Frick now had the key to the collar itself. I tucked the end of Esme’s leash inside her collar, tapped her lightly on her nose, for her to hold position, and then walked down to where Miss Madison knelt.

 

“What are you doing?” She shrank back a little, but couldn’t move far because of the collar chain.

 

“Freeing you from the collar chain. Stand, with your wrists crossed behind you.” 

 

“Oh, I thought perhaps…” She seemed relieved. And then she stood and crossed her wrists behind the small of her back as I fitted the key in the chain lock.. “Now what? You said you have no orders from Karl? There is no need to chain my wrists!”

 

“I have no orders from Mr Magnus. But Mr Frick told me to lead you down to the next basement level.” I locked a pair of slave bracelets around her wrists and tested them for security. 

 

“Oh! Why did you do that? Oh! They are tight enough – they do not need adjusting,” she snapped. “The lower basement? That is where the slave kennels are.”

 

“Correct.”

 

Miss Madison shook her head angrily again. “So I am going to be kennelled with the sluts?”

 

“No.”

 

“No? But then why am I being taken there?”

 

“The men are readying the consignment. It will be loaded into the van shortly.”

 

“Of course. And they want me to oversee it?” She glanced at Esme. A thought suddenly occurred to her. “Why is this girl not in her kennel? She is part of the shipment. She needs to be in the basement pens. It is getting late. You said yourself the shipment will be leaving soon. We haven’t got much time.”

 

“Miss Esme Hamilton will not be part of the shipment.” I touched Miss Madison’s left thigh and considered what it might look like with a deep Lazy F ranch brand pressed into her flesh. 

 

“Please don’t touch me, Simon. I belong to Karl Magnus, and he has not given you permission.”

 

“Actually, he sort of has.” I waved the key card in her face. She seemed surprised. She also seemed disappointed that Esme would no longer be part of the shipment to the ranch in Montana.

 

“I felt sure that Esme would appeal to Mr Frick,” said Miss Madison. “He has a taste for sluts.”

 

“You’re the slave slut!” hissed Esme. I wished she would be quiet. 

 

“Apparently he considered an alternative,” I said. “The arrangement was that he could substitute Esme for another girl that was enslaved tonight?”

 

“Of course.” She shook her head again, angry that her own selection had been turned down. “That is standard. He could substitute any of the girls I had selected. Though I rarely have men disappointed with the girls I choose.” She moved her wrists, feeling the tightness and security of the bracelets. “I suppose you are taking me there because Mr Frick wishes me to choose an alternative girl from our remaining stock?”

 

“No.” I touched her thigh again. I didn’t know what the Lazy F brand would look like, but the thought of a brand on Miss Madison’s thigh aroused me again. 

 

“Then, why does he need me down there?”

 

“You are the substitute for Miss Hamilton,” I explained.

 

I permitted Miss Madison to cry, scream and struggle in her bracelets for a minute or two. It was good for her to get it out of her system. The next day or so would be particularly hard for her.

 

“You can’t do this! I’m Karl’s slave! Karl wouldn’t do this!”

 

“It is an awkward situation,” I agreed. “Mr Magnus appears to know nothing of Mr Frick’s choice. It seems Mr Frick is acting on his own initiative. He has desired you for a long time. He told me so.”

 

Miss Madison was trembling with fear. “You can’t send me to Montana! Simon, you have no idea what will happen to me! They will brand me on the ranch, and I will be trained at the hands of his cattle men! It is horrible!”

 

Miss Madison hadn’t been quite so concerned that exactly the same thing would have applied to Mis Hamilton and the other girls in their basement cages. My sympathy for her was therefore not as great as it might otherwise have been. But having said that, she looked so helpless and scared now that it was difficult not to feel protective towards her. Men naturally feel such emotions, I think. Women throughout history have relied upon it. 

 

“I suspect there will soon be a power play between the North American families and London. And from what I have heard tonight, I suspect Mr Frick has been planning this for some time. I’m not bringing you to him out of choice, Miss Madison. Think of my position, here. I know too much. He’ll obviously kill me if I refuse to co-operate. I’m sorry. I have done what little I can, tonight. I have at least saved Miss Hamilton from being taken to Montana. That is something.”

 

“I don’t care about Esme Hamilton! I care about myself! He wants more than just my body, Simon,” said Miss Madison. “I know a lot about Karl’s operation. He will have Karl’s secrets if he has me. Simon, please think this through. I can tell you’re intimidated by Willard, but you are about to make a very bad decision.”

 

“Oh?” I stroked her thigh again, but this time she didn’t object. She seemed to want to not upset me. In fact, she came closer and gazed up at me with her lips parted.

 

“Miss Madison, you are standing intimately close to me, almost as a slave might do if she wanted to be found pleasing.”

 

“Think, Karl is going to be furious when he discovers me gone.”

 

“Mr Frick says the North American families will protect me.”

 

“So they will, so long as they remain strong. But consider this – they are born and raised on Earth. Karl is Gorean.”

 

“People keep saying this, as if Mr Magnus is some sort of alien from another world.”

“He is from another world. A barbaric, savage, wild, unspoiled world, that you couldn’t possibly imagine. But he’s not an alien. The Goreans are the same human stock as we are. Their ancestors were transplanted to the world of Gor thousands of years ago in a series of migrations.”

“How is that even possible? Do you really believe this? You’ll be telling me about shape changing giant lizards secretly ruling the world next.”

 

“I don’t have time to explain all of this, Simon, but you have to know that Karl comes from a civilization that is very different to North America. Willard has no concept really of what he will be up against.”

 

“He seems to know what he’s doing.”

 

“I’m sure he thinks so. But Karl is from Treve.”

 

“That doesn’t mean anything to me.”

 

Miss Madison pressed her body close to me. “The men of Treve are formidable enemies, but loyal friends. I’m begging you, Simon – make the right decision. You stand on the edge of two worlds. You can stand with Karl or with Willard, but not both. If you make the wrong choice…” She pressed her hair softly against my chest. “Please don’t hand me to Willard. I’m scared of him. I’m very scared of him.”

 

“You are probably wise to be scared of him, Miss Madison. I would advise you to obey his orders without question.”

 

There were tears in her eyes. “He will brand me on the Lazy F, like I was one of his cattle!”

 

“Again, he told me as much.”

 

“If Karl knew what was going on now, he would stop this. He would come back and he would kill Willard and all his men.”

 

“He’s on his way to Amsterdam.”

 

“I can call him. I have his number. That’s all we need do. Call him. But we need to get out of the house first. External communications are impossible except through a secure line. Get me away from here, call Karl, and then this will be over. You’ll have proved your loyalty, and you will have Karl’s gratitude, which believe me, is no small thing. To have a man of Treve owe you something is, well…” she kissed my chest softly. “You could have anything you want. Anything at all. Anyone…”

 

“Are you offering me yourself, Miss Madison?” I recalled she had in the past flirted with me, called me handsome, said I’d scrubbed up well. I recalled how she had paid for my fine clothes – had wanted to dress me well.

 

“I have always found you handsome, Simon. I think that much was obvious. And… I am so nervous saying this, but I hope you feel the same way about me?”

 

No doubt Miss Madison was playing me. While what she said might be true – that Karl Magnus would give me anything – it was probably in her interests for me to claim her as a reward, because she would know I wouldn’t keep her as a slave in a collar. I would free her. She was very clever, working out a possible way to avoid the brand and regain her freedom.

 

“I find you attractive, too, Miss Madison.”

 

“Oh God, I am so glad!” She gazed at me with a look of desire. Was it real? She had claimed to be a good actress. “I… I… confess…” she looked down, seemingly shy now, “when you asked me earlier about my fantasies, well, I have had some of you. Many times, in fact.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“Yes. Fantasies where we might be working together late one night and you might… desire me… desire me sexually.”

 

These seemed very innocent fantasies. What had James once told me? 

 

“Got her home safely. Had a drink or two, saw her bedroom… man, she’s into some kinky shit, I think.”

 

Some kinky shit.  

 

“You are very beautiful, Miss Madison. Especially with a collar about your throat.”

 

She frowned briefly when I said that, but swiftly looked up at me with love in her eyes again. 

 

“I wish it was your collar, Simon. Yours.” She kissed my chest once more. I confess it was a stimulating sensation. 

 

“Could you imagine me as your master?”

 

“Easily,” she said. “You would keep me as a slave girl. I would serve you at night. I would be yours.”

 

She knew she would never be kept as a slave. How could I possibly do that? Yes, she was a good actress. But she had been attracted to me, even as recently as at the party upstairs when she flirted rather shamefully, her inhibitions loosened by champagne. That much was true. But no, she did not wish to be my slave. 

 

“Get me out of this house, Simon. You have a key card pass. They will give you a car. And once we’re safely away we can call Karl. He’ll have Willard killed. He’ll make it look like an accident. The North American families will know, but they will have no proof. And anyway, it will be made clear that Willard acted rashly, against all the protocols. He is too ambitious for his own good. No one will truly miss him.”

 

“You think Mr Magnus would win?”

 

“It won’t even be a contest. He’s from Treve. He’s Gorean. You need to back the right horse, Simon. And then you can have me. I will be yours. I want your collar.”

 

“Say that again, Miss Madison. It is very sexy.”

 

She smiled softly. “I beg your collar, Simon. I want to be your slave. Take me. Put me to use. The words I spoke earlier, when I served you – they thrilled me to my core.”

 

“So you weren’t acting when you spoke those words?”

 

“Of course not.” She smiled. “But I couldn’t tell Karl or Willard that. I wanted to serve you.” She blushed. She was a very good actress. “Only you. You have no idea how thrilled I was when you locked this collar on me.” She knew that if I was given her by Mr Magnus, I would soon fall in love with her, if I hadn’t already, and I would be compelled to free her. How can you keep a woman you love as a slave? It is impossible. I would give her back her precious freedom, and within a week or so she would move on, claiming her feelings had changed, and she would be free again. Yes, she probably did find me attractive, but only as a casual sexual encounter, nothing more. James had hinted that her past relationship history was pretty much that. 

 

“Remind me of the words you spoke?”

 

“Perhaps later, Simon. We don’t have much time.”

 

“Now.”

 

She almost lost her character for a moment. Almost. And then she smiled again, seductively, like a slave girl. 

 

"I am Emily," she said, with apparent longing in her eyes. "I am a slave girl. I serve you, kneeling and collared. I am wet and needy. Take me later to the alcove.”

 

“I will help you,” I said, as I finally made up my mind. “I will get you out of this house and grounds, and then we’ll call Karl Magnus. I will side with Treve.”