vomited. They made her clean the floor. Afterward, when they insisted on
circling close and talking and talking, she screamed at them to leave
her alone, then enforced it with a couple of skilled blows. No
punishment followed. It was dreadful to know that a half-aware
electronic brain watched every pulsebeat of her existence, and no doubt
occasionally a bored human supervisor examined her screen at random. But
seemingly the guardians didn’t mind a fight, if no property was damaged.
She sought her bunk and curled up into herself.
Next morning a matron came for her, took a critical look, and nodded.
“You’ll do,” she said. “Swallow this.” She held forth a pill.
“What’s that?” Kossara crouched back.
“A euphoriac. You want to be pretty for the camera, don’t you? Go on,
swallow.” Remembering the alternative, Kossara obeyed.
As she accompanied the matron down the hall, waves of comfort passed
through her, higher at each tide. It was like being drunk, no, not
drunk, for she had her full senses and command of her body … like
having savored a few glasses with Mihail, after they had danced, and the
violins playing yet … like having Mihail here, alive again.
Almost cheerfully, in the recording room she doffed her gray issue gown,
went through the paces and said the phrases designed to show her off, as
instructed. She barely heard the running commentary:
“Kossara Vymezal [mispronounced, but a phonetic spell-out followed],
human female, age twenty-five, virgin, athletic, health and intelligence
excellent, education good though provincial. Spirited, but ought to
learn subordination in short order without radical measures. Life
sentence for treason, conspiracy to promote and aid rebellion. Suffers
from hostility to the Imperium and some disorientation due to
hypnoprobing. Neither handicap affects her wits or basic emotional
stability. Her behavior on the voyage here was cold but acceptable.
“She was born on the planet Dennitza, Zoria III in the Taurian Sector.
[A string of numbers] Her family is well placed, father being a district
administrator. [Why no mention of the fact Mother was a sister of Bodin
Miyatovich, Gospodar and sector governor? O Uncle, Uncle … ] As is the
rule there, she received military training and served a hitch in the
armed forces. She has a degree in xenology. Having done field work on
planets near home, several months ago she went to Diomedes [a string of
numbers]–quite remote, her research merely a disguise. Most of the
report on her has not been made available to us; and as said, she
herself is confused and largely amnesiac about this period. Her main
purpose was to help instigate a revolt. Before much harm was done, she
was detected, arrested, interrogated, and sentenced by court-martial.
There being little demand for slaves in that region, and a courier ship
returning directly to Terra, she was brought along.
“We rate her unlikely to be dangerous, given the usual precautions, and
attractive both physically and personally–”
The camera projected back the holograms it had taken, for its operator’s
inspection, and Kossara looked upon her image. She saw a big young
woman, 177 centimeters tall, a bit small in the bosom but robust in
shoulders, hips, and long free-striding legs, skin ivory-clear save for
a few freckles and the remnant of a tan. The face was wide, high in the
cheekbones, snub in the nose, full in the mouth, strong in chin and
jawline. Large blue-green eyes stood well apart beneath dark brows and
reddish-brown bangs; that hair was cropped below the ears in the manner
of both sexes on Dennitza. When she spoke, her voice was husky.
“–will be sullen unless drugged, but given the right training and
conditions, ought to develop a high sexual capacity. A private owner may
find that kindness will in due course make her loyal and responsive–”
Kossara slipped dreamily away from the words, the room, Terra … the
whole way home. To Mihail? No, she couldn’t quite raise him from the
dust between the stars–even now, she dared not. But, oh, just a few
years ago, she and Trohdwyr …
{She had a vacation from her studies at the Shkola plus a furlough from
her ground defense unit in the Narodna Voyska. Ordinarily she would have